“You want to take this one?” she asked Landon quietly, joshing him. She looked over to see his face as frozen in admiration as the kids’.
Caught, he smiled. “No, I’d better get a run-through with you before trying to go solo.”
She returned the smile. “I’m only joking, Dr. Tripathi,” she said. “Nothing to be nervous about.”
The last of the students settled into their seats and the murmur of sidebar conversations ended as Claire moved to the center of the window showing the lab. “We’ve moved on now to the heart of SATP,” she said, the students’ eyes fixated on her. “This is where the magic happens: the only place on the entire planet where human time travel is possible. And as a part of your tour today, in a bit we have some more magic for you. A very special guest.” While the students had no idea, the teachers had been pre-warned about Robert’s participation. Knowingly, Claire had laughed when she’d first met the students, because she’d counted at least a dozen of them were wearing t-shirts bearing Robert’s picture. They would flip out. “But before we get to that, let me tell you a little bit more about what you’re seeing here.”
Claire moved to the side and Landon followed her. “Lights down,” she said, and the overhead lights followed her command, dimming to allow a better view of the time travel lab. “Physically speaking, time travel itself is a relatively simple process.” She pulled a rubber ball from her pocket – a prop she used for these presentations – and held it up for the students. “If I were to throw this ball at the speed of light… I have a really good arm, by the way… as it approached 186,000 miles per second it would actually turn into light. Once an object turns into light, it becomes suspended in an atmosphere of timelessness. Who can tell me what that means?”
A few students raised their hands. She pointed to a boy in the second row with spiked hair. “It means there’s no time,” he said.
“But how can there be no time?” She bounced the ball on the floor as she talked. “Isn’t time everywhere?” The kid looked confused, so she rescued him. “You don’t have to answer that. In fact, that’s the question that has confounded scientists for centuries. From the very beginning of the universe, it’s understood that time is a part of our equation. When I say ‘timelessness,’ it doesn’t mean that there’s no time. It means that it’s impossible to pinpoint the time that the ball might be in because it could be in any time. Or, better put, in all times. Until…” She waited for an answer.
“You slow it down,” a girl with curly hair and Spectroglasses on said.
“Yes, exactly,” Claire said, walking quickly toward the girl’s side of the room. “Raise your hand.” The girl did. “Nice job. Nice job. Yes, when we slow this ball down from the speed of light is when we can catch up to it. That’s when we can determine the time to which it’s traveled. That’s how time travel works. At SATP, we speed up the molecules of the person traveling through time until they reach the speed of light. Then we reconstitute them and slow them down under a specific set of parameters that has them come out of light speed at a specific time in the past or future. Those computers down there are hard at work developing that data to make sure that when someone travels through time, they come out on the other end in one piece. And in the right place.”
A big kid in the front – one of the ones wearing SATP merchandise – had his hand up, so Claire acknowledged him. “That explains how you can go back in time, but how did Robert Mulvaney go from here to Egypt? If you went back in time from North Carolina three thousand years, you’d probably end up in the middle of space.”
Claire laughed and looked up at Mrs. Hafner, the Willow Ridge teacher who had coordinated the visits for years. “Did we plant these questions? What a great question.” She bounced the ball again. “This is why the initials SATP stand for the Space-and-Time-Program. You see, this gentleman here… What’s your name? Martin? Martin is one hundred percent correct. Everyone knows that our Earth revolves around the sun. So, yes, if we time traveled to anywhere from this facility, our chances of landing on Earth in this exact spot are pretty slim. Landon?” It was a basic time travel FAQ, so she hoped she wasn’t putting him on the spot.
“The Earth is in this exact location, give or take a few thousand miles, every 1.2 billion years,” he said, right on cue.
“So, yeah, we’re rolling the dice on that one,” she said, continuing. “So, the ‘space’ part of SATP is critically important. Fortunately, the same principle holds – which is the beauty of light. SATP uses a network of satellites to transmit the light rays to the correct destination based on a very complicated set of algorithms. At the appropriate moment, when the light – and, remember, at that point the light is made up of super speeding molecules of whoever or whatever is traveling through time – reaches its destination, it’s slowed down to the appropriate moment in history. It’s the most amazing scientific advancement humankind has ever developed.”
She waited a moment for the usual follow-up question, which was how do the time travelers get back when there’s no satellites in the past? That was a tougher one to answer because the technology that made it possible was highly classified. Fortunately, another question came instead.
“Then you should be able to travel to Mars the same way, right?” someone asked from higher up in the shadows.
“Good question,” she said, “but no. Well, theoretically, yes, you’re right. But with the current system, no. When we’re staying here on Earth, we know the maximum size of the Earth’s revolution around the sun, and the SATP satellites are positioned within the proper range to make any jump within the Earth’s timeline. The revolution of Mars is much larger, and our technology won’t reach that far.” She smiled. “That will be for you guys to figure out when you get here. Now, if you look behind me again-”
She was cut off, as the door they’d come through opened again and Robert stepped through. He was immediately greeted with a chorus of adulation and smiled humbly, waving to the kids. Claire knew that the teachers and chaperones would be just as excited to see him, and not all of them just for his scientific achievements. In addition to everything else that was wonderful about Robert, he was an attractive man. She looked at Landon and smiled, pretending to roll her eyes, and then turned back to the crowd.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we have a special guest here with us today. Let me introduce you to Dr. Robert Mulvaney.”
A second round of applause erupted from the seats, and Claire stepped slowly into the shadows, allowing Robert to take his place in the middle of the floor. SATP’s photographer slipped into the room behind him and positioned herself along the side wall, her camera at-the-ready. Sidling up to Landon as the cheers continued, Claire leaned close to his ear. “Get used to it,” she said as he nodded, smiling.
CHAPTER 14
Instead of looking at Robert as he began his presentation, Landon kept his eyes fixated on the people in the crowd, mesmerized by their adoration of him. He was as significant as any actor, musician or sports hero, and had earned his celebrity in a way that most would not expect – and that Landon believed was far more admirable than being able to throw a ball or sing a song. The students and the teachers alike were in awe of him, and they would tell the story of the special visit by this superstar of a man to their grandchildren someday.
Already, Landon had sensed some degree of jealousy from others on the team. Not from Claire, his guide for the day, who seemed to take things very much in stride, at least as it pertained to the program. He recognized right away that she could be rather rigid when it came to certain topics, but her humor surrounding Robert’s arrival moments before showed Landon that she was comfortable with her role. Some of Amy’s comments the day before at the press conference had given him pause, and others he’d spoken to in passing as he’d oriented himself to SATP didn’t seem to be overtly envious, but there was something there. However, Landon reminded himself that the day before had been a particularly sensationalized one, with Robert as the sole focal point o
f what was really the success of a large team. So, it was justifiable that some negative feelings might arise.
Landon felt good that his own feelings on the matter were along the lines of what he suspected Claire’s were. Though he didn’t know Robert well yet, he was happy for him – and since notoriety was the absolute last thing Landon wanted, there was no impetus for jealousy. Other than, he supposed, the vast amount of experience in the field that Robert had over him. He didn’t cherish the role of newbie, going through orientation and being “brought up to speed,” as someone had said to him. He wanted as quickly as possible to have a body of work under his belt that demonstrated his intelligence and prowess, and that would lead to more exciting and rewarding areas of research. As much as Landon appreciated the time that his new teammates were giving him, he was impatient, and embarrassed that they had to take time away from their own important work to babysit him.
“The holomovies that you’ve seen about Egypt do not come close to capturing the environment and the way of life of the ancient Egyptians,” Robert was saying as the photographer snapped pictures of his presentation from various angles. Landon knew of Robert that he could captivate the room with a thousand different topics each more intriguing than the last, but given the timing, Egypt was all anyone would want to hear about. “Yes, there are the grandiose parades for the Pharaohs, and the detailed craftsmanship in their architecture, but there was… so much more to it. Where did people live? Cairo at the time was a city of several hundred thousand people, and they didn’t all live in the palace. That was the most fascinating piece to me: how people, normal people like you and me, lived their lives.”
Robert expertly left a pause for a question, but none came, a few hundred sets of eyes trained on him. The students had to overcome their awe before they could speak. Landon smiled at their youth, though he would admit that he was very much looking forward to having his own access to Robert as the team got back to work. Once the phenomenon of Egypt had died down.
Landon heard the door behind him slide quietly open and turned to see General Reilly lean his head into the room. It wasn’t subtle, as though he intended to interrupt the presentation. Robert’s attention diverted for a moment toward the door, and Landon read Reilly’s lips saying, “I need you.” Politely, Robert smiled and motioned with his head toward the students, but Reilly emphatically pointed at the ground, showing that his presence was required immediately. Landon caught Claire’s confused glance for a moment before she looked to Robert, herself.
Robert paused, then turned back to the audience with an embarrassed smile. “I’m sorry, everyone,” he said, throwing his arms up in animated frustration. “I have to cut this visit short. For any of you going into a scientific field, you should know that this is my life – one meeting after another. I’ll turn you back over to Dr. Devereaux, and I hope that you enjoy the rest of your day here at SATP. Remember: make your time matter.”
As Robert joined Reilly at the door and disappeared into the corridor beyond, Landon noticed something he hadn’t while Robert was talking – that nearly every student in the auditorium held a pen and some sort of paper notepad or steno book in their hands in hopes of securing their hero’s autograph. His heart sank for the kids, and he imagined that whatever had pulled Robert away so abruptly must have been pressing.
Spontaneously, Claire jumped into action, resuming her place in the center of the room. She glanced at Landon quickly and then toward the students. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I know you were looking forward to hearing some more from Robert. I can assure you, if he was pulled away from our tour, it’s something very important.” She raised her head and looked past the students to address their teachers in the back of the room. “What I’ll do is check in to see if it’ll be possible to reconnect with Robert again before you leave.”
By the look on Reilly’s face, Landon didn’t think the situation was going to be quite so easily settled. Something serious was happening, and it involved the top brass of SATP. He quietly lamented the overwhelmingly poor timing for his arrival. With the problems during Robert’s mission taking everyone’s attention, and now whatever this new situation was, orienting himself to the day-to-day of the program was going to be an uphill climb. He knew that the atmosphere of uncertainty surrounding him would pass in a short time, but standing there he wished that he’d been able to start even a week earlier, when he would’ve had time to acclimate.
He noticed Claire wasn’t talking, and woke from his thoughts to find her staring at him. Looking to the students, they were, as well. “Landon?” she said. “Does that work for you?”
“I’m sorry?” he asked, embarrassed for not listening.
“I was suggesting that while I took a minute to check on the possibility of Robert coming back, you could tell the students a little bit about yourself, and how you got to SATP.”
He nodded demonstratively to atone for his brief lapse. “Absolutely,” he said, and moved himself toward where Claire was standing. When he was close, she held up her hand to say, “five minutes” and then walked past him out the door.
Landon turned to face the students, who had now lost not only their hero, but their tour guide, and would have to settle for the new guy. He scanned their disappointed faces and immediately determined that charm would be the only way to regain their enthusiasm. “How many of you are interested in science?” he asked. Hands went up in the air with one hundred percent participation. “No,” he said, pacing the floor, “I mean how many of you are really interested in science? The type of interest that could lead to you working here at SATP, or other research facilities around the world?”
Several hands shot up into the air, but not everyone this time. Landon looked around the room to find someone to call on. “You, sir,” he said, pointing to one of the students, a young man with a natural build bigger than most of his classmates. “You don’t have your hand up. Why is that?”
The kid shrugged. “I like science, sure. This place is awesome. But I don’t want to be a scientist.”
“No? What would you like to be?”
He smiled. “I want to play for the Raiders.”
Dramatically, Landon turned and retraced his steps to the center of the room. When he reached his mark, he turned back to the student. “You’ll have to excuse my ignorance, but who or what are the Raiders?” A laugh went up from the students. “I’m sorry. Please remember, I’ve lived in America for just two days.”
“The Raleigh Raiders,” the young man said, then held his hand up in the air. “Best xenoball team in the country.” Another student sitting next to him reached up and gave him a “high-five,” another piece of Americana that Landon couldn’t buy into.
“I have to say I’m familiar with your sport, xenoball, but for the life of me I haven’t been able to figure out the rules. I know there’s a ball and a goal and a ‘rock,’ but I don’t understand how you score points. Perhaps when we stop for lunch you can all explain it to me.” Another laugh. He had their attention again, and resumed the serious portion of his talk. “The point I’d like to make, and thank you for volunteering for me,” he motioned to the young man, “is that when I was your age, I had no desire to be a scientist either. In fact, at the time, even if I was sitting in an amazing facility like this, I wouldn’t have raised my hand to the question I just asked you.” He was starting to feel comfortable. “My father was a politician, and I knew I didn’t want to be that. But before he was a politician, he was an actor in movies. No, none that you would have seen – they were all in India. That… Was something I’d latched onto. I could act. I could sing – though I’m not going to do that right now. And I could change my voice.” He paused and braced his posture. “Hey, you going to the xenoball game tomorrow? Go Raiders,” he said in an accent-free American voice for the students. The students laughed again.
One student, a pretty girl with red hair in the front row, raised her hand. “When did you decide to go into science?” she asked.
&nb
sp; “Well, I-” he started to say in his American accent, but stopped and held up his hands. “Sorry, I have to go back to my native accent; the other one tires me out.” He processed how long he’d been talking, wondering when Claire would return to continue the tour. “Even though I wasn’t interested in science, I was always good at it. Or, at least, I received good grades. But that was from being a good studier, rather than embracing the material. But when I was in eighth grade, I participated in a science fair in my hometown of Ratnagiri, which is near Mumbai. Much of my town to this day is very poor, but an American company that was doing business in India was looking for young science talent to begin to cultivate so that maybe they could hire them later in their lives. The company made push magnets, which as you may know require materials found in the ground around the world, but in plentiful supply in India. I attended this science fair, and after sitting through some presentations much the same as you’re doing today, I went up to talk with one of the presenters. I told this woman, who was an excellent speaker, that I had an idea for a science project and wanted to know what she thought.”
The students were now riveted. Landon had guessed correctly that talking about the opportunities that they might have in life, with the sensational image of the time travel lab behind him, would be of interest to them. “Now, I wasn’t a scientist yet,” he said, “so I didn’t know anything about the scientific method, or how to use data to support my theories and reach a conclusion. I just had an idea. My idea was to use push magnets – and if you don’t know what a push magnet is, it’s a device that uses the magnetic pull of the Earth’s core to create friction between two objects to create energy, opposing each other, like you would a normal magnet, to create what’s called a perpetual motion machine. Can anyone tell me what that is?” He glanced toward the door. Still no Claire, and it had been more than five minutes. He started to consider the timing of the actual tour, and that there was a real time limit before the students needed to return to school.
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