Page 63 of Not You Again
“Fascinating.” Dr. Song twisted the star pendant on a long silver chain around her neck.
“Fascinating?” Adam’s nails flexed against Carly’s knee.
“I think we’re both a bit freaked out, like, if she’s gone...” Carly carefully chose her words, fully aware that Adam was listening to all of them. “Does that mean other people can just disappear, too? And when will they come back?”
“If they come back,” Heather corrected her. Carly noted the wince from Adam immediately.
“She’ll come back,” Adam said, though it was clear he was telling himself that more than anything.
“Well, this doesn’t exactly hurt the wormhole theory.” Dr. Song looked to Rick for validation.
“She’s obsessed with this wormhole thing,” Rick said. “I keep telling her we’re all chess pieces, and the game players want us to think we’re in danger. But I’m not worried. Just got to keep poking around for that door.”
Heather rolled her eyes at that.
“Wait, what do you mean it doesn’t hurt the wormhole theory?” Adam crossed his arms, paying close attention.
“There was no time change in the eclipse,” Heather said, “which suggests something about the loop stabilized enough that the wormhole didn’t need to shrink in on itself. It didn’t collapse any further. But perhaps that’s because it gained more exotic matter, more of that negative mass it needs to stay open.”
“Are you suggesting Shireen is the negative mass?” Adam asked.
“It would appear so, yes.”
Carly felt sick. “Are you saying the loop is, like,eatingpeople to stay stable? What would stop it from just decimating this whole place?”
“I imagine nothing would.” Heather drummed her fingers along the arm of the chair. “Unless we found a different kind of negative mass to feed it.”
“We came here for help,” Adam said, desperation clawing through his voice. “How do we bring her back?”
Heather and Rick exchanged a look, like they shared some secret apocalyptic language. Then Rick said, “We’ve been talking about this some ourselves—what to do in the event of the unthinkable. I think a person up and vanishing is tipping us into the unthinkable.”
Rick, to his credit, didn’t look excited by this fact; unlikeHeather, he seemed sympathetic to Adam’s cause. “It’s like inBeaches, when Barbara Hershey finds out she has cancer...” Rick began to tear up.
Heather gave Rick a knowing series of pats on the back as she said, “We don’t have a way to bring Shireen back. But someone else might. We have to tell the rest of Julian.”
Chapter 22
Adam
Adam was overwhelmed. He wasn’t used to the kind of excitement that comes from trying to solve a time loop, let alone bring someone back from a potential wormhole. Particularly when that someone happened to be his ex-wife.
He very much wanted to get off the roller coaster that was his life. However, he had no choice but to secure his seat belt and hold on to the safety bar at all times. He also had no choice but to follow behind the Caltech van as they headed into town.
“At least we don’t have to ride in the panel van.” Carly tried to lighten the mood. “The only time I get into vans is if a stranger offers me candy.”
He knew she was just trying to keep him calm, but he also sensedshewas going through a lot. So he joked back, “Who knows? Maybe they do have candy in there.”
Carly bit her lip. “We don’t have to do this, you know. We could tell Rick and Heather to shove it and keep looking for Shireen on our own.”
Adam knew she was right, but he also knew that he was desperate to fix this, since he felt partially responsible for whatever had happened to Shireen. After all, he’d told herabout the wormhole. Maybe in doing so, he’d cursed her to be taken by it. “No,” he said. “We’ll tell the town. We’ll see if anyone else is missing, and if there are any new ideas as to what’s going on.”
Adam parked the hearse, got out of the car and held a hand out for Carly. Her palm was cool and steady, and he was grateful to hold it. When they locked eyes, the world slowed and his breathing calmed, too. They would get out. They would solve this puzzle.
The group began to walk toward Main Street and quickly saw that almost the entire town was out in the middle of the road.
“Mayor Franco?” Carly asked.
Adam gave a low chuckle. “Pretty sure she won’t be able to hear you over all this noise.” The sound from the road was deafening, like being at an indoor concert and standing next to the amplifier. What was the activity today, an impromptu mosh pit?
