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inwardly, Max awaited the experience of time passage with
delighted expectation. He never got over the liberating, exhilarating sensation
of becoming one with time and the universe. As he entered the downward spiral
that would draw him into the wheel of time, the last thing he heard was Bird's
voice.
    "I'll
give you five to one odds, Max, that we make it in two minutes and forty-FOUR
seconds!"

 
 
 
 
 

Chapter 6

 
    Planetary Earth Date: 13.7.2015
    Max felt the
tingling of his skin start to fade and waited for the ringing in his ears to
stop. But it wouldn't. He waited in the dark alley and watched Bird's shape
appear and gradually fizz and bubble into solid feet, then legs, then torso,
and finally, head.
    "Hey,
great flight, eh, Max?" he said.
    "Yeah,
but I think something went wrong with my hearing. I can't get the noise to
stop," said Max, hitting his ear with his flattened palm.
    "You can't
stop it! That's just twenty-first century civilization you hear!" shouted
Bird.
    The two peeked
cautiously around the corner of the alley at the bustle of people, cars, trucks
and buses.
    "Gnartz,
how do they stand it? I'll never complain about national noise restrictions
again!" yelled Max, poking a finger in the other ear.
    "Could be
worse, Max. I heard about a guy who was transported to Planet Gerber and
somehow when he landed, he got one hand stuck inside the wall of a building!
They had to try to de-meld him and - hey, where are you going?"
    "To find
the time capsule," said Max. "C'mon!"
    As Max and
Bird tried to make their way down the crowded street they continually bumped
and jostled people on all sides. Bird sideswiped an angry man who cursed at him
even as he hurried away.
    "Well,
that wasn't very polite, was it?" said Bird. "Interesting turn of
phrase, though. I guess mothers have a special place in this society if they
rate their own swear word!"
    Max tugged on
his arm and saved him from colliding with a woman rolling a cart of open
broccoli boxes.
    "Pay
attention, Bird. You have to try to find the flow of traffic and move with it,"
said Max. He reeled around a slow-moving man with a walker.
    "Nice
moves, Max! I'll follow your lead!" With that, he took hold of Max's shirttail
and happily trailed a half-step behind him for three
blocks. Max stopped suddenly and Bird crashed into his back.
    "Are we
there, yet?" asked Bird.
    "I think
so," whispered Max. He mentally consulted the city map that had been
hastily programmed into his infochips. The two hesitated beneath the striped
awning of a high-rise apartment building and met the glare of the building
doorman.
    "May I
help you, gentlemen?" he asked somberly.
    "How
kind," said Bird. "Yes, we're looking for
the Rho-"
    Max jumped in
front of the big man and cut him off. "No thank you, we're here to visit,
uh…" He pulled Bird into the foyer and took a quick glance at the registry
and pushed the elevator button. "Mrs. Turner, fourth floor. I'm her
grandson," he called back to the suspicious doorman and ducked into the
elevator.
    "Mrs.
Turner?" asked Bird as soon as the door closed. "I thought we were
looking for Ted Rhoades."
    The elevator
reached the second floor, Max pushed the stop button, and Bird had to step
lively to follow him out.
    "I
thought we were going to the fourth floor!" Bird said, loping to keep up
with Max, who ran into the stairwell.
    "Mrs.
Turner was our excuse to get into the building!" said Max, hopping up the
stairs. He began to lose wind by the time they reached the landing of the fifth
floor so he stopped to catch his breath. "When the doorman calls and she
tells him I'm not her grandson, he's going to come looking for us. On the
elevator," he explained to Bird.
    "Say,
pretty fancy footwork, Max. I'm glad my partner's clever."
    "Yeah,
well, just remember who's in charge here, okay, Bird? You almost ruined
everything by telling the doorman we're looking for Ted Rhoades. Who, by the
way, is on the eighth floor. "
    "Sorry,
Max. It's just that I've