Squaring the Circle

by B K Brain

  Now was reserved for the swimming blue glow of her sister’s consciousness.

  And for Cathleen, hiding in the shadows.

  Now was for David, hurt, bleeding, eyes wide. Looking at Sam.

  The box is open, you son of a bitch. We see you.

  His shadow vanished, as though it had never been there at all.

  Thank you, David. Don’t blink.

  Eddie’s time had come. She didn’t need any problem-solving programs designed by Sam. He was the problem. She was the solution. The question.

  The algorithm.

  She focused on the lab downstairs, the concrete floor, the real world. In that instant she was back, standing toe-to-toe with a very bad man. Part of her, that is. The other part had stayed behind with her new improbable friends.

  She walked up, grabbed him by the throat. Her eyes narrowed to slits.

  “It’s time to do the impossible, Sam.”

  He growled. “You can’t stop me! My power is infinite!”

  Eddie smirked. Even unlimited power has its limit.

  “You and me. Forever.”

  Eddie. The Gravitons. And a question.

  How many circles?

  Short, simple, and all she needed to say. As long as she understood, the universe did as well.

  The answer? Three, and a little bit of the fourth. Just a sliver, a small chunk. A slice that goes on forever. That’s where the magic lives, in that final tiny detail.

  The calculation took off running, pulling Eddie’s consciousness, and Sam’s, along for the ride.

  Three point one four one five nine.

  An impossible equation? No. Not if you believe.

  Some things just take longer than others. Like reaching a horizon, although you can’t know when you’ve arrived because it moves with you. The journey never ends.

  Eddie’s world, all gone.

  Black.

  Everywhere.

  3

  Rachel sobbed, tugging at her bonds. “Eddie!”

  Her sister wasn’t moving. What had she done to him? What had she done to herself? So dark, she couldn’t even tell if Eddie was breathing. God, please.

  She pulled at the rope again. And again. Her wrists were bleeding.

  Then the other woman, from out of the shadows. Kneeling at her side, helping her. Prying at knots in the rope. She was crying too. “Hold still,” she said.

  Rachel said, “Is she okay? Is she breathing?”

  “Almost got it.”

  “Hurry.”

  One hand free. On to the next. Stretching to see. Little sis wasn’t moving, wasn’t taking in air. It couldn’t be. She couldn’t see clearly enough, that’s all.

  “Eddie? Wake up.”

  Finally, she was free. She scrambled to her feet, rushed to Eddie. Took her in her arms. No breath, no air. Lifeless. She was-

  “DON’T YOU DO THIS, ED! WAKE UP!”

  Her little sis. Her everything. Her whole world.

  Rachel put a hand to Eddie’s cheek, bushed hair away from her eyes. They’d been crystal blue once upon a time, the color of moonlit ice. But not here, not in the dark.

  “Don’t leave me,” Rachel whispered.

  Then, like a miracle, Eddie gasped to life.

  4

  Cathleen, having finished untying Eddie’s sister, ran to David. Fell to her knees.

  “Oh God, please. Wake up. Please.”

  Nothing. It was too late.

  She looked to Eddie, to Sam. Both unconscious, two bodies splayed over concrete.

  Then she heard it, Eddie’s voice. She sat up, hugged her sister.

  Thank God. But what about-

  Cathleen turned to look. Sam had come back as well, and he had the pistol.

  “You don’t understand what you’ve done!” he yelled. “I’m not nothing, Father. I’m not…” He raised the gun. “I’m God,” he said. “God…”

  Cathleen said, “Put the gun down. It’s over.”

  “No.” Sam leveled the gun at Cathleen’s face.

  A dark blur, from the doorway behind. It almost looked like… a dog?

  Eddie said, “Maurice!”

  Sam lowered the pistol, cocked his head. “Maurice?”

  The animal raced for Sam, growling, frothing at the mouth.

  A gunshot from the corridor. Cathleen jumped at the sound, her heart thumping hard enough to rock her entire body. Sam slumped to the floor.

  Another man, in the far doorway, his right arm cradled to his chest in a bloody sling. In his free hand, a gun.

  Who-

  He grinned and said, “What do ya know? I actually hit something.”

  Then he collapsed.

  5

  Sam writhed over ice cold concrete, clawed at the wound in his chest.

  What’s happening to me?

  An image of his father, holding a bible. And a belt.

  Just a sinner like all the rest.

  I can be better, I swear.

  Liars burn in Hell.

  There is no Hell. You lied to me.

  This is your Hell, boy. Right here, right now. You earned it.

  I don’t want to die. I don’t wa

  6

  Eddie rushed to David, fell to her knees. Cathleen was there, holding him, sobbing. Her stare stretched a million miles and beyond, her entire body trembling. She’d been through so much, they all had.

  Eddie reached out, took his hand. He was so cold.

  “He’s gone,” Cathleen said in a somber whisper. She was right, he was.

  Eddie leaned down close. His body had given up, but she could still feel him, all he’d been, everything he’d continue to be.

  “David,” she said, tears streaming. “We did it. You and me, together.”

  He already knew, sure he did. The place he’d gone wasn’t hindered by the limitations of static here’s or singular now’s. He’d been set free, to go when and where he pleased. But not yet.

  Eddie laid a hand over his chest and felt…purpose. He still had one more task to complete.

  “David, it’s over. You don’t have to-”

  But it wasn’t over, not for him. There was still one more thing, perhaps the most important thing of all.

  Eddie looked upward, covered her mouth. Her eyes went wide.

  Holy shit.

  She finally understood. Everything.

  7

  From somewhere behind, David watched the past unfold. A video of the doctor played on a small screen. The man hunkered over the keyboard was himself. He saw a memory stick full of executable files, algorithms. Within them, the solution to everything, a calculation with a never-ending answer.

  But programs can be stopped, put on pause, shut down. It was the girl that had to do the asking. She herself would need to become the question.

  The girl. What’s her name? Didn’t matter. Only one thing did, her purpose. His purpose was to help her see it.

  Everything about that moment felt conclusive, like an end, or perhaps a final decision. Choices can feel that way sometimes, like looking down the barrel of an ultimatum, binding yourself to a thing that cannot be taken back.

  Choice equals change, plain and simple, just as every end is also a new beginning.

  He’d made his choice.

  Shadow into light. Fluorescent.

  Blurry at first, then the scene came into focus. Bright and chaotic, people everywhere. Standing, walking, sitting, alone and in groups of twos and threes.

  Where am I?

  He was in the real world, a massive space. But not the laboratory – somewhere else. He looked down at himself, his hands. Only a shadow, a black silhouette. He’d brought the basement’s void with him. He wasn’t there, not really, to anyone but himself. Himself and the girl, naturally, if he could find her.

  Rows upon rows of tall shelving, with long isles between. Books. Yes, all books. The flooring, alternate squares of black and white, like a chessboard.

  Then he saw her, at the end of an aisle, on the lef
t. He still couldn’t remember her name. The pain above was getting bigger, thicker. The cold, colder. Something from up there had begun to pull, making it difficult to concentrate. Time was running out. He shook away the distractions, made his approach.

  Right beside her. She hadn’t seen him, not yet. Pulling, hard now. The world above, so close to breaking. Brittle, like old thread.

  What’s happening up there?

  He leaned in close, told her the solution to the problem of Sam. She wouldn’t listen, wouldn’t believe. Not yet.

  But she would.

  “Three,” he said. “Point one.”

  INERTIA

  1

  General Mitchell’s voice boomed from the cell phone’s little speaker, grating Garret’s last nerve to mozzarella.

  “Yes, General. We’ll be watching the girl very closely for any signs of… Yes. I’ll take full responsibility… Eyes only, clearance level six. I understand. Thank you, Sir.”

  Garret hung up, dropped the phone into a breast pocket. He carefully eyed the paramedic as a fat syringe delivered fifty CC’s of liquid heaven.

  A young agent, Nate Flannigan, walked up with a concerned expression flexing his brow. “The subjects were taken to the hospital as instructed, Director. The local police shouldn’t be a problem. How are you feeling, Sir?”

  “I’ll be fine. Is everything packed up?”

  “The machine is in route, along with the biologicals you asked for.”

  “Jacobson’s remains?”

  “On ice, Sir.”

  Garret leaned back, sucked in a breath. His arm, shoulder, the left side of his ribcage, all dazed into a deadening warmth. His free hand slid downward, fingered the pistol at his hip. “Remind me again. What’s your clearance status?”

  “Four, Sir. I realize I’m the lowest level on site. Some of the other agents think it was some kind of mix-up at headquarters. But don’t worry, you can count on me. Anything you need, I’m your man.”

  Garret brought the pistol up, fired a bullet into the young agent’s forehead.

  “I appreciate that, Flannigan. I really do.”

  2

  Eddie rolled up her window, opened the back door, let go of her sister’s hand. Stepped out into a cool breeze, looked up at a massive building. People walked here and there, elbow to elbow, in groups of twos and threes. Some carried equipment, some were dressed in odd costumes. A golf cart zipped by.

  Eddie smiled. She’d never been to a studio lot before.

  Cathleen ducked out of the driver’s seat, walked around the car.

  “You okay, kiddo?”

  “Yeah. I’m good.”

  Warmth at her shoulder, Rachel’s hand. “It was a nice service.”

  Cathleen said, “I’m so glad you came.” She looked to Eddie, smiled. Not a big smile, there were no teeth involved, but it was genuine. “David would’ve been glad, too.”

  Rachel said, “Thanks for giving us a ride back to the airport. We really appreciate it.”

  “Of course. I just need to grab one thing, then we can go. You want to see the studio?”

  “Yes!” ‘Bout time she asked. Eddie was starting to think she’d have to sneak in.

  Cathleen laughed. “Okay. Come on.”

  She opened the door, exposing a huge, almost black cavern. A big man wearing suspenders emerged from the shadows.

  “Hey Cath. How was the funeral? Damn, I wanted to be there.”

  “It was nice. This is Rachel and Eddie.”

  “Family?”

  Rachel said, “Actually we…”

  “Yes. Family.” Eddie squinted into the darkness. “I can’t see anything.”

  The man grinned. “Want me to light it up for ya?”

  An enthusiastic nod. “Yes please.”

  Cathleen said, “I’ll only be a minute. Look around if you want, but don’t touch anything.”

  “Okay.”

  Eddie walked slowly, navigating the unknown with careful steps.

  The lights came up. She found herself standing at the edge of a set she’d seen on television at least a million times. Three tall Plexiglas podiums stood in random formation over dull white tile. A click from behind and the floor went fluorescent.

  “So cool,” she said.

  Randal’s British accent invaded her mind. All of this and so much more, on this episode of -- Squaring the Circle.

  The man walked up behind the central camera. “Final season, I’m afraid. Three more to shoot, then it’s all done.”

  “Yeah.”

  She gazed toward the back of the set. There were no spinning galaxies, no mysterious nebulas, just a blank green wall. “It looks bigger on TV.”

  “Yeah. Everything does, kid.” He walked away.

  Eddie rubbed her nose, sucked in a breath. How many times had David stood in this very spot, thinking and dreaming? Pondering the impossible? She never got the chance to tell him what his show, and his imagination, meant to her.

  Thank you, David. For showing me the way.

  Cathleen reappeared holding a picture in a small wood frame. She offered it to Eddie. “He would’ve wanted you to have this.”

  The picture was of David, standing right where she stood now, grinning big, wearing a NASA tee shirt. A still, unmoving image, yet brimming with life. The cardboard back read, First day of my new adventure.

  “That was taken right before they started taping the first episode.”

  Eddie hugged the photograph to her chest. “Thanks.”

  The big guy walked up and held out an episode script. “Take one of these too, if you want. A souvenir.” He winked at her, smiled. “Don’t tell anybody.”

  Cathleen said, “Did you know that David wrote all the opening monologues for the show? That’s like seventy episodes or something, and he wrote every one.”

  “I didn’t know that.”

  The ride to the airport transpired without a single mailbox, and no music. That was just fine with Eddie. She flipped through the script.

  Rachel put an arm around her, squeezed. “What now, Ed?”

  “Popcorn?”

  A laugh. “Okay.”

  “And then maybe…a job? I think I might like working at the book store. What do you think?”

  “I think that sounds perfect.”

  Her name was Eddie, not Edith Ann. She was crazy, sort of. She loved science, her big sis, and her stupid dog too. She had some new friends, Cathleen and David. He was gone now, but she’d see him again. She had no doubt about that.

  For the first time in a very long while, everything felt like it was going to be okay. Eddie checked to see if Sis was paying attention, wiped away a tear.

  She flipped back to the first page.

  The Earth is rotating east at more than a thousand miles per hour. It orbits the local star at eleven-hundred miles per minute. The sun, in its own orbit around the center of the galaxy, travels even faster. The galaxies are in motion as well.

  Everything moves, everything turns.

  If you think you’ve been here before, you are mistaken.

  END

  I hope you’ve enjoyed Squaring the Circle. Thanks so much!

  Please leave me a review!

  And be sure to check out Dead Yet Dying, my supernatural thriller.

  DEAD YET DYING