consciousness can be separated from Newtonian physics. This would be worthy of a Nobel Prize. It would place his name in lights throughout the scientific world. Isnât that right, Dor Jen.â
The doctor stared at her hands resting on the scarred table and did not speak.
âWhat I couldnât understand, though, was how could Brettâs work on the nature of time help you down in Rome? Then it hit me. You were working on something else entirely.â
Dor Jen said softly, âEverything I have told you is the truth.â
âSure. Of course. But thatâs not the issue. You have two experiments running simultaneously, donât you. One related to the living, and the other to . . . what?â
From his place by the window, their key techie breathed a soft, âWhoa.â
âYou wanted to look at the dying, didnât you. You wanted to examine the moment of final transition. But there were problems. Because how could you possibly know this moment in advance? So what do you do? Do you just sit and wait? You canât, can you. We all know there are finite boundaries for our experimental states. So if you are looking at pending death, you first have to identify the exact moment. Which would prove Brettâs hypothesis. But if you move backward, then you can name the moment, but you are still breaking the bounds of time. Which was it to be?â
âBoth,â Dor Jen murmured to the tabletop. âWe wanted to try both directions.â
The entire room murmured. Charlie started to speak, but stopped when he saw Jorge turn to Elizabeth and mouth the words, Tell him . Elizabeth met his gaze and gave a minute shake of her head. Charlie did not press. Elizabeth was not someone who would ever give in to outside pressure. She would talk when she was ready, and not a moment before.
Charlie turned back to the Tibetan and said, âSo you contactedBrett. And he came down because he thought he could use your work as a proving ground for his own.â
She lifted her gaze and, in so doing, revealed the rising terror. âDid I do this to him?â
Charlie turned to Jorge, who was already shaking his head. âThe instructions he gave me before he went comatose were simple in the extreme.â
These ongoing instructions remained part of the protocol Gabriella had laid out in the early days of their very first trials. One person, the monitor, was responsible for giving the ascender precise instructions. This was where Dor Jenâs first disagreement arose. Gabriella used the monitors as a means of restricting. Do this and nothing more. Dor Jen and her team wanted to use the monitors as a means of expanding .
Dor Jen asked Jorge, âWhat did you tell Brett to do when he ascended that day?â
âExactly what he wrote down. Go forward. Look at where he would be in two weeks. Try and leave himself a message, but only if it was safe. Come back. Finish. Nothing else.â
Charlie said, âIâm not bringing this up to make you feel guilty. I want you to see that it doesnât matter whether you move six hundred miles south or six thousand. We are all still connected. At the core, at the most basic level, we are all after the same thing. Do you understand what Iâm saying?â
Dor Jen nodded slowly.
âGood.â Charlie rose from the table. âNow letâs go see if we can bring this guy home.â
8
S haneâs first thought as she approached the counter was, I must be insane .
Her second thought was, Beefcake.
As in, the guy she was moving toward. Prime cut of filet. Tall. Early thirties. A modelâs legs. Great smile.
Then he had to turn toward her and give her that look.
His expression was the one handsome California guys had perfected. The look said it all. How he liked what he saw. But he had known better, and he probably would again, maybe even tonight. But if she was interested, hey, take a number, he might be able to fit her