A Million Little Pieces Of My Mind

Bradley slept heavily that night, but he was troubled by dreams. This is what he dreamed:

He was in a well-appointed room, lying on a soft pallet but not for sleeping. Rather, he was performing business duties as men came in and made reports of various regions under his command. Bradley realized that he was a ruler and rather bored by the affairs of state. Finally he ordered the bureaucrats away and left the room that served as his office.

Outside the sun was bright; Bradley surveyed a fertile valley filled with toiling peasants, toiling but happy and prosperous. Low palms lined the road and barges could be seen floating in the river beyond.

Suddenly the pavement melted beneath his feet and he was falling, falling! He tried to find Marquette's body beside him but all he could see was a brilliant light. He threw up his arms to protect his eyes; when he lowered them he was in the elevator with Dawn and Ahmed, the guide. Ahmed was telling Bradley that his real name was Ra-Tu, and New Dawn kept holding her hand before her mouth to warn him not to say anything. Finally she stuffed her lamp device into Ahmed's mouth and the elevator began to fall again—but Bradley somehow knew that it was out of control and about to crash into the Egyptian spears at the bottom of the elevator shaft. Bradley jumped into the air and suddenly—

He was awake. He lay on the terrace, alone, in the bright daylight. Still naked, he rose and felt the morning sun's rays warm his body. The terrace walls were high and covered with vines; only one was low enough to permit a city view. Turned away from that, the effect was that of being in a country garden, since all one could see of the outside world was sky.

And what a sky! It was a bright, golden yellow—a topaz so deep that Bradley felt he could fall up into it. Birds flew far overhead and the sun shone through a thin morning mist that lined the lower regions of the sky. All in all—it seemed to be a fine day on another planet.

It seemed to be early; and Bradley heard not a sound from the interior of the apartment. Therefore, when he spotted a robe lying on a bench and a thick, dark-bound book on top, he decided to take his time dressing rather than chancing awakening Dawn before she was ready to rise.

The robe was a simple one, cut something like a poncho, and Bradley had no trouble putting it on. The book attracted his attention with more vigor, however. It was a weighty tome whose cover said, simply, "The Book". (It was several seconds before Bradley realized that the words were not English, nor were the letters Roman.) He opened the book, aware that it had been left for that purpose—it had, after all, been placed on top of the robe—and noted immediately that it appeared to be brand new, or at least, never before opened. The other thing that required concentration was the way the book was bound: at the top, like a logbook. But he got to the first page, and the significance of the volume was immediately apparent:

IN THE BEGINNING THERE WAS CHAOS BETWEEN THE POSITIVES AND THE NEGATIVES; AND THE FATHER SAW THAT IT WAS NOT GOOD. SO HE CREATED A FIRMAMENT, AND DIVIDED THE FIRMAMENT FROM THE FIRMAMENT, AND PLACED THE POSITIVES IN ONE FIRMAMENT AND THE NEGATIVES IN THE OTHER. AND THE POSITIVES HE CALLED ANGELS, AND THE NEGATIVES HE CALLED PEOPLE, BECAUSE THEY WERE THE OPPOSITE OF ANGELS. AND TO THE PEOPLE HE BESTOWED THE TSHUNUI, RULER OF THE NIGHT, BECAUSE IT WAS ALWAYS DARK IN THEIR SIDE OF THE FIRMAMENT. BUT TO THE ANGELS HE GAVE HIS SON, THE TSHUNAI, LORD OF THE DAY, BECAUSE THEIRS WAS THE LIGHT. AND EACH, THE ANGELS AND THE PEOPLE.

EACH BUILT WORLDS IN THEIR FIRMAMENT TO THEIR LIKING. THE PEOPLE BUILT THEM A SKY OF GOLD, TO SHOW THEIR LOVE OF MONEY; BUT THE ANGELS BUILT THEM A SKY OF BLUE TO SHOW THEIR CLOSENESS TO TSHUN, THE FATHER. AND THE FIRMAMENT IS A CIRCLE, FOR THE WORLD OF PEOPLE BECOMES THE WORLD OF ANGELS, AND THE WORLD OF ANGELS BECOMES THE WORLD OF PEOPLE. THIS SAYS THE WRITER, AND THE WRITER KNOWS TRUTH.

Bradley felt lucky with his new-found ability with this strange language; he imagined that The Book was as obtuse to the average citizen of this world as The Bible was to the average American; yet he could read it clearly. He flipped a few pages and went on:

THROUGH THE GATES THE WEARY ANGELS TRUDGED, MOURNFUL FOR THEIR LOSS OF HEAVEN. AND THE FATHER SAID, LO, YOU ARE NOT GOING FROM ME, FOR ALL THINGS ARE MINE. THIS SAYS THE WRITER, AND THE WRITER KNOWS TRUTH.

And,

THE FATHER HAS TRULY BLESSED US, FOR WE HAVE FIELDS AND RIVERS AND MOUNTAINS, MORE THAN ANY PERSON COULD WANT. TRULY WITH THIS SHALL WE BE DELIVERED OF OUR NEED OF MONEY, AND CAN RETURN TO HEAVEN WHEN TIME TURNS AROUND ONCE MORE.

Abruptly Bradley noticed the existence of delightful odors indicative of something delicious cooking inside. He carefully placed The Book on the bench and entered.

Inside it was cool and dark, but not too dark. The apartment had no walls, but was divided into sections by the furniture. At the far end he recognized Dawn and he could see another, older woman sitting on the floor at a low table. He approached and Dawn smiled. "Enjoy the first light, Sunshine," Bradley didn't know the correct response for this delightful greeting, so he simply wished everyone a good morning.

They seemed satisfied with this and Dawn said, "Bradley, I present my Mother, Jewel-like. I have told her about finding you. She is a physicist, and has assured me that our food is safe for you to eat."

"I took a tissue sample from you while you slept," the elderly woman stated. "Although the sample proved you to be human, your pale skin and red hair and beard show you to be not of Kiri. And Dawn assures me that there is no other man like you in the world." Bradley glanced sharply at his lover of the night before, but she was looking demurely into her beverage cup. "Eat!" insisted Dawn's mother. "There are fruits and juices, and a protein cake. It will be a long day, and you may be hungry so eat while you have the chance."

Bradley did as he was told and found that the breakfast tasted as good as it smelled. The "protein cake" was pretty similar to a greaseless sausage patty; the tart fruit and sweet juice went well together. But his hunger was more for information than for food, and he said so.

"Do you mean to say that you don't know where you are from?" asked Jewel.

"I know where I'm from," answered the Earthman. "What I don't know is where I am, or how I got here."

"Are you sure you didn't come from—Heaven?"

Bradley raised an eyebrow. "Look," he said, "I know you left me your Holy Book to read and all, but I've been raised in the religions of another world, and I'm not all that sure there even is a heaven."

Dawn and Jewel exchanged meaningful looks, although Bradley couldn't guess what the meaning was. Then Jewel broke the silence: "You are on the world Kiri, third outwards from its sun. There are ten known planets in its solar system; its nearest star is over four light-years away. One planet in the Solar System is ringed," she added. "Does that help you?"

Bradley shook his head morosely. "That could be a description of my Earth," he said, "and I've no idea how many other planets. I'm not an astronomer; I'm an archaeologist."

"A what?"

"Archaeologist. I study things of the past. And mine is pretty confusing."

"Does your Earth have any outstanding features? Perhaps our astronomers have spotted it."

"Just a tremendous moon, compared to its own size...and a blue sky."

At this Jewel trembled, and Dawn gasped. "What's wrong?" asked Bradley urgently, for they looked as if they might faint.

"Bradley," began Dawn hesitantly, "I have never been a religious person..."

"Neither have I," retorted the man shortly.

"I don't know much of the Book by heart. But you look like, and talk like, the Tshunai—the Son of God."

"What—?!" At first astonished, Bradley began to laugh. That was why they had left their little-used Book out for him. It was an old story and not a flattering one: a stranger turns up looking like nobody anyone has ever seen, and inside a week somebody has decided he is a god. It had happened often enough on Earth, and the strangers had almost never turned out to be worth the trouble. "Look," he said, "let's at least get this straight. Just because I don't know how I got here doesn't mean you can palm off godhood on me. I glanced through your Book before, and I'm sure it's very interesting, but if my being here is going to produce a religious sensation, then, I'll just have to go somewhere else." So saying, Bradley realized he had half-risen from the floor and slowly lowered himself. After all, he didn't really have anywhere else to go.

"Sit, Bradley, and eat. At no time has my daughter or I actually said we believe that you are the Son of God. However, I do believe you come from the world we know as 'Heaven'."

"Now, wait—"

"You wait," snapped the old woman tartly. "I am still speaking. You said you had glanced at the Book; if you did you probably started at or near the beginning. Did it not occur to you that the World of People and World of Angels describe Kiri and Earth, at least if Earth really has a blue sky (though what could cause that I have no idea)?"

"Mother has been trying to prove that the Book is actually a history of our past and not just a religious document."

"With very little help from the priesthood," muttered the old lady. "They think a physicist should study only physics. But if, at some time in our past, there was a migration from your world to ours, it would explain many things—including our physical similarities, which are too numerous to be explained by parallel evolution."

Bradley tried to recall what he had read that morning. "There were several references to 'Time turning around'. Where would that fit into your explanation?"

Jewel admitted that she hadn't been able to figure that out yet. "But it's obvious to me that Kiri and Earth are separated more than by physical barriers. Dawn tells me that, last night, you said the stars appeared to be backwards to you. Is that so?"

"Yes," Bradley answered excitedly. He remembered how strange the flickering points of light had appeared, as though he had been looking at them through a mirror.

"That might not be impossible, if Kiri and Earth co-existed in the same space, but were separated by some higher dimension. You might easily have been laterally inverted in the process."

"Laterally—what?"

Jewel cleared part of the table, except for one utensil which Bradley had been using for a knife. The handle was straight, but the blade had a definite S curve which fit into the fruit he had been eating. "Let us say that this tabletop is a two-dimensional universe, and this knife is a two-dimensional object within that universe. I can move it about all I want, but the serrated edge will always be on the right side of the knife."

"All right."

"However," continued the scientist, "if I add a dimension—that of height—to the table, then I can lift the knife up, and turn it over—and when it is back on the table, the serrated edge appears on the left side. It has been laterally inverted: it sees its universe backwards, and its universe sees it backwards."

"Oh."

"Now, let's pretend that there is another tabletop suspended a foot over the first, facing it. When we lift the knife into the air to turn it over, we can as well place it on the other table top. Now it is not only laterally inverted, it is on another tabletop—as you are."

"Wow."

"Bradley," broke in Dawn, "can you remember anything that happened before you came here?"

"Of course!" exclaimed the Earthman, upset to think that the two had thought him a total amnesiac. "And the last thing that happened to me, before I got here, was that I fell into a pit in which were placed a couple of electronic or energy-filled devices. The next thing I knew was lying on your street."

Jewel was not successful in hiding her excitement. "And where was this pit?"

Bradley grinned slowly. "It was in a very old building...a thousands-of-years-old building."

"There is one other thing that you must be aware of, Bradley." Dawn looked at him intently. "No matter how logically Mother looks at the matter, our myths from the dawn of time talk of fair-skinned gods with hair the color of fire. During the Dark Ages, another prophecy rose—that a Son of God would appear to lead the people out of war and unify the planet. There are many people who make their money from the death that warring nations cause. If you step outside this apartment, half the people on this planet will worship you as a god, no matter what you wish."

"And, Bradley," added Jewel, "the other half will try to kill you."