Starman
Times Past, 1949
An Alternate Destiny
by Dan Swanson
Ted was working in his laboratory, 3 days after the death of Vic Valor. He was trying to take his mind off of recent events by studying the applications of the newly-invented transistor technology. It looked like transistors could be substituted for tubes in a lot of applications and Ted was quite excited about the new technology.
But his mind kept wandering back to recent events. He was particularly fascinated by the convergence of events that lead to Valor’s death. Finally, in exasperation, he tossed aside the transistor training materials he was trying to read. He had just reread the same paragraph three times, and he didn’t remember what it said! His subconscious had something important to say, and he wasn’t going to get any work done until he figured out what it was.
Once again, for perhaps the three thousandth time, he replayed the recent past in the theater of his mind.
Many years ago, Doris had received a message from a future version of herself, and she and Ted had used the information in that message to change their own future. But it seemed as if there was some greater force at work, because Ted’s death scene, which future Doris had described to ‘our’ Doris, had been almost exactly duplicated, although with Valor’s death substituted for Ted’s. Perhaps a hero was destined to die that day and no efforts by mere humans could change that destiny. Something about that event was important, something Ted hadn’t considered yet. What could it be?
Ted had awakened to find himself trapped in the beam of the Destructo-Ray, a half-mile high and falling fast! He had no memory of how he had come to be there. Fortunately, he had been wearing the Valor battle suit, and had discovered how to make it fly before he crashed to Earth. He used every power of the battle suit to escape from the D-Ray, but Valor’s powers failed him. It looked like the D-Ray was going to kill him, just as it had killed the other Starman..
But ‘our’ Ted had an advantage that neither Valor or the other Starman had. After hearing Doris describe the D-Ray, Ted had retired to his laboratory and studied the problem. He had eventually figured out how to use the Gravity Rod to protect himself from the D-Ray. So when he realized that he was indeed in the D- Ray trap, he already knew how to escape.
Wait! That was it! Ted had used one of Starman’s powers to escape from that death trap, not one of Valor’s powers. Which meant that the other Ted could have saved himself as well, if he had been able to think of the right method in time! Or, Ted realized, if someone else could suggest it to him… in time!
‘Other Doris’ had communicated with his Doris telepathically through time, somehow using Doris’ gravity Rod to help transmit and receive thoughts. Ted had theorized that the extraordinarily strong emotions other Doris had felt after the memorial service for other Ted had made the communication possible. Certainly other Ted must have been experiencing extraordinarily strong emotions in the last few seconds of his life. Could Ted use his Gravity Rod to send a message to other Ted during that emotionally-charged instant in time? It was worth taking a chance! It would have to be a short message. The D-Ray had caused other Ted’s G-Rod to explode only seconds after it had trapped him. Supposedly that explosion had killed other Ted, but his body had never been found. This gave Ted hope that his idea really had a chance to succeed.
He would need Doris to help as well. He would have to contact ‘other Ted’ at exactly the right time, and then Doris would have to contact ‘other Doris’, and even if both contacts were successful, there was no guarantee that other Ted would be saved…
Ted and Doris worked out a plan. Doris was anxious to help. She had been in the mind of ‘other Doris’ immediately after other Ted’s memorial service, and she had experienced the anguish and grief of her other self. If they could do something to help her, Doris was anxious to try!
“Oh, Ted, can we really help her? She was me, and I still feel her pain every day! Nobody should have to lose a husband like that! Without even a body to bury…”
“I don’t know, honey. I’m not even sure her universe exits any longer. It may have ended the moment you changed our futures. There is a theory that says a new universe is created every time a decision is made, but we have no way of knowing it it’s true or not. “And even if I can reach the other Ted, there’s no guarantee he’ll be able to save himself. He didn’t have much time, and he may not believe it’s really me. So let’s not get our hopes up too high! We’ll give our best effort. But even if we both succeed, we may never know it. It might take really unique conditions to communicate between universes, and we may never experience the same set of conditions again!”
“Oh, Ted, I don’t care! I’ve always felt so helpless whenever I think about ‘other Doris’. Even if we never know, at least I’ll know that we tried!”
“That’s my girl!” Ted gave her a hug. “Are you ready? Let’s do it!”
They had planned their actions carefully, and rehearsed them several times. Ted could see no theoretical reasons why they couldn’t try several times, but his intuition suggested that they would have the best chance of success on the first attempt. Ted was used to trusting his intuition and working out the theory later. His intuition was usually right.
They decided not to attempt to introduce major changes into what they already knew about the history in the other universe. Valor’s death seemed to indicate that some historical events had an inertia of their own, and they didn’t want to fight that inertia. They hoped they could introduce a very small change that would lead to the desired results.
Ted went first. He needed to contact other Starman as he was trying to escape from the D-Ray. He had no idea how to do this, but Doris gave him some hints she remembered from the mind of other Doris. He concentrated on the Gravity Rod, and then tried to replay the death scene in his mind.
Ted visualized the episode as Doris had described it to him. Instead of seeing Valor trapped in the Destructo-Ray, Ted substituted Starman. Nothing happened. He tried again. This time, rather than ‘watching’ the scene from without, Ted attempted to see it from other Starman’s point of view. Still nothing.
It still didn’t feel real to him. So he tried yet again. This time he tried to ‘live’ the event. He imagined the air blowing past his face as he flew over the lights of the night-shrouded Opal City. He enjoyed the feeling of power and confidence he always had when using the G-Rod. He was looking to getting home to Doris after a long night. Yes, this felt real! He was reliving an experience he had never actually had. He was other Ted, and for the moment, at least, he had no worries.
Other Ted was totally taken by surprise when he was enveloped by the ultra-bright Destructo-Ray enveloped him. He had not expected it! But, whispered another part of him, of course he had! He tried frantically to escape, using every power at his disposal. All along, there was a little voice at the back of his mind, screaming at him. He was too frantic to pay attention. Our Ted despaired. He should have realized just how single-minded he could be, in any of his incarnations. He needed more power, to make other Ted pay attention to him before it was too late!
He realized his G-Rod was about to explode. He had to get as far from the city as possible, so he blasted skywards!
Our Ted tried to use all the power in his own Gravity Rod to amplify his mental voice. “No! Ted, a Gravity Lens! A gravity lens can save you!” our Ted screamed in the mind of other Ted. “Gravity bends light. A GRAVITY LENS!” and suddenly our Ted was back in his own body! He had no idea if other Ted had understood his warning in time to save himself.
Ted was incredibly exhausted. He hadn’t realized that trying to project his thoughts into other Ted’s mind, across time and between universes, would require such mental effort, even when assisted by the G-Rod. He felt incredibly relieved. Even if he never found out other Ted’s fate, our Ted knew that by his efforts, at least other Ted had had a fighting chance!
Now it was Doris’ turn! This was going to be extra hard on Doris, who would be joining minds with other Doris, who was still dealing with the terrible pain of grief and loss.
Doris remembered Ted’s memorial service, as seen through they eyes of other Doris. She remembered other Doris taking up the G-Rod immediately after the service, and straining to contact their younger self. She remembered the entire cross-time conversation with other Doris. But it was just memories; it wasn’t real, certainly not real enough.
Even ‘just memories’ were intensely painful. Reliving the conversation between other Doris and younger Doris caused such emotional pain that she burst into tears. She didn’t want to go through that again! But she had to! And because she had to, she did. This time, she knew, she had to project herself into the memories, and through them, into the mind of other Doris. No matter how it hurt, she had to succeed!
Suddenly, she was other Doris, watching with horror Starman’s demise, live, on television. She felt the fading hope, as the frantic search for him failed. The pain of making arrangements for the memorial service. The staff would have gladly done this for her, but she needed to do it for herself. She greeted all the mourners personally, thanking them for coming. She was thankful that so many of their friends showed up. Dear Albert Einstein had done his best to comfort her. She cherished his fragile hug. The extraordinary mourners at the service proved what an extraordinary man Ted had been, not that she needed any further proof.
In the middle of the service, inspiration struck! If she could tell a younger Doris about Ted’s death in the Destructo-Ray, maybe it could be prevented. She rushed home to pick up her gravity rod, hoping it would let her talk to younger Doris and change history!
‘Our’ Doris once again lived through the contact between ‘other Doris’ and ‘younger Doris’. When ‘other Doris’ had broken the connection, our Doris started talking. “Doris, don’t hang up! Doris, please listen to me!”
To say other Doris was startled would be like saying Superman was strong. “Who are you? What do you want?”
“Doris, I’m you – or maybe an alternate you. And I’m the Doris you just warned about Ted’s death, but I’m older than she is. You just saved her Ted’s life – my Ted’s life! I may be able to do the same for you!”
“You’re a little late, aren’t you?” other Doris asked, sarcasm dripping from her mental voice. “My Ted is dead!”
Our Doris pleaded with her. “Doris, he might not be dead! Please listen to me. He might still be alive, and waiting for you to save him!”
The mind of each Doris was joined with the other. Other Doris recognized our Doris and saw in her mind that she was hearing the truth! She had a chance to save her beloved!
“Doris, listen! My Ted found a way to live through the Destructo-Ray. He created a gravity lens and bent the Ray around him. He tried to talk to your Ted, just like you talked to me, and tell him what to do. If your Ted had time to create a gravity lens before the G-Rod exploded, he might still be alive!
“If your Ted threw away his G-Rod, being inside the gravity lens would protect him from the explosion. But without the G-Rod, he’d be trapped inside the lens. He might still be alive, trapped inside a gravity lens. And if he is, you are the only one who can save him!”
Other Doris was stunned. “But it’s been a week! Even if he survived the explosion, could he still be alive?”
Doris responded “My Ted told me that time is different inside a gravity lens. For your Ted, only a few minutes have passed.”
‘If he really made a gravity lens in time! If Doris can’t find him, how terrible it would be to have her hopes dashed a second time!’ our Doris added silently to herself. Because their minds were joined, other Doris heard those thoughts. But they couldn’t quench the hope growing like a bonfire in other Doris’ mind!
Other Doris tried to reassure her. “Oh, Doris! Please don’t worry! It is so wonderful to have hope! I was sure I could never hope again! Please, tell me what I need to do to help my Ted?”
Our Doris replied “That’s the easy part! You just need to fly around downtown and use your gravity rod to find any gravitational anomalies. According to my Ted, the gravity lens would fall slowly once the G-Rod was destroyed. It would be attracted to the nearest building, and probably stick to an outside wall. It’s not likely it reached the ground, because you would probably have heard about it already. And once you’ve found it, you can use your own G-Rod to dispel it!”
“I don’t know if you will find him, other Doris, and even if you do, my Ted tells me that you might not be able to let us know. But I think you’ll be successful. Go out and save your Ted!”
Other Doris “I KNOW I’ll be successful. Thanks, other me! You’ve given me back my life and my love! I’ll always owe you for this!”
Our Doris “Don’t be silly! Your warning saved my Ted, so we’re even! Besides, you’re me, so I’m only helping you for selfish reasons!”
Other Doris laughed, her first laugh in over a week! “OK, we’re even!” She broke the connection, but our Doris could tell she was already speeding towards downtown. “Good luck, other Doris!”
The End
