Jessup, MD
Ansem Weathers
signed off on the deal and they drove his truck away. He stood on his front lawn
and took a deep breath. After they drove it off, he found that Rebecca had
wandered over behind him. Curious of what was happening to her neighbor she
asked, “Where are they taking your truck, Mr. Weathers?”
“I sold it.” He
said without a hitch.
“And please,” he
continued, now turned towards her, “call me Ansem.”
“What are you
going to do now…Ansem..?”
“I bought my own
warehouse in Montana, the largest shipping and receiving hub in the entire
country.”
“Sounds…expensive…”
Rebecca tried to wrap her mind around it.
“Ought to….cost
me about fifty million dollars.”
Rebecca’s jaw
dropped so low it almost hit the grass. “Ansem I had no idea you were rich!”
“I’m not rich.
I’m just a good saver.”
“How much have
you saved up?”
“Since…”
“I don’t know…
two-thousand-five?”
“Close to a
hundred million dollars.”
“Oh my god! You’re taking me out to dinner,” Rebecca demanded as she punched his chest playfully.
What?
Ansem started
following her to the car. Rebecca turned around and laughed, “Not right
now, I’m going to work. But how about Saturday at eight?”
“Okay.”
“Good-bye, Mr.
Rockefeller.”
“Oh…you can just
call me- oh…right...bye.”
Rebecca shook
her head, still giggling as she got in her car and drove off. Ansem stood in
her front yard. He jumped up and down. Did he just? Was that? Did he really get
a date for Saturday night with Rebecca, the love of his life? All he needed was
a car. He had five days and millions of dollars to get a car before Saturday.
New York, NY
Manhattan Tech
looked closed for the night. One window stayed lit. Samuel did not leave his
laboratory for some time. His family went on without him. They were very much
used to this by now. Both they and he knew he was on the verge of one of his
breakthroughs. No intern or grad student could help him now. His co-workers had
long given up on Dr. Chase’s theories. If it wasn’t for his small steps and
logical backing Samuel would have been kicked out of the scientific community
years ago. As he became world-renown for his proofs in nuclear physics out of
school, Samuel’s tastes evolved and he became fixated on theoretical physics.
And overnight he went from a scientist handling uranium to a professor pushing
term papers.
He never lost
his knack for the field though. Dr. Chase only agreed to come to Tech because
they were the only ones who would accommodate his demand for a lab. Although
most of his work was done on his chalkboard, every so often the next step in
his theories would call for a lab procedure or field experiment. The first time
Samuel sat in his laboratory he got this feeling. He knew this would be the
place where he makes history.
Since then, he
has faced much ridicule in the science community for his beliefs in tachyons
and time travel. Everyone considered the notions, but no one ever tried to
prove it. That’s just career suicide. Once Samuel took up this mission he knew
he would have to sacrifice certain things, and so he did. He knew the last of
them would be his integrity. Now that time was at hand and Samuel was pinched
by his lurking failures to come up with a suitable formula.
Samuel sat up in
his seat. He stared down at his notes. It was an empty stare. Most of the equipment
was off in the laboratory. He sat as his cluttered desk with the only light on
over him and the chalkboard. The chalk was almost spent as most of it was on
the board already in equation form. Samuel reached into his suit jacket, from
the inner breast pocket he pulled out a golden pocket watch. Samuel clicked it
open and admired it; a gift from his wife.
Sam knew
tachyons were integral in the equation but he could not find a way to apply
them without having the same effect as every other scientist who tested them.
Samuel concentrated on one of his best tools, his ability to see outside of the
box. Perhaps there was a second piece to this puzzle that he had never
considered. What if the tachyons are nothing but a secondary effect?
Samuel got up
from his desk and grabbed the chalk. He cleared some space with his sleeve and
drew a circle. He wrote “tachyons” inside the circle then stepped back. He used
his sleeve again to erase “tachyons” from the inside of the circle. Samuel then
wrote “tachyons” along the outside of the circle. That was it. He stepped back
again and wondered what was to go inside the circle…
to be continued...
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