The Resurrection Wager

Chapter 4

Chapter 4Tom Wallace arrived at the Kingsman Research Institute early the next morning. He was surprised to see that there were so many other cars already in the parking lot.

The three-story building was located on twenty-five acres of wooded property. It sat about a half mile off the main road and was invisible to anyone just passing through the area. A river ran along the west edge of the property. It was typical for those working there to see wildlife from their office windows. There were walking trails out back that some of the employees used at lunchtime.

Usually, the first to arrive, Tom found himself unconsciously grinning as he exited his Durango and headed toward the entrance to the futuristic-looking building. He was glad to see that there were others on his staff who were as excited as he was to begin today's experiments. Tom waved his ID badge in front of the scanner. He heard the audible buzzing as the door lock released to allow him access. In another half hour, these doors would unlock for the day.

The front desk was usually unoccupied. The location of the institute and the fact that this was a private facility meant that there were very few visitors. Anyone arriving could pick up the phone on the desk, and someone would come down to assist them.

Tom got on the escalator, headed directly for his office and hung his coat on the back of his door. He then placed his lunch in the small dormitory sized refrigerator next to his desk. He sat and forced the feeling of excitement down as he logged into his computer and opened up his email.

Tom was working through the last of his messages when Paul burst into his office.

“Tom, I know you've your morning reading to do, but just for today will you please delay it for a little while? Everyone is here, and we are desperate to see the recording. Now let's go!”

Immediately Paul turned and left the office.

Tom stood, smiled and looked down at the Bible on his desk. Spending some time each morning meditating on the scriptures was an essential part of his day. He felt that the quiet time of study always helped him prepare for the day. But he also had to admit that his ability to concentrate today was diminished by the excitement he felt. Since everyone was here early and ready to go, he would feel guilty making them wait while he had his private time. Tom silently promised that he would read before lunch and then set off for the main conference room.

As Tom approached, he heard the anxious chatter coming from those gathered. There was a sudden cheer as he entered the room.

Paul, who was at the front of the room exclaimed, “Thanks for deciding to join us.” Tom's response was drowned out by the friendly laughter of everyone in the room.

Tom took his seat at the head of the room next to Paul, who stood up and said, “Okay, the doors to this conference room were locked over the weekend, and I'm the only one who had keys. The computer logs from the security system show that everyone did as I instructed this weekend. No one has attempted to enter this building since Friday afternoon. Also, the security doors at the lab were kept shut this weekend,” Paul continued after a brief pause. “Therefore we can safely say that the experiment that we did, or will do later this afternoon, was uncompromised,” Paul waited as the excitement in the room grew. “Before we begin, Tom has a few words for all of you.”

Tom stood and looked at the group and spoke, “I don't know if the experiment was successful, but if so,” pausing for effect, Tom continued, “In just minutes we might see the results of an experiment that we won't even conduct for several hours.” This idea was nothing that they all did not already know, but just the concept of it made the room go silent as they all contemplated this fact again.

Tom sat back down, and Paul opened the video file on the computer next to him. The data resided on the server in the basement that held all the recorded security feeds. After several seconds, Paul called out to the room, “Here we go.”

Moments later the large LED screen mounted on the front wall lit up, and the image of the main lab came into sharp focus. The time stamp, showing 1:01 AM Sunday, was visible in the lower right-hand corner. The image was clear, and nothing was moving. There were workstations and various pieces of equipment visible in the background.

No one in the conference room seemed to be breathing as they all stared intently at the LED screen. After almost a full minute, there was a collective gasp from the team. One second everything looked the same as seconds before and then instantly there was a strange object in the middle of the room. It looked like a rugged four-wheeled cart with several laptop computers hooked up to it. There was a central piece of equipment with flashing lights and a digital screen. There were two identical video cameras. One was mounted on a short tripod and slowly rotated 360 degrees, revolving and filming the whole room. The other camera was pointed directly at the screen of one of the two laptop computers. The instrument package sat there recording, while the top camera rotated for two complete revolutions, and then as suddenly as it appeared, it was gone.

The entire room exploded into applause. There was yelling and cheering. People were standing on chairs and exchanging high fives with each other.

After several seconds, Paul stood and called out, “Okay, that's enough!” The mayhem decreased, and he continued, “Remember people, you're congratulating yourselves for something you haven't even done yet.” He continued, “We will watch the tape again. Then we need to get to work. We still have to get Clyde tested and send him back in time thirty-six hours.”

Everyone retook their seats, and the recording played again. They watched carefully, looking for any unexpected events that might have been missed when they watched the video the first time.

They again saw the cart holding the instrument package, nicknamed Clyde, appear on the screen. Paul backed the recording up a couple of seconds and then ran it forward again, this time advancing it as slowly as possible. After about thirty seconds, they came upon the moment.

In one-tenth of a second, Clyde was not there, and in the next, he had appeared. It was instantaneous. There was no flash of light or the image of it fading into focus. It was instantly there.