Somewhere In Time

“None of my companions understood the greatness they were facing. For them, as for the rest of the world, that was a simple mountain. A tall one, yes; uneven as any other, correct; antique as few, maybe. But still, for regular people, it was just a pile of sediments. They were quiet, never dared to say a thing, but I could notice the judgment, hidden behind those overexcited faces, wild-open eyes, forced smiles; always trying to please with every single gesture of theirs. Anything to scratch the remaining scrapes of the fortune that belonged to me, the eccentric elder man that had dragged them to that unbearably cold weather.

“I was the only person in the whole planet who acknowledged what was beneath it, and it was all thanks to you. Yes, Crossville, to you and your sick, profound obsession for science fiction... our shared passion, our insatiable thirst for knowledge. And yet, you hadn't told me a single thing about your research. Not even a small mention, a minuscule hint. If it hadn't been for my intuition, old friend, if it hadn’t been for my firmness in the decision of opening up your coffin and searching among your remains, for sure you would have taken the secret to the grave. Nevertheless, I found it, the note in your coat. I have it right here; so cryptic... a faithful imitation of a laundry receipt. I still understood the message, however. You would say it was my duty, knowing you for over forty years. It was a wild crossing, without exactly comprehending what I was looking for. I was the only one to acknowledge its worth, because whatever it was, it held the answer to one of the most complex questions of all times; it solved the whole equation on the matter of time travelling. There you had it. Your dramatic discovery, the one you always dreamed of.

“I’m paying now my own investigation team for them to examine the mountain. I would do it myself, you know, but I have a more important work here. I suffered a contusion during the excursion; and when they brought me to the hospital, a devious officer tried to put me in jail and sabotage the discovery. Fortunately, the most prestigious scientists intervened immediately, and offered me my own office to register everything. They have heard of me, and they acknowledge that I am the key, as it couldn't be any other way with you now gone. Temporarily, of course. I receive telegrams from the team now. It’s been a harsh, demanding task, but once I find the plans you stored away, I’ll go back to warn you about that car, and in time, you’ll be the one to warn me...”

Behind the one-way mirror glass, the young nurse scratched the back of his neck, biting the inside of his cheek, looking rather contrite. “... I told him we required him to investigate from this location,” he finally muttered, breaking the religious silence he had been immersed in as he glanced at the large man beside him.

“I had figured that much.” The middle-aged doctor nodded calmly, still observing the patient attentively, his arms crossed over his stomach. “I'm afraid he'll be accused of tomb robbing, still.” He commented gravely, his voice paused and low.

The young man's gaze turned slightly more nervous, and he hesitantly set his worried eyes back on the figure behind the glass. The man continued to spurt out his monologue in the empty room, as if he had all the time in the world. “... Would it do any good to take the paper from him?”

The white robed man dismissed the suggestion with a lazy gesture of his hand. “What's done it's done,” he replied, shaking his head slowly, watching the mumbling elder with a compassionate stare. “It's a dry cleaning ticket. Let's allow him to believe, for whatever time he has left, that he'll make it back and press the brakes in time.”

−Sanctum