Emily 2.0 Ch. 09

"Perhaps you're right," Collingwood admitted, "Still, I can't help but feel a twinge of sadness at the loss of love as a couple. That head over heels feeling of being together and not wanting to be with anyone else."

"We can still be bonded," Emily pointed out. "When two people fall in love here, they form what they call a bond, which is much the same as a de facto marriage back home, except without the sexual exclusivity."

"Hmm...," Collingwood responded, still deep in thought about what Emily was revealing to him, and the incorrect assumptions he may have made about Earth 2's culture. Suddenly something occurred to him about what Emily had just said. "Wait, did you just say that you loved me?"

Emily's eyes twinkled in response.

"May I kiss you, Emily Birmingham?" he asked.

"Yes, you can kiss me, Collingwood," she replied. "I haven't completely let you off the hook yet, though."

Collingwood leaned in for the kiss. It was passionate and they both closed their eyes for a moment while they lost themselves in each other.

"Um… perhaps you can call me Rod now?" he asked after he finally broke away.

"I can do that," Emily replied. "You can call me 7GQA9E."

"Am I to assume by that then that you have fully assimilated into this place?" he asked.

"Yes, I had an epiphany just recently, and I get it now," she replied. "Being naked all the time and accepting the commands that men give me is my gift that I give to this place. That's why the women here do it so happily, and that's why the men put their efforts into making this a better place for all, instead of giving in to their base instincts and thinking with their little heads instead of their big ones. That's their gift."

"I suppose I should consider what my gift should be then," he responded.

"You already know what that is, Rod," she replied. "It's that wonderful, if not annoying, brain that you have. They don't have a functioning hyperdrive here. We need one to go home, and they need one for their exploration and discovery program."

"Yes, we are making some progress with the aquinium now. I feel we almost have the refining process worked out, and the solution is now mere months away. What I don't yet have is any means to work out where we're going or where we are when we get there, let alone how to steer a course back to our particular Earth. Thus far it has me completely stumped, and I fear we may well be stranded here for life without it."

"Ok, I think you're ready now," Emily responded, wondering how she was going to tell him. She figured she would just come straight out with it. "There's a couple of things you should know. The first is that my friend, 4D9Y2Y, is from another Earth as well. She crashed out here about ten years ago and found herself marooned the same as we did, and they know all about it. Unfortunately, there's nothing of her ship left, but she might be able to help us in some small ways."

"You're shitting me?" Collingwood asked in surprise. "I assume there's more?"

"Yes, there is. They already know how to get us home. They know all about charting a course through hyperspace."

Collingwood looked straight into Emily's face at that, seemingly lost for words or not quite sure if she was playing a joke on him. Her expression revealed that she was serious.

"Are you kidding me?" he finally asked excitedly. "They know how to map parallel universes? How are you so certain? They've made no indication of such knowledge to me."

"They've known for centuries, Rod," Emily answered. "We've been kept in the dark about it out of fear that if that knowledge were to fall into our hands, it might attract more people to come from our Earth and mess everything up here eventually, but now they're open to the idea of cooperating with us, thanks to me. This little paradise you see here was started 500 years ago by pilgrims from another Earth who came here to escape persecution and rebuild society their way. Since then, the ships they came on fell into disrepair and they've forgotten everything they knew about hyperdrives, but they still have everything else recorded. Now they're ready to start exploring the multiverse again. Basically, they need our tech, and we need theirs."

"Sneaky bastards…" Collingwood mused. "They were going to let me get the hyperdrive going and then pull the rug out from under us. And here I was thinking that helping us get home was their primary concern… So how did you come into this knowledge, assuming it is correct?"

"I met someone," Emily admitted. "Someone above the General's paygrade who seems to pull a lot of strings around here. I'd like you to meet him now too. Do you have a Portavid?"

"Of course," he replied while fishing it out of his pocket. "So how long have you known about this?"

"Not long," Emily replied. "I was tasked with making sure you understood this world and your place in it before revealing it to you. Thankfully you seem to have caught on fast."

Emily accepted the device before looking around for a suitable surface for the display.

"Um… turn around," she requested, deciding Collingwood's back would be as good a surface as any. The Master's face appeared. "Hello Master. He's ready to meet you. When might you be available?"

"Thank you, 7GQA9E," the Master replied. "I am available any time for the remainder of the day."

"Ok, we'll grab a cab and see you shortly."

"See you then, 7GQA9E," he replied before winking out.

"Master?" Collingwood asked, somewhat bemused.

"That's what he calls himself," Emily replied. "He's head of kind of a secret society that plays a large part in maintaining the status quo of this place. I'm not sure if he's the absolute big cheese of everything or just in charge of the local area."

"Ok, let's go meet him then," Collingwood shrugged, not really knowing what to expect but willing to go along with it for now.

A short time later they had arrived outside the Griggs & Co building.

"Um… it doesn't look like much," Collingwood mused out loud as he looked it over.

"That's the idea, dummy. It's a front for what really goes on here." Emily informed him. "C'mon, this way."

A short time later they were standing in front of the Master.

"Ahh... Mr Collingwood at last. My name is James P. Logan. You may call me Master," he began, looking up from his desk.

Collingwood looked at the pale and sweaty geriatric before him, not quite believing he wielded any power at all. But whatever…

"Thank you, Master," he responded. "Emi… I mean 7GQA9E mentioned you were in possession of hyperspace technology that might allow us to get home to our own Earth?"

"That I do," the Master replied. "But first, please tell me, what is your gift?"

"Um… my gift is to use my knowledge of science and apply it to be of benefit to both of our worlds," Collingwood replied. "To sacrifice any personal stake I may have in it for the good of all."

"Good, good," the Master replied. "I shall have it delivered to your lab on Monday, but it comes with some conditions. I must ensure the safety of our world, and that you will not use the information to your own benefit at our expense. I want you to construct a second ship, and we will choose the one that you and your crew will return to your home with. We will retain the other."

"Um… a precautionary approach is totally understandable, sir, but our ship is not really mine to offer," Collingwood replied. "However, assuming they will have identical features and technology, it should not be an issue I suppose, especially when I tell the people I answer to back home what transpired here, and the technology afforded to us from the experience. I am sure there will be no issues, especially considering that without it they would not have a ship at all. It would be stranded permanently here, and us with it."

"Indeed. Which leads to my second condition," the Master went on. "Having that technology means that you will have the ability to return here. I must be assured that any future visits from your Earth are conducted peacefully and with no interference to our way of life. The way we live here may be foreign to the people of your world, but they must be under no presumption that they will be anything other than guests here. We will expect our local laws to be followed and our culture respected."

"That should not be a problem, sir, as much as it is within my power to request," Collingwood assured him. "7GQA9E outranks me on our world and I am sure she will include a persuasive argument in your favour in her debriefing to our superiors."

"Very well. I must caution you, though. We are not a war-like people, Mr Collingwood, but we are not without defences. We allowed your ship entry because we were expecting the return of ours, and it appeared to be the same one at first, but an unidentified vessel without clearance would have likely been destroyed the moment it came within our reach. We have been prepared for such an event since we first settled here just in case we were followed by any from the world we fled from."

"I understand, sir," Collingwood replied. "I imagine our world will put similar safeguards in place once they learn of this technology and what it can do. I will do everything in my power to ensure that we adopt a hands-off approach to any worlds we visit in the pursuit of scientific discovery, and, in particular, this one."

"Few worlds have a human population, as I'm sure you will discover in time," the Master responded.

"Interesting…" Collingwood replied. "On that basis, how do you identify them? I've been referring to our world as Earth 1 and this one as Earth 2, but there must be trillions I imagine?"

"Infinite," the Master replied. "We refer to them by their coordinates, which you will learn once you have access to the data next week, but Earth 1 and Earth 2 are reasonable descriptors for conversations between us regarding our two worlds. We are the younger settlement after all."

"Um… sorry, Master," Collingwood interrupted. "But it occurs to me that now that a real opportunity for us to return home is before us, 7GQA9E and myself are now in the category of guests here rather than permanent residents. As mentioned, 7GQA9E outranks me on my world and I feel that I have been out of line speaking on her behalf."

"Interesting… yes, I believe I have made the same error, Mr Collingwood. While not unheard of, it is unusual to have a woman in a position of authority here. Nevertheless, it should be respected as we expect you to respect our ways," the Master replied before turning to Emily. "7GQA9E, I trust you also are in agreement with the terms discussed?"

"Yes Master," Emily replied. "No problems here. I agree with everything Collingwood said and will be endeavouring to ensure your way of life is not threatened. Let's call this trading of technology the first act of peace and cooperation between our worlds. Shall we shake hands?"

And with that they all stood and shook hands together as Michael recorded a vid of the event for their records. It didn't escape Emily's attention that she was naked in it which would look rather odd to the people of her Earth if they ever saw it.