Buried Treasure by Vincent Madison

Chapter 10

The Fly

  The elevator stopped and the door opened. The Gunmen and Tom cautiously stepped out into the basement. The hallway was industrial with exposed pipes and plain white walls. There were only a few tunnel hallways, and they quickly discovered that there was nothing much of interest other than air ducts and service conduits. Pulling out a copy of the blueprint they had found on the third floor, they proceeded along the tunnel that led to the area marked 'Classified' on the map. The tunnel dead-ended but to the right was a set of open double doors. The left door had a Radiation Caution sign on it. Just beyond the open double doors was another set of double doors, these ones closed. The left door had a Restricted Area Warning sign on it, and the right door had a no-entry symbol - a person with a red circle and a red diagonal line across. The Gunmen and Tom stopped and looked at each other. Steve spoke.

  "Well, let's go. What are you waiting for?"

  Robert answered.

  "Do you really think that going into a Restricted Area with a Radiation Warning is a good idea?"

Steve laughed, and before anyone could stop him he had pulled open the doors and started to walk in, saying - "Come on! What's the worst that could happen?" Just then he stepped over the threshold, and a bright light appeared, along with a high pitched sound and a kind of distortion of the air itself, something like a heat mirage. With that there was a popping sound and Steve disappeared.

  Malcolm turned to Tom and Robert. "That's what could happen." he said matter-of-factly.

  "That's not good." Robert exclaimed.

  "Let's get him!" Tom shouted, starting to move forward. Robert grabbed him by the arm.

  "Not a good idea my friend." Malcolm stared at the open doors where Steve had disappeared.

  "Now what do we do?" he said. Robert thought for a minute.

  "We wait."

_____________________________________________________

  As Steve crossed the threshold, he saw the bright light, heard the high-pitched sound and felt a strange sensation. He tried to turn back, but his body felt like it weighed tons. As he heard the popping sound, the light disappeared along with the sound, and he was able to move, although he felt as if he had been zapped with a huge charge of electricity.

  "Wow Dude!" he exclaimed and turned to look back at Tom, Robert and Malcolm. The hallway was empty. "What the hell?" he thought out loud. To Steve, they had disappeared. He walked back across the threshold, but nothing happened and Tom, Robert and Malcolm were nowhere to be found.

  "Guys? What the..." Steve was puzzled, but turned and walked back into the room. It was a small square empty room, with plain walls, but had a door on the far side that said EXIT.

  "Yup. That's what I need." Steve thought. He opened the exit door and it led to a stairwell. He went up to the floor above, where he pushed open a door, finding himself opening a panel in the wall of the reception area of the Institute. He walked out and around the corner to the front reception desk. Helen was sitting there, although she looked different somehow. Steve noticed the nameplate on her desk read Helen Walker-Novikov.

  "Now I'm pretty sure that said something else before..." he thought.

  Helen looked up and smiled.

  "Steve!  How's it going!" she greeted him in a very familiar way.

  "Uh, good I guess." Steve stammered. He was standing at the reception desk, and could see her desk calendar. It read Monday June 23rd 2008.

  "What the..." Steve tried to consider the implications of being in November 2004 a minute ago, and apparently now being in June 2008. He looked out the window and saw that it was certainly not winter. When they had arrived, it had been a snow storm and there was a lot of snow on the ground. Now the trees were in full bloom and the grass was green.

  "Were you able to get that film so you could view it?" Helen asked.

  "Film?" Steve spat out.

  "Yes - you know the one you found in that old box."

  "How do you know about that box?" Steve asked.

  "Are you feeling ok Steve?" Helen asked. "You guys have been working on that since you found it at the end of May. Remember you said you might have to send it to a lab to get stabilized because the film was so old."

  "Uh. Yeah of course." Steve was not sure what to think. "You know what...I need to get something from my room."

  "Sure Steve. See ya tonight! You take care. I think you need some sleep."

  Steve turned and went to the elevator and pressed the button. It opened right away and he stepped in. He reached to press 2 and as he did a light blinded him and he fell unconscious.

_____________________________________________________

  Malcolm, Tom and Robert had quickly scouted the basement tunnels and found no trace of Steve. They pressed the button for the elevator, and waited for it. As the elevator door opened, they saw Steve lying on the floor. He was starting to regain consciousness. They rushed in to help him.

  "Steve!" Malcolm yelled. "What happened?" Steve moaned and rubbed his head.

  "I...you guys...I...I'm not sure exactly dude." Steve looked around and sat up. Robert punched the button for the 1st Floor.

  "Let's get the hell out of here." he said. Tom looked at them.

  "Agreed." he simply said. By the time they reached the first floor, Steve had regained his composure.

  "Where did you guys disappear to?" He asked.

  "Us?" Tom responded. "YOU disappeared!"

  "Well technically it's a matter of perspective." Malcolm offered. Tom ignored him.

  "You were gone for a little more than two minutes, and appeared in the elevator. How do you explain that?"

  "2 minutes and 17 seconds to be exact." Malcolm consulted his watch. Tom again ignored him.

  Steve offered, "You know the funniest thing. I came up a stairwell and found myself in June 2008."

  "Yeah. OK. That makes sense." Malcolm chuckled. "And how do you know you were in 2008?"

  "I'll prove it to you. Let's go see Helen." Steve said.

  The elevator door opened. They stepped out. Steve pointed to the wall panel where the stairwell door had come out.

  "That panel is a secret door. I came up from the basement there." They examined the panel, but there was no evidence that there was any door, or way to open the panel.

  "Maybe it only opens from the inside?" Tom suggested.

  "Maybe." Steve grunted, unsure of himself. "Let's go see Helen."
 

  They turned the corner and Helen was sitting at the reception desk. Her nameplate read "Helen Walker".  Steve picked it up, examined it and put it down.

  "Can I help you gentlemen?" Helen asked politely.

  Steve spoke. "Yeah - was I like here a few minutes ago?" Helen looked surprised.

  "A few minutes ago... no... Is everything ok sir?"

  "Steve. You can call me Steve."

  "Sure sir."

  Robert looked at Helen's desk calendar. It read November 29th 2004. Steve looked out the window. The snow was blowing around and visibility was minimal at best. Steve turned to Helen.

  "Helen, what do you know about the box we found and the film that was in it?"  Helen looked even more puzzled.

  "Box? Film? I'm sorry, I don't know what you are talking about."

  "OK. Thanks. Sorry to bother you." Robert told her. They turned and headed back to the elevator.

  "So. Something very weird is going on." Tom stated the obvious. "What do you think happened?"

  "I'll tell you what happened..." said Steve, "...remember that box I found?"

  "Yeah." said Tom.

  "Well, it travelled through time via a wormhole. I just did the same thing. That so-called 'Classified Area' is a portal - a time portal that someone has set up and uses to travel through time. The main difference is that the box travelled through space AND time. I seemed to only travel through time."

  "If there were someway to prove it..." Tom said.

  "There is." Steve replied. "You remember that film that was in the box? I clipped off a few frames before you and your crazy partner showed up and took everything. I slipped it into a file here at the institute for safe-keeping. That film may give us a clue and proof of what is going on."

  "Well it's a start." Robert spoke. Tom agreed. Malcolm was looking down at Steve's left hand.

  "What the hell did you do to your fingernail?" Malcolm asked. Steve looked down at his hand. The fingernail on his forefinger was black.

  "I dunno." Steve answered. "Must have hit it when I fell down in the elevator. It's nothing."