Read The God Equation and Other Stories for Free Online

counting.
    “I suggest you close your eyes. Cover them with your hands if you have to. In half a minute, the chamber will be bathed in a very bright light, brighter than a thousand suns. But nanoseconds before the photons can intensify to ignite your eyelids and burn off your face, and before the implosive thermonuclear shockwaves destroy your soft tissues, a singularity will form at the center of the sphere, expanding to isolate every atom in that chamber, including yours, from this universe, to take the both of you on a trajectory with destiny….” He tried to catch his breath but coughed instead.
    T-minus ten seconds and counting. Fatima and Tomas could feel the static dancing along their skin. The air smelled of ozone.
    “Whatever happens, try to remain calm. We ’ ve calculated that you will need to travel back by exactly 182,600 days. Send us a postcard — ”
    Silence followed.
    A rocking sensation. The smell of the sea. Fresh air.
    Fatima opened her eyes.
    “Happy New Year,” said Tomas, squinting at the sky.
    It was the 24th day of January, and the year was 1521.
    At least that ’ s what their unsealed orders told them. Aside from detailed navigational charts of the Pacific Ocean, the envelope contained accurately reconstructed drawings of Trinidad, Concepción, and Victoria. As expected, it also included a list of eighteen European-sounding names.
    * * *
    Tomas was getting restless. It was their third day on the island. The horizon was still empty.
    “I ’ ve been thinking,” he said. “What if this is a test. There probably never was a time machine. It ’ s an elaborate hoax and we were selected because we fit some kind of psychological profile and whoever is behind this just wants to observe how a man and a woman will behave under these circumstances. Like some cheesy reality TV show.”
    She massaged her ankle, said nothing.
    “We were lied to,” he continued. “Yes, I don ’ t think there ever was a time machine. It ’ s a big nasty trick.”
    Fatima almost agreed with him. How could they tell what year they were in when the sky and the sea looked virtually the same year after year? Was it 1521 or 2021?
    “There ’ s one way to find out,” she said. “We wait for her to come.”
    “Ma ’ am, we ’ ve waited three days already.”
    “So we give her another week. Look here, we have enough food to last us four more days, and enough fresh water to last seven.”
    “Ma ’ am, if the time machine worked, we should ’ ve seen her two or three days ago. A week is an awfully long grace period.” He held up four fingers, then five. "That ’ s nine days in total."
    “I ’ m glad you know how to count. Now count this. Three people were killed for this mission. You survived. Don ’ t let them die in vain. Grant them the respect they deserve by giving them nine days.”
    “And if Victoria still doesn ’ t come? What then?”
    “She will.”
    Nine days is a long time for anybody to wait.
    There ’ s nothing to do, little to eat or drink, they couldn ’ t build a fire or look for food. Worse, she didn ’ t find him attractive. With so much time on their hands, their conversations were always about the mission. But on some days, they would speculate, often argue, on the nature of time. It didn ’ t always make sense to either of them.
    “The Butterfly Effect,” he told her, trying to sound impressive “I learned that in a physics class back at the P hilippine M ilitary A cademy . Just as the wings of a butterfly can cause typhoons at the other side of the globe, small changes in the past can create repercussions for the future. That ’ s what some scientists say.”
    “But only if the butterfly ’ s wings were big enough,” Fatima said.
    “You ’ re a physicist now, I see.”
    “We were sent here to destroy three vessels and everyone onboard. But why were we also ordered to make sure that we find and kill eighteen specific crew members?”
    “Because only eighteen survivors