TEMPUS CHAPTER NINE
The desire of gold is not for gold. It is for the means of freedom and benefit.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
As he woke inside the Ascalon he asked “when are we now?”
“When do you want to be? We are at the edge of the Kerr Hole. I just need a time to travel to.”
“I guess we should have discussed that earlier, we need to transfer the ownership of the building to my next persona so that we can sell it. Let’s start with 1992, I miss the cats. See you when we get there.”
Cristian slept through another trip through the rotating black hole.
“Deakes how you have been? Cali come over here” almost expecting a verbal answer. To the cats, he had only been gone an hour. A lot of purring and rubbing later he loaded up the Saddle bags with the booty and the rest of the cash. A second later Into his Levis and boots grabbed his leathers and headed for the Pawnshop.
“Where did all this come from” Asked Pawnshop Jimmy. “Right you didn’t say.”
“No, I didn’t.”
“I will give you twenty large for the lot.”
“Make it thirty in Gold no mint marks that should be about 87.5 ounces minus your ten percent.”
“I can have that ready by morning.”
“Morning then.”
On the way home, he grabbed some Chinese food and headed for the cave.
“Watcher what years were good for gold prices.”
“2011 was good at $1571.21 per ounce.”
“How about low price years? None too far in the past it will be easier to find period money.”
“1970 Gold was $36.02 an ounce.”
“Tomorrow we head for 2011. We have 87.5 ounces of unmarked gold.”
“That should net us $137,508 in 2011, then what do we do Cristian?”
“Buy some 1970 paper money head back to the past, buy gold and then back to the future Mcfly and sell more gold. We continue this until we can head back to 1889 with a few hundred pounds of the stuff.” This was going to be a lot of work.
Gold sold for $18.93 an ounce in 1889. $30208 per 100 pounds.
After what seemed a month of travelling back and forth Ascalon was filled with enough Gold to finance the past to pay for the future.
A week had passed in 1889 since his last visit. Lorelei greeted him with smiles. “You are back James.”
“Yes, Lorelei I brought these for you” It was a bag of chocolate truffles from the future and a single trumpet-shaped flower about six inches across, pink speckles on white. He had removed all the evidence they might be from the future. The flower happened to be his favourite.
“James thank you, you shouldn’t have.”
“I could not do anything else.” That made her smile even brighter.
“I will tell Arthur you are here, he has an architect with him.”
Arthur came out to meet him.
“James it is good to see you. Come in and have a look at the blueprints” Arthur had papers spread over his desk.
There was a small bespectacled man standing at the side of the desk looking on.
“James meet Henry our architect. James is our…”
He stopped him “Artist, James Brown, nice to meet you, Henry.”
“You did a nice job on the building looks just like my drawing.”
It was easy to see the Architect contractor felt a little indignant that a mere artist had upstaged his presentation he made a small noise that almost caused Cristian to laugh out loud.
“Cristian he is upset about you being here.”
“Watcher he will have to deal with it.”
“Please Henry continue I didn’t mean to interrupt you, I am just so amazed at what you people do. Take a likeness and turn it into a reality. amazing. Quite amazing.” His tone was definitely non-hetero.
With the architect’s ego temporarily smoothed over by the minor stroking, he continued his presentation. Arthur watched the whole act with some amazement.
“The hidden coach house is accessed from the side of the building. A false wall hinged near the top will produce an entrance at the pull of a lever.
Arthur asked, “how much will this cost to complete?”
“Our Estimate is $20000.”
“Cristian he is padding the price by about $2000” Watcher added.
“Arthur I must spend some time with Lorelei before I go. Amazing Henry simply amazing, would you walk me out, Arthur? Would you excuse us for a moment, Henry?”
With another indignant sigh, he said. “If you must.”
Closing the door behind them he asked “what do you think Arthur?”
“I think he has bloated the price by about $2000.”
“Again, well-done Arthur. You are correct.”
“Tell him you will build three more buildings and knock him down three for thinking you so stupid. I will wait out here.”
“James, what was that candy you brought me? It was heavenly. I have never seen a flower like that” said Lorelei.
“The candies are chocolate truffles. They are the rage in Europe. The flower is a favourite of mine it is called a Stargazer Lily. I thought it would accent your beautiful freckles, Lorelei.”
Those words caused a blush. “The flower is extraordinary. Is that where you were Europe, no that’s not possible you were only gone a week.”
“No questions Lorelei that would take the mystery out of it.”
“I suppose it would James” He smiled when he realized they had just shared a Money Penny moment.
“Bond, James Bond” Sean Connery spoke through the neural interface.
That brought a smile. “Thanks for that Watcher.”
A few moments later a flustered Architect left the office without saying goodbye.
After walking into Arthur’s office he closed the door and asked.
“How did that go, Arthur?”
“Down by three, construction to start as soon as the permits clear. We will have a building provided you have the money.”
“I have better.” He reached into his pocket and produced an ounce of gold, which he handed to Arthur.
“We will need more of those.”
“I brought more than enough.”
“Arthur I would like you to continue buying land around the city. Put up some rental houses people can afford. You are about to witness a depression in the city due to lumber prices dropping. Use that opportunity to build more. I am sure it will only last a few years. Always think long-term. We will need to see the lawyers this afternoon. I should have a will drawn up.”
“Jimmy I am sorry I must ask, is the gold stolen?”
“No Arthur that is not my way, although it is unreported income. It was the result of some very hard buying and selling. That is all I have to say about that. Sell the gold as you need it. If you sell it all at once it may raise eyebrows. The indicators are the price of gold will remain stable over the next few years.”
“It sounds like you are leaving again.”
“I can’t stay too long in one place. I am sure that trouble will follow. Send someone over to the lawyers to see if they have time for me this afternoon. Oh, and you will need to purchase a safe.”
“I am overwhelmed.”
“Arthur I have every confidence in you and Lorelei.”
“How can you? You don’t know us.”
“I know more than you think. I know you are absolutely honest, trustworthy, loyal and honourable. You will do great things in this city. All I ask is to do it with integrity, and help others without any distinction of race, colour, religion or social standing.”
“I can do that. Where is the gold?”
“Out of sight for the moment. Shall we eat I feel rather hungry? You will have to buy, I am afraid I only have gold no money.”
Arthur knew something was not quite right but was intelligent enough to know that James was sincere and telling him the truth, at least part of it. How could he possibly know about the depression and the price of Gold? No one could know that. James did and he believed his every word. He trusted him and as far as he knew so did Lorelei. How could such an unassuming man command such loyalty in such a short time? What of his ideals no one he knew dealt fairly with the world.
It didn’t matter, a week ago he was a bellboy in a hotel now he was the President of a company. James had changed his life for the better. He turned to Jimmy and smiled. He was thankful he had come into his life. He considered all that while taking another delicious bite of his steak.
“How is Dorothy?”
“Excellent Jimmy, we will be married in the spring of next year.”
“Congratulations Arthur that is excellent news.”
“You are invited of course. Dorothy insists.”
“In that case, how could I say no?”
“Dorothy has someone she would like you to meet.”
“That, I can say no to. I am afraid my lifestyle would not allow more than an evening’s distraction. That hasn’t happened for a few years.”
“She will be disappointed.”
“Let her down gently Arthur, and thank her for me.”
“If you are finished we should head back to the office Arthur.”
“Absolutely Jimmy.”
“James, the Lawyer will see you this afternoon at two.”
“Thank you Lorelei,” He noticed her smile again. He tried in vain to think of anything else.
Another sunny day buggy ride and they were back at the lawyer’s office.
“James, how are you?”
“Well Ken, I am very well.”
“I understand you are here to have a will written.”
“Yes I have someone I would like looked after, should something happen to me. I have a nephew born earlier this year that will inherit everything. His name is Robert Mitchum my sister’s boy.”
“We can have that drafted in a few minutes.”
After a short wait, a letter was produced. “Sign here James.”
“Thank you, Ken, please send a copy of the invoice to Arthur at the office and have a good day.”
Another buggy ride back to the office. “Man I sure miss the bike Watcher. Imagine the look of these people as those straight pipes roared through the town.”
“There is no fuel here yet. Imperial Oil will be coming in a few years. I don’t think you would enjoy their filling method. Using buckets full of poor grade gasoline and a funnel. At least until someone here comes up with the idea of piecing together the first gas pump using an old water tank, glass jar and a garden hose.”
“Watcher we could be the ones to invent that shit, or we could do the zipper, Velcro or the paper clip or the pocket fisherman by Cristian co.”
“Nothing like staying in the background Cristian.”
“Yea I know.” Cristian sighed a little after saying that.
When he got back to the office he went directly to the shed and unlocked the door. The Ascalon was safe, the gold was inside out of sight. He took a shovel out of the ship and dug a hole near the corner of the shed big enough for most of the gold. He put the shovel back in the ship and he thought the ship outside and locked the door.
Back upstairs he went to say goodbye to Arthur and Lorelei.
“Arthur here is the key to the shed the gold is buried in the far left corner. Be careful taking it out to avoid detection. Many would kill for that.”
“Are you leaving Jimmy?”
“Yes, I have some business to attend to.”
“When will you be back?”
“I will be back in time for the opening of the new building Arthur probably not sooner.”
“Lorelei, Jimmy is leaving again is there any business that requires his attention before he leaves?”
“Nothing I could say out loud Arthur,” she said quite brazenly.
Night came, as he was about to climb into his ship he spotted a pile of bricks. He loaded a bunch of bricks into the back of the ship. He wrote a quick note and stuck it into a crack near the lock in the shed door. It read “I borrowed some bricks from your neighbour please pay for them. Jimmy”
“What are the bricks for Cristian?”
“Watcher I need to walk in a low-pressure low oxygen environment for a few minutes is there equipment on board I can use.”
“Yes, Cristian.”
“Thanks, I see the images now. We have a stop along the way out. I always wanted to go to Mars. I know that we will eventually get there as a species, can you get me to one of the future landing sites?”
“You are up to no good Cristian.”
“Just going to have some fun Watcher” Soon the ship arrived at Mars, and Watcher took control and landed them.
“We are here Cristian at the Gale Crater where the Mars Rover Curiosity will land.”
A few minutes later he was putting on the re-Breather. It was sunny and cool under a red sky out on Mars. He quickly unloaded the bricks onto the Martian soil. After fashioning a peace sign he climbed back into the ship and took off the device.
“Need some heat Watcher, fucking cool out there and I hurt all over.”
“The low pressure. A peace sign Cristian really?”
“Come on the government will be freaking and peaking when they find that out there, just one more thing to cover up. I think it’s funny.”
“It is actually. What’s next Cristian some UFO sightings, and crop circles? Graffiti on the ISS?”
“Saaaaay, I like that. What’s an ISS?”
“Should we head out Cristian? We will pass the ISS on one of our excursions.”
“Sure thing Watcher but let’s take a look around and maybe do some canyon flying before we go.”
A high-speed low altitude flight through the largest canyon on Mars got his blood pumping.
“Now that’s some Luke Skywalker flying.”
“Cristian the canyon is 200 km wide.”
“What, we were five feet off the deck. I’ll bet it’s the fastest anyone has flown through here.”
“You are probably the only one young Luke.”
“All right Watcher. Let’s go back earlier in the year to arrange the birth of Robert Mitchum. Robert needs to be born, live and die and leave everything to me so we can sell this building. Profit by time travel takes a lot of thinking.”
January 1889 Vancouver
“Watcher we need to pay a doctor to give us a birth certificate. We can make it more real by finding a couple with a newborn that needs a financial leg up.”
A little detective work and he found a struggling couple with a newborn. They came to Vancouver in the hope of a new start. With the new baby, they were having a hard time finding enough money to pay for the high rent.
They filled in the paperwork and the couple and the doctor was paid in Gold. Robert Mitchum had an identity. A quick visit to a real estate broker, he helped the couple find a house to live in and bought it. He would have to visit them later in the year to pick up the paperwork.
“Watcher it’s time to leave.”
“Time travel we must young Skywalker.” In the voice of a little green Jedi.
“Yup Yoda let’s go home and change clothes.”
He woke up in the cave, the ship door was open and there were cats curled in with him.
“Watcher you let me sleep through it all.”
“Your body needed rest and repair.”
“When is it?”
“A day later than when we first started travelling.”
“Great I need to grab a meal. I seem to be hungry all the time.”
“The nanobots have used many materials in your repair. You will need to replace them.”
“Great I need a burger and some Onion Rings.”
As they left the A & Dub he felt the familiar adrenaline rush as he twisted the throttle. It was nice to hear the straight pipes again. To everyone around him, it was the next day. For him, it seemed like weeks had gone by because they did.
“Watcher I need to die. Or to be more precise Jimmy has to die and become Robert. Do you have a suggestion?”
“May 1914 St. Lawrence River the Canadian Pacific Steamship Empress of Ireland collides with another ship. 1013 die. The Ascalon can pick you up just before the collision.”
“Please give me the information Watcher.”
He got the information in images in his mind. How could this happen? Men, women, and children losing their lives because of the blundering of two captains. It was stupid.
“Watcher, can we save those lives?”
“There is no easy answer here Cristian, maybe the act of trying to save the lives of those people is what causes the collision between the ships. The variables are too numerous to predict.
Ultimately you will have to decide what to do. It is also possible your act will bring unwanted attention from the Elders.”
“With great power comes great responsibility, fuck.”
“You could spend the rest of your life-saving people from disasters but in the end that may not accomplish anything good.”
“Watcher this is a part of time travel I do not enjoy.”
“I am sure that many travellers have felt the same emotions as you are experiencing right now. I know the words you can’t save everyone will give you no comfort.”
He didn’t like hearing any of this, he wanted to save them. Thinking about all the people that have died over the history of mankind, Watcher was right he couldn’t save them all. Maybe some he thought to himself.
“I will need some new duds.”
After a few hours, he climbed into Ascalon once more and they headed back to the past. The collision still weighed heavy on his mind. All those people dying, it would be hard to deal with.