Elmo’s Sojourn

by Walt Trizna

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
appeared in issue 227.

Chapter 4:
A Lesson in Time Travel

[Withdrawn at the author’s request]

Valmid and Cal led Elmo up the stairs to the guest bedroom. His bed for the night was enormous but welcoming. It had been a long, eventful day.

Cal found some pajamas and other clothes from their child’s younger days that fit Elmo perfectly. Elmo bid Cal and Valmid good night, slipped beneath the covers, and was soon asleep. His dreams were filled with screaming plants and foreign lands and Mildred. When he awoke, his first thought was of Mildred, and he was filled with sorrow and longing. It had been many years since he had awoken without her next to him.

Elmo was learning to cope with the oversized house and furniture. The weaker gravity of Roth enabled him to jump greater distances than he could on Earth. He found he could hop up and down the stairs and jump into bed with little effort.

After dropping down from the bed, Elmo entered the bathroom, took a shower, then carefully made his way down the stairs. Valmid and Cal were already eating breakfast and invited Elmo to join them.

Valmid detected Elmo’s reluctance to eat their food so he reassured him, “Elmo, although we’re very different on the outside, on the inside we are the same. Not only are our organs identical but also the biochemistry that governs them is also similar. What is edible for us is also edible for you. The food may appear different, our plants and animals may not resemble the plants and animals you are fond of consuming, but our food will fulfill your requirements.”

During breakfast, Elmo experienced new flavors and textures, both good and not so good, and hoped Valmid was right.

With breakfast finished, Valmid commented, “Your species discovered the existence of wormholes, but only you, Elmo, uncovered the secret of time-space travel. I can only imagine how crude the device was that you contrived, being the first of its kind on your planet. I was playing with Zytex when he suddenly vanished, transported by your machine. You came very close to transporting me, instead of my faithful pet. Our two planets are not the only ones that have made the discovery. There are other civilizations on other planets that have developed this method of travel.”

Valmid sat back and began to explain the more intricate principles and mechanisms of time-space travel to Elmo. “Elmo, you’ve shown great insight in discovering the use of wormholes for travel, and you were lucky to survive your first attempt.

“First, let me explain the change in how old you were when you left Earth to your age now on Roth. You know that nothing can exceed the speed of light, and you know the whole universe is in motion. Whole galaxies are propelled with untold speed, some towards and some away from each other. Therefore, if you are on a planet hurtling toward another planet you wish to visit and their combined relative closing speed is greater than the speed of light, the differences in speed results in a change in your age. Luckily for you, Roth is moving toward Earth. If the planets had been moving apart at the same speeds, you would have arrived a very old man.”

Valmid continued, “You are lucky in another sense in relation to time-space travel. You see, my friend, space is crisscrossed with an infinite number of wormholes. There are, in fact, many that connect Earth and Roth, but they differ in the directness of their routes. You happened to select one whose path was not the most direct. If you had, the outcome would have been quite disastrous. You see your age would have decreased by more years than you have been alive. So somewhere along your journey, you would have ceased to exist.”

As Elmo listened to Valmid he realized just how lucky he had been in choosing Roth as a destination. At the same time, he was intrigued by the complexity of time-space travel. He had thought a wormhole was a wormhole was a wormhole.

Elmo was also pleased that life existed on other planets which circle other stars under conditions similar to those of Earth and its sun, thereby verifying a theory he had considered for many years but was careful not to discuss with his colleagues at Los Alamos. Elmo was afraid he would have found himself conducting research at Roswell if his theories had been known.

“Another item I must discuss with you,” Valmid continued, “ is our method of communication. You know that I can read all your thoughts, but you are only reading those thoughts of mine that I want you to know. We all need privacy, and when we have a visitor from another planet we like to give him the ability to think without being intruded upon. You remember when we first met how I could not communicate with you because your thoughts were coming fast and overlapped with one another. What I’m about to teach you may be difficult at first, but I’m sure you will be able to do it quite easily. Try humming in your mind.”

Elmo hummed a tune he particularly enjoyed.

“Now try to hum and have a thought simultaneously.”

Elmo did this with some difficulty.

“I have no idea what you just thought. You see Elmo; the humming sets up white noise through which your thoughts cannot be discerned. With a little practice, you will be able to have some privacy during your stay with us.”

With great sadness, Elmo wondered how long that stay would be. He missed Mildred a great deal and felt so alone on Roth. He had planned a brief visit — not an extended journey. At the same time he found the whole experience fantastic.

Valmid sensed Elmo’s sadness but knew he would not let his friend return to Earth until he had helped solve a problem that was decimating Roth and had profoundly altered Valmid’s life. Elmo would not be leaving until the dilemma was solved, no matter how long it took.

Proceed to chapter 5...