Chapter 1

Alternate universes exist. I know that, and some of our scientists have proven it beyond a shadow of a doubt.

I suppose that the fairy tales you’ve read in those illustrated novels potentially are true ... somewhere. Of course, there are also television shows and movies based upon those alternate universe versions as well. For some reason, no one has made an illustrated novel ... I think some universes call them comic books ... of me. With the clarification that I’m specifically referring to me, myself, and I, NOT the alternate versions of me that exist in some of those other universes.

Which is fine, as far as I’m concerned. That’s why I’m writing this, a true history of me, because it doesn’t seem anyone else has seen it, except the people in my own universe. As for another reason I’m doing the whole autobiography thing, it’s pretty simple. I’m probably not going to live forever. And I want to make sure that my side of things is out there.

Since this is my adopted planet, because I didn’t get much of a choice in the matter, I’ll talk about how things changed using that history.

It seems from what the scientists have been able to observe and record, out of the 3,400 and some odd alternate universes they’ve been able to view, the vast majority where human life is dominant all tend to be pretty much the same up until the late 17^th Century.

Then you start having the Industrial Revolution, the fall of the British Empire, and either the American Revolution succeeds or fails that start making variants. But most of the time it succeeded, and it wasn’t until the World Wars that things really started to become different. Even then, it seems that the general rule is that the Axis loses, then you have the Cold War. It annoys those people who wanted a Roman or Ottoman Empire to exist into the 21^st Century, but it seems that history itself didn’t want that.

What’s funny is there is an alternate universe, where another version of me exists, that I ... he landed in the Soviet Union. Oops.

But predominately, in the two dozen alternate universes that scientists have found where versions of me actually exist and aren’t simply in novels or movies or other fiction, I tend to end up right in the heartland of the good ole US of A. As for how it seems that EVERY universe has stories about me, or one of my variations, the scientists said it’s because there’s some kind of group consciousness that can cross the barriers that keep all our universes apart.

I don’t know, nor do I really care. Again, those aren’t me. Oh, and I’ve converted all the distances and other measurements in my biography to what you as the reader are used to, just for your convenience. I think that’s thoughtful of me, don’t you?

So, to start at the beginning, there was a rocket, but I certainly wasn’t a baby.

“Cal, I’m sorry, there’s just no time left.”

“But ... Dad, Mom ... what about both of you?”

“I’m sorry, Son. This was only supposed to be a one man test unit. There’s not even enough life support for your mother to go, or I would send her with you.”

My mother kissed me on the forehead. “Be strong, Cal. At least you’ll survive.” With that, she led me to the open capsule. “Take your jumpsuit off and get in.”

I climbed in, and took the only seat inside. It was chilly on my back and bottom, as I was naked. Dad put a mask over my face.

“This is hooked up to the life support system directly. There is a chemical mixed in that will lower your metabolism so that you won’t need to consume much oxygen. Your body will slow down. Give me your arm.” He hooked me up via needle and tubing to another port in the capsule. “This will supply you with nutrients and liquid. Your body will process wastes very slowly.” He pushed a button and the seat molded itself to my lower body, two other bands coming out to cover my arms, a third immobilizing my head.

I could still talk. “Is this really necessary?”

“Cal, your body will still produce wastes while you’re in suspended animation. The processing center will collect them automatically. The bands are to help keep you in place in case the computer determines there is an emergency. You won’t really be aware of what’s going on, not until your ship lands.”

“Son,” My mother was crying now. “Be strong. Our world is coming to an end. But with you alive, we will survive. Through you.”

Things started to get fuzzy on me as the chemicals I was breathing kicked in. It was like I was listening from a great distance, not really seeing things clearly. Dad pushed a couple of buttons on the control panel. I could hear music playing, and I slowly realized that the band holding my head in place had speakers built in. I felt the seat move, then nothing for a long time.

Awareness came back to me slowly. I was hearing something, but it wasn’t making any sense. I opened my eyes, then shut them quickly. The light was too bright and seemed wrong to me. It was too strong, hurting me a little even through my shut eyelids. After some time that I didn’t know how to measure, what I was hearing started to make sense. It was the computer that was running the ship.

“Preparing for final landing sequence. Please return to full awareness in the event of an emergency. Preparing for final landing sequence.” It kept repeating itself.

I coughed a little. Upon hearing my cough, the computer used a built-in spigot in the mask to spray a short, fine mist that moistened my throat. “A little more, please,” I croaked out. It gave me more liquid, and that helped considerably.

“Thank you. Status report, please.”

The computer-generated voice said, “Ship has arrived in destination planetary system. Multiple planets in system. Based upon parameters programmed for long term survival, third planet presents greatest possibility. Ship is preparing to land on third planet. Due to potential for unplanned emergency during landing, full consciousness of occupant required.”

“Can you dim the lights? They seem to be too bright for my eyes right now.”

“No internal lighting system active. Rotating capsule.” With that, the computer spun the ship, lessening the light coming through my closed eyelids, and finally allowing me to open them.

All around me was black, the blackness of space. I could see stars through the windows of the capsule. “Why was it so bright? How long have I been out? What happened after I left? What about my home?”

I heard a click. The computer voice said, “Planetary destruction noted by sensors thirty hours after launch. Occupant life support maintained at one percent normal operating efficiency for flight duration. Subjective time elapsed for occupant of 142 standard days, objective time 994 days. Destination system star is of different spectral wavelength than home system star, generating different wavelength of light. Note, other electromagnetic spectra noted from destination system star that were not present in home system star. Note, standard day as measured on home planet does not match sidereal rotation on destination planet.”

“So how long is a day on this planet? Is it inhabited?”

“Destination planet rotation period is equal to 0.45 home planet rotation period. Planet is inhabited, multiple varieties of life forms detected. Note, electromagnetic radiation received from destination planet and signals processed. Translations of multiple sources transferred to occupant during final system approach.”

“So, you used the speakers to teach me their languages, at least the ones you received. And the light hurts my eyes because it’s a different color than home. Obviously, there is intelligent life there, which is good and bad. I don’t suppose you know what some of these intelligent occupants look like, do you?”

“Electromagnetic signals show nominal variations on norm.”

“They look like me? Or, I look like them? That’s a plus. How soon ... what is that?” A very bright planetoid came into my view. I could at least look at it without it hurting my eyes. It looked like it was covered in craters.

“Destination planet is orbited by one satellite. Satellite is 27% of the size of destination planet. Note, destination planet is 68% size of home planet. Satellite size indicates probable capture versus natural satellite formation.”

“Can you let me see the destination planet now?”

The ship rotated again, keeping me from being directly exposed to the light from the star. Filling my capsule window was a huge blue marble. “Uh, aren’t we a little close?”

“Final landing sequence has commenced. Emergency controls active if necessary.” I heard a click, and the voice changed to a recording of my dad and mom. “Good luck, Son! We love you!” It clicked back off.

I couldn’t even reach up to wipe the tears that I shed at hearing their voices. The capsule started shaking as it hit the edge of the atmosphere. I felt cool air jetting in as the computer compensated for the heat being generated. “Landing systems nominal. No issues detected. Electromagnetic spectrum analysis indicates detection by destination planet inhabitants. No planetary defenses noted.”

“Can I listen to the signals?”

Without replying, the computer simply switched sources. I heard two voices, both male. The first said, “Roger that, NORAD. We’re tracking it as well. Looks like a large meteor.”

The second one said, “We confirm, SAC. With no launches detected and the speed it’s hitting, it’ll probably burn up before landing anyway. If you’ve got something in the vicinity, you might have them check. Otherwise, I wouldn’t worry about it.”

The first one said, “Copy, NORAD. We’ll have Offutt, McConnell and Tinker stand down. Vance may have a training flight up, we’ll have them vector in, just in case it hits the ground and causes a fire. You still show it as impacting near somewhere in Kansas?”

“Roger. Should be down in about twenty seconds.”

I felt pressure in my body as the capsule began slowing. The computer stated, “Change in vector initiated. Initial landing spot not suitable. Preparing for horizontal flight change.”

One of the male voices said, “Wait, what the hell just happened? Just before it went below the radar horizon, it started slowing down! Get those birds in the air, now!”

I told the computer, “Okay, we did that just a little high, apparently they saw us. What are your plans to avoid detection?”

“Scans prior to entry show a below ground location nearby. We shall be at the entrance in one minute, fifteen seconds. Entrance is large enough for this capsule. Note, aerial units detected vectoring our location. Primitive radio wave reflection surface detection equipment detected. This capsule will be in range of that within 45 seconds.”

I grabbed the controls and shoved the throttles forward, to full speed. “Keep us on course for that entrance!”

“Understood. Warning, below surface depth unknown. Recommend slowing prior to entry to avoid catastrophic damage from unknown obstacles.”

“Can we do that and avoid detection?”

“Negative. At this rate, capsule will be below surface three seconds prior to detection.”

I couldn’t totally see where we were going, but I kept the throttles flat out. I felt a crash as something hit the front of the capsule. “Below surface detection.” I hit full retro thrust as it got totally dark outside. Then after about two seconds, I felt the capsule hit something really hard, and that was the last thing I knew.

I didn’t know how long I was unconscious. When I woke up, I actually didn’t feel that bad, considering the capsule had obviously hit something. The light level inside was tolerable for me without squinting. I realized that the source was the instrument panel. The capsule otherwise was quiet.

“Computer, status report.” Nothing. “Computer! Status!” Still nothing. The bands still held my body tight. My hands were tingling because they’d been free and holding onto the controls when we hit whatever we’d hit. I knew where the emergency release was and moved my little finger up, touching that.

The bands instantly let me go, and I fell towards the bottom of the capsule. Slowly, though, not like anything that felt normal to me. I had time to grab the handles available and stop myself from falling, actually. Weird. Oh, wait. Since this planet is smaller, I bet gravity is less for me, here. I reached out with one hand and hit the toggle for exterior lights.

Things could have been worse. I didn’t know what we’d hit, but it’d made a mess all over the front of the capsule. I don’t know why, but the hole in the ground, the tunnel that I’d entered, looked rather abandoned to me. At least if the amount of rust on the surface of the piece of metal that was obscuring half the lights was any clue, it was.

I also realized that the mask had been knocked off my face, so I could look around. Moving my head closer ... for some reason, my eyes were having difficulty focusing ... I looked at the lights on the instrument panel and the descriptions by each of them. I wasn’t a rocket scientist ... that was my Dad ... but the sheer number of green lights on the console indicated that the capsule was finished. I hit the button on the capsule for the regular release, but nothing happened.

“Well, isn’t that special. Let’s see here ... ah, here’s the emergency release.” I pulled that lever. It moved a little, then stopped. The lid of the capsule opened just a small amount. “That’s not going to cut it.” I pulled harder on the lever, moving my hand down for the best leverage I could get. It moved another small amount, then tried to stop again. I really put my back into it, given my position and room, and then suddenly felt the lever move freely in my hand as a loud popping noise came from within the mechanism.

“That’s not good.” Wiggling around and being careful that I didn’t pinch anything that I might need in the future, I brought my legs up so I could push with them against the opening of the capsule. I started with a gentle push, and nothing happened. I put my back into it and shoved. Not only did the capsule lid pop off, it ended up shoving the capsule backwards because the lid had been held in place by a piece of metal.

“That’s ... odd. What was that all about?”

In the bottom of the capsule, now that I wasn’t trapped, I found a bag. Mom had packed it with some simple clothing for me, a simple jumpsuit in camouflage coloring. At least I wouldn’t have to run around naked any longer. Half a dozen food bars, two containers of water, and a simple multi-tool. Not a lot to live on, but I’d been a Scout. I quickly pulled the jumpsuit on, feeling the soles harden under my feet and adjust to my size. I then grabbed the bag and hopped out of the capsule.

The tunnel floor had two parallel strips of metal on it, with something under those at regular intervals. Odd. I could see in the distance the bright light from outside. There was still enough light seeping in at this depth that I had no trouble following the tunnel up. I stopped far enough from the entrance that someone looking in wouldn’t be able to see me, then got down on my hands and knees to get closer, finally crawling on my belly the last little bit.

It was so bright out. The colors looked all wrong, too. So many things, obviously plants of some kind, but I was concerned about them. They were all the color of danger, all green. I heard a noise coming from near the entrance, and looked in that direction. It was a small creature, maybe the length of my forearm, half the diameter, coiled up. It reminded me a bit of the water lorquats from home, a long, slender body with the head at one end. But this had something at the other end that was making an odd sound, like a can full of rocks being shaken back and forth. I held my hand out to it, so it could come close and smell me, to know I meant it no harm.

It had an odd-looking tongue, that was forked at the end. That flicked out a couple of times quickly, then the beast uncoiled, opened its mouth, and attacked the side of my hand. I could see the teeth ... long fangs ... ready to bite, but I wasn’t in a position to do anything about it. The creature’s teeth hit my hand, my skin, and stopped. It was stuck with its mouth open, trying to bite me, but unable to do so.

“That wasn’t polite,” I said. I grabbed it behind the head. Interesting. There was some kind of venom that it was trying to put into me, no doubt would have, if it had actually bitten me. “Obviously, you’re not very polite, if you want to bite a stranger like that.”

I took the head with my other hand, gave it a quick twist, and heard the noise of its back breaking, then it literally ripped in half. I dropped it to the ground. “Gross. And ... odd. Surprising your body would be so weak.”

I looked up at the bright sky. The yellow star that this planet orbited was high in the sky. At least the air temperature was comfortable for me. I stayed just inside the tunnel for what seemed to be a long time to me, at least enough time for the planet to rotate such that the star was halfway down to the horizon. It seemed nothing else was stirring, so I got up, brushed the dust off my jumpsuit, and stepped out into the light.

It didn’t hurt me any longer. I suspect that it was simply due to my being in the dark of space for so long that made it bother me previously. But there was a real problem. My camouflage jumpsuit, in this light, simply wasn’t. Instead, it was quite apparent that the colors were totally inappropriate for this place. I went back into the tunnel, down to where the capsule was, to see if there was anything else I could salvage from it. Other than the material from the seat, which was the same color as the trunks on my jumpsuit, I was out of luck.

Different color spectrum, no doubt due to the different star. Obviously lighter gravity, to me, although probably to the people of this planet, it’d be normal for them. I’d need to find food and water to survive, and at some point, actually have to meet the people of this planet.

I went back to the surface. It did look like there might be something on the far side of the clearing that was below the shaft my craft had landed inside. I squinted, to see if I could make out what it was, then was quite surprised to find that I could see that it was a stream of liquid. It appeared to be natural, just a slightly odd color. I closed my eyes, then opened them again.

That was odd. I’d swear the stream was close to half a mile away. I looked down at the dead body of the animal that had attacked me. Small insects were now working on devouring it as best they could.

“Well, that’s like home, I guess.” I looked at the stream again, and realized that my vision was actually working like I had built in binoculars. Huh! I then looked down at the insects, to see if it’d work close up, too. I stumbled backwards in surprise! It’d worked almost too well, and disoriented me. These little creatures had suddenly seemed to be larger than I was, in my view.

That was wild. I brought my hand up, held it at arm’s length. I found I could see the ridges of my skin. I stared a little closer, and suddenly realized I was actually seeing INSIDE my hand, seeing the muscles and then the blood flowing, then my bones. I couldn’t help but grin. This was neat.

Looking down at the little bugs again, I was able to see through them as well. Then I realized that I was seeing through the ground, UNDER the bugs. That was ... very odd. I played around with that for a couple of minutes. The dirt didn’t block me, the material under the metal strips didn’t block me, but the metal strips themselves made it a little more difficult to see through them.

I was squinting a little harder to see through the rails, almost forcing my vision, when suddenly beams of energy shot out from my eyes, literally cutting through the strips. Holy crap! I have laser beams in my eyes? That was worth playing with some more. After cutting some of the metal rails into small chunks, I started to feel thirsty and had a bit of a headache. Okay, time to stop that.

It was getting closer to sundown now. That was much sooner than I expected, but I’d forgotten how small this planet was, so that made sense. I shrugged, deciding that I’d make a run of it, to get to the liquid in the stream as quickly as I could, so I wouldn’t be out in the open in case someone was looking for my craft. I took off running as fast as I could.

Which turned out to be very, very fast. I covered that half mile in about a second.

“Oh, damn! I wish that computer had survived, I’d like to know what’s happened to me.” I looked around, waiting for one of the monitors to strike me for cursing. Then I realized that there were no monitors, no one around at all. I bent down and took a drink of the liquid. It was a bit different looking; I think due to the rocks under it, but it still tasted just like water.

The whole enormity of what, to me, had only been a day really crashed down on me then. I’m not proud of it, but I just sat down on the ground by that stream and started crying, for everything that I’d lost. Which, depending upon your perspective, was not a good thing, because I lost situational awareness.

The sound of a machine of some kind approaching me brought me back to my senses. It wasn’t very large, with two bright lights on the front. Who, or what, was operating the machine had obviously detected me, so there was no chance of running back to the tunnel and hiding. I simply sat up and calmly waited for whatever would happen.

The machine stopped about thirty feet from me. The lights weren’t quite shining in my eyes. I heard something, like metal moving, then a figure walked around into the light.

“Well, when Betty said she saw something brightly colored down at the creek by the old mine, I sure didn’t think it’d end up being a boy wearing a Halloween costume. How’d you get out here in the middle of nowhere?” It was a male voice, not harsh sounding, but definitely inquisitive.

“Would you believe I’m really not sure? But I knew I’d need water to drink, and this was the first source I found.”

“We got clean water up at the house. You feel okay? Injured in any way?”

“I’m ... honestly, sir, I basically feel fine. I’m just completely lost, don’t actually know where I am, and I truly am not sure how exactly I ended up right here.” I was rather proud of myself for not lying to him in my statements. I was certainly lost, because I had no idea where on this planet I really was, and the computer had picked the landing spot, not me, and I really didn’t know what it used for criteria.

He stepped over to me. I could now see that he was wearing a shirt that had a pattern of colors in one-inch squares, pants that seemed to be of a rugged material lighter in color than my jumpsuit, and boots that were designed for rugged terrain. He reached his hand down to me, offering to help me up.

I took his hand, trying to be careful. I had already guessed that the difference in gravity from home to here would make things feel different to me.

“Damn, son. You must work out. You don’t look as heavy as you feel.” He led me to the other side of the vehicle he’d exited. I could see in the twilight quite clearly how he pulled on a handle, opening the door to the vehicle. “Go ahead, get in. I’ll get you up to the house, let Betty figure things out.”

I got in and sat down. He shut the door, then went to the other side, sat down, and shut his door. He pulled down a lever, pushed his foot on a pedal, which seemed to put the vehicle into motion. He rotated a wheel, which was apparently the steering mechanism. It took us over some bumps, following a dirt trail. In a few minutes, several buildings came into view. Two of them had lights inside.

I wondered why I hadn’t seen them before, then realized that the stream, or creek as he’d called it, was lower in elevation and there’d been a slight rise in the way. That made me wonder how Betty, whoever that was, had seen me.

“You got a name, boy?”

“Sorry, sir. I ... my name is Cal.”

“That’s it? No last name?”

I put a puzzled look on my face. “I’m sorry, sir. I feel like I ought to know it, if that makes sense to you.”

“Not to me, but it probably will to Betty. Handle on that side might stick.” I saw him use a lever on the inside of the door to open his, so I found the one on my side. I pulled it like he had, but it didn’t do anything. “Give it a little shove, that’ll do it.”

I pulled the handle again, putting a little force behind pushing it. The door flung open. He laughed. “Damn, you are a strong one. That was muscle mass I was pulling on, not fat. Come on.”

A four-legged creature covered in fur was making loud noises from the building. “Don’t mind Jethro. He’s all bark and no bite, for family and friends.”

The last creature that I’d tried to approach had definitely been all bite. I stopped in front of this one. I could tell from the way its face and eyes were, on its head, that it was a predator. Since it had allowed the man to walk by, it obviously was acting as a guard, possibly a domesticated version. I held my hand out, to see if this one would sniff and see that I meant no harm.

The animal caught my scent, stopping the loud noises. I turned my palm over, face up. It took a couple of steps closer, seemed to make up its mind, then a long tongue reached out and started licking my hand. I gently rubbed the fur on its head.

“Well, I’ll be. Never seen Jethro take to someone quite so quickly.” He opened a door to the structure. “Betty! I owe you an apology. There was something down at the creek. Here he is, says his name is Cal.”

“That’s okay, Dad. Hi, I’m Betty.”

It was a tall, young woman, with blonde hair, maybe slightly older than me, wearing ... pants? And a shirt, not a dress. Interesting. “Hello, I’m Cal. And that’s about all I know.”

“Well, you don’t look like you’ve been bleeding from a head injury, which would cause memory loss. But that outfit ... Halloween is still months away, so I’m guessing you ran away from a circus or something,” she said.

“Ain’t had a circus in town for a while, though. Although there could’ve been a circus train pass through, going to Denver or Wichita. Tracks are two miles north of here, though, on the other side of 50. Your outfit doesn’t match anything they’d wear up at the prison, either. Cal here may look small, but he’s all muscle, ain’t a bit of fat on him. How old are you, boy?”

“I’m ... just a moment, please.” I did some quick thinking, trying to remember what the computer had said. “I believe I’m ... fourteen? Maybe fifteen? That sounds about right.”

I was apparently correct in guessing her age. “That’s only a couple years younger than I am,” Betty said. “Do you have some identification on you, someone we can contact?”

“Sorry, I just have my pouch and some water and food in it. What kind of identification would I have, otherwise?”

“Well, if you’re fourteen, that’s too young for a driver’s license. I’d normally say you’d have a school ID card, or maybe your social security card, but, hell, boy, you may not have anything at all. At least you knew you needed water and food. Makes me wonder if you might’ve fallen and hurt your head. It’s too late tonight to do much of anything by way of checking things out.” He looked at the girl. “You finish up fixing supper, while I was on your wild Cal chase?”

“Funny, Dad. Of course. I didn’t know we’d have company, but I made enough for us to have leftovers, so there’ll be plenty.”

“Come on, Cal. Let’s go wash our hands and we’ll eat.” He led me down a hallway to a room. There was a shiny white thing sitting in the middle of the small room that looked like you might sit on it. Another white bowl was attached to one wall, with metallic devices on the top and to one side. He turned one of the devices and water came out, into the bowl.

“Soaps on the counter. Oh, I didn’t think. You need to use the restroom?”

“Sir?”

“They not pee or poop where you’re from, Cal?”

“Ah, sorry, I’m just still a little shaken by today. No, sir, I don’t need to evacuate my bladder or bowels right now.”

His face looked surprised. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone other than the nurses at the hospital call it that. Well, water ought to be hot now, wash up.” He put his hands into the stream, picked up a small bar of some material and rubbed it onto them. It made some bubbles, then he rinsed his hands back off and wiped them dry on a cloth hanging on the wall. I did the same.

“Your hands. They don’t look like weightlifters’ hands. Any idea how you got so bulked up and strong?”

Yes, but you wouldn’t believe me. “No, sir.”

“Oh, hell. I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Harold Watson. You can call me Harry. Come on, Betty makes a good stew.”

There were three bowls filled with food on the table, with what looked like regular spoons beside them. Three glasses with a medium brown liquid with small cubes floating in the liquid were also on the table. Betty was already seated.

“Come on, gentlemen. I’ve still got homework to finish for Monday, especially if we’re going in town tomorrow.”

I carefully moved the chair out. It looked normal, but made of some kind of fibrous product, maybe naturally occurring. I sat down carefully.