Book X

by Robert P McAuley

  Kal felt relief as the driver found an opening to drive through, away from the orphanage.

  Finally at the pier, he paid the cabby and went to a long line of passengers that meandered along the long wooden pier. Thankfully the weather was nice as there was no awning for the crowd. Finally, it was his turn and the clerk just glanced at his passport and stamped his ticket without even looking at his face. These are the days of easy-going, he thought as he took his valise and walked up the enclosed gangway and into the ship.

  His cabin was 102 and he found it easily on the top deck of the two-stack ship with two large mainsails that were tied down. I wonder if they are going to use the sails, as well as the engines? he thought as he opened the cabin door and entered. The top deck was designed to have less resistance to the airflow and the benefit was that his cabin narrowed at the front and widened at the rear. At the wide section there were two porthole type windows, one on the left, so he could look out and see the pier, while there was another on the other side facing the next pier.

  Great, he thought, I wonder how many cabins have two windows facing out either side of the ship? I have a sneaky suspicion that Matt knew the answer and made sure I had one of them.

  The bed was located at the widest end of the cabin and Kal put his valise on the hassock at the foot of the double bed and looked around as he unfastened it. The walls were covered with flocked faux roses complete with intertwining stems that showed off the thorns and painted drops of morning dew on a few petals. The roses stood out against a field of light green that went to an even lighter green giving it depth. The horizon line, which was the division of the earth and sky, was a blend of the sky’s blue and the earthy green. The ceiling was painted as the sky but went from an eggshell blue at the widest part of the triangular ceiling to a dark blue-black with pinpoints of white and silver dots that mimicked the big dipper and a hundred other stars. Each of the corners of the cabin had a three-foot wide, round, marble column that went from the red tiled floor to the 12-foot ceiling ending in Romanesque open-petal capitals that supported the well-appointed molding, which gave the ceiling a look of being open to the sky.

  Kal shook his head at the opulence. He opened a louvered door to see a claw-footed bathtub against the far wall whose tiles were painted to look like a waterfall flowing into the tub. A pedestal sink stood to the right of the tub and had an ornate gold-plated double-headed lamp above it and Kal was happy to see a toilet. The floor was done in the same hexagon red tiles as the main room. He closed the door and opened the second one to find a closet. Besides the bed the cabin held a cherry wood table with two hinged leafs that, when opened, became a large round table. Four cherry wood chairs were tucked beneath the table. A round, red, thick piled rug anchored the bed and as usual a writing table was situated on either side of the bed and each had an electric lamp on it. There was a cherry wood six-drawer dresser and next to that a wall-mounted, full length mirror.

  Kal quickly pulled close the deep red short drapes of the two windows, retrieved the communicator and typed in, HI BILL. AM ABOARD THE SHIP AND I AM OVERWHELMED TO SAY THE LEAST! MATT HAS ME FEELING LIKE A KING . . . AND I LOVE IT! MORE LATER, KAL. He pressed the send button and the message was sent up to 2014.

  The newest time traveler finished unpacking and decided to walk the deck. He took the key that was hanging on the wall next to the door and after locking the door, pocketed it. He did a complete walk around smoking his pipe. He stopped at a glass-covered bulletin board that showed him where the various activities were located. Swimming pool, he thought as he mentally wrote that down and added, gym and ship’s library. He noted that dinner would be in the main dining room at 7 p.m., looked at his pocket watch and calculated, “4: 15 and dinner is at 7 which means that I have a couple of hours to explore the ship.”

  The gym was closed, but the door was open so he entered. A well-built young man nodded as he placed clean white towels in a stack next to his desk. “Good day, sir. We’re not open yet, but feel free to look around.”

  “Thank you, I will,” Kal answered as he walked around the large room. Besides the pool, there were ten rowing machines, a large monkey bars set up for climbing, racks containing various sized pins, not unlike bowling pins, four thick ropes hanging from the ceiling down to the wrestling mats for the rope climbing enthusiasts and dumbbells of different weights.

  “I shall take advantage of your equipment, sir,” he said to the man.

  “We open promptly at eight in the morning, sir. Hope to see you then.”

  Kal nodded and went to the library, which was also closed but had their doors open. He glanced in and saw twelve racks containing many books. I wonder if there are some first edition classics available? he thought as he moved on. This can really be a nice trip.

  By the time the dinner bell rang, Kal had explored most of the ship. He stepped back out on the top deck and laughed at himself as he saw the tip of New York City slide by. I must have really been engrossed, he thought with a shake of his head, I never even heard the ship’s whistle or felt the movement as she pulled out of port.

  He went back to his cabin and finished unpacking. Kal picked up the ship’s brochure from on top of the dresser and started to read up on the Teutonic. It was then that he heard a voice outside of his cabin door. He opened it and saw a young man dressed in a white uniform calling all to dinner as he walked the deck. Kal didn’t need to be called twice and he joined the crowd of passengers going to the dining room.

  The large room was even more opulent than his cabin with four Romanesque columns going up from the dark wood floor to the fifteen-foot high ceiling, once again ending in open petal capitals. The walls were covered in a continuous mural depicting countryside of rolling hills with small brooks that seemed to pop out from behind bushes and trees and finally end up as a small waterfall emptying into another brook that disappears again on the other side of a glen. Wandering paths of multi-colored, irregular, flat stones mimicked the brooks as they too disappeared over the glen only to reappear and fade off into the distance between stands of trees. Butterflies and birds were pictured flitting about enjoying the bright sunshine that left long streams of sunlight, which filtered down through the leaves of the trees.

  The passengers entered the large room by way of a grand staircase that widened as it descended from the upper to the second deck. The staircase was made of marble, as were the very wide banisters and the uprights that supported them. It was designed to make a passenger feel as though they were royalty and it worked! Just about every man present wore his best suit while the women were dressed as if they were going to a ball. Class act, thought the time traveler with a grin as he descended the staircase.

  Kal spotted the table he wished to be at. Like all of the other tables, it was round with ten chairs slid beneath it. He chose this table because it was in front of one of the windows, which allowed the sunlight to bathe it. The sunlight glinted off of the green-trimmed, Royal Worcester, English Garden dinnerware and the Georgian English Sterling Silverware as well as the Victorian water pitchers and glasses, all of which sat on the white Irish Linen Double Damask tablecloth with matching scalloped edged napkins.

  Kal saw that until a table was full, all stood. Within minutes, they were all seated. Nods were made until one of the men started introductions.

  “Greetings,” the heavy-set, red headed man with a large handlebar mustache said, “I am Charles Wheeler. Shall we all introduce ourselves?”

  A thin black man with gray hair at his temples and a hint of a beard was next, “And I am George Samson.” A slim, pretty woman nodded shyly and said, “Mary Anderson.” A cheerful man with a wide grin said, “Guess I’m next! Well, I’m R.W. Rueckheim and all my friends call me RW.” A slim man who was almost bald nodded, “Daniel Cooper.”

  “Mike Owens,” said a short gray haired man with a very thin mustache.

  “And I’m Leo Hirshfield,” claimed a big man with dark hair and a single eyebrow across both eyes that gave
him a permanent frown.

  “I’m Kal Kurop,” said the time traveler with a nod and a smile.

  W.S. Hadaway,” said a young man with thick glasses that made his green eyes seemed to bulge, “But my friends all know me as WS.”

  “Well,” said a rotund man with a hairline, not unlike a monk, “guess I’m the last one. I’m Harvey Hubbell and pleased to meet you all.”

  Charles Wheeler reached for the bottle of wine and said, “I suggest we toast to our group. All in favor?”

  As all nodded he poured the glasses and when all had a drink he said, “Here’s to our table and a fine trip abroad.”

  They all cheered and tapped glasses before taking a sip.

  A waiter appeared and passed out the dinner menus and they all perused them.

  Savory Vegetable Beef Soup

  Roast Turkey with Dressing

  Roast Beef with Dressing

  or

  Roast Pork with Specialty Potatoes

  or

  Chicken Fricassee served with Rice

  Two Vegetable Side Dishes: Beets and Carrots

  Citrus Ice

  Fresh Dinner Rolls with Sweet Cream Butter

  Jams, Jellies & Sweet Pickles

  Fancy Cake & Preserved Fruit

  Hot Coffee, Hot Punch, Tea & Water

  Hirshfield spoke up as he gazed at his menu, “If I may make a suggestion, the roast beef is nothing but outstanding. I know this because I had traveled before on this very ship and enjoyed the beef immensely.”

  Nods all around said that all would take his word for it and it turned out to be outstanding, as he had predicted. Small talk was made as the waiters served coffee and once again it was Hirshfield who touched on the reason for his trip. “So, am I to believe that I am the only person at this table to be going to the Inventors Conference in Split, Yugoslavia?” He looked at the group and went on, “I saw most of the persons at this table sign up for the conference so I think not.”

  Harvey Hubbell grinned as he said, “Sir, you are correct. I myself spotted at least half of us at the sign up table.”

  “Perhaps a show of hands should be called for,” said Cooper as he raised his. It suddenly became quite evident that Kal was the only non-inventor at the table.

  “So I sit with a table full of inventors. Perhaps I should sit elsewhere?” Kal said with a make-believe frown on his face.

  Hirshfield spoke first, “Nonsense, sir! In fact, a neutral person is what is needed to stop us inventors from bragging . . . if that is possible.”

  They all laughed and Mary Anderson said, “The word ‘inventor’ is another way of saying that we are engineers who have been trained to see things differently than most. I see a child riding a tricycle and wonder if maybe four wheels would be safer than just three. I have always seen things that I wish to change and improve upon.”

  RW nodded as he joined in, “I agree with Miss Anderson in that I too see everything as being unfinished and just waiting for me to add something to it to set it right.”

  Michael Owens asked, “And you, Mr. Kurop, are you one of the lucky people that are satisfied with the world as it is?”

  Kal shrugged and said, “Yes, I admit to that. But I am grateful that people, such as you all, look to make the world a better place for all to live in.”

  “Well said, sir, well said,” added W.S. “Then I suggest that we all enjoy our meals at this very same table each day and perhaps we shall invent something for Mr. Kurop’s world.”

  All agreed and Kal addressed the group, “Tell me: do you all sit and try to think of an invention or does something trip a lever in your keen minds that give you a ‘eureka moment’?”

  “A ‘eureka moment’!” said Hirshfield with a belly laugh. “A wonderful question, my friend.” He scratched his chin and his eyebrows went into a furrow as he thought a moment and then said, “Kal, the truth is: I do not know!”

  “Then,” said Kal, “perhaps I, as the only person at this table not affected with the urge to change things, should pass out assignments with the winning invention to be the winner?”

  RW looked at the group and with a smile said, “I do believe it would be a fun project.”

  All nodded their agreement as Hirshfield added, “Well I would imagine that, rather than a working model, we shall all show a drawing on notebook paper. Are we all in agreement?”

  There was a unanimous show of hands.

  “Very well,” said Kal, “Hopefully by tomorrow morning I shall greet you all with a request for an invention.”

  After dinner, they all went different ways and Kal took the time to walk the deck puffing on his pipe. It was ten o’clock when he made a list of names and opened the communicator. He typed in:

  GREETINGS BILL. ENJOYING THE CRUISE IMMENSELY! I HAVE A STRANGE REQUEST THAT I HOPE YOU CAN FULLFILL. I AM WITH A GROUP OF INVENTORS WHO ARE ON THEIR WAY TO A CONVENTION IN SPLIT, YUGOSLAVIA. I WONDER IF YOU CAN TELL ME IF ANY OF THEM INVENTED SOMETHING?

  CHARLES WHEELER, GEORGE SAMSON, MARY ANDERSON, R.W. RUECKHEIM, DANIEL COOPER, MIKE OWENS, LEO HIRSHFIELD, W.S. HADAWAY AND HARVEY HUBBELL. IT’S NO MORE THAN A FUN PROJECT SO IF YOU CAN’T DO IT, NO PROBLEM. REGARDS, YOUR TIME TRAVELING FRIEND, K.K.

  He closed the communicator and filled the bathtub then took a soothing bath. After his bath Kal donned the thick terry cloth robe and selected one of the ship’s color brochures, propped up three pillows and lay back and read them.

  The picture on the cover of the brochure showed a black and white ship with two funnels that had a deep blue ring of color at their tops. The brochure said that the Teutonic was 582 feet long and had a 57.7-foot beam. She was launched on January 19, 1889 and made her maiden voyage on August 7, 1889. And was scrapped in Emden in 1921, Kal thought with a sigh. He read on: She weighed 9,984 gross tons and was powered by two triple expansion engines that turned two propellers to a top speed of 20.5 knots and could carry 1,490 passengers. She was the first White Star ship not to have square rigged sails and participated in the Spithead Naval Review on August 1, commemorating Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee.

  Kal felt the warm sensation of sleep taking over and turned off the lights and allowed himself to slip off to sleep.

  The alarm on his pocket watch caused Kal to wake with a start. Remembering where he was, he lay back and listened to the quiet throb of the engines. The time traveler picked up the hairbrush communicator and popped it open. He smiled at seeing the red blinking light, “A message!” he said as he pressed a small button that allowed the message to be displayed on the small screen.

  KAL, GREETINGS FROM THE BIG APPLE. AS PER YOUR REQUEST, I EASILY FOUND THE INFO YOU REQUESTED THANKS TO GOOGLE! YOU ARE AMONG SOME PRETTY SMART PEOPLE.

  CHARLES WHEELER, INVENTED THE ESCLATOR IN 1892.

  GEORGE SAMSON, PATENTED THE CLOTHES DRYER IN 1892.

  MARY ANDERSON, INVENTED THE WINDSHIELD WIPER 1896.

  R.W. RUECKHEIM, CAME UP WITH CRACKER JACKS IN1893. DON’T KNOW IF THAT’S CONSIDERED AN INVENTION BUT MILLIONS OF PEOPLE ALL AROUND THE WORLD ARE GLAD HE DID!

  DANIEL COOPER, CAME UP WITH THE TIME CLOCK IN 1894.

  MIKE OWENS, INVENTED THE GLASS-BLOWING MACHINE IN 1895.

  LEO HIRSHFIELD, CAME UP WITH THE TOOTSIE ROLL IN 1896. ONCE MORE, IS IT AN INVENTION? AND ONCE MORE MILLIONS OF PEOPLE ARE HAPPY THAT HE DID.

  W.S. HADAWAY, PATENTED THE ELECTRIC STOVE IN 1896.

  HARVEY HUBBELL, INVENTED THE ELECTRIC LIGHT BULB SOCKET WITH THE PULL CHAIN IN 1896.

  HOPE THIS HELPS. GOOD LUCK, BILL.

  Wow, thought Kal as he took a sheet of writing paper and copied the message.

  After washing and shaving he went to the gym and worked out with the free weights and ended doing thirty minutes on the rowing machine. He went back and took a quick bath before going to breakfast.

  The table was full and Hirshfield looked at his pocket watch and said with a wink as Kal took his seat, “Ahhh, good morning, my friend. We were about to wager whether or not you would
show up and if you brought along your homework for us to explore?”

  “And the answer is,” said Kal with a slight bow, “Yes and yes!”

  “I would suggest,” interjected Mary Anderson, “that we eat first as I tend to conjure up my ideas on a full stomach.”

  All agreed by opening the gold edged menus to see what the White Star liner offered its passengers.

  Breakfast

  Two eggs, Soft or Hard-boiled, Scrambled, Two or Three minute in a holder

  MEATS

  Bacon, Ham, Mutton, English Sausage, German Sausage

  PIES

  Scotch Pies, Irish Pies

  CHILLED JUICES

  Choice of Fresh Orange, Fresh Grapefruit, Cranberry, Apple, Prune, Pineapple, Tomato,

  FRESH FRUIT & COMPOTE

  Half Sectioned Grapefruit, Fresh Melon Platter, Fresh Fruit Salad: Seasonal, Berries & Cream Compote of Stewed Prunes, Grapefruit Segments & Kadota Figs

  HOT & COLD CEREALS

  Choice of Oatmeal, Cream of Wheat, Swiss Muesli

  FRESH FROM THE BAKERY

  Croissants, Brioche, Assorted Pastries, French Bread, Muffins, Warmed English Muffins, Rye Bread, Pumpernickel, White Rolls, Banana Bread

  Breakfast was a two hour affair and all seemed to waddle rather than walk out of the room. Hirshfield said as he patted his ample stomach, “What do you all say to a walk around the deck and stop in the lounge for an after breakfast drink where Kal can unfold his diabolical scheme for us?”

  All agreed and twenty minutes later they sat at a large round table as they did for breakfast, but this time the beverage was red wine.