A New World
Copyright© 2026 by Edward Douglass Patterson
Chapter 2: Change of Plans
Lothian and Borders Police Shooting Range
South of Edinburgh, Scotland
May 17, 1999
Brenda Maclaren had just finished shooting. Her father, Will, had been happily surprised at the improvement that he had seen. He’d had been concerned about his twin daughters keeping up their shoot practice while they were completing their degrees. He now realized that he shouldn’t have worried with their cousin Alyca around. Their competitive spirit was engaged with Alyca with her Olympic silver medal in three-position rifle and the biathlon world championship win this past winter. He expected that Alyca’s scholarly and technical achievements had done as much for their schooling as being around Jess, Alice, Marie, and Alice’s sister Marge combined. He was glad that Leslie and he’d sent them to the University of Edinburgh, even if they’d missed them when they were on the other side of the world from home. He’d be happy when the whole family was back in Queensland again.
The Scotsman, March 8, 1999 - Douglas Richards – Local Woman Wins at Biathlon World Championship
Alyca Maclaren won four events in the Biathlon World Championship. Her times in the Individual, Sprint, Pursuit, and Mass Start all broke previous records, and her shooting was perfect in each event. These were the first wins at the Biathlon World Championship by a Scottish or even a British athlete. Hopefully, this will encourage more Scots to take up this exciting sport. This is the first year that Alyca has competed in the Biathlon. In the 1996 Olympics, she won a silver medal in three-position rifle. Her wins at three biathlon competitions that she entered earlier this season qualified her for the world championship events.
Alyca has doctorates in both electrical and mechanical engineering from the University of Edinburgh. She designed both the ski equipment and the rifle that she used in the Biathlon. She first became interested in cars at Maclarens Automobiles, which is owned by her family and run by her parents, but her uncle Jess Maclaren of Balerno was the one that introduced her to engineering.
“Alyca, how long would it take you to teach me to shoot that well?” Robert Maclaren asked. He had just finished an eight-week course with Macphater Mining Equipment security. At just sixteen, he had been a dozen years younger than most of the men, but had finished third in the ranking, which had surprised none of the other participants. They’d originally thought it was strange for their new boss to put his teenage son in the course with them, who all had had Special Forces experience. How would the teenager keep up? Many had thought that the only reason that Robert hadn’t placed first was that he’d put on fifteen kilograms of muscle and grew over five centimeters during the eight weeks. They all had a very deep respect for him and his father after what they’d learned of them during the two months.
“Let your parents see Mary shoot, and then we’ll see what you can do.” Alyca smiled at Robert. It had been three years since she had seen him on his last visit to Scotland. He had grown over forty centimeters and put on over forty kilograms. She suspected that there was not a pound of fat on him. At two meters, he topped even his dad. His sisters were slightly taller than her one hundred and eighty-four centimeters, but the three of them were sleek wolves to his tiger. It would be interesting to train him. She suspected that she also might not have an edge in speed on him.
Mary watched as Alyca appraised her brother. It looked like Alyca was contemplating taking on another project. She remembered when they had arrived in Edinburgh three years ago. Alyca had looked the same way at them. If someone had told her what her next three years would be like, she wouldn’t have believed her. It seemed more like ten years with all that they had learned and done. Professor Jamie Lawson had told her that as soon as she chose a topic and submitted her thesis, she would get a doctorate in electrical engineering. She asked what about the review of her thesis. He had laughed and said that the reports that she had been submitting were better than most doctoral theses that he had seen. She would be able to teach at Edinburgh just like her aunts and cousin. She’d smiled at the compliment, but told him that she was needed back at the family business. He’d been aghast that she would waste herself at a mining company. She had explained that Macphater Mining Equipment was a little more than a mining company and that she’d be putting Uncle Jess’s latest inventions to practical use. She hadn’t told him of the true family plans, but she knew that he was on the list for people they’d ask to join them. He was in for a surprise.
Mary walked up to the firing position. From behind, she looked just like her twin, including how she wore her red hair. Only her clothes allowed one to tell them apart unless you looked at their faces and knew them well enough to know the difference in their freckles. She brought her rifle up to her shoulder. It was one of Alyca’s older designs, in fact, the same rifle she had used during the biathlon world championship. She’d get one of the new rifles in Dallas. In fact, Alyca was having the two of them test-fire the guns when they got there. She wondered if her parents knew about the coil guns. She realized they’d have been all over Alyca asking questions if they did. Mom, would like it that she had something smaller than her 50-caliber elephant gun.
Mary fired. Her shots had been rapid, and all had hit on or near the bullseye. She wasn’t as good as Alyca but was slightly better than Brenda was. The three of them had been training some Olympic hopefuls that had come to train with Alyca. Of them, Richard and Laura Hunt had been the best. The Hunts were expected to head up the Australian Olympic shooting team. They’d sought to have the twins try out for the team, but the girls had told them that they would be busy. She expected that Richard and Laura would also be too busy since Alyca had added them to the list of those who’d be invited to explore the new worlds.
The Sydney Morning Herald, April 29, 1999 – Richard and Laura Hunt Surprise Other Shooters
Richard and Laura Hunt, son and daughter-in-law of Prime Minister Jimmy Hunt, have proven themselves to be the leading contenders to win spots on the Australian Olympic shooting team. Their performance over the last few weeks shows that they will be medal contenders at the Sydney Olympics. PM Jimmy Hunt is proud of his son and daughter-in-law. In the past, he has often talked about teaching all three of his children to shoot. When we contacted him, he said that the proficiency that Richard and Laura have recently shown wasn’t his doing and that he was proud of the improvements that they had made. Contrary to some rumors, the Hunts’ lead position was due to their shooting and not any pressure that the Prime Minister put on the Australian Olympic Committee. John Stevens, who almost won a bronze in the last Olympics, said that after Richard and Laura returned from Scotland, their shooting had improved immensely. When asked about their trip, Richard said that they had trained with Alyca Maclaren.
“Only two shots are outside the bullseye.” Leslie Maclaren had turned from the spotting scope and had looked at the three young women. “I would like to join Robert in asking for some training. Have you done much at long distances with 50-caliber guns?”
“Oh! I think that you’ll like the new rifle that I’m having built for you, Aunt Leslie. I think that you won’t have to lug that old elephant gun around anymore.”
By the surprise on her mother’s face, Mary knew the new guns were a surprise.
“Robert, I will have to switch you up to the bigger gun also.” Alyca had said with a straight face. The twins had laughed since they knew how Alyca could be a tease when she surprised you with one of her new designs. The rifles had been a major surprise.
“Larry Smith asked me what type of stock Leslie would like on her new gun, but wouldn’t say anything more about it.” Will had smiled. “I take it that these aren’t ordinary guns, if you expect Leslie to give up her elephant gun.”
“No. I have come up with a coil gun design using a compact AJ power generator. The needles that it shoots are small but with a muzzle velocity adjustable up to Mach 10. The smallest magazine is 100 so that you have plenty of shots, even on fully automatic.”
“Mach 10 is above escape velocity. You will be putting these needles in orbit.” Kevin Gilbert, one of the members of the pilot/security detail that Will had with them, commented.
“Oh, you could shoot a satellite if you could track it.” Alyca’s smile showed Leslie that she probably had been considering how to do just that. “We’ll need to check the guns out where we won’t hit anything.”
“Alyca, let us see you shoot next, then Robert.” Will stopped the conversation before it got to topics that they were not ready to discuss in public. What had Alice and Alyca discussed that had led to the design of the coil guns?
Alyca walked to the firing position. She didn’t raise the rifle to her shoulder but fired from the hip. Her shots were fast, but before she had fired, the third shot, her cell phone started to ring. She continued without hesitation or physical reaction to the distraction. Will was impressed by that more than he was by where the bullets hit. He expected all the shots were on the bullseye, which Leslie quickly confirmed.
Alyca had stepped back from the firing position and answered her phone. “We’ll be right over.” Her freckled face was very pale as she had hung up and looked at Will. Where the ringing of her cell phone had not affected her, the content of the message had. “Aunt Alice is dead. That was Marie. I told her that we would meet her at the house.”
All of the family had been shocked at the news, but especially Will. He had grown up with Alice and his cousin Jess. They had been inseparable throughout school. When the deeper relation between Alice and Jess had started to develop, he had felt like a third wheel until Alice and Jess had realized what was happening and had again included him, but it was at a different level than before.
Will turned towards David Ridgeway, the senior pilot. “Dave, the three of you go back to the hanger and take care of the guns before securing them. We’ll be at my cousin Jess’s home in Balerno. I’ll let you know what we’ll be doing when we know more.”
“Yes, sir.” Dave had met Dame Alice a couple of years ago in Brisbane. She and her family had been so happy after the disaster of her presentation. He hadn’t understood until Will had recently informed him of what the family was planning. What would her death mean to the plans? Will had spoken of her as the leader of what they planned to do.
Alice and Jess Maclaren’s home
Balerno, Scotland
May 17, 1999
In the Maclaren’s kitchen, Jess, Marie, and John were sitting around the table. Sue entered from the shop.
“Ned needs about 15 minutes to do the paperwork. Inspector Hayes has arrived. Jim is referring to it as an accident. The sprinkler is holding up as the source for the water. They didn’t mention it as the source, but the Inspector looked at it when he came in and shook his head.”
Jesse had sighed. “I will have to correct that with Paul soon, but it will be after the report is written and we’ve a chance to talk privately. I’ll have to have a press conference sometime, but I want to make the windows safer.”
John shook his head. “Things are out in the open. As we have discussed, this has security considerations once it gets out. I’ll go and tell Prime Minister Blake.” He had first met Charlie Blake when his dad held the Carlisle seat that he now held. “I’ll call and set up an appointment for tomorrow.” John had started to get up.
News & Star, March 15, 1996 – Monica Bairely
John Lawrence III was elected to Parliament with 85% of the vote. He succeeds his father, Sir John Lawrence II, who held the seat for twenty-three years. Sir John chose not to stand for the seat. He will become President of Smythe Industries, which is owned by his wife, LeeAnn Smythe Lawrence. She will relinquish that position and concentrate on the position of Chairman that she has held since the death of her father, Fredrick Smythe. Our new MOP, who goes by John Harvey, said, “I intend to provide the same quality of representation that my father and his father before him provided when they represented Carlisle and West Cumbria for the last forty-nine years. I learned from both of them the need for commitment and hard work when serving as a member of Parliament.” When asked what his goals were, he said, “I will make no promises beyond a commitment to serve to the best of my ability. During the campaign, I discussed what I see as the important issues facing us. I will work to see that these issues are addressed.” John Harvey said that he and his wife, Marie, would continue to maintain their home in West Cumbria. He will use the Lawrence family flat when in London but plans to spend as much time as possible with his wife and children. When asked how he and his wife, who is a Professor of Mathematics at the University of Edinburgh, will manage a home when they both have positions so far from home, he said, “Family. Both Marie and I have very supportive families that put family first.” You will be surprised what you can accomplish working together as a family. And family is not restricted by blood. Just as my grandfather did, my mother sees Smythe Industries as part of the family. That is the attitude that I take to Parliament. Most of us here in west Cumbria know someone that works at Smythe-Industries, so we have heard how it is to work there. It will be interesting to see what John Harvey accomplishes.
News & Star, April 4, 1999 – Monica Bairely
After the election that Prime Minister Blake is rumored to set for this fall, our local MOP John Harvey Lawrence is expected to hold a major cabinet position. With John Harvey having been instrumental in helping to secure broad consensus for most of the recent major bills, Charlie Blake is expected to make greater use of his abilities.
“Make it for later in the day. Use Marie as the excuse that you couldn’t get down earlier. I’ll take the flight that Alice and I had planned to take to see Kim. I want to tell her personally about her mother’s death. Also, there was a fish that came through the window with the water. I’m going to take a sample of the fish to her. I think that she will want to get it to the lab to look at even if she has just delivered. You should take another sample to the PM as proof.”
John went to another room to make the phone call.
Sue realized that they had had a plan for the window to the other world. “You all knew the other planet was there.”
Marie smiled. “We’ve planned this for months before Mother presented her paper. Dad and I reviewed her work. There was never any doubt about the equations and that there was an adjacent world.”
“What about all the talk in the press about how the theory was wrong?”
Jess replied, “We didn’t want the theory to be taken seriously at that time. We just wanted to have the theory spread around so that no one could cover it up. The government isn’t going to hide what everyone knows cannot be true. Man needs frontiers. This world is getting too civilized. Marie will explain.”
Marie had taken her best friend’s hand. “We’re planning on exploring and colonizing a new world. Only those involved in the preparation knew anything. You and Ned are on our list of people that we planned to invite to join us. Mom’s accident led to you finding out before we had a chance to tell you.”
“Live and explore on a new world! We’d jump at the chance.” Sue exclaimed.
“Our plans have been thrown into disarray by Mom’s death. We need to keep a low profile until we find out how the government will react. We’d planned to present them with a fait accompli, but they will have the lead for a while.”
“You will definitely need to tell us more, but we trust you and your dad. The only thing that anyone will hear from us will be about how the loss of your Mom has hit you very hard. Meanwhile, we may look into some good hiking clothes and medical supplies.”
“That sounds good. Just plan on personal items, but your input on emergency medical will be useful. Dad, do you want to make copies of the videos to take with you?”
“Yes, also make two copies for John and two copies for Uncle Will. Everyone involved should watch it. Believing is one thing, but seeing is another. We’ll show it here later when the others get here. I want to make sure that Kim gets a chance to examine the fish. Since she’s a Yank now, the government may try to keep her out. They’ll want to put a lid on this. That serves our purposes until word gets out. I want to reduce the danger of using the window as soon as possible. Alice’s equations are out there, and making the equipment to create a window isn’t that hard. Not as good as our system, but it’s still doable. This equipment was designed to collect the data so that she could complete her calculations.”
Sue got up and went to the bathroom.
As soon as she left the room, Jess leaned closer to Marie. “We opened windows to three worlds.”
“Did she figure out how many worlds were accessible?”
“Your mother said that the data showed that Earth is part of a larger cluster of worlds. There are more worlds, but you will have to figure that out. You need to take the data and determine the settings for all of the worlds. She also mentioned settings for windows to return to this world. I was surprised that had never come up in our planning. We need to have a set of data showing four adjacent worlds in the cluster to give to the government. That’s plenty for man right now. The public will learn about the window to an adjacent world. The accident made it impossible to keep that secret. We won’t need to slip the information to them. A single adjacent world, as Solomon White wrote about, should keep the public busy. It’ll be number four, the one with the lake and the fish, but we’ll leave it to the government to suggest that. There’s no reason for us to appear sneaky to them. Oh, this is world one, as your mother was counting. World two was cold with the window just above the sea. Sea level seemed to be the same as ours. We saw no land. On world three, all we saw was dirt, so we may be only a little way below ground level. So if we start off at a higher level, we shouldn’t have too hard of a time exploring on worlds three or four.”
“Sounds good, Dad. You have never been one to show all his cards unless you had to. On the equations, you or I can do that. You’re not that poor of a mathematician, even if you pass yourself off as a tinkerer.”
“No, you should do it. It will be your guarantee of inclusion. You took over your mother’s chair at the university when she retired. Now you are taking over her final work. In addition, it’ll be better to make them think that you need a university professor and not just a tinkerer to understand them. I’m not in the same class as the two of you. Alice said that you were going to pass her one day.”
“I will never pass her. No mathematician or any other scientist has ever found anything like a world right next to ours.”
“Don’t be so sure. Your mother’s gift was seeing the future. That’s why she put so much energy into this work. However, she was slightly wrong too, because she saw herself there. She said that it was her and also that it wasn’t. Whatever that means?”
“Well, no one else had understood the equations but the three of us. Kim and Uncle Will took them on faith. Solomon White was the next closest and he thought that there is only one world.”
“No, there is at least one group out there that understood them.”
Marie had looked startled, but Sue came back into the room, halting the discussion. “We just got another call, but we’ll be back after we get off at four.”
Marie got up and hugged Sue.
“Thanks. I will sit down with Ned and you and answer questions about what’s going on. Keep any discussion of this between yourselves.”
Sue left as John came in from the living room.
“All set up for three p.m. I talked to Dad first, and he’ll join the discussion. We figure we need to be upfront about our plans to explore.” John announced.
“Sounds like the right thing to do, but it is four other worlds, not one.” Jess responded. “We opened windows to three of them. The third one is where the water that killed Alice came from. We need the government to decide to only tell the public about the one world when word gets out. It would be good if it were their idea to keep the other three secret. No need to have them thinking that we want to keep secrets. We want the government’s help, not their distrust.”
“That shouldn’t be too hard to do considering some of the people that will be at the meeting.” John saw the advantages of Jess’s plan. John’s father had headed a couple of ministries and a number of shadow ones when he was in the parliament. The press expected John to be named to head a ministry fairly soon. That is what John and Marie had planned for until the opportunities of other worlds had come up. Now their plans were to migrate to another world. He expected to work with the government but for their families in assuring that things went smoothly. Much more rewarding since it was important both to the families and to all of mankind. “I’ll make some sandwiches. I think we’ll have a long day here getting things in order.”
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