Free TW05 The Nautilus Sanction NEW by Simon Hawke Page B

I am not an unversed layman. I do have some understanding of these things. The technology simply does not exist to manufacture such a thing! The scale of miniaturization is beyond
any
comprehension. There is no known power source which could be made small enough for such a device. There must be circuits, yet for someone to make circuits of such infinitesimal size, they would have to be able to dance upon the head of a pin! I must know how it was done. I must know what sort of process made those cases. I must know how those locks upon those cases operate when there are no apparent workings within them. I must know how these things were done. I must know
where
they were done. And I must know . . .” He sat there, staring at them wildly.
    “
Mon Dieu,
dare I say it?”
    “Go on, Mr. Verne,” said Finn.
    In a voice that was almost a whisper, Verne said, “I must know
when.”
    “Jackpot,” Finn said.
    Lucas gave him a tight-lipped look.
    “I
am
right, am I not?” said Verne, softly. “I felt certain I was going mad. Or perhaps I am already mad. Please, gentlemen, I beg you, for the sake of my sanity, you
must
tell me!”
    “Mr. Verne, Jules,” said Lucas, “before this discussion goes any further, you must understand one thing. When I spoke of a top secret mission, I was not lying. If I tell you what you want to know, you must swear it will go no further than the confines of this room. Thousands upon thousands of lives could depend upon it.”
    Verne licked his lips and took a deep breath. “And if I do not swear so?”
    “Then Finn and I will have to figure out some way to make certain you
cannot
tell anyone. We do not wish to harm you. We do not wish to harm anyone on board this ship. Chances are no one will believe you anyway, but we can’t risk having our belongings searched. Please, Mr. Verne.”
    “All right,” he said. “Conditionally, I will so swear. The condition is I cannot stand by and allow any wrongdoing. If that is what you intend, you shall have to kill me, for I will do everything within my power to stop you.”
    “I can accept that,” Lucas said. “The answer, as you must already have surmised, is yes. We are not of this time.”
    Verne shut his eyes. “I knew it,” he said. “I did not believe it was possible, but it was the only explanation that made any sort of sense. Both of you, and Miss Cross, as well—”
    “Are from the 27th century,” said Lucas.
    Verne gasped. “The 27th . . . but . . . that is over seven hundred years in the future!”
    “That’s quite correct,” said Finn.
    “Travel through time,” said Verne, awestruck. “I had thought about it from time to time—” he chuckled. “From time to time. Ironic choice of words,
n’est-ce pas?”
He stared at them both with wonder. “I had often thought of writing a story about it, but it seemed too incredible, too much of a fantasy for my sort of work. I always sought to strive for some believability and so I dismissed the notion.
    Yet . . . there are a thousand things I wish to ask you and I do not know where to begin! Yes, yes, of course I do. The most obvious questions is, why are you here? It is something about this creature, is it not? This must be like some sort of archaeology for you—but no. You said thousands upon thousands of lives could depend upon it. Surely an aquatic mammal could not threaten—no, naturally not, if it is so important, then . . .”
    The sound of the forecastle gun was heard and there was shouting up on deck. Andre burst into the cabin. “It’s Ned! He’s sighted it! They’ve opened fire and—” She saw Verne and brought herself up short.
    “Get the ordnance!” Lucas said. “
Move!”
    “What is it? What’s—the creature!” Verne jumped to his feet as Finn and Andre both bolted out the door. Lucas put his palm up against Verne’s chest and shoved him hard. He fell back against the bulkhead. Lucas grabbed his equipment and moved toward the door.
    “I’m sorry, Jules,”