Morning Star Full Novel

Chapter 16

An array of halogen lights glared down from the forty-foot ceiling, brightly illuminating the open bay in the secret US government research facility. The building was sectioned off into different investigation departments with laboratories; offices and field experiment areas set aside inside to test ideas and theories. Dr. Tony Rhine was assigned one of these areas and was leaning back in his chair sipping his coffee with one hand and tapping a pen on is desk with his other.
Twenty feet from him sat what resembled a train boxcar. The ends were cut off and a plethora of wires and electronics ran in all directions meeting up to a single snake conduit. The snake connected to a large terminal, which in turn connected to his personal computer on his desk. His office consisted of this open area set up with no walls; doors or windows, and he loved the freedom of movement and space it provided him to work in.
He was working on a time portal based on his theory that time travel was a naturally occurring event brought about by sudden charges of electricity. He was trying to duplicate in the laboratory, what had happened on the recording using a safe area and controlled conditions. He theorized that all areas struck by lightning were altered time wise, and that over the billions of years the Earth was pock marked with small areas of time shifted matter. In theory, the Earth was not one consistent age, but was many billions of different ages separated by tiny variations, depending on the power of the lightning strikes.
Tony had given up his job at the university in order to study the phenomenon for the US government full time, biding time until the his true purpose would be realized. The Pacific Airliner is due to disappear in a few months and Brinkman informed Tony that he would be a part of the research team assembled to investigate the event when it occurred. The last date recorded on the airliner was June 14, 2001. They found various timepieces among the possessions of the passengers and were able to correlate the date to that day. He did not know if he would be included in any real research concerning the flight, even admitting that his presence may interfere sending the loop around once again.
Today was like most days, sitting idle trying to imagine how the process worked. He had been working on the problem for several months now with no visible results to speak of and was beyond frustration. Somehow he needed to be able to reverse the natural vibration of matter in a way to send it into an alternate path heading backward into time. He theorized that the amount of electricity was proportional to the actual distance traveled backwards and any amount of current would start the process.
"Why don’t you just unhook all that stuff and send a natural bolt of lightning through the damn thing?" his lab assistant said.
"Natural? We are in a building," Tony replied with a smirk. He looked to the ceiling and wandered off in thought.
On the television monitor by his desk, was a picture of a digital clock positioned within the chamber with the correct date and time showing. If anything happened, videotape would record any time shifts and a comparison of electrical power and time variance could be calculated. As of this time, no shifts had been recorded and the tape continued to loop over and over.
"I might as well pray to God!" Tony said under his breath. " That’s the only thing I haven’t tried yet,"
"Maybe we need some divine intervention," his lab assistant said slurping his coffee. "Too bad you’re a heathen. We could use the help."
"What?"
"I read your paper."
"What paper?"
"You published that paper on your personal theory of time travel back when you were teaching."
"That paper! Usually those things get filed away in a library and no one reads them."
"True. My sister was in your class. She said you were a real ass."
"Me?"
"You pissed her off with all your anti-God rhetoric. She thought she was in a religion class."
"Rhetoric? I don’t think so." Tony stated. "I don’t discount God. That would be unscientific. I must consider all variables."
"Sure doctor."
"Are you patronizing me?" Tony said with a grin.
"God is a variable to you. I find that funny."
"And why do you say that?’
"To most people, God is their savior. To you God is a math calculation. Two plus two equals God."
"Two plus infinity actually," Tony said with a chuckle. He shuffled in his seat and leaned forward. "I admit I can get a little preachy sometimes, but as long as I can find no direct evidence of God,"
"No evidence!" his assistant spoke up. "What do you call the tree’s and the ocean’s and all of the animals?"
"That is a result! That is not evidence of what spawned it."
"Spawned? You mean evolved?" the assistant asked.
"Yes, evolved."
"You are a Darwin fanatic."
"Darwin had the right idea you know. Pretty damn smart for back then."
"It’s only a theory you know."
"Did I say it wasn’t?" Tony asked. " I realize it can not be proven. As a man of science I realize that our theories evolve also. That is the magic of science."
"Magic? You sound more religious than you let on," the assistant said smugly. "You have to have faith to believe in evolution."
"Common sense."
"One man’s common sense is another man’s foolishness."
"Philosopher?" Tony asked, "You must have had a double major?"
"No, I had a minor in religion."
"Isn’t that a conflict of interest?"
"Not to me. Science and religion can work hand in hand."
"More like stabbing each other in the back." Tony sipped from his coffee again and grinned at his assistant sitting across the room. "Would it make you feel better if I tried the unknown variable?"
"A little prayer never hurt?"
"Telepathy."
"Huh?"
"That’s what prayer is. Telepathy to God."
"You make me laugh," the assistant said grinning. "You analyze everything to death. No wonder you’re not married."
"Now that’s below the belt." Tony said. "Ok, I’m willing to walk on the other side for the sake of science. How do you do it?"
"Do what?"
"Pray."
"You’re kidding?"
"No." Tony said shrugging his shoulders. "I never had a reason to practice before."
"This is nuts. Haven’t you ever been to a church before? Didn’t you’re parents ever take you?"
"When I was very young. My dad was a Pastor. They both died when I was still a kid."
"Oh! I’m sorry, I crossed the line there."
"It’s ok, you didn’t know. Now what am I supposed to do? Get down on my knees and put my hands together?"
"There is no set pattern. It is a personal thing between you and God."
"Ok, I’ll give it a shot."
"Go for it!"
Tony tried to keep a straight face, looking to the ceiling, and stated out loud, "Oh God in heaven, please show me the way," Tony said hitting the run key on his keyboard. His assistant’s eyes lit up seeing the image on the screen change and stood up pointing to the television monitor speechless. He ran to Tony’s monitor to make sure it wasn’t a technical glitch and then to the clock itself, holding his head with his hands. He turned to Tony.
"What did you do?" the assistant asked.
"Nothing!" Tony said looking up at the skylights above. He smiled at his antics and then jumped out of his chair as he focused on the clock and saw the time and date were off by over twelve hours. "What the…?" he said. "I did it. I really did it." The readouts on the computer screen showed that less than the power in a single D cell battery sent the clock over twelve hours back in time. The clock had been sitting there for over four months before they even started so they would be able to calculate the time in case the experiment worked. It was now the time to call Brinkman.