THE UNVEILING
Quest in Time
By
HAL LEONARD
Strategic Book Publishing and Rights Co.
© 2012 by Hal Leonard
All rights reserved. First edition 2012.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any information storage retrieval system, without the permission, in writing, from the publisher. This book is a work of fiction. Names and characters are of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to an actual person, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Strategic Book Publishing and Rights Co.
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ISBN: 978-1-62212-422-0
Book Design by Julius Kiskis
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Dedication
This book is dedicated to my wife Marina. Her patience gave me the strength to write this novel.
In memory of my faithful dog Euro who was constantly by my side. He will always be missed.
Contents
1. The Big Fire
2. The Return Trip
3. The Early Years
4. Lesson Begins
5. The Projects Begin
6. Amazing Discovery
7. The Big Lecture
8. The Big Move
9. Years Later
10. The Doctor’s Office
11. The Trial Journey
12. Back To The Lab
13. The Big Journey
14. Death Of Christ
15. Trapped
16. The Miracle
17. The Explanation
Chapter 1
The Big Fire
Pittsburgh, in the good old days, was a prosperous steel town. Today it’s a modern city like any other booming metropolis filled with faded memories of times past. Decades ago, stretching along several city blocks of waterfront property, there stood massive steel mills operating continuously 24 hours a day. During the daily shift changes, the mill workers carried their lunch pails under their arms as the next work crew passed them in the opposite direction. The dirt and the soot on the clothing of the employees, along with their facial expressions, shown yet another weary day was at an end. The citizens within the city limits and the surrounding townships, simply accepted the irritating haze that emanated from the nearby dominate brick chimneys, as commonplace. Unfortunately, this smog like smelly vapor could not be avoided. This gloomy cloud was a repercussion of the steel production. The offensive foggy odor constantly spewed into the innocent waiting sky. It was an unpleasant nuisance that overwhelmed the entire city. This is one reason Ben Stone and his family resided in the suburbs where the air was fresh and clean. Of course, those days are consumed in the past, the mills ceased their steel production several decades ago, and the foul air that engulfed the city was eventually cleared of all the pollutants.
Mount Washington is an enormous mountain that stretches along the waters edge adjacent to the city. It stands like an overshadowing sentinel on the other side of the river. On the very summit of this majestic mountain, observation decks are used by the community, and tourists, to scrutinize the beautiful steel city from an elevated height. These high decks provide an impressive view of the downtown Pittsburgh area not only in the daytime, but especially in the evening hours when all of the skyscrapers are adorned with office lighting. On the outskirts of this magnificent city lie the quiet suburbs. Everywhere you look there are green rolling hills as far as the eye can see. The rich land overflows with apple orchards that cover the serene hillsides. A perfect, quiet place to raise a healthy family without the hustle and bustle of a strenuous city life. The fragrances of budding apple blossoms fill the still morning air with an enchanting aroma. The sweet smells of the tiny buds are gradually replaced with a pungent odor in the country air. It’s a distinct aroma that spells danger. The foul smell came from behind an aging red barn on an old country road, where there’s a hidden figure lurking in the darkness. He proceeds to open a large red container that rests on the ground near his feet. There is a second storage can nearby lying on its side with its contents depleted. He is very careful not to spill anything on his clothes as he raises the container waist high, and with a back and forth motion of his arms, he splashes the contents on the exterior of the structure. The shadowy silhouette continues to soak the outside of the barn until it became drenched with the liquid. The stranger quickly discards the empty canister in the surrounding shrubbery. He carefully walks the perimeter of the barn making sure that the wood is saturated completely. He retrieves a lighter from his pocket and then he strikes the flint close to the wood. Suddenly, brilliant flames leap swiftly from wall to wall with astounding precision until they concluded there fiery journey over the entire surface. The intense sea of fire can be seen for several miles throughout the county. In a few precious moments, the raging inferno reaches for the morning sky desperately trying to break free from its earthly bond.
Inside a quiet bedroom in a home across the road, the owner of the house Bob Peterson is awakened unexpectedly when he notices a distinct glowing reflection on his bedroom wall. He is half asleep as he rubs his eyes and continues to watch the flickering glimmer of light in front of him. His eyes are wide open and staring straight ahead. He isn’t sure exactly what is going on. He leaves his warm bed and moves hastily across the room, continuing to rub his eyes as he walks. He trips over his robe that was left lying on the bedroom floor. He raises the window and peers out into the damp, cool morning air. He is about to finish up a long yawn with his hand over his mouth, when his attention is drawn to a spectacle just outside his window. He observes a blazing fire consuming his barn across the road. Immediately, he went to the other side of the bed and places his hand on his wife’s shoulder and begins to shake her. She responds in a distraught voice after being abruptly awaken.
“What do you want dear? I was sound asleep and having the most exciting dream. What is so important that you have to wake me up? It’s 4:00 o’clock in the morning.”
She raises her head and stares at her husband with one eye open, and then her head quickly finds its mark on the pillow once again as she struggles to restore her well deserved rest. She can smell the pleasant aroma of the damp grass outside her window while snuggling her comforter close to her. The early morning dew is settling on the lawn in a fine mist. The sound of charred crackling wood echoes throughout the peaceful bedroom. Bob continues his efforts to wake his spouse once again. After his repeated attempts fail, he leaves her alone and rushes to put on his clothes. He turns to look at her as she continues to stir in her bed while slowly opening her eyes. Within moments, she sits up on the edge of the mattress. Ben continues his walk towards the bedroom doorway half dressed. He stands at the door, then turns around to look at his wife who is now poised at the bedside. He frantically calls out to her.
“Betty, call the fire department and be quick about it; our barn is on fire! It looks bad from up here, I better get down there.” He proceeds to walk down the steps towards the front door while he observes the intense flames through the living room window. He approaches the front entrance, and then he turns around to look for his wife who is standing at the top of the stairs with the telephone clutched in her hand. While he is unlocking the front door, he yells out to her.
“I’m not sure if the fire department will arrive in time, the barn is going to be totally destroyed within the hour if they don’t get here soon.”
He overhears Betty providing the information needed to the fire and rescue crew. He opens the door and begins a cautious walk across the wet grass to the shoulder of the road. The heavy dew that has saturated the morning air, keeps the burning embers to a minimum. The flaming ashes from the blazing structure twinkle like thousands of tiny fireflies in the morning sky. Bob arrives at the edge of the country road and stands motionless while staring at the building; the barn is engulfed by the blaze. He is damp and cold as he waits for the fire engines to arrive. He notices several more of his neighbors approaching. Before long, the old country road is congested with curiosity seekers. Everyone is speaking at once and pointing towards the burning structure. The brilliant glow from the intense fire reflects off his face and clothes. He tries to keep a safe distance from the barn by standing far enough away from the fire, but he can still feel the intense heat, even from his location. As he observes the blaze, he sees a suspicious figure running away from the rear of the structure. The fire trucks, and rescue vehicles, converged at the front of the barn within a few minutes after Bob’s arrival. They have been driving at a reduced speed due to the countless potholes in the old country road. The firemen quickly gather the water hoses and the other necessary equipment to fight the roaring fire. The entire area around the barn is overflowing with curious neighbors. The daylight begins peeking through the dawn sky, and the sun will soon be shining over the peaceful countryside. Betty runs from the house towards her husband. She arrives at his side and places her arm around him and speaks.
“Was Ben in the barn? Oh God, I hope not! No one could survive that intense heat! Do you think he was inside working?” Bob’s attention is fixed on the inferno, but he soon replies to his wife.
“It’s difficult to say; he always kept to himself. I know he likes working on this important project of his every chance he get’s, and I would see him come and go at all hours of the day and night, I couldn’t say for sure if he was inside or not. I don’t see his car parked anywhere, so it’s more than likely he wasn’t in there.”
Bob stares at the burning structure with a concerned look on his face. The firemen continue to circle the barn with their axes and water hoses and try to contain what looks like a hopeless situation. As they concentrate their efforts on dousing the fire, Bob notices that the water pressure is ripping the wood from the exterior. Burned pieces of charred lumber are flying off in all directions. He has a worried look on his face as the burning wood came to rest on the ground. You could see his strange expression as he begins to speak.
“I hope the exterior covering stays on the barn, although it sure doesn’t look that way from here. If they find out what’s really underneath all that wood, someone is going to have a lot of explaining to do. The firemen need to lower the water pressure a little, if the exterior wood continues to come loose, everyone is in for a big surprise out here this morning.”
The firemen continue their efforts to battle the blaze. The burned sections of wood are quickly torn away by the water pressure. Several of the firemen stop their work momentarily, and approach the burning structure for a closer inspection. They see something underneath the lumber covering that wasn’t affected by the intense flames. After their close inspection of the material, they are stunned at what they find. The fire chief’s curiosity gets the best of him as he walks over to his men who are staring at the material that is lying under the burned wood covering. He instructs them to remove the lumber that remains on the building. When they finished, everyone notices that the exterior wood had disguised a metal structure. Within minutes of the unusual discovery; the fire chief yells out loud.
“The barn is a facade! There is another building underneath the wood, and it looks like it’s constructed entirely of stainless steel! There are no obvious doors, or windows that I can see.”
The spectators are astounded. The whispering, and the communication among them is random, nothing they say makes any sense. The fire is soon extinguished except for a few burning sections, and those broken charred pieces, are carefully placed on the side of the road, and eventually reduce themselves to ashes. The fire chief looks around at everyone on the scene, and then walks towards Bob and his wife. The couple remain in the same location during the entire event. Betty turns and runs to the house to bring out a coat for Bob. The fire chief approaches him and begins to speak.
“If I recall you two were the first to arrive, is that correct?”
“Yes; my wife and I saw the raging flames from our bedroom window, we live across the way in the two-story house. We rushed over as fast as we could, we couldn’t believe what happened to the barn; there are some things that you never expect, do you know what I mean?” The firemen disregarded Bob’s remarks and continued to speak to him.
“Do you know the owner of this barn or structure?”
“We’re the owners of the barn. We rented it out to a gentleman by the name of Ben Stone.” The fireman continues his questioning. “Did you, or your wife, know what was going on inside the barn?”
Bob pauses for a moment then reluctantly responds. “We had no idea he had constructed this steel building inside. When we rented him the property, the building was an empty barn; I never questioned what he was doing in there.”
“Did you see him often? Wait; let me rephrase that. Have you seen him lately, like in the last few days?” Bob is hesitant at first to respond to the chief’s question, but after a quick mental decision, he replies with caution. “This is what I know; he would arrive late in the evening, and he worked inside until daylight. Then sometimes, he arrives in the morning, and works until all hours. We never knew where he was at any given time; he came and went at random. Does that answer your question?” The fire chief looks sternly at the couple and responds once again.
“You said he went inside to do his work, how did he gain entrance to this metal structure? There are no doors or windows.” Bob shrugs his shoulders indicating that he doesn’t know how his tenant gets in or out, but for some reason, the chief doesn’t believe him. The chief makes some notes in a small tablet he is holding tightly in his hands, and then he asks Bob another question.
“Okay, how do we get in touch with Mr. Ben Stone?” Bob hesitates for a moment. He thinks about his answer to the fire chief very carefully before he says anything he would regret; he has his reasons. After a short pause, he reluctantly responds. “Mr. Stone usually keeps to himself; he is a very quiet individual; as a matter of fact, Betty and I know very little about the man. He wanted to rent the barn, so we rented it to him. He was very insistent on being left alone. He always pays his rent on time each month; we rarely spoke to each other. He’s a good tenant. I have his phone number at the house; I will bring it down to you if you want to contact him.”
The chief is still not fully convinced that Bob is telling the truth, and his question about how this tenant gets into the building isn’t answered. The fire chief takes a few steps forward towards Bob and repeats his demands.
“You still haven’t answered my question; I want to know how he enters the building? Did you ever see him go in or out? You must have seen him enter the barn at one point; there’s got to be a doorway hidden somewhere.”
Bob did not respond. The chief turns around and begins to walk back towards the barn. As he walks away, Bob yells out to him. “If you want to know how he enters a building that has no doors or windows, I suggest you ask him; as long as he puts the barn back the way he found it, he can do what he likes with the inside.” The firemen and most of the spectators move towards the building that they thought was a barn all these years, to give it a good inspection. They can’t believe there is a metal structure buried underneath all that burned wood. The fire chief turns once again and looks at Bob and then comments.
“If this barn had a normal front entrance door, why would anyone want to close it off so there’s no way in or out? This guy is hiding something, he doesn’t want anyone inside. I’ll get to the bottom of this.” After the fire chief returns to his men, Betty looks at her husband with the strangest expression on her face as she speaks up quietly.
“Why did you tell the chief we hardly knew Ben? He’s been a close friend of yours, ever since the late 50’s. You two are always together, was it necessary to lie to him? Ben is your best friend.”
He leans towards Betty and whispers softly in her ear. “I don’t want him to know that we are good friends. You know as well as I what’s going on inside there, we don’t need publicity right now. I’ll explain later when we return to the house. At this point; I’m really worried about Ben. There’s a good possibility that he’s in there, but I don’t think he felt the heat, there’s a lot of insulation covering the inside walls. We really can’t do much at this time with all these neighbors and firemen around, we need to wait until this commotion settles down. If Ben is inside, he will be contacting us soon, we just have to wait it out.”
The steel building is exposed to everyone. The morning sun glistens off its shiny surface. It’s a spectacular sight to see. Everyone congregates around the massive object. The large gatherings of neighbors begin to walk around the entire exterior of the structure. They became curious at this point. The firemen keep the spectators clear of the building; and they warn everyone that the steel is very hot due to the intense fire. The fire chief raises his hands towards the crowd and speaks.
“I know that everyone’s interested in what’s happened here this morning, but please, do not lean against the metal, you can get a severe burn! The steel will retain the heat for several hours.” The spectators continue to point and make comments. Suddenly, the chief calls out. “Quiet everyone; listen.”
He waves his arm up in the air; he wants the crowd to be silent, he hears something. A peaceful calm returns to the countryside as the neighbors wait. They don’t exactly know what to expect at this point. Everyone stands perfectly still. A police vehicle pulls up as the crowd settles down, and the policemen open their doors to the squad car and walk towards the fire chief. One of the officers speaks up. “What’s the problem here?” The fire chief begins to explain to the police officers what he found under the burned wood on the barn. Then without any warning, an annoying hum seems to come from the structures interior. It’s a very low pitch sound, and upon hearing this strange noise, several of the observers retreat from the area. They back up very slowly keeping one foot directly behind the other while continuously observing the structure for any unexpected event to occur. Everyone is whispering in the morning air as some of the residents return to their homes. They are afraid of the noise that’s coming from inside the barn. Suddenly; one of the neighbors shouts out.
“Did you hear that?” He walks over to get closer to the structure, and then he stops a few feet away from the hot steel walls. He leans towards the metal building so that he could hear better. He backs off after a few moments and speaks out. “The hum is definitely coming from inside the structure.”
Several police, and firemen place their ears near the steel wall and try to identify the sound inside the building, but the metal sheets are still very hot. There is one man standing close by the structure who suddenly speaks up as he begins to walk away with his family. “I don’t know what that strange disturbance is in there, and I’m not staying around to find out, something’s not right here. This is none of my business; I have to look out for the safety of my family.” He continues his walk towards his car with his wife and children. He turns as he walks away and yells out to everyone. “If anything is going to happen, I want them clear of the danger.” The crowd steps back even further except for the policemen and the fire chief. The humming increases in volume. The crowd backs away as the strange sound intensifies. The irritating hum increases, and then decreases, at regular intervals. Suddenly; as quickly as it began, it ceased. The fire chief turns to speak to his men.
“We need to find out what’s going on inside this building; there’s a good possibility the sounds are coming from some kind of machinery. It may present some danger to us out here, maybe it’s even radioactive in nature; we wouldn’t know that until it’s too late! We can’t even see in there so, I think that we should keep a safe distance until we can determine what’s going on.” The chief turns towards the crowd with his hands in the air and speaks up.
“Everybody; please step back to the edge of the road.” Suddenly; a new sound begins to echo through the quiet countryside. A high-pitched whistle is heard in the still morning air. No one knows exactly what to do; there is a lot of confusion everywhere. The whistling continues for a few moments, and then someone from the crowd shouts out loud. “Look at the barn; it’s illuminating with some sort of light. The building is solid metal, how can there be light shining through solid steel?”