Free Piercing The Fold by Venessa Kimball

was only dust and gravel. The atmosphere’s air appeared dense and heavy. Sebastian looked up to find a source of light. A sun and moon were almost invisible in the atmosphere.
    He had charted constellations for decades. He was familiar with the charted galaxies and moons that existed in our universe. His eyes traveled the atmosphere above, looking for any familiar constellations. The space above was whirling with a yellow-tinged gas just thick enough to hide any noticeable design of stars.
    The temperature readings, well below freezing, would not support life on this hard, barren, tundra-like terrain.
    * * *
 
    I interrupt, “So it was a lifeless planet. No alien life?”
    Ezra questions me. “Aliens? What makes an alien? Just that if the traveler is the foreign being? We are all alien in that respect.”
    I nod once, acknowledging his reasoning. “Point taken. So, there was no sign of life?”
    “Like I said, on the surface there was no sign of life. Subterranean life existed, though. Sebastian found burrows an hour into his expedition.
    “The burrows were wide enough for a grown man to climb down. In the burrows, about fifty yards below the hard ground, there were open caves and caverns with springs. Sebastian steered clear of contact with the springs, unsure of the liquid’s composition and elements. Among the edges of these springs, Sebastian found plant life and fungal spores. They were exotic in appearance, a deep shade of purple and luminescent blue. Life existed in the springs as well. Below the crystal clear surface were iridescent green fishlike organisms.”
    Ezra looks at me. “Can you imagine being somewhere that you want to learn so much about, but your time is limited? Sebastian was running out of time quickly. His oxygen level in his suit was already low, reading forty-five minutes remaining.
    “Sebastian needed to move quickly. He collected specimens and documented his findings. Sebastian also brought supplies to construct a grander scale Copula to attach to this world.
    “The Copula would be the tag, a homing device, for this world for future travel. The Copula around his neck and the Copula on this world would always be linked, a union with their own unique coding. All that remained for this expedition was the naming of this world. He looked at his left hand. Still encircling his ring finger was the gold band signifying his wife and his union. He named the world Dobria.”

Chapter 13
    I take a sip of my diet Dr. Pepper. “Did he get back?”
    “Yes. But he could not wait for his return to Dobria. After the first expedition, Sebastian spent days researching where in this universe he could have ended up. How far was he from our galaxy? What galaxy was he in?
    “After analyzing the crystal-clear liquid the organisms in Dobria were swimming in, which turned out to be H20, Sebastian knew it had to be a world with earthlike qualities and elements. This only made him want to travel to Dobria again to discover other similarities.
    “His return travels to Dobria were more methodical and calculated. With the programming of the Copula, he was able to determine the coordinates of the galaxy that contained Dobria, the Andromeda galaxy. He had programmed a link between the Copula in Dobria and the Copula he wore so that the wormhole would be controlled for consistent travel. Sebastian spent days at a time in the new world. Days in Dobria were weeks on Earth; properties of time differed so radically. Consequently, Sebastian’s body began to adapt to the alteration of time. The more frequently he traveled to Dobria, the longer the stays, the less he would age. Other alterations began to take hold. Along with the new environment he was studying and the multiple organisms that were being discovered on Dobria, Sebastian was experiencing physical and metaphysical alterations within himself.”
    I interrupt with a snicker. “Like what? Could he levitate and read minds?”
    Ezra chuckles. “Yes, among other