The Adventures of Tremain & Christopher BoxSet

by Terry Marchion

  The app showed a series of different colored lines. Each one, Christopher assumed, referred to a distinct set of shoe impressions. Christopher saw that some lines were brighter than others. He realized the brightness of the lines' appearance corresponded with when they occurred. The brighter lines were more recent and had more relevance to the robbery. As he was playing with the settings, so as to get more information, Tremain returned, holding a plate with a huge sandwich on it, a very large bite taken from it and wiping some sort of condiment from his mouth. He smiled as he saw Christopher working with the tablet. Sitting down, he reached into his lab coat pocket and produced a stylus.

  "Watch this,” he said as he tapped the tip of the stylus on the tablet face. As he raised the stylus, a fine line followed from the glass to the tip. A flick, and the entire screen appeared in 3D above the tablet face. Christopher gasped as he saw the shoe paths overlap, enter and exit rooms. Tremain took another huge bite, chewed for a moment, and made a few gestures over his tablet. The image above it zoomed in to show the entrance to the storage room. Christopher could see numerous paths entering and exiting, most were bright as they had occurred last evening. "I can filter out those that were obviously emergency personnel." Tremain said through his mouth of food. A couple of taps and most of the lines disappeared. There were only four lines now. "Now,” Tremain said, swallowing. "Of these remaining, two are yours and mine, and as such can be deleted." A few more taps and two lines remained.

  Christopher stared at the hologram.

  "So, which one is Jenkins?" Two more taps and only one path remained. The burglar. Tremain zoomed in as far as the app allowed. Christopher could then see individual shoe impressions. They were as clear as day. Christopher's eyebrows shot up. "We have him now!" He exclaimed.

  "Not quite that fast, Christopher." Tremain said, shoving more sandwich in his mouth. "Remember," he said thickly, "we still need to match these to a particular shoe. Without any other evidence to point to a suspect, this is meaningless." Christopher sagged. As Tremain closed the app, the hologram disappeared, and he rolled the tablet shut.

  "I hope the police get a lead then." Christopher said as Tremain finished his lunch. Tremain nodded in agreement, then looked up towards the stairs. Christopher turned to look.

  They could both hear footsteps coming up the stairs, accompanied by the sound of huffing and puffing. A head appeared, the light reflecting brightly off Professer Perlmutter's balding pate as he climbed. Seeing them, he waved something at them. Christopher noticed it was his sweat-kerchief. He lumbered over to them, breathing hard from the exertion, and plopped onto a seat at the table. Mopping his brow, he pinched a pickle from Tremain's plate and munched on it as he caught his breath.

  "Glad to see you both. Security showed you were up here." He said, panting, using the pickle as a pointer. "Damndest thing last night, what?" He finished the pickle, licking the juice from his finger tips.

  "How are you holding up, Hollis?" Tremain asked, gently.

  Perlmutter waved his hands in annoyance.

  "Oh, I'm fine, Tremain. It's Jenkins that I'm worried about. I hope he recovers soon or he'll miss the expedition." Reaching into his inner jacket pocket (a blue tweed today, Christopher noticed), he produced a paper. Unfolding it, Tremain could see it was a letter. Perlmutter gave it a smack as he set it on the table. "Just received this notice. It seems we have been fully funded." His eyes grew bright as he chuckled. "Fully funded!"

  Tremain read over the letter. His eyebrows arching as he reached the bottom of the page.

  "Congratulations, Hollis." He said, genuinely. "Amazing that it came through so quickly."

  Hollis nodded as he replaced the letter in his pocket, then wiped his forehead with the handkerchief.

  "Yes, but we have a devoted community here, Tremain. I was sure we'd get donations."

  Tremain frowned.

  "Yes, but by one company?" Tremain's eyebrows knitted as he rubbed his chin. "I've never heard of The Tyndall Foundation, have you?"

  Perlmutter shook his head, his jowls jiggling.

  "Oh, they've been around a while. They fund various arts and science projects throughout the year." He raised his head and looked to Tremain. "There have been some whispers that certain scientific discoveries they've funded never see the light of day, while others get full press releases. There have been rumors that the deadliest of these are the ones that get held back. Doesn't matter to me, though. They've said here in the letter that they're providing not only the funding, but manpower, whatever gear we may need and a daily stipend for staff." He beamed as he sat back. "What could be better than that? We leave in two weeks!"

  Tremain smiled as he stared at his friend. To see him this excited was a good thing. Perlmutter's eyes grew wide as a sudden thought hit him.

  "I say," he said as he struggled to sit up again. "You two should join us!" He looked at Christopher. "You're on break soon, aren't you?" Christopher smiled as he nodded. Perlmutter clapped his hands together.

  "Excellent! You can use this as research! Maybe you'll find being on a dig much more enjoyable than being in a stuffy old laboratory, eh?" He chuckled as he jabbed an elbow in Christopher's direction, clearly teasing Tremain.

  "Hollis, that's an excellent thought." Tremain said. "I'll just have to clear it with his mother."

  "She'll approve, there's no reason not to. This will be a wonderful experience for her son." He gave Christopher a wink. "It's settled.” He slapped the table. "I have to go get a list of equipment together."

  He heaved himself from the table and headed for the stairs.

  "I'll see you both when we set off!"

  Chapter 3

  The morning the expedition departed was a gray one. The dark clouds overhead were in stark contrast to the mood in the Hawking building. Hollis gave a short speech to the people who had collected to see them off. Even the news crews were there taking their pictures, videos and interviewing staff. Jenkins stood with his professor, fully recovered, beaming in pride, as it was his discovery that was the impetus for the undertaking. Perlmutter finished his speech, took a few questions and promised to keep everyone updated with semi-regular posts on the campus archeology blog.

  Tremain and Christopher stood in the back of the crowd, the former smiling and being genuinely amused by his friend's theatrics. Christopher, however, was paying attention to everything and everyone. The large trucks were all packed with gear, the buses were ready to take everyone to the train station. A special cargo car had been chartered by the Tyndall Foundation for just this occasion.

  Tremain looked around, curious. He hadn't seen anyone from this organization. He thought they would have been most eager to oversee the proceedings. Maybe Hollis had found the perfect donor after all. Tremain chuckled to himself. Good for him. He bent over to Christopher, who was watching as the final parcels were loaded onto the transports.

  "Guess we'll see how this all shapes up in a few days."

  Christopher nodded, eyes never leaving the proceedings.

  "My mother said she'd be here to see what kind of people we were going to be associating with, but she hasn't shown up yet."

  Tremain snorted at that statement, knowing his sister would never fail to follow through. He turned to see her just as she pushed through the throng of people.

  If anyone would have seen Tremain and Davina together growing up, they would have been hard pressed to tell they were siblings. While Tremain had dark hair that seemed never to be tamed, his sister's hair was more manageable, curlier, with highlights of red in it. All natural, she always explained, not out of a box. She was fairer of complexion, while Tremain was more olive-skinned.

  Their temperaments were polar opposite as well. Tremain was the curious, steady one as children, always getting into some trouble or other, while his sister tended to be the more volatile of the two, following to make sure Tremain didn't get into any serious harm, but blowing up at him if she was ever included in any punishment. But her anger, wh
ile fierce, didn't last. Before long, they'd be laughing together about something completely different.

  She saw them and waved, hustling over, her face full of concern.

  "Tremain, I would never have believed all these people would have shown up." She gave her son a warm embrace from behind. Christopher didn't seem to notice, but he did mumble ‘hi mum’ as she did so. "I almost couldn't get through. Once they heard who my brother was, well, they moved out of my way, didn't they?"

  Tremain smiled at her.

  "Davie, you are a singular woman." He patted her on the back. She released her son and turned on her brother.

  "So, what sort of danger are you going to drag my Christopher into?" Her eyes were piercing as she stared at him. Being the older sister, she seemed to take much pleasure in trying to intimidate her younger brother. As children, it worked, well, most of the time. As adults, though, she usually failed.

  Tremain returned her stare, giving a snort of mock indignation.

  "Dear sister of mine, you are completely mistaken. Hollis is the one running the show. He's quite competent, I assure you." He waved his hands in the direction of the podium. "Had you been here earlier, you would have heard his speech. Very moving." He threw his hands up. "Well, I guess you'll see it all on the news tonight. The camera crews were busy."

  She grabbed Tremain's arm and pointed a finger in his face, almost touching his nose.

  "Don't brush me off, little brother." She waggled her finger. Tremain had trouble keeping his eyes from following the painted nail as it moved back and forth in front of him. "You know as well as I do that trouble seems to follow you wherever you go." She dropped her hand and pulled at his lab coat lapels. "Just promise me you won't get into any."

  Tremain held up both hands in supplication.

  "I promise. Besides, we'll only be observing. We won't even be there but a day or two. He patted her arm, then turned and walked down to the trucks, to give Hollis a final send-off.

  Davie turned to her son. She took him by the shoulders and looked long and hard at him. He squirmed.

  "Mom, what's the deal?"

  She shook her head, and patted his shoulders, smoothing out the fabric of his sweatshirt.

  "You're growing up, that's all." She looked at him with pride and not a little affection in her eyes. "One day you're this little boy, sitting in my lap reading books together, next thing I know, here you are, traipsing around who knows where with your uncle." She sighed and shook her head. "What would your father think?"

  Christopher looked down, studying his shoes. When he was very little, his father, a biologist, had left on a small expedition to catalog the plant and animal life on the far side of the continent. His mother had received a few emails, then nothing. The party was never heard from again.

  Search parties were sent out, but no sign of the group was ever found. Christopher hardly even remembered his father and only knew his face from photos. The moment was broken as Tremain bounded back over to them.

  "Well, I've never seen Hollis so excited. He said he couldn't eat last night." He gave a short bark of a laugh. "Now that's something." He looked at Christopher, noticing the expression on his face. "What did I miss?"

  "I was just telling Christopher how proud his father would have been." Davie replied, a wistful look in her eyes.

  Tremain grimaced.

  "We're only going to be observing the expedition, Davie, not be a part of it. You don't have anything to worry about." He took his sister's hand, looked hard into her eyes.

  She smiled, gave his hands a squeeze and took a deep breath.

  "So, are you coming for dinner tonight?"

  Tremain smiled, slightly panicked, and looked over to Christopher, whose eager expression was one he couldn't refuse.

  He gulped hard.

  "Yes, tonight, I have nothing else planned. I just need to tie up a few loose ends at the lab and I can spend the rest of the day watching you cook for me." Christopher pumped his fist. While he spent almost every afternoon with his Uncle in the lab, the number of occasions they'd actually had a meal together grew fewer and farther apart as the years went on. Tremain rarely left the lab, so his coming to dinner was definitely a cause for celebration.

  "Did you need any help with that?" Christopher asked.

  Tremain gave him a warm grin.

  "I can always use your help." He gave his sister a hug. "Davie, we will join you in a couple of hours."

  She hugged him back, and gave her son a loving squeeze too.

  "Don't forget about me now,” She said as she left.

  Tremain turned to his nephew.

  "Now, Christopher. We have some planning to do." Tremain led his nephew back to the lab, where they both sat at the desk.

  Christopher noticed it was less cluttered than before.

  "Did you clean in here?" He asked, teasing.

  Tremain looked around, as if he'd not noticed before.

  "Hmmph. I guess the interns are doing their jobs after all." Christopher laughed as he looked around. Yes, even the box of old schematics was gone. The rest of the lab was as chaotic as always, though.

  "Just think, Hollis is going to want to show us everything. You'll be seeing the absolute inner workings of the project. And,” he said, straightening and raising his eyebrows, "if I know Hollis like I know Hollis, he'll be a stickler for doing things the "authentic" way." He laughed. "I almost feel sorry for those students." Still laughing, he stood and started checking on the existing experiments.

  While Tremain puttered around the lab, taking a few notes and muttering to himself, Christopher turned his attention to the nano blocks, changing them into different patterns using the app on his uncle's tablet. A thought occurred to him.

  "Did the police ever find out who stole the pictograph?"

  Tremain looked up at the question.

  "Did the what now? Oh, yes -- Hollis told me they did get back to him, but there wasn't enough evidence to point to any suspects. Everyone seemed to check out." He slowly walked back over to Christopher, deep in thought. "I can only assume it was someone from the outside." He shook his head. "But nobody from the outside knew about it. They didn't even want to look at my footprint app." He threw his hands up. "So the trail has gone cold. I do hope Hollis finds more of those pictographs during his expedition. That way,” he put away his notes in a drawer and faced his nephew. "He can truly put all this business behind him." He clapped his hands and rubbed them together. "Right. I'm done here. Shall we go face your mother?"

  Chapter 4

  Dinner was interesting, to say the least. Davie, never a great chef, liked to experiment with her cooking. Tremain and Christopher were met with nervous smiles and anticipatory glances. The kitchen, full of aromas of various spices, smelled mouth-watering. They sat down to a salad, which Tremain ate with great gusto. Next came the main course, the likes of which Tremain had never seen.

  What kind of animal it once had been was no longer identifiable. Covered in a cream gravy with black somethings that Tremain could only assume were peppercorns, or raisins, or some other dark spotty thing. The entire dish, once set on the table, fell away from itself, breaking into smaller portions. A bowl of steamed vegetables came next. Tremain tasted his serving tentatively, looking dubious. Christopher dutifully shoved a forkful in his mouth and started chewing, an audible crunching sound accompanying the action. Tremain hadn't noticed if his nephew had just eaten a fork of vegetables or the main course. He gulped hard and decided to stick to vegetables. They were, at least, recognizable. He could always eat something else later.

  After dinner, over a cup of herbal tea, they decided their own departure would be the day after Christopher began his break from school. Why waste time, Tremain noted.

  Davie made sure her brother was well aware of any consequences that could and would occur should Christopher come home maimed, disfigured or otherwise harmed.

  "Even if he has a broken fingernail!" She exclaimed. Tremain mollified his sister as w
ell as he could. Yes, there would be no reason for her to worry. It was only a dig. Nothing to be concerned about. Finally she relented and Tremain hurried home, with a renewed resolve to never get on his sister's bad side.

  Their departure was met with blue skies and much less fanfare than the actual expedition. Christopher met Tremain at the lab, bag in tow, and the two of them walked to the train station.

  "So where are we going? I never did hear where the expedition was headed." Christopher asked while they waited for the train. Tremain pulled out his tablet and brought up a map of the continent.

  Christopher could see the immensity of the city, the largest by far in all the colony reaching from the coastline for miles west, north and south. The line which showed the route they were to take wound westward, over two rivers and into the uncharted regions, deep in the heart of the continent.

  "Well, we can only take the train this far,” Tremain pointed to the last large dot on the screen. "This is the last station we've built that far west. In fact, I had Senator Marcus grant us special access to get there." He traced the line further west. "From here, I've hired an all-terrain vehicle which will take us the rest of the way. Once we're past this line here,” He tapped the dotted line that indicated the uncharted regions. It dutifully enlarged on the screen. Christopher could see many different types of land area dominated by a very large jungle. The line traveled only a short way before ending in an X. "Hollis will have someone meet us to hike the rest of the way into the jungle." He put the tablet away, as the sound of the approaching train grew louder.

  "Exciting isn't it?" He shouted over the train.

  Christopher nodded.

  "So, I was meaning to ask you, Uncle, why didn't we just use the transmitter to travel to the dig site?"