Free Piercing The Fold by Venessa Kimball Page B

Balthazar was eager to tell his father of his success. Part of him was eager to see what had been hidden behind this fortress for years and years. Those childish thoughts quickly dissipated as he knocked on the heavy, metal door. The door shifted under his knock. He gave it a shove, and it opened a hair.
    Balthazar pushed the door open wider.
    “Hello?”
    Sterile counters, sterile walls, and minimal furnishings. Beakers, metals, and maximum welding machinery. Computers generating data, downloading and auto-saving like an electronic record keeper. And the smell of a hot, metallic residue.
    Balthazar couldn’t resist taking a look at some of the contents of closed cabinets and drawers. Balthazar accidentally bumped the keyboard as he sat in the chair. The desktop on the computer was still active. Balthazar looked around suspiciously for signs of his father.
    Smell of hot metal?
    Leaving open access to his data?
    What had his father just finished doing?
    Balthazar noticed a file folder on the desktop that was open. The file within the folder that stood out was labeled “Onoch’s Blueprint of Travel”.
    Balthazar rolled his eyes, recalling his dad’s eccentric ways.
    Balthazar clicked on the file, expecting to see his father’s recorded data of his travels over the years. Balthazar anticipated seeing some sort of excel spreadsheet.
    Balthazar stopped breathing for a second and sat back. It was not a spreadsheet at all.
    The folder revealed all of Sebastian’s notes, theories, engineering specifications, experimentation notes, and results of successful travel through wormholes. Balthazar remembered the times his father was too busy in his lab researching, experimenting, and theorizing.
    “Oh my God. So this is what encompassed your life for all these years, you bastard.”
    Balthazar leaned into the screen and read.

Chapter 15
    Ezra takes a sip of his drink and shifts in his seat. “It’s not what you think. Sebastian was not traveling to Dobria while Balthazar was picking through his lab. He was attending a debriefing on current and future space travel missions at his department. His appearances at the department were becoming fewer and fewer.
    “Debriefings were one of the few appearances that Sebastian had to be at in order to alleviate any suspicions about his frequent absence and insistence of working from home.”
    Ezra leans back and continues.
    As he pulled into the estate, Sebastian noticed the parked car upon the drive at the main house. He quickly parked and walked to the front entry. He moved from the entry to the formal living room.
    “Hello?”
    Sebastian continued to walk through the downstairs rooms, looking for any sign of an intrusion. He stopped and closed his eyes. A moment later, he sensed Balthazar’s presence and moved haphazardly to his office.
    Balthazar was still sitting in front of the desktop when Sebastian entered.
    Sebastian paused at the doorway and spoke calmly. “What are you doing here, son?” Uncharacteristically calm for someone who had just had his life’s work violated.
    Balthazar turned in the chair to face his father. Balthazar held a small, black floppy disk in his hand that he quickly slipped into his shirt pocket.
    “Father. You have been busy over the years with all of your travels. Tell me, what have you found out there?” Balthazar’s smile was filled with both quandary and envy.
    Sebastian dropped his head in disappointment. “This is not for you, Balthazar.”
    Balthazar interrupted, “For years I have followed in your footsteps, desperately wanting to be your protégé. You know of all my honors as a budding physicist. I know you are aware of my accolades even if you have never shown acknowledgement of them.”
    Sebastian stepped through the door and shut it tightly behind him. “I do know. You are truly growing to be a great physicist.”
    Balthazar stood. “I was coming to tell you about my most recent internship. NASA wants me to assist the aeronautical