Chapter 3

      The next few weeks flew by as Natalie, David, and the team worked furiously toward animal testing. Since a ham had been transported successfully, a living plant was the next logical step. After a small mishap with a very unlucky fern, the team successfully sent 10 different types of plants and trees to various parts of the base.

        As a joke, Natalie decided to send a small magnolia to the guys in L49, where they were working the bugs out of a new superconductor; unfortunately they didn’t think it was as funny as she did. That earned her a small slap on the wrist from the general.

      All in all things seemed to be going quite well.

      “Dr. Collins,” came David’s voice from the next room. His voice sounded odd.

      “Yes?” she answered; hoping he was going to tell her that he was ready to transport the mice. “Are we ready to begin with the mice?”

      “About that… Would you come here for a moment?”

      Natalie sighed, “Sure, just a minute.”

         She walked into the next room and immediately burst into giggles. David was standing next to the mouse cage, holding his hand away from his body as if it were an offending cockroach bound for the garbage can.

         “It.. it… why did it do that?” David struggled to articulate. “It… it’s… “
         
         “Well it seems you’ve been initiated Dr. Westmore” said Natalie, trying to compose herself.

         “Wolfgang,” Natalie called out “Would you mind taking Dr. Westmore to the sink and helping him wash off the, um, mouse excrement.”          

****************************************************************

         Kelly sat at the control console, busily moving levers and switches; calibrating the machine for the test while Wolfgang set the mouse cage in front of the demoleculizer. Natalie and David stood by Kelly waiting for the test to begin.

         “All clear,” said Wolfgang as he started back toward the control console.

         “Is the machine ready?” Natalie asked Kelly.

         “Ready to initialize,” she answered

         “Wolfgang?” Natalie nodded at Wolf.

         “Video journal active” he answered.

         Natalie took in a slow breath. This was it – the first living breathing creature to be transported by quantum teleportation. Letting her breath out all at once, Natalie commanded, “Initialize.”

         Kelly pressed the red button and the QTM began to charge. Thirty seconds was required for the machine to build enough energy to discharge.

         When the countdown reached zero, the machine flashed and the mice disappeared – cage and all.

         The team waited in silence for the telephone to ring. No one could breathe; the room was so quiet the only noise to be heard was the air cooling system. A shrill ring broke the silence. Natalie snatched the telephone up before the first ring ended.

         “Yes?... ok… thank you.” As Natalie hung up the telephone, her hand rested on the receiver for just a moment. She looked up, eyes shining, “We did it! We really did it! We still have to go retrieve the mice and run tests to determine what effects there were; but they arrived intact and alive!”

         The room immediately burst with applause; soon replaced with lively chatter, slaps on the back, and a few popped corks from the celebratory champagne.

         “We really did it” Natalie said, “Thank you, Dr. Westmore. Your assistance has been invaluable – having an extra brain really sped up the process.”

         “Well, we’re not quite there yet,” David reminded, “We still have more animal testing to do.”

         “Don’t ruin my moment!” teased Natalie, taking a quick sip of champagne before returning to the lab. “Wolf should be back in the lab with the mice any moment; I want to start running tests immediately.”

((((NOTE))) This next bit will possibly follow an as yet unwritten chapter... you can still continue reading -- there aren't any gaps to confuse... just a jump in the timeline.

NEXT CHAPTER

         Natalie activated her tracer and settled it securely into its holster.  Everything was going smoothly, and she and Doctor Westmore both agreed the safety margin for their first human tunneling trial was perfectly acceptable.

        Several people had attempted to dissuade her from being the first human to test the machine, given the risk; but Natalie stood firm, stating that this was her project, and she would be the one to take the first ride.

         She stepped up to the large empty booth and into the exact focal point of the demolecularizer.  She felt her stomach knotting up and took a steadying breath.

         “Westmore, this had better work,” she stated flatly.  “If I end up as a permanent broad-spread collection of qubits, you inherit this project.”

         Doctor Westmore smiled at her threat, confident in his expectation of success.  “Are you kidding?  This is going to work exactly according to plan, you will become a historical figure and I will get to go home.”

         He stepped up to her and shook her hand.  “I’m glad I’ve been able to assist in this endeavor.  It has been a great privilege, and a pleasure working with you.”

         Caught decidedly off guard by the compliment, Natalie managed to respond with a subdued thank you.

         “All ready when you are,” Kelly Olsen announced calmly.  She was at the main control board and would be the one to initiate the procedure.

         “Guess it’s time to step aside and let history happen,” Westmore said amicably. 

        Before he could finish his sentence, there was a sudden blaze of light; then showers of wild sparks coming from the computers and diagnostic machines that filled the room.  He whirled at the sound and Natalie exclaimed, “What the…” 

        Other surprised yells punctuated the light show--and then there was the telltale flash of the quantum tunneling effect.
         
      Sparks died out as the room fell deathly silent in the gloomy smoke.  Looks of shock and fear overtook faces that moments before had worn expressions of eager anticipation.  The emergency lighting switched on, casting somber shadows across the room.

*    *    *    *    *

         “…heck is that?!”  Natalie shouted, finishing her sentence.  She stopped abruptly and looked around.  Her jaw dropped involuntarily as she stared in awe.  It took a moment for her to register the light tingling sensation that was running through her body.  She shook her head slightly to snap herself out of the daze.
         
That was when she saw Westmore standing there with her.
         
He was busily counting his fingers and patting himself down in an effort to make sure he had arrived intact.
         
I really don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore, Natalie realized.

*    *    *    *    *

         Kelly Olsen was the first one to have her wits about her again.  That was why Doctor Collins had wanted her to run the controls for this trial.  If anything happened, Olsen would be able to keep a cool head.
         
“Both Doctors Westmore and Collins are gone,” she observed, trying to calm everyone down with her placid voice.  “Wolfgang, call Adams’ lab and see if they made it there all right.”
         
She stood up from her useless computer terminal, cradling her burned left arm in her good hand and went over to where Natalie had been standing just two minutes ago.  She breathed an inward sigh of relief as she examined the floor and the walls of the booth.  No sign of scorching over here.  It looked as if they had at least made it out without sustaining any injuries from the power surge.
         
Turning slightly, she asked one of the other techs standing around to call Doctor Simmons’ lab at L49 and ask if they had indeed had another power surge while working on their superconductor.  It was the only thing she could think of at the moment that could have caused the QTM to fire ahead of its programmed timer.
         
“Um, ma’am?” Wolfgang began. 
         
Olsen turned to face him, concerned by the tone she heard in the young man’s voice.
         
“Doctor Adams reports that neither Collins nor Westmore are in his lab.”

*    *    *    *    *

         “Ok, obviously we are not where we were supposed to be,” Natalie began, attempting to determine their whereabouts.

         “Well no!” Westmore fairly shouted.  “We’re in a farmer’s field!”

         “And a pretty big one too," Natalie added, unperturbed by his outburst.  Actually, she found his agitated mental state served to help calm her own at the moment.  She had a goal, problem to solve…quieting his hysterics before they grew worse.

         She looked across what had to be miles of chest-high, dark green leafy plants, all growing in organized rows.  They were full of purple-hued berries that had a peculiarly rich, attractive aroma.

         The sun shone brightly in a crisp blue sky that ran on indefinitely, dotted only here and there with a small cottony cloud.  A gentle wind was blowing, lightly stirring the crops to mix the clean country air with the delightful fragrance from the berries.

         “I hope we’re still in the U. S.,” Westmore pleaded with no on in particular.

         Natalie smothered a grin at that and withheld comment.  Westmore wasn’t exactly agoraphobic.  He would leave his quarters and go out grocery shopping and the like, but he had never left this town until he received this assignment.  Frankly, it was impressive that he had managed to convince himself to work at Area 51.  Natalie didn’t think they actually had a word for his specific quirk. Though she did find it humorous at the moment; she knew he did not, and could become quite upset if she wasn’t careful how she handled him.

         “Westmore,” she called for his attention.  After a couple of seconds, "Westmore,” this time more firmly. He looked at her after another moment.  “We had a power surge.  That’s why we aren’t in Adams’ lab right now sipping champagne.  It’s also why you are here along with me.  There was enough power generated by the surge to process both of us.  I’m willing to bet,” she added with a sigh, “that the surge came from L49…the superconductor experimentation lab.”

         Doctor Westmore thought over the information.  “Remind me to sue whoever is in charge of that lab when we get back there?”

         Natalie smiled.  “Sure thing.”  Presenting him with facts to analyze had, as she’d hoped, brought him at least temporarily out of his shock.

         “Take a look at these plants.  Do you recognize them at all?”  She flicked a waxy leaf as she spoke.

         “No, but then I never really paid attention to plants,” he admitted.  He wrinkled his nose as he sniffed them.

         Smirking wryly, Natalie added, “Neither do I.  I don’t think they look like anything that grows in Nevada though.  And it is a bit warm here.”

         “Meaning?”

         “I think we went a little farther than we’d planned on going, that’s all.”

         “Obviously.”

         She cocked an eyebrow at him.  “I’m just saying.”  That came off a little more defensively than she would have liked.

         “Fine, fine.  We’d better pick a direction and start walking,” Westmore decided, brushing away all other concerns for the moment.  "We seem to be a long way from anywhere, and I don’t think a farmer with a field this big will be by anytime too soon to pick us up.”

         Surveying the area again, he pointed at something in the distance to their left.  “Are those trees?”

         Natalie followed his aim and answered, “Could be.  A tree line for a windbreak maybe.  Good eye.”  She patted him on the shoulder and started off.

*    *    *    *    *


         “When will you know something more?” General Parker asked Olsen.          

         “It’s hard to say yet, Sir.  I’ve got techs working non stop repairing and replacing the equipment in the lab.  There are a couple of autonomous systems in there that we are already analyzing and Doctor Simmons has his team working in his lab to determine exactly what happened and how strong the surge was.”
         
“Keep on it,” Parker ordered, though he knew he didn’t really need to.  His phone flashed a call on line one and he picked up.  “Yes?”
         
He merely nodded after listening a moment or two, his already stern face impossible to read, then hung up.  “There is absolutely no sign of either of them in any of the base buildings.  We’ll switch to a search and rescue operation at this point and cover the entire geographic region.  Let’s just hope they didn’t get pushed too far from the original destination.”

*    *    *    *    *

         Trooping through the cultivated field was not hard exercise by any means so conversation was well within reason…unless you were two scientists who didn’t have much in common outside of their work.  One of those scientists having only sporadic bouts of sociality made it even more difficult.  So, they’d both kept their own thoughts while walking along for the last hour.
         
Finally, Natalie had tired her mind out and needed a diversion.  Having already studied the endless rows of plants and their purple berries as much as she could stand, she decided to make an effort to actually “converse” with Westmore, as she’d been counseled by one of her coworkers, as opposed to simply tolerating his presence.  She had managed it a few times before, while taking lunch breaks, so Natalie figured she could do it again.  She just hoped that this time, he would not patently ignore her as he had on most of those previous occasions.  Though, if he did, there would be no one here to see her thump him on the head, as she had been tempted to do each and every one of those times.
         
Pleased by the prospect of that last realization, she cleared her throat.  “Hey Westmore…how you doing?”
         
“Fine,” came the predictably tacit response.
         
Natalie bit the inside of her cheek.  This time wasn’t going to be any easier than the others it seemed.
         
“Come up with any ideas as to where we might be yet?” she tried again.
         
“No.”
         
Her eyes narrowed as she watched the back of his head bouncing up and down while he walked ahead of her.  So close…just one little thump and she would be so happy.
         
Deciding against that indulgence for the present, she gave it another shot.  “Looks like it’s getting on toward sundown, wherever we happen to be.”
         
His head swiveled upward briefly.  “Really?”
         
“There!  You see?”
         
He stopped and turned to look at her curiously.
         
“You can] say something with more than one syllable, if you try,” she responded with a hint of slyness playing at the corners of her mouth.
         
Westmore gave her a sarcastic smirk.
         
Unable to help herself any longer, Natalie informed him of reality.  “Westmore, there are other people in the world, deserving of a little more attention than you deign to bestow on them.  I’m one of them.  You ignore me when I talk to you about anything that is not work, or give me nice monosyllabic words in an effort to placate me and make me go away.  Why don’t you just come off it and join the rest of humanity?  Or are you really that dysfunctional?
         
He blinked at her this time.
         
That really should have gotten a rise out of him Natalie thought.  Her brow knit as she wondered briefly if he were all right and asked curiously, “Westmore?”
         
Another wordless blink.
         
That was it.  She couldn’t tell what was going on in that brain of his, if anything right now.  Maybe she’d pushed him over some unseen edge of propriety.  Not that she cared about propriety right now.  Giving in to the long denied desire, she reached up and thumped him squarely in the middle of his forehead.
         
“Ouch!” he protested, covering his head in defense of another possible assault.
         
“That’s a good boy now, use your words,” she patronized.
         
“I was thinking!”
         
“Nice of you to let me know.  Maybe next time you can sign it to me, so we don’t have to interrupt the process verbally.”
         
He glared at her.  “Just because I don’t talk all the time…”
         
Natalie cut him off.  “The only ‘all the time’ with you, Westmore, is the offending you do by not talking.  That and weirding people out in general,” she amended. 

“Everyone knows you are a genius, Westmore; one of the absolute most brilliant minds of our time.  But you’ve got to get over this thing about not talking to people on any kind of personal level.”  She pushed him forward, getting them both moving again as she continued.
         
“Do you have any friends?”
         
He was quiet as he kept walking.  Natalie poked him in the back.  “Think out loud.”
         
“No, I don’t have any friends really.”
         
“Dog or cat?” she hoped.
         
“No pets of any kind.  Not even any house plants.”
         
“How about family?”

         “Not much.  I was an only child, my mother and father had me kind of late in life and my grandparents had all died by the time I was sixteen.  My father passed away from cancer when I was twenty. My mother and an aunt are all I have left.”
         
Natalie didn’t know what to say.  He was finally making a genuine effort and this is what came out.  Not the easiest conversation to navigate.
         
“I’m sorry to hear all that,” she said soberly.  “That’s a lot for a person to deal with.”

“That’s life.” He said with a shrug.

To Natalie, it sounded terrible. Due to her work, she didn’t see her family as often as she would like – but just knowing they were there was a comfort. Coming from quite a large extended family, they were her support system. Her dad had been a scientist, but was injured in a lab accident a few years ago. He’d survived, but was now somewhat an invalid. His inability to practice his passion was quite a blow at first, but he decided to channel his abilities in writing scientific papers.

He’d had his first big paper published just last month – the family threw a huge party for him – unfortunately Natalie wasn’t able to attend due to this current project, but she attended briefly by vid-phone. Long enough to see his face beaming with pride at his latest accomplishment; that alone made Natalie happy.

Suddenly, Natalie noticed it was growing dark quickly. “Westmore, maybe we should find a place to camp for the night.”

“Hm? Oh, yes, camp… how about there?” he suggested, pointing to a small cluster of trees.

Natalie nodded, “Looks good to me.”

*****************************************************

Wolfgang paced back and forth on the concrete floor. “Where are they?” he said, wringing his hands. “How are we going to find them? What if they ended up in another country? What if they ended up in a country where they’d be considered enemies?”

“Wolf!” said Kelly sternly, “That is not going to help us find them – now, if you’d like to be helpful, go assist Suzanne with those algorithms.”

Ignoring the stares of the personnel around him, he took a deep breath in and looked at Kelly and Suzanne; embarrassed by his outburst. “Sure thing; I’ll do whatever it takes to get them back.”

*******************************************************

Natalie and David found a nice spot under a large shade tree and sat down. “I’m getting a little hungry,” said Natalie “Maybe we should look around for some berries or something to eat.”

“Um, I don’t know about you, but I’m not well versed in ‘survival skills’ per se. How would we know what was and wasn’t poisonous?”

“Well,” said Natalie slowly, then she brightened, “I did take a survival course they gave on base when I was first hired on. I remember part of it involved identifying edible and non-edible plants. I think I can remember.”

David smiled, “You know, ‘I think’ isn’t enough for me to risk eating a poisonous berry.” He reached into his jacket and pulled out two energy bars. “When you need to eat every two and a half hours, you learn to be prepared.”

“Yeah,” said Natalie, eyeing the energy bar, “I’m not that hungry yet.

“Your loss,” said David as he opened a bar and began eating.

“I think it’s time to try to get a little rest.”

David looked around uncertainly. He’d never slept on the ground before. Outside. With the bugs. Without an air purifier. All night. David’s heart rate began to increase and his breathing became shallow. Suddenly the thought of ‘making camp’, which had seemed so benign only moments before, became the catalyst for the beginnings of a full blown panic attack. He quickly patted his pockets and pulled out a small pill case. Opening the pill case, he removed one small white pill and swallowed it.

“David?” Natalie said, “Are you all right?” His color was awful and he looked as if he might lose his lunch any minute.

“I’ll be ok in a few minutes.” He then sat down, closed his eyes and began deep breathing exercises.

If I spent years with this man, I still don’t think I’d completely understand him… Natalie thought to herself as she shook her head slowly. She took off her blazer and rolled it up. Laying it up next to the base of the tree, she used it as a pillow and lay down. I guess I can try to get some sleep; it’s not like we can go anywhere right now anyway… wouldn’t know which direction we were going without the sun. They could have used the stars, as Natalie was an avid stargazer, but clouds began to roll in at sunset and obscured the view. I just hope it doesn’t rain she thought as she closed her eyes.

Finally, David got his breathing under control. When he opened his eyes, he saw Natalie lying on the ground, sound asleep. He sighed and leaned back against a tree trunk. I can do this, he thought, people sleep outside all the time. He closed his eyes; then suddenly started at a strange sound. It was a cross between a woman wailing and a coyote’s cry. He closed his eyes again, but this time there was a strange repetitive ticking sound to his left. David’s eye’s snapped open and his head turned quickly. Nothing. Just normal outdoor noises, nothing to worry about. He closed his eyes again and tried to rest; but it was hours before he finally drifted off.

The next morning, Natalie awoke with a start. It took her a few moments to remember where she was. As she looked over at David, asleep leaning up against a tree, she remembered. They were lost. She felt so rested though; surprising to one who just spent the night on the ground. But this soil was soft; and the air seemed so pure. We must be far from any urbanized environment. This realization made Natalie frown. It would be much harder to get back home if they were in a remote area.

“Westmore,” said Natalie. “Hey Westmore, wake up.”

“Wh-what? Huh?” David shook his head; then rubbed the back of it. “I feel like I’ve been sleeping on a rock,” he complained.

“Quit whining,” She said good-naturedly, “We may have quite a walk ahead of us.” Natalie stood. “Did you notice how clean the air smells?” she asked, breathing in deeply, “I think we may be far from any cities. Maybe we should try to locate a house or something, what do you think?”

“You know, I did notice the air. I haven’t had to use my inhaler even once since we arrived.” David looked one way, then the other, “I guess we should head north.”

“North it is,” agreed Natalie. The two set out northward in comfortable silence. David offered Natalie an energy bar, and this time she was too hungry to refuse. It tasted exactly as she thought it would – just like sawdust.

The sun began its journey upward and the day began to get hot. After what seemed to be only a couple of hours, the sun was directly overhead.

“How long did we sleep?” Natalie asked.

“The sun didn’t seem to be very high when we started walking, why?”

“Well, the sun is straight overhead already; does it seem like noon to you?”

“Actually no, I’m just now getting hungry again; and you could set your clock by my stomach.” David said as he pulled out another energy bar.

“How many of those do you have in there anyway?” Natalie imagined him pulling out energy bar after energy bar, like clowns from a miniature car.

“I like to keep a day’s worth on my person, just in case.” David said defensively.

“So that would be, what, six?” Natalie was calculating. David had eaten one last night, and they’d both had one this morning. That added to the one he was currently eating meant they had two left. Better wait until his next mealtime to eat the last two. “What will you do when they run out?”

“I’m really hoping we find someone or something before then.” David said around the bar.

Suddenly they heard rustling. They both listened more carefully. That was definitely rustling; and voices.

“David!”

“I hear it.”

Natalie looked around to identify the source. “Over there” she said, pointing to a line of trees to the east.

David and Natalie walked to the tree line listening intently. Both the rustling and the voices grew louder as they approached.

“What language are they speaking?” whispered Natalie.

“I can’t tell… it doesn’t sound like anything I’m familiar with.”

“I’m fluent in Spanish and French and it’s definitely not one of those,” she said, then noticed David staring quizzically at her. “What? My parents wanted me to be well-rounded.”

“Well I’m impressed. The only languages I speak other than English are those used by a computer.”

They walked right up to the tree line and crouched down, trying to get a look through the foliage. Natalie moved a branch to the side, and they both got a good view of the adjacent field. David immediately fainted, dead away.


The world was fuzzy, dreamlike. David heard a voice that sounded muffled and far away, as if he were enclosed in a giant David-sized cotton ball. Slowly the world around him began to come into focus; trees, sky, Natalie.

“David!” Natalie said sharply for the fourth time, this time accompanying her words with a small but firm slap to his cheek. “Come on, wake up” she said insistently.

Suddenly and forcefully the realization of their situation flooded David’s mind, and for a moment he couldn’t speak.

“Natalie” David said finally. This stunned Natalie as much as anything; in the months they’d been working together, he’d never called her by her first name. “Natalie… was that what I thought it was… Did I see what I saw? How long has it been since I ate? Am I having hypoglycemic hallucinations?”

“No David,” said Natalie gently “No hallucinations."

“What are we going to do?” David asked as he pulled himself into a sitting position.

“Honestly? I have no idea.” Natalie wanted to be more reassuring, but at the moment she was unable to muster anything more hopeful. Natalie risked another peek through the foliage, putting a hand up signaling David to stay put; she didn’t want him fainting again.

She still couldn’t believe what she was seeing. In front of her were rows and rows of the same plant they’d come across yesterday when they first arrived. These rows, however, were full of workers. Natalie presumed they were harvesting the berries she’d seen.

What made the scene worthy of knocking a grown man unconscious wasn’t the berries; or the plants, it was the workers. They were creatures of innumerable variety, working together in perfect harmony. Somewhat reminiscent of slaves in a nineteenth century cotton field; Natalie wondered at the status of these workers.

She wanted to call them people, but wasn’t sure how accurate that would be. Some were humanoid; with two arms, two legs, and a somewhat proportionate head with recognizable features. Others more closely resembled bears, some more reptilian. Still others would be considered humanoid but for the extra arms and legs they possessed. And the colors! Reds, greens, tans. Some with skin, some fur, others scales.

Natalie pulled back to the safety of their hiding place and let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. She shook her head sharply, trying to make sense of what she’d seen. All of their experiences so far began to fall together like pieces of a puzzle; the clean smelling air and softer than usual ground, the unusual plant life, the quick transit of the sun.

“Forget Kansas,” Natalie said softly, “We’re not on EARTH anymore.”