Free The Tesla Gate: A SciFi Short Story by Drew Avera Page B

the door as she found her way into the bedroom. Instead, she sulked quietly, leaving me in peace.
    Finally alone, I returned my thoughts to my work, but those thoughts quickly drifted to the last letter I received from Sam. His heart and mind were as fractured as they had ever been. My heart went out to him, and my work was more for him than anyone else. My own familial losses were pale compared to his, but that was just my opinion. I chose not to talk about my own, but Sam often wore his heart on his sleeve.
    I tossed my notes to the hardwood floor and grabbed a fresh pad of paper. It was through a stream of consciousness I committed my thoughts to paper.
    "Dear Samuel,
    "It is with the knowledge of how much you love to teach others that I can only make one suggestion to stave off the torrents of pain you are enduring. You feel lost and alone, but remember the joy you experienced when your own daughters were children. Perhaps, if inclined to make a positive change in the lives of those less fortunate, you too can find happiness in the distractions of good deeds. You have my word I will continue on the path you've directed, but in the meantime, let your mind wander elsewhere. If all goes according to plan, then the past will return to you old friend.
    "Nikola".
    I folded the letter and placed it snugly into my last envelope, placing it back on the table for my next outing.
    "That was beautiful," Alokin said, walking in from the bedroom. Her smile had returned and my stress and anger had faded. I smiled as she appeared to sit across from me, but we both knew she wasn't really there. Even still, it felt good not to be alone.
     
    June, 1908
    A blue swarm of light twisted in a funnel-shaped cloud before my eyes. The edge of the light seemed to want to pull me in. I resisted even though I felt a nudging desire to see what would happen if I gave into the torrent. Then it was gone. In the blink of an eye I watched my invention die, teetering out in another explosion of blown fuses and charred cables. I would cry if it weren't so shamefully hilarious. Maybe it was just funny because accepting my failures at face value wasn't something I was comfortable doing.
    "You know there's a way to bypass those pesky fuses," Alokin said, she appeared to be leaning against the wall across from me, her face slightly soiled from the smoke wafting towards her. She knew as well as I that bypassing anything would turn the lab into a smoldering pile of rubble. Maybe that was what she wanted.
    "You know there's medication I could take which would keep you caged in the recesses of my mind, don't you?" I retorted. Everything was experimental, but it was an interesting idea, medicating myself into being alone. After all, the whiskey did little to make my mind shut up when I wasn't working.
    "You would never," she snapped. It was fun to get under her skin, or whatever it was that laced her together in my mind.
    I smiled, revealing nothing. "I wonder if I can create a power supply to transmit the voltages I need to sustain the device without the use of wires.”
    I asked no one in particular, but I knew she would answer.
    "I thought you abandoned the coil patents when you thought I wasn't looking?"
    I couldn't help but laugh. When was she not looking? "I admit the idea was rather large and costly, but I never fully abandoned it. I simply shelved it until a good opportunity presented itself."
    I could hear her stifle her laughter with a gentle hand. "And now is that time? Are you certain?"
    I looked up at the behemoth I had created. Towers of steel loomed into a t-shaped tower. It was something I could work with. "I'm far from certain, Alokin, but you know I never give up."
    She appeared behind me, this time her face perfectly pristine. "You get that from me," she said.
    I couldn't hold back my smile. There was a lot of me that she took credit for, why should this have been any different? "That's funny; I don't recall your mentorship when I was growing