Kinetic

"Right now my sense sphere is over 450,000 light years. I'm just under 5e36 Newtons, and just over 6e38 Watts. That's over 6e21 kg per second. I could create the Earth in a thousand seconds if I wanted to."

Melanie nodded and whispered. "Or destroy it. Eric, I want to ask your forgiveness for threatening you with the police two years ago. The concept is ridiculous! You're the only person who can decide whether to punish yourself. The concept of the police or the courts battling with you is absurd."

"Melanie, I murdered three people! You were perfectly right to reject me." I took a deep sigh and decided to tell her. "But I didn't want to go to the police. I think that might have happened once before, about eight thousand years ago."

"Huh?"

"The end of last September my sense sphere finally spanned the galaxy. I've been exploring the galaxy. It's full of stars, and the stars are full of life! So many patterns! So many of them are using the exact same building blocks for DNA, and then there are other things so bizarre I'm still not sure whether to call them life or not."

Melanie was staring at me in wonder. "And you met someone like you?"

"No, not directly. I saw shapes..."

"Shapes?"

"Geometric shapes, prisms, cubes, dodecahedrons, his favorite I think was a pentagonal di-pyramid, if I can presume to call him a he."

Melanie slowly nodded. "I think I'm getting this. Go on."

"It's in the spiral arm directly opposite of us from the galactic core. There are all these shapes, these geometric shapes, flying out from a common origin point, all traveling exactly one sixteenth the speed of light."

"My gosh Eric! Your diamond cannon balls!"

I nodded. "I destroyed them, by the way. These shapes Melanie, I traced them back to a single star. All the thousands of trajectories are consistent with being launched from a single star location eight thousand years ago, within a seven month window."

Melanie considered. "Geometric shapes, huh? Made of what?"

"They range in size from a few kilograms to a few tons, made with various elements, almost always pure. Over half are made with pure osmium."

"Osmium? Why osmium?"

"No idea. It is the densest element; just being playful I suppose."

"And you went to the star? With your mind, I mean. Is he still there?"

"There's nothing there, just an angry, unstable star. Except for the solar wind, is system is a hard vacuum. I got curious and built large parabolic mirrors, super big, 100,000 kilometer radius mirrors. I built huge reflecting telescopes, 8,000 lights years from the star."

Melanie gasped. "You saw what happened!" She saw my distress, and hopped over and offered to hold my hand.

I gratefully accepted and shuddered. "It was a solar system just like ours. A star almost exactly the same mass. Four Earth-size planets close in, a number of gas giants much further out. It was very much like our solar system Pumpkin. And then..."

"Yes?"

"It stopped. In an instant, certainly within an hour, all the angular momentum of the planets disappeared."

I felt Melanie's hand squeeze as the impact of my words sank in. "My God Eric..."

I was silent for a while. Melanie rested her head against my shoulder. I lightly rested my head against hers. Oh, it felt so good, to touch her again, and share her closeness. I closed my eyes. So many memories came flooding back, of the times when all the power in the universe could not stand against Melanie's love for me. My mind got lost, daring to explore so many memories, memories that no longer seemed painful.

Eventually, I came back to the present. I sensed a clock. We had been silent and holding each other for almost an hour. "Asleep?" I whispered.

Melanie stirred. "No, just drifting, drifting in my thoughts... Eric?"

"Hmmm?"

"How long did they have?"

"The people on planet-X? A bit more than I would have guessed. My prime candidate for my twin was a very Earthlike planet, 150 million kilometers from the star. After one Earth day, it only fell 22,000 kilometers, less than four times its radius. By that time it had an inward velocity of just over 500 meters per second. Even after ten days, it was still almost 148 million kilometers from the star, radial velocity about five kilometers per second. Everything must have appeared about the same. It still had its axial spin, still had its days and nights, about a 22 hour cycle."

I took a deep sigh. "Even after thirty days, it was 129 million kilometers from the star. The weather patterns still looked about the same. But by this time the planet's inward velocity was almost 17 kilometers per second. They must have all know by then, must have all known what a hopeless position they were in."

Melanie hugged me. I turned and gently kissed the side of her head. Her hair was so soft, so soft and inviting. "By day forty the planet was 111 million kilometers from the star, radial velocity of 25 kilometers per second. There were massive storm patterns across the globe."

"By day fifty the distance was down to 85 million kilometers, inward radial velocity of 37 kilometers per second. There were massive amounts of particulates in the atmosphere. The planet's biosphere was burning."

"On day sixty the planet was only 43 million miles from the sun. It was getting over twelve times its original heat from the star, and the atmosphere was filled with water vapor. I think the oceans were flashing to steam. I'm guessing most of the inhabitants were dead by then, though perhaps a few were holding out underground... Stellar impact occurred on day sixty-five..."

I took a deep sigh. "There was a gas giant, not quite as big as Jupiter but pretty close. It took over seven years to fall. The impact almost destroyed the star..."

"Why did he do it Eric?" Melanie whispered.

"I'm guessing insanity. I don't know. Maybe his world found out about him and tried to kill him. Maybe they succeeded. Maybe he stopped the orbits as a doomsday threat, and they killed him anyway or before they realized what he had done. I don't think his powers grew in the same way as mine. I think his force and energy abilities grew a lot faster than his sense sphere. He stopped the orbit of a gas giant almost instantly, but never changed anything outside of his star system. I don't think..."

"Eric, I abandoned you. I left you to face this alone."

"Melanie, I murdered both your parents. You were right to reject me."

She responded by deeply sighing and putting her arm around me. It didn't feel like rejection now. My mind was a whirlwind of emotions. I returned the hug, and she accepted my arm around her. We both sat there in silence, using our bodies to try to bridge the gulf between us. It felt so wonderful to hold her again, strange and familiar, both at once, such a unique feeling. And the time passed.

Chapter 36.

I was in a deep, restful sleep, more restful than I had been in years. I slowly drifted towards being awake. I felt a warm, feminine body lying next to me. I was in bed. I sighed and opened my eyes, turning to see Melanie. She was in pajamas, lying on her side, her head propped up with one hand.

She looked at me and smiled. "Good morning! Remind you of anything?"

I probed the outside. It was about 7:10 AM, the sun just peeking over the horizon. "Yeah, sure does. The Spirit landing on Mars, the day we got back together. I was the one to wake up first though, back then."

Melanie smiled and nodded. "I've been awake for hours, thinking about you, thinking about that day too. I remember my absolute shock when you levitated. It was the day my universe changed." She reached over and stroked my head lightly with her other hand. "Eric? May I ask you a really important question?"

I nodded. "I have a really important one to ask you too. But go first."

Melanie didn't respond immediately. She just kept petting my head and smiling. All the nervousness and almost all the shyness of last night were gone though. She was completely relaxed, lying by my side, smiling and petting me. It felt absolutely delightful.

"Eric," she whispered. "Do you remember me taking you to bed last night?"

"I almost don't. I remember falling to sleep with you on the couch. Vaguely maybe. I think I remember you taking off my shoes and socks. It felt so wonderful to sleep with you again."

Melanie nodded. "When I came into bed with you, you muttered something. You said you could never be complete without me. You told me that before, so long ago, and I never appreciated, not until now, how deadly serious you are when you say that. Eric, do you still want me as your wife? After two years of being rejected, do you still want me?"

We stared at each other, finally locking our eyes together. Finally! Words were no longer necessary. I didn't have to ask my question, not with words. Melanie understood completely. Her eyes were full of forgiveness for me, forgiveness and acceptance, and just behind that, a mind bursting to be playful. Her gaze fused with mine, intertwining with my love and unbounded desire for her. We both started crying. Melanie turned and was soon lying on me. I reached up and hugged her, intending never to let go again. We were both laughing and crying at the same time.

The tears stopped first. Then we both sat up still laughing. "Breakfast?" Melanie asked playfully.

"Sure! May I?"

Melanie blinked. "Oh yeah! It's been so long, I'd forgotten what a great short-order cook you are!" She laughed. "Okay! Surprise me!"

We were soon sitting down in her kitchen (my kitchen?!), munching on a big bowl filled with exotic iced fruits, and piping hot fish and shellfish wrapped in an assortment of light pastries. I remembered this as one of Melanie's favorite breakfasts. My wife (my wife!) dived in with gusto.

"So tell me Eric, besides the awful business with planet-X, what else have you seen in the galaxy?"

"The galaxy, it's so incredible! I don't know where to begin. And I've just begun to explore it. I've spent most of the last two years studying. You should see my library at Daedalus now."

"Oh? Studying what?"

I munched on a bite of hot lobster wrapped in a buttery pastry. "Well, my breakthrough was integrating my memory buffers for replicating objects with my cognitive understanding. I can speed read entire books in seconds now. I don't do it with recreational reading, but for learning languages, sciences, philosophy, medicine, stuff like that, it's fantastic."

"Oh wow." Melanie looked very thoughtful at me as she ate a piece of fruit. "Medicine, huh? Interesting. And philosophy? Anything in particular you focused on?"

I nodded. "I've been studying a lot of religions. Last year I spent a lot of time studying Buddhism."

Melanie's eyes popped open and she blinked in surprise. "Are you a Buddhist now?"

"No. I wanted to study the ethics though. I'm trying to decide what principles to use to guide my life. Such horrendous mistakes I made two years ago. I never want them to happen again."

"Hmmm. And what did you learn?"

I thought for a moment. "One of the things I've come to appreciate is how important it is to set aside time for reflection. Pick a time when life is quiet, when things aren't urgent, and then think about what principles you want to use to guide your life. Then, when you have an urgent question, don't try to answer it directly. Instead ask, what principles are involved here? Upon what principles should I make my decision? You do that, you've got your question at God's level, the real God."

I munched on a steaming hot oyster wrapped in hot-pepper spinach leaves. "Identify the right principles involved, and let them guide your decision. It's really quite easy, and very effective."

Melanie smiled at me as she bit into a Kiwi. "You make it sound so easy."

I batted my eyes at her playfully. "Well, yeah, in practice... Difficult decisions are still difficult. Melanie?"

"Uh huh?"

"What's your schedule like for today?"

"My resident schedule is two days on, two days off. This is my 48-hour break time between rotations, 5 PM Friday to 5 PM Sunday, the..." She smiled and took one of the pastry types I had been munching on. "The world is my oyster!" She took a large bite. "Oh! These are so good! I had forgotten how much I enjoy your spicy cooking!"

I nodded back at the compliment. "And what are your break days like?"

"Oh, I try to fill them with fun, mind challenging activities. The wash, clean the condo, go food shopping. The car is overdue for an oil change."

I smiled. "The wash, done. Clean the condo, done. Food shopping, done." I paused for a second. "I just cleaned the interior of the car and gave it my patented super-deluxe tune-up. I'll clean the outside when it's dark."

Melanie blinked as she realized all I had just done. "Thanks sweetie. That was another thing I had forgotten, how much you can open up my day." She reflected for a second and then giggled. "I remember two years ago, Patricia was visiting here just a day or two after we, well, after I had asked you to leave. Patricia was astonished there were only a few snack foods in the kitchen. She insisted on taking me food shopping. The store clerks were all greeting me as a lost friend. They hadn't seen me in years. They all thought I had moved away. Patricia was absolutely befuddled. I had to make up some lie, that you did all the food shopping, and I didn't know where you went."

I grinned and smiled happily. Breakfast was almost over. "Pumpkin? Last night, when I first arrived, you mentioned needing a favor."

Melanie nodded and turned serious. "Ah yes, thank you." She paused for a moment. "Eric, this really is a request. I'm sure you thought about this topic already, and the moral issues are complex. You would have valid reasons to say no."

I nodded and made a hand gesture about clearing the table. Melanie nodded and the breakfast feast was gone. "What's up Pumpkin?"

Melanie offered me her hand, and led me back to the couch. She was still in her pajamas. My mind was overjoyed being with her again. She took a deep breath. "His name is Jason, a wonderful and brave 8-year old boy. I've lost the battle Eric. Bone cancer, brain tumors, and yesterday I saw the new lab reports. The tumors have spread to his liver. I've lost Eric. All the treatments..." She struggled to speak and then sighed. "Eric, can you help him?"

Melanie gave me some directions of how to find him, and then looked at me while I scanned her hospital's oncology ward. "Melanie, are you Jason's physician?"

Melanie nodded. "One of them."

"Okay. I'm scanning him... Wow, what a mess." I probed and analyzed for a few minutes. "I can eliminate the cancers."

Melanie's eyes went wide. "Completely?"

"Yeah."

"But what about the mouse? You tried complete destruction years ago. The mouse died!"

I sighed and looked at her. "Pumpkin, that was years ago. I remember the mouse. I broke all the cancer DNA chains. I didn't realize I would overload the mouse's ability to cope with all the garbage I left in its body."

I paused for a moment. "My new technique is to cancel the cancer cells' reality, and then create a simple saline solution in its place. The kidneys will to a bit of work to flush the extra fluid, and that will be the end of it. With your permission?" I looked at her.

She slowly nodded.

"Done."

"So fast?"

I gave a short nod. "Melanie, do you need help with anyone else?"

Melanie stared at me and then her eyes went wide. "Hell Eric! I feel like I'm playing God!"

"Welcome to the club."

My wife was silent for a long moment. "This is a lot to think about."

"I know."

"Yes, I suppose you do. All right! Fourteen-year old Janna..." Melanie gave me directions to find her. "Her GP thought she might have arthritis, but I'm suspicious it might be something else. Vague symptoms, lack of energy, dull aches, low grade fever, a slight difficulty in swallowing. Unfortunately the symptoms appear to be progressing. There are also some skin rashes. I'm afraid I'm seeing many of the beginning signs of Erythematosus."

"Systemic Lupus?" I asked. Melanie was referring to a nasty but treatable auto-immune disease.

Melanie nodded. "I've just started a treatment of oral steroids and auto-immune suppressants. I'm hoping for a favorable response."

I scanned the hospital for a moment. "I found her. Melanie, is Janna your patient? Do I have your permission to scan her?"

"Do you need my permission?"

"Oh yes. I've done a lot of thinking about this, over the last two years. Locking someone's body is a fantastically intimate connection. I won't do it without permission. If she's accepted you as her doctor, your permission will do."

Melanie nodded thoughtfully. "I am her doctor. Yes Eric, please."

I linked to the child's body. I saw the excess of fibrous proteins immediately. The collagen was beginning to clog and impede the functions of the body's connective tissues. Janna's immune system was trying to respond with antibodies, but all that was doing was inflaming the tissues and stimulating the production of more collagen. Her immune system was in a slow spiral towards cascade failure. After a moment I finished my observations and sighed. "Scleroderma."

"What?! Oh Eric, are you sure?"

"Just test for the antibodies. Yeah, I'm sure. Not too much in the skin yet, but her throat tissues are hardening. That's why she's having trouble swallowing."

Melanie's face was a mask of pain. I had just told her Janna had a truly horrible incurable disease, the hardening of the soft tissues of the body. "Is there anything you can do?" she whispered.

"Do? Oh, quite a bit," I replied. "There! That'll make her feel better."

Melanie stared at me in wonder. "What did you do?"

"I purged all the excess collagen in her body. That'll eliminate the source of the inflammations. Her antibody count should return to normal."

Melanie shook her head. "But Janna's auto-immune system! Won't it still be over- producing the collagen?"

"I agree. But I think if I lock and purge her of the excess every week, I can keep her symptom-free forever. Isn't that the same as a cure?"

"Will you do that?"

"Yes. I'll also try to do some research. I probably have the power to re-program her immune system, truly cure her. I just don't know how to do that yet."

Melanie trembled as the impact of what we were doing sank in. She came to me and whispered, "An awesome power Eric, an awesome and terrible power."

I nodded as we hugged each other. My eyes were filled with gratitude for Melanie. I finally had someone to share my terrible decisions. Melanie and I stood and held each other and wept.

Chapter 37.

Six hours later.

Time: Saturday, January 19, 2013 2:07 PM

Melanie called Patricia and Jim Saturday morning to tell them the news about us getting back together. We all wound up planning to go see an early movie and then have a late lunch and go shopping in Boston. On our way to their Brookline home, Melanie informed me that Patricia was eight weeks pregnant.

The movie was fun, but as we left the theater the weather was beginning to turn ugly and Patricia was feeling fatigued. We changed our plans. Jim and Melanie went to go food shopping and I drove Patricia back to her home. We got in a little after 2 PM, just as the snow was starting to fall.

Patricia burped as she took off her coat. "Oh boy. I had no idea my stomach would get so queasy from eating popcorn. I'm glad we're back! Eric, make yourself at home. What would you like for lunch?"

We were soon sitting down to soup and sandwiches. Patricia was grinning at me from ear to ear. "I'm absolutely astonished how quickly you and Melanie got back together! Eric, what happened?"

I gulped. "Well, it was an intensely personal issue. Uh..." I stared at Patricia for the longest time, trying to figure out what to say.