The Gravity of Anti-Gravity by Tim Blagge Page A

we’ll get them for you ASAP. Now Malcolm, how are things going with your research?”
    “It’s tough sledding so far. I haven’t been able to identify any interference from outside the earth. There were some events that occurred in a distant star system, but the results were too weak to measure. I’ll keep looking for outside influences, but at this point, the cosmos seemed to be very quiet that night during the time shift.”
    “OK, Dr. Morton,” Dr. Brooks continued, “so far we’ve got nothing of substance to offer the gentleman from the government. I hope you and Mr. Burton have come up with something substantive.”
    Stella stood up and looked stunning as usual. I couldn’t help picturing her naked standing there at the end of the conference table. I was jolted back to consciousness when she said, “Mr. Burton, will you join me up here please.”
    I rose and stood next to her even though I knew that this was going to be her show. She proceeded to explain the basis of our research, the information we were gathering and the changes we had made in the algorithm we were using to analyze the data.
    “Gentleman,” Stella began. “I have concluded that the time wave originated here in Southern California, and I don’t mean San Diego or Bakersfield. It originated somewhere in the greater LA area. With the data we have now, we are sure we can pinpoint the location to a more specific area. However we feel it would be premature to communicate that hypothesis until we get more data and can be certain. We should have all the information in and analyzed by this weekend. Dr. Brooks, if I may suggest, we reconvene on Monday.”
    “It’s settled then,” said Dr. Brooks. “We’ll all meet here at 10 AM on Monday, a week from today. We all need to redouble our efforts to figure out more answers. Even if we find the exact origin of the time wave, it doesn’t tell us what happened or how it was done.”
     
    When Stella and I got back to our office I wanted to thank her for last night. I wanted to thank her for using the pronoun ‘we’ in her communication to the research group. I wanted to tell her that I was feeling more than just friendship for her. But I didn’t.
    I just said, “Are you ready to go back to work, Dr Morton?”
    She answered “Certainly Mr. Burton, I’m ready whenever you are.”
     
    I got home about 7 PM. I’d missed dinner but grandma had kept a plate warm for me in the oven. After I ate, I went into the living room where Pops, Joanna and grandma were watching TV.
    “Pops, I’ve got Jerry coming over at eight. If it’s alright with you, could we meet in the barn?”
    “Sure.” Pops said, “This program will be over by then.”
    I went to the barn to collect my thoughts; to try to determine if there was an easy way out. I came up empty. I knew that I had to tell Jerry and Pops everything. I had put both of them in jeopardy. Even though Jerry was just an innocent bystander, he is in the Service and should have reported the incident to his commanding officer. Pops was an intricate part of the incident because he actually built the machine and he knew all along what it was designed to do. As I was considering my uncertain future, Jerry strolled in with Pops on his heels.
    “So what’s so important that you needed to get together tonight, Bill,” Jerry asked.
    “This entire time shift mess has gotten serious and I’m afraid for all of us.” I replied.
    I began by telling them that my promotion to full time work with full time pay was a result of my experiment. I told them that I was on the government sanctioned team to find me; the guy responsible.
    “Have you found you yet?” asked Jerry with a sly grin.
    “Not yet, but I think it’s imminent. The person I work with is Dr. Stella Morton. She’s already asked me some weird questions that sounds like she knows I’m the culprit. Even if she doesn’t know for sure, she’s hot on my trail. She told our group today that she’ll