The CMS was designed to make observations across a wide spectrum of activity, but Paul’s work — and Lauren’s as well — focused on the detection of muons, large but short-lived elementary particles that decayed to produce electrons and neutrinos. Like all subatomic particles, much of what was known about muons was theoretical, but knowledge of their existence dated back to the 1930s. Muons could pass through matter without interacting with it, which made them ideal for “seeing” through solid objects. The muons created by particle collisions in the LHC were measured using a three-fold system of detection situated in the outermost layer of the CMS, and now that the collider was offline for maintenance, Paul’s task was to check the detectors and replace the units as needed. It was a time-consuming chore, but necessary to the larger goal of producing useful results, and if working at CERN had taught Paul anything, it was the importance of patience. Physics experiments required years of intensive preparation and observation.
At the top of the stairs, he moved out onto a scaffold erected across the top of the barrel. The tedious but exacting job of removing the endcap disks to get at the cathode strip chambers helped him get his mind off the perplexing riddle of Lauren Hayes, and he was soon lost in his work.
“Paul!”
The shout startled him, kicking him out of autopilot mode. He looked over the edge of the scaffold to see Lauren, gazing up at him, hands on hips in what might have been either a stern or flirtatious pose. “Yes?”
“I said, do you want to break for coffee?”
“Coffee? So soon? We just got started.”
She rolled her eyes. “It’s nearly eleven.”
Eleven o’clock? He really had gotten lost in the work. “Sure. Be right down.”
He set down his tools and hopped to his feet, but suddenly felt lightheaded. Darkness descended on him like a storm cloud and he barely had time to kneel down before the world dissolved completely in a haze.
Head rush. I stood up too quickly.
He stayed down, waiting for his blood pressure to normalize, but with each passing second, his connection to reality seemed to slip further away. He had no sense of his body anymore, didn’t know if he was still kneeling or if he had collapsed in a senseless heap.
Then, just as quickly, he was drawn back to consciousness by someone shaking him gently, calling his name. “Paul? Paul are you all right?”
The voice was achingly familiar. It sounded just like….
He opened his eyes and jerked as if touching a live wire.
Lauren? It was Lauren, but how could that be?
Her face creased with concern. “Paul, are you all right?” she repeated. “You fainted.”
It couldn’t be Lauren. Lauren was dead. She had died in a mountain climbing accident two weeks earlier. He had attended her funeral, for God’s sake. He had stood in front of the urn with her ashes. He had….
The memories were so vivid that it took a moment to separate them from the reality of where he was.
I am in the CMS, he realized. Lauren and I came down here to check the detectors. But that was weeks ago, wasn’t it? Before the accident? Before the funeral?
He took a deep breath. No, none of that happened. I passed out, I had a weird dream. In a moment, everything will be back to normal.
“I’m fine,” he managed to say. “Just stood up too fast.”
Lauren continued to look down at him, one hand resting on his shoulder. Her touch felt strange, and not just because it was the first time she had ever touched him, ever showed something approaching actual concern.
He felt as if he was being touched by a ghost.
“I’m fine,” he repeated, shrugging away from her and rising to his feet.
“Careful,” she warned. “Don’t get up too fast or it will happen again.”
“No. I’m all right now.” He did his best to smile. “Let’s go have that coffee.”
“You’re sure?” She continued to regard him anxiously. “You need to be more careful. You could have fallen.”
“It’s not that far to the bottom.”
“It’s far enough. Did you know that falling is the second leading cause of accidental death?”
The word “death” sent a chill through him. “How do you know that?”
“I’ve done my homework. I’m a mountain climber.” She gave a coy shrug. “Well, almost. I haven’t actually climbed any mountains. Yet. But I’m going to climb Chamonix this weekend.”
Chamonix. Paul felt the darkness start to swirl again. He lurched for the stairs, gripped the rail.
Chamonix. That was where Lauren had died in his…memory? Dream? Premonition?
He held himself erect, struggling to catch his breath. “Lauren, don’t go to Chamonix.”
Her concern transformed into something approaching umbrage. “What?”
“Mountain climbing is dangerous. Don’t go.”
“Gods, not you too. You sound like my mum.” She pursed her lips together and shook her head. “In case you haven’t been paying attention, you’re the one who’s having trouble with high places.”
“I know. It’s just that—”
She waved her hand, cutting him off. “I’m going for a coffee. You can do whatever you like.” She spun on her heel and stomped down the stairs, not looking back.
As he watched her depart, Paul wondered what had prompted his outburst. His certitude about the realness of what he remembered had not diminished, but belief alone was not enough to make it real. He was a rational being, believing only in what he could observe and measure and quantify. Whatever else it was, his perception of Lauren’s death was not real if only for the simple reason that she was still alive.
A premonition then?
Paul did not believe in premonitions. Fortune telling and psychic mumbo-jumbo was just trickery.
Still, why would I imagine Lauren dying in a climbing accident when I had no idea that she was even interested in mountaineering?
It was a coincidence. It had to be. There was no other rational explanation.
Nevertheless, as the week passed, his dread of what might happen increased. It was not merely the ominous expectation of what might happen to Lauren. For her sake, he certainly hoped that the foreseen calamity would not occur, but the reason for his anxiety went much deeper.
If something did happen to Lauren at Chamonix — if what he had imagined or envisioned or…pre-remembered really did come to pass, what would that mean for his understanding of the world?
Everything had a rational explanation. That was not merely an article of faith for him; he had seen it proven true, again and again. Were there things that science did not understand? Absolutely. But to catch a glimpse of the future? How was that possible? How could he explain it in a way that squared with his knowledge of the universe and space-time and causal relationships?
And why had it happened to him?
If something happened to Lauren, would he be able to explain it away as a coincidence?
And if nothing happened, what then?
PART ONE: WALLS
ONE
This is why I love being an archaeologist, thought Jade Ihara as she stared across Calzada de los Meurtos — the Avenue of the Dead — at the massive structure, known as the Pyramid of the Sun. Because she had spent so much of her professional career digging holes in the middle of nowhere, sifting dirt and, if she was lucky, finding a potsherd or two, she welcomed any chance to work a site like this, a place full of both history and mystery. It was a way of recharging her batteries. Lord knows, I could use that right now.