Chapter 2 - Anticipation
The next three months were intense. Auggie had to come up with creative ways of purchasing things. He was worried that big brother was watching and if they were keeping track of his purchases, they might figure out what he was doing. First, there were general machine tools for building the gantry, the stands, the control room, and the power system. He could just go to various sources for those. It was the special tools that had to be purchased in order to handle radioactive material that made it harder. Auggie had to go to hospital supply companies and hazardous material handling supply companies on the Internet for those items. He would use aliases and a post office box to help cover his tracks. Claire was convinced he was just being paranoid, but Auggie had a secret clearance when he was in the military and was convinced “they” were still watching him.
When Auggie and Claire met, Auggie was a senior enlisted nuclear technician in the Air Force. He was responsible for the assembly and disassembly of nuclear weapons. His experience working with nuclear material gave Claire a little piece of mind. Auggie was a super-careful kind of guy, he never even drove above the speed limit, so she knew he wouldn’t put either of their lives in danger. As a matter of fact, he wanted to make the trip back in time himself to be sure it was safe, but he was the only one who knew enough about the machine to work the controls safely, so in the end he thought manning the controls would make for a safer trip.
Scrap metal was collected from various junkyards. Of course he wouldn’t go to the same junkyard twice because “they” might get suspicious. It was like a wet dream for Auggie because he had gismos and gadgets galore. There were also all kinds of alterations that had to be made to his computer. The den was beginning to look like a war zone. Scrap metal littered the ground like scattered corpses on a battlefield.
There also was the equivalent of a small substation dedicated completely to their den. It was so large that Auggie was tapping into a local factory during off hours just to draw enough current to run the equipment. Aluminum tubing blocked the bathroom entrance and metal grating was stacked up against the back wall.
Auggie collected several Industrial magnets that he had to bring into the house under the cover of night; “so as not to provoke suspicion,” he whispered to Claire. His computer was beginning to look like an enormous octopus. It was sprouting sub-computers on a daily basis; there were over 200 processors in all. Auggie said they were “running in parallel, using Linux, a free, but solid version of UNIX, in a Beowulf cluster configuration,” but Claire had no idea what he was talking about. She enjoyed using computers but she wasn’t interested in what made them work.
One tricky buy was a liquid nitrogen cooling system to run through all elements of the system. It was available commercially, but it was dangerous to handle. Claire played her part by modifying a set of oven mitts with extra layers of fabric that were hyper cold resistant. Auggie told her that if the liquid nitrogen spilled his feet would be frozen to the floor, so she bought him Navy Surplus LOX boots that could be slipped on and off easily. Luckily, they weren’t needed as the liquid nitrogen purchase went off without a hitch.
After a few months, things really started coming together. Soon enough, it was time for the final and most difficult-to-find ingredient, Osmium. Several pounds of Osmium would need to be milled into hemispheres to focus the mag fields. Osmium is radioactive, not terribly so, but enough to need special containment. Auggie soon had that covered too. While he was stationed at Los Alamos National Laboratory, disassembling aging nuclear weapons, he developed friendships that he still maintained. One of his best friends, Dirk, was now using his GI Bill money to fund his tuition at UCLA. He was a graduate student in Physics and often performed experiments using nuclear materials. When Auggie started planning LOKI, he put the word out to Dirk and a few other good friends that he needed Osmium for various experiments. No one asked any questions because Auggie was always performing some kind of experiment and they knew all about Mr. Safety. So, when Dirk began particle acceleration experiments, he told Auggie he may be able to hook him up. Two weeks later, Auggie received the call.
“Hey man, I’ve got some of that stuff you wanted.” Dirk said, knowing full well Auggie’s paranoia over the phone service.
“You’re kidding...that’s great. When can we get it?”
“Just stop up here tomorrow afternoon, we’re finishing up the paperwork on these trials today and we’ll be ready for disposal tomorrow.”
“At, at, at!” Auggie’s paranoia took hold; Dirk had offered too much information. “I’ll be there...same bat time, same bat channel!”
“Gotcha.” Dirk hung-up, knowing full well that Auggie would call back later to give him a time so as to throw off big brother. Auggie later used his cell phone to call Dirk at home to tell him he would be there right after work.
Auggie had already outfitted their vehicle’s trunk with special casing for nuclear materials. It looked like something Superman concocted to hold kryptonite. It was overkill since the Osmium would already be in a protective case, but Auggie wanted to make doubly sure they were protected. When he arrived at the lab, Dirk had already gathered the Osmium in an airtight, lead-lined container. For the purpose of his experiment, aged Osmium was useless to Dirk, but it was perfect for Auggie’s purposes.
“Be careful with this shit, Auggie,” Dirk warned.
“My middle name is careful,” Auggie said, grinning. The handoff was made and Auggie was soon back home with the final component of his life’s work.
Claire was breathless with anticipation when Auggie returned home. She couldn’t wait for her journey to begin. Auggie told her to have patience and locked himself in the den to make his final preparations. Finally, their ambitious dream was about to take flight. Claire paced around the living room for what seemed like an eternity before she heard the creaking of the den door.
Auggie peeked out of the door and told Claire to come in. Claire practically leaped from her chair to join him in the den. The den was the perfect place for the time machine because their house had belonged to Claire’s mother before them and her grandparents before that, so they knew it had been standing, much the same as it is now for over 60 years. The only addition to the house in all that time was the den they were now standing in. This worked right into Auggie’s plans, as he predicted if someone left from the den to go back in time, they would land exactly where the den stands now, which would be in Claire’s grandparent’s side yard. Obscured by bushes and trees, it would be the perfect landing site.
Claire looked around the den at the behemoth that had formed over the last three months. It looked like a giant silver squid on crack. There was piping everywhere, running from one end of the den to the other. You couldn’t even see the ugly lime green wallpaper with the frog pattern that had been hanging since her parents moved away nearly 15 years before. Auggie’s computer had parts everywhere. It looked like something you’d see at Mission Control in Houston. There were all kinds of switches and lights. Claire didn’t know what any of them controlled, but they were beautiful nonetheless. In that moment, her excitement got the best of her.
“Let’s do it!” Claire yelped.
“Hold your horses, Princess, we have to run tests,” Auggie said, always the cooler head. He meant the word Princess sincerely, without the slightest hint of condescension.
“Tests? Shit Auggie, either it’s going to work or it’s not, let’s just do it.”
“Not on your life. And I mean that literally, Claire,” Auggie raised his eyebrows, making it clear that he was very serious. “We have no idea what the power and scope of this device is. We don’t even know if it will work. It could just explode the atoms that make up your very being; I’m not going to risk it.”
“O.K., o.k.,” Claire knew it would be pointless to argue with Mr. Safety, “So what are we going to do?”
“First, we’re going to transport a solid object. Hand me the transport device,” he said, motioning
toward a small box on top of the cpu.
“This?” Claire questioned, reaching for the device.
“Yep,” Auggie answered, eyeing the room for something to transport. Claire held the device in her hand. It looked nothing like the rest of Auggie’s equipment. The unit was smooth, silver metal with no lights or buttons except for the small digital time display window. Claire clasped it in her hands. There was a black elastic strap about two inches thick coming out of either side. They were connected with Velcro. Claire raised the device to her cheek and felt its coldness permeate her skin. She smiled as she thought about her master plan.
“What are you doing?” Auggie asked.
“Nothing,” Claire replied. “Here you go.” Auggie gave her a look of suspicion, and took the devise from her hand. Then he picked up a porcelain nick knack from a bookshelf and strapped the transport device to it. He set the timer on the device and proceeded to the control panel. “Stand back here.” He commanded.
“YES, SIR!” Claire saluted.
“This is serious, Claire.” She could see by his face that he meant business, so she complied with his wishes.
“O.k., I’m here,” she said as she stood by his side. Auggie began to power up the machine. A thunderous roar came from the cooling system as a loud buzzing made music in the air. Claire was nervous in spite of herself.
“Shit, I hope the neighbors can’t hear this,” Mr. Paranoia said.
“Even if they hear it, they’re not going to have any idea what it is, so don’t worry about it,” Claire encouraged him.
“O.k., this is it, we’re ready to go.”
“Oh my God, we’re going to do it; we’re actually going to do it. This is it, babe,” Claire said as she crossed fingers on both of her hands.
“The timer on the control panel is corresponding with the arm unit. Everything looks good. O.k. what date should we set it for?”
“Let me, let me!” Claire exclaimed.
“O.K.” Auggie moved aside. Claire pretended to hide her eyes while carefully selecting the date August 4, 1962. “Alright, looks good. We’re ready,” Auggie confirmed.
Auggie took a deep breath, pulled up the plastic safety covering on the activation key, closed his eyes and pushed a big red button. Claire’s eyes grew even wider in anticipation. The machine creaked and banged and then, in a flash of light, the porcelain statue disappeared.
Three seconds later, it reappeared.
“Shit, what happened?” Claire asked, confused.
“What do you mean? It worked! It really worked!” Auggie started dancing around. “It worked, it worked, it worked.”
“But it only disappeared for a second?” Claire questioned.
“Three seconds to be exact,” Auggie replied, grinning from ear to ear. “It was three seconds to us, but it was actually in the past for five minutes. Since the past has already happened, we could send something back for years and the item would still reappear almost instantly to us. That’s time displacement.”
“O-K.” Claire said hesitantly. “Does that mean it’s my turn?”
“No way, now we have to try something living.”
“Like what?”
“Well, it should be small and slow.”
“A snail?”
“When was the last time you saw a snail hanging around?” Auggie asked sarcastically.
“Fine, a worm then, smartass?” Claire rebutted. Auggie grabbed Claire’s face and kissed her, then pushed away and turned toward the door.
“A worm, that’s perfect, we’ll get a worm!” Auggie ran out of the den at warp speed. Then he ran out of the front door and into the yard. “I know you’re here somewhere you little sucker, come out, come out wherever you are.” Claire followed Auggie into the yard to watch the seasoned hunter stalk his prey. It had recently rained and the sidewalk was still wet. Auggie was searching a little corner of the yard by the front porch, digging little holes, scouring for the elusive earthworm.
“Uh, Aug?” Claire grinned.
“Yeah, honey.” Auggie sounded annoyed.
“What do you complain about every time it rains around here?” She asked smugly.
“What?”
“What do you bitch about every single time it rains?” She repeated.
“Oh shit, the worms on the sidewalk!” Auggie exclaimed. As he ran over to the sidewalk, he could see that it was lined with little helpless worms that were washed up onto the sidewalk in the recent rainstorm.
“There’s a ton of them,” he said.
“Yeah.”
“Why didn’t you say something sooner?”
“I wanted to watch the mighty warrior stalk his prey,” was her smartass reply.
“Very funny, you’re a regular comedienne, you are.” Auggie replied snidely. “Here’s a good one, let’s go,” he said as he scooped up a worm from the sidewalk.
They returned to the den, which Auggie now called his laboratory. He laid the wiggling worm down on the launch pad and put the arm devise next to it. “Shouldn’t you strap it to it somehow?” Claire asked.
“Nope, this little sucker won’t move fast enough in five minutes to escape the return zone.”
“Are you sure?” Claire asked.
“Positive.” Auggie reassured her. Again the buzzing and the banging and the bright flash, and the worm disappeared. Three seconds later, another flash but no worm, only the arm device returned.
“I told you so.” Claire smirked.
Auggie went back to the sidewalk for another worm. This time, he tied the arm device to it with a piece of thread, the only thing small enough to wrap around the worm. They went through the same process again, and this time the worm returned.
This same process was repeated ten or twelve times. First five minutes, then ten, then twenty and so on. Each time, the worm returned safely until Auggie was convinced it was safe for living transportation.
“So, does the worm have to stay in this vicinity to return here?” Claire asked.
“No, when we transport, the object will always land in the same spot but it can transport back from anywhere within a 100 mile radius of the house as long as it has the arm device on or very close to it.”
“Can I go now?” Claire asked.
“Not yet, Claire, I wanna try it on something bigger.”
“Like what?” Claire asked.
Just then, Auggie looked down toward the floor. Sitting by Claire’s foot was their dog, Mr. Chekov. “Oh no you don’t, you’re not touching my dog, Auggie.”
“Why not?”
“Because he’s my baby!”
“No, he’s not your baby, he’s a house pet. Are you saying you’re willing to risk your own life on something that you’re afraid to put your dog in? That’s it then, it’s over. If you don’t trust this device with your dog, then there’s no way I’m letting YOU in it. This event is cancelled,” Auggie stamped his foot on the floor in a rare show of anger.
“Hold up, hold up, don’t cancel anything just yet. Do YOU trust this device enough to put Mr. Chekov in it?”
“I trust it enough to put YOU in it and you’re the most precious thing in the world to me, of course I trust it for the dog.” Auggie replied.
Claire hesitated for a moment, and looked down at the dog that was wagging his tail eagerly.
“O.K., let’s do it,” she said, decisively.
“Are you sure, Mrs. Callahan?” Auggie hesitated.
“Yes, I’m sure. Of course I’m sure, like you said, if I’m going to get in that thing, I’d damn well better trust it.”
“Exactly,” Auggie responded as he picked up the little dog and patted him on the head.
“Wait!” Claire stopped him. She walked over and stroked him lovingly. Auggie thought for a moment that he saw fear in her eyes, but seemingly aware of his gaze, Claire forced a smile and kissed her dog on the head. “O.K.,” she said.
“Last chance to back out.” Auggie offered.
“No, it’s fin
e, he’ll be just fine. No problem.” Claire still looked worried but Auggie was certain. Again with the banging and the buzzing and bright light. Claire shuttered when it flashed and Mr. Chekov disappeared. Those three seconds seemed like years as she eagerly awaited the return of her dog. She could hear her heart beating loudly in her chest. Her breath seemed labored as her bronchial tubes tightened with fear. Another flash and it was over.
Mr. Chekov must have been in mid-run when he transported because he almost ran right into the wall upon his glorious return. “Come here, Boo, are you o.k., are you alright, sweetie? Let mommy see you, is everything where it’s supposed to be? O.k., you’re a good boy, Chekov, you’re a good boy, yes you are.” Claire made kissy sounds to the dog as he licked her face. Auggie was standing in a daze, as reality suddenly hit home.
“My invention works, it really works,” he said quietly.
“You bet your sweet buppie, now let’s get crackin’!” Claire couldn’t contain her anticipation any longer.
“Hold up cowgirl, it’s not that simple. We’re going to bed; we’ll start first thing in the morning.”
“What? All this and I’m not going anywhere tonight?”
“No. I want you to sleep on it to be sure you really want to do this. Besides, I’m tired now and I want to be sure that I’m completely alert when MY baby goes through that corridor.” He put his arm around Claire and led her out of the den and toward the stairs.
Just as they were walking up the stairs, the phone rang. It was Claire’s mother. “Hi mom, what’s up?”
“I need our photos from our vacation in Mexico. I want to take the one of us all together on the beach and blow it up for Matthew for his 40th birthday. I’m pretty sure I left them in your attic when we moved out, can you check for me?”
“Sure.” Claire replied, happy to do anything for her older brother, whom she adored.
“I think I stuck them in the box with your grandmother’s collection of baby shoes. It should have shoes written on the top, and it’s over by your old hobby horse.”
“O.k. I’ll look for it this weekend.”
“Great, thanks, Hun.”
“Sure,” Claire hesitated, “I love you, mom. Tell Matthew I love him too.”
“I love you too, dear, and you can tell Mathew yourself. We’re having a birthday party for him next month. Good night, dear.” Claire hit the off button.
“I love you, mom,” Auggie mocked, tapping Claire on the shoulder. “What’s that for?” he asked.
“Tell Matthew I love him too?” he continued in a mocking tone. “You’re acting like you’re never going to see them again. If you have any doubts about this time travel, you shouldn’t go. I’ll scrap the whole damn thing, Claire.” Auggie said, growing more concerned. Claire was startled by his coarse language.
“Um, relax cowboy, my mother IS 70 years old, remember? Every time I talk to her may be the last, unfortunately. I’m just now realizing the possibility that my mother isn’t going to be around forever, that’s all,” Claire said, hoping to end the conversation. After seeing the continued look of concern on Auggie’s face, she knew she needed more.
“I didn’t realize my mom was throwing Matthew a birthday party, you know I hardly ever see him,” she protested. “Now, can we go to sleep? We’ve got a huge day tomorrow.” Auggie nodded his head in agreement. “Oh, and with all the excitement going on around here, try to remind me to look for a box of pictures, my mom needs it for Matthew’s birthday,” she finished with a grin.
“Get up those stairs, woman,” Auggie said, satisfied with her explanation. Claire breathed a sigh of relief as the two of them retired to the bedroom.
“Tomorrow is another day,” Auggie said as he closed the door.