The Radio Magician and Other Stories by James van Pelt

Author:James van Pelt
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Science Fiction, Short Stories (Single Author), Fiction, Fantasy, American, General, Short Stories
ISBN: 9780982073025
Publisher: Fairwood Press
Published: 2009-09-15T04:00:00+00:00

Martin sat at the worktable, his hands wrapped around the back of his head, his forehead pressed against the scarred work surface. He didn’t look at Jake when he appeared in the room, but he talked anyway. Perhaps he’d been talking the whole time. “Our destinations weren’t random. The physics of the paradox tossed us where we couldn’t matter.”

“I know.”

“The math says that Pelee is here, right here in the room with us, and so is the Sultana and the Hindenburg and everything else. The end is on its way.” He began weeping.

“What did you say about Brownson’s math?” said Jake.

“Tornado. Earthquake. Meteor strike. Nuclear bomb. Fire. Flood. Famine . . . quick famine. It’s on the way. That’s how the equations balance.”

Jake ripped open his shirt. Double checked the equipment. Power was good. “You told me something about the math once, about the equations.” He looked out the window. Was the sky turning dark? Was there a rumble in the building’s basement. The unexpected was surely on its way. “Brownson told us that information couldn’t travel in time. That’s the paradox at work, but you said the math never solved perfectly. The numbers were always a little unbalanced.”

“I don’t get you,” said Martin. “The numbers don’t matter now.”

“Only thirty-three people died on the Hindenburg. One man survived Mount Pelee. Five hundred or so lived through the Sultana.” Jake spoke fast. What had happened began to make sense, if he had enough time. If he could get to where he needed to go before the time ran out. “If information is prevented from traveling backwards and forwards perfectly, if the equations add up perfectly, then we should only have been able to travel where there were no survivors. There could be no chance for escape, but if I get to the right place I might have a chance.”

He pressed the button and found himself on a steel deck, slick with ice. The ship’s name, Halifax, was printed across a lifeboat.

He pressed the button. Martin flinched when he reappeared.

Jake pressed again. Another mountain rose up before him. Its top too was smoke-covered.

He pressed the button. Martin said, “Where are you going?”

The button gave way. A cityscape. People streamed by, many on bicycles. Street signs were in Japanese. Without looking, he knew a lone bomber flew over the city.

“Tell me where and when,” shouted Martin.

Jake paused, ready to go again. How much time did he have? None to be wasted, for sure, but the numbers didn’t lie. Their imperfections held all the hope he needed. Maybe most of information could not go from the future to the past. All he could believe was that in the fractions that didn’t add up, he could slip away.

“The Hindenburg,” he said. “If I wait long enough. If I jump from the widow not so high that I’ll die, not so low that the ship will crush me, then I’ll survive. Sixty-two people lived. I can be the uncounted sixty-third.”

There’s no point in not trying, he thought, and he pressed the button.

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