The Time Portal 2: Escape in Time Read Online Free Page B

was one of those rare moments. Lucky understood. Doc was a fixer, a negotiator. He wasn’t a fighter, never was. He couldn’t protect Lindstrom physically, which was why he needed Lucky.
    Later that afternoon, Lucky returned to Doc’s house where he was introduced to the professor, Doctor Henry Lindstrom. Dr. Lindstrom was an accomplished, educated man. He had a degree in Astrophysics, had worked for the government for thirty years, and carried a top security clearance. He had retired a few years prior and now devoted most all of his time to inventing “things.” Some of his inventions were inspirational and others were of commercial value, let’s say. In the latter category, there was the egg cracker. It worked by tension and percussion by lifting one end, sort of like a rubber band, only the part was metal, and let go. It snapped around the egg, leaving a perfectly round circle in the eggshell. He intended to pair the egg cracker with a yoke separator and market them commercially for a dollar. Another invention was called the Laser Smoke Penetrating Device. A laser is used to cut through dense smoke, clearing a visual path, allowing fire fighters to see. As he explained it, while driving through a dense fog with bright lights on, there is often a reflection from the light bouncing off droplets of water, thus effectively blinding an individual. But some light still passes through the fog. The laser device blocks the reflected light and is timed to allow only the light from the object to come into view. At a fire, the system is designed to block the light reflected off particles of matter suspended in the atmosphere and allow the light from the distant object to be seen. The combination beam splitter/electro-magnetic optical shutter was designed to close before the reflected light reached it, but timed to open before the light from the distant object reached it, thereby allowing the object or victim to be seen. In other words, the invention allows a person to look within the modulated beam of a laser and see through smoke. Using the same principal as his first patent application, he received a continuation, in part patent. This meant that the patent covered trucks driving through fog; it meant that airplanes could now see through clouds; and it meant that submarines could see clearly under water. The test results were patented, but nothing ever came of his creations. It was his magnetic propulsion system that threatened his life. It used something he called “universal energy,” or unlimited energy from the universe.  
    After strong encouragement, Dr. Lindstrom allowed the men to take him back to the safehouse. It was for his own safety and he knew it. As a favor to Doc, Lucky made a promise to do his best to surround him with a hedge of protection. Once there, the professor was given his own quarters and Lucky was more than happy for him to set up a small laboratory in the hidden room. The professor remained much to himself, was an easy-to-get-along-with guy, but he always appeared preoccupied, his mind working, never at rest; a contradiction of sorts as he came across to everyone as a bit of a scatterbrain. One night over dinner, Lucky asked the professor to explain how his magnetic propulsion system worked. This was one of the few times that animation filled his face. This was his life, what he loved talking about. Quickly, he began searching through his drawings, scouring each one until he found what he wanted. He began by explaining that he had a miniature, working prototype hidden away and would be most happy to share that with the three of them.
    “But what I really want,” the professor said, “is to build a full-scale prototype.”
    Lucky asked, “How much room do you need for that?”
    “Oh, well, the saferoom is fine for a full-scale engine, but the body of the craft would need to be built in a barn or a warehouse, away from prying eyes.”
    “Okay,” Lucky answered. “Mickey, Sam and I will look