Page 104 of The Paradox Club

“‘What if she’s not in the circle of trees in the other universe?’ I asked, but Harry shook off my question. He was single-minded. He didn’t care about the other Harry in the other universe whose daughter he was trying to steal away. All he cared about was you and science, in that order. ‘She belongs with me,’ he said. ‘The portal will understand that.’”

“That was Harry,” said Richard. “Always certain his experiments would work.”

“Then suddenly the music on the radio turned to static and the tingling sensation became so intense it felt like my skin was on fire and I saw this look of terror on Harry’s face. He tried to shove me out of the circle, but I held my ground and yelled at him to tell me what was wrong. I’d never seen him look so afraid, so unsure—and those amounted to the same emotion for Harry. He realized what he had done wrong, and he knew it was too late to do anything about it. He’d thought he was in total control and now he was at the mercy of forces he had no way of understanding.”

“You saw all that on Harry’s face?” said Tess.

“Your father was always easy to read,” said Vivian. “That look only lasted a couple of seconds, and then Harry regained some composure. He shoved me again and yelled at me to get out of the circle before it was too late. I stumbled toward the trees, but I wouldn’t leave until I knew, until I understood what had gone wrong. I almost fell when Harry pushed me a second time, but I grabbed his arm and looked right into his eyes and said, ‘What is it? What went wrong?’”

“Did he answer?” said Tess.

“He said the last words I ever heard him speak,” said Vivian. “He said, ‘I needed them. I needed them all.’ And then the entire circle erupted in flames and Harry shoved me again and this time I staggered out of the fire, but just before I crossed the circle, I had this incredible vision—more realistic that any movie or photograph.”

“What was it?” asked Tess.

“I don’t remember,” said Vivian. “I never remember my stories after I tell them. And that night, after Marie abandoned us on the dock, I told you that first one. You see, Tess, that night your entire being crossed over into our universe, but I stayed here—mostly.”

“Mostly?”

“My body is firmly rooted in this universe, but, if my guess is correct, my consciousness slips into the other universe every now and then. I inhabit the consciousness of some other person long enough to absorb a memory.”

“Your stories.”

“My stories,” said Vivian. “Harry said there might be a possibility of one of us having a consciousness that peeked into other universes. Even though the stories don’t stay with me for long, anytime you were nearby when one came, I always told you.”

“News from my home universe.”

“Something like that. They soothed you. They made you feel…”

“They made me feel connected to home,” said Tess, “though I never put it in those words until now.”

“That’s all I wanted for you,” said Vivian.

“I think I’m ready,” said Tess.

“Ready for what?” said Richard.

“Ready for you to send me back.”

TESS AND HARRY ON THE DOCK

“What is time dilation?”

“Where do you come up with these questions?”

“I hear things. I watch TV.”

“You watch Friends. I’ve never heard Joey talk about time dilation.”

“Also, you leave your books and your science journals stacked on the sideboard. Marie is always complaining about it.”

“Marie likes everything in its place.”

“Me too.”

“Fine. Do you want to talk about gravitational time dilation or velocity time dilation?”

“What’s the difference?”