The God Particle

Chapter 41: The Road to Montana

Eric placed the last shirt in his suitcase before closing the lid and dragging it over near the door of the apartment. Then, he went into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator, taking out anything that he could easily use to make box lunches and dinners for the long trip. Stopping at restaurants was completely out of the question. Even stopping for gas was going to be risky enough. He made meatless sandwiches, salads, and packed some fruit. As tempted as he was to make himself a ham sandwich instead of a vegetarian one, he decided against it. He had taken to not eating meat in front of her, since he didn't know if she would find it offensive, or if it would perhaps even ruin her appetite. Not that he had ever asked her if she would mind if he ate meat in front of her. It just seemed like avoiding it would be the respectful thing to do. He finished making the sandwiches and packed them into an empty cooler along with the other food items. Then, he filled several bottles with water, and packed those as well. He didn't want to stop for anything he didn't absolutely have to stop for.

He turned and walked over to the window now, opening the blinds just enough to see through. Scanning the outside view, he made sure there was no one around, then looked down at the parking lot. "Your Majesty?" he called behind him. "I need you to look down at the parking lot. Please do it as quick as possible. There's a large blue van … uh, chariot down there. The one right in front of the building. See if you think you can teleport into it from here. As long as you teleport into the back of it, you'll be fine. There's nothing in the back for you to hit or teleport into."

Celestia walked over to the window, looking down at the parking lot where Eric had indicated. After a moment, she stepped away and nodded her head once. "I should be able to do it, yes. It's not the same chariot you brought me here in?"

"I rented a full size cargo van. It's a long drive to Montana, and I figured you'd be much more comfortable in it. You still won't be able to stand up, but at least you will have room to stretch out. And the windows are tinted so that no one can see inside. You'll be able to look out of them once we are safely out of Chicago and onto the interstate. Those are the major roads that run across the country."

She nodded. "I saw those in the atlas I was looking at. Big roads like that."

"It's gonna take me a little while to load the van. I'll have to make several trips since there's a lot of—"

He blinked and stared in wonder as all of the boxes and his suitcase started to glow with a golden aura. A split second later, there was a quiet rushing sound, and they had simply disappeared, along with the aura that had been surrounding them. He turned his head and stared at the alicorn dumbfounded for a moment. "… You did that, didn't you?" Of course she did it. Who else could have done it?

She nodded and smiled slightly. "I thought it would save some time."

"Yes … well, it definitely did," he responded, scratching his head slightly his mind still reeling with questions about how she did things like that. After all, it didn't seem like it should be possible within the bounds of science he was familiar with. He put it out of his mind and shook his head slightly. "Well, I'll go down first and lock the apartment door behind me. Once I am there, you can teleport into the van. You'll hear a beep when I am ready for you. Make sure you don't put any part of yourself directly up against the window. Again, they will be able to see you if you do that."

Once again, she nodded slightly. "Thank you, Eric … for this. For everything," she said in a calm and compassionate tone.

"Well, like I said … It's the least I can do for the princess of an entire nation," he responded before turning for the apartment door, stepping outside, then closing it and locking it behind him.

Walking towards the elevator, he thought about everything that had happened over the last roughly thirty hours. Part of him still refused to believe it. None of this could be real. It simply couldn't be. It was as if he had been in some sort of dream, ever since he found the photograph and the book. Could he really be the first person on this planet ever to make contact with life from some other planet or dimension? Technically, you aren't the first. James was the first. Although he made contact in their world, he told himself.

And if only he had more confidence around her. But still he found himself feeling nervous and unable to get over it. After all, she was royalty. The ruler of another land. He really had no idea how he was supposed to behave around royalty. Should he be bowing to her? Or would she think him strange if he did that? After all, he wasn't one of her subjects. And she didn't have any ruling authority in the land she was in now. But still, he wanted to show proper respect and humility towards her. The fact that she was equine and not human made it even more important that he did so. After all, he was effectively an ambassador now. Not only for his country, but for his entire species. For all of humanity; for his entire world even. And he wanted to make sure she left this planet with a good impression. He knew he often fumbled over his words when speaking to her. How should he address her? So far, he thought he probably sounded like an idiot, alternating back and forth between Princess and Your Majesty. Surely, there must be a proper form of address? He knew her proper title was Her Majesty because that's what she was called in the book he had found. But should he call her that? Given he wasn't one of her subjects? How would one address the Queen of England if they were not a British citizen? Would they bow to her? Would they use the title Your Majesty? He honestly had no idea. Did it even matter? There was no reason at all to believe Equestrian customs would be anything like English customs. Did she consider it strange when he called her Your Majesty given that he was not one of her subjects? Or did she think it disrespectful when he didn't call her that? Or did it even matter to her one way or the other? Perhaps she simply understood that cultural differences would mean he had no idea at all what proper protocol would be around her. Perhaps she wouldn't expect him to follow proper protocol even if he did know what it was, given this was not her world and he was not one of her subjects. Should he ask her how she wanted him to behave around her and how she wanted him to address her? That just seemed like it would be awkward.

The elevator stopped at the ground level and he stepped out as the doors opened, exiting the building through the double glass doors and walking over to the van he had rented. Even though he had seen Celestia teleport the boxes and suitcase out of his apartment, he still had a feeling of surprise and disbelief when he opened the back door of the van to find them neatly stacked inside against one of the walls. He climbed in the back and pushed them all as far forward as he could, then stepped out and looked over the cargo area again.

The rest of the floor was covered by a plush mattress he had stopped and bought on the way back from the lab. Crimson satin sheets adorned it—he had paid a pretty penny for those—along with lush pillows covered in red silk pillowcases. Crimson velvet drapes covered the windows so that she could pull them closed if she wanted to sleep, or if they had to stop somewhere and needed to avoid anyone seeing her. For now, they were closed, to ensure exactly that; that no one would see them until they were safely out of Chicago. On one hand, he worried that she was going to think he was pampering her too much. But on the other hand, the back of a cargo van was no way for a princess to travel. And he wanted to make her stay on Earth as comfortable as possible.

He walked around to the front, looking around to make sure no one was near. Then he climbed in and pressed the horn, beeping it briefly. A few seconds later, he saw a subtle glow in the rear-view mirror, turning his head to see Celestia lying behind the seat. She blinked once, a look of surprise on her muzzle as she looked at the lush sheets surrounding her. Then she looked back at him.

"Eric … this looks expensive. You didn't need to do all this for me," she said in a soft voice.

"Well, the back of a cargo van is no way for a princess to travel, Your Majesty," he said, feeling a bit sheepish again. "I really wish I could give you a better ride, but this is the best I can do."

"It's more than enough," she said reassuringly and smiled slightly at him. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. Like I said, it's the least I can do. Well, I guess if you're ready then?"

She nodded once. "I'm ready."

He smiled slightly, then turned forward again, starting the van and turning out of the parking lot onto the street. Then, he began to navigate the streets of Chicago as they began the long trip to Montana.

In about an hour, they had left the city of Chicago, and all its bustling traffic behind. Traveling west towards Iowa, the traffic was light. Eric turned his head slightly and called to the back.

"You can open the curtains if you want now, Your Majesty. But be careful of any magical glows that might be seen through the windows."

"I hardly need any magic at all to open curtains. The glow won't even be visible," she responded.

Eric turned his attention back forward. Now that they were well outside of Chicago and onto the open interstate, he began to think about the problem at hand. He knew he couldn't simply tell the world about Princess Celestia. She would be quarantined for sure, despite her plight. The government would be more worried about what kind of alien bacteria or parasites she might harbor that could be dangerous to humans. Of course, he himself knew that was probably not a serious concern. If there were any bacteria or parasites from her world that were seriously dangerous to humans, James probably wouldn't have survived in Equestria until now. But that was something he'd never be able to convince the government of. And they'd probably never believe him that James was in Equestria anyway. Furthermore, they would probably be terrified of her enormous magical powers; especially if they connected her arrival with the sun rising thirty minutes too early on the first day she was here. If they knew she could control the sun … well, he didn't even want to think about that.

But despite the fact that he knew he couldn't tell the whole world about her, he also knew he couldn't keep her a secret forever. Sooner or later, he was going to have to enlist the help of at least a few people. One thing he had already figured out, was that there had been a power spike inside the Tevatron of more than two trillion electron volts when the event happened. Unfortunately, he also knew it wasn't simply a matter getting to more than two trillion electron volts to recreate the event. It might not even require that much energy. But then again, it might. And one thing was certain. The Tevatron would never accelerate another particle again. That left only one other option. There was only one other particle accelerator in the world capable of producing collisions that powerful, and that was the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland. But how was he ever going to sneak a winged unicorn across the Atlantic Ocean and into Switzerland without being detected? And even if he could pull that off, there was no way he was going to get her into the LHC lab, commandeer the accelerator control room, and run some crazy experiment on it without anyone knowing. He would definitely at least have to tell some people at the lab.

But there was another problem. The ponies back in her world couldn't raise the sun without her. Or at least they didn't know how at this point. That meant time was not on their side. He needed to figure out how to get her back to her world as soon as possible. Several heads working on a solution to the problem would definitely be better than just two. But who could he trust? Maybe, just maybe, he could ask a colleague to send him some Ph.D students that he could swear to secrecy before he revealed anything to them. He could tell his colleague it was a classified government project, and that it was of the utmost importance and urgency. He needed people now. As soon as possible. And they would have to be the absolute best and brightest prospects in the field. They would have to travel to Montana and work very long hours in makeshift conditions, completely dedicated to the endeavor at hand. Would they even be willing to come out to the middle of nowhere like that? Without having any advance idea of what it was they were getting themselves into? And would they keep their promise of secrecy once they did know?

He watched out the front window as the Thank you for visiting Illinois sign went passed, followed shortly after by the Welcome to Iowa sign. The land opened up into vast farm fields as the time continued to pass. For as far as the eye could see, small green stalks of corn, not nearly fully grown yet, dotted the landscape. Silos and old farm houses were scattered here and there, breaking up the miles of endless agriculture in America's heartland.

"It reminds me of some parts of back home," Celestia commented from behind him. "Like the land outside of Ponyville where Sweet Apple Acres is." He couldn't see her—there was a curtain between them to make sure no one in any vehicles in front of them could see her through their rear-view mirror—but he could hear the sadness in her voice as the farm fields reminded her of her home.

"I'll figure out a way to get you back there, Your Majesty. I promise you I will," he said in the most reassuring voice he could muster. You shouldn't make promises you might not be able to keep, Eric, he chastised himself. After all, he knew full well that they were facing a very formidable problem, and that the odds were probably strongly against them finding a solution, given what little they had to go on.

Several more hours passed in relative quiet, and Eric continued to go over the problem and any possible ideas for solutions in his mind. His thoughts were eventually interrupted by Celestia speaking in what sounded like a slightly embarrassed voice.

"Eric?"

"Yes, Your Majesty?"

"I have to uh … you know …"

Of course … even magical pony princesses have to use the bathroom once in awhile. "Right … I'll take the next exit that looks like it's safe and try to find a secluded area where you won't be visible."

Of course, simply stopping at a public rest area was out of the question. Instead, he found himself taking an exit for a road that looked, for all practical purposes, like it was the road to nowhere. He followed that for a distance, but found only open farm field. It was simply too risky to stop where she could be seen for miles. Even though he had not seen a single other vehicle on this two lane road, he couldn't shake the feeling that about the time he decided it was safe and stopped, another vehicle would pass as soon as she got out of the van.

Finally, the farm field gave way to a wooded area, and he slowed down as they approached an old dirt road that lead into it. Turning on to it, he drove back a ways into the woods. There were no tire tracks visible on the dirt, and the road looked like it had not been used in years. He only hoped it wasn't a long driveway to someone's house. Whatever it was, it wasn't noteworthy enough to even show up on his GPS.

He stopped the van and got out, looking around to make sure no one was around and no other vehicles were approaching. Then he walked around to the back and opened the door. "I suggest you go a little ways back into the forest to make sure no one will be able to see you, Your Majesty."

She nodded and teleported herself out of the van, then stood up and quickly trotted off into the trees, until she was out of his sight.

As he waited for her to return, he found a tree, and relieved himself quickly. Might as well do it now or it wouldn't be long before they had to stop again. Finishing that, he went back to the van and pulled out his road atlas and his maps of Iowa and South Dakota. It occurred to him now, that he had never even considered that they would have to stop for things like this. Maybe that meant staying on the interstate was not the best plan? This stop had taken them a significant distance away from it, and would add at least a half hour onto their time. Furthermore, he knew they would have to stop eventually to sleep. He had originally figured on the trip taking about twenty-two hours. That alone would have required stopping somewhere for the night. And again, pulling off in a public rest area to sleep didn't seem like a good idea. Stopping at a hotel was obviously out of the question. They'd have to sleep in the van. And again, he would want a secluded area for that to lesson the chances of someone stopping to see if they had broken down and needed assistance. By the time he added in detours for bathroom breaks and the fact that they would have to travel a significant distance off the interstate before they could stop and sleep, he figured he could add another two to three hours to his initial estimate. The back roads might end up taking less time if it meant they didn't have to travel so far out of their way to stop.

He reprogrammed the route in his GPS, adding way-points so that it would use the back roads instead of the interstate, then waited impatiently as the unit recalculated the route. When it finished, he found that it would add two hours onto their time. "Well, at worst it won't take any longer than staying on the Interstate will. At best, it will be a little bit shorter," he said to himself as he folded the maps and tucked them back in the map pocket by the door. Then, he looked out into the forest, waiting for the alicorn to reappear.

A few minutes later, he saw her. He raised a hand, motioning for her to stop, then scanned both sides of the road for any approaching traffic, as well as looking around for any other humans in the area. Seeing nothing, he motioned for her to continue. She did so, trotting out of the forest quickly and teleporting herself back into the van. It was easier for her to get in and out that way, given that like his SUV, the van wasn't tall enough for her to stand up in.

"I think it will be faster if we stay off the interstates and take the back roads. It will also be more scenic," he informed her as he closed the doors, then walked back around to the front. He started the van and turned it around—something that took several back and forth motions on the narrow dirt road—then proceeded back to the two lane paved road they had been on before turning in the direction indicated by the GPS and getting back on course.

A few more hours passed, and the sun began to lower in the western sky. Now, he found himself driving into its bright rays. He pulled the visor above the windshield, but still, driving into the sun was never fun. For a brief moment, he actually found himself considering the possibility of asking Celestia to make it set faster. Don't be an idiot, Eric he quickly chastised himself. Besides, they would be at the western border of Iowa soon, where they would turn north for South Dakota.

The sun continued to set, flooding the sky with brilliant hues of orange and red, like paint spilling out onto a canvas, as they turned north for South Dakota.

"It feels so strange," he heard Celestia say from the back a bit quietly. "The sun setting without me making it do so. It feels so … unnatural."

She had said it quietly enough that he thought she was talking to herself and hadn't intended it for him. So he didn't respond. In his mind, however, he thought it strange, and marveled at how her world could be so different from his. So different, that she considered it strange and unnatural that the sun should set because of natural forces at work; because of the natural rotation of the planet; when he considered it strange and unnatural that an apparent goddess like being should have to control the sun.

Sunset gave way to twilight, and twilight to darkness. They continued on well into the night hours before he started looking for a place to stop for the night. On the GPS, he saw what looked like some small roads leading into forested areas a few miles up ahead. Shortly, one of them started to appear in the headlights. He slowed down and turned, driving a few miles down it before pulling off the side and turning off the engine, the quietness of the wilderness night sounding strange to his city ears. The only sounds now, were crickets chirping, and the occasional bullfrog.

He turned around and started to grab the curtain and open it, then stopped. It was probably best if he asked first. "Your Majesty? May I open the curtain?"

"Yes, please do." She responded in a kind voice.

He did so, and found her lying on the mattress, facing him. She seemed to have a slightly forlorn look on her face. Probably thinking about home, he assumed.

"We should probably eat dinner and then get some sleep. I think we should get an early start in the morning, probably before sunrise, to reduce the chance that any other vehicles will find us stopped on the side of the road and stop to check on us."

She only nodded once in response. He opened the door and climbed out, walking around to the side door and opening it, finding the cooler he had packed and taking out a couple of sandwiches, some salads, and a couple of apples. He also took out two water bottles, opening one of them for her and putting one of the straws he had brought in it. He knew she preferred to drink everything except hot tea with a straw. She smiled gently at him and thanked him. He sat down next to her and the two of them ate in quiet, finishing the cold dinners quickly. Then, he asked the question that had been on his mind early in the trip.

"Your Majesty … I think we have a much better chance at success if I bring on some additional people to help. After all, several minds trying to solve this problem is better than just the two of us. And I think I have a way to get people we can trust. People who won't tell the entire world about you."

She didn't respond right away, appearing to be thinking about it. "Do you really think that's best?"

He nodded. "I do. Given that time is of the essence, I think it's a risk we have to take."

She nodded. "Then I trust your judgment on it, Eric."

The overhead lights of the van didn't provide much in the way of illumination, but still, he noticed a look of sadness on her muzzle, as if something was troubling her deeply.

"What's troubling you, Your Majesty?" He winced as soon as he had said it. Stupid, Eric. You know what's troubling her.

She frowned, and in the dim light, he thought he could see tears forming in her magenta eyes. For several long moments, she said nothing. When she finally did speak, it was in a voice filled with sorrow.

"The last thing I said to my Council members … before I ended up getting pulled into your world … was that if they couldn't figure out who and what the threat was against my sister, that I would send them all to the dungeon for the rest of their lives … that was the last thing I said to them."

Now he could clearly see a glistening tear slide down her muzzle. He reached out, and put a comforting hand on her withers. She placed her head in his lap as he continued to sit next to her, and he heard her sniffle once.

"Your Majesty," he began slowly, in a caring and compassionate voice. "I don't know you that well yet. But you don't seem like the type of person … I mean pony that would actually do something like that. And I know James well enough to know that if he thought that's what you were really like, he never would have agreed to be one of your Council members … Sometimes people say things they don't mean when they are frustrated. And I think your Council members probably know you didn't mean it."

"But now, I may never get the chance to apologize to them. Never get the chance to tell them I'm sorry." Her voice cracked now and the tears began to flow freely, soaking through his pants, wetting the skin on his leg. "In a matter of just weeks, they may all be dead. Along with everything else in my world," she said in a voice that pierced him straight to his heart.

"Don't say that. I'm going to get you home. Somehow, I'm going to do it. And they know you are sorry, Your Majesty. They know you are," he said calmly as he continued to keep his hand on her withers, stroking her fur gently now as he tried to sooth and comfort her.

For a long time, they stayed that way, her head in his lap, his hand on her withers, stroking her fur gently, her warm tears continuing to soak through his pants and dampen his leg, reaching his skin. Finally, she closed her eyes, and a few minutes later, she seemed to be asleep.

Being careful not to wake her, he slid his leg out from under her head, sliding one of the pillows gently under it. Then, he crawled out of the van, and went back to the front, grabbing his laptop bag. Pulling out his laptop he inserted the 3G wireless USB card, and opened the lid. The glow of the screen lit the inside of the van as he began to compose an email.

From: Dr. Eric Thompson <[email protected]>

To: Dr. Brian Dalson <[email protected]>

It's been a while since we have talked. I hope you are well.

I have a very important favor to ask of you. I have an extremely urgent need for four to six Ph.D students to work on a classified project of utmost importance. The problems we will be dealing with are extremely complex in nature, and I need the absolute best and brightest minds you can find. I need expertise in theoretical physics, astrophysics, high energy physics, and mathematics. These students must be able to think outside the box as we are dealing with problems that call into question some of the very laws of physics that we believe to be true. They must be able to travel to Montana, and must be available immediately to commit themselves full time to this project. They must be trustworthy, as again, the nature of this project is highly classified. I wish I could tell you more, but I cannot.

Thank you in advance for your help. Again, I cannot over-emphasize the urgent nature of this request.

Sincerely,

Dr. Eric Thompson

He paused a moment when he had finished writing before clicking the Send button. He watched the progress bar on the email program reach completion. Then he closed the lid, returning the van to darkness once again. He spoke to himself in a quiet voice.

"And so it begins. The most important scientific endeavor in all of human history … The endeavor to save an entire world …"