"I just had this idea," said Quinn as he drove home in his BMW.
"What?" I asked.
"That watch of yours indicates thast you would be here past Thanksgiving. How would youn like to have Thanksgiving with us?"
"I'd like that."
"Uh, you know what Thanksgiving is, right?"
"It's a holiday to celebrate a dinner by Pilgrims who landed here three hundred years ago. The Indians shared food with them."
"Well, it's the same on your world as it is on mine."
"I don't know. Wouldn't Jewel's family come along? They must think that I am dead. How would you explain my prescence to them?"
"Her parents are meeting us for dinner here in Anaheim," said Quinn. "We'll pick them up from John Wayne Airport on Wednesday. I'll just tell them you're boarding here, and thaty your family died."
After over forty minutes of heavy traffic on the Santa Ana Freeway, we finally reached his house. We both went inside the house.
"Quinn," I said. "do you have a high school yearbook with your brother in it?" I asked.
"I think I have it in the garage," he said. After a minute, he caem inside with a blue book. "Here it is."
I sat down on the dinner table to read the book. I looked trhough the pictures of the students from the Class of 1989, and I saw my duplicate's picture.
He looked just as I did when I was seventeen We both had somewhat chubby faces back then.
I flipped the pages to the back of the yearbook. There was another picture of my duplicate in the back. There was also a caption.
IN MEMORY OF COLIN MALLORY
1971-1988
I looked through the yearbook. I saw that the local Colin Mallory wasa in the basketball team as well as several schopol cliubs. Clearly, he fit in, while I did not fit in where I grew up.
After I was done with the yearbook, I decided to watch another DVD. I looked through, and I selected a movie called Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.
It took over two hours to finish the movie. Its setting was long ago in a galaxy far, far away. There was this republic that ruled the galaxy, and two people from the Jedi came to settle a trade dispute. Well, one thing led to another, and soon there was a podrace, a space battle, and a lightsaber duel with someone named Darth Maul who was part of the Sith. In the end, one of the Jedi was killed, and a little boy joined the Jedi order. I hoped that the sequel to this movie would be as good as this one.
I was off for three days. I decided to take in the sights. Although this was not the first time I had ever been to Anaheim, every version has its differences. I spent the day at Disneyland, riding the rides and watching the shows.The day after that, I went to the public beach in Seal Beach, and the beach was crowded even though it was November. In the evening, after dinner, I read a book of poetry that Jewel had written and published. And let me say this, she is an awesome poet.
On Monday, Quinn came back with some news.
"We did it," he said.
"How is the junction?" I asked.
"Great," he said. "We think it works fine on multicellular life with no ill effects. We've completed our analysis of the test subjects; there is no harm done."
"So now you;re ready to try this on humans?" I asked.
"We'll have to find willing subjects first. And there is one other thing."
"What?"
"This." Quinn presented me with a belt.
"you got this for me as a gift?"
"Yes, it is a gift. And on its buckle is a device which I believe will guide you to where your friends are."
"Has it been tested?"
"No, it has not. And I will not lie and say there are no risks. I have no objections if you choose to reject it."
"I have to take any chance I get of reuniting with my brother and friends," I said. "I know they're still alive. I know they're looking for me."
After dinner I decided to watch TV. About the only interesting thing on is this TV show called the Parkers, which was about a woman and her daughter who attend the same junior college in Santa Monica. After having a can of Budweiser beer, I decided to go to sleep.
He contacted me again.
"What is it?" I asked. "who are you?"
"There is great danger," he said.
"You told me that already."
"Listen, Colin. Dr. Crayton is not to be trusted. He is hiding his agenda from his researchers. He is going to use the junction to wage war."
"Against whom?"
"Against your people. Against the country where you parents live. They are still alive now, but they are in grave danger. If Crayton is successful in his plan, your parents will be killed!"
Then he disappeared.
The next morning, I asked Quinn about what Dr. Crayton plans to do with the junction.
"He hasn't told me anything yet," said Quinn. "If you are concerned about human test subject, we are still looking."
"Can this device destroy the whole Earth?" I asked.
Quinn was surprised by the question. "Well, the junction field we generate requires a great deal of power, and exists in the confines of the junction chamber. It would take a great deal of power for it to encompass the whole Earth. Southern California Edison certainly does not generate enough power for that."
"Will I be needed for more tests?" I asked.
"No."
With that, he got into his car and went to work. I decided to finish reading the Orange County Register. I read some articles about a fund raiser that President Williams attended, and I read articles on some senators and governors seeking to run against him next year. I then turned on his computer and browsed web pages on the Internet.
Quinn came home unexpectedly in the afternoon. I wondered if there was an emergency.
"What happened?" I asked.
"I got fired," said Quinn. "Dr. Crayton met with us and he told us all that we were no longer needed."
"I thought you guys were working on the junction."
"Yeah, he said he had all the answers, and that he doesn't need us anymore. Crayton Labs will be shut down by Friday. He already cut our last paychecks."
"I'm sure you can still use him as a reference," I said.
"Yeah. Maybe I can get a job in CalTech in Pasadena. I wonder if they're hiring new physicists."
"At least Jewel has her job."
"She doesn't have tenure. They could fire her."
I remembered the message that guy told me in my dream. "Listen, Quinn," I said. "I think Dr. Crayton has a hidden agenda. That's why he decided to fire you. He's planning to do an experiment alone, without you or the others."
"Well, what do you want me to do about it, Colin?"
"You couild give me a ride there."
And so, just after sunset, Quinn gave me a ride back to Crayton Labs. The parking lot was mostly empty, except for one car.
"That's Dr. Crayton's car," said Quinn. "Here is my keycard."
I took the cards with the Crayton Labs logo and used it to open the door. There was no guard inside; apparently Crayton had fired the guards as well.
The hallways were dark, making it look a lot different than the past few times I was here. I made my way to the stairwell and went down to the concrete hallways of the basement. the basement was still lit. I walked ubntil I reached the lab where the junction chamber was located.
I heard people talking inside, and I recognized Crayton's voice. But they weere not speaking English. I wondered what language they were speaking.
I opened the door and peeked inside. I saw Crayton with his back turned, dressed in a white lab coat. I saw someone else with hiunm, wearing some sort of black military uniform with bright brass buttons.
I saw that he was a kromagg! I had to look again to make sure of what I saw. Crayton turned his head, and I saw that he weas a kromagg as well.
It was beginning to make sense. Why Crayton was so eager to study me, why he decided to fire the entire lab staff.
then the door swung wide open, and someone grabbed me. That someone was a kromagg soldier.
"Well, well," said Crayton. "It's nice to see your intruding in here, Mr. Mallory."
"I know what you are," I said. "I know how you conquer other Earths."
"Indeed," said Crayton. "Of course, why else would I believe your story, if I did not know that humans can travel through parallel Earths?"
"What is your plan?" I asked.
"I intend to junction this Earth Outpost 187 with my home Earth, thus bypassing the humans' slidecage. Once the two Earths are junctioned, we will reclaim our home, and crush the humans' nations."
"You used human researchers," I said.
"it's fitting, Mallory. Humans drove us out of our home, and it should be humans who bring us back."
"if this junction does not work properlty, it could kill billions on both Earths."
"Except for a few kromaggs here preparing to take out rthe slidecage satellites, the casualities from a faulty junction would be human. If we have to sacrifice lives to reclaim our home, let it be the lives of the humans! I am glad you camer to witness this. You have come to witness the junctioning of two Earths and the repatriation of the Kromagg Dynasty!"
The kromagg officer beckoned to the soldier, and he aimed his laser at me. I was about to die, just like the Colin Mallory of this Earth eleven years ago.
I went for the barrel and pointed it away. I saw a brief flash of light as the soldier fired the laser. I wrestled around as the laser beam burned the walls of the main lab. I knocked the soldier on the ground, and I saw the laser beam cut right through Dr. Crayton!
I punched the soldier in the face, took the laser, and then I started running.
I had an idea of where to go. I heards footsteps. The kromaggs were pursuing me. I went around the corner of a hallway, and then I fired the laser beam at the soldiers. I then went up a stairwell that hads roof access. The door to the roof was locked, so I blasted the lock with a laser beam.
I was now on top of the roof. I saw the huge antenna array. I now knew what it was for.
the kromaggs had sent satellites into Earth orbit a while ago. This antenna and the satellites will be used to envelope the Earth in a junctioning field. The jucntioning field will combine this world with my home world. It may end destroying both Earths.
Suddenyl, I had double vision. I looked around, the the nearby buildings seem to be doubling. It was the junction.
The antenna array was hugeI certainly could not destroy it with this laser. But the antenna must be receiving a signal from the main lab.
I then saw a metal box with a label warning of high voltage. If I destroyted this boix, could I collapse the junction field around the Earth?
I found out by blasting the metal box, causing sparks to fly. I looked around, and I could see that the buildings near thew lab were no longer seem to be doubling. But the antenna seemed to be doubling.
then I reslizes that this building itself was being junctioned, and I had to get out of here.
I ran down the stairs to the first floor. along the way, I sawe the kromaggas, so I just opened fire and run. Soon I was out pf the exit and into the parking lot.
"Colin," said Quinn. "What's going on?"
I looked, and saw the building splitting into three copies of itself. then it split into four copies. Each copy looked less and less attached to this dimension. Soon, the whole building seemed to vibrate.
And then it was gone. the only tjhing left was a hole in the ground, with the foundation at the bottom of the hole.
"Crayton was going to junction the whole Earth," i said. "I stopped him, and it was only the building that was junctioned."
"So it's in another dimension?"
"Yes."
"Why would he do that?"
"I'll explain on the way home."
And so I told him more about the kromaggs as we headed back to Anaheim.
"What?" I asked.
"That watch of yours indicates thast you would be here past Thanksgiving. How would youn like to have Thanksgiving with us?"
"I'd like that."
"Uh, you know what Thanksgiving is, right?"
"It's a holiday to celebrate a dinner by Pilgrims who landed here three hundred years ago. The Indians shared food with them."
"Well, it's the same on your world as it is on mine."
"I don't know. Wouldn't Jewel's family come along? They must think that I am dead. How would you explain my prescence to them?"
"Her parents are meeting us for dinner here in Anaheim," said Quinn. "We'll pick them up from John Wayne Airport on Wednesday. I'll just tell them you're boarding here, and thaty your family died."
After over forty minutes of heavy traffic on the Santa Ana Freeway, we finally reached his house. We both went inside the house.
"Quinn," I said. "do you have a high school yearbook with your brother in it?" I asked.
"I think I have it in the garage," he said. After a minute, he caem inside with a blue book. "Here it is."
I sat down on the dinner table to read the book. I looked trhough the pictures of the students from the Class of 1989, and I saw my duplicate's picture.
He looked just as I did when I was seventeen We both had somewhat chubby faces back then.
I flipped the pages to the back of the yearbook. There was another picture of my duplicate in the back. There was also a caption.
IN MEMORY OF COLIN MALLORY
1971-1988
I looked through the yearbook. I saw that the local Colin Mallory wasa in the basketball team as well as several schopol cliubs. Clearly, he fit in, while I did not fit in where I grew up.
After I was done with the yearbook, I decided to watch another DVD. I looked through, and I selected a movie called Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.
It took over two hours to finish the movie. Its setting was long ago in a galaxy far, far away. There was this republic that ruled the galaxy, and two people from the Jedi came to settle a trade dispute. Well, one thing led to another, and soon there was a podrace, a space battle, and a lightsaber duel with someone named Darth Maul who was part of the Sith. In the end, one of the Jedi was killed, and a little boy joined the Jedi order. I hoped that the sequel to this movie would be as good as this one.
I was off for three days. I decided to take in the sights. Although this was not the first time I had ever been to Anaheim, every version has its differences. I spent the day at Disneyland, riding the rides and watching the shows.The day after that, I went to the public beach in Seal Beach, and the beach was crowded even though it was November. In the evening, after dinner, I read a book of poetry that Jewel had written and published. And let me say this, she is an awesome poet.
On Monday, Quinn came back with some news.
"We did it," he said.
"How is the junction?" I asked.
"Great," he said. "We think it works fine on multicellular life with no ill effects. We've completed our analysis of the test subjects; there is no harm done."
"So now you;re ready to try this on humans?" I asked.
"We'll have to find willing subjects first. And there is one other thing."
"What?"
"This." Quinn presented me with a belt.
"you got this for me as a gift?"
"Yes, it is a gift. And on its buckle is a device which I believe will guide you to where your friends are."
"Has it been tested?"
"No, it has not. And I will not lie and say there are no risks. I have no objections if you choose to reject it."
"I have to take any chance I get of reuniting with my brother and friends," I said. "I know they're still alive. I know they're looking for me."
After dinner I decided to watch TV. About the only interesting thing on is this TV show called the Parkers, which was about a woman and her daughter who attend the same junior college in Santa Monica. After having a can of Budweiser beer, I decided to go to sleep.
He contacted me again.
"What is it?" I asked. "who are you?"
"There is great danger," he said.
"You told me that already."
"Listen, Colin. Dr. Crayton is not to be trusted. He is hiding his agenda from his researchers. He is going to use the junction to wage war."
"Against whom?"
"Against your people. Against the country where you parents live. They are still alive now, but they are in grave danger. If Crayton is successful in his plan, your parents will be killed!"
Then he disappeared.
The next morning, I asked Quinn about what Dr. Crayton plans to do with the junction.
"He hasn't told me anything yet," said Quinn. "If you are concerned about human test subject, we are still looking."
"Can this device destroy the whole Earth?" I asked.
Quinn was surprised by the question. "Well, the junction field we generate requires a great deal of power, and exists in the confines of the junction chamber. It would take a great deal of power for it to encompass the whole Earth. Southern California Edison certainly does not generate enough power for that."
"Will I be needed for more tests?" I asked.
"No."
With that, he got into his car and went to work. I decided to finish reading the Orange County Register. I read some articles about a fund raiser that President Williams attended, and I read articles on some senators and governors seeking to run against him next year. I then turned on his computer and browsed web pages on the Internet.
Quinn came home unexpectedly in the afternoon. I wondered if there was an emergency.
"What happened?" I asked.
"I got fired," said Quinn. "Dr. Crayton met with us and he told us all that we were no longer needed."
"I thought you guys were working on the junction."
"Yeah, he said he had all the answers, and that he doesn't need us anymore. Crayton Labs will be shut down by Friday. He already cut our last paychecks."
"I'm sure you can still use him as a reference," I said.
"Yeah. Maybe I can get a job in CalTech in Pasadena. I wonder if they're hiring new physicists."
"At least Jewel has her job."
"She doesn't have tenure. They could fire her."
I remembered the message that guy told me in my dream. "Listen, Quinn," I said. "I think Dr. Crayton has a hidden agenda. That's why he decided to fire you. He's planning to do an experiment alone, without you or the others."
"Well, what do you want me to do about it, Colin?"
"You couild give me a ride there."
And so, just after sunset, Quinn gave me a ride back to Crayton Labs. The parking lot was mostly empty, except for one car.
"That's Dr. Crayton's car," said Quinn. "Here is my keycard."
I took the cards with the Crayton Labs logo and used it to open the door. There was no guard inside; apparently Crayton had fired the guards as well.
The hallways were dark, making it look a lot different than the past few times I was here. I made my way to the stairwell and went down to the concrete hallways of the basement. the basement was still lit. I walked ubntil I reached the lab where the junction chamber was located.
I heard people talking inside, and I recognized Crayton's voice. But they weere not speaking English. I wondered what language they were speaking.
I opened the door and peeked inside. I saw Crayton with his back turned, dressed in a white lab coat. I saw someone else with hiunm, wearing some sort of black military uniform with bright brass buttons.
I saw that he was a kromagg! I had to look again to make sure of what I saw. Crayton turned his head, and I saw that he weas a kromagg as well.
It was beginning to make sense. Why Crayton was so eager to study me, why he decided to fire the entire lab staff.
then the door swung wide open, and someone grabbed me. That someone was a kromagg soldier.
"Well, well," said Crayton. "It's nice to see your intruding in here, Mr. Mallory."
"I know what you are," I said. "I know how you conquer other Earths."
"Indeed," said Crayton. "Of course, why else would I believe your story, if I did not know that humans can travel through parallel Earths?"
"What is your plan?" I asked.
"I intend to junction this Earth Outpost 187 with my home Earth, thus bypassing the humans' slidecage. Once the two Earths are junctioned, we will reclaim our home, and crush the humans' nations."
"You used human researchers," I said.
"it's fitting, Mallory. Humans drove us out of our home, and it should be humans who bring us back."
"if this junction does not work properlty, it could kill billions on both Earths."
"Except for a few kromaggs here preparing to take out rthe slidecage satellites, the casualities from a faulty junction would be human. If we have to sacrifice lives to reclaim our home, let it be the lives of the humans! I am glad you camer to witness this. You have come to witness the junctioning of two Earths and the repatriation of the Kromagg Dynasty!"
The kromagg officer beckoned to the soldier, and he aimed his laser at me. I was about to die, just like the Colin Mallory of this Earth eleven years ago.
I went for the barrel and pointed it away. I saw a brief flash of light as the soldier fired the laser. I wrestled around as the laser beam burned the walls of the main lab. I knocked the soldier on the ground, and I saw the laser beam cut right through Dr. Crayton!
I punched the soldier in the face, took the laser, and then I started running.
I had an idea of where to go. I heards footsteps. The kromaggs were pursuing me. I went around the corner of a hallway, and then I fired the laser beam at the soldiers. I then went up a stairwell that hads roof access. The door to the roof was locked, so I blasted the lock with a laser beam.
I was now on top of the roof. I saw the huge antenna array. I now knew what it was for.
the kromaggs had sent satellites into Earth orbit a while ago. This antenna and the satellites will be used to envelope the Earth in a junctioning field. The jucntioning field will combine this world with my home world. It may end destroying both Earths.
Suddenyl, I had double vision. I looked around, the the nearby buildings seem to be doubling. It was the junction.
The antenna array was hugeI certainly could not destroy it with this laser. But the antenna must be receiving a signal from the main lab.
I then saw a metal box with a label warning of high voltage. If I destroyted this boix, could I collapse the junction field around the Earth?
I found out by blasting the metal box, causing sparks to fly. I looked around, and I could see that the buildings near thew lab were no longer seem to be doubling. But the antenna seemed to be doubling.
then I reslizes that this building itself was being junctioned, and I had to get out of here.
I ran down the stairs to the first floor. along the way, I sawe the kromaggas, so I just opened fire and run. Soon I was out pf the exit and into the parking lot.
"Colin," said Quinn. "What's going on?"
I looked, and saw the building splitting into three copies of itself. then it split into four copies. Each copy looked less and less attached to this dimension. Soon, the whole building seemed to vibrate.
And then it was gone. the only tjhing left was a hole in the ground, with the foundation at the bottom of the hole.
"Crayton was going to junction the whole Earth," i said. "I stopped him, and it was only the building that was junctioned."
"So it's in another dimension?"
"Yes."
"Why would he do that?"
"I'll explain on the way home."
And so I told him more about the kromaggs as we headed back to Anaheim.
