The Didymus Contingency (11 page)

“We’ll distance ourselves from everyone. We’ll stay in the shadows and observe. Just until he dies and doesn’t come back to life three days later,” Tom said.

David threw his hands up in the air and said, “It’s two and a half years until that happens! We can’t stay here for two and a half years! There’s a very good chance that if we stay that long, Roberts might track us down.”

“Roberts?” Tom asked.

David grunted. He’d forgotten about Roberts until now. “LighTech’s back up plan. Time Enforcement Division. Basically, he’s a killer with a crew cut, a gun and a time traveling watch. We do
not
want him to find us.”

“TED,” Tom said.

“What?” David asked.

“Time Enforcement Division. They created time cops with the acronym: Ted. Someone wasn’t thinking.”

David smiled.

“Sally approved this?” Tom asked.

“She had nothing to do with it. In fact, she made sure to warn me about him. Though she did say to leave you here if Roberts found us.”

“How kind of her,” Tom said with a grin.

“The point she was making,” David said, “is that Roberts will shoot first and likely not care about asking questions.”

“You didn’t think of mentioning this before?” Tom asked, looking around for anyone with a crew cut.

“Well, he’s going to the crucifixion, so—” David stopped himself too late.

“So we don’t even need to worry about him for a few years?” Tom asked.

With a sigh, David said, “No. Unless he figures out how to track us with the watch. But he didn’t strike me as being that intelligent.”

Tom thought for a moment while David caught his breath. “If we stay...and I’m right, then you’ll have to give up your silly beliefs. But... If we stay and you’re right...and Jesus rises from the dead...well, then I’d be a believer.”

“Tom, you can’t—what did you just say?”

“If you’re right. If I see him alive after I see him die, I’ll believe.”

David’s mind raced.

“C’mon, we’re smart guys. We can do this right. If we’re not going to observe the past, what good was inventing time travel devices in the first place?”

David shifted. Tom was getting through.

“Look at it this way,” Tom continued, “The risk of staying here, of witnessing these events unfold isn’t set in stone. We control our exposure to this world. We control the impact our presence here has. But if we go back now, in your mind, my fate is sealed right? I’m going to Hell.”

David shifted again and Tom moved in for the kill.

“Are you willing to take the risk to save my soul, David? Are you?”

David was silent. He had dreamed of the day when Tom would share his faith, his beliefs. And no matter how truly he believed that if they stayed Tom would indeed see Jesus die and rise from the dead, he couldn’t risk the lives and souls of countless people that might be affected by he and Tom playing time tourist.

“Tom, no matter how much I’d like to—”

“C’mon, what’s the worst that could happen?”

“You two bicker like a farmer and his ass,” said Jesus, as he caught them by surprise. “I’m not interrupting, am I?”

David attempted to play it cool, “No, no, of course not.”

“Do you know what I was just doing over there? With the people?” asked Jesus.

David felt sick to his stomach as he lied to God, face to face, “Umm, no?”

“I called eleven to follow me, to learn my ways and the ways of my father that they may continue to spread the good news when I am gone,” said Jesus.

“Eleven?” David asked.

Tom forgot they weren’t supposed to be in the know and said, “Looking for a twelfth, huh?”

Jesus raised an eyebrow as though he were impressed with Tom’s apparent intuition. “Indeed,” he said.

Tom said, “I’m sure there are plenty of good men to choose—”

“I’m afraid you don’t understand. I’ve already chosen the twelfth,” Jesus said.

“Who’s the lucky guy?” Tom asked.

David began to sweat with panic as he suspected what the next words out of Jesus’s mouth would be.

“You, Didymus.”

Tom stared at Jesus, waiting for the punchline. It never came.

“You’re not serious?” David begged.

Jesus nodded. “I am.”

“But I...I can’t.” said Tom, “You don’t...I...David?”

The portion of David’s brain that sent the signals to his mouth had shut down. David watched silently as Jesus put an arm around the baffled Tom and led him away. Suddenly a thought slammed into his cortex and he snapped out of his daze.

“It can’t be...” David said aloud to himself.

David ran to Tom and Jesus and said, “Tom, I’ll be back. I have to check something at home.”

“What? You can’t leave!” Tom was near panic.

“I’ll be back!” shouted David as he ran down the hill.

Tom was beside himself with horror. He now completely understood all of David’s fears and reservations. He had violated time in a way that might change every facet of the future he knew. He had gone from a respected quantum scientist to the destroyer of time—his own specialty! Tom was sure that even if they discovered that Jesus was in fact the savior of the world, he would still burn in Hell for what he’d done. Tom’s thoughts were shattered when a strong voice interrupted.

“Come, Didymus, let me introduce you to the others,” Jesus said, as he led Tom toward a group of men who looked just as wide-eyed as Tom.

—
EIGHT—

Perspective

2005

11:00 P.M.

Arizona

David spent an hour walking through the wilderness in an effort to make sure he wasn’t observed by any ancient Israelites. He thought about the ramifications of a man or woman seeing the light and sound show created by time travel and forming a new religion around the spectacle. Until his percolating theory could be proven in the future, he wasn’t going to take any chances.

After scoping out the area, David tucked himself away in a thick patch of trees and sat down to formalize a plan. The equipment he needed was in LightTech’s Receiving Area Alpha. But it was a small window of opportunity between the time the equipment arrived and when Tom stole the watch. Almost every hour before and after these events would reveal David’s actions to LightTech and possibly worsen their situation with the ruthless Captain Roberts.

While Roberts wasn’t currently a threat in ancient Israel—he’d actually jumped to the time of Jesus’s death, two and a half years later than Tom—David himself could still be dangerous in his own time. The presence of two Davids at LighTech could trigger a security response
before
Tom ever got a chance to leave. More than that, David’s actions now could make things hard for the David at LightTech and potentially keep him from following Tom into the past. If his activities were discovered, LighTech would—

A thought struck David and he smiled. He knew exactly where and when to go because he had already done it! The second time distortion that was detected when Tom stole the watch! David knew it was himself who had caused the second and third disturbances—the supposed ripples— because he was seconds away from creating them. He worked his watch with quick fingers, setting the date, time and exact location for the most technologically advanced theft in history.

David normally frequented the bathroom several times before events like this, when he was about to embark on something dangerous, but this time he was unusually calm. He knew the outcome. He knew he would succeed—because he already had. He would get in and out of LightTech with the equipment he needed and no one would be the wiser. And then his future/past self would actually advise against researching the event! David was smiling ear to ear. Birds rocketed into the air as David pushed the final button and exploded back to the future.

With a flash of light, David appeared, and then the receiving area went dark again. The lab had been shutdown for the past few hours and the morning shift would soon fill the premises, not to mention Tom’s theft incident. David fell to the floor and struggled to keep from throwing up. Any evidence left behind would be quickly found and scrutinized.

The nausea passed and David got to his feet, searching through the room, which was lit only by a dim red light from the control room. He quickly found the equipment he needed, a machine he had learned was a Time Recorder. It looked like a fancy external hard drive and much to David’s delight, appeared to be compatible with a PC serial port as well as a USB port. From what little David read of the notes from his future self, he knew that the Time Recorder worked by recording time. If time was altered completely or partially, the Time Recorder’s storage unit, which was shielded from space-time itself, would remember the way things were. David planned to access the information recorded on the device and attempt to detect the minor, or major, distortions he and Tom might have already created without even noticing. And now that he had found the time recorder, he had to abscond with it without being noticed.

David paused before typing in a new set of coordinates. He had planned up to this point, but not beyond it. He didn’t know where he was going. David deduced that the most logical place to go was his own home, but when? If he went during the present, he would certainly be found out. Security had been tightened after a series of break-ins three years previous. David’s mind made a logical hop skip and jump to a related topic and he began to see his past and present merging again.

But there was that time...ten years ago. He had gone on vacation for a month, to Israel, visiting family. When he had returned, he found that his house had been burglarized. His food had been eaten, his fish, Franklin, which he had assumed he would find dead upon his return, had been fed and his computer had been used. David reported the incident to the police, but since there were no signs of forced entry and nothing more than food missing, they didn’t see the point in pursuing the matter. Besides, whoever it was had saved David’s fish. He now suspected that he
was
that burglar.

David punched the date and time into his watch, but before he could hit the last button, someone crashed into the room. Clutching the Time Recorder, David ducked behind a table full of equipment. He peeked out and saw Tom stumbling around the room, murmuring to himself about David and Megan, and saying, “I’m not drunk...I’m not drunk! I can drive fine!”

A heated debate exploded in David’s mind. He could end everything right here and now; he could stop Tom and end this nonsense. Or he could let Tom go and risk altering the past. But David couldn’t stop him, not until he knew for sure if time was being changed. Not until he knew whether or not Tom was who David suspected him to be. David watched as Tom picked up one of the nine remaining watches and strapped it to his wrist. Tom punched in some coordinates and with a bright flash and boom, disappeared into the past where he would befriend Jesus Christ.

“Dr. Goodman? Is that you?”

Eyes wide, David sat unmoving. He recognized Spencer’s voice. He was caught! David whipped around and faced Spencer. He didn’t remember Spencer saying anything about this encounter...but then, he did make that comment, what was it he said? “See you in the past.” It occurred to David that this meeting had already taken place. David grinned again; it seemed he was leaving unintentional breadcrumbs for himself.

“Yes, it’s me,” David said as he stood up.

“Do you know what happened? The computers detected a time fluctuation. Did someone go back?” Spencer was wide-awake and full of jittery energy.

“What are you doing here, Spencer? You don’t have to come in for another four hours.” David said, trying to move the subject to less dangerous topics.

“I...I never went home. Thought I could get some extra work in while no one was here. I went to go get some coffee and when I returned the computers were...I’m sorry. I should have told you I was staying.” Spencer was growing nervous.

“Don’t worry about it. You’re ambition is admirable and will take you far, I’m sure,” David said.

Then Spencer’s eyebrows sank. He was looking at David’s clothes. “Sir, why are you dressed like that?”

David walked to within a foot of Spencer, took him by the shoulders, looked him in the eyes and said, “Spencer, listen to me very carefully.”

*   *   *   *   *

The past snuck up on David and grabbed hold. Rather than testing his theory, which if proven, would ease his nerves and clear his mind of impending worldwide doom, David spent the afternoon rummaging through his own house. He explored the pine cupboards, which were now cherry wood and wondered how he had ever lived with the sixties-style linoleum floor. The house smelled differently, but was familiar, bringing back a wave of memories and emotions attached to the events of his life during this time. It was an amazing experience.

A two-liter bottle of Cherry Coke sat emptied on the counter. After rummaging through the fridge, David had found the soda and became perplexed by it. Cherry Coke? David remembered that during this time period Cherry Coke was the only cherry flavored soda available. It wasn’t his beloved Wild Cherry Pepsi, but it was sweet and David was happy to finish it. David turned his attention to edible food and devoured a large slice of apple pie he had felt bad about leaving to spoil ten years earlier. He fed Franklin enough food to keep him alive for the next week and looked through some photos, which in his future album were faded, but here, in this time, were fresh from the developers.

He flipped through images of himself and Tom, working hard on their dreams of time travel, posing next to the newly built semiconductor, faces smiling. They looked so young, so eager, so in over their heads. If only they knew how deep they’d eventually get, would they have continued with their work? David wondered.

David eventually made his way up the stairs and into his sparsely decorated office. The carpet was brown and the walls were covered with dark, wood paneling he and Tom would rip down a year later. The house had changed much over the years, but it still felt like home.

The room was impeccably clean and boring, David noted. Over the years, his penchant for neatness had taken leave for creative genius and not having time to clean. David pulled out the tower of his then top of the line Pentium I, 200-megahertz PC and installed the Time Recorder. It fit perfectly using the free serial port cable at the rear of the computer. He just prayed the ancient Windows 3.1 operating system would be able to detect and use the futuristic device. As David reached for the power button, he realized he had no idea what would happen next.