Chapter 14

  Kelton wandered to Tilly’s office. Tilly was seated at his desk on an enormous faux leather office chair. His feet barely brushed the floor. He was dictating an email to his laptop computer. “… unbecoming to the physics department and to the University. Dr. Kelton’s experiments have been haphazard and unreviewed. He has put himself and his team in danger with unsanctioned animal and human experimentation. He can provide no credible evidence for any of his claims. His report is a fantasy with no scientific basis. His reported experiences while in the device he refers to as ‘the box’ are indicative of a psychotic break. In short, in light of the thefts by his laboratory team, by name Alex Guttierez, Beta No-last-name, and Charles Dixon, which were obviously ordered by Dr. Kelton, the mishandling of nuclear materials, the animal and human experimentation, the Physics department has no choice but to protect itself from further liability and embarrassment by discontinuing and disavowing any and all research under Dr. Deacon Kelton’s direction. Dr. Kelton will be afforded the courtesy and opportunity to defend himself and his team against these charges at the special hearing of which you have already received notification. ” Tilly clicked on the screen to stop dictation. “I think this will be the last I hear of you, Dr. Kelton,” gloated Tilly as he reviewed the text on the screen in front of him.

  A voice came from beside the bookcase. “Academic intrigue. It gets a little tiring, don’t you think?” Shifting his attention from Tilly, Kelton saw Milton Cohen walking up to read the screen over Tilly’s shoulder. “What are you going to do about it?”

  “I don’t know what I can do. I mean that literally. I don’t have any idea what I am capable of. I’ve been looking for you. I need some help.” In an instant, Kelton shared his predicament with Cohen. “What can I do? How can I shut the box down? I can’t be stuck here for four months until somebody goes back to the cabin. If I am not here to defend myself at the hearing, everything will be lost. ”

  Jacob appeared behind Cohen. “Four months? You think you got that long? Your silver thread is already looking a little wispy. Maybe you’re gonna be here with us, permanent like! How long can you maintain that connection?” Jacob chopped with his hand through the silver thread connecting Kelton to his body in the box. Kelton felt a surge of fear, panic, and surprise. Jacob's hand passed through the thread, or the thread passed through Jacob’s hand. Jacob lit up at Kelton’s sudden panic. “I love newbies.” He chortled. “Take it easy, Doc. I can’t do nothing with your thread. I can’t do nothing with nothing. All I have here is my good looks, my persuasive voice, and my stunning intellect.”

  “Does he follow you everywhere you go?” Kelton asked Cohen.

  “Did I invite him? Often, he’s behind me. He’s a useful but unreliable guide.”

  “That’s me. Useful and unreliable,” grinned Jacob.

  “Dr. Cohen, do you have any thoughts about how I can shut down the field?” Kelton asked.

  Cohen shrugged his shoulders, “Eh, I've had no luck at all with any of these physical things. Not a single touch!”

  “What you need is a poltergeist,” suggested Jacob. “One that can pull a power cord and stack a few chairs around.”

  “How do I find a poltergeist?” asked Kelton.

  Cohen said, “I don’t know any. Jacob, are you giving Dr. Kelton’s a spiel?”

  Jacob howled, “You are one gullible scientist. You just swallowed a camel, Doc. There are no poltergeists. I just told you, none of us can’t do nothing with nothing. We are all just people here. People with no hands, legs… or any other appendages.” He leered expectantly but got no response from Cohen or Kelton. He shrugged, “You eggheads just have to get used to it. You may be with us a long time.”

  “Is there any way to get a message to my wife?”

  Jacob got a serious look on his face. “Has your wife got an Ouija board? Maybe we can find a séance somewheres.” He stared seriously at Kelton for a few seconds, then burst into derisive laughter once again.

  Cohen ignored Jacob. "Ah, listen, maybe I managed to pass along a feeling here, a fuzzy thought there, you know, like I did with you. It’s a hit or miss, really. And let’s say you really tried, gave it everything—you might get your wife thinking of you, sure. But, nu, what will she feel, eh? Will she miss you, or will she still be angry? Communication is hard at any time, even when you’re face to face. Is the message sent the message received?”

  “But that download thing you did. You shared months of research with me in an instant. Or that time when I was on the steps of the building, and all those memories hit at once. It was painful, but it…” Kelton trailed off.

  “We have some shortcuts here because we are not limited by chemistry. Just because we have high bandwidth communication, you can’t assume the message is either true or reliable.” Cohen said, nodding in Jacob's direction.

  “Was that directed at me?” Jacob said with a glint in his eye. “Right or wrong, I’ve been here a lot longer than you two. I know the ropes. You wanna know how things work here? I’m your guy. Speaking of what makes things work, check out what Tilly’s up to now.

  The three moved behind Tilly and looked over his shoulder. The screen displayed a still photo of a spectacularly muscled woman in a black leather bustier, holding a vicious riding crop over her shoulder.

  Tilly spoke as he typed, “BikerBabe1999”. He paused a few seconds, “I’ve been very bad lately. I think you need to know about it.”

  Kelton turned away in disgust.

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  Jacob hooted, “No, wait! This honey is something special, and you are gonna get to know Tilly in ways you never even imagined.”

  “That’s what I am afraid of…” said Kelton and Cohen in unison.

  Tilly sang a few bars of “My Friends” from Sweeney Todd while he waited for an answer.

  The woman’s head and shoulders appeared on the screen, “This is the third time in a week, you slimy worm. You need to refresh your account credits. You’re getting low!”

  “I’m sorry!” he flustered. He moved the mouse around on his desk and clicked a few times. ”There, I put another $200 in the account. Is that enough?”

  BikerBabes face got very close to the screen. She scowled, “Maybe. Maybe for another 10 minutes. You bore me. Nothing you say is of interest. You look like Gollum’s twin brother. You have 10 seconds to catch my interest, or this call is over.”

  “I’ve stolen the most valuable technology I have ever seen, maybe that anyone’s ever seen from its creator. I’ve fired him from the university for the flimsiest of reasons: I stole his team. I have lined up the board to support me. And he can’t do a thing about it.”

  “You idiot!” she murmured threateningly. “You can’t do anything right. You’ve stolen something valuable. How can you expect to keep it? You are a kelp-headed weasel. Why keep his team? You bag of pond scum, you are going to screw this up somehow.”

  “Yes, I am pond scum.” Tilly bowed his head unctuously, then rushed to explain, “I’m going to get rid of the team as soon as they have finished the work. I’ve already got one of them to turn on the other two, and I’ll get rid of him as soon as the hearing is over. Maybe even during the hearing! That would be delicious!”

  “That would be delicious,” BikerBabe said mockingly. “Put your tutu on if you’re going to talk to me like that.”

  Tilly giggled with delight and started to pull a wad of nylon netting out of his bottom desk drawer.

  “Did I just hear a giggle?” the computer demanded.

  “Was this worth the wait, or not?” Jacob chortled.

  A knock came at the door.

  Tilly stuffed the puff of nylon back in the bottom desk drawer.

  “Don’t you shut me down, you pimple!” were the last words out of the computer as Tilly closed the laptop. He shuffled some papers and hurriedly tucked some objects into his desk drawer. “Enter!” he said loudly.

  Chaz entered, holding a stack of notebooks.

  Kelton said, “I’ve never been happier to see you, Chaz.”

  “What do you want? Next time, make an appointment!” Tilly snipped, trying to regain his composure.

  Chaz looked bewildered. “ I thought I heard someone in here with you…These are the lab notes…”

  “Do you see anyone else here?”

  “I do!” volunteered Jacob. “If only Tilly knew! Wouldn’t that be delicious, Deke?”

  “Are those the logs I requested?” asked Tilly.

  “Yes, and before the noon deadline,” said Chaz.

  “What about the new protocols and schedule?”

  “Alex is working on them right now, and they should be on your desk within the hour.”

  Tilly took a deep breath and leaned forward at his desk. “This is all progressing adequately for now. If we continue to work together, there are some things you need to know about me. I demand loyalty, and I have a very long memory. Two years ago, Doctor Kelton tried to embarrass me while presenting his thesis. He didn't know it at the time, but he made a big mistake. It didn't sit well with me. It still doesn't sit well with me. Kelton is not the man to be making earth shattering discoveries. He hasn’t put in the time or effort to be worthy of that kind of recognition. He doesn’t have the intellect to understand or identify the political processes in play. For that matter, I'm not even convinced that what I've seen in the video is real. I have long suspected that Kelton is falsifying his research data. On top of all that, we know he's delusional. His accounts of a ‘spirit world’ are simply psychotic.”

  “Get that, Doc. You’re psychotic!” chirped Jacob to Kelton.

  Kelton shushed Jacob. “I need to hear this.”

  Chaz drew in a breath to reply. “I'm not sure what you've seen, but...”

  Tilly interrupted. “ I need to know right now. Are you on my team?”

  “On your team?”

  “I’m going to be blunt because I can be blunt, and there’s nothing you can do about it. If you tell anybody about this conversation, I will simply deny it ever happened. You will be fired and expelled. One way or another, Doctor Kelton's research will be repudiated. You can help me, or you can be discarded. Dr. Kelton has already been discredited with theft and unauthorized animal and human experimentation. My findings will demonstrate his malfeasance to the board. Between you and me, he might have had some insights that will prove valuable to the NEW team who will be researching and commercializing this technology. With the right guidance, this project could be worth tens of millions of dollars. I plan to put my name on the project. Will your name be beneath mine as we explore and monetize the Tilly-Dixon Effect?”

  Cohen said, “Tell me I didn’t see Dr. Tilly wink just now.”

  Chaz was momentarily dumbstruck. Kelton could see that Chaz was being charmed by the appeal to his pride. After a few attempts to reply, Chaz said. “Of course! I'm definitely the man to make it happen. This work is too important to leave anything to chance. You can leave it to Chaz! ”

  “Another weak attempt at humor? Get out of my office before I change my mind about you. Get busy. ”

  Kelton stood between Chaz and the door. “Don’t do this, Chaz!”

  Chaz walked right through Kelton with a smug half-smile on his face.

  Cohen caught Kelton’s eye. “Here, you’ve got a political problem, I think.”

  “What can we do? I need to appear at the hearing. I have a 2-hour drive from the cabin. I have to be out of the box by Noon tomorrow!”

  Jacob smiled wickedly at Kelton. “Yeah. I don’t think you’re gonna make it. Have you got a career plan B?”

  “Plan B?”

  “Well, Doc, it looks to me like you are out on your ear. Let me see if you got all the details. 1. Nobody knows where you are. At least no one able to get you out of the box. 2. Your body is stuck in the box. 3 Your thread is getting wispy. You may not make it back at all. 4. Your team is turning on you. If that Tilly had a red-hot poker, he wouldn’t hesitate for a second to light you up with it. Take a look at his laptop. He’s inventing new claims and charges for you right now. Making them up out of whole cloth. Most of the list anyway. Just to be sure, did item seven on the list actually happen? I’m a little disappointed. There’s a lot more stuff he could have added. I expected Tilly to be a lot more creative.” Jacob waved at Tilly. “ I gotta tell you, I love this guy. He knows how to get what he wants! I’m gonna be surprised if you ever get within 100 feet of the laboratory again. He already has ‘restraining order for Kelton’ on his task list. Turn him over!’ hooted Jacob, waving both palms toward Kelton. “He’s done on this side. Come to think of it, he’s done on both sides.”

  “Are you enjoying this?” Kelton asked.

  “I get my fun where I can.”

  A chill went through Kelton at Jacobs's viciousness. “I can’t believe I’m going to ask this. Are you the devil?”

  “The devil? Are you serious? I’m no devil. Like I said, we’re all just folks. Getting by day to day. Are you really a scientist? I got my doubts. Scientists don’t believe in a Devil – or a God. There is no devil, you meathead. Ask Uncle Milty here.” Jacob gestured toward Cohen.

  Cohen shrugged. “ My mind is not made up yet. Occam tells me that he is just a schmuck with some occasional useful information. I have no evidence otherwise.”

  “I’m a jerk?” objected Jacob. “Looks who’s talking. Your ‘suggestions’ got our friend here in all this trouble.”

  Kelton had enough. He took one last look at Tilly and his laptop.