by Dani Hoots
They looked just like those on Earth. Most wore normal clothes similar to what I was used to, but others were attired very differently—which was scary considering I came from Portland. One woman was wearing a weird-looking bulb on top of her head. A strange vine came swirling out of it, almost hitting me in the face as she walked by. Emmerich pulled me out of the way, but I was too busy taking in my surroundings to thank him. A group went by wearing capes, the wind making them flow in the air. They looked like superheroes, but none of them wore masks. I half hoped for a villain to run past and grab an elderly woman’s handbag to see if they would react. But alas, that didn’t happen.
When a girl wearing only a purple scarf passed us, I glanced at Emmerich but he didn’t seem to notice her. I would have been jealous if he did.
I can’t even begin to describe all the people. Hair colors from green, to purple, to blue, every color was there and all were magnificent. A girl with rainbow hair went by and I stared at her. It was perfect and from what I gathered from having multicolored hair, it was hard to keep looking good. I even saw an elderly man with fire red hair, spiked up like something out of an anime. There was so much individuality here, a sense of place. I felt almost like I could belong among them, even in my pajamas.
When I looked up again, an even bigger surprise awaited me. Hidden earlier by the buildings, there, in the sky, were two giant moons. Yes, two. I didn’t even think they were real for a moment, maybe just some type of illusion. I swore I could see structures on both of them, like skyscrapers or hotels. I thought I even saw a space station hovering around them. This place was like something out of Doctor Who. I glanced around again just to make sure there were no Daleks or Cybermen. There weren’t any of course, but one couldn’t ever be too careful. If I were to see a blue police box, I wasn’t quite sure what I would do.
That’s a lie, I would run straight at it screaming for the Doctor.
“That’s the same reaction I had when I first saw them,” Emmerich said as he too looked up at the sky. “I couldn’t believe they were real.”
“Do people live up there?” I asked.
He nodded. “Yes, there’s an entire city up there. A lot of them are miners since those moons have special stones that were found there centuries before. They found a sustainable way to extract them and have been ever sense.”
“That’s incredible,” I whispered.
“There’s a lot of things that are incredible about this place,” he glanced over and smiled. “But sadly we don’t have time to go see them all.”
I still couldn’t believe it was real. I pinched myself, just to make sure. Yup, this was real alright. I was standing on a different planet. Yet, for some reason, it all felt so...
Right.
After letting me take all this in, Emmerich grabbed my hand, interlacing his fingers with mine. I felt my cheeks heat up from his touch. I turned to him, he looked worried.
“We need to get you somewhere safe, okay? You can’t be out in the open like this, they will find you,” he said as he pulled me forward.
They? The men that had been chasing us on Earth? I glanced around but didn’t see any sign of them. It didn’t mean they weren’t near. I fiddled with my necklace, feeling the indentation of my name in it. So this necklace was from here.
I didn’t know how the portal worked but I hoped it would dump the men out somewhere else in the city. Sometimes portals did that, right? Why else would we be in this part of the city? It didn’t make sense that the portal would open here and not the palace. It must of had some margin of error as to where it would dump a person.
Which made it all the more horrifying.
“Who are these people after me and what do they want?” I asked as we started walking into the crowd.
“They are men sent by an evil one wanting to hurt you. The details of that will be explained later, but first we must get you to safety. Now, don’t let your face be seen. We don’t need any unexpected surprises,” he took off his jacket. “Here, wear this. You stick out in those pajamas.”
I blushed as I put on the jacket. Saying I stood out in the crowd was rather insulting. The jacket itself almost hung lower than my pajama shorts, so fortunately, I didn’t look naked underneath. I hoped Emmerich had some clothes for me to change into wherever we were going. And I hoped they didn’t have cute little kittens.
I did as he said and kept my eyes fixed on the concrete beneath my feet. The ground was covered in designs ranging from swirls, to murals, to symbols I didn’t recognize. Some sidewalk in Portland had similar art, but never this intricate. It was nice to have something beautiful to look at as we rushed through the city.
Emmerich kept his hands intertwined with mine as we quickly walked through the streets. I took a deep breath. The jacket was filled with Emmerich’s woodsy scent. Even though we were still in danger, I felt safe with him, as if he could save me from anything. Why, I wasn’t sure. I had only just met him a week ago, at least that I could remember. Memories came back to me in pieces hinting that I had known him before the accident, but I had yet to put it all together.
Although Emmerich had told me to keep my head down, I couldn’t help but periodically glance at all the extraordinary things around me. We hurried by shops selling different types of food, beverages, clothing, pets... I swore I saw a dragon in one of the windows, a real live dragon. It was small, red, and in a birdcage. There was even a rabbit in the cage next to it. Strange how some things were the same but others much, much different. It must have been normal because Emmerich didn’t even glance at it. Even if it was normal, how could you not stare at it?
Emmerich pushed my head down. “Keep your face from being seen, bitte,” he whispered, slipping into German. Although I didn’t remember learning any of the language, I could always understand him. I must have studied German before losing my memory. I had heard cases where people have woken up and spoke in an entirely new language. That would have been interesting.
I did as he said, but he never did remove his hand for a moment. He must have been really worried about someone seeing me, but having his hand against my neck was very uncomfortable. I thought about saying something, but if he didn’t want my face to be seen, I doubted he wanted my voice to be heard. After a couple more seconds, he took his hand away, for which I was thankful because the stress was relieved from my neck. I did what he wanted and kept my eyes on the ground, watching the different shoes people wore as they went by. So many different types of shoes.
Was that a giant chicken foot?
I really wanted to look up for a second to see the type of person that went by, if it really was a person or a giant chicken. I didn’t actually think it was a giant chicken, but probably someone in a costume.
Or was it...
It felt like we had been walking for hours, but it probably was just twenty minutes or so. I hoped we were close. I’d have really liked to take a long bath when we got there, but I had a feeling that wouldn’t happen. Hopefully I would get to at least take a shower.
We came upon what must have been the food cart district. My stomach started grumbling when the aroma came wafting to me. Maybe Emmerich would stop so we could grab a bite to eat. I hadn’t eaten anything since dinner time and although I wasn’t sure what time it was here, my stomach was pretty sure it was time for breakfast. He was in a hurry though, hopefully there would be food where we were going.
A familiar smell. Fire patties. Delicious seasoned meat sliced thin with various corn and peppers, all on a potato patty and covered in hot sauce. I had definitely never eaten them in Portland. I remembered. My stomach grumbled again.
Emmerich chuckled. “Just a bit longer, I promise. We will eat when we get to the base. The guys should have some food.”
The guys?
I wanted to ask him who they were but I figured I wouldn’t know who they were, and he probably won’t answer anyway. I wondered if they were also from Earth or actually from this world. They probably were from this world
since otherwise they would have been with Emmerich. I just hoped they weren’t as scary as the men that were after us. I wondered if they would help me remember my past or if they knew my past. I had better get answers when we arrived at the base or else...
Or else what? There wasn’t anything I could do. I had nowhere to go, and no one except Emmerich. I sighed. There was a lot going on I didn’t understand. Once we got to our destination, I wasn’t going to do anything until Emmerich told me everything.
Turning yet another corner, I noticed it was suddenly a lot less crowded. Emmerich slowed down and didn’t seem as worried. “Okay, you can look up now. But keep walking, we don’t want to stop.”
I raised my head and rubbed the back of my neck. Yup, it was going to be sore for a couple of days. I tried to pop the vertebrae but it was no use. I was stuck with the pain for now.
Taking a look around, this district wasn’t as beautiful as the last, grease and grime covered the buildings, most shops were barred and closed. The smell was no longer sweet but stale. It was a big contrast from the streets before, kind of like walking into an entirely different dimension, which I didn’t put past this place. We were in the same city, though, I could tell from the buildings, even though they had been taken care of differently, they resembled the style of the ones before. Something must have happened here, something bad to cause such an immense contrast.
I glanced down a side street and could see a giant concrete wall at the end. It was plain and grey, and hid whatever was on the other side from onlookers. I was curious what they didn’t want people to see. Secret activity? Monsters? Aliens? Whatever it was, it was driving me insane.
It wasn’t there before.
Pain shot through my head but I didn’t let Emmerich notice. I didn’t want him to worry about me when we were on the run, anyway I was starting to get used to the pain. Whatever was happening to me, I knew he couldn’t help, and I began to wonder if anyone could. Hopefully it would solve itself, but I had a feeling that wasn’t going to happen.
The new memory was of this place, but it was different. It was teeming with life, like the rest of the city. Rather than the wall, I saw an ocean as blue as a gem. More beautiful than any body of water I’d seen in Oregon. I blinked, coming back to the dreary reality.
Why was the ocean blocked off from the rest of the city?
If this was my home—and I definitely felt a connection here—the big pieces were still missing. I wished it would all come back to me, it would make this a lot easier.
“Why are we here?” I asked as we walked further down the street. Almost no craft flew above us and the people who stood around watched us with hungry eyes. I clutched the coat tighter. Emmerich squeezed my hand, letting me know there wasn’t anything to worry about.
He kept his eyes forward, though, not looking back at me. I supposed he wanted to keep on the look out in case any of those men still wanted to attack. “It’s fine. Our base is down here.”
“Base?” I asked, wondering what exactly he meant by that.
“From there we can figure out what to do,” he explained without going into detail.
I looked around again. It was hard to believe his base was in such a run-down place. It didn’t seem like a safe place to be, this didn’t seem like a particularly good place for a base of any kind, especially if he was trying to keep me safe. Wouldn’t he rather have a military base that was, well, in a better part of town? The people after us looked like the criminals, not Emmerich. Maybe I was wrong, maybe he wasn’t who I thought he was.
Why did I have to hide as well? That’s what I really wanted to understand. How could these simple people recognize me? Maybe he was just more worried that one of the bad guys was in the crowd and would recognize me. There were so many things running through my mind. I hated being in the dark, I wanted to know what to expect.
“What are we going to do next?” I asked, hoping for once he would answer.
“As I said, we will talk when we arrive,” he whispered.
“Tell me now, Emmerich,” I demanded with a lot more authority than I thought I could muster and stopped walking, pulling him back. I didn’t particularly want to stop in this area, but I had a feeling that the setting wasn’t going to change. I felt fine as long as Emmerich was with me and since he seemed to be less nervous in this area, so did I.
Where did that come from? I wasn’t one to take command like that, but I guess I’d never really had the opportunity before. I had been on my own for a while.
He turned and looked at me. I expected him to be mad, but instead, Emmerich just smiled. “Such power, you haven’t really changed a bit.”
Referencing my past without giving me any information just made me angrier. I wanted to punch him, but decided that wasn’t such a good idea. It was tempting though. “What are you talking about? Why can’t you just tell me the truth?” I asked.
He sighed. “I didn’t plan on you losing your memory. It has complicated things. I don’t know why you don’t remember. Was it induced or an accident? I don’t know if telling you everything will hurt you or help you,” he stepped closer and stroked my cheek. “And I don’t know what to say to make you trust me, but know that I would never hurt you. We have a medic at the base that can look you over and then we’ll know more.”
I moved, away from his touch. It made my heart beat faster and I had to keep a cool head if I wanted to get through this. “Doctors have examined me already, they don’t know what’s wrong.”
He shook his head. “Those are Earth doctors, this is a completely different place.”
I took another look around and watched as a couple saw us and ran off in the other direction. Did they recognize us? Or did they simply not want to be seen? “Will you at least tell me where we are?”
Emmerich grabbed my hand and started forward again. It made me feel rushed. I needed to stop for a moment to gather myself. Everything was happening so fast, I could barely keep up. “Capitol City, on the planet Cartref. In the Galaeth galaxy, a completely different galaxy from Earth.”
I figured we were in a different galaxy, but hearing him say it made my stomach drop. Galaeth he said it was called? It seemed impossible, but the name felt so familiar. “But... how?”
“Well, if Earth can form life, as long as all the parameters are right—,” he began.
I shook my head. I understood that part. “No, I mean how are we here? How did we travel lightyears in an instant?”
“Oh, that,” he rubbed the scruff on his face. “I may or may not have come across a formula to open a portal while researching dimensional physics.”
He made it sound so easy. He must have been quite the genius in college, although most people who studied physics had to be in order to get into a graduate program, and, well, pass. “How did you know that a planet would be here?”
“The first time? I didn’t, just happened to figure it out. Verrückt, if you think about it. The odds are substantially not in my favor. The link between planets stayed open when I went back for you, and gladly they stayed again when we came back.”
Verrückt. It meant crazy. For some reason I remembered the word. I stared at him. He didn’t actually know if the portal would work. I didn’t know if he was a genius or just insane. Probably both, as most scientists were, at least on sci-fi shows.
“So this is where you disappeared to all those years ago? A different galaxy?”
“Jawohl.”
I still wondered what had made him stay. Although this place was definitely unique, was it really better than his home? I’m not sure I would give up my home for an adventure, when I finally found it. “And this is where I am from?”
He nodded. If it were true, no wonder I couldn’t find any record of myself, because I wasn’t even from Earth. It also explained why no one came looking for me, until Emmerich. I was thankful that he had found me, even though he wasn’t giving me all of the story. There was still one question bothering me more than the others.
&n
bsp; “How did I get to Earth?” I asked. “If I am from here, how did I end up on your planet?”
Emmerich pursed his lips, trying to decide how much to tell me. “You were kidnapped. Everyone thought you were dead but I didn’t believe it, you’re too resourceful to be killed. But I didn’t think they would take you to Earth, I didn’t even think they knew about it. Which actually makes this a bit more complicated than I thought it already was...” he drifted off in his thought.
“How is it more complicated? How could any of this be more complicated?” And truly, I wanted to know. I felt lost already, adding even more to this mess didn’t seem possible.
“Because I thought the only person other than me who knew about it was you. Obviously I was wrong, which is bad.”
So neither planet knew the other existed. I wondered if there were more habitable planets in this system. This place seemed more advanced, but that didn’t mean they made their way into space to colonize planets. I glanced back up at the two moons. They did seem inhabited. Colonization of other planets was definitely likely here.
“So someone else knows about Earth,” I stated, hoping I wasn’t responsible for it.
He nodded. “Ja, and if the wrong people find out, they could bring harm to the planet, either side really, not to mention the portal is unstable. If it is used too many times, it could cause side effects. Potentially.”
That was where theoretical physics always got tricky. Whether or not playing with the fabric of time and space would result in the collapse of everything known to man, and then some. “That’s... reassuring.”
“Well it’s hard to know, it hadn’t ever been done before, at least not to my knowledge,” Emmerich shrugged. “That’s why I never went back, for fear something would go terribly wrong when I reopened the portal. Then, when I found it, I realized what must have happened and came after you.”
My mind was racing to put the pieces together. Someone had risked making a portal to put me on Earth. Why? Wouldn’t it have been easier to hide me somewhere on this planet? Or kill me? “So you risked everything to bring me back? Why?”