He exited the tower about a hundred feet above ground on a g-conveyor that deposited him on the terrace outside the cafeteria two levels below the Multiporter, and went up to the lab area with the square chamber standing in its frame at the focus of the array of projector tubes. The machine was running. Hunt seemed to have arrived just at the completion of one of the demonstrations. Eesyan was taking questions from Calazar and his company, who were standing with some of the project scientists. Others, were scattered loosely in the general vicinity, including Sonnebrandt and Duncan, with Chien standing a short distance away, the total numbering perhaps twenty individuals. One of Calazar's company was speaking.
"Let's think ahead and assume that you do find a way of stabilizing a transported object. That means it will stop in some particular universe. It will have rematerialized there-unlike that whatever-it-was just now that was just traveling through."
"Yes," Eesyan agreed.
"Fine. But suppose the process is subject to some kind of positional error, such that it doesn't reappear in precisely the same corresponding place there? It might not be inside their detection chamber at all. Or it could be a universe so different from ours that it doesn't even have a chamber."
"That's possible."
The questioner sent around a quick appealing look that said this could be serious. "Then it could rematerialize inside solid matter. So what happens when you start sending larger objects than these little specks that you've been showing us? You'd have an explosion!"
"We plan to move the project off-planet and operate it remotely in space when we reach that phase," Eesyan said. "A scaled-up projector is being designed as we learn from this one."
"I hope that our neighbors in their other realities are equally considerate," one of the Thurien scientists remarked, which brought laughter.
"Does it have a name?" someone asked.
"We just call it MP2 at the moment," Eesyan said.
As Hunt began edging toward the three Terrans, he passed by Othan, who had met them at the Waldorf on their arrival there, and another of the technicians. They were muttering irascibly in a way that was strange for Thuriens.
"I wish you wouldn't keep repeating yourself, Othan. I'm really not deaf or slow, you know." VISAR automatically supplied any background that would normally be overheard. It seemed to be another part of the Thurien obsession for authenticity. Hunt had grown so used to it by now that it no longer registered as a translation.
"I am not repeating myself."
"Why do you deny it? I heard you perfectly well the first time. It's not as if…"
Hunt moved on and drew up beside Duncan. "How's it going?" he asked.
"They've transmitted a few molecular configurations. Now we're going to go to try some crystal structures."
"What was that about something passing through?"
"A bit of excitement. There might have been a transient of something coming in a few minutes ago. VISAR's analyzing the detector data now." Hunt raised his eyebrows. If confirmed, it would mean the fleeting trace of something passing through from parallel experiments being conducted in a nearby universe. There had been some previous instances but they were very rare.
"Did you and Chris find what you were looking for?" Sonnebrandt asked.
Hunt shook his head. "No luck. It was some notes of Sandy's that he was supposed to give Eesyan. He thinks he must have left them at the Waldorf. He's gone back there to get them."
At that moment, VISAR came in on the general-address channel. "Attention, please. A positive detection is confirmed. We have evidence of an object passing through from a different reality."
A ripple of murmurings and some applause went around. "Your visit here has been marked as auspicious," one of the scientists said, smiling, to Calazar. "Let's hope it's a good omen."
"I wonder if we've been considerate enough to send them one back," Calazar mused.
"Highly improbable, if my understanding is correct," one of Calazar's party said. Another of the scientists was interpreting further details from VISAR. Eesyan took the opportunity to detach himself and come over to where Hunt and the others were. At the same time, he was turning his head from side to side and looking puzzled.
"Where did Professor Danchekker go, Vic?" he asked. "He's supposed to have something that I'll be needing later."
"You mean some notes from Sandy?"
"Yes-on possible biological implications. It sounded interesting."
"It looks as if he left them at the Waldorf. He's gone back for them," Hunt said.
"Oh. Very well… I hope he won't be too long."
"I shouldn't think so. He's probably halfway there already."
Eesyan snorted. "Then he must be propagating through h-space. He was here just a moment ago."
Hunt frowned. "Chis? No."
"Sure he was, Vic. I saw him come in with you."
"You couldn't have. He left the tower at the same time I did, heading back into town."
Eesyan looked to Sonnebrandt and Duncan in appeal. "Gentlemen, tell me I'm not imagining things. Didn't Vic arrive here with Professor Danchekker a few minutes ago?" They looked at each other, then back, and shook their heads.
"Vic was on his own," Duncan said.
Chien, who was watching and had partly overheard, came closer. "Professor Danchekker was here," she said. "I saw him."
"There!" Eesyan proclaimed.
This was getting silly again. Sane, intelligent adults unable to agree on what was happening literally in front of their faces. "There's a simple way to settle this," he said. "There is obviously one person who ought to know where he is. VISAR, connect me through to Chris Danchekker."
"Yes, Vic?" Danchekker's voice responded in Hunt's head a few seconds later.
"This may sound like a strange question, Chris, but where are you exactly?"
"There's no need to be sarcastic. I'm on my way. I'm sorry I wasn't there when Calazar arrived, if that's what's bothering you. I was nearly there and then realized I'd forgotten some notes from Sandy that Eesyan needs, so I turned around and went back for them. Is that permissible, might I ask?"
Hunt faltered. The others with him, who were also tuned in, looked equally baffled. Danchekker wasn't making any sense. "Chris… what do you mean, you turned around and went back? You mean you were here and went back, yes?"
"I meant precisely what I said. Shall I spell it out? I took a flyer from the Waldorf, as I am now about to do again. I was almost to the Institute when I realized I'd forgotten Sandy's notes. And so I turned it around and went back to Thurios. No, I haven't been there at the Institute yet this morning. What is this, another of your aberrations?"
"But, Chris, I talked to you myself here, across in the tower."
"You're being absurd."
Chien came in. "Professor, Eesyan and I both saw you in the machine area too-which is where we are now. You came in with Doctor Hunt. But he insists he was alone."
"Then all I can say is that you're all living in different realities. I know where I am, for God's sake. And I'm just in the process of boarding a flyer again, in the roof-level lobby of the Waldorf." A view of the surroundings extracted from Danchekker's neural system and superposed as a window upon Hunt's visual field confirmed it.
It was all going from "strange" to plain crazy. They could go on arguing like this all day and get nowhere. Hunt struggled for some continuation. Then he remembered the autograph book that Danchekker had handed to him when they were in the tower. He ran his hand down over his jacket and felt its solid outline in his pocket.
"Chris," he said. "Bear with us. There's another thing. Ko's book. Sandy wanted you to give it to Duncan."