 
# The Other Side of Creation

# By C. D. Tuttle

# Copyright 2019

# Smashwords Edition

# Visit my Website at http//www.cdtuttle.com

Smashwords Edition, License notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

# Chapter 1

Will Caylen awoke with a start. He had dozed and drifted off into a dream floating among the stars, when suddenly there was a bright light that seemed to beckon to him. Looking around the room he was in, he shook his head to clear it. At first, it was a strange room that he did not recognize, but as his head cleared, he knew he was in a room in the Hospice wing of a hospital.

With a sinking feeling, he thought to himself, _here I am, in the room I will die in._

Will was 92 years old and had led an incredible life of scientific exploration, 'the great adventure', as he called it. Even though his mind was as sharp as ever the ravages of age and time had caught up with him physically. His heart, as was his kidneys, were failing him. His wife had died years earlier. Life had been lonely since her passing, but he had managed to keep his mind active writing papers on his life's work. He was a paleo-anthropologists and had worked dig-sites all over Africa, Europe, Asia and South America. He had been a prodigious publisher of his work, but still had reams of notes that had never made it into publication. After all these years of working on mankind's origins he was no closer to figuring it out than he was as a green college graduate. Lots of finds had been made over time, but none nailed down the one important question, what did we evolve from? Somewhere in those reams of notes he had many times postulated some interesting theories. Theories that could have cost him his reputation and professional standing in the world of paleo-anthropology if they should have come to light.

Will's life-long past time had been astronomy and when he dreamed, he often dreamed of the stars and far off places within the universe. In the many remote areas that he had worked the night-skies were void of light pollution. They were incredibly clear and provided some of the best star-gazing from anywhere on earth. His wonderment of the universe and its origins seemed to tie into his search for the origins of mankind. He had always thought that perhaps discovering the origins of one would lead to the discovery of the origins of the other. Either way, his enthusiasm and drive for his work was always a point of amazement to his colleagues and friends.

Will and his wife, Anne, had raised two children, Will junior, or William as they called him and Marie. Both had grown up in far off and remote places. Surprisingly, both ended up in what Will thought, was fairly mundane professions. William was in insurance and Marie was in real estate. Both were very successful by any standard and had raised families of their own, which by now had produced great grandchildren for Will and Anne. William never showed much interest in what his dad did, but Marie, now that was another story. As a little girl she was quite a tomboy and was always right by his side at the digs. As she was growing up Will thought she would surely follow in his footsteps but it never happened. She grew into a beautiful young woman and when she went off to college, she was immensely popular with the young men.

Will was startled from his musings by Liz, his nurse, when she quietly entered his room. "How are we doing today Mr. C?" she asked cheerily.

"Oh, as good as can be expected I guess," Will said with a slight groan while trying to raise up on his pillow.

"Here, let me help you with that," Liz said with a smile as she leaned over him saying, "put your arms around my neck and hang on."

It was an uncomfortable effort to hang on, but everything that required physical effort was uncomfortable these days. With his arms around her neck she lifted him with her own body back up on the pillow. She was good at what she did.

Will liked Liz, she was a very caring young lady in her mid-40s. She was tall and slender with an oval face and slender nose framed by short wavy salt and pepper hair. Her complexion was somewhat pale from always being indoors, but her pretty and unusual green eyes smiled from deep within showing her genuine concern for her patients. Liz's direct manner, upright posture and secure attitude reminded him of his daughter, Marie. She was attractive due to her loving personality although her face often showed the sadness that she had experienced from being around so much death. She had performed hospice work for years and genuinely loved her work and her patients. Will had carried on many a long conversation with her about family and life in general. She showed real interest in all the things he had accomplished, always asking thoughtful questions. Liz was a pleasure to have around.

Out of breath, Will thanked her for her help. For a dying man, he was a polite and thoughtful person and the nursing staff liked him very much.

Liz checked his IV and took his temperature with the digital thermometer. "You're looking good Mr. C".

All the nurses called him 'Mr. C' out of respect for his dignity and politeness.

Liz reached into his bed stand drawer and took out a comb and began to tidy up his crop of thick white hair. "My you have beautiful hair Mr. C," she said as she looked at it admiringly. "Many a young man would be envious of your hair and those gorgeous blue eyes," she added putting the comb back in the drawer.

Will smiled and patted her delicate, slender hand. His face was still strong and vibrant looking and his smile was reassuring to anyone who met him. He had been a stout man for most of his life standing over six feet and having weighed around 200 pounds, but now he had lost most of that bulk and frailty had taken over.

"Is there anything I can get you before lunch?" she asked.

"Yes, there is Liz. Could you hand me that briefcase sitting on the floor in my closet?"

"I sure can Mr. C," she said crossing the room and opening the door to the closet.

She brought the briefcase over and set it on the bed beside him as he pressed the button on the remote to raise his bed into more of a sitting position.

Pulling the brief case onto his lap he thanked her.

As she patted him on the arm she said with a wink, "give me a call if you need anything," and she slipped out the door leaving it slightly ajar behind her.

Will looked up at the ceiling of his room and smiled thinking how dependent he had become on everyone around him when not long ago there were so many dependent on him. _That was life,_ he thought, _and I'm at the end of my great adventure_. He closed his eyes for a moment trying to recall what had happened that woke him up earlier. He was slipping into a dream floating in space among millions of bright stars when all of a sudden, a bright fluctuating light appeared. The light was so bright that it blocked out all other light. It floated in front of him pulsating, seeming to look at him and then it pulled away. It seemed to be waiting for him to follow, then it would once more come close to him and then pull away. It startled him and he did not want to follow, so he woke up. He could always control his dreams letting them go on if they were pleasant or stopping them when they got unbearable or out of control. There was just something about the light in this dream that alarmed him. _Maybe he should have pursued it_ , he thought.

The rest of the morning Will sorted through copious notes that he had his daughter Marie bring to him in the hospital. He was still composing papers and attempting to explain some of his findings. Mankind's search, in its entirety, for the real origins of man had still not produced a solid answer. Relationships with chimpanzees and other lower primates had been discovered through DNA, but this had not led to any conclusion on the origin of man. It appeared to Will that somewhere in the far past the human element had produced deviations in its evolution. These gave rise to other primate forms as well as its own modern form, but where did it begin? The evolutionary lines of many prehistoric creatures had been discovered back to their dim beginnings, but mans' had not. With all the effort that had been put into discovering where man came from, we still were at a loss. It is as if early man just suddenly appeared, which led Will at times to think about extra-terrestrial origins. He never discussed these ideas with anyone, but he did think about it often.

As Will was pondering these thoughts Liz came in with his lunch tray cheerily announcing, "lunch time Mr. C."

Looking at the clock on the wall Will nodded his head in agreement. "Yes. Yes, it is. Too bad I don't have an appetite."

Pulling his bed table over she placed the tray on it saying, "it looks pretty good Mr. C, but as you know, it is hospital food." Winking she added, "I could run out and get you a good ol' hamburger and fries."

Smiling, Will said ruefully, "that sounds good, but I don't even have an appetite for that anymore."

Heading for the door she looked back with a reassuring look. "Well, if you change your mind you just say so and I'll get that hamburger for you so quick it'll make your head swim."

Will smiled waving his hand at her. "You're okay Liz. You're okay."

She smiled a wink back at him and closed the door behind her.

Will looked at the tray of food. It did look good, but he knew by experience that it would have very little flavor and no salt, which he could no longer have. He loved salt.

He took the plastic fork and tried a bit of the smashed potatoes. They had absolutely no flavor and must have been straight out of a box. The green beans were equally disappointing and he didn't even try the blob of brown stuff that was supposed to be some sort of meat. He pulled the dish of green Jell-O close and slowly ate it. At least it did have some flavor.

When he finished the Jell-O, he felt tired and he laid back and quickly fell asleep.

Once again, he drifted among the stars as though he was a human spaceship. He felt he was seeing things as clearly as the Hubble Telescope. It was beautiful and he felt strangely at home. There was no pain or discomfort, only a warm and comforting feeling.

Suddenly, the bright light appeared that he had seen in previous dreams. It approached him quite closely as if it was peering at him very intently. Will looked back trying to make something out of it. The light pulsated in brightness and shape then it became very still. The brightness subsided as if it was thinking. That was when Will saw a face, or imagined a face within the glowing brightness. It was Anne!

# Chapter 2

Will awoke with a start, eyes wide open and staring at the ceiling of his room as if he could still see the face within the light. His ailing heart pounded against his ribs and his breath came in short gasps.

"What? What the hell was that?" he gasped.

His mind was replaying what he had seen in his dream. He got hold of himself and had relaxed back on his pillow when the door to his room flew open and Liz came rushing in followed closely by two other nurses.

"Are you okay?" she exclaimed noticing that he had a rather relaxed look on his face.

Somewhat stunned by all the activity Will looked back and calmly said, "I think so. Why do you ask?"

The nurses were checking his pulse and heart rate as well as the connections on his monitor.

Liz put her hand on Will's forehead looking intently into his blue eyes and once more asked, "are you sure you're okay?"

"Why yes. I feel okay considering the circumstances," he said looking back at her worried expression.

Head nurse Elizabeth took hold of his hand and squeezed it reassuringly breaking a forced smile across her worried face.

"What's this all about?" Will asked.

"Well...," Liz began wondering if she should tell him the truth. "You flat lined on us. We were eating lunch and suddenly your monitor went off showing all flat lines. We thought we had lost you, but apparently, our monitor was faulty. We'll have it replaced immediately," she said gripping his hand firmly.

"Nope! I'm still here," Will stated with a broad smile squeezing her hand.

Liz ran her hand through his thick white hair and sweetly kissed his hand.

Will thought he saw tears welling in her eyes as she turned away saying, "I'll be right back."

The other two nurses having checked all his vitals began disconnecting his monitor. Will watched with amusement as he mulled over what had happened. He was thinking he had had an 'out of body' experience and perhaps the monitor wasn't faulty as they thought.

_Was this part of dying_ ' he thought to himself, _and did I see Anne's face or was that just a dream?_

He began to remember when his own father was dying and how he said he was seeing his long-deceased mother and father. He had seen other ancestors that were waiting for him, actually beckoning for him to join them.

A chill went up his spine. _Damn! Did I just die for a moment_? he wondered.

Meanwhile, Liz appeared with a new monitor and the three of them began hooking up and attaching the various leads to his chest. With that done and a test run the nurses departed with Liz leaving last reassuring him that if he needed anything or felt uncomfortable to call her immediately.

Will smiled and thanked her. He did really like her she was such a caring and loving young lady.

He spent the next couple of hours in deep thought over what he had been experiencing. He picked up a small tablet from his night stand and holding it clasp between his teeth he rummaged around in his brief case for a pen to make some notes. He wrote for a while and after a moment he stopped writing and stared blankly out the window. Then musing to himself he thought, _damn, if I only had more time_ ' then he chuckled to himself thinking, _if I wasn't near death, I wouldn't be having these experiences and therefore there would be nothing to analyze._

He was the eternal and forever practical scientist.

Again, he dozed off and found himself right back there floating among the stars, only this time there were more than the one bright orb of light. There were many and shockingly they were calling to him by name. He knew their voices. His mother, his father and his beloved grandmother and there were voices he did not recognize, but he knew who they were. They were his grandfather and great grand-parents whom he had never known because they had died before he was born. It was like a great cosmic family reunion. He felt young and strong again. His body had no pain and he felt a joyousness within him that he had not known since Anne had died.

In his past dreams, he was unable to move other than floating among the stars. The one light had always come to him, but now he was moving freely among the other orbs of light. When he approached them closely, he could see faces, faces he knew as well as faces he knew from family pictures. There was an atmosphere of rejoicing and much happiness. He was at once filled with happiness and excitement at seeing family members even though they were disembodied.

After a few moments of this Will suddenly realized he too was disembodied. His being, his very essence was encapsulated in a glowing orb just like he had seen moving about him. He suddenly felt fear and a desire to be back in the bed in the hospital, but even as he thought this the orbs of his galactic family crowded around him. They gave immense reassurance that everything was okay. It was then that Anne came to him in her glowing essence and actually made contact with him. It was reassuring and warm. There was the feeling of love and warmth between them, then he heard her voice.

In a soft reassuring voice, she said, "if you want to go back and see what has happened it is okay. All you have to do is visualize what you want to see and it will be there. I will be here when you return."

"To see what has happened?" Will explained.

"Yes. To help you understand where you are and what you have become," she said softly.

"What have I become?" He asked. He was becoming alarmed.

"Your physical essence has joined to your soul and ascended to the universe. You have evolved to the next step of human life," she replied.

"Am I dead?" Will blurted.

She answered in an almost motherly fashion. "No, no, you are not dead. You have simply left your physical and mortal remains behind and ascended to eternal life which is the final and lasting phase of our existence."

Will remembered the hospital room and suddenly found himself looking into the room from above. What he saw caused a welling of fear within him. On the bed was his body, lifeless and ashen in color. Liz was disconnecting the monitor leads and then carefully folded his hands over his chest. She looked long at the lifeless face and then lovingly arranged his white hair so that it was neatly parted. Tears were streaming down her cheeks as she pulled the sheet up over his head. The tablet that had been on his lap had fallen to the floor. She reached down and picked it up and slowly read what was on it. Looking at Will's covered body she tore the top sheet off and neatly folded it and put it in the pocket of her white uniform dress. She again patted him on the arm as she had done so many times during his stay in the hospital. Stepping back and looking at the covered body with one hand over her mouth she turned and quickly left the room.

Will felt panic rising within him, _it happened_ , he thought _. I died and this is the hereafter. There really is a happy hereafter!_

Will thought of Anne and he was suddenly back among the stars. She was there waiting for him just as she had said she would be.

"So, this is the after-life?" Will enquired somewhat disbelieving.

"Yes. This is after life. This is your next 'great adventure,' this is what you were meant to be. This is what human life on earth is meant to give rise to, the final and lasting phase of our existence here in heaven," she answered.

Will pondered this for a moment. "Heaven?"

"Yes," she answered, "this is where you will live forever in peace and tranquility. You may explore the universe and all that it has to offer. I know you all too well, Mr. Will Caylen, you are going to enjoy this to no end."

"Enjoy what?" Will asked with a note of frustration. He was feeling trapped inside his sphere of light.

"All the answers you spent the cradle of your life looking for on Earth you will find here. You'll see," she purred. "You'll see."

# Chapter 3

It was lunch time and Liz sat with her co-workers nibbling on a sandwich. She, like Will, had no appetite and her mind was back in the room with him. From her many years as a hospice nurse she knew he did not have much time left. She had seen it all too many times before. After his last episode, she had called his daughter, Marie, and told her she probably should come as quickly as possible. Marie liked Liz also, and trusted her emphatically. She wanted to know if he was in pain and Liz said no that he was in good spirits, but his vital signs were all over the place. Marie had said she would call her brother and be there asap.

Liz had always cared deeply for her patients and tried her best to make their passing as easy as possible, not only for them, but their family. She could not help but become involved with the family of her patients and she would spend hours with them listening to them talk about their past. It was good for them to talk and the more she knew about the patient and their family the better she could administer to them during their final hours on earth. She was good at what she did and she knew she had a knack for this type work, although it was very hard on her at times.

Will, well he was different. He was a kind spirited man who did not want to infringe on anyone. He was always hesitant to ask for help or to ask for anything additional. "Don't want to put anybody out" he would say in his firm mellow voice which sounded much younger than his years. All the nurses would fall over themselves trying to take care of him. A lot of people as they near the end become bitter and withdrawn, making it very difficult to care for them in their final hours, but not Will. He just took dying in stride and went on day to day like there was nothing wrong, and that was why everyone enjoyed taking care of him.

He had been admitted to the hospice wing of the hospital about three weeks ago, but Liz had been caring for him at home for nearly five months. She had grown to like him very much, actually, she had grown to love him very much. He was the father she never had. As she sat there staring at her sandwich these thoughts were passing through her mind. She knew that when he passed, she would hurt like she had never hurt for anyone else.

She remembered the first time she saw Will. She had been assigned to him for home care. She drove up to his home in the wooded hills just South of St. Louis, Missouri. His house was a massive log home situated with a view across this heavily forested area with the Mississippi River in the far distance. She knocked on the door and a tall elderly white-haired man answered the door dressed in jeans and a jersey pull-over. He was easily six foot-tall with a strong square jaw and light blue eyes. His thick white hair was parted to the left and cut reasonably short.

"What can I do for you, young lady?" He asked.

She assumed this was his son. "I have an appointment with Mr. Caylen. Are you his son?" she asked.

He leaned back and roared in laughter. "Lordy no! I'm Will Caylen. Mr. Caylen was my dad and you must be Elizabeth from hospice."

Somewhat flustered, Liz shook his hand. She was quite shocked to be greeted at the door by a patient being admitted to hospice. Will invited her in and fixed her a cup of tea. They sat at the kitchen table and became acquainted. She was quite impressed with his appearance and good- natured personality, plus they seemed to hit it off right from the start. He was indeed, a handsome man. He gave her the grand tour of the house showing her the room he had set up for himself. He had had a hospital bed moved in and set up an elevated rolling desk that could be pulled over the bed so he could continue to work.

When Liz enquired about the strange looking desk, Will's reply was, "well you don't know how long these things will take so I don't want to just sit back and wait for the Grim Reaper. I'll keep working as long as the old brain synapses keep cracking."

Liz knew right then that this was going to be a very special patient. She enjoyed his house immensely. It was warm and furnished with things from his fantastic journey through life. Mementoes of his great adventure he had said.

She had no idea how attached she would become before this was over.

Suddenly the monitor in front of her began beeping. She lunged forward spilling her tea and sandwich on the floor. The signals on the monitor were flashing all over like they had done earlier.

_It wasn't the equipment after all_ , she thought with a sinking feeling. She jumped up and ran down the hall to Wills' room. He was reposed on the bed as if he was sleeping soundly. His tablet and pen were lying on his lap like he had neatly laid them there to take a nap. She ran to his side to take a pulse. There was none. By now other nurses were flooding into the room followed by the on-duty doctor.

Liz turned around to the doctor and said with catching breath, "he's gone."

The doctor confirmed it. They did not try to revive him as Will had requested not to be revived if his heart quit or he slipped into a coma.

After a few moments, the doctor left saying he would take care of the paperwork. Two of the other nurses left in tears. The third put her arm around Liz's shoulders and patted her on the arm as they looked down at Will and the peacefulness that shown on his face. Tears ran down Liz's cheeks as she quietly sobbed. Her nurse friend asked if there was anything she could do and all Liz could do was ask her to leave her alone for a minute.

Left alone, she disconnected the monitor leads and IV. She took Will's hand and held it to her face as she cried for her loss then she kissed it and carefully folded his hands over his chest. She looked long at the lifeless face and then lovingly arranged his hair so that it was neatly parted. Tears were streaming heavily down her cheeks as she pulled the sheet up over his head. The small tablet that had been on his lap had fallen to the floor and she reached down and picked it up. Slowly, she read what was on it. Will had written a note addressed to her thanking her for all the kindness and help she had given during his illness. He told her that she had become like a daughter to him, then he went on to describe what he had been experiencing. His last words were a statement of wishful desire, "wouldn't it be neat if I could come back after death, reincarnated into a young man with the knowledge that I possess now. Oh, the things I could accomplish in a new life time."

She paid no attention to the teeth impressions on the corner of the tablet as she took in a sobbing breath and tore the sheet of paper off. Neatly folding it she put it in the pocket of her white uniform dress. She again patted him on the arm as she had done so many times during his stay in the hospital. Stepping back and looking at the covered body with one hand over her mouth she turned and quickly left the room.

Some twenty minutes later Marie and her brother, William, arrived at the hospice wing of the hospital. As they approached the nurse's station, they were met with compassionate faces that clearly told them that their father had already passed.

Liz saw them coming from down the hall and quickly came to their side to tell them of their father's passing.

"Did he suffer at the end?" Marie asked tearfully as her brother put his arm around her shoulders.

Putting her hand on Marie's arm Liz fought back tears of her own. "No, he was quite peaceful and expressed no discomfort what so ever. He was Mr. C, a gentleman to the end. He was at peace."

Seeing the distress in Liz's face Marie reached for her and they embraced as both shed quiet tears for their loss. William stood there with his right hand resting on Marie's shoulder. Feeling his hand, she reached for him pulling him into a three-way embrace. They had come to consider Liz part of the family.

After a moment, Marie drew back wiping tears with a tissue, "Can we see him?"

Wiping away her own tears Liz replied, "yes, yes you can. He's still in his room. They haven't come for him yet."

They followed Liz down the hall to the door to their father's room. Liz stopped them. "Wait here. Let me prepare him for you."

Liz slipped through the door and approached the bed on which Will lay. With shaking hands, she pulled the sheet down and neatly folded it across his chest making him appear to be sleeping. She touched his hair smoothing it as she knew he would like. Tears welled in her eyes as she looked at his relaxed face. She had never felt this deeply for a patient and it was tearing her heart out. Turning away she brushed away tears and regained her composure and opened the door for Marie and Will junior to come in. Once they had passed into the room, she quickly exited and ran to a store room. She needed some privacy and time to herself. Her feelings were overwhelming her and she needed to get control of herself.

Marie approached the bed and softly touched her father's face and then caressed his cold hands saying quietly, "I love you daddy."

William leaned forward placing his chin on Marie's shoulder and touching his father's folded hands he said in a sob, "I love you too dad."

Hearing her brother's distressed tone Marie turned and they embraced, each shedding their tears for the loss of their father.

After some time, Liz had regained her composure and returned to the room asking if there was anything she could do for them.

"No, no Liz. You have been the kindest person to our father for which we will forever be grateful. We'll make all the arrangements for his funeral and we want you to very much be a part of it," Marie said holding Liz's hand with both of her own.

Looking back at their father Marie and William each kissed him on the forehead and said their final goodbye and left the hospital.

# Chapter 4

Will had gone silent for quite some time mulling over what had happened when he was nudged by Anne.

"Hey you!" She called.

Will was jolted out of his silence, "Oh! I'm sorry. I'm just a little confused and trying to figure this out."

"Don't fret about it. It will all become clear to you in time," she reassured.

Will melted hearing her comment. That was so Anne with her sense of enjoyment of life and always finding something humorous about every situation. He sidled against her and they shared a few moments of warmth and reassurance of their life past. They had always been a loving and happy couple having raised two wonderful children.

"There are so many exciting and fun things to do in this life. Most exciting of all is getting reacquainted with those who have gone before you, and seeing your lineage back to the beginning of time, that is, if you are so inclined. Some of us don't want to know where we came from," she said.

They had lived in some very interesting places, often without modern conveniences, but they always made the best of it. Anne did her best to make life interesting and fun. They had been childhood sweethearts and were the exact opposites of each other. Will was the sullen, thought provoking type, but always up for a laugh and always positive about life, whereas Anne was full of energy, always animated and full of sunshine enough to go around for everyone. She refused to let anyone be depressed or sulk and there was a bright side to every negative thing that ever happened to her. _I have a choice when I get out of bed in the morning,_ she would say, _I can choose to be negative and dower or happy and full of cheer. I choose to be happy and full of cheer. It's much more fun._ Her attitude made life so much more tolerable considering some of the places they had lived. She was the joy of Will's life and Will was her driving force in life, her reason for getting out of bed in the morning.

They had married when he graduated with his master's degree and their family began shortly thereafter with the birth of Will junior. By the time he had obtained his doctorate Marie was born. Anne was a youthful woman all her life. Her laughter and attitude toward everything in life kept her that way. She was a small dark-haired lady with fiery hazel and green eyes that changed color with her mood, and as Will always said, _Dynamite comes in small packages_. He adored her and never tired of looking into those eyes and examining her beautiful full lipped smile. Her nose was thin set and a little over sized for her face, but it did nothing but add to her beauty and it was the place where he would place little kisses right on the tip.

Will was amazed at how real all this felt. He was now, a sphere of glowing light. He was sharing memories with Anne without talking! _This is all too weird_ , he thought to himself or at least he thought it was to himself.

"No, it's not Will." He heard Anne's voice in his head.

_No, I don't have a head,_ he thought to himself again.

"You may not have a head or body that you were used to in your previous existence, but you have all the faculties to feel, think, reason, love and to inquire, all within the essence that is you now," Anne explained.

"Damn! Damn! This is all too weird, totally off the scale!" Will exclaimed.

In a motherly tone Anne reminded him, "like you used to tell the kids, 'don't rush things. All things can happen in due time'."

"But..."

Cutting him off Anne emphasized, "just turn off the scientist for a few moments and let it happen. Quit questioning it."

Will's light intensity was brilliant with his anxiety.

Pulling away and extending a mental hand, Anne commanded in a gentle voice, her own light intensity a soft yellow, "now, before you get in a dither let me show you around a bit. I think it will help settle your, uhhh, hmmm, nerves?"

"What about the other family members?" Will asked.

"They're no problem. You can meet with them later. After all, they have been through this countless-times and certainly understand your confusion and need to adjust." With a chuckle in her voice she added, "and with you Mr. Scientist, they know it may take longer."

Will smiled to himself, _Anne, damn how I missed her and she hasn't changed a bit, still sassy and a joy to be around._

"You bet mister," she replied.

"Whaaa?"

They drifted for a while just looking at the stars which Anne hoped would help get his mind off of his new life.

"Uh, about this being able to read my thoughts?" Will enquired in a low voice.

"Look at the stars Will!" Anne scolded.

"They're beautiful, and to be sharing this with you is beyond my wildest imagination," Will said.

"But you still want to know how I know your thoughts?" she retorted.

"Yeah, well I don't want to feel like my fly is open all the time," Will replied.

Anne turned back toward Will and he could feel her frustration, "all things in good time Will, but I know you're not going to wait."

Will felt like he was being a pest, but he was intrigued by all this.

"Okay. Here's how it works out here in our little universe. If you want to think about something personal you simply don't think about anybody else. If you do, that person will hear you, provided they are nearby. If they are off in some other part of the universe they won't hear," Anne was using that bored teaching voice that he had heard her use so many times with their children. She went on, "knowing what others are thinking is not a problem generally. During normal conversation you just have to learn to keep some personal thoughts out of your mind."

"Boy, that could be a mess having people hear what I think sometimes," Will retorted.

"Here we don't get that upset about personal thoughts. There are more important things to think about. It is a big world here," she said.

Will's mind was about to explode with all this talk about hopping around the universe, bodiless minds and mind reading.

_Mind reading!_ thought Will. _I guess that's how we're communicating since we don't have a mouth, vocal cords or lungs._

"More like telepathy mister scientist," Anne quipped.

"Damn! I can't even have a personal conversation with myself," Will muttered.

"Yes, you can, all in due time. You just have to learn how," she explained.

"Okay! Okay! I've had enough. Let's just look around," he said with exasperation.

"Allll right! Finally!" Anne exclaimed.

And so, Anne led Will through the wonders of the universe passing through bright spiraling galaxies, glowing nebulas, immense star clusters, incredible black holes and on past things that he had no idea of what they were. Finally, they approached the edge of the universe itself. Hovering there with blackness and void to their back side they looked across the known universe and all its glowing wonders. It felt like they could see to the origins of the 'Big Bang' itself.

"How do we do this?" Will asked in a hushed tone.

"It is wondrous isn't it Will?" She replied.

"Yeah, but how do we do it? I mean how can we see the entire universe without some kind of optical aid like a telescope as big as the English Chunnel? This is simply unbelievable. It exceeds the capability of my puny scientific brain," Will muttered while mentally scratching his head.

"Well, I'm not sure, but I think it is because once you travel through it you will always be able to see it no matter where you are," Anne explained in a low voice of amazement. "What I am seeing is far more than what you are seeing because I have had time to travel extensively with our family members who have been here much longer. You, Will, are still a neophyte and you can only see what we just passed through. As you travel more you will see further and much more."

He thought on this for a moment and then asked, "you said that we can travel anywhere by simply thinking about a place."

Blip!

"Oh crap!" Will explained as he found himself back in his room in the hospital. He instantly thought of Anne and 'blip!' he was back by her side at the edge of the universe.

"Have a nice trip?" Anne asked.

"Cripes!" Will croaked. "This is not going to be easy for a multi-tasker like me. I'm so used to thinking in several directions at the same time. I'm going to wear myself out bouncing around the universe."

"You know? With the average Joe, this life is no problem, but with you Will, I'm beginning to wonder," Anne stated with sarcasm.

Will imagined her standing there with her right hand planted firmly on her hip, head cocked to the right as she made that comment.

"Well, I'll work on it," Will stammered feeling a little childish.

"I'm sure you will," she said.

"So, where's home?" he asked in a bewildered voice.

"For God's sake Will! This IS home!" she cried.

"What? No place to hang my hat? No place to sit in my recliner? How do you take a bath out here?" Will asked somewhat frustrated.

Blip!

Will suddenly found himself alone there on the edge of the universe.

"Wow! Talk about a lonely place!" Will shouted hoping Anne would hear him where ever she had blipped off too.

Blip!

Will found himself gliding along beside Anne in some weird looking spiral of stars. "Where ya headed?" he asked.

"Home!" she snapped.

"I thought you said all this was home?" Will was probing for affirmation.

"I'm going to see my parents so I can have a sane conversation," she replied.

Blip!

Once more, Will was alone in a very strange place.

_Damn! This is hard to get used to,_ he thought.

With a thought of Anne, he found himself by her side once more. Well, at least that works every time, he thought to himself.

"Yes, it does, doesn't it?" She retorted.

# Chapter 5

They ended up back with the family and Will got to meet everyone. There were literally hundreds of them. He was enjoying getting to know them and listening to old family stories when he felt Anne by his side. She apologized for interrupting, but whispered to Will that they had some urgent business they needed to attend to.

"How did you do that?" Will enquired.

"Do what?" She asked.

"You whispered," Will said.

"So?" She said with frustration in her voice.

"Well? How'd you do that so nobody else can hear?" He inquired more urgently.

"All things in good time," she purred. "I promise I will teach you, in good time."

"In good time my a..." Will started.

"Shush now! Let's move away from the family," she cautioned.

"So, what's the rush here?" Will asked.

"I think we should check on the children," she said in a quiet tone.

"Check on the children? How do we do that? You mean we can go back and visit the kids?" He blurted.

"No, no. We can't go have a visit with them, but we can observe them. You must remember, they have just had a dear loss in the family," she replied.

"They have? Who?" He asked in a wide-eyed manner.

"Why Will Caylen, I swear! You are more absent minded than ever I knew you. You are the 'dear loss' that they have experienced," she snapped.

After a momentary pause, Will replied kind of sheepishly, "Oh, oh yes. I guess that is true. So, what do we do?"

"Just stay with me and don't try to do anything. These experiences can be trying," she replied in a serious tone.

"So, if we can't do anything why do we bother to go?" Will asked.

"Our celestial presence will be felt and it gives reassurance to those mourning their loss." She said adding, "we can't contact them, but if our family ties were strong enough, they will know that our essence is there and it will provide comfort. That is the least we can do for the family we have left behind."

Will was silent. He never liked funerals and not being religious made him even more uncomfortable at these affairs. He never knew what to say to those who had lost a loved one. Anything said always seemed so trifling compared to what they were feeling, and now, to go to your own funeral?

"Stop that and follow me," Anne commanded.

"Okay!" Then they were hovering in a large room filled with people dressed in dark clothing. There was food on the table in the dining room and people were talking in lowered tones. Liz was there sitting on the couch by herself.

_Why, why this is Marie's house_ , Will thought.

"Yes, mister genius," came a sarcastic reply from Anne.

About that time, Marie came down the stairway holding hands with her brother, William. Their faces were drawn and their eyes red. They could see they had been crying.

Will felt a sudden pang of sympathy and desire to comfort his children, but Anne whispered, "Don't even think about it, and please follow me implicitly on this."

It was difficult, but he held back sidling against Anne for comfort and support.

After many condolences and introductions Marie and William sat on the couch next to Liz listening and talking with others. That was when Anne said, "follow me and do only as I do."

With that said, they descended down to the level of the gathered people and approached their children. Will was stuck right to Anne's side and as he followed her, she began to circle their children slowly as if in a long and loving caress, First one then the other. The light they created was a golden vortex swirling around their two children, a light only Will and Anne could see. Marie's right hand went over to take William's hand in hers. She squeezed and shook his hand and he squeezed back looking at her. Both had a look of wonder on their faces.

The golden celestial essence of their loving parents swirled about them conveying love in a way no other could. Then suddenly Anne said, "we must go," but before Will left, he circled Liz several times as if to say a final goodbye to her.

Back beside Anne, she admonished him for not coming back the instant she had returned. "What do you think you're doing? It is dangerous to do what we did and you just took off on your own?"

"I had to say goodbye to Liz. She was so kind to me and the kids during my illness."

Anne was silent for a moment, "I can understand that Will, but it was dangerous. I have waited a long time for you and I don't want to lose you again."

Will was somewhat bewildered. "Why did we have to leave so suddenly?" he asked in a subdued tone. "I have never felt so close to and so loved by my family in my entire life. Why was it so dangerous?"

"I know the feeling," Anne replied. "But if we stay too long it would damage us. It could even destroy us in addition to doing emotional harm to those we love."

After a moment or two of thought Will asked, "I can understand doing emotional harm to them, but why would it damage us?"

"We are creatures of space," she answered. "The atmosphere of Earth is caustic to us and would deteriorate our essence even though we are invisible there."

Will moved closer to Anne touching her and absorbing her love and the confidence she had always given him, and then in a low tone he said, "that was incredible Anne. Thank you for letting me experience that with you and our children, and Liz who has become like a daughter to me."

Feeling his warmth and love in return she replied softly, "it is our right as their parents, and you are so right. It was wonderful and I am glad you expressed your affection for Liz, even though it was risky."

"You know?" Will began, "when you passed away there was a moment when I felt like you had come back to me, and I felt mom and dad were there with me too. I will never forget that moment."

"I know Will," Anne said quietly, "they were there with me."

# Chapter 6

The time between their father's death and the funeral went quickly. There was much to arrange and many friends to notify. The day of the funeral arrived on a cold October day that was bright and sunny. The kids knew their father was not particularly religious so they arranged for the service to be at a funeral home. They had asked a personal friend who was a minister to conduct the services but not in the traditional way. He gave thanks at the beginning followed by a rendition of "you raise me up" then he asked if anyone in the audience would like to make a comment. There followed a full two hours of comments from family, friends and colleagues some humorous, some touching, some giving sincere thanks and appreciation for the influence Will had had on their lives. William and Marie were overwhelmed at the outpouring of commentary from so many people. The comments on Will's work from the executive director of the Smithsonian made their day.

Later, after the graveside rites William and Marie invited everyone to Marie's house for dinner. There was a continuous stream of people dropping by to express their condolences and after a while Marie needed a break. Her brother escorted her upstairs to a sitting area, where they held hands and sat in silence.

Finally, Marie said, "I guess we should go back down."

They came down the stairs and went into the living room and sat on the couch where Liz was sitting. She didn't know most of the folks that were there, but Marie and William had insisted that she be part of the family.

Those in attendance knew the kids needed time to themselves and expressed their condolences and began to leave. Those remaining, were mostly family and they left them alone.

Suddenly Marie reached over and squeezed her brother's hand, "do you feel it?"

"Yes! Yes, I feel it baby sister." he whispered back using the name he called her by when they were children.

They embraced and as they did so they felt the warm glowing essence of their mother and father as if they were there reassuring them, then suddenly it was gone. They looked at each other with tears flowing down their faces.

"My God!" Marie whispered still holding on to her brother. "What was that?"

"I don't know, but it was the most amazing thing, as if, as if mom and dad had come back to console us."

It was then they heard Liz, "oh my God!"

Turning quickly toward Liz, Marie asked, "what's the matter?"

With a far-away look in her eyes and turning slightly pale Liz said in a halting voice, "I, I think I just felt your father's presence."

Turning completely around with tears of joy flowing down her cheeks Marie embraced Liz saying, "so did we. So did we Liz. It was the most incredulous thing I have ever experienced. William felt it too. That proves it, you are family!"

The three of them were standing now and in a three-way embrace. "I have never experienced anything like that in my life," Liz said in amazement.

"I believe in the essence of the spirit," Marie said joyfully, "and if mom and dad could come back to do that, they would. I firmly believe they did."

Will and Anne had made quite the impression.

# Chapter 7

In time, Will did adjust and became quite adept at maneuvering through the universe. He even learned how to whisper and keep his thoughts private. At first the exploring was quite interesting and he enjoyed the thrill of going to these places that were only speculated about on Earth. Anne tended to stay near the relatives. That was where she was most comfortable, whereas Will, on the other hand, was more comfortable exploring. He enjoyed pushing the limits. It was like one big continuing new adventure. Visiting with the relatives was okay, but discovery was more attractive. Besides, there were some interesting places out there that he had discovered. Places that seemed to repel his efforts to go into them They were dark places where there seemed to be powerful forces. More than once he felt his mind being touched by something other than a human. It was not threatening, but just curious. He couldn't help but return to these places frequently. They drew him and tickled his scientific fantasies, and besides he was only a 'blip' away from home at any given time. How cool was that?

Eventually Will's old desire to discover the origins of man returned to him in full force. It dawned on him that if this life was the final stage of the life that began on Earth then there must be celestial beings somewhere that came from that beginning. They would know the origins of man, and perhaps know how the universe was created. The questions began to pile up in his mind. Did early man ascend to the universe as he had? And if they did, did they think and communicate as he did? His mind reeled with the thought of communicating with the ascendant of a Neanderthal, or an even earlier ancestor of mankind.

_This would be way too much,_ he thought to himself.

After these thought sessions Will would end up in depression wondering what good would it do other than knowing himself how man came to be. He couldn't publish it and pass the information on for others to use. _How depressing, h_ e thought.

As Will was mulling this over he found himself back at the edge of the universe at one of those dark places that exerted a strange force on him. This was the one place where he could actually feel something or someone touch his mind. He had hovered there for some time in deep thought when suddenly he thought he had seen something move in the black distance. It was a strangely shaped, faintly glowing object, like a black light without a fixed form. As it came toward him its shape changed constantly and the weird fluctuating light emanating from it became brighter outlining its massive size. Will was frozen in place. He couldn't make himself move. Thoughts of creatures out here on the edge that consume the energy of his kind passed through his mind. The thing came closer and as it did so Will realized that it was immense in size. He felt like a tiny row boat with a giant ship closing in on him. Will tried to move, tried to wish himself somewhere else, but he could not budge.

The thing came still yet closer and was almost on top of him when suddenly it spoke to him, "Will Caylen, we have waited a long time for you. I will bring you in."

"Bring me in where?" Will inquired in a firmer voice than he felt.

"To the other side of creation," came the reply.

# Chapter 8

"Where am I?" Will asked feeling considerable discomfort and very disoriented. His question was followed by an incredible blast of voices and pressure on his being, then there was total silence. It seemed as if someone had flicked off the volume of a loud radio. The discomfort and disorientation he was feeling also went away. "What was that?" he asked.

"We apologize for our mis cal cu lation. Are you okay now?" Came the stumbling voice he had heard earlier.

"Yes, yes, I think I'm okay," Will said, "but, where am I?"

"You are no longer in your universe," came a flat reply.

Looking about, Will realized that the universe he had recently come to know was now far away and viewed through a dark, dim light. He felt a panic rise within him and he tried to transport himself back to Anne, but couldn't.

"Do not be upset Will Caylen. We will not harm you and you may go back to your universe when we are completed."

Will fought the panic looking about and seeing nothing more than the massive dark entity before him outlined by the faint light of the universe on the outside of where ever it was that he had been brought into. He fought to calm himself and as he did so he took in his new surroundings. He saw a number of these entities floating nearby like a huge armada of dark ships, each outlined in a silvery light. They were not close, but none-the-less, seemed to be paying attention to him and the entity in front of him.

"Completed? What does that mean?" Will asked, wondering what they could possibly want with him.

There was a momentary silence during which he thought he could hear the dim roar of voices he had heard when he was first pulled into whatever this place was.

"Will Caylen, we have much to discuss with you, but are not sure what to begin." The voice he heard in his mind was gentle and soft. It was not threatening at all, but still, in a faltering tone as if it was unsure of what it was saying.

"Who is 'we?" Will asked, becoming more intrigued by what was happening.

"That is good question Will Caylen. Let me imagine how to answer that," the entity said with amusement in its voice.

Will was surprised at that answer because he had already assumed these things were far beyond his capabilities of thought and knowledge.

"Let me see now, ummm," the entity went on as if trying to figure out how to explain a difficult thing to a person who probably wouldn't understand the answer anyway. "It is not easy for us to com mun icate in the human languages."

"That seems strange," Will commented, "especially since we are communicating, more-or-less, by telepathy or mind transference. It seems to me that a thought is a thought or a picture."

"Not so Will Caylen. Thought processes can different considerably between sen tient beings and a, ummm, mental image that you see may not be estab lished the same way by others."

"Hmmm? I guess I can understand that," Will conceded. "Go on."

"If I confuse the words or meaning of words please do not hesi tate to correct me. This is the beginning of a learned, ummm, learning process for both of us Will Caylen."

"Call me Will."

"Will," the entity repeated.

The cacophony of voices rose once more in the background.

"What on Earth is that noise I keep hearing?" Will demanded.

"You are not on Earth. How can you hear noise from Earth?" the entity asked in amusement.

"Oh, sorry. That's just a term we use back on Earth. Doesn't mean anything," Will said.

"Words that don't mean anything?" Asked the entity in a somewhat shocked voice.

"Oh yes, we have plenty of expressions that really don't mean anything. They're just descriptive of how a person wants to express themselves," Will replied matter-of-factly. "You know, by golly, good grief, what in tar nation, there's hundreds of them."

"Hundreds of them..." the entity mused.

There was that roar in the background again. "So, what is that noise?" Will asked again.

"I believe the noise you are referring to Will, is the voices of my kind," the entity replied.

"What do they do, all talk at once?" Will remarked.

"I guess by your human stan dards they do seem to talk all at once, but in real ality I can hear each one of them alone, ummm in di vid ually and answer them all together, ummm con cur rently. The pressure and dis comfort you felt when I brought you over was from them com municating straight, ummm, di rect ly with you. We did not realize that you were in capable of our, ummm, si mul taneous com munication."

"That's pretty neat, so what are they saying when I hear them?" Will asked.

There was a chuckle-like sound emitted by the entity. "They are confused by your words. I have spent considerable time attempting to learn your languages, but have only been able to get, ummm, small pieces of it when one of your kind has passed by. With you, Will, I have been able to take my time and look in your mind at all the wonderful words you use. My problem is, I am still trying to, ummm, understand, no, figure out how to put them together cor rectly. I still have some length, no, ummm, span? No, no, ummm, some distance to go, so pardon me if I misuse your words. I may also have to, ummm, cease? No, stop, yes, stop, may be hesi tate and translate to the others. Now, shall we get to the end of our conversation?"

"Oh. Are we through already?" Will asked worriedly, while thinking what a strange situation he was in.

"You asked who we are," The entity enquired.

"Uh, you meant get to the point of our conversation?" Will offered.

"Oh my, did I use the word wrong?" The entity asked.

"That's okay. So, who are you and what are you doing here?" Will's fear had subsided and he was once again thinking like a scientist full of curiosity.

"From what we have taken from your words when you visited our, ummm, barrier so many times is that you are a scientist of human evolution and the universe. Is this lit eral Will?" The entity asked.

"You mean correct? Yes, yes that is correct." Will said.

"Then have you the knowledge of how your universe began?" the entity asked.

"Why yes, I do, but it's probably limited compared to what you know. What do you fellows know about the Big Bang?" Will asked hoping to at last hear what the meaning of the universe was.

"Big Bang?" the entity enquired.

"On Earth that is a term we use to describe the beginning of our universe. A massive explosion that set all this in motion." Will stated.

"Big Bang? I will have to remember this," the entity said with amusement.

"So, what do you fellows know about this event?" Will asked again.

"What is this term 'fellows'?" he asked.

"Uh, another one of those human terms. This one refers to others. Now what about the Big Bang?" Will persisted.

"Oh," the entity said flatly, then went on in a nonchalant manner. "The Big Bang, as you call it, is something we caused. It was an accident."

Will suddenly found himself on the outside of the barrier he had come to visit so many times. He was somewhat disoriented and wasn't quite sure what had happened, then he remembered what had just been said to him, _the Big Bang was an accident!_ He suddenly found himself zipping here and there thinking over and over, _the Big Bang was an accident!_ After a few moments he settled down and went back to the barrier and waited. He had to have more information and he would wait here for an eternity if that was what it took to get back in. Will had learned that time didn't exist in the universe as he had once known it. There was no day or night and no clock to see what time it was. Life was just life and it went on 24/7.

He slowly drifted back and forth trying to call out to those on the other side, then suddenly the dark fluctuating mass outlined by a silvery light appeared in the distance. Slowly it came toward him. Will tried to make his own glow brighter so he would be seen, then he heard the entities voice, "are you okay Will?"

"I'm fine," Will said. "why did you kick me out?"

"Kick you out? What does that mean?" the entity asked.

"You put me back on the other side of the barrier," Will stated.

"Oh, that," the entity said, then went on, "when we began our conversation about the 'Big Bang' you suddenly became very, how do you say, ummm, changeable? Rushing all over making strange verbalize, verbal noises. We thought something was mistaken with the atmosphere we had created for you on our side. We did not want to cause harm to you."

"Sorry for my erratic behavior, but I spent all my mortal life theorizing about the Big Bang and how it came to be and then to suddenly be told you caused it and it was an accident. That freaked me out!" Will said.

"You use so many con fusing words," the entity said.

"Let me put it this way, you blew my mind, no, you, you excited me beyond my control. You understand that?" Will queried.

"I believe so," the entity said scratching his imaginary head.

"Say, what can I call you? You have a name?" Will asked.

"Yes, I do, but I don't know how to trans mit it to you Will," the entity said.

"How come?" Will asked.

"We are known by what we are and there is no real name al lied with that, just a ummm, mental image," he said.

"You all look the same so how do you get around that?" Will asked somewhat perplexed.

Will heard that chuckle sound again. "We may look the same to you, but we are very different from one another."

"If I am to communicate with you then I will have to give you a handle so I can refer to you." Will proposed.

"A handle? I don't think I need a handle," the entity said confused.

"No, no. Not a real handle, but a name that I can call you by," Will corrected.

"Oh."

"I will call you Sam in honor of my mentor in college. Now, tell me about this Big Bang accident Sam." Will implored.

"Sam," the entity said slowly. "I like the sound of that, Sam. I've never had a 'handle' before."

"The Big Bang accident," Will urged.

Sam brought Will through the barrier once more where he felt the pressure of passing through. Speaking through the barrier took considerably more energy so bringing Will inside made communication much easier. "You are sure the atmosphere we created for you is okay and does not, ummm, disagree with you?"

"Yes, yes. It's fine, now about the Big Bang accident," Will pleaded.

Will was so full of excitement that all he could do was think about this Big Bang accident idea. He had to know what it was all about and who these things out here at the edge of the universe were that frightened everyone else away. _The Big Bang theory dates the universe between thirteen and fourteen billion years old. Had these creatures existed out here throughout all this time_ , he wondered.

"Yes," Sam said. "We have been here since the accident or 'Big Bang'. We would like to return to our universe, but have not been able to. We are fairly, ummm, help less here on this side because we are from what we call a plus, no, positive based universe. This realm you call your universe is an anti-universe to ours. It, ummm, repels us and is there for disadvantageous, unfavorable, ummm, detrimental to us. This is why we have a barrier around us. We have managed to create a bubble within your universe from the plus, er, positive charged fabric that came through with us. This bubble has protected us throughout our time here, but unfortunately due to the anti-attractions we still cause this universe to expand at an ever-growing rate."

"But what caused the accident, the Big Bang?" Will asked growing more impatient.

Sam was able to see the formation of the words in Will's mind as he transmitted them, which was helping him grasp the language rapidly. As they talked, his use of the English language became better, but words were still pronounced with a halting flow and many were still broken down by syllables. Sam was listening to Will and translating to his fellow people simultaneously. Likewise, as he himself spoke in this primitive fashion, he was also translating simultaneously to them.

"We evolved similar to your kind, but have been around longer than you could possibly know, ummm, comprehend. Your universe of fourteen billion of your years is a very, very young one." Sam paused as if remembering something then he went on. "Once we were able to give up our bond with terrestrial planets we rose, ummm, ascended to the Great Universe where we reached a bigger, best, ummm, higher level of knowledge and ability. We sooner...or...later, ummm, e ven tually learned to control our universe, at least we considered, no, thought we had, until the accident occurred."

"Really?" Will said thinking to himself that he was here at the edge of his known universe having a conversation with an entity that was billions of years old. It was becoming over whelming to him, because not very long ago he was running around on a little planet making a living and trying to figure out simple little things. Little things such as the origin of man and worrying about dying of old age at the paltry age of 92 before he made a significant discovery.

"Time is relevant," Sam stated. "Relevant to where and what you are."

"You're reading my mind just like my wife," Will said sarcastically. "Yes, we had a fellow who made that same statement. Maybe he came through here. Einstein was his name."

"No, we not know of him," Sam said thoughtfully, "but the mass, ummm, majority of you humans, once you have ascended to this universe, change in your pur suits and that is why we were interested in you Will. When you primary, ummm, first came by us we instantly knew you were chasing, ummm, pursuing the same things you did in your other life. You had an intensity about you that attracted us to you."

"This is all very confusing to me. I can't understand why you think you need me and what does that have to do with the 'Big Bang' and why you are here? I have so many questions running through my mind." Will was becoming frustrated with the over loading of his imagination and his need for answers. Questions were popping up quicker than he could get answers and Sam seemed to take forever getting to the point.

"It will become clearer as we talk Will," Sam said in a soothing tone. "You will have to learn lack of complaint, er, patience with beings such as us who have been around for such a length of your time. We do not get in a hurry, as you would say, about things. There is always time."

"Yeah, well I bet the Big Bang accident speeded things up a bit," Will snapped.

"I can feel your impatience Will. Let me proceed to answer some of your questions quickly for you." There was a pause and Will heard the voices in the background again, then Sam went on. "As I said earlier, we are from a positively charged universe that appears to run, ummm, move parallel to your universe, which is anti-charged. We were conducting experiments on collisions of stars and the energy produced by such events. We had arranged for the collision of two very much, no, highly condensed stars."

"How do you arrange the collision of two stars?" Will interrupted.

"Several of my fellows working on the experiment combined our power, will power I believe you would call it, and forced the two stars together," Sam said matter-of-factly.

"How long did that take?" Will interrupted again.

There were the background voices again then Sam continued, "about two hundred and sixty million of your years."

"Two hundred and sixty million years! Two hundred and sixty million years just for one experiment!" Will couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"You must remember how long we have existed. A multitude of, no a two, ummm, a couple hundred million years of your time would only seem like a few of your weeks to us," Sam offered.

"Two hundred and sixty million years for one experiment!" Will exclaimed. "Wow! That certainly has to be a record. This is like reading a science fiction book." This was beyond comprehension to Will making him feel like he was in one of his dreams he used to have back on Earth.

"Science is not fiction," Sam stated.

"That I will not question with you. Now, go on about your experiment," Will urged.

The background voices surged again. It seemed they were having trouble keeping up with the meaning of the conversation with Will and his impatience to hurry on. Sam quelled the voices cautioning them to be patient and not damage their new made friend by attacking his lower mental capabilities.

"When the two stars collided, we had anticipated...expected to collect a lot of data about the assorted energies released," Sam explained.

"This sounds somewhat like our collider experiments on Earth when we were trying to produce the Higgs boson," Will said.

"Higgs boson?"

"Yes, the Higgs boson," Will emphasized. "We were slamming protons together that had been accelerated near the speed of light in hopes of producing a particle, the Higgs boson, which is theorized to exist, but has not been observed."

"Hmmm, protons?" Sam mused.

"Protons are small positively charged particles that make up the nucleus of an atom, or they may even survive on their own," Will explained.

"Atom?" Sam said slowly.

"An atom is the basic unit of all matter composed of a nucleus containing protons and neutrons with electrically charged electrons revolving around the nucleus," Will explained.

The voices came back loud and clear causing Will to back away from Sam, then they were instantly gone.

"Sorry Will, we were conferring," Sam said. "We now understand how you express the makeup of your universe. We do have a major difference in that our two universes are differently charged like a positive universe and an anti or negative universe. This is all very interesting. Perhaps now we can begin to understand each other more clearly."

"We can?" Will replied somewhat mystified.

"I think so," Sam confirmed. "Right now, it is important that we understand your universe as you understand it."

"Okay," Will agreed.

Will was a little bewildered by their interest in what he knew about the universe. Surely, they knew much more than he did.

"When you collided your protons, you were probably also hoping to create energy infusions." Sam stated.

Will thought about that for a moment before answering then it dawned on him what they might be referring to, but he was cautious to express himself. "I'm not sure what that is."

"Black places where energy and materials are drawn to," Sam said.

"Uh, yeah as a matter of fact we were. We call them black holes because they absorb everything including light," Will explained. "We didn't exactly want to produce black holes but our scientists were apprehensive that they may be produced as a result of the energy created by the collision of the protons at such a high rate of speed."

"You were not expecting effusions from light, but infusions to black?" Sam asked in an anxious tone.

"Yes, er no! We were expecting to create tiny black holes. What's an effusion anyway?" Will asked.

"In our universe, we have effusions, which are bright spots, ummm, locations where negative charged material flows forth," Sam said.

Will's mind began to reel again.

There was silence on Sam's behalf for a moment then he excused himself saying he would be right back. Will heard the multiple static-like sounds again. There was urgency in the voices as if they were arguing. Time went by and Will just drifted there wondering what had happened. He was wondering about Sam's use of the terms, energy infusions and effusions. In his world there had been much speculation about black holes and worm holes in space that could take in material, including light, and eject it somewhere else. _Whoa!_ He thought. _Do the black holes really exist and do they spew out into Sam's universe what they take in from ours? Is their universe charged oppositely of ours? Opposites attract and likes repel. Oh man!_ This was getting better by the minute.

"Excellent!" Sam said. "Now you will understand what we were doing and what created the accident. Energy effusions had been of interest to us for a large time. We had throughout the large sums of time avoided them as even we could be damaged by them due to the anti-radiation they emitted. We theorized, is that the correct use of the word?"

"That's correct," Will said.

"We theorized that these energy effusions might not just be material left over from the outplosion of a star," Sam said.

Now it was Wills' turn to question Sam's use of words. "Outplosion?"

"Ummm, yes. When a star reaches maturity and comes a part," Sam offered.

"That would be an 'explosion' by our terminology," Will said.

"Yes! Yes! Sorry about that, but we are still learning," Sam said.

"That's okay. So, what happens after the star explodes?" Will asked.

"There is a continuous out pouring of light which is negative charged energy. These particles are very destructive to us and our universe. We theorized that the material and light coming from our effusions were coming from a parallel universe. In time, many billions of your years, these effusions ceased to eject light or material. The locations of the effusions were still there, but nothing was coming out of them. This was of great interest to us. Through our experiments we had hoped to learn more about this phe nom me non. Phenomenon? That is the correct use, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is. Now go on," Will urged.

"We wanted to know where this material and light came from and why it was reverse charged," Sam continued,

"Oppositely charged, so what happened?" Will asked, his impatience about to overrun him.

"When the two stars came together my fellows and I were nearby observing. There was the expected outplosion, excuse me, explosion and then there was darkness. We were pulled into, or through a dark barrier that ejected us into what is now your universe. It was fortunate that enough of our universe was pulled through with us that we were able to form this bubble, as you call it, to protect ourselves against the caustic universe that you live in."

"Wow..." was all Will could muster.

"Everything before us was void and without form or light then suddenly from behind us came a great inplosion...outplosion...er explosion of light and particles spraying out across the void and that is what you refer to as the 'Big Bang'," Sam stated.

"My god!" Will exclaimed.

Sam went on like a story teller wrapped up in what he was telling. "We had to react quickly by wrapping ourselves with that part of our universe that came through with us. We were lost...ummm, disoriented for some time trying to figure out what happened, but somehow the gaseous material that was pulled through with us was instantly changed to anti...negative charged material, or it was all the antimatter that had come through the effusions over the ages...er, eons of time. We are not sure which."

"I think," Will started hesitantly, "that what you call negative is what we call positive or the opposite of what your universe is. Either way, opposites attract. It doesn't matter so long as we know we are oppositely charged. You are the anti-matter that we have for so long sought after!"

"I think you are correct on that," Sam agreed.

"So, the Big Bang was a hole ripped in the fabric of space allowing your negative charged or positively charged anti-matter environment to be pulled into ours, which was void of material at the time. A parallel universe without form or substance," Will said thoughtfully. "Possibly, negative and positive universes revolving around each other and drawn by their polarity."

"Yes! Yes!" Sam agreed, "and through time as the new universe solidified it gained enough mass that an equalization began to occur that allowed the hole between the two universes to close."

"I can believe that," Will said letting his mind wrap around what they had just postulated.

"A sadness with us is that we don't know what happened to our kind on the other side, the other side of creation for this universe," Sam said slowly.

"That is sad," Will acceded. "How much of your universe came through to this side? Do you know?"

"It was considerable. This universe is much smaller than the one we came from. I would guess that close to 95 percent of your universe is composed of our material, which cannot mix with yours. Pockets of our universe are scattered throughout."

"Ninety five percent...ninety five percent..." Will slowly mused. "Then you are dark matter!" Will submitted.

"What is that?" Sam asked.

"It has been theorized for a long time that 96 percent of our universe is made up of dark matter and energy. I would guess that the shell containing your atmosphere is the dark energy that is causing our universe to expand due to its repelling nature. You have made the shell of your world positive so as to not attract everything in our universe to you, but instead, repel everything away from you. You and your fellow entities inside this shell are negatively charged making up what we call dark matter. We have not been able to prove that it existed, but we know that it is there," Will exclaimed with excitement. "Oh, if I could only tell the fellows back home!"

"How do you know it exists?" Sam asked.

"Back on Earth it is still hypothetical, but its presence is known by the gravitational effects it has on visible matter, stars, galaxies, even light. This is astounding! At last I know the origins of the universe and what it is made up of!" Will was ecstatic and was unconsciously bouncing around again.

Sam backed away asking, "Will, are you okay?" and he said it with such force that it blasted Will away like a balloon in a wind storm. "Oh my! Now what have I done?"

"I'm okayyyyyyyyyyy," Will yelled back as he was blown away from the light that was Sam. His voice trailed off as he flew. "I can't believe it. I can't believe I know the origins of the universe."

# Chapter 9

That first meeting had gone on for quite some time and when Will finally was released from Sam's environment Anne immediately appeared. "Where have you been? I have searched all over for you, but couldn't find you!"

"I've been right here all the time," Will replied.

"If you had been here all the time, I could have come to you," she snapped.

Will didn't stop to remember that they could not communicate with one another while he was on the other side.

"I'm sorry Anne. I didn't mean to upset you, but I have the most miraculous thing to tell you," he said.

"I know you are new here, but as a celestial being, we can be in touch with one another anytime and anyplace," she began.

"Not any place," Will cut her off.

"What do you mean?" She demanded.

"I have been talking to some folks from the other side of creation!" Will said.

"You what?" Anne shouted.

"Anne! Anne! There are other beings here that you don't know about..." Will began.

"Don't know about? Will, you've done gone to close to the sun! We know there are black places out there where we can't go and we know that those that live on the other side in the eternal darkness are those who were cast into hell when they died on earth."

"Heaven and hell! Do you really believe that Anne?" Will challenged.

"That is what those who have been here the longest tell us," Anne replied knowing that her scientist husband was about to change that opinion.

"Well I have to disagree with them because I've been there and have talked with them," Will said.

"I swear Will. You've only been here for a very short time and you're already telling us how things are. If there are beings on the other side, they are evil and they will try to use you, and no you cannot go there. No one can," Anne affirmed.

"Then why do you think you couldn't find me?" Will asked.

"I, er, well...." she stammered.

"Well?" Will pressed.

Anne was silent for a moment then said, "you know? I should know better than to question you about this. Even if you told me you had found out the meaning of life then I probably should believe you, after all, you are the forever prying scientist."

"That's just it, Anne," Will replied, "I have found out the meaning of life or rather, where it came from."

Blip! Anne was gone.

"That woman!" Will exclaimed.

With a thought of her Will was by her side somewhere on the other side of the universe. With hurt feelings Will asked, "why'd you do that for?"

"Sometimes I just don't know what to make of you," She replied, "and I'm afraid you may be messing with something you shouldn't."

"Would you just listen to me for a minute?" He pleaded.

"Okay! I'm all ears." She chirped.

Will told her the whole story with how it began and what he had learned. Anne interrupted occasionally for clarification or to express a disbelieving comment. She had been an intelligent woman back on Earth and readily understood Will's work. Many times, she took part in his excavations, but out here she seemed to be less interested in these matters and less willing to understand things. Perhaps what Sam had said about humans changing their interests when they got to the cosmos was true.

Finally, Will could tell by the tone in her voice that she was becoming tired of what he was babbling on and on about. She ended it with one question. "So, what do they want with you?"

Will fell silent. In all of his goings on he had failed to get the answer to that question. What did they want with him? "I don't know," he said

"Well, suppose you just trot your little ball of light right out there and find out?" she said as she blipped out.

_Hmmm? That's a good question. What on earth do they want with me?_ Will thought to himself.

Before returning to his new made friends on the other side Will wanted to think things over in great detail. He was, in particular, interested in the statement Sam had made about the effusions in his universe, _in time the effusions ceased to eject light or material_. That statement combined with his other about when their experiment went south and they were _drawn into a universe void of material and without form or substance_ really intrigued him.

Recent data indicated that there were black holes at the center of many of the known galaxies as well as individuals scattered throughout the cosmos. It was also thought that new ones formed regularly with the collapse of a star.

Will's mind had shifted into overdrive as he thought through this. _No one ever postulated what might happen in the end if black holes kept forming and more of them sucked in more and more light and matter. Even with all the gaseous cosmic clouds forming new galaxies they would eventually use up all their material. In the process they would create even more black holes. What if some of these were worm holes drawing material and energy off into some other universe?_

In the back of his mind a theory was forming, _could it be that our own universe in time was completely sucked into and through our worm holes and ejected into Sam's universe. Eventually this would have left our universe void and without light. Is it possible when Sam and his cohorts ripped a hole in the fabric of space all this accumulated material was blown back into our universe?_

Suddenly he had to get back to Sam.

# Chapter 10

In an instant, he was back at the barrier hoping that Sam would notice him. His thought processing had slipped into Mach speed. New questions and ideas were popping into his mind faster than he could catalog them for future consideration. He was moving back and forth like a pacing professor when he suddenly noticed that Sam was there.

"Oh, I didn't see you," he said.

"That's alright. I could see that you were in subterranean thought," Sam said.

"Subterranean thought? Sub...you mean deep thought?"

"Oh! Silly me! I still struggle with your language," Sam said in a tone of embarrassment.

"Not a problem," Will said.

"Have you returned for further discussion on the 'big bang'?" Sam enquired.

"Sort of, but I have many other questions also," Will declared.

"Oh delightful! Uh, that does mean good and not to take away the light, doesn't it?" Sam asked in a trailing voice.

"What? Oh, yeah, delightful, yes, that was the proper use," Will replied thinking this was going to be interesting getting around the language barrier while talking scientifically.

"One moment and I will bring you in so the rest of my uh, fellows can take part in the conversation," Sam stated.

Will felt compression on his being as he was brought through the barrier once more. It only lasted a moment and then he found himself surrounded by Sam's fellow beings. They were silent and just hovering around him.

As Will regarded them Sam spoke up, "we have had much discussion since our last visit and believe we can be have ourselves in a more acceptable manner to you now."

"Behave," Will corrected.

"Behave?" Sam repeated.

"Yes, behave, not be have," Will clarified.

"Oh. This language thing is so new to us," Sam declared.

"Don't worry, we'll get along just fine," Will affirmed.

There was a very quiet busy noise from the assembled group, but much more subdued than before. They had obviously learned to tone it down so it wasn't uncomfortable or dangerous to Will.

"Now, what was it that you wish to have questions about?" Sam asked.

Will contemplated the phrasing of that last statement before going on. "I've done a lot of thinking myself. I have a question regarding our black holes and your effusions."

"Yes, yes, go on!" The busy noise in the background returned in a somewhat more excitable tone, but was cut short when Sam said, "yes, please go on."

"Do you think it is possible our black holes swallowed up our universe and spewed it out in your universe through your effusions?" Will asked.

Will suddenly was blown away by a hard wind which was in fact a cacophony of sound coming from Sam's fellows. "What tha?" he yelled as he rebounded against an elastic-like surface that must have been the barrier they had created around them. When he looked about the blackness bordered by silvery light, which was Sam and his fellows, was far away.

In a nano-second Sam was there. "Oh my! Oh my! I am so sorry. Are you okay Will?"

"I think so," Will said. "What happened?"

"My fellows got a whole lot excited when you stated your question," Sam responded.

"Did I say something wrong?" Will asked.

"Oh no Will, oh no. It was the different," Sam responded.

"Different?" Will queried.

"Oh me, did I use the wrong word?" Sam said in a worried tone.

Mulling it over Will offered, "the opposite, or maybe on the contrary?"

"Contrary?" Sam repeated.

"Never mind," Will said. "What you meant was what I said was pleasing. Right?"

"Uh yes. That sounds right... I think." Sam was confused.

"So why would my asking questions about black holes and effusions make you so excited?" Will asked becoming more perplexed by the minute.

By now, Will was once more looking at a wall of silvery bordered blackness as Sam's fellows pulled up. They seemed somewhat hesitant to get to close due to their last outburst. He was thinking that the situation was somewhat ludicrous. These creatures were billions of years old and could manipulate their universe like a science laboratory, but in many ways, were like naïve, wide-eyed children.

"Will, we have waited eons of your time waiting for the creation of a human that might help us solve our problem," Sam said.

"Why me?" Will asked.

"You are special Will. You are very special," Sam stated.

"Well, my wife Anne, used to tell me that, but I don't think she meant it in a complimentary way," Will retorted.

"What?" Sam was mystified by Will's statement.

"Oh, never mind, I was just thinking out loud," Will replied.

"Thinking out loud? That is something we must know more about...thinking out loud...," Sam said slowly as he mulled over another nuance of the spoken English.

"You were saying?" Will said firmly to bring Sam back to the point of their conversation.

"Oh! Oh yes. Let me think, this is going to take a period. I will need to tell you the unbroken story from the beginning, or rather from the big bang," Sam said.

"Okay, let me get this straight. It is going to take a while to tell the whole story from the time of the big bang, right?" Will clarified.

"Isn't that what I said?" Sam questioned.

Will thought to himself, a _t this rate it may take forever_.

"Forever is a long-time Will and we don't have that much time," Sam said.

"Oops! Was I thinking out loud again?" Sam asked.

"Thinking out loud? You must tell us how this is done," Sam implored.

"No, no. Forget it. Just tell me the story!" Will snapped. His patience was running thin.

"Oh, okay. You humans are so hurried," Sam observed.

"Impatient," Will corrected.

"Impatient?" Sam queried.

"Puleeze, the story will ya?" Sam pleaded.

"Yes, yes, the story, the whole story and nothing but the story" Sam quoted.

"Where'd you come up with that?" Will asked a bit surprised.

"I don't know, it just came out. Is it wrong?" Sam asked.

"My god!" Will said with exasperation.

"You have said that before, do you own a god?" Sam asked.

"No, no. It's just another one of those meaningless statements I told you about. Now will you please get on with the story?" Will was about at the end of his patience.

"But I thought you wanted to hear the story?" Sam said in a confused tone.

"I do, I do and in my life time if at all possible. I didn't mean go away with the story, I meant get on with telling the story," Will explained with complete exasperation.

"Language, it is so confusing," Sam stated. "Okay, here we tell or is it here we go?"

"Whatever," Will snapped.

With that, Sam began a litany of the happenings from the time of the accident that caused the big bang. There were many interruptions from Will as he clarified Sam's use of words, but in the end, he got a very clear picture of what had happened.

# Chapter 11

Sam and his fellow scientists were trying to develop a clearer understanding of the effusions and where all this deleterious matter and light came from. It seemed very strongly attracted to their environment. For eons of time it was believed that the matter and light were being spewed forth from dying stars. They realized it was somewhat destabilizing their universe and causing it to expand at an ever-increasing rate. Where this material was coming from remained an unknown. Sam and his colleagues had developed a new theory which described the material as coming from a parallel universe.

Since the material spewing forth from these effusions was so destructive to them, Sam and his colleagues could not get close enough to study them in detail. This foreign energy would quickly destroy them. Being creatures without material things they could not manufacture a vessel to protect them. Their experiment of colliding two stars together was an effort to prove or disprove their theory. It was their belief that an infusion, or black hole, would be created by the collision, thus, over time, pulling the foreign energy out of their universe.

What they hadn't anticipated was that the voided parallel universe, drained of all its matter and energy had become a huge vacuum. It was essentially a reverse bomb waiting to implode, pulling all its lost matter and energy back into it. The spark that lit the fuse was the colliding of the two stars. Instead of a normal black hole the collision rendered a very large hole in the fabric of space that separated the two universes. This caused all the matter and energy that had accumulated in Sam's universe over the billions and billions of years to rush forth through the hole, hence the 'Big Bang'.

An unfortunate side effect, fortunate for Sam and fellows, was that a considerable amount of Sam's universe was pulled through with it. This, Will assumed, accounted for the dark matter and energy found in his universe that remained completely unexplained to earth bound humans. It was probable that this dark matter and energy was responsible for the continued expansion of our own universe.

Sam went on to explain how a number of his fellow scientists were destroyed during the event when they came into contact with so much negative matter. Those that survived utilized their considerable will power to pull together as much material from their universe as possible that had been pulled through the hole before it closed. They essentially formed a universe within our universe. Unfortunately, their displaced universe was mostly devoid of solid matter, hence the darkness of it which led to our interpretation of dark matter and energy.

During the conversation, it became known to Will that not all black holes in his universe are worm holes. Worm holes only occur when the black hole has taken on so much mass and energy that it can no longer contain it. Eventually, it blows out forming a powerful vortex of immense black energy that bores through the fabric of space, and in our situation, spews forth into the parallel world that Sam came from. The force of the black hole blowing out into the parallel universe is great enough to prevent it from being pulled back into our own universe. The timing of Sam's star collision experiment was prime to when all matter had been drawn out of our universe. The resulting reaction of the two stars being collided weakened the fabric between the two universes allowing our universe to draw all that had been lost over the eons of time. It seemed to Will that it would only have been a matter of time until the black holes had lost their energy. They would eventually collapse, allowing all the matter to come back into our universe via the holes. A system of interaction between the two universes that could go on forever.

Will was astounded at what he was hearing. Several times he had to ask Sam to stop so he could absorb what he was being told. Will was like a huge sponge soaking up every bit of information to the point of over load. This was immense science beyond anybody's imagination, but what he was about to hear would exceed even that in Will's mind.

Sam by now had settled into a rhythmic telling of his story and in such a manner his English became more fluent and articulate. It was only when Sam was thinking about what he said that he became so confused, that and his desire not to offend Will.

"We too evolved from lower creatures and were confined to the surface of our planet, but in time we evolved to a very high intelligence and eventually took to the stars. There, over the billions of years, we shed our need of solid bodies and material things. We became pure energy forms. In this state of being we were free to move about the universe as we saw fit very much as your kind do in their metamorphosed state. We did manage to keep our intelligence and drive to learn more, whereas your fellows seem to become static and unchallenged to learn more. Even though we tried to emulate our own evolution, something went wrong and we did not succeed in producing beings of our capabilities. Perhaps it is because your universe is the reverse of our..."

"Whoa! Wait a minute!" Will interrupted. "What do you mean tried to emulate our evolution?"

"What...Oh...I guess I never told you about that. How silly of me," Sam said sheepishly.

"Never told me what?" Will implored.

"Well, uh, well, we more or less started the evolution of your fellows on your planet earth," Sam said rather awkwardly.

Will was gone in a split-second flying all around bouncing off the barrier wall and spiraling around wildly then 'blip' he was back in his universe. _Dam! I did it again!_ _I can't seem to control this vessel I'm in when I become excited. I need to talk to someone about some kind of damper system,_ Will postulated as he peered back into the darkness of Sam's universe. _I just couldn't believe what I heard. I spent my life trying to find the origins of man and all along I thought there might be extra-terrestrial influence and here it is, laid right in my lap. I knew it! I knew it!_

Will was still flitting back and forth along the barrier wall much like a gold fish in a bowl trying to find a way out through the reflection in the glass.

Slowly, Sam approached from the other side. "I am sorry Will, but when you behave in such an irrational way, I'm not sure what is the matter and to avoid damage I have ejected you back into your universe. We have waited long for you and we do not want to take any chances on damaging you."

"I'm not damaged other than data overload," Will said. "I thank you for your concern for my well-being, but this kind of data is likely to blow all my circuits. Wow!"

"Circuits?" Sam repeated.

"Yeah!" Will blurted.

"I suppose that is another one of your useless words that means nothing?" Sam enquired.

"Not this time Sam," Will corrected.

"I am confused," Sam said. "Can you explain?"

"Never mind that, can we continue our conversation about emulating your evolution?" Will requested.

Sam was quiet for a moment then he said thoughtfully, "perhaps we should delay further telling of the story until you have dealt properly with what you have heard to this period."

Will felt anxious and didn't know if he could wait to hear the rest of the story without stroking out, then it occurred to him that that probably wouldn't happen in this form of existence. Perhaps he had better take a break. He needed time to absorb what he had learned to date, and besides, Anne would be looking for him.

Blip! She was there. "Will, I've been trying to find you forever. Where have you been?"

Will looked back to point to Sam, but he was gone and all there was, was darkness. Before he could say anything, Anne said, "I know, you've been with your alien friends again on the dark side, right?"

"Right! We were having tea and crumpets," Will replied sarcastically.

Blip! She was gone.

Will looked back in the darkness and could see no sign of Sam, but he heard a distant trailing voice, "I look forward to our next visit Will."

Will thought of Anne and he was instantly there by her side. "Why do you get so irate with me when I visit them?"

"Visit them? Is there really someone or are you just avoiding me and our families or have they taken over your mind?" She asked in an irritated tone.

"Why no, I'm not avoiding you or them, but you know how I am when it comes to scientific investigation," Will pleaded.

"That was in your past life, here we stick with family and old friends. That's how it is," Anne said with frustration in her voice.

"What do you do when you're with them?" Will asked.

"We commune with one another, reliving past life and the thrill of what we once were," Anne replied.

"I'm sorry Anne, but that's just not for me," Will began, "I have a curiosity about everything and I have to search and acquire knowledge. I can't spend all my time hanging with family and friends, and besides, I think I'm on the verge of something really big."

With derision in her voice she demanded, "what? With your new friends?"

"I've never seen you like this Anne. What's the matter?" Will asked. He was becoming frustrated with her behavior.

Her brightness fluctuated then she said, "I have waited a long time for us to once more be together in paradise, and now that you're here you don't seem to want to be with me."

"I do Anne, I do, but I haven't changed a bit from how you knew me before. I'm still the same curious, prying, digging, investigating fool that I always was, and out here there is so much to investigate."

"That's just not how it's meant to be. You're supposed to drop the shackles of your previous life and just enjoy being. Enjoy where you are, in heaven, don't question it. It is how God meant for it to be," Anne said in a softer tone.

"Heaven? God? You think God has something to do with this?" Will said knowing he might regret it.

"I should hope so! Life here is sweet, loving, secure, and without constraints, it is heaven and certainly not anything man could create," Anne affirmed. "And besides, what are you going to do if you do gain knowledge? You can't publish it. You can't do anything with it. You have no means to make things.".

Will remained silent knowing full well he could not compete with that nor was there the slightest chance that she would believe what he had discovered through Sam. His relationship with Sam and fellows would have to remain non-existent for the time being, but he could not spend his time in idleness. Not with what he had just learned from Sam. Anne had never been particularly religious in her past life. Perhaps this was part of what Sam was alluding to concerning how humans changed once they ascended to the universe. On earth there were those who believed in a heaven or some form of after life, those that weren't sure, and those that didn't believe at all. Perhaps, once they reached this stage, they quickly became convinced that it was true after all. This was indeed paradise, where you did nothing and had no obligations and no challenge. There were times on earth when life was so hectic raising a family, making a living, funding his research, making discoveries, publishing, defending theories, etc. etc. that Will thought the idea of going to a paradise wasn't a bad thing. Now that he had died on earth, he was even more emphatic about his research and desire to learn more. There was challenge here even if he couldn't do anything productive with it. Being idle, well, that wasn't going to happen. Anne would just have to learn to live with it.

#

# Chapter 12

Will hung around for a while communing with his celestial family. They dwelled on reliving past family events. When they were together their past on earth passed before them like a movie screen. At first it was interesting, but after a while Will could take no more. He drifted away and when he thought no one was paying attention he blinked back to the barrier where he knew Sam would find him.

As Will drifted at the barrier lost in thought he was startled by Sam. "You are in subterranean thought again I see."

Grinning to himself Will answered, "yes Sam, I was in deep thought."

Will was thinking how comfortable he had become with Sam and his fellow associates. Sam's idiosyncrasies were amusing for an entity that had lived for so long. It made it all the easier to be comfortable around him.

"Let me bring you in Will. It is tiring communicating through the barrier," Sam offered.

Will felt himself once more being drawn through the barrier into the bubble they created for him on the other side. _The other side of creation_ , Will thought.

Still wanting to pursue the supreme being question Will asked, "Sam, does your kind have a form of religion or worship of a higher being?"

"A higher being? Uhh, I'm not sure what you mean with this question? Higher being?" Sam queried.

"Do you understand the meaning of God?" Will asked.

"Why no, no I don't Will. You have made the statement of 'my god' several times. I assumed god was a thing you owned," Sam replied somewhat baffled at the line of questioning that Will was pursuing.

"No. No. God is a supreme entity that is worshiped as the creator of our world and the universe," Will said.

"Ummm, we do not have any such thing. We know the creators of our universe and now you know the creator of yours as it stands now," Sam replied quietly wondering where this conversation was going.

"Yes, yes, I understand that, but how do you know the creator of your universe?" Will pressed.

"Throughout all of time there have been entities," Sam began. "Yes, entities such as us that began humbly on the surface of a planet and eventually made it to the great cosmos. It is the way of evo lu tion as you call it. It has always been this way. We know there are parallel universes and we all have gone through the same...evolution, a parallel evolution. We have always known there were numerous parallel universes to ours and have even visited them, but we were not aware that an anti-matter universe existed. We should have known this from our effusions. Others have always been, ummm, welcome, er positive, neutral to us." Sam paused for a moment then went on. "This is why we were somewhat sure that once we started life on your planet that you would eventually come to us. It is just the way things evolve in the cosmos, although, those that have come to us from earth have been a disappointment until you Will."

"I expect that our kind, believing in a God and a hereafter, has prevented them from attaining the level of growth that your kind did Sam," Will stated.

"I see what you intend, er mean Will and I guess that when we think of where it all began, we look at it from a scientific view in that it will be explained in time. It is not thought of as some supreme being creating it, but that of a scientific explanation."

"In the end, I guess I have to admit that the real creation was by some supreme being, but not one of biblical means and that it will eventually be answered scientifically," Will said, adding, "I guess it is the eternal question of why. Why are we here?"

"We have asked that too Will, but it is not attributed to a supreme being. We have met the beings that gave life to us and we do not, ummm, think of them as gods. They are simply beings that were created by other beings and this is the way it has been for all time."

Will fell silent for a moment mulling over their conversation and thinking about all he had learned recently. He could live with this explanation. Moving on he asked, "so how did you create us on earth?"

"Well, it was not easy, because we could not make direct contact with earth without dire effects on our being with the antimatter atmosphere and such," Sam began. "So, we had to try other means. We selected your planet because of its location to your star. We observed its formation and development and when the time was right, we brought to the earth various, ummm, planets, no...bodies of the universe..."

"Asteroids? Meteors? What?" Will interjected.

"Yes, yes," Sam agreed, "we brought large objects from space and hit the earth with them in an attempt to create chem...chemical reactions. None worked until we found a large object of ice and stone..."

"A comet?" Will offered.

"Yes, I believe so, a comet as you call them and hit earth hard with it. The results were slow, but the proper chemical reaction took place and we soon had, ummm, living cells. The beginning of life."

Controlling his inner excitement Will commented, "one of our many theories about how life started on earth was through the collision of a comet."

"Then your theory was correct," Sam said.

"But how did you know humans would eventually evolve from this soup of creation?" Will asked.

Taking words from Will's mind as they formed Sam went on. "We had no idea that humans, as you are called, would evolve. Not all evolution produces 'humans', but we do know that all evolution selects eventually for an intelligent, sentient being. We also know they would eventually ascend to the universe, and that is what we have waited for Will. We bombarded many creatures with cosmic particles to change their D N A or to force a change in their genetic makeup."

"If you were unable to descend to Earth how did you know life had begun, and how were you able to bombard creatures with cosmic particles if you weren't there?" Will asked.

"Oh, we can see far and see close up. I will show you how later," Sam said. "We managed to keep close watch on earth and its development, unfortunately at great expense to those on Earth as well as to us. Our presence seemed to cause things to go wrong. We learned in the difficult way that our close presence, ummm, proximity over a period of time to Earth caused problems on the surface. It caused cataclysms in the atmosphere as well as upheaval in the actual surface of the planet. Effusions would occur destroying everything we had worked to create. We realized we could not spend the necessary time more closely directing the evolution and developments there. We were forced to wait and hope that things came along as we theorized they might."

"I can see that it would have been detrimental to those on Earth. In fact, what you are saying may well explain much of our geological history, but how was this detrimental to you and your colleagues?" Will asked.

"Ummm...it took tremens...tremendous amounts of energy to control our experiments on Earth and then there was the energy necessary to correct some problems," Sam said struggling to manage his English.

"Problems? What problems?" Will questioned.

"Well, ummm, there was the time or two that we uh...accidentally moved the planet out of its orbit. Then there was the time we caused the axis to tilt, not to mention the numerous debris that we had to throw, umm, de flect from striking the Earth and destroying everything we had created. The bothersome periods of ice were another problem," Sam explained.

"Incredible! Absolutely incredible! I'm definitely in a dream!" Will exclaimed.

"You must explain a dream to me?" Sam requested.

"Later. Now why did some huge meteors, er debris strike the earth causing considerable damage and loss of life?" Will enquired.

"Umm, many times when the debris came, it would come in how do you say, umm, many numbers...," Sam said.

"Large quantities or swarms?" Will interjected.

"Yes, large quantities. Unfortunately, we could not deflect all of them. It took much energy for us to do this and you must remember, we have no way to renew our energy in this universe. It was very, very difficult on us," Sam explained.

"I can understand that," Will said in a thoughtful tone. Will's mind was going wild accumulating all this data and applying it to the known geological history of his planet. It had long been theorized that dark energy was causing the universe to expand. It stood to reason that when Sam and associates came close to Earth, they caused extraordinary pressures on the solar system. They evidently displaced planets, satellites, asteroids even caused volcanism, earthquakes on the Earth's surface. This was incredible data, but still in the back of his mind was that gnawing thought _, so what can I do with this information? Nothing, absolutely nothing._

"I see what you are thinking Will, and perhaps in proper time you will be able to do something with this history," Sam suggested.

Will was overwhelmed by all of this, but he was taking it in, in a much calmer fashion now. He was quiet for a while mulling it all over and asking himself if he was just dreaming back on earth.

"Are you okay Will?" Sam asked.

"Yes Sam, I'm okay. Just thinking over all you have told me," Will replied.

"You seem much more stable than before," Sam said.

"Yes I am. So now to the big question, why did you need us humans to come to you?" He asked.

To this point, Will had not noticed, but the rest of Sam's fellows had drawn close and were listening quietly to the conversation between him and Sam. He assumed Sam was translating to them as they talked and what they were discussing must be of importance to them because they were being unusually quiet.

"Because we need your help to return to our universe," Sam said.

"But how can I do that? I have no powers," Will stated.

"We will help you Will. It will be costly to us, but we must make the sacrifice or we will be forever confined here in this bubble until we finally dissolve into nothingness. Trapped here in this anti-universe leaves us nothing to replenish our energy with. We have waited long for you," Sam said in a solemn tone.

"How will it be costly to you? What do you mean you will dissolve into nothingness?" Will asked.

"We are not eternal, we are capable of dying," Sam said thinking how to express himself.

"I don't understand. You are pure energy; how does that terminate?" Will asked.

"Energy can be spent and if you cannot replenish it then we cease to be. We cease to have the energy to, ummm, assemble thoughts. Without the capability of thought we just simply cease to be," Sam replied.

"But what do you do to expend energy?" Will asked quite confused.

"Remember how we used our collective energy to collide the stars that caused the big bang? That took considerable energy, but it was done by a great number of us so the energy loss was negative for the one individual. When we were thrust through the hole in the fabric of space we had to very soon, er, quickly use considerable energy to pull together the atmosphere that came through with us and form what you call the dark matter. The energy needed was immense. Several of our kind sack, er, sacrificed themselves by using up all that was them to accomplish this. Others were consumed by the antimatter energy of this universe. Even with all our immense effort we could not gather all the atmosphere that came through and as a result there are pockets of our universe all over your universe."

"I see," Will said. "Those that sacrificed were certainly heroes for doing so."

"He ros? What does this mean?" Sam enquired.

"It refers to folks who make a selfless sacrifice to save others," Will said.

"Hmmm, he ros? Self less sacrifice? I am not clear on these meanings, but in our society, it is expected to utilize your energy for the betterment, no, the preserving...preservation of our existence." Sam said thoughtfully. "Sometimes the energy required is greater than the whole of us and therefore we cease to exist, but if we were in our universe, we would re-absorb energy that abounds everywhere."

"I think I understand," Will said. "I hadn't thought about it, but I presume that is how we obtain our energy in this universe. We absorb it from all that is around us."

"Yes, many of us have ceased to exist with our energies spent on earth and getting you here." Sam said solemnly.

"What do you do with all your time here?" Will asked.

"We have a way to become inactive, sleep? No..." Sam began.

"You can become dormant or hibernate?" Will offered.

"If that means living without activity, then yes. In this way, we do not use our irreplaceable energy."

"Pretty neat stuff," Will said.

"Pretty...neat...stuff? More of those words that have no meaning?" Sam enquired.

"Uh, yeah." Will replied without going into further detail.

The conversation between them lulled for a moment as Will absorbed all this new data, then he asked, "so, how can I help folks like you?"

"Folks?" Sam questioned.

"Sorry. What I meant was for you and your kind?" Will explained.

There was a closing in effect of Sam's cohorts as they drew nearer, then Sam said, "we need assistance in returning to our universe."

"That's what you said earlier, but how can I help you? I have no power or ability in the state that I currently find myself in," Will retorted.

"We can change that," Sam stated.

"Change how?" Will asked, becoming more intrigued.

"We believe we can return you to your, ummm, previous state," Sam said.

"What? You can return me to my body?" Will asked incredulously.

"Why, yes we believe we can," Sam replied.

Will's glowing orb became very intense as he drifted excitedly back and forth. "But how and what for?" He asked.

Watching Will, Sam asked, "are you okay Will? Are you going to have, ummm, one of those spells?"

"I am if you don't get to the point and tell me what this is all about," Will stated, feeling uncontrollable excitement rising within him. He was thinking that this was going to be really interesting, and what an adventure.

"Oh! Okay. I will proceed as hastily, er hurriedly, ummm, rapidly as possible," Sam said gathering his thoughts on how to explain what they needed him to do. "We wish to pass through one of your black infusions, er, black holes that has a worm hole. To do so as we are would destroy us. Somehow, we need to develop a means of protection to do so."

"What kind of protection?" Will enquired a bit mystified.

"We can advise you on how to create it, but there is a grab, ummm, catch to this postulate. You must return to earth to create it. We can not do it here in our universe," Sam said.

"Wow! This sounds all too cool! And you think I can do this for you? What am I doing, building a space ship? That ought to go over big with the NASA folks, not to mention Home Land Security," Will blurted out sarcastically.

Somewhat rebuffed by Will's tone Sam said, "do you think this an impossibility?"

"Well let me see, here I am a glowing dot in the universe and I'm going to go back to earth and convince the powers that be that I need to build a space ship for some alien friends who caused the big bang so they can go home after their big fireworks display. What do you think?" Will said again with sarcasm.

There was considerable noise in the background as Sam and his friends discussed Will's disbelieving statement. As they did so Will was pacing back and forth mumbling to his self about how unbelievable this all was. Was he just trapped in a fantastic dream and couldn't awaken?

After a few moments, Sam interrupted Will's erratic behavior and thoughts. "Perhaps we should start new Will."

Ceasing his erratic pacing Will said, "that might be a good idea or would you just wake me up from this impossible dream?"

"What are dreams Will?" Sam asked.

That brought Will to a complete halt thinking, _how do you explain a dream to someone who has never had one nor has the capability to have one?_

"Never mind that one Sam, just pinch me and wake me up!" Will demanded.

"Pinch?" Sam asked.

"Don't ask!" Will exclaimed.

"But..." Sam began.

"Just get on with whatever sunshine you're going to blow up my...uh, wait a minute," Will said calming himself down. "I'm sorry Sam, but you have to realize what you're telling me and how unbelievable this all is. Here I am a little glowing orb floating inside dark matter in the middle of the universe. I'm having a conversation with a being from another universe who is billions of years old, not to mention the fact I died just a few weeks back. After I died, I've gone to god knows where and just when I'm opening up to the fact that this is a form of afterlife you tell me you can send me back. Furthermore, you want me to build a space ship for you and your friends to go back to where ever you call home. Can you understand how far over the edge that sounds?"

"No," Sam said calmly mulling over what Will had just said.

"No! Is that all you can say, no?" Will demanded.

"What does over the edge mean?" Sam asked.

"Sam! Please!" Will shouted.

"Anything is possible if you just know how," Sam said with a mystifying tone.

"Well maybe to you, but not to me," Will barked. "I'm a dumb earthling who knows nothing about living out here in space...what am I saying? Living here in space? That's it! I've had enough. I can't assemble anymore of this, this nonsense."

Will suddenly found himself outside the dark matter barrier and Anne was there glowing her brightest at him. "So, where have you been? Talking to your alien friends again? I swear Will, there we were enjoying family and I turn around and you're gone again."

"Yes, I was talking with my alien friends. So, what?" Will shot back feeling complete frustration over the conversation with Sam, and now Anne.

Blip! Anne was gone.

Will hardly took notice. He floated there awhile needing time to himself. Often when on a dig and things overloaded him, things such as funding, local problems, staffing, logistics, etc. he would seek out a location with an awe-inspiring view or sunset. He would go there for some meditation time. At this moment, he thought of a particularly beautiful nebulae Anne had shown him on his arrival to this place. Blip! He was there looking into an incredible glowing-nebulae somewhere in the universe. He drifted there mulling over his conversation with Sam and began to realize how over charged he had become by what he was saying and asking. Will thought too of how he had neglected Anne and their family. He had been rude to both and that was not who he was.

Why should he be so disbelieving of Sam when, after all, they had caused the creation of the universe he had spent his life in? These beings had incredible power and knowledge, so practically anything must be possible for them. Then there was Anne. Throughout his professional life, no matter how busy or how pressed, he had always been able to separate work from family and enjoy both. He had been overwhelmed with the events since his death on earth and judging by what he had observed he was indeed different than all those who had passed before him. Sam and his fellows had waited a long time for a person like him to come along. They had had to wait for the timing to be right for the proper conditions for life to begin and wait through all the evolutions of eternity. They had also had to wait for the right time when the creatures on earth had evolved the capability to develop what they needed. All they wanted was to go home, and if Will could help them then that was what he would do. It would be his next great adventure, but first he needed to pay attention to Anne.

# Chapter 13

Will completed a period of social obligations and it seemed to make Anne happy. That was what he wanted, so he endured a considerable time communing with family members. When they all joined, they shared the memories of their past life as if it were in real time. These events would go on and on about their previous life. They were excited and looked forward to other members of their family joining them someday. During all the conversations, there was not one mention of exploring the universe and all its wonders or seeing anything unusual. He was dumb founded at how you could be in the midst of all this and not be astounded. The capability of going anywhere at the snap of the fingers, well if he had fingers, was absolutely incredible. However, his deceased family members, including Anne, just did not seem to care, or maybe they had been here long enough to take it in stride.

_Lordy, I hope I don't become that way_ , Will thought to himself. _I'd rather shoot myself which brings me to another thought, can you commit suicide out here?_

That was the way of Will's enquiring mind always asking questions, always wondering about the most unusual things. He had no more than wondered about the suicide question when he thought, _what am I doing? I've got bigger fish to fry_. In a blip, he was back at the black barrier where Sam and his cohorts resided.

Will was lost in thought about what his alien friends wanted of him. He was startled by the massive silver bordered black energy that was Sam looming before him on the other side of the barrier.

"Oh, Sam, there you are," Will said.

"You appeared to be in subterranean thought again Will," Sam offered in his usual nonchalant manner.

Will smiled to himself, "it's not 'subterranean thought' Sam. It's deep thought"

"What is the difference?" Sam asked. "I've seen the word in your mind before."

"Subterranean is beneath the surface of the Earth, whereas deep thought means you are thinking intently about something," Will explained.

"Hmmm. If you are thinking deeply then how can your mind not be below where you are at?" Sam asked confused.

Chuckling to himself Will said, "I think we need to drop this for now Sam. What I have come for is to apologize for my behavior when I was with you last. I was simply overloaded with, with this whole situation. I have thought about it a lot and realize that I have no right to really doubt you and your colleagues. You have been around for a long time, time that I cannot begin to fathom."

"No need to apologize Will, we know that we ask a lot and we know there are risks as we have lived with risks for billions of years here in your universe," Sam concluded. "Let me bring you in so we can communicate better, and my, uh, colleagues can take part also."

Will felt the pressure once more of being brought through the barrier. He was inside his own little bubble in the darkness of the remains of Sam's world that had been violently thrust into our universe.

"Now, where were we?" Will enquired.

"Why, we were right here," Sam said.

"Yes, I know Sam," Will said with amusement. "I meant, what were we discussing before I was ejected?"

"We thought it best," Sam began.

"Yes, yes, I know and I appreciate it," Will said a bit impatiently. "Let's just pick up from where we left off."

"What are we picking up?" Sam asked.

Feeling his impatience rising again Will fought to stay in control saying, "just another nuance of the spoken language Sam. Please continue with our conversation from before."

There was a pause as Sam mulled over what had just taken place. He was immensely curious about the nuances of the spoken language, but judging by Will's attempt to control his agitation he thought better of pursuing it any further.

"Now, if we are to put you back on earth as you were, where would you choose?" Sam enquired as if the previous conversation had never been interrupted by Will's erratic behavior, "and remember, remains of your DNA must be present where you choose."

Will pondered on this for a bit then remembering Elizabeth, his hospice nurse, he began to reason out the best way to go about this mind-boggling feat. As much as he would like to see his children, he was afraid that his sudden reappearance might really flip them out, whereas Liz would probably just take it in stride. Besides, he had unknowingly already set the stage with his note to her stating, 'Wouldn't it be neat if I could come back after death, reincarnated into a young man with the knowledge that I possess now. Oh, the things I could accomplish in a new life time.' Knowing that Liz had read the note he knew that she would think he had done just that. _But what about the DNA_ he thought to himself?

"As much as you were around her as you neared the end of your life on earth there should be plenty of opportunity for the presence of DNA somewhere in her vicinity," Sam said.

With a start Will replied, "Reading my mind again I see."

"No, just seeing your thoughts. Did you see me doing that?" Sam asked somewhat puzzled by Will's statement.

"What's the difference?" Will said somewhat annoyed.

"But you said you saw me reading your mind..." Sam offered then thought better of it.

"Never mind!" Will snapped. "Now let's think this through. Where am I going to find my DNA in the presence of Liz?"

"Now that's an interesting statement 'never mind'. How do you do that?" Sam enquired.

"Never...what are you talking about?" Will asked with annoyance.

"You said 'never mind' and I wanted to know how you do that..." Sam trailed off his thought process concerning 'never mind' as he perceived Will's irritation with his line of pursuit. "Yes, yes, we should put our minds to the question of finding your DNA. Now, tell me about this note."

Will explained the note he had left behind and how he had seen Liz pick it up, read it, and then put it in her pocket.

"Excellent!" Sam explained. "So, does this note have your DNA on it?"

"No, I only thought the note might help her make sense of me suddenly reappearing and not freak her out," Will said, thinking anybody who wouldn't be freaked out over the sudden reappearance of someone who had just died would have to be on drugs.

"We may be able to temper that reaction 'freaked out' if it means what I think it means," Sam said.

"Well, wouldn't you be freaked out if someone you knew came back from the dead?" Will asked.

"No," Sam replied.

"You wouldn't?" Will responded somewhat shocked.

"In our world," Sam began, "it is not possible. We do not have DNA or anything for that matter to leave behind when we die, therefore, it would not be possible to recreate one of us just as we could not recreate you in the present form you are in. Only on earth do you have DNA and the biological makeup of a solid living creature."

"So, how will you bring me back from earth?" Will asked.

"We will have to kill you," Sam stated matter-of-factly.

"What?" Will blurted.

"Just, ummm, kidding," Sam said in an amused voice.

"Kidding? Are you kidding? You're about to make me change my mind about this whole crazy idea," Will exclaimed.

"Sorry, did not mean to upset you Will, but ever since I met you and learned of your, ahhh, your humor sense, I wanted to try and do that. We do not have this sense in our society, but I find it quite amusing," Sam explained.

"Amusing? You're going to have to kill me to bring me back and you call that your sense of humor?" Will said.

"No, no Will. That was the, how you say, joke." Sam realized he had picked the wrong time to experiment with a human nuance.

"Some joke," Will snorted, wondering if they would ever get to the point.

Moving back into his serious mode Sam explained, "your experience should be quite interesting on earth if we are correct in our theory because you will be in both places at the same time."

"Wow! How do you do that. Because according to our science it is impossible for anything to be in two places at the same time," Will exploded.

"Out here it is no problem to be in two or more places at the same time," Sam said in a nonchalant manner.

"Oh really?" Will questioned in his typical sarcastic tone.

"Really. I will show you," Sam said backing away from Will's presence.

Right before Will's eyes there were suddenly two, no four, no dozens, then thousands of little Sams, each one of them talking to Will. "You see. It's not hard to do. Each one of us can move about, but we are still one, knowing and seeing what each one of us knows and sees." With that, the many little Sams flitted about Will like large fire flies.

"Damn! What next? Now I've seen everything!" Will cried out as he spun around looking at all the little Sams darting about. "Just when I think I've got you guys figured out you go and pull something new and impossible. Can I do that?"

"Yes, you can and we will show you when the time comes," Sam said as all his various little Sams reunited.

"Wow! Maximum overload here!" Will exclaimed.

"Very little is impossible Will," Sam said.

"I believe you. I believe you," Will affirmed.

Sam continued, "we cannot send you, your entity, as you exist back to earth as it would be destroyed in earth's atmosphere. What we feel we can do by using our own mental capacities is project a small part of yourself, your essence into the body of your regenerated body where you will be protected. That way, you will be in two places at the same time and we can communicate just as we are right now."

"Incredible!" was all Will could say.

"It will take considerable energy from us to do so, but we think we can sustain the mental drain long enough for you to get the job done. Projecting your second self, ummm, your essence will be far easier and less demanding on our resources than regenerating your body from DNA."

"Will I return to the body that I left behind, old and frail?" Will enquired.

"No. We will stop the growth process wherever you think proper," Sam answered.

Will thought this over for a moment then asked, "so what makes you think all this will work?"

"We have thought on it for, ummm, for billions of your years even before we began the project of establishing life on planets," Sam said. "We think we have worked out the details quite well."

"I would guess so," Will said. "All this is beyond my imagination. Mankind on earth has only been in a scientific mode for a thousand or so years and cannot begin to think what billions of years of research could produce. Not in my wildest imagination."

"Now, about the DNA. Where can we find it in the presence of Elizabeth?" Sam asked.

"Hmmm, yes, the DNA. Where can we find some?" Will contemplated.

Going back over his last days in the hospital Will carefully analyzed and sorted out the days. Everything associated with him would have been removed from the hospital and sent home with Marie and Will junior. That would have included the comb Liz used to arrange his hair, which would have been a good source of DNA. He thought up to his last moments, then it occurred to him that he had held the small tablet he was writing on between his teeth while he hunted for a writing pen in his briefcase. _There might just be a chance_ , he thought.

"Yes. Yes, that might be our best chance," Sam interrupted.

"What?" Will asked in a startled tone.

"Uhhh, I guess I was reading your mind again?" Sam uttered.

"Can I ever have a private moment around you?" Will asked with scorn in his voice.

"Sorry Will. Can't help myself sometimes."

"I guess. So, do you think it's worth a try?" Will asked.

"Yes, yes, I do, but we may have some difficulty in locating the paper Elizabeth took from your tablet," Sam speculated.

Mulling this over Will asked, "how will you do that?"

"I will consult with my, er, the boys, and see what they have to say. I expect I will end up sending a shard, a splinter, no... one of those little things you saw me divide into, down to explore," Sam said hesitantly, not sure he had expressed himself clearly. He, more and more, was trying to get into the human language mode much to Will's amusement, and often to his frustration as well.

"How long can you sustain being in Earth's atmosphere?" Will asked.

"Oh, I can stay for a while and after all, it is only a small part of me so if bad happens I will be okay, only a tiny bit smaller. You will not notice," he said, seeming unconcerned about the consequences. "And besides, it won't be the first time I lost a part of me," he added with what Will thought was a snicker.

"Well, better you than me. I can't afford to lose any mass, considering the size I am," Will retorted.

"Hmmm, I can see your point," Sam mused.

By Sam's tone Will thought that he was actually enjoying their conversation. His grasp of English was getting better and he seemed to enjoy the nuances of the spoken language. He especially seemed to enjoy the humor side, which struck Will as strange. _A world without humor would be very boring,_ he thought to himself.

"Not as boring as you might think, but humor is fun," Sam replied.

Will realized if everything went down as Sam thought they would, he might be away for a considerable time. His entity that stayed with Sam and group would have to be in constant contact with the part of him that was on earth. They would be communicating with Will on earth via his space entity. Will was highly excited about this new great adventure. He would have to do some explaining to Anne. She would not be happy with him being gone for a long time, and explaining to her what he was going to do would blow her mind. He would have to come up with a different justification.

# Chapter 14

Anne was back with the family group. She was agitated because Will had disappeared once more. She had never dealt with someone in her family disappearing like that. Anne could always think of them and quickly be by their side, but with Will, well that was a different thing all together. _Maybe there is something to his story about...about aliens,_ she thought to herself.

Blip! Anne was suddenly beside Will who was floating in front of that black, blank spot in the heavens.

"Oh, hi Anne," Will said acknowledging her presence.

"Hi! Is that all you can say?" Anne demanded.

Somewhat confused Will replied, "Isn't that a standard greeting?"

"Will, I've been trying to connect with you for a long time, but you were just not there. What is going on? Do you really go into that black...that black nothingness?" she asked in total frustration.

"Yes, I do Anne. I told you so, don't you remember?" Will answered.

"Yes, I remember, but I worry about you. No one can go there," Anne countered.

"Why? Why Anne?" Will implored.

"Because it's just not possible to enter there. I've heard that some have tried, but never succeeded. It is surrounded by an impenetrable barrier," Anne stated.

Will had to stop and think that over. True, there was a barrier, but Sam was able to pull him through it. He could not just pass through it by himself, only with Sam's help.

"Sam brings me through the barrier," Will explained.

"Sam! Who's Sam?" Anne cried.

"Sam's not his real name. It's just a handle I gave him for ease of communication," Will replied.

"And Sam is one of your new alien friends. Right?" Anne retorted sarcastically.

"Yes, but I wouldn't exactly call him an alien," Will defended.

Blip! Anne was gone. Blip! She was back. By the way she glowed Will knew she was exasperated with him. "Well, they certainly are not one of us," she charged, "so they are alien."

"Well, they've been here a few billion years longer than we have, including our most distant ancestors," Will said.

There was silence for a few moments, then Anne went on in a more composed manner. "Many a time I've seen you stand on an ancient ruin and wish you could communicate with those that once lived there. I guess now, you've found some ancients you can really talk to."

"Yes, that is true. These new friends are ancient beyond our wildest imagination," Will stated, "but they are from another universe and were brought here by accident."

Anne knew Will better than anyone. He was the ultimate accomplished scientist. She knew that when he set himself to a task he would not stop until he had the answers. As she thought this through, she also knew he was on to something big and he was telling the truth. Will was onto another 'great adventure'.

Acquiescing, Anne quietly asked, "so tell me the whole story. What's going on here?"

Will took his time explaining everything from the beginning, but he did leave out the part about returning to earth. He knew that would put Anne over the edge. Anne listened patiently. She knew Will all too well. When something piqued his scientific curiosity, it was of no use to argue with him.

When Will had completed his explanation Anne asked, "So why did they pick you?"

"I don't know. Maybe because I wasn't afraid of them. Maybe because they saw my curiosity," Will replied nervously knowing what her next question would be.

"So how are you going to help them get their space ship to go home in?" she asked in an 'I gotcha' tone.

Will hesitated, trying to put together something that would be believable.

"Well?" she demanded.

"We haven't quite figured that out yet," Will snapped, "but we will."

Their confrontation was interrupted by a voice that came from behind them. "Don't worry Anne, we will take very good care of Will."

Both spun around seeing the huge silvery outline of Sam. Anne slipped behind Will as if to hide.

"It's okay Anne. This is Sam," Will said with satisfaction. Sam's appearance was positive proof of his story.

"Hello Anne. I am Sam from the other side," he said in a somewhat jocular manner as if he had done this many times. "I am glad to make your acquaintance."

Sam seemed pleased with himself utilizing a very human manner of introducing himself.

Anne was stunned by the immensity of Sam, but she managed a greeting back, "Hello...Sam. Will has told me all about you."

"Yes, I know. Would you like to come in with Will?" Sam asked.

"Come in where?" Anne asked a bit startled by the request.

"To the other side of creation, as we like to say here on the dark side," Sam said.

"Thank you, but no thank you," Anne stammered.

If Anne could have seen Will's face, she would have seen him grinning from ear to ear. He was pleased that Sam had appeared at just the right time.

"Now do you believe me?" Will questioned.

Before Anne could answer, Sam interrupted, "there are materials on earth that we can use to fabricate a vessel for my colleagues and I to return to our home. Will can be very instrumental in helping us to locate them."

There was silence for a moment before Anne replied, "how can Will help you do that?

Will cringed at the question that Anne had posed. He knew Sam would describe it in absolute detail, which he did.

Will was expecting the worst, but was taken aback by Anne's calmness. Her reply to Sam shocked him even more.

"Well Sam," Anne began in a very calm voice, "you probably couldn't have found a better person to take on this task. Will has spent his entire life searching for answers to many things. He loves a quest, and this certainly has the makings for his next great adventure."

"We have waited a long time for Will," Sam said, "we will certainly take good care of him."

"I am sure you will," Anne agreed while turning to Will, "you will stop by the family before departing on this, this undertaking, won't you?"

Will was stunned. His words tumbled over one another, "Uh, yeah, yeah, I'll be, I'll be right there."

"Nice to meet you Sam. I wish you the very best of luck on getting back to your home," Anne said.

"Thank you," Sam replied.

Turning to Will, Anne said, "see you shortly?"

"Yes, yes, I will be along very shortly," Will replied. He was feeling subdued.

# Chapter 15

Will had managed to settle everything with Anne and was now ready to face his next great adventure. He was back at the dark barrier waiting for Sam to bring him in.

"There you are, Will. It is good to see you again," Sam greeted as his energy mass pulled up to the barrier wall.

"Hi Sam. I've been waiting for you," Will replied.

"Are you ready to begin?" Sam asked.

"Yes, yes I am. Let's do this now before I change my mind," Will replied somewhat fretfully.

Will felt the pressure of being pulled through the barrier then the normalization of his bubble environment inside Sam's world.

"There," Sam said cheerily.

"So, how do we do this?" Will asked.

"First, we will instruct you on how to separate a small piece of yourself from your entity," Sam said in perfect English.

Apprehensive, Will asked, "will it be painful?"

"Uhh, no. It may feel a little strange at first, but that will pass very quickly. You will have to adjust to having more than one of you around," Sam said.

"That's going to be interesting, having two of me around," Will remarked. "Can I carry on a conversation with my other self?" he asked.

"Uhh, not exactly. You will think and speak as one," Sam explained.

"Okay. Let us get on with the exercise," Will ordered.

"Exercise? What is exercise?" Sam asked puzzled by the Will's statement.

"Another nuance of the English language I suppose. It just means let's get on with this project," Will clarified.

"Oh, okay. Let's get on with the exercise," Sam replied.

Over the next few minutes Sam explained to Will how he could separate his entity into smaller parts. It turned out to be fairly simple. It was a matter of drawing all thought processes inward and visualizing two of yourself. Once you had the image in your mind, all Will had to do was bare down much like a woman giving birth down on earth, except this was a mental process. If he held on to the image tightly enough a piece of his energy would pop out of him. When this happened, Will could see from different angles and move about independently. All the while Will's main energy mass controlled what was happening.

"Wow! It's just like having a robot that is a likeness of myself," Will exclaimed.

"Robot?" Sam started.

"Never mind," Will said revolving around his mirror image. "This is so cool!"

"Cool?" Sam started again.

"Yeah! Neat, great, wonderful, fantastic," Will rattled off as he controlled his mirror image.

"I think I understand that these are positive statements," Sam said a bit confused.

"Yes, yes Sam. All positive statements!" Will responded.

"Good. I'm glad to hear it," Sam said, "you may practice creating and un-creating once we have discussed our adventure...mission."

Will joined back with his mirror image or un-created his mirror image as Sam would say.

"Okay, what's next?" Will asked.

"Once you are back on Earth and feeling comfortable you will need to seek out a person, a scientist, someone who is advanced in the knowledge of metals," Sam began. "They will need to be trusted to keep our secret until we have made it home."

"A metallurgist I would suspect could help us if your formula is not too foreign," Will stated.

"Meta lur gist," Sam said slowly.

"Yes, a metallurgist. A scientist who works in materials science and engineering," Will explained. "They study the physical and chemical makeup of metallic elements in order to develop alloys for specific purposes."

"Oh perfect! Yes, just perfect," Sam exclaimed, then in a calmer fashion he asked, "are they hard to find?"

"I really don't know," Will began, "I've never met one, but I am sure there are plenty around."

"This is good," Sam said. "You will need to find one as soon as you can so they can begin working on the formula we will give you."

"Whoa now! That could be a problem and take some time to do," Will stated.

"Why?" was Sam's retort.

"In our society, it's not that easy to just walk up to someone and tell them you need them to make you some exotic element that's never been heard of, let alone telling them it is for some aliens that brought me back to life and sent me back to earth..." Will trailed off.

"Hmmm, I see, so how long do you think it would take?" Sam asked.

"I don't know. It could take years for all I know. Hunting around and trying to find someone that has the knowledge to push the edge in research and also someone who has the capability to make whatever it is you want," Will said somewhat baffled at the thought, then he added, "not to mention trying to avoid detection from homeland security, CIA, FBI, NASA, you name it."

"I see," Sam said. "To us, years are but microseconds compared to your measurements of time."

"Can I exist long enough on earth to have the time I need to set all this up? It could take years and years of my time," Will stated.

"Time is irrelevant," Sam said. "We can wait as long as it takes and we can keep your other self alive as long as we need," Sam concluded.

There was silence for a moment then Sam asked, "what are these other entities you mentioned? What do they have to do with this?"

"They are part of our governing agencies that keep an eye on the security of our country," Will explained.

"Keep an eye on the security of our country?" Sam repeated somewhat confused as to the meaning of this statement.

"Well, not exactly keep an eye on things, but they watch out for our security in case a foreign country tries to attack us. NASA is our space agency and anything to do with space they are acutely aware of. If word got out about what I am trying to do for you all hell would break loose," Will stated.

There was a growing roar in the back ground as Sam's colleagues began asking questions regarding Will's statement.

"This is all very confusing to us," Sam admitted.

Will thought about this for a moment. He didn't want to get into a long conversation about security, laws, covert activity or government issues. These were things that would be very foreign to them.

"Don't worry about it Sam. If anything comes up, we can discuss it at the time and work through any difficulties," Will assured them.

Will was fairly confident that if anything went wrong that his life would not be in danger, after all, he had already died and now existed in the cosmos. The worst-case scenario would be losing the small part of him that was being sent to earth to regenerate his mortal body.

Sam was quiet for a few moments then he said, "I see a lot of things going around in your mind Will. Should we be concerned?" he asked.

Startled by Sam seeing his thoughts Will replied, "no, I don't think so. All we can do is give it the best effort possible. I will do my best to make this happen."

Will had no idea how he was going to accomplish this task, but he was up for another great adventure no matter what. He had all the time in the world for this one.

# Chapter 16

It was time for Will to make his attempt to find the note that his nurse, Elizabeth, had taken the day he passed away. Sam had told Will that it was night time where Elizabeth resided and that it would be the prime time to make the visit. "The process was similar to how he and Anne had come back to bless their children after Will had died. This time, however, he would be accompanied by a small piece of Sam which was going to help him make the jump to the DNA on the note that Liz had. If she still had the note and if there was, indeed, DNA on it.

"Okay Will, let's make a little Will," Sam directed.

Will went through the exercise he had been taught and produced a small mirror image of himself. Simultaneously, Sam did the same.

"Now, we will call your little one William and mine will be called Sammy," Sam said quite pleased with himself.

"Okay," Will acknowledged.

"The next step is for William to think hard on Elizabeth's likeness. He must clear all things from his mind and only have her likeness there. I have already put her likeness in Sammy's mind. You, Will, must clear your mind and think of me and I of you. That way we stay here and our little ones will go to earth," Sam emphasized.

"What's going to happen to Sammy on earth? I thought the atmosphere was deadly to your kind?" Will asked.

"Sammy will enter your DNA with William, provided it does not take too long to find the DNA," Sam stated. "We will provide an atmosphere that he can survive in. We only hope that his polarization does not react negatively to earth surroundings."

"Wow. How's that going to affect my new body?" Will asked, fully amazed at what Sam was telling him.

"Hmmm," Sam began as if scratching his head, "you will not be alone. That is for sure. And more importantly, you will have access to our long line of knowledge."  
"Now that's way too cool," Will exclaimed.

"Cool?" Sam questioned.

"Never mind. Just another one of those language things," Will replied.

Sam mulled that over for a moment then went on. "Once we feel they are stabilized in your new body we will begin to make further plans. Meanwhile our efforts right now are concentrated on finding the DNA and regenerating your body and being sure Sammy is stable and safe."

"Okay. Let's do this!" Will stated firmly. He was ready to get on with the new great adventure, but then he hesitated with a question, "so what do I do once I find the DNA?" he asked.

Sam made a chuckle, "don't worry. Sammy will handle that. You just stay close to him."

"Okay, then I'm ready," Will said more firmly than he actually felt.

"Here we go. Everyone do your assignment now," Sam ordered.

In a blink, Sammy and William were gone.

"There. That part is done," Sam said. "They are inside the dwelling where Elizabeth resides."

"Wow! I can actually see inside her house!" Will exclaimed.

"Yes, now we must observe with them and offer any help if needed," Sam said.

William lead Sammy about the bedroom they found themselves in. There was someone curled up in the bed and as William approached the slight glow emitted by his orb shown on her face.

"It's Elizabeth!" Will whispered, excitement in his voice.

"Did you expect someone else?" Sam asked puzzled.

"No, no. It was just a bit of a shock to see her again," Will replied.

William moved quickly around the room looking on the night table by the bed and then on other furniture in the room. In a matter of seconds, they had looked over everything in the room.

"What if it is in a drawer or cabinet?" Will asked.

"Not to worry," Sam replied, "they can go where ever they wish."

Within a couple of minutes Sammy found the note stuck on a bulletin board in Elizabeth's kitchen.

"We are in luck. There is DNA on the note," Sammy announced.

"Okay, now what?" William asked.

Sam, speaking through Sammy replied, "now we need to find a place for you to evolve. It may take a while so we need some place that will not be discovered any time soon."

"There is a basement down the stairs in the kitchen," William informed them.

"Good," Sam said. "Let's explore the possibility. Quickly now!"

Sam could tell that Sammy was beginning to suffer from the effects of Earth's atmosphere.

"It's a storage area. Not used on a regular basis I would guess," William reported.

"How do we get the note from the office through the door and down stairs?" Will asked.

"Sammy can move the note, but he cannot take it through the door," Sam commented.

"If he can move the note, perhaps he can get it to pass beneath the door," Will offered.

Even as they spoke Sammy was working the stick pin out of the note so he could move it toward the stairway door.

"How's he doing that?" Will asked.

"We are using mind force," Sam replied.

"Wow!" was all Will could say.

Within seconds Sammy was pushing the note to the door above the stairway to the basement. With minimum effort, he was able to nudge it under the door, then by passing through the door he was able to nudge it on down into the basement. William watched in amazement.

At the back of the basement room was some tall shelving with a space behind it.

"This will do fine," Sammy said letting the note come to rest on the floor.

"Now what?" William asked.

"I'm going to take you into the DNA on the note. This will feel strange, but just be patient. You will begin to feel better very soon," Sammy said as his glow become very bright.

The next thing Will and William knew, they were in a yellow fibrous web which must be the fiber that the note paper was made from. Then, suddenly before them was a double helix. It was Will's DNA, left there before he died when he held his note pad in his mouth while looking for a pen in his brief case. Because Sammy had reduced their size microscopically the helix appeared gigantic.

Suddenly there was a flash of blinding light and then everything went blank.

"What happened?" Will asked.

"Everything is good. There will be, how do you say, some blank time while the matrix of your mortal body is formed," Sam explained. "Once the matrix is formed, we will hear from William and Sammy again. Right now, all energy is devoted to building a body for William."

"How is Sammy doing?" Will asked.

"Okay so far. It is taking great effort from several of my colleagues to keep him protected," Sam replied.

"How long can they keep that up?" Will enquired.

"Indefinitely, but it is our hope that when your mortal body is regenerated, Sammy will have integrated into your DNA. He is there now while the body is developing," Sam said.

"Can you imagine?" Will explained, "a cross breed between an alien and a human!"

"Sort of," Sam said slowly. "There will be twenty-four pairs of chromosomes instead of twenty-three. The twenty-fourth pair will be synthetic, but it is hoped it will protect Sammy during our 'great adventure together."

"I see," Will said lost in thought of what they were creating down on Earth.

# Chapter 17

Elizabeth woke the next morning with a nagging dream she had had. She dreamed there were large fire flies flitting around her bedroom. She had no idea what the dream meant or where it came from. The thing that nagged at her the most was the fact that she saw the face of one of her now deceased patients. It was Will Caylen, the most lovable patient a Hospice nurse could ever want to care for. Liz, as she was called by Will, never quite got over his passing. As a Hospice nurse, she had seen many people die, but there was something about Will that stayed with her. He was kind and generous as he wasted away, but more so, he was vibrant to the end. He seemed to have things he needed to explore and find answers to. Will Caylen's mind never gave up, but his body finally did. Then there was that moment when she was sitting with Will's daughter and son and felt Will's presence as if it were a final good-bye.

That morning when Liz went to the kitchen to fix coffee, she looked for the note on the bulletin board that Will had written the day he had died. It was not there. She looked for it, but couldn't find it anywhere. Liz was upset at misplacing the note. It was the only thing of Will's that she had kept, primarily because of what it said. Will had thanked her for her kind care finishing with a statement so typical of him, "wouldn't it be neat if I could come back after death, reincarnated into a young man with the knowledge that I possess now. Oh, the things I could accomplish in a new life time."

She had to get off to work, but she would look for the note when she got home that evening.

In Elizabeth's basement life was being created. The developing body was encapsulated in a large oval bubble, somewhat like a clear shelled egg. This would act as a human incubator as Will's new body was growing.

Sammy, with the aid of his colleagues back in space, were busy procuring elements with which to build Will's body. It appeared that it was being created from thin air, and for the most part it was. With the human body made up of around 96 percent oxygen, carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen it was not hard to obtain the basics from the air. The remaining 4 percent could easily be found nearby.

By the end of the first day Will's body was about 25 percent reconstructed. William was encapsulated in the skull of the new Will Caylen. He would soon be joined by a brain of which Sammy would become part of. His job would be to keep the communication lines open between Will and Sam. Within the second day the new Will would be able to begin that communication.

"What will happen to Sammy once my body is reconstructed?" Will asked Sam.

"Sammy will join William in your brain. They will become one." Sam replied.

"Will I be able to see and hear what they are doing and thinking?" Will queried.

"Yes, you will and you will also have access to my memory and thoughts," Sam said.

"I can't begin to comprehend that," Will said.

By the end of the second week Will's body was one hundred percent developed into adulthood.

"When do you want to stop the maturing process?" Sam asked.

"I don't know. How can we tell how old William is?" Will questioned.

"Age will have little to do with what we are attempting. We are controlling the amount of intelligence that is in the brain. What we need is a mature enough body to accomplish the task before us," Sam explained.

"I see," Will said slowly. "Then I suppose we need to give him a fairly sophisticated appearance so he will appear convincing when he converses with someone about this space craft."

"Hmm, yes, I suppose we should," Sam agreed. "I forget about the appearance thing with you humans."

"Unfortunately, it can be very important in human society," Will replied.

"Say when," Sam said flippantly

Will observed the development of his doppelganger body growing down on earth. When he thought the body was looking around forty-five years old, he asked Sam to stop the growth. It was now the third week of the arrival of William and Sammy in Liz's basement.

"Sam, I am a little worried about how William is to approach Liz," Will fretted. "How will we do that without freaking her out completely?"

"Hmm, there is probably no easy way to do this," Sam replied, "but I think the best chance is to approach her while she is asleep. She may be more susceptible at that time."

"I certainly hope this works. I don't want to cause any harm to her mentally or physically," Sam declared.

"Yes, I know," Sam concurred.

As they observed through Sammy and William the doppelganger body began to move and attempt to set up.

"Wow!" Will exclaimed. "It's a perfect image of me in my forties."

"Yes, after all, he is made from you DNA and your DNA only," Sam confirmed. "They will be getting him up to loosen up his muscles and develop his motor skills. This will take a little bit of time. He will also need nourishment before long, now that the incubating sheath has been absorbed," Sam explained.

"That's a good thing," Will agreed. "don't want him appearing like a zombie."

"Zombie?" Sam queried.

"I'll explain later," Will offered in order to prevent going off on an explanatory narrative with Sam.

"I see an image in your mind, but William is not wrapped up in, in pieces of cloth like that," Sam said somewhat confused.

"Speaking of such, where do we get some clothes for William?" Will asked, "he can't just run around naked."

"Clothes!" Never gave it a thought," Sam exclaimed, "we don't have clothes."

"Perhaps there is something in those cabinets or trunks that we saw when Sammy and William first went down stairs," Will suggested.

"Could be," Sam concurred.

"When will we be able to communicate directly with William?" Will asked.

"Any moment now. Sammy and William have joined together in his brain. He will become full conscious soon," Sam explained.

Several moments passed then William called out to Will. "Will, this is William. We have obtained our goal, but we seem to need some clothing."

"Oh good, good, good," Sam said with excitement in his voice.

Will was in a bit of shock. Here he was talking to himself some forty years younger and in the basement of a home on earth. As my mother used to say, 'will wonders ever cease?' he thought to himself.

"No, they won't," Sam confirmed.

"Reading my mind again?" Will said.

"Oh, oh, sorry Will," Sam apologized.

"Just kidding. I guess from here on you really will be in my mind via William," Will stated.

"Hmm, yes, you are right," Sam agreed.

Since their minds were one and the same William had explored the cabinets and several of the trunks. "I've found some clothing in this old Armoire. May be her deceased husband or perhaps, after looking at it, may be her fathers," William conveyed.

"Whatever. Just need you to be clothed when you approach Liz. Don't want you scaring her to death thinking there's a rapist in the house," Will explained.

"Understand. Clothes may be a little small, but I think I can manage," William replied.

Slipping on a pair of black trousers and a white long-sleeved shirt the clothes issue was resolved. There were no shoes. Now they were ready to move on to the matter of how to approach Liz.

# Chapter 18

It was after five and Liz was on her way home from work. She had had another difficult day. A middle-aged female patient that was under her care at the Hospice Center had passed away today. She did not go gently. The woman was in pain and very demanding, even mean at times, cursing at and throwing things at the nurses. She died cursing and screaming even though she was heavily sedated. The sedative seemed to have no effect on her. This happened occasionally, and it was always upsetting to Liz.

On her drive home she was thinking of Will Caylen and how easy he had accepted his death. If only all patients could be so kind and understanding, she thought to herself, he was such a lovable old man. Will Caylen had been on her mind a lot these past several days. The missing note that was pinned on her bulletin board at home had bothered her. Each morning before leaving for work she would read the note and touch it as she headed out the door. She had looked all over the house for the missing note, but never found it. She had never been affected by a patient the way Will Caylen had affected her.

Liz felt unsettled once she was inside the house. She looked sadly at the spot on the bulletin board where Will's note had been pinned. That note had meant a lot to her. Unable to stay indoors she changed into jeans and a tee shirt and went outside and worked in her flower garden for a while. That always helped calm her down.

A little before dark she went into the house and fixed herself a light dinner with a glass of red wine. She sat in her living room and watched Wheel of Fortune on the television as she ate. Finishing her meal and glass of wine she reclined on the couch and fell asleep. When she awakened it was after 9:00 PM. She felt a bit drugged for having napped for so long, but struggled up and put away her dishes. Before she turned out the kitchen lights, she looked one more time at the vacant spot on the bulletin board. Each time she looked at that spot she hoped maybe the note would magically reappear, but it was not there.

Before bed, Liz showered and put on her favorite pajamas. They were made of light blue cotton with little brown teddy bears on them. She snuggled into bed and turned off the bedside lamp. It was a little after ten.

Her bedroom was not large, but it was nicely arranged with a dresser and mirror across from the foot of the bed. A chest of drawers sat against the wall on the right side of the bed near the door to the hallway. In the far corner sat an old-fashioned white wicker chair with rolled back and arms. A colorful fabric cushion lay on the seat. There was a window next to the chair.

Before slipping off to sleep Liz rehashed the day, going over the details of the patient that had passed away. Those kinds of deaths were depressing, but it was not the first that Liz had experienced nor would it probably be the last. Her final thoughts before drifting off was of Will Caylen and the missing note.

Meanwhile, in Liz's basement, William had been pacing and doing stretches to limber up his new body. The team, composed of William, Sammy, Will, Sam and associates, had worked out a plan. Just before daybreak they would awaken Liz, but only after Sammy had nudged a waking dream into her mind. Sammy could separate from William long enough to approach Liz. Perhaps, using the same technique that Sam used to read Will's thoughts he could input some thoughts and memories in her waking mind. Will and Sam had talked this over at length. Sam was not sure what a dream was, let alone a waking dream. Will, on the other hand, was knowledgeable of the phenomena that can occur during threshold consciousness. In dream therapy it was called hypnagogia. This is the period of time when a waking dream occurs on the threshold of falling asleep or awakening. A person experiencing hypnagogia may have difficulty telling whether they are asleep and dreaming or are actually awake and dreaming. They may also have difficulty determining if they are in a dream or in reality. If Sammy could catch Liz at the right moment when she was coming out of deep sleep, he could leave memories there that Will was alive and had come to see her. If things went right, she would wake up thinking she is in a waking dream. Hopefully, the transition to realizing that Will was actually there would be less of a shock.

"Not sure what this dream thing is, but sounds plausible," Sam concurred.

"It's the only thing we have to go on," Will said.

"Then let's roll," Sam concluded.

"Roll? Where did you come up with that?" Will asked a bit incredulous.

"Uh, guess I saw it in your mind somewhere. Is it not a proper usage of the word?" Sam asked.

"Oh yeah. It's proper. You're really getting the hang of the English language," Will remarked.

"Hang of?" Sam asked puzzled.

"Never mind. Just more of those words with useless meaning," Will replied, not wanting to let it go any further.

What they were attempting was risky, but Will felt he knew Liz well enough that she would accept the shock of finding him alive. He certainly did not want any harm to come to her. During her care of him in Hospice she had talked about the passing of her father and how she often dreamed he was alive and young again. All Will needed was enough time to explain to her what had happened after his death.

# Chapter 19

Looking out the small basement window that faced East, William could see a paling in the sky. Daybreak had begun. Without hesitation he ascended the stairway into the kitchen. It was dark, lit only by the digital clock on the range. The kitchen smelled of cinnamon. Crossing the kitchen, he passed through a doorway and turned down the hall toward Liz's bedroom. He remembered the chair in the corner when he and Sammy had searched the room for the note. It would be a perfect place for him to sit and wait for Liz to awaken.

Sitting down in the wicker chair it crackled, as wicker will do. Liz stirred slightly, but did not awaken. William sat there for a while as the eastern sky grew lighter. They were waiting for the right moment when Sammy could attempt to plant some memories and thoughts in Liz's mind.

Within about twenty minutes Liz was becoming restless and making little murmuring sounds.

"She's having waking dreams," William commented to Sammy.

"Then this is the time to try and prepare her to meet the new Will," Sammy said.

"Yes, let's give it a try," William said feeling the apprehension that Will was feeling out in the cosmos.

Will was nervous about this whole thing. He could not imagine what it would be like to wake up one day and find someone whom you had watched die sitting in your bedroom. What a shock that would be. Let's hope she doesn't have a gun under her pillow, Will thought to himself.

"What is a gun?" Sam asked.

Will jerked about. He could never get used to Sam reading his mind. "Not now Sam. This is a very tense moment," Will cautioned.

Sammy separated from William and moved over to Liz hovering over her. He began a slow circling motion just above her head. He was glowing rather brightly, but William assumed it was similar to the time he and Anne had come back to the children after Will had died. The children, Mary and William junior, could not see them, but could feel their presence.

William and Sammy had talked this over during their time in Liz's basement. Sammy was to instill the things Will had written on the note, 'Wouldn't it be neat if I could come back after death, reincarnated into a young man with the knowledge that I possess now. Oh, the things I could accomplish in a new life time.'

After a few moments Sammy returned to William in their shared body. They sat and watched with anticipation. Within a few minutes a pinging alarm went off on Liz's phone, which was sitting on the nightstand beside her bed. William jumped with a start. Liz rolled over and touched the phone shutting off the alarm. She slowly sat up in bed and stretched, yawning hugely. There was just enough light coming through the window shade allowing her to see a dark figure reclined in the wicker chair in the corner. At first, she thought it was something she had laid in the chair, but a slight movement of the head shot electrifying panic through her body.

"Oh my god!" she screamed throwing herself back against the headboard of her bed. "Who are you and what are you doing in my house?" she shouted.

"Liz, it's Will, Will Caylen. I've come back," William said in as calm a voice as he could muster.

# Chapter 20

Liz's night had been restless with intermittent dreams, most of which had to do with Will Caylen. Just before daylight she had a repetitive dream of picking up Will's note pad at the Hospice center and reading over and over what he had written on it. Her last fleeting dream memory was of Will whispering to her, "I have come back Liz." The Will in her dream was young and healthy.

When her alarm went off, she rolled over to shut it off then slowly sat up in bed remembering her waking dream. How weird, she thought, why have I become so obsessed with Will since his note disappeared?

She yawned as she stretched her arms and shoulders. That was when she saw the dark figure sitting in her wicker chair.

"Oh my god!" she screamed throwing herself back against the headboard of her bed. "Who are you and what are you doing in my house?" she shouted.

"Liz, it's Will, Will Caylen. I've come back." William said in as calm a voice as he could muster.

Liz turned on the lamp on the night table. There sat the man she had seen in her waking dream, and that voice, it was the same voice she had heard, 'I have come back Liz.' At first, she thought she was going to faint as darkness flooded into her head, then she exploded into flee mode. She leaped from the bed and dashed into the bathroom slamming the door and locking it. There she paced back and forth frantically trying to think what to do next. She had no phone in there and the only window was a fixed window high over the bath tub. The only thing she could fight with was a hair dryer or a hand mirror.

"Liz? Liz? Please calm down. I am not going to hurt you. All I want is to talk to you for a moment. You can stay in the bathroom if you wish, but I need to talk to you," William offered trying to gain her trust long enough to explain what was happening.

There was silence as Liz listened to the intruder talking to her in such a calm manner. The silence on her side of the door when she stopped to listen encouraged William to go on. "I am Will Caylen. The one you took care of in Hospice. I managed a way to truly come back. I know it sounds incredible, if not impossible, but here I am."

There was silence.

"Please talk to me. Ask me any question you want about our past together as I was preparing to die. Ask me about the note I left you, the hamburger you said you would get me, the way you always combed my hair, about the day of my funeral when you sat with my son and daughter and you felt my presence," William offered these things as proof of who he was.

There was more silence then he heard Liz clear her throat.

"How can you know what I felt when I was sitting next to Marie and William junior?" Liz asked.

"Because it was me. I wanted you to feel my appreciation for you for all the care you gave me from the time we met at my house in the forested hills south of St. Louis to the time in Hospice," William explained.

"This, this is impossible. This can't be happening!" Liz cried.

"I thought so too, but in the after world I ran into some interesting friends. Life after death is not what you think it is," William said.

The back and forth conversation went on for some time. William felt he was making some progress. Every question Liz asked he could answer. No one else could know all the things that took place and were said between them. Finally, William asked her to come out of the bathroom to which she was still hesitant. He went on describing what had happened and how he had passed into the next life.

"What do you think Will? Is William getting anywhere with Liz?" Sam asked.

"Well, she didn't lose it completely," Will admitted, "I think she will come around. We're pursuing the right path."

Will was working through William down on earth, but increasingly he noticed that William was acting on his own.

"Is this going to be a problem if William continues to develop his independence?" Will asked.

"This is something new," Sam confessed. "Hopefully he will remember the mission and pursue what we need."

Meanwhile, back on earth, William continued to try and talk Liz out of the bathroom.

"Liz, I'm going to send a friend in to visit you. He will talk to you and help you see what has taken place since I departed," William said.

"No! I'm not opening the door," Liz said stepping back from the door.

"You won't have to open the door for him," William asserted.

"What do you mean?" Liz asked as her pulse quickened.

"Don't worry, he will not harm you. He is my friend," William assured.

Before Sam or Will could do anything, Sammy had separated from William and drifted through the solid door. "Hi Liz, I'm Sammy,"

The bright light hovering in front of her was mesmerizing. She could not take her eyes off of it.

Sammy began reading her mind and answering all her questions and thoughts, even before she could express them. He went on to explain why they had brought Will back and why he had chosen her to help him.

Speaking toward the door, Liz said, "I can hear him in my head, but I'm not hearing him through my ears. This is all so bizarre."

"I know Liz. This is how they communicate," William replied.

Sammy's presence in her mind had calmed her. She wanted to see William. "Okay, I'm coming out, but will you stand on the other side of the room?" Liz asked.

"Yes, I'm there now," William said as he turned and faced the door.

There were a few tense moments, then William heard the lock release in the door knob. The door cracked open a bit, then opened wide. Sammy flew out and went back into William's mind.

"Wow! What was that? Is he part of you?" Liz asked after seeing the bright light enter William's head.

"Sort of. Sammy is accompanying me and helping me learn the ways of surviving here again," William replied.

The room was lighter now and Liz could see William's face much clearer. William stood on the other side of the bed so it was between the two of them. He wanted to afford Liz maximum comfort. She stood and looked at him for some time before speaking. She noted that he was tall, strong facial bones, light blue eyes and thick blonde hair.

"It is you Will Caylen. I can see Mr. C in your face, but you are younger," she stated, then with a slight chuckle, "you did come back, only younger,"

"Yes, I did. I wanted to be just like I said in the note," William replied, "to come back as a young man with the knowledge that I possess then."

"I can see that now," she said in a somewhat far away voice.

Seeing the distant look on Liz's face, William asked, "are you okay?"

"I think so," she said hesitantly, "there is so much going through my mind right now. I hear and see you, but it's not you, or it is you in the afterlife and then there's someone or something else."

It was then William realized that Sam was downloading information to Liz. Sam was placing all the memories and conversations he and Will had had since their meeting. Sammy had set up a pathway from Liz's mind to Sam's.

"This is either a waking nightmare or I've been swept into some parallel world," she said shaking her head.

"That may be truer than you think," William remarked. "I have asked Sam to stop."

"Sam? Who's this Sam?" Liz asked a bit bewildered.

"Why don't you have a seat and I will explain it all to you. This may take a while. Are you expected at work today?" Will asked.

"Oh! Yes, yes, I am," Liz replied.

"Can you call out for the day?" William enquired.

"Uh, yeah, I probably can," Liz said thinking that she did not have any patients about to terminate right now.

Liz grabbed her robe laying at the foot of the bed and reached for her cell phone that was lying nearby on the dresser and called her office. She told who ever answered the phone that she had some personal business to attend to and would probably be out of touch for a couple days.

With that done she sat down in the wicker chair. Leaning back, she looked at William, who was sitting nearby on the edge of the bed. "Go on," she said.

William started from the beginning and told all he had gone through since he had died here on earth. It was an amazing story to Liz and she asked many questions. Fortunately, with all the info and visions Sam had conveyed to her she was able to accept it for what it was. She was suspended in a trance-like state, part of her believing what she was hearing, part of her disbelieving. Deep inside of her she could believe that Will Caylen, of all people, could make something like this happen. He was one of the most intelligent and determined men she had ever met. She had seen how he pursued finding answers right up until the minute he passed away at the Hospice center.

When there was a pause in the narration Liz sat up on the edge of the wicker chair and asked, "would you like some coffee, maybe something to eat?"

Surprised at her sudden relaxed attitude William replied, "why yes, that would be nice." For the first time since his re-embodiment he felt hungry.

As he followed her into the kitchen, he heard a small voice in his head say, "I saw in her memory that her brother is a metallurgist!"

"What! You've got to be kidding," William shot back. It was Sam talking directly to him.

Before any further conversation between William and Sam could happen, Liz interjected, "That's right. My brother, Richard, is a metallurgist with J L & T Research Plant near Allentown, Pennsylvania."

"What? How? How did you know what I was discussing with Sam?" William exploded.

"Sam's been chatting at me for some time," Liz said.

"What!" William blurted.

"Your friends up there think awfully highly of you," she replied with a smile.

"But..." William began.

"Sam has laid out the whole plan to me. It is almost like it was just meant to be," Liz said as she put water into the automatic coffee maker.

William heard another voice in his head, "it's okay. I think Sam helped speed up the process," Will said.

"But how?" William queried.

"Actually, Sammy left a shard of himself in Liz's mind before he returned to William so Sam could communicate directly with her," Will replied.

"Well, that explains that," William concluded.

"It is an awful lot of information to absorb at once, but I think I handled it pretty well," Liz said as she drew a cup of coffee for William.

"I always knew you were different Liz," William confided.

"I don't know about that, but I have always believed in the impossible, and Will, or rather William, I knew if there was anybody who could make the impossible happen, it would be you," Liz said looking at him with tears forming in her green eyes.

Liz walked over to William and handed him the cup of coffee. As she did so she took his other hand squeezing it firmly. "Welcome back Will," she said.

"It's good to be back and this has certainly been easier than I thought it would be," William acknowledged.

# Chapter 21

William and Liz spent most of the day talking over what they had to accomplish for Sam and his friends. Liz felt certain that her brother, Richard, could help with developing the material needed for Sam's space craft. Richard was a non-ferrous research metallurgist who experimented with new types of metals. William thought he was perfect for the task ahead. By the end of the day Liz had called her brother and made arrangements for visiting him that weekend. Today was Thursday.

"It's about a twelve-hour drive from here to his place of work. We can make it in a hard day of driving," Liz said after hanging up the phone with her brother.

"What kind of set up does he have there?" William asked.

"He often works alone developing new formulas for various types of new metals. He's really into developing super strong and light weight metals. It just so happens he has developed materials for a private space program in Florida," she said showing obvious pride in her brother.

"That's even better," William said. "Sam has a formula for the material he wants the space craft made from. It may be of help to Richard in his research."

"That would be awesome," Liz declared.

"I just hope we can figure out a way for him to work on this without being found out," William said.

"That could be a problem. I really don't know how closely he is watched. Perhaps, since he's working for a private concern, there will be no government oversight," Liz submitted.

"Let's hope so. We really don't need the government getting wind of this," William emphasized.

As the conversation slowed down Liz looked William over noting that he was wearing some of her dad's old clothes that she had stored in the basement. "I guess we should find you some suitable clothing before heading out?" she suggested, noting that he was barefooted.

"Yeah, I guess that might be a good idea, but I don't have any money or even a credit card to buy with," William said, as he looked over the pleated slacks and white shirt that he had borrowed out of the armoire in the basement.

"That's okay," Liz said, "I can manage. I'll need to know what your shirt, slacks and shoe sizes are."

William chuckled, "I'm not sure I know. I know what size I wore when I died, but I'm not sure what I wore when I was this age."

Liz laughed also, "that's okay. Just tell me what you wore when you died and I'll take it from there."

Meanwhile, Liz, who was still in her pajamas and robe got dressed and headed for a nearby mall. William went out on the back deck of Liz's house and sat in a chair. It was early evening and the stars were just starting to show. Looking up, he imagined that somewhere up there was his other self. It was a strange feeling being in two places at the same time, and so far apart.

"This is really weird Sam," Will said as he drifted beside Sam inside their dark environment.

"It is kind of strange I guess, but we have done it before," Sam said.

"Before? What do you mean?" Will asked a bit surprised.

"We have tried to enter human minds before in an effort to see if we could direct them to build our, uh, space ship," Sam said.

"I hadn't thought of that. So why are we going through all this stuff, creating a body and attempting to find someone to do our bidding?" Will asked with a bit of frustration.

"Hmm, our results were not positive," Sam said. "There was the language problem, then there was the problem of making our chosen subjects believe what we were putting in their minds. Most just assumed it was an impossible dream. Some ended their lives unable to cope with what we had put in their minds. That was difficult for us to understand, but we did not want to cause harm to living creatures," Sam elaborated.

"So here we are. Very interesting," Will said.

"We think this will have a much better chance of success," Sam stated.

They remained silent for a while as Will enjoyed the view from his counterpart down on earth. He enjoyed seeing the familiar stars he had grown up with and come to know quite well over the years.

Liz returned within the hour with clothes and toiletry supplies for William. She had brought him a pair of denim jeans, a blue sport shirt and a pair of sneakers. William was pleased with her selection. This was how Liz had always seen him dressed when she was taking care of him.

"Glad you remembered the shaving gear and the toothbrush," William said looking over the items she had brought.

"You'll be travelling pretty light, but at least you have the essentials," she replied. Reaching into another sack she produced a sky-blue set of pajamas. "Thought you might could use these too," she said with a smile.

"Wow, you thought of everything," William said, "thank you and I owe you."

"Speaking of owing," Liz began, "what's going to happen to you when and if we succeed in this project?"

William hesitated before answering. He was enjoying having a solid body again, even though the major part of him was somewhere out in space. "I'm not sure Liz. Sam says they will bring me back, back up there," he said glancing up at the ceiling.

"Does that mean you have to die again? I don't think I can handle that twice. Once was enough," Liz said.

Their conversation was interrupted by Sam, "this whole thing is an experiment. We want to make sure it has a good ending," he reassured.

Hearing Sam's voice in her head startled Liz. "Whoa! I'm not used to having conversations going on inside my head like this," she exclaimed.

"Oops! Sorry," Sam apologized. "I did not mean to infringe on your thoughts."

"No, No, that's okay. I just hadn't heard from you in a while. It startled me. I'll be alright," Liz declared.

"It's part of life up there," William said as he batted his eyes upward.

"Okay, I got it. So, what is the most likely ending here?" Liz asked.

"We will have to bring the, shall we say, spark that is Will back up here along with the one called Sammy. Can't have them running amuck down there," Sam said in his joking voice.

Seeing the look on Liz's face William said, "Sam likes to joke. He loves the humor side of we humans."

"Ohhhkay," Liz said.

The ongoing conversation was interrupted by the doorbell. Liz jumped at the sound. Looking wide-eyed at William she said, "you might want to go down the hall to the guest bedroom at the end until I find out who this is. Here, take these packages with you."

William grabbed everything up and headed down the hall while Liz answered the door. It turned out to be the family of the woman who had passed away the day before at Hospice. They had brought flowers and wanted to thank Liz for all the things she had done for them during the passing of their mother. Liz invited them in and they sat and talked for a while. This was customary for Liz. She always treated the family of the sick and dying as if they were her own family. William, meanwhile, tried on all the clothes Liz had bought for him.

The family stayed for quite a while, reliving memories about their lost one. It was part of the healing process. When they finally left William came down the hallway dressed in the clothes Liz had brought him.

"Hey, you look pretty good," Liz said.

"Everything fits. Thanks again," William replied.

"Good. Now let's have some dinner. I brought Chinese home with me. You like Chinese?" Liz asked.

"I do," he replied.

When they finished dinner, both were tired and ready for some sleep. Liz took William down the hall to the guest room to make sure everything was in place.

"What time do you want to head out tomorrow?" William asked.

"We should be on the road by 6:00. We'll lose an hour heading East," she replied.

"What did you tell your brother about me?" William enquired.

"Just told him I had a friend coming with me that he would probably find very interesting," she replied with a chuckle.

"I hope he thinks so," William said wishfully.

Early the next morning, which was Friday, William and Liz set out in her white SUV. They were driving Interstate 70 headed for Allentown, Pennsylvania. As they drove across the Mississippi River William remarked, "feels like home. Feels good to be seeing all this again."

Later in the day the unfinished conversation from the evening before came up.

"So, what do you think they have in store for you at the end of this project?" Liz asked.

William was quiet for a moment considering his answer. "I really don't know Liz. Sam and his friends can do things I've never thought possible. As Sam once said, 'nothing is impossible'."

"Wouldn't it be neat if they could leave you here and you could do exactly what you said on the note," Liz said.

"What? The lament I wrote about coming back as a young man with the knowledge I had accrued in a long life?" William asked.

"Yeah, that one," Liz confirmed.

"That would be nice, but probably not feasible. I have no identity, no credentials, no income, no place to live. How could I survive?" William answered.

"You would figure a way Will Caylen. I know you all too well," she said with a firmness in her voice.

# Chapter 22

By early evening they had made it to Allentown and Richard's house. The drive had been uneventful and good time was made with both of them trading off driving, even though William had no driver's license.

Liz's brother was a couple years older and divorced. He was slim and of medium height with a strong jaw line and green eyes just like his sisters'. His hair was nearly all white and quite unruly. Dressed casually in jeans and a pull-over jersey, Richard greeted Liz with a huge hug. He was glad to see his sister. Extending his hand to William he said, "this must be a very special occasion to get my sister out here on such short notice."

Smiling, William said, "thanks for letting us invade on such short notice."

"Not a problem. I'm anxious to hear what this is all about, so come on in," Richard invited.

Inside, Richard showed them to a couple of guest rooms noting that William was travelling kind of light. They met back in the kitchen area and sat around the bar. Richard served up a round of wine for everyone.

"So, how was the drive up here?" Richard asked sipping his wine.

"It wasn't bad at all. We traded off driving so it wasn't strenuous for either of us," Liz replied.

After a round of niceties about how their trip was and how the weather was back home Richard asked, "okay, can we get to what this trip is all about. I'm dying to know. Liz never gets this excited about anything, so this must be good," he said looking from one to the other.

There was a moment of awkward silence as Liz and William exchanged glances.

"You're probably not going to believe this Richard, but here goes," Liz began.

"I don't know, I'm pretty wide open to new and unusual things," Richard replied.

Over the next few minutes Liz told her brother about Will and how he was a patient of hers.

"Okay, but he does look pretty good to have been in Hospice care," Richard remarked as he looked Will over.

"Well, that's just it. Will died at the age of ninety-two," Liz said with a slight smile on her lips.

"Died! Age ninety-two! What is this, some divine miracle story?" Richard choked out.

"Not exactly," Liz began, "it's a little more complicated than that."

"Yeah? Well please fill me in. You have my complete attention," Richard declared.

"I better let William do that," Liz said extending her hand toward William.

For the next hour William elaborated what had happened to him, complete with what Sam and his colleagues were needing. Richard was quiet for the most part, except for occasional exclamations of disbelief. As William unfolded the story Richard was hitting the wine pretty heavy. He was on his second bottle by now.

When William was finished with his elaboration Richard blurted out, "is this a joke?"

"No joke Richard," Liz confirmed.

"Oh, well let me see if I have this straight. William here, died and went to heaven, but ran into some folks from another universe that wanted him to invent a metal that they could make into a space ship to go home through a worm hole. They sent him back to earth to find a sucker to create this mess...and you expect me to believe all this? What's he paying you Liz?" Richard ranted wide eyed.

Liz looked at William and shrugged her shoulders saying, "I thought he might be more open to this."

"Not to worry," William said calmly as a bright yellow light began to flow out of his forehead.

"What tha hell!" Richard cried shoving himself back from the bar.

"Hold on Richard. This is one of those folks from another universe," Liz explained, "he won't hurt you."

Before Richard could utter another word, Sammy had entered into his mind. The extensive explanation began once Sammy had entered. This time the explanation came from Sam and Will, complete with images. Richard was frozen in place, eyes closed.

"Well, it will take a while. Want another glass of wine while we wait?" Liz asked as she winked at Will.

William was mesmerized by Liz's calm, direct manner. He had always admired that in her. He had seen her many times remain calm and collected during emergencies at the Hospice center. Nothing seemed to rattle her.

Within the hour Richard's eyes blinked open and Sammy left to return to William. Watching the bright light that was Sammy soak back into William's head Richard asked, "is he with you all the time?"

"Most of the time. He's part of me for now," William stated. "So, what do you think?"

Richard was visibly shaken. Liz reached over and squeezed his hand to help ground him.

"You know?" Richard said slowly, "all my life I have read science fiction. I reveled in it, dreamed of it, and in my work creating new metals I felt I was inventing and reaching to make science fiction real. Science fiction has often influenced science."

"Here's your chance to really advance science in a science fiction way, only it is real Richard. It is real, not fiction," Liz emphasized.

"What you do with the metal formula afterwards is entirely up to you. Imagine the advances you can make in the world of space travel?" William explained.

"I can't envision where this will go," Richard said as he downed a half glass of wine.

"As you can imagine, we are going to need a place to work privately, and a way to get hold of the materials needed for the production of the metal," William stated.

Richard was quiet for a moment and seemed to be in deep thought, then he said slowly as if he were in a dream state, "they are talking about an amorphous, syntactic foam metal, a type of glass metal that is unheard of."

"Yes, what do you think of it. Can we create an environment to produce it and can you obtain the material to do so?" William asked.

"Materials are not a problem. I have access to about anything I need in my research. Trying to do this without oversight or others finding out about it may be difficult," Richard replied. "How much of this stuff are we going to need?"

"I don't know yet, but we will have all the information we need when we are ready to begin," William said.

"I have the cooling ability for making amorphous metal, but we've only done it in small amounts. It is, however, very strong. Combined with the science of syntactic foam metal I can only begin to imagine the strength it would have. It would be beyond incredible," Richard opined.

"Yes, that is my understanding," William concurred.

"How are we going to fund this project? Any ideas on that?" Richard asked pouring another glass of wine.

William was noticing how calm Richard was after the visit from Sammy. The same thing occurred with Liz. _What causes that?_ William wondered to himself.

"It is a simple maneuver," Sam said in Williams's mind. "A couple of strokes across the neuron receptors that have to do with excitability, calms the human mind nicely."

"Nice," William submitted, "otherwise we wouldn't be here. I'd be locked up in a looney bin somewhere."

William thought he heard a chuckle from Sam.

"I am not sure how we are going to fund this operation," William responded to Richard's question regarding funding. "Do you have any idea what kind of funding we would need?"

"It's going to depend on how large the space container is and what size machinery we need to make it," Richard concluded.

"The formula we will give you is for an amorphous type metal with foam metal characteristics. It will be easy to work with," Sam said so that all three of them heard it in their minds at the same time.

"Malleable amorphous metal combined with foam metal characteristics...titanium glass that bends without breaking..." Richard said as if in a dream state.

"Yes. That is right. It is extremely malleable and light weight, but when subjected to stress from pressure or radiation it becomes very impenetrable," Sam said, then added, "you are going to really like this substance."

"It would be worth a fortune to whoever takes ownership of the formula," Richard pondered.

"I should think so," William agreed.

"I have considerable research funds from grants. Perhaps I can direct them towards this, shall we say, research project?" Richard proclaimed.

"How would that work?" Liz asked.

"Well, let me think," Richard began, "there wouldn't be a long drawn out research by trial and error period. The funds I have could go directly towards production of the material. It might take a little finagling, but with the promise of turning a rapid profit with the product we could probably make it happen. There are some areas that we will have to experiment with such as welding. I would imagine it's going to take a very hot welding device to assemble anything with this material. We will also need to know what thickness we are dealing with to determine the heat necessary for welding."

"We will provide all the information you will need," Sam said.

Later that evening, Richard had consumed so much wine he seemed to be speaking a foreign language. Liz eventually helped him down the hall to his bedroom where he promptly fell to sleep. Liz and William sat in the living room and talked about the possibilities of what they were doing. Liz admired William more than ever. She had admired him as a dying old man, but now, that admiration had risen to an entirely new level.

William was talking about the possibilities of how Richard could use this information to further his career, making him a very rich man. When he noticed how Liz was looking at him, he stopped in mid-sentence, "what?" he asked.

"What do you mean, what?" she retorted.

"The way you were looking at me. Did I say something wrong?" William enquired.

"No, no," she said with a laugh, "nothing's wrong. I was just thinking, not very long ago I watched you die, and here I sit chatting with you as a forty some year-old man. Is that not kind of weird?"

"Yeah, I guess that is weird," William agreed. "I never really dreamed I would get another chance at life. A chance at another great adventure."

"This may be your greatest adventure of all time," Liz said reaching over and squeezing William's hand.

"It may well be. Who would have thought?" William concluded.

They were quiet for a few moments then Liz asked, "how long do you think you have here on earth?"

William was struck by the worried look on Liz's face, "I don't really know Liz," he said.

Sam and Will were listening to the conversation. They seemed to be developing a singular thought process separate from the Will at Sam's side.

"Is that normal," Will asked of Sam.

Sam hesitated before answering knowing that the Will sitting beside Liz down on earth could also hear, "I do not really know. This is the first time we have regenerated a human back on earth."

"But it seems that William is developing dialogue without my input," Will commented.

"That is interesting," Sam admitted. "We will have to see how that progresses."

# Chapter 23

The following day they were up early. There was much to do and Richard wanted to get to the lab as soon as possible even though he was a little hung over. It was Saturday and there would be nobody around except himself, Liz and William.

Most of the day was spent recording formulas for the development of the special materials needed for the vessel Sam and crew would need to get home. It would be up to Richard to figure out how to produce the materials and how to shape it into a capsule. The formulas were complicated, but there was nothing Richard couldn't figure out. He and William had worried that some of the materials would be so exotic that they couldn't obtain them. They were pleasantly surprised to find that the materials were somewhat ordinary. It was the way they were mixed and tempered that gave them their extraordinary strength and properties.

By the end of the weekend Richard was pretty sure he could manage the formulas. It was really a matter of whether he could develop or find the equipment to work the material created from the formulas. He would be working with a new kind of amorphous metal combined with a syntactic foam metal. Richard was pretty sure it would be highly flexible, therefore easy to form into whatever vessel was to be. No metal of this type had ever been developed before. Richard was entirely on new turf. He was a confident, if not an arrogant man, and when asked by William if it could be done, he answered, "no problem. We can do this!"

Richard was riding high. Through most of his career he had worked with fairly common metal attempting to perfect what they already had. This new formula from Sam was something exciting and new. He couldn't wait to see the results.

Liz assured William that Richard was a leader in the field of non-ferrous metal research. "If anybody can do it, Richard can," she had said with confidence.

Liz had to return to St. Louis by Wednesday. She said she would be back every chance she could get. Meanwhile, William stayed with Richard. They spent the evenings and weekends working on the project. It was slow at first, but small experiments proved to be successful helping them gain momentum. Richard brought on board the machine and tooling shop that developed the rocket shells for the private space agency in Florida. He brought them on board with the story that what they were working on was top secret and all necessary precautions were to be taken to protect that secrecy. Richard's company had the ability to use plasma arc welding to temperatures above 50,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Richard was not sure what it would take to weld the material they were going to create. He wanted to be prepared with the maximum available welding potential.

Meanwhile, Richard talked to the higher-ups of JL&T Research. He told them he was on to something incredible and needed time, space and privacy to conduct experiments. Richard, being their top research specialist in amorphous metals, received attention that the junior researchers did not get. After several weeks of talks he was given access to an old lab that was just southwest of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. It was quickly furnished with the latest equipment and brought up to speed for Richard's work. JL&T certainly saw the potential financial gains to be made of a super amorphous metal. Whatever Richard wanted, he got.

Within four months Richard was deep into the experimental stages of working the formulas provided by Sam. It was slow going at first, but Sam helped him work through the problem areas. Soon, things were progressing quite rapidly.

A little over a year later the vessel was completed. Richard thought it was strange not to have a door of some sort, but that was how it was designed. The vessel was thirty feet long by twelve feet in diameter. Each end was tapered much like a bullet. The exterior was a thing of beauty. It was a dark pearlized metallic color. Richard, in all his experiments with amorphous metals, had never seen one like this. In addition to being beautiful he found the glass metal to be very light compared to ferrous metals. The syntactic foam metal combination had worked out very well. The next hurdle was getting it launched so Sam and friends could take possession of it. Sam had said he would reveal the 'how' of getting it launched once the vessel was built.

It had been nearly two years since William and Liz had approached her brother Richard about the alien project. William had expected it to go much faster, but as one might expect, there were lots of hurdles to get over and around. Richard had managed through some rather interesting and nebulous ways.

William discovered early on that Richard had a serious gambling habit and as a result had some interesting friends. Friends that could make things happen in a nefarious manner. William had never met any of these characters, but was grateful they had gotten him an identity, complete with a social security number. He was a citizen again.

Time seemed to pass slowly for William. It had been an interesting two years, but the end was finally in sight for the project. To Sam and his colleagues time mattered little. Two years to them had only been a speck in time.

It was Friday evening and Liz had flown in from St. Louis to spend some time with William and Richard. She wanted to see the final product of their secretive work. They had just sat down to dinner at a local restaurant.

"So, it's really finished?" Liz asked excitedly.

"Yep. Richard rolled out the final product last evening. It's quite beautiful and strange looking at the same time," William said.

"I can't wait to see it," Liz said gripping William's hand.

"We got her made. Now we've got to figure out how to get it up to them," Richard said taking a sip of his gin and tonic.

"How's that going to be accomplished," Liz asked.

"Sam is supposed to let us know, now that the vessel is finished," William replied.

"Oh, can't wait! Can't wait to see it," Liz said holding her wine glass up for a toast to the project's success.

Liz came and visited often, taking her holidays and vacation time. Now she had taken a leave of absence so she would be present when the project was completed. She had become quite fond of William in a new way. She was in love with him. His energy, drive and caring personality attracted her. Her days at work grew long and trying, because she wanted to be with William there in Allentown. Liz fretted that her time with him would come to an end when the project was over. She wanted to spend all the time she could with him. Every time, she would ask that question, "what will happen to you once the project is finished". Every time, she got the same answer, "I don't know". Liz didn't know if William knew the answer or not and just didn't want to tell her. Anyway, this evening was supposed to be a sort of celebration. Their little secret project was almost complete.

"What's next?" Liz asked after their food had been served.

"The last instructions given to us from Sam is to move the vessel out into a field. There we have to apply a final coating to the outside of the vessel. The coating has to be applied in the dark," William explained.

"What kind of coating?" Liz asked.

"Not sure yet," Richard replied. "We have the ingredients, but not the formula for mixing them."

"We have no idea what the purpose is for the coating," William added.

"We presume that once the coating is on, we will be told how the vessel will be launched," Richard said casually. "I can't wait to see that."

"As Sam is fond of saying, 'nothing is impossible', William added. "I'm sure the launch will be spectacular. I just hope it doesn't bring every government agency in the world down on us."

"Yeah, me too. I've got a lot at stake here," Richard allowed.

They had been given the ingredient list for the coating some time back. Much of it was rare exotic minerals, a copious amount of powdered magnetite and magnetosomes, a magnetotactic bacteria. Instructions from Sam were strict. No mixing of the ingredients until the vessel was ready to be coated, and it had to be done in the dark of night.

The three of them enjoyed a nice dinner and were home at Richard's by 9:30. William and Liz sat on the couch talking. William was bringing her up to date on everything that had happened since her last visit. They often talked by phone, but they avoided any conversation regarding the project. They took no chances of exposing what they were doing. Richard was in his home office. William had noticed how he endlessly poured over the data gained from the project. It was as if he couldn't believe what he was doing. William had asked him what he thought about all the new science he was learning. Richard said he felt like he was in an ongoing dream and would wake up eventually only to find that there was nothing to it at all. He kept nothing on the computer at the lab. All data was entered on an external drive that he carried back and forth.

The next morning as they were eating breakfast Sam outlined the coating material for the vessel. He emphasized over and over that once the coating was applied, they must leave the area or they could be injured. Will was excited, although his great adventure was coming to an end. He wasn't quite sure what he would do once Sam and his colleagues were gone. He was also worried about what would happen to William down on Earth. Sam, having said they would have to kill him, kept playing in the back of his mind, even though he said he was joking. How would they end his life on Earth or would he go on for eternity with a part of him in the cosmos and part of him still on Earth? It was all confusing and starting to close in on him as time grew short.

"Don't worry Will, my little friend," Sam interjected into Will's thoughts. "All will end well and you will go on as it was meant to be."

These thoughts were shielded from the others. Only Sam and Will heard them. Will was still unsure of what he meant by saying, 'you will go on as it was meant to be'.

"Okay! We have our walking orders," Richard announced. "Let's move." He was anxious to get on with the next stage of this incredible project.

At the lab all was ready. The vessel had been placed on a hydraulic tilt trailer for moving to where ever Sam directed. The lab was empty today. It was Saturday and no one was around. All the lab and machinist personnel had been told that the vessel would be moved out over the weekend to a secret location. Their work was finished.

"Wow! It's beautiful!" Liz exclaimed as she walked around the vessel admiring its shinny dark pearl surface. "It's like a piece of art."

"She is a work of art," Richard agreed, "like no other, anywhere on earth."

Liz hugged her brother, then William, "I can't believe this is happening," she said.

"We have been living a dream come true Liz," William declared.

"We have been living a real science fiction novel," Richard proclaimed. "I still can't believe it."

They spent the day getting ready for the big event that evening. The vessel was covered with canvas so that it could not be seen when they took it to the launch site, some twenty miles away. The tow truck was hitched up to the trailer and ready to go. Ingredients for the final coating were measured and stored separately in heavy lead containers. They would be mixed at the launch site where the coating would be sprayed on with a conventional paint sprayer. All they had to do now was wait for the dark of night to move their wide load to the launch location. Their great adventure was about to conclude.

# Chapter 24

William and Liz stood looking out a large window in the warehouse portion of Richard's laboratory. There was tension in the air because of the unknown concerning what would happen to William when the vessel was launched.

Liz laid her head on William's shoulder, "I love you very much William and I am worried sick about what will happen once the vessel is launched," she said with apprehension in her voice.

Putting his arm around Liz's shoulders William pulled her to him saying, "I don't know what's going to happen either. My love for you is somewhat conflicted. I loved you as a daughter when you were taking care of me in my final moments on Earth. I was old and frail and you were so kind and loving to me. Now, I'm young and see you in a different light. My love for you has evolved, but is it right for me to love another when my wife exists somewhere up there and my children live here? It is so strange to be living two different lives. I am here with you, but I am also up there with Anne and Sam."

"I can't imagine the conflict you must feel," she said turning to look into his eyes, "maybe that is what Sam meant when he said things will be as they are meant to be."

They were quiet for a few moments then Liz went on, "I would never want to stand in the way of you being with your wife up there. That is truly as it is meant to be. The two of you had a long life together and raised two beautiful children. That is how it should be."

"It sounds right," William began, "but this William, this Will standing here beside you right now feels like that was someone else's life, or perhaps a distant fading dream. I don't know. I can't explain it, but the longer I am here the less connected I feel to the Will that is up there."

"Maybe that is the way it was meant to be," Liz repeated.

"I can only hope so, but I feel guilty for even thinking it," William confessed.

As they looked out the window the sun was setting in the west. It wouldn't be long now and they would know the end result of Will's last great adventure.

"Sam, that conversation is very interesting," Will said.

"Why is it interesting?" Sam asked.

"I guess, because I am feeling the same way as William feels. The longer this project goes on the less connected to him I feel. It's like he is evolving into a different being. He is not who I am. The DNA can only make him look like me and perhaps, think like me, but not be an exact replica of me. I was formed by the events and demands I faced through life. William has only the distant memories of my past, but they did not make him. In fact, he does not have a past," Will concluded.

"Hmmm, I see," Sam said as he mulled this over. "William is affected by different things than you were in your lifetime on Earth. He is not driven by the desire to find answers to the evolution of mankind. He knows the answers. But, therein lies the problem. He is only driven to bring the development of the vessel to a conclusion. He dares not think about a future or about other things that might interest him, such as Liz. He has no profession, no back ground, no history, only Liz who he puts a lot of trust and faith in."

"I guess this is why we feel further and further apart. He seems to have developed his own line of thinking that I am not part of," Will conjectured.

"Yes, that does seem so," Sam agreed.

There was silence for a moment then Will submitted, "you don't know what to do with William do you?" It was an ah ha moment for Will.

"Hmmm, yes, you seemed to have caught me at a vulnerable crossroad," Sam admitted. "We are experimental beings and this is an experiment, as were you."

"I know," Will said.

"We have choices Will, and only you can make them," Sam said in an understanding voice.

William and Liz watched the sun set over the distant hills. It was a beautiful sunset with a few clouds hovering on the horizon. The clouds glowed orange and then red as the sun dipped below the horizon. Finally, the clouds turned dark blue outlined by a golden border, then it was twilight.

"Okay! Let's go over our equipment list one more time to be sure we have everything," Richard shouted as he came out of his office.

Liz and William were both startled by Richard's outburst.

Looking over at them Richard asked, "what have you two lovebirds been up to?"

"Nothing," Liz replied, "just watching the sun set."

"Well, let's get this thing launched so I can become filthy rich with my new discovery," Richard jested.

It was completely dark now and with everything in order, the trio set out up the street headed for a back road that would take them to an old abandoned farm. They didn't think the truck and its payload would attract too much attention. It would be just another truck packing mining equipment. William and Liz followed in Richard's SUV.

Within forty minutes they had reached their destination and began unloading the vessel. It was secured to a light weight metal frame work which slid nicely off the trailer once the bed was lifted. Flood lights were set up to assist the preparation. Using a DC/AC converter on the truck they began mixing the ingredients as Sam had instructed. Sam was carefully going over everything with Richard. He stressed that once the coating was applied to the vessel, they were to leave the sprayer and all equipment there and get as far away as possible. He also instructed that if any of the coating got on their clothing that the clothing must be left there also. They were to wear, what appeared to be, hazmat suits.

Preparations went smoothly and within the hour they were spraying the vessel. Liz sat in the SUV away from the process. The coating went on easily, covering the beautiful dark pearl finish with a matt black finish. As soon as they were finished William and Richard dropped everything and shed their hazmat suits. Richard drove the truck and William jumped in with Liz. They had spotted a nearby ridge that they wanted to get to in order to see the launch.

"We are very close now to realizing our goal," Sam said to Will.

"What's going to happen now?" Will asked.

"When the coating on the vessel dries it will immediately launch itself into space where we will direct it to us," Sam stated.

"But how will it launch?" Will demanded.

"Oh, of course," Sam said, "the coating is an anti-gravity material. Once it dries it will activate the anti-gravity ingredients. We should see it very shortly."

"Anti-gravity?" Will posed.

"Yes, anti-gravity," Sam confirmed.

"Boy, they're gona have fun with that down on Earth," Will submitted, "first, a material stronger than anything ever invented on Earth and now an anti-gravity paint that will send you into space. What more could you want?"

"It should help with their space program I would think," Sam said.

William, Liz and Richard made it to the top of the ridge in a matter of minutes. They had left a battery-operated lantern in the field next to the vessel so they could locate it from the ridge. Suddenly, as they stood there watching, there was a hard thump, felt as much as heard. There was no flash of light, just a thump that vibrated the ground they stood on.

"Did you see that?" Richard shouted.

"Yes, yes I did. It just took off without any sort of propulsion," William exclaimed.

"Anti-gravity paint," came the reply from Will up above.

"Anti-gravity paint? What next?" Richard cried.

"The seismograph folks are going to have fun explaining that thump we felt," Liz remarked.

"We see the vessel," Sam announced.

"It's already there?" Richard asked in amazement.

"Not to us yet, but we are tracking it. We should have it very shortly," Sam said.

Liz leaned over against William. Her knees felt weak. She was about to have an anxiety attack. The worry about what would happen next was over coming her. William put his arm around her. He too, was quite anxious about what would happen next. The three of them stood there for a while staring at the star lit sky.

Finally, William spoke, "we probably should move along. If the vessel was picked up on radar there may be people out here looking around very soon."

"Yes, let's go home," Liz said.

On their way back, they stopped in the field and picked up everything that was left behind. The paint sprayers were gone as was the rack that supported the vessel. Over spray had gotten on it also. When they arrived home, they set and talked for a while about the events of the evening and then headed for bed. They were exhausted. Liz invited William to come and lay on the bed with her. She was afraid something was going to happen to him now that their mission had been completed. She wanted to be with him if something did happen.

They cuddled up to one another and just before drifting off to sleep William whispered, "I love you Liz."

"I love you too William," Liz said squeezing his hands that were wrapped around her.

As they slept William and Sammy made ready to depart. Will had several things he wanted to say to William. Will and Sam had discussed William's future and what they should do with him. In the end, they both agreed to just leave things as they were and let life go on. Will was the one most in favor of this choice. William seemed to be in a good position to benefit financially from the discoveries that he and Richard were able to make with Sam's formulas. Furthermore, the relationship between him and Liz was unanticipated. Will, during his hospice care, always wished that Liz had someone to go home to at night and to share life with. Being a Hospice nurse was difficult and she had no one to share her feelings and losses with. It seemed kind of strange to Will at first, but as William began developing his own personality, Will was glad for both of them. How they would end up he would never know. He only wanted peace and love for them.

When William and Liz awoke the next morning, they were still in each other's arms.

Liz turned and looked at William, "you're still here!" she said with a big smile.

William stretched and yawned, "yep! I'm here and I'm feeling mighty good this morning," he proclaimed.

"What do you mean?" Liz asked.

"I don't know. I just feel good and as if a big load is gone off my shoulders," he replied.

"What do you think that means?" she asked. The apprehension shown in her voice.

William was quiet for a minute then he said, "I think they are gone Liz. I think they have left."

"You mean Sam and Will?" she asked looking at him carefully as if he might evaporate right before her eyes.

"Yes, and there is a message going around and around in my brain," William said shaking his head.

"What kind of message? What is it? What does it say?" Liz asked worriedly. She was afraid it might be a countdown to him leaving.

"It's a message from Will. He thanks us for all that we have done to help his friends get back home. He also asked that I never contact his children, which I wouldn't dare do. He says it would be unfair and too upsetting and difficult for them. He went on to say that my life should go on without that burden. I should create an entirely new life. Then, he asked that I take care of you and see that you never are alone again." William stopped the recounting of the message and looked at Liz.

"Go on. What else did he say?" Liz prodded, tears flooding into her eyes.

"He said he would eventually see us up there and wishes us a long life and happiness," William said as his own eyes welled up.

Liz threw herself on William hugging him tightly. Their wish had come true.

# Chapter 25

"There it is," Sam announced.

"How did it get here so fast?" Will asked.

"Oh, we have a way of speeding things up," Sam said in that sly tone he had developed.

In the distance they could see a large metallic looking object tumbling toward them.

"What happens now?" Will asked somewhat apprehensive. He too was concerned about what was going to happen next. _What will be left for me to do after Sam is gone,_ he thought to himself.

"Don't worry Will. You will find plenty to do," Sam replied.

"Reading my mind again I see," Will exclaimed.

"Oh! Sorry. Guess I was doing that," Sam confessed.

"You know Sam, I'm going to really miss that when you're gone. I'm going to miss our friendship," he declared.

"I will miss it too, Will. It has been very interesting and you have helped us out of our long captivity," Sam acknowledged, "but perhaps we will meet again somewhere in time."

"I would like that," Will acknowledged.

They watched in silence as the incoming vessel sped toward them. Will was lost in thought and feeling very lonely. Things were not going to be the same without Sam and friends around. During their wait while the vessel was being made Will had gone back to Anne and their family several times. It was enjoyable for a while, but Will was always restless and looked forward to returning to Sam to discuss the progress down on Earth. He was continuously in contact with William and Sammy, living two lives at once. All that would come to an end very soon.

"I'm going to bring the vessel through the barrier so we can examine it," Sam said breaking the silence.

"Then what?" Will asked.

"We will bring back Sammy and William, then load into the vessel and be on our way," Sam replied.

"Just like that, after billions of years here in our universe?" Will questioned.

"Yes Will. We are ready to get back to our universe. It has been a long time," Sam replied.

"I understand. I'd be anxious too, I guess," Will admitted.

The vessel came through the dark matter barrier without any delay. It was immediately surrounded by Sam's colleagues. They were going inside it and all around checking it out thoroughly. There was considerable background noise, which was them communicating with one another. Will had never learned their form of communication.

"What do they think? Is the vessel suitable for your passage back home?" Will asked.

"Yes, they seem very comfortable with it," Sam replied.

"All of you can fit into that?" Will asked a bit mystified.

"Yes. We can fit into quite small spaces if necessary," Sam answered.

"I can't imagine how that's going to feel, all of you being in there," Will mused

"We have no mass, only energy," Sam responded. "Now we must get on with the business at hand."

"What is that," Will asked.

"We must bring back William and Sammy. Are there any last thoughts you want to leave with the earthbound William?" Sam enquired.

"So, this means William will live on?" Will queried.

"Yes, William will live on, but you will no longer have communication with him," Sam explained.

"Oh, too bad. I would have liked to maintain a connection there on Earth," Will said.

"William will live on and develop a life of his own. Even though he is a DNA clone he will live a different life. We have controlled life there on Earth for a long time. It is time the human race evolved on their own. In the end, they will all come here to your universe and more than likely evolve like we have. It will take billions of years, but it will happen," Sam explained.

"Billions!" Will exclaimed. "But Earth might not survive that long. The sun may die, an asteroid might strike or events we have no idea about may happen."

"True. Those things may happen, but it won't matter. You, and those who ascend to the universe, will live on, just as we did. We put that in your genes. You will no longer need an earth. Your universe is quite different to us, but you and your kind have made the first step into the cosmos. You are now part of that, not the Earth," Sam expounded.

"Hadn't thought about that," Will admitted. "I guess the human race owes you a great deal of thanks."

"No thanks needed, in fact, we owe you a thanks for making it possible for us to go home," Sam concluded. "Now, we must attend to bringing William and Sammy back now."

"I'm going to miss seeing all the things happening on Earth, but as we've discussed, the earthbound William has developed a life of his own. I have had less and less to do with his thinking these past few months, so I guess you are right. It's time to let things go and evolve as they should," Will said in a wistful tone.

"If there's a message you would like to leave him you should do it now," Sam instructed.

Will thought about it for a few moments, then placed his message in the earthbound William's mind. Quicker than he could imagine, William and Sammy were back and rejoined to their energy sources.

"Are you okay Will?" Sam asked.

"I am fine Sam. That was quite an experience and I thank you for all you have taught me," Will replied.

"We owe you Will. Thank you for all you have risked and done for us," Sam said as he drifted toward the vessel.

The moment Will had dreaded was upon him. Sam was leaving. As Will watched, Sam began to shrink in size. He was passing through the wall of the vessel. His colleagues were already on board.

"It's going to be awfully lonely here with no other beings to communicate with," Will lamented.

"Oh, but you're not alone Will," Sam said with reassurance.

"I know, I have family and such, but there will be no one to explore with or to get to know or learn from," Will said with sadness in his voice.

"I don't mean them Will, there are others," Sam said. "You were not the only experiment we tried. Good bye for now."

# END

Thank you for reading my book. If you enjoyed it, won't you please take a moment to leave me a review at your favorite retailer?

Thanks,

C. D. Tuttle
