Kevin's Point of View
By Del Shannon

Chapter 3

Devin Talon scowled and slumped in an expensive leather chair in an abandoned cavern of the Hardscrabble Mine, 1,000 feet below his home on Maple Street in Black Hawk, Colorado. One hundred years earlier the mine bustled with men hoping to find a vein of gold and follow it to prosperity. But this mine, like most of the others in this nearly forgotten town, only brought backaches and disappointment. This thought deepened Devin’s scowl. Today he felt like the ghost of one of the Hardscrabble’s miners; chasing something you knew was there but unable to find it.

It wasn’t his fault, he convinced himself. Pudge had panicked. The little imbecile probably wasn’t even being followed. With a groan he picked up the phone and punched the number Pudge had given him several days earlier.

“Hello,” Pudge answered on the third ring.

“This is Devin. You’re sure you mailed it?” Devin asked. “You didn’t leave it on the subway? Or maybe you decided to get greedy. Maybe you thought you could sell it?”

“Oh, er, um, Mr. Talon,” Pudge stammered. “Yes. I mean, no. You see…Yes. I did mail it because I was being followed by two men…”

“Right,” Devin interrupted. “Green parka, tan raincoat. We’ve been through this, Pudge. But I still don’t have it. I need it. I need the Influxitron.” Devin snapped.

“I, I, I, don’t know what happened,” stuttered Pudge. “I mailed it. I know I did. It was at that post office on Canal Street. It cost $8.75,” Pudge fumbled, immediately regretted saying that last part.

“I don’t care how much it cost to mail!” howled Devin. “All I care about is the Influxitron!” he continued, unwilling to dampen his anger any longer. “It’s your responsibility to make sure we get it back.”

“Mine? Well, the thing is…”

“Pudge,” Devin cut him off, “I don’t need excuses. I need the Influxitron. I want you to get out here as soon as possible. Take the usual precautions but I need you here by tomorrow night.”

“To Colorado?” Pudge asked.

Devin sighed again. “No, I thought you might look for the Influxitron in South Africa. Of course to Colorado, you dolt. And if its not too much trouble, you might even come to Black Hawk.”

“Oh,” Pudge answered sheepishly. “I guess I could try to get a reservation.”

“Just get on a plane, Pudge. I don’t care where it’s headed as long as its west!” Devin screamed, slamming the phone down. He paced the room for several seconds then stopped, took a deep breath and tried to think. Pudge’s blunder was unexpected but he might be able to figure a way out of this. If Pudge had mailed the Influxitron, and it was actually lost in the mail, he might be able to get some help from a few contacts he still had in the U.S. Postal Service in Washington D.C. Or maybe the Influxitron would show up on his doorstep tomorrow morning with the rest of the regular mail.

Devin thought back to the first time he saw the Influxitron. It was such a long time ago, or at least it seemed that way. It was just a prototype then and in the hands of a physicist he was helping escape to the U.S. It was a simpler time back then. You knew exactly who was right and who was wrong. Now the world was a mess. Every conflict, every war, every assassination wasn’t about right and wrong, it was about money. It was that simple. And it was a world Devin found he didn’t belong in, so one day he simply left. But he took with him the gift of a dying scientist, the Influxitron.

It took five years, but he had finally perfected the Influxitron. This latest round of testing in New York had proven it worked flawlessly. And now he nearly had the one thing that could bring nations to their knees, ruin billion dollar companies in one day, change the path of history, create or stop wars, and make him the wealthiest and most powerful man ever to live. This thought cheered him up.

End Chapter 3