19
"See, what did I tell you? Every city that's had a quake is listed in this book! Don't you think there might be a connection?" Noel, with a triumphant look on her face, gave her brother a nudge in the ribs with her elbow, having offering her theory.
"I don't know. It's possible, I suppose, but there's eight Earth cities named in the journal. There've only been six that have had earthquakes."
"So that means we know where the next quakes will hit! We have to tell someone! Maybe we can save some lives if we act quickly enough!"
Jim looked at his mother, then back at his sister. "Okay, I'm convinced," he said quietly. "But it won't be as easy as you make it sound. Anybody that we tell will think we're just some Texas yokels trying to use a tragedy and the accident of our heritage to grab a quick headline."
"Not if you tell the right anybody" interjected Phyllis, obviously convinced as well of the connection her daughter had discovered.
"Officer Kubert, you can tell your emergency team they did a fine job in this section. No other bodies..." Chester winced a bit at how callous the phrase sounded and then reworded. "...no other people in here." He was twenty feet below the surface at the bottom of the great chasm that had opened in the middle of Main Street just eight feet from where he lay on the pavement the day before. His work clothes consisted of an orange jumpsuit with an air tank and mask. To assist in his investigation he carried a special sensing device called an "ELMA" (Electronic Element and Mineral Analyzer) to register elemental readings. His communication with Officer Kubert was by two way radio built into the mask. There had been a couple of finds - a man's shoe, a lady's pocketbook - that would be forwarded to their owner or owner's next of kin, but no more corpses. He had just spot inspected the length of the fissure and was getting down to a more detailed look.
"Yeah, I'll have to tell 'em that, perfessor. Anything unusual down there, yet?" Kubert replied down to Chester. He had decided that "Chess" just didn't work for him, but "perfessor" was more in line with the work Chester was doing.
"Nope, not yet. Something must be out of whack, though. There are no major faults running through this area that should have caused this thing. Only thing I see that is even mildly unexpected is what appears to be a... phosphorous type element near the bottom of the pit here."
"Really? Gives you a nice glow, does it? Maybe you can save the batteries on your lantern."
"Well... heh... not that bright. But the color it emits appears to be different than any element I'm familiar with. I'm not reading any radiation... I think I'll take a sample!" Chester broke off a chunk of soil with the dull purplish glow and sealed it inside a bag.
"Say, Perfessor! You know you've been down in that pit for an hour and a half, now. I think it would be a good idea to come up and take a break for awhile, if only to check your air tank or look at your samples in the daylight!"
Chester took a couple of looks around the fissure and decided Kubert just might have something there. "All right, Joe! I think you're right! On my way up!" He began scaling a nylon rope ladder that he and Kubert had secured above the surface. He was about five feet shy of exiting the chasm when a ringing sound came from the pocket of his trousers. Practically leaping the final fibrous rung to escape the gaping hole in the city street, he then dug through the jumpsuit and into his trousers for his mobile phone. "Wow! I didn't think these would be working yet."
"Yeah, they got it up and running this morning. I got a friend in the phone company that..."
"Hold that thought a minute, Joe. I think this might be my wife... Hello?"
"Well Hello! How's my hero doing?"
"Well, I don't know. Let me ask him. Hey, Joe! My wife wants to know how the hero is doing. I think she must be talking about you. So how about it?"
"How about what?"
"How are you doing?" Joe just laughed and waved a "go on, get outta here gesture at his new friend.
"All right, lover, you know I was asking about you ! You and your little girl friend."
"Yeah, I guess if sitting around on the pavement til the cops show up - uh, no offense, Joe..."
"None taken."
"...If that's what constitutes a hero, I guess that would be me. But personally after what I've seen since this thing hit, guys like Officer Joe Kubert here and all the other emergency crew should be treated as the heroes. Hon, these guys really took lifesaving to a new level the other day. But I guess I shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth... s'cuse me a sec, Hon... Joe, I'm from Texas. We all pretty much use this homespun way of talkin' - mentionin' horses and all. Makes us sound like rustic philosophers or somethin'... as I was sayin', Hon, I shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. I think that was what got me on the investigative board."
"Sweetheart, your credentials got you that appointment. You deserve to be there, and you certainly were a hero the other day. There's no telling how that little girl would have reacted before her mom woke up if you hadn't been there to calm her. She might even have fallen into that pit that I saw on the news!"
Chester had had enough hero talk and segued into a new subject. "Speaking of that pit, that's where I am now. Trying to find something to explain all these quakes. Professor Infantino seems to think there must be something tying them all together. I kind of agree, but finding it may be pretty tough."
"Well, that's why I called. I know you're busy, but Phyllis Kent and her children are here and they have something you might want to hear."
Phyllis Kent and her kids? Chester thought, forgetting about his neighbors link to the past. What could they possibly want right now? "Okay... Joe wants to check some of my equipment anyway. Put her on!"
"Chess...this is Phyllis. Listen, this may be a longshot, but we've found something that may have something to do with these quakes."
"Phyllis, this isn't a good time for any of your jokes. I've got a big job to do here, ya know, and..."
"Chester, I'm not joking. You know who george is related to, right?"
"Yeah, but you guys bring it up so seldom that I almost forget about it sometimes..."
"Well, this time it's actually important. We've had a kind of... thing - I don't know any way else to put it..."
"Is everyone all right? I know George is on a flight today..."
"Everyone is fine, but the point is... we've found a book... a journal that was kept by George's great ancestor, and while looking it over, Noel found a passage that lists every city that's been hit with earthquakes. We think the events in this passage may have something to do with what is happening now."
Joe looked up for a moment from checking the tanks and hoses, then continued checking the gear.
"What do you mean, 'what's happening now?' Don't you mean 'what has already taken place?'"
"Chess, there are two more cities listed in this story. There may be more tremors yet to deal with."
A "story" is probably right, thought Chester. But he had known the Kents for a long time and they had never been given to crazy notions or played the "super" card. They had always been people you could rely on when you needed them. So he gave Phyllis the benefit of the doubt and listened. If nothing else, it would make a great story later, when this was all over. "Well, what are the other two cities, Phyll?"
"Sydney, Australia and Cairo, Egypt. I don't know in what order they were shrunk..."
"Did you say 'shrunk?'" George suddenly became a little terse with his neighbor.
"Yes, but the important thing is that one of those cities may be ne..."
"Phyllis, did I mention that I'm in the middle of an important project here? I really don't have time for any of Noel's crazy schemes..."
"I know what you are in the middle of, Chester. And I wouldn't think of bothering you right now if I didn't think this hadn't any merit. Just because it was noel who discovered it..."
"The passage or the book?"
"The what? your phone is breaking up a little."
"Did Noel find the passage or the book?"
"What does that matter?"
"Humor me."
"She found the passage. Jimmy found the book. That's a story in itself, but we don't have time for that right now. The people of Cairo and Sydney need to be warned!"
"Phyllis, do you know what kind of panic that could cause... even if you're right?"
"I know another little girl could be right in the middle of the next tremor, and this time she may not be as lucky!"
Boy, that was the right button to push, thought Chester. With just a hint of compassion in his voice he said, "Let me speak to Candice." There was a moment of silence while the phone was transferred from one friend to the other.
"Yes, Darling?"
"You know I have all the respect in the world for Phyllis, but... Could this be on the level? You know her past mental thing and all. This could be an hallucination, couldn't it?"
"I don't think so, Dear. I think you should look into it."
"And what makes you say that?"
"because I'm looking at the 'hallucination' right now. And it sure looks legit to me!"
Chester paused a moment, then looked over at Kubert, who had just finished refilling the air tank, and then said to his wife,. "I've got to get back to work, Hon. I'll call you back."
"Chester Carr! You really shouldn't ignore this..."
"I really mean it, Candice. I have to get back to work. I will call you back. I... I'll look into it."
"Chess... Those people need to be warned..."
"I said I would look into it... Now... I promise! But right now, I have to get back to work... Okay?"
"Okay... I love you, Honey!"
"I love you, too, Darlin'. Bye!"
"Bye!"
As Chester killed the connection, he noticed Joe was looking at him in a slightly odd manner. "What...? You think I shouldn't listen to my wife on this thing, do you?"
"On the contrary! Some of the best advice I ever got came from my first wife. If I had taken it, I'd probably still be married to her!"
Chester thought about it a minute and then started dialing a new number.
"Calling back your wife?" asked Joe.
"Nope," said Chester. "Infantino!"