I sag in relief.“Perfect.”
I share a look with Leo, but he’s surprisingly stoic while I’m finally feeling lighter.I can’t analyze his emotions in this moment, when I’m feeling so many of my own, but it’s odd for the usually jovial man.
Andrew comes back out of his room and we walk out of the college and across the street to The Eagle, the pub where Watson and Crick are going to announce they discovered “the secret of life,” or the structure of DNA.I mean, Rosalind Franklin discovered the facts that led to those two to figure out DNA and then you didn’t credit her, but okay.It’s still a piece of history.
The history of sexism.
And they do a solid fish and chips, I hear.
We order immediately and then fall into a silence until the food gets to the table.Now that we’re at a place where I can get information, I don’t know how to start.But I better, because Andrew is looking less than patient with the delay.Still, it takes me until we start eating to build up the courage.
“We got your name from a librarian over at Bedford College in London.She said you were interested in time travel and were doing some studies on it from a physics standpoint.”
Do I tell him about me now?My hands start to shake and I hold off from giving that much information, my body clearly telling me not to.
“We’re interested in the concept and were hoping to get your take on where the field stands.So…is time travel real?”
CHAPTER24
My hands, happy now that I’m not thinking of spilling all my secrets, shake less but don’t stay completely still.I put them in my lap so no one else can see how much the answer means to me.Leo sets his hand on my clasped ones under the table, which does make them stop moving.Because I don’t want to do anything that would throw his hand off.
“Oh, you’re here to ask me?I thought you had some information for me,” Andrew says, shoulders slumped in disappointment that we aren’t here to give him the secret to time travel.
“Oh.No.”Except that I kind of did it, but I have no idea how.“We want to know if it’s possible.”
“You know, I almost never get asked about that with a straight face.Well, in my spare time I am studying if the physics would allow such a thing to occur.Taking into account Maxwell’s theory of light, and the…”
My eyes glaze over and my mind starts to wander despite this being potentially important information; I’m a historian and not a mathematician for a reason.But I smile and nod along like I understand what he’s saying.I give him five minutes before I can’t hear any more words that confuse me.
“This is all so fascinating,” I say, interrupting him saying something about geometries of spacetime and the speed of light.“But we’re mostly wondering abouthowthis could happen.What the mechanism of time travel would be, if it was possible?”
Andrew shrugs.“I have never thought of it outside a theoretical possibility; I have only worked on the equations and the science.I am not to the point where I have thought about designs for a machine.”
“But if you had to speculate.”There’s a desperation in my voice even I can hear.
“The machinery required would be quite advanced.Something with a large motor, if beating light is the key.”
I jump in before he can start going on about the science again.“Fascinating.What about it being done without a machine?”I lean in closer.
Andrew leans back and gives me thirty seconds of consideration.Then he starts laughing at me.I give him a minute to let him get it out of his system, but he doesn’t stop.
“All right, it’s a fair question.”Since I did time travel without a machine, I feel like the disbelief is unnecessary.Even if he doesn’t know that, and maybe I won’t be sharing if this is going to be his response.I would think that he would be more open to new ideas, considering he probably gets made fun of for studying time travel.“Can it be done?”
He shakes his head, still grinning.“No.You would need some sort of machine to facilitate the process.Otherwise, it is not physics; it is magic.Which does not exist.”
Well, a puppy’s unconditional love is magical, but I guess this guy is a science Scrooge.
I suppress the urge to throw my mushy peas at him.A difficult task since I don’t want the mushy peas in the first place, and I can’t think of a better way to get rid of them.But Leo might be able to read my mind, because he tightens his hand around mine as my thoughts get more violent.
I take some deep breaths and work on relaxing.“Have you heard any rumors of sudden time travel, maybe after some sort of unconscious experience?”He is still the person most likely to come across those stories, even if he doesn’t believe them.
Andrew scoffs at me.But at least his laughter has died down.“No.That is the opposite of science.”
“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”I happily rip off Shakespeare.
Andrew looks at me like I’m a danger to him.Good.I could be a danger to him if I keep getting his condescending attitude.“It is not possible.”
“Is there anyone else studying this?Maybe not from a physics perspective?”
