The Broken Universe (50 page)

Grace was right. He had no backup plan. This was his only idea. The plague had destroyed a whole world. He had seen it as he rode the minibike through the desolate streets. It was an utterly deserted world. There was no other hope. None that was quick enough to save Grace Home.

He checked her temperature again. A little bit above forty now. It was getting worse.

He sat heavily on the ground next to Grace. There had been so many deaths because of him. New Toledo and with it, Casey. Gesalex. His foster parents in 7650. And now all the Wizards.

The only one likely to survive was John Prime.

He had squandered this wonderful gift. He had the ability to cross universes, to save people, to help those who suffered, and he had wasted it. But what could he have done differently?

He’d built his transdimensional company. He had used it to make billions of dollars. He had recruited an army of Johns, Graces, Henrys, and Caseys. But what had they
done
?

Perhaps the greatest thing had been the creation of New Toledo, where the refugees from 7538—the nuclear winter universe—had immigrated to. But it had been only a drop in the bucket. The people who had come had only been a small fraction of those who suffered. Universe upon universe, stacked to infinity, humanity suffered. What could he do?

What could he have done differently?

He remembered Abby’s smile when she had called him Daddy, the warmth of Casey Home’s kiss. Was it for him to solve those problems? Was it for John Rayburn to do anything more than live his own life?

“It can’t be that bad.”

John looked up into Grace Home’s clear eyes. Her labored breathing had slowed. He face had lost its flush. She looked normal, though tired.

He reached over to place the thermometer in her mouth, but she batted it weakly away.

“Stop poking me,” she said.

John laid the back of his hand on her forehead instead. It was cool to the touch.

“It worked,” he said.

“What worked?”

John slid the ring off her thumb. He handed it to Grace Pinball, who placed it on Grace Quayle’s hand.

“Something new, something that’ll change everything,” John said.

“Again?”

“Again.”

*   *   *

John knocked on the door and waited.

He could have sent Henry or even another John, but he’d come himself with the lone traveler’s ring. Every Wizard in the Pleistocene had been inoculated with it. Now they were watching Home Office for any sign of an outbreak of the plague. If they saw one, John wasn’t sure what they would do.

“Cauterize it?” Henry Home had asked. “Like the Vig?”

So far, there had been no sign of any fevers, no alerts from the local hospitals. Only one Wizard remained to be dosed with the ring’s magic.

The door opened, and Casey Prime looked at him.

“You found him?” she asked.

John nodded.

Casey stared at him for a moment, and then nodded.

“He’s not coming back,” John said. “He’s got the device and he’s going to leave forever with it.”

“You came to tell me that?”

“And another two reasons,” John said. “One is to inoculate you and Abby against the plague.”

“And the other?”

John looked at Casey—his first Casey—then leaned forward and kissed her on the lips.

Tor Books by Paul Melko

Singularity’s Ring

The Walls of the Universe

The Broken Universe

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Paul Melko lives in Ohio and has been nominated for a Hugo Award for the novella that inspired
The Walls of the Universe
and
The Broken Universe
.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

THE BROKEN UNIVERSE

Copyright © 2012 by Paul Melko

All rights reserved.

A Tor Book

Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC

175 Fifth Avenue

New York, NY 10010

www.tor-forge.com

Tor
®
is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.

The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:

Melko, Paul.

   The broken universe / Paul Melko.—1st ed.

        p.  cm.

   “A Tom Doherty Associates book.”

   ISBN 978-0-7653-2914-1 (hardcover)

   ISBN 978-1-4299-4660-5 (e-book)

   1.  Space and time—Fiction.   2.  Doppelgängers—Fiction.   I.  Title.

PS3613.E4465B76 2012

813'.6—dc23

2012009387

e-ISBN 97801429946605

First Edition: June 2012