Gravity Rising (The Parallel Multiverse Book 2) Read online

  “Pretty out there… if you like blizzards,” she said.

  “It will get a lot worse than this,” Berthold responded. “This is only the middle of October. You remember what last January was like.”

  She folded her arms and shivered. “Don’t remind me. I don’t know how we even lived in Montreal.”

  Berthold stood up. He looked down and flicked a piece of lint off his sweater. He stepped over next to the girl.

  “I don’t know that it is much warmer here during the winter. I grew up in this kind of weather, so I really don’t have a frame of reference. I read somewhere that the temperature almost never fell below freezing in Florida during the winter.”

  “It’s still a lot warmer there than here,” Maggie said. “I visited there a few times with my parents.”

  “You have traveled more than I,” he said.

  “Daddy had government business in the Carolina Free State and he was able to take us along a couple of times.”

  He looked out the window again, through the blowing snow. “I wonder what this place looked like before everything fell apart. Now it just looks like my career.”

  “Will you stop?” she said with some asperity. “This is not the end of the world.”

  “Isn’t it? I was surviving on my education stipend, but I didn’t have any extra money. The school will probably throw me out of here regardless of whether I can pay the gas bill – and that is an open question right now. I thought about going out this afternoon and throwing myself into the river, but I would probably break a leg on the ice along the way or something.”

  She turned and grasped his arms, giving him a good shake. “Larry, are you a good physicist?”

  “I know I’m a good physicist.”

  “And how do you know that?”

  “Well, look what I accomplished. I made it through college and into the doctoral program, here. My grades were good. I figured out a lot about what I’m doing. There certainly aren’t many people around here to explain things to me. Fuzzy Pournelle certainly can’t.”

  “You figured things out on your own,” she said.

  “That’s what I just told you, more or less.”

  “And how did you do that?”

  “What is this, twenty questions?”

  “Just answer me.” She was now glaring at him.

  “Okay, okay. Listen, I just did what I needed to do. It wasn’t because I was smarter than anybody else...”

  He stopped. “Okay, I know I’m pretty smart. But this was mostly hard work.”

  “And how did you deal with setbacks?” she asked, poking him in the chest.

  “I just picked myself up and got back in the game.”

  “Did you listen to what you just said?” Maggie asked him.

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah.” He turned and walked back over to sit in his chair.

  She walked over to where the tea kettle began to rumble and searched the cupboard for two cups. She dipped the tea strainer into the pouch of black tea and then poured water from the kettle through it into the cups.

  She turned off the gas and carried the two cups over to where Larry sat.

  “Okay, now we eat.”

  She ladled the soup into the bowls and slid one in front of him. She sat down and used the spoon to dip into the soup in her bowl. She blew on it a couple times and then sipped.

  “Not bad, even if I do say so myself.”

  He dipped his spoon into the soup and took a sip. His eyebrows raised.

  “Maggie, I don’t know how you do it. This is very good.”

  She shrugged and then pulled one side of her ragged sweatshirt up, where it had drifted to the edge of her shoulder. He glanced at her clothes and wondered once again if she truly had no taste or if she simply did not care. In all the years he knew her, he had never summoned the courage to ask. She had even dressed oddly in grade school.

  Berthold continued to spoon the soup into his mouth as he stared out the window. The afternoon was beginning to deepen into dusk and now the snow seemed peaceful rather than foreboding. She watched him as she worked on her soup.

  “Are you getting it back together?” she asked.

  “Thanks, Maggie. Yes, I think I am started to get my footing again. Thanks for coming up.”

  “Hey, what are friends for? I saw the look on your face when you stormed out of the offices. I figured you might need some fortifying.”

  “Well, it’s obvious your soup has done it once again,” he chuckled softly, amazed at the reappearance of his sense of humor. “I guess the river won’t capture me, tonight.”

  “I don’t want you to even joke about that. M’Uncle Jake did something like that. He was at the beach and just walked out to sea. Never came back.”

  Berthold shuddered. “I’m sorry, Maggie. I was thinking of myself as usual.”

  “And you do that so well,” she retorted.

  He grinned and shook his fist at her. “And when you walked in here, I thought you would bring some sympathy. I don’t know why.”

  “You know me better than that.”

  “I stand corrected.”

  She picked up the bowl and drank the last of the soup. “And now, old man, I must trot back downstairs and see to my studies. And, you have things to do.”

  He looked puzzled. “What would I have to do, given the circumstances?”

  She gave him a withering look. “You are going over to your office to spend the evening riding the global net and looking for another position. I can’t bring you soup every night. Dr. Pournelle gave you two weeks, right?”

  “Right.”

  “Then time is wasting, Larry. I’ll do the dishes for you. You need to scoot.”

  § § §

  Larry clattered down the stairs to the first-floor exit. The door was set in the stairwell and opened to the plaza separating Maseeh Hall from the school proper. The wind cut like a knife as he stepped outside. He had not expected it to be quite so cold, and so he jogged across the plaza to the other side and trotted up to the doorway closest to where his office was located. He yanked on the door and almost pulled himself off his feet when the door refused to open.

  “Well, crud!” he muttered.

  He pulled on the other door and it also would not open. He looked quickly back and forth. The inviolable custom was that the exterior doors to public buildings were never locked. There were few enough people left in the city, and death by hypothermia was a real risk during the long winters. The public buildings offered a refuge to those who were unable to pay for heating, and for those who had simply miscalculated concerning the weather. Students often encountered people from the city huddled in the hallways when they arrived for classes in the mornings.

  Larry wrapped his arms about himself as he stood and briefly debated about running back to his flat for a coat.

  “This is crazy,” he said, out loud. “This doesn’t make sense.”

  He turned to his left and ran through the drifting snow to the main entrance. The three sets of doors there also would not open. He pounded on the door, but no one seemed to be around. He then turned and ran back to Maseeh Hall. He reached the door to the stairwell, and it was apparently locked.

  “What is this?” he shouted.

  He then ran around to the front and through the courtyard to the main entrance. These doors were also locked. He pulled and rattled them, then pounded on the door. He was now getting seriously cold. Fear began creeping into his consciousness, and he wondered if he would die out in this frozen wasteland.

  “Hello! I need some help out here,” he yelled. “Can anybody hear me? Hello. Help!”

  The warmly lit windows of the hall were beyond his reach. Anyone walking through the lobby would see him, but the whole place seemed deserted. He looked around at the first-floor windows. He floundered through the gathering snow to the first one that was lighted. He pounded on the glass, then cupped his hands to peer in. No one was in the room. He moved to the next lighted window. Nobody seemed to be any
where that he could see.

  “Help!” he screamed at the top of his lungs.

  The panic began to subside. It seemed like it might be warming up. He was not as cold as he was previously. Perhaps if he huddled down next to the doors he might be okay. He pulled his shirt collar up to cover part of his ears. He scrunched down and ducked his head down so it was not directly exposed to the wind. The courtyard of the hall was actually rather sheltered. It seemed to him that his actions helped. He no longer was as cold as before. He was getting tired, too. Maybe he could just rest for a few minutes….

  CHAPTER THREE

  “He’s coming around.”

  Larry wondered who was talking, and who the individual was talking about. He opened his eyes and recognized his room. Someone had evidently turned the heat up. It was very warm in the room. He was wrapped in woolen blankets and shivered uncontrollably.

  “Larry, are you with us?” He twisted his head to look at Maggie.

  She put her hands on both sides of his face. “Oh, you frightened us, so! What were you doing outside without a coat?”

  “Coat?” he croaked.

  “Do you remember what happened?” someone else asked.

  “Why is everybody in my room?” he grated out. He still felt like he was wrapped in a fog, and was annoyed at all the people in his room.”

  “It was a good thing Seb Sylvester happened to walk through the lobby and spotted you,” Maggie said. “You wouldn’t have lasted much longer.”

  He looked around wonderingly. Why was everybody in his flat, and why did he feel so horrible?

  “I still had some soup in the crock,” Maggie said, “and I warmed it up. You need to have some more.”

  A couple of pairs of hands helped him sit up slightly and he felt pillows sliding under his back. He thought that he ought to resent people waiting on him hand and foot, but he discovered he really didn’t care. Maggie sat down next to his bed and started spooning the soup into his mouth. He thought it tasted marvelous, and the warmth felt wonderful as he swallowed. He wished he remembered the event that brought everyone to his room, though. It wouldn’t have been a party if he were sick like this.

  Was he blacking out? He wasn’t sure. Now he was again lying on his back and shivering again. Another change – everyone had left, except for Maggie. She helped him to sit up slightly so he could sip some scalding tea. His eyes drifted closed. When he opened his eyes again, it was dark in the room. He was no longer shivering. He was lying on his side and felt an enveloping warmth. He was back to back with another person in his bed. He jumped.

  “Go back to sleep, Larry,” Maggie said.

  Unbidden, his eyes closed again. He awakened to sunlight streaming through his windows. He felt warm and rested. He was by himself and wondered how much of his fragmented memories were correct. It was confusing.

  The door to his flat opened and Maggie walked in, once more carrying a crock.

  “I see we’re awake. How are you feeling?”

  Larry struggled to sit up. When the blankets slipped down, he grew cold again and pulled them up around himself.

  “I was trapped out in the snow,” he said.

  “But, what were you doing out there?” she asked.

  “I decided to just run across the street to the office. The doors were locked. When I came back over here, the doors to the hall were locked. I couldn’t get in.”

  “Trying to run across to the office without a coat was a dumb thing to do,” she said.

  Larry shook his head. “I’ve seen you do it before, Mags.”

  “We couldn’t understand why the doors were locked,” she replied. When Sebastian found you and dragged you inside, he discovered the locked doors. That was very bad.”

  “I can understand, now, why it is so important to leave them unlocked. I thought I was going to die.”

  “I thought you were, too,” she grimaced. “Larry, you scared the daylights out of all of us.”

  “I couldn’t understand why all the doors were locked.”

  “That is something we are going to find out, today.”

  She looked at him. “I brought you breakfast. Now, don’t expect this every day.”

  “It will only be for two more weeks anyway.”

  “I think you need to stay here, under the covers, today. You do not need to go outside again just yet.”

  “I don’t want to go outside again,” Larry said.

  She ladled a portion of creamed wheat into a bowl and set it in front of him. “Now, eat. Then I want you to lie down again. I’ll check on you later.”

  She stood and watched as he spooned the hot cereal down. He tried to sort out his conflicting memories of the previous night and was still confused.

  “Maggie?”

  “Yes?”

  “I really don’t remember much of last night. But, thanks.”

  “Yeah,” she said as she took the bowl from him. Without another word she rinsed the bowl in the sink, and left, carrying her crock.

  The heavy woolen blankets felt good. Larry wondered where they had come from. He burrowed into their warmth and fell asleep again. He awakened once and staggered down the hall to visit the bathroom. Returning to his apartment, he again climbed under those wonderful blankets and resumed his hibernation. He awakened again, and Maggie sat next to his bed.

  “Something smells good,” he said.

  “Just some stew,” she explained. “I have a bowl of it here for you. Are you able to sit up on your own?”

  He pulled the covers aside and swung around so he could sit up in the bed, with his feet on the floor. “I got up for a few minutes earlier. I had to visit the bathroom.”

  “You were sleeping when I came in. That’s good. Here.” She handed him the bowl of stew and a spoon. “I have a cup of tea on the floor, here, for whenever you want it.”

  “Oh, thanks,” he said. “This is wonderful.”

  “I still do not understand what happened,” he said. “I ran across to the school and all the doors were locked. When I came back here, the doors were locked. It was unpleasant.”

  “The dean and the professors have been scurrying around all morning trying to discover who locked everything down,” she said. “It would be funny if it wasn’t so nearly tragic.”

  “I didn’t know you could even lock the outside doors, anymore,” Larry said. “I guess I was wrong.”

  “They had to take the locks apart to get the doors open this morning,” she said. “It seems nobody had any idea where the keys might be.”

  “That is interesting. So, the dean wasn’t trying to get rid of me permanently.”

  She frowned. “The dean is trying to get rid of you permanently. But, I don’t think he would stoop to murder. He was as horrified as everyone else about what happened.”

  Larry finished the bowl of stew and stifled a belch. Maggie handed him the cup of tea and he began sipping on it. He glanced out the window.

  “The weather broke.”

  “Yes,” she said. “It is back up in the forties. There is supposed to be another storm coming in tonight.”

  “You will pardon me if I do not desire to go outside for a while.”

  She leaned forward and put her hand on his. “Oh, Larry, I was so frightened. I thought you were going to die.”

  “I thought I was, too.” He reached with his other hand to cover hers. “But, thanks for looking out for me. I know I’m a selfish lout, but you really are my best friend.”

  “You are a selfish lout,” she replied. “But, in this case, somebody had to look out for you. I got elected.”

  “You got elected?”

  “He’s your friend, Maggie,” she mimicked, “you watch over him tonight.”

  “Oh.”

  At that point, Larry was speechless. He could think of nothing to say. She studied the expression on his face and made her characteristic inhaled snort.

  “But I was glad to do it, Larry. I know you would do it for me.”

  “I sur
e would.”

  “I’m curious,” he continued. “Were you in my bed last night?”

  She jerked her hand away and slapped him. “There are limits to friendship, Lawrence Berthold! And we are most certainly not friends with benefits.”

  “That’s not what I meant,” he said, looking hurt. “It was just… well, like, somebody was keeping me warm.”

  “Listen, Mister,” she said, as she shook her finger at him. “I was happy to take care of a friend in need. But, don’t read something into it that is certainly not there.”

  “Of course not,” he protested. “That wasn’t what I was trying to say.”

  “Right. You normally have trouble putting together complete sentences, anyway.”

  He shook his head. “Oh, just forget it. I was trying to thank you.”

  She glared at him. “Yeah. Okay. Apology accepted. Now lay back down, so I can get back to work.”

  “I need to visit the bathroom.”

  “Oh, for pity’s sake,” she said. “You are just hopeless, you know that, Larry? Come on.”

  She helped him to his feet and escorted him down the hall to the men’s room. She waited outside and then took him back to his flat, and got him into the bed.

  “Promise me you won’t try to get up this afternoon,” she admonished.

  “Come on, Maggie.”

  “No, I know you. Tell me you’ll stay in bed this afternoon.”

  “I’ll go crazy if I have to do that,” he said. “Give me a break.”

  She stepped up close to him, as he lay there. “You are going to stay in that bed, right?”

  He was once again reminded that she always did the intimidation thing very well.

  “Okay.”

  “Promise?” she asked, bending over and poking him in the chest.

  “I told you I would,” he said.

  “But you didn’t promise.”

  “Oh, all right. I promise.”

  “Good.” And, she turned around and left the flat.

  He put his hands behind his head and sighed. He felt like he was pretty well slept out, and wondered how he would survive the afternoon stuck in the bed. Maggie was sure to ask him if he had stayed there the entire time was gone. He didn’t like making her angry, plus, he enjoyed being fussed over.