by Hunter Blain
“Perhaps we should see what Director Baker has to say on the subject,” Gabriel countered.
My mind flashed to Collin handing me a government-issued transporter watch and telling me not to push a certain button. Well, I’m not sure what he was expecting me to do once he said that, bu—ooooohhhhh. I see where he’s going with this.
“Fine.” I pouted, letting the ball vanish from my grip. “What now?”
“Now, I will take you to the center of this galaxy and to the Klein bottle that awaits.”
My mind flashed with all the information I had on Klein bottles. There wasn’t a lot there, except I knew it was the fourth-dimension representation of a Möbius strip.
“I know about the Möbius strip because of the Avengers: Endgame movie that I finally got to watch,” I admitted to Gabriel. “But what’s the difference between that and a-a-a Klein bottle?”
Gabriel glanced up at the sky as if searching for something.
“Very well. I shall attempt to explain,” Gabriel began while drawing something in midair with his finger. “Take a long strip of paper that is one inch in diameter, and connect the ends so that it is a loop. The circle would have two edges and two sides.” To accentuate his point, dots formed on the left and right edge of the circle while the top of the paper turned red and the bottom turned blue, showing the two edges and two sides of the loop of paper. “But if you took one of the ends and turned it once before connecting it again, the resulting strip would only have one edge and one side.” To illustrate his point, the new loop with a twist in it was only red with one dot on the edge.
“I don’t get it. It looks like there are still two edges and two sides,” Jose questioned, stroking his chin as he regarded the floating loop.
“To lay it out more simply,” Gabriel continued, manifesting a pen to float just above the surface of the loop. “If you pressed a pen against the surface of a Möbius strip and started drawing a straight line, the ink would miraculously draw the line on both perceived sides of the paper even without lifting the pen.” The pen indeed glided over the loop, never lifting from the paper, and drew a line over what looked like the top and bottom of the manifestation. “This is a 3D representation of potential time travel that the human mind can barely perceive.”
I repeated my question.
“So what’s the difference between a 3D Möbius strip and a 4D Klein bottle?”
“The Möbius strip is linear,” Gabriel explained. “Meaning you can only go forward or backward in one point of space-time. If we were somehow able to create a functioning Möbius strip, it would send you back in time precisely where you stood in relation to space. And with the Earth moving through the vast expanse of the universe at around 67,000 miles per hour, you would go back in time and pop up potentially millions if not billions of miles away from Earth.”
“Ah. And when it finally did show up, it might smash into me like a fly hit by a hypersonic cannonball.”
“Actually, you’d float in space, maybe forever. You are moving at 67,000 miles an hour at this very moment. If you went back in time, you’d still be moving through space at the same speed as Earth,” Gabriel clarified. “But now we are getting into scenarios that do not need discussing.”
“Right,” I concurred. “So the difference between the strip and the bottle iiiiisssss…?” I waved a hand in tight circles in front of me, signifying that he go on.
“The Klein bottle allows you to exit exactly where and when you mean to. It cannot be overstated the importance of that fact.”
I opened my mouth to ask a question when Gabriel interrupted.
“And before you ask, it is impossible to explain in words what a Klein bottle looks like.” Lifting his hand, the image of the loop of paper and pen disappeared, only to be replaced with what looked like a beaker a scientist might use, only it had a long, curving neck that twisted and disappeared into its own body. I could see through the glass beaker to where the entrance of the bottle widened to encompass the entire flat bottom, effectively creating one opening where the beginning and end met. “Just as with the loop of paper, there is only one side to this bottle. I could take my pen and move left, right, up, and down in any way I saw fit, and never lift the tip.”
“There aren’t any edges,” Jose spoke up, stepping forward to point at the floating manifestation.
“Very good, Jose. The edge of the Möbius strip acts as a guide that prevents time from moving through actual space, limiting where it can go within the one-inch diameter. The Klein bottle has no such limitations.”
“Ah. So where will I come out at?” I asked, nodding my head in semiunderstanding.
“The more apropos question is when. We have gathered that Depweg couldn’t have exceeded more than seventy years. Vis-à-vis, putting you back in the year 1960 will provide an ample buffer with which to track down Depweg,” Gabriel explained. “Remember, after you’ve determined he isn’t in the time frame you find yourself in, you must step into the In-Between before using the Time Sphere.”
“Heck yeah it’s a Time Sphere,” I said, pleased that I had gotten the angel to use my made-up phrase. Then again, he was probably only placating me like a parent who called pasta “pas-ghetti” to appease their child.
“Once we get to the black hole,” Gabriel continued, ignoring my comment, “I will show you how to go through the event horizon at relativistic speeds by condensing space-time in front of you and expanding it behind your wake, effectively creating a wave.”
“Oh!” I all but squealed in excitement again. “I know this one. It’s called an, um, Albuciarre drive…or something like that.”
“Alcubierre, but yes,” Gabriel clarified, waving his hand dismissively as if the mortal name for the scientific phenomenon wasn’t relevant enough to warrant further discussion. “By moving at a relativistic momentum in relation to the speed of light, you will pass through the event horizon without being ripped apart.”
“Yeah. How is that possible? Everything I’ve seen on the youtubes says we’d be turned into pas-ghetti by the intense gravity changes of a black hole.”
“Think of a candle,” Gabriel explained, holding his hand out and letting one manifest in the air beneath his palm, complete with a steady flame. “If you hold your hand over the fire, it will quickly burn you. Yes?”
“Okay,” I agreed, running a hand through my thick beard as I watched the demonstration.
“Now, take the same hand and move it quickly over the flames.” He did as suggested. “The same fire does not harm you.”
“Ah, got ya. If we move super-duper fast through the event horizon, we won’t be turned into pas-ghetti.”
“Why do you say it weird?” Jose asked, shaking his head at me. I simply shrugged in answer, the Fae silk of my coat creaking like thick leather.
Gabriel moved on to the next bullet point.
“It is important once you pass through the black hole that you ease your momentum by slowly returning the distortion of space-time to normal. If you accidentally flip the polarities…”
“John goop?”
“John goop,” Gabriel confirmed with a slight upturn of his lips, indicating he thought my example was clever. “The reversal of speeds will destroy every piece of you in ways not even I could imagine.”
“Alllllrighty then,” I said in my best Ace Ventura.
Jose spoke up. “So we figured out the when, but what about the where?”
“Excellent question,” Gabriel delightedly said. I couldn’t help it; my eyes flicked to Jose, and I scowled for a second before returning my gaze to Gabriel.
The Klein bottle expanded as if we were zooming in on it while the outlines disappeared, leaving behind an image of space that I recognized.
“I will put the exit near the moon in a path that will help slingshot you directly toward Earth.” The image zoomed in on a highlighted path that curved around the moon. “This should allow you ample time to slow your descent enough to enter Earth’s atmosphere.”
“Forgive me. It will give you enough time to slow your descent,” Gabriel clarified with a twinkle in his eyes that fully exposed the smile he wasn’t allowing to manifest on his lips. “Once safely inside the atmosphere, you can fly using your wings. Just watch out for birds.”
“Wait, wait, wait a minute,” I interjected, uncrossing my arms to wave them in the air, effectively blurring the manifestation until it wafted from sight. “Why can’t I just surf through the air using that warp drive thingy? Why come I need wings? That’s like buying a private jet and then renting an old, busted prop plane.”
“Do you really want to risk manipulating space-time within Earth’s atmosphere? You could either slam through the crust and create a cataclysmic event equivalent to an asteroid the size of Texas, or you might just tear a hole the length of China across the sky and forcefully suck out all the breathable air.”
“Oh dang. Like a science fiction movie where the spaceship’s hull is breached?”
“In respect to the misrepresented trope, I’ll just answer yes. Though it would take a long while for all the air to escape, and spaceships wouldn’t really decompress as violently as shows portray. You could actually plug a hole the size of a baseball with a regular piece of cardboard.”
“Ha! Neeerrrrrrd!” I said in my impression of Ogre from Revenge of the Nerds.
“This nerd is going to keep you from dying while traveling back in time,” Gabriel countered.
“Ah. That’s…that’s kinda important.”
“As I was saying—”
“Nerd,” I coughed just under my breath, looking at something interesting I all of a sudden found on the ground.
Jose gave me a shushing backhand on my shoulder with a loud pop of skin on leather. Well, Fae silk. But basically the same thing. The thing was…the backhand hurt, and I was surprised at how strong the average-looking man was.
My face went slack as I looked at the were with an expression that read don’t do that again.
Sensing the tension, Gabriel continued, “When you are flying between the moon and Earth, aim for a spot on the globe where you think Depweg might have wound up. Then use your wings to narrow in once you are able to do so.”
Turning to Gabriel, I lifted my wrist and revealed my cracked phone. “What about this? Can’t I just teleport?”
“Did you ask Mr. Baker when the satellites that the phone uses to orient were put in place?”
“Oh, right. Don’t think the government had those during the 1960s.”
“My thoughts exactly.”
“Okay, okay, okay,” I said, holding my hands up and flattening them in midair as if I were hitting the breaks of a car. “Let me make sure I got this.” I took in a deep breath as I closed my eyes and thought about the conversation. “I surround Jose with a sphere so that he doesn’t die. You take us to the black hole and—can’t believe I’m gonna say this—speed through it fast enough that we don’t get torn apart. Then we appear in space somewhere by the moon, which we will use to point us directly toward Earth. Hmm,” I said, twirling one side of my mustache as I thought. “Why do we need the moon again? I mean, space shows tell us we have to be at a very specific speed and trajectory to use it as a slingshot.”
“Excellent question, John,” Gabriel mused, making me puff out my chest a tad as I glanced at Jose. “I want you to get used to distorting space-time in front of and behind you. And I don’t want you anywhere near Earth when you do, otherwise you might accidentally put on the gas and—”
“And fly toward Earth with enough speed to mimic a world-destroying asteroid. My God…not even Bruce Willis or Ben Affleck could save us.”
“Ye…yes,” Gabriel said, processing my statement.
“Oh, come on, man! Don’t tell me you never saw that movie!” I began snapping my fingers as I tried to remember the name. “Apocalypse Now. No, wait! Deep Impact! Or was it Waterworld?” Gabriel and Jose both stared at me. “You know the one! It has Liv Tyler’s dad singing that one song?” I started belting out with a terrible impersonation, “Don’t wanna close my eyes-ah. Don’t wanna fall asleep-ah. ’Cause I’d miss Baywatch-ah, and I don’t wanna miss that thiiii-ang!”
The pair looked at me like I had two noses. “Something like that!”
“Dios mío, are you freaking done?” Jose asked, rubbing his eyes while shaking his head in disbelief.
“Armageddon! That one!” I cried out excitedly, remembering the title.
“John…please…” Gabriel urged.
“Fine, fine,” I said, rolling my eyes at the two. “Let’s see, where was I…oh yeah, Baywatch—”
A growl rumbled from Jose, and I looked to see his eyes turning yellow.
“Dude, chill!” I called out, holding my hands up in placation. “It’s kinda my thing.”
Gabriel turned toward Jose and explained, “He uses what he describes as humor in order to process stressful or complex situations.”
Jose’s eyes went back to normal as he crossed his arms and turned away from the group, taking a step to put distance between us.
“Like I was saying,” I said dramatically like a California chick whose order was interrupted at Starbucks. “Slow down, enter Earth’s atmosphere where I think Depweg might be if he thought he was stuck in time and wanted to make a new home. Um…use my wings to carry Mr. Serious Pants to the ground, and see if we can get a tug on the ol’ phantom link between maker and, um, makee? If he’s not there, step into the In-Between and use the ‘Time Sphere’”—I said the title like Dr. Evil, complete with unnecessary air quotes—“to travel forward, where we step out of the In-Between and try again! About right?”
Gabriel nodded his head in affirmation as I laid out the initial plan of approach. Heh, plan.
“Then…um…drawing a blank here.” Thumbing between Jose and myself, I asked, “How will the three of us get back again?”
“That’s where it gets tricky,” Gabriel said with a long breath. “You’ll have to carry your passengers through space until you reach the black hole once again.”
“Then I have to go really, really fast while picturing the current year? What year even is it? I can’t freaking remember.”
Jose turned to look over his shoulder, interested in the question.
“Bring up your Time Sphere,” Gabriel instructed. I manifested it and held the ball out. “All you need to do is push this button.” On top of the ball was a circle of golden sigils that could be easily missed if you weren’t looking directly for it. “Once outside of the black hole, press the button, and the sphere will act as a key, taking you back to our now.” Moving his fingers over the orb, I could see a few of the inscriptions changing in a pattern I couldn’t quite pick up. “The both of you are tied to our river of time; Jose with the crystal around his neck, and you with your armor and this sphere. After pressing it, you will come out the other side back into our river of time.”
“I’m guessing you’ll set our current black hole to the right time so I only have to push this button when we are ready to come home?”
“That is correct.”
“Cool. So this is, like, a lifeline to our universe?” I asked, admiring the Time Sphere as I turned it over in my hands.
“That’s a good way of thinking about it. Attunement would be another.”
“And what happens if we lose that, um, connection?”
Gabriel’s next words made it feel like a cold breeze glided down my back.
“I would make sure that you don’t lose the attunement to our universe.”
Sensing how serious his words were, I quickly changed the subject back to traveling.
“So, um, I-I-I use the moon to slingshot again? Once I come back through, I mean.”
“I honestly do not know what kind of shape you will be in once you return, so it is important that you are given time to slow your momentum before coming back to Earth. However, without my direct supervision
, I believe you will come out at the black hole and not around our moon.”
“What kinda shape I’ll be in?” I asked slowly with a low voice. “You think I’m going to find something nasty in Depweg’s time stream or whatever?”
“I was hesitant to tell you this, John. But Depweg might not have been the one who created the time stream he has most likely found himself in.”
“Huh?” I asked, not liking where this was going.
“We have reason to believe that something else…something stronger…potentially created the diversion of time.”
“What? How is that possible?”
“I think you know, John.”
“Know what?” I croaked, my throat going dry as anxiety tightened my chest.
Gabriel spoke slowly, carefully, making my chest grow tighter with every word. “You won’t be the first to go through a black hole, will you, John?”
“L…Lo…no,” I breathed out, unable to say the name.
Jose fully turned around, eyes bouncing between Gabriel and myself.
“Who?”
Gabriel spoke the name that made darkness grip my heart and yank it to my guts. “Lolth.”
10
Depweg - Grand Island, Nebraska, 1983
“How do you know my name?” Meli demanded with crossed arms and narrowed eyes. Her nearly silver hair made her lightly tanned skin stand out as fierce eyes regarded Depweg.
Tiffany seemed to be at a complete loss for words.
“It’s…” Depweg began, trying to quickly determine how crazy his explanation might sound. “It’s a long story.”
“Well, it looks like you made dinner, so I guess we have time, huh?” Meli remarked, making a show of pulling out one of the wooden chairs around a small dining table located just outside of the kitchen.
Plopping down, she gestured with an open hand for Depweg to join her and weave his tale.
“I’ll make the other packs,” Tiffany meekly suggested as she began opening the remaining packages of beef.
“First, what’s your name?”
