Journal Of Simon Herbert 8

CHAPTER EIGHT

The others are thinking about how to let people know they might be late at their destinations. I am wondering if this is one of those ten day storms, and what will happen if it hits this station. I realize I have neglected to contact Aber. I was thinking I could do that after the others left, but I feel some urgency now.

I check my messages. About twenty from Aber. The first one is from the station on Earth just letting me know he had arrived safely. The next is labelled URGENT. He begins by telling me I should sit down. I don't. He asks how many days were we on the other side. It is rhetorical because he then says time is not the same on the other side, and when he reported to work, they told him that he had been missing for two years. He has no idea how he is going to restart his life. He hoped he would see me again one day, but that at least he would hear from me to know that I was okay. I sit down.

I barely notice that the other guest talking about the approaching storm. I read through all the other messages, each telling me the events of Aber's life as it passes by faster than mine. Aber met someone on the way to Earth that gave him a place to stay until he got back on his feet. Webster is a PhD in Cosmology. Aber says Webster and the time he spent with Herbert inspired him to apply himself. He is studying Quantum Mechanics. They are both fascinated by The Rip, and they want to study it up close. They have been to the station many times in the past three years, but have never gone through. Only studied it with instrumentation from their side. They are making plans to cross through in the near future. They hope to find me. And Marvin.

The speakers announce that the storm has turned away from the station, and that the transport ship will be arriving in .012 local planetary days. The station is safe, but is the planet? Is this side's universe safe? Three years? Five years? How long? Did anyone miss me? My thoughts are spinning. Do I stay here and wait for Aber? Do I go back and visit Marvin's planet, maybe missing Aber completely? I can't process all of it. All I know is that the storms can cross The Rip. And that can't be a good thing.