In Deep Water: Chapter 11
In Deep Water
“What do you mean, we’re in the past?” Xander’s brows form a deep V between his ice-blue eyes as he stares at the CELNAV crewmember.
“I mean, we’ve traveled back in time.” The crewmember squints at the constellation maps on the computer in front of him. “Early fifteen hundreds, I’d say.”
“You’re kidding.” Xander barks a laugh, falling silent as the rest of the room watches him. “Right guys?”
“It kind of makes sense, actually.” Nathan bobs his head in quiet reflection. “It explains why we can’t contact anyone on land. They aren’t there.”
“And why we don’t have internet.” Sophie grimaces.
Nathan nods. “No satellites.”
“Unbelievable!” Xander gazes down. “Okay, but how did we travel through time in the first place?”
“The storm.” I recall the waves crashing against the ship and the bolt of lightning that took out the power. “You guys said you’ve never experienced anything that intense before.”
“You make a good point, Emily.” Nathan scratches the scruff along his jaw.
Xander scoffs and glances at the crewmember. “Do you have access to the weather data, Eddie?”
“Yeah, I meant to mention that, too.” Eddie pulls up another window on his laptop. This one of a map with specks of red, yellow, green, and blue. “I looked into the Doppler from that night when I noticed the constellation inconsistencies. I didn’t believe it, myself.”
“This is the storm system from three nights ago?” Xander jerks his head toward the screen as he watches the radar.
Eddie inclines his chin. “So, there was this cool thing I learned during my training. They did a study on what they call super bolts.”
“Super bolts?” Sophie interrupts, her face scrunching.
“Yeah, bolts of lightning that are a hundred and sometimes a thousand times more powerful than regular lightning bolts.” Eddie bounces from one foot to the other.
“Hey, man.” Nathan rolls a chair over. “Do you want to sit down?”
“Sure, thanks.” Eddie drops into the seat. “I’ve had, like, three red bulls this morning. Makes me jittery.”
“Three?” I stare at him with wide eyes, glancing at a concerned Sophie, wondering what the symptoms of a heart attack are.
Eddie shrugs. “Anyway, they found that storms closer to the surface- it doesn’t matter if it’s land or water- have a higher chance of forming super bolts. It is the charging zone and less electrical resistance.”
“Okay, what does that have to do with our storm?” Xander frowns as he pours himself a cup of coffee.
Eddie blinks at him. “The electrical storm from three nights ago was exceptionally close to the surface. Closer than every other storm that’s formed in this vicinity in the past twelve months.”
“So, you’re saying the bolt that took the power out was a super bolt?” Xander glances at the radar again, watching as the storm moves across the screen.
“That’s what I’m thinking.” Eddie bounces a leg.
Nathan leans in. “What do you know of time travel?”
Eddie’s answering grin is sheepish. “Not much. Unless you count Doctor Who?”
Xander glances at the ceiling. “Jesus Christ.”
Sophie whispers. “I love Doctor Who.”
“I’ve heard some from one of my colleagues. Physics is his thing. There are a few accepted theories in the field. Though, I was only half listening when he’d talk about them.” Nathan fights a smile. “Physics hurts my head.”
“Mine, too.” I grumble. Just this conversation is hurting my head.
“What does physics say?” Xander deadpans.
“Well, it deals with Einstein’s theory of relativity. Most, like the light speed theory, only let you travel into the future.” Nathan takes a sip from his water bottle. “However, there are two theories that could allow past travel.”
Xander shifts in his seat. “Which are?”
“There’s Cosmic String theory, which is basically a flaw in spacetime. And there’s the Wormhole theory, which is the connection between two points in time by a tunnel.” Nathan ticks them off with his fingers.
“So, the storm created a flaw in spacetime?” Eddie frowns.
Nathan shakes his head. “In order for cosmic string theory to work, it would have to be two cosmic strings moving past each other in different directions. The probability of that is close to zero.”
Xander clicks his tongue. “So, you’re thinking wormhole theory?”
“It’s more likely. The energy from the super bolts could have punched a hole right through timespace.” Nathan punches the air.
“Alright, I’m not fully convinced, but you bring up some good points.” Xander takes a breath. “How do we get back to the present, then?”
“Technically, another super bolt could open another wormhole.” Nathan bites at his upper lip.
“Why do I hear a but at the end of that sentence?” Xander cocks his head to the side.
“That’s saying the wormhole opens to our time in the future.” Nathan sighs. “And we wouldn’t know until we went through.”
“Fuck,” Xander breathes.
“Yeah.” Nathan rubs a hand along the back of his neck.
There’s a long pause as we sit watching the swirls of color float across the monitor.
“I think that’s a risk we’d be willing to take,” Nathan announces. “Unless we want to stay in the fifteen hundreds?”
Sophie’s eyebrows go up. “Hell, no. I miss my internet.”
Shaking my head, I say “No” because I, too, miss the internet.
“Then, it’s settled.” Xander purses his lips. “Eddie, can you track storms in the area that have a higher probability of super bolts?”
“Since we’re down to only our onboard Doppler, I’ll try.” Eddie stands to gather his things.
“That’s all I ask.” Xander clamps a hand on Eddie’s back. “If you need anything, message me.”
Eddie smiles. “Thanks, boss.”
Sophie makes a noise as Eddie walks out the door. I watch the color drain from her face. “What is it, Soph?”
“I think there’s a very important detail missing.” She gulps, her eyes trailing along the many faces of computer monitors. “The shipwreck.”
I gasp. “It was us. Which means we need to figure out what caused it or we’re going to die.”
Editor: Shannon Hensley
