The Impossible Boy

by Mark Griffiths

  Now there was more of the brilliant white light. It was pouring through what looked like a rip that had opened up in the night sky above the power plant. The rip lengthened, releasing fresh bursts of white light, becoming a twisting ribbon of unearthly energy.

  Two enormous pointed shapes appeared through the rip, pushing their way into the universe, being born out of the night air itself. The rip convulsed and the two shapes emerged fully, revealing themselves to be two enormous cubes, both a full mile in length across each face and made from some weird grey jellylike substance that pulsed and shimmered in the starlight. The huge cubes floated silently towards Sanderling Ridge.

  ‘Blimey,’ whispered Dave. ‘There’s something you don’t see every day.’

  The two massive cubes came to rest in the air directly above the power plant, hanging there silent and still as the mysteriously frozen owl. For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then both cubes twitched, as if sneezing. There was a thunderous rumbling noise and two smaller cubes – each no more than a metre across – detached themselves from the main pair. These smaller cubes floated silently and without hurry down towards the reactor building from which the white light was streaming. When they reached the top of the control complex, they passed straight through the flat roof as easily as ghosts and vanished within.

  His heart pounding, Dave clambered into the front seat of the car and twisted the key in the ignition.

  In the main control room, the white light suddenly snapped off. Gill, Barney and Gabby blinked at one another until their vision returned to normal.

  ‘Whoo,’ said Barney, rubbing his eyes. ‘When that light was shining I put my arm over my eyes and I could actually see the bones it. Powerful stuff, that Harland radiation.’

  ‘Harland radiation?’ said Gabby, steadying herself against the control console.

  ‘It’s caused by the gravitational ripples that accompany the opening of a gateway to a higher dimension. I’ve been reading up on it. Gill and Dave have loads of notes on weird stuff.’

  ‘Wow!’ said Gabby. ‘Someone’s really done their homework!’

  ‘Sorry to interrupt,’ said Gill, ‘but I can’t help but notice that we’re all, y’know, still alive. What’s happened to the reactor?’ She examined the dials and read-outs on the console. ‘Funny.’ She tapped one with her finger. ‘Doesn’t seem to be responding at all. I wonder why.’

  ‘It’s because there’s been a localised rip in the fabric of space-time,’ came a voice from behind them. ‘Time has slowed almost to nothing here at the plant.’

  The three of them turned around in unison to find Dave standing in the doorway. Gill flung her arms around him. ‘Hello, darling! How did you get in here?’

  ‘Just walked past the security guards,’ said Dave, shrugging. ‘They all seemed to be wrestling on the floor downstairs. Didn’t even notice me.’ He smiled warmly at Gabby. ‘You must be Gabby. Rufus was telling me all about you.’

  ‘Who’s Rufus?’ asked Gabby, frowning.

  ‘Me,’ said Barney. ‘Dave’s not terribly good at names.’

  ‘And they,’ said Dave, motioning to the four columns of grey-pink awfulness, ‘will be some people caught in four-dimensional snares, I take it? Fascinating!’

  ‘Great,’ said Gill. ‘Glad your mind is being stimulated by all this. Shall we all sit down and have a seminar about advanced hyper-geometry – or shall we try to figure out a way that we can all go home? My back and legs are killing me. I haven’t moved this much in twenty years.’

  ‘I guess whether we leave is up to them,’ Dave said.

  ‘Who?’

  He pointed upwards to where two greyish cubes were floating gently down from the ceiling like children’s helium balloons being tugged on a string. The cubes slowed their descent and hovered in the centre of the room at roughly head-height.

  Gabby gasped. ‘What on Earth . . .?’

  With a click, the computer monitor switched itself on. Chas’s smug face filled the screen. ‘Nothing on this sad little speck of a world. These creatures are from an infinitely vaster realm. The one I inhabit. And boy – are you in trouble now! These things are even more powerful than me and they won’t like the way you’ve tried to keep me captive in your crumby little universe.’

  ‘Who are they?’ asked Gabby, breathless.

  ‘My mum and dad,’ said Chas. ‘Well, two of them.’

  ‘Two of them? How many mums and dads have you got?’

  Chas screwed up his nose in thought. ‘A little over three thousand, I think.’

  ‘Three thousand mums and dads?’ That seems—’

  ‘Rather a lot? Yeah, I suppose it is, compared to you 3-D beings. Things are a bit more complicated where I come from. Each hyperbeing has several thousand parents, each one being partly male and partly female.’

  ‘That must be a bit confusing.’

  ‘It’s a nightmare when it comes to remembering birthdays.’

  Gabby’s eyes suddenly blazed. ‘Hey! What was that rubbish you were just saying about us keeping you captive here? That’s rich! We’ll be glad to see the back of you!’

  ‘Enough of your lies now, underbeing,’ said Chas coldly. ‘MumDad 357 and MumDad 2961 don’t want to hear your snivelling. I expect they’ll just want to crush this world into a radioactive cinder and then we’ll be on our—’

  As Chas was speaking, one of the floating cubes pulsated and a spark of white energy flew from one of its corners towards the computer monitor. When the spark touched the screen, something extraordinary happened. Chas’s mouth began to shrink as he was talking, his voice growing rapidly quieter, until his mouth vanished entirely, leaving a completely smooth patch of skin under his nose. Noticing this, Chas glared and shook his fists.

  Now the two cubes shimmered and began to soften, melting and re-forming until they had formed themselves into two approximately humanoid shapes. Their features were blurred and indistinct. They looked like a pair of clothes shop mannequins to whom someone had taken a blowtorch. Rough, squelching mouth-holes tore themselves open in the figures’ heads. They spoke in unison and their combined voices sounded like water swirling down a plughole.

  ‘Good evening, creatures of this 3-D realm,’ gargled the hyperbeings. ‘Forgive us this intrusion into your dimension. We’ve taken the precaution of lifting this area of your planet out of space-time for a little while. It will prevent us from being noticed by your fellow creatures and allow us a modicum of privacy while we deal with this matter.’

  ‘Umm, hello,’ Barney ventured.

  Dave and Gill were clutching one another, both open-mouthed in silent awe. Dave waved limply.

  ‘So what’s going to happen?’ asked Gabby. ‘Are you going to destroy us like Chas said?’

  The hyperbeings shook their heads and waved their crude, semi-formed arms emphatically. ‘Absolutely not,’ they said in unison. ‘You must ignore the pronouncements of the one you call Chas. He is what you would call on this world “a total div”.’

  ‘A total div?’ repeated Gabby.

  ‘Is that the right word?’ asked the hyperbeings. ‘How about “twit”? “Lamebrain”? “Dimwit”? You get what we’re trying to say. He exhibits foolishness on a grand scale.’

  On the screen, Chas gesticulated furiously, his face turning red.

  ‘That’s putting it mildly,’ said Gabby. ‘He nearly destroyed everything within a thirty-mile radius.’

  ‘Chas is a mere child,’ said the hyperbeings, ‘and a difficult one at that. He’s scarcely a thousand years old. We left him partially inserted in your universe the way you might leave a baby in a playpen – out of harm’s way for five minutes while you make a cup of tea, as it were. We thought your world would be an amusing distraction for him.’

  ‘You gave him our world as a toy?’ said Barney. ‘Billions of people live here! Don’t you think that was maybe a teeny bit irresponsible?’

  The hyperbeings shifted uncomfortably. ‘We did not expect him to be so rough
with you and to try to escape. For that we apologise. Though your lives are incredibly short and your mental horizons incredibly narrow, you still have value and should be treated with respect.’

  ‘We know that!’ exploded Barney. ‘Of course we have value! We don’t need some blobby know-alls from another universe to come down here and patronise us.’

  ‘Ouch,’ said one the hyperbeings. ‘That hit home.’

  ‘Yeah,’ said the other. ‘Fair enough. We’ve messed up here pretty badly. We’re sorry for the trouble Chas has caused. He’s been a pretty lousy ambassador for us up here in four-dimensional space. Is there anything we can do to make amends? We’ll stop your reactor from exploding and free the people in this room caught in 4-D snares – that goes without saying.’

  Barney looked at Gabby. ‘I don’t think we need anything from the fourth dimension. I think we’ve had more than enough of the place, to be honest, haven’t we?’

  Gabby nodded and looked down at her shoes.

  ‘There is something, actually,’ said Dave. He was holding on to Gill’s hand very tightly. ‘We have a request. For information . . .’

  One of the hyperbeings pointed an unfinished fingerless hand at Dave. ‘Yup? What is it?’

  ‘We lost our daughter over thirty years ago. We suspect she was drawn into your universe. Is there any way of finding out if this is true?’

  The hyperbeings listened, nodding in unison. They replied with one voice. ‘This happens from time to time. Freak gravity whirlpools can erupt when bridges between universes are created. Tidal forces can disturb objects near the entrances to the bridge. Things can get rotated, turned inside-out, even. Or sucked inside.’

  ‘Can you tell if that happened to Fleur?’ asked Gill.

  ‘Let’s see. We’ll need to scan you for DNA matching.’

  A white spark jumped from the head of one of the hyperbeings and whizzed through the air towards Dave and Gill. It buzzed rapidly around the elderly couple like a mosquito and then zipped back to the hyperbeing’s head. The hyperbeing cocked its head on one side, as if processing some information.

  ‘Ah,’ it said. ‘Fleur Abbott?’

  Dave and Gill gasped. Gill put a hand over her mouth. ‘Yes!’ said Dave excitedly. ‘Fleur Abbott! Do you have any information about her?’

  The hyperbeings exchanged a look. ‘We do. She is indeed in the fourth dimension.’

  ‘Good God!’ cried Dave. ‘After all this time. Our little Fleur. I can’t believe it! Tell us more. Tell us, please.’

  ‘When a being from your universe enters our own,’ the hyperbeings began, ‘the 3-D being undergoes a process of change as it grows itself a 4-D body, enabling it to move freely in hyperspace. This can take several thousand years, as you would understand it. We have detected the brain pattern of your daughter. She is living in our universe and undergoing the changes necessary to thrive there.’

  ‘Is she all right?’ asked Gill. ‘She’s been all on her own in there for thirty years!’

  ‘Could she come back to us?’ asked Dave. ‘Appear to us like you or Chas?’

  The hyperbeings considered. ‘Why don’t you ask her yourselves?’

  ‘What? What do you mean?’ Dave and Gill were clutching each other for support, their hearts pounding furiously.

  ‘Fleur does not yet possess the skill to penetrate into your universe from ours. This is why she has been unable to contact you since she disappeared. However, as there is a locket bridge already open here between our dimensions, we can allow her to communicate with you through us.’

  There was a squeeeech noise. Grey jellylike matter poured from the stomachs of the two hyperbeings, who began to shrink. The matter formed itself into a torso, arms, legs and a head and soon there were three (somewhat smaller) hyperbeings there in the control room instead of two.

  The new hyperbeing walked unsteadily towards Dave and Gill, arms outstretched. The elderly couple looked horrified, unable to reconcile this nightmarish form with the little girl they had lost so long ago.

  ‘Mum! Dad! Hello.’

  She sounded many years older, the lilting voice of a little girl replaced by a woman’s confident tones, but Dave and Gill knew instantly that it was her.

  ‘Fleur! Fleur! Our little Fleur!’

  On wobbling legs they rushed to embrace the grey featureless figure, but their arms passed straight through as if it were made of steam.

  ‘Damn matter frequencies,’ muttered Dave.

  ‘Fleur, darling!’ said Gill. ‘I can’t believe it’s really you! Are you OK? How have you been? Has anyone been taking care of you?’

  The grey figure put a thoughtful hand to its chin. ‘It’s funny, Mum. Sometimes it feels like I’ve been gone years and years and years and then sometimes it feels like it was just five minutes ago that we were in the park and Dad was telling me about the Wandering Knight. Several thousand MumDads adopted me! They’ve taken good care of me. Oh, Mum, Dad – there’s so much to see here. It’s amazing!’

  ‘We’ve missed you so much,’ said Gill. ‘It was like our lives ended the day we lost you.’

  ‘It’s OK,’ said Fleur. ‘I’m here now.’

  ‘Yes but for how long, darling? Won’t you have to return to the 4-D world soon?’

  ‘That’s true,’ said Fleur. ‘I will. But that doesn’t mean you can’t come back with me.’

  ‘What?’ said Dave. He turned to one of the other hyperbeings. ‘Is that possible? Can Gill and I go into your universe?’

  ‘Sure!’ said the hyperbeing, perking up. ‘We’d be delighted to assist in your passage to the fourth dimension.’

  ‘No problem whatsoever,’ said the other hyperbeing. ‘Be nice if something positive came out of this incident.’

  ‘Permanently?’ asked Gill.

  ‘Sure. Why not?’

  ‘Oh,’ said the first hyperbeing. ‘Just thought of something. I’m afraid you folks may not like it.’

  ‘Oh what now?’

  ‘Well,’ said the first hyperbeing, ‘the thing is, once a 3-D being enters four-dimensional space permanently, its 3-D body decays while its new 4-D one grows. This means the bodies you inhabit now will be cast away and you will acquire a completely new physical manifestation.’

  ‘These old bodies of ours will be thrown away?’

  ‘Yes. I’m afraid so.’

  Gill and Dave burst into laughter. ‘Can we have that in writing, please?’ said Dave and they laughed again.

  ‘Fleur,’ said Gill, ‘we’re coming back with you.’

  ‘Hooray!’ cried Fleur and waved her grey, stumplike arms.

  ‘Good,’ said the first hyperbeing. ‘That’s settled. Are you ready to go now?’

  ‘Right now?’ asked Gill.

  ‘This gateway won’t stay open forever. It might be now or never.’

  ‘It’ll be so great,’ said Fleur. ‘We can be together! There’s a whole bunch of really cool mysteries in the fourth dimension. You’re going to like it there.’

  The Abbott family embraced one another, ignoring the fact that one of their number existed at a different matter frequency and couldn’t actually touch the other two. This state of affairs would soon be remedied.

  Gill and Dave turned to face Gabby and Barney.

  ‘Thank you, Geek Inc.,’ said Dave. ‘This wouldn’t have been possible without you.’

  Barney flushed. ‘Oh, you know. No big deal. Happy to help, eh, Gab?’

  Gabby nodded. ‘It’s been interesting,’ she said and laughed nervously.

  ‘And let me tell you two something,’ said Gill, ‘there’s no shortage of mysteries in Blue Hills. Scratch the surface and there’s a whole world of weirdness underneath. And it’s there, waiting to be investigated. Take it from us, the Society of Highly Unusual Things.’

  Barney and Gabby exchanged a glance and both silently mouthed the word ‘wow’ and giggled.

  The first hyperbeing looked at the second. ‘Well, no point hanging around, is there, MumDad
2961?’

  ‘Quite right MumDad 357,’ said the other. ‘Let’s be on our way. Avoid the traffic.’

  There was a succession of white flashes. First the mouthless, gesticulating Chas vanished from the monitor. Then the three Abbotts exited the 3­D world forever in a single brilliant burst of Harland radiation. Finally, with a wave of their crude, unfinished hands, the two hyperbeings slipped back into their own incredible realm.

  The silver locket rattled to the floor, its two halves snapping shut.

  Barney and Gabby stared at one another in wordless astonishment. There was much she wanted to tell him, but before she could say any of it, Orville McIntyre burst into the room with his men and had them arrested.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  INTO THE NIGHT

  The sleek, dark vehicle raced along the deserted road towards Blue Hills, powerful headlights glaring, tunnelling its way through the night. Ahead, a lone rabbit hopped softly on to the tarmac, watching with huge brown eyes as the approaching yellow light grew steadily bigger and brighter. The moon, it thought in its simple way, is behaving very strangely tonight. The car thundered directly over the rabbit, its two sets of roaring wheels passing either side of the quaking creature. As the vehicle’s lights receded into the distance, the stunned rabbit bounded swiftly back to its hole, hoping that the moon would be in a better mood tomorrow night.

  On the car’s back seat, their hands bound by plastic ties, sat Barney Watkins and Gabrielle Grayling, talking in low voices so as not to be heard by the car’s driver. Gabby’s face was streaked with tears.

  ‘I can’t believe how stupid I was to be taken in by Chas,’ she murmured. ‘I can’t believe how stupid I was to want to leave everything and everyone I know to go to some stupid fourth dimension. But most of all I can’t believe how stupid I was to call you stupid.’

  ‘I believe the phrase you used was “you moron”,’ whispered Barney with a grin.

  ‘Oh mate! I’m so sorry.’

  ‘It’s OK. Really. I was a moron. Am a moron. Fancy not knowing Sherlock Holmes is a fictional character. I had to find out sometime, I suppose. It’s the Easter Bunny all over again.’ He chuckled quietly.