Broad then looked at his subordinate Daniel Raymore, in-house accountant and chief bookkeeper, and yelled out into the hallways, “Mildred, come in here please.” Broad beckoned as he had done many times before in a loud and hoarse manner for his assistant, a fair-haired young woman in a plaid dress and small glasses. Daniel took this as his usual cue to leave without question and slowly headed out the door as Mildred entered the room. Broad admired her tall voluptuous frame as she approached and he reached out as if to grab her rear end but smirked as he pinched the air behind her. “Nice caboose mamasita.”
“You wanted to see me, Mr. Staffnight?” Mildred looked at him with her usual tone that indicated respect but an attitude that she was not at all amused by his behavior.
“Talking about fortunes and empires, making money, and distress….” Broad uttered his famous diatribe that all who knew him had grown accustomed to as he waved his hand in the air melancholically.
“Yeah, nice staff you got here, Broad” uttered Denis Thoroughgood who passed
by the office glancing through the open door.
Broad gave him a coy glance signaling that he wanted to be alone.
“We will discuss more about the project soon, Denis” he responded with a sly hint
of annoyance in his voice.
“No problem.” Denis responded with a smile as he popped his head into the
office, nodded quickly, and then just as quickly took his leave from the large corner office closing the door behind him.
Broad then took his seat at his desk as Mildred sat in the chair before him with a pad and pen resting in her lap. Broad was what most would consider a ladies’ man and had his way with anyone he pleased. He stood six foot five inches tall, square shouldered, tight round jaw, and jet black buzz cut-type hair and slimming into a pro formal Armani suit, gilded cufflinks, and bright orange power tie that epitomized the perfection and massive wealth that he sought and claimed he deserved. When he sat he exhibited the persona of the all-American boy, a football quarterback and champion star athlete in high school, who dated and married the homecoming queen, studied law, politics, and high finance at the finest European schools, served in the Marine Corps, and now was head of one of the top Fortune 100 companies in the world. But there was something else about the way he carried himself that made him seem far more ominous as his long arms curved in front of him like tendrils plotting and waiting deviously for the kill. “We need to talk more about your future. “
Mildred reluctantly smiled and sat uneasy in her seat before her boss’ marble laden large oak desk.
Broad lit and smoked one of his famous Cuban cigars taken from his secret spot underneath a hardcover copy of Machiavelli’s Prince in the middle right hand draw of his desk. He looked at Mildred as he puffed his cigar. “You know why I called you in here?”
“No, Mr. Staffnight. I am here…”she began.
“Honey, please do me a favor.” Broad interrupted her. “Will you call me Senor (accent) Staffnight? That Latin side of you makes me all fired up.” Broad mimicked a jungle cat’s roar jokingly as he displayed his hand out like a claw. “I feel feisty too.”
Mildred began to rise to her feet. “I don’t feel comfortable.”
“Sit down!” Broad commanded. “We are here today to start talking about fortunes and empires, the true realities of making money, amidst the boldest corporations of high finance in our market.”
Mildred rolled her eyes with a nonchalant attitude displaying sarcasm but having a hidden fear of him as well as she heard his typical diatribe before but was never alone with him as she heard that he made his usual sexual advances to the female staff.
“Mildred,” Broad continued. “Some say that there are some things in this world that are too powerful to fully be understood by the human mind… but given the right market anything is possible, even amid the chaos and distress of innocence lost, madness revered, challenges conquered, things lost, more gained.” His thoughts slipped away from him as he gazed into empty space.
“Sir?!” Mildred interrupted.
“Mildred,” Broad screamed out. “I want you to prepare a letter to Mr. Lorn Kilner of Chronos Enterprises and inform him that we are ready to participate in the project that we discussed last week and that preparations are being made to engage the relevant third party collectors who will bring forth the necessary equipment.” He smirked as he watched Mildred, carefully admiring her slim physique in a tight red, short dress, her sleeves pushed up to her elbows and her long legs crossed in front of her with her legal pad on her lap where she furiously took copious notes. “Further inform him that we have devoted our full attention to this matter and the success it will bring to both our firms.”
“Yes sir. Is there anything else?”
“Yes, get up and shake that money maker for daddy,” he puffed his cigar proudly as Mildred rose grumbling, hands on her hips, giving him a deathly glare but then turned to leave without another word. Broad looked at her as she walked away from him completely disdained by both his ego and his tone.
CHAPTER 8
James walked down the streets amongst the garbage-strewn sidewalks of his home community. He bore facial stubble and lice-ridden short black curly hair, sun-tanned complexion, and yellow teeth. The intense heat and sunlight made him sweat profusely in the dying neighborhood around him.
“James… James Timewalker, is that you?” A limousine approached appearing oddly out of place in the decaying mess that became this tattered community. A man in his thirties with a mustache and custom made suit popped his head out of the window.
“Hello, do I know you?” said James as he stopped wondering who knew his name, specifically someone wealthy enough to be in a limousine.
“It’s me, James. Syrus Bilderberger. We went to Chronix Bay High together. Wow you look … different.” He said with a shy frown. “What happened?”
“Life happened I guess. The economy is rough and it’s tough to get work and boy do I need some cash.”
“I’m sorry, James. Let me help you.” Syrus exited the limousine and reached into his back pocket.
“No, Syrus, I can’t take your money.” James spoke modestly ashamed of his own sorry state of affairs.
“Actually, I was going to give you something better than money.” He took out his wallet and opened it, pulling out a business card.
“Nothing is better than money” laughed James but then stopped as he saw Syrus had a serious look on his face. He handed James the business card taken out of his breast pocket.
”What’s this?” asked James.
“Possibly your future. You see I run a Fortune 500 company in Superior City and we need some good people for a special program we are starting aimed at assisting disadvantaged members of society to get a better grasp on life.”
“They don’t want me. I’m a junkie, I mean recovering junkie sort of by choice.”
“We can help you get the help you need. Just think about it and call me. Here,” he gave James a quarter and then reentered his limousine and smiled.
“Thanks.”
“It was good seeing you again, James.” He waved as the limousine drove off leaving James still alone and homeless.
James looked at the card and smiled. “Temporo, Inc.… ‘Knowledge is power’. Hmm.” He pocketed the card and continued on his way towards no place in particular.
CHAPTER 9
“Lives in wealth and poverty split in two but no longer.” Broad Staffnight spoke with a revered voice rivaling any who he went up against. He stood on the stage of the auditorium before a crowd of military and civilian personnel ready to eagerly embrace the unveiling of a new technological advancement by his company. He remembers practicing the speech in his head a dozen or more times and thinking of what he was working on was going to change civilization. He echoed the words before the podium microphone as he did to the mirror in his bedroom.
“We are on the threshold of a new era where the technology we dreamed of fo
r centuries will become a reality and the power our ancestors envisioned as the scourge of their gods will help us turn myth into reality, legend into truth, and hope will come to the world. Along with our philanthropic endeavors to rid the scourge of homelessness from our city streets within one generation, we will focus on producing new innovations and technologies to challenge us and bring hope and prosperity to mankind along the way. This technology behind me is the key to the beginning of our journey into the next step of mankind’s transgression into the new frontier of exploration.” He gestured to the curtain behind him connected to a gilded string hanging before him. “This will help us in many ways and be used for the benefit of humanity and we at Temporo, Inc. will lead the way! God speed on our journey with this new device that will be the first of many more to come as our future depends on it!”
The crowd applauded and stood, eagerly ready for their exposure to the promise of tomorrow, Broad pulled the string and the curtain dropped, revealing a large pod with circuitry and computers attached spanning almost the entire auditorium. “There it is, the TI Matter Stream Generator, the world’s first Teleportation Device.”
Broad grimaced as he unveiled the device he had helped build and that he and others like him dreamed of for so long. He then remembered the story he read as a child by Herman Melville, about a sea captain obsessed with the hunt of the great white whale and how he was often warned by his superiors that “a healthy obsession is one thing but a crazed one would ultimately destroy you… how odd of me to remember that now?” He thought as the crowd erupted into further applause and ovation to the glowing smiles of the white coat scientists and dark suits on stage, some bearing signs of a military background. Broad merely smiled and rejoiced at the moment.
CHAPTER 10
James grew up in Chronix Bay and he always had a run of bad luck in life. He never finished high school and he never held a job for more than a month. His friends from his youth had left for bigger and better things, including his childhood sweetheart. He got involved with drugs and alcohol at a young age and never recovered, falling behind in everything he did until even his own mother had enough and he was left alone on the streets with no money and no hope.
James spent his childhood racing up and down the streets in his hometown of Chronix Bay, as he was chasing pipe dreams and ice cream covered fantasies. He still spent most of his adulthood doing just that, but often yearned for more. He frequently faced the untenable dilemma of surrendering his hopes and dreams, his goals for the future, to the relentless search for the unknown. Having always been curious in wanting to pursue the lure of riches and pleasures that accompanied the stereotypically successful life, he was drawn to a life on the streets mainly because of his personal failures that came to pass. Ironically, his failures stemmed from his childlike curiosity. He tried to make himself feel better by accepting his life and being grateful that he was not confined to the golden cage of a typical corporate office job but there were times when he was envious of those who had attained such status. He was a disadvantaged and poverty-stricken Latino youth and knew that others such as he faced similar fates and remained ignorant of their potential. It was not the first time that he wondered about this dilemma and it would not be the last. He has survived for the past two years by the only means he knew how: lying, cheating, and stealing. It was the grace of good fortune that prevented his capture by the police or the local criminal gangs. He sometimes wished he had heeded the warnings of his late father to better himself. “Knowledge is power” he always said, but James did not listen and thought it better to enjoy life and the vices it brings. It is funny, he thought, that now he was given the chance to better himself with those three simple words on the business card he held in his pocket, “knowledge is power”. Time passes like sand through the hourglass and the day became night. James walked down the street breathing a sigh of relief having avoided the local crime gang called the Night Stalkers. He noticed the sidewalks were empty, with not a soul around but one, an elderly Native American woman who was dressed in a large shawl adorned with multicolored feathers. The wrinkles on her faced displayed wisdom beyond years. She jingled a hand-made necklace made of turquoise colored beads, bits of straw, and a green pendant shaped like a pentagon at the end of it. She glanced at him as he walked by.
“The strength of the spirituals is with you,” she said extending the pendant to him but he avoided contact and kept walking.
“Maybe later” he nodded with a grimace as her voice echoed in the distances of his mind as he continued walking by thinking, “what a nut case.” He suddenly felt a shiver, as a gust of unexplainable wind permeated the air around him. He turned with a sudden jolt as he remained in awe to learn no one was there. “What the heck…” He turned and kept walking.
James arrived at a rundown alleyway near an apartment building in the center of downtown Chronix Bay. He used to reside in the building but was evicted two weeks ago because he couldn’t pay the rent. He has been staying in the alleyway every night telling himself it was only temporary until he found a job to get back on his feet. As the dusk began to roll over the skies above, he decided to settle in for a good night’s sleep at the location near his former home.
The next morning he was awoken by a loud banging on the front door of the building of his former residence. He struggled to get up to get out of the alleyway and to the front door of the building to see what was going on and who it could be. He saw no one by the time he arrived. He looked at the door instantaneously and found a stack of papers tacked to the front door. “Notice of Eviction”, the papers read. ”Someone else’s misfortune” he muttered as he shook his head, thinking that the city’s homeless population was going to increase. He crawled back into the alleyway and went to sleep.
Hours later in the same morning, he was awoken by another loud noise. He struggled to get up to get to his feet, and minutes later he heard a series of sirens in the distance. Then gunshots pierced through garbage cans in his alleyway. “Oh my God!” He ran out and ducked trying to avoid getting shot or getting arrested.
CHAPTER 11
“How does it work?” asked Sylvia Armstrong, local reporter for Chronix Bay Universal printing the news and nothing but the news, as their motto displayed on the side of their building. Sylvia was a tall woman dressed in a royal blue pants suit and pearls. She pointed to the tall cylindrical metal object in the center of the crowd.
“Well,” said Broad Staffnight. “I will refer to Mario Preparo who is our lead scientist on the project and head of Research and Development for TI. Mario?” Broad gestured to a short balding man in a white coat nearby, small glasses pressed against his face.
“Yes Sir. To answer to the question posed by the young lady, there are many dimensions that exist in our definition of space-time, according to the laws of general relativity and its successor string theory, but we were previously only aware of part of the story. There are many more. Modern M theory tells us there are over a dozen dimensions existing alongside our own three dimensional universe. This device transposes matter of any kind to the subatomic level and fuses it to one of these other dimensions, resulting in instantaneous travel to any point in our three dimensional space by pulling out and reassembling that transposed matter into any location on the planet.”
“Amazing.”
“Ingenious!!!”
“Spectacular!” “I wonder what runs it.” The comments began to flow spontaneously from the crowd. Thereafter numerous voices speculated throughout the audience in grandeur at the device that sparked a million curiosities.
“Would you like to see it in action?” said Broad Staffnight.
The reaction of the spectators in the room was a resounding yes when they applauded in agreement.
“Hit it Mario,” Broad pointed proudly, displaying his courage like a talk show host.
“OK!” Mario typed in some commands on the control interface, displaying a standard computer keyboard, followed by pulling a lever beside the keyb
oard. Within moments, a bright yellow light with a hot white core illuminated in the interior of the pod at the center of the device and where there was nothing, the light faded revealing that there was a person inside. The pod door lifted up like a canopy, projecting itself upward, and out stepped a beautiful woman with long blonde curls and a rhinestone covered red dress, who danced before the crowd.
“Ladies and Gentleman, meet the lovely Alexa!” Broad yelled as the room applauded loudly with amazement. “As you can see the matter stream cuts both ways making it possible to transmit to or from the device. Now I know many of the eligible bachelors in this audience will be sad to see the lovely Alexa go but we will send her back to the stage preparation room. My dear, please step back into the pod.”
“Sure dearest.” She smiled passing him and squeezing his rear end.
“Not here,” he smirked with a devilish grin escorting her to the pod. The canopy closed over her once again. Broad nodded. Mario typed in commands on his keyboard and pulled the lever, causing the hot yellow-white light to appear and lingering for a period of time longer. “What is going on?” Broad asked curiously.
“I do not know,” said Mario perplexed, “the matter stream is being blocked somehow.”
“Blocked? Pull her back, now!” Broad yelled as the audience stood in stunned silence.
“Yes Sir” Mario pulled the lever again and the light vanished leaving, a charred human corpse in the pod, its skeletal features toppling over in the closed canopy. The crowed sighed in heavy disbelief and Broad’s eyes widened with hopelessness.
“Open it!” yelled Broad.
“But sir,” added Mario.
“Open it now!” Broad yelled and Mario complied. The canopy rose up and the charred remains of the lovely Alexa fell to the ground below. Broad dropped to his knees as tears fell from his face. Mario scrambled with the other scientists to clear the reporters and other members from the stage and the curtain dropped ending the show for them.
The Time Stone Page 3
