The Flight
by Jim Foreman
CHAPTER
EIGHT
There
was a knock on the door and Melvin got up and opened
it.
The waitress who I had seen earlier at the cafe brought in a
tray
with two plates of food and two cups of coffee on it. "I
figured
that since you had salmon cakes for lunch, you might like
something
different tonight, so I brought you some nice pork
chops,"
she said as she went to the table and set the tray down
beside
my belongings.
"Thanks,
it looks good," I replied.
She
turned to look at me. "I thought that there was something odd about you when you came
in with that ditty-bag on your back. At first, I figured that you were just a bum off the
train who wanted a free meal, but when you paid for it and gave me a big tip, I knew that
something about you was suspicious. Nobody ever leaves a half dollar tip for a plate
lunch, at least not around here. After you left, I took a good look at the quarters and
saw that they were slugs, so I showed them to the boss. He is the one who called the
sheriff and had you arrested. Sorry if I caused you a peck of trouble, but you not only
stiffed me on the tip, the boss made me pay for your meal too."
"I'm
sorry miss, but I never intended to do you any harm. The truth is that those quarters are
as good as gold, but there has been a mistake all around about them."
Melvin
broke in, "You'll have to go now Maggie, 'cause the
sheriff
said that this guy came in on a flying saucer and no one
can
talk to him until the FBI gets here tomorrow."
Melvin
closed and locked the door as she left. He turned to me and said, "If I let you out
to eat, will you promise not to try to escape or anything?"
"I
promise and can assure you that I won't do anything which
might
cause me even more trouble than I already have. I'm innocent and this whole thing will be
straightened out once the FBI gets here. I know enough about the law to know that if I try
to escape while I'm in your custody, it would become a crime."
Melvin
unlocked the cell door and we sat down to eat our
dinners.
"Would you let me look at your watch?" he asked.
I
took it off and handed it to him. He held it to his ear for a moment and said, "It
isn't running."
"Yes
it is, it just doesn't make any sound, at least no sound that a human can hear. Look at
the dial, see it changing back and forth between the time and date."
"Show
me how it works," he said.
"This
watch will do lots of things. First of all, it will
tell
you the time and date anywhere in the world. Take for
instance,
if you want to know what time it is in New York, you
press
the time zone button, then key in NY. Watch it change." It
changed
instantly from 8:23 PM to 9:23 PM. Now watch what happens
when
I change it to Tokyo, not only the time changes, but also the date since Tokyo is a day
ahead of us.
"That's
amazing, how does it know what time it is in all
those
places?"
"Telling
time is simple," I replied. "Let me show you a few
other
things that it will do. Suppose that you want to multiply a
number
like 257864 times 71. Just put them in and press the equals button and you have the
answer, 18308344."
"How
much does a watch like that cost?" he asked.
"The
government furnishes them to us, so they probably cost
a
lot more than most people could afford. However, considering
that
it will run for three or four thousand years, I suppose that
the
cost doesn't really matter."
"What
is it like living in 1986?" he asked.
"Pretty
much the same as it is now. We live in the same kinds of houses as you do, eat basically
the same foods and work for a living. After all, it is only forty years later. Think how
little things have changed between 1906 and now. We earn a lot more money but it also
costs a lot more to live."
"But
you have atomic watches like that and are able to travel through time."
"True,
we have made a number of advances in technology, but
there
has been very little change in the human body or mind. It
hasn't
changed much in the past millions years, so it couldn't
have
changed very much in another forty," I told him. "We still
fall
in love, get married and have kids. We get old, get sick and
die
just like you do now."
"I
joined the Navy after my brothers were killed but since I
was
the only son left in the family, they kept me in the states
until
the war was over. I had served just a little over a year
before
the war ended and they discharged me. Has there been
another
war or anything like that?" he asked.
"I'm
afraid that is one field in which we haven't made much
progress.
There will be in another war in 1950 in a place called
Korea
but you probably won't have to go back in since you served
more
than a year during World War Two. The Korean war will last
for
about three years and will end with neither side winning."
"You
know all sorts of things that will happen in the future. You must know who will win things
like the World Series and the Kentucky Derby. If you told me, I could bet on them and make
a lot of money."
"I
don't remember who won those things, but I can give you a
few
tips that will make you a rich man. Do you have any money to
invest?"
"I
have twenty thousand dollars drawing three percent
interest
at the bank. It's the money I got from GI Insurance when my brothers were killed in the
war, but I've been saving that to buy me a good farm with," Melvin replied.
"I
hate to tell you this, but buying a farm in this area
wouldn't
be the way to make money. You would probably be able to
make
a comfortable living off it for a number of years, but you
stand
a good chance of losing it just about the time when you are
old
enough to think about retiring."
"If
I owned a farm outright, how would I be likely to lose
it?"
asked Melvin.
"As
time goes along, the agricultural market will become so
unstable
that you will have to borrow money just to keep going.
Each
year you will have to borrow more than you will be able to
pay
back until you reach a point where you will owe more than the
farm
is worth and then the bankers will take it over. It's a sad
fact
that bankers are the most insistent about getting their money just when you are the least
able to repay it. Over half of the farmers in this area will go broke and lose their farms
during the next forty years."
"Then
what should I do?" he asked.
"If
you really want to make some money, take that twenty
thousand
dollars and buy every share of stock that you can in
three
companies. They are called Polaroid, IBM and XEROX. Don't
cash
in any of the stock no matter how much you think that you
need
the money. When you get dividend checks, use that money to
buy
more shares of stock. By the time that you are forty years
old,
you will be a millionaire. In the meantime, use your GI Bill
to
get yourself a college education."
"If
I went to college, I'd have to quit this job," he
replied.
"Jobs
like you have now will be a dime a dozen. The job that
you
will be doing ten years from now probably doesn't even exist
today."
"I've
never heard of any companies by those names, what are
they?"
"I
don't think that any of them exist yet. Polaroid will make cameras which will produce a
finished print in only one minute after you take the picture."
"You
say they will give you a picture in a minute, without
having
to take the film to the drug store."
"That's
right. You snap the picture, wait a minute and pull
out
a finished photograph. After they have been in business a few
years,
they will start making a camera which will produce a color
photograph
in just one minute."
"That
sounds amazing. No wonder that their stock will go up
and
up," he replied. "But what about those other two companies
that
you told me about. What will they make?"
"IBM
will build a number of different kinds of business
machines,
but computers will be the thing which will make the most money for them and XEROX will
make copying machines."
"Do
you mean photostat machines, like the one which they have in the County Clerk's
office?" he asked.
"XEROX
Copiers will do basically the same thing that
photostat
machines do now, except that it will produce an exact
copy
in a few seconds. The cost of a XEROX copy will be about two
cents
as compared to a couple dollars for a photostat."
"If
these companies don't exist now, then how am I going to
buy
stock in them?"
"Keep
in touch with some stock broker and the day that stock
in
these companies comes on the market, buy all that you have money
for.
I'd suggest that you put about a third of your money in each
company,
then set back and watch the value grow."
"That
is awfully hard to believe," Melvin said with a shake
of
his head. "I'd hate to sink all of my money into stocks like
that
and then lose it all like my dad did in 1929. At one time, he had a lot of money but when
he died in 1937 he was so broke that the county had to bury him."
"Melvin,
stocks will go up and down over the next few years,
but
I can assure you that there will not be another market crash
like
the one in 1929. Stock in those three companies will do
nothing
but go up in value."
Melvin
wrote down the names of the companies and thought
about
what I had said for a long time before he asked, "Those
people
that will come after you. Will they have guns or do they
use
death rays and things like that?"
I
couldn't tell if I had gotten to the sheriff or not, but
evidently
Melvin had taken it all in and was concerned about what
was
going to happen when they came to rescue me. "They don't use
death
rays any more, they use stun rays. When they zap you with a
stun
ray, you remain conscious but you can't move. It's extremely
painful
and lasts for about eight hours, but it doesn't kill a
person."
"Can
they knock down doors and things like that with those
rays?"
"No,
stun rays will go right through doors or walls and are
used
only against people. When the team comes, they will scan the
room
to find out who is in it and where they are, then there will
be
a flash of light and everyone except me will be instantly
stunned.
After that, they will use a disintegrator ray to take out locks, doors or anything else
which is in their way. Normally, they never use a disintegrator ray against a person
because the only thing left would be a cloud of very bad smelling smoke."
"Sounds
like we won't have much of a chance," he said.
I
could see that I had him going and that he was scared. Now
if
I could only push him into letting me go. "I guarantee that you will have absolutely
no chance at all. The team is very
professional
and will do whatever is necessary to accomplish their mission. They don't really want to
hurt or kill anyone, but they are ready if it comes to that. I'd hate to see you go
through the pain of being stunned but it will happen before you even know that the team is
here."
"When
do you think that they will come?" Melvin asked.
"They
will be here tonight because they already know where I
am
and that I'm in trouble. We won't know that they are around
until
it's too late to do anything about them. You will just be sitting there and suddenly you
will have been stunned."
~How
do they know exactly where you are?" he asked.
"Simple.
You remember when I had the communicator for a few
seconds.
I switched to emergency location frequency and pressed
the
button. I didn't have to say anything because the sensors in
the
ship instantly locked in on it. I know the sheriff is rather
old
fashioned and dedicated to his job, but you are young and can
look
at things in an intelligent manner. You realize the futility
of
trying to hold me after the team comes, so why don't you let me gather my things and walk
out that door. You can tell the sheriff that the team came and you were stunned and
couldn't do anything to stop them."
"I
know that I can't stop them when they get here, but I took an oath when I became a deputy
and it is my sworn duty to hold you as long as I can. I just can't let you walk out,"
he said.
"I
realize that you are a dedicated law officer, but there
comes
a time when you have to make decisions on your own. I like
you
and don't want to see you hurt, but I do have to return to
1986
where I belong. How would you like to get accidentally stuck
back
in 1906 or some time like that?"
"I
can see your point, but I just don't know."
"To
prove that I like you and care what happens to you, I'll
give
you that watch if you will simply let me walk away. I'm going to go anyway, so you can
make it easy on yourself and have an atomic watch thirty years before anyone else."
"I'll
tell you what," he said suddenly. "I'll lock the cell
door
but leave you out here in the office. Then I'll leave to take those dishes back to the
cafe. If you aren't here when I get back, the sheriff will think that the team came and
took you away while I was gone."
"OK,
just give me all of the time that you can because I'm on foot and not sure just when the
shuttle will come."
Melvin
locked the cell door and waited while I stuffed my
clothing
into the back pack. "OK, you lead the way to be sure the
coast
is clear and I'll follow. When you head for the cafe, I'll
go
the other way. You don't know what a favor you are doing and
how
much I appreciate it."
It
was dark but no longer raining when we stepped out the
door
beneath the front steps of the court house. I shook Melvin's
hand
and whispered, "Melvin, you're a good man, take care of
yourself."
Behind
us came the sound of a shell being jacked into a pump
shotgun,
then the sheriff's rough voice, "Get your hands in the
air
and don't either of you bastards move or I'll blow your asses
to
kingdom come. I knew that Melvin wasn't too smart and figured
that
you'd try to talk him into something stupid like this."
I
felt the cold, round end of the shotgun barrel shoved
against
the back of my neck. "Don't you even breathe," he said as
he
reached around Melvin with his free hand and jerked his pistol
from
its holster.
"I'm
not moving a muscle, sheriff, and please be careful with that shotgun. I'd hate to have my
brains scattered all over the place."
"You
are attempting to escape jail and I'd be justified if I
pulled
the trigger right now," the sheriff growled. "You're lucky
the
FBI knows you are here or I'd finish you off right here. Now
move
real slow back down the stairs. Melvin, open the doors for
us."
We
walked slowly back into the sheriff's office. Melvin took
the
ring of keys from the top drawer of the desk and opened the
cell
door. The sheriff was holding Melvin's pistol in one hand and the shotgun in the other. He
prodded me into the cell with the barrel of the shotgun, stepped back and said, "Slip
your arms out of that knapsack real easy and push it out the door with your
foot,
then back up against the wall."
I
did what the sheriff had ordered and he kicked the cell
door
shut with a loud clang. He dropped Melvin's pistol into the
desk
drawer, threw the keys in with it and slammed the drawer
shut.
Then he turned to his deputy, "Melvin, I'm real disappointed in you. If you weren't
my sister's kid, you'd be in that cell too. Now give me your badge and go home, I'll
decide what to do with you tomorrow."
"Don't
be too hard on him Sheriff. He was just doing what he
felt
was best for everyone concerned," I said.
"You
keep your two cents worth out of this. I ought to work
you
over with a sap just to teach you a little respect for me and
the
law. There's never been a prisoner escape from my custody
before
and you ain't going to tarnish my record by being the
first.
Several people have tried to break out of my jail before
and
none of them are around to brag about it today. If you weren't such an important prisoner
and wanted by the FBI, you'd be a dead man right now. You better count your lucky stars
that you got away with this try, but let me tell you one thing for sure, attempt to escape
again and I'll kill you where you stand. You understand that?"
"Yes,
Sheriff. I understand you perfectly," I replied as I
sat
down on the cot.
The
sheriff kicked a chair against the door, plopped into it
and
laid the shotgun across his lap. It was obvious that he was
going
to stand guard over me for the rest of the night. I thought
about
telling him the same story that I had told Melvin, about
people
with stun rays coming to rescue me, but decided that might
provoke
him into putting me in irons or something worse. I finally decided that I would probably
be better off to wait for the FBI and try to convince them that I was in 1946 as a result
of some terrible mistake. At least they wouldn't be as dangerous as this man. I pulled off
my shoes and laid down on the cot. The rough mattress stank of cigarettes, vomit and
sweat.
Even
though it was late August, there was a chilly dampness
in
the basement. "Any chance that I could have a blanket?" I asked the sheriff.
"Hell
no you can't have a blanket. This ain't no hotel.
You're
costing me a night's sleep in my own bed, so you don't
deserve
one," he shot back. There was no chance that I could
reason
with a man like this, so I gained what comfort that I could from my light jacket. I
finally dosed into a fitful sleep.
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