Richard grew impatient waiting for the engineer and project manager from the construction company, and hiked up to the road at the top of the ridge to meet them. In the distance, the verdant mountains of Moloka’i rose above its nearer, more barren landscapes.

  The sound of a pickup truck approaching drew his attention back to the immediate concern. A man and woman in hardhats jumped from the cab to greet him.

  “Richard?” asked the woman.

  “That’s me.”

  “Michelle. This is my brother, David. Our dad sent us over to see how we could help you.”

  “This is a good spot to see what we’re up against,” said Richard. “Out there, on the deck of that cargo ship, are two twenty-ton containers that need to get on those concrete pads—in ten days.”

  “How’d you get the rest of that stuff up here?” asked Michelle.

  “Helicopter.”

  “That’s way too big for a helicopter.”

  “It’s modular.”

  “So do the same thing,” said David. “Take some stuff out of the containers and bring them up in manageable loads by helicopter.”

  “Can’t do that,” said Richard, shaking his head. “It’s a solid piece of equipment. That’s why you’re here.”

  “I can tell you now it’s not getting done in ten days,” said Michelle. “It’ll take more than a month for them to deny us a permit to set up in a nature area.”

  “I’ll have your permit tomorrow. How long does it take to do the rest?”

  “Can the ship get any closer?” asked David.

  “There’s a spot right below that cliff,” said Richard, pointing to the shore beyond Fusion B, “with a flat outcrop to set up a crane, and the water’s deep enough to get about a hundred and fifty feet from shore.”

  “That’s good. What about your helicopter? You still have it?”

  “If you need it, yes. It’s all yours.”

  “This road is a bit dodgy for hauling anything substantial, but I saw a big parking lot where we could stage things a half-mile back.”

  “How long?” ask Richard again. “There’s no point talking logistics before I know that.”

  “Two days to prepare the base,” replied Michelle. “Two more for the concrete to cure.”

  “Usually one day to set up the crane, but in this terrain? It’s going to be two,” added David.

  “Six days. Not bad.”

  “That only gets us halfway, by my estimate,” said David. “Then we’ve got to move the crane and do it all again.”

  Richard shook his head.

  “No way. Another six days is too long.”

  “It’s not double the time,” replied Michelle. “The second base will be prepped and cured by the time the first lift is done. That’s four days out of the equation.”

  “Yeah,” said David. “Two or three days max to move the crane after the first lift. That puts us at nine, and we’re dropping them in place on day ten.”

  “That’s cutting it too close.”

  “You’re the one who said ten days,” said Michelle, throwing up her arms.

  Richard ignored her.

  “What about bringing in a second crane?”

  “Even if we had another one available, we don’t have a big enough crew to handle two concurrent builds like that,” said Michelle.

  “We know what we’re doing,” added David. “If you can get a permit by tomorrow, we’ll have those containers in place in ten days.”

  With twelve days to the Beta window, what choice did he have?

  “I’ll meet you in the parking lot back there at eight tomorrow morning with a permit and a helicopter,” he said. “Do not let me down.”

  ***

  Richard stood tapping his foot against the asphalt in the far section of the Hanauma Bay parking lot the next morning, when a flatbed truck loaded with equipment pulled in. The crew followed in two king cab pickups. David got out of the lead truck and walked over to greet Richard.

  “Here’s your permit,” said Richard, handing over the paperwork.

  “Impressive. We can’t get that kind of turnaround for paving a driveway, let alone tearing up a nature preserve.”

  “We’ve made commitments to restore the area, and invest in its long-term protection.”

  “Sure. I bet you’ve invested in something. We’ve been doing this long enough not to ask questions.”

  “Then let’s get moving.”

  “That our helicopter?” asked David, pointing at the Super Stallion.

  “Yep. That’s it. With a Navy loadmaster and crew for as long as you need them.”

  “Well, that changes the schedule a bit.”

  “How?” demanded Richard, furrowing his brow.

  “Don’t worry. It’s good news. With that monster, we can do more preassembly here in the parking lot. It’ll take at least a day off the project.”

  Richard breathed a sigh of relief. An extra day to double-check the installation. David returned to the second pickup and gave some instructions to the crew inside. When he finished, they left the parking lot and drove up the ridge.

  “The first crane base is in a tricky spot,” he said, walking back to Richard. “They’re going to set up all of the harnesses and safety lines while we prepare the first load of equipment to send down by chopper. If everything goes to plan, we should have the concrete truck rolling up to the parking lot by mid afternoon.”

  “Sounds good.”

  This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “If it’s okay with you, we’ll use our own guy to helicopter concrete into the forms. Our crew already knows how to work with him.”

  “Whatever you need to do to get it done. I’ll be onsite all week in the temporary office. Come and find me if you need anything.”

  The two men shook hands again. As David went over to the flatbed to supervise the preparation of the first load of equipment, Richard headed back to the Beta site to tell Akindele he’d solved the capacitor problem.

  ***

  Ruan had already spent nearly a week hidden away in a suite of rooms in the modular living quarters. Holed up with little else to do, he studied the maps, historical data, and objectives for the upcoming mission. Now that his equipment had arrived, he felt as ready as anybody could for such a trip. Now he just needed to get through another week of confinement without going crazy.

  At the end of the fourth full day of construction, when the McCullough crew finished pouring the second concrete pad and went home for the evening, he joined Richard in the office for an update.

  “You got your second shot today?” asked Richard.

  Ruan reached for his shoulder where a dull, pulsing ache served as a reminder. If anything like the first shot, he’d spend the night sweating through his sheets.

  “Yep. Stuck me first thing this morning.”

  “Perfect. You should be good before you leave, but I would wait at least a couple more weeks to be sure.”

  He nodded.

  “You want to go over the preparation process again?”

  “Got it memorized,” said Ruan, tapping the side of his head.

  “Let’s hear it.”

  “I said I’ve got it. If you don’t trust me by now, it’s too late.”

  “Fine. What do we need to go over, then?”

  “Nothing. I know what to do.”

  “You’re running out of time for questions. If you need any clarity, you need to ask soon. There’s no contact after Beta.”

  While he didn’t have any questions about the mission itself, he had plenty about how it was even possible. When Richard first explained the objective, Ruan assumed he was the victim of a prank, and a hidden camera crew would burst from hiding at any moment.

  Then Richard showed him the chamber. Definitely not a joke. Insanity, perhaps, but not a joke.

  “How does this machine of yours work?”

  Richard snorted.

  “What do you know about quantum physics?”

  “Same as I know about ballet. Nothing. And I’m fine keeping it that way.”

  “Well, then there’s not much hope of explaining it to you.”

  Ruan sighed and shook his head. What a prick.

  “Give me the meathead version,” he said.

  “Alright,” started Richard. “Imagine you and a friend in separate cars on a highway from New York to Los Angeles. It diverges into two separate routes, and you each go a different way. His route turns out to be fairly direct, while yours is more scenic.”

  “Okay.”

  “Somewhere around Wichita, the highways cross over one another.”

  Richard reached out and crossed his arms to demonstrate.

  “The machine we built creates an offramp to the other highway so you can join your friend.”

  “But he’s miles ahead by now.”

  “Or to say it another way, you’re at a point in his past.”

  “Alright. But what about that SEAL I met? And you? You’re all supposed to be further down the road than me.”

  “After you merge onto the other highway, you hit a traffic jam. For us? Smooth sailing.”

  “Hmm. Just my fucking luck.”

  “Does that help you understand?”

  Ruan put his hand to his chin. It seemed an unnecessarily confusing way to get to the point.

  “So, in this other world where I’m going, time has been travelling slower. That’s why I arrive in the past?”

  “Correct.”

  “But now it’s moving faster, so it’ll catch up by the time you get there?”

  “Exactly.”

  “So why didn’t you just fucking say that?”

  “Sometimes an analogy helps.”

  Ruan shook his head.

  “How does the machine work?”

  “That’s harder to explain—”

  A knock at the door interrupted the conversation, and David McCullough popped his head in. Richard sat up with a start.

  “David. What are you doing here?”

  “You said I could come and find you any time.”

  “Yes, of course. What do you need?”

  He stared at Ruan through narrowed eyes without offering a reply.

  Shit.

  “You’re Ron Van Zeal!” he said finally. “The survival guy.”

  “I get that all the time,” said Ruan, shaking his head.

  “David McCullough. I’m a huge fan.”

  “Thanks.”

  “What the hell are you doing here?”

  “Uh…”

  He looked at Richard.

  “Mr. Van Zijl is interviewing for a job as our head of security.”

  “Talk about overkill,” said David.

  “My options are limited these days.”

  “Yeah. Sorry you had to go through that.”

  “I appreciate you saying so.”

  “And now there’s all this stuff about the guy who left your wife to die, and how the cops covered it up for him. What a bunch of slimeballs.”

  “You’re following that?” asked Ruan, raising his eyebrows.

  “Hell, everyone is. It’s blowing up.”

  Holy shit. He didn’t expect such a fast turn in public opinion. What else could social media do to people without them knowing?

  “We believe in Mr. Van Zijl, too,” said Richard. “So we’re offering him a way to make a living while his reputation recovers.”

  “When nobody could find you to comment on the story, I just assumed the worst,” said David. “Glad to see you’re okay.”

  “What brings you by?” asked Richard, changing the subject.

  “I’m here to test the first pad. If everything checks out, we’ll erect the crane tomorrow.”

  “That’s great news.”

  “We spent today pre-assembling it into larger sections to take advantage of that behemoth the Navy lent you. There’s a good chance we’ll finish the first lift the day after tomorrow.”

  “Well, let’s get these tests going, then.”

  “Sure thing. I’ll let you know the results before I leave.”

  “Actually,” said Richard, rising from his chair. “Why don’t Ruan and I come along?”

  ***

  A flat outcropping at the bottom of a cliff served as the base for the first crane. David’s team had erected a safety barrier and anchored a ladder into the rock to navigate the thirty-foot vertical drop.

  “After you, Richard,” said David, holding out his arm.

  “I’m happy to watch from up here.”

  Ruan shook his head. Of course, Dr. Science wasn’t going to get his hands dirty.

  “I’m game,” he said. “Want me to carry your pack?”

  “I’ve got it,” assured David.

  He tugged the straps, demonstrating the secure fit.

  Ruan swung onto the ladder and descended, taking the rungs two at a time. David followed, albeit with more caution.

  “This is so cool,” he said, dismounting at the bottom. “It’s like I’m in my own survival story with Ron Van Zeal.”

  Ruan snorted.

  “What’s first?”

  He didn’t care. He just needed to keep David distracted while he evaluated his options.

  “An abrasion resistance test to verify the surface material has hardened.”

  David pulled a bulky piece of equipment from his pack and set it on the pad. After running through the test procedure, he recorded the results and packed it away.

  “How does it look?” asked Ruan.

  “No surprises. Just one more test.”

  He took out a steel cylinder with a metal dowel protruding from one end and held it out to show the number scale engraved on the side.

  “What does it do?”

  “It’s a rebound hammer. We use it to test hardness below the surface.”

  David pushed it down against the concrete until it made a faint knocking noise. He noted the number indicated on the side before repeating the procedure in several locations.

  “That’s it?”

  “Yep. That’s it. I just have to sign off on the numbers, and we can start putting up the crane tomorrow.”

  Ruan watched over David’s shoulder as he flipped through the pages on the clipboard, signing his name on each one. After the last signature, he shoved it in with everything else and slung the pack over his shoulder.

  “After you,” he said.

  “I insist,” replied Ruan, gesturing to the ladder.

  David nodded and began his ascent. As he stepped on the second rung, transferring his weight to one leg, Ruan drove a heel into the side of his knee. David screamed as his leg cracked and buckled. He crashed to the ground, narrowly missing the concrete pad.

  “What the fuck, man? You almost broke my skull!”

  “Nothing personal,” said Ruan.

  David’s eyes widened as Ruan grabbed him by the shoulders and slammed his head into the corner of the pad. A pool of blood engulfed his twitching body. After a few seconds, he fell still.

  Ruan scooped up a handful of guano and pressed some into the tread of David’s boot before smearing the rest onto the second rung. By the time he clambered back up, Richard was already gone. He shook his head and snorted as he trotted back to the office.

  “Tests were good,” he said, ducking inside. “The approvals are in his backpack.”

  “Does it look like an accident?”

  “Slipped on bird shit,” said Ruan, holding up a dirty hand.

  Richard shook his head.

  “Hell of a way to go.”