فصل 21

CHAPTER 21

THE BRIDGE

THEY WERE IN MARYLAND NOW, southbound on I-81, J.D. carefully keeping their speed just under the limit. Aidan dozed in the backseat; Sarah, fighting fatigue, had been surfing the radio stations. As Mac had predicted, the strange story of the flying police van was attracting much attention. Finally, tired of listening to essentially the same report endlessly repeated, Sarah switched off the radio.

“We need a plan,” she said.

“I agree,” said J.D. “But right now I’m too tired to think. I need to focus on staying awake.”

“Will it help to talk?”

“Sure.”

“Okay, then maybe you can explain something. Remember when the police broke down your door?”

“And then knocked me down and dragged me out in handcuffs? I vaguely recall that, yes.”

“Okay, just before that, you said you thought that E in Molly’s diary was Albert Einstein.”

“Right.”

“And then you said you thought you knew what the bridge was.”

“Yup,” said J.D. “I don’t know what good it’ll do us, but I think I do. And if I’m right, I’m also pretty sure I know what the Starcatchers did with the island.”

“You do? Seriously?”

“I do,” said J.D. “But it’s going to sound weird.”

From the backseat, Aidan said, “We’re being chased by a huge flock of birds inhabited by an evil being. We made a police van fly. Nothing you say is gonna sound weird.”

“I thought you were asleep,” said J.D.

“I was,” said Aidan, sitting up, “but you guys started yakking.”

“So what did they do with the island?” said Sarah.

“I think they moved it,” said J.D.

“I take it back,” said Aidan. “Maybe I am still asleep.”

“What do you mean, moved it?” said Sarah.

“I mean they put it somewhere else,” said J.D. “Which is why nobody has found it in modern times.”

“They moved the whole island,” said Sarah.

“Yes,” said J.D. “And that’s not even the weird part.”

“It’s not?” said Aidan.

“No,” said J.D. “The weird part is where they moved it to.”

“I’m afraid to ask,” said Sarah.

J.D. took a breath, exhaled, and said, “I think they moved it to a parallel universe.”

“What?” said Sarah. “What?”

“I saw that on Star Trek,” said Aidan.

“I know, I know,” said J.D. “It sounds like bad science fiction. But I think that’s what they did.”

“Okay, wait,” said Sarah. “Let’s say that’s even possible. We’re talking about, what, a hundred years ago. They didn’t have anything like the technology scientists have today.”

“True,” said J.D. “But they had two things scientists don’t have today. One was the most brilliant physicist, maybe the most brilliant scientific mind, in human history.”

“Einstein,” said Sarah.

“Him,” said J.D.

“What’s the other thing?” said Aidan.

“Starstuff,” said J.D. “I haven’t figured out what it is, but even in minute quantities it appears to contain vast amounts of energy, and it has some highly unusual properties—it counteracts gravity, it radically alters emotions; who knows what else? I believe Einstein harnessed that energy to create the bridge.”

“The bridge in the diary,” said Sarah.

“Yes. That’s what I was trying to explain when the police broke down the door. In physics it’s called an Einstein-Rosen bridge.”

“Who’s Rosen?” said Aidan.

“A guy who worked with Einstein,” said J.D. “They came up with a theory that there was a way to pass from one universe to another. That became known as an Einstein-Rosen bridge.”

“So there really is more than one universe?” said Sarah. “It’s not just science fiction?”

“We’re talking theory,” said J.D. “But, yes, it’s pretty much accepted that there are other universes, possibly an infinite number of them. And…hang on.”

“What?” said Sarah.

J.D. pointed to the rearview mirror. Sarah looked back; overtaking them fast was a police cruiser, lights flashing. “No,” she said.

J.D., his eyes flicking to the mirror, said, “Okay, I’m the one they really want. If he pulls us over, I’ll get out and walk back toward him. You guys get out and run.”

“Run where?” said Aidan, looking around. “We don’t even know where we are.”

“You’ll have to figure it out,” said J.D. “Get ready.”

Sarah got her backpack off the car floor and held it in her lap. The speeding cruiser was fifty yards back…twenty-five…ten…

J.D. was gripping the wheel, his body tense. The cruiser pulled up next to them. Nobody dared to look over. And then the cruiser passed them. Not slowing at all, it hurtled along the empty highway ahead, quickly disappearing from view.

J.D. exhaled. “Guess he wasn’t after us.” “I’m wide awake now,” said Aidan. Sarah eased her grip on the backpack and leaned back against the seat.

“Okay,” she said, turning to J.D. “If there’s more than one universe, where are all the other ones?”

“That part’s a little tricky,” said J.D. “It’s not a question of physical distance. You can’t get to them by flying in a spaceship. No matter how far you went, you’d still be in this universe. So what you need is a wormhole, which is another name for an Einstein-Rosen bridge. Theoretically, these wormholes are a path from one universe to another.”

“You keep saying theoretically,” said Sarah.

“Right, because nobody’s been able to confirm their existence. Also, it’s generally accepted that even if wormholes did exist, they wouldn’t be stable enough for matter to pass through. Unless…” J.D. paused dramatically.

“Unless what?” said Sarah.

“Unless they were stabilized by some kind of highly exotic matter, currently unknown to science.”

“Starstuff,” said Aidan.

“Yes,” said J.D. “Maybe Einstein figured out a way to use starstuff to create a stable bridge, then send the island through it.”

“A whole island?” said Aidan. “I don’t think so.”

“Be quiet,” Sarah told her brother. She turned to J.D. “How would that work, exactly?” she said. “I mean, is there, like, a tunnel somewhere? And wouldn’t it have to be huge to fit an island through it?”

“It wouldn’t be a tunnel, at least not what you think of as a physical tunnel,” said J.D. “I’m guessing it would be some kind of device, which generated a…okay, let’s call it a force field. I assume the device would have to be portable, so it could be transported to the island, presumably by ship.”

“The Sea Ghost!” exclaimed Sarah.

“I beg your pardon?” said J.D.

“Hang on,” said Sarah. She unzipped her backpack and dug out the diary. She opened the glove compartment and, using the light from its interior, began leafing through the pages. “Okay,” she said. “About halfway through the diary, after all the stuff about E creating the bridge, Molly starts talking about…okay, here she starts talking about an expedition. That’s where she mentions this Sea Ghost.”

“That must be a ship,” said J.D. “The expedition must have been to transport the bridge to the island.”

“Okay,” said Sarah, excited now, flipping pages quickly. “So then there are a bunch of entries about the expedition, and then…here, she says, ‘Received a telegram today, via radio from the Sea Ghost. One wonderful word, success. We are thrilled, especially E.’”

“So it actually worked?” said Aidan.

“Yeah,” said J.D. “I think they bridged the island.” He shook his head in wonderment. “Do you have any idea what this means? If this were published…”

The car was quiet for a moment, then Sarah said, “Does that mean the island’s gone forever?”

J.D. thought about it. “I suppose it depends,” he said. “On what?” “On what they did with the bridge. Does the diary say anything about that?”

“Yep,” said Sarah, flipping more pages. “There’s a bunch of stuff in here about keeping the bridge secure.”

“So they didn’t destroy it,” J.D. said softly.

“No,” said Sarah, still flipping. “For years they kept it in…Berlin.”

“That’s where Einstein lived,” said J.D.

“Then…okay, listen to this. This is from 1933: ‘The situation in Germany has become intolerable. E and his family will emigrate to the United States. We have arranged for the bridge to accompany him, as well as J, who will assist in maintaining it.’”

“Wait a minute,” said J.D. “You’re saying the bridge came to the United States, with Einstein?”

“That’s what it sounds like,” said Sarah.

“And he was accompanied by somebody named ‘J’?”

“Yeah,” said Sarah, looking at the diary. “Why?”

“Okay, listen,” said J.D. “I’m named after my grandfather and my father. My grandfather was John; my father was Douglas. J.D. stands for John Douglas.”

“Um…so?” said Aidan.

“So,” said J.D., “my grandfather, John Aster, came to Princeton from England in 1933. The same year as the J in the diary.”

“That’s interesting,” said Sarah, “but it doesn’t mean that it’s the same person.”

“Do you know where Einstein settled when he came to the United States?” said J.D.

“No idea,” said Sarah.

“Princeton,” said J.D.

“Oh,” said Sarah.

“So wait a minute,” said Aidan. “Are you saying that this bridge thing is in Princeton?”

“I’m saying it’s possible that it once was,” said J.D.

“Do you think it could still be there?” said Sarah.

“What I think,” said J.D., “is that we need to get back in touch with Mac.”