What would you do if the girl you loved was separated from you by the greatest gulf imaginable... if she was from another universe? Well, if you were William Parry, you'd probably try and figure out a way of getting back to her. And, if your friend was a quantum physicist specialising in parallel universes, you would probably pull it off.
Author's note: This is not the most believable story in this category. It was written for fun over the Easter holidays, and it helps if you don't take it too seriously; it doesn't take ITSELF too seriously. Reunion stuff is hardly original, but I hope this is a slightly different slant on it. Now, enough babbling from me, and on with the prologue!
It had been a successful lecture, and one that was the subject of controversy in the student union for weeks to come.
"It all sounds kind of Asimov to me," said one undergrad to a friend. "I mean, interdimensional microfissures, EM wavelengths, exotic dark matter cross-contamination." //If Mary had included half of what she knew about that last,// the dark-haired young man sitting at the next table along thought to himself, //he'd be asking her who her dealer was, and could he try some of whatever she was on!// He and his companion, a young woman with blonde hair cut in the same military fashion, exchanged amused glances as the student carried on merrily. He shut up rather hastily as Dr Malone herself entered the bar, bought a beer, and sat down at the table shared by the two companions.
"They don't believe it, huh?" she enquired. The student who had been rubbishing her 'theories' flushed, and he finished his drink and retreated. Dr Malone laughed, and downed a third of her beer in one go. "D'you think we ought to show him this?" She produced a photograph from her pocket. It showed five people in aircraft flight gear, standing in front of a large aeroplane that resembled a Catalina flying boat with jet engines. All three of them were visible, though it had clearly been taken several years before. Dr Malone's hair was still black, and the other two were only just into their teens. The other two, a burly man in his forties with an embryonic moustache and a woman resembling the young man, were otherwise occupied at the moment. A small, dark grey cat and a pine marten were also visible in the picture.
Flight Lieutenant William Parry grinned, remembering the day that photograph had been taken. They had all been smiling broadly and genuinely; the previous photograph on the film had been of Mary's back, and after ten minutes of wrestling with the camera's timer she had got somebody else to take the picture for them.
He turned the picture over, and looked at the fabric patch taped to the back. It was circular, and portayed an aircraft- the aircraft they had been photographed behind- flying from the bottom left to top right quarter, against a background of a fair representation of the Northern Lights. Sewn into the border were five sets of initials: EP, MM, WP, DS and LS.
"I haven't spoken to Dave or your mother for a while, Will," Mary said. "How're they getting on?"
"Last I heard, Mum got him to take the Aurora to some sparsely inhabited little world for a while, swearing blind she'd have got him to quit smoking by the time they got back," Flight Lt 'Elisabeth Parry' laughed as her husband explained. One could not help but admire her mother-in-law's determination.
"Dave says he's going to put all of what happened down in writing," Will continued. "The first test jump, the fight against the Magisterium, that business with the Spectres; all of it. He wants to put it on the Internet."
"Who'd believe it?" Mary wondered.
There was of course only one way to answer that question. This is the result.
Author's note: This is not the most believable story in this category. It was written for fun over the Easter holidays, and it helps if you don't take it too seriously; it doesn't take ITSELF too seriously. Reunion stuff is hardly original, but I hope this is a slightly different slant on it. Now, enough babbling from me, and on with the prologue!
It had been a successful lecture, and one that was the subject of controversy in the student union for weeks to come.
"It all sounds kind of Asimov to me," said one undergrad to a friend. "I mean, interdimensional microfissures, EM wavelengths, exotic dark matter cross-contamination." //If Mary had included half of what she knew about that last,// the dark-haired young man sitting at the next table along thought to himself, //he'd be asking her who her dealer was, and could he try some of whatever she was on!// He and his companion, a young woman with blonde hair cut in the same military fashion, exchanged amused glances as the student carried on merrily. He shut up rather hastily as Dr Malone herself entered the bar, bought a beer, and sat down at the table shared by the two companions.
"They don't believe it, huh?" she enquired. The student who had been rubbishing her 'theories' flushed, and he finished his drink and retreated. Dr Malone laughed, and downed a third of her beer in one go. "D'you think we ought to show him this?" She produced a photograph from her pocket. It showed five people in aircraft flight gear, standing in front of a large aeroplane that resembled a Catalina flying boat with jet engines. All three of them were visible, though it had clearly been taken several years before. Dr Malone's hair was still black, and the other two were only just into their teens. The other two, a burly man in his forties with an embryonic moustache and a woman resembling the young man, were otherwise occupied at the moment. A small, dark grey cat and a pine marten were also visible in the picture.
Flight Lieutenant William Parry grinned, remembering the day that photograph had been taken. They had all been smiling broadly and genuinely; the previous photograph on the film had been of Mary's back, and after ten minutes of wrestling with the camera's timer she had got somebody else to take the picture for them.
He turned the picture over, and looked at the fabric patch taped to the back. It was circular, and portayed an aircraft- the aircraft they had been photographed behind- flying from the bottom left to top right quarter, against a background of a fair representation of the Northern Lights. Sewn into the border were five sets of initials: EP, MM, WP, DS and LS.
"I haven't spoken to Dave or your mother for a while, Will," Mary said. "How're they getting on?"
"Last I heard, Mum got him to take the Aurora to some sparsely inhabited little world for a while, swearing blind she'd have got him to quit smoking by the time they got back," Flight Lt 'Elisabeth Parry' laughed as her husband explained. One could not help but admire her mother-in-law's determination.
"Dave says he's going to put all of what happened down in writing," Will continued. "The first test jump, the fight against the Magisterium, that business with the Spectres; all of it. He wants to put it on the Internet."
"Who'd believe it?" Mary wondered.
There was of course only one way to answer that question. This is the result.