The news was too horrible to be true, and for a moment Alan convinced himself it wasn't. "How is that possible?" he asked Arthur's parents. "Was it some kind of alien weapon?"
"I told you, we don't know," said Mr. Read, his voice pained. "They were sitting together in the classroom, and all of a sudden they decomposed. There was nothing left but flesh-colored dust."
"Flesh-colored?" said Alan curiously. "You mean, like the chemical components of the human body after all the water is removed?"
As the parallel Mr. Read searched for a suitable answer, Alan's ears picked up an anguished scream from two blocks away. Turning and straining his eyes, he saw a familiar-looking woman in a panicked state, crying for help from anyone in the vicinity.
"Holy crud, that's my mom!" he exclaimed.
"You'd better run and help her," advised Mr. Read.
Alan did so, his feet flying as fast as he could make them. "Mom! Mom!" he yelled, not considering whether his duplicate self was within earshot. After he had cleared a block, to his surprise, his mother ceased her screaming and came charging towards him.
"Mom?" said Alan, slowing to a crawl.
Mrs. Powers, a look of ecstatic gratitude enveloping her face, threw her arms around the boy. "Alan, you're alive!" she gushed. "Thank God! Don't ever scare me like that again!"
"Huh?" said Alan, his voice muffled by his mother's dress. "What's going on? Why shouldn't I be alive?"
"You clever, cruel boy," said his mother, backing away slightly. "You planted that pile of dust on your bed, didn't you? You wanted to make me think you'd been vaporized, just like Arthur and Binky were."
The true nature of the situation struck Alan like a runaway train. "Mom," he said nervously, "how long has the pile of dust been there?"
"Only a few minutes, I think," his mother replied. "You mean you didn't put it there? Where did it come from, then?"
It's all too obvious, thought Alan, terror threatening to overwhelm him. Arthur and Binky came here yesterday, and their duplicates died yesterday. I came here today, and my duplicate died just now. That's how the Entangler prevents universe-shattering paradoxes…BY KILLING PEOPLE!
"I've gotta go to the library, Mom," said Alan, his breath heavy and labored even before he started to run.
Mrs. Powers smiled wistfully as her son sped away from her line of sight. I've never seen anyone so anxious to learn, she thought.
Fern, fearing what the other library patrons would think of a pair of invisible hands typing on a computer keyboard, gave Arthur instructions on what to enter into the Google search prompt. As the aardvark boy prepared to print out his findings, Fern was attracted to a quiet conversation between two youngsters seated at the other computers.
"You're sick, you know that?" said the rabbit girl to the weasel-like boy.
It's Molly and Rattles, thought Fern. I could wedgie them both right now, and they'd be none the wiser.
"At least it's not pornography," said Rattles, waiting breathlessly as a YouTube page loaded.
"But it's against library rules," Molly warned him. "I think it is, anyway. If it isn't, it should be."
The video image on the screen was too murky for Fern to make out, but it elicited a bad feeling nonetheless.
"What's it gonna be today?" said Rattles, rubbing his palms with glee. "The rack? The iron maiden? Electrodes?"
"What kind of a world makes Chernobila into an Internet celebrity?" said Molly bitterly.
Chernobila! thought Fern. God, anyone but her!
The video became more illuminated as it played, revealing a dank prison cell in which two hooded figures were bound to a wall by steel shackles. A uniformed Yordilian woman, her hands caressing a shotgun of alien design, stepped into the scene. "Watch carefully, everyone," she addressed the camera in what was more a hiss than a voice. "I'm about to show you what happens to terrorists."
With that, the red-haired Yordilian proceeded to tear the hoods away from her prisoners' faces. "Holy freakin' Jeebus!" exclaimed Molly at the sight.
"You know them?" said Rattles, a bit startled.
"Yeah, I know them," was Molly's indignant reply. "They're Fern's folks."
"Thanks for taking all the fun out of it, fun-taker," said Rattles petulantly. He clicked with the mouse to close the window, but the damage had already been done.
Arthur, as he waited for a print job to complete, heard a dull thudding sound from behind. He turned his head and gasped. To his alarm, Fern was fully visible, stretched out on the library floor, and judging from appearances, quite unconscious.
"Fern!" he cried, jumping up from his chair. To his friend behind the comic book rack he yelled, "Binky, get over here!"
Molly and Rattles looked on as Arthur attempted to revive Fern by gently slapping her cheeks. "Oh, man, there she is," said Molly anxiously. "If the Yordies find her, they'll execute her for sure."
"We can't let that happen," said Rattles with uncharacteristic nobility. "Let's, uh, create a distraction."
"One distraction coming up," said Molly. Rearing back her fist, she delivered a punch directly to Rattles' chin.
By this time both Arthur and Binky were trying to rouse the unconscious poodle girl, each boy forcefully rubbing one of her wrists. "Wake up, Fern! Wake up!" Binky called out in vain.
At this opportune time Alan came rushing into the library. Narrowly dodging Molly and Rattles, who were playfully exchanging blows, he stopped at Fern's feet and declared, "Guys, we've got to go back now!"
Arthur and Binky looked up and glared. "We've got a bit of a problem here," Arthur pointed out.
"What happened to her?" Alan inquired.
"I think she fainted," replied Arthur.
"Maybe the air in this dimension's too thin," Binky added.
"Get outta my way," said Alan firmly. As the other boys crouched backwards, he bent over, raised his arm, and brought his hand against Fern's face in a slap that echoed throughout the building.
"Ow!" cried the girl, her eyes popping open.
"Listen, Fern," said Alan, his tone of voice dire. "The Entangler's dangerous. It killed our duplicates. Once you've sent us back to our dimension, you've got to destroy it!"
Fern spoke in a weak and frightened manner, her head bobbing back and forth. "They killed my parents, Alan. Those Yordie butchers…they killed my parents!"
"I'm sorry," said Alan coldly. "Now, where's the Entangler?"
"It's here, in her pocket," said Binky, holding up the cube-shaped device.
"How do you activate it, Fern?" Alan pressed the delirious girl.
"Killed my parents," she mumbled. "Yordie butchers…killed my parents…"
To Alan's horror, what appeared to be a Yordilian peace officer walked rigidly into the library. "Everyone freeze!" she barked, but Molly and Rattles disregarded her order, slugging each other with abandon.
"Fern, snap out of it!" shouted Alan, but the girl barely managed to focus her eyes on him.
"Wait," said Binky, rolling the Entangler with his fingers. "She said some magic words. What were they? Zillion…gajillion…zigzag…zombie…Zimbabwe…"
The interdimensional gateway reappeared, instantly catching the attention of the Yordilian soldier. Driven by desperation, Arthur, Binky, and Alan succeeded in dragging the limp-limbed Fern into the portal mere seconds before the imposing officer reached their position.
Alan glanced around. To his immeasurable relief, there were no Yordilians to be seen, nor were any propaganda posters hanging on the library walls. We're safe, he reassured himself. Now we can end this.
"Unnh," grunted Fern as Arthur and Binky pulled up her arms, helping her to stand.
"Are you okay, Fern?" Alan asked her.
"No," replied the girl, her legs wobbling. "No, I'm not okay at all. My parents are dead, Alan. They're dead!"
"Quiet, please," said Paige Turner from the other side of the reference desk.
As the poodle girl sobbed onto his shoulder, Alan could only stand still and silently cry along with her.
To be continued