A.R.: Beyond the Universe

Alex’s sleep is once again not restful. Dreams of being in deep space and seeing entire star systems vanish are getting clearer and more disturbing. He wakes up just before the alarm sounds, feeling like whatever, he is going to do, he’d better get it done…quickly.

By 8:45 am, he has taken his shower and dressed, eaten a small breakfast and taken care of the dog. With this new job of his, at least he did not have to worry about the heavy morning traffic. He turns on the TV and finds the local news broadcast from his hometown. He watches it almost as much as he watches the clock. He is anxious about the training. But it is Sara he really wants to see. He hopes he will see something in her face to tell him that there might be more to it than just last night’s kiss.

Finally, the door bell buzzes. Alex walks to the door and it slides open. Standing there is not Sara but Lilly, who is there once again to take care of MacGuyver. The little dog immediately recognizes his new friend from the day before and starts barking, his bushy tail going back and forth with enthusiasm.

“Hi,” Alex says as he greets her. The girl sees a little apprehension in his face and asks if it’s still OK to watch MacGuyver. Realizing the there was probably a little disappointment showing in his face, he does his best to look happy that she is there.

“I’m very glad to see you again. Come in” Alex tells her. “You have no idea how relieved I am having someone here to keep him company, especially with him being in a strange place. It’ll make his day go a lot better. By the way, I finally got him brushed last night. With that coat of his, it took me an hour to get it done.”

“He really does look nice,” she says. “Shelties have such beautiful coats on them, yours especially. I used to sit for another sheltie, but he of died heart failure last year. He was 13.”

“MacGuyver will be 15 this year,” he tells her. “I’m hoping that he’ll be around a good while longer. By the way, you did a great job with MacGuyver yesterday. I could tell that he was well taken care of. When I got home, he was a very happy little dog, even if he didn’t want to get brushed.”

“Thank you, Mr. Rogers. I really like him. He’s a lot of fun to be with.”

“Do you have any plans for him today?” he asks her.

“Since I know that he’s getting up in years, I’ll take it easy with him,” she says. “We’ll go to the park, two maybe three times during the day. I’ll bring some toys along to see if he wants to play with them. If not, I’ll just let him loose in the park and let him decide on what he wants to do. If he wants to nap, he can stretch out in the grass or at home. It depends on him and how much he wants to do things. A lot of times, all he wants is some attention or company. My brother had a dog that lived to be 16. In the last couple of years, his dog slept most of the day.”

“Well, I know he’s in good hands. You seem to like him, and I know he likes you.”

Alex looks down at the little dog and asks him, “Are you and Lilly going to have fun today?”

The response is immediate. MacGuyver’s tail goes back and forth and he lets out a couple of loud yaps. As Lilly smiles big at the dog, she bends down to give him a hug. MacGuyver responds by licking her on the nose, which brings out a giggle from the girl. Alex has a very easy feeling about the new pet sitter and knows his companion will be well taken care of.

There is another buzz. Alex walks to the door and it slides open. By now, Alex is starting to get used to having an automatic opening door. He’s finding it very convenient with no locks to worry about or doorknobs to turn.

As the door slides open, he sees Sara standing there. A great feeling of relief comes over him as he sees not the worried look in her eyes but something that is much softer and warmer. He tries to think quickly for something else to say other than hello, but that’s all that would come out. She says the same, smiles, and looks down, as if shy.

It takes him about a minute to get over the shock of seeing such a beautiful woman act this way toward him. Alex smiles back at her and turns around to get the dog’s attention.

“Now MacGuyver, be a good dog. Don’t let anything happen to Lilly. You’re in charge, understand?”

The little dog backs up a couple of steps and lets out several loud barks, tail swishing back and forth rapidly. Satisfied that his little companion is well taken care of, he heads out the door and down the corridor with Sara close to his side.

“Can I ask you a personal question?” he asks her.

“I suppose,” she replies.

“Last night, you…kissed me.”

“You didn’t mind, did you?”

“I wanted to but wasn’t sure if it would be OK. Actually, I wanted to when we were on the beach yesterday.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“I’ve tried in the past to date; it never to work out. Even when I was married, I’ve always had trouble sensing what a woman wants. It’s always been a problem with me and it always seems to get in the way.”

She looks at him. He sees an even softer look in her eyes than he had when he answered the door. She smiles back and lightly kisses him.

“I’ll try to keep that in mind,” she says with a little grin on her face.

Alex has trouble believing that a woman so beautiful and smart would actually kiss him. And not just once. He is already looking forward to spending more time with her. They walk up to the curved wall of the chute. It slides open and they step in. Inside is an elderly man wearing a white smock. He looks like a doctor.

“Good morning, Sara. Excuse me, but we haven’t met. I’m Dr. Rogers; you can call me Doc,” he says, trying to introduce himself. “You’re the other Mr. Rogers, aren’t you? The one here for the tests?”

Alex reaches out and shakes the man’s hand.

“Yes. You can call me Alex.”

“Alex, that’s also Sara’s name,” he says with a grin.

Alex and Sara look at each other and begin quietly laughing. It is a very quick ride to the second level, where all the testing and training is to occur. As the three leave the chute, Doc turns to Sara and asks her, “Is the schedule still set for his first session?”

“We’ll be there in a few minutes. I want to show him the labs and the rest of Level Two.”

He sees something in Sara’s face, smiles and excuses himself, then turns into the second door on the right, into an office.

“That’s where you will take the first set of tests,” she says as she points to a room.

“And I didn’t study…” he tells her.

“Sorry about that. You’ll just have to wing it,” she tells him with a grin.

As she shows him the rest of the labs and research stations, he is finding it very hard to concentrate on what she is saying and not on her. To feign interest, he gives an occasional nod or “yes” in agreement.

“You didn’t hear a word I just said, did you?”

He grins sheepishly. “Can you blame me? Hearing about some rooms with a lot of technical equipment or looking at you, which do think would hold my interest?” he asks her.

“You’re going to be trouble; I can see it now,” she says with a grin and a shake of her head. It is 30 minutes before they are back at Doc’s office for his first session. He is sitting at his desk and stands up when they come into his office from the outer waiting area.

“Ready to get started, Alex?”

Alex gives a deep sigh. “I suppose. What do I need to do?”

Doc points to a lounge chair and asks him to lie down on it.

“First things first. I was told you were having some dreams. I need to hear it from you. Start at the beginning when you had the first of these dreams,” he tells Alex.

Alex recalls it and tells him about the silvery cord that seems to go on forever.

“The cord, Alex. Tell me more about it.”

“It looked like a kite string. It wasn’t very big in diameter and shimmered like silver. When I tried to touch it, it started glowing and vibrating. The closer I got to it, the more it would vibrate.”

“You say that you were floating in space with this cord in front of you? You said that the cord seemed to go on forever above you. Did you happen to see where it came from?”

“It was going down towards the earth.”

“Where did it go?”

“I think somewhere around here. I know that I remember thinking that it was coming from somewhere in the Himalayan Mountains, because I could make them out, along with the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, Australia, and Japan.”

“What happens next?”

“Before very long, I figured out that I can move along it, like sliding up or down on a rope. I learned how go fast on it, extremely fast. I started off going up & down kind of slow. The more I worked with it, the faster I found I could go.”

“How did you know you were moving at all?”

“By looking at the stars. If they were moving, then I was. I decided to see just how fast I could go and started speeding up. At first, I see stars move so quickly, they become a blur. Then entire clusters of stars that look like pictures of spiral galaxies I once saw whiz past me, until all I see around me are long, blurry lines.”

“How long did this continue for?”

“Seemed like hours.”

“But eventually it stops?”

“The cord? No, it kept going on, but I did.”

“How so?”

“I was cruising along when I started to feel, for lack of a better term, something pulling at me from a distant star way off to the side.”

“Did you feel that you had no choice with this pulling sensation? Do you think you could have passed it if you wanted to?”

“I don’t know. The pull was strong and getting stronger the closer I got to that star.”

“So, you felt you needed to follow the pulling sensation? If you were on the cord, how did you make it go where you wanted it to?”

“I knew my speed was based on where my hand was in relation to my body and the cord. I tried an experiment and slowly started pulling my hand not down or up the cord but away from it. I noticed that the cord was beginning to stretch in that direction. I kept pulling my hand away from it until I was headed in the direction of the pull.”

“And where did it lead you?”

Alex describes the orange planet, the giant plants, and the fine, fog-like surface. He tells of the tall, cone-shaped buildings and the fact that there was no sun to be seen, even though the surface was very well lit. And then he mentions the little boy.

“The Entity, Doc?” Sara asks.

“Maybe. Can you describe this boy to me?” Doc asks.

“He was maybe three and a half feet tall. He had blonde hair and wore a silvery robe. And he was floating in a room with no floor.”

“Was he doing anything?”

“It almost looked like he was playing with two balls, one bigger than the other. He’d touch one and it would change shape, size, or color. After doing this for a while, he pushes the two balls together and they merge into one smaller ball. Then he’d touch it and there. Every time he does, it changes shape, color or size.”

“What happened next?”

“I got curious about where the boy’s parents were. So, I looked down, but I didn’t see anyone else. When I turned to look back into the room, the boy was looking at me. He had a stare that would make a grizzly bear back down. When he looked at me, it felt like my head would explode.”

“How long did the staring last?”

“Not more than a second or two.”

“And then…?”

“I woke up in my bed, staring at the ceiling. The odd thing was how long I was asleep during that dream.”

“And how long had transpired?”

“A couple of minutes.”

Alex sits there and fidgets while Doc continues his writing. Then he turns around and enters something on his computer.

“When did you first see the stars vanishing?”

“On my second, no, third dream.”

“What happened in your second dream?”

“That was a short one. I was taking a nap at lunch the same day when I found myself floating in space again. This time there was no cord. I was just floating there. I tried to go somewhere like the previous dream but had no luck. Then I woke up.”

“And you say that it was the third dream in which you saw the stars disappearing?”

“Yes. In that dream, I also saw no cord. Looking around, I saw a distant star I was curious about. I looked at and concentrated on it. Next thing I knew, I was there, in space, looking right at the star, as if I had moved to it. I stared hard at it to see what it was. I finally figured out that if I concentrated hard enough, I could see what was inside it.”

“Inside the star? What did you see?”

“I saw a whole universe of stars. Some were in clusters, like the spiral galaxies I told you about. Some were by themselves. Each was different in size, shape, and color. Some galaxies were packed full; others were almost empty. The more I concentrated on what I was seeing, the more I could keep up with everything that was going on in each star or cluster. It was like a huge jigsaw puzzle. There were all these little pieces and I seemed to know everything about them.

“The kicker is the more I saw, the more I could remember. But it was more than that. Like I said, it was like a huge jigsaw puzzle. I not only knew where every piece should go, but I knew every detail about every piece in there--shape, size, what they were made of, everything. It was like my mind would expand more in capacity every time I concentrated on something else. And there were people and other things in there…I could hear their thoughts and feelings…everyone one of them all at the same time. But I had no trouble knowing what each individual thought was.”

“In this third dream, you saw the stars vanishing. Tell me more about it.”

“It began like the second one, with me in space and no cord. After seeing what was inside one star, I found another to check out. I concentrated in it and found that I could not only keep up with what was going on inside it but was keeping track of what was in the first star. I kept this up for a while, checking out every star I saw. Then an area of space caught my attention.”

“What did you see?”

“It had no stars, none; it was completely void, empty of anything. I was looking at it, wondering if I should try to check it out like the stars, but I felt a very strong urge not to, almost like a warning. That was when I saw the stars just at the edge of the blacked-out area were disappearing, one by one. I’d concentrate on one star just at the edge of the black area. I was hearing and feeling what was going on inside it. Then I get a burst of sheer terror, then nothing.”

“Doc,” Sara begins. “You’ve read it. You know what it says. Is this it? The thing they described? The warnings?”

“I don’t know. We know that the original builders thought something disastrous would eventually happen. That’s why they installed the warning alarms if it detected something happening out there. These event-warning alarms started sounding three weeks ago. I don’t think we can take anything for granted anymore, even if we are talking about someone’s dreams. But I must admit: this is something we need to consider further. If he can indeed see that far into space using his dreams, we need to find out how he does it and how he can control it.”

Doc turns back to Alex.

“Alex, we need to start running some tests on you to see what’s going on. First, we’ll take some scans of the different parts of your brain. The equipment here can map the intricacies found inside you. It’s completely painless and harmless. We’ll do the same thing when you are asleep and compare the two results. That will show us what part of your brain is more active while you are dreaming. We’ve similarly mapped several hundred people here with almost all having the same brainwave patterns. We’ll compare your two scans with the others and see if there are any differences and where and when they occur.”

“Any ideas on why I’m having the dreams?” Alex asks.

“Nothing definite yet, but I am finding it very interesting--the story you told about the boy.”

“Yeah. Sara started to say something when I mentioned the boy earlier.”

“There’s a reason for her concern. Did she tell you about the Prophesy about the stars disappearing?”

“Yeah, I was told something about it.”

“Well, there is more we have just translated. The translations tell of an entity that oversees everything, everywhere, all at once. It is an ancient being referred to as the Entity that keeps track of all that is happening. The translations state that, when the end is near, one will be chosen from the entire universe to be a leader, a guardian, and a warrior. This one will bring together beings from all points in space to defend against an evil that is coming. The translations do not have a name for it. The best that we can determine, it is called the Void. It is a darkness that consumes everything. It begins on the outer edge of space and works its way inward, devouring all in its path. Everything is consumed: planets, stars, entire galaxies until nothing is left.

“I think what you saw in your dreams is the beginning of the Void invading our space. We do not know a timeline for how it will take to get here. But if what you saw is real, and I am suspecting that it is not long. We must see if we can determine what it is and if there is anything that we can do to stop it.”

“What does that have to do with me or the boy I dreamed about?” Alex asks.

“I think that the boy you saw was the Entity spoken of in the translation. Ever since you woke up from that dream, your abilities in your dreams have increased. I suspect that, if you did indeed visit this Entity, he has altered you in some fashion. Your ability to keep track of billions of things instantly may be evidence that something is going on inside of you, even if it is in a dream. If this is true, you may well be the one chosen to help defend us.”

“Whoa, Doc. Do you realize what you are saying? Me? I’m not the sharpest tack in the box. I can’t even balance my checkbook. How am I supposed to do something like what you are saying?”

“Alex, please look at this for me,” Doc says. He spins the monitor in front of him, so Alex can see it, and then he types in a several commands. Strange looking symbols appear on the screen.

“Alex, can you read this?” he asks.

“You’ve got to be kidding. It looks like gibberish to me.”

“Please, Alex, try,” Sara says.

Alex sighs and looks once again at the symbols.

“Did you change the screen, Doc? A moment ago, it was all these funny looking things.”

“Can you read them now?” Doc asks.

“Sure.”

“Look to the night sky for stars that do not appear. The end will be near. A warrior will be chosen to lead us against the darkness.”

“So?” Alex says.

“Alex, you just read a piece of text that took us 2 years to translate. We just finished it last week” Doc tells him. “It is written in the language of the original builders who inhabited this place long before man was even on the earth.”

“Run that one by me again?” Alex says.

“When you looked at it the first time, you could not read it. A moment later, you read it without any problems, as if you had been reading it all your life. There are none except you who can read it like that. After initially figuring out how to translate it, mainframe computer takes 4 hours to figure it out. The formulas required to read are massive and very complex.”

“And now I can read this gibberish?” Alex asks. “How?”

“Hopefully, we can find that out. I have the scanners ready in a room down the hall. Are you ready, Alex?” Doc asks.

“I suppose. Lead the way, Doc.”

They leave his office, walk past three doors and turn into a room on the right. The walls inside are covered with dials, digital readouts, knobs, buttons, and monitors. In the middle of the room is a reclining chair like what is used in a dentist’s office. On one wall is a table covered with various pieces of equipment.

Doc asks Alex to sit in the chair and attaches 11 little disks to Alex’s head in various places. These he connects to wires that come out of the back of the chair. He asks Alex to sit back and relax as the chair reclines back. Doc and Sara walk to the table and sit down. Doc starts to type something on a keyboard.

“Ready, Alex?”

“Uh…I guess,” Alex hesitantly responds.

“Alex, I want you to look at the monitor on the wall in front of you. You will see some simple math problems, 2 plus 2, 3 times 4, etc. Just look at the problem. You don’t need to say the answers out loud, just think about them. Ready?”

Alex gives a reluctant thumbs-up sign.

“Here we go.”

Alex looks at the monitor and sees a simple math problem. It is on the screen for about 5 seconds, vanishes, and then the next one appears. This continues for about a minute, with the problems getting more complicated.

“OK, Alex, you’re doing fine. We’ll speed it up a little and see what happens.”

Now the problems go by every two seconds with the problems getting more complicated.

“This is not supposed to happen” Doc say. “Alex, I am going to show you some equations. I want you to look at them. Don’t try to figure out what they are or what they mean. Just look at them.”

Alex looks back at the monitor and a series of complex equations appear, one after another. No equation is on the screen for more than 3 seconds. Some equations fill the entire screen.

Both Doc and Sara are staring at the monitor with disbelief.

“Alex, can you tell me the solution to this problem?” Doc asks, and he shows an equation that fills three monitors.

“Sure. X=49.8651. Is there a problem?”

“Umm… Alex, you just solved a physics problem that a master mathematician would normally take days to solve using a computer. Have you ever seen any of this stuff before today?”

“Nope. Don’t even know what they mean. What’s going on?”

“Let’s try something else. Please look at the screen again. Tell me what’s wrong with the picture.”

Alex looks at the screen. It shows several DNA strands, rotating in animation. Before anyone can ask him, he says, “Pair 523, second set, the chromosomes are wrong.”

“And what is missing here?” Doc asks as he changes the image on the screen.

Alex looks at the screen. It displays a picture of nothing but stars.

“Uh, Doc, this can’t be. You’ve got star systems together that don’t belong together. So, what’s this all about?” Alex asks.

“Alex, the image that you are seeing is a fake. I just created it as a test for you from images that only the deep-space scanners in this place can see. I combined the images of two different sections of space. Until yesterday, no one had seen these parts of deep space. And you already know about it.”

Doc sits down and looks like he is thinking hard.

“Doc, what is it?” Sara asks him.

“Take a look at what the scanners are seeing inside his brain. There are active neural pathways in there where we ours are dormant. I think we should try a full mapping of his brain to see what’s going on in there.”

Doc turns back around and types in more commands on the keyboard.

“Alex, I want you to close your eyes and relax. That’s it, just relax.”

Alex does as he is told and closes his eyes. Immediately images of stars come in focus in the back of his mind.

“Sara, look at this,” Doc tells her and points to a screen next to him.

“What am I looking at, Doc?” she asks.

“This is a live image of his brain. See the area that is red? That means it is fully functioning.”

“But Doc, I thought people only use 5-10% of their brains. This readout shows Alex using over 50%… Uh…Doc, make that about 52%, no, 53%. Doc, his brain is changing, and changing fast.”

Sara is looking at a digital readout on the monitor showing percentages of how much Alex is using of his mind. They watch as red continues to increase, as well as the numbers. They both turn and stare at Alex,

“OK, I give, what’d I do wrong now?” he asks.

“We need to do a test while you are sleeping. Hopefully you will have one of your dreams again. I am going to give you a sedative. It will allow you to relax and doze off. Hopefully we can see more of what’s going on inside of you.”

Doc goes to a cabinet and pulls out a syringe and a little glass bottle with blue liquid in it. He walks over to Alex, swabs a place on his neck with alcohol, fills the syringe and gives him the shot.

It takes about 3 minutes before Alex is asleep in the chair. Doc and Sara watch the live 3D map of Alex’s brain. Suddenly, the scanned image of his entire brain turns red and then bright white. Then the monitor goes blank. Sara turns to look at Alex.

“Alex!” Sara screams.

Doc turns around to see a glow surrounding Alex’s body. His body is almost translucent, but his clothes are unaffected. It is like seeing a ghost solid wearing clothing.

They both walk over to where Alex is lying on the chair. He eyes are wide open. Sara sees nothing but white light where his eyes should be.

Suddenly, a voice inside their heads comes in loud and clear. “Guys, you’re both looking a bit weird. Anything wrong?”

It is Alex’s voice inside their minds.

“Alex, can you hear me?” Doc asks, looking at Alex’s body.

“Sure. Is there a problem?”

“Can you see me, Alex?” Sara asks.

“Yeah, no problem. Why do you ask?”

“If you can see us, can you see yourself? Alex, I hate to tell you this, but your body is almost invisible and it’s glowing.”

At that point, the glow disappears instantly, and Alex’s body becomes solid once again.

Alex quickly sits up and looks at his hands. Yes, they are real. And solid. He looks at Sara first and then at Doc.

“OK, would someone tell me what just happened?” Alex asks, with his voice almost trembling.

“Alex, your mind is changing; you are evolving even as we speak. And I am sorry to say that I do not know why. If the translations are correct, you have, in your dreams, contacted a very powerful being that the original builders called the Entity. That being has somehow altered you in a way we have cannot fathom. According to the translations, this was done to prepare you.”

“To stop this Void thing that you told me about earlier?” Alex asks.

“I think so. If this is true, you will need to be able to control your actions while in your dream state. I think it is time we went to the next level. Sara, can you please go get Dale for me?”

“Back in a minute, Doc,” she says and runs out the door.

“Who’s Dale?”

“He’s the only one who seems to have a basic understanding of the more advanced equipment that we found here.”

A few moments later, Dale comes into the room. He is a larger man. He isn’t fat, just tall and large. Alex is amazed to see how nimble his large fingers are as they go from control to control, constantly adjusting the dials and scanning the readouts.

“Dale, can you tell me the results of Alex’s last scan?” Doc asks him.

“Let’s see… Doc, did you break this thing? I told you not to cross wires.”

“Why do you ask? What does it show?”

“If I am reading this correctly, his brainwave activity went off the chart, literally. We can’t measure it.”

Doc holds the printed readout and sits down. There is a very confused look on his face.

“So, what now, Doc?” Alex asks. “I feel fine.”

“I don’t know, Alex. We’re dealing with something that is completely unknown. I do not know where to go to next. Everything we see tells us you are changing. What you are becoming, I have no way of knowing. I could not even hazard a guess.

“Sara, I suggest you take him back to his suite. Let him get some rest while we go over his test results.”

As Alex starts to get up out of the chair, Sara holds out her and to help him. Her hand goes through his as if it is not there. Alex looks at her and then at his hand. It looks just as solid as hers.

“Uh…Doc?” Sara says.

“What’s wrong?” he asks.

“Try to take his pulse.”

Doc reaches for Alex’s arm. It is solid, and he has no problem taking Alex’s pulse. It is racing.

“Doc, I just tried to grab Alex’s hand with mine and it went right through his, as if his hand wasn’t even there. I could see it--it looked perfectly solid.”

“Apparently, the change affecting his mind is also affecting his body. Interesting, considering that he is not asleep. I would suggest a full body scan. That OK with you, Alex?” Doc asks.

“OK by me. Let’s go,” Alex says, He is now in a very good mood, which makes Sara give Doc a confused look.

They go down the corridor to another room with a large tube in it. Sticking out of one end of the tube is a platform.

“Alex, I want you to lay down here. The platform will slide in and we’ll see what we can see.”

Alex lies down on the flat platform. It slides into the tube and a low hum begins as the machine starts its cycle.

Doc, Dale and Sara are in an adjoining room, looking at Alex and the machine through a large window. They watch the monitors as the scanner begins at Alex’s head, goes to his feet and then back to his head again. The scanner is supposed to show a live 3D scan of what is inside of him: muscles, bones, and pumping heart.

What they see astounds all of them. They do not see Alex as a human. Instead they see a glowing figure in the shape of a human but made of swirling currents of moving energy. Alex’s head is a single, bright light. Dale looks at the displays and tries to make some adjustments to the controls. They all look at through window to see Alex lying there on the platform.

“Alex, we’re going to take you out and let it do a scan of Sara. We want to make sure that the scanner is working properly,” Dale announces.

The platform slides back out of the scanner. Alex gets out and Sara slides up onto the platform and lies down. A quick scan of Sara shows what it usually does: a 3D image of what is inside a human. They do a second scan of Alex and get the same results as his first test. The scanner seems to be working fine except when it tries to scan Alex.

“Alex, we have no way to tell what is happening to you. We are at complete loss. We have no way to know what is going to happen next. Do you feel OK? Does anything feel different?” Doc asks.

“I feel fine. Actually, this is probably the best I have ever felt.”

“Sara, if he feels fine, I am not sure that there is anything that we can do for him for now. Why don’t you two go for a walk? I think it’ll do both of you some good. And it will give us some time to go over the data from Alex’s tests.”

Alex likes the idea of spending more time with her. Sara, however, is a little leery. When Alex holds out his hand to her, she reluctantly stretches out hers. When he reaches forward, his hand touches hers. Relieved that he seems to be solid once again, she slowly allows him to wrap his hand around hers. They walk through the door together and head for the chute.

Sara asks, “Alex, when my hand went through yours, did you feel my hand at all?”

“Actually, I did. It felt very warm. Did you feel anything of my hand?”

“No, and it was a little scary. Expecting to feel the touch of a man’s hand and then feel nothing was unexpected. It was very disconcerting to see my hand inside of what appeared to be a solid hand. It threw me off guard a little.”

“Off guard, huh?” Alex asks. “I kind of like the sound of that. You seem to me like the type of person who is always either in control or knows what’s going on. It makes you a little less intimidating.”

“You are intimidated by me? Why?”

“Sara, you could intimidate a bull elephant,” he says with a smile. “Any woman who is as beautiful as you are is intimidating. Add the fact that you have world-class brains, common sense, and you’re in charge of something like the Complex, and you my dear, can, without trying, intimidate about any man, especially this man. If you were in a staring contest with a 300-pound football linebacker, I don’t think he’d stand much of a chance. There’s an inherent strength inside of you that just comes out. Add to it that you’re knockout gorgeous, and you are one hell of a woman.”

“Why, Mr. Rogers, are you trying to seduce me?” she asks in her best attempt at a Southern Belle accent.

“Who, me, ma’am?” he responds with a very poor attempt at sounding like a southern gentleman.

“Is it working?” he asks shyly.

She gives him a sly smile, looks at him, gives him a kiss, and says, “Up for a long walk on a deserted beach?”