If we’re going to send you back, we not only have to figure out how to activate the portal, we also must figure out how to control your destination. If we don’t, you might find yourself facing down a T-Rex.”
Reno looked to Journey for help. She responded automatically. “A T-Rex is a huge, flesh-eating dinosaur that lived seventy million years ago.”
“Damn. I see what you’re saying.”
“In other words, going through one of these portals can make a person virtually disappear off the face of the Earth. As we’ve learned from the scarce data, cases like yours are virtually unheard of. If the portals on Earth are connected to the ones in our magnetosphere, there could be bodies of the vanished floating hundreds of miles above the Earth – and we’d never know it.
Journey gasped at the starkness and bluntness of Lou’s commentary. “Floating above earth?” She could imagine a scene from some space odyssey nightmare. “Why is this happening?”
Reno covered her hand with his. “Nothing’s happening. Lou’s just talking to us, that’s all. Go ahead, Lou.”
“I believe I told you that NASA had sent up four unmanned space probes to collect data on the interaction between the Earth’s and the sun’s magnetic fields. The portals Dr. Sculler observed in the data they collected were completely unpredictable. They opened and closed in an instant.”
“Well, that makes sense,” Journey commented, trying to find something positive in what was being said. “The opening disappeared right after Reno went through. Right?” she looked at him to see what he thought.
“Yea, that’s true. Kinsella and his raiders weren’t able to follow me.”
Lou rubbed her hand across the papers as if testing the texture of the fibers. “Correct. Just like with Morgan Heimer, the men he was with didn’t even realize he was gone for a few seconds. It’s so quick. So complete.” She hesitated, searching for what she wanted to say. “It’s one thing when you’re talking electrons, quite another when you’re speaking of a human being. Very risky.”
“What if I’m willing to take the risk?”
“That’s up to you.” Lou glanced from Reno to Journey. “You’ll have to decide that if or when the time comes.”
Reno scooted his chair back so he could prop his foot up on the back of Journey’s chair. “Just tell me anything you can. The more I know, the more informed of a decision I can make.”
“All right.” She opened her notes. “The most recent studies by NASA’s Themis spacecraft and Europe’s Cluster Probe tell us that these magnetic portals may be opening and closing dozens of times every day. Typically, they’re located tens of thousands of miles above earth where the solar winds interact with the earth’s geomagnetic fields. It’s believed that most of the portals are small and short-lived. There are a few that are vast, yawning, long-lasting things. What I found unsettling was the fact that these portals are unstable, invisible, and elusive. They open and close without warning.”
“So, there’s no way of controlling what Reno and I would be going through.” Journey was beginning to get the picture.
“No. Many of the other planets have magnetospheres that interact with the sun’s solar winds to varying degrees. Who’s to say how many thousands of portals open and close across our solar system each day? Hell, who knows where someone could end up walking through one of these things. Or walking out? Reno, it’s a one in a million wonder that you ended up here. There’s a possibility you could’ve stepped out on the surface of the moon, for God’s sake.”
Reno was listening, but he said nothing. His eyes were eating Journey up. The thought of putting her into danger made his heart sink. But how could he turn his back on his responsibilities? People’s lives were at stake. He felt sick. Torn.
“So, what are you saying? What do I do? Just give up?”
Lou shook her head, chewing on the inside of her cheek. “No, I wouldn’t recommend stopping our research or our preparations. Despite the data I’ve accumulated, we'll keep looking at possibilities and study every aspect. Plus, I’ll integrate what I’ve learned into the process. We’ll also analyze what happened to you to determine if there’s anything about your specific situation that could give us hope that your journey through time could be repeated. Safely.”
“How are we going to do that?” Reno asked, feeling discouraged.
“I don’t know.” Lou picked up her pen and tapped the end on the table. “Somehow, we need to get back to basics.