Journale Of Simon Herbert 4

CHAPTER FOUR

We had a few days with lots of travellers. Webby didn't even make an appearance for most of them. And showed no affection to any of them. None of their home planets were earth, or any of the other missing planets. Doesn't help prove my hypothosis, but doesn't disprove it either.

Today there are no travellers scheduled. So I plan to make a trip through The Rip and send Aber a message. I am hesitant this first time back. I am not sure if The Rip is permanent enough to risk giving up my opportunity to learn more about this new universe, But so far, watching it from this side, it has proven stable. I will raid the green house for my favorite produce and send Aber a message to let him know I am doing good and things I have leI hope he receives mine.

My plans are changing as Harbinger alerts me to the fact that there is a storm expected to cross my path to The Rip. I ask Harbinger to show the path of the storm on the visual interface. I want to watch it moving so I can know when I can leave and miss it on my way back to my universe's way station. I check in on the storms movement every ten minutes or so, and I am beginning to see it's trajectory. Looks like it is headed directly towards The Rip. I ask Harbinger if the storm will cross the coordinates of The Rip. He confirms it will. I know Marvin gave the interfaces names to depersonalize them, but I can't help but use human pronouns for them. Marvin either corrects me or just sighs, but Harbinger sounds like a he to me, I just can't remember to call him ''it”.

As the storm closes in on The Rip, I decide I need to watch it pass before I leave. I am not sure what would happen, but I am hoping the storm will not go through The Rip. When the storm approaches the coordinates, it looks a glitch on the display as the leading edge of the storm flattens into a line, and the Rip devours the swirling image until the storm is gone.

Marvin says something and I snap back from looking at the display in frozen terror. He asks again if I am alright. I tell him I am not sure. I think the dust storm just crossed into my universe. It was not a bad storm. My planet has worse rain storms than this particular dust storm. But if it really did cross through, if it didn't just dissipate at the line between, then what would happen if one of those monster storms went through, those annual storms, one of those 10 day storms that would destroy anything less than the fortified buildings in this universe? What if this one damaged the way station. I need to go back through to find out. As I throw my stuff into the garden tractor, Webby weaves himself around my legs.

I inform Webby that I am very interested in what he is trying to tell me, and I wish there were a Hemmingway to Human interface, but I have to concentrate on another issue right now. As if he understood, he stops rubbing against my legs and hops onto the hood of the garden tractor. He is just sitting there staring at me. If I could hear his thoughts, I imaging he is saying I should be paying attention to him. Who knows. Maybe he is trying to tell me about my other issue. The Rip. I don't have a logical reason for thinking his selected travellers has something to do with The Rip, but every instinct in me thinks his intuition is providing valuable data about a mystery I need to investigate. Later. After I check on the way station.

Before I leave, Marvin reminds that his three week relocation starts in two days, and to make sure I am back in time if I want to go with him. He doesn't really want to explain me to the other operator. He has suggested I can stay with his family when he goes back, and use their house as a home base to explore the planet. We still have to figure out how I will pay for things there. I didn't exactly quit my job, just took leave. But I know I am not going back. I have enough savings to retire already, and I have been withdrawing currency at my way station, in the hopes I can create a credit account to use on his planet. We don't even know if I am alive in this universe. If I am not, I will have a hard time opening a new account in my name. And if I am, well, that's another problem. I don't think I want to meet myself. There is still a lot to figure out, but I assure him I will be back in time to take him up on his generous offer.

The return trip seems to be longer than before. The anticipation of what I will find on the other side is slowing down time. And I had not thought of this before, but what if The Rip didn't destroy the storm? What if the storm destroyed The Rip? I check the satellite compass, no reading. I check my grandfather's nautical compass. I am still headed for The Rip. Once I pass it, I should know if I cross through when the satellite compass starts working, because my old universe still uses that technology. If it does, it is still a little over 6km until I reach the station. If it doesn't, I will never reach the station.

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