* * *
Sat on yet another Ryou Un Maru bridge, Fischer is not happy. Through gritted teeth, he says, “M-20, I was not expecting to come here again right now, I wanted to sleep and eat. Not necessarily in that order.”
Talking between dimensions, M-20 hears Fischer and replies, “I’m sorry, Sir, we had to begin straight away, there is no time to spare now. You can set the Auto Pilot for due north and there are cabins and a galley down the stairs behind you. If you sleep, the cylinder will wake you at the correct time, please keep it in your pocket or close by at all times.”
Fischer is now sailing on a clear morning, with thankfully a calm sea in the North Pacific, whilst Mark continues to discuss the current ‘job’ with M-20.
On board the other Ryou Un Maru sailing north… Fischer is bored and now wide awake, so makes a final entry in the ship’s log “Captain Deiter Fischer” and waits for M-20’s Quantinium device to take him back to Rubicon after 6 hours, sat on a stool on the bridge.
Back in the Rubicon basement… “Would you bring the SEALs down here Dorma? Please ask Jes and Megan to suit-up first,” requests M-20.
“Yes Mark, I will ask them now,” replies Dorma.
Dorma starts going up the basement stairs, “Please call me M-20, you can talk to me anytime by the way, Dorma,” she turns her head, smiles and nods.
“Will I be going to Mars with Jes and Megan? I was hoping they would not be needed again? I told Mr Fischer they would remain here, like last time,” enquires Mark 10.
“Don’t worry Mark 10,” replies M-20, “but they are needed again, I’m afraid. They will pretend to be commissioning you after they stage some drilling trials. Some other SEALs will find and ‘inspect’ you, but this time, the Quantinium device will not work. You will remain on Mars to drill, whilst Jes and Megan return to Earth to get married, as they should have done. You and they will only remember what you need.”
Dorma arrives with the five SEALs in beach wear, followed by Jes and Megan, suited-up and ready for action. After some introductions, M-20 takes Jes and Megan through the pretence on Mars and their rendezvous with another-dimension Drew in the tunnels. M-20 assures them their skills working with Mark 10 drills will make them wealthy.
For the SEALs though, their mission is almost complete. “Ladies and Gentlemen,” begins M-20, “Mr Fischer would like to invite you to stay on the island and work for him, if you can perform one final task?” The SEALs nod repeatedly in unison, with their tongues virtually out. “Would you spend the next day or so preparing your ship for a short voyage? Sail into the south bay and sink her? We need another diving challenge off the south beach? Dorma will direct you to sandwiches, tools and explosives!” The SEALs nod and clap vehemently with rowdy cheering, turn and head back up the stairs to their sun loungers and tequilas, all loving this place even more.
“You’d better get going, Mark, there can be no delay,” M-20 gives Jes a strange shaped metallic object. “Dorma, please ask Sam to come down here, I need to talk to him,” asks M-20. Dorma disappears and a blinding flash fills the cavern. Mark 10, Jes and Megan disappear and are en-route to another planet called Mars, sat in a similar dimension.
Sam finally arrives at the basement and M-20 explains the problems with Quantinium: “You have to replace the lost potential with something equivalent or you’ll build up dimensional tension, with unexpected consequences,” Sam nods in agreement, having already realized these things. M-20 continues: “When you discovered Quantinium, a Mark 10 gave you the original idea in your sleep, so you would transfer here and realise your mistake, but he couldn’t take into account the view from other dimensions, because he couldn’t see them like I can, so here’s what you need to know before I send you back to your lab.”
“Will I end up on a pile of rubbish again?” asks Sam reluctantly, “No Sam, this is your final trip, you should pick up your life again, your discovery will be flawless and in one dimension, at least, you will not become a murderer and target for revenge.”
“Huh?” Sam reels back, “Murder, target, revenge?”
“Yes, Sir. In more than one dimension I’ve seen, you are… let’s just say, not quite yourself. But this will cure all that. Here’s your ticket home,” M-20 presents Sam with a Quantinium cube, stood on one corner and a hand full of technical papers marked “Top Secret”, explaining quantum-tension. “Please keep these in your hand and go back to your quarters, it will return you to your lab in Hong Kong, to the closest dimension I can find to your original jump. You will discover dimensional transfer again and have to compensate for the imbalances this time around, by reading the papers I’ve given you.”
Sam takes the device and papers back to his apartment, and sees what looks like his original desk and chair, already set up, waiting. Dorma is stood on the opposite side and asks Sam to take a seat, holding the Quantinium device and his technical notes. As he sits, a blinding light fills the room and Sam wakes up in his lab moments later, in his original Hong Kong, but in another dimension from the one he just left.
Dorma returns to M-20 in the basement, as they wait for Fischer to re-appear. They feel a very light rumbling from the ground, the tiniest vibration, which gradually increases until the dust starts to lift. Dorma turns to M-20 and says, “Is that Mark 10 returning?”
“No. Mark 10 won’t be coming back to this dimension,” says M-20, “Jes and Megan will remain with him on Mars to fill the gap they left and finish his commissioning. The dimension they occupied when they were originally caught up in this.”
Sam, Jes and Megan have both been sent back to their original dimensions, or ones very close to those, whilst Mr Fischer is running an errand, to deliver another Ryou Un Maru, to fill a gap left in yet another dimension. This time, to get Mr Fischer back, M-20 made a Quantinium device with a return function.
The dust starts to vibrate in a specific spot in front of them and suddenly Mr Fischer appears sat on a stool about 150mm off the ground, with a piece of ship’s bridge in front of him, just hanging in the air. The rumbling stops and Ficher falls with his seat and the debris to the ground. Dusting himself off, he looks up at M-20 annoyed, “Is that your idea of a smooth quantum-jump? I could have been killed.”
“I’m sorry, Mr Fischer, everything was totally necessary, I’m afraid. I’ve engaged the services of the SEALs to help us around the island, they’re going to sink our surplus Ryou Un Maru tomorrow, as another diving wreck for you to use on the south beach,” says M-20 hopefully.
“Where’s Mark?” asks Fischer, concerned, “He should be back by now.”
“Your friend had a one-way ticket, I’m afraid, Mr Fischer, I’m sorry for not telling you. But he gave me all his memories and personality, so you could feel at home with me and not miss him too much. I know he was very fond of you too, but thought it was for the best. He saved us from chaos,” reassures M-20.
Fischer nods whilst Dorma wipes a tear from her eye, “Mark was a good friend,” she says, as they turn and climb the stairs back to the sun deck. “Do you fancy scuba diving, Dorma? We have enough people now to teach you. We can play around in our wrecks now and again?” Dorma takes a deep breath and says quietly, “Yes Mr Fischer, I’m always happy to join in,” Fischer smiles and says: “Call me Deiter from now on, Dorma. Call me Deiter.”
M-20 says, “If you ever want to talk to me Mr Fischer, just say my name. I will always be able to hear you,” Fischer turns and waves, whilst taking Dorma’s hand with his other and says, “OK Mark, I will. See you tomorrow,” Fischer and Dorma stroll up the stairs, as M-20 flips vertically and starts to dig.