TO AVINASH RATHMANDU
MAVELITURAL TAMIL CEYLON
DEAR AVI
I AM COMING STOP
BILLY
Letter from Billy Gostman to Nikola Tesla
May 1, 1894
Dr. Nikola Tesla
The Waldorf-Astoria Hotel
New York, New York
Dear Nikola,
I have yet to find it. This last search nearly cost me my life. It is a long trip to Ceylon just to drown. No thank you. We either have to ferret out Merkam’s secret some other way, or I will have to return to the Indian Ocean again. I do not look forward to it. However, our good friends there asked about you. They were surprised when I told them you had cornered the market on automatons with your new robot patents. I suppose now you are as wealthy as Westinghouse, and no longer need the son of a bitch to loan you money. That’s a good thing, my friend. Also, you can stay in any hotel you want in New York, and the price be damned.
I am back in Texas now, and you may post mail to me in Waco, general delivery. You should see my workshop. It’s something else. I took one of your patented robots apart the other day. I thought the thing was going to try to kill me when it turned itself on and told me that I was violating your patent. “Patent infringement!” it said, and repeated it about a dozen times before I took a hammer to it. Congratulations on the protection design.
What did you think of the plans I sent you? The design of the Argent (that’s what I am calling her) is about right for our needs, I think, but I want your thoughts on it. It’s not written in stone. I keep expecting to get those plans back from you with a bunch of it crossed out and your little squiggles all over it, but so far I will accept that no news is good news.
Anyway, every test of my transmogrifier blows up. First the lights dim, then the thing lets out a high whine, then I know to run for it. One of my neighbors filed a civil complaint against me and I have had to remove my shop to the country. It’s in a box canyon west of Waco, so if it blows up again, the gears should not fly through any neighboring houses.
If I don’t watch it, Ekka will be done with me.
You have to meet my boy, Dakota. You would like him. He is only four years old and the boy is already smarter than me. I am afraid he will be able to do anything I can, only better.
That is it for now. Let me know something soon so I do not have to come to New York and find you. One long trip every few years is more than enough for me.
Your friend,
Billy Gostman
Letter from Nikola Tesla to Billy Gostman
May 20, 1894
Billy Gostman
General Delivery
Waco, Texas
Dear Billy,
I am in receipt of your letter of the 2nd instant. I understand about your travails in the Indian Ocean. You will not need to return, I hope.
I am sending my robot, the Tesla Guardian Ultra III to assist you with the construction of your ship. Additionally, I am forwarding funds to the First Bank of Waco for you to draw upon in the construction. Spare no expense in this enterprise. The G.U.3 will assist you in the construction. He is the most versatile robot ever created, and has somewhat of a personality of his own. The G.U.3 carries my revised plans for your ship in his memory. Once he arrives, let him get to work. He will need re-charging from time to time, so anticipate delivery of several re-charging units. These devices each employ a miniature Tesla coil that converts kinetic energy to electrical energy and resembles, somewhat, a bicycle, except that this bicycle goes nowhere quickly.
You should be concerned about our friends back in Ceylon. Inquiries have been made from the U.S. Government about them. I do not know what is going on, but I fear they may be in danger. I suspect that the governments of the World are searching for Merkam’s secret. Let us not let them have it, shall we? Any of them.
Telegraph me in need only. I trust the postal service far more than I trust the telegraphers.