CHAPTER 14

Byron

We weren’t sure of what we were seeing when Marshall Callaway first brought it out of a cabinet across the room.It was a long metallic slab about as wide as the diameter of the domain ring.It had two metal posts on it, one at either end.Mounted on each of the metal posts was a translucent sphere, about twice as large as a man’s fist.Along with this thing, Marshall brought out an object that looked like the remote control for a monitor or a television.He set the slab with the posts down on the table and held the remote-like thing in his hand, and looked proudly at whatever this was he was showing us.

“This is the initial prototype,” said the scientist.“Since I’ve been here, I’ve been working on the first full-scale model.”

”It looks like a couple of lamps,” Cade said.

”The full-scale model of this, when it comes into use, will power millions of lamps,” Marshall said.“This is the prototype of an Ambience transmitter/receiver that will work across the dimensional domain—transmitting clean, plentiful energy from Tellus to Earth.I want to equip Earth with hundreds of these as an inexhaustible power source that will lessen our dependency on other fuels.It will be as important to us as solar and wind power, perhaps more so.”

Jenna looked from the device to her father, blinking—and understanding.“This is like the wireless electricity of Nikola Tesla.Or like the Ambience power system right here on Tellus.”

”Exactly,” said Marshall.“But it will work across dimensions.”

”If this works from one world to the other like you’re saying,” Jenna said, fixing her eyes on the gadget, “it’ll solve all sorts of environmental problems and economic ones.People could be free of huge electric and natural gas bills.”

”Free to spend their money on other things to make their lives better,” Marshall said.

And there again was one of the great problems on Earth, which we’d talked about before with both Jenna and her grandmother.Everything in their world was about money—how much you had, how much you could get, how much other people wanted from you.It absolutely ruled their lives and too many humans on Earth had, or could get hold of and keep, too little of it.The need for money made life on Earth a desperate, painful, constantly struggling thing.During our visit to Earth, my friends and I hadn’t seen much besides a beautiful home and beautiful places.There was so much about Jenna’s world that I hadn’t witnessed, that I now realized was as beyond my imagination as Tellus would be to someone from over there and that was what made me speak up.I could immediately see a big problem that Marshall Callaway’s plan would have to overcome, and I had to wonder if it had occurred to him.

”Excuse me, Sir,” I said, “but you know this is going to mean initiating relations between our government and the different governments of Earth.Diplomacy and trade between our two worlds is going to be fantastically complicated, especially with the cultural and political differences between Earth and Tellus.This would be an enormous and incredibly challenging process, especially for your world, which has so many divisions.”Both Marshall and Jenna paid close attention to what I was saying, which was more encouraging than the facts that I was trying to get across.“I don’t mean any disrespect, Sir, but from the things that Jenna and your brother have been telling us, Earth people can barely get along with each other.Introducing them to our world, introducing them to the Scalers—that’s going to bring huge problems.”

Elliot was next.“And that’s not even going into the problems it’ll cause over here.You know there are some Scalers who can’t tolerate just the idea of Earth.Your world is against everything some of us like to believe.I can see some of us wanting to start some kind of holy war the first time any of this comes out.Some of us are as bad as…”And he sharply cut off his words, suddenly wary of what he was saying and whom he was saying it to.“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean…”

Marshall said, a bit solemnly, “What you just stopped yourself from saying is that some of your people are as bad as the worst of mine.”He sighed and slumped his shoulders a bit.“And…you’re right.There would be enormous hurdles to overcome—cultural, economic, political, religious.It could severely strain the whole fabric of life for both of our worlds.The culture shock alone is something that’s concerned me deeply.But in the end, I think all the strife could have an enormous payoff.Aside from the benefits to Earth, it would be a huge opportunity for our people and yours to learn about the different paths that evolution has taken on our respective worlds.We could learn things about the way nature works that could have benefits that can’t even be predicted.”Holding up the remote-like device and running a thumb along its edge, he said, “I find that worth the risks.To bring a better future, chaos can be sorted out.”

”It’ll be a chaos like nobody’s ever seen,” said Elliot, to which he quickly added, “Sir.”

”Let me show you all the beginning of that ‘chaos’ in miniature,” Marshall offered.“Sit back now, and you’ll see.”

We all did as he said, leaning back in our seats, as he held up the “remote” and pointed it at the tabletop model of his invention.He thumbed a surface on the gadget in his hand, and there was an immediate reaction from the gadget.The translucent spheres changed.One of them was now lit with a pulsating violet glow.The other one turned transparent.A second later, there was a humming sound from the device, then a flash of light from the glowing sphere.Then, that sphere stabbed forth a ray of violet light that leapt across the space between the two spheres and lit up the transparent one, which gave off twisting sheets of radiance that reminded me of an aurora in the sky.

“Just think,” said Marshall Callaway, “of the transmitting sphere being here on Tellus, and the receiving sphere being on Earth, and the power being transmitted across the domain boundary between the two universes.I first had to devise a miniature system that works right here, to learn how to make it work for myself outside of the Tellus power network.For the final proving model, my friends and I in this place have been working on a larger model, where the larger receiver will be sent through the domain boundary—and the transmitter will send its energy through there to the receiver.We’ve been working here because not far from this place is a synchronization point between Earth and Tellus; one of the larger points with a longer period of staying open.In the final test, we’re going to use that sync point to prove the mechanism.”And he smiled with a mixture of childlike anticipation and very adult pleasure.

Jenna inhaled, wide-eyed with wonder, as Cade, Elliot, and I just watched speechlessly.We’d learned in school, of course, the way the Ambience power system worked.But we never imagined the possibility of it being used the way Jenna’s father meant to use it.

“When is the final test, Daddy?” Jenna asked.

”It so happens you’ve come at the most opportune time, Jenna,” Marshall replied.“We’ll be testing it at the opening of the domain boundary—tomorrow.”

”Tomorrow,” Jenna repeated in a half-whisper.

”For now, though,” the scientist said, “I’d like to have someone see your friends to a place where they can stay for the night and then, Jenna, I think you and I ought to have a few words of our own, father to daughter, in private.”

And there it was.With that suggestion, Marshall Callaway had set the stage for some more moments of truth—with Elliot, Cade, and me in some other part of this little arboreal village, out of the way.