Chapter Nine — Fast Forward
After a few twists and turns in the hallways, they arrived in an area that bore a large sign: Waste Substances. “Key,” Frankie called out. Maggie thrust her hand out from her burrito-like covering under Finn’s arm. Frankie grabbed the skeleton key from her, unlocked the door, entered, and relocked it from the other side.
From there, they encountered three smaller signs pointing in different directions: Kitchen Waste, Garbage, Trash.
“Trash sounds the least disgusting,” Frankie called out. “Let’s head there.”
Frankie, Finn, and Chuck all sped around the corner to the right with Maggie still clutched under Finn’s arm and Betsy in a satchel strapped to Frankie’s chest. When they got to the enclosed area marked Trash, Frankie unlocked that door and they crowded into the space that consisted of empty cans and dozens of trunk-size cartons.
“Good call, Frankie,” Finn said as he set Maggie down. “This looks like a perfect place to hide. No one will ever see us in the shadows behind all of these boxes.”
They all found a spot to hide, concealing themselves behind the cardboard as Frankie and Finn changed back into their regular clothes. After a few minutes, they heard footsteps approach.
“Shine your light into this one,” remarked the cruise constable as he and his deputies arrived at the Garbage container.
“But, sir, why don’t we just go in to see if they’re in there?”
“Far too risky.”
“Risky? How, sir?”
“The ship’s rubbish vaults are lined up with an ER Bridge in the ocean.”
“What’s an ER Bridge?”
“I forget what it stands for, but it’s the spot where we’ve been floating all week. The place where we’ve been anchored was selected for that very reason. The ER Bridge is really more of an invisible hole that lets things travel to other parts of space across the universe. That’s where the ship sends its waste products, contained in these vaults that travel back and forth instantaneously. That’s all I know about it. Too technical for this working man, but the Pentagon uses them regularly … I don’t see anything here. Let’s move onto the Trash vault.”
Frankie, Finn, and the kids all went instantly silent, not that they’d been making any noise up to that point.
“Shine your lights, deputies,” the cruise constable instructed. “They could be hiding behind those boxes.”
A sea of lights pointed this way and that, filling the chamber that was metal on three sides with a front wall made of what looked like glass.
“See anything?” the constable asked.
“No, sir,” his men replied.
“Blast!” the constable exclaimed under his breath. He then turned and strode away, his men following close.
The party of five in the trash vault all let out imperceptible sighs of relief—all but Chuck, that is, who had been holding in a sneeze and now let it roar. All fell silent again for several seconds to ensure there were no repercussions from the sneeze. They then came out from behind their hiding places. Finn put his hand over his heart to calm his nerves.
“That was a close shave,” Frankie said.
A black boot took a step in front of the vault.
“More than a close shave,” said the constable. “You’ve been nicked!”
Frankie sighed, Finn gulped, Maggie gasped, and Betsy cried.
Chuck said, “Woops.”
“Hands up, all of you!” the constable commanded. All complied, even Betsy who was still in the satchel on Frankie’s chest. “Now come out of there willingly, and I’ll make sure the judge goes easy on you.”
“How easy exactly?” Frankie asked.
“Probably only four years for child abduction … and a ten-thousand-dollar fine. Of course, if the children come to any harm, or, God forbid, perish you would be up on international kidnapping charges and possibly murder.”
“But we’re minors!” Finn objected.
The constable shrugged. “Minors involved in a kidnapping case in international waters. So come out and I’ll make sure you only go to juvie. I may even be able to get the fine reduced.”
“What will happen to the kids?” Finn asked.
“They’ll be sent to an orphanage if they have nowhere else to go.”
“Mr. Finn, please do not let us go to an orphanage!” Maggie pleaded.
“I really can’t go to prison, Frankie,” Finn said.
“Me neither, brother.” Frankie inched forward to the front of the vault. “So, constable, you say this vault travels to another part of the universe?”
“Yes, but what does that have to do with—”
“If we cross over on that bridge you mentioned, can we come back?”
“I really have no idea. No one knows anything about it.”
“I do,” said Maggie. “I’ve read up on the Einstein-Rosen Bridge. Some think it’s theoretical. Others believe it’s a commonplace occurrence—”
“That’s enough,” the constable barked. “Come out of that vault at once!”
“Why don’t we just shoot the glass and pull them out, sir?” asked one of the deputies.
“Because it’s not glass. It’s something called Aetherean crystal – the strongest substance in the universe, so I’m told.”
“You mean the Omniverse,” Frankie said.
The constable furrowed his brow and frowned at Frankie. “Stop talking nonsense! As I was saying, deputy, the bullets will just bounce off. They could ricochet and kill us instead.”
Frankie lifted his hand and held it over a red button in the corner of the vault. “Maggie, any idea what this button marked Eject does?”
“My guess is it jettisons this container.”
The constables eyes enlarged. “Don’t touch it! You’ll be sent across the galaxy and could end up who knows where.”
“Wherever it is, it won’t be jail. Finn, kids, you with me?”
Maggie and Chuck nodded.
Finn exhaled slowly. “Like you said, better than jail.”
“Don’t do it!” the constable cried. “You’ll be goners!”
Frankie pressed his palm to the button, and a pair of metal doors slammed shut at the front of the vault. The whole metal container thrust backwards, throwing everyone inside off balance and tumbling to the floor at the front of the vault. They slid in a mass up the front wall of the vault up to the ceiling, then across the ceiling to the back, then down to the floor—all in a fraction of a second.
All looked at each other in anxious curiosity.
After a moment, Finn spoke up. “Everyone okay? …. Good. Anyone have any ideas as to how to get out of here?”
“Up there,” Maggie pointed to a green button marked Emergency Open in the far left corner at the front of the shipping container.
Finn stood and smoothed back his hair then marched over to the button.
“Do you think we’ll meet aliens?” Chuck asked in glee. “Or maybe dinosaurs? … Or maybe even zombies?”
“Or maybe brothers who are not annoying,” Maggie muttered.
“Let’s find out.” Finn pressed the button, and both the metal and Aetherean crystal doors whooshed open. “Whoaaaaa.”
Sea spray blew his hair back as the chamber filled with ocean air. “It looks like the Port of New Orleans … only a lot different.”
Frankie walked to the front of the container. “And it appears we’re on some sort of shipping barge.”
“Do you think all of the other containers came from home as well?” Maggie asked.
“At the moment, I’m more interested in finding out where we arrived than who came with us, to be honest,” Finn said.
They all stood at the front of the container as the barge made its way to port. No longshoreman were around. Not a soul appeared to be on the barge. When they got to the dock, they merely stepped off and walked toward the terminal.
“So, this is what the other end of the universe looks like? … Like home?” Finn said.
“Pretty depressing,” Chuck whined. “What a letdown. No man-eating beasts or anything.”
“The day’s still young.” Frankie remarked.
“You there! Stop where you are!” called a male voice through a bullhorn from several docks away, pointing a baton at the group.
They looked at one another, unsure if he was talking to them.
“Yes, you. You kids. Don’t you know it’s illegal to be on the cargo docks? You’ll have to come in for questioning.”
Frankie adjusted Betsy in her satchel. “I don’t know about you lot, but I’m done with questioning and coppers for one day. Who wants to run?”
Without answering, Finn scooped up Maggie, and all three boys took off in unison.
The patrolman blew a whistle and shouted for others to assist.
The boys sprinted out of the shipping terminal and through a series of alleyways until they felt sure they’d lost their pursuers.
“Strange,” Finn said as they meandered. “I recognize the street names, but everything looks off. It’s like a mirror image of our own world, but at the same time it’s different. And as we heard, they speak English here.”
“Perhaps we should make a stop at the port’s visitor center,” Maggie suggested. “They’re sure to have some pamphlets that can help us understand where we are.”
“Good idea as always, Miss Robinson,” Finn said with a smile.
She blushed.
It took them a few minutes of wandering to realize it was early morning and none of the shops were yet open. They ended up sitting on the edge of the waterway, gazing out at the Atlantic Ocean and marveling at all they’d been through over the last eight days. They shared stories about their lives at home. And they shared what they would miss most in a strange new world.
After roaming for what seemed like ages, they all lost steam. After all, they’d left the ship just after midnight and had yet to sleep. Finally, they came across a place that was open—Emeril’s Petite Brasserie at the Caesar’s New Orleans hotel and casino.
The group ordered an assortment of breakfast pastries along with a few glasses of milk and an espresso.
“Here are your drinks. Give me a few minutes to put all your pastries together.”
When Finn pulled a dollar from his pocket and instructed the girl at the counter to “keep the change,” she chortled.
“Umm, this is a single,” she said.
The group looked to one another in bewilderment.
“Sorry, I don’t have any coins on me,” Finn explained.
“I mean this doesn’t come close to covering what you ordered.”
He looked up at the menu board overhead and staggered back in shock. Quickly, he did the math in his head. “So our bill comes to nearly fifty dollars? That’s like a month’s rent back home!”
“We take plastic,” the girl said.
“Plastic? Like bottle caps or something?” Finn asked innocently.
The girl suppressed a smile. “How much do you have on you?”
Finn pulled the bills from his pocket. “Three dollars.”
“Tell ya what, the chocolate milk is on the house. No getting that back now,” she said with a nod toward Betsy who was downing the last of her drink. “Wait right there.” She then disappeared into a back room.
“Do you think we should hotfoot it?” Chucked asked. “Maybe she’s going in back to call the cops on us.”
“Doesn’t seem the type,” Frankie said. “Let’s give her another minute before hitting the bricks again.”
She came out a moment later with a white cardboard box full of doughnuts and pastries. “You can have these. They’re day-olds that we save for the local homeless shelter. Sometimes they don’t do the pick up so we have to throw the product away. They were supposed to collect these more than an hour ago, so as far as I’m concerned, they’re yours.”
“Really?” Chuck yodeled in exuberance.
The girl chuckled. “Really.”
“Gee wiz. You’re pretty keen!”
She tilted her head as she regarded him. “I am?”
Maggie leaned in and whispered to her brother. “Perhaps they don’t say keen here.”
“We don’t,” said the girl with a smile. “But I get the gist. So where are you kids headed?”
“To the visitor center once it opens,” Maggie said. “But we seem to have drifted off course while perambulating.”
“No problem.” The girl pulled out a map and a pen and began drawing lines and circles. “This is where we are now. There are three visitors centers, but the best one is the Welcome Center at Canal and Royal. Just follow this line, and you should get there. They open at nine, I think.”
“Thank you kindly, miss,” Maggie said with a curtsy.
The girl giggled again. “You’re very welcome.”
At 8:45 the group packed up the remaining pastries, cleaned up the crumbs they’d strewn across the table, and Finn left a dollar on the table under a fork for the girl.
Following the map, they found the Welcome Center with ease. The tiny building (hardly bigger than the trash vault) contained more leaflets and brochures than someone could read in a lifetime. In an alcove, a video was playing on a large screen on a loop.
Maggie and Finn began rifling through the brochures in search of answers and information.
“Uh, guys?” Frankie said as he tiptoed toward the television screen. “I think I have our answer.”
Finn, Maggie, and Chuck crowded into the alcove with him. In large letters on the screen were the words Welcome to New Orleans 2020.