“How do you propose we do that?” asked a perplexed Aldo. “He even told us that each time he tried to enter either one of the wormhole tunnels, the tunnel always repelled him.”
“I recall Bill Thomas saying that he used to be a particularly lucky kid growing up in New York back during the 1890s. He also told us that the laws of physics prevented him from entering either of the wormhole tunnels, since an imbalance of ions of luck would occur. Aldo, just like you improved my woefully bad mix of negatively charged ions of luck with a transfusion with my lucky alter-ego, I believe that if we can deliver enough blood to give the guardian a full transfusion of blood containing a neutrally-balanced, average set of ions of luck, he would be able to leave the black hole.”
“Well, Danny – that’s a brilliant deduction. I think it just might work, but of course we need to make sure to match his natural blood type. While we begin preparations for you and David to travel to the other world, I’m going to search through some old, archived records to see what blood type he is. We also need to know if he is RH positive or negative.”
“I most definitely will.”
As they closed up the lab for the day, Danny quietly thought to himself, “I’d gladly risk death and travel across the dimensions to help save my true love – my dearest Jessica.”
18
Meanwhile, the past month for Jessica had become increasingly stressful. She felt isolated and very depressed now that both Danny and Aldo were long gone. Jessica spent long hours thinking about him. Although she was well aware that both Danny and Aldo could easily have perished during their perilous journey, deep down inside she sensed that they both were miraculously still alive. Jessica arrived at this logical conclusion since her husband was still alive, and she knew that an imbalance of positive and negative ions of luck would have occurred if his alter-ego had suddenly died. Thus, she was very confident that her soulmate was still alive, and she was dedicated to finding a way of somehow, someway, of being reunited with her true love, Danny.
Jessica also decided to hire a top-quality lawyer to put an end to the incessant questioning and surprise visits by Detective Harrison. Her attorney told the detective, “If you have enough incriminating evidence to charge my client, Mrs. Jessica Donaldson, with a crime – go ahead and do so – otherwise, your constant visits, accusations, and insinuations will be considered as a form of ‘police harassment’, and we will respond accordingly.”
The most stressful aspect of Jessica’s life was that her husband had just emerged from his coma. Fortunately, at first he suffered from almost complete amnesia. Initially, he didn’t even know his own name, but little-by-little, his memory was beginning to return. Jessica knew that once his memory was fully restored that she’d certainly be facing hard time in jail, so she decided to take some action…
Jessica continued to avoid living at home, and she changed hotels on a daily basis to confuse the pesky paparazzi. She always wore sunglasses in public, and usually she donned one of several wigs she had recently purchased. One afternoon, she took a taxi over to the University of Washington campus. She had another three million dollar donation for the Physics Department in her possession. She went to visit Hugh Givens, the college dean. Before entering his office, she visited a restroom to remove her wig and sunglasses.
Mr. Givens was a portly, balding man in his mid-fifties who was easily manipulated by rich, generous people who liked to donate money to the university coffers. He was also easily influenced by attractive women – and Jessica Donaldson happened to be fabulously wealthy and extremely pretty.
“Please, come in, Mrs. Donaldson. My, that’s a beautiful dress you’re wearing, and that perfume is simply intoxicating. You have a wonderful way of beautifying our campus. So, how may I be at your service today?”
“Mr. Givens, as you know, my husband and I recently donated three million dollars to the Physics Department in the name of Aldo Paganini. Unfortunately, Professor Paganini seems to have mysteriously disappeared into the communication chamber that he invented. I’m willing to donate an additional three million dollars to the university if you will allow me to hire one of your physicists to continue with his research. I believe Professor Paganini was on the verge of a major discovery, and it would be a waste of his life to discontinue his research at this time. So, I’m wondering if you would accept this generous donation to keep Professor Paganini’s dream alive.”
“Mrs. Donaldson – you drive a hard bargain – and besides, you cross your legs so nicely when you sit down, so how can I possibly say, ‘no’? You have yourself a deal. By the way, we always keep Professor Paganini’s lab locked up. I suppose you’ll need a copy of the key – right?”
“Actually, I already have a key to the lab. I wonder if there is a physicist you might recommend I hire to continue with the research on the communication chamber.”
“The best man for the job is Jason Cooper,” explained the dean. “He’s an associate professor who used to work with Aldo Paganini on the developmental stages of the device, but he became frightened and he suddenly quit when another young assistant, David Dawson, somehow disappeared into another dimension.”
Jessica instantly recognized David Dawson’s name, and she knew that it was imperative to get Jason Cooper to help her to realize her hopes of being reunited with Danny again…
“Hugh, I sure hope that Jason Cooper doesn’t harbor any ill-feelings about working on the same project again,” said Jessica as she re-crossed her sexy legs to encourage Mr. Givens’ cooperation.
“I’m sure if you pay him enough, he’ll be there for you with bells on.”
Jessica ended up hiring Professor Jason Cooper to be her exclusive helper on the project. He was a tall, slim man in his late-thirties with a goatee beard. Jessica was particularly glad to find out that he was willing to do anything if the price was right.
After reacquainting himself with the communication chamber for less than a day Jason proclaimed, “This machine is now fully operational.”
“Great,” said Jessica. “By the way, Aldo said the power levels had to be maxed out when trying to connect with the wormhole tunnel to another dimension.”
“I’m afraid the electro-magnetic heating coils will overheat,” said a concerned Jason.
“You can only maintain full power for only a few minutes at a time, and then – yes, you would have to turn off the power to avoid damage to the unit. Say, Professor Cooper, how would you like to be paid a million dollars in cash – tax free, in one hundred dollar bills?”
His mouth fell wide open as he stared her in the eye and said, “I’d do just about anything, Mrs. Donaldson – what do you have in mind?”
“In total, there are only five people who know this communication chamber doesn’t really function as advertised, and three of them have already gone to a parallel universe. Instead of communicating with souls from a spirit world, we know it actually serves as a physical path to another dimension. Have you explained this to anyone else?”
“No ma’am – I’ve kept it a secret.”
“I want to keep it that way. I want you to meet me here tomorrow afternoon at 3:00 PM. I’ll have a million dollars in cash ready for you by then. I need you to send me to the central black hole, also known as the crossroads between dimensions. I’ll prepare a suicide note, so no one can think that you forcibly pushed me into the wormhole tunnel. As soon as I’m gone, I want you to destroy the communication chamber and get rid of any research notes you may have. So, Jason, do we have a deal?”
He extended out his right arm to shake hands and he simply replied, “Yes.”
The rest of the day, Jessica visited three different banks to assemble a million dollars in cash. Although she was certain that Detective Harrison would eventually hear about it, she expected to be in another universe by then.
Meanwhile, back in the other universe, Danny extensively searched the internet through Bill Thomas’ family-tree history. It was confusing at first since ‘Bill Thomas’ i
s such a common name, but he traced newspaper archives to the disastrous rollercoaster accident in 1890 on Coney Island.
“Hey, guys – look at this old, New York Times article from August 14th, 1890… ‘Freak Rollercoaster Derailment Kills Seven’… Later in the article, it mentions that a student, Bill Thomas, from Ithaca, New York, is missing following the rollercoaster incident, although eyewitness accounts verify that the youth was on the ride. His parents, Mildred and Howard Thomas, both renowned musicians, are offering a substantial reward for any information regarding the whereabouts of their son.”
Danny was able to find out from old hospital records that everyone in his family had a very common blood type: ‘O’ – positive.
“I think some of his relatives will be shocked to see him returning home after a 126 year hiatus,” said Aldo.
Later that night, Aldo managed to swipe 10 pints of ‘O’- positive blood from the university hospital, along with the necessary IV equipment to administer the transfusion. He found an online, ‘how-to’ video, depicting transfusions for Danny to study.
“Danny, watch this video as many times as you need to, since I won’t be there to assist you with Bill Thomas’ transfusion. It can be a rather tricky task for a novice, but I’m confident you’ll succeed.”
“Excuse me, Aldo,” asked a concerned Danny. “Something’s bothering me… Let’s suppose that the blood I pump into Bill Thomas’ veins happens to be full of either positive or negative ions of luck. Wouldn’t he continue to be prevented from returning to our world?”
“In theory, yes,” said Aldo, “but I know that is impossible in his particular case. You see, we already know from talking to Bill Thomas that he is the lucky type, which means his blood currently is full of positive ions of luck. Thus, for him to have the misfortune of receiving a transfusion of blood containing an imbalance of ions of luck, that in of itself would be a stroke of bad luck – which is an impossibility for a man like him who has been born with inherently good luck.”
“Aldo, I love how your mind works.”
“Me too,” said Dave.
“That makes three of us,” added David.
In addition to the transfusion supplies, they purchased Danny and David warm parkas, snow boots, thick gloves, an inflatable raft, a tiny tent, a few cigarette lighters for starting a fire, and a compass. Danny wondered if they should bring a third set of warm clothes for Bill Thomas…
“What for?” asked Aldo. “No one here in Seattle needs to wear a parka. By all means, make sure to send Bill Thomas down the wormhole tunnel which connects with our teleporter – don’t send him to the frigid poles in the parallel universe.”
“You know, Aldo,” said an increasingly concerned David. “I really just wish to experience the thrill of traveling to the central black hole. It would be cool if we could help Bill Thomas return to our world. However, I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to pass on continuing with Danny to the other parallel universe. I don’t stand up to cold weather very well at all.”
“No problem, at all – David,” said Danny. “I’ll probably end up freezing to death over there. David, I just need you to accompany Bill Thomas on his journey back to our world.”
“You got it,” replied a relieved-looking David.
“Danny, your backpack is so large that you’re going to have to place your supplies in first, and guide them forward as you are whisked along the tunnel at warp speed. I think you should lead, since David has no experience in navigating the tunnel.”
“David, there really isn’t anything to it – just relax and enjoy the ride.”
A worried-looking Aldo said, “Danny, I really don’t like your chances of survival at the poles. Hopefully, by some miracle, your wormhole tunnel latches onto something else that can be magnetically charged – even being transported to a big lightning storm in the American mid-west would be way better than ending way up in the arctic circle.”
“You know, Aldo, I’ve often wondered how I entered the wormhole tunnel in the first place. I was in a motorized wheelchair being hurtled towards a telephone pole when a speeding truck slammed into me in a busy intersection. I was in a state of shock, but I recall being struck by a massive bolt of lightning as I was airborne. So, tell me, where’s the magnetic connection there?”
“As you know, there are electro-magnets in your motorized wheelchair, and its strength was probably intensified when it was struck by lightning. Such occurrences are rare, but they do happen on occasion. When Bill Thomas had a similar result back in 1890 during the coaster derailment, there must have been a lot of static electricity created between the rollercoaster car and the steel rail tracks. Of course, the bolt of lightning would have served to greatly magnify its magnetism, even if it only lasted for a brief moment. Otherwise, there is no way that either of one you would have ended up in the wormhole tunnel.”
“Wow. That’s finally beginning to make sense to me. Thanks for everything, Aldo, and wish me the best. When I recently found out that my original Jessica Hart killed herself while I was rescuing her alter-ego in another world, I felt driven to return to the parallel universe. I should never have abandoned her in the first place. Now, I must return to help her.”
“Well, Danny – you’re a fine, quality person,” said Aldo. “I wish you the best possible outcome. By the way, with our new capability of keeping the teleporter’s electro-magnetic coils cool enough over extended periods of time, we’ll keep the wormhole tunnel latched onto our device until you decide to return. That way, there’s no risk of you ending up at the frozen, Earth’s poles during your journey home.”
“That’s comforting to know. Thank you, Aldo.”
With that parting thought, Aldo energized the Paganini Inter-dimensional Teleporter by turning the dials to ‘full power’. Within minutes, the familiar, swirling lights of the wormhole tunnel latched onto the powerful, magnetically charged field. After everyone exchanged final ‘farewells’, Danny and David eased their equipment into the tunnel, and sped off towards the central black hole…
19
Jessica received an incoming call on her cell phone at 9:30 AM on the morning before Professor Jason Cooper was scheduled to send her off to another universe…
“Good morning, Mrs. Donaldson. This is Detective Harrison. Your husband seems to be doing much better, and he seems to have regained his full memory. Astonishingly, he now accuses you of being linked to a ‘Danny Donaldson look-alike’ who has enabled you to pilfer large amounts of cash from his private bank account. He also made mention of another man, who closely fits Professor Aldo Paganini’s description.”
“Detective Harrison, my attorney specifically warned you not to contact me directly. My husband must still be delusional. You need to discuss this with my lawyer.”
“Mrs. Donaldson – I already have discussed this with him. These are very serious allegations coming from your husband. Your lawyer has already agreed to meet me at your husband’s hospital room at noon. You are required to come. We’ll see you then.”
“Oh, God, no!” cried Jessica to herself out loud as soon as she ended her phone conversation with Detective Harrison. “I need to get out of town as soon as possible. I sure hope Jason can meet me at the lab earlier than 3:00 o’clock.”
However, Jason couldn’t be reached by phone – for whatever reason, his line was busy, and she had no way of getting through to him. Jessica began to panic – she made the decision not to show up for the noon appointment at the hospital, since there was a good chance she might be arrested on the spot. Instead, she took a taxi straight to the University of Washington.
Jessica unlocked the door to the lab, and re-locked it when she entered. She set the tote bag full of money on a table, and frantically tried calling Jason once again, but his phone was still busy. She thought, “Gee, I bet his phone is somehow off the hook. I hope he gets here before the cops show up.”
Jessica made good use of her time by taping her suicide note to the inside of the lab door.
Suddenly, her phone chimed…
“Thank God, I’ll bet the call is from Jason,” but she could see from a ‘caller ID’ that it was an incoming call from her attorney. It was already 12:15 PM, and she was late for her appointment with her husband and the detective. She decided to not answer her phone unless it was Jason calling. Soon thereafter, her phone began ringing every ten minutes or so. The ‘caller Id’ showed that both her attorney and Detective Harrison were repeatedly trying to reach her.
At 1:00 PM, Jason’s phone was still busy. She became frightened when she heard police sirens closing in from afar.
“Oh boy, I just can’t wait until 3:00 o’clock for Jason to show up. The cops will be here any minute. I need to figure out how to operate this communication chamber all by myself. I should have paid better attention when Aldo demonstrated how to use it. All I remember is to turn up the power dial to the max, and I mustn’t waste time jumping into the tunnel before the electro-magnetic coils melt down.”
The sounds of the police sirens became progressively louder as they got closer. Jessica was relieved to see that the frequency setting was still at the same setting as when Jason fired up the system the day before. All she really had to do was to switch on the power, and leap through the circular structure of the ring of magnets.
She watched intently through the window in the communication chamber’s door. Fortunately, the swirling light formations of the wormhole tunnel were latching onto Aldo’s invention. Jessica placed a footstool beneath the opening, which now appeared ready to receive her.
She paused for a moment as she thought, “The police will surely confiscate the money. They’ll never give it to Jason Cooper. If anything, they’ll give it back to my sickening, rich husband. I think I should take the cash with me. If the other universe is as identical to ours as Danny says it is, well, we could always use some money over there as well.”
There was a sudden, loud pounding at the door, “Open up – it’s the police.”
Ions Of Luck Page 14