Ark (14 page)

“You never told me what happened yesterday at the university,” said Lou, hanging up his jacket. “What is it? A big secret? Nobody talked about it. It was kind of like going to Yalta to hear historic dialogue, only to find the Big Three sitting around discussing the weather.”

“You never asked,” said Jim as he turned on his computer.

Lou was carrying two coffees. “Is one of those for me?” asked Jim.

“Yeah.” Lou handed him a coffee and some packets of sugar. “Thanks for the dinner. The turkey was great.”

“So why didn’t you ask about the ark experiment?” said Jim.

“I was waiting for the subject to come up,” said Lou. “Then I forgot about it. So? What happened?”

“It worked like we thought it would.”

“Worked? You mean with a ball of fire over the ark?”

“Pretty much,” said Jim with a slight smile. “Gene said that the ark is a very efficient converter of energy. From radio waves to light, heat and sound. Well, in all fairness there was no sound.”

“You’re shitting me,” said Lou, folding his arms across his chest.

“I thought ... I knew it would,” said Jim. “Don’t ask me how.”

“No, you didn’t,” said Lou.

“I mean I had a feeling.”

Lou pressed Jim a bit for more data and Jim was happy to tell him. More than anyone else, he wanted to tell Lou the fantastic news. Not only was Lou a close friend but his nay-saying was always a valuable sounding board for Jim’s ideas. Lou had a way of aligning Jim’s thinking without trying.

Lou nearly always pretended not to be listening – a man who took his skepticism seriously – but today he looked straight at Jim as Jim described the Cray’s simulation of the working ark.

When he finished Lou thought for a minute. “What about the computer freak? He sat and watched the whole thing. Can you trust him?”

“Geez,” said Jim, “I wish you hadn’t said that.”

#

Lou had burst Jim’s bubble of joy. Now all he could think about was Mr. Megabyte. “My life has become like a page out of a Superman comic,” he told Kas later that day. “The Jimster versus Mr. Megabyte.”

It was two days before he was able to contact Gene to discuss his concerns, and by Wednesday Jim was not only concerned about Mr. Megabyte, but Gene Henson as well. What was that call from John about? Gene had never mentioned it.

Jim dialed Gene’s number, telling himself to be patient and calm, to at least try to pretend to be nonchalant, but he wasn’t on the phone with Gene for more than a minute when the name Earl came up.

“I’m sorry, Gene, but I was getting real strange signals from Mr. Megabyte.”

“So what else is new?” said Gene, “He’s weird. No doubt about it.”

“You know what I mean,” said Jim. “Who is he connected to?”

“The university,” said Gene. “Listen, Jim, I talked to him. He said the data is gone. They needed the space.”

“What did you tell him?” asked Jim. “How ...”

“I told him the research was proprietary and under copyright.”

“Did he buy that?”

“Well, he should,” said Gene with a slight laugh. “It is.”

Jim made a noise like a fish out of water.

“What?” said Gene.

“You said it’s under copyright? You copyrighted the Ark of the Covenant?”

“No,” said Gene. “We copyrighted the configuration you designed as a large scale resonator. John cooked that one up. Not bad, huh?”

Jim listened in stunned silence.

“In fact, when I mentioned that the U.S. military has its eyes on this thing, ol’ Mr. Megabyte sobered up good.” Gene laughed out loud. “I could tell from the look on his face I’d tweaked his nads a bit.” He paused in his story. “You there, Jim?”

“Yeah,” said Jim, trying to maintain a casual tone as he evaluated what he was hearing. “I’ve got a layout on screen. The god damned thing froze on me. Have to restart. Go ahead. You were saying?”

It was a lie. Jim’s computer had been dark for hours. As he listened to Gene, Jim again felt like the man on the fringe: on again, off again, always thinking he would lose his grip on his favorite muse only to hear that his muse was still there. Part of him was desperate to drop the whole thing, but the other half ...

“If you copyrighted my drawings, you need my approval.”

“Your drawings are signed and you are named as the chief designer,” said Gene. “Well, the papers are still here. The faxes and the forms are at the Library of ...”

“But I didn’t give permission.”

Gene cleared his throat. “I didn’t think you’d mind. I’ll stop the thing ...”

“Shit, Gene,” said Jim. “Don’t stop the proceedings. I don’t know. I just feel like a fringer, like I’m almost out of the picture. Jesus, this thing ... it’s almost like everything goes on behind my back.”

“ Sorry, Jim,” said Gene. “I didn’t think you’d mind. John’s a legal beagle. You know that. You know how lawyers are. Well, maybe you don’t.”

“I know about lawyers, Gene, and I sure as hell know about copyrights.”

“Then you know we can’t copyright an idea,” said Gene.

“However, you can copyright drawings. I already hold the copyright, just by signing them,” said Jim.

“Right,” said Gene. “Next we’ll patent a parabolic low wave maser, when I get some printouts and some tech reports.”

“Printouts,” said Jim.

“From the simulation. Then there’s the corporation and the other legal stuff.”

“Corporation?” said Jim. His knees knocked together nervously as he pressed the phone to his ear and stared at the ceiling. “Gene ...” he began.

Gene interrupted him again. “I think John’s right. With twenty million in gold at stake, we need to legitimize this venture.”

“We need to talk about this,” said Jim quietly.

“Is there a problem?”

“I guess not,” said Jim, “but I’m sure John realizes that when the lawyers unsheathe their pens it’s time to ...”

“That’s what I was going to ask you, Jim,” said Gene.

What’s that?” said Jim.

“When can you come up to Mt. Kisco? It’s time to have a meeting.”

#

Kas was pissed. When John Wilcox had invited them back she’d taken it to heart. The place would be in flower by now. She wanted a break and she loved the opulence of the Wilcox estate. Now Jim was telling her he was going back for a weekend by himself. No horseback rides for Stephie. No sunbathing by the brook near the tepee.

Jim couldn’t blame her. Deep inside Jim trusted no one except his family and Lou, and Gene had stipulated that the friends be kept out of it this time.

As Gene put it when they’d talked about the ark project: “You’re concerned, like we are, about the proprietary nature of our enterprise.”

Kas sat on the bed and glared at him. She nodded, of course, as he explained. She uh-huh’ed in all the right places. She acted as though she understood, but she had that smile. Jim hated that smile.

However, Jim had an ace up his sleeve. As though John had known that Jim would get flack from Kas, he’d made sure to have Gene tell Jim that he’d be getting a check for five thousand dollars from when he got to New York.

John was on track, if that was his plan. “Five thousand?” she said. “For a few drawings?”

“And my time,” said Jim almost defensively. “The twin parabola cherubim are my design.”

“Oh really?” said Kas. “All this time I thought it was God’s design.”

He hung his head and sighed in frustration.

She shook her head. “Go on, then. If there’s a check for five thousand dollars, there’s a chance for another trip to Mt. Kisco, I guess.”

“I guess,” said Jim, but he wondered if there was. When gold enters the picture everything else falls by the wayside. “I want to show Stephie the place too, but it’s up to Mr. Wilcox.”

At eight the next morning Jim left for New York in a thunderstorm. Twice he had to pull over under a bridge overpass until the rain eased up a bit, but the storm seemed to follow him all the way to New York. The three hour trip took him almost five.

Aaron braved the showers to run out with an umbrella. Jim was pleased to see Aaron. After all, his mere presence showed that the man’s boss had a heart. Some employers would fire a servant for betraying even a casual confidence. He was also pleased when Aaron greeted him with a beaming smile. That meant that he probably hadn’t even gotten a lecture.

As they ran to the house he apologized to Aaron for prying the phone number out of him some weeks before. “I didn’t give anything away that John wouldn’t want me to,” said Aaron. “I knew you were a friend and business partner.”

They reached the house and closed the door as the full fury of the spring thunderstorm hit. Lighting crashed in front of the house so loudly that Jim checked to see if his car was still in one piece. In the middle of the cul-de-sac a limb from a large maple lay smoking.

“That’s some vicious storm,” said Jim. “I guess I’m lucky I got here in one piece.”

He told Aaron that it took almost five hours to make the drive from Philly. “Ninety-five was a parking lot most of the way and the Garden State Parkway was no better. I counted four major pileups between there and here.”

Aaron offered Jim some coffee and told him that John was asleep. “John had a late meeting,” he said. “He got to sleep around six this morning. Gene is in the rec room, though.”

Jim thanked Aaron and took his coffee to the rec room where he found Gene watching CNN. “Jesus,” said Gene, “I was worried about you. Glad you made it, Jim. That storm you just drove through killed a dozen people this morning.”

Jim stared at the large television screen that hung on the wall. CNN flashed a bulletin: “LIVE – Ossining, New York,” where a light plane had crashed, killing all nine people aboard. “Make that twenty-one,” said Gene.

“I hear John’s asleep,” said Jim. “Big meeting last night?”

“Sort of,” said Gene. “He’s been searching patents through his company. He’s linked his computer to one in Manhattan and another in Washington. He wanted me to tell you right off that if there is a copyright problem with your sketches he’ll work out the kinks, I believe he said.”

“Well,” said Jim. “I guess a little cash cuts through the legal hassles.”

Gene nodded. “John left that envelope over there for you.”

Jim looked to where Gene was pointing and saw a white legal envelope sitting on a small antique table next to a sofa. He went over, picked it up and opened it. Inside he found the check for five thousand and ten one hundred dollar bills.

Jim held up the cash. “What’s this for?”

“Travel expenses,” said Gene.

Jim was overwhelmed. John Wilcox seemed true to his word and then some. “Gee,” said Jim. “He paid for my trip to Sandia. He doesn’t really owe me anything more. The check more than cuts it.”

“You can talk to him about it,” said Gene, “but I’d pocket the money. He wants you happy, I think, and between you and me, I told him about your feeling out of the loop. He was very understanding. I guess that’s what the cash is about.”

“I’m feeling better about this all the time,” said Jim with a broad smile.

While the storm raged outside Gene suggested they do the indoor pool and hot tub. Normally Jim wouldn’t have bothered but the rigors of the drive left him in need of refreshment.

John kept a supply of extra swimsuits for guests. Jim found a pair of trunks that fit and joined Gene in John’s spacious hot tub. Aaron came into the room with two fancy drinks. “Mango daiquiris for two.”

“This is bizarre,” observed Gene. “A raging maelstrom outside and here we are having a tropical vacation.”

Jim thought of Kas and Stephie and how jealous they’d be if they saw him. He told Gene how much he wanted to bring them up again. “Kas wants Stephie to see the place, maybe get to ride the horses. I guess that won’t be possible now, huh?”

“What do you mean?” said Gene. “You guys have found a new home. John likes you a lot, Jim. He has said as much several times. I’ll admit that he’s not so crazy about Lou and Claire, but you and Kas are always welcome, I’m sure, just like he said.”

“I was thinking about how this thing has changed. It’s getting to be like a business, and I’ve never been good at mixing business and recreation.”

“Well, forget all that,” said Gene. “John lives that way.”

“How do I live?” said John as he entered the room wearing a bathrobe. Without hesitation he walked over to the jacuzzi, doffed his robe and slipped naked into the bubbling water.

He settled down into the water and sighed. “I’ll bet you had a fun drive up, Jim. Thanks for braving the storm.”

Jim wasn’t homophobic, but he was suddenly conscious of the fact that he’d never seen John with female companionship. He couldn’t help his unease. He kept as much distance between John and himself as possible. “It wasn’t a bad drive,” he said, “though it took a while. Lots of wrecks on the way up.”

“I heard,” said John. “I was listening to the radio. Hey,” he added, “I hope you don’t mind my being in here without shorts on.”

“Just don’t ask me to find the soap,” said Gene, laughing.

John laughed. “So did Gene point you to the check I left for you in the rec room?”

“He sure did,” said Jim. “Thanks, John, but you didn’t have to throw in the cash. The check more than covers my time and expenses.”

“I appreciate that, Jim, but I want you to have it. My way of expressing appreciation for all that you’ve done.”

Lightning hit near the house. The flash illuminated John’s smiling face with an eerie greenish light. When Jim blinked John’s face remained in his sight, burned into his retinas like a flash bulb.

“I love storms,” said John. “The more violent, the better.”

Another bolt struck. This time Jim was sure it hit the house.

“That’s the ticket,” said John.

Suddenly Jim felt naked and alone. He hadn’t had much of the mango daiquiri, but it had made him light headed. He put his head back against the cool blue tiles of the tub and thought of Kas.

He could see her clearly in his mind. She was standing in their kitchen talking to Stephanie and drinking tea while Woolsey sat near her chair watching for a stray crumb to leave the table.

“Gee,” said Jim. “I forgot to call Kas when I got here. God, it’s been six hours. May I use your phone?”