Time Travelers Never Die Read Online Free PDF Page B
Author: Jack McDevitt
their bows, the Disciples gathered in a meeting room, where they were joined shortly by the cast and supplied with hors d’oeuvres and soft drinks.
The Disciples had two new members that evening. One was Helen Suchenko, with lush brown hair and eyes the color of seawater. The other Shel could never afterward remember.
Dave introduced Shel to her with a sparkle in his eye. “An old friend of mine. I’ve been trying to get her to join us for a year now.”
“I heard about your father,” Helen said. “I hope everything turns out all right.”
Shel thanked her and said something about being pleased to meet her, and that was the substance of the conversation. He had a distinct impression there was a connection between her and Dave. How could there not be? The woman was a knockout. So he resisted temptation. In any case, making a pass at a stranger who was offering sympathy seemed in at least moderately bad taste.
IT was well after two when he got home. He turned his cell phone back on and saw that he had a message. “Dr. Shelborne, we’re finished with your father’s belongings. We wanted to let you know that you can pick them up tomorrow.”
He got out of his jacket, removed his tie, and started again with the Q-pod. He tried every physics term he could think of. Angular. Neutron. Quantum. Fission. Gravity. He entered virtual , thermal , nuclear , isotope , and kinetic . He went online to look for more.
Eventually it told him to recharge the power pack.
He complied, grumbled, and stared at it. So what exactly do you do?
The Phillies had two players with seven-l etter names. Neither worked. Then he remembered Galileo.
He poked it in. Hit ENTER.
The screen flickered. Replied: INVALID ID.
Damn.
Maybe it was just as well.
He wondered whether Galileo had had a title? Professor , probably. But that wasn’t seven characters.
He did a search, but found nothing.
On the other hand, he did have a family name.
Galilei.
He tried it and pressed ENTER.
The screen blinked. DO YOU WISH TO TRAVEL?
He laughed. It was going to book a flight for him. Or a train.
He entered: Yes .
HERE?
Here? That made no sense to him. No.
DEST?
He tried to enter Cairo . But it repeated DEST? Then, after a delay: LAT/LONG?
He was getting spooked. What the hell was happening, anyhow? What were the local numbers? He shrugged. Punched in approximations. Latitude 41°40’N, longitude 79°03’W.
It gave him more blanks. Wanted him to narrow the target area. He added additional digits.
DATE?
He shrugged. Tomorrow? Why not? He entered October 24, 2018.
TIME?
What the hell? Get there for a late lunch. Three o’clock was as good as anything. He inserted it, checked P.M.
RESET DEFAULT?
Why not? Yes.
HERE?
Yes.
The screen read: READY.
A large black button was marked GO. He pressed it.
The lights dimmed and went out.
The sofa went away. The flo or tilted and turned to grass. Lights came back on, and he fell on his face and began rolling downhill.
CHAPTER 3
Physics tells us what is impossible, no matter what we spend. Engineering tells us what is possible, and how much it will cost.
—WALTER F. CUIRLE, NOTEBOOKS
SHEL bounced through a patch of brambles, picked up some thorns, and crashed into a tree. Overhead, a tangle of branches filtered sunlight. Birds sang, but other than that, the world was silent.
Sunlight.
He checked his watch. It said 2:35 A.M.
Where the hell was he?
In a bunch of trees. In the middle of the day. No. More like morning. The ground was still wet.
He picked himself up, struggling to maintain his balance on a grassy slope. A squirrel peeked at him from behind some shrubbery. It was cold . He was out here with no sweater or jacket. He began shivering. And not entirely from the temperature.
He couldn’t see more than a hundred feet in any direction. The Q-pod lay on the ground. He picked it up and looked at it. The display read RETURN?
He fished through his pockets for his
The Disciples had two new members that evening. One was Helen Suchenko, with lush brown hair and eyes the color of seawater. The other Shel could never afterward remember.
Dave introduced Shel to her with a sparkle in his eye. “An old friend of mine. I’ve been trying to get her to join us for a year now.”
“I heard about your father,” Helen said. “I hope everything turns out all right.”
Shel thanked her and said something about being pleased to meet her, and that was the substance of the conversation. He had a distinct impression there was a connection between her and Dave. How could there not be? The woman was a knockout. So he resisted temptation. In any case, making a pass at a stranger who was offering sympathy seemed in at least moderately bad taste.
IT was well after two when he got home. He turned his cell phone back on and saw that he had a message. “Dr. Shelborne, we’re finished with your father’s belongings. We wanted to let you know that you can pick them up tomorrow.”
He got out of his jacket, removed his tie, and started again with the Q-pod. He tried every physics term he could think of. Angular. Neutron. Quantum. Fission. Gravity. He entered virtual , thermal , nuclear , isotope , and kinetic . He went online to look for more.
Eventually it told him to recharge the power pack.
He complied, grumbled, and stared at it. So what exactly do you do?
The Phillies had two players with seven-l etter names. Neither worked. Then he remembered Galileo.
He poked it in. Hit ENTER.
The screen flickered. Replied: INVALID ID.
Damn.
Maybe it was just as well.
He wondered whether Galileo had had a title? Professor , probably. But that wasn’t seven characters.
He did a search, but found nothing.
On the other hand, he did have a family name.
Galilei.
He tried it and pressed ENTER.
The screen blinked. DO YOU WISH TO TRAVEL?
He laughed. It was going to book a flight for him. Or a train.
He entered: Yes .
HERE?
Here? That made no sense to him. No.
DEST?
He tried to enter Cairo . But it repeated DEST? Then, after a delay: LAT/LONG?
He was getting spooked. What the hell was happening, anyhow? What were the local numbers? He shrugged. Punched in approximations. Latitude 41°40’N, longitude 79°03’W.
It gave him more blanks. Wanted him to narrow the target area. He added additional digits.
DATE?
He shrugged. Tomorrow? Why not? He entered October 24, 2018.
TIME?
What the hell? Get there for a late lunch. Three o’clock was as good as anything. He inserted it, checked P.M.
RESET DEFAULT?
Why not? Yes.
HERE?
Yes.
The screen read: READY.
A large black button was marked GO. He pressed it.
The lights dimmed and went out.
The sofa went away. The flo or tilted and turned to grass. Lights came back on, and he fell on his face and began rolling downhill.
CHAPTER 3
Physics tells us what is impossible, no matter what we spend. Engineering tells us what is possible, and how much it will cost.
—WALTER F. CUIRLE, NOTEBOOKS
SHEL bounced through a patch of brambles, picked up some thorns, and crashed into a tree. Overhead, a tangle of branches filtered sunlight. Birds sang, but other than that, the world was silent.
Sunlight.
He checked his watch. It said 2:35 A.M.
Where the hell was he?
In a bunch of trees. In the middle of the day. No. More like morning. The ground was still wet.
He picked himself up, struggling to maintain his balance on a grassy slope. A squirrel peeked at him from behind some shrubbery. It was cold . He was out here with no sweater or jacket. He began shivering. And not entirely from the temperature.
He couldn’t see more than a hundred feet in any direction. The Q-pod lay on the ground. He picked it up and looked at it. The display read RETURN?
He fished through his pockets for his
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