The officer signalled her men to do the same with their weapons. She was wearing a smooth twill weave, sleeveless camo jacket with button cuffs. She took off the balaclava that was hiding her face and shook her head to put her long blond hair in place. She looked at Leonard and smiled. "I'm a member of the United Space time Agency."
"Why don't you start by telling us your name?" Howard asked.
"I'm Penny," removing her jacket She was wearing a stylish camouflage printed side lace-up jumpsuit, her blonde hair, blue eyes, and fair skin complimenting her beauty.
Leonard stood tense, staring at Penny. He sucked in his breath sharply at the sight of her toned body. The hard light caught her gold hair and reflected back on her white skin. He thought he had never seen such a beautiful girl. She wasn't like any of the girls he knew. She had everything they had and then a lot more. His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by her soft voice.
"Walk with me. Can I call you Leonard?"
"Sure, or if you prefer. Dr. Hofstadter." Leonard teased.
"I'll stick with Leonard." She rolled her eyes. "So why are you really here," she asked as they walked along a corridor.
"I told you. To capture the guy that started all this in the first place. My buddy Howard and I came through a portal three days ago. We got words that one of our top ten hit list of time jumpers has been located.
"Sheldon Cooper?"
"You know about him?" Leonard asked surprised.
"He is the reason we set up this task force. To track down illegal time jumpers. We didn't even know time travel was possible until a year ago when we caught a time jumper called Stuart from your universe. He confessed and told us about criminals being brought to our world to avoid justice. We did not believe him at first until we caught a few more, including your prisoner who eventually escaped. One name kept popping up."
"Sheldon Cooper." Leonard interrupted.
"Yes. Our government decided to set up a special agency unit to counterattack the threat and track down travellers who alter their criminal past for personal gain and to capture the man responsible for infesting our world with criminals from your universe."
Leonard responds. There was a tone of anguish in his voice. "I'm sorry about that; it wasn't our original intention to come here. It all started four years ago when I decided to build a time machine."
"This is all down to you!" She glared at him.
He fluttered and looked away and said. "Not exactly, I guess the technology for time travel has always existed. I tried to build one with the help of Howard and Sheldon. It was my idea, but I needed help with some of the maths, which is where Sheldon as a Theoretical Physicist came in and an Engineer to build it. Howard."
"The skinny creepy weird turtleneck wearing guy? And he is an engineer?"
"That's him, and yes." Leonard laughed at Penny's description of Howard. "Anyway, we abandoned the project when we realized the elements needed to power it was unattainable. She stole a look as he fumbled awkwardly with his glasses. "So you abandoned the idea but not the experiment?" Penny enquired.
"Well kinder, we were about to shut the project down completely, when our readings showed that the signals were strong enough to create bubble collisions strong enough to create a mini-portal," Leonard said.
"Wait a minute." Penny stopped him in his tracks. Stuart was telling the truth about a portal. She thought back. "How were you able to stabilize it?"
"The portal needed constant energy to keep from collapsing; the initial idea was to put materials through it to stop it from getting even smaller or collapsing. Leonard answered.
"So instead of building a time machine you accidentally discovered a portal to travel instantly from A to B?" Penny was impressed. They walked back through the corridor to return to the others.
"Yeah you could call it a stroke of luck, but the portal needs constant energy and cooling to keep from collapsing. We were able to modify the machine to boost the signal a thousand time and stabilized it so that we could move from one point to the other without risk to our lives."
"You tested it on yourselves?" gasped Penny.
"Not intentionally. We never properly configured it and the power it generated pulled us into the portal which caused us to jump to a parallel universe which happens to be yours. We were able to come back with no side effects or radiation poisoning."
Penny was now fascinated and thought what it would be like jumping to an alternative universe. "Does each universe carries its own different version of reality?" asked Penny.
"Yes. If we can boost the signal further, I think Sheldon has already figured it out. There are certain similarities and differences. Whatever occurs in this universe occurs in the alternate universe but in an opposite manner. We could also make one universe knock into another, creating a hole in time to jump into any universe we want. These little bubbles have always been around. it was an accidental discovery on our part."
"Interesting. So how do you detect the bubbles or know where or when they will appear?" Penny probed further.
'Well we have the technology to detect the waves they generate three hours before it opens, but it is so small and last less than a minute before it vanishes. We have to boost the signal to stabilize it and make it large enough to pass through."
Penny stole another look at the same time as Leonard who pulled a face. She quickly looked away and composed herself, changing the subject.
"So what do you think of our world compared to yours." She asked shyly.
Leonard paused and thought about the question. He really did not like it here, it was always hot and humid, with lots of dead vegetations, the air was hard for him to breath, and he had to use his asthma inhaler a lot since he arrived. She could tell he was thinking about his answer, glancing at him now, she noticed his face seemed frozen in time;
"I guess I like it, he lied. So how did you end up in a job like this," Leonard asked.
"Well it was by chance really, I was working as a waitress when a guy walked in brandishing a gun and asked me to hand over the takings. I disarmed him using my martial art skills."
Leonard was impressed. "Where did you learn how to fight?"
"Oh, my dad taught me from a young age as well as teaching me how to handle and shoot weapons. This guy saw what I did and approached me about joining the secret services. I guess I was seeking thrills and adventures, so I signed up. The training was hard I was the best and was picked for most missions." She bragged. "Soon I was in charge of my own team, and as they say, the rest is history." Penny giggled.
"Well, it looks like they picked the right person for the job." Leonard complimented her.
"Thanks. When the task force was set up to tackle the threat of the time jumpers I was asked to run the military wing." Penny found it so comfortable talking to Leonard.
"Well I think you are a remarkable woman." a big smile spreads across Penny's face which Leonard noticed.
Penny knew they just met but felt she could trust him she didn't know why, but he just came across as genuine. "I'm glad you are on our side," Penny said sincerely.
"Me too. So tell me more about yourself?" Leonard asked.
"Maybe another time." Penny didn't want him to think less of her by revealing too much about her personal life. She was not ready to open up to him personally. Maybe it was because they just met, but there was something about him, she could not put her finger on it. Penny was impressed with Leonard. He was smart, confident and a genius. She found him charming, and he made her feel warm and fuzzy inside. He wasn't even her type she preferred taller and well-built men. But here was this 5.5-inch guy taking her breath away. She liked talking to him. She looked at her phone clock and was shocked how long they had been talking. Penny walked back to join her men.
Howard approached Leonard and asked. "Have you met Penny before?"
Leonard was puzzled by the question. "No why do you ask?"
"Oh, it just that you guys have been talking for over 40 minutes and from where I was standing and your interactions, it looked like you have known each other for years."
"Really, it's only been about ten minutes." Leonard looked at his watch. "Wow, you are right." Leonard could not believe the ease at which the conversation flowed between them.
"You sure you guys have never met?" Howard grinned.
"No I haven't, today is the first time, but I do have this feeling that I have met her before."
"Maybe you met the Penny of our world," Howard said.
"I don't think so. I will remember her if I had."
"Well, you two seem to get on like a house on fire." Howard loved teasing Leonard. They joined the others
Can I see the prisoner now?" we have reason to believe, he knows the whereabouts of a certain Dr. Sheldon Cooper.? Penny said.
"Yeah sure, follow me." Leonard led her to what looked like an abandoned storage room. He opens the door to let her in. The prisoner was sitting, handcuffed to a table with a chair on each side. Facing him was a short blond woman who was interrogating him.
"Hi Bernadette, This is Penny," Leonard said to the blond haired woman who stood up and joined them.
"Hi, Penny, nice to meet you."
"Hi," Penny replied and headed toward the suspect. " I'll take it from here."
"Who is she?" Bernadette whispered.
"She is from this world and is helping to track down Sheldon Cooper."
"You trust her?" Bernadette whispered again.
"I think so, and I have no choice in the matter," Leonard whispered back.
"Hello, Raj, long time no see. Remember me." Penny snarled at him.
The suspect was of Indian heritage, well educated, respected and a well-known Astrophysicist until he lost his job due to his negligence and decided to work with Sheldon Cooper.