A 500 word short story by
Scott A. Gese
Paris, 1888.
Johnathan Peters sat at a
small outdoor table at a streetside cafe. It was early morning. Horse
drawn wagons hauled freight to and from nearby businesses. Small
buggies moved along the road as did riders on horseback. It was a
bustling neighborhood. Johnathan was content to sit in the morning
sun and sip his espresso while watching Paris come to life for the
day.
It was mid June. The
Spring blooms had long withered from the trees and the green of new
leaves filled out their branches giving a comforting bit of shade to
those who cared to enjoy it.
From his seat in front of
the cafe, the newly erected Eiffel Tower loomed large. It was a
wrought-iron and lattice structure. A new focal point for a growing
city. Johnathan smiled, knowing he had provided the blueprints for
the project.
Johnathan was here for a
meeting, but he was in no hurry. He had never been to Paris and he
was enjoying the fresh air and easy going atmosphere of a city on the
verge of a new dawn. It was a huge change of venue from where he had
come from. The stress, the smog, short tempers from people with too
little time to waste on pleasantries like a simple smile. Please and
thank you were, as they say in Paris, passé.
His business contact would
be along shortly. He would be picking up some important information
purchased through the clandestine business operation he ran back in
America.
His Paris client was well
connected to the French banking system. The information would be put
to good use in the banks investment strategy portfolio. It would
guarantee them a multi-billion dollar profit within a few short
years.
Over the past several
years, Jonathan had worked diligently to built a small network of
well placed contacts around the world. He peddled information.
Whatever his clients wanted, he would get it for them. The price was
steep, but no one had ever balked. It was worth every penny.
The business started
several years ago. Johnathan was working in his private lab on an
experiment having to do with quantum physics. It was a theory
concerning time travel to be precise. As luck would have it, he
figured it out. Traveling faster than the speed of light was not only
possible, it was relatively easy to manipulate time in whatever way
you like. He never shared the information. He was the only one in the
world who knew how to do this. In fact, other than his clients, he
was the only person who knew it was even possible. He used his
knowledge to amass a fortune selling future information to his
clients in the past.
The client finally showed.
Johnathan was a little disappointed. He was enjoying his relaxing
morning.
They stepped into his
clients horse drawn carriage where a strongbox filled with gold coins
was exchanged for the information.
As soon as the exchange
was made, Jonathan disappeared.
©
Copyright 2019 by Scott A. Gese All Rights Reserved.
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