Patton message

  The contents of this bottle are meant only for Seth Sorenson.

  Seth worked at the cork with his thumbs but could not get it to budge. Digging into his emergency kit, he got out his pocketknife, selected the corkscrew attachment, and twisted it into the cork. After a good tug, the cork came unplugged with a hollow pop, and colored gas started gushing out of the bottle.

  Seth set the bottle on the table and backed away, briefly concerned that a saboteur had turned the message from Patton into a poisonous trap. But a moment later, as the gas finished flowing from the mouth of the bottle, it gathered into the form of Patton--old, wrinkled, and semitransparent.

  "Patton," Hugo rumbled.

  "If this is Seth," the Patton cloud said, "try to touch me. " Seth strode forward and passed a hand through the gaseous figure, creating a temporary disturbance in his midsection.

  "Very good," Patton said. "I'm glad we managed to connect. Our friend Coulter delivered a most disturbing message earlier tonight. Based on the scant available evidence, we managed to deduce what had transpired. We assume the group sent to rescue you failed, losing the Translocator, which was then somehow entrusted to you along with the Sands of Sanctity. Meaning well, you went and healed Graulas, who stole your artifacts and then went on to steal the Chronometer. Forgive me if our deductions were incorrect, but it was the only way we could reconcile the sudden wellness and freedom of Graulas with your unexpected presence at the edge of the yard. "

  "Can you hear me?" Seth asked hopefully.

  The gaseous Patton continued speaking as if no question had been asked.  "Coulter expected to lose his life upon his return to your time. He took it like a man. I expect if you're listening to this message, you're dealing with his recent demise. You're feeling alone and desperate, and you could use some advice. I'm sorry there can't be any actual communication between us. I'm not much more than a talking letter. I could have simply written this message, but I figured you could use the company, even if it was just an illusion. In addition, candidly, I have too much time on my hands these days. Creating this gaseous monologue was an engaging proposition.

Chapter 15