We did not go to Quinn's house after leaving Crayton Labs. Instead, we went to a place called the Lemon Twist Lounge, which was at the corner of Dale Avenue and Ball Road in Anaheim, near an Arco gas station.
Inside the Lemon Twiast Lounge was some pool tables and a bar and a jukebox and some arcade games. Women in bikinis served drinks behiond the bar. IOt was mostly empty except for the two of us and three patrons sitting at the bar.
"Hey Quinn," said a blond-haired lady standing behind a bar, dressed in a red bikini. I recognized her as the woman who answered the door when I first arrived at Quinn's house.
"Hey Jewel," said Quinn. "Colin, this is my wife Jewel."
"Hi," I said, shaking her hand.
"Want anything to drink?" she asked.
"I'll have a Budweiser," I said. So she gave me a Budweiser. Quinn was the one paying for it.
"So tell me about yourself, Colin," said Quinn.
So I told Quinn my biography, from my adoption by my birth parents' duplicates to my traveling around California to first meeting my brother. I told him about my various travels and what I saw. I told him about how I found out I was unstuck.
"So you thought you were home, until your parents' duplicates tried to kill you?" he asked.
"Yes," I said. "Remmy told me that the humans were the ones who waged a war of aggression against the kromaggs on that world. We escaped that world riding on an Amtrak train near downtown Los Angeles."
"And when was your last encounter with the kromaggs?"
"Two months ago, I was on this world where no one from Europe or Asia settled in North America. The Indians there apparently worshipped the kromaggs who came there years ago. They captured me and handed me over to them. Well, one thing led to another, and I escaped. So, tell me about yourself."
"I was born in San Francisco and lived there for eighteen years. When I was fifteen, my parents and my brother-your duplicate- were killed in a car crash near Pacifica. I was the only survivor. I lived with Uncle Mac for two years. Then I got a scholarship to Concordia University in Orange County. I dedicated my life to physics.It wad there that I met Jewel, who was an English major. I contineud my graduate and doctorate studies in Concordia."
"How did you hook up with Dr. Crayton?" I asked.
"Crayton recruited me from physics graduate school," said Quinn. "He said his research lab was on the cutting edge of unlocking the mysteries of the universe. I actuaslly read his scientific papers on the basic structure of space-time, and the exzistence of parallel universes and its interactions with our own. He even paied for my education to get my doctorate at Concordia. I got to chance to work with Dr. Arturo and Dr. Jabiarek, two very prominent phyicists in the world."
"And Crayton gets credit for your discoveries."
"Crayton Labs earns the profit, I get the credit on whatever I uncover in the research that I do. I've already published in the physics journals. But what's to complain about. I get paid well, and I'm getting paid an extra two hundred to provide room and board for you."
"Do you think thisn junction will work?" I asked.
"It will," said Quinn. "By the summer of next year I expect it will be used on human test subjects. The junction will revolutionize medicine."
"What other projects is Crayton Lanbs doing besides the junction?"
"Well, we're also trying to send and receive electromagnetic signals to other dimensions, or maybe create a wormhole large enough for a human to pass through. And with you here, I know it's possible."
"Quinn, I'd like you to tell me something, but it might make you uncomfortable."
"Go ahead," said Quinn as he sipped his cold beer.
"What was your brother, the Colin of this world, like?"
Quinn just stared distantly, as if he were looking to the past. "He was like you are now," he said. "He was inquisitive, seeking knowledge. But his field wasd different. I wanted to know how the universe worked. He wanted to know about people, about society. He wanted to be an archaeologist once, after seeing those Indiana Jones movies. He would have loved traveling to parallel universes."
"Well, there are things I like about that," I said. "It can be dangerous at times, though. there were times when I almost got killed or got stuck for twenty-nine years, although I don't have to worry about that anymore.
"But the most interesting part was not witnessing other versions of society, but other versions of me. I've seen other versions of me, and I even got mixed up in their lives. By knowing what lives they led, it gives me more insight on myself, and how the choices I make influence my life."
"Well, this world's version of you is buried in San Francisco," said Quinn.
"I've heard you talking about parallel universes," said Jewel, who apparently heard part of our conversation. "Quinn likes to talk about it. Maybe I have a duplicate out there who is a world-famous singer."
"You were a singer?" I asked her.
"I chose to be a writer and a poet," said Jewel. "I took music lessons as a kid."
Later on, Jewel had her break. She decided to talk about herself as we sat around the table.
"I was born and raised in Alaska," said Jewel. "It's a beautiful state. Quinn and I were there just this summer. Aynway, I went to Concordia when I was eighteen, and there I met Quinn. I tend the bar as my regular job, and I write stories and poems on the side. I've even been published."
"So why are you working in this bar with barely anything on?" I asked.
"Well, I meet a lot of people here," she said. "It can give me inspiration, make my creative mind kick in."
I told Jewel my story.
"Maybe I should write your experiences into a novel," said Jewel.
"It's not like I could sue you for plagiarism," I said. "I mean, I'll be gone in a few days. See this watch? When it reaches zero, I will disappear."
"I want to be there when it happens," said Jewel. "At least then I will know that you are not crazy."
Jewel went back to work, and Quinn and I decided to play pool. Two shots after the opening break, it turned out I was stripes. The game was over a few minutes later.
"That was a nice shot," said Quinn. "You hit the ball to the opposite side, and then it bounced back to put the eight ball in the corner pocket."
"Well, you learn a few tricks if you spend a year traveling through parallel Earths," I said.
"Too bad the cue ball also went into the pocket."
Jewel's shift was over, so we all went home. We got hamburgers from a nearby Jack-in-the Box along the way.
"There is a futon," said Quinn. "you can sleep there. We have some DVD's if you want to watch, or you can surf the web on the computer. I'll take you to the lab tomorrow. I came up with an idea when I was drinking. Maybe a good night's sleep will make it clear."
"Or maybe you need some more inspiration," said Jewel, stroking her husband's long hair and untying his ponytail.
They left and I heard their bedroom door shut. I decided to look through the DVD's. I saw one, titled Air Force One. I put it into the
Toshiba DVD player.
It was a great movie. Kevin Costner starred as President James Marshall, who was riding in Air Force One with his wife, daughter, and staff when terrorists hijacked the plane. The President himself took action against the terrorists, and after sequences of people getting shot and airplanes blowing up, the President and his family make it out okay.
After that, I extended the futon and lay down with the back of my head against a pillow. I felt my ribs; they still hurt from the rock that struck my chest days ago.
Dreamtime.
I probably have more interesting dreams than other people, due to my year of experience in sliding.I saw images of parallel Earths, and an image of several Earths being fused into one.
Then he appeared.
He was this old man who has appaeared in my dreams many times, to give me a message that I would remember when I wake up. Everything he said to me in those dreams later turned to be true. And just last month, some lady in a mental institution told me that Rembrandt and Quinn and Maggie were okay, indicating that this was no product of my mind, but someone was speaking to me across the dimensions.
"It's you again," I said.
"How are you doing, Colin?" he asked.
"Well, my ribs still hurt. But I found Quinn, and he is capable of helping me."
"The junction is dangerous."
"Dangerous?" I asked. "How? What is the danger?"
"The junction poses a danger not only for this Earth, but for your home Earth, and other Earths as well."
"My home Earth? What do you mean?"
"The people behind this...."
But then he was lost into the dreamtime.
Inside the Lemon Twiast Lounge was some pool tables and a bar and a jukebox and some arcade games. Women in bikinis served drinks behiond the bar. IOt was mostly empty except for the two of us and three patrons sitting at the bar.
"Hey Quinn," said a blond-haired lady standing behind a bar, dressed in a red bikini. I recognized her as the woman who answered the door when I first arrived at Quinn's house.
"Hey Jewel," said Quinn. "Colin, this is my wife Jewel."
"Hi," I said, shaking her hand.
"Want anything to drink?" she asked.
"I'll have a Budweiser," I said. So she gave me a Budweiser. Quinn was the one paying for it.
"So tell me about yourself, Colin," said Quinn.
So I told Quinn my biography, from my adoption by my birth parents' duplicates to my traveling around California to first meeting my brother. I told him about my various travels and what I saw. I told him about how I found out I was unstuck.
"So you thought you were home, until your parents' duplicates tried to kill you?" he asked.
"Yes," I said. "Remmy told me that the humans were the ones who waged a war of aggression against the kromaggs on that world. We escaped that world riding on an Amtrak train near downtown Los Angeles."
"And when was your last encounter with the kromaggs?"
"Two months ago, I was on this world where no one from Europe or Asia settled in North America. The Indians there apparently worshipped the kromaggs who came there years ago. They captured me and handed me over to them. Well, one thing led to another, and I escaped. So, tell me about yourself."
"I was born in San Francisco and lived there for eighteen years. When I was fifteen, my parents and my brother-your duplicate- were killed in a car crash near Pacifica. I was the only survivor. I lived with Uncle Mac for two years. Then I got a scholarship to Concordia University in Orange County. I dedicated my life to physics.It wad there that I met Jewel, who was an English major. I contineud my graduate and doctorate studies in Concordia."
"How did you hook up with Dr. Crayton?" I asked.
"Crayton recruited me from physics graduate school," said Quinn. "He said his research lab was on the cutting edge of unlocking the mysteries of the universe. I actuaslly read his scientific papers on the basic structure of space-time, and the exzistence of parallel universes and its interactions with our own. He even paied for my education to get my doctorate at Concordia. I got to chance to work with Dr. Arturo and Dr. Jabiarek, two very prominent phyicists in the world."
"And Crayton gets credit for your discoveries."
"Crayton Labs earns the profit, I get the credit on whatever I uncover in the research that I do. I've already published in the physics journals. But what's to complain about. I get paid well, and I'm getting paid an extra two hundred to provide room and board for you."
"Do you think thisn junction will work?" I asked.
"It will," said Quinn. "By the summer of next year I expect it will be used on human test subjects. The junction will revolutionize medicine."
"What other projects is Crayton Lanbs doing besides the junction?"
"Well, we're also trying to send and receive electromagnetic signals to other dimensions, or maybe create a wormhole large enough for a human to pass through. And with you here, I know it's possible."
"Quinn, I'd like you to tell me something, but it might make you uncomfortable."
"Go ahead," said Quinn as he sipped his cold beer.
"What was your brother, the Colin of this world, like?"
Quinn just stared distantly, as if he were looking to the past. "He was like you are now," he said. "He was inquisitive, seeking knowledge. But his field wasd different. I wanted to know how the universe worked. He wanted to know about people, about society. He wanted to be an archaeologist once, after seeing those Indiana Jones movies. He would have loved traveling to parallel universes."
"Well, there are things I like about that," I said. "It can be dangerous at times, though. there were times when I almost got killed or got stuck for twenty-nine years, although I don't have to worry about that anymore.
"But the most interesting part was not witnessing other versions of society, but other versions of me. I've seen other versions of me, and I even got mixed up in their lives. By knowing what lives they led, it gives me more insight on myself, and how the choices I make influence my life."
"Well, this world's version of you is buried in San Francisco," said Quinn.
"I've heard you talking about parallel universes," said Jewel, who apparently heard part of our conversation. "Quinn likes to talk about it. Maybe I have a duplicate out there who is a world-famous singer."
"You were a singer?" I asked her.
"I chose to be a writer and a poet," said Jewel. "I took music lessons as a kid."
Later on, Jewel had her break. She decided to talk about herself as we sat around the table.
"I was born and raised in Alaska," said Jewel. "It's a beautiful state. Quinn and I were there just this summer. Aynway, I went to Concordia when I was eighteen, and there I met Quinn. I tend the bar as my regular job, and I write stories and poems on the side. I've even been published."
"So why are you working in this bar with barely anything on?" I asked.
"Well, I meet a lot of people here," she said. "It can give me inspiration, make my creative mind kick in."
I told Jewel my story.
"Maybe I should write your experiences into a novel," said Jewel.
"It's not like I could sue you for plagiarism," I said. "I mean, I'll be gone in a few days. See this watch? When it reaches zero, I will disappear."
"I want to be there when it happens," said Jewel. "At least then I will know that you are not crazy."
Jewel went back to work, and Quinn and I decided to play pool. Two shots after the opening break, it turned out I was stripes. The game was over a few minutes later.
"That was a nice shot," said Quinn. "You hit the ball to the opposite side, and then it bounced back to put the eight ball in the corner pocket."
"Well, you learn a few tricks if you spend a year traveling through parallel Earths," I said.
"Too bad the cue ball also went into the pocket."
Jewel's shift was over, so we all went home. We got hamburgers from a nearby Jack-in-the Box along the way.
"There is a futon," said Quinn. "you can sleep there. We have some DVD's if you want to watch, or you can surf the web on the computer. I'll take you to the lab tomorrow. I came up with an idea when I was drinking. Maybe a good night's sleep will make it clear."
"Or maybe you need some more inspiration," said Jewel, stroking her husband's long hair and untying his ponytail.
They left and I heard their bedroom door shut. I decided to look through the DVD's. I saw one, titled Air Force One. I put it into the
Toshiba DVD player.
It was a great movie. Kevin Costner starred as President James Marshall, who was riding in Air Force One with his wife, daughter, and staff when terrorists hijacked the plane. The President himself took action against the terrorists, and after sequences of people getting shot and airplanes blowing up, the President and his family make it out okay.
After that, I extended the futon and lay down with the back of my head against a pillow. I felt my ribs; they still hurt from the rock that struck my chest days ago.
Dreamtime.
I probably have more interesting dreams than other people, due to my year of experience in sliding.I saw images of parallel Earths, and an image of several Earths being fused into one.
Then he appeared.
He was this old man who has appaeared in my dreams many times, to give me a message that I would remember when I wake up. Everything he said to me in those dreams later turned to be true. And just last month, some lady in a mental institution told me that Rembrandt and Quinn and Maggie were okay, indicating that this was no product of my mind, but someone was speaking to me across the dimensions.
"It's you again," I said.
"How are you doing, Colin?" he asked.
"Well, my ribs still hurt. But I found Quinn, and he is capable of helping me."
"The junction is dangerous."
"Dangerous?" I asked. "How? What is the danger?"
"The junction poses a danger not only for this Earth, but for your home Earth, and other Earths as well."
"My home Earth? What do you mean?"
"The people behind this...."
But then he was lost into the dreamtime.
