Road Less Traveled (23 page)

“That much energy flowing toward one person—if we're wrong somehow, and he doesn't repel it, it could kill him,” Russell warned. She didn't look at all happy about that possibility, and not for the first time Zane got the impression she'd taken a shine to their stalwart sheriff. Ha! Not that he could say much, though, considering how he felt about Carter's deputy.

“It could,” he conceded. “But we can be careful. We can shield him, just in case. Having him here for the next burst, to see exactly what happens and if his being on-site actually does make a difference—I think that's worth it.” He knew Carter would agree. No risk was too big for the man if it meant helping others.

The Russells considered for a moment. Finally, they both nodded. “Tell him to come back,” Russell agreed. “Right away. If that is the solution, the sooner the better. Because every minute we wait pulls our two worlds closer together, and makes it that much harder to push them apart again.”

Zane nodded and pulled out his phone. “Yo, Carter?” He turned away so he wouldn't have to watch the readouts while he talked. “Listen, I hate to tell you this, but . . .”

 

Jo was sitting in the GD cafeteria, finishing her coffee,
when she spotted Allison. The GD director looked a little concerned about something, but seemed to brighten when she spotted Jo. She quickly made her way toward her.

“Hey,” Allison said as she approached. She loomed over Jo, casting a long shadow that threatened to envelop her. “Have a minute?”

“Sure.” It was probably about the Thunderbird project. That was fine. Jo had been hitting brick wall after brick wall, despite her and Fargo's clever ideas. She needed to know if there was a point at which they just accepted the project as lost and washed their hands of it.

Conversely, if GD was willing to lend more time and resources—like bribe money—to locating the Thunderbird, that might make the search proceed much, much faster.

Allison sank down onto the chair across from her. “I'm worried,” she admitted softly. “About Kevin.”

“What about him?” Jo tried not to roll her eyes. For all her bluster—and her occasional bite—Allison could be such a mom.

“I don't know if you know this, but”—Allison paused, closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and finally continued—“in the . . . other world, Kevin is . . . He didn't survive. More than a year ago, now.”

“I had heard. I'm sorry.” Carter had told Jo about it, and about all the changes in the people they knew. Which only made her own apparent sameness that much more annoying.
Deputy
Lupo!

Allison nodded. “Thank you. But what I'm worried about is, what if he finds out? Hears it from somebody on the street and just doesn't know how to handle it? You know how he is.”

She did indeed. More than once over the years Jo had been forced to help with the process of restraining Allison's son during one of his tantrums. That was the problem with someone who was severely autistic—their reactions were unusual, and often out of sync with the events that caused them. Sometimes Kevin seemed almost like a normal teenage boy. Other times, he was totally cut off from the rest of the world. Still other times he shadowed one person for an entire day, just to see what they did. Or rewrote complex math on the sidewalk, the wall, wherever was handy. Or flew into a towering rage over something insignificant. It was something Allison lived with every day, and Jo wasn't sure how she managed to handle it. Jo wasn't sure
she
would be able to, in Allison's place.

And she wasn't sure how Kevin would react to learning there had been another him, and the other him had died. It was a strange enough thing for anyone to discover, and Kevin's reactions were less predictable than most.

“I'm sure he'll be fine,” Jo tried to reassure her, though they both knew there was no guarantee of that. “First of all, we're not letting information about the other side out into the general population, so it's unlikely he'll hear that from anyone else. And those of us who do know are pretty good about keeping quiet about things.”

“Sure, but what if he sees someone from the other side,” Allison insisted, “or, worse yet, they see him? Someone who knows he's dead, and reacts the way anybody would upon seeing someone suddenly alive again?”

“Most of the appearances have been centered here at GD,” Jo pointed out. “And Kevin's school is on the other side of town, over on Edgemont. Hopefully none of the sightings will get that far.” Kevin didn't attend Tesla High, even though he was the right age. Due to his autism, Allison had enrolled him at a small specialized school that catered to Eureka's more unorthodox students, those with special needs.

Allison nodded. “You're right. I know you're right. Still, I worry.” She toyed with a thin gold chain around her neck and managed a weak smile.

“That's what makes you such a good mom,” Jo told her. “Kevin's lucky to have you.”

“Yes.” Allison looked at her for a second. “Yes, he is.” She stood up. “Thanks, Jo.” Then she turned and strode out of the cafeteria.

“There you are! What are you doing? The egg is still out there, and so is our thief!” Fargo's voice reached Jo within seconds of Allison's departure, and an instant later the wiry little scientist was standing in front of her.

“I'm taking a break, Fargo,” Jo told him sharply. “We've been on this thing almost nonstop since yesterday morning. So I'm having my coffee, and then I'm going back to work. Alone.”

“What? But—”

“I hate to break it to you, but the Thunderbird theft isn't the only crime in Eureka.” Jo drained the last of her coffee and rose to her feet. “I need to check in with Carter, see what else is going on, and help him handle it. That's my job, Fargo. Don't worry, I'll let you know if anything comes up about the Thunderbird.”

“What am I supposed to do in the meantime?” he called after her as she tossed her empty cup in the trash and headed for the door.

“I'm sure you've got some work to do somewhere,” Jo replied over her shoulder. “Start with that.” She left before he could reply. Heading toward the parking lot, and her car, Jo found herself in a better mood than she'd been in since this whole mess had begun.

It was nice to be on her own again.

Nice—and quiet.

“You're doing this just to mess with me,” Carter ac
cused.

“I'm really not, honest.” But Zane was grinning when he said it. Carter glanced at Russell, who laughed and shook her head, but he couldn't tell if that meant “don't ask me, I'm not getting involved” or “he really isn't,” or even just “you boys!” Still, despite being a prankster, Zane generally took his work seriously, and threats to reality
very
seriously. And he'd said they needed Carter here at the lab while they tried the energy-burst plan a second time.

Though why they needed him to do this, he wasn't entirely sure.

“Can I at least put my arms down?” he complained. “I know da Vinci's man makes this look easy, but it really isn't!” He was standing with his feet apart and arms straight out at his sides, like he'd been caught in the middle of a jumping jack. Which, given the exercise's name and his own, he sort of had.

“I suppose,” Zane agreed grudgingly. “Don't wander off that mark, though.” There had been an X taped to the lab floor, right by the main console, and they'd positioned Carter at its center. “That's right where you were when you got zapped by the faulty wiring, judging by the security footage, and it's almost exactly dead center for the input arrays, so if having you here helps at all, this'll maximize the effect.”

Carter nodded, then wondered if he was allowed to do that, either. To hell with it, he finally decided. He shifted his feet to a slightly more comfortable position, and put his hands in his pockets. Surely the fate of the universe—two universes!—couldn't be altered by the way he held his arms.

“Good to go,” the other Dr. Russell reported through the speakers.

“Roger that.” Zane and Russell checked a few readouts, scanned through a display on the main console's screen, and then gave a thumbs-up. “Let's do it. Hit the juice!”

Carter watched in the large overhead monitor as the other Dr. Russell flipped a switch and nodded. He could actually hear the thrum of her machinery through the speakers, and he could see the lights of her computer banks flickering behind her. He waited, squeezing his eyes shut and tensing slightly in case the energy did suddenly flow through to their world and decide to use him as a living battery.

But after a minute, he slowly opened one eye. He hadn't felt a thing.

“Did it work?” he asked softly, glancing around in case the otherworldly lightning was just lying in wait for him. Around here, he wouldn't be all that surprised.

But Zane and the Russells were all frowning. “No,” Zane answered, pulling up two different readouts and comparing them. “Not at all. Same as last time.” He sighed and rubbed at his jaw. “I must have done the math wrong.”

“I double-checked your calculations,” Russell pointed out. “We both did.” Her double nodded. “Everything worked.”

“But it isn't working.” Zane was being surprisingly calm, Carter thought. “Absolutely nothing has happened. Just like before.”

“So it's not me?” Carter asked, relieved to not be the problem for once.

“No, the readings didn't change from last time.” Zane was still staring at the screen. “Having you here didn't make a bit of difference.”

“Except for the whole ‘other Eureka that exists because I wasn't here' thing,” Carter corrected under his breath. He knew what Zane had meant, but the offhand comment still stung a bit. “Okay, well, if you're done trying to electrocute me . . .”

That got a ghost of a smile, at least. “For now.”

“Great. I've got to get back to work, then. Ladies.” Carter nodded at the two Russells, and they actually giggled a little bit. It reminded him of these two twins he'd dated in college, one of them a cheerleader and the other a political science major. They'd . . . He shook himself to drive that memory away. At least for now. “Let me know if anything changes.”

“We will, Sheriff,” Russell assured him. “Thank you.” She waved quickly before turning to confer with Zane about the recent failure, and Carter took the opportunity to slip away. He still wasn't completely convinced he wouldn't get fried on the way out the door, so he breathed a little easier when he reached the GD lobby unscathed.

Then he saw a familiar face.

“Dr. Herrera!”

“That's Mayor Herrera,” the tall, good-looking cloud scientist corrected. Then he noticed who had addressed him. “Oh, hello, Sheriff . . . Carter, is it? Director Stark mentioned you, but I don't believe we've met.” He held out a strong, calloused, tanned hand. “Paulo Herrera.”

“I know.” Carter hesitated for a second, remembering Allison's concerns about contact across the realities, but then shook hands anyway. “Nice to meet you.” He knew his version of Dr. Herrera, of course. The cloud scientist had run for mayor a little while back, going up against both Vincent and Zoe's boyfriend, Lucas, and had certainly produced a slick campaign, complete with tailored cloud images. All three of them had ultimately lost out to Henry, who had been a write-in, but Herrera at least hadn't seemed to hold a grudge. Apparently in the other Eureka the election had turned out differently.

“Right, right.” This Herrera looked just as slick and selfassured in his hand-tailored suit, with his short dark hair and ready smile. “How's everything going on this end, then?” He put an arm around Carter and leaned in closer, lowering his voice. “Because I've been hearing stories from my constituents about being held against their will while they're here, and about unsuitable housing conditions.”

“You've been hearing—?” Carter blinked. “Really.” He straightened up and removed the other man's arm from his shoulder. “Well, Mr. Mayor, I'm sure we can answer all your concerns very easily. If you'll just follow me.”

Herrera nodded and fell into step as Jack led the way to the forward conference room. “You understand why I'd be concerned,” he offered as they walked. “I just want to make sure my people are being treated fairly.”

“Your people are also my people,” Carter assured him, though maybe with a bit more bite than he'd intended. “I am the sheriff of Eureka—at least, on this side. We are asking everyone who steps through from the other side to wait here, to minimize the chance of people encountering their own selves and also to keep people from getting upset by seeing another life that could've been theirs. It seemed best for everyone.”

“I agree,” Herrera assured him, smiling and showing all his teeth. “As long as you've set up suitable accommodations.”

“Have a look.” Carter nodded to Jo, who had been heading down the corridor toward them and had reached the conference room door first. She swiped her hand in front of the door's access panel, letting it read her DNA, and then tugged on the handle when it beeped and the light flickered to green.

Herrera stepped forward and glanced past her into the conference room. “Yes, this seems acceptable,” he agreed after a moment.

“Take a closer look,” Carter urged. “I insist.” And he put a hand to the mayor's back and gently but firmly propelled him fully into the room.

“Wait, what—?” Anything else Herrera might have said was cut off as Carter slammed the door in his face. The light on the panel immediately darkened to red, and there was an audible click as it locked.