“I don’t want to be rude, so allow me to introduce myself – I’m Aldo Paganini, a Physics Professor at the University of Washington. This man you met earlier is my new friend, Danny Donaldson.”
Danny extended out his hand to shake the guardian’s hand. He said, “Last time, I just plain forgot to introduce myself. I’m sorry for the oversight.”
“Not to worry,” said the guardian.
“I’m very curious, but could you please tell us your name?” asked Danny politely.
“Certainly – my name is Bill Thomas. I’m originally from New York.”
“So, you’re not some sort of divine entity, like a holy spirit of some sort?” asked Danny.
“No - of course, not – I was once just a reckless, young man who was struck by a bolt of lightning while I was riding a new contraption called a ‘roller coaster’ at Coney Island. I really don’t know what happened, but I accidentally came here through one of these tunnels. It’s been so long ago, I don’t even remember which tunnel I came from. Could you please tell me what year it is on Earth? The last I remember, it was 1890.”
“Gee, I guess time really does stand still in here,” said Aldo. “Back on Earth, the year is 2016, so you must have been here about 126 years.”
“Oh boy, I’m sure all my friends and family must have died ages ago. What a shame.”
“Say, Mr. Thomas, why don’t you come with us?” suggested Danny enthusiastically. “We’re going back down the tunnel I originally came from. I ended up in a lot of legal trouble in the other dimension.”
“I told you to stay out of trouble,” said Bill, the guardian. “It’s very easy to create a paradox.”
“Danny’s right – Bill, you should come with us,” said Aldo, “There’s no reason for you to stay here.”
“Believe me – I would have left ages ago if only I could, but every time I try to leave, the tunnel immediately repels me. It automatically spews me back into this central black hole. Neither one of the tunnels will allow me to pass through. It really frustrates me on those rare occasions when a straggler somehow accidentally finds his way over here, and then passes onto the next dimension without a hitch.”
After pausing momentarily to let out a heavy sigh the guardian continued, “Over the past century I’ve come to learn much more about the ions of luck. I reached the conclusion that when I miraculously survived the roller coaster incident in one world, my unluckier counterpart in a parallel universe must have died on the spot. I can tell throughout my childhood that I was always the ‘born-lucky’ type. Thus, I believe that my unlucky alter-ego must have died as a result of the roller coaster accident in his world. Each time I try to enter either wormhole tunnel I cause an immediate, imbalance in nature’s ions of luck. The same thing happens regardless of which tunnel I choose. That’s how I ended up being stuck in here. I’d like to leave, but the laws of physics prevent me from doing so.”
“I’m very sorry to hear that,” said a sympathetic Danny.
“OK, Danny – unfortunately, we have our own dilemma. We just fled a calamity in my world, and now we face the likely prospect of ending up freezing to death at either the north-pole or the south-pole, since I doubt that we’d be lucky enough to have a rouge bolt of lightning causing a magnetic aberration at a civilized destination. So, are you ready to take your chances, Danny? Are you feeling lucky today?”
“That’s not a funny choice of words at all, Aldo. You know I’ve never been lucky, but we really don’t have any other choice other than to take our chances. I don’t want to live without my sweetheart, Jessica, and I certainly don’t want to be imprisoned here until the end of time, so I guess I’m ready to go now, Aldo – and I’m sorry you can’t come with us, Mr. Thomas.”
“That makes two of us,” replied the guardian, Bill Thomas, with a look of sadness in his eye. “I hope the ions of luck will bless you with a safe journey to your destination.”
Aldo and Danny took turns embracing Bill and they both wished ‘good luck’.
“Don’t worry about me,” said Bill, “I’m safe here, but there is great danger ahead for both of you on your perilous journey”.
Danny and Aldo knew that Bill was right, but they also knew that they had no other alternative. Thus, right after they bade ‘farewell’ to the guardian, Danny and Aldo leapt headfirst into the wormhole tunnel at the opposite end of the central black hole…
The trip back to Danny’s dimension was essentially identical to their trip away from Aldo’s world, although this time scary thoughts of freezing to death permeated both Danny and Aldo’s minds. They both feared the prospect of ending up on some frozen iceberg in the middle of the Arctic Ocean, or perhaps ending up somewhere in the frigid wasteland of Antarctica.
After an unknown period of time, Danny and Aldo both crashed into each other in a dark, tiny room. The room was very tight – barely large enough for both of them to fit into. When Aldo’s eyes adjusted to the dark surroundings, he made an astonishing discovery…
“Danny, are you sure we didn’t get confused and accidentally return down the same tunnel we came from?”
“Gee, Aldo, I’m pretty sure we went down the tunnel on the opposite end of the black hole, but now you’ve got me scared. This place seems identical to your communication chamber.”
“Oh, God no – I’m so sorry, Danny, but I’m afraid that we really screwed up badly this time.”
Aldo carefully squeezed past his familiar-looking equipment inside the black, communication chamber. He peered out the small window in the door. There was no one in sight. Aldo said, “We seem to be alone. Let me see if I can turn on the power once again, so we can return to the central black hole.”
However, it seemed strange to Aldo that everything was bone dry. The sprinkler system had not gone off any time recently, and he saw stacks of research notes still sitting on shelves.
“What’s going on, Danny – I know I burned up all my notes right before we left.”
Danny and Aldo both felt their hearts skip a beat when, all of a sudden, the lab door opened. In walked two guys. Aldo was completely taken by surprise when he looked up at the first guy and saw that it was his old friend, David Dawson, but before he could utter a sound, he saw that the guy following behind him was another, identical-looking man.
“My God, it’s great to see you again, David. I presume this must be your alter-ego – the other David Dawson from another dimension.”
Danny just stared at the ‘twins’ with his mouth open in amazement. He was still grateful for the good fortune that they seemed to be back in Seattle – his original Seattle – and not in some frozen wasteland.
“Aldo, I’m so glad to see you again,” said one of the guys. He pointed to the top of the communication chamber’s door…
“I copied your invention down to the last detail. The only thing I added was the name at the top, ‘The Paganini Communication Chamber’. I’m glad to see you made it over here from the parallel universe. By the way, who is your companion? I’m curious, why does he look so much like us?”
“Hi – I’m Danny Donaldson. I got in a paradox sort of situation, and Aldo asked me to assume your identity. Here, I still have your wallet. I’m sorry, but I charged a hotel room to one of your credit cards.”
“I’m pleased to meet you, Danny – and don’t worry about the credit card bill. I don’t think the bank can mess up my credit score from another world.”
A confused looking Aldo looked at the two ‘twins’, and then he addressed the guy who just took his wallet back from Danny, “I guess you must be my original friend from our other world, and the guy to your left is your alter-ego from Danny’s original world.”
“That is correct. To avoid confusion, I’m now calling myself ‘Dave’, since I’m the visitor and David is in his original world. It turns out my ‘brother’ also studied physics, and we are both working together now as a research team. We’d be honored to have you join us. We were able to impress the dean enough to g
et a contract to continue with our research. Naturally, we tell everyone around that we happen to be twin brothers, since the truth is a bit far-fetched sounding to the average person. We live in a house off-campus, and we invite you and your friend, Danny, to stay with us.
“Thank you for the hospitality, Dave – and David too,” replied Aldo. “I can’t wait to hear your story about your inter-dimensional travel…”
17
Before breakfast, Danny had already shaved his beard off. Now, he looked more like his old self once again. A long, hot shower felt like a cleansing away of all the stresses of the other world. Also, the bullet wound in his leg was healing up nicely.
The foursome went to the campus lab and they spent all day exchanging stories and information. David had only been given second-hand information about Aldo’s research from his alter-ego, Dave. David was now the only member of the quartet of friends who had never experienced inter-dimensional travel, so he was very eager to ask his new mentor a myriad of questions.
Most of the conversation throughout the day was far too technical in nature for Danny to comprehend, so he found himself reflecting on the wondrous night he spent with Jessica at the hotel in another world. Danny also became increasingly curious to try to visit the original Jessica Hart – the girl from next door to his parents’ house. She was the first love of his life.
At the conclusion of the day at the lab, Danny asked, “Aldo – is there was any way we could borrow a car for the evening? I’m curious to stop by my old, cheap apartment, and much more importantly, I want to knock on Mrs. Hart’s door to get any information she might have concerning Jessica’s whereabouts.”
Before Aldo could reply, David pulled out his car keys and generously offered, “Guys – why don’t you just take my car? I don’t mind you borrowing it at all.”
Aldo and Danny both thanked David as they drove off in David’s Hyundai.
“Where are we going first?” asked Aldo as he climbed into the driver’s seat.
“First, I’d like to swing by my cheap, old apartment. If they haven’t officially evicted me yet, maybe I can possibly regain a few of my old, personal belongings.”
However, when Aldo pulled up in front of the older, somewhat rundown-looking building, Danny quickly spotted a sign in his ground-floor, apartment window. It read, “Studio apartment for rent. Contact apartment manager for details.”
“Oh, never mind,” said a perturbed Danny. “I didn’t own anything of any real value. I was just hoping to get a few extra items of clothing for myself. Aldo, could you please drive me over to the Hart residence in Lynnwood? Just take highway 99 north, and I’ll give you the directions.”
When they drove down the street where he lived during his childhood years, Danny quickly recognized Mrs. Hart’s old Buick parked in the driveway. He pointed over to the modest house next door and said, “I grew up in that house over there, but both of my parents are already long gone. However, I can tell that Jessica’s parents are still living here – and they seem to be home. I hope they can give me an update on their daughter, my beloved Jessica.”
“I wish you the best, Danny, but I think I’ll just wait out here in the car. They’ll prefer to talk to you without a stranger hanging around.”
“Thanks – you’re probably right,” said Danny as he felt the palms of his hands becoming sweaty and clammy.
Danny got out of the car and headed towards the front door. He gazed over at his old, upstairs, bedroom window. Danny reminisced about the times he spied on the beautiful Jessica while she sunbathed in her backyard. However, when he noticed a large, flowered wreath hanging on the front door, he wondered if someone had recently died. Nervously, he rang the doorbell…
The door opened, and Danny instantly recognized the aging Mrs. Hart – it had been almost a decade since he had seen her. He enthusiastically said, “Hi, Mrs. Hart. You might not recognize me at first. I was the crippled kid in a wheelchair who used to live right next door to you.”
“Oh my, of course I recognize you – you’re Danny Donaldson. I remember you had a terrible fall from a ski lift, and you ended up in a wheelchair. I can’t believe you’re able to walk again. It must be some kind of miracle.”
“Yes, Mrs. Hart, one could certainly say it was a miracle – and, yes – I certainly have much to be grateful for. I was in the neighborhood, and I just couldn’t resist stopping by to see how Jessica’s doing. She hasn’t seen me walking around since I was seventeen. Can you please tell me, where might I find her?”
Mrs. Hart’s initial excitement was replaced by instant gloom. Tears welled up in her eyes as she said, “We just held funeral services for Jessica last Saturday.”
It suddenly occurred to Danny that the wreath of flowers signified the passing of Jessica Hart.
A choked up Danny asked, “I’m terribly sorry to hear that, Mrs. Hart. Could you possibly tell me what happened to her?”
After pausing to wipe away some tears, Mrs. Hart said, “My dear, Jessica, killed herself. She shot herself a couple weeks ago. She was engaged to a philandering playboy who cheated on her. She tragically used a handgun she kept in her bedroom drawer, and ended her life.”
Danny felt the world caving in on him, but somehow the news he received made perfect sense to him... While he was busily preventing Jessica’s alter-ego from committing suicide in Aldo’s world, his original love – Jessica Sweet Hart from next door – was performing an identical act in her own world. Of course Danny wasn’t going to tell the grieving, Mrs. Hart about the unbelievable journey he had just experienced, so he just gave her his condolences followed by a warm hug before leaving.
When Danny returned to the car Aldo asked, “Why do have such a sad face? You look as though someone just died.”
A tearful Danny said, “I can’t believe it – but just as I was rescuing Jessica from suicide in your world, my original Jessica was committing suicide in this world. Even her method of suicide was identical – shooting herself with a handgun.”
“Oh dear – I’m terribly sorry to hear that awful news. I must say that I find it utterly amazing how intertwined the two parallel universes are. I’d be curious to see if my mother, Cecilia Paganini, was also struck by lightning when I was a young, sixteen year old boy. I wouldn’t be surprised if she suffered an identical fate at the exact same moment in time.”
Danny was too overcome with grief to respond. He wiped away a tear from his eye as he looked over at Aldo, and nodded in agreement…
Over the course of the next month, the scientific team of Aldo, Dave, and David made great strides in improving the functionality of the communication chamber.
“As you all know, this communication chamber never accomplished what it was originally intended for.” explained Aldo to his colleagues. “My original intention was to develop a means of communicate with souls from the spirit world. Specifically, I wanted to communicate with my dearly departed Mama Cecelia. On the other hand, by accident I stumbled into an amazing method to travel inter-dimensionally between two parallel universes. Thus, I feel like I sort of opened up ‘Pandora’s Box’ – in the sense that we can use it for traveling between dimensions. I suggest we change the name of this contraption from, Communication Chamber, to: Inter-dimensional Teleporter.”
“I agree, but it would sound better if we call it, ‘The Paganini Inter-dimensional Teleporter’,” replied Dave. “We should also look into obtaining patent rights to it. After all, you deserve to become recognized among the great explorers throughout history like Columbus, Magellan, Marco Polo, and Neil Armstrong. Now we can now add the name, Aldo Paganini, to that exclusive list. You deserve full credit for your endeavors.”
The latest engineering advancement they had invented was to find a way to keep the wormhole tunnel connected to their teleporter for lengthy periods of time, without the risk of overheating the electro-magnetic coils. This apparatus could literally become the gateway to the parallel universe, but before they could announce their great in
vention to the world, they would need to send at least one of their team back to the other universe to make the modifications necessary to Aldo’s original communication chamber to serve as a receiver.
Danny quickly volunteered, “I’ll go – in fact, I insist on it. The Jessica Hart I grew up with is no longer alive, and the other Jessica, the one who loves me, is in danger of facing a very lengthy jail sentence. I need to return to rescue her.”
“Danny, I need to remind you that the power to the communication chamber we left behind is most certainly turned off. Even if someone happened to flip on the power switch, the electro-magnetic coils would have overheated and melted down in less than an hour. Whoever travels back down the wormhole tunnel to the other world is most likely going to end up in a frigid environment at either the north-pole or the south-pole. A return trip would be suicidal.”
“Well, then Í guess I’d better dress warmly,” said Danny sarcastically, “but I’d rather die trying to help my beloved Jessica than to live a hundred years without her in my life.”
“OK, Danny,” said Aldo, “I can see you’ve already made up your mind, but I still need one of us scientists to go with you to modify the machine. I certainly don’t wish to go, since even if I somehow survive the freezing weather, I’m wanted by the police.”
“I’ll gladly go,” said David. “I’m the only one of us who hasn’t had the opportunity to experience the ultimate journey. I’m jealous of all of you, so let me satisfy my curiosity.”
“Well, in that case – here, take my wallet,” said Dave. “You’ll need it more than I will. We’ll just let you be our ‘other universe correspondent’.”
“There’s one more little thing I want to do when we go,” said Danny as he stood up to address the team. “I feel terribly sorry for the old guardian, Bill Thomas, who is confined to the black hole for what truly must feel like an eternity. I’d like to help him escape back to our world.”
Ions Of Luck Page 13
