Fusion (19 page)

Ella was up on her feet again, rushing over to Harry, who laughed as she jumped on him. Mom, Ariele, and her mom and dad, Larry, and Grandma all huddled together talking in hushed tones. I nudged Kellan to walk over with me, and join them.

“I understand that you’ve decided to go home, and I am not saying that’s not possible. Of course we’ll arrange it for you, but now is not the time,” Larry said. “What are you going to do about the press? I think it will be better to plan this for next October, rather than rushing back without a plan.”

“Isn’t that what you are doing?” Glenda retaliated.

“No, we are not. We’re not moving there permanently. That’s what you are proposing, right?”

“That’s right. It was never my intention to change dimensions. That wasn’t ever discussed with us. And after everything that’s happened, we have unanimously decided that we want to move back. None of us are willing to wait a year. We can stay with family until we get back on our feet,” Glenda said.

“They think you’re dead. You will have to explain your absence to them,” Mom pointed out.

“They think we’re dead?” Glenda eyes widened. “What exactly have they been told happened to us?”

“Nothing,” Larry replied. “You went missing. It was headline news for a few days, and the press will eat it up when you reappear. You really have to think this through. We can sit down together and come up with a plan for next October.”

Ariele’s dad shook his head, and then cleared his throat. “Enough, Olivia. This is my life, my family—you have no say in this matter. Take us home.”

Mom looked at Kellan’s dad. Other than Ella’s busy chatter to Harry, there was complete silence in the room. After a nod from him, she turned to Glenda. “If you are absolutely sure?”

Glenda nodded.

“We are going to need to discuss the details at the other end, but the first thing to do is to get us all there. Let’s go down to the Portal.”

O
livia knew that there was no point trying to convince Glenda to postpone her plans for a year. Her mind was made up, and the determined expression on her husband’s face cemented the fact that she now had to bring another three people through the Portal. But that wouldn’t be the biggest issue. That lay ahead on the other side. The Moreau family came with a whole set of complications that were not going to be easy to work through. All she’d anticipated was a short break at Celia’s where she’d envisioned cozy nights catching up with her friends over wine. That’s what she had planned with Rupert, who had asked her not to make her whereabouts public. Even though Arizona claimed that she’d wandered with a friend, it had shaken Rupert—and her—up to the point that he wanted them hidden away for a while. Whatever was going on in the paranormal world appeared to be responsible for the acts of terrorism plaguing the world’s major cities. Rupert had said that none of that was happening in the other dimension, that they would be safe there. Safe unless they were found and wandered back by Potomal’s group.

Olivia had told Ella that they would be gone for a few days, but she got the feeling from Rupert that this could go on for some time. If so, she’d have to figure out how to deal with it. At least, for now, they had somewhere to stay.

Celia was a friend from her Imperial College days. While Olivia had been busy working away in her crisp white lab coat, Celia had led a much more glamorous life as an assistant editor at one of London’s fashion magazines. They would meet up after work at one of central London’s many pubs to enjoy a few drinks before they headed home to their neighboring houses in Wimbledon. Celia had been present right at the moment Olivia had first met Rupert. They had stayed in touch over the years, with Olivia keeping Celia updated on her search for Rupert. They had lost contact when Celia’s daughter died and Celia had closed herself off from her friends and family. Olivia had still persevered, trying to keep their contact alive through the occasional short email to which she usually received a curt response.

Then, out of the blue, Celia had phoned her. The happy, light tone of her friend’s voice had disappeared, replaced by a withdrawn sadness. Celia didn’t mention her daughter once, but kept the conversation steady about her plans to move to Mountain View. She said it was time for a change and that she couldn’t bear to live in London anymore.

Shortly after Celia moved, Olivia had journeyed through the Portal, and they’d lost contact. But she knew that Celia would welcome her and her family into her mansion. Inviting Glenda and her family was a bit of a stretch, and they’d probably have to find alternative accommodations. However, they would deal with that once they got there.

Olivia and Larry led the group to the service elevator and they rode down to the basement of the Ames building, which housed the October Project—the Portal. They walked through the hallways until they arrived at the metal doors secured by a retina scanner. Larry stood in front of it while the scanner buzzed, releasing the doors. Once they were through those, they walked up to another set of doors marked
OP
. Larry allowed his eyes to be scanned again, and they were finally in the October Project hub.

Olivia kept meaning to update the place but had never gotten around to it. The hangar could have housed several planes but was instead occupied with rows of metal tables full of computers and other equipment.

“Wow!” Glenda exclaimed. “Now this is impressive.”

Olivia smiled. “It was my hope that you would stay and eventually work here.”

Glenda made a slight moaning noise. “Oh, Olivia, I can’t even begin to tell you how tempting that is.”

“Will you think about it? It’s still not too late.”

“No, our minds are made up. Ariele needs to be back in New Jersey, and to tell you the truth, I miss my friends and family. The cost of this…” she waved her arms, “is much too great.”

Olivia nodded. “I’ll be sorry to lose you, but I can understand that. The work you’ve done here has been invaluable, and if you weren’t set on going back to New Jersey, I would ask you to at least consider working at Ames, based in the other dimension. Just something to think about for the future.”

Glenda nodded.

What about the future, though? Olivia looked around her cavernous laboratory. Much of her research seemed pointless in the face of the paranormal powers that made this kind of time travel obsolete. However, even though she’d somehow become entwined with that world, her reality was founded in the human one where this research was groundbreaking. Time was now her only limitation. She had to learn to make the best of it. Her family, as always, would come first. In addition, spending her time learning more about the paranormal world rather than focusing her funds and energy on the Portal was tempting. After all, the Portal’s purpose had long since been realized. Perhaps it was time to close it down.

“Shall we get set up?” Larry gently nudged her out of her reverie.

“Yes. Glenda, would you mind helping us? There is a lounge area over there where the rest of you can wait. It’s got a TV and a reading area. We may be a while.”

Larry ushered Glenda to a computer in the control center and typed in his access code. As he worked with her to fire up the reactor, Olivia prepped the sedatives. She added another three test tubes to the seven already lined up on the sterile steel counter and labeled them—Ella, Arizona, Harry, Kellan, Larry, Ariele, Glenda, Pierre, Olivia, Mom. She prepared the sedative mixture that Larry and she had found to be optimal in reducing the stress of the actual travel. Once she was done, she transferred the contents into IV bags and took them to the Portal antechamber where the travel chambers were located. Each metal pod would travel two people—Ella would travel with her, Arizona and Kellan, Harry and Ariele, Glenda and Pierre, and Larry with her mom. Once she’d secured the IV bags, she headed to the lounge to get everyone organized.

She stopped at the control center on the way. “Ready, Larry?”

“Yep, all set.”

“Okay, I’ll get them ready.”

She walked the kids and her mom over to the antechamber. Pierre preferred to go over to Glenda first.

“Mom, are we getting into those eggs?” Ella asked, her eyes screaming with excitement.

“We are! Just think of it as a very fast rollercoaster ride.”

“Cool! Will it take us right to Universal Studios?”

“No, but you’ll have fun. It’s just a ride,” she said, hoping that would appease Ella when they arrived back at what would look like the very same spot. “Climb in everyone.” She pointed everyone to their assigned seats. Now, for the hard part.

She started with Ella because, if Ella watched the others first, she might get too tense. Once Ella was strapped into the purple velvet-covered metal bucket seat, Olivia asked her to extend her arm into the cushioned armrest.

Ella obliged, rubbing her arm against the pillowy softness. “What’s the handle at the end for?”

Olivia grasped the handle that formed the top of the armrest with her hand and squeezed it. “It’s just to hang onto for comfort, like you would on a rollercoaster.”

“Not me! I always wave them up in the air, like this.” Ella demonstrated.

Olivia laughed. “Now, before we go, I need you to keep your arm on this armrest for me.”

“Why?”

Olivia wished that she’d sedated Ella before putting her in the pod, like she had the last time. “This ride can make you feel a bit ill. It’s very, very fast. So I am going to have to give you some medicine. The medicine needs to go right into your vein.” She pointed at the IV bag, which was secured in a glass chamber above Ella’s seat. The tubing fed through the seat to the armrest.

“I have to have a needle in my arm during the ride?” She gasped. “That’s not very safe!”

Olivia smiled. “No, but you’ll need to keep it in for ten minutes, until just before we take off. I’ll remove it before we’re ready to roll,” she said, tightening the tourniquet around Ella’s arm.

“Are you going to have a needle too?”

“Yes, just as soon as I am done helping the others, I am going to sit right next to you and get my medicine.” She pulled the tube and stuck the needle into Ella’s arm, flinching along with Ella as she did so. She secured the butterfly in place with surgical tape and kissed Ella’s forehead. “You okay?”

“Yes,” Ella said, rubbing the tape.

“Try not to do that,” Olivia said, pushing Ella’s fingers away from her arm. “I’m going to organize the others, then we’ll be on our way. Be right back.”

Once she’d done the kids, shutting down all their questions with a
later
, she did the same to Glenda and her husband. She finally walked over to Larry and her mother, who looked decidedly worried.

“Mom? What’s the matter?”

“You do realize that I died… I am dead in the other dimension? This is so very unnatural. Maybe I should stay here?”

“No, Mom. It’s not safe here.”

“Well, let’s just go to Sweden or somewhere. This seems so extreme.”

“Rupert says that it’s not safe anywhere at the moment. Not here. It’ll just be for a while.”

“I get that, Olivia, but how is this going to affect us? This jumping around in time and through dimensions comes with consequences. We’ve already seen that. Arizona is a mess, and I for one, will not subject myself to it.”

Olivia prepared to argue, but Larry cut in. “Ollie, don’t. Your mom and I talked, and although I don’t agree with her decision, it’s her choice. She has promised to go to Inez’s house right after she leaves here. If the situation becomes critical, I’m sure Inez will transport her to safety.”

The look in her mom’s eyes did not leave an option for argument.

Olivia embraced her mother tightly as she stepped off the pod. After she’d said her goodbyes, they walked to the exit together. Olivia’s tears dripped down her cheeks.

“I’ll be fine,” her mother said, putting her arms around her.

She nodded.

Then her mother was gone. The metal doors closed behind her.

Olivia walked back to the antechamber, doubts niggling at her. Once again, she was blindly following Rupert’s directive. Although they had discussed the situation together and it seemed like they’d even reached this decision together, she’d done so without the benefit of knowing all the background. She’d had so many questions, but he’d not had time to fill her in. He’d simply asked her to trust him, so that was what she was going to do.

By the time she got back to her pod, she’d composed herself and was smiling enthusiastically for her excited daughter. She strapped herself in next to Ella and activated all their IV drips from her central control panel, relaxing back into her chair. The medication took effect within minutes. After a quick scan and wave at Arizona and Harry and a nod at Glenda, Olivia raised her hand signaling to Larry to start the procedure from his control pod.

Within seconds, the pod doors started to lower, and Ella gripped Olivia’s leg, beaming in delight. Olivia put her free arm around her daughter, resting her head on top of Ella’s. The door kept lowering slowly until it shut them in completely; the only light visible was the blue sheen from the control panel.

“Mom, I’m having trouble keeping my eyes open. This medicine is making me sleepy. Can we take it off? I don’t want to fall asleep!”