Read The Sphere: A Journey In Time for Free Online Page B

I’m just not sure what. I think maybe he knows that I somehow had a hand in the other maid’s unfortunate incident. Perhaps he thinks Mary and I were in on it together. I didn’t notice any particular treatment of Henry by William. I’ll admit, he’s a pretentious little fop, but that’s not unusual for men of his status in this time. They took him somewhere out of the house. At least now he seems to be past his highly focused phase.
     
    I realized that even if Byron had suspected me of orchestrating the former maid’s demise, there was little to be done about it. Furthermore, it no longer mattered. Byron was long gone and there would be no need to even mention him in my rewrite. I ignored the fourth entry involving him, knowing I would read it soon anyway.
     
    It took me a good hour to read through my journal. I had no idea where to begin, so I looked back at the message from the planters. Their plan was to create a blank journal and rewrite my embellished journal entries with a quill pen. Then they would chemically age the journal and plant it at an auction for a well known book collector. In the back of my mind, I wondered for a moment if they would also kill a well known book collector to speed the discovery. I made a mental note to mention the thought to Vanessa as a joke at some point.
     
    I took my dishes back to the kitchen and placed them in the cleaner. There was no sign of my hangover left, so I decided to go for a run. I had gotten a fair amount of exercise in Stratford but it was mostly heavy lifting and climbing stairs. It would feel good to get a nice long jog in and clear my head a bit. I changed clothes and stepped outside my door.
     
    I paused just outside to gaze at my surroundings. Though I had only been gone a few months, it felt unfamiliar. A short distance to my right I could see the entrance to the Mission Enclosure where I had arrived yesterday. It was where we did our prep work and some of our research for time travel. The faint outline of its own dome-like enclosure was just barely visible on the other side of the glass. Further along the circumference of the main central living dome was the entrance to the agricultural department. Like the living dome, its enclosure was glass to allow sunlight in. It was also much larger than any of the other domes, due to the fact that it housed gardens and fields.
     
    On the opposite side from the traveling chambers was another enclosed dome, larger than the one I worked in. Next to that, the entrance to the outside world. I had no idea what went on in the other dome. I didn’t even know what it was called. By way of experiment once, I ran around the circumference of the living dome. Though the doors to the agricultural dome and my own research dome slid open easily as I ran by, the other doors did not. I turned left and headed down the row of apartment doors to the gym.
     
    The place was deserted this early in the morning so I had no trouble finding an empty running simulator. I selected my favorite trail and headed inside. It was a mostly level trail that wound through the woods, across a few small streams and past a waterfall. Within a few minutes of the trail it was painfully obvious that I was out of shape. I stopped near the halfway mark at the waterfall for a break. "Journal entry, November 18th, 1598."
     
    The general computer voice used for text transcription sounded like Sean Connery to me. It seemed like such an odd choice for something meant to be generic. I paced back and forth in front of the waterfall trying to catch my breath as he repeated the words from my journal entry.
     
    "Wednesday, November 18th, 1598. Today was dull. William was gone for most of it, so I had almost no interaction with him. The scout plugged tomorrow as the day he finishes his 20th sonnet. I feel I'm ready. He shows me almost everything he writes now, and frequently asks for my thoughts. Wish I had brought some sort of stronger alcohol to spike his drink