The Otherlings and the Crystal Amulet

by S V Hurn

  Dorathy said in her defense, “Well, hell, I barely said anything.”

  “Oh, yes.” Jack continued, “It’s not what you said, it’s more about how you said it. I loved how you threw the microphone at the podium when you were finished—nice touch.”

  Dorathy snorted, “Well I guess better at the podium than upside those bastards’ heads.” They broke out in laughter as they left the lobby.

  While dining on a nice meal and sharing several bottles of exquisite French wine, they made plans for the future of this extraordinary new discovery. Jack said, “The idea of bending space in order to travel through it changes everything. The way I’m hearing this is that they have discovered that the stiffness of space-time may have some dependency on the magnitude of how the acceleration and snap are manifested in a physical system. The scenario within the LHC induced a very high rate of transverse acceleration. My theory is that this stimulated the quantum vacuum in a manner that opened a worm hole. Jack felt punchy. “What it really sounds like is creating a worm hole and instantaneously being pulled through.” Jack suddenly found himself snorting in laughter. “It’s sort of like disappearing up your own asshole.”

  Dorathy was taking sip of wine when she heard that and practically blew it out of her nose. “Oh God, Jack, you’re killing me,” she chortled and wiped her mouth with her napkin.

  Jack continued, “Seriously though, can you see how big this is going to be? It’s so exciting.”

  Dorathy added, “Hope those bastards call tonight and give us the okay, because I can’t wait to get down there and start ripping into this project. Of course, I must meet with my board of directors and tell them they are out of a job after they cut a big fat check. They’re not going to like that, not one bit, but they answer to me, not the other way around. They’ll just have to get over it.”

  Alex was enjoying the conversation, listening and learning. He finally said, “So I’m guessing here, you will design around this and test it at a small scale, then get a much larger application for it later?”

  Dorathy said, “Absolutely, but I plan on designing it around a cryocapsule first. Talk about a great selling point. The cost will be exorbitant at first, but all new technology is and that never seemed to stop anyone in the past from purchasing it. Everyone wants to be the first one on the block to have something new.”

  Alex agreed and said, “I wonder who will be the first to sign up for it?”

  Dorathy replied, “Most likely some eccentric bastard who’s spending his last dime on one last adventure. But I do want to sign up for it; burial in space, forever preserved on ice.”

  Dorathy felt compelled to share her thoughts on the matter, the wine having gone to her head. “So, what if someone chooses this route for their final farewell, and they get launched out into deep space through a wormhole and end upon the other side of the universe, then an alien space craft comes by and says, ‘Hey look, what’s that out there?’ And they go over and pick up your sorry ass and revive you?”

  By this time the group were feeling the effects of the shared bottles of wine and feeling punchy from the stress of the day. Jack said jokingly in his best Martian voice, “Take me to your leader.”

  Alex cracked up. “You just spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to be frozen and shot out into deep space by means of the most current, advanced, cutting edge technology, that will change the course of the planet, so you can be brought back from the dead by an alien race and for what? So they can do an anal probe?”

  Jack and Dorathy took a moment to absorb what he had just said and to realize the scale of the insanity and even perhaps the probability of what he just described, and almost fell off their chairs in laughter. Dorathy said both as a joke and as a commentary should those events actually transpire, “That’s messed up.” Jack and Alex continued to laugh at such a possibility.

  Jack said, “You took the words right out of my mouth.”

  After a few more colorful metaphors, the group decided to call it a night. Dorathy was anxious to get back to the hotel and see if there had been a response to her offer. They strolled along the lakeside walkway and stopped to take some pictures in front of the fountain. It was brightly lit now that the sun had set. Dorathy was feeling a bit of a chill and Alex put his arm around her shoulders to keep her warm.

  When they reached the lobby, they went directly to the front desk to see if there was a message of any kind from CERN and behold there was. It read, ‘We accept your offer.’

  Dorathy was relieved. She feared she may have been too imperious, but she had drawn a line in the sand and was glad it paid off. She calmly said, “We’re in.”

  CHAPTER 10

  The next morning there was to be a brief meeting with the director of CERN and the head of the ICSU, but it didn’t quite turn out that way. Dorathy wanted to personally go down to the Large Hardon Collider, and she wanted to look at the most recent data that had been collected.

  Dorathy quietly said, “I will be spending a lot of time here in the next few years. I have dedicated a very large sum of money which you have agreed to accept on the condition that you abide by my demands; which are not up for negotiation. So, unless you have changed your minds, I advise that you cooperate.”

  It was with a feeling of triumph that Dorathy watched the two men in charge lean back in their chairs and, acting as it was a massive inconvenience, finally agreed.

  Hans Grobler had been the director of CERN for the past seventeen years and he saw the resemblance to his old friend, John, as he took Dorathy’s hand. A big Austrian man in his early sixties, he had intense blue eyes and sported the same crewcut he most likely had been wearing since he was a child. Hans finally stood and said, “All right, you have made your point. I will take you down now and you can meet the people who you will be working for . . .”

  Dorathy interjected, “With, who I will be working WITH.”

  “Yes, of course. Hans sounded put off by her persistence.

  Dorathy could not get a handle on Carmen Mallia the president of the ICSU. He was a short, dark haired, quiet man with a goatee, who had to be in his sixties as well, but showed hardly any signs of his age. He seemed to be studying her every move but said very little. When he finally did speak all he could muster, in what sounded like a Maltese accent was, “I hope that by accepting your donation we have not shot ourselves in the foot.”

  Dorathy answered him, “We have a common goal here; the advancement of this technology. My funding will get the job done and having me on board gives this project the much needed . . . ,” she felt like saying ‘kick in the ass’ but said, instead, “ . . . help to make this technology available in a timely fashion.” Carmen Mallia nodded his head in agreement for he was acquainted with the situation.

  The group was escorted to the elevator that would be taking them one hundred and seventy-five meters below the surface where the LHC resided. When the elevator glided to a halt and the doors slid open, the group was greeted by Carlo and his uncle Lucca.

  Lucca Venturini was a tall, vigorous man with an athletic, muscular build, a beautiful olive complexion and a stunningly perfect face. His wavy salt-and-pepper hair was thick and tousled and his bright blue eyes shone with a deep caring for Dorathy. Dressed to the nines in beautifully tailored slacks and shirt, he spoke with just a hint of an Italian accent. He had spent a good portion of his life in the UK at Oxford, where he had studied and later was involved in a research study.

  “Hello, Dorathy. My nephew has told me a great deal about you, and I want to thank you, first for your caring and the friendship you gave to Carlo. That is important to me and I will help and support you in any way I can.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Venturini.”

  “Please, no formalities. Lucca . . . just Lucca.” He was having a very difficult time with the decision that had been made. Dorathy was the daughter of his dearest friend. He gained solace in knowing John would have approved; nevertheless, the pain had shown in his eyes.

 
After the introductions were taken care of, they proceeded down a corridor that opened into a cavernous area filled with equipment and encompassing the location where the particle beams were being smashed at nearly the speed of light. They met with countless scientists in just about every field imaginable and with interns from across the globe.

  One of the young interns, a chatty young woman from MIT and about the same age as Athena, approached Dorathy and said, “Dr. Rosen my name is Rachel McMasters and I just want to say it’s a real pleasure to meet you. I wanted to tell you that you have been an inspiration to me and my studies. I also want to say that I read your book Read Between the Lines and I found it fascinating, a real eye opener. So far removed from your expertise and yet so precise in its presentation.”

  Dorathy was honored, first that she could inspire anyone to do well at their chosen field and then that anyone had read her book and liked it.

  “I’m very pleased to hear that, Rachel. I always hoped that the work that I have done, and the work that my father had done before me, would help pave the way for a brighter future for all of us. Now as far as my book is concerned, I wrote that when I was still trying to figure out what I wanted my major to be. I must have been about eighteen when I was doing research for a genetics class. My professor urged me to write it after a paper I had handed him—an attempt to decode our un-coded DNA. Can I ask where you found it or how you heard of it?”

  Rachel said, “Well I was just going through the library at school and came across it when I was trying to find some research material for my dissertation.” Rachel continued, “The fundamentalists I know disagree with your hypothesis, but the more radical thinkers agree that it’s incongruous to believe that much of our DNA is junk and has no real purpose. I believe there is purpose for it, and the studies being made lead a lot of people to think likewise. That it could read as a language and may well be an encryption of some sort is fascinating, to say the least. Also, your explanation for why the human race seems to be divided the way it is, not because of the differences due to cultural upbringing, social status, or the rest of it, but that there is a gene sequence that some of us have retained, while others’ sequences have degraded over the course of time and evolution . . . well it makes a person stop to consider the likelihood of your explanation when correlating it with past events in our history.”

  Dorathy responded thoughtfully to the young scientist. “I know my explanation was very broad in its description and many argued that there are myriad reasons that civilization has evolved along separate paths. As time moves on, we cannot deny that the process of evolution and natural selection is taking place before our eyes. One has to ask why, when we all are made of the same stuff, it is that some of us have evolved towards technology and moving forward towards a common goal, when others feel the need to destroy and justify it that by wrapping it up in a nice package and labeling it religion. My summary of the book is that aggression is in all of us, but some of us have been able to grow past it, while others have not. That was my theory of why.”

  Rachel smiled in agreement. “I enjoyed reading it because you basically put it all in a nutshell. Anyway, I just wanted to meet you and to tell you that I hope I have the pleasure of working with you. What you are doing is changing the world and I’m glad I’m a part of what you are trying to achieve.”

  Dorathy shook the young woman’s hand. “It was a pleasure Rachel and thank you.”

  The group moved on toward the Collider. Alex whispered in Dorathy’s ear, “You never mentioned you wrote a book. You think I can get a signed copy of it?”

  Dorathy whispered back, “It will cost you.” Alex’s smile held promise.

  Dorathy had always appreciated the Large Hadron Collider. An impressive piece of technology, with enhancements over the last fifty years that had intensified its power exponentially. With each new upgrade, the last major one only being a few months ago, scientists had been able to slowly unfold more mysteries on how the universe functioned. The fabric of space itself was becoming more transparent to those who peered closely enough into the weave of its threads.

  Dorathy and Jack were fascinated by the data collected and by the impact of what had been discovered. It all made perfect sense—it was the simplicity and the harmony of its nature that was truly captivating. The equation was of its purest form, a simple alignment of all things; truly the theory of everything coming together in a beautiful arrangement of elements.

  This indeed broke the Standard Model of physics and everything that had remained elusive came together with such clarity that the Universe suddenly made sense. Dorathy was deeply emotional to have been a part of history being made right before her eyes and said, “This truly is an extraordinary discovery, this is going to change humanity.”

  Jack agreed. “This is exactly what theoretical physicists have been searching for since the beginning of modern science.”

  Alex, a physician, compared it to the discovery and development of 3D Bioprinting and Synthetic DNA. “This seems to be equivalent to finally becoming capable of creating life from lifelessness. We have always been able to find a way. With this discovery we can now venture out beyond the stars. This is just the step that will allow us to evolve to the next level of our existence.”

  After hours of going over the latest data the group was ready to call it a day. Dorathy was given direct access to any new data coming in and was handed all current data to examine and do what she was trained to do: design and build for the purpose of using this technology. She could fabricate a spaceship capable of traveling to the far reaches of space in a fraction of the time it would have taken with current technology.

  Back in their hotel room Dorathy was standing out on the balcony overlooking Lake Geneva and thinking hard about the world they live in and the future of the human race. Alex came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her in close, and said in her ear, “Penny for your thoughts.”

  Dorathy’s gaze remained on the view. “It’s amazing to be alive during this time of realization and to be a part of the human existence. Things and life as we know it will never be the same.”

  Alex agreed. “It’s a blessing to be a part of this and it’s a blessing for me to be a part of your life. I’m looking forward to all the wonderful things that are going to happen in the not-so- distant future.”

  Dorathy turned and gave Alex a long, loving hug while yawning in his ear. “I’m exhausted, my darling, please take me to bed.” Alex scooped her up and laid her on the bed, then he settled in behind her. They instantly fell into a deep sIeep. In the wee hours of the morning they were startled awake by the hotel-room phone ringing on the bedside table. Dorathy had a sense that anyone calling this early could not be the bearer of good news. She reluctantly answered, simply saying, “Dorathy Rosen.”

  “Mom it’s me . . .” Dorathy could hear the pain in Athena’s voice.

  Dorathy sat up in the bed. “What’s wrong, what’s happened?” Alex sat up and reached over to his side of the bed to turn on the bedside light.

  “It’s Dad, there’s been a horrible incident.” Athena was trying hard to hold back the tears but was failing miserably. “He’s dead Mom. Tiffany called me a few minutes ago to tell me.”

  Dorathy was shocked. “Athena, please catch your breath, calm down honey. Tell me, baby, what’s happened to your father?” Alex watched her with concern while he patiently waited to hear where the conversation was going. Athena was sobbing out of control, and Dorathy could only make out a few words here and there. “Honey, please calm down, please. Tell me.”

  Athena gasped for air and tried slowly to communicate to Dorathy the fatal events. Clearly in a state of shock, Athena struggled to find the words, “Tiffany called, she found Dad dead in the garage under the car he was refurbishing. The ambulance came, but he had been dead for a while. Tiffany was shopping and came home to find him. They think it was a heart attack.” Athena crying and sobbing again and said, “Oh, Mom he’s gon
e, Dad’s gone.”

  Dorathy, also in shock, found herself saying, “Okay, baby, Alex and I are coming home as soon as we can get the plane ready. Is Kevin with you, baby girl?”

  Sniffing and weeping Athena said, “He’s on his way over. Mom, please come home soon.”

  “Okay, darling, we’ll be home as soon as possible.”

  Through the line, Dorathy could hear her front doorbell ring and Athena said, “Kevin’s here, I’ve got to go. I love you, Mom.”

  “Love you too, baby girl.”

  Dorathy sat on the bed in shock. “Oh God, Alex, Steve has died of an apparent heart attack. So young and so unexpected. I can’t believe what I just heard. I just talked to him last week. I know we were never on the best of terms, but . . . ,” As the initial shock wore off and the news started to sink in, Dorathy broke down in tears.

  Alex held her close and kissed her hair, offering small words of comfort. “Oh, my darling, you never know about these things.”

  Dorathy sobbed, “I cared about him, but he never really loved me. Somehow, for whatever reason, he thought I was never good enough for him. Where did I go wrong? In the end, I knew he was never going to change and that he was never going to allow me to just be me. When we split, he actually said he was never attracted to me.”

  Now Dorathy sobbed and laughed at the same time, “You know he actually said to me ‘You might turn into an incredible woman and then I’ll feel like I’d been gypped.’ I figured it was his own low self-esteem. He couldn’t stand being in my shadow. He’d try to ‘manage’ me and when I would stick up for myself, he would call me obstinate. Then he marries Tiffany with her stereotypical artificial look . . . blonde, short, skinny with no ass, big lips and big tits. The first thing that woman did was quit her job as a dental hygienist to establish a new career—shopping. I don’t know Alex, I suppose he was looking for someone who would make him feel superior, but I can’t help but think we were both to blame.”