ruBracks, Nazis, the Death of the Universe & Everything (The Parallel-Multiverse Book 1)

by Ward Wagher

“Is that not what you were asking yourself?” she asked.

  “No, it was not. I was thinking about what the poor man lost. I wonder if he left a wife and children behind. And sure as God made little green apples, we won’t be able to send him back.”

  “When you funded the temporal laboratory, I wondered if you were trying to find a way to go back yourself.”

  He turned in the seat and took her hands in his. “I love you, Precious. We have been married nearly forty years. That’s twice as long as I was married to Sondra before Pop and I got dragged out of that time and place. I would never try to leave you. The past is dead and buried. I thought I had gotten over the hurt. Seeing Johann ripped the wound open, again.”

  “Oh, Scott. Forgive me for being so unguarded.”

  “Of course, I will.”

  They sat quietly, without speaking, for a while. Then Kimberly spoke again. “Johann knows we cannot send him back.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I could see it in his face. He knows he is stranded here.”

  “One thing we must remember: just because he is from eight-hundred years in the past doesn’t mean he is stupid.”

  Kimberly chuckled. “I seem to remember a very dear man teaching me that so many years ago.”

  “As I recall, it took some effort.”

  “It would be unwise for me to argue the point.”

  “That’s good because you would lose.”

  “Are you looking for an excuse to fight?” she asked.

  He laughed. “We rarely need an excuse to fight, Precious. The reasons seem to come along regularly.”

  “That is because I married an extraordinarily stubborn man.”

  He didn’t reply, rather just stared at her.

  “What?”

  He shrugged. “Oh, I don’t know. You seem to have been piling up one outrageous statement after the other, today.”

  “What are we going to do about that poor man?”

  “We are going to expend a lot of time and effort in helping him make the adjustment to this milieu. It’s the only thing we can do.”

  “That was a good idea to introduce him to Josiah.”

  The Paladin grinned. “They were chattering like magpies when we left.”

  “I worry about knowledge of Josiah getting out.”

  “The AI’s can bury themselves in the cloud pretty deep. There are always stories going around about rogue intelligences. So far, we have been able to play head games with anybody that got too curious.”

  “What if somebody who is a better systems programmer than you gets a sniff?”

  He leaned back in the seat and folded his arms. “We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Hasn’t happened so far.”

  That afternoon, Johann carried the comp term back to his apartment at the Rogers residence. He had seen people using hand comms and reached the conclusion that he was talking to someone in a similar fashion. The warm, friendly voice, had patiently answered his questions and seemed genuinely concerned about him. The Rogers were only mildly surprised when he carried it to the dinner table.

  “Johann has asked me to convey his thanks for your generous hospitality,” said the voice in the comp term.

  “Tell him he is most welcome,” Sally said. “We are very sorry for the accident which brought him here.”

  The AI spoke in German to Johann, who replied.

  “He understands it was an accident. He is hopeful you will be able to correct the problem.”

  “How much does he know?” Quintan asked.

  “I have not explained in detail what happened. I am not entirely sure your team fully understands it. I see no need to confuse or frighten the man.”

  “Quite right,” Sally said. “Tell him he is certainly welcome in our home. He should let us know of any needs he has.”

  Johann and Josiah conversed some more.

  “He asked if you could provide him some musical score paper, and a stylus.”

  She turned to her husband. “Quint, can you do a search, and have the manufactor create some samples for him to choose from?”

  “Sure. We can do it right after dinner.”

  “What is this?” Quintan asked as he looked at the dinner table.

  “Bratwurst,” Sally said. “I did some research, and thought maybe Johann would like this.”

  “I do not think we have had this before. It does not look anything like what comes out of the machines at work.”

  “For that you can be thankful. We have not had it at home before. It is a type of sausage. I already sampled it. I think you will like it.”

  Johann speared a piece of the sausage and took a bite. He nodded in approval. He spooned a pile of the fried potatoes on his plate. He pointed ignored the broccoli.

  “I see he has good taste,” Quintan said.

  “Hush, Quint.”

  “Daddy, you ought to try it sometime,” Lauren said.

  “I have tried it. I do not like it. Josiah, ask Johann if he likes broccoli.”

  After a rapid-fire exchange of German, the voice spoke. “He says his wife made him eat it. He otherwise would not willingly partake.”

  “See?” Quintan said. “A very wise German, if I ever saw one.”

  „Was?“ Johann asked.

  Josiah repeated the comments to him in German. He barked a laugh. „Der weise Deutsche setzt sich nicht oft über seine Frau hinweg.“ (The wise German does not defy his wife often.)

  Josiah repeated the comment in English, “The wise German does not defy his wife often.”

  “The wise Palatine does not defy his wife at all,” Sally said.

  After their dinner, Johann treated them to an impromptu concert on their piano. The man’s music was not only exquisite, his keyboard technique was amazing. His fingers moved in a blur over the keys. Following the impressive musical offering, Johann persuaded Lauren to sit down at the piano, where he gave her another music lesson. The girl was much more enthusiastic in her piano work.

  Quintan took the time to show their guest several samples of musical score paper. Johann selected a pattern that seemed most familiar, and Quintan printed several dozen pages of it on their plasticine printer. Johan studied the plasticine and shook his head at the stuff. It looked like paper but was almost indestructible.

  Once again Johann took advantage of the marvelous devices in the fresher. The shower was an unimaginable luxury. It had been a long day with new surprises, and he was once again exhausted. The soft bed and the quiet room seduced him into a deep slumber.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Days stretched into weeks as the research team reviewed Ed Forsenn’s experimental equipment and the mathematics behind it. Johann gradually developed some skill in speaking Anglo and was now capable of making himself understood, although he carried the comp term everywhere, and spoke often with Josiah.

  Finally, the paladin called for a general meeting of the research team. He and his wife sat at the end of the table in the conference room at the Urbana facility. The Rogers and Edgar Forsenn completed the group. The conference room was along the outer wall of the low-slung building. The windows displayed a sunny day, with a brilliant white blanket of snow covering the ground.

  “Plenty cold today, if you ask me,” the paladin said to initiate the meeting.

  “It’s been a cold winter so far, and we are not even to Thanksgiving, yet,” Quintan said.

  “I wonder if the climate is going to snap back to something warmer anytime soon,” Forsenn commented.

  “The climatologists are puzzled,” the paladin said. “The solar activity has remained at historic lows for centuries. They are concerned about ice cap moving south.”

  “We could walk across the roof of the world,” Sally said, “even during summer. Not that I would want to, though.”

  The paladin nodded. “Yes. Well, I suppose we should get down to business.” He laid his comp term on the table. “In view of the general inability of the team to arrive at any usable conclusio
ns, I have asked for some outside help.”

  “But this is a top-secret project, Sir,” Forsenn said.

  “I think we can safely assume the ability of our consultant to keep a secret. Are you there, Josiah?”

  “I am here, Scott,” said the warm voice from the comp term. “I will endeavor to provide the best service I can to the research team.”

  “But that is an AI,” Forsenn said. “How can we trust it to know temporal and quantum theory?”

  “I think you will be surprised how much he knows,” the paladin said. “By the way, let me remind you again that the existence of Josiah is itself a state secret. No one in this room is to discuss such anywhere but on the premises. Clear?”

  “Yes, Sir,” the team chorused.

  “Okay. Josiah has reviewed the research data, and has a few questions.”

  “Thank you, Scott. Dr. Forsenn, have you been able to establish causality as a result of the experiment?”

  “I have not.” Forsenn frowned. “It is puzzling. We have established the date of the temporal event as between 1727 and 1735. We have a historical record of the time, and it shows Johann as having passed away in 1750.”

  “So his transfer to our time has not affected history as we know it,” Josiah said.

  “Wait a minute,” the paladin said. “You have a historical record for Johann? Who did you drag here, anyway?”

  The research team looked at each other. Finally, Quintan Rogers spoke. “Johann is a musician of some note, pardon the pun. A lot of records were lost during the time of troubles, but a considerable portion of his compositions have survived, as have historical records about the man.”

  The paladin leaned forward. “Now you have me frightened. Who did you bring from the 18th century?”

  “Why, Johann Bach. I thought you knew,” Forsenn said.

  “You brought Bach here?” the paladin said. “How could you do that?”

  The team looked confused. Sally finally spoke. “I am sorry, Paladin. What are you asking?”

  “You brought Bach here?”

  “We thought you knew that.”

  “I didn’t know that.”

  “I mean,” she continued, “it was a horrible thing to do to the man, but why is he significant?”

  “It’s Bach!” He stopped and shook his head. “Of course. It was eight-hundred years ago. You have no frame of reference here, I guess. Bach was responsible for the foundations of western music as we know it. We still use the forms he developed. He was, or is, a musical genius.”

  “So, we snagged somebody famous?” Sally asked.

  “Oh, man!” the paladin said, running his hands through his hair. “I can’t believe what we have done.”

  “Very well, Scott,” Josiah said. “We are still faced with the causality paradox. Historical records show Johann as having lived until his death in 1750. But, we have him here, alive and breathing from fifteen years prior to his death.”

  “I still can’t believe you guys brought Bach here, out of time.”

  “Scott,” Josiah persisted, “we have not established where Johann came from.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “The math is ambiguous.”

  The Paladin knocked on the table with a knuckle. “How can math be ambiguous? That doesn’t make sense.”

  “I think I can answer that,” Forsenn said. “We are dealing with quantum physics, not Newtonian. Time, energy and matter can exist in several states simultaneously. I believe that Johann exists both here and his original time. What we have done is to put a shim into the flow of time. This allowed us to hive off Johann’s existence without disturbing his original time line.”

  “That is an attractive theory, Edgar,” Josiah said. “Unfortunately the mathematics of causality do not allow for simultaneity in this manner.”

  “That is what I have been trying to say. The mathematics of simultaneity are flawed. What we have done here proves it.”

  “What are the alternatives?” the paladin’s wife asked. “Have there been any other theories?”

  “May I download the equations?” Josiah asked.

  “Of course,” Forsenn said. He tapped the corner of his comp term, and the three-dimensional simulacrum appeared to rise from the top of the unit. His fingers rapidly manipulated the objects floating in the air. “All right, Josiah. The path to the calculations is on my top layer. Can you grab them?”

  “Yes, Edgar. I have them. I will begin an examination.”

  “I am uncomfortable with letting an AI look at these documents,” Forsenn continued.

  “Josiah and I have an understanding,” the paladin said. “You don’t need to worry.”

  Forsenn sat back with a pensive look on his face.

  “I know you’re going to worry, anyway,” the paladin said. “We are just going to have to accept that, considering we are in unusual circumstances.”

  The paladin leaned back in his chair. “I think that is it for today, people. Josiah is going to chew over your math. If he comes up with anything, we’ll get back together. Otherwise, just carry on.”

  “Yes, Paladin,” they murmured.

  CHAPTER TEN

  “I thank you for your generous contribution to our school,” the minister said as he stood.

  “I did not expect you to travel all the way to Chicago just to thank me, Sir,” the paladin said. “Besides, I do not feel I should be the one you should thank.”

  “We always thank God for his sustenance, but I wanted to personally thank you for your willingness to allow Him to use you.”

  “In that case, you are welcome.”

  “Several of our buildings are badly in need of repair. We have been praying about this for months.”

  “I am glad I was able to help out,” the paladin said.

  “We would be honored if you came to visit, and speak to our students.”

  “I will certainly keep that in mind.”

  Following the meeting, the paladin left the one-hundred-fortieth-floor conference room, with its panoramic view of Chicago, and returned to his office ten floors above. His wife was waiting when he walked in.

  “I do not understand why you persist in contributing to that school in the CFS, Scott. Those people are out of step.”

  He stopped in front of the tall blond woman and grasped her hands. “I know, Precious. But they are just about the only organization I have discovered that has any kind of a link to my century.”

  “A dubious link, if you ask me.”

  “Besides, Precious,” he said with a grin, “they want me to visit and speak to the student body.”

  “That will never happen.”

  “I know, I know. Governor O’Bleck of the Carolina Free State hates my guts. Traveling there would not be wise. Besides, I suspect the Reverend Crockette really doesn’t want me speaking to his students.”

  “Just when I despair of your decision-making abilities, you do the right thing.”

  “Thanks, I think.”

  She nodded towards the desk in the expansive office. “Our friend wants to talk to you.”

  Hovering over the comp term on the desk was a small, pulsating silver orb. The paladin walked across the room to stand behind the desk.

  “Okay, Josiah, I’m here. What do you have?”

  “Hello, Scott. We have examined the mathematical structure constructed by Edgar Forsenn.”

  A scroll winked into existence above the comp term and unrolled. Closely spaced equations streamed across the simulacrum.

  “This is Dr. Forsenn’s work, Scott. Notice this equation.”

  A small group of symbols changed to yellow and began blinking.

  “He made a small error here,” Josiah said. “That error fundamentally changed his entire construct.”

  The paladin studied the glowing screen hovering above the desk. “I can follow about a third of this, Josiah. You’re sure this is an error?”

  “Yes, Scott. For two reasons. One – the math was clearly in error.
Second – once it is corrected...” The yellow colored equation changed, and new symbols cascaded below it. “it perfectly illustrates the event we have observed.”

  “So you figured out where Bach came from?”

  “We have.”

  The paladin’s wife walked around the desk to look at the document floating in the air. “This explains what happened?”

  “Yes, it does.”

  “So what happened?” the paladin asked.

  “Allow me to illustrate,” the AI said.

  The equations rolled up suddenly, reminding the paladin of an out of control window shade. The artifact even made a flapping sound. A new schema appeared. It looked like a horizontal stack of cards.

  “If you will look towards the center, Scott...” A pinpoint began blinking. “This represents the prior state just before Dr. Forsenn activated the device.”

  “Okay.”

  “Now watch the simulation.”

  The blinking indicator flashed, then the cards stretched away from the point, then snapped back. They oscillated for about ten seconds, looking to the paladin like curtains in the breeze.

  “What am I looking at, Josiah?”

  “Dr. Forsenn did not create a temporal device, as we understand it. Rather he oriented the quantum tunnel transversely across multiple universes. The oscillation was the effect of the device on the borders between universes.”

  The paladin studied the simulacrum. “Josiah... how many universes are there?”

  “Unknown, Scott. The Witnesses believe there is a finite number, but that number is large.”

  “Scott, I am frightened,” his wife said.

  “And what is the effect of those oscillations?” the paladin asked.

  “Unknown, Scott. However, we speculate that the shock wave from the quantum tunnel impacted individuals in each universe. The tunnel stretched across all universes.”

  “Are the universes still reverberating?”

  “Yes, Scott. The effects are gradually subsiding. They are already almost imperceptible.”

  “If your equations are correct, then it might be possible to send Bach back, then, right?”

  “Correct, Scott. But it would be dangerous for Johann, as well as for the fabric of the universe.”