Coin #2 - Quantum Coin (5 page)

“Okay,” Ephraim said. He tried to keep his voice steady. “I'm in.”

“At last.” Zoe held up Nathan's camera. “Can we borrow this? It could come in handy.”

Nathan looked stricken.

“Let me rephrase that. I'm going to take this.” She wrapped the strap around her wrist definitively.

“It took me six months to save up for that,” Nathan said.

“We'll get it back to you, buddy,” Ephraim said. He hoped he'd be able to keep that promise.

“We should send these clips to a scientist. Or Eyewitness News,” Shelley said.

“That could cause a panic,” Jena said.

“If this is real, we have to tell someone,” Mary said.

“We will. The only person qualified to explain what's happening and do something about it,” Zoe said. “Nathaniel.”

“We'd better get going then,” Jena said.

“You are
not
coming with us,” Zoe said.

“That isn't your decision,” Jena said.

“Jena, maybe it's better for you to stay here,” Ephraim said.

Jena crossed her arms. “You gave the coin to me, darling. If you want to use it, I'm coming along. I don't like losing things that belong to me.” She smiled sweetly at Zoe.

“I can be so damn stubborn sometimes,” Zoe said.

“Most of the time,” Ephraim said. Jena and Zoe glared at him.

Zoe knocked on the partition.

“We're
driving
to this other universe?” Mary asked.

Ephraim smiled. “The Charon device can move us across dimensions, but not over distances. Unless you're swapping quantum positions with your analog, you appear in the same geographic location you started from. The limo will just get us to a better place to shift.”

The partition slid down with a mechanical whir. Hip hop music blared into the passenger cabin.

The driver twisted around to face them. “Where to?” he asked. He had a gentle voice with a Russian accent. Zoe started when she heard it. Ephraim remembered that back in her reality, the country was at war with the USSR, along with almost everyone else.

“Take us to Greystone Park,” Ephraim said. He looked at Zoe questioningly, and she nodded her approval. In Nathaniel's universe, it was the site of an institute devoted to studying parallel universes.

“Park's closed,” the driver said.

“We aren't going inside.”

“Suit yourself.”

“Hang on,” Ephraim said. “Do you two want to get out here?” he asked Mary and Shelley.

The twins exchanged a look.

“We're coming with you,” Shelley said.

“At least as far as the park,” Mary said.

“What about your dates?” Ephraim asked. “I forget their names.”

“Exactly,” Mary said. “I never thought I'd say this, but I'd rather hang out with you.”

“This is much more interesting.” Shelley smiled at Nathan.

“Someone has to document this,” Nathan said. He pulled a pocket-sized video camera from his back pocket and grinned.

“You're kidding,” Ephraim said.

“I always carry a backup,” Nathan said.

“You can ride with us to the park too and drop us off.” Ephraim leaned toward the front of the cabin and raised his voice over the music. “Hey, what's your name?”

“Maurice,” the driver said.

“Okay, Maurice. Step on it.”

“You bet.” Maurice tipped his hat.

The partition rose, and the cabin was silent again. The car engine rumbled under them, and they were moving.

The car slowed, then stopped. The partition lowered, and Russian rap with a pounding bass invaded the passenger compartment.

“We're here,” Maurice said.

Ephraim and the others climbed out of the limo and gathered on the sidewalk in front of Greystone Park by the bus shelter, directly across from the Summerside Public Library where Jena and Ephraim worked. Ephraim ducked back into the car to grab the ice bucket. He unloaded the bottles of soda and water onto a seat, then dumped the ice out into the gutter. He handed the bucket to Jena.

“Hold onto that,” he said.

Jena raised an eyebrow but tucked the bucket under her arm. “We're just going to do this here?” she asked. “In the street?”

“We can't stay in the car. If we're sitting, we'll fall when we shift. Plus Maurice will notice if we vanish from the back seat. Which reminds me…” Ephraim walked over to the driver's side, and Maurice lowered the window.

“Nothing here,” the driver said.

“No, not yet,” Ephraim said. “Listen, can you drive around for about ten minutes, then come back here to pick us up? Some of us are arranging other transportation from here.”

Maurice shrugged. “No problem,” he said. He started the engine.

Ephraim smiled. “Thanks.”

He rejoined the others. They were so engaged in conversation they didn't notice the limo pull away.

“—going to the
future?”
Mary asked.

“Not exactly. It's another universe where it's already 2037,” Zoe said.

“How is that different?” she asked.

“It's
a
future, but not necessarily
our
future,” Nathan said.

“‘Other times are just special cases of other universes,’” Shelley said.

“Is that from a TV show?” Mary asked.

“I was quoting David Deutsch. He's a physicist,” Shelley said.

“When were you reading all these books and comics? Under the covers with a flashlight?”

“You don't give me enough credit,” Shelley said. “I do a lot of things you wouldn't approve of.”

“Hey, what happens if this machine moves you to a universe where there's something already occupying the space you're standing in?” Nathan asked. “Like a building or an obelisk?”

“An
obelisk?”
Ephraim asked. “Why would there be an obelisk here?”

“Because it's the future! The future has obelisks. And zeppelins. There are always zeppelins in alternate universes.”

“I suppose if we shift into an obelisk, it would hurt,” Ephraim said. “I don't think the Charon device would let that happen.”

Zoe flipped open the controller. “We'll take our chances,” she said.

“You have the coordinates for Nathaniel's universe?” Ephraim asked.

“Yup. And the coin's fully charged.” She held the controller out to show him the coin still nestled in its place.

Ephraim grinned at Nathan, Jena, and the twins, and waggled his fingers over it. “Behold,” he said.

“Goofball.” Zoe pressed a button on the controller, and the coin slowly floated up until it hovered a couple of inches above the controller. “Woooo,” she said in a spooky voice.

Ephraim smiled. Zoe was getting into the spirit of it.

Mary and Shelley moved to opposite sides of the controller and leaned over to stare at the weightless coin.

“Impressive,” Nathan said. “Gravity-defying.” He was looking down their dresses instead of at the coin. Ephraim smacked him in the back of the head.

“You ain't seen nothing yet,” Zoe said.

“I know,” Nathan said.

She pressed another button. The coin began spinning, faster and faster. Mary's and Shelley's hair stirred in the breeze caused by its rapid rotation. They backed away slowly.

Ephraim placed his right hand over the coin and felt the heat emanating from it. His palm itched with anticipation.

The coin slowed, then froze in midair, tilted at an oblique angle. It still radiated intense heat.

Zoe slipped her right hand into his left and nodded almost imperceptibly in Jena's direction.

She wanted to leave Jena behind.

He was surprised, and immediately shamed, that he was actually considering it. Jena would never forgive him if he abandoned her, especially if he left with Zoe. But this was his last chance to keep her out of this mess, to keep her safe. He could even try to make it look like an accident—not that she'd believe that for even a second.

His hand crept toward the controller. He pulled his hand away just as Zoe nudged the coin closer. He glared at her.

“You'd better hold on to us, Jena,” he said.

Jena approached his other side and gripped his right forearm tightly. He grimaced as her fingers dug into his skin, grateful that she kept her nails trimmed short so she could use the touchscreen of her smartphone. She tucked the empty ice bucket under her other arm.

Nathan pulled out his pocket camera and pointed it at them.

“Do you have to?” Ephraim said.

“This is for Maddy,” Nathan said. “She might want proof that I haven't murdered you and buried your body in the park.”

Ephraim's eyes widened. “Oh, crap! I have to call my mother.”

“Really? Now?” Zoe said. “Do you want her to sign a permission slip for our field trip to another universe?”

“She'll worry. You know how she is,” he said.

“I knew a different Mrs. Scott,” she said. “She didn't pay much attention to my Eph.”

Zoe had also known Ephraim's dad. In her universe, David Scott had stayed with his family, but that still didn't get them a happily ever after. He'd ended up killing his wife, then himself, and that act had inadvertently caused his son's death in Ephraim's universe.

Ephraim's dad was irresponsible, unpredictable, and violent, but his analog had been much worse. Sometimes Ephraim still missed him, even though he knew deep down that he and his mother were better off without him.

“It'll just take a second,” Jena said.

Mary and Shelley nodded in tandem. Their mother was a nurse at Summerside General, and she had helped Madeline Scott after her attempted suicide last year. The twins knew about it but had the decency not to share the gossip with their classmates. Ephraim had always appreciated that.

Ephraim's mother was still convinced that whenever he walked out the door, it would be the last time she'd see him alive.

“Think about how Mom and Dad would feel if you suddenly disappeared, Zoe,” Jena said.

“My
dad wouldn't notice,” Zoe said. She switched off the controller and turned away. “Mom died when I was born. Just make it quick, Ephraim. I want to get out of here.”

“Use my phone.” Jena handed Ephraim her smartphone and gave his hand an encouraging squeeze.

Ephraim had never owned a cell phone of his own, but his mother had implied he might receive one for a graduation present.

He pressed the little picture of his face on the touchscreen to dial his apartment. He walked a few feet away from the group as the phone rang.

“You never told your Mom about all this quantum thinginess either?” Nathan asked, trailing behind him.

Ephraim shook his head. “She wouldn't get it.”

He started to get anxious when she hadn't picked up after six rings. Was it her AA night? No, that was on Tuesdays. If he had to face the truth, Ephraim was probably more worried about his mother than the reverse. And this call wasn't so much about easing her concern as it was to assuage his guilt that he was leaving her again.

She finally answered after the eighth ring.

“Yes?” She sounded oddly out of breath—and a little annoyed.

“Mom?” Ephraim asked. “Uh. Is this a bad time?”

“Oh, Ephraim. It's
Ephraim,”
she repeated to someone. “Hi, honey. Jim and I were just…watching TV.”

“Gross, Mom,” Ephraim said. Nathan shot him a questioning look. “They're fooling around,” Ephraim explained.

“Who's in jail? Is Nathaniel in trouble?” she asked.

For a moment he thought she was referring to the older Nathaniel, which was right on the mark. But she always called Nathan by his full name for some reason and let him address her by her first name.

“I heard my name,” Nathan whispered. “Is she talking about me?”

“Why do you assume something's wrong?” he asked into the phone.

“Because you're the only boy at any prom anywhere tonight who's on the phone with his mother.” He heard her murmur to Jim. “I don't know. I'm trying to find out.” Her voice became louder and clearer. “Is everything all right with Jena?”

Ephraim glanced over at Jena and Zoe.

“They're fine,” he said.

“They?”

“I mean,
she's
fine. Everyone's fine.”
So far.
“Look, I want to tell you what's going on, but I don't think you'll believe me.”

“I don't like where this is going,” she said. She had that two-smoke edge to her voice, which meant she was seriously stressed out, and it would take two cigarettes to calm her down again. “Have you ever lied to me before?” she asked.

“Never.”

“Then I'll believe you.”

“Okay. Here goes.” He took a deep breath. “What would you say if I told you that multiple universes exist, and that I've been to other worlds just like ours and met lots of different versions of you?”

His mother was quiet for a long moment.

“I don't believe you,” she said.

“Nice.” He rolled his eyes.

“But since just about anything else you came up with would sound more plausible, I have to assume you're telling the truth. Or you think you are. Maybe you should go to a hospital.”

“I've had enough of hospitals,” he said. “That's it! Mom. Remember how I acted last June, just after you got out of the hospital?”

“You were upset because of…what I did. Going through one of your phases,” she said. She'd picked that up in a parenting magazine and used it to excuse anything weird and unexpected he did. But no magazine could advise her on what he was about to spring on her, except maybe
Scientific American.