Page 50 of The Cabinet of Dr. Leng

“You felt your work wasn’t as appreciated as it should have been. So you resigned in anger and now you’re out here, sulking—which suits you better, since you have a reputation for being meddlesome, difficult, and prickly.”

Ferenc’s heart slowed again. Whatever this was, it didn’t include immediate danger—if that had been the case, he’d be on the way down the mountain already. His innate truculence reasserted itself. “Difficult and prickly? Fuck you.”

Proctor chuckled indulgently. “But your own project is not going well, because the expense was far more than you anticipated and you’re running out of money. Still, you won’t consider investors because you don’t want anyone telling you what to do. Again—difficult and prickly.”

At this Ferenc felt a growing anger. Who was this son of a bitch telling him his own life story? He rose. “Get back in your vehicle and drive your ass out of here.”

Another chuckle. “You, Dr. Ferenc, are the world’s expert in self-sabotage—and you know it. Now, if I may continue?”

Ferenc continued staring at him.

“I’ve come because—despitethe character flaws I’ve mentioned—you are possibly the most brilliant engineer alive today.”

Ferenc couldn’t help but be mollified by this. But only slightly.

“I’m not here to offer myself as an investor, or to interfere with your work. I’m here to offer you a large sum of money for a few weeks of your time. Then you can come back here and continue working on your project, flush with all the cash you need to complete it.”

“So what’s the work…and how much is the money?”

“It’s a time machine. And the money is half a million dollars.”

At this Ferenc stared and then, as the absurdity of it sank in, laughed harshly. “Time machine? Is this a joke? Who put you up to this? That’s impossible—even theoretically.”

“Possible,ifyou consider we’re living in a multiverse with many parallel timelines. ‘Time machine’ is a misnomer, actually. The device punches through one universe to reach another, on a different timeline.”

Ferenc shook his head as he sat down again. While this concept had been advanced theoretically, it had never gone beyond that, and he couldn’t even imagine how to build such a device. “There’s no way I’m going to waste my time with crazy shit like that.”

“A quarter million up front, the other half in three weeks, whether we succeed or fail.”

Ferenc couldn’t believe what he was hearing. The man looked sane, but then a lot of people who looked sane turned out to be nuts.

“Dr. Ferenc, there is a benefit to you far beyond the money.”

“Which is?”

“This project will absolutely and irrevocably blow your mind.”

The way the man said it, so serenely confident, so coolly self-assured, led Ferenc—for just a moment—to almost believe it. And then he began to laugh, shaking his head again. “Wow, you almost had me there.”

“May I show you a video?”

Without waiting for a response, Proctor took out his cell phone and tapped at it, then handed it over. Ferenc couldn’t help but watch. What he saw could only be described as a flickering tunnel, apparently carved through time, at the end of which slowly materialized a view of a city square. It looked to be more than a century ago, with horse-drawn carriages coming and going and people in old-fashioned dress walking about, to a backdrop of low brick and stone buildings. Then the image wobbled and flickered into black.

He handed the phone back. “Nice bit of CG.”

“Not CG. That view at the end of the tunnel was of Times Square, circa 1880. In a parallel universe, of course.” He rose. “Dr. Ferenc, I won’t waste any more of your time or mine. You now have the basic facts and must make a decision.”

“A decision? I need a hell of a lot more information than this. Like who am I going to be working for, where is this machine now, who built it, what’s its history, what are you going to do with it—and if you have the thing already, why do you need me?”

“I can offer no more information until you’ve agreed.” He looked around. “I have a private jet waiting at Appalachian Regional Airport, and it’s a forty-mile drive via mountainous peckerwood roads. You have thirty seconds.”

“Thirty seconds? Are you kidding me?”

But the man was now looking at his watch. Ferenc waited, counting out the seconds in his head.

Sure enough, after thirty seconds passed, the man turned without another word and walked down the porch steps. Ferenc watched him stride toward the blacked-out SUV. He couldn’t say why, or how, but he felt a sudden surge of regret. What if the man was not crazy? What if this was real? And even if it was bogus, how stupid was he to turn down half a million? He’d demand the upfront money in his bank account today. As a guarantee.

“Hey, hold it!”

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