Echoes in Time A New Time Traders Adventure

CHAPTER 1 THE PHONE RANG. Ross Murdock looked up, startled. For a moment his eyes met his wife's across the room. Eveleen paused in the act of patting down the folded tablecloth on the basket they'd both just finished packing. Strange, to hear a phone ring. It'd been days since they'd been so rudely interruptedlong, glorious autumn days there at Safeharbor, on the coast of Maine. No phone, no TV, no newspapersnothing but seabirds, and the sound of the breakers crashing on the rocks down the hill from the house, and each other. Heaven. "Let's ignore it," Ross said. Eveleen shook her head. "This isn't our house, it's Gordon's, and it might be someone who needs to get in touch with him." "Who?" Ross asked as the phone rang a second time. Eveleen's expressive brown eyes glanced at him, rounded with amused patience. "Friends? Family?" "Outside of the Project, he doesn't have any friends," Ross said, half joking. "And I don't think there's any family either. The Projectishis friends and family." Eveleen said, "I really think we should answer it." "Then I'll get it," Ross said. "I'm closer." On the fourth ring he picked it up. "Ashe residence." against that is the reality of our government struggling to survive, and the unrest so very close. No one must find out about these alien artifactseither the ships or the time-travel mechanisms. You know that as well as I. Rather than let anyone find out, anyone at all, we blow up the shipwe blow ourselves up. These secrets cannot fall into the wrong hands. Every single government who knows the secrets agrees. And so necessity forces us all to compromise. To work together. To solve the mysteries we've been presented, before we find ourselves with bigger problems from outside our gravity well than we're causing for one another within it." She sat back. Misha sighed, presing his hand against his side. It hurt. "The mission?" "The flight to New York leaves tomorrow. We begin the training there." Lightning flared behind Misha's eyes. He strugged up, made it to his feet. "I'm going," he said, not caring that his voice broke. "Get me on that flight." "But the doctor" "I don't care. Iwillbe on that mission, if I have to blast my way across eight time zones to do it. And you know I never make empty threats." They stared at one another. "Zina." He relented at last. "Please." The Colonel's lips creased. Just faintly. Misha sank down onto the hay-stuffed bed. The effort of standing had made him dizzy. But that no longer mattered. He knew he'd won. "We will leave tomorrow," she said, "but without you. As soon as your fever is down, you will follow us." She pointed at the bed. "Now get some sleep." The door shut behind her. "Ross." The voice was immediately familiarMajor Kelgarries. "I've been trying to reach you. We've got an emergency" Ross slammed down the receiver. "Phone sales," he said, forcing a smile. "Let's get going on that picnic before the weather drives us back inside again." Eveleen smiled back, hefted the basket, and opened the door. Ross closed the doorNorton, Andre is the author of 'Echoes in Time A New Time Traders Adventure' with ISBN 9780812552744 and ISBN 0812552741.