Purdue smiled.
“I shall, Sam. It sounds riveting, really. But I’m a bit tied up in serious matters at the moment,” Purdue explained. Still, he decided not to tell Sam about everything that had come to light since they’d last spoken. The journalist sounded way too excited about whatever he’d discovered and Purdue decided to keep the awful truth about their mutual friend, and love interest, to himself until he could tell Sam face to face.
“Oh, alright then,” Sam replied, sounding a little disappointed. “Well, let me know what you think when you’ve had a look. I CC’ed Nina in on the pictures too, by the way, and have heard nothing back from her, either. Is she still in Hampshire doing that teaching gig?”
“I believe so, yes,” Purdue answered. His stomach knotted up at the mention of her name.
“Her phone is on voicemail every time I call. I hope the feisty little thing is okay. Sometimes her long silences concern me,” Sam admitted.
“I’m sure she is alright. If I speak to her I’ll tell her to just drop you a line.”
“Probably not my business, Purdue, but you don’t sound like yourself today,” Sam remarked off hand. Purdue hated keeping the truth from him, even if it were to shield him from a bad emotional crash.
He sighed and let out a small chuckle to set Sam at ease. “I’m just tired, old cock. Had a rough bunch of days dealing with a lot of crooked people.”
Sam paused, leaving the line hanging in dead air limbo before speaking again. “Um, crooked people as in…you know, those people?”
Sam’s reference to the Black Sun organization was undeniable. Purdue wanted to tell him, but again he elected to let the journalist enjoy his time up beyond the North Sea for now.
“Those people are everywhere, son,” Purdue pretended to joke, evading a fib with cleverly fashioned wording. “I’ve just been inundated with obstacles. Life stuff, you know.”
“Aye,” Sam replied evenly. Purdue could tell that Sam was withholding.
After another few moments, Sam sighed, “Right. So, uh, get back to me about the photos when you have some off time. Cheerio, my good man.”
“Bye Sam. Have a good night,” Purdue replied and hung up. He laid back in his comfortable jet plane seat, bringing a glass of Johnny Walker to his lips. There was a long journey ahead of him; not one of flights and driving, but one of experimentation, trial and error, and the immortal chase against the evil arms of the clock. Purdue felt tired already as he wracked his brain for a way to reverse time. It was Nina’s only hope and it was his duty as her friend — although their friendship had dwindled severely — and as a scientist — to defy science and employ his great command of physics and technology to save her.
His jet was too close to Edinburgh for him to get any rest, so he surrendered to Sam’s imploring and laid his tablet on his lap to check the pictures. If anything, he hoped that some beautiful views and professionally taken images of historical sites would cheer him up a bit.
The screen opened up from the center and flowed outward until the entire image filled it to the extent of the frame of the device. Sam’s attachments rung up a total of fifty-two images, but Purdue first read the short message Sam had written in the e-mail body.
Purdue’s heart caught in his throat when he read the message, even though he figured it was just his own desperate hope tricking him to make a connection between what he needed and what Sam was reporting. The billionaire sat up as the jet entered Edinburgh air space and glared at Sam’s words, reading them a hundred times over to make sure he saw what he thought he saw.
“Holy shit! That’s it! Talk about Kismet…” he whispered as he read the words again.
Hi Purdue
Here are some awesome pictures from the breathtaking Faroes and a lot of British war remnants I captured as best I could. But I tell you, there are things I can’t convey through images. Enjoy!
PS: The women are gorgeous and the firewater is deadly! No wonder I can’t get over how these people stay young forever. I swear, time stands still here.
Sam
“A place where time stands still,” Purdue gasped. “Quantum physics meets medical application. Of course! How could I not see that?”
As the captain’s voice announced that they were about to land, Purdue forgot his fatigue. His heart raced because he could not wait to get started. At last, Purdue smiled.
Chapter 16
Thus far Sam had only sent Purdue and Nina the images from the ruins at Akraberg, those he snapped before Johild and old Gunnar had showed up with the others. He intended, however, to record all the sites of historical value throughout the islands by the time he was scheduled to return to Scotland. After all, his extended stay merited more footage than just some interviews with locals about the done-to-death whaling debate.
Old Gunnar owed Sam an explanation about his defensiveness towards the journalist. He had to give Sam some clarity on what he was protecting. For Gunnar it was a real problem, because either he had to lie or he had to, God forbid, trust the Scottish tourist. Having already been to Eggjarnar’s station, Heri and his family offered to take Sam to the next site while Gunnar told his story.
“There are places here that belong to only us, the descendants of the old Norse people, Scotsman. We just don’t like intruders. It’s very simple. There’s nothing to hide, but some places,” he shrugged, “just should be left alone, left to the children of the land.”
“I understand,” Sam replied, and he wasn’t being flippant. He honestly did understand that sometimes you just needed to have your own special place. Sam could see Johild and her cousin exchanging surprised looks.
Even Gunnar had expected more of a fight. Sitting in the back seat next to his daughter, he’d remained quiet since Sam accepted his explanation. Still he could not accede that the journalist was satisfied with just that. The car was abnormally quiet as they drove north inland. Sam, seated in the front next to Heri, spent the next while looking out the window at the wild and ancient beauty of the rocks atop the cliffs wearing hoods of emerald
Suddenly Sam spoke. “Gunnar?”
At once the interior of the vehicle came alive with voices of affirmation. Heri, Johild, and Gunnar mumbled in agreement that they knew there would be more. “Yes?” Gunnar deigned.
“What’s this?” Sam asked as he turned in his seat to face the old man seated behind Heri. He passed his cell phone to Gunnar. Upon the large screen of the cell phone there was just one image — a still shot he’d taken from the center of a flattened British World War II ruin at Hvalba during the night, after he’d concluded the day’s interviews. Gunnar looked shocked. He pretended to scrutinize the image while he tried to think of a way to dismiss the presence of the peculiar green, blue and pink light particles appearing to hover above the circles of the demolished stone.
Heri tried to peek by craning his neck to use the mirror, but he was unsuccessful. His cousin’s wary expression upon seeing the picture concerned him, but he had to watch the road and contain his curiosity until the impending discussion would reveal the subject.
“Where did you take this?” Gunnar asked Sam without looking up.
“Hov,” Sam replied without thinking, picking the first town that came to mind.
Gunnar stung Sam with a dirty look. “Don’t insult our intelligence, Mr. Cleave. This stone circle is not in Hov. It is at Hvalba.”
That was just what Sam wanted to hear. Gunnar realized only afterwards that Sam was testing him, but it was too late to deny its existence. “So you do know about this place? What do you make of the colors hovering over it?”