smiled. “I guess we're still a great team, Eph.”
Jena cleared her throat. “How long is this going to take?”
“You have somewhere else to be?” Zoe asked.
Jena glanced wistfully at the time on Zoe's VCR, almost hidden by a tower of old videotapes labeled “The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis” in Mr. Kim's neat print. It was just after 1 a.m.
“Not anymore,” Jena said. She'd been planning the details of their prom night for months, but this hadn't figured into any of them.
“We have time, Jena. Your folks aren't expecting you until tomorrow,” Ephraim said.
“Oh?” Zoe said.
“They think I'm staying with…” She swallowed. “Friends.”
“Miss Perfect lied to her parents?” Zoe asked. “What debauchery did you have planned this weekend?”
Jena and Ephraim exchanged glances.
“Oh!” Zoe said. She looked away.
“It's not just that. I mean, we have classes on Monday. Exams coming up,” Jena said. “I have to write my speech for graduation.” Her voice rose, and she was talking more quickly, on the verge of a panic attack.
“Jena, remember what happened to your friends,” Zoe said. “This is important.”
“I know, but…” She looked at Ephraim helplessly. “This isn't part of the plan,” Jena said. “My life's important too. I have a future to think about.”
“I'm so sorry this happened at such an inconvenient time for you.” Zoe plucked the coin away from the controller. The radio hissed its displeasure. “He can drop you off right now in your universe, if you're that worried about your future .”
“Hey,” Ephraim protested. “Hold on.”
“Honestly, you're kind of redundant here, Jena,” Zoe said.
“Speak for yourself,” Jena said.
“I just did.”
“Guys. Let's just get on with this,” Ephraim said. “The sooner we get in touch with Nathaniel, the sooner we can all get back to our lives. Agreed?”
Zoe nodded.
“Are we good, Jena?” he asked.
“I'm staying with you,” she said.
“Okay.” He smiled.
Ephraim took the coin from Zoe. It was still warm from its time in the machine. He slid it back into the controller, and it wobbled into the air a couple of inches above its groove.
“Can't we just set the coordinates for Nathaniel's universe with the controller to program the radio?” Ephraim asked.
Zoe pulled them up on the screen, and the coin reoriented, but nothing changed on the radio.
“It looks like the Charon device can't control the radio,” Zoe said. “It was a good idea, though.”
“That makes sense,” Jena said. “We can use the coin and controller to monitor the frequencies, and it's obviously boosting the range significantly, but the information exchange only goes one way.”
“So we'll know when we have the correct coordinates, but we can't take any shortcuts,” Zoe said. “If I had enough time, I could probably set up a two-way interface. The easiest thing would be to solder the motherboard from the controller to the radio…”
“And if you break the controller, the nearest service facility is in the universe we're trying to find,” Ephraim said.
He spun the knob as far to the left as it would go. The coin spun rapidly and shuddered to a stop. The arrow on the dial shot to the left, and gears rumbled within the radio.
Ephraim yawned as he nudged the knob forward the tiniest bit.
“We'll just have to do this the slightly-easier-but-still-annoyingly-hard way,” he said. “It's gonna be a long night.”
Ephraim advanced the dial a tiny bit and heard only the hiss of open air on a dead frequency. Zoe sat in a chair beside him, clutching the controller in her left hand. She shook her head. The coin remained still over the controller and the screen was blank.
“Next,” Zoe croaked.
They had painstakingly crept through all the stations one frequency at a time. Then they'd done it again in the opposite direction. They had picked up dozens of transmissions from other universes, but not once had they heard
Jena cleared her throat. “How long is this going to take?”
“You have somewhere else to be?” Zoe asked.
Jena glanced wistfully at the time on Zoe's VCR, almost hidden by a tower of old videotapes labeled “The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis” in Mr. Kim's neat print. It was just after 1 a.m.
“Not anymore,” Jena said. She'd been planning the details of their prom night for months, but this hadn't figured into any of them.
“We have time, Jena. Your folks aren't expecting you until tomorrow,” Ephraim said.
“Oh?” Zoe said.
“They think I'm staying with…” She swallowed. “Friends.”
“Miss Perfect lied to her parents?” Zoe asked. “What debauchery did you have planned this weekend?”
Jena and Ephraim exchanged glances.
“Oh!” Zoe said. She looked away.
“It's not just that. I mean, we have classes on Monday. Exams coming up,” Jena said. “I have to write my speech for graduation.” Her voice rose, and she was talking more quickly, on the verge of a panic attack.
“Jena, remember what happened to your friends,” Zoe said. “This is important.”
“I know, but…” She looked at Ephraim helplessly. “This isn't part of the plan,” Jena said. “My life's important too. I have a future to think about.”
“I'm so sorry this happened at such an inconvenient time for you.” Zoe plucked the coin away from the controller. The radio hissed its displeasure. “He can drop you off right now in your universe, if you're that worried about your future .”
“Hey,” Ephraim protested. “Hold on.”
“Honestly, you're kind of redundant here, Jena,” Zoe said.
“Speak for yourself,” Jena said.
“I just did.”
“Guys. Let's just get on with this,” Ephraim said. “The sooner we get in touch with Nathaniel, the sooner we can all get back to our lives. Agreed?”
Zoe nodded.
“Are we good, Jena?” he asked.
“I'm staying with you,” she said.
“Okay.” He smiled.
Ephraim took the coin from Zoe. It was still warm from its time in the machine. He slid it back into the controller, and it wobbled into the air a couple of inches above its groove.
“Can't we just set the coordinates for Nathaniel's universe with the controller to program the radio?” Ephraim asked.
Zoe pulled them up on the screen, and the coin reoriented, but nothing changed on the radio.
“It looks like the Charon device can't control the radio,” Zoe said. “It was a good idea, though.”
“That makes sense,” Jena said. “We can use the coin and controller to monitor the frequencies, and it's obviously boosting the range significantly, but the information exchange only goes one way.”
“So we'll know when we have the correct coordinates, but we can't take any shortcuts,” Zoe said. “If I had enough time, I could probably set up a two-way interface. The easiest thing would be to solder the motherboard from the controller to the radio…”
“And if you break the controller, the nearest service facility is in the universe we're trying to find,” Ephraim said.
He spun the knob as far to the left as it would go. The coin spun rapidly and shuddered to a stop. The arrow on the dial shot to the left, and gears rumbled within the radio.
Ephraim yawned as he nudged the knob forward the tiniest bit.
“We'll just have to do this the slightly-easier-but-still-annoyingly-hard way,” he said. “It's gonna be a long night.”
Ephraim advanced the dial a tiny bit and heard only the hiss of open air on a dead frequency. Zoe sat in a chair beside him, clutching the controller in her left hand. She shook her head. The coin remained still over the controller and the screen was blank.
“Next,” Zoe croaked.
They had painstakingly crept through all the stations one frequency at a time. Then they'd done it again in the opposite direction. They had picked up dozens of transmissions from other universes, but not once had they heard
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