by A. E. Albert
“Um, Dad?”
“Yes?” His father turned to look at him with that smile that permeated his eyes.
Billy started to move around in his seat, feeling uncomfortable about the coming conversation. “We need to talk about something.”
“What’s that?” he asked. He turned to face Billy, giving him his undivided attention.
“You know what Dickens told you, right?”
“Oh, Billy, don’t let that old fool bother you. Don’t worry about the Sphere. It’s going to fix everything,” he replied. He ruffled Billy’s hair and then resumed looking through his microscope.
Billy just stared at his father’s profile. “It doesn’t, I’ve seen it,” he said quietly.
His father’s smile began to falter as he looked back at his son. “What are you talking about?”
“Just before Dickens brought me into the Sphere, I was almost killed.” His father could only stare as he continued, “by these beings, with huge green lasers or something.”
“You must have been mistaken, Billy,” he said with a small shake of his head and an expression of fear on his face.
“No, I’ve seen them,” Billy pressed.
Preston sat back in his chair, a frown creasing his brow. “But only I can control it and I would never allow it to be misused,” he said in a distant voice.
“Well, maybe if you need that kind of control, it’s not something safe to begin with.”
Preston looked at his son and smiled fondly. “You are wise for one so young, Billy. But I think that you need to have a little more faith in me,” he laughed softly.
“But this isn’t about you. It’s about something that’s going to happen in the future.”
Preston let out a long breath and gave his son what could only be described a patronizing smile. “I don’t think that you understand what the Sphere is going to accomplish, Billy. Nor do you understand what’s going on up there. We’re on the brink of a World War. Why else is this laboratory on the bottom of the ocean? The truth is, the Earth is in anarchy. People are dying by the thousands daily from starvation and war. The Earth can’t sustain its population and even if it could, we don’t have the resources anymore. The Sphere is not a science project Billy. It’s about the survival of the human race.”
“But all of that doesn’t mean anything if everything will be destroyed anyway,” Billy persisted.
“What you’re asking is impossible.”
Billy began to feel that familiar frustration bubble up inside him. “The human race won’t survive if you finish that gate. Forget the gate! You have to get rid of the Device! Why aren’t you listening to me?” Billy said, as his volume began to rise.
“I am. But I can’t worry about something that’s going to happen in the future and may not even happen. Besides, I can’t destroy the Device.”
“Why not? Then you’ll know it’ll never be misused!”
“Billy, I can’t destroy it.” Billy just stared at his father, not understanding, “The Device is tapped into the temporal plane. Destroying it would cause a ripple effect and I couldn’t possibly calculate the disastrous outcome. The safest plan would be to keep it protected.”
Billy stood up from his seat. “That’s not good enough! I’ve told you what happened to me and what’s going to happen in the future!”
“No, the old man told you!” replied his father, whose tone was becoming more and more heated.
“I’ve seen them!” Billy cried at a near shout.
Preston stood up and gazed down at his son. He then placed a hand on Billy’s shoulder. “You’re young, Billy. I think that you need to trust the adults in your life to know what’s best for you,” he said in a calm voice.
Billy couldn’t believe what his father was saying. He couldn’t help but feel hurt that he was sounding like every other adult in his life who made him feel like his opinion didn’t matter.
“You know what! You sound like everyone that’s been in my life, always telling me what to do and what to think! I know what I saw! Just because you’re some scientist doesn’t mean that you know everything!”
Preston’s expression darkened. “If you had lived here with me as my son, you wouldn’t be talking this way!” he replied sharply.
“But I didn’t, did I! And you know why? Because you built that stupid machine, that’s why! So sorry, I’m not the son you’ve always wanted!” Billy yelled.
Preston closed his eyes and placed his hand on his forehead. “Billy, that’s not what I meant-”
“I’ve had to live my whole life alone and without a family! Do you know what it’s like? People not accepting you! Always wishing you were somebody else! And Why? So I could come here and tell you what’s going to happen! I hate it, but I kinda get it! I need you to believe me!”
“I’ve dedicated my whole to life to the completion of this project. Everything! Finally after years of work, we’re almost there. I’ll make sure that this won’t happen, I promise you. You need to trust me, Billy.”
Billy just shook his head. “You need to trust me.”
“That means trusting the old man, I don’t think so.”
“I am telling you what I saw!”
Preston turned to his desk and began tidying the papers spread across the table top. “You’re a young man with a lively imagination. I’m sure you believe it,” he said brusquely.
Billy threw his hands in the air. “That’s it! You’re blowing me off! The fact that I’m here proves what the Sphere is capable of!”
Preston whipped his head around. “Exactly! It’s going to fix everything. Why can’t you understand that?”
Billy closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He didn’t want to yell at his father anymore. “Just because you won’t abuse it, Dad, doesn’t mean that others won’t,” he said in a controlled voice.
Preston looked at his son with sad eyes and then sat down at his desk. “I’m sorry that you don’t understand. I wish I could do this for you. The Sphere is beyond just me, there’re others involved. You’re asking me to do something I can’t,” he said, his voice tinged with regret as he bent over to resume his work.
Billy just stood there staring at his father’s back. The conversation was over. Billy felt the ball of fear grow in the pit of his stomach. He had seen the beings and knew what they could do. Billy hadn’t succeeded, after all and he had no idea what to do about it.
Chapter 39
It had been three days since Billy’s fight with his father. Their ‘talk’ had not resulted in the hoped for outcome and as a consequence, Billy became distant and moody. He knew in his heart that he wasn’t angry at his father, only his father’s lack of belief in him.
As a result, Billy stopped tagging along with his father to watch him work in the lab, and he generally left Jeanie to her own devices. He even ignored Heralds’ little verbal assaults, which he would have normally responded to with glee. Dickens, who had been quiet since arriving here, was even more so. Ya, it’s because he knows what I’m going through, he would muse contemptuously.
Why was he the one who had to deal with this garbage? Why couldn’t he have been born in a normal house and this whole mess be someone else’s problem to deal with? Dickens said he needed to come back here to fix the future, but he tried, and it didn’t work. What else was he supposed to do? How long would it be before his father opened that door? What did Dickens expect, some James Bond stuff and blow it up? All he wanted to do was live peacefully with his dad. But since the fight, Billy avoided him and his father wouldn’t look him in the eye.
The real hitch in Billy’s long term plan involved a conversation he heard between his father and Herald. It was one thing that his father refused to listen to him, but there was more going on than he realized.
The day before, Billy was on the observation deck trying desperately to figure out what to do, but he still couldn’t think of anything. He didn’t want to talk to Dickens, and he didn’t want to burden Jeanie.
As h
e gazed out into the murky water, he heard voices down the corridor. “…it may not be what you think. They’re head of the project, after all,” said the familiar voice of Herald.
Billy heard the sharp response of his father. “I’m head of the project, Herald! I was given complete autonomy! What’s going on here?” he said with frustration.
“So they want a report, it’s no big deal. They do pay the bills after all.”
“Yes, but they have never requested anything of this nature before,” replied Preston.
“Dr. Thorn, just do what they want and get them off our back!”
“I don’t think so! This is my project, and it’s going to be done my way! I will have nobody interfering! What we’re dealing with is potentially dangerous. I will not share sensitive information with the military, especially when the Sphere has nothing to do with their division!”
“So what do you want me to do? Ignore them! Preston, you’re talking about the Inner Circle. Everything is in their jurisdiction.” Herald replied. His annoyed tone was now laced with fear.
“I was promised, Herald. I was told this was my project.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“Nothing for now. Don’t worry, Herald, I’ll deal with them.”
At that moment, Preston and Herald came around the corner. When Preston saw Billy, he stopped in mid stride. “Oh, Billy, I didn’t expect you to be here.”
“Hi, dad. Hey, Herald. So, what’s going on?” he asked casually.
“Nothing for you to worry about,” his father coolly responded, as he continued to walk quickly down the corridor.
“It's beginning, isn’t it?” Billy asked softly.
Preston turned around to look at him. “I told you; I have it under control” he replied in a hard voice.
“No, I don’t think you do,” countered Billy quietly. He just looked at his dad and then Herald and walked away.
His father had mentioned ‘others’ during their little talk. And the military! What did they have to do with this! The Sphere was not going to stay under his father’s control whether he wanted it to or not, Billy thought. It didn’t matter if he convinced his father to dispose of the Sphere because it wouldn’t only be him that he had to convince.
Billy was slowly realizing that the way to reach his goal may not be what he thought it was. Only, he didn’t think he could do it.
Billy was lying on his bed staring up at the ceiling of his quarters with these thoughts when Dickens found him. He heard someone enter his room and sit down. He knew it wasn’t Jeanie because she would have jumped on his bed and hit him with a pillow. It had to be Dickens. Although Billy still felt a residual anger towards him, he was the person he needed to talk to most right now.
He sat up and stared at the old man calmly sitting on a plush chair by his bed. “So, I guess you know what part of the story I’m at,” said Billy, returning Dickens steady gaze. The old man just nodded his head without saying a word.
“Can you please just tell me what I’m supposed to do? My dad won’t believe me! I don’t know what to do, Dickens!” he pleaded.
Dickens continued to look at Billy evenly. “No,” he said quietly.
Billy stood up, throwing his hands out. “Why not?” he shouted.
“I think you’re beginning to see why not.”
Billy’s anger melted away, his face crumbling as he shook his head. “No, I’ve finally found the life that I want. I’m not losing it!”
Dickens just folded his hands in his lap. “Sometimes we don’t always get what we want, Billy.”
“Why not, some people do?”
“You’re not some people.”
Billy took the few steps necessary to reach Dickens, his fists clenched at his sides. “It’s not fair!”
Dickens calmly looked up at the enraged boy and said, “Do you really want me to respond to that?”
Billy gazed deep into Dickens eyes for the first time in a long time. “Do I ever get to see him again? I mean when he knows it’s me.”
Dickens just smiled. “You’ll just have to find out, now won’t you.” He then got up and walked out of the room.
Billy slowly walked down the shining corridors of the lab, his hands in his pockets and deep in thought. Without meaning to, he walked in the direction of the laboratory’s mess hall.
The familiar sound of Jeanie’s voice made him stop. He peered in and noticed that the room was filled with different scientists who were stationed around the lab.
At the end of a table, he saw Jeanie sitting with Herald. He felt a momentary pang of remorse. He figured that by ignoring her for the past few days, he had forced her into Herald’s company. However, as he gazed at the scene before him, he realized he was wrong.
“Jeanie, stop it!” the pointy faced man stated, while trying not to smile.
Jeanie was sitting across from Herald, trying to balance a spoon on her nose. “Ok, Herald, you can create stuff that looks through walls, but come on, can you do this?” Not a moment later she squealed as the spoon fell and clattered onto the table.
“You and your childish games?” he replied in that snooty voice, but which also had a tinge of amusement in it.
Jeanie folded her arms and rested them on the table. She lightly shook her head and her expression was one of sympathy. “Admit it, Herald, my gravity defying talents are beyond you. It’s ok,” she said, as she patted his hand.
Herald squinted his eyes and pointed at her with his spoon. “Excuse me, little missy, but I defied gravity when I invented anti-gravity hair spray!”
“Anti- gravity what?”
“Well, it’s not really a spray in the conventional sense. You shoot a compacted air stream made up of various compounds which affect the air surrounding your head. Anyway, your hair stands up on its own. Do you know what spray bottles were doing to the ozone layer?”
Jeanie just at stared him, her left eyebrow cocked up and a look of disbelief on her face.
“Oh for-! Give me that!” growled Herald, as he grabbed the spoon and placed it on his nose.
The room immediately erupted into cheers. Jeanie fell into hysterics, rocking back and forth, clutching her stomach.
Why was he surprised that Jeanie had brought Herald over to her way of seeing things. Everywhere they went, everyone loved her instantly. Archimedes may have had his own agenda, but Billy knew that Jeanie was a big reason why he came to their rescue. She hadn’t even said a word to Georgii for him to become hopelessly enamored with her and even Rene was spellbound. It made sense to Billy now. She didn’t have to try to see the good in people; it just came naturally, so people in turn instantly saw it in her.
Billy didn’t know how he could have gone through what he did without her. She told him off when he needed it and backed him up when he needed it. She and Dickens were the first people in his life that he let see who he truly was; the good, bad and the ugly. He was truly himself and they didn’t despise him for it. In fact, in doing so, he came to see the good in himself too.
Billy now knew that in this life you need friends to back you up. And if he did what he was thinking about doing, he would need them more than ever before. His fear of losing people he cared about began to resurface, but Billy forced it down. He’d been missing out in life, and since his adventures from the time he left Pine St, he knew he could never go back.
Billy still felt overwhelmed by the decision he had to make. He was beginning to understand the task assigned to him and it wasn’t to convince his father to stop his work on the Time Sphere. It wasn’t fair that he finally found what he searched his whole life for, only to give it up. However, if there was one lesson he learned, it was that life was a choice and sometimes we have to make the difficult one.
The thought suddenly struck Billy. If Dickens had brought him straight to his father from Pine St, he would never have considered what he now knew he needed to do. He was ashamed to admit he was the selfish boy that Dickens said he was. He had only ever conside
red his own hurts and his own losses.
Billy realized that this was a decision only he could make, without the help of Dickens. That was why Dickens did what he did. He had to bring Billy to the place where he would think of others before himself, where he would have the courage to do what’s right. That was a lesson he would never have learned if he had not travelled to the places he did and met the people he had.
He wanted to laugh when he thought about crazy Archimedes, who made him see that the impossible was possible. He smiled as he remembered the water rushing to his face as he jumped into the sea. He never thought he would ever do something like that!
Then there was Leonardo, whose love for those annoying fur balls helped him learn that friendships are necessary, no matter how long they last.
Georgii. What else was there to say? That name would always be synonymous with courage, doing what’s right and in the end just doing the best you can with what you’ve been given.
Billy held his head up high. Gone were his doubts about what he had to do. Something needed to be done and he was the only one who could do it.
Billy’s gaze returned to the happy scene before him. He smiled as he watched Herald roar with laughter as a colleague was attempting to outdo him, balancing a spoon precariously on his nose.
Just then, Billy caught Jeanie’s eye. She smiled and waved him over to join them.
So he did.
Chapter 40
“Dad,” Billy said, as he stood behind his father, who was hunched over analyzing some kind of data.
“Mmmmm,” was the man’s only reply, still focused on his work and not looking up from his papers.
“Dad!” Billy repeated with more force.
His father looked up at him with a startled expression. “What is it? Is something wrong?” he asked with concern in his voice. “I really think we should talk about our argument the other day. I’m sorry for my part-”
Billy didn’t smile as he looked down at his father and fought to keep his mind focused on what he needed to say. “I need to leave.”
