Arrows of Time - Kim Falconer [150]
He took a step back. ‘And who are you?’
‘You can call me Nell. You won’t remember that, or much else, when the time comes.’
‘When what time comes?’
‘The time for you to forget. You’ll be older by then and this will seem like a dream.’
‘I think you’d better explain.’
She glanced at the troops. ‘I know what to do, and it’s going to get you out of this mess—get your world out of this mess.’
‘What business is this of yours?’
‘Unfinished.’ She took his arm. ‘Please step back. I’m going to set it right, and I need cooperation.’ She dropped her voice to a whisper. ‘I promise, you won’t feel a thing.’
He pulled out of her grip. ‘That’s exactly what I say to my patients before I put them into Cryo. What things do you have to set right?’
‘You named it already, Mr Kelly. Your cryo project is creating quite a few problems. I’m here to fix them.’
‘Problems where?’
‘In some of the many-worlds.’
‘Many?’
‘Some of them, yes.’ She exhaled, looking across the desiccated parklands to the entrance. The troops marched towards them. ‘What do they teach in your universities, Everett, that you don’t know about the many-worlds?’ Orders were barked, weapons aimed. ‘Never mind. Here it is, in a nutshell…’
‘A what?’
‘A concise form. Listen closely. Whenever multiple possibilities exist, the world splits—hence many-worlds—multiple realities—a different one for every new possibility. Each of these worlds starts out the same as the previous. It’s impossible to tell them apart, save for the one choice.’
‘That’s crazy. People are making different choices every day. Thousands of them.’
‘More than that, actually.’
‘Millions?’
‘Upon millions. And from that point of difference, that branching off, the new world develops in its own way without any communication back to the original world.’
He frowned. ‘Are you saying you’re from a different world, a different choice?’
She nodded.
‘But you’re communicating?’
Nellion? Her familiar’s voice flowed into her mind. What’s the point in explaining everything that was in the letter when you’re going to erase his memory in a few minutes’ time?
I suppose there isn’t any point, though if he knows it once, it might help him to learn it again. He’s got quite a task ahead.
What’s ahead are those uniforms. I think you need to do something about them.
‘And Rosette…is she from your world too?’ Everett asked.
‘No time. Here they come.’ This is it, Torgan, she said to her familiar.
You’re convinced it must be done?
I am. Are you ready?
As I can be.
I love you.
I love you too.
I’ll meet you on the other side.
GAELA—TIME: FORWARD
CHAPTER 34
Teg shifted back to two legs as he landed inside the portal. He let his hand pass over the plasma emission, bowing to the Entity as he skidded to a halt. He’d seen Kreshkali do this many times. He didn’t have the blood, but he knew the ritual. Keep your mind on where and when you want to go, she had said.
His thoughts honed in on Kreshkali and the forest near Treeon Temple where he last saw her. He didn’t let doubt enter his head. That was crucial. The Entity would respond to confusion in kind. He had to keep his focus tight on Kreshkali—the smell of her, the angle of the moonlight where she had last stood, the carpet of leaves beneath her feet, the sound of her voice when she said his name. It wasn’t a difficult exercise. He’d thought of little else since they parted.
The corridors were dim, the contours soft and blurry. He leaned against the back of the portal, gazing at the energy flowing past, winding its way like a river through the twists and turns. The speed and flash of it burned his eyes after a time, but he didn’t look away. How long would it take to get there? Where was ‘there’? He didn’t know. Time travelled at a different pace inside the corridors.
That was an understatement. He suspected he might be outside time altogether, above it somehow, or beside it, no longer part of the arrow, whichever way it was pointing. He finally closed his eyes, still keeping the ‘when’ in mind as much as the ‘where’. The subdued light calmed him and his breathing