Chapter 8

The next morning Jason was up early and he started work on prepping for the trip he would be making with Michelle that day. He hoisted the transfer pod onto the truck and secured it so that he could transport it to the remote location from which he would depart upon the inter-nodal trip. When Michelle arrived Jason wanted to be able to just hop into the truck and go. As part of the equipment strapped to the outside of the transfer pod was a second bicycle for Michelle. This would allow her to ride along with him while exploring their destination.

A few minutes after nine Michelle arrived, surprising Jason with her fairly prompt arrival, and parked her car. Michelle was wearing jeans, a button down shirt, hiking boots, and carried a small backpack as she exited her car, smiling as Jason came out to meet her.

"Where are we going today, Jason?" Michelle asked as she walked with him toward the she where he kept the truck and the transfer pod.

"The probability node we are going to visit today is not too different from our own. As far as I can tell that node diverged from ours back in about 1980 during the Iranian Hostage Crisis." Jason answered.

"How do you know so much about it?" Michelle asked.

"I've gone there several times and spent several hours reading in the library. I decided that would be a good place for our first trip because it is close enough to our own node that we would not be noticeably foreign. Conditions there are pretty much the same as they are here."

"OK. What are we going to see there?"

"Once we arrive in the node I will take you into town and we can look around a bit. We can also visit the library where I can show you how the history of that node diverged from ours," Jason replied.

"We can walk and move about freely there?"

"Yes, the language spoken there is the same as here so no one would notice anything unusual about the way we talk, though that is a risk in nodes which are further from ours. Clothing styles are also close enough, too. But money is a problem because the currency there is slightly different from ours here, different enough to be noticeable. So we can't use our money there," Jason explained.

"Will that be a problem?" Michelle asked.

"No, we won't be there long enough to need to buy anything. This trip is just to show you what it is like to travel to a different probability node from this one," Jason answered.

"OK, then when do we get started?"

"The transport pod is already loaded on the truck so all we need to do is drive to the location from which I want to leave. It's a place more isolated and better concealed than the house here."

"Let's get going then!" Michelle exclaimed.

Jason and Michelle climbed into the cab of the truck carrying the transfer pod and Jason started the engine. Jason pulled out of the driveway to the house and started toward the location from which he would make his departure on the inter-nodal trip. While Jason was comfortable visiting the node which was the destination for today he still wanted to keep the transfer pod hidden away during the trip, and he wasn't sure who might be living at the analog of his house, he's not had the chance to observe that place in the other node yet.

As he was driving Jason was thinking that he needed to come up with a way to identify the nodes, perhaps by assigning a alpha-numeric designator to each one. That would make it easier to maintain the database he'd started containing information about every node that he had visited so far. The node they were visiting today was the first one that Jason had visited after discovering the inter-nodal drive and the one he felt most comfortable in. As he was driving Jason decided to designate the node he would be visiting as AA0001. With a designation for each node it would be easy to talk about and describe each one.

"Michelle, I have decided upon a numbering system for the nodes. Our own node will be AA0000. The one we will be visiting today I will be designating as AA0001. This will make it easier for us to track the nodes we visit and talk about them," Jason explained.

"OK. Are you keeping records of your explorations?" Michelle asked.

"Yes, I have created a database with records for each probability node that I have visited. When we return I will add the designation numbers to the database with a number assigned to every node," Jason answered.

Just then the truck arrived at the turn off to the dirt road leading to the clearing from which Jason planned to drop off the transfer pod and depart for AA0001. Jason turned into the dirt road and the two were silent while the truck rattled and bounced a little as it traveled along the un-graded before reaching the clearing. Jason unloaded the transfer pod from the truck using the winch and tip-able bed and then parked the truck in a space under the trees, hidden from view from the clearing. The two got out of the truck and walked over to the transfer pod.

"After we make the transfer we can use these two bicycles to return to town. Bicycles are less noticeable and more reliable than a powered vehicle," Jason explained.

"That sounds like a good idea. Are we ready to go?" Michelle asked.

"Yes. Let's go inside and get started," Jason replied.

Jason unlocked the hatch on the side of the transfer pod and climbed inside with Michelle following after him. Once Jason and Michelle were both inside he secured the hatch, sealing the interior off from the outside. The space inside was a little cramped with two people inside but Jason had set up a canvas camp chair for Michelle to sit on while they made the transfer to AA0001. Since the transfer would only take a few minutes that was all that was needed.

Once seated at the control console Jason powered up the system, turning on the video screen and control computer. They had to wait for a minute while the control computer booted and the control interface appeared on the smaller computer screen below the larger video screen. While the computer was booting up Jason turned on the forward outside camera. This gave the two occupants of the pod a good view of the exterior in front of the pod.

"Currently I navigate by counting the number of nodes that have been traversed though I have some ideas for instruments which will allow me to measure node traversal more directly," Jason said. "I haven't had a chance to try building those instruments yet."

"How far do we have to go to reach node AA0001?" Michelle asked.

"That is 34 nodes away from our own AA0000, getting there will take about 4 minutes run time of the inter-nodal drive," Jason answered.

"What is in those other 34 nodes?" Michelle asked.

"I don't really know because I haven't visited them yet. But I assume they are nodes which diverged from our own more recently than AA0001 has," Jason replied.

Everything was now ready and Jason had entered the destination in the computer. He activated the drive and they were on their way. Michelle watched the video screen as he did so looking intently to see if there would be any change in the outside view.

At first the girl was disappointed to see nothing different in the exterior view but then she saw the screen flicker momentarily. Looking intently she thought the appearance of the trees and other plants visible on the screen were slightly different than before but it was hard to tell. Then the screen flickered again and now she was sure the exterior view had changed.

"Jason, the plants outside, they're changing!" Michelle exclaimed.

"Yes, their growth pattern varies from node to node, with the pattern differing more with the further we travel across the nodes," Jason replied.

Michelle watched intently as the screen continued to flicker, with each blink of the screen resulting in a slightly different arrangement of plants outside. As they drew further away from their home AA0000 node the pattern of plant growth differed more and more. Finally they reached their destination and the computer shut down the inter-nodal drive. Jason spent a couple minutes verifying the success of the travel and then he shut down the control computer.

"We have arrived," Jason told Michelle once he had shutdown the computer.