Mona and the Moon

Mona and the Moon

By D. Dean Dest

D. Dean Dest About 8200 words

76 Cemetery Road

Colchester CT 06415

[e-mail]

860-874-5603

D. Dean Dest About 8200 words

76 Cemetery Road

Colchester CT 06415

[e-mail]

860-874-5603

Mona and the Moon

By D. Dean Dest

Joe stood alone inside the huge arena at one end of the grassy field. He paced and fidgeted, as he waited. He wasn't coaching his high school football team in a game against their cross-town rivals. Not this time. The stakes this day were so much higher, he could hardly believe it. How did I end up here? Joe wondered, as he steeled himself for an unprecedented journey to an uncertain endpoint.

He gawked at the magnificent torrent of light swelling a few feet above midfield, just fifty yards away. The deep drone of the transformers hinted at the awesome power of the experiment, but the best efforts of the tech crew could not have prepared Joe for the breathtaking sight of the phenomenon. It grew larger and more intense with each second, as did Joe's trepidation. Though of robust build, Joe felt powerless before the chaotic vortex, as the expanding event horizon approached him. It's pure-white light outshined the summer sun above him. Maybe I'm not supposed to look directly at it, he thought, like an eclipse. No one ever told him. Nor did they explain the physics of the experiment, not that he would have grasped it. George tried once. Something about a ring of neutrons whirling around a microscopic black hole, but that was all he got out of it. To Joe, it was just an ominous spectacle.

#

A few days earlier, his brief training for the mission was underway when George, the project leader whose theories drove the science of the experiment, detailed Joe's duties.

"Are you ready?" George asked.

"OK, this is your show," Joe said to his friend, whose real name was Hiram, but adopted the nickname George as a teen because Joe thought he looked like the old politician George W. Bush. "What do I do?"

"After you enter the gravity well, you'll cross the Blackburn Bridge and find yourself at your destination. There, your job will be to ensure that the environment, both physically and socially, is suitable for our needs," George instructed.

"No problem, G!" Joe crowed. His cough was not too bad that day. "Just show me how to use these gizmos your tech team gave me, and I'll do my best."

"Yes," George agreed, clearing his throat. "This one, with the red button, is very important. This is your recall tool." He handed Joe a small remote-control device with a single button. "Once you reach your destination, you can press this button anytime and you will be returned here, instantly."

"Wow!" Joe marveled.

"But don't do that until you've collected your data. It's important that you make your assessments within two days of your arrival," George said sternly. "If you don't return by then, we will press a button on our end that activates the device remotely. As long as you always keep the recall tool with you, it will bring you back to this universe, no matter which of us initiates the recall."

"Pretty cool, G," Joe said. "But, suppose something goes wrong--I lose this thing or something--and I don't return when you press the button?"

"Don't let that happen, Joe," George warned. "If we don't get your report, we'll be forced to assume the destination is unsuitable and, in that event, the project protocols dictate that the destination and the subject must be abandoned. We will have to send a new subject to the next candidate universe. You'll be lost forever."

"Got it," Joe said soberly.

Then George briefly showed Joe the air sensor, another handheld gadget. "This device is just as easy." He cleared his throat again. "Just turn it on, here, and it automatically takes a reading." George handed the sensor to Joe. "See?"

"The easier the better for this cowboy," Joe remarked. "You know I'm about as tech-savvy as a house plant."

George laughed, too hard, and succumbed to a hoarse cough. "I'm sorry," he gurgled as a nearby doctor brought him some oxygen.

"You OK, George?" Joe asked him.

"I'll be fine," George muffled through the mask.

Joe worried for his friend, who seemed to be especially susceptible to the bad air.

#

With one eye on the inflating lightshow creeping toward him, Joe pulled the air sensor out of his kitbag to test it. He switched it on and took a reading: "RED - Unfit for long-term human consumption". It was working fine. He turned off the device and slipped it back into his bag, where it rattled against the recall tool. Too bad I can't test that one, too, he thought. I'm sure those geeks know what they're doing. He stared at the dazzling cyclone. If that thing doesn't kill me and I get where I'm going, I won't have the tech crew to back me up. Indeed, perhaps no people at all would inhabit this alternate land. He could find himself completely isolated and as lonely as he felt on that gridiron. One-on-none.

#

Just an hour earlier, Joe had expressed his concerns one last time to George.

"I've seen enough sci-fi, G, to know these things just malfunction sometimes," Joe teased him. "I don't want to end up with parts in the wrong places."

George tried to reassure him. "Don't worry, Joe. We have high confidence in these devices."

"As long as you're sure, George."

"Of course," George's bushy, grey eyebrows arched. "Remember that time in high school when you weren't sure if you should take trigonometry?"

"That was decades ago," Joe reminded him.

"I know. But do you remember? I told you that you would do fine, and you did! I didn't steer you wrong then, did I?"

"I got news for you, G," Joe chuckled. "I cheated off Stacy Meyers on the final."

George snickered like a playful grandfather. "Ach!" he snapped, waving off this minor detail. "You'll be fine." Then his face turned grim. "I'm more concerned about why you agreed to do this for us. I just hope you're not being too rash--"

"Don't start again!"

"But I know what you've been through. I've watched you cry and fuss. I need to know you're committed to the project and not on some sort of suicidal quest."

"George, I promise you," Joe vowed. "I'm committed."

"I still see that look in your eyes," George warned him. "The one you always got whenever you two were apart for too long."

Joe ached in the umbra of her absence. "OK, I was upset, of course. Moping around the house, getting rid of everything that reminded me of her, but it wasn't working. Then I thought it would help to keep something of hers that was alive."

"Karma and Payback," George recalled.

"I loved those girls. But they were her dogs, you know?" Joe looked down briefly and shook his head. "At the time, having them only made me miss her more. But, now that I've come to terms with losing her, I'm sorry I gave them away. I've finally realized that I don't need--I don't want to forget her. The best way to bear losing her is to never forget and I've managed to save a few of her things that I'll keep forever. I'm OK, now."

"You're sure?" George asked.

"I cry sometimes," Joe admitted, "and look at pictures of her and imagine what we'd be doing if she was still alive." He paused to fight the tears. "It's true that I'm doing this because of Mona, but not because she's gone or because I'm depressed," he insisted. "I'm doing this because she would be proud of me."

"Yes," George conceded. "I can see you've accepted her death." He put his hand on Joe's shoulder. "I know it isn't easy, Joe. I loved her, too. She was a lovely woman."

Joe exhaled a heavy sigh. "Yes..." he said, then forced a smile. "But what really worries me is if my team finds out the fate of humanity might rest in the hands of their lowly coach," he quipped.

"You mean your last-place team?"

Joe smirked at him. "Thanks for reminding me, you rat!" He took a serious breath. "And thanks for--"

"Don't mention it, old friend. I know you'll make the team proud."

#

The time had come, the point of no return. The expanding bubble of energy had crept inside the 5-yard line, just a few feet from Joe's position. He'd received the signal from the press box. Joe had elected to keep his eyes open during transit, so he wouldn't miss anything, including his own demise, should that be his fate. He steadied himself, swallowed his dread, and gave the OK sign. The public announcement system boomed, "Full power!" and the equipment whined louder.

The expansion of the eddy quickened, and its glare intensified. Somehow, it didn't hurt his eyes. Now wider than the playing field, the spectacle filled Joe's field of vision and seemed to open a giant sinkhole in the ground beneath it. He heard gasps from the stands as the mysterious whirlpool rushed toward him. Yet, monstrous as it appeared, the vortex itself did not seem dangerous to Joe. It produced no frightening noises. Indeed, other than the whirring of the power equipment, no noises at all were evident. Despite its apparently violent motions, the swirl of neutrons did not disrupt anything nearby. It generated no wind. There was no scattered debris, no displaced earth, not even a bent blade of grass. It was like a silent tornado twisting inside a neatly cut hole in spacetime. Joe wasn't scared of the wormhole. He did, however, fear his fate on the other side.

Joe stood still as the vortex swallowed him, passing through his body like a rush of emotions. Once inside the orb, its brightness waned to a hazy glimmer. He could still see the arena, the people in the upper stands, the helicopters circling above, but the images fluctuated through a roiling, translucent pool of energy. The glow continued to fade. When the sphere reached its maximum, to the running track that circled the field, Joe became lightheaded. His perceptions dimmed. He lost his sense of when and where he was. Now wrapped in a dead, black silence, he was not even sure he still existed. No time, no space. No Joe.

Suddenly, the light returned. The energy pool rushed back through him, arching his spine like a blast of wind from behind. Now released from the sphere, he watched it rapidly contract into a brilliant point at the center of the stadium. Then it vanished.

"Power off!" blasted the PA system.

Gradually regaining his senses, Joe scanned the arena. Squinting in the sunlight and using his hand as a visor, he searched for George. "G!" he called out in the general direction of the press box. "What happened?"

George emerged from the stands and jogged across the field, breathing heavily as he reached Joe. "I'm not sure. Everything was on track. All indications were as expected, and the energy profile was perfect. Then, it just evaporated."

"Evaporated," Joe echoed, feigning disdain. "I knew it, a malfunction!"

"I don't understand," George went on, disregarding Joe's jape. "It should have worked."

"Actually," Joe said seriously, "I have a kind of funky taste in my mouth." He smacked his tongue. "Did that thing evaporate me, or something?"

"What?" George stirred from his concentration. "No, no... No connection," he said and returned to his thoughts.

"Well, I'm still here, so something's obviously out of whack, G."

"Impossible," George said. "I checked everything myself. It was perfect. Unless..." His face became dour. "Sabotage!" he barked. "It's those damn fanatics, those religious nuts."

"How do you know?"

"It has to be," George posited. "They've been gearing up for something like this for weeks, with their protest marches outside my office and letters to church officials calling me the devil and denouncing my experiment as an affront to God. How dare they?" he carped indignantly. "This is my project. How dare they denigrate it? How dare they call a devil, the man who would be their savior?"

Joe raised his eyebrows. "Well, G, if you can fix it, it won't matter what they say--"

"But it does matter!" George growled.

Startled by his friend's outburst, Joe stepped back.

"People are already starting to doubt my genius," George continued. "They would rather take their chances with those fools in the caves."

"Oh, you mean HUTS?" he asked. "The ones who want to live underground for, like, 50 years--?"

"Fifty years!", George mocked. "They won't last 50 seconds! They're all delusional." He huffed derisively. "Human Underground Terraforming Society, they call it. Ridiculous. I've got the only plan that can save us."

"George, settle down," Joe cautioned. But Joe understood that the colossal responsibility of running the project, and the failure of this test, had soured George's typically lighthearted mood. Who can blame him? And the bloated ego, Joe realized, was just a mechanism for dealing with all the media scrutiny and misinformation about interdimensional travel. "I know you will save us, G."

"Yes, sabotage was the natural next step," George mused aloud, again ignoring his best friend.

"But how?" Joe asked. "You said everything was perfect."

"They must have planted something--a device or a bug in the software," George theorized with a mad glare. "Can you imagine the bad publicity I'll get if this test fails? I have to check the equipment."

Without another word, George darted toward one of the corners of the stadium where large emitters and transformers had been installed. But seconds after he arrived at the equipment, an explosion rattled the arena. Everyone in the stands scattered. Clouds of smoke obscured Joe's view of George, but before he could run towards him, military security dashed over to escort Joe, along with everyone else in the stadium, to the subterranean bunkers (once the underground team rooms used for sporting events at the arena). The entire facility was on lockdown--no one could leave or enter, no media, no outside communication--until the entire stadium and surrounding areas could be secured. Joe ended up in George's office, unsure of his friend's fate.

#

Only two weeks before, George invited Joe to that bunker office for the first time and asked him to participate in the project.

"George, nice digs," Joe commented upon seeing the windowless room filled with books and experimental equipment, but with a comfortable sofa and a wet bar, too. "I like this better than your university office. Even with all its windows, that one still manages to feel stuffier than this place."

"It's my man cave," George remarked with a smile.

"I think this used to be the office of the home team coach. Very appropriate," Joe added.

"Joe, have you thought about what I asked you the other day?"

"About joining the team?" Joe asked.

"Yes. As I've said, with the project now public knowledge, we're looking for layperson volunteers," George explained. "But I want you to understand the potential danger involved. You don't have to say yes, and I certainly wouldn't think any less of you if you declined."

"I understand. They don't want to risk losing any more of the scientific staff in these tests. I get it," he said. "And I've decided to do it."

"Thank you, my friend," George said warmly.

"No sweat. I know we need you nerds to save us from the Disaster," Joe joked.

"Well, I can only hope we succeed. We certainly have a better chance than those cave-dwellers," George chuckled. "They think they can make a life underground while they wait for the Earth to heal itself. It'll take at least fifty years. How can they be sure they'll have enough resources? They should call it NUTS instead of HUTS," he laughed. "No. This Earth is wanting to kill us. Our best bet for survival is to find a new one. And we appreciate your help, Joe," George added and coughed.

"I'm glad to be of service," Joe said.

#

To pass the time waiting for news of George's condition, Joe browsed the pictures and mementos on the bookshelves and came across an odd-looking statuette. It was a conic spiral design that looked like the top of a soft ice cream treat. Gold-plated, it bore a plaque honoring George, or Hiram Blackburn, as the winner of the World Physics Leaders award the previous year. I don't remember that, Joe thought. He could have at least told me about it. But George had always been so modest, it wasn't too surprising that he had never told Joe.

A sharp knock on the door startled Joe. He answered to a saluting soldier with a grim expression.

"Corporal Lewis, sir," the soldier said. "They wanted me to tell you that Professor Blackburn has been critically injured. He's currently in a coma and under close watch by the medical staff in the infirmary. They're doing everything they can. You're welcome to wait here for updates on his condition."

"Thank you, Corporal. Please keep me in the loop," Joe said, and closed the door.

He paced and fidgeted, as he waited. To distract himself, he returned to scanning George's memorabilia. He noticed a picture of George, a few years back, with the world-famous physicist Royal Vendishon, on a shelf next to a few of Vendishon's surprisingly popular science books. "Huh," Joe grunted to himself. I never knew he met that guy. How cool! It was another event George had never told him about. Or, at least, I think he never told me... Joe pondered.

It was just one more oddity since the wormhole evaporated, Joe noticed. Like that funky taste in my mouth. Despite George's assurances, Joe called the project's medical staff to request another opinion. They were very busy. The doctor would meet him in George's office, first chance he got. After about 20 minutes of fretting, the office door opened.

Joe turned around. "It's about time--" But it wasn't the doctor at the door. Joe gaped, wordless, as he watched Mona stroll in, alive and well.

"Oh. Hello, Joe," she said, distantly distraught. "I'm glad you're OK," she added. "I have to admit, I was a little worried about you going into that wormhole, and then when that bomb went off... well, I didn't know what to think. They hustled everyone away before I could tell what happened."

"Oh..." Joe managed to choke out, as he studied her face and her deep green eyes and shoulder-length auburn hair.

"When I got to the bunker, they told me about George," she sobbed. "They said I could wait for news in here. Do you know what's happening?"

"Uh... Mona?"

"What?" she replied with a sniffle.

"Mona?" Joe repeated. Then all the months of grieving and coming to terms melted away. "My God, I've missed you so much." He rushed over to hug her.

"Wait!" Mona yelled, pushing him away. "I know you're upset, but I'm not your emotional crutch anymore. I'm here because of George. He's my friend, too, you know."

Still disoriented from the day's other extraordinary events, Joe could not process Mona's existence there, right in front of him. He knew she was dead. But then who was this woman and, if she was Mona, why would she act this way? Then Joe remembered George's odd behavior. And the physics award, and the picture with Vendishon. He glanced again at the picture and spied something he had missed before, in the background, behind George shaking hands with the world-renowned scientist. Suddenly, it all made sense to him.

"It didn't fail!" Joe blurted out.

"What didn't fail?" Mona asked.

"The test. The wormhole sent me here," he surmised. "I couldn't tell, at first, because it looked the same."

"What are you talking about?" she puzzled. "You didn't go anywhere. That gigantic ball of light wrapped around you, then it dissolved, and you were still here."

"Not still here. I just got here," Joe tried to explain.

"Joe, you're not making any sense." She reached for the phone. "Maybe we should call you a doctor--"

"Doctor's on the way," he said, grabbing her hand away from the phone.

"Oh. Good," she said, pulling her hand back. "I think this whole thing is making you a little cuckoo. You were never like this, before."

"I'm the same, Mona," he stressed. "It's all of you who are different."

She rolled her eyes and started to walk away.

"Wait," he stopped her. "Just hear me out."

Mona surrendered and sat down, arms crossed, looking at Joe impatiently.

"OK," he said. "This whole experiment is about going to an alternate universe, to an alternate Earth."

"Yes, Joe, I know that," she droned. "George figured out a way to escape the Disaster, and he's looking for a universe with the right conditions. He's trying to save us all."

"Right. But things changed after I went inside the wormhole."

"But I watched you. Nothing changed."

"Nothing changed for you, but for me some things are definitely different. Very similar, I'll give you that," Joe admitted. "But still different."

"Like what?"

"First of all, George is different," Joe asserted.

"Different how?"

"It's hard to describe. At first, I thought it was the pressure of the project. He was getting all caught up in his public image and being recognized for his genius and how he's our savior--"

"He is!" Mona countered. "Look at what he's doing here. Who else could have done this? No one!"

"Yes, I agree that he's a genius, and this is a great thing he's doing. But George never used to brag about it. He never cared what anyone thought. He just loved the work and the science and helping people."

"That's true," she said. "But he also has an edge, when it comes to his big projects. He's just intense, sometimes."

"OK, but that's different," Joe insisted. "The George I've known most of my life never had an 'edge'. He's the most easygoing guy I've ever met."

"Maybe we just see him differently," she suggested.

"OK," Joe said picking up the physics award. "What about this?"

"What is it?"

"It's an award from some physics institute. G always asked us to these presentations because he knew we'd all have a great time together." He handed the statue to Mona. "I don't remember him asking us to this one, or even telling us about it. Do you?"

Mona squinted at the plaque. "I don't know. He gets so many of these things, I can't keep track." She smirked at Joe. "And based on the date, he wouldn't have asked us both. We had just broken up." She gave the statue back to Joe.

"There!" he said, pointing as if they could see what Mona had just said. "Us breaking up. That never happened."

"You wish."

"No, I mean we literally never broke up." Joe bowed his head for a second.

"Well, maybe you're just remembering what you want to remember," she argued.

"I assure you, I'm not," Joe said somberly.

She tisked cynically. "Anything else?"

Joe looked into Mona's green eyes, a little too long because he missed them so much.

"What?" she demanded.

"You're alive, Mona," he said with a quiver in his voice.

Mona gaped at him. "I beg your pardon."

"When that wormhole covered me, you had been dead for nine months."

"Dead?" she repeated with dread. "I'm not dead."

"Exactly," Joe punctuated. "That's the biggest, the most important difference in this reality."

She wrinkled her brow. "Well how could the wormhole change all that? It only covered you, right?"

"There's only one explanation," Joe boldly hypothesized.

"What are you saying? Joe, get to the point!" she ordered impatiently.

"Mona, this is not my universe, not my Earth. The experiment worked."

"What do you mean it worked? If it worked, you wouldn't be here," she contended. "But, here you are."

"Think about it. It would explain all the differences," Joe maintained.

"Wait, I'm confused," Mona confessed. "Why are you still here?"

Joe continued. "I think, at the same time George and I were conducting a test of the wormhole in my universe, your George and your Joe were doing the same thing in your universe. My wormhole enveloped me and sent me here, in the same moment your wormhole enveloped your Joe--"

"--and sent him where?" Mona probed.

"Who knows? Maybe we switched places, or maybe he went somewhere completely different. I'm not a scientist."

"So, you could be wrong, then. I mean, you can't be sure, right?" Mona begged.

"I'm telling you, this is the only thing that makes any sense."

"But they would know," she struggled to counter Joe's assertion. "The tech guys, they would know if it worked, right?"

"Not necessarily," Joe said. "Just like you, when they saw me standing there after the wormhole disappeared, they would just assume something went wrong. Even George thought so. But it worked."

"I don't know..." she said gravely.

Joe grabbed the Vendishon picture and handed it to her. "Do you remember that night?"

"Well, sure I do. There we are drinking coffee, behind George and that Royal Whats-his-name guy. See?" she pointed out.

"Yeah," Joe said. "I see, but that's just it. I don't remember it."

"Oh, come on. How could you forget it?" she desperately argued. "That was the most amazing night out with George we ever had."

"I bet," Joe conceded. "But it's not that I forgot, it's that I wasn't there. I mean, you and Joe were there, but that Joe wasn't me."

"So, you're not Joe Travers?"

"I'm not your Joe Travers," he specified.

Mona just looked at him sideways.

Joe's eyes glistened. "God, you look just like her..." he murmured. "I haven't seen you since your funeral nine months ago. My universe is too cruel to bring you back to me, so I had to come to a different universe to find you, again. I think that's the real reason George created the Blackburn Bridge--so I could see you once more," he added as tears streaked his face.

Mona looked down and softly asked, "How did I... how did she die?"

Joe took her hand, and Mona let him. "A rare lung disease. It was only a month from diagnosis to... losing her."

She started crying. "Were we...Were you together?"

"We were planning our wedding," Joe said.

Mona buried her face in her hands, wailing hysterically. Joe sat down to hold her.

"It's OK, Mona. It won't happen to you," he promised through his own tears, not really knowing her fate in her universe.

"That's not why I'm crying," Mona blubbered. "I broke up with Joe, because he wouldn't commit to me."

"What?" Joe squeaked.

"He never asked me to marry him and I got tired of waiting." She snuffled. "I'm crying because it's so unfair..."

"Unfair?" he asked, wiping tears from her face.

"Here I am, alone because your counterpart has commitment issues. Meanwhile, you were ready to marry your Mona, and she died. The universe is all mixed up. It's not right. And, now George is in danger. I don't know what to do."

"I know," Joe said. "All we can do now is wait."

#

Nine years before, the long friendship of Joe and George had only been enhanced when Mona entered the picture. George had suggested she join them for drinks at their usual haunt, without telling either one he was setting them up.

"Mona volunteered for a study a colleague of mine was conducting," George explained when he introduced them. "I thought you might find it interesting."

"What was the study about?" Joe asked.

"It was fascinating," Mona said. "She was looking for a correlation between emotions and physical phenomena. I believe her thesis was that extraordinary physical manifestations are rooted in human emotions."

"Like what?"

"Everything from apparitions to UFOs," Mona replied. "Very thought-provoking."

"Yes, though not very conclusive," George added. "She was largely unable to evince the correlation in her subjects--"

"Except for me," Mona interrupted, coyly rolling her eyes.

"Really?" Joe inquired. "What happened?"

"She showed me images designed to evoke strong emotions, in this case, passion, love and affection." Mona smiled and began to blush. "Anyway, when I started to feel something, I swore I saw a bright circle of light, growing larger the longer I watched it, like it was moving toward me. When she asked me to describe it, to guess what it was, I said it was a tunnel to true love." She giggled. "It sounds silly now, but that's what it felt like."

"Not at all," Joe said, riveted. "Did anyone else see your tunnel?"

"Well, no," Mona admitted. "But the sensors detected a significant visual event in my brain. I guess that means I truly saw it, at least in my mind."

"Wow," Joe said, staring at Mona.

"Yes," George added, "that was when they came to me for theories on what this tunnel might have been, assuming it actually existed. Based on the description, I proposed that it was a portal of some kind. A doorway to a different realm of space or time."

"I liked that idea," Mona recalled. "It appealed to me that love could be found through a magical portal to another realm, where human emotion resides, unfettered by reason or logic."

"Yes, that was Mona's interpretation of my proposal," George clarified. "I'm just a scientist, not prone to theorize on such romantic ideas. Very colorful, though."

"Indeed," Joe agreed, eyes still locked on Mona.

While Joe and Mona engaged in a deep discussion about the meaning of her "tunnel of love", George excused himself to the men's room. Almost an hour passed before they realized that George never came back.

They smiled at each other, and Mona said, "I think Professor Blackburn knows more about romance than he's willing to admit."

"Just a scientist, my ass," Joe joked.

#

Mona and Joe could hear the medical staff and security teams buzzing throughout the bunker, attending to those injured in the blast, too busy to check on Joe, as they waited in George's office, hoping for good news. The two talked like old friends. They traded disparate memories about the same experiences and shared new stories of their counterparts, prompting laughter and sighs and tears of joy. They had lost track of time when a knock reminded them why they were there. They answered the door together.

A soldier said, "Sir, ma'am, I'm Corporal Owens. I regret to inform you that Professor Blackburn didn't make it."

Mona gasped.

"He's dead?" Joe asked in disbelief and wrapped his arm around Mona's shoulder.

"Yes, sir. I'm sorry, sir."

"Thank you, Corporal," he said. "Please tell doctor Becker from the tech team that we need to see him, immediately. It's extremely important."

"Yes, sir," Owens said and left.

#

Gen. Krantz, the military lead on the Blackburn Bridge project, looked across the large, round conference table at Dr. Becker with skepticism. "So, what you're suggesting is that the experiment--this interdimensional bridge--did what it was supposed to do?"

"Correct," replied Dr. Becker, now the lead scientist on the project. "If what Joe here is telling us is true, and we have no reason to doubt it at this time, he arrived here from an alternate universe at the exact same time that our subject vanished. Our current theory is that both bridges, one originating in his universe and one originating in ours, performed as expected."

Everyone in the situation room silently studied Joe.

"It's remarkable," noted a technician. "You are identical to our subject."

"And you're the same as one of the techs back home," Joe said. "Barry's your name, right?"

"Yes, that's right," Barry said.

"So, what does this mean?" Krantz asked.

"It means the Blackburn Bridge project is still alive," Dr. Becker said. "We should attempt to recall our subject, as soon as possible, and debrief him."

"But the transformer is toast," a mechanic on the team said. "The explosion left nothing to salvage."

"And we can't attempt a recall until we replace it," another added.

"We'll get you that transformer, gentlemen," Krantz vowed, as he pulled out his phone to start the ball rolling.

"But what about Professor Blackburn?" a young researcher asked. "How can we continue without his guidance--no offense intended Dr. Becker."

"None taken," Becker assured her. "Blackburn was the heart and soul of this project. We wouldn't have had even a chance for any level of rescue without his vision and intellectual leadership. And it's possible we will fail in his absence. But I know, for sure, that he would have wanted us to try as hard as we can to achieve his dream, and that's what we're going to do."

The meeting adjourned, and Joe returned to George's office to find Mona sitting at George's desk, weeping.

"Mona?" Joe tentatively announced his presence.

She raised her wet, red face. "I can't believe he's gone. Once the shock wore off, I started thinking about all the time I've spent with him and what fun he was--"

"--and what a good friend he was to us," Joe added. "I know. Even though he wasn't really my G, I feel the loss as if he was."

She stood up. "I'm going to miss him so much, Joe," she cried and hugged him. They held each other for a minute or two.

"Listen," Joe said. "The panel, G's tech team and even the security guys, they want us to plan a service for him."

"Oh, that would be nice," Mona said between snivels.

#

Flouting the lockdown still in effect, the service for Hiram "George" Blackburn was held on the field the next day. The speeches from almost everyone on the Blackburn Bridge project ranged from poignant to comical, including one technician's tongue-in-cheek yet tasteful impression of George angrily accusing the security team of stealing his lunch from the refrigerator. Mona and Joe did their speech together, recalling George's role in getting the one-time couple together. It was a bitter sweet ceremony held amid the backdrop of massive military helicopters lowering the mammoth, new transformer into place.

While the technicians worked on connecting and testing the new equipment, Joe and Mona spent a pleasant day together.

"They won't be ready to try the recall until tonight," Mona said. "What do you want to do?"

"I think we deserve a relaxing day. Let's have a picnic," Joe suggested.

"A picnic? What will we eat?" she wondered.

Joe scanned the area furtively and whispered, "I think George left his last lunch in the fridge, unless the security team got to it already."

"Oh, you're terrible," she scolded playfully. "Where would we have this picnic?"

"How about on the fifty-yard line?"

"But the entire arena is still on lockdown," she reminded him.

"Oh yeah..."

"We can't leave the bunker so how about we just stay in, today?" Mona offered suggestively.

They locked the door to George's office, opened the fold-out sofa and spent the day kindling an old relationship for the first time.

#

A few hours later, as they were getting dressed and closing the sofa, Joe noted to Mona, "It's amazing."

"What?"

"How George can still get us together, even after he's gone."

"Sit down, Joe," she said seriously. "We need to talk." They sat together on the sofa. "I want you to know that I've really enjoyed getting to know you all over again. Your different from my Joe. Not much, but somehow, you're more lighthearted, more open. After just two days, I already feel like I know you better than my Joe."

"That's good, right?" Joe submitted.

"Yes," Mona confirmed. "It's very good, but you're not here forever. I know that you have to go back to your universe to complete your mission, and all. I knew that all along. Despite that, I chose to spend this time with you and I don't regret it. I hope you don't either. I just want you to know I don't expect anything more, and I never assumed you would stay here with me."

"Thanks, Mona," Joe said. "And I don't regret it, either, not in the least. In fact, I wanted to tell you something, too. I love you. You are my Mona, I don't care what universe you're from. And the fact is, my mission is already over. It ended as soon as I realized this Earth is as doomed as mine." He pulled the recall tool from his bag.

"What's that?" she asked.

"This is my ticket back home; all I have to do is press this button. If I don't press it by tomorrow morning, someone back there, on the other side of the wormhole I came through, will press another button, and this thing will zap me back to my universe, forever."

"What are you going to do?" Mona asked urgently.

Joe dropped the device on the floor and smashed it with his foot.

"Joe! What are you doing?"

"Securing my happiness," he said confidently, as he ground the plastic and circuitry into the floor boards.

"But what will they do when you don't return?"

"According to protocol, they'll treat this universe as unsuitable," Joe said. "And they won't try to find me. There's no salvation for them here, so they shouldn't waste their time. That's all I would tell them if I went back."

"Why did you do this?" she whined. "You might have gone back and found a safe universe. Now, you--"

Someone knocked on the door. Joe opened it to see Dr. Becker.

"I need to talk to you, Joe," Becker said.

"Sure."

Becker wasted no time. "We were unsuccessful in recalling our Joe Travers."

"I'm sorry," Joe said. Mona looked down and a tear dropped onto her lap.

"We have no way of knowing why this is," Becker continued. "He may have died instantly, due to some malfunction of our Blackburn Bridge, or the elements in whatever world he reached. We cannot risk another test, another human life, with unproven technology. And we don't have time to start over."

"I see," Joe said, but he didn't really.

"We were hoping, since we know your Blackburn Bridge worked, maybe we can figure something out from your recall tool. You have one, right?"

Joe looked at Mona and then at the floor. He pointed and said, "There it is. I'm sorry."

Becker flashed a stern scowl toward Joe, scooped up what remained of the device and hurried back to his lab.

Joe turned to Mona. "I'm so sorry. It never occurred to me that my device might have been useful to you guys in this universe."

"It's OK," Mona sighed. "Your heart was in the right place, and I love you for that."

#

The next morning, a request for an immediate all-hands meeting bellowed through the speakers in the bunker. Everyone filed out to the stadium and sat in the lower tiers. Dr. Becker stood on the playing field with a microphone.

"Hello, all," his voice reverberated throughout the arena. "I have an announcement. As most of you know, we have had some project failures in the past couple of days, not the least of which was the loss of our leader and mentor, Professor Blackburn. And, although we were able to partially reconstruct the recall tool of the subject who arrived here from his alternate universe, we have not been able to find any unique engineering to explain why we were unable to recall or determine the fate of our subject, Joseph Travers. Unfortunately, he too has been lost. Collectively, I'm sure we all thank him for his courageous service to our goal of saving mankind from the Disaster. But this failure also means that we have no way to confirm the efficacy of our current technological configuration or the viability of our Blackburn Bridge. Since we're running out of time, a decision has been handed down that I hoped we could avoid. The administration has ordered that the Blackburn Bridge project be shut down, and its resources reallocated to alternate survival plans."

Murmurs filled the stands. Some people objected loudly, vowing to continue testing.

"We have very little time to try to save anyone," Becker continued. "While I resisted this decision, it was made in good faith, with the belief that it's the best plan for all concerned. Thank you all for your hard work. It is now our job to ensure it was not all in vain. We must immediately start to break down and catalog the equipment, so the military can ship it to where it's needed. After that, you are all free to make whatever arrangements you deem necessary to seek refuge from the Disaster or otherwise prepare. Good luck and God bless."

#

Joe and Mona helped with the equipment they could. With little else to do, they decided to go for that picnic, so they scrounged up some food and blankets and headed to the shore. By the time they reached the beach, the warm summer day had faded to a romantic summer night, which suited them just fine.

After eating, they sat quietly on the blanket, leaning against each other and looking out at the dark ocean.

"It's hard to believe we met just two days ago," Joe said. "Funny how things work out."

"I know," Mona agreed with a sigh.

He kissed her. "Mona, have you thought about where you want to go, what we should do now that the project is shut down?"

"Can't we just stay here, like this?" she moaned impishly.

"Seriously, maybe we should join the underground group," Joe suggested. "We might have a chance there."

"Who?" Mona asked, "HUTS?"

"Yeah, I know it's not the most elegant solution, but I think we'd at least be able to live--"

"No way!" Mona yelled. "You've heard what George said about those nuts, haven't you? They won't survive 50 seconds."

"I think he was just exaggerating, Mona. I've heard George rail on their plan before, and it's not that crazy. Just very risky. But at least there's a chance of surviving longer, don't you think?"

"No," she decreed. "I'd rather stay on the surface as long as we can."

I don't blame her, he thought. Who wants to live like a mole all that time, never knowing if you, or your descendants, will live long enough to make it back to the surface? "I understand if you prefer to stay in the sunlight, Mona. As long as I'm with you, I don't care."

"Thanks, My Love," she purred and held his arm tightly in hers.

Joe contemplated the Moon's reflection on the water, in awe of its beauty. Hard to believe this planet is dying, he thought. It's so peaceful and relaxing right now. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and slowly let it out with a satisfied smile. When he opened his eyes again, he was looking directly at the Moon, low on the horizon. It was so large and brilliant, he couldn't stop staring at it. But something looked different. "It's a full Moon tonight, right Sweetie?"

"I think so," Mona exhaled.

Joe cocked his head and examined the outer edge of the Moon. There was a gap he never noticed before, a dip in the surface. It looks like a giant crater. A sense of dread caught his breath. "Mona," he said, still staring at the Moon.

"Yes?"

"What did Becker mean when he said there isn't enough time to continue experimenting with the Blackburn Bridge?"

"What do you think he meant? The Disaster," she said.

"But there is still time. It won't get really bad until..." Joe stopped and quickly fumbled in his bag for the air sensor. "I can't believe I never tried this," he mumbled tensely.

Mona lifted her head. "What's that?"

"It's an air sensor," Joe said as he turned the device on.

"Air sensor? What's it for?" Mona queried innocently.

The device beeped, and Joe gawked at the display. "GREEN - Ideal for long-term human consumption".

"Oh my God!" Joe yelled and looked back at the Moon.

"What is it, Sweetie?" Mona asked.

Joe turned to her. "What's happening here?"

"Happening? Where?"

"Here. On this Earth. Are there any ecological issues anywhere? Air and water pollution? Depleted ozone from greenhouse gases? Global warming and rising sea levels?"

"No," Mona said. "None of that. The environment is cleaner than it's ever been. They worked all that out years ago. George even developed some of the technology that pulls carbon out of the air. What's wrong?"

Joe's eyes again locked on the Moon and he asked, "What happened to the Moon? Why does it look like a piece is missing from the side?"

Mona looked at Joe, surprised. "Thanatos, of course."

"What?"

"The asteroid, silly," Mona mocked him playfully.

"Asteroid? Is that the Disaster? Is that what George was trying to help everyone escape?"

"Yes, of course," Mona said. "You mean you didn't know?"

"No," he groaned, bowing his head.

"But, you were escaping the Disaster, right?" she asked.

"Yes, but it wasn't an asteroid or anything like that. Our problem was pollution. It got so bad, we stopped talking about how to fix it, because we can't. It's making people sick. They estimate that in 5 years, 10 at the most, it will just kill us all. That's our Disaster."

Mona just looked at him.

"How long?" Joe asked.

Mona swallowed. "They don't know exactly. George said after it hit the Moon, it went into an oblong orbit around the Sun. That was months ago. They think it will come back around to hit the Earth in a week or so."

"A week from now? No chance of destroying it, deflecting it?" he begged.

"It's too big. That's why all the preparation has been in devising an escape."

"And the expected damage?"

"Total," she said darkly. "It's half the size of the Moon and made mostly of iron. George said it will hit straight on and melt the crust or break it off into space, or it could even shatter the Earth to pieces... turn it into a rubble field."

"You're so calm," he said.

"We've known about it for a long time." Mona's tone was even and cool. "They saw it coming the first time, when it deflected off the Moon. We thought we were saved, until they realized it would come back around. George said the angle of the orbit means there's no chance it will hit the Moon, again. Everyone hoped George and the other scientists would find a way to rescue us." Mona looked down. "But we always knew the more likely outcome."

Joe took a heavy breath and exhaled. He put his arm around Mona as they gazed at the clear night sky.

"Look," Mona said, pointing up and smiling. "You can see it with the naked eye, now." Leaning toward each other with their heads together, they watched it like a romantic candle flame and sighed.

#

The following morning, in another universe, another Joe woke up in bed with another Mona. They rose and had breakfast together on Mona's deck while her golden retrievers Karma and Payback romped in the yard.

"What a gorgeous day," Joe exclaimed. "It's just as nice here as on my Earth."

"We're proud of how we cleaned up everything and stopped polluting the water and air," Mona said.

"And you're sure there's no asteroid headed toward us, destined to destroy the entire planet?"

"Yes, Joe," she mocked impatience, "for the last time, I'm sure. Even if there was, George's gravity well deflection system would protect us. That's what he created it for."

"I wish I could tell them back home," he said, looking at his recall tool on the table.

"What did George say?"

"Something about the transfer from one universe to another. It nullifies a key element used in the device. He said they had no way of knowing," Joe muttered sadly.

"So, they were never going to be able to recall you?" Mona asked.

"According to your George, returning to my universe was never a real possibility," Joe reported.

"Gee, all that planning..."

"We were so close to saving everyone," Joe lamented. "I feel guilty that I'm here and everyone I know back home is doomed by Thanatos."

"You can't blame yourself," Mona said, placing her hand on his.

"I'm sure by now my George has given up trying to recall me," Joe continued. "If there was just some way to tell them this is an ideal refuge from the Disaster. It's paradise."

"Well, I'm sorry for your friends but I'm not sure that was ultimately the point of that experiment, anyway," Mona said, with a glint in her eyes.

"Why do you say that?"

"When my Joe died, I was lost," she said. "I felt like my universe wasn't willing to let me have him, but now your universe has sent you to me, instead. It's a miracle. I think your George created that bridge-thing so I could get you back."

"Funny how things work out," Joe said.

THE END

<<<<<>>>>>