The Didymus Contingency Read Online Free PDF Page A

we’ll see something. Even if it’s just a fluctuation,” Tom added.
    “Then I don’t expect we’ll see much because if my future self is anything like my present self, she will have pulled the plug on this little—”
    Tom interrupted, “Hey, that’s not—”
    “Quiet!” David yelled, “Both of you! All this talk, this bickering, it’s all pointless! In ten seconds, our world will change forever and all you two can do is nag each other. Please…for the love of Moses, just shut up!”
    “For the love of Moses?” Tom said with a raised eyebrow. “Really?”
    Sally’s reaction caught both David and Tom by surprise. A smile cracked onto her face, if only for a moment, before she smothered it and began waiting patiently as David had demanded.
    Tom glanced away from the receiving area and saw David eyeing Sally, inspecting her soft lips for any sign of the smile’s return. He imagined David was even more shocked by the emergence of Sally’s smile, especially at a tense time like this. But it wasn’t important now and Tom certainly wouldn’t let David miss a second of what they hoped would happen next.
    “David,” Tom whispered.
    David jerked his eyes toward Tom, who motioned with his head for David to look at the receiving area.
    “Right.” David turned toward the wall of glass.
    Tom shook his head. What was with him?
    Silence consumed the room. Tom glanced at his watch. Five seconds overdue. Tom closed his eyes and lowered his head in disappointment. They were defeated.
    David’s fingers tapped against the thick glass, expelling his nervous energy. Sally crossed her arms and tapped her foot. Ten seconds late… This was not good.
    A sound like the popping of popcorn began to fill the air. Something was happening. Scientists around the room began checking their equipment, recording the sound and preparing for more. The sound grew louder, crackling through the thick glass, and causing the control center to shake. A metal cabinet at the back of the room popped open and its contents crashed to the floor. There was a flash of light inside the receiving area and then everything went black.
    After a moment of silence passed, the room erupted with cheering. Tom looked at David, and their eyes were wide. “Not quite what I expected, but a good turnout nonetheless,” David said with a tinge of disappointment.
    “I expected more of us too,” Tom replied.
    They shook hands as Sally approached in the darkness. “Congratulations. Your funding will be doubled.”
    As Sally spoke, she failed to notice the light level in the room was rising. Blue light slowly lit up the room, glowing on Sally’s face. David and Tom noticed right away. With wide eyes, they stared just beyond Sally, into the receiving area.
    “But we better get a little more then a light show next time...” Sally noticed their fixed gazes.
    She followed their eyes back to the receiving area, which was glowing with a dull blue light, luminescing from nowhere at all.
    The control center fell silent again. Scientists frozen in mid-hug watched the receiving area with beaming eyes.
    Tom lifted his head and rested his hands on the glass wall. His jaw slowly dropped open like a drawbridge. “It’s happening,” was all he could say.
    A small, white shimmer appeared inside the receiving area. The light glowed steadily at first, but then began to fluctuate. It strobed slowly and with each burst of light came a loud, bassy Whump.
    Whump… Whump… Whump.
    Faster and faster. Light swirled and flashed like at a rave nightclub.
    Whum. Whum. Whum. Whum. Crack!
    Several brilliant, vertical streaks of blue and white light ripped into the air within the receiving area, creating thunderous booms. One after another, cracks of light tore into reality and then disappeared. In the wake of each spear of light, an object was left behind. A table covered in diagrams, charts and graphs, a cabinet full of supplies and tools that had yet to be invented, and several