The light changed as Helena Russell picked up the coffee pot from the campfire.
Not the gradual change of sunrise or the more sudden passing of a cloud from
the sun, but a fluorescent glare completely out of place here in a wilderness
area of the Rocky Mountains. She looked up to see a fluorescent outline of
a rectangle quietly sitting near the edge of a cliff, interrupting her view
of the sunrise. She replaced the coffee pot and mug, and stood slowly to see
herself and the mountain behind her reflected in the odd apparition.
"John," she called softly without taking her eyes off the glowing
rectangle.
"A mumble answered her from the heap of sleeping bags behind her.
"John, I need you. Wake up." Without raising her voice or sounding
panicked, she conveyed a sense of urgency and importance.
John Koenig sat up immediately, opened his mouth to ask, and closed it again.
In front of Helena the rectangle sat squarely in his field of vision. He unfastened
his sleeping bag and stood up. He came to stand beside her and glanced an
unspoken question.
She shrugged. "It was suddenly just there, no noise, just the light."
He walked slowly to it. From the side it appeared to be a single column of
light about four centimeters wide. As he walked around the back, the light
disappeared and he was looking at the campsite which appeared completely normal
with the exception of the concerned look on Helena's face.
"Can you see me?" he asked.
"Not at all," was the reply.
"It doesn't exist from this side, Helena. Everything is perfectly normal
from here."
She walked around to his side of the rectangle and passed her hand where it
should be. There was nothing out of the ordinary here. They both returned
to the other side. Careful not to touch the light which had no visible source,
John lifted his hand toward the "mirror".
There was no surface to the mirror or evidence of surface tension, and when
his fingertips disappeared, Helena grabbed for his hand. She examined his
fingers carefully but there appeared to be no harm done to them. "How
did it feel?" she asked.
"It didn't feel like anything at all. There was no sensation different
from waving my hand through the air."
If we go tell anyone about it, it probably won't be here when we get back.
The park rangers will think we've been drinking." Helena glanced at the
small pile of trash waiting to be packed up and disposed of. An empty wine
bottle was on top. "We have been, but not that much."
The camping trip was part of Helena's dirtside vacation from her post as Chief
Medical Officer on Moonbase Alpha. She had met John Koenig during his brief
sojourn as Commander of that same base. Their joint efforts had averted a
major disaster, but had made Koenig unpopular with the highly political Lunar
Authority, who had replaced him quickly and recalled him from Alpha as soon
as Doctor Russell certified him medically fit to stand travel back to Earth,
following an Eagle crash during the emergency. He had been teaching at the
University of Colorado ad Boulder and had invited her to visit him. They made
reservations to camp in this wilderness area during Spring Break, and the
had spent an enjoyable week hiking, talking, and enjoying the fresh air.
"I'm going to see what's on the other side," Koenig said, intrigued
by the mystery.
"Not without me, Alice," Helena replied. She took his hand and looked
into his eyes. "We've just found each other. I'm not giving you up so
easily."
He nodded. They had known each other less than a year, but both could feel
that they belonged together. There was an empathy between them that sometimes
made words unnecessary. As one, they turned and stepped through the mirror.
Koenig's first sensation was the smell of the air. They were definitely no
longer in Colorado. His note told him he was on Alpha before his eyes adjusted
to the fluorescent lighting of the laboratory. There was a distinctive - although
not unpleasant - quality to Alpha's recycled air, found nowhere else Koenig
had ever been.
For Helena Russell, who had lived on Alpha for the past two years, it smelled
like home. Her first look around confirmed that this was a lab on Alpha, its
modular design making all the labs look alike. "I've never seen this
lab before. Tony, what's going on?"
Tony Verdeschi, Alpha's Security Chief, stood behind a lab table covered with
electronic equipment. A redhead in a russet sleeved science uniform stood
next to him. She touched a button on the comm panel. "Professor Bergman
to lab 300, please."
"I should have known Victor would be behind this," John said, turning
to look at the lighted "doorway" to the Colorado Rockies, "I
haven't heard of this project, Tony. What is it, some kind of matter transmitter?"
"Something like that, John. We're glad you came through. Victor can explain
it better than I can."
"You know, of course, that Commissioner Simmonds is going to have kittens
if he finds out I'm on Alpha."
"I assure you, there's no way he'll ever know," Tony said.
Helena was staring at the girl. "I don't think I've ever met you before."
"This is Maya," Tony said, introducing her. "She's from the
planet Psychon."
"She came here through this?" John asked, motioning to the equipment.
"No, we built that here on Alpha. This transmitter is a quasi-neutrino
transmat device designed by Professor Bergman and myself," Maya responded.
"It's based mostly on Terran design developed in your twenty-fifth century."
"That sounds like science fiction to me." Helena said. "How
can you know what kind of designs there will be in the twenty-fifth century?"
Victor Bergman entered just then. He smiled broadly in delight and what looked
like relief. He shook John's hand, then leaned over to kiss Helena on the
cheek. "We're very glad you came through. How much have you told them,
Tony?"
"Not much, we were waiting for you." Tony replied.
"Professor, we have about twenty minutes left. Holding the door open
is draining power at a tremendous rate," Maya reported.
"Then let's get to the point." Victor rubbed his hands together.
"Helena, you're right about this seeming like science fiction. The combination
of our brand of physics and Psychon physics is more like philosophy than science.
The things we can do together are amazing!"
"How long have you been working on this Victor?" John asked.
"Years, John, but not the way you think. This apparatus does not operate
intra-universally, but rather between universes. You've entered a parallel
universe through that doorway. In this universe, you did not prevent the nuclear
accident at Disposal Area Two and a completely different set of events occurred.
We are no longer in orbit around Earth. Our moon has been travelling at tremendous
speeds through the galaxy for over ten years, and we've learned some pretty
remarkable things."
"The point is," Tony said, breaking into the conversation before
Victor could launch into a physics lecture, "We've been looking for you."
"Because John managed to prevent the disaster?" Helena asked.
"Not necessarily," Victor replied, back on track. "We were
looking for the two of you. Together. In a universe where your Alpha does
not need you. You see, three days ago there was an accident here. An Eagle
crashed, and our John Koenig and Helena Russell were killed. It was their
leadership which kept us going, in many instances kept us alive. Other than
Bob Mathias and ourselves, we've kept their deaths a secret. We hope that
we can talk you into taking their places."
"Just like that. And if we hadn't come through the doorway?" John
asked.
"Then you wouldn't be the ones we need," Victor replied steadily,
"we would continue looking, but we can't keep this up much longer."
"Ten years is a long time. You can't expect us to walk in and act as
if we know what's going on," Helena said.
"You're right," Tony agreed. "But the crash does give us some
time -- for you to 'recuperate'. Both of you -- them -- kept personal logs.
You'd have those to read. Certain things you don't remember could be caused
by the traumas of the crash."
"We don't have much time left," Maya said, keeping a nervous eye
on the clock. "But there's one more thing you should know." Tony
looked apprehensive, and Victor paused thoughtfully, then nodded for her to
continue. "They have three children. Five year old twins, and a four
year old. Tony and I have been taking care of them, but they need their parents."
"They need you. We all do," Victor said. "We have enough power
to hold the door open for five minutes. When it closes, we may never be able
to find your universe again. I know it's a quick decision you have to make,
but we're running out of time."
Helena and John looked at each other, then John saw an empty office through
a plate glass window on the far side of the lab. He took Helena's arm and
steered her toward it. "Excuse us a minute," he said.
"Don't take any longer," Tony said dryly.
"I'm staying," John said as the door closed. "It may be the
only chance I have to get back into space. Stay with me. We'll get married."
"I think we're already married here," she said with a smile. "Deep
space for the last ten years, things could be very different here. With no
going back."
"You've been in space more than two years now. Is there anything over
there you really want to go back for?"
Helena Russell though briefly about her late husband, himself lost to deep
space. Then she thought of the tall dark man beside her. They really hardly
knew each other, yet she was more comfortable and relaxed with him than she
had been with anyone since Lee's death.
"Besides, Helena, what would I do with three kids?!!"
"Lee and I always wanted children, but it never happened," she said
thoughtfully.
"Please stay. I need you. We could even have another child if we wanted."
Helena placed her hand on his chest with a smile. "You've convinced me.
Let's get that machine turned off before it causes a power shortage."
John grinned and they returned to the laboratory where the three Alphans waited
hopefully and apprehensively. "Turn it off. We're staying."
The three began to breathe again and smiled with relief. Maya immediately
began turning dials and the light around the doorway went out as the Colorado
Rockies flickered and vanished. Victor grinned and held out his hand. "Welcome
Home."
John took Victor's hand and settled one arm comfortably around Helena's waist.
"Glad to be back," he said with a smile.