by Pam Stucky
Emma pulled out another protein bar and handed it to Dr. Waldo. He unwrapped the bar and broke off a small piece, which he popped into his mouth and savored like chocolate.
“Dr. Waldo,” Emma said, “did you use any ghost vaccine on yourself before you came here?” Though the water and food were reviving him a bit, his face seemed to have grown more pale even in the short time they’d been there.
The scientist shook his head. “No, the other Charles brought me some, but I put it in a pipette, and then proceeded to drop it. Getting old, I guess.” His look of disappointment in himself stung Emma straight through the heart.
She pulled one of the vaccine syringes from her bag. “I think we should give you a dose,” she said. “We had the other Charlie bring us more. I think this might help.” She tried to sound confident, but in fact had no idea. However, Dr. Waldo nodded his agreement and reached out his arm, pulling up his sleeve.
Emma stared at the instrument in her hand. “How do I do this?” she asked Ben.
Ben twisted his mouth. “I don’t know?” he said. “Stick the needle in him and plunge the plunger, I guess?”
Dr. Waldo shook his head again, this time in amusement. “It is not difficult, children,” he said, reaching for the syringe. Pointing the needle toward the ceiling, he pushed the plunger just enough that the slightest bit of vaccine spurted out the top, forcing out any air bubbles. Then, wincing only slightly, he stabbed his upper left arm with the sharp needle and pressed the plunger again, releasing the liquid vaccine into his body.
Emma watched him closely. How long would the vaccine take to work, and how would they know, anyway? She decided they couldn’t afford to wait. “Okay, then,” she said. Resolved, she slapped the ground on either side of her. “We have to get out of here, and soon. I guess it’s me.” The seventeen-year-old brushed her dark auburn hair behind her ears, cleared her throat, and closed her eyes. Wait: how did I do this last time? she thought. In a sudden panic, Emma realized that although it had only been a few months since she last traveled through the multiverse, it felt like a lifetime ago. I already have everything I need, she thought, echoing the words Eve’s great aunt Doethine had told her when Emma, Eve, and the other Charlie had been stuck on another ghost planet. Thoughts of shortened telomeres—a shortened life—danced through her mind. She shook her head to make the thoughts go away. Taking a slow, deep breath, Emma thought, I can do this.
I already have everything I need. The Hub, Emma thought. Take us back to the Hub. Me, Ben, and Dr. Waldo. The Hub, with Rupert, the elephant in the room, and where the Charlies are, and where Eve is. The Hub, with the new Experimental Building, where Ben made his own wing and is learning all about the universes. The Hub …
She tried with all her might to focus her thoughts and energy. She waited for the feeling she remembered so well, the feeling of all the breath being squeezed out of her, to be replaced by all the oxygen in the multiverse. The vibration of all her cells, the complete emptiness and fullness of eternity and infinity.
None of it came.
Emma opened one eye to see Dr. Waldo and Ben watching her, expectantly.
“It’s not working,” she said. She squeezed her eyes tight and tried to focus again, to focus like she’d never focused before. The Hub, she thought. The Hub, the Hub, the Hub! We need to get back to the Hub.
“Stop,” said Ben, who had been wracking his mind for an alternative. He didn’t want to watch Emma sacrifice herself for him. Maybe there was another way. “Stop. I might have another idea.”
Emma exhaled a sigh of relief and opened her eyes. “What’s your idea?” she asked.
“We still have some ghost vaccine, right?” said Ben. Emma nodded. The extra syringes were packed safely in her bag. “What if we use it on this guy—this ghost—who is trying to take Dr. Waldo’s life?”
Dr. Waldo’s eyes lit up as he quickly caught Ben’s meaning, revealing the vaguest hint of his former ebullient self. “Yes, yes! Ben, I think you may have something there …” But then the light went out and he slouched, listless, against the wall.
“Dr. Waldo!” cried Emma. “Dr. Waldo, are you okay?” The older man was completely unresponsive. Emma checked his wrist for a pulse. “He’s still alive,” she said. She picked up the half-empty water bottle next to the elderly scientist, and clumsily poured a few drops of water into Dr. Waldo’s mouth. In a daze, the man swallowed instinctively. He opened his eyes briefly, then closed them again. Emma took slow breaths to counter her racing heart.
Worry crossed over Ben’s face. “Emma, we have to get him out of here.”
“I agree,” she said. “What’s your plan?” She drizzled a little more water into Dr. Waldo’s mouth, hoping to revive him again.
“Those vaccines,” said Ben, as he helped hold Dr. Waldo’s head back to allow the liquid to trickle down his throat. “If they vaccinate against ghosts, and that guy is a ghost, maybe it’ll sort of stun him temporarily. I mean, it probably can’t kill him, right?”
“Seeing as the guy’s already dead and all,” agreed Emma. But she wondered: had administering the vaccine to Dr. Waldo killed him? Was he too weak for the vaccine? Was there something wrong with the vaccine? Or was it coincidence, or something else?
Ben continued. “The man has some of Dr. Waldo’s life in him. With that, and with the ghost part of him, maybe the vaccine will debilitate him. For a while, anyway.”
“It’s worth a try,” said Emma, thinking that there had been many things that day that they’d deemed “worth a try” … and yet none of them had worked. She hoped this time, their efforts would be successful.
“Should we … try to wake him up?” Ben said, looking anxiously at Dr. Waldo. “I can carry him if we have to, but …”
Emma looked at Dr. Waldo, slumped helplessly against the wall. Seeing him so weak made her anxious. Be strong, she told herself. You can do this. “I think you’re right,” she said. “I just have a bit more water; hopefully that will do.” Mentally she berated herself for not bringing more bottles. A lesson for next time, she thought.
Carefully, Emma held Dr. Waldo’s head as she once again tried to trickle water into his mouth. The older man sputtered slightly but didn’t open his eyes. “Come on, Dr. Waldo,” Emma said gently, “we need you alert for this.” Wake up, wake up, wake up, she thought. Universes, help me! Wake him up!
Whether of his own accord or with the help of the universes, Dr. Waldo finally opened his eyes. He was not at peak performance, but he was alert. Alert enough. Emma almost shook with relief that the vaccine hadn’t killed their friend.
“We have a plan, Dr. Waldo,” said Ben softly but urgently, and he and Emma proceeded to tell the scientist their idea.
The tiniest sparkle of joy lit up Dr. Waldo’s previously lifeless face. “Excellent, children,” he said weakly. “Excellent idea. I think … it may work.” His speaking and breathing were labored. They would have to act fast.
“Now,” continued Dr. Waldo, “Emma, my dear ….” He paused, breathing heavily. “Be ready with the Dark MATTER as soon as we are out of here. If that doesn’t work, we will have to run to the elevator as fast as we can.”
Emma and Ben exchanged looks. “As fast as we can” was a very different speed for them than for their dear mentor, in his current state of being.
“Which way is the elevator?” Emma asked. “In case we have to go there.” She very much hoped they would not have to. Aside from the fact she and Ben would most likely have to carry the scientist, she also knew every minute on a ghost planet put them at greater risk of never escaping.
Dr. Waldo lifted his head. “About a fifteen-minute walk … that way.” He pointed to the left of the door. “There’s a trail. You can’t miss it.”
“The Dark MATTER will work,” Ben said sternly. He looked at Emma. “It has to.”
“Dr. Waldo,” said Emma, “If the ghost follows us, could he outrun us?”
He looked at her and paused before nodding weakly. “Mo
st definitely,” he said. “The ghosts are basically weightless here, whereas we mortals are not.”
Emma nodded. They would simply have to escape another way.
Having no idea when the ghost might reappear, they swiftly started to put their plan into action. On Dr. Waldo’s suggestion, Emma and Ben tied him up again, loosely, just a suggestion of knots to the unsuspecting eye, so that the ghost man wouldn’t become suspicious immediately upon entering the building. Then, the teens took up positions on either side of the door, Ben with one syringe of vaccine held firmly in his hand, Emma with the other two.
“As soon as we stick the needles in him, I’ll grab him,” Ben said with more confidence than he felt.
Emma nodded, but could not help but have her doubts about the whole plan. The ghost man was … well, a ghost. Could needles even be stuck into his body? Or would they float right through him?
“I’m hoping he has enough of my life in him by now that he’s closer to flesh and blood than he might have been,” Dr. Waldo had said before taking up his too-convincing lifeless pose in the corner. Emma hoped he was right.
They crouched and waited in the dimly lit room. The ghost planet was eerily silent. No cars whipped by on nearby streets, but even more noticeable than that was the complete absence of the sounds of life. No birds chirped, no squirrels scuttled by carrying their treasures. Even the wind seemed muted.
Emma shifted several times, trying to decide from which position she could best pounce. A cramp in her left hamstring almost caused her to shout out in pain. Careful not to stab herself with a syringe, she gently kneaded her muscle to make the cramp go away.
“What if he doesn’t come back?” she whispered to Ben.
“He will,” whispered Ben, shifting his weight once more and bouncing lightly on his toes. “He has to.” But he didn’t sound sure either.
And they waited.
After a while, Emma whispered, “Should we check to make sure Dr. Waldo is still alive?”
“I am still alive, my dear, not at my best, but still alive,” came a soft reply from the lump in the corner.
“Stay that way,” said Ben.
“I’m trying,” said Dr. Waldo.
They waited some more. Emma’s legs screamed with pain from crouching so long. “Ben,” she finally said, “wouldn’t it make more sense for us to stand, anyway? Why are we crouching?”
Ben looked at her, puzzled. “I don’t know? I guess it seemed sneakier?”
Emma laughed quietly. “I think we might have a better chance of attacking him if we’re at his level,” she said. She painfully drew herself up to a standing position. “Ohhhh, so much better,” she whispered with a sigh of relief.
Following suit, Ben rose to standing position. “You’re a good thinker, Emma Nelson,” he said.
Much to her surprise, Emma found herself winking at him. She blushed immediately.
“A ghost planet,” said Ben, oblivious to both wink and blush. “I would never have imagined any of this a year ago. I mean, think about it. If everything is possible somewhere … that’s a lot of possibility. If we can imagine it, it could exist. A world where animals can talk.”
“A world where trees are made of chocolate,” said Emma. “Like chocolate bar chocolate, not just cacao beans.”
“A world where there are multiple forms of intelligent life, all living together on the same planet,” said Ben.
“A world where people are always kind,” said Emma.
“A world where no one is ever sad,” said Ben.
“‘Everything is possible’ is not the same as ‘Everything is,’” came a voice from the lump in the corner. Emma had almost forgotten Dr. Waldo, had almost forgotten that they were there with a purpose, that they were not there simply to stand, endlessly, waiting.
“Do you think ghosts have good hearing?” Ben asked.
“I hope not,” said Emma. “I guess we should be careful.”
They stood in silence. Emma continued pondering all the possibilities contained in the idea that “everything is possible.” Worlds made of diamonds? Worlds with intelligent life as small as ants? Worlds where people lived under water? Worlds where time moved backwards? Surely not everything was possible. Finally, she decided that, as Dr. Waldo had pointed out, “everything is possible” was different from “everything is.”
Suddenly, they heard a rustling outside. The hair on Emma’s skin stood straight up. Everything depended on their quick action, their good aim … and luck. Emma looked at Ben. Ben nodded. They were ready.
A scraping sound at the door indicated whatever lock the ghost man had created was being lifted. The door swung inward, slowly.
The ghost man appeared.
Before they even had a chance to assess the man, Emma and Ben were on him. Emma jabbed both syringes into whatever body parts were nearest, and Ben did the same with his, a flurry of arms and vaccine.
The ghost man never had a chance.
He fell, not like a brick but a little like a brick with some helium inside: slower than expected, but still decidedly succumbing to the laws of gravity.
“Well,” said Emma, looking down on the ghost on the ground. He did indeed look like a cross between a ghost and a live being: slightly more solid, but still with a transparent, ethereal, timeless look to him. Somewhere between alive and dead.
“That worked!” said Ben, jumping up and down with excitement. He high-fived Emma with a burst of joy. “Yes! Yes!!”
Meanwhile, Dr. Waldo had worked himself free from the loose knots. “No time for that! OUT!” he said, running faster than Emma or Ben would have imagined, grabbing their hands and spinning them and their attention toward the door. He swung the door open wide and ran free.
With a last look at the ghost man, Emma and Ben ran after him. Emma started to close and lock the door behind her, but Dr. Waldo stopped her.
“We can’t stoop to his level,” the scientist said. “Having been imprisoned does not justify imprisoning someone else. We must always strive to be the better person, even when we are wronged.”
“But what if—” Emma began.
“Emma, use the Dark MATTER now,” said Dr. Waldo, interrupting her. “If it doesn’t work, we’ll worry then.”
They linked arms, and Emma quickly set the Dark MATTER to the Hub coordinates. A movement inside the dark building spurred her on. She swiped the front of the black sphere, closed her eyes, and hoped.
chapter six
Back at the Hub, Eve, Charlie, and Parallel Charlie were happily chatting and enjoying a snack in the lounge. Charlie had been hungry, and had asked Eve if she could create a little food for them out of nothing.
“What do you want?” Eve had asked.
“Something unique and international,” Charlie had said.
And so Eve had intentioned up some English Breakfast tea with cream, and a plate overflowing with spiced pumpkin scones.
“That’s hardly unique and international,” Charlie had complained.
Eve had just winked. “It’s unique to me, Charles,” she had said. “I’m an alien, remember?”
Not one to argue long over food, Charlie had taken a bite of a tender, delicious scone and decided it was sufficient.
Now, the three were sitting on the couch, wondering what to do with themselves while the others were away.
“This lounge needs a name,” said Parallel Charlie, scarfing down his third scone. “You can’t just call it ‘the lounge we made.’ That doesn’t have a ring to it.” He took another bite. “Mmmmmm. Eve. You’re a good cook.”
“Cheerio, I agree, old chap,” said Charlie, raising his teacup and affecting his idea of a British accent. “Whatnot and tally ho! You guys have a Great Britain on your Earth, too, right?” He took a sip of his tea.
“We do indeed, my good man,” said Parallel Charlie, mimicking Charlie’s accent. “Or, we did. Of course it broke up into separate countries a long time ago. There’s England, Scotland, Wales, and New Ireland. Ireland a
nd Northern Ireland used to be separate but they blended into New Ireland decades ago. That is, if I remember my history right. It’s been ages, right-o!” He spread some more butter on his scone and took another bite. “Mmmm. Just like old King George used to make!”
Eve, for her part, was giggling helplessly on the couch and wondering if Parallel Charlie’s stomach was bottomless. The entertainment of one Charlie was wonderful enough for a girl who had spent so much of her life without friends her age, but two Charlies was almost too much. Almost. Rupert must have agreed, as the normally rather solitary pachyderm had meandered ever so slightly closer to the lounge area, and was watching the goings-on with one little two-dimensional eye. Eve could have sworn she saw the tiniest grin creep up from under his trunk.
Charlie was pouring a fresh cup of tea for Eve when suddenly the air split and crackled as though hit by lightning. Startled, he spilled the hot liquid all over the table just as Emma, Ben, and Dr. Waldo tumbled right into the center of the sophisticated scene, scattering tea and scones everywhere.
“What in the—” said Charlie, in whose lap Ben had landed. “Ben! If you wanted some tea, all you had to do was ask!” He quickly checked to make sure his sister was among the returning group. “Emma!” he said in relief. Then: “Dr. Waldo! They found you!”
But the exertion and stress of the excursion had left Dr. Waldo clinging tenuously to life. With hardly a “hello” to her brother, parallel brother, and friend, Emma quickly took action. “He needs help! Charlie, can you lift him? Ben, is there a … I don’t know, a Hub hospital? A medical doctor?”
As Emma frantically scanned the Hub trying to figure out where they might take him, the Charlies and Ben scrambled to lift the scientist.
“Over there!” said Ben, looking to other scientists who had seen the commotion and were running toward the lounge. The Charlies each took a side of Dr. Waldo, lifting him under shoulder and knee, and followed Ben to the quickly assembled rescue team.
Emma stood, watching them, panting. Eve stepped up, wrapped an arm around Emma’s waist and lay her head on the exhausted girl’s shoulder.