by Pam Stucky
“No,” the succinct man had said.
“Does everyone find someone here that they know?”
“Not everyone.”
“Do you have, like, a list of people or something?”
“Or something.”
“Is there anyone I know here?”
“Yes.”
“Are they coming to see me?”
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
“It is not time.”
Parallel Charlie had felt somewhat relieved at that.
“Can we get off this planet?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
The question had been met with an amused smile, and silence.
“Do you know how we can get off this planet?”
“Yes.”
“Tell me how!” The ghost man’s nonchalant demeanor had begun to seriously irritate Parallel Charlie.
The man had just smiled.
Parallel Charlie had given up. Now, he waited, sitting on a slab of stone, agitated, while Eve and Emma gabbed on with their relatives in the planet’s leisurely manner. He didn’t know why he hadn’t been affected by the planet’s lulling effect—maybe the ghost vaccine, he thought—but whatever the reason, he didn’t want to test it much longer. He had no idea at all how long they’d been there. Hours, days, weeks, months. Years. It could already be too late, for all he knew. Emma was starting to look a little less solid. Eve had a glowy look about her. Parallel Charlie periodically looked at his arm to make sure he was still all there.
The grandfather Emma was talking to was, of course, Parallel Charlie’s grandfather too, in a manner of speaking, except for the fact that on Parallel Charlie’s Earth, this grandfather was still alive. Somehow, all three of them—Emma, Parallel Charlie, and the grandfather—had known that this grandpa was Emma’s but not truly this Charlie’s. Therefore, grandfather and granddaughter had gone off to reminisce about family trips and gatherings, the peach tree in their backyard, the giant horse trough they’d used as a swimming pool when Emma was a toddler. Eve and her great aunt were talking about elevators, and Eve’s eyes glimmered with slow delight as she listened to her great aunt’s mesmerizing tales.
Parallel Charlie tried again.
“How long can we stay here?” he asked the man at the counter.
“As long as forever,” said the man.
“I mean, how long can we stay here before we can’t leave anymore? Dr. Waldo says we might not be able to leave if we stay too long.”
“This is true,” said the man.
“So how much longer do we have?”
“Time is tricky.”
Parallel Charlie wanted to punch something, but everything around him was stone. He didn’t know what was happening, or why it wasn’t happening to him, but he could tell Eve and Emma were falling under the trance of the ghost universe. If they were going to get away, they were going to have to do something. And he was going to have to take the lead.
But what to do? Parallel Charlie rubbed his eyes. He wished someone else were around to help him think. He’d never traveled around on other planets before, much less other universes. If only Ben were still with them—
“That’s it!” Parallel Charlie said out loud. “The pigeon!” For better or for worse, it might be their only chance.
He walked over to Eve, who was lost in conversation with her great aunt and barely noticed his presence. Normally Parallel Charlie wouldn’t be so rude as to go through another person’s things, but desperate times called for desperate measures. He picked up Eve’s backpack and started pulling out its contents one by one. Water, provisions, some random gadgets, and then, there it was, just the same as the one Ben had activated by mistake. The pigeon that would take them all home. Well, to Eve’s home. But it was, at the very least, preferable to this place.
Eve may not have been aware of Parallel Charlie’s actions, but Great Aunt Doethine was. She looked up at Parallel Charlie and nodded her approval, a look he understood to mean that it was, in fact, time for them to go. As he hastily tossed Eve’s possessions back in her bag, Doethine touched Eve on the shoulder and guided her attention to the young man.
Eve, seeing what Parallel Charlie held in his hand, shrugged off the sluggish feeling and shook herself to attention. “Yes. Yes, good idea, Charlie. We need to go. Where is Emma?” she said, looking around as she fought her way out of her daze.
Emma, however, was still lost in a ghostly stupor, talking warmly with her beloved grandfather, sneezing fiercely on occasion but not seeming to notice. Parallel Charlie pulled Emma up to her feet, lifting under her shoulders. He could tell they needed to act quickly. The grandfather did not seem perturbed, either, but Parallel Charlie did not want to somehow incite a ghost riot. He linked elbows with Eve to his left and Emma to his right, squeezing tight with his arms but keeping his hands free to operate the pigeon. The glaze settling back over Eve’s eyes told him she was quickly losing her focus again. Emma, too, was slipping. Parallel Charlie pushed the critical button on the pigeon, but in the split second before he did so, Emma sneezed and involuntarily let go of his arm.
chapter twelve
Parallel Charlie sat up, discombobulated and dazed. Where was he? What had happened? He heard warbly, distorted voices in the distance. He felt groggy … was the ghost universe finally getting to him? No, no, it was coming back to him. The pigeon. There was a pigeon … and Eve … and Emma. He rubbed his eyes and looked around. There was Eve, lying next to him, still knocked out. But where was Emma?
“Eve!” he cried, shaking the young woman on the floor. “Eve, wake up! Where’s Emma?”
Eve rolled slowly to her side, putting a hand to her eyes to shield them from the bright overhead light. “It’s okay! It’s okay! He’s okay!” she called out suddenly.
“What’s okay? Who’s okay? Eve, where’s Emma?” said Parallel Charlie, confused and growing more concerned.
“No, I’m talking to them,” Eve said, pointing weakly at the space beyond the glaring pool of light around them.
Parallel Charlie finally took note of their surroundings. He and Eve were on a raised circular platform in the middle of a room. The platform measured about eight feet in diameter, and was surrounded from base to the ceiling by a thick Plexiglas-like cylinder. He did not know where they were, but he knew this: they were trapped.
Outside the clear barrier, a dozen or more uniformed people stood staring at them, watching them intently.
“Eve,” Parallel Charlie whispered. “Eve, where are we?”
She sat up and waved at the uniformed people. “We’re on my planet. We’re on Lero. You used my pigeon. That pigeon is programmed to bring people here, to this platform, inside this enclosure, so they can’t escape. It’s meant for Vik. We’re in our version of a police station.” She smiled. “You brought us to jail. But you brought us home. Good thinking.” She looked around and her brows furrowed. “Wait. Where’s Emma?”
“That’s what I asked you. Where’s Emma?” But Parallel Charlie feared he knew the answer. “I think … I think she sneezed right when I pushed the button and she let go of me. I think … she might still be back on the ghost planet.”
Eve crumpled back to the ground. Outside the container, people murmured and moved about, but their words were indistinct.
“No,” said Eve. “No. This is not how it’s supposed to be.”
A voice came through the barrier from speakers in the ceiling. “Eve,” said the voice. “Eve, is this Vik with you?”
Eve looked up at the speakers. “No, this is not Vik. This is Charlie. Charlie, meet my people. People, meet Charlie.”
Parallel Charlie looked around and found a man at a desk, speaking into a microphone. He guessed that must be the person addressing them. His suspicion was confirmed when the voice came through again as the man’s lips moved. Forcing a toothy grin, Parallel Charlie waved at the man.
“Are you sure, Eve? He’s not trying to get you to trick us?”
Eve stood up. “Positive.” She called out to the people in the room, “Can you let us out? We’ve been in the ghost universe. I have no idea how long we were there. I’m a little hungry and a lot tired.”
The clear cylinder rose silently into the ceiling, high enough for them to get out. Eve stepped down from the platform, and Parallel Charlie followed. The uniformed man who had been speaking through the microphone came to meet them. “Your friend, Ben, he’s here too. Got here a couple days ago.”
“Ben? He’s here? Oh, thank goodness.” Eve’s voice was filled with relief.
“Yeah. We weren’t sure what to do with the kid so we’ve been housing him at the station for the time being. I’ll have someone get him while we find something for you kids to eat. And,” he added, looking critically at the haggard state of their attire, “maybe a shower and a change into clean clothes.”
Eve nodded her consent. Parallel Charlie was wide-eyed with curiosity. “So this is Lero,” he said, his mouth gaping. “It’s like both ancient and future Earth.” The secure cylinder they’d landed inside was sleek and modern, but the room that housed it was distinctly rustic. The room seemed to be burrowed out of the ground; the walls were reminiscent of the dirt and stone caves they’d holed up in on the planet with the plassensnares, or the homes he’d heard about in the outback in the country of Australis back on his own planet, where people built homes underground in an effort to escape the blistering heat. The chiseled walls gave a cozy, secure feeling to the room, but the furniture and various technology—too advanced to be called computers, even—were proof of a more developed civilization.
The room itself was large, with bright lights giving off a warm sunlight-like glow, allowing the room to escape from what could have been a gloomy cavern feel. The perfectly vertical, somewhat rust-colored walls rose up and flowed into a gentle curve that joined the smooth sides to the high ceiling. Veins of a dark blue gemstone traced rivers through the face of the walls. Some openings in the walls led to hallways or further rooms; others were blocked by tightly fitting doors, hiding unknown and intriguing mysteries. There were no windows, but large screens on several walls displayed slowly rotating scenes of the Lero sky and its lush landscape, offering onlookers a serene view of the peaceful world outside. The furniture in the room somehow managed to look tidy and stylish, while also blending with the natural look of the room.
The officer led Eve and Parallel Charlie through one of the openings to a comfortable sitting area with couches covered in a forest-green fabric, and a low, round, glass-topped table. As they sat, a woman brought them a large pot filled with a hot tea-like beverage, a platter of food and some plates, and some utensils made of a silver-gray metal, perhaps titanium. The knife was recognizable as a knife. The other utensil was like a fancy spork. Parallel Charlie laughed.
“Sporks? I cross planets and universes and I get a spork?” he said to Eve, a twinkle in his eyes. He watched her for cues on the proper way to eat whatever this food was before them. A thick slice of what he supposed was some sort of meat was drizzled with a burgundy-colored sauce. The greens were clearly meant to be a salad, made of the leaves of something he didn’t recognize but which he found to be inoffensive. Mixed into the salad were a variety of nuts, seeds, and chunks of some sort of vegetable.
“Why have two utensils when you only need one?” said Eve, delighted to be reunited with the food of her homeland. She eagerly dug into the meat, slicing it and smearing it in the mysterious sauce before putting it into her mouth with a look of bliss.
Parallel Charlie decided hunger would flavor whatever he was about to eat, and dug in. “Tastes like chicken,” he said of the meat, laughing at his own humor. He nudged Eve. “Tastes like chicken? No?”
But Eve’s attention had shifted away from the food: another officer had just brought Ben into the room to meet them.
“Ben!” she said, almost dropping her plate of food in her haste to put it down, stand up, and rush over to embrace the young man in a tight hug. “Oh, Ben! I was worried for you! You’re alive! We haven’t tested those pigeons much. Ours about knocked us out. I’m relieved to see you in one piece! Did it hurt when you transported?”
Ben hugged Eve back and gave her a kiss on the forehead. “I could not be happier to see you, Eve of the Lighthouse!” he said, swinging Eve around gently. “That pigeon, that should come with a warning! I was holding it, fidgeting, I guess, nervous energy. I was a little scared, I’ll admit it. I don’t know what happened. I must have pushed a button without realizing it. Next thing I knew, I was here. They tell me I was on that platform for a couple hours before I came to.” He shook his head at the memory. “Scared me to death. I had no idea where I was or what had happened. In the time before I woke up, these officers were able to scan me to make sure I wasn’t Vik, so at least I didn’t wake up to guns in my face. Oh, man, am I glad you’re here. I am so glad you guys are here.”
“I’m so glad we found you,” said Eve, clinging tight to his arm. “Everything has been so crazy, Ben. You won’t believe what all has happened.”
“I can only imagine! Craziest days I’ve ever had, that’s for sure. Hey, where’s Emma?” asked Ben, looking around. “Bathroom? Man, those bathrooms are weird! I had to have someone explain a few things,” he laughed.
Eve and Parallel Charlie looked at each other.
“Sorry, no bathroom jokes,” said Ben. When Eve and Parallel Charlie didn’t respond, his joviality turned to concern. “What?” he asked. “What is it? What’s wrong? Where is Emma? Is she okay? She’s alive, right?”
“Ben,” said Eve, “…we don’t know.”
“You don’t know? What do you mean you don’t know?” asked Ben, looking at Parallel Charlie.
Parallel Charlie explained. “We were in the ghost universe—you know, the one Dr. Waldo said not to go to. Well, long story, but Vik got into the Hub—”
“Vik got into the Hub? Are you kidding me?” said Ben. “What happened?”
“Not kidding you. Vik got into the Hub, and Dr. Waldo gave us this thing he called ‘Dark MATTER,’ a new gadget he’s designed to travel without elevators, and, well, we ended up in the ghost universe. We don’t know what happened to Dr. Waldo or the Hub, and we haven’t been able to get back in. Turns out Emma is allergic to ghosts, though. Right when I activated the pigeon to come here, she sneezed, let go of me. We don’t know what happened.”
“Allergic to ghosts? She’s still on the ghost planet?”
“We think so,” said Eve. “We hope so.”
“You hope so? Meaning what?” asked Ben.
“Meaning if she’s not there,” said Eve, “we have no idea where to look.”
“It’s just like a hobbit planet! Hobbits! Hobbits, hobbits, hobbits!” said Parallel Charlie with delight, as he, Eve, and Ben trudged back to the elevator they hoped would reconnect them with either the Hub or one of the two Earths, so they could start to make things right again.
After Eve and Parallel Charlie had finished eating, taken showers, and changed clothes, Eve and Parallel Charlie had filled Ben in on everything—including the fact that Charlie and Parallel Charlie had switched places.
“Good ol’ Emma, figuring that out,” Ben had said, smiling. “Can’t fool her.”
Ben and Parallel Charlie had conferred and found that both Earths had produced authors by the name of John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (known on one planet as J.R.R. Tolkien and on the other as John Tolkien), and that these authors had both produced epic and phenomenally successful books about Middle Earth. Both had agreed that Eve’s planet was reminiscent of how The Shire—the hobbits’ home—might look. With rare exceptions, all buildings on this planet were burrowed into the ground. As a result, the entire landscape with a low, natural profile, barely disturbed by civilization. Rather than the concrete prevalent on Earth and, according to Eve, on Napori, pathways and roadways here were made of permeable surfaces, letting the rain soak through and helping prevent erosion.
&
nbsp; “We destroyed Napori,” said Eve, “so we’ve been more careful here. Napori is paved over, built up sky high. The planet is suffocating. We’re trying to avoid that here, but it’s not easy.”
“Where’s your house?” asked Parallel Charlie, kicking a small stone ahead of him as he walked. “You must live somewhere.”
Eve frowned. “Right now we’re living in the Hub,” she said, “which I guess makes me homeless, unless we can get back in. When we started out on this search for Vik, Dad put everything into storage and sold the house.” Tugging her jacket around her despite the fact it was not cold outside, she fell silent.
Homeless. The word struck Parallel Charlie, who hadn’t quite thought of it that way. But, he realized, if they couldn’t find a way to get him and Ben back to their own Earths, they might meet a similar fate: living out their lives on Lero. Looking around at the beautiful area, he thought it might not be so bad. But he would miss Emma. Either Emma. Preferably his own, but if not that Emma, then the other. He needed Emma around to keep him grounded.
“I really hope Dr. Waldo is alive,” said Eve, slowing to a stop. “There it is,” she said.
Ben and Parallel Charlie stopped by her side. “Where?” said Ben. Ahead of them was another low hill with a door tightly fitted in one side. “It’s a hill. I thought she found the first one in an elevator?”
“She did. Well, we call them elevators still, old Napori habit, I suppose. But they’re the opposite, really. Ground floor is at the top. They take you down into the ground instead of up a building. And technically, I suppose what Aunt Doethine found was next to an elevator, but she called it an elevator, and the name stuck.”
“But it’s a hill?” said Charlie, still confused.
“It used to be an elevator that went down to an old storage area that isn’t used anymore. It wasn’t even in use anymore when Aunt Doethine found it. Remember, the elevator portals don’t appear unless you have the key. Once we’re inside, we’ll see it. Here, the elevators are mostly in fields, though. It’s a wonder Aunt Doethine ever found this.”
