Transmat World: Chapter 2, Episode 2
Tujunga, CA; Monday, October 7, 2137 A.D.
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“Calm down! No! No bomb. I’m so sorry. It’s my fault … that glitch … but they came in so fast I couldn’t think of anything else to do but escape through the teleporter. I tested it hundreds of times with rabbits and myself. What I didn’t realize was the effect of thermal loading on the prototype circuits during a quick succession of transmissions with a human-sized mass. They reached a critical temperature and the diffraction crystal exploded. Energy stored in an undamaged capacitor circuit is the only reason I made it. It needs work.”
Vince helped his parents off the basement floor. “Are you okay, Dad?”
“I’ve got all my limbs, I’m not inside out, and I’m not being tortured to death while watching your lifeless bodies lay on the floor. I would say I’m better than okay. I feel like I bet everything on red and won.”
Hank answered his omni.
“Hank, this is Frederick. Are you and your family all right?”
“Yes, Frederick, we’re fine. We left the house like you told us and we’re going to take a little vacation while everything settles down. Did agents find anyone at the house?”
“I am sorry to inform you there has been extensive damage to your basement lab. Agents found three suspects in the house. One detainee. Two got away. They took nothing.”
“Can you do me a favor, Frederick?”
“Yes, Hank, what is it?”
“Feed our cat ’til we get back.”
“I will make sure that is taken care of. An agent would like to speak with you. Is that okay?”
“Of course,” replied Hank.
“This is Agent Patterson, Mr. Miller. I am sorry to inform you your house is a mess.”
“What did they do?”
“It looks like a small bomb went off in the basement.”
“Very rude of them,” said Hank.
“Are you and your family all right?”
“We’re fine, Agent Patterson. Who are those people?”
“The one we apprehended is a member of a white supremacy group here in California.”
“Good Lord, I had no idea there were any of them left. Like there aren’t enough problems in the world. What do they want with my family?”
“We’re not sure, Mr. Miller. He claims he was hired as muscle, and he thought they were just robbing the house. Turns out he was the weenie of the bunch.”
“How so?”
“He put his hands up right away. The other two went to their car and drove off.”
Hank waited a few seconds for the punch line, “Okay, I’ll play along. Why didn’t you stop them, Agent Patterson?”
Agent Patterson spoke in a low, reluctant voice, “We tried. They broke an agent’s arm and walked through a hail of bullets after refusing to surrender, got into their car and left at a high rate of speed. By the time we got an aerial drone on ’em, their vehicle was abandoned, and they had disappeared. No sign of blood. So, now I’m asking you, Mr. Miller, who are these people?”
Hank was taken aback, “What do you mean?”
“You are the second family — “
“Oh my God! Listen to me closely, Agent Patterson.” Hank interrupts, suddenly intense. “There is a Lori Ngo and Jeff Cantelli that worked with me and Bruce Foster on the same program at JPL. You have to get to their homes right away. I’m sending you their numbers right now. Call Jeff, I’m calling Lori.”
Hank highlighted the numbers on his omni, hit a two-button sequence that sent them to the agent’s omni, and hung up on a Western Central Enforcement agent.
“Call Lori Ngo!” yelled Hank at the gadget.
The omni connected circuits to make the call. A calm electronic voice informed him that number was out of service. He dialed Jeff’s number and got the same message.
Nancy grabbed Hank as he nearly collapsed. Vince helped her get him to a chair. A small refrigerator yielded a bottle of water. Hank’s expression of dread did not change as he took the bottle from Vince.
“Dad, don’t think about it right now. It may not be that bad. The agent may have called both numbers at once and blocked all other calls. They may not be … they may be okay.”
Nancy sat beside Hank and put her arm around him. They began hugging and crying down each other’s necks. Vince felt claustrophobic and walked up the stairs, sidestepping a pile of rabbit poop, opened the cellar door, and walked outside to look at the ocean, and the sand, and the tropical jungle drenched in moonlight. People moved around campfires on the beach far below, unaware of historic events taking place a hundred yards up and a prickly pear’s throw away. Even Vince had no idea how historic, but he knew today should be marked on the calendar.
He looked up at the stars. So many! So far away! Like many times before, he wondered about others out there; other living, thinking beings looking up in the sky and wondering the same thing. There has to be some way to find out. A way must be found to use what his father invented.
The smell of the ocean at night and the glitter of stars in a sky unpolluted by city lights made him alive and anticipative. He was embarrassed and a bit ashamed to feel this way when others did not fare so well today. Maybe it was a natural physiological reaction to having every atom in his body disappear and reappear 1500 miles away in an instant, assuming he had every atom he started out with. Perhaps it was the psychological reaction of escaping certain death. Whatever it was, at that point Vince embraced a future full of miracles and exulted in the possibilities. His epiphany was short-lived. He could plainly hear his mom through the basement door.
“You tested it on yourself!” Nancy exclaimed, belatedly realizing what Hank revealed about the testing, sparking another round of heated discussion. Vince decided stars, moonlight, and the white noise rhythm of the surf was just what his young, pin-balled psyche needed right now. He’d go inside later.
