Chapter 10 - The Message Charles Never Read Correctly
Inside pocket watch beneath inner plate was a second inscription.
Not visible unless mechanism removed.
N-B.
P-A.
NO SECOND BELL.
Node B.
Partial Anchor.
Thomas had given exact extraction method in 1975.
Charles missed.
He focused on proof of time displacement.
His obsession blinded him to rescue instructions.
Samuel Ward later suspected, but Charles locked watch in evidence box.
Lucas inherited only photos, not object.
Margaret had kept actual watch in bank vault.
She retrieved.
When Dr. Chen applied sequence, primary chamber stabilized.
Visual window became clearer.
Thomas looked exhausted—but physically still about thirty.
He wrote:
HOW LONG FOR YOU?
Evelyn answered:
130 YEARS.
Then below:
FOR ME: 19 HOURS.
Silence.
That was enormous payoff.
Thomas had experienced nineteen hours.
Evelyn perhaps fourteen.
The “between” state was not frozen timelessness.
Time passed slowly relative to outside.
Ratio inconsistent across intervals.
Why?
Field cycles.
No need full physics answer.
But enough.
Thomas had not suffered conscious 130-year imprisonment.
He had endured nineteen strange hours.
Still terrifying.
But different.
Then Ethan asked Thomas whether Elias knew.
Thomas wrote:
ELIAS TRIED TO STOP BELL.
Then:
MY FAULT.
Evelyn shook head.
“No.”
Thomas had pulled second lever when assistant shouted wrong instruction during storm.
He blamed himself.
Evelyn entered to help.
Both displaced.
Elias spent rest life trying retrieve them.
That explained his later notebooks becoming obsessive.
He never succeeded.
But did he know they were alive?
Thomas showed another object.
A paper note.
Elias handwriting.
TO E. AND T. IF YOU SEE THIS: I AM SORRY.
Date:
How did Thomas get it?
It appeared in between-space six hours ago for him.
Elias had successfully sent message in 1902.
No person.
Paper.
Thomas caught.
So Elias learned channel existed.
He tried communication.
Why no return?
He lacked Node B anchor alignment.
Then Elias died 1908.
Tragic.
But he knew maybe daughter still existed somewhere.
Evelyn wept.
For her, father had been shouting moments ago.
Now she held apology written six years later.
That emotional reward mattered more than technical twist.
Then extraction plan proceeded.
But another issue emerged.
Bringing Thomas to 2026 created identity/legal impossibilities.
No valid modern identity.
No citizenship documentation? He was born US, maybe still recognized but no active records.
Estate issues.
Descendants? Perhaps family line ended because he disappeared unmarried.
Ethan promised practical help but not hide him.
No secret mansion imprisonment.
Independent authorities would eventually need involvement.
Evelyn agreed.
She didn’t want repeat.
Then Margaret finally decided:
“We tell truth after Thomas is safe.”
Ethan replied:
“We tell necessary authorities before extraction.”
Margaret flinched.
Old instinct.
But nodded.
A small federal scientific safety team and state authorities were briefed under confidentiality orders based on extraordinary evidence.
No giant military raid.
No sensational takeover.
May you like
They agreed observe.
The house would no longer belong to family secret alone.
