Chapter 10: Dark Days

Megan's mind was a blank. One second she had been talking to Adao, and the next second she couldn't see anything. Her first thought was that she had had a stroke, but except for the lack of vision, her mind felt fine, no headache at all. Could both her retinas have detached at the same time?

"Megan," Adao's frightened voice came to her in the pitch blackness, "I just lost all my vision."

"What?! I can't see either!" Megan paused and noticed the terrified whining of Feathers nearby. She stumbled over to her horse in the inky blackness and hugged Feathers by her neck. "There, there. Easy girl. It's okay... Adao?"

"Yes?"

"Adao, where are you?"

"I'm sitting on the grass. Are you by your horse?"

"Yes. I don't think Feathers can see either."

"Some sort of weapon?" asked Adao. "So fast! My eyes don't hurt at all. I would have thought a blinding flash would be..."

"Yes. I know." Megan fought to keep down a rising swell of terror. "What if it's not your eyes?!" an inner voice was screaming at her. From the orientation of the post and rail where Feathers was tied, Megan held up the palm of her hand, trying to keep it at a forty-five degree elevation and westerly as best as she could. She waited and sensed for a long silent moment.

"Adao? You still there?"

"Yes. I think the wind is picking up."

"Yes. I think you're right. Ado, do you know where west is?"

"What? I suppose. I can feel the barn behind me."

"Good. See if you can feel the sunlight."

A quiet minute passed, and then Megan heard Adao begin to pray.

"Adao?"

"The Heavens Megan! I had hoped the world would end in light, not in darkness!"

"Oh, I don't think this the end of the world, not yet anyway! I can still smell the farm! And listen to all the frightened animals! I don't think God has ended the world Adao. Listen to the poor frightened animals! Torturing His creatures like this just isn't God's style." Megan shivered in the breeze. The wind was becoming quite brisk now.

Adao heard a rustle above the wind. "Is that you? What are you doing?"

"I have a flashlight in my saddlebag... Yes!" Megan gave a shout of primal joy when she switched it on. She flashed the light on Adao's astonished face. They both walked into the dark barn and tested the electric lights. Nothing.

"I don't know what to think," Adao said in a breaking voice. "It's not just the sun. The stars are gone too. The sky is as black as ink."

Megan nodded numbly. She was shivering uncontrollably and her mind was already racing with guilt. "Oh my God, oh my God! What have I done?! Did I do this?! Oh my God yes, I think I did! Oh my God, have I destroyed Your creation?!"

Adao turned to her and his simple whispered question brought her back to reality. "What should we do?" he cried.

Megan gasped as she fought down her panic and regained control of her emotions. "I want to reach the power center. My husband is there."

Adao remembered the color of Megan's badge and nodded. In the white diode light of the flashlight, his eyes glanced down to her pregnant womb and a wave of compassion broke through his fear. "Yes, your husband. That's where you belong. Megan, shine your light over here."

Adao walked over to his tractor. "It's less than three kilometers away and I've got a full tank. Let me take the hoods off the headlights. I'll guide you." And with the tractor out in front, Megan slowly rode her horse up the hills to the power station, Feathers finding her steps in the red glow of the taillights. Except for the tractor, it was blacker than the blackest night.

As they neared the power center, Adao and Megan could see a number of lights coming from the secure area. The simple lights instilled a profound sense of hope as they approached. Megan hugged and kissed Adao in gratitude for his help before she and her horse passed through the main gate. The guards had their weapons unholstered and were looking very nervous. Megan exchanged brief nods of recognition with them and then rushed to Alvaro's office.

His office was well lit with his computers and communications systems up. He cried briefly when he saw her and got up from his desk to give her a brief hug, and then rushed back to his consoles. Megan sat meekly at her own desk for a while, feeling incredible waves of guilt and helplessness. Eventually there was a pause in Alvaro's teleconference with Madeira and Megan asked if they wanted her to take notes on their conference. Alvaro nodded a quick yes.

And they worked nonstop for the next ten hours. A guard brought in a light meal around 11 PM. Megan had no appetite but forced herself to eat some greens and dried fish because of the baby. Her guilt was overwhelming her.

Alvaro and the scientists at Madeira finally called it quits after 2 AM Saturday morning. Technicians would work nonstop and continue their repair work on the dark generators. They would also prepare for the next set of experiments the researchers had designed. Alvaro confirmed they would meet again at 9 AM and then he shut down the conference link.

The steady wind outside was almost storm force but steady with very little turbulence. It was extremely unusual. And the sky remained an inky pool of darkness. Alvaro and his wife undressed by the light of a single two-Watt white diode. He opened up a sofa bed and they were lying down petting each other a few moments later.

In great tenderness Alvaro caressed the firm and swollen womb of his pregnant wife. She lay still and shuddered for a while, and then whispered, "Is there any hope?"

"I hope so..." he replied, and then laughed at his own words. "Yes, there is hope! We still have gravity!"

Megan remained silent for a while, and then whispered, "Huh?"

"Your comprehension has increased tremendously darling, these last few months. Did you follow the gist of the conference?"

"Some of it..."

"We still have gravity. We're not completely cut off from our universe. Somehow the gravitational presence of a true Earth is manifesting through the dark bubble."

"Then the sun... then our universe still exists too? On the other side of the bubble?"

Alvaro sighed in the dim light. "That's not quite the right way to think of it. Spacetime has been torn. But Golem's bubble has not broken. There is no other side of the bubble. It's a boundary, a singularity, an edge of spacetime that gravitons are somehow managing to jump across. Some sort of gravitational tunneling..."

"My dear God," Megan whispered, "What have I done?"

"Hmm? It wasn't you dear wife. The diagnostics on other bubbles confirm it. Bubble intersection occurred first on G1 and then G2. They were exploded from the inside. Coke was destroyed about the same time. And then all the higher bubbles were destroyed. Thank God the wars caused the West African Union to cancel our trading run this month. At least we're all in this together. Discovery is docked at Madeira now."

"It was me Alvaro," Megan cried out in a hoarse whisper.

He dismissed her comment completely. "We triangulated the source of the destruction. A new bubble was created in Princeton, New Jersey. It must have been the work of an idiot savant."

Megan paused for a long moment. "Why do you say that?"

Alvaro was quiet for a moment, and then his frustration and fear overwhelmed him. His voice took on a tone of fury. "For someone to develop the theories far enough to build what they built, and yet have so little understanding of what they were doing... I can't think of another word for it... Idiot savants... And I can't emphasize the word idiot enough! The fools!" He blushed over his outburst. "Sorry."

"I'm the one in need of forgiveness," Megan whispered in reply.

"Did you follow the gist of the conference?"

"Somewhat."

"A massive resonance! They must have been using kilowatt lasers! Kilowatts! The fools! There is never a reason to use such power. Never! A delicate touch is all you need. How can you develop the theory of dark power and not realize this?!"

"They didn't develop your theories Alvaro."

"Their monstrosity directly intersected our G1 and G2 bubbles, both of them! It tore spacetime!" Alvaro paused, as if hearing Megan for the first time. "Excuse me Megan. What did you say?"

"I said they didn't develop your theories Alvaro. I gave them your theories."

There was a moment of silence, and then Alvaro made a strange choking sound. "What?!" he hissed. The hand caressing her womb left her body.

In a crying voice, Megan slowly recited all that she had done in sending the classified material to the U.S. Alvaro never interrupted her, not once. Afterwards she wiped her eyes and waited in silence for his judgment. She wondered if he would ever touch her again.

The long minutes passed with no response. The waiting finally became unbearable. "Alvaro?"

He grunted in reply.

"I betrayed you."

"Yes... Tell me Megan, do you ever dream of going home?"

"I am home Alvaro!" Megan sobbed in reply. "I'm so sorry! I know, I know. I betrayed Madeira too."

Another grunt and then a hiss. "Madeira! Your new homeland! One that has shown you nothing but kindness!"

"I know, I know!" Megan's voice cracked. "If we survive this, I'm looking at a life in prison, aren't I?"

"Are you joking Megan?! This isn't the old European Union! If this became known, you would be executed immediately!"

Megan gulped and then her heart froze. "They'll let me give birth first, won't they?"