The Gravity of Anti-Gravity by Tim Blagge Page B

know the exact origin of the time pulse by next Monday. And she will. I work with her and I know she will.”
    “Pops, we’ve got to protect Jerry,” I went on. “Jerry, when do you go back to the Army?”
    “I leave at 6 AM, a week from Monday.”
    “Perfect, we’ll say Jerry was never here and that you know nothing about the time shift. Pops, we can say that you just made parts according to my design and I never told you a thing about what you were making or why,” I said.
    “We’ll make me the bad guy, I’ll take the rap.” I added.
    “Bill, you’ve been watching too many gangster movies” said Pops who continued on the same train of thought. “So if you’re going to ‘spill the beans,’ when will that happen?”
    “I’d like to wait until the end of the week. If Stella is going to figure the whole thing out, I’ll know by then. If she knows, I’ll tell her everything. I’ll have her take it to my project head, Dr. Brooks so at least she will get credit for solving our little mystery. That’s the least I can do for her.”
    “Why do you want to do anything for her?” asked Jerry. “And why do you refer to a doctor in physics as Stella?”
    “Since I am probably going to jail anyway, let me tell you two about last night.” I answered.
     
    Just as I finished the story there was a crash from the corner of the barn. We all looked toward the noise and out walked Joanna.
    “How long were you listening?” I asked Joanna.
    “I heard everything.” she said. “Now you are going to have to fill me in completely. And Jerry, what did you have to do with it. I was just starting to really like you and now it sounds like you are a party to a crime.”
    We brought Joanna over, sat her down and filled in the information she didn’t already know. Jerry sat next to her with his arm around her shoulders. She leaned away from Jerry at first but then moved a little closer to him and relaxed a little more as the story unfolded. When we were finished, Joanna had a look that I’d never seen before. Her eyes got wide and a smile came over her face.
    “We’re going to be rich. Bill, people will pay zillions for something like that.”
    “First of all Joanna, we are not absolutely certain we can duplicate the original experiment.” I said trying to downplay the seriousness of the situation. “And secondly, before you go out and buy a new wardrobe and car to match, remember, I cost the world a bundle too. Not deliberately, but the zillions I’d get paid might all go to pay back the zillions I cost the world.”
    Jerry piped in. “Hey, a zillion here, a zillion there, what’s a few zillion among friends?”
    Next Grandma walked into the barn smiling.
    “Grandma, how much did you hear?” I asked.
    “Don’t worry Bill.” Grandma said. “There’s not much that gets by me around here. I’ve known about your invention almost as long as you have.”
    “Good god,” said Pops, “so much for deniability.”
    Pops reminded all of us of the requirement not to talk to anyone about what we knew. “If anyone tells someone, and the word gets out all of us could be in serious danger. So we all understand and agree?” he asked as he looked us directly in the eye one by one.
    We all agreed.
     
    After a short pause, Jerry looked at Joanna and said, “How would you like to go get some ice cream, young lady?”
    “The young lady formally accepts, young man,” Joanna replied.
    Grandma looked at Pops and said, “How would you like some ice cream old man? I’ve got a half gallon of chocolate on ice.”
    “Thank you madam, I’d love some.” Pops said as both couples walked out hand in hand.

 
    -15-
     
    Stella and I agreed to meet at 7 AM on Tuesday and Wednesday. The data was continuing to come in from stations all over the world. We kept busy plugging the information into the computer and then we’d run the algorithm again with the new data included. Every time we recalculated, the target zone got smaller.