Doorways to Infinity (7 page)

She shook her head once. “So why do you need me, Jamie?”

“Because I’m afraid we rushed into this without thinking about the impact on the world they want to mine. It looks like a wasteland, but what if it’s not? What if we’re screwing up the environment and destroying an important ecosystem? I’m afraid we got greedy and jumped into this without careful consideration. Just because we can take natural resources from another world doesn’t mean that we should.”

Dr. Tindall rubbed her chin thoughtfully with the side of one finger. “Let me play the Devil’s advocate for a minute. Some people would say that it’s just another world among millions, and that it’s our right as human beings to take what we want. How would you answer that?”

“I would say…who am I to make that choice? I’m just an eighteen-year-old kid who’s trying to do the right thing. Maybe it’s too late for the world with the copper ore, but what about the others?”

She gazed back at him, her eyes narrowed studiously, then she said, “I’m glad to hear you say that. A lot of people wouldn’t care. They’d just take the money and run.”

“If this works out, Granddaddy wants to make another deal, same mining company, different planet. I don’t want to do it until we investigate it first to make sure we’re not destroying something important. I need your help making that assessment.”

“Why me? There are other scientists who are qualified to do that.”

“Because I have a gut feeling that you’re the one, and Uncle Charlie told me to trust my instincts.”

“Uncle Charlie, the Cherokee man? You’re making the decision about who to trust based on his advice?”

“Spend thirty minutes with him and you’ll understand why.”

Dr. Tindall looked at Evelyn, who nodded and said, “He’s a special fellow. I don’t know why, but he is. He’s been to this school twice to give talks and tell stories about his people. The kids are fascinated by him.”

“Does he have magical powers, too?” Dr. Tindall asked.

“Not that I know of,” Jamie said.

Dr. Tindall’s eyes were unreadable while she regarded Jamie. “It sounds as if you could make a fortune off of this. What could you possibly do with that much money?”

“I can think of a lot of things. I want to build an all-purpose facility for the school, and that won’t be cheap. And just about every person within five miles of this school has been by to look at the electric lights and ceiling fans, and almost all of them want them now. But most of them can’t afford it, because of the cost of the solar panels. I’d love to help them get some, but it would be expensive.”

“That wouldn’t cost tens of millions of dollars, would it?” Dr. Tindall said.

“Jamie and his grandfather have bigger plans than that,” Evelyn said.

“If the school ends up being as successful as I think it’s going to be,” Jamie said, “I’d like to replicate our model and build more in some of the other nearby towns. Maybe even build a college, eventually.”

“My, you are ambitious, aren’t you,” Dr. Tindall said.

“I can’t help it.”

“No, I respect that. I really do.”

“Does that mean you’ll help us?”

Dr. Tindall continued to study him, her expression neutral. “I don’t know. I may not have time, though I’d like to help you, because I think what you are doing is admirable. But if my grant comes through, I’ll be too busy. This sounds incredibly tempting, but I’m already committed, and others are counting on me.”

“What kind of research are you doing?” Evelyn asked.

“I’m studying the correlation between the increased use of pesticides in the last twenty years and the decline in pollinator populations in North America. Fewer pollinators means fewer crops. The problem is, my research has political implications, and that can affect my funding.”

“What if we can match your grant?” Jamie said. “If we approve the mining deal we’re working on now, we might have enough money.”

“Are you trying to buy me off?”

“Um….” Jamie scrunched up his mouth and held it that way for a moment. “Well…no, but if it’s a matter of money, and we could match it, would you help us? I mean, you could look at is as getting a grant for different research, if your other one doesn’t come through.”

“I don’t know. I sure couldn’t publish anything about my findings, could I?”

“No, unfortunately. When will you know about your grant?”

“Thursday afternoon or Friday morning.”

“So, if you don’t get it, will you have time to help us?”

“I’ll have to think about it.” She gave him a long, steady look, then lifted her chin. “See me after class on Friday.”

Chapter 3

Most weekdays, Rachel gave Sammi a ride to and from the elementary school where Rachel taught kindergarten and Sammi attended second grade. Afterward, Sammi usually stayed with Rachel at her house until Lisa and Larry, Sammi’s new parents, came home from work. Rachel liked that arrangement because she got to spend time with the sweet seven-year-old who had recently come into their lives, and it filled a gap left behind when Jamie went off to college.

On Thursday afternoon, Rachel drove her car out of the school parking lot and said, “Are you excited about the Thanksgiving play tonight, Sammi? All of us are. Everybody’s going.”

“Rollie’s parents, too?”

“Of course.”

“I wish Fred was.”

“Your dad will make a video of it, no doubt. Fred can watch it when she gets home tomorrow.”

“That’s right! Tomorrow’s Friday. Fred said she’ll get home before I do.”

“And Nova will come Sunday. You’re going to have a full house.”

“We’re all gonna sleep in the same room, me and Fred and Nova.”

“Do they know that?”

“No, but they will.”

“They’ll know it, or they’ll sleep in the same room with you?”

“Both!”

Rachel glanced over at Sammi, and when she saw the big grin on the little girl’s face, she knew they would. Then Sammi quickly turned serious and said, “Uh…Mrs. Sikes? I heard voices at school again today.”

“Oh, no. Did anybody notice?”

“No. It didn’t last long. It was during lunch and I forgot to use my block for a few minutes.”

“Was it the same people talking in the foreign language?”

“No ma’am. They were different, and they spoke English. It was a man and he said,
Follow red target. Do you copy?
”

“That sounds like a spy movie.”

“What does that mean?”

“I have no idea. We’d better tell Carl when he gets home, and I’ll call Jamie later and let him know.”

Carl laid his jacket over the back of the chair by the kitchen. “I don’t think we should talk about this over the phone. If you call Jamie, just mention that we have something new to tell him, but we don’t know how important it is. If it bothers him enough, he’ll make a doorway and come home tonight to find out what it is.”

“I like that plan,” Rachel said. “Then we’ll get to see him sooner.”

“He’ll be here tomorrow afternoon. I think it can wait until then.”

* * *

Three men in dark business suits and silk ties walked out of the front of the Dubai Conference Center, through the parking lot full of black limousines, and crossed the busy street without looking at the oncoming traffic. No alarm was sounded until hours later, after their aides became concerned.

A search team found the three men five days later, seventy miles out in the desert, face down in the sand, dead from dehydration. They still wore their suit jackets, and their ties had not been loosened.

* * *

Instead of hurrying out of his Environmental Science class on Friday, Jamie waited while the rest of the students shuffled through the door and the room gradually cleared. His female shadow, the young woman who called herself Ashley, waited too, until it was obvious that he wanted to talk to Dr. Tindall. Alone.

A look of resignation crossed Ashley’s face and she said, “Uh, I gotta go, Jamie. Catch you later, okay?”

Jamie only waved his response and waited until she was gone before turning to his professor. Dr. Tindall smiled sardonically and said, “Is that an admirer?”

“No ma’am. I’m not sure what she is.” Jamie started to elaborate, but decided to save it for another time. He and his professor had something more important to discuss. “Did you make your decision?”

“Yes,” she said. “I’m going to help you.”

“Great!” He felt a smile spread across his face. “That’s really, really, great. Um…I guess your grant didn’t come through.”

“No, it didn’t, though I was strongly tempted to help you even if it did. It would be the opportunity of a lifetime, to study another world, however briefly, even if I couldn’t publish my findings.” She crossed her arms loosely over her chest and leaned back against her desk. “I have a condition, though. Let me investigate Eddan’s world, first, if we have time. At least the area around Rivershire. How soon do you need me to do an environmental impact study of your next mining prospect? Right away?”

“We have to finish up this deal with the copper mine, first.”

“Good. I want to go Rivershire and take soil and water samples from around the region, and blood samples from some of the locals, if they’ll let me. Do you think they might?”

“If we get the word out that you’re going to be there, I think most people will be accommodating. I’m sure the parents at the school will. They always want to help whenever they can, and many of them are farmers. Their fields should be good places to get samples.”

“I have one more favor to ask. I will need the help of a couple of my grad students to do the study. Do you mind giving them the oath so they can go to Rivershire with me?”

“That’s fine. How are you going to get to and fro? Do I have to make a permanent doorway somewhere in Cullowhee? That can be risky. We had a problem with that before.” He had a fleeting thought of Duane Gundy sneaking through to Rivershire and abducting Sammi, back in midsummer.

“We could stay in Hendersonville and use the doorway in your grandfather’s warehouse, couldn’t we? Or would it be possible for us to stay somewhere in Rivershire during the week and come home on the weekends?”

“There’s a boarding house there where you could stay.”

“Is it expensive?”

“Not by our standards. Maybe forty or fifty dollars a week, and that includes breakfast and dinner. You’d have to get your own lunch.”

“That’s so cheap. Is it a dive?”

“It’s pretty nice, actually. The cost of living is much lower there.”

“Maybe I need to move there when I retire,” she said with a chuckle. “My money would go further.”

“We can pay for your rooms. I talked to my granddaddy, and he said we have some extra money.”

“He doesn’t mind?”

“It’s not his money. He doesn’t question what I choose to spend it on. It’s not like I’m being frivolous with it, anyway.” He scratched his cheek and twisted his mouth to one side. “You’ll need some transportation while you’re in Rivershire, especially if you need to take soil samples from the outlying farms.”

“We’ll need to take them from the widest area possible.”

“My granddaddy keeps his electric golf cart at his headquarters in Rivershire. You might be able to use that, though I don’t think it has that good of a range. We might need to look into renting an electric car or a small pickup truck.”

“A truck would be better, but where would we store it, and how would we charge it?”

“We could keep it at my granddaddy’s headquarters, with his golf cart. You can charge it there, and it’s right around the corner from the boarding house. I should warn you that the boarding house isn’t fancy. There’s no electricity, and it has a communal bath, but there’s a washstand in every room for people to clean up. I have a shower in my house in Rivershire, though. If you feel the need, you can always drive there.”

“Is it far?”

“Less than a mile.”

“That’ll be fine. It’s not exactly roughing it.” Her gaze dropped to her feet while she seemed to be thinking of something else. “Um…I guess I should ask you if the locals are going to be okay with strangers poking around their community.”

“I’ll get my grandmother to tell the parents at the school so they’ll be expecting you. And if you tell people you’re working on my behalf, they’ll be helpful, I think. At least I hope so.”

She nodded slowly and regarded him for a long moment. “You know, there isn’t a scientist on this Earth who wouldn’t die for the opportunity to study that world. Just about any field you could name — biology, geology, physics, anthropology — you could make a case for anything.”

“Then I’m glad you get to be the first. And who knows? Maybe someday you will be able to publish you findings. We’ll just have to see.” He started to turn away, but paused and said, “About Thanksgiving dinner at my house. You have to come, now.”

“No, I’ll be fine. I’ll just —”

“You
have
to come. My gramma said so, and she doesn’t like to take no for an answer. Besides, now that you’re in on this, you need to meet the other people who are, too. The wizards and witches and parents and friends, they’re all involved in this…whatever you want to call it…venture. Or whatever.”

He grinned at her and she sighed. “Okay, I’ll come, if you’ll make a doorway for me. What should I bring?”

* * *

Fred and Jamie came home for Thanksgiving break on Friday, and they had a meeting that night in Fred’s living room. They included Sammi. It made her feel special and excited because something important was going to be discussed, and it was probably about magic. All of Fred’s friends and the three sets of parents were there. Only Nova was absent.

Sammi sat on the gold sofa with Fred and Melanie, while Jamie stood nearby with his father, both with their arms crossed and their expressions intense.

“Follow red target. Do you copy?” Jamie bent forward at his waist, closer to Sammi. “Are you sure that’s what they said?”

“Unh hunh. That was it exactly. I didn’t make it up.”

“I believe you, it’s just…what does that mean?” He turned to his father.

“Do you copy means ‘did you get that?’ Or, ‘do you understand?’ It’s usually heard during a radio conversation. We use that on the police force, and I know the military uses that expression, too.”