Morningstar/Alignment by Keith Trimm (people reading books txt) 📕

Today was like most days, sitting idle trying to imagine how the process worked. He had been working on the problem for several months now with no visible results to speak of and was beyond frustration. Somehow he needed to be able to reverse the natural vibration of matter in a way to send it into an alternate path heading backward into time. He theorized that the amount of electricity was proportional to the actual distance traveled backwards and any amount of current would start the process.

"Why don’t you just unhook all that stuff and send a natural bolt of lightning through the damn thing?" his lab assistant said.

"Natural? We are in a building," Tony replied with a smirk. He looked to the ceiling and wandered off in thought.

On the television monitor by his desk, was a picture of a digital clock positioned within the chamber with the correct date and time showing. If anything happened, videotape would record any time shifts and a comparison of electrical power and time variance could be calculated. As of this time, no shifts had been recorded and the tape continued to loop over and over.

"I might as well pray to God!" Tony said under his breath. " That’s the only thing I haven’t tried yet,"

"Maybe we need some divine intervention," his lab assistant said slurping his coffee. "Too bad you’re a heathen. We could use the help."

"What?"

"I read your paper."

"What paper?"

"You published that paper on your personal theory of time travel back when you were teaching."

"That paper! Usually those things get filed away in a library and no one reads them."

"True. My sister was in your class. She said you were a real ass."

"Me?"

"You pissed her off with all your anti-God rhetoric. She thought she was in a religion class."

"Rhetoric? I don’t think so." Tony stated. "I don’t discount God. That would be unscientific. I must consider all variables."

"Sure doctor."

"Are you patronizing me?" Tony said with a grin.

"God is a variable to you. I find that funny."

"And why do you say that?’

"To most people, God is their savior. To you God is a math calculation. Two plus two equals God."

"Two plus infinity actually," Tony said with a chuckle. He shuffled in his seat and leaned forward. "I admit I can get a little preachy sometimes, but as long as I can find no direct evidence of God,"

"No evidence!" his assistant spoke up. "What do you call the tree’s and the ocean’s and all of the animals?"

"That is a result! That is not evidence of what spawned it."

"Spawned? You mean evolved?" the assistant asked.

"Yes, evolved."

"You are a Darwin fanatic."

"Darwin had the right idea you know. Pretty damn smart for back then."

"It’s only a theory you know."

"Did I say it wasn’t?" Tony asked. " I realize it cannot be proven. As a man of science I realize that our theories evolve also. That is the magic of science."

"Magic? You sound more religious than you let on," the assistant said smugly. "You have to have faith to believe in evolution."

"Common sense."

"One man’s common sense is another man’s foolishness."

"Philosopher?" Tony asked, "You must have had a double major?"

"No, I had a minor in religion."

"Isn’t that a conflict of interest?"

"Not to me. Science and religion can work hand in hand."

"More like stabbing each other in the back." Tony sipped from his coffee again and grinned at his assistant sitting across the room. "Would it make you feel better if I tried the unknown variable?"

"A little prayer never hurt?"

"Telepathy."

"Huh?"

"That’s what prayer is. Telepathy to God."

"You make me laugh," the assistant said grinning. "You analyze everything to death. No wonder you’re not married."

"Now that’s below the belt." Tony said. "Ok, I’m willing to walk on the other side for the sake of science. How do you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Pray."

"You’re kidding?"

"No." Tony said shrugging his shoulders. "I never had a reason to practice before."

"This is nuts. Haven’t you ever been to a church before? Didn’t you’re parents ever take you?"

"When I was very young. My dad was a Pastor. They both died when I was still a kid."

"Oh! I’m sorry, I crossed the line there."

"It’s ok, you didn’t know. Now what am I supposed to do? Get down on my knees and put my hands together?"

"There is no set pattern. It is a personal thing between you and God."

"Ok, I’ll give it a shot."

"Go for it!"

Tony tried to keep a straight face, looking to the ceiling, and stated out loud, "Oh God in heaven, please show me the way," Tony said hitting the run key on his keyboard. His assistant’s eyes lit up seeing the image on the screen change and stood up pointing to the television monitor speechless. He ran to Tony’s monitor to make sure it wasn’t a technical glitch and then to the clock itself, holding his head with his hands. He turned to Tony.

"What did you do?" the assistant asked.

"Nothing!" Tony said looking up at the skylights above. He smiled at his antics and then jumped out of his chair as he focused on the clock and saw the time and date were off by over twelve hours. "What the…?" he said. "I did it. I really did it." The readouts on the computer screen showed that less than the power in a single D cell battery sent the clock over twelve hours back in time. The clock had been sitting there for over four months before they even started so they would be able to calculate the time in case the experiment worked. It was now the time to call Brinkman.

Chapter 17

July 18, 1980

Rain poured down from the sky in heavy pounding drops, stinging when they struck bare skin. The sky was dark and the stars were hidden behind a thick blanket of clouds shooting forth bolts of lightning and crashes of thunder. The wind was whipping by at a brisk 20-mph. Making visibility very poor. It was all he could do just to keep an eye on the yellow lines that divided the highway. In the car with him was his young son Tony, who was gripping his seat in terror, watching his father try to get them home.

"Daddy I’m scared," Tony said.

"It’s ok son, I’m taking it slow" his father replied.

It was difficult to see the road when the headlights from the oncoming cars created a blinding glare on the windshield, finding the vehicle slightly veering off to the right whenever a car approached. He knew he was scared too, wanting to get home as soon as possible. They were fifteen miles from the edge of town, nearing the worst stretch of highway so far. The road dipped and turned making driving a chore, even on a good day. The road had ruts in them from the semi-trucks that used the road, forming long lakes of rainwater, which sometimes caused the car to hydroplane. He compensated by driving to the left, staying just outside the puddles of water. This sometimes brought him close to oncoming traffic, which used the same trick to keep out of the ruts.

Pastor Jack Rhine kept a tight grip on the wheel and leaned forward in a ready, ridged stance waiting for the worst. Tony was strapped in with a seatbelt, his father not using one. Minutes passed by so slowly as he kept trudging along through the downpour, nervously scanning the road ahead.

“How much longer?" Tony asked.

"About ten minutes," Jack replied nervously, not wanting to speak. Tony turned and stared outside the window, watching the rain streak by, listening to the sound of the wiper blades swooshing by in a rhythmic pattern. Tony had confidence in his dad knowing his father would get him home. Tony was ten years old, still very dependent on his father. His father, the Reverend Jack Rhine, was a strong man in spirit and a good father; he would not let his son down. He knew the rain had to let up soon.

"I’m pulling over," Tony’s father said. "I need to let this cool off for a while."

The car slowly veered to the side of the highway finding its way to the shoulder. The car remained running as the wipers zipped back and forth cleaning the windshield for a second at a time. Tony could see his father was more relaxed now, prying his white knuckles off of the steering wheel.

"We’ll just wait here for a few minutes until this lightens up…. Ok?" he asked Tony.

"Sure dad, I don’t like the rain either," Tony replied.

Tony noticed the reflection from the rear view mirror on his dad’s face. The rectangle of light now flashed with red and blue lights. He turned to look though the back window at a blur of police lights approaching right behind them slowing down. Tony’s father turned also.

"Oh no!" he said. "I bet they think I’ve broken down."

He waited as the car came to a stop and a patrolman in a yellow rain coat exited and approached the side of the car. He could see the glare of a flashlight bouncing along the glass of the door. The officer came to the side window and tapped on it with the light. Pastor Rhine rolled down the window, and bullets of rain found its way into the car. Squinting at the blinding flashlight and the wind swept rain he asked, "Is there a problem officer?"

"I was just about to ask you the same thing mister," the patrolman replied rudely.

"I was just waiting out the rain."

"Parking on the shoulder is against the law you know."

"No, I didn’t. I had no idea. Plus this is kind of an emergency."

"Emergency? Lots of folks drive in worse weather than this."

Young Tony watched as the officer and his father carried on the conversation. He watched intensely the way the policeman argued with his dad and became angry. He saw the police officer point the light in his father’s face trying to intimidate him. He took a good look at the face of the man, burning his image into his brain. He did not want to forget this.

"If you don’t move right along I’ll have to issue you a citation," the officer stated.

Tony’s father took a deep breath and looked out the windshield. The rain had not let up and in fact intensified. He took a quick look over at Tony and turned to the officer.

"I’m going," he said. Under his breath he added, "Bastard."

From out of the corner of Tony’s eye, in a flash, he saw the officer slam down his flashlight on the side of his father’s face. His head reeled and spun towards Tony sprinkling him with blood drops. His dad lay there in his seat knocked out and bleeding. Tony froze as he saw the officer pull out his gun and unload several shots into his father. Spurts of blood landed on the dash and windshield as the shots rang out. The flash from the pistol left images in his eyes and the sound shocked him. As soon as it started, it ended and the policeman was gone. Only rain showed through the driver’s side window. His father was dead.

Tony opened his door and stood out in the rain. He looked to his father slumped over in his seat, then back at the police car parked behind his father car. He watched the officer sit in the car, slam the door shut, and turn off his overhead light. Through the windshield Tony watched the man’s eyes glow red and he began to tremble.

The officer looked over to Tony and turned reaching behind his seat. He pulled an object forward and opened his driver’s side door again. Stepping out, he stood and yelled to Tony, "Hey! Don’t move!"

Tony bolted and ran down into the ditch heading out to the farm field bordering the highway. The grass was slick and he scrambled to climb up the other side of