by M. J. Konkel
“Have a seat, Professor,” invited Joe.
“Thanks,” replied the Professor with a yawn. “I have some news I think everyone will like to hear.”
Everyone turned their heads his way. “Yeah?” Joe prodded.
“I know why the SEAD did not get fried by that lightning strike.” He sat down next to Karen, across from Joe. “You see, all along I thought that the lightning must have hit the Wurtzberg crystal, giving it the energy needed to initiate the interbrane translocation. I couldn't figure out though how that energy could not also have gone into the other circuits around the crystal.”
“But now you do?”
“Yes, I think that I do. You see, the lightning never hit the crystal at all. The SEAD was uncurling one of the hidden dimensions as it was designed to do, and the lightning passed into the space of the uncurling dimension and was absorbed by it.”
“It hit this dimension then?”
He saw that Joe and Karen were not really understanding. They couldn’t understand if he only spoke of the equations, but he owed it to them to do his best to explain in a way they could understand. “It didn't exactly hit it. You see dimensions are not really objects but the energy of the lightning bolt altered the properties of that space as it was absorbed by the fabric of space inside of that location. That is the space that had the uncurling dimension. As you can probably imagine, when that extra dimension is uncurled, it is equivalent to reducing the number of dimensions of the universe by one in that location.”
“I can't really imagine that,” Karen commented, “but continue.”
“That lightning bolt's energy expanded that space out into an ellipsoid about twelve miles in radius here.”
“What is an ellipsoid?” asked Joe.
“A flattened spherical shape.”
“Like a football?”
“An American football? Yes, that is a prolate spheroid. Now that part of the universe with its missing extra dimension was not stable. It caused a split in space, a chasm if you will, that tied itself to this brane we are now in. That chasm grew, and the space of the two branes got interlocated, sort of flip-flopped like a pancake as the universe righted itself by curling the extra dimension back up.”
“Then all you have to do is turn this machine on in an electrical storm and we should all be able to go back home then,” said Joe.
“It is not quite that easy. You see the uncurling of the extra dimension cannot be complete when the lightning strikes, or the lightning passes through that space just like any other space. It must be in the second stage of uncurling when the lightning passes through it. That is a time window of about one to two minutes.”
“Then it was a fluke that we ended up here, and our chances of getting back are next to none?”
“It was a fluke that the lightning hit when it did. But I think we can time the SEAD so that it starts up at about the right moment before a lightning strike. All we must do is measure the charge potential of the area, and when it starts to build, we start up the dimensional uncurling with SEAD. I can build an instrument to measure the potential. We will need a little luck with the timing, but the probability is good that we can get it right. The problem is getting the lightning to strike where we want it.”
“And how do we do that?”
“We need a lightning rod of some sort. A metal tower should suffice, I think.”
“Your first crystal was destroyed. Will your second also be destroyed? What I guess I'm asking is 'is this a one-shot chance at getting out of here?'” asked Joe.
“I think I can alter the design, so it doesn't do that to the crystal this time.”
“Professor, you said that the radius of the bubble here was about twelve miles. Does that mean that there were other bubbles?”
“The mathematical equations allow for echo bubbles.”
“Echo bubbles?”
“It's possible, but just because the math allows them doesn't mean they are a physical reality.”
“There could be more people here in this world then? They would have come at the same time as us? Where would these bubbles have formed?”
“The waves are sinusoidal in nature. Since the one here was about twelve miles across, the next one would be twelve miles from the edge of our area and the same size. The wave travels slowly, but the last bubble would have formed roughly about ten hours after ours. After about 160 miles, the effect would dissipate and there would be no bubbles farther out than that. But because the earth is curved, and these would be along a straight line, only one of the bubbles, or maybe two partial bubbles, could be at the earth's surface. The direction of that straight line would have followed the direction of the axis of the crystal at the initial time which is something that I do not know. In fact, it's probable that the echo bubbles were down under the earth's crust, in the upper atmosphere or in outer space.”
“Still it’s possible that there were others brought here as well?”
“Yes, it is possible, but not probable. If there is anyone, they would have to be in a 160-mile radius.”
“You’re a genius, Professor. Tell us what you need.”
Yes, you are a genius, he thought. Take that, Gerjonsi.
Chapter 33
When Joe asked for volunteers to get a tower, he was surprised when Lonnie, Darrel, and Tim were the first to volunteer. He was also a bit concerned since every time they had volunteered in the past, something went wrong. But they said that they knew where there was a very tall antenna.
Steve Mercent volunteered to ferry the crew in his pontoon boat up to the north end of Brown's Station. Al Tentis conversed with Al Jackson during the ride. The trip itself was uneventful and when they got to their drop-off destination, Steve stayed on the boat and Al Jackson stayed on shore near the boat to keep watch.
“You guys be careful and keep your eyes open,” Al Jackson warned.
“You keep your eyes open too. Spinos like to roam the edges of the river,” Al Tentis replied. What really scared him were the raptors though. They were harder to spot and moved fast.
Al Tentis and the boys traipsed off up the road to where there was a parked truck, and Al drove them to Tammy's party house where there was the tallest television antenna around. Thankfully, no dinosaurs were spotted on the short ride to Tammy's house. It was nestled up against the hillside on the western edge of town, well above the swollen river. The house's gray paint was peeling, shingles were cracked and in need of replacement, and several windows were cracked. They quickly got down to the business of disassembling the antenna. After taking out all the bolts that held the monstrosity to its base and to where it was stabilized against the house, they all pushed together until they successfully toppled it over. The antenna on top was smashed against the ground, but they did not need it anyway. Then Lonnie and Tim worked on the antenna while Darrel and Al stood guard.
They were well along with unbolting the sections when Lonnie stood up and said, “I have to go take a whiz. I'll be right back.” Without waiting for a reply, he strolled off and disappeared around the corner of the house.
Tim continued with the disassembling process alone and was soon finished. Then he started loading the parts into the back of the truck.
After a while, Al asked, “What is taking your friend so long? It can't take that long to just piss.”
“Maybe he had to crap too,” answered Darrel. “He's probably constipated. He’s not been getting enough fiber in his diet lately. I'll go and make sure he’s okay.” He disappeared around the corner of the house too.
A good fifteen minutes passed, and neither of the boys had yet returned by the time Tim got the last of antenna sections loaded. He swiped his steaming forehead with his shirt sleeve, letting out a big “Whew!” Al was getting real steamed up over the two’s disappearance. He was still glaring over at the house when a raptorsaur came around the corner of the neighboring garage, stared for a split second at them, then charged three steps and leaped. Tim was screaming with his hands cove
ring his face as Al swung his shotgun in the raptor's direction and fired. Tim contorted his body, trying to get out of the way. The raptor dropped, rolling several feet to a stop. Al looked quickly all around. Raptors usually roamed in packs of two to four, but this one seemed to be alone. Tim dropped to his knees, covered his belly and collapsed. Al ran up to Tim and saw a deep gash across his middle where the raptor's sickle claw slashed him. Blood was gushing out from the wound. The raptor was lying about four feet away and not moving. Al put a slug through its head to make sure.
Lonnie and Darrel appeared around the corner of the house, running towards them. “What happened? What happened?” they shouted.
“A raptor attacked Tim. He's hurt bad. Keep your guard up and make sure there are no more. They usually come in packs.” Al ripped off his shirt, balled it up and stuffed it against the wound to halt the bleeding. “Come here and hold this,” he ordered Darrel. “Come help me lift him into the back of the truck,” he ordered Lonnie. The boys did as Al commanded. After getting Tim into the back of the truck next to the antenna sections, Al said to Darrel, “You'll have to hold that tight against him.” He then ordered Lonnie, “Grab your gun and get up front.” Al jumped into the driver's seat, and after he got the truck into gear, reached over and grabbed the two-way radio and informed Al Jackson and Steve about what had happened.
“We were just ...” Lonnie started to explain.
“Save it. I know what you were doing back there. You can save your excuses for your friend in the back, if he survives.”
Al stepped on the gas, and they sped off. A few minutes later they arrived at the boat and Al and Lonnie jumped out of the front of the truck. Al Jackson came up from the shore to help. The balled up shirt was full of blood. Al Tentis reached over to examine Tim, feeling for a pulse but finding none. He started CPR, trying to revive Tim's heart. After a few minutes, he realized that Tim wasn’t coming back. He stopped his efforts. “He's gone,” he said.
“What? He can't be!” Lonnie yelled as Darrel started crying. “Try some more!”
“There's nothing more we can do. I am really sorry about your friend.”
After a few minutes, he asked the other Al to help him carry Tim's body to the boat. He covered him with a blanket. Then he and the other Al went and helped the boys transfer the antenna parts over to the boat while Steve kept guard. The boat was shored in an open area, so any approaching dinosaurs could be easily spotted, and one guard was adequate.
*****
On the trip back, Darrel held Tim's cold limp hand while Lonnie sat up front by himself, staring ahead, quietly crying to himself. Lonnie reached into his jacket pocket and felt the plastic bag that was the real reason that they had volunteered to get the antenna. Tammy had left it behind, forgetting that she had taped the extra bag of coke under the toilet tank. If she hadn't been so high during the move, she wouldn't have forgotten it. Only recently, she had the thought that she might have left it there and told Lonnie about it. Lonnie's fingers played with the bag for a while and then the bag came out. Those behind him couldn't see what he was doing, not that they were paying much attention to him. They had also found a joint left behind, and his mind was clouded from smoking it with Darrel. He did not want to feel that way any longer. He stared down at the bag perched between his fingers for several seconds and then he flipped the bag over the side of the boat.
The next day a funeral was held for Tim. Darrel and Lonnie were among the pall bearers and accompanied Tim as he was taken to Checkers Island to be buried. A little while after returning to Ridgeback, Lonnie searched and found Joe on the playground teaching his boys and few of their friends how to dribble and pass a basketball.
“Can I talk to you, Mr. Spechright?”
Joe gave the ball to his son and told them to practice some more. The boy left to practice dribbling.
“I know that I have screwed up and that I don't deserve any favors.”
“You have let a lot of people down more than once.”
“Yeah, well I can't deny that. I... I was wondering if I … if Darrel and me could set up the antenna that we brought back. I feel like I sorta owe it to everybody to do it.”
“How can I count on you? The last time I counted on you it cost your friend his life.”
“I swear that I’m going clean from now on. Please! I need to do this for Tim.”
Joe took a long hard look at him. He stared straight back at Mr. Spechright. It was important that he was believed this time. Finally, Mr. Spechright said, “All right, I will talk to the rest of the council, but you can do it. But make damn sure it is sturdy and anchored well. I don't want it falling on someone the first time the wind blows. And one more stunt like yesterday, and I will personally throw you off the island and feed you to the dinosaurs.”
“Thanks, Mr. Spechright. No more trouble from me. You won't regret it.” He meant it.
Chapter 34
Six weeks had passed since the antenna was erected. The sky had started to clear in the late afternoon after a vigorous thunderstorm passed over Ridgeback Island and the professor had just finished packing the SEAD into its three silver boxes when Joe and Karen arrived. The other members of the council were starting to arrive too, and everyone was looking for answers.
“That's four strong thunderstorms that have passed over this damn island and we are still here. Why isn't this working?” Mr. Span demanded.
“Take it easy, Span. It is not the Professor's fault that none of the lightning bolts hit here,” Joe defended the Professor.
“I am not accusing him of anything. I just want to know why it is not working,” Mr. Span stated.
“You must have some darn idea, Professor?” questioned Mr. Elkins.
“It is not working because of that ridge over there.” The Professor pointed to the bluff across the narrow channel that towered above the island. Ridgeback's highest point was about a hundred feet above the river level. That was unusually high for an island in the river, but the bluff towered a good two hundred and fifty feet above Ridgeback. “See the radio tower that is up on top of it? I saw that get hit during the storm.”
“I saw it get hit during the last storm too,” added Judd.
“If we move your device up to the top of the ridge, will it take the island with it when it does its thing?” asked Mr. Elkins.
“Oh, yes. And more. It should take the same size area as the last time.” The professor seemed quite confident about that.
“Then let's do it!” Mr. Span exclaimed.
“Don't forget that we talked about this before,” Joe reminded them all. There was no way Span could have forgotten the conversation.
“Yes, someone, specifically me, would have to sit up there through every storm to turn on the SEAD at the right moment,” added the Professor.
“I still strongly advise against that, Professor. It is just too dangerous,” warned Joe.
“What are we going to do then? Let every storm just pass us by?” pressed Mr. Span.
“We can't wait here forever,” added Mary Tankyard.
“If something happens to the Professor up there, we will never get back,” Joe reminded them.
“I hope as much as the next guy nothing happens to him, but it is his fault we are here in the first place. I think that he owes us.” stated Mike Elkins.
“He doesn't owe us!” yelled Joe. Turning back to the Professor, he said, “Don’t let them persuade you with guilt.”
“I will do it,” stated the Professor.
“Don't listen to them. You don't need to risk your life, Professor,” responded Joe. “You don't owe us that.”
“Lightning may never hit this island. That ridge is drawing all the strikes around here. I will go up there.”
Joe looked the Professor square in the eye. “Are you sure about this?”
“No. But I believe it is our best chance. Maybe, it is our only chance.”
“All right then, if that is your decision. But everyone will have to be ca
reful.”