Mystery : Cozy Mystery: Murder on Board the Macedonia (mystery, thriller, cozy, shocking, short stories) (short reads, detective, murder, suspense) (12 page)

Dr. Greene knew what Richardson wanted because it was that one thing that had kept him alive for that long. And for a moment, it appeared as though the only way that they could stay focused at all times would have been to keep up with the good work, which was to pretty much ensure that he kept his mouth shut for as long as possible as he devised a way that Tori could get the heck out of that place. 

At that point, Tori was still unconscious, and nothing could have been done to wake her up. Thankfully, Dr. Greene was starting to feel the pain in his mouth as he jaws unlocked and he could speak again. But still he was under tremendous amount of pain, and that said, the only thing that would have helped him would be to wait for the right time. Until then, Dr. Greene was secretly devising a plan to eliminate the threat once and for all.

Time for diplomacy had already passed, and the only thing that they could have done would be none other than making sure that they were fighting for whatever it was that they believed in without any fear.

“So, how does this thing work? You realize that for you to save your lovely woman, you need to tell me how it works. And as soon as you do so, who knows, I can give you enough money for you to disappear instead of killing you.”

At first, Dr. Greene had to pretend that he was thinking about it. But the truth of the matter was that he was thinking of the best way to eliminate the threat. And so without even batting an eye, Dr. Greene decided to seal their tragic fate.

“Take the mercury and inject yourselves. It's been processed. And you are going in a very tough world out there, back a couple of centuries. And that said, you will be required to do all in your power to ensure that you have your bodyguards with you. Just please, let the lady live.”

Richardson didn’t even care about a damn thing at that moment. All that he needed to do was to kick back and make sure that his plan was following through. Richardson immediately injected himself with the unprocessed mercury, and so did his band of thugs, and it didn’t take that long before they succumbed. Mercury is lethal to the human body especially when introduced in its raw form. And just like that, their fate had been sealed.

*** 

The police had been dispatched to that place, and Dr. Greene was taken away in an ambulance. He did what he had to do to stay alive, and thankfully, there was a surveillance video to prove that.

Fortunately, Tori escaped the whole predicament unscathed, and that alone was a very incredible thing at the end of the day. If anything, the only thing hat would have mattered the most at the time was the fact that Dr. Greene had gone out of his way to make sure that she was doing fine. The time machine had been destroyed by the time the police stormed in and saved the day.

And since all of the notes had also been destroyed, the only person who could come up with the same damn formula for the serum and also the required structure for the time machine to work. And so there was nothing that would link Dr. Greene to any inventions of any kind.

If anything, he simply admitted that everything he did was under the aegis of Richardson’s company, and so anything he might have been working on was within the company logs.

When asked about the charred machine that was in his lab, he just said that he was working on a model of a much more modern x-ray machines. And since the police officers weren’t schooled on such matters, they decided to take his word for it.

Dr. Greene was still recovering. And so the police didn’t want to keep him stressed up by keeping up with the questioning. They decided to leave the man alone and also with a card which was to make sure that he was in contact as soon as he felt the need to talk to the police about the entire predicament.

From the look of things, it did seem as though the good doctor had enough time to kick back and have an ample time to think about life as well as all of the most important things that he needed to do in order to stay focused at all times. And despite all of the opportunities that remained open as far as him continuing to be a scientists were all lucrative, Dr. Greene seem to arrive at only one conclusion – it was about time for him to quit.

Chapter 6:

-Burying the science-

Richardson was gone. And Dr. Greene had no intentions of brining him back. As a matter of fact, what seemed like the best option at the time was for the good doctor to destroy the time machine and forget that it ever existed. It was because of that machine that a hell lot of people died.

And that was something that Dr. Greene knew that he was left with no other choice rather than to live with it for the rest of his life, something that also played a very significant role in haunting him.

It was just too unfortunate for him since he knew that if the humans were mature enough, then the time traveling would have enriched their lives to a point where they wouldn’t even believe. But from the look of things, it did seem as though they weren’t out of the woods yet since everyone, including himself, was always engrossed with making too much profit and they would do pretty much anything for them to make that money.

At first, Dr. Greene thought that he was going to be rich as long as he crossed Richardson and sold it to the highest bidder.

But after the unfortunate circumstances that led them there, then it was most definitely going to be tough for him to proceed with his inventions. It was as though he had learned the hard way that some things were better kept at bay and never be disturbed until he was ready to evolve which was also something that was tough to expect at any given moment.

Dr. Greene had gotten his pension, and he was looking forward to going somewhere mute to ensure that he was in a position to stay underground for a while so as to make sure that he wasn’t in a position to ever be recalled back to work. And that was also one thing that he ensured that he had insisted. He just didn’t want to be involved in something of that sort any longer.

At first, it was a little bit difficult for him to just walk away from that life. But as it appeared, some of these things change and as, far as survival was concerned, Dr. Greene knew jolly too well that everything was happening for a reason. Maybe fate was trying to tell him something that he should have done for a very long time, quit and go ahead to become a writer or anything that didn’t have a damn thing to do with researching any longer.

He knew that he had done enough damage as well as good with his inventions and his debt to the world had been fully settled. Dr. Greene didn’t have any family, and that meant that he could pretty much move to any part of the world and enjoy his life to the fullest.

It was funny just how Dr. Greene had been thinking about the possibility of leaving that place for a while. But from the look of things, it seemed as though it was going to be much harder than he had anticipated, that was until everything happened the way that it did, and the government took over the business.

Someone once told him that it was difficult for a scientist to part from a place where he always found to be a safe haven. At first, the right doctor didn’t think it was ever going to apply to him. He thought that if he wanted to leave, he would leave. But after all that happened, it seemed as though his friend was more than right about that place. You just don’t get in and out, until something drastic happened.

He knew that he had to destroy all of his research and give the equipment to a nearby college as a way of donations. And at that moment, he remembered tat the little baboon was still around in his cage staring at him with these round, sorrowful eyes as though he knew that Dr. Greene was about to leave.

“Oh, I haven’t forgotten all about you buddy. I guess I will just have to take you back to the zoo. I believe you will have plenty of stories to tell your friends. But I don’t think they will believe you for a second.”

The baboon just gave him the look. From the look of things, the two had grown fond of each other, and that explained the reason as to why parting was such a big deal for them at the end of the day.

Of course, the right doctor knew that it was a significant loss to the scientific world. But that said, he didn’t really need to worry about it. And then as soon as he had finished thinking about his brand new life, Dr. Greene kicked back and let out a sigh, trying to think of much better ways in which he could get away from that life. But it didn’t really matter just how hard he was trying to make things much better. In fact, the more he sought to do the thinking, the more difficult it became.

And it was at that moment that some incredible idea popped up in his head.

***

Dr. Greene had decided that maybe it was a much better idea for him to leave town and relocate somewhere else. He was thinking going to China since his Chinese was fair and so that would have been a good idea to start from. But after thinking a little bit harder, it occurred to him without a doubt that China is the cradle of scientific inventions and that said, it would only be a matter of time right before they got them all sorted out without a doubt.

And after thinking for a couple of hours over, the good doctor decided to get back to the club and try to think this one through. From the look of things, it did appear as though only drinking was the only solution that he had at the time. But either way, it also seemed as though the other good idea at the time would have been to ensure that he was out and starting with a clean slate.

The pension as well as the savings that he had been making over the years, Dr. Greene seemed as though he was in the kind of position to stay comfortable for a very long time. And that said, he had options as far as his life was concerned – something that not so many people his age could say.

But before going, Dr. Greene wanted to pass by the bar and check out just how Tori was doing. It was clear that she was most definitely going to be shocked beyond words thanks to the kind of things that she had seen. From the look of things, the things that she thought existed in a science fiction movie sprung into life and gave everyone the scare of a lifetime.

And there she was, cleaning the counter and chatting with another waiter. Dr. Greene didn’t want to go in immediately. And so he just stood there and made sure that he was getting to check her out for a moment or two, just to see to it that he managed to capture that beautiful face one more time.

Tori was gorgeous for sure. And at that moment, Dr. Greene wondered just why he never took the liberty of asking her out once and for all. Even his imperative work didn’t seem as important to him as this girl would have been. As a matter of fact, it also seemed as though every single thing that they were going to do was so amazing since she understood him. Not so many hot women understood the struggles of genius scientists unless they knew them rather too well.

And as he was staring, Tori saw him and smiled at him from ear to ear. From the look of things, it did seem as though he had been attracted to her for a while and that said, the only thing that would have made some sense at the time would have been to make a follow up on how things were going on. So she stopped whatever it was that she was doing and made a point of walking towards him, still having that cute smile on her face.

“Well, you just can’t get enough of me huh?”

“I don’t know what to say; I guess your charm rubbed on me somehow. Well, how are you holding up?”

Tori’s smile disappeared. But still, it seemed as though everything was still under control since she wasn’t that sad.

“I have seen some crazy shit go down as a bartender. But what you introduced me to is much worse. I couldn’t sleep for days after seeing those dinosaurs. It was just too beautiful if you asked me. But then the power struggles and people willing to kill for some piece of technology was just something else. I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to ever go back there. Just let it go. Its clear that the human race isn’t ready for teleportation.”

Dr. Greene just smiled. He was right about this girl after all. Tori was smart and very open-minded, and that alone made was such a turn on. Dr. Greene didn’t have any intention of staying. But after that little amazing speech by the girl of his dreams, he was clearly beginning to have second thoughts about leaving alone. 

“Hey, have you ever thought of going to Africa and starting your club?”

“Well, I have thought about starting my place some day, but Africa? Isn’t that far off?”

“Yeah. It is far off. But that said, we will pretty much have a chance to start over, especially after the whole thing that blew up right in front of our faces.”

“Oh, you mean that stuff that blew up right in front of your face? Well…”