by Katie Khan
It’s Tony.
‘Thea?’
Her adrenalin spikes again; she almost grimaces with the physical pain. Tony is looking straight at her, and she forces herself to turn slowly and smile. Urvisha is perched on the step only yards beneath where Thea stands; if Tony leaned forward a little more he could probably see her, and he’d surely realize they’re hacking into the Beecroft’s systems …
‘Don’t work too hard.’ Tony smiles at Thea before looking back down as the phone beeps, answering the siren call of a smartphone ping.
The architects spared no expense installing the most complex technological systems in Oxford’s newest science building. The entire exterior is covered with fins of lightweight metal that move, depending on the time of day, to shield the glass building from the sun, thereby maintaining a consistent temperature to preserve the conditions of the many experiments taking place inside.
This is the next stage of the plan.
Urvisha, sitting on the steps, leans back, meeting Thea’s eyes. They both nod, and once more she hits enter.
There’s a whirring noise from the shell of the building, and the light inside begins to change. The streetlamps lining the pathways outside start to disappear, and the glow through the foyer from the well-lit college quad and neighbouring campus buildings dims as the steel shutters shift and align in response to Urvisha’s new coding. She’s programmed them to take up their noon positions; at the Beecroft, at midnight, it’s now midday.
‘What the …?’ comes the surprised murmur from reception as Tony, roused from his dreambot slumber by the falling light across his security desk, lumbers to the main entrance, looking up in horror as the intelligent shutter system becomes … not so intelligent. ‘Stupid bloody thing!’ He picks up speed, hitching up his belt as he runs outside to examine the bizarre movement of the fins.
Perfect.
Rosy’s blonde head appears from the opposite direction as she sprints elegantly across the foyer, lifting her feet in the ideal silent run. Without missing a step she fence-hops the security gate, slowing to a walk at the top of the stairs. ‘Fancy seeing you here,’ she says on the staircase above them.
‘Keep it down, will you?’ Urvisha says, though she isn’t angry. ‘It’s time for the final stage.’ Hardwired into the building, Urvisha purposely crashes the system controlling the metal shutters. Confused, they whir and grind outside, before the system begins to reboot itself. The shutters move to the start-up position – entirely closed – locking Tony outside.
‘There.’ Urvisha checks on Tony’s dreambot one last time before deactivating it. ‘He sure likes emojis.’
‘What does the aubergine mean?’ Rosy asks, and Urvisha bursts out laughing, shutting her laptop decisively. She looks up at the others, who are standing watching her.
‘Haven’t we got somewhere we need to be?’
The lights blink on as they enter the basement laboratory: first Thea, carrying her bag with the tripods and industrial lamps; then Urvisha, carrying her laptop; and Rosy behind them, carrying the artist’s portfolio, gazing around at their surroundings, her face curious. ‘I’ve barely been in one of these things since school,’ she says.
Distracted, Urvisha smirks. ‘Well, Rosy, this is a science lab —’ but Thea quickly interrupts.
‘Let’s be quick.’ Thea drops her bag and walks straight over to a workstation in front of a steel grey box, activating the controls. With a satisfying oooom the control panel lights up, and Thea starts punching in numbers.
‘That’s the laser?’ Rosy asks.
Urvisha nods while Thea types. ‘It’s one of a kind—’
‘Not for long.’ Thea shrugs. ‘I’ve been working on a portable version as part of my DPhil. Ayo’s been helping me build a duplicate – it’s a shame she’s not here.’ She pauses for a moment, thinking about the reasons why Ayo has chosen not to join them.
‘You’re building a laser?’ Rosy interrupts Thea’s thoughts. ‘Wow.’
‘My version is nearly there; I’m just waiting for the last parts to arrive –’ Thea has the grace to blush – ‘from Amazon.’ She types fast into the control panel, changing the laser’s default settings. ‘If this does anything tonight, having my own mini version might prove incredibly useful.’
‘And what exactly are we here to test?’ Rosy asks.
‘A laser is an amplified source of light that stimulates electron energy levels.’ Thea sees the lost expression on Rosalind’s face. ‘It’s powerful as hell. I want to see how the light of the laser interacts with the glass house.’
‘The glass house?’ Rosy repeats, putting the portfolio down on the floor next to Thea’s holdall. ‘What’s that?’
Thea smiles without stopping what she’s doing. ‘Something else I’ve been working on. Please will you open the portfolio and start setting up what’s inside?’ she says to Rosy.
‘Absolutely.’ Given a task and intent upon executing it with efficiency, Rosy briskly undoes the zip.
‘It’s prismatic glass,’ Thea says. ‘Very lightweight.’ The glass has geometric lines and grooves etched into its surface, catching the light and giving off an almost otherworldly opalescent glow.
‘How does it – Ah yes, I see.’ Rosy arranges the beginnings of a cube, flipping open a hinge and clicking it in place to make it double-height. ‘That makes it just about tall enough for a person. Is there a lid? Or is it a roof?’
‘Simply folds over and should sit on top.’ Thea sets up the three industrial photographic lamps as Rosy clicks the final panel into place.
‘What is it?’ Rosy asks, opening and closing one of the tall panels like a door, running her fingers over a small hole in the centre. The whole thing is about the size of a magician’s box, the type a person will step into and wave at the audience, before they fall through a trapdoor and disappear for ever. But the iridescent, prismatic glass gives it an ethereal feel, and Rosy taps it curiously. ‘Is it a booth of some kind?’
‘Something like that.’
‘A phone box? A photo booth?’
‘Closer than you think,’ Thea says with a quick smile, distributing a pair of the lab’s professional-grade safety goggles to each member of the team. ‘I told you – I call it the glass house.’
‘Like a greenhouse for one.’
‘Exactly.’ Thea grins. ‘Visha, can you look after the reportage?’
‘Hmfph,’ is all she says, clearly annoyed not to have a more technical role, but Urvisha takes the camera from Thea’s bag and turns the setting to record video, pointing towards the glass house.
Thea looks around at the setup, satisfied. ‘We need to capture everything. I want to be able to see how the prismatic glass interacts with the Beecroft laser … We’re going to try to trap the light in the glass house.’ She pauses. ‘It might get a little crazy in here.’
‘Plus,’ Urvisha adds, ‘we’re going to need proof if we pull it off.’
The team step back. The glass house is set up in front of the Beecroft laser, the recording equipment filming the entire experiment at a forty-five-degree angle. Surrounding the glass house on three sides are the three photographic lamps, illuminating the booth like stage lighting. The effect is dramatic.
‘I’m keeping the three lamps from last time,’ Thea explains quickly to the others, ‘even though we’re trying the laser as our main source of light, because I don’t want to change too many things at once. We won’t know what made it work, otherwise.’ Thea glances at her watch – they can’t take too long; this is an illicit experiment, after all – but it would be nice to start the process at a clean round time if they can (or even five past the hour).
‘What are you expecting to happen, Thea?’ Rosy says.
Thea considers. ‘Remember when I told you that if you could travel faster than the speed of light, you would arrive somewhere before you left?’
Rosy nods, and Urvisha bounces impatiently on the workbench stool, the explanation too simple for her Quantum Mechanics-trained min
d.
‘We’re going to try and harness it,’ Thea says. ‘Trap the light in the prism and, by extension, the glass house. So it might get a little warm.’ She looks around, conscious they’ve broken in and need to hurry the hell up. ‘Everyone set?’
‘Err,’ Rosy says again, ‘what’s this for?’ She holds up the blue sand hourglass, and Thea kicks herself for forgetting.
‘Damn. We need to turn it over the second we fire the laser.’
‘I see.’ Rosalind looks baffled, but places it down on the workbench. ‘I can do that.’
‘Thea,’ Urvisha starts. ‘If you don’t want to change too much from the last time we tried this, back at the house …’
‘Go on,’ Thea says.
‘Last time you made Rosy sit behind a pane of glass and those photographic lamps.’
‘Like an ant beneath a magnifier,’ Rosy says cheerfully.
‘You need to put someone behind the glass.’ Urvisha shrugs.
Thea looks at each element of her setup. ‘You might be right,’ she concedes. I would never have been able to do this alone. ‘I’m glad you’re here,’ she says, and Urvisha and Rosy’s eyes meet.
‘You’re welcome. Now, Rosy – do you mind?’ Urvisha gestures at the glass house, and Rosy lifts an eyebrow.
‘Do I have to sit in that? I’m the tallest here.’
‘If Ayo was here it would be easy,’ Thea says gently, ‘because she could look after the laser, but as she isn’t … I think I need to do that. Which means—’
‘You can’t go in the booth,’ Rosy finishes.
‘I’ll do it,’ Urvisha says quickly.
Thea bites her lip. ‘We need you to run the other systems,’ she says apologetically, nodding at Urvisha’s laptop and recording devices.
‘But—’
‘I’m sorry, we need you out here,’ Thea says.
Urvisha’s eyes spark. ‘I want to—’
‘I’ll go in the booth.’
Thea and Urvisha both turn to Rosalind.
‘Are you sure?’ Thea says. ‘We don’t know for certain what will happen.’
Urvisha is quiet as Rosy nods, then walks with Thea towards the glass house.
‘It’s fine,’ Rosy says. ‘Like you said, we should keep as many things the same as possible.’
‘Thank you,’ Thea breathes.
‘And if it works? There’s probably no one better to attempt time travel than a historian.’
‘She makes a good case,’ Urvisha admits.
‘Every time-travelling team needs a historian,’ Thea says brightly. ‘Now, you’re sure?’ She takes Rosy’s hands in hers. ‘The theory is sound, but …’
‘I’m sure.’ Rosy pats Thea’s hand. ‘I believe in this. I believe in you.’
‘That’s twice you’ve said that, tonight.’ Thea smiles.
‘Then it must be true.’
Thea pulls a glass prism from her pocket and walks to the glass house, turning the prism over and over in her hand. She wipes it down with a velvet cloth, the type you get with a pair of spectacles, and carefully slots the prism into a small hole in the glass house door. It fits perfectly. ‘We’re ready. Shall we do a launch status check like they do at NASA?’
‘Yes. Everyone say “Go” if you’re ready. Or “No go” if you’re not.’ Urvisha confirms the recording devices are live, then verifies that all the doors to the laboratory are clear and nobody is around. ‘Go.’
‘Go,’ Thea says, setting the hourglass down next to the laser control panel. ‘Rosy?’
‘Let’s pray for no “Houston, we have a problem.”’ Rosy takes a breath and opens the door of the glass house, then closes it gently behind her and settles in. ‘Go,’ she says.
Thea shifts behind the laser control panel. ‘Safety goggles on, please.’ All three pull the eyewear down onto their faces, and Thea nods. ‘Go. We are cleared for – launch?’ she says, for want of a better word. ‘After three.’
‘Three, two … one.’
Thea flicks the largest switch on the laser, and the light is blinding. All she can see is white. Her vision of the lab, and of her friends, is bleached in the moment, violently drained of colour.
She feels the thrill of excitement – her skin tingles with the power of the laser, magnified by the glass house; the hairs on her arms stand up and she can’t help but smile.
Is it working? There’s the smell of electricity in the room, and a sound of crackling, underpinned by a thrumming hum. It must be working – she knew it would. She was right all along. She hopes Rosy’s all right in the glass house, and that it’s not too warm. She should check on her.
Thea shields her eyes with her arm, peering towards the glass house where, inside, Rosy should be standing – is she there? It’s too bright to see. Thea moves gingerly towards the cubicle, protecting herself from the light, when—
‘Fuck!’
A blinding colourless brightness, then the power goes out with a womp as the lab falls into total darkness.
‘Oh, hell.’
They stand at the centre of it all, surrounded by the black.
‘I think we did something bad.’
Thea blinks against the sudden dark; the plunge from shiny white to deepest black is all-encompassing. ‘Is it just in here,’ she says, her voice betraying some urgency, ‘or is it dark outside?’
Urvisha moves quickly to the laboratory door, her hands out in front of her, feeling her way. She peers up through the winding corridors towards the offices and meeting spaces, then left and right at the other laboratories on their floor. ‘The power’s gone from the whole building,’ she hisses back into the lab.
‘Check the other buildings,’ Thea says, as Urvisha moves cautiously up the stairs.
‘Come and look!’ she calls.
Thea lifts her feet to run quickly to the window, stumbling as her eyes adjust too slowly, still blinded by the pulse of white light. ‘Oh, hell.’
Urvisha looks at Thea impassively.
The University of Oxford is going dark.
Three
As they stand in the glass atrium, looking out across the city, Thea and Urvisha can see the lights clicking off at the neighbouring colleges. The blackout spreads as though contagious, a ruthlessly efficient virus moving towards the edge of the collegiate grounds – womp, womp, womp – before finally all of the university buildings are in shadow.
‘Where’s Rosy?’ Thea turns to Urvisha suddenly. ‘Rosy?’ she calls. ‘Are you there?’
‘Rosy?’ Urvisha jogs back to the glass house, opening the door. ‘She’s gone!’
‘How long since we started the laser?’ Thea asks.
The emergency lighting sputters around them as the Beecroft’s backup generator kicks in, and Thea blinks in the dim glow of greenish artificial light. She moves fast across the lab, lifting her goggles up onto her forehead to check the hourglass on the workbench, the few final grains of sand dripping through from the top compartment to the bottom.
‘Four minutes,’ she says, answering her own question. ‘And how long since the blackout started?’
Urvisha looks around wildly, spotting her camera plugged into the mains. She pulls it towards her, squinting in the low green lighting. The camera bears the same flashing numbers as microwave ovens and alarm clocks in the accommodation across the campus, marking the moment time had been reset: 00:02.
‘Two minutes since the blackout,’ she confirms, as the camera clock flashes over to 00:03. ‘Three.’
Thea’s mind is racing. The power would have to be diverted to avoid a power cut next time—
‘Thea, Rosy’s gone. What do we do?’ Urvisha asks.
The temperature of the prism and the glass house, the density, perhaps—
‘Thea!’ When she doesn’t get a response, Urvisha pulls out her phone and moves to the corridor to find enough signal to call Rosy.
Thea takes a moment to think. Her mind is racing a relay, passing the baton synapse to synapse. If the baton
’s an idea, she can’t quite grasp it; she needs time alone to slow down her brain, a moment to figure out what went wrong – and what went right.
‘Voicemail,’ Urvisha says from the doorway, lowering her phone. ‘Rosy’s phone didn’t even ring.’
‘Right.’
If Rosy is gone …
‘Are you listening to me?’ Urvisha snaps. ‘Earth to Thea Colman!’
They look at each other, holding back their excitement, then when they spot the reflected feeling within each other they let their fervour begin to show. ‘Do you think …?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘Maybe Rosy’s gone back in time—’
‘Maybe.’ Thea’s excitement suddenly drops as her adrenalin cools, and fear begins to set in. ‘Oh God, I hope she’s all right.’
Their eyes meet.
‘With that blackout, they’re going to be looking for the source. We need to pack up and get out of here, then work out where she’s gone.’ Thea puts her hands to her temples, running her fingers into her hair and back. She has baby hair on this part of her head; she can’t remember if she started doing this because the hair is soft here, or if the hair is soft here because of the repeated gesture. ‘Save the video,’ Thea says. ‘We’ll need to watch it back.’
‘No problem –’ Urvisha moves to her laptop – ‘I’ll send it to your online drive over mobile signal now.’
‘Good. Make sure everything is transferred across. Then we’ll pack up the glass house.’
While Urvisha drags and drops the video files, Thea shuts down the laser control panel, worrying about Rosy.
‘Thea?’ Urvisha says.
Thea tucks everything back into the bag – no time to do it in size order – as they work fast under the green backup lighting, gathering everything they can.
‘Thea Colman,’ Urvisha repeats.
She looks up.
Rosy is marching into the laboratory, and the catching breath of relief they feel at seeing her fine and well is chased away when they realize at precisely the same moment that, if she’s here, now, they didn’t send her back in time. It didn’t work.
‘Are you all right?’ Thea says quickly.
