The obvious question in her voice invited the stranger to answer. She was helping him out of his overcoat, and he reached up to remove his hat as he spoke, smiling graciously. He ran a weathered hand through his sparse gray hair.
“Excuse me,” Kelly closed the door and came up from behind, thinking the man had come to see him about something. “Was there some problem I can help you with?”
“No problem, Kelly,” said Maeve. “He was just making a delivery.” She had the closet door open and was fishing for a coat hanger.
“Well it’s just that…” Kelly thought a moment, smiling. “You seemed surprised to see me a moment ago and—”
“Count your blessings,” Maeve shot over her shoulder. “For someone to come out with a pound of coffee on a night like this is well beyond the call of duty. Let me get my wallet here, before I forget, and I can pay you for this.”
“Please,” the stranger held up a hand. “Don’t trouble yourself. I’m afraid you misunderstand. Yes, I’ve just come over from Peets, but I—” He paused, hesitating for a moment and looking at his watch. “May I sit down?” The man seemed to be somewhat winded.
“Be my guest.” Nordhausen pulled out a chair at the study table and the visitor sat down as the others gathered around.
There was an awkward moment of silence before the visitor spoke up. “Well, I’m afraid this can’t be helped.” He looked at his wrist watch, and Kelly had a puzzled expression on his face as he seated himself. Dorland was watching the man very carefully, his forehead furrowed with concentration.
“Phillip Graves,” the man introduced himself. “I suppose you’ve heard the news?”
“Indeed!” Nordhausen scratched the back of his head. He had noted Paul’s silence, and suddenly had a funny feeling about the unexpected visitor. This was very odd. Why would Peets send over a pound of coffee at this hour of the night? They didn’t deliver coffee at any hour. He struggled to get on top of the situation, but Maeve asked the question first.
“Did one of you lovely gentlemen order this?” She held up the bag of coffee with a glint in her eye. “Robert?” It was logical to assume that Nordhausen was the guardian angel, as the coffee had come to his study address.
“I’d love to think I was that considerate, but I must confess I know nothing about this. Does Peets deliver?”
“Paul?” Maeve smiled in Dorland’s direction. “Did you place an order for tonight’s meeting and forget about it again?”
Dorland glanced at Maeve for a second, but his gaze slipped back to the visitor. He spoke to Maeve, but his eyes swept over the man, focusing on the stranger with a keen inner assessment. “Mr. Graves doesn’t work for Peets, Maeve.” There was a blunt tone to his voice. “He was just was about to tell us he’s come for some other reason.”
The statement focused immediate attention on the visitor, and another awkward silence ensued. The man met Paul’s gaze, a strange mixture of admiration and fear in his eyes. He seemed very anxious, and Nordhausen noticed a sheen of perspiration on the stranger’s brow in spite of the chill on the room from the blast of cold air. He looked at Paul, and then turned to the visitor again with a hint of suspicion adding definition to the corners of his mouth.
Maeve broke the silence, always the gatekeeper as her instincts prompted her to smooth Paul’s remark over. “You must forgive us,” she said. “It’s been a very long night, what with this news and all. We just can’t imagine what this is going to mean now. But, Mr. Graves, was it? Did you have news for someone here tonight?” She was angling for some understanding of why the man had come, taking refuge and comfort in simple politeness, her thoughts still with her mother.
“Yes,” the stranger began. “I’m afraid so, and there’s no other way to begin but this: I’ve come for your help. You’ve all heard the news tonight and, now that Mr. Ramer has arrived, I think it’s safe to proceed. I must ask a very great favor.”
Nordhausen’s eyes narrowed. “Why do I have the odd feeling that you seem to know us, Mr. Graves? You have us at a bit of a disadvantage here.” He was beginning to think the man might work for the government. They had gone to great ends to keep the project privately funded, but government inspectors were always intruding nonetheless, and Nordhausen was concerned that this was just another bureaucratic busybody with some annoying regulation in mind.
“Know all of you?” The man smiled, his manner still a bit anxious as he pressed on. “Why, I suppose I do, in a way. Yes, we’ve never met, though I had a close brush with Mr. Ramer there earlier this evening. You’re a very impatient driver, if I may say so.” He looked in Kelly’s direction with a wan smile.
Kelly was completely befuddled now. “What on earth are you talking about?”
“You were near the BART station earlier tonight after you got off the freeway. You always take that exit. I’m afraid I had to delay you for a moment. I suppose I’d have leaned on the car horn as well, but when you hear what I have to say I think you’ll forgive me. I’m only glad you’re safely here.” He looked at his watch again, as if to reassure himself about something. “I think it’s safe now,” he said looking from one to the other. “We’re in a void—a very deep Nexus Point. We don’t have long, but there’s still time.”
“Time indeed,” said Dorland. His suspicions coalesced into a wry smile and he knew who the man was at last. “What did I tell you, Robert?”
“What’s that?” The professor was looking from Dorland to the visitor, a moment’s uncertainty tugging at him, even as he, too, came to grips with what was happening.
“Don’t you see?” Dorland broke into a broad smile. “That was no chance meeting with Kelly near the BART station. You did that deliberately,” he pointed at the visitor. “You needed to delay Kelly somehow—just a gentle nudge, isn’t that so, Mr. Graves?”
“You are very shrewd, Mr. Dorland. But then, why not? This was all your idea in the first place. Wasn’t it? Well, I was fortunate enough to succeed with Mr. Ramer here, and if the good lady would be so kind as to make us all a cup of that wonderful coffee, I think we should get started.”
The rain on the roof seemed much louder in the silence that followed. Then Dorland broke out in a laugh, and Nordhausen joined in. Kelly and Maeve were staring at them both like they had suddenly been taken ill.
“What in God’s name is going on here?” Kelly gave them an exasperated look. “OK, I want to know who the hell you are, and what the hell is so damn funny!”
Maeve gave him a sharp glance and tugged at his sleeve in spite of her own confusion. But Dorland and Nordhausen just kept laughing and, as she stared at the visitor, she recalled the opening rounds of the running gun battle the two men had fought earlier that evening. “You mean to say that—”
“Someone’s come to join us for coffee after all!” The professor was beaming as he looked at Dorland, his smile conceding a point of long contention with his friend, and seeming to drain away the stress and tension of the night with his laughter.
“Then it works, Robert!” Dorland was ecstatic. “It works!”
“It might work.” The visitor interjected a sobering note. “We hope it will work,” he explained. “In fact, we think it will work, now that we’re on this side of the Shadow, but we’re not quite sure. In any case, we haven’t much time and the situation is desperate. We’re in a void now—a Deep Nexus. We have to get this underway before the tsunami hits the east coast and the event begins to solidify. It’s just a little past eleven. That leaves us another six hours and twenty odd minutes. I’ve saved Kelly, and he has his laptop with him. We need to get started!”