by Stucky, Pam
“People’s loved ones?” asked Aly softly. “People who have passed on?”
Emma realized what she’d done. “Oh, but you can’t go there. I’m sorry.”
“You said you’ve been there, though? Why couldn’t I go there?” asked Aly.
“It’s dangerous, is why,” said Emma. “People who are alive and go to the ghost universe, to the ghost planets, they don’t always come back.” She looked at Aly with great seriousness. “We almost lost Dr. Waldo on a ghost planet recently. It’s dangerous.”
Aly didn’t reply. Her eyes glazed over briefly, lost in thought, lost in time.
“I mean, maybe, maybe Dr. Waldo knows more now, since he’s been there and back, and he’s always inventing things. And we have a vaccination now, too, for people who are allergic to ghosts.”
“Allergic to ghosts?” said Aly, snapping out of her reverie. “My goodness, Emma. I have so many questions. I really hate to think of you all leaving so soon.” She looked at her watch. “But, there’s no time for that now. Gesil will be here any moment.”
True to Aly’s words, in the next instant the room was filled with a gonging noise.
“That must be her,” Aly said, rising from the couch. She looked at Emma. “Are you ready?”
Emma stayed behind while Aly went to the door. Bek joined Aly, and the others came to sit with Emma, all of them bursting with nerves and adrenaline.
“I don’t know why I’m so nervous,” said Eve, fidgeting with a loose button on her shirt. “It’s not like we haven’t met people from other planets before.”
“And if she won’t help us, we’ll still find a way home,” said Ben. “Emma will think of a way.” He smiled.
Emma blushed. “We’ll all find a way together,” she said modestly, but inside she was delighted with Ben’s vote of confidence.
Muffled voices from down the hall grew nearer, and then Aly and Bek arrived in the living room with their guest. Everyone stood.
“Gesil Eendu, I’d like to introduce you to our guests, Eve, Chuck, Charlie…” began Aly, pointing at each in turn.
Gesil nodded at Eve, Chuck, and Charlie as they were introduced, her demeanor reserved but kind.
Emma was standing next to Gesil, and as Aly was about to introduce her, Gesil reached her hands out to perform the traditional hand stacking. Just as she did, Aly suddenly cried out, interrupting the introductions. “Oh my!” she said, pointing out the windows into the ocean. “Did you all see that?”
“What?” said Emma, rushing to the window and gazing out into the water.
“I couldn’t even say!” said Aly, peering intently into the darkness. “It was enormous! Well! We will have to keep an eye out to see if it comes by again! Everyone, please, have a seat.”
With admiration, Emma realized Aly’s cry had actually been a distraction to prevent Gesil from discovering Aly and Bek’s other visitors were cursed with only two arms each. Taking advantage of the distraction, Emma sat down quickly. The others all followed.
“It’s so nice to meet you, Gesil,” said Chuck, who was sitting beside Emma. “I love your books!”
Emma elbowed him in the side.
“Thank you … Chuck, is it?” said Gesil. “Which was your favorite?”
Chuck stammered. “Uh, oh, well … I mean, they’re all so good. What was your most recent one?”
“The Layers of Time,” said Gesil. “I particularly enjoyed writing that one.” A small smile spread on her thin lips.
“Yes, The Layers of Time,” said Chuck. “That was the best. Loved it!”
Discreetly, so Gesil couldn’t see, Emma stomped on Chuck’s foot.
“Ahhh!” Chuck cried out.
“What? Are you okay?” asked Gesil.
“Ahhh!” said Emma. “I think I saw it too! Did you see the thing in the ocean? That must be what Aly saw earlier! It was huge!”
Everyone turned back to the windows to look. Emma elbowed Chuck in the ribs again and shook her head. “What are you trying to do?” she whispered.
“Just trying to act natural,” Chuck whispered back. “If she’s a famous author, wouldn’t we have read at least some of her books?”
“You’re going to get us in trouble!” whispered Emma, plastering on a smile as the others returned to the conversation.
“I didn’t see anything,” said Eve, puzzled.
“Maybe it’ll float by again,” said Aly. She had caught Emma and Chuck’s exchange and was trying to pretend she wasn’t a little amused. “Strange things happen in the sea sometimes.”
“They certainly do,” said Gesil.
Bek, the consummate entertainer, broke in. “Gesil, I have to say, Chuck is right. The Layers of Time was an excellent book. Where did you get the idea for it? All your books, they’re absolutely fantastic. Creative. I envy you your imagination,” he said warmly.
Bek’s bright smile seemed to melt Gesil’s cool manner. “Thank you, Doctor,” she said. “That’s very kind. All I can say is my home inspires me. Looking out at the moon at night, walking my land, it just has a way of sparking ideas. The land takes me places I’d never imagined.”
“None of this ‘doctor’ business. Call me Bek,” said Bek. “That’s wonderful. You are lucky indeed, as are all of us who benefit from your imagination.”
As Bek spoke, Emma realized Gesil’s gaze kept shifting back to her, out of the corner of her eye. Can she tell? thought Emma. Does she know we don’t belong? Or am I just being paranoid? But Emma kept watch out of the corner of her own eye, and she was certain Gesil’s attention wandered to her more than to anyone else. To her, that is, and occasionally Ben, but mostly her.
“What are you working on now?” asked Aly. “Are you writing currently?”
“Oh yes,” said Gesil, “always writing.” Her previously furtive glances at Emma were nearing an all-out stare.
Emma flushed with fear. What was happening? Could Gesil see right through her disguise? She checked her wrist, pulling her sleeve back to make sure the bracelet was still there, supposedly doing its job of hiding her from detection. “Come on,” she whispered at the bracelet. “Work!”
Gesil was watching. On seeing the bracelet, she nodded, as though she’d seen something she’d been waiting for. “I knew it. Emma? Emma Nelson, from Earth, is that you?” she said.
chapter fourteen
Emma’s jaw dropped. She was speechless.
Charlie, of course, was not. “You know Emma?” he said, befuddled. He looked from Gesil to Emma and back again, as though doing so would give him some clue. “How do you know Emma?”
“And you,” said Gesil, ignoring Charlie and looking at Ben, “… are you … Ben?” This time, her tone was much less certain.
Ben’s astonishment matched Emma’s. He shook his head. “What? How do you know me? How do you know us?”
Emma looked at Aly and Bek. “What is this? What kind of trick is this? Did you tell her?” She felt betrayed, that these new friends had somehow turned out to be untrustworthy. What else had they told this woman? The hair on her neck stood up as her body prepared for danger. If she had to fight, she would.
But Aly was just as shocked as the rest of them. She raised up her left hands to halt Emma’s protests. “I promise you, I have no idea whatsoever,” she said. “Gesil, it seems you have us all at an advantage. How on Jovo can you possibly know these two young people? Have you been to their planet?”
“I have not,” said Gesil, studying Emma and Ben intensely, her eyes sparkling with recognition.
“But we haven’t been here before, either!” said Emma defiantly. “You can’t know us. That’s impossible!”
“Emma,” said Gesil, her smile warming, “you should know as well as anyone it is not impossible. You are the one who always told me: Everything is possible.”
The blood rushed out of Emma’s face and a chill spread over her body. Of course, it was true. Everything was possible. In the Hub, everything was possible. With all the possibilities in
all the universes, everything was possible somewhere. “Everything is possible” was certainly something she might have said. But when? How?
Bek burst out laughing. “People, this just keeps getting better and better.” He walked to the cabinet that held his favorite amber drink and poured himself a glass. “Anyone else?”
“What is that, Bek?” asked Charlie. “You keep drinking it. Is it alcohol?”
Bek tossed his head back and guffawed. “No, no!” he laughed. “It’s a juice made from fruits and roots, good for the body, sweet and strong, just like my Aly. That’s why I love it!”
Emma laughed, her tight nerves and the turmoil of the conversation making her suddenly giggle uncontrollably.
The sight of Emma laughing made Gesil look at her and smile. “It’s good to see you laugh. We didn’t have much to laugh about last time we met,” she said.
Aly put up all her hands. “Wait. I think we need some explaining here. Gesil, please. How can you possibly know Emma and Ben?”
“And do you know the rest of us, too?” asked Charlie. The look on his face revealed his confusion. How could Gesil know Emma and Ben but not know him?
“Sorry, I only know these two young ones,” said Gesil, shaking her head. “I guess I’ll need to figure out where to begin.” She paused, gathering her thoughts, folding her hands over themselves in her lap. The room was filled with quiet tension. No one spoke, nor hardly breathed. The anticipation was unbearable.
“Since I know who you are, I know there’s no reason to hide anything, really. Still, I can’t tell you everything,” Gesil continued mysteriously. “Dr. Waldo warned me about time travel and its potential consequences. There is still much to learn.”
“Dr. Waldo!” cried Emma. “You’ve met Dr. Waldo?”
“Be quiet and let her tell her story!” said Charlie, more impatient than unkind.
“Yes, I’ve met Dr. Waldo, and you, Emma,” said Gesil with a nod to Emma. She moved her gaze to Ben. “And you, too, Ben. We all met in my past … but in your future.”
Seeing that Emma was about to burst out again, Charlie clamped a hand on her mouth and kept it there. He nodded at Gesil. “Continue?” he said.
“I met you in your future,” Gesil said, addressing her words to Emma. “You were much older. I think you told me you were twenty-eight of your Earth years when we met.
Emma pried Charlie’s hand from her face. “Twenty-eight!” she said. “That’s eleven years from now!” A chill passed through her. She had no idea what would transpire over the next eleven years, but now she knew that in eleven years, she’d still be traveling the universes. Still? Or again? Would she travel that whole time? Or would she be called back for a special mission? And why was she there with Ben? Her mind overflowed with questions.
“I think that’s right. Enough older that you don’t look quite the same. But you told me the Ambassador introduced us, so when she invited me here and I saw you all, I suspected this might be our meeting. The bracelet confirmed it,” she said, gesturing toward Emma’s wrist. She paused. “Our meeting actually was a while ago, in my timeline. I’d almost forgotten.”
“How long ago?” asked Eve.
“Two of our years, maybe?” said Gesil. She laughed. “There is so much to tell. We are getting way ahead of the story. Let me go back.” She settled all her hands into a neat pile in her lap again, getting her body organized as well as her mind. “I am a wanderer, and a curious soul. Before I bought the land I now own, I, like so many others, used to go there to walk, or to sit and write, or to think. It’s an area that is charged with energy. Everyone feels it. No one really knows why, I don’t think, but when you’re there, you can tell there’s a powerful force in the air. Rather, you might not know exactly what you’re feeling, but you know you feel something. Some don’t like it; it can be unsettling. It’s like walking into a question. Not everyone likes that. But me, like I said, I’m curious. The feeling energized me and excited me.
“One day, I was feeling particularly fidgety. I’d already been wandering a lot that day. Earlier in the morning, I’d been down to the beach, picking up stones.” She pulled a necklace out from under the collar of her shirt. At the end of it was secured a small gray stone, encircled by a narrow but unbroken band of pure white.
“A wishing rock!” said Charlie.
“A Universe Key,” said Kata, softly.
Without thinking, Emma pulled her own wishing rock necklace out from under the collar of her shirt. “We all have them,” she said, half to herself.
“I had no idea at the time, of course, that there was anything special about this rock. Something compelled me to pick it up, take it with me. Or maybe nothing compelled me to. Maybe it was pure coincidence.”
“There are no coincidences,” said Emma, repeating the words of a woman she’d met on a ghost planet that summer. “You were supposed to find it. The universes wanted you to find it.”
“Maybe so,” said Gesil. “You told me that before. I’m not sure I believe there are no coincidences. It doesn’t matter, though. I found the Universe Key, or wishing rock, or whatever you call it, and I had it in my pocket. Still restless after going to the beach, I then went to the park that is now my land, and walked around. Aimlessly. Driven, I suppose some might say, by a greater force.”
Emma desperately wanted to see the land Gesil was talking about, so she could envision it in her own mind. She tried to piece together some of the images Bek had shown them in the photographs, to imagine what this park would be like.
“Sometimes there would be dozens of people at the park, sometimes just a few. On this day, I was one of the only ones there. It was a work day, and late morning, so I suppose most people were off doing their jobs. As a writer, I have the luxury of a more flexible schedule,” she said, “and on days when I get restless, I like to walk. It helps me write.”
Emma shifted in her seat, trying to keep herself from telling Gesil to hurry up and get to the point. How had they met? How, in all the universes, had they come to encounter this same person twice? Regardless of what Gesil thought, in Emma’s mind, there certainly were no coincidences.
“So you were at the park?” said Emma, guiding Gesil to continue.
Gesil smiled a small amused smile. “Yes, I was at the park, walking. You have Universe Keys, so you can guess what happened. I had the stone in my pocket, and I was absentmindedly rubbing it between my fingers.”
“Do your coats have pockets for all your hands?” asked Chuck. “Four pockets?”
“Chuck!” said Emma sharply. “Is that really relevant right now?”
Chuck scowled at Emma’s scolding. “What? I’m curious, too! If I don’t ask now, I might never find out!”
“Infuriating,” huffed Emma under her breath.
Gesil laughed. “I’ll show you my coat later. But yes, Chuck, our clothes have pockets for all our hands. That’s an excellent question. I hadn’t really thought much about alien clothing before. That’s wonderful. Thank you.” Her mind trailed off momentarily on another thread, but she brought it back to the matter at hand.
“Anyway,” she continued, “I was walking along, hands and stone in pockets, and suddenly, I felt a vibration in the air. You know exactly what I mean.”
“Yes,” said Eve. They’d all felt it many times.
“Something was happening, somewhere. I had no idea what. But we have a saying on Jovo, ‘Curious minds find hidden doors.’ How apt that was in this situation! So on point, it makes one wonder if the first person who said it hundreds of years ago had the same experience with a Key and an elevator.”
“You found an elevator!” said Charlie.
“Of course she found an elevator,” said Emma, exasperated at all the interruptions. “Have you not been paying attention?”
Bek burst out laughing. “Aly,” he said, “No offense to you about our wedding day or the birth of our children, but I do believe this is one of the best days of my life. I am enjoying this very much!” He
got up and poured himself another glass of his favorite fruit juice, then brought a tray with the decanter and some glasses back to the group, setting it down for others to serve themselves.
“Thank you,” said Gesil. “I’m not used to talking so much anymore. My mouth is a bit dry.” She poured herself a glass and took a long sip, her face infused with pleasure. “This is the best, Dr. Aantu. You have excellent taste.”
“Call me Bek!” insisted Bek. “And I will take that as a high compliment. At the market, I’ve heard stories that you are quite a connoisseur of flavors.”
“The park?” said Emma, who was not in any way interested in the flavor of the fruit juice. “The Key? The vibration?”
Gesil laughed. “Emma, if you could only see yourself in eleven years. You are much more patient in the future!”
Emma blushed. She didn’t like being thought of as impatient, but the interruptions were getting ridiculous.
“I’ll continue,” said Gesil, seeing Emma’s discomfort. “I know, you’re eager to hear. I would be, too. All right, yes, Charlie, you’re correct. I found what you call an elevator. Of course I didn’t call it that, and I still don’t. I call it a portal. I do remember Emma and Ben calling it an elevator, though, because I know at the time it confused me. You told me you’d explain later why you call it that, but we were rather busy not getting killed.”
“Not getting killed?” said Emma. “Why? Where were we? What was happening?”
“Patience, Emma,” said Gesil. “Stories must be told in order or they won’t make sense.”
You’re the one who started telling it out of order, thought Emma, frowning inside her mind, telling me we were trying not to get killed. But she said nothing and waited. She poured herself a glass of the juice to give herself something to do.
“I found an elevator, or a portal,” continued Gesil. “I was walking along, and suddenly the air shifted and shimmered, and the scene in front of me changed in a way I would not have believed had I not seen it. An open door. A room. As it was, I stood and blinked for a good while … well, you’ve been there. You know what it’s like.”
