The Sea Explorer Read online

And that the security guy at the DJ place isn't very happy with us being there."

  Kim said, "Carrie. What does she know about it?

  Then, looking at the phone, she shouted, "Hey Carrie. Why don't you mind your own business."

  Matt said, "She can't hear you. You know. I hung up the phone."

  Kim replied, "Oh. Carrie. She can hear everything. She's another one of the spooky people on spooky ships."

  Matt, "What spooky people on what spooky ships?"

  Kim, "The lady in the brown hat on the Ocean Galaxy and the little girl."

  Matt, "What little girl?"

  Kim, "You know, the one talking about the sea monsters being over the edge of the Earth, on the Ocean Galaxy."

  Matt, "Did the lady in the brown hat talk about anything strange?"

  Kim, "Nay. I think she went down with the Titanic."

  On the morning of the third day, The Sea Explorer is in port at Sandy Island. Part of the island is a private resort for the passengers. The remainder is used for natural research of the plant life on Celest. Matt and Kim take the island bus sightseeing tour. After returning to the shop area by the port Kim buys a book, with photographs of the many wonders of Celest.

  At noon the Sea Explorer leaves the port and goes to the smallest of the 17 continents on Celest.

  The city by the water has massive buildings. Some reaching three miles into the clouds. The ship enters the harbor and the passengers fill the deck taking pictures and videos. The Sea Explorer then leaves the continent behind and sails into the sea.

  A few minutes after 2 pm, as the cities' buildings disappear into the haze of the atmosphere, Kim is on deck 15 by the pool. Kim is looking at the book of photographs. She notices that page 31 is missing.

  There is a little girl, by the pool, that looks identical to the young girl, asking about the 13 floor on the Ocean Galaxy. She also has the same book of photographs sold in the shop area at the dock. Kim recognizes the young girl looks the same as the one on the Ocean Galaxy. She dismisses this as some peculiar coincidence.

  Kim ask, "Page 31 is missing in my book. Is it in yours?"

  The young girl replies, "Of course the number 31 is unlucky."

  Kim, "Why is 31 unlucky?"

  Girl, "That's cause it's the same as 13 backwards."

  Kim, "So 13 is unlucky too?"

  Girl, "Yes."

  Kim ask, "What do you mean, 31 is backwards of 13?"

  The young girl said, "Because in 13 the 1 is before the 3 and in 31 the 1 is after the 3."

  Matt arrives to where Kim is. They both start to deck 5 where it was planned to meet Carrie and Shan to get ready for the overlap.

  On the way to deck 5, Kim looks in her photograph book and sees that there is a page 13.

  Kim said, "That girl was on the Ocean Galaxy. She was at the tour and asked about the missing deck 13. She knows 13 is unlucky, but it's not unlucky here, 31 is unlucky instead."

  Matt, "We do you mean, 31 is unlucky?"

  Kim, "In the book there is no page 31. It's considered unlucky here. But there is a page 13."

  After leaving the elevator on deck 5 and as walking to the room to meet Carrie they saw a group of people were watching a broadcast on a screen in the corridor. They stopped to see what everyone was watching.

  The group remained quiet as the news announcer stated that a group of believers kidnapped a imprisoned citizen of Celest while he was being moved to a mental institution. The announcer stated the citizen had received a trial for publicly supporting the believers' doctrine. And he had been found guilty.

  After the announcement, the group watching, without speaking to each other, slowly dispersed.

  Kim said to Matt, "Carrie was in on the kidnapping and he's on the ship. He's going to Earth during the overlap. That's how she knew that there would be an overlap located on this ship. She's here to help him, by sending him to Earth. "

  Matt, "First you said she been to Earth. I don't think she has. This doesn't make sense just like that didn't make sense."

  Kim said, "It all makes sense."

  Matt, "No. None of it makes sense?

  The Kim said, "Why argue. We can find out. I'll ask her.

  They entered the room where Carrie and Shan were waiting.

  Kim spoke first by saying to Carrie," You've been a real help in getting us back to Earth. How are we going the get back when we'll in jail for accomplishing to a kidnaping?"

  Carrie speaking directly to Kim said, "First you have done nothing here. I've been to Earth. I know the different. Here you get put away for talking against all the Franks of Celest."

  Kim said, "Now that makes sense." Then, looking at Matt, adds, "See. I told you."

  Carrie explained, "I was on a train. A blue light appeared and I was on Earth. I don't know what happen but I was there and returned. I started telling people and they reported me. So I got out of town before being caught. You’re an instant criminal here if you say anything against Frank. I was lucky I ran into a believer and he took me to others. They hid me. The people that have gone to Earth and return and are caught are put away for the remainder of their life. The ones not caught are being protected by the believers."

  She continued," Shan had a knock on his door one morning before dawn. The believers that had kidnapped Stanly, told Shan to hide him, and get him on the Sea Explorer. They told him there would be two dimensional overlaps while on the ship. The first was yesterday at 9:17 and the second will be at 5:07."

  Kim to Carrie, "So, Stanly is here too."

  Carrie looked at Kim and said, "Yes."

  Then she looks at Shan and said, "Let him in."

  Shan opens the door.

  Shan, "This is Stanly. He will be going back with you, if it works."

  Stanly enters and sits down.

  Kim said to Shan, "Is the little girl going to?"

  Carrie answers, "What little girl?"

  Kim responds, "The one I was talking to about a half an hour ago, on deck 15, by the pool. She's from Earth or she wouldn't know 13 was unlucky."

  Carrie, "What are you talking about?"

  Kim answers," She was on Ocean Galaxy and asked about how to go over the edge of the Earth. She here to. She's going back and forth between here and Earth. Maybe she knows how to do it. You people don't seem to know."

  Carrie said to Shan, "Can you find out about this."

  Shan said, "Maybe."

  He went to a computer in the corner. Sat down and after several inputs had a video of Kim and the little girl beside the pool.

  He asks Kim, "Is this her?"

  Kim sees the three dimension video displayed on the side of the computer.

  Kim amazingly said. "That's her. How did you do that."

  Shan said, "The ship keeps videos of everything on the ship. But, you need permission to see them."

  The video showed Matt as he arrives and then Kim leaving with Matt. Then it showed the girl leaving and walking around a corner.

  Kim said, "Can you see where she went?"

  Shan answers as pressing keys, "She will be on this one."

  A video starts of a corner and she is not in the video.

  Shan said, "That's the corner she walked around she should be in there."

  Kim said, "Should be. What does that mean?"

  Shan, "Means. I don't know where she went."

  Kim, "Well she can't just disappear."

  Shan, "Maybe she can."

  Kim, "That's not possible. Unless she went to Earth."

  Shan, "Here it's possible. She could have went to Earth. You just don't know."

  Kim, "I though all you brainy-act guys, hiding out in your underground, knew all this stuff."

  Shan, "All brainy-act guys know is they don't know all this stuff."

  Everybody sat and said nothing for a while.

  Then Matt said, "So, what do we do to get back to Earth."

  Matt and Kim look at Carrie.

  Carrie, "I have no idea. I told you everything?"
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  They all three look at Shan.

  Shan, "Don't look at me. We tried yesterday morning with Stanly. It didn't work."

  Kim, "Didn't work. Don't you people have a plan?"

  Shan, "All we know is where and when the overlap will occur."

  Kim, "Well, doesn't that cause people to go to Earth?"

  Shan, "Only some people. For everybody else nothing happens."

  Kim, "Don't you have help doing this."

  Shan, "Carrie and me. We're the only ones here."

  Kim, "Where are the people to rush to your aid and save you at the last minute."

  Shan, 'This is reality. There are no others on this ship"

  Kim said, "Reality. We're on a square world. That isn't reality."

  Shan, "Here it is."

  Then Carrie explained, "When I was on Earth, to get back to Celest, I got on where I got off and went in the opposite direction and I returned to Celest.

  Kim, "So, during the overlap we'll go down in the elevator instead of up."

  Matt, "That doesn't make any sense."

  Kim, "Well, the overlap is 20 minutes away. You think up something to do."

  Matt remained quiet and then said, "So to get back to Earth we need to go down the same number of decks as we went up to get to Celest from Earth. We started on deck 9, to go to deck 15, and ended up on deck 13. "

  Matt thought a while and said, "How can we do the opposite. If we do the opposite, we'll end up on a deck that isn't there. So, we know we need to be in the elevator at the time of the overlap. We know that. We don't know where the elevator will go. It went to the wrong deck."

  Kim, "The little girl said that 13 and 31 were opposite because in 13 the 1 is before the 3 and in 31 the 1 is after the 3. That's her way of thinking. So if she thought of the number 13 as being before the number 31 then she would consider them as not being opposite."

  Kim paused, nobody said anything, Kim continued," So if we thing like the little girl we need to think of everything we did in