Rick watched Joe through the targeting scope. 'I'll do what I have to. Move!'
'You'll have to kill me first. If you're going to take on Green, you're gonna need practice.' Rick tried to pull the trigger, but couldn't bring himself to do it. He lowered the gun. 'Damn you, Joe!
Damn you!'
'Green would've killed me in a nanosecond,' said Joe. 'He's the real thing. If you go down there, you're gonna die.'
'Is that a threat?' asked Rick, raising the gun again.
'No,' said Joe, 'more a statement of fact. He's always armed, and he doesn't flinch. Besides, it's not necessary to kill him.'
'I'm confused,' said Rick. 'Whose side are you on?'
'Not Green's, if that's what you think. My own, I guess. I'm just trying to survive.'
'How can you stand by and let Green pull it off?'
'I don't know what 'it' is.' replied Joe. 'Green doesn't confide in the help.'
'You know Green's a fake. Don't pretend you don't.'
'I won't,' said Joe. 'I also know that this 'resort' is only a means to get to Greighton.'
'But you claim you don't know Green's plans?'
'Nope, though I have no doubt they're illegal and im-moral.'
'He wants Greighton to build him a fleet of time ma-chines to invade the past. He calls it a 'preemptive strike' against the future. He actually plans to take over the world.'
Joe chuckled mirthlessly. 'That ruthless son of a bitch!'
'There's nothing funny about this! He's planning germ warfare. And our present—it'll cease to exist!'
'None of that's going to happen,' said Joe.
'How can you be so sure?'
'I'm an engineer, or at least I was one. I've spent a lot more time with Green's new toy than he has. Those knobs and switches on the control panel look ordinary because they're made for human fingers, and people's fingers haven't changed. What's beneath them, the control panel itself, is a whole different story. It's engineered on the atomic level. It doesn't even use electricity, at least not the way we understand it. And that's just the control panel. Everything about that machine is completely over our heads. Who knows how many generations it took to discover its technology. No one's going to copy it.'
'He still has this machine,' Rick countered.
'Yeah, but it only goes to two destinations—this place and our own time.'
'That doesn't make sense.'
'I know you love this godforsaken place,' said Joe, 'but do you really think Green would take Greighton here if he had a choice?'
'You've lost me,' said Rick
'Look,' said Joe, 'why don't you turn off that gun, and I'll explain the whole thing.' Joe reached into his pocket and Rick quickly pointed the gun at him. Joe very slowly pulled out his flask.
'An-other night like this, and I'll run out before we leave.' He unscrewed the top and held out the flask to Rick. 'Want some?'
'No.'
Joe took a sip from the flask, then put it away. 'Come on, the gun belongs in the plane. We can talk there.'
