Guardians of the Gates - Part 3, The Osiris Gate by Jeff Schanz (best book club books for discussion .TXT) 📖

he and Bar happen to be twinsies with their dimensional interest, so I’d expect him to know some of Bar’s research, and sure enough, here it is.” Valentine turned on his heels again, pacing the opposite way. “And considering our buddy Ashe has actually found and used this so-called dimensional energy, I’m guessing the reason he kept one of Bar’s drawings for all these years is not because of sentimental value, but because it means something important. And to make the last big leap, since it’s included inside the primary instructions for Ashe’s Armageddonapalooza, and it’s the only drawn diagram, it’s probably accurate. So – who still thinks I’m full of shit now?”

Jude stood up. “You are full of shit, Valentine.” Jude shook his head with a hint of a reluctant smile. “But that doesn’t mean you’re wrong.” Jude pressed a button on the keyboard, the diagram disappeared, and the five scientists came back into view. All of them had slack mouths as they fidgeted, shooting awkward glances to one another.

Valentine crossed his arms, in part enjoying the triumph, and in part shrugging off Jude’s insult. Two of the scientists on the screen snatched up a printed copy of Ashe’s file. One of them flipped through the pages quickly until he found the crudely drawn diagram. They both scanned it with renewed interest. The other three scientists timidly observed their partners, then turned back to Valentine.

One of them asked, “Ok. Um, strictly for hypothetical purposes, let's concede this theory of yours about Dr. Bar. So, what does it mean? And how does it affect the network debate?”

“Good question,” said Valentine, as if he were conducting a college class. “You’ll notice the two different shapes, the convex and concave, don’t touch in their default positions. They kinda fit like puzzle pieces. Imagine they’re a pliable but semi-stiff material like aluminum, and normal force applied in normal directions only bend it here and there. Once in a while, the pressure creates a secondary reaction that gets too close to another section from the opposite piece. That would be a good bet for a rift, right?”

Scientist number one, who had been the most vocal, and most annoyed, just shrugged. Whatever ground Valentine was covering was outside the scientist’s wheelhouse. He stood politely at attention.

“Anyway, say one of these curves gets stretched, the base gets wider, the tension shifts…” Valentine stopped for a moment, looking for a better explanation. “Ok, any of you guys ever see one of those toy bracelets that snap around your wrist? Snap – no, ‘Slap’ bracelets they’re called. They’re straight pieces that have a concave curve, lengthwise. You hit your wrist with one and it flips from concave to flat, redirecting the tension to curl it widthwise around your arm. You know?”

Justin did know. He’d seen them before and knew exactly what Valentine was talking about. But until now, he had never associated them with a global dimensional cataclysm. “The kinetic force provides the pressure to switch the shape to its opposite shape,” said Justin.

“Yeah, pretty much,” said Valentine.

Scientist number one still seemed a bit lost. Scientist number two, however, had been conferring with his colleagues and reexamining the diagram. Dr. “Two” spoke up. “In this case, however, there’s no way to generate an impacting force comparable to your bracelet.”

“Yeah. I mean, no, there isn’t,” said Valentine. “But, the bracelet will still do it without impact. Just a good push. So, the two-dimensional pieces…”

Dr. Two finished Valentine’s sentence. “The pieces need sufficient pressure only to eventually overcome the tension and retarget it in the opposing direction. The resulting change will be near instantaneous.”

Valentine looked slightly irked at being beaten to the punch, but he raised his brows and decided to play the proud professor. “Excellent. Yes, that’s correct.”

To his credit, scientist number two didn’t notice or care about Valentine’s patronizing. He was already deep in thought.

Valentine became silent. He maintained his arrogant expression, but had no further comment. Justin figured Valentine had already delivered his coup de gras and was waiting for additions to his theory.

A scientist in the rear helped him out. “If dimensions are specifically shaped, and that shape was to be deliberately forced to bend, it would possibly snap, quite literally, into another dimension’s space. There’s no way to predict that kind of effect, but I would guess it’s catastrophic.”

Another scientist speaking from the rear of the room added, “Not necessarily. We’ve been examining the phenomenon of dimensional overlap for years. We think that’s what rifts are. Two dimensions that are not similar can coexist in the same physical space, as long as their matter is inconsistent. But once there is an anomaly that consolidates their similar components in a single spot, that’s where we get a rift.”

The previous scientist also in the rear of the room argued, “I don’t think these are somehow the same kind of dimensions that we’re familiar with. It’s possible there are other kinds that we don’t understand.”

Scientist number one finally found his voice. “Not that I agree with either of you, but going out on your limb, if dimensions already coexist with us, what would it take for the dimension to affect us catastrophically?”

“Well,” said scientist number two. “It would have to be essentially just like our world, or close to it. A parallel version.”

“Bill, if I’ve put up with your lectures on many occasions, which I have, I recall that you mentioned that parallel worlds do not generally exist near each other. Right?”

“Uh, yes, right,” said Dr. Bill.

“So, how does the similar world get near our world to penetrate?” asked Dr. “One” with an air of triumph.

“It, uh, shouldn’t, or can’t. It – well, it’s just a theory anyway.”

“You’re assuming it’s a world from the same time,” said Justin, not exactly sure why he suddenly said that. Maybe it was echoing all those sci-fi stories about alternate universes he had read. More likely comic books. The Flash could travel through time and dimensional universes. Apparently, that was actually possible. Maybe not the way Flash did it, but… Dude, that’s about as lame a scientific reason as they come. Might as well quote Star Trek to them. Maybe Ashe only wants to bring some humpback whales back in time. Justin grimaced and hoped they would ignore the fact that he spoke.

“He’s right,” said scientist number four or five.

Justin pried open an eye. I am?

“Bill, that’s how your similar worlds line up,” said one of the rear scientists. “Time slides it around. Our world could, maybe, certainly, possibly line up near another nearly identical world, just a different time. How different would be the question. Would we be talking about Nazis, or ancient Egyptians, or cavemen, or dinosaurs? But if it’s the same world just younger, maybe that’s enough of a difference for proximity?”

Bill considered this. He nodded slowly. “I’d have to run some math, but – yeah, maybe. Without the math, I’d only be able to guess, but I’d have to guess that the times would have to be significantly apart in age.”

“How significant?” asked Justin. “Like, maybe, thousands of years?”

Bill shrugged. “Possibly. Thousands of years are a drop in the bucket of universe time, but – I simply haven’t done the math. Sorry.”

Like scratching some chalk on a board would be definitive. And – damn it, I just heard something that got me thinking, and I forgot what I was thinking about. “Shit,” said Justin.

“Pardon?” said scientist number one.

“I said, shit!” said Justin, annoyance contained no longer. “I had a thought and now I forgot where I was going with it. So, uh, Bill, right? What happens when two dimensions, two worlds, that are almost the same, but in separate times, collide? Explosion? Do we split inside out like a cat in a microwave?”

“Well, obviously we don’t know, but – the implication is that the worlds would infringe on each other, perhaps hybridizing, or perhaps one world will overwrite another. Or at least attempt to, likely resulting in devastation, a tornado of incalculable chaos, possibly the sweeping destruction of anything organic. In theory. The kinetic energy would make sure the two physical worlds merge to keep the dimensions balanced.”

“If they even are normally balanced,” said number one. He rolled his eyes for emphasis. “I still haven’t heard a shred of evidence to suggest that anything other than some sort of radiation would occur, which just happens to be the focus of all these drugs we seem so concerned with. I mean, do we really need to overthink it this much?”

“Right, Doug, ‘cause being simple and ignorant rather than thorough and prepared never harmed anything,” said Bill. In a playacting voice aimed at an imaginary audience off-screen, Bill said, “Gee, Captain, I wonder if there’s icebergs around. Pbffft! In freezing cold seas? At night? Fiddlesticks. Let’s go faster.”

A scientist in the rear raised a tentative hand. “Uh, actually, it was the Star Lines representative who demanded that the Titanic increase…”

“Not the point, Jerry,” said Bill.

“There wasn’t a point to be made, Bill,” said Doug.

“You’re making it for me, Doug. You’re ignorant of your ignorance.”

Jude, who had been quiet for most of the discussion, was suddenly feeling like an impatient parent. He waved his hands and shouted, “Ok, enough! We get it. It’s all theory. Nobody knows for sure, but everybody thinks they’re right. Could be the end of the world, could just be some radiation. Could be a door to the Twilight Zone.”

An awkward silence followed for a moment before Doug finally spoke. “Crudely put, but yes, pretty much.”

“Fine,” said Jude. “So, what the hell does it mean to us? What are we going to tell the agent guys? They’re going to expect answers from us, you know?”

The three rear men on the monitor shrank back subtly, yet noticeably, around the row of tables they were standing near. Both Bill and Doug glanced at each other, seeming to inch closer and stand taller. Justin got the impression the two men, although rivals, were used to standing by their theories and recommendations. Bickering pros, but pros, nonetheless.

Doug, who had been the least excited about Justin, Jude, and Valentine’s inclusion in this discussion, inclined his head slightly and placed a serious and dry expression on his face. He said to Jude, “We’ve just been giving them our best advice and ideas for a while, basically highlighting both sides of an argument, and letting them decide in the end.” Doug managed a polite smirk and shrugged. “But we’ve also never had persons such as yourselves as part of our group discussions. So – perhaps you have a new suggestion, or even a theory to add?”

Jude shrugged and fanned his hand out in an invitation for Justin to add something. Justin made an absent look over at Valentine who had started this confrontation just a few minutes ago and hadn’t murmured one word since. Valentine noticed the returned attention and blinked a few times while holding a shrug. “I did my part a while ago,” he said.

“Your part?” said Justin, stunned. “You acted like you had the map to the lost ark. What happened to that?”

“I led you there. Up to you to dig it up.”

“Oh, come on! You can’t just claim that you know all the answers and then withhold them.”

Valentine’s implacable face showed a crack of doubt. He made a noticeable effort to regain his smugness, then held Justin’s gaze for a few seconds. “I have a few puzzle pieces you didn’t have before, Justin. I don’t have the whole puzzle.”

Justin wasn’t surprised at this retort, and he also wasn’t willing to accept it and let Valentine off the hook.

“Well, if you’re done with your metaphors, then maybe you have some further nugget of wisdom to impart on us ignorant philistines?” asked Justin.

“Nope. I’m good.”

Justin took in a deep breath, aiming an intense glare at Valentine.

Valentine let out a long sigh.

“Geez, man, I don’t know,” he said, his voice losing all the previous bravado. “Break me down, dude. I mean, I do