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Beyond the Western
A French Connection
Scott A. Gese
The aroma of fresh espresso filled the morning air. Image source: Pixabay
It was a clandestine meeting destined to make both men rich.
Beyond the Western
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 and the strongbox disappeared.
© Copyright 2019 by Scott A. Gese All Rights Reserved.
