me what you want in simple terms.”
“I’m going to show you,” Twig said and entered his mind telepathically. “I have produced a new type of optical device that see’s energy fields. When I looked at the recordings from our observatories, I discovered that there are areas in the universe that appear to be, for lack of a better term, nerve centers. It appears that these nerve centers are connected to all the energy in our universe. Sprig is of the opinion that there is an energy space just like null space that connects all energy. It is also the size of an atom so one can actually read all of the universe’s energy.
“Atlas, are you getting this?”
“Yes, and that is probably how the captors saw us where ever we were. They saw our energy signature and then just looked into one of those nerve centers and saw where all of us were located.”
Twig said, “Well, I don’t think they can see you right now.”
Tommy thought, “Why is that, Twig?”
“I’ll explain in a moment but first I want to finish what we were discussing. Once I saw those nerve centers, I wanted to see what was going on in one of them. I sent a recorder into one and it was burned out. Sprig developed a field reader that allowed us to see the heat coming out of these centers. We immediately found that the heat was increasing. Obviously we wanted to know how long this had been taking place so we rewound the observatory tapes and looked at them with Sprig’s reader. We were surprised to see that it started two days ago.”
Tommy furrowed his brow and said, “Where is this going?”
“Duke Gardner, we rewound the tapes back to the moment the heat started and used the reader to tell us the exact moment the energy field’s heat rose. We then turned our consciousness to sift thru every observation we’ve seen during that time period to see if anything happened at the precise moment the heat rose. Nothing is the tapes showed anything astronomically but something close to home matched closely to one of the spikes in temperature. We would like to ask you some questions to see if what we saw was just a coincidence.”
Tommy was still confused but said, “Go ahead and ask.”
“One of the spikes in temperature started when you took Captain Dodd’s hand to dance last night and continued until you stepped away from her.”
Tommy looked at them and drew a blank. Sprig said, “We determined that the event began the day before the wedding immediately after the meeting in the auditorium. Did you within ten minutes after that meeting make any physical contact with Captain
Dodd?”
Tommy remembered that he had touched Cassie’s hand and had been severely shocked after the meeting ended. “Yes,” he answered.
Sprig and Twig stopped moving. “You did.”
“Yes, I did,” Tommy said.
Twig said, “Immediately after the ceremony, all of the Gardners, Tgon-Gee, and Captain Dodd left the celebration and went behind closed doors. Did you while you were behind those doors have any physical contact with Captain Dodd?”
“Yes, I did.”
Atlas said, “What are you trying to prove here?”
Sprig said, “One more question; Tommy when you and Captain Dodd left the celebration, did you have physical contact with her for a period of one hour four minutes and six seconds?”
Tommy remembered holding Cassie in the cafeteria for a long time. He shook his head and said, “I don’t know exactly how long but yes I was in physical contact with her for an extended period.”
Twig said, “I’ve just requested Captain Dodd to join us.”
Cassandra entered the room and saw everyone look at her with a funny kind of expression. “What’s wrong?”
Tommy started over to her when Twig said, “Stop! Do not touch her yet.”
Tommy stopped and said, “What are you two trying to say here?”
Sprig walked over and turned on the wall viewer showing an empty section of space. The screen was then split into four screens that were views of open space. Twig said, “Sprig is going to run these views of multiple nerve centers through his viewer so we can see if anything happens when you touch Captain Dodd. Hold on just a minute. While we’re waiting, you might find it interesting to know that the temperature of these centers is estimated to be hotter than the core of a star and possibly getting as hot as the atom that exploded in the big bang and caused the formation of this universe.”
Sprig said, “This is probably just a coincidence but we need to see. Now, if we’re just being silly; when you touch Captain Dodd, then nothing will happen on the screen. If there is a relationship between your physical contact and the heating of the centers then the screen will show a change in color. Are you ready?”
Cassandra thought to Tommy, “What’s going on here.”
Tommy replied, “You’ve missed a lot, I’ll explain it to you in a moment. Let’s watch the screen.” Tommy held out his hand to Cassie and she took it. They both felt the shock that was getting easier and they saw that all four parts of the screen turned bright blue.
“Let go of her,” Twig screamed mentally.
Tommy and Cassandra jumped back from each other.
Atlas said, “You have got to be kidding me.”
Sprig said, “I wish we were.”
Tommy and Cassandra looked at them and then at each other. Cassandra said, “What is going on?”
Atlas said, “I understand now.”
Tommy said, “Understand what?”
Atlas said, “If you continue to make physical contact with Captain Dodd, then you may cause the destruction of our universe.”
Tommy and Cassandra both looked stunned and couldn’t think of anything to say. Sprig stepped between them and said, “It appears that each time you touch each other, the temperature of the energy space spikes up. The current temperature is close to the temperature of what is believed to be the big bang just before the explosion ignited and started our universe. If, like we suspect, there is a particle at the center of energy space, then if it heats to the temperature of the big bang, the resulting explosion would destroy us and start the formation of a new universe.”
Twig said, “You cannot touch each other until that space cools.”
Cassandra said, “Just how long will that take.”
“We don’t know, but this is not optional. You must keep your distance.”
Tommy sighed and said, “We aren’t ready yet. We have to wait. This is what my mother meant by dangerous to come together too early.”
Cassandra didn’t know what to say.
Twig said, “It appears that someone of extreme psychic ability may have created our universe. It seems that psychic energy trumps energy. I have a lot to think about; however, you two must keep your distance.”
Cassandra thought to Tommy, “This is payment for my sins; this punishment is too much. I don’t want to have a moment when we’re not together. Oh, Tommy, what are we going to do?”
“We’re going to avoid touching each other. We will be together in our minds and let’s hope our adolescents can figure out how to get around this mess.”
Sprig looked at Twig and mentally sighed, “I don’t know what we can do; do you?”
Twig looked at the screen and wondered how long the temperature would take to drop. She had an idea that quick sudden touches might equalize the system, but she would not attempt it before the temperature dropped to a safer level. She hoped the two would be able avoid physical contact. Twig thought to them, “Come back in three days and let’s see where we are.”
Tommy and Cassandra thought, “Three days, oh my god, three days.”
Atlas asked, “Sprig, is it possible to read anything from the particle in this energy nerve center you’ve postulated?”
Everyone stopped and listened to Sprig’s response. Sprig thought for a moment and said, “If anyone or thing tried to get near that particle now it would be burned out of existence. I see no possible way you could read anything out of that space but heat.”
