Finals week for the first semester was a difficult one. James liked exams, but these were awfully demanding examinations. Three hours long for each of biology, chemistry, physics and math. The English examination was also three hours but writing essays was easy compared to endless science and math questions. Three B’s, a C and an A-. Well, it could have been better, but it also could have been worse. At least the A- was in maths.
Second semester courses were just continuations of the classes he had begun in October. Same courses, same demands. At least Cambridge had become a familiar place and James was feeling fairly well adjusted to what was being asked of him. The second semester went pretty well. As the year end finals approached James started to wonder if professor Benjamin would follow up on his idea of furthering the discussions about the events of James’s disappearance. Then, with just four days before his first final, an email popped up on his Cambridge email service from Dr. Benjamin. He was requesting another meeting, the day following James’s last final examination.
James had been planning to travel home to Scotland on that day, but staying an extra 24 hours to discuss things with Dr. Benjamin seemed a worthwhile reason to delay the trip. James had been thinking about the memories of his adventures with Oakleaf Gilderwood in a different way ever since his conversation with the Lucasian professor. Could there possibly be a rational physical explanation for what he had experienced? James knew a little about the mathematical models of alternate timelines and parallel universes. Being dropped out of the sky on the top of Mount Issabella did not seem like a physics experiment at the time, but in retrospect James had remembered a few interesting details.
The dominant language of the Empire was modern English. How was that possible? German culture seemed to dominate the Empire. Why didn’t they also speak German? Magic seemed to take precedence over everything else. Even their religions were intermixed with magic. Scientific progress existed in the Alternate Earth but for the most part, the state of industrial and technological development had lagged behind that of James’s Earth. It was as if the magical emphasis had inhibited the progression of scientific thought.
There were other points of interest. None of the major religions of his world seemed to exist in the Alternate Earth. Why not? And then there was that remarkable blue moon, Ragnar. What role did it play in all of this?
James tried not to fixate too much on these questions. He instead applied himself to his studies and prepared for his finals. The evening before his first exam James and Paul stayed up very late, reviewing everything they had studied in their Biology course. Biology was one of the two courses they were both registered in.
That night James had a dream based in the Alternate Earth. Elana and a companion were sitting at a large stone table carved with strange symbols, with Astromancers from their College. The conversation was animated and emphasised the extreme danger of a threat to the Empire. Elana’s companion was a strongly built woman in yellow robes who seemed to carry the discussions. Instruments like medieval slide rules and astrolabes were used to project images onto the table. The Wizards urged Elana and her companion to take action, and enlist the help of the Sapphire Council, whatever that was. The dream ended with Elana and her companion descending the College stairwell. They seemed considerably distressed. James wished he could somehow help Elana, and he awoke quite disturbed by the dream.
The Biology final went pretty well despite the distractions James experienced from the images in the dream. He decided to splurge and purchase a slice of pizza for lunch, taking it with him into the park which bordered the grounds of the University. While he ate his meal a young woman rounded the corner walking her dog. The dog, a large Saint Bernard pulled the young lady towards James, wagging its tail.
“I am sorry about this,” commented the young lady, visibly concerned. “Stop that Titan! Heel!” Still the dog pulled and pulled. The dog didn’t seem aggressive really, just overly friendly. “Titan! What has gotten over you?” Still, it pulled, right up to James. He wasn’t sure how to react.
“I guess that he smells my lunch”, offered James.
“She’s a girl, and she doesn’t usually do things like this,” apologized the woman.
Eventually control of the dog was restored and James was left in peace to finish his lunch. As he was rising from the park bench he noticed something odd. A small sheet of paper, parchment by the looks of it. On the ground, right where the dog had been. He picked it up. Very strange paper, it looked like something made by hand. On the paper written in calligraphy were the words, ‘Please help us’. ‘How odd.’ thought James.
The rest of his final examinations went as well as he could have hoped. With the completion of his last exam, James walked out of the examination hall, optimistic that he might have improved his grades from the first semester. He and Paul spent that evening packing up their belongings for their return trips home. Paul’s dad was driving down from Liverpool, and picking him up in the morning.
James’s plan was to meet up with his auntie the next day as she had kindly offered to drive James and his things to Thurso. Auntie Jessica hadn’t had a visit with James’s mother since Christmas and they were both eager to see one another. Her Ford Puma should be just large enough to accommodate the boxes and backpacks full of James’s belongings.
After James helped send off his roommate Paul, he made his way to the Department of Mathematics and up to the fourth floor. No secretary seemed to be in this morning and so he gingerly approached the door and knocked lightly.
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“James, James! Please come in,” insisted Dr. Benjamin as he opened his office door and greeted James enthusiastically. “I would like to introduce Professor Annette O’Rourke, from the Department of Physics. Dr. O’Rourke, this is the young man that I have been telling you about, James Blair.”
Professor O’Rourke presented as a middle aged woman with a penetrating gaze. She was obviously sizing James up as a witness, and wasted little time beginning her interrogation. “I am pleased to meet you James. Your story regarding your disappearance last summer in the Scottish countryside is of particular interest to me. I wonder if it might be possible for me to ask you some questions regarding your recollections of this experience? I believe that some of the details of your travels might be of substantial value to my research.”
“I would be pleased to assist your research, professor,” replied James.
“Excellent!” began Dr. O’Rourke. “I have already received a considerable briefing from Arnold, but there are some points of interest that I seek to clarify. Firstly, do you have any thoughts on the origin of the new moon, ‘Ragnar’ I believe, is the name you provided Dr. Benjamin. James, you are a skilled amateur astronomer. Where did this moon come from in your opinion?”
“Ragnar, yes m’lady,” replied James. “I have put a considerable amount of thought into this subject. I really never was able to make a proper set of observations of Ragnar, but from what I saw, I feel that I can make some educated guesses.”
Very good,” interjected the professor.
“The moon was pale blue and had an obviously brighter surface than our moon,” explained James, then continued. “ One evening I was able to compare the two and Ragnar was at least twice as bright, even though it may have been smaller. However, there seemed to be no obvious emanations of gases or particles so I don’t think that it was a captured comet. My guess is that the composition of the moon is rock as opposed to ice. The orbit of the moon may well have been circumpolar, and highly eccentric. I am pretty sure that Ragnar is closest to their Earth every summer, and furthest away during the winter. When I asked, people seemed to think that Ragnar was smaller or non-existent in winter but much more visible in summer when they claimed it influenced their Earth dramatically. Ragnar definitely seemed to rotate. I noticed that it presented different aspects during different viewing opportunities. Given those properties of the moon, I would guess that it could have been in Earth’s orbit for only a few hundred or at most a few thousand years. More time than that and the orbit would have changed, or one of the two moons would have been expelled from Earth’s orbit, or maybe the two bodies would have collided? So my guess is that Ragnar was captured by Alternate Earth’s gravity sometime in the recent past.”
“Fascinating,” replied Annette O’Rourke, and she asked, “Was the orbit of our moon changed in any way?”
”Again, my observations were imperfect, but I noticed nothing out of the ordinary in the movements of our moon.”
“Indeed,” replied the learned physicist. She consulted a small notebook held in her hands. “I am wondering about something that happened during your return journey. While you hiked around the headland of the valley, I understand that you witnessed several contradictory scenes. Did Ragnar appear in them all?”
“Only in the first few maam. As I approached the mountain pass the last few visions did not include Ragnar,” explained James.
“I see,” responded professor O’Rourke. “I understand that you have noticed a great deal of similarity between a tabletop board game that you play and the world you experienced during your disappearance. Were there any notable differences between the game and the experiences from your visit to that world?”
“Hmmmm,” said James. “That is a difficult question. There were many differences. None of the names of the characters in the game match the real life people that I met, although the Kaiser was close. My game names the ruler of the Empire, Fredrick Willhelm, but his real name was Willhelm Fredrick. None of the cities have the same names except Badendorf and Stalsburg, and both have different spellings. The moon Ragnar seems to behave about the same way as described in the game, but the drawings look vastly different. In fact almost none of the artwork in the books is very similar to what I saw. The models are also not particularly realistic.”
“This is all extremely helpful James,” responded Annette O’Rourke. “It is interesting that everything you have told me seems to support one particular model of parallel existence. That model happens also to be the model that I personally favor. Are you familiar with the ‘Many Worlds' hypothesis James?” asked the professor.
“Vaguely maam,” answered James.
“‘Many Worlds’ postulates that every time there is an event which takes place, that has more than one possible outcome, both outcomes occur. The two universes separate from each other, one for each outcome. This could lead to an infinite number of universes of course. The particular version of the theory which I support postulates that only a limited number of particularly stable universe histories actually maintain existence. All of the other, less stable arrangements fade, perhaps existing in a less tangible form between the stable configurations. It is thought by some that closely related worlds might experience some connection. Possibly those who are particularly sensitive may be able to perceive details from the adjacent universe, or maybe even travel between them?”
James was overwhelmed with these thoughts. The rest of the appointment went very well and both professors congratulated him on his successes at Cambridge during his first year of post secondary education. They resolved to meet again in the upcoming school year.
That night Elana again appeared in a dream sequence. She was inside the College of Emerald Wizardry, with her dog friend Saturin. The dream was short but James got the idea that the two of them were rushing off to an important task. When he awoke to his alarm, James thought again of the interaction with the misbehaving Saint Bernard and the strange parchment note. Was James about to be summoned back to the lands of the Empire? Auntie Jessica would be there soon so he hurriedly carried all of the boxes of his belongings to the car park where they planned to meet up. The events of the last few months started to add up in his mind. This was all leading up to another summoning. He could feel it coming. Elana needed his help for some reason. It would be difficult and dangerous. Could he refuse? Part of him said yes. Another part of him saw that he had a unique opportunity. Two Cambridge professors thought that James’s experience had been real and noteworthy. What to do?
James loaded his things into Auntie Jessica’s Puma and the pair set off to drive to Thurso, and his mother’s house. Eleven hours was a long drive. James and his aunt spelled each other off and so it was about 5:30 pm in the evening when the pair were passing through Georgemas, on the A9 highway, only a few kilometers from their destination.
James noticed a young woman walking on the side of the road as they exited the town, noteworthy to James because of her familiar green robes, and dark hair. ‘It couldn’t be,’ thought James to himself.
“Auntie Jessica turned down the music in her car radio as they approached the town limits of Thurso. “We did it James! Your mother will be so happy to see us. Would you mind calling her and letting her know that we will be at the house in a few minutes?”
James did not answer her, and so she carefully shifted her gaze from the road to the adjacent seat. James’s cell phone was in the door pocket. But there was no sign of James. James was gone.