curiousers under way

Part 19 - The Mother of All Things

The return to Silverwood School was noisy and dazzling but anticlimactic. It was a few moments before I realized we were standing in the electric bookcase staring at the interface computer.

The ozone extraction fans on the electric bookcase whined to a halt as I checked the time on the monitor. I breathed a sigh of relief. The time was 17:45h and it was still December 28. We had been away for a week but only four hours had elapsed local time.

Denny was on his knees kissing the terrazzo floor with relief. Dr Zhang was rubbing his neck ruefully and Miguel was giggling helplessly because Licia's jeans were on backwards.

I seemed to be slightly deaf as Dr Zhang was mumbling something and Denny was waving his arms. ' . . . Bloody incredible . . . . I did warn you blighters this would happen.

Triple Oh was trying to tell me something about having to leave immediately so I grabbed Dr Zhang's arm to get his attention and introduced them. 'This is Time Agency Agent Onderdonk also known as Triple Oh and his assistant, Duncan MacPhun.'

'Well met,' Triple Oh said sticking out his large hand, 'yet we must leave in haste. Toktakunov's finger prints are all over this and I fear we must track Murga before he moves again.'

Dr Zhang looked dazed as he shook hands. 'I've heard so much about you. Ah-um, nice to meet you at last.'

Denny turned to Dr Zhang. 'I recall you saying Oppy was shut down. So how we get sent back to 1778.'

The computer monitor behind us immediately lit up with Oppy's remarks.

'I resent that. And I told you not to interrupt! I did not send you anywhere. All I did was to reduced the time open setting as soon as I noted the aberration. And it will take another 40 100 800 milliseconds to finish calculating corrections for the time link. Now, can I get back to work?'

'That explains why Murga didn't follow you,' Denny growled at me. 'The nexus disconnected too quickly.'

'Ah-um,' Dr Zhang said. 'I don't understand because Oppy was turned off. I suspect someone tried to hack into Oppy just as you altered the coordinate settings on the interface computer.'

I could hear the blatting of Theo's Harley Davidson outside as Triple Oh consulted his tablet computer. 'I beg your forgiveness. We must depart. Fare thee well.'

Licia, Miguel and I followed Triple Oh and Dunc outside and were met with a shocking blast frigid air. It was still winter in Ottawa and the deep snow drifts hadn't disappeared. We waved goodbye as Dunc took off at a run from the top a snowbank and Theo's Harley slalomed down the snow covered street with Triple Oh grimly hanging on to the back seat.

When we hurried back to the warmth inside. Denny was beaming with relief. 'Thank goodness, we all made it back safely. I was beginning to get worried.'

'What were you worried about?' Dr Zhang laughed. 'Ah-um, I was only gone thirty two minutes. I programmed Oppy to maintain contact with the original portal and to let me know when it was available. You can hardly expect a genius to fail on a simple problem like this one. '

'I heard that. I believe I did the programming.'

'Ahu-um,' Dr Zhang yawned. 'I am exhausted. I think we should all get a good night's sleep before discussing this, er, incident. But, ah-um, before you leave, may I remind you that you agreed not to talk about my work until I have applied for patents. We can have further discussion tomorrow morning.'

Licia, Miguel and I rearranged our hastily donned clothing and climbed over the snow drifts to get to Licia home for hot chocolate.

'Beryl's Bunglers are back,' Miguel laughed as he pointed to a van, with a ladder on top, parked near the school.