Page 23 of The Paradox Club

“So really far.”

“Really far. Now, let’s suppose that there is an intelligent, technological civilization on a planet just halfway across our home galaxy. When you consider the size of the entire universe, that’s practically like a next-door neighbor. Suppose that civilization sends a radio signal that reaches Earth and suppose we discover a way to reply. Never mind about different languages or modes of communication. Now, if that signal left this nearby planet today, we would receive it twenty-five thousand years from now and if we responded immediately, they would receive our response fifty thousand years after they sent the original signal. Fifty thousand years ago, our species was making crude tools out of stone and maybe starting to think about painting on the walls of caves.”

“So, if they sent a signal and it took fifty thousand years to get a reply,” said Tess, “they might not even be there anymore.”

“And even if they were, they might have no record of the original signal. Or their means of communication might have changed so much they couldn’t understand our reply. Our species has a hard time planning things a few years in advance—imagine making plans to be carried out two thousand generations from now.”

“You couldn’t,” said Tess.

“When we listen at SETI—when we listen for one of those signals, we’re not just listening for signals from far away, we’re listening for messages from long ago. We’re listening to the past.”

“You’re time traveling,” said Tess excitedly.

“In a way,” said Harry with a smile, “we are.”

TAKING PAPER TO MARIE

On Saturday morning, Vivian outdid herself at breakfast: french toast, home fries, thick-cut bacon, and a heaping bowl of fresh fruit with cream—just like breakfasts at the lake she had cooked with Marie. The house would be filled with the smell of sizzling country ham and the table piled high with fresh biscuits, steaming scrambled eggs, and even (poured by Vivian when Harry looked the other way) a mug of “coffee,” for Tess. It was mostly warm milk, but Vivian knew it would give Tess that delicious sense of being grown-up.

“That was the best night’s sleep I’ve had in weeks,” said Tess. “I feel almost human this morning. I thought I might go see Marie.”

“Why would you do that?” asked Vivian.

“Why wouldn’t I? She’s my mother.”

“You haven’t used that reason to see her for…how long has it been?”

“Four years.”

“So, why now?”

“My therapist thinks it would be a good idea. She says we have unresolved issues.”

“Hard to argue that point. But don’t you want to get settled? Give it a week or two and then go see her?”

Vivian had no idea if anyone would be watching Marie’s house and if they were whether they would know who Tess was, but with October 14 only four days away, she thought it best to take no chances. If she could convince Tess to just lie low until after the fourteenth, there would be plenty of time later to attempt reconciliation with Marie.

“I feel good this morning,” said Tess. “For once I feel like she can’t hurt me, like I’m emotionally armed to see her. Who knows what I’ll feel like two weeks from now?”

“Probably even better,” said Vivian.

“Or maybe a lot worse.”

“There’s another reason you might not want to go over there,” said Vivian. “Marie met someone.”

“You mean another man?”

“Yes.”

“How did you find out? Do you see her? Do you talk to her?”

“She’s made it pretty clear she doesn’t want to talk to me, and I respect that. But this is a small town and word gets around.”

“All the more reason to go visit her. I can meet my new stepdaddy.”

“I don’t know if it’s that serious yet.”

“One way to find out.”