Zero-Point

by T J Trapp

  Stretching out in the big soft bed, Alec yawned and turned out the lights. Much better, he thought, with a sigh of satisfaction, and put his arms around Erin and started to drift off to sleep.

  “Consort?” Erin said softly.

  “Yes, my sweet.”

  “May we talk?”

  “Of course.”

  “My consort, I have noticed something.”

  What now. Maybe she is hungry. Maybe she needs another blanket. Maybe she noticed that sex does not feel as good for her, here where there is less dark energy. Maybe …

  “I have noticed … I am not the person I used to be, and I am frightened.”

  Alec became more attentive and gently rubbed her back. “You will get all of your strength back with a little work. The elves were very hard on you.”

  “That is not what is concerning me. I know my body will respond with time and return to where it should be. It is my mind.

  “I am frightened by what I have learned – about what I can do to people. Now that I have my ancestor’s memories, though my rod, my elf side has become awakened. And I have a new power – I can coerce others to do my will. And, sometimes I find that I desire to make people do things for me simply because it suits me – makes me feel better – and not for a greater good. How will I know to use this power properly? How will I keep from becoming like the elves – vile creatures who ruthlessly coerce to get what they want?” She sighed. “Maybe I should not use this power.” She fingered the rod, still hanging around her neck.

  Alec weighed his words carefully. “You have been given a great power, and all great powers balance on the cusp of good and evil. You can use it for either.” He stroked her short dark hair. “You will have to use your inborn sense of rightness to determine that you are doing right. You will be a ruler with great power, and only your own sense of rightness can limit your actions.”

  From her pillow, Erin looked into his eyes. “I could even mistreat you, my beloved consort, if you were not wearing your ring,” she lamented.

  Alec looked at his finger and slid his elf ring off and laid it on the nightstand beside the big bed. “I trust you,” he said. “You will use your sense of rightness to guide your actions. There is no better judge of that than you – of your own sense of rightness and evil.”

  “And what if I can’t be trusted to make the right choice?”

  He held her close. “My life is with you. If I cannot trust you to make the right choice, then my life will be no longer worth living.” He again stroked her hair. “You will make the right choice, my love, even when it is hard. You will make it for us, for the children, for Theland, and even for the elves. It won’t always be easy, but your sense of rightness will see us through.”

  “The children.” She sighed, trying not to cry. “I cannot sense them. I think we are too far away.”

  “I’m afraid you are right – it seems that your senses cannot penetrate the barrier between our two universes. But we will see them. We will return home. I will figure out a way to make that transporter work.”

  Erin rolled over and let him continue to rub her back. “Thank you, my Great Wizard. I can always count on you.” She lay in the soft darkness, enjoying his touch. “But without your ring,” she said, smiling, “I may have to coerce you …”

  ✽✽✽

  Celeste was waiting when they arrived back at Dr. Smidt’s office.

  “The professor is busy with some students,” Celeste said, “so I can take you over to the museum now. I will open it specially for you. It is usually only open a couple of days each week; I run the museum when it is open. The museum tour is self-guided, but it is more interesting when I can tell you the history. We don’t charge admission, but we do take donations. Please leave one. We get a little support from the foundation Uncle Al set up to honor my father, the ‘Alder Foundation,’ but everything else is covered by donations.”

  The museum was next door to Alder Hall, near the building where Erin and Alec had entered Earth through the transporter ring. It was a little-used building, obscurely marked, housing several amateurish exhibits. Celeste flipped on the lights.

  “Most of the exhibits here were made by students, as part of Professor Smidt’s class, for final projects and such.” Alec could quickly see that the exhibits were designed to convince the viewer that dark energy was not ‘magic’ – that it was ‘science’ – and some recounted conspiracy theories regarding dark energy or the lab accident with captions such as ‘Could This Be True?’ Erin took Celeste’s arm and the two of them started wandering around the museum. Celeste was bubbling and giggling as she showed the exhibits to Erin.

  A simple flower made from a red crystal was one of the exhibits. “We think that one was made by your relative, the late Dr. Holden. But we don’t really know. It looks sort of like the diamond flower you made for the professor yesterday, only yours is better. And bigger.”

  Alec looked at the crude little red flower with amusement. Must have been an early attempt, he thought to himself. I can’t remember who I made it for – I guess she wasn’t impressed with it or it wouldn’t have wound up here.

  “I took your flower back to my apartment and put it next to the one I have that was my mother’s. The two look great together. They look almost identical.”

  “That sounds nice,” Erin said, encouraging the young woman to continue.

  “The flower at home is one of the few things I have from my mother. My uncle thinks it was specially made for her by my father.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes. I have never seen anyone else make flowers. It must have been a skill that they taught at the old dark energy lab.”

  No, they didn’t teach it – I was the only one who could make flowers, thought Alec, nostalgically. Sarah loved the flower I made for her.

  Celeste looked at the little red flower in the display case. “Maybe someday I can learn how to use dark energy. It would be fun to make flowers and things.”

  Celeste and Erin continued on through the museum, talking excitedly, as Celeste pointed out the various features. There seemed to be an immediate connection between the two of them, Alec noticed.

  Alec walked slowly behind them, lost in his thoughts and memories. The old days in the lab, when he was starting his post-doctorate work, were heady with excitement, with discovery, with Dr. Alder’s appreciation of his work, with the hope that he was working on a new tool for the betterment of humankind. And, of course, there was Sarah. Sarah.

  The last exhibit was the components from the old concentrator hall. “These are all reproductions,” Celeste explained, as Alec looked closely at the display. “All of the actual components were destroyed in the big accident that killed my father and mother, and the fire that followed.” Celeste then explained each of the components and their functions. Alec listened to her quietly.

  “You understand those things really well,” Alec told her.

  “This work – these components – were such a part of my parents’ life, that I feel like I have to know them and their various functions. It’s like bringing back part of them, in some small way.”

  ✽✽✽

  Alec was deep in thought as they walked back to the professor’s office. But as soon as they entered the outer office, the professor popped out from behind his glass door.

  “You’re back? I didn’t know you were here,” Professor Smidt said. “A woman was here a little while ago looking for you. I told her I hadn’t seen you today. She didn’t leave her name.”

  “We weren’t expecting anyone,” replied Erin.

  “Well, she came in here, and my receptionist is still out. And Celeste was gone. It was a woman with three men with her. She knocked on my door, if you can imagine, and asked if there was anyone else here – that she was looking for someone new who had showed up. I assumed she was looking for you, but I told her I hadn’t seen you since yesterday.” He stopped and looked at Erin, who was looking slightly alarmed.

  “I’m sorry
you missed her, if it was important. Was she with the people who are tracing your things? I asked her to leave a cell code that I could give you if you showed up. But she didn’t. She said she would find you and left.”

  “And how long ago was that? Alec asked.

  “Not too long ago. Maybe fifteen minutes. Maybe an hour. Maybe more. I lose track of time when I am preparing for my students. Mid-term grades and student conferences and all.”

  Alec and Erin looked at each other. “No problem, Professor,” Alec said. “I’m sure she will find us.”

  The professor looked relieved and disappeared back in his office.

  “Thank you for the tour, Celeste. We will take you to lunch in a few days in thanks for all that you did,” Erin said.

  “See you then,” Celeste said with a smile.

  Erin and Alec started to leave, and then on the spur of the moment, Alec turned around. “Celeste, we have something for your efforts.”

  Celeste came back, “Oh thank you, Dr. Holden, but I don’t need any money. No tips! My trust fund covers everything I need.”

  “No, it’s not money,” Alec said. “I want to give you a little gift, as a token of our appreciation of all the help you have given to us. In honor of your parents, I am going to give you a little ring.” Celeste looked at him wide-eyed.

  “Oh no, I couldn’t!”

  “Please,” Alec said. “It is an old tradition in our country. Wear it, and remember that we are friends.” He handed her a round golden ring. “Here, take it.”

  Celeste looked at it, then took it and slowly put it on her finger. “Thanks. I like it. It fits.” She turned it on her finger. “And it feels good, sort of warm and friendly.” She held her hand up. “I can’t wait to show it to Uncle Al. It looks sort of like a ring that he wears sometimes, that he said was an ‘elf ring.’ Maybe I will harass him the next time we talk and tell him I have an ‘elf ring’ too!” She laughed.

  Erin looked at Alec. What have you done? she thought to him.

  “Bye now,” Celeste said. I will see you in a few days! Looking forward to it!”

  ✽✽✽

  Erin and Alec walked across the tidy campus. Now that they were properly dressed, the fall wind did not seem as biting as it had the day before.

  “My Great Wizard, you surprised me, but I think that it was a good idea to give her the extra elf ring – especially if there are elves running around looking for us.” Erin shuddered. “I do not like the possibility of elves.” Alec did not answer. She could sense that he was deep in thought.

  The two of them walked together in silence for a time before Erin spoke. “Celeste is your daughter. There is no question in my mind about that. I can sense too much of you in her.”

  Alec made a fist. “I know she is, too. But what do we do? Tell her ‘Oh by the way, the man you thought was your father is not your father, but I am – bye now and have a good life?’ And then leave her and go home? Or not tell her, and let her remain ignorant? What is right?”

  Erin answered calmly, “You know what is right, but you do not have to convince yourself today.”

  He sighed. “You are right; we have some time. More time that I intended – I guess I am going to have to build a transporter to take us home, instead of finding the one that Alder used.”

  “I was beginning to sense after we went to the museum that the one used by Lord Doctor Alder no longer exists.”

  “No, it doesn’t. This is going to be tougher than I thought”

  “What does that mean for us?” Erin asked. “When will we get home?”

  Alec began thinking out loud, as he was prone to do. “I should be able to find – or create – most of the parts to make one, but it will take some time and probably cost a lot of money. Building the collector and consolidator with this high dark-energy background will be easy. I know how to build a transport ring and I should be able to get the right materials to make it easier.

  “The hard part will be making a power crystal that can transmit that much power without destroying itself. We used the elf crystal last time, but it blew itself up, and I was not involved with the construction of the crystal that Alder was using for transport. And I have no idea what happened to it. I’m assuming that it was destroyed along with everything else.” He continued to ponder the situation.

  “Money. We will need a lot of money to get the raw materials. They will be expensive. But!” he exclaimed, his eyes lighting up. “My insurance settlement, from my ‘death!’ That Ms. Pearson told us about!”

  “What is ‘assurance’ money?”

  “‘Insurance,’” he corrected her. “In this country, if you die in an accident and it is somebody else’s fault, you can collect a lot of money.”

  “But you are not dead.”

  “But the Institute thought I was dead, because they thought I died in that accident, except I wound up on Nevia,” he said excitedly. “So since they thought I was dead, they awarded me – I mean, the ‘dead me’ – a big insurance settlement. Millions and millions of coins. And now, since I showed up and they think I am related to the ‘dead me,’ I will get that money, and we can use it to build a transporter to go home!”

  “I will do whatever it takes to help you build it,” Erin said. “Whatever it takes to get us home.”

  “It will take some time, and some experimenting,” Alec said. “We need to establish a base of operations, and I need a good shop, with lots of good metal-working equipment, and access to special rare materials.”

  Wizard-speak, thought Erin.

  “For now, we can stay here, close to Celeste. Right now, one place is as good as another.”

  “Yes, my Great Wizard,” Erin said, somewhat dejectedly. “I see that we will have another delay before we can go home.”

  29 – Winter in New Haven

  The early morning sun woke Varra from a fitful sleep. Why didn’t the drones dim my windows last night? The moons were unusually bright all night. She sighed. This is the fifth day without the city operating properly and it is getting to be very annoying. And all the mothers are getting very grumpy. She pulled the blanket over her face to block the sunlight. My chamber windows are not shaded as they should be. Soon she would have to get up and prepare – she had called an emergency meeting of the Disca to address the situation.

  I dread the gathering today. Why me? Now that the coercers have taken over the dragon and I no longer have to worry about it, I thought I would preside over merely a few more gatherings and then enjoy a life without issues. But no! Why this? Why now? First the attack by those upstart cross-breeds, then the escape of hundreds of drones, and now the failure of our power source. Even under extra blankets, Varra felt the cold.

  “Drone!” She stuck her head out from under the blanket. “Why is the temperature so cold? Where are my drones?”

  A drone appeared from nowhere. “Mother, the power source is still not working, and we cannot provide heat. I have brought you extra blankets, and I have again contacted the fixer drones. They are busy with problems all across the city. Mother, I will punish myself for their inadequacies.” The drone carefully set the blankets down on the end of the bed and prepared to drop to his knees.

  Varra sighed. “Punish yourself only lightly. It is not your doing. It cannot be fixed within the walls of this residence – it is all across our city.” What else could go wrong? Varra mused to herself.

  “Where is my breakfast?” she asked.

  “Mother, there is something else,” the drone said hesitantly, after experiencing his light punishment. “Something has happened to our streets and the city without.”

  “What?” Varra snapped.

  “There is a layer of something cold and white on the streets and our rooftops. It is like a cold wet powder. Quite thick in places – a hand’s-breadth deep.” The drone looked sorrowfully out the clear window. “It is slick and it is making it hard to travel on the streets to get you fresh food for breakfast.”

  “Then cook something
for me that does not require fresh food! Dolt!”

  The drone looked at her with a pained expression. “We have no power here. None of our cooking ovens are working; we cannot prepare any food for you here.” He hesitated. “None of us have had anything to eat this morning.”

  Varra got up, wrapped herself in one of the blankets from the end of the bed, and looked out the large window at her courtyard. The morning sun was glistening brightly through broken clouds. Outside in the shadows the ground appeared white, and the flowering plants were drooping in their ornamental pots and turning gray. The normally-hazy-blue sky was replaced with a panorama of white and gray moving clouds, with overly-bright rays of sunlight streaking between. She hissed in disgust.

  “That white stuff on the ground is called ‘snow.’ It happens every winter on the mountains surrounding our land, but I have never seen it occur in our city. It can be dangerous – it is very cold.”

  “Yes, Mother. It is very cold.” The drone shivered slightly in his loose-fitting drone garb. “I went out this morning looking to see if I could find food for you at the local shop – but it was not open because it has no power – and my feet have never been so cold. I passed a house drone that appears to have died, right out in front of the residence. A street cleaner said it was because of the cold – too cold for drones to be on the street. Apparently the white power is lethal. It was dusted over the drone’s body.”

  “No, not lethal. Just very cold. It is the coldness that kills.” She touched the rod hanging around her neck. “Our ancestors chose this spot in the mountains for our New Haven because it is safe from the outside eyes, but they knew our city must be protected from the cold.”

  She turned away from the window. “It is too uncomfortable for my morning bath. Prepare my clothing and bring me something to eat.”

  “Yes, Mother. Which of your formal robes will you be requiring?”

  “I don’t know! Whichever is warmest!” Varra snorted.

  “Your travel clothes, then?”

  “Yes! Something warm!”