Fiction River

by Fiction River

  I barreled my way into Dad’s FTL lab. After the pristine orderliness of the rest of the station, it was a jarring mess with its piles of circuit boards and whatnot. The views of planet Earth through the windows were amazingly beautiful as usual, but I didn’t let them distract me. I was on a mission.

  “Wow, Emma,” Dad said. “I’ve seen a lot of you in the last few months.” He grinned. “I bet you’re looking for Noah.”

  Yes, totally. I was determined to kiss the super-cute boy in question. “No,” I said. “Of course not.”

  He chuckled. Dads were a little annoying the way they thought they knew everything about their daughters. “He’s due any minute if you want to wait.”

  Dad pointed at the stool next to him.

  I sat.

  “But, I hope you’re being careful,” he said. “He is older than you.”

  Good grief. “Only a year! Besides, I just came in to see how the FTL drive is coming along.”

  “Oh, really?” Dad raised his eyebrows way up high into his forehead like he did when he was humoring me.

  Annoying.

  “Yes. FTL drive. I’m interested.” At least when Noah talked about it it was interesting. The jury was still out on when Dad talked about it.

  “You know, you could become an apprentice, like Noah, if you wanted,” Dad said. “He started when he was the age you are now and he’s learned a lot in the last year or so.”

  Dad had mentioned this apprentice business before.

  “Could I go on the test flight with you guys?” Maybe there’d be a dark corner in the FTL ship where Noah and I could steal a kiss.

  Ooh, even better: maybe we could kiss in a dark corner of the FTL ship today.

  “Well, no. It’s too dangerous.” Dad looked at me. “So?”

  “What?” I was still thinking about kissing.

  “Do you want to become an apprentice?”

  Right. “I’m still pondering it.”

  I was still waiting for Noah.

  We sat there for a few minutes not saying anything. Awkward.

  “So,” I said. “Can you explain how the drive works again? It’s something to do with probabilities?”

  “Yes.” Dad grinned. He loved talking science. He was such a geek. But, it was kind of sweet, too, how he got so excited about it. “It’s based on quantum entanglement...”

  He trailed off like he did when he used to tutor me in calculus when I was little and wanted me to finish the problem on my own.

  “Spooky action at a distance,” I said. “Yeah. You mentioned that before. I don’t totally get that.”

  “I’m not surprised.” He grinned again.

  I felt the corners of my lips tug up. His good humor was practically contagious. I determinedly pressed my lips into a thin line.

  “Continue,” I said like I wasn’t that interested.

  “Albert Einstein and his colleagues came up with the idea. It’s a physical phenomenon in which quantum mechanics requires entangled things to travel faster than the speed of light.”

  “Requires it?” I didn’t remember that.

  “Yes.” He nodded. “It’s instantaneous.”

  “So, the idea is you’re going to entangle the ship and make it travel instantly across the solar system?”

  “Yes. In the test flight. Which is coming up!” He patted my knee in excitement. Like I said, annoying. “Eventually, we should be able to travel across the universe.”

  That did sound sort of dangerous. I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted Noah—or even Dad, for that matter—doing that. “But how does it work?”

  “Excellent question. It’s all based on quantum mechanics,” Dad said. “Physicists, like me...” I just barely managed to avoid rolling my eyes. Dad loved telling people he was a physicist. “... know everything can be represented by wavefunctions, and every wavefunction has a probability. Some lovely math, specifically gauge theory, shows every probability could happen.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t get it. Every probability doesn’t happen.” For instance, Noah wasn’t here. I was stuck with Dad.

  “Ah!” He held up his finger. Not the finger hold-up. You’d think he was some kind of magician or something. “You’re right. One possibility is picked out when the wavefunctions collapse and one reality is instantiated.”

  “Instantiated means comes true?” All of Dad’s so-called explanations seemed to call for more questions. “And how does that happen?”

  “Well...That’s less clear.” He seemed to be gathering his thoughts. “Some people say a conscious mind is necessary to pick out the probability and create the reality.”

  Hold it. “Create reality? It sounds like you’re saying a mind, a person, thinks about it and makes it come true!”

  Maybe Dad was a magician, a physics magician.

  “It all has to do with a lot of complicated math and observing the quantum wavefunction, and, uh...”

  “It sounds like you’re saying a person can wish something and make it come true!” I held up my finger now. Ha, take that Dad! “It’s like you’re going to wish you’re across the solar system and then you will be!”

  “Er, no,” he said. “I wouldn’t say it’s wishing, per se. It’s more complicated than that. It’s physics.”

  “I wish Noah was here right now!” I said.

  “Your wish is my command,” Noah said from right behind us.

  Dad and I both jumped.

  Noah snickered. “Relax. I just walked in.” He grinned at me. He had an amazing grin. Were his eyes twinkling? “Hi, Emma. It’s really nice to see you.”

  “Hi, er, Noah.” I felt my face get hot. “It’s really nice to, uh, see you, too.”

  “I’ll leave you two alone for a few minutes.” Dad got up. “Don’t forget to do some work today, Noah.”

  I lost myself in Noah’s eyes...until the safety drill alarm blared. Talk about bad timing.

  “Safety drill!” Dad said. “Get to a spacesuit. Make sure it has a repair kit on the belt.”

  Good grief! “I know, Dad!” What, did he think I was a little kid? “We’ve had, like, a million low-oxygen drills.” And we’d never even had a low-o-two accident on the station.

  “Come on, Emma.” Noah actually grabbed my hand and we ran to the suits together. Wow.

  Unfortunately, the rest of the drill was totally uneventful. Afterward, Noah said he had to do some work. Darn it. I’m cursed.

  I couldn’t believe I still hadn’t been kissed. It was mortifying.

  A few days later, I was surprisingly nervous as I stood next to the ship. Dad and Noah and the rest of the crew were about to take the maiden voyage of the FTL ship The Olivia. Dad had named the ship after Mom. She died when I was little. I didn’t remember her very well, but it still made my heart swell to see her name on the ship. I bet she would be proud of Dad.

  Noah looked really handsome standing there in his uniform.

  They’d made a ton of speeches, too many. Some eye rolling may have occurred on my part. It was finally time for them to get in and go.

  At the last minute, Dad darted out of the procession and ran over and hugged me. “I love you, Emma.”

  He kissed my cheek.

  I felt my eyes fill as he practically crushed me in his arms. His chest felt warm against my cheek. He smelled like Dad. He smelled like home.

  “Me, too, Dad,” I whispered.

  He released me, stared into my face for a moment, and then darted back to the ship.

  In the hatch, Noah stared at me and waved.

  I got a lump in my throat as I waved back.

  They’d be fine. Totally fine.

  They had to be fine.

  They counted down until it was, “Five. Four. Three. Two. One.”

  The ship disappeared.

  The crowd cheered.

  Somehow, I didn’t feel like cheering.

  The afternoon in the FTL lab dragged on and on without Noah there. I knew Dad’s boss, Dr. Martinez, was trying to be n
ice, letting me watch what happened. I didn’t feel like I could leave without hurting her feelings.

  I’d heard all the messages we’d received from them using the speed-of-light communications.

  The FTL drive worked great. Of course it did, Noah worked on it.

  And, okay, my Dad was pretty good, too. Honestly, he was pretty awesome. It was funny how I appreciated him so much more when he wasn’t here.

  They were collecting data on Jupiter and its moons. Yeah, yeah. Dad must have been in seventh heaven messing around with a bunch of data. And, no doubt, I’d have to hear all about it in detail, multiple times, when they got back.

  We couldn’t hold a conversation with them because of the thirty-five minute lag for the messages to get from Earth orbit to Jupiter or vice versa. It was annoying. I wouldn’t have minded conversing with them.

  As dinnertime approached, though, I started getting nervous. They were due back any time. I was ready for them to get back.

  “So where are they?” I really wished they were back. Something about that thought tickled my brain.

  Dr. Martinez said, “According to the mission plan, they should be back in five, four, three, two, one.”

  We all stared at the empty spot where the ship should be.

  The empty spot remained an empty spot.

  My heart sank like it was falling down a gravity well.

  Everyone had a grim expression on their face.

  “What’s happening?” Dr. Martinez asked.

  The communications guy said, “Nothing. But if something went wrong we wouldn’t hear for thirty-five minutes.”

  We couldn’t wait thirty-five minutes. I wished this was not happening. I wished they were back. I wished...

  My idea crystallized. If The Olivia could use quantum mechanics to travel across the solar system, so could I.

  “I’m going.” I ran to the spacesuit bay and started putting one on.

  “Uh, what do you mean?” Dr. Martinez trailed after me.

  I finished closing up the suit and held the helmet over my head. “You know, I’m going to wish and collapse the wavefunction and instantiate the reality where I’m with them. And then I’m going to save them.”

  I had to save them. They were all I had.

  “I wish I was with Dad and Noah on The Olivia.”

  And then I was. I was on the bridge of The Olivia.

  The low-o-two alarm was going off. I pulled the squirt bulb out of my repair kit and sprayed the bright pink aerosol into the air. It all got sucked in the direction of an invisible hole. I ran over to the hole, grabbing a patch from the kit, and slapped it on the hole.

  After a few seconds the alarm stopped.

  I finally looked around the room.

  Dad and Noah were lying on the ground, with their heads stuck in the bottom of their suits. Before I had time to scream, they pulled their heads out and definitely looked surprised to see me.

  I took off my helmet and ran to them. “Dad!”

  I knelt down and Dad and I hugged fiercely. He gave me a big kiss on the cheek. “Emma! But how?”

  “Physics magic, also known as quantum mechanics,” I said. “I wished I was here.”

  “Am I glad to see you, Emma,” Noah said, smiling.

  I was super glad to see them, too. “Me, too.”

  Dad and Noah and I all stood up.

  “You know, guys,” I pointed at the suits on the floor. “That’s not the way you’re supposed to wear a spacesuit. Do you need some extra safety drills?”

  “I’m so glad to see you, I’m not even going to reprimand you for that smart-aleck remark,” Dad said. But his smile was as big as the solar system. Probably, mine was too.

  “Come here,” Noah said. “I want to thank you properly.”

  “Okay.” I approached him as if drawn by a black hole.

  He leaned down and pressed his lips to mine.

  Time stopped.

  It was like we were two souls joined as one.

  And I felt all tingly.

  After I don’t know how long, Dad cleared his throat.

  We separated.

  “Wow,” I whispered. I still felt tingly.

  “Wow,” Noah said.

  “I wish...I wish Mom was here to see all this,” I said.

  “If wishes were kisses, we’d all be happy,” Dad said softly, staring at the words The Olivia painted on the console.

  I felt my eyes fill.

  The bridge’s door snicked open and the rest of the crew peered in.

  “You fixed the leak!”

  “Good job!”

  “Wait, where’d Emma come from?”

  “Let’s go home,” Dad said. He pressed some switches on the console.

  And then we were home.

  Everyone cheered, including me.

  A Winged Heart

  T. Thorn Coyle

  We move from wishes as sf back to wishes as magic in T. Thorn Coyle’s story, “A Winged Heart.”

  Thorn has forgotten more about magic than most people know. She has taught magical practice in nine countries, on four continents, and in twenty-five states. Her non-fiction books include Sigil Magic for Writers, Artists & Other Creatives, and Evolutionary Witchcraft. She also writes a lot of fiction, including her amazing alternate history urban fantasy series, The Panther Chronicles. She previously appeared in two Fiction River volumes, Feel the Fear and Justice.

  Her knowledge of magic gave her the idea for this story. She writes, “I immediately recalled one of my favorite wishing spells, one that doesn’t seem to be well known. When a necklace clasp is turned to the front, the wearer gets to make a wish. That, and an image of a teen in the near future walking in the rain, became the root of the story.”

  A cascade of gray and silver oceaned from the sky. Clouds, shading dark gray to purple toward almost black, wrapped the city in a blanket of cold. The wet was expected to last the rest of the week with warnings for the homes nearest the beach whose waves Solana was certain matched the sky today, though she had been told by her foster to stay away until the rains stopped.

  Oceans were unpredictable during storms.

  She should have her forcefield up to repel the water. Her foster Michel had made sure she had a good working system, but Solana enjoyed the feel of the rain sluicing her skin, and the smell of it rising from her coat.

  Anything that she could feel like that was another sign that she was alive. She was thankful for that. She was even thankful for the pain in her right hip that never quite went away, caused by a slight limp from a knee that never fully extended itself.

  She was thankful for the new boots with thick soles, and the extra-long, forest-green coat Michel had delivered just a week ago, knowing that the rains would come, and that Solana would be out walking. And that unlike normal people, Solana would be letting herself get wet.

  Blue and white trams hummed by, casting the occasional spark. The noon. The twelve-ten. The twelve-twenty. She had credit for the trams, but Michel and the court-ordered therapist both told her she should walk at least three klicks every day. The chip in her wrist would tell them if she hadn’t.

  Despite her hip and knee, Solana liked walking, though she pretended it was burdensome, which sometimes let her out of other chores. You know, for the sake of her health and all. She knew Michel and her therapist talked about how much to “push” Solana, and how much to back away.

  She didn’t mind that, either. Much. Sometimes it was tiring, but Solana knew she had things good. The therapist was a sandal—easy to walk all over—but Michel? He was actually a good person. Stang, even.

  So Solana walked to and from her schooling sessions, and on free days like today, she walked to Main. She watched people. She composed poetry in her head, sometimes talking it into her com link to record for later, other times, repeating rhymes in her mind like an old rap-head, memorizing the schemes until she was home to tap it down.

  Turning the corner, Solana walked down the strip of bright shops
, restaurants, and the showcase rooms. Places where people could admire things in person before they debited their chips and had the packages delivered to their pads.

  It had been raining steadily enough that the usual road smells had washed away. The air was clean, with the scent of lavender and mint, and of the rain itself. Solana breathed in deeply through her nose, closing her eyes for a moment, savoring the hush and the freshness.

  Seagulls crested overhead, squalling and crying out like babies left too long alone in desolate apartments. She had a sudden craving for hot chocolate and wondered if she had enough on her chip to warrant the indulgence. She probably did. Michel was pretty stang about stuff like that.

  Yeah, definitely stang. Michel wasn’t too hard on the rules, and generous enough with sharing out the funds the gov doled out for Solana’s keep. He made sure she always had some credit on her chip, and made sure her tram cred was current, in case she was tired of walking, or had to carry something home.

  Or in case she needed to avoid her Da, now that he was out. And if he ever figured out where she lived, despite the court order.

  They didn’t listen when Solana said she wanted to see Da. Just kept repeating he was a danger to her. Like it was his fault she broke her leg and it went septic.

  Like it was his fault she almost died.

  “Out the way!” Shock slammed through Solana’s shoulder, and she bounced against the rain slick hardness of a wall.

  “Hey!” she said, old red brick scraping at her palms as she scrambled to catch herself on her complaining knee.

  Sneaks slapping on the wet walkway. Two boys jetting past. A high whirring sped toward her. The Nabber car, dim red lights flashing, streaked after the running boys. Solana crouched against the wall, trying to catch her breath. The gray world contrasted with the sharp and painful focus of her hands, and she started laughing. She laughed so hard, she could barely breathe. Gasping.

  And then she cried.

  Slumped against the bricks, rain pelting her, Solana sobbed and fought to keep the panic rising in her belly at bay. They were just boys. Probably stole something. Just boys. The pain in her hands called to her, a fresh rupture in the gray-rain world and the distance she kept from far too many things.