Chapter No.16.

With further research, Carl found the reason for the discriminatory treatment of women in this timeline he was in, and it surprised him. He waited until he had them all together before he revealed what he had found.

"The reason for women not having rights is because the original suffrage never happened, in fact, it never happened all over the world. There was a movement to relegate women to second class status that was led by women."

"That's crazy!" Janet said. "Why would they do something stupid like that?"

"Evidently, women wanted to be protected, not given freedom. What this demonstrates is that these timelines can be radically different, although this one seems to be more radical than most of them."

"If women are not considered good enough to be given rights, how did we end up as scientists in NASA?" Janice asked.

"That's where it gets weird. Apparently, men found that women have more brain power when it comes to science and technology. Since money trumps everything, technology companies that employed women became more successful, and it resulted in a quasi-rights token movement for women."

"What aren't we allowed to do?" Janet asked.

"You can't own property or hold political offices. Marriages can be voided by the man. Otherwise, women can drive and obtain college degrees, be employed in various fields, engage in sports, things like that. What it would seem to us, who have come from other timelines, is that it was normal, at least on the surface."

"I'm surprised that they don't make us wear veils," Margaret quipped.

"Does that mean that we're your slaves?" Alice asked.

Carl smiled. "No. Slavery was abolished in this timeline."

"So, what are we going to do now?" Janet asked.

Carl shrugged. "I don't know. I suppose we'll just hang out here until NASA needs us again."

Janet sighed. "Well, I suppose under the circumstances, this mansion of yours is the best place to hang out . . . as long as you permit us to live here."

"You're welcome to stay here as long as you wish," he replied. "This mansion, as you call it, can easily accommodate all of us."

"If women don't have rights, how did you get this mansion?"

"My wife left me, but she had to cede it to me. It's a product of the complicated marriage rules of this timeline."

Of course, Janet couldn't resist teasing him. "If we misbehave, are you going to punish us?"

Carl played into the joke by holding a hand to his chin. "I suppose I could lock you up in the shed in the yard. It has everything you would need to be a good prisoner. You could bathe in the fountain and exercise by running around the path that goes around the yard."

They laughed, but he realized that it was a nervous reaction to his joke. "I'm not the master of this place despite that I own it. I have no intentions of disciplining any of you."

"Too bad! I was looking forward to that!"

They laughed. He realized that they were just kidding him, but down deep they were concerned. No matter what, he was determined to protect them. As far as he was concerned, they were all his sisters, and he would always respect them.

The next morning, he was sitting in a lawn chair near the pool searching quantum physics papers in journals while enjoying his coffee. He had two pads and a laptop scattered around on a small table. He liked he subtle relaxing sound of water lapsing against the pool sides.

When he heard bare feet slapping on hard marble, he looked up to see all the women headed to the pool in their birthday suits.

"I can go somewhere else," he said, standing up.

"Ignore us," Amy told him. "We don't mind your presence."

"What are you doing?" Janet asked. "You look like you're working on your thesis."

"I'm trying to find a clue as to how timelines can change from beams of cosmic rays."

"Good luck with that," she said. "It's like looking for a needle in a haystack."

"As it turns out, I have found some evidence that it's a quantum effect. High energy cosmic rays, HZE for short, have energies in the ten thousand MeV per amu range. What I'm trying to find is what sort of exotic nuclei would be a candidate for causing a timeline change."

"Wouldn't that lead to radiation diseases?"

"They do, but there might be a combination that can cause our perception of time to be altered."

"How would that change the timeline?"

"It has to do with how our brains perceive reality."

"In other words, you think that how we perceived reality can be changed?"

"Yes, but I still don't have enough evidence to confirm it."

She smiled. "Well, don't let us distract you from that."

They giggled and laughed before running and jumping in the pool.

Carl just shook his head. There was no way he could concentrate on his research now.

Carl did have their attention the next evening at the communal supper. He and Amy, with Jane's help, had prepared a meal of lasagna and lobster. A glass of pinot grigio helped relax the situation that he found himself in. He was surrounded by women that were not happy that they were not socially equal in their present timeline. It was like a collective slap in the face.

After the meal, he and the women retired to the family room to finish their wine in a more subdued atmosphere where the Sun was declining in a splash of golden glory and the muted sounds of nature helped sooth their damaged prides.

"I believe that what we're dealing with is a multiverse," he said, breaking the tension.

"An infinite number of universes would take up an infinite amount of space," Margaret said. "How could they form in the first place?"

"What if they existed in the same space," Carl suggested. "What if they were formed at the same time?"

"The multi big bang!"

"If that's the case," Janet said. "How do we go from one universe to another?"

"I don't think it's a movement, but rather a transference."

"What the difference?"

"The first is a physical jump. The second is a transformation. In other words, it's a quantum leap."

"Are you suggesting that the cosmic ray blasts can cause that?" Alice asked.

"Yes. Apparently, exotic nuclei traveling at near the speed of light and having the proper energy can transform our atoms into a different universe."

"That sounds more like magic."

"I agree, but it fits the evidence that we've revealed."

"How did people appear out of thin air?" Janet asked.

"Evidently, the transference can go both ways."

"Let's say that this is the case," Margaret said. "How do we prevent it from happening?"

"We stay out of exotic ray blasts. I don't know if we can convince NASA that they're playing with fire, but we must try."

"Well," Margaret said. "That'll be your job. We women are just pawns of men. We belong to you."

"I don't care what this timeline considers you. I will do everything I can to see that nothing harms you. I consider all of you as my sisters." He momentarily glanced at Amy. "Even if you're not related to me."

Amy smiled. "I am honored to be your sister," she said, glancing at all the other women.

The women held their glasses up in a toast. "We are sisters one and all!"

They cheered and laughed.

Carl considered that a healthful sign, but he had no idea of how he could convince NASA that they were playing with fire. His theory about timelines was quirky enough to make his chances of convincing them marginal at best.

The next morning, he got a call from George Latimore. What he had to say was both exciting and disturbing at the same time. It also suggested that he was aware of the danger from NASA's attempts to terraform Titan.

The real slap in the face was that he was the only one summoned to Mission Control headquarters. The women didn't like that, but they were powerless to do anything about it, at least not in this timeline.

When Carl arrived at Mission Control, he was ushered into George's office. He sat down in front of George's desk and tried to remain calm.

"We want you to go on another mission to the tenth planet that's five hundred million miles beyond Neptune."

Carl realized that it would have been called the ninth planet in his original timeline. "I assume that there's a reason for that."

"We suspect that there could be an alien presence there. We've detected strange activity using our Proteus probe. There's a possibility that it could threaten Earth."

Carl elected to not argue the point. "What sort of crew should I take?"

"You can take your Titan Mission crew."

He felt a flush of relief. "When is the launch date?"

"We should launch by next Thursday. The ship has been updated to get you there quicker."

Carl could only imagine what the women would think about that. He was almost wishing he didn't have to go back home to tell them.

But he did, and they were just as surprised as he was.

Author's Comment
MeV per amu is millions of electron volts per atomic mass unit. All I can say is that it's a really huge amount of energy!