Touchstone (Meridian Series) by John Schettler, Mark Prost Page B

wrong.
    “Hah, yes, everything,” Dorland
began. “Well, I think we have taken care of Kelly’s problem. Your instincts
were right that the DVD in the memorial was not safe, but Robert and I have
taken care of that. Oh, by the way,” he handed her a handful of DVD’s in a box.
“Take these, and put them somewhere, burn a copy on every computer you have,
and keep transferring them when you get new ones.”
    She slipped them into her
shoulder bag. “So, tell me what you found at the graveyard.”
    Paul spoke reluctantly, “The
grave had been dug up, and the work looked relatively recent.”
    “Dug up? By whom?” Maeve was
shocked.
    “We have no idea, but the odds
are that it was an operative from the future. They dug down, smashed the lid on
the box, removed the stuff we put in, and buried it again. It was obvious when
we got there, they made no effort to hide it.”
    “Who would do this? And why?”
Maeve was bewildered.
    “As to why, no doubt to
eliminate Kelly. As to whom? I suppose we can discuss that.”
    “The time travelers who saved
Kelly—”
    “—wouldn’t have any reason to
want to eliminate him. If that were so, then why would they save him in the
first place?”
    “So that means…”
    “Robert believes there are other
people moving through time, and if you looked at those reports you would have
seen that the alarm keyed on a breach at three past four , this afternoon.”
    That set the two of them to
silence for a moment. They heard the shower door slam, and listened to Robert
moving about in the bathroom. Shortly, he emerged, also in clean, dry clothes,
and seemingly re-energized.
    “Dare I ask what you two have
been talking about?”
    Paul and Maeve gazed back at him
wearily.
    “Paul tells me that you think
other people are moving through time.”
    Robert looked at Paul. “You told
her?”
    “Not everything.”
    Maeve was instantly alert.
“What?”
    Robert looked pleadingly at his
friend. “You tell her.”
    Paul pointed to the professor’s
notebooks.
    “Open that notebook, Maeve—no,
not the Golem files, the older notebook to the left.”
    Questioningly, she complied. The
rows of precise, intricate hieroglyphics marched across the pages. “What is
this?”
    “What does it look like to you?”
Paul asked.
    “It looks like Egyptian writing.”
She looked up blankly. “Who wrote this?”
    Paul looked at the professor.
“Robert did. We didn’t know if it would still manifest in this Meridian , but it seems we learn
something new about the theory every time it is tested. Apparently the lifeline
of a Prime is held inviolate if he is safe in a Nexus during Transformation. I
was worried about Paradox, but Robert is safe and sound—at least for the
moment.”
    Maeve took in the jargon,
understanding, yet clearly still annoyed. “Robert wrote this? Why on earth…” If
she had been confused before, she was now totally at a loss.
    Nordhausen stood in silence. Maeve
continued to turn, page after page after page, uncomprehending.
    “Robert says he can read those.”
    At that she looked up sharply.
“What’s going on here?”
    “Robert went through the Arch,”
Paul continued quickly.
    “What?”
    “Robert went through the Arch,
and when he came back, he told me something had changed. Oh, he was afraid all
this was his fault, and I let him stew for awhile, but the Golems are on to the real culprits, and it has something to do with that writing.” Paul
pointed at the professor’s notebooks.
    “Okay, stop right there.”
Lindford commanded. “This is too much at once.” She paused, closed her eyes,
and took a deep breath.
    “Okay, one more time. Robert
went through the Arch?” She flashed him a dark look, and Nordhausen swallowed
hard. “You’re talking about his trip to recover Lawrence ’s manuscript at Reading station, yes?”
    “No. I’m talking about his trip
to see H.M.S Pinafore in London —1880.”
    Dorland was through helping. He
had let the cat out of