“As permanent as any memory you have. Over time the details may fade, but it’s a part of you now,” Stella said.
Bohannon leaned over to look into Mara’s eyes. “Are you okay? You look a little pale.”
“It was a bit disorienting, but I know exactly what happened. If you like, I can type out a complete report when we get back to the office,” she said, looking at the detective with a raised eyebrow.
“I guess that would be great,” he said, mimicking Mara, who now slowly nodded her head. “So I suppose we have what we need for now.” He was about to stand up when Stella raised a hand.
“Now wait a minute. You can’t just leave without giving me some kind of explanation about what happened,” she said. She turned to Mara. “I take it, since you aren’t completely perplexed by what you remembered, that you at least have some notion of what occurred in my kitchen the other night.”
Mara looked down at the wood floor for second and then said, “I’m not sure about all the details, but I’ll tell you what I know. That blue bubble that appeared in your kitchen is a device that can be used to travel between realms.”
“So that girl who exited the black hole is from a different realm, and she was trying to come into this one? Is that what was going on?”
Mara shook her head. “I’m not sure what she was trying to do.”
“Why evaporate me and draw me into that black rift? What was that all about?” Stella asked.
“Whenever you use this device to send someone back to their realm, their physical body turns into that mist you saw, while it is being transported. It appears she was attempting to send you back to your realm for some reason, but I can’t imagine why she would want to do that.”
“So it’s possible for me to return to where I came from?”
“Yes, if we can get that device she is using, I could help you return to your realm. Although you need to understand that your counterpart here is dead. There won’t be a replacement for you when you leave this realm.”
“Jamie would be a widower.”
“The Jamie in this realm already is, I guess. He just doesn’t know it, because you are here,” Mara said.
“That would be awful for him. I’m not sure I could do that to Jamie.”
“Either this Jamie or the one from your realm will have to deal with the loss. I think you should consider what would be best for you—assuming we are able to send you back one day,” Mara said.
“So who is the girl who appeared in my kitchen, and what is she trying to accomplish?” Stella asked.
“That I cannot tell you.” Mara felt guilty for lying and looked down at her hands. The memory stone Stella had given her was still in her right palm. She extended her arm toward Stella. “Here, you can have this back.”
Stella raised her hand. “No, you need to keep that. It’s your memory stone now.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Normally, in a memory exchange, you would give it to me to share some experience of yours, but we agreed not to do that this time. Keep the stone and use it to share some memories with someone special in the future.”
Mara arched an eyebrow. “You mean, I can use this to share my memories with someone else?”
Stella smiled and nodded. “One experience or your entire life if you like, but it only works the one time, since you don’t have the ability to make a new stone.”
“Can anyone use it?” Mara asked.
“Anyone you choose can receive your memories, but only you can share them. It’s attuned to you, because you used the stone to receive my memory.”
“And people do this all the time in your realm?”
“Yes. It can be as casual as a handshake or as personal as making love, depending on what you share and with whom,” Stella said.
* * *
Back in Bohannon’s pickup truck heading north to Portland, the detective glanced over to the passenger seat and said, “So what was your hurry to get out of there after the memory trick?”
“Hurry? What do you mean?” Mara evaded but was too tired to pull off being casual.
“Come on. You’re not a very good liar. You didn’t even ask Stella if she recognized the girl, and that’s because you did. Who is she?”
Mara paused for a moment and then sighed, deflated. “I’ve got this friend Abby