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Chapter 18
‘I’m sure, Deanne, with all that equipment in your laboratory, you
could have both baseball caps examined in minute detail under an electron
microscope or something and prove they’re exactly the same,’ said David Lutman
confidently.
Certainly her labs
could prove they were the same, she thought, but even so, it looked abundantly
clear that he was telling the truth. ‘I’m
sorry...’ she said sadly, ‘I’m so sorry to have doubted you…’
He leaned down and hugged her very tightly, taking the caps from
her hand, throwing them onto the floor, and then gently pulling her to her
feet. She then went to the bedroom to retrieve a box of handkerchiefs. Lutman
followed her, and they sat together on the bed as she wiped her nose.
Now, Lutman believed, was the right time to tell the full story.
He explained to her how it all began with meeting his future self, and that this
future David Lutman told him that he would meet his wife one year into the
future. And that his double disappeared into a small, faint circular glowing
hole that had grown big enough for him to jump into before explaining anything
properly. He described the clothes he had been wearing, and then told her about
the baseball cap that he had left behind.
‘But why would you want to wear my clothes?’ Deanne asked
curiously.
‘I’ve really no idea! For what I remember though, they didn’t look
small, just a bit silly.’
He then told her about booking the holiday as a result of his
future self’s advice; his ‘relationship’ with Claudia, and their accidental
meeting in the clothes shop. He decided to tell her about the acrimonious
circumstances that surrounded his departure from the tour, and in doing so,
could feel a great burden of weight being lifted. Deanne initially looked at
him with slight mistrust, but before long any remaining doubts soon passed.
Under the same circumstances, she thought, she would
probably have done exactly the same thing.
*
‘I’m so sorry I snapped at you,’ she sniffed, ‘I’m afraid that’s
just one of my negative traits, I’m afraid. I can get really bitchy
occasionally. Perhaps that’s really why I frightened off all the other
Englishmen!’
‘It’s okay, Deanne, it’s okay.’ He put
his arm around her. ‘Even now,’ he added, ‘what’s happened to me so far seems
so unreal, and so fast.’
‘Yeah, it’s still incredible to take in. But nobody’s going to
believe it or us. Maybe, after I examine the two caps extremely closely, then
that might give us all the evidence we need. God though, the implications of
all this… it’s either so fantastic… or so… so…frightening, even.’
‘Frightening?’ said Lutman in disbelief.
‘It’ll completely revolutionize scientific thinking or complete
destroy it… David, we have to go and check those caps!’
Lutman looked at her
wearily. He now felt that he had had enough excitement for one day. ‘Deanne,
can it wait until tomorrow? It’s dark, we’ve come a long way, and I’m rather
tired.’
‘But this is the potentially the biggest thing –’
‘I’ve been living with this biggest thing for the past six weeks
or so, and I’d like a break from it for just one moment. Please.’
Deanne smiled. ‘Okay. We’ll leave it ‘til tomorrow.’
‘Thank you.’
‘Now kiss me please.’
*
‘So David,’ said Deanne, smiling, as they prepared to settle down
for the evening, ‘after only, what, knowing me for just over twenty-four hours
or so, are you now going to ask me to marry you?’
‘Um…’ Her question took him by surprise. ‘Well, after what you’ve
just been through, I don’t really know if I should. But…’
He placed his hand onto hers. ‘Every ounce of my being tells me
you’re going to be my wife and I… well, as you say, it’s only twenty-four
hours, but in that time I’ve never felt so happy, so at ease with myself, so
content to be with you. Deanne, you’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever met.
Really, I mean it. But I may have unwittingly dragged you into something you
would’ve never imagined.’
‘I think you’ve already done so,’ she smiled, ‘but now life's
never sounded quite so exciting. I’m now shaking with all the possibilities!’
‘Yeah, well, believe me, it does kind of wear you out after a
while.’
Deanne took a deep breath. ‘Hmmm. Tell me David, have you ever
heard of Steven Hawking?’
‘Of course I have. He’s the physicist in the wheelchair. A
brilliant guy. He wrote that book ‘A Brief History of Time’. Why do you ask?’
‘Well, Hawking himself doesn’t believe in time travel as such. He
believes that nature will always contrive a way to ensure time travel can, in
fact, never occur. But if it did, he suggested a so-called chronology
protection conjecture, or, if you like, some kind of cosmic censor. Something
that butts in to prevent a paradox.’
‘I am a bit ignorant about all this,’ Lutman admitted, ‘so what do
you mean exactly by a paradox?’
‘These are facts or qualities that seem to contradict each other.
It’s something very popular in sci-fi circles, and the very idea is itself used
as overwhelming proof that you cannot travel back in time. Basically, if you had the chance to go back
in time and kill your own grandfather before your mom or dad have the chance to
be conceived, then what would happen to you? Do you simply disappear as a
result?’
Lutman shook his head and shrugged. ‘I really don’t know.’
‘Well, according to Hawking, the cosmic censor will ensure it’ll
never happen. If you try to kill your grandfather, then the censor will ensure
that the man you kill is not your grandfather, or any serious injury he
sustains as a result of your attack will still result in some kind of
miraculous recovery to ensure that you will be born in the future.’
‘I remember reading something about that on the internet,’ admitted
Lutman, ‘although I’d be lying if I said I understood it all. Anyway, I’ve made
it, I’m here, and my future self has done his job. I’ve met the girl of my
dreams and I can now relax and be by her side, right next to her, to touch, to
feel, to enjoy!’
He wrapped both his arms around her and they flopped onto the bed.
He was just about to kiss her when she put her hand across his lips. ‘What did
you just say?’
‘Er… that I’m going to meet my wife, and, erm, well…’
‘Hey now, wait a minute – not so fast!’
Lutman took his arms away from her
shoulders. ‘Why?’ he asked, puzzled.
‘Are you certain it’s really going to be me? To touch, to feel, to enjoy. Isn’t that what you’re really saying?’
‘Oh, sorry Deanne, that was erm, a little out of line,’ he said ruefully.
‘And that I’m going to be your wife? That’s a bit presumptuous,
isn’t it, in such a short space of time?’
Lutman straightened up. ‘But Deanne, I’ve never felt so sure in my
life! And you just asked me…’
‘Do you know how I really feel about this?’
He paused for a second. ‘I don’t. How do you feel about me?’
‘I’m a scientist, David, remember? Don’t you think that it would
be very presumptuous on my part to say I’ve met Mr. Right within the space of a
day!’
Lutman stood up, feeling he was being playfully wound up. ‘So how
am I really going to know if you are her? I mean, every ounce of my being tells
me it’s you, and from what I’ve seen, you certainly feel the same way about me!
I mean, look at the baseball cap –’
‘Hey,’ she smiled, ‘it still doesn’t mean to say I’m the one. This
could be another link in that long chain of events you described that may lead
you to meeting another woman, who will then set you on a course to make that
journey into the past to tell you to do all this!’
‘Making that journey? If you're the one, than surely that’s not
necessary now… is it?’
‘But what makes you think you’ve finished? How do you know the
journey isn’t only just beginning?’
Now confused, Lutman did not have an answer. But he knew she had
by the tone of her voice.
‘Look David, Just because you’ve found me now doesn’t mean to say
I’m suddenly going to produce a time machine out of the wardrobe. You’re going
to have to help me, you know.’
‘But how? I’m not a scientist!’
Deanne stood up. ‘Listen to me, David,’ she said firmly, ‘you’ve
got to continue this journey for two reasons. First, to ensure the timelines are
not going to be affected. You’ve got to complete this journey properly
otherwise... we may face consequences we don’t know or yet understand in
physics. You are the first true piece of evidence that a journey through time
has been successfully completed… once I’ve completed analysis of that baseball
cap. Look David. As I see it, your future self has made a deliberate journey
into the past to give you a message.’
‘Yes, that I’m to meet my future wife.’
‘Well, in a manner of speaking, okay. But what he’s essentially
done is to tell you that time travel has been invented and that you are going
to be the catalyst in getting it invented.’
Lutman was bemused. ‘Did he? You know, I’m now getting very lost
in this conversation. And what was that second reason?’
‘Unless you continue that journey, you will never know if you have truly met Mrs. Right. You can meet any girl
you like and hope she’s the one based on the rather limited information you
already know and have about your future. But the only way you’ll be certain is
to find the girl that leads to the machine being built in order to make the
journey. She doesn’t necessarily have to be the one who builds the thing. She
may have contacts. She may do something accidentally. She could do anything
that sets off the chain of events leading to your future appearance!’
Lutman really was not certain that he fully understood what Deanne
had been saying, but he quickly added: ‘But I’ve found you. All the pieces fit
in place. You’re a physicist. You’re interested in why I’m here, with you,
today! Otherwise it’s all a pretty remarkable coincidence, isn’t it?’
‘Look, if I marry you, I may still divorce you the following week.
A lot of Americans do that, you know. You’ll still be none the wiser. Think
about it David. Forget the technical bits and think about the plausabilities.
How do you think you would manage to
make that journey into your past?’
‘I really don’t know. Maybe I built the time machine, which is
unlikely, or maybe… I will bump into someone who happened to have such a thing.’
‘Do you know anyone who owns a time machine?’
‘Of course not!’
‘But you presume you’ll meet someone who has, okay?’
‘Well… maybe.’
‘Do I have one?’
‘From what you’ve told me so far, and from I’ve tried to
understand, I don’t think so.’
‘And you seriously think someone's going to come to you with a
machine, right?’
‘I don’t know Deanne,’ Lutman said impatiently, ‘all right, so
maybe I’m going to build the thing after all!’
‘Do you know how to?’
‘Of course I don’t!’
Deanne looked into his eyes and spoke softly. ‘Well, you’re right
about one thing. Yes, by a nice coincidence or by a twist of fate, or by the
way all the pieces of this puzzle are trying to fit together, I not only know
about the theories about how black holes may be the answer, but I just happen
to understand the theories that could build a time machine!’
At this, Lutman went silent for a moment before asking, ‘so can
you build one?’
‘Not on my own, no.’
Lutman’s shoulders dropped. ‘Great.’
‘So are you going to marry me David?’
‘What?’
‘Are you going to marry me?’
‘I er…’ Every ounce of his being said
yes, but he could not get that particular word out of his system.
Sensing his sudden discomfort, Deanne continued. ‘The fact is,
David, in order to ensure time travel does get invented, your future self told
you you’re going to meet your wife during your particular holiday. This has
filled you with an irresistible compulsion to find some woman who may, or may
not turn out to be, a physicist.’
‘Look Deanne, I’m getting rather little lost here. This whole
thing’s rather bewildering.’
‘So bear with me a little longer. As I said to you, you're the
catalyst in getting this time machine or whatever invented. You have
unwittingly become part of a pre-destination paradox – something that you’re
meant to do. This is another extra component in the cogs that have been set into
motion in getting this time machine built in order to send you, back in time,
to tell yourself to do it all over again, and thus completing what will be a
never ending circle, and as a result avoiding another kind of paradox – with or
without disastrous consequences!’
Lutman looked at one of the bedroom walls, now very perplexed. ‘So
you’re saying I do have to build a time machine, then?’
‘Not necessarily, but somewhere on the way you’ll be involved.
You’ll either meet someone who has done so, or someone who’ll be involved in
the project of constructing the thing.’
‘But you said you knew how to build one, with help.’
‘Yes, but even so it still might not be me. I might only furnish you
with all the ideas that are the first stage in building a time machine. As I
said, I might not even end up as your wife. You may meet some mad scientist next
month who’ll be happy to put some of my theories into practice, and meet his
equally crazy daughter and fall in love with her. Either way, you have to do
something to ensure this event is going to happen.’
‘And what if I don’t? You said there would be dire consequences!’
‘Could be. Well, many
things might happen. We may not get married. You may not meet your wife here.
It’s possible you may never marry and the pieces to the puzzle may disappear
for ever, and you never get to travel in time and never meet yourself in the
past. You might, as a result, cause a paradox disruption which could lead to potentially
devastating consequences!’
‘Jesus,’ Lutman blew hard. ‘That sounds a bit strong. What do you
mean by that? What devastating consequences are you on about?’
‘Who knows? On the one hand, it could mean absolutely nothing at
all will happen, but on the other… the end of the universe, perhaps?’
Lutman laughed. ‘And I thought I was the one who was supposed to
sound geeky! Erm… yeah, but we don’t know that! Come on, the end of the
universe? That is surely pure science fiction! This whole thing is now beginning
to sound like some pretty awful sci-fi story!’
‘So tell me, was what happened to you pure fiction?’
Lutman shook his head. ‘I… suppose not…’
‘And what is Dzizzy-R?’ she added.
‘What?’
‘What’s Dzissy-R – or DCCR? You said he shouted this at you before
he went back into that cloud.’
‘I don’t know. Really, I have no idea. I’ve been trying to find
out and everything.’
‘Do you want to marry me?’
He paused.
‘Still shy, I see. Do you really feel that this is the end of your
journey?’
Lutman looked down, and then up. He
always had this gut feeling that there would be more to come in this crazy
adventure. Deanne had simply confirmed it. ‘No,’ he admitted.
‘Sit down.’ Deanne put her arms around him, and together they lay
back onto the bed. ‘If it’s any consolation to you, I too feel absolutely
certain you’re destined to marry me. And I can’t avoid it. Simply because,
since the day I first met you… god, that’s a silly thing to say, since yesterday when I first met you, I always
felt that you were going to be my husband. And now I know. My compulsion to be
with you is equally irresistible!’
She put his arms around him. ‘A pre-destination paradox. What will
happen, will happen. It’s unstoppable.’
Exciting it all sounded, particularly
with the feeling of Deanne’s warm body holding him very tightly, Lutman really
felt he had enough of the time travel subject for now. ‘Look, I’m getting a
little hungry,’ he said softly, ‘is there a nice restaurant near here?’
‘Yeah, but don’t you want to eat here?’
‘Well, if I’m going to ask you to marry me, I’d like to do it
properly regardless of whether some time machine, paradox, projection…
conjecture thing or whatever makes me do so.’
She beamed, and then kissed him. ‘Of course darling! And I’m sorry
for being so upset a few moments ago. But you have to bear this in mind. I’ll
marry you only on the one condition.’
‘And what’s that?’
She smiled broadly. ‘You’ll help me towards this time machine!’
There may have been one huge weight
already lifted off his shoulders, but he began to feel that it had now been
replaced by another one. ‘Okay,’ he said quietly.
He then suddenly remembered the caps, ‘Deanne, what does ‘DJC’
stand for?’
‘Deanne Jane Clarkson.’
‘Ah, I see. I understand. And what happened to the Mickey Mouse
bag?’
‘Now in the hands of my friend’s niece. But I’m sure she’d let us
borrow it for a couple of days, if it turns out we need it! Okay David. Look,
get the rest of your stuff unpacked. As you already said, it’s been a long day.
I’m tired too and would like to get cleaned up and get some sleep. Let’s leave
it now till tomorrow. We’ll go to the labs then.’
‘Sure. Oh, by the way, why did you write ‘I WANT THIS TO BE TRUE ’?’
‘Isn’t it obvious why?’
‘Stupid of me to ask, I suppose.’
‘Just a little, but I forgive you.’
‘Deanne?’
‘Yes, David?’
‘If I help you towards building the time machine, will you marry
me?’
Deanne leaped up into the air. ‘YES! I will! I’ll marry you!’
They kissed long and passionately, remaining on and in the bed
until the first rays of morning sunshine seeped through the window shutters.Chapter 19 >
