Smith's Monthly #21 Page 12

  Fred and his two friends, Michael and Hank, lived in old men’s boredom, moving like zombies from bedrooms, to the sitting room with the television, to the front stoop, back to the sitting room, then back to bedrooms, punctuated only by a silent lunch and an even more silent dinner in the small kitchen.

  When she came through that door, Fred knew that the three of them forgot they were three corpses too damn old to just lie down and be done with it.

  Forgot about being the last residents of The Golden Dream Hotel for men.

  Even forgot it was Christmas Eve.

  A year ago, crusty Jamison bought the old hotel from a development agency. Fred and Jamison and the other two signed an understanding agreement that the four men would be able to live in the hotel until all died.

  Jamison died the next month at the age of sixty-two, giving Fred the hotel in his will. Now the three of them just sat around and wondered who would be next.

  But no one talked about it. Fred was the youngest by far. He figured he would have the longest to wait. Since he owned the place that sort of made sense.

  And now, as she stood there on this cold winter evening, her short, perfect-skinned nose wrinkling at the smell of the old hotel, even the thought of dying of boredom seemed forgotten.

  She blinked in the dim light and then focused on the old box television in the corner. A long ways from the modern plasma screens, but it worked fine for them.

  Fred could see she had bright, large eyes, thick eyebrows, and a full mouth. The kind of mouth Fred remembered that Alice had back what seemed like a million years ago.

  Alice was his first love, his first sexual partner, his first real girlfriend. He never married her and always wondered why.

  The young woman brushed a long slender hand against her nose, then straightened her shoulders as if she were going to face a firing squad. She stepped forward. Her high heels clicked on the linoleum floor and Fred wondered when that floor had last felt the steps of a woman.

  “Excuse me,” she said. Her clear, soft voice seemed to fill the old hotel with life.

  She stopped and glanced around, as if startled by the sound of her own words. “I’m.... I am looking for a Mister Fred Thorpe.”

  Fred thought he was going to swallow his tongue. She was looking for him, as if he actually existed to someone outside of these walls besides the retirement department at the city. He had retired early when his time came up and had regretted it, but not enough to go look for another job.

  “That’s me,” he said, sort of waving a hand in her direction. His voice sounded really odd following hers.

  She seemed relieved and took another step forward. “Would it be possible for us to talk?”

  He shrugged and pointed to the vacant chair that had been Jamison’s chair.

  She shook her head. “In private, if you don’t mind.”

  Again Fred shrugged and without looking at the others pushed himself up from his chair in the most dignified manner he had managed in years. He nodded toward the hall that led past the old front desk cage.

  “We can talk back in the kitchen.”

  She said fine and he walked ahead of her distinct and firm footsteps down the hall and into the kitchen.

  After they were both settled at the old wood table she took a deep breath. She started out saying that he wasn’t going to believe her.

  She was right.

  He didn’t.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  About two years later…

  June 10th, 2020

  Central Wilderness Area, Idaho

  TALIA FLAT ENJOYED the incredible top sirloin steak with mushrooms marinated in butter. And the rolls seemed to just melt in her mouth. Amazing meal, just amazing.

  They were seated in a fairly small private room off the main dining room. As with everything in the lodge, the room had polished log walls and a huge window looking out in a different direction than the valley. But the view was almost as spectacular, especially as the sun slowly set coloring the hills with reds and oranges.

  The conversation before and during dinner had been light and fun.

  She relished the time and realized just how lucky she was to be sitting here in the company of three of the great math minds on the planet. She wasn’t sure if she belonged in their company, but for the time being, she was going to push that thought aside and enjoy the moment.

  And enjoy the laughter with Ryan. Now that he was relaxing as well, his sense of humor was coming out more and more. And she loved that. Not only was he smart and good-looking, he was funny and clearly enjoyed life.

  As the last plates were cleared, Duster stood and pulled over another chair to the table, then went out into the lobby area.

  When he got back, he smiled. “We have a special guest to help us talk about this next thing we want to talk about. Actually, we want to offer both of you a long-term job.”

  Talia was surprised at that, honestly. She taught at the University of Wisconsin Madison and she knew Ryan taught at Berkley. She made enough money to be happy. Not great money, but enough to allow her to enjoy her life.

  And for the most part, she enjoyed teaching. But her real love was in the research and she always sort of felt the class time took away from that far too often.

  Ryan seemed surprised as well, but before he could say anything, Duster held up his hand to indicate no questions.

  “What we are going to talk about tonight is why we had you both sign those nondisclosure agreements. Are you both still all right with that?”

  Talia nodded and noticed beside her that Ryan did as well.

  “Good,” Duster said. “While we are waiting for our guest, I want to be clear about this offer. The moment you come to work for us, you will never worry about money again. Ever. You will both become independently wealthy very quickly. And we will have at your disposal the best libraries, equipment, and computers in the world.”

  Talia started to ask how that was possible, but again Duster stopped her.

  “You know that Bonnie and I are fantastically rich?” Duster asked.

  “We give some money to universities to fund chairs and help in remodeling,” Bonnie said. “And we have a major historical research institute in Boise.”

  “The mathematics wing of that institute in Boise is in a large building downtown,” Duster said.

  “And the job is a lifetime job,” Bonnie said. “You can still teach when you want, but we have a hunch that joining us will keep you more than busy and challenged for longer than you can imagine.”

  Talia was so shocked, she didn’t even have a question left. And she had a hunch that the surprises were just starting because at that moment the woman who had been behind the front desk of the lodge came in and sat down.

  “This is Dawn Edwards,” Bonnie said, introducing her. “She and her husband, along with Duster and I, own this lodge.”

  “The Dr. Edwards?” Ryan asked before Talia could even get out a complement about how much she loved it here.

  Dawn laughed.

  “The historian?” Ryan asked.

  “I am that Dawn Edwards,” Dawn said, shaking Ryan’s hand, then reaching over and shaking Talia’s hand.

  Talia had no idea what Ryan was talking about, but he was clearly impressed by her credentials beyond the fact that she and Bonnie and Duster owned this place.

  Ryan glanced at Talia and must have instantly seen that she didn’t understand, so he smiled and said, “Professor Edwards is the world’s leading writer on the history of old mining camps in the West.”

  Dawn nodded. “My first major-selling book was about that town down in the valley that you visited earlier today.”

  Talia nodded and forced herself to take a deep breath. Duster had been talking about a major job offer and now another very smart person had just joined them. Talia was feeling more and more out of her depth with every passing minute.

  So after a few more minutes of small talk and Dawn and her research, Ryan turned back to Duster and
Bonnie. “I want to know more about this job. But first I want to know how you managed to buy this wonderful lodge.”

  Silence.

  Talia didn’t much like that silence.

  Duster glanced first at Bonnie, then at Dawn.

  “You’re going to offer them the jobs, aren’t you?” Dawn asked, smiling at Duster.

  Duster nodded. “Without a reservation at all. We need them both to figure out the nature of that sound.”

  “Then we need to tell them the entire truth from this moment forward,” Dawn said.

  Duster nodded.

  “Let me,” Bonnie said, leaning forward.

  She looked first at Talia, then at Ryan. “You both know that we are mathematicians focusing on the relationship with time, matter, and energy? Correct?”

  Talia nodded. She would never have even thought of coming out here for a special project without knowing and being in awe of their minds and the work they had done.

  “So this next part is going to be very hard for you to believe,” Bonnie said. “But if you just listen tonight and then allow us to show you tomorrow, we can prove everything we will tell you tonight is real.”

  “This flat sounds scary,” Ryan said.

  Talia agreed.

  “Not scary,” Dawn said. “Exciting once you change your perceptions.”

  “So to answer your question honestly about the lodge,” Bonnie said. “We didn’t buy it. We all built this in 1901 and 1902.”

  Talia just sat back. Her mind was not accepting what Bonnie had said.

  “The old home site we stood on this afternoon to take readings,” Duster said, “was the former site of a home we built as well.”

  “You did find the Nexus,” Ryan said, his voice soft.

  “We did,” Duster said, nodding.

  “Holy shit,” Ryan said. “And you figured out how to manipulate it?”

  “In a manner of speaking,” Duster said.

  Talia just felt numb.

  Bonnie and Duster and Dawn were all very, very serious.

  Ryan seemed to understand instantly what they were talking about.

  And that scared Talia more than she wanted to admit.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  December 24th, 2018

  Boise, Idaho

  THE KITCHEN OF the Golden Dream Hotel smelled of the hot dogs Fred and the other two had had for lunch. The dirty pan and plates were still in the sink. Fred couldn’t remember if it had been his turn to do dishes or Hank’s.

  It was Christmas Eve.

  What did it matter?

  “My name is Sandy Reeves,” the good-looking young woman said across the kitchen table. “I am a private investigator and I was hired to find you by a Mr. Radley Stout.”

  Fred laughed and leaned toward the woman who looked like she might be barely old enough to be out of high school. “Right. So what is the gimmick? What are you selling?”

  She didn’t seem bothered by his rude question at all. Calmly she reached into her large purse and pulled out at small, black pistol. With a thump, she placed it on the table between them.

  “I have a permit for that,” she said, smiling slightly.

  All Fred could do was stare at the black gun while she pulled her wallet out of her purse, flipped it open, and slid it across the table. Then she scooped the gun back into her purse.

  Open in front of him was her driver’s license and her private investigator’s license from the state. He glanced at her birth date. She was twenty-six.

  He nodded and slid her wallet back at her. “So what does this Mr. Stout want from me?”

  She sort of shrugged. “Actually, I am not exactly sure. He owns a place called the Garden Lounge, down on Main. He said he just wanted to buy you a Christmas Eve drink.”

  “That’s all?” Fred shook his head. “He hired a private investigator to find me to buy me a drink?”

  She nodded, almost looking embarrassed. “I am just supposed to take you down to the Garden Lounge. And Mr. Stout gave me strict instructions to not force you in any way. He knows nothing about how you are living or even that you are alive. So are you interested in having a drink?”

  Fred glanced at her and then around at the old kitchen and the dishes in the sink. It was Christmas Eve and he had absolutely nothing better to do.

  “What the hell,” he said. “I’ve always believed that you never look a gift horse in the mouth.”

  “True,” she said. “You just never know when a miracle might happen.”

  He stared at her, but she only smiled, not explaining at all.

  Slowly he pushed himself back from the table and stood. “I could use a drink tonight.”

  She nodded. “So could I.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  About two years later…

  June 10th, 2020

  Central Wilderness Area, Idaho

  RYAN WAS NOT believing that Bonnie and Duster had found the Nexus they theorized was possible in their work. Mathematical theory saying that all time and energy had to meet in one physical location was one thing, but converting that theory into a reality seemed impossible to even imagine.

  And then being able to use the Nexus to travel in time just brought up so many questions, nothing seemed likely.

  But Ryan had no idea why these two major math minds would even suggest what they were suggesting. They had no reason at all to prank in any fashion Talia or him.

  “I think we need to start from the beginning,” Bonnie said.

  “Please,” Talia said.

  “It started back in the 1870s when a distant relative of mine worked a gold mine,” Duster said. “The mine played out but he went back and tried it again and around 1878 he punched the mine into a large cavern and then deeper into a cavern filled with what look to be rose quartz crystals. The mine from that point forward remained shut down and in my family.”

  “The cavern is massive,” Bonnie said and Ryan could see Dawn nodding. “An entire massive football stadium could fit inside it easily.”

  Ryan was having a hard time imaging that size of cavern.

  “And that’s only a small side cavern of an infinite number of even bigger caverns,” Duster said, “all covered completely in the crystals.”

  “So what are these crystals?” Talia asked.

  Ryan had a hunch he knew the answer, but he let Bonnie and Duster explain.

  “Each crystal represents a timeline,” Bonnie said.

  “Every time anyone makes a decision,” Duster said, “an alternate timeline is created, thus a new crystal is formed. Most decisions don’t change anything and the crystal is absorbed back into the larger timeline crystal. But if the decision has major impacts, then the crystal and that timeline remain.”

  “An infinite number of timelines,” Ryan said, nodding.

  “Thus an infinite number of massive caverns,” Duster said.

  “The crystals close to the mine entrance,” Bonnie said, “represent timelines that, for all intents and purposes, are identical to this timeline.”

  “So we actually fibbed a little when we said we built this lodge,” Duster said. “Our counterparts came to this timeline from another and built it while we were building this lodge in another timeline.”

  “An infinite number of you went back in time and built an infinite number of lodges in an infinite number of timelines,” Ryan said.

  “Basically,” Duster said. “Yes.”

  “So keep going with your story,” Talia said. “How do you do this ‘going back in time’?”

  “After Bonnie and I were shown the mine by my father,” Duster said, “when we were still finishing our first doctorates in mathematics. We had a hunch we knew what it was, but nothing in the math of physics showed it to be possible. So we spent the next four years working out the basic mathematics on time and energy and mass and how time and energy meet and form a physical item.”

  “The crystals,” Talia said.

  “Exactly,” Duster said.

  �
�After that,” Bonnie said, “we used the math to develop a very simple device that allows us to simply step into another timeline using the energy from the crystal.”

  “We can control it now almost to the hour,” Duster said.

  “Only two minutes and fifteen seconds pass in this timeline when we are in another?” Bonnie said. “But we cannot go back into any time that we are alive in any timeline. The universe won’t let us.”

  “We can spend entire lives in the history of other timelines,” Dawn said, “have kids, grow old, die, and when we return only two minutes and fifteen seconds will have passed.”

  “So you have used this to get your incredible research detail,” Ryan said.

  “Living in the time you are writing about sure helps,” Dawn said, grinning.

  Ryan felt like his head was about to explode. This had to be a dream he would wake up from at any moment.

  “So how old are you?” Talia asked, leaning forward. It seemed to Ryan she was getting a slight grasp on the real world issues of this entire thing faster than he was.

  Duster shrugged and glanced at Bonnie.

  “I stopped counting,” she said, “but it’s many, many thousands of years we have lived.”

  Dawn laughed. “I stopped counting when Madison and I went past ten thousand years. And you two were thousands of years older than us when we started.”

  “You have lived that long?” Ryan asked, his mind now gone.

  Talia had just sat back in her chair. She was gone from her eyes.

  “Died a bunch of times as well,” Duster said. “Mostly accidents, some old age, but each trip just lasts over two minutes.”

  “Does it affect the timeline you are living in?” Ryan asked. “Or does the timeline reset when you leave it?”

  Duster pointed at the walls of the lodge room around them.

  “Of course,” Ryan said, shaking his head.

  “If you have a family in another timeline, that family stays,” Bonnie said. “All your actions in that timeline create other timelines as well, of course.”