by Rose, Imogen
“Actually, my mom really wants to go back to our home, our real home, in the other dimension. She talked to my dad about it just last night. She’s going to ask Dr. Darley to send us back.”
“Like you want to go back forever? Not come back here again?”
“Yeah,” she said, her voice breaking.
“Why? Don’t you like it here?”
“It’s just different. I thought I would be okay with it last year, but now with sort of losing my best friend—again—it’s hard. I feel out of place.”
“But I’m sure we’ll be friends. I like you. I didn’t mean to be so standoffish. I was just confused—still am.”
“We would be—will be—friends, I’m sure of it, but I really miss my life and my family and friends.”
“What about your parents? Their jobs?”
“Neither of them expected this, to be suddenly removed from everything they know. Mom loves working with your mom and really wants to continue working on the projects, but she agrees that no job is worth this sacrifice. I’m sure Mom would like some more time to get organized, but if it’s a now or next year deal, she’ll probably jump into action. Why don’t we meet you at Ames? I’ll ask my mom to call yours.”
“Okay. And hopefully, I’ll see you at the Portal.”
It was hard deciding what to pack, especially as Mom had limited us to one carry-on size piece of luggage each. Still, it wasn’t like we were heading to another country, so getting replacement stuff would be easy. I packed a few of my favorites and then lugged my suitcase down the stairs to where Ella’s bag was already ready and waiting. She was feeding Tallulah. I sat down and watched them. She was going to be devastated at leaving the dog behind, even for a few days. I wondered why David couldn’t bring her right away.
I sat in the kitchen and waited for Mom to come down.
“Are you excited about going to Universal Studios?” Ella asked and sat down beside me.
“Um? Is that what we’re doing? Sorry, I haven’t had a chance to catch up yet.”
“Yes, Mom wants us to have a little break after all the stuff that’s been happening with you. I am going to miss Tallulah, though. She’s going to stay with David’s mom until we get back from Universal.”
“Is that so? Well, she’ll be happy there. She loves Mrs. Skoog.”
“Yes, but I’m going to miss her. Have you been to Universal Studios before?”
“Yes, but it was years ago. It’ll be fun to go again. It’s got some cool rides.”
“Okay, girls, are you ready?” Mom said, walking into the kitchen.
“Yes. Did Ariele’s mom call you?” I asked.
Mom glared at me sharply. “I don’t know what is going on with you at the moment. You were told not to tell anyone.”
“Why can’t we tell anyone about going on vacation, Mom?” Ella butted in.
“It’s not about that, Ella. You can tell whoever you want that we’re going on vacation. That’s what I told your school.”
“Why are you mad at Arizona, then?”
“She invited a friend without asking me.”
“Who?”
“Ariele, but—”
“She’s cool. We had an awesome time in New York with her. Please let her come… pleeease.”
“I already said no. We don’t have enough space for more people. Maybe next time. Now, get in the car, and we’ll be on our way.”
“What about Harry?” I asked, failing to come up with any last minute arguments for bringing Ariele. I’d have to figure out how to get her there later or just do Princeton on my own.
“He’s meeting us at Ames with Grandma.”
“I thought Grandma was still in France.”
“Your father arranged for her to come back. Anyhow, let’s go. Time to head off on a fun adventure, as Ella says.”
We piled into the car and dropped Tallulah off with Inez after a lot of doggie smooches, which were a whole lot less wet than Cleo’s.
Mom didn’t say anything on the way to Ames, and I didn’t want to ruffle her feathers by asking her anything that might upset Ella. She’d obviously been fed a story that had her excited about our journey, and I wasn’t going to be responsible for turning that excitement into even a hint of fear. I had no idea what or who to expect as we walked into Mom’s office.
“Ariele!” My jaw dropped. After what Mom had said back at the house, she was the last person I’d expected to see. But there she was, along with her mom and dad.
“Glenda,” my mother said coldly, “I thought we were done with this conversation.”
“Olivia, please don’t be angry. You may have been done with this conversation, but I wasn’t. We’d like to come.”
“Please, Mom! It’ll be fun!” Ella ran up to Ariele and gave her a hug.
Poor Mom. She was sort of cornered.
“Glenda, please come with me,” Mom said and ushered her out the door.
I guess she was going to have a final go at talking Ariele’s mom out of it. Ariele’s dad sat down and turned on the TV. I wondered what he did for a living. Ella sat down in front of the TV as well, and he glanced at her and flicked past CNN to the E! channel.
“The battle of the moms,” Ariele whispered to me.
I snickered. My mom was not one to lose a fight, but this once, I hoped she would.
“Did you bring any stuff?” I glanced around the office.
“No, we just rushed out the door to make sure to be here on time.”
“Do your parents have a plan? What are they planning to do once they get back to your home dimension?”
“I think that’s what Mom is discussing with your mom. I guess we’ll just check into a hotel or something.”
“It may not be as easy as that. None of your credit cards will work over there.”
“For real?”
“Yes.”
“We’ll just have to figure it out. We’re all in agreement that we want to go home.”
“Remember that you’ll have to deal with a lot of press.”
“Yeah, we are going to have to get our stories straight. I hope Mom’s got a plan.”
I nodded as our moms walked back in the room followed by Harry, Grandma, Larry, and Kellan. Kellan’s face broke into a wide smile when he saw me, making my lips mirror the shape. I met him halfway, his arms encircling me. I didn’t need to say anything to him, feeling that he already felt my excitement and fear. I looked up into his eyes, which blinked in confirmation. The message was clear—I needed him to just be, and he would.
Ella was up on her feet again, rushing over to Harry, who laughed as she jumped on him. Mom, Ariele, and her mom and dad, Larry, and Grandma all huddled together talking in hushed tones. I nudged Kellan to walk over with me, and join them.
“I understand that you’ve decided to go home, and I am not saying that’s not possible. Of course we’ll arrange it for you, but now is not the time,” Larry said. “What are you going to do about the press? I think it will be better to plan this for next October, rather than rushing back without a plan.”
“Isn’t that what you are doing?” Glenda retaliated.
“No, we are not. We’re not moving there permanently. That’s what you are proposing, right?”
“That’s right. It was never my intention to change dimensions. That wasn’t ever discussed with us. And after everything that’s happened, we have unanimously decided that we want to move back. None of us are willing to wait a year. We can stay with family until we get back on our feet,” Glenda said.
“They think you’re dead. You will have to explain your absence to them,” Mom pointed out.
“They think we’re dead?” Glenda eyes widened. “What exactly have they been told happened to us?”
“Nothing,” Larry replied. “You went missing. It was headline news for a few days, and the press will eat it up when you reappear. You really have to think this through. We can sit down together and come up with a plan for next October.”
Arie
le’s dad shook his head, and then cleared his throat. “Enough, Olivia. This is my life, my family—you have no say in this matter. Take us home.”
Mom looked at Kellan’s dad. Other than Ella’s busy chatter to Harry, there was complete silence in the room. After a nod from him, she turned to Glenda. “If you are absolutely sure?”
Glenda nodded.
“We are going to need to discuss the details at the other end, but the first thing to do is to get us all there. Let’s go down to the Portal.”
Olivia knew that there was no point trying to convince Glenda to postpone her plans for a year. Her mind was made up, and the determined expression on her husband’s face cemented the fact that she now had to bring another three people through the Portal. But that wouldn’t be the biggest issue. That lay ahead on the other side. The Moreau family came with a whole set of complications that were not going to be easy to work through. All she’d anticipated was a short break at Celia’s where she’d envisioned cozy nights catching up with her friends over wine. That’s what she had planned with Rupert, who had asked her not to make her whereabouts public. Even though Arizona claimed that she’d wandered with a friend, it had shaken Rupert—and her—up to the point that he wanted them hidden away for a while. Whatever was going on in the paranormal world appeared to be responsible for the acts of terrorism plaguing the world’s major cities. Rupert had said that none of that was happening in the other dimension, that they would be safe there. Safe unless they were found and wandered back by Potomal’s group.
Olivia had told Ella that they would be gone for a few days, but she got the feeling from Rupert that this could go on for some time. If so, she’d have to figure out how to deal with it. At least, for now, they had somewhere to stay.
Celia was a friend from her Imperial College days. While Olivia had been busy working away in her crisp white lab coat, Celia had led a much more glamorous life as an assistant editor at one of London’s fashion magazines. They would meet up after work at one of central London’s many pubs to enjoy a few drinks before they headed home to their neighboring houses in Wimbledon. Celia had been present right at the moment Olivia had first met Rupert. They had stayed in touch over the years, with Olivia keeping Celia updated on her search for Rupert. They had lost contact when Celia’s daughter died and Celia had closed herself off from her friends and family. Olivia had still persevered, trying to keep their contact alive through the occasional short email to which she usually received a curt response.
Then, out of the blue, Celia had phoned her. The happy, light tone of her friend’s voice had disappeared, replaced by a withdrawn sadness. Celia didn’t mention her daughter once, but kept the conversation steady about her plans to move to Mountain View. She said it was time for a change and that she couldn’t bear to live in London anymore.
Shortly after Celia moved, Olivia had journeyed through the Portal, and they’d lost contact. But she knew that Celia would welcome her and her family into her mansion. Inviting Glenda and her family was a bit of a stretch, and they’d probably have to find alternative accommodations. However, they would deal with that once they got there.
Olivia and Larry led the group to the service elevator and they rode down to the basement of the Ames building, which housed the October Project—the Portal. They walked through the hallways until they arrived at the metal doors secured by a retina scanner. Larry stood in front of it while the scanner buzzed, releasing the doors. Once they were through those, they walked up to another set of doors marked OP. Larry allowed his eyes to be scanned again, and they were finally in the October Project hub.
Olivia kept meaning to update the place but had never gotten around to it. The hangar could have housed several planes but was instead occupied with rows of metal tables full of computers and other equipment.
“Wow!” Glenda exclaimed. “Now this is impressive.”
Olivia smiled. “It was my hope that you would stay and eventually work here.”
Glenda made a slight moaning noise. “Oh, Olivia, I can’t even begin to tell you how tempting that is.”
“Will you think about it? It’s still not too late.”
“No, our minds are made up. Ariele needs to be back in New Jersey, and to tell you the truth, I miss my friends and family. The cost of this…” she waved her arms, “is much too great.”
Olivia nodded. “I’ll be sorry to lose you, but I can understand that. The work you’ve done here has been invaluable, and if you weren’t set on going back to New Jersey, I would ask you to at least consider working at Ames, based in the other dimension. Just something to think about for the future.”
Glenda nodded.
What about the future, though? Olivia looked around her cavernous laboratory. Much of her research seemed pointless in the face of the paranormal powers that made this kind of time travel obsolete. However, even though she’d somehow become entwined with that world, her reality was founded in the human one where this research was groundbreaking. Time was now her only limitation. She had to learn to make the best of it. Her family, as always, would come first. In addition, spending her time learning more about the paranormal world rather than focusing her funds and energy on the Portal was tempting. After all, the Portal’s purpose had long since been realized. Perhaps it was time to close it down.
“Shall we get set up?” Larry gently nudged her out of her reverie.
“Yes. Glenda, would you mind helping us? There is a lounge area over there where the rest of you can wait. It’s got a TV and a reading area. We may be a while.”
Larry ushered Glenda to a computer in the control center and typed in his access code. As he worked with her to fire up the reactor, Olivia prepped the sedatives. She added another three test tubes to the seven already lined up on the sterile steel counter and labeled them—Ella, Arizona, Harry, Kellan, Larry, Ariele, Glenda, Pierre, Olivia, Mom. She prepared the sedative mixture that Larry and she had found to be optimal in reducing the stress of the actual travel. Once she was done, she transferred the contents into IV bags and took them to the Portal antechamber where the travel chambers were located. Each metal pod would travel two people—Ella would travel with her, Arizona and Kellan, Harry and Ariele, Glenda and Pierre, and Larry with her mom. Once she’d secured the IV bags, she headed to the lounge to get everyone organized.
She stopped at the control center on the way. “Ready, Larry?”
“Yep, all set.”
“Okay, I’ll get them ready.”
She walked the kids and her mom over to the antechamber. Pierre preferred to go over to Glenda first.
“Mom, are we getting into those eggs?” Ella asked, her eyes screaming with excitement.
“We are! Just think of it as a very fast rollercoaster ride.”
“Cool! Will it take us right to Universal Studios?”
“No, but you’ll have fun. It’s just a ride,” she said, hoping that would appease Ella when they arrived back at what would look like the very same spot. “Climb in everyone.” She pointed everyone to their assigned seats. Now, for the hard part.
She started with Ella because, if Ella watched the others first, she might get too tense. Once Ella was strapped into the purple velvet-covered metal bucket seat, Olivia asked her to extend her arm into the cushioned armrest.
Ella obliged, rubbing her arm against the pillowy softness. “What’s the handle at the end for?”
Olivia grasped the handle that formed the top of the armrest with her hand and squeezed it. “It’s just to hang onto for comfort, like you would on a rollercoaster.”
“Not me! I always wave them up in the air, like this.” Ella demonstrated.
Olivia laughed. “Now, before we go, I need you to keep your arm on this armrest for me.”
“Why?”
Olivia wished that she’d sedated Ella before putting her in the pod, like she had the last time. “This ride can make you feel a bit ill. It’s very, very fast. So I am going to have to give you some medicine. The medi
cine needs to go right into your vein.” She pointed at the IV bag, which was secured in a glass chamber above Ella’s seat. The tubing fed through the seat to the armrest.
“I have to have a needle in my arm during the ride?” She gasped. “That’s not very safe!”
Olivia smiled. “No, but you’ll need to keep it in for ten minutes, until just before we take off. I’ll remove it before we’re ready to roll,” she said, tightening the tourniquet around Ella’s arm.
“Are you going to have a needle too?”
“Yes, just as soon as I am done helping the others, I am going to sit right next to you and get my medicine.” She pulled the tube and stuck the needle into Ella’s arm, flinching along with Ella as she did so. She secured the butterfly in place with surgical tape and kissed Ella’s forehead. “You okay?”
“Yes,” Ella said, rubbing the tape.
“Try not to do that,” Olivia said, pushing Ella’s fingers away from her arm. “I’m going to organize the others, then we’ll be on our way. Be right back.”
Once she’d done the kids, shutting down all their questions with a later, she did the same to Glenda and her husband. She finally walked over to Larry and her mother, who looked decidedly worried.
“Mom? What’s the matter?”
“You do realize that I died… I am dead in the other dimension? This is so very unnatural. Maybe I should stay here?”
“No, Mom. It’s not safe here.”
“Well, let’s just go to Sweden or somewhere. This seems so extreme.”
“Rupert says that it’s not safe anywhere at the moment. Not here. It’ll just be for a while.”
“I get that, Olivia, but how is this going to affect us? This jumping around in time and through dimensions comes with consequences. We’ve already seen that. Arizona is a mess, and I for one, will not subject myself to it.”
Olivia prepared to argue, but Larry cut in. “Ollie, don’t. Your mom and I talked, and although I don’t agree with her decision, it’s her choice. She has promised to go to Inez’s house right after she leaves here. If the situation becomes critical, I’m sure Inez will transport her to safety.”
