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One-Sided Doors

by R.T. Anders

313 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #03-1944; ISBN 1-4120-1567-7; US$24.95, C$32.00, EUR20.80, £14.41

Question: What do dinosaurs, saber-tooth cats, wooly mammoths, snowflakes in space, an abandoned asteroid, time-travel, and an incredible adventure have in common? Answer: One-Sided Doors by R.T. Anders.

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about the book      about the author      excerpts      catalogue info

About the Book Dr. Thomas Hughes is on top of the scientific world in 2013, although his personal life's a shambles. He's been awarded almost every honor available, including the Nobel Prize in physics for determining the constituent that carries gravity. Then why would his country's government be conspiring to ensure his death, and is there any way it can be avoided? Enter Kate...an attractive, intelligent lady from the year 2341 who has more than a professional interest in Dr. Hughes, yet is skeptical of his character because of certain requests made by Tom's friends and colleagues. When John, Kate's ... well, sort of brother, gets thrown into the mix, things take a decidedly strange and unusual turn. Apparently, he's deeply concerned about her preoccupation with Dr. Hughes, so during a rare indecisive moment, John unwittingly instigates an event chain that sends Tom and Kate on an escapade no one could have imagined. One-Sided Doors is a dramatic, romantic, humorous, science-fiction adventure. As the story unfolds, it will lock onto your eyes and relentlessly pull them across the pages all the way until the end, which is said to be: "simple, unexpected, light-hearted, and satisfying."

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About the Author R.T. Anders retired early after a 25-year career working with mainframe computers. His primary field of expertise was operating systems software and machine language programming. He has taught coding and diagnostic classes at the business and college level. Mr. Anders is thrilled by all the sciences along with the "miracles" they can perform for humankind and the world at large, but frightened by the consequences of their misuse or premature application. He has an honorable discharge from military service, a degree from Lawrence Technological University, and currently resides in Prescott Valley, Arizona.

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Excerpts

Author's preface to the 2361 edition (Gregorian Date) *

Since I am considered by some as a time traveler of renown, the powers that guide the academic world approached and requested that I write a pre-selected text concerning my exploits. Therefore, I had advance knowledge this book would become required reading for students embarking on a career in Timeline Distortion Recognition and Repair. In sympathy with those despising yet another typical dry memoir and mission log collection of my contemporaries operating in the last 40 to 50 years, I attempted to enhance the obvious and create an adventure.

In promoting the element of surprise for factual deeds already performed, it became necessary to manifest the supposition that at least one character be a native from the reasonably recent past. I arbitrarily selected the male protagonist which, in retrospect, seems the logical choice. To maintain some semblance of peace and tranquility amongst my peers, I cast myself as the character from these neighboring annals of time. In conclusion, my objective, and my hope, is to transcend the mundane, while enlightening, making at least one bit of rote learning more enjoyable.

As an aside, the publisher will transmit the full text, minus this preface of course, to an associate who by choice has remained in the past. The book will be printed under the guise of a work in the genre of science fiction, (an obsolete term - now called future fiction). The purpose of this exercise is simply their desire to participate in the celebration at the turning of the last millennium. Imagine if you will, the impact on the world if this preface were in fact not deleted. The purchaser would realize that instead of a new work by a current author, they would be buying a manuscript not prepared and written until another 360 years in the future.

A poignant example of why such extreme care and diligence must be maintained when dealing with the aspect of time. REMEMBER IT WELL. Good luck in all your future endeavors, even if they're in the past.

Cordially,
R. T. Anders

* 61.321 Sol System Standard Date

From Prologue

Dr. Thomas Hughes had finished his free-weight workout and exhausting run. Now, after a shower, he stood relaxing on his mountain home's deck, enjoying the quiet and gazing up into an inverted, shifting bowl of night sky. The sides were formed by the gently swaying seventy-foot ponderosa pines, while the dark, false, infinite bottom was liberally sprinkled with scintillating luminous points.

He found the sight awe inspiring. Such speculative scenes always caused him to inwardly reflect and consider the minuteness of one's existence. In a relative sense, life lasted only a second, allowing enough time for nothing more than the futile attempt to explore a single grain of sand.

Tom's body began to slowly sway with the rhythm of the soft enchanting music flowing from his home's interior. He chuckled, as the remembrance of a five-item childhood list tiptoed into the present, tapped a shoulder, and deftly positioned his musing within a shimmering, gossamer web of carefully selected memories.

Ever since Jurassic Park was first viewed, he'd wanted a pet T-rex, which was number one. The closest thing to date had been a six-foot green-iguana named Pookie-Oogly. Entries two through four ... anti-gravity, time-travel, and matter teletransportation ... had been significantly anomalous interests for a child. They stemmed from an early fascination of physics. His current work had directly led to the accomplishment of item two. He felt confident the future would supply answers to three and four.

Perhaps it was ironic that the first four items could actually come to fruition if enough time were allowed, although none of his friends had believed this possible. Whereas, the fifth and final item, love, which most people took for granted, proved to be the most elusive. Nonetheless, it had been added to the list when he was at the impressionable age of sixteen. His smile faded to a frown.

From Chapter 2

Tom frowned. "Are you always so ... complex? What do you do for entertainment, pull the second hand off clocks?"

The lady became quite animated; waving her arms like a bird that forgot how to fly. "Me! You're the one who won't be satisfied until every secret of the universe is bagged, tied, and labeled with your own personal monogram."

"Careful, Miss Bright, I know we talked a lot last night, but this could be the start of an actual conversation. And ... for your verbose, but misbegotten information, I can be just as content with the simple things in life. Give me a small block that'll turn eight-five, a close-ratio four-speed, a five-eighty-six rear gear, and I'm a happy guy."

A decidedly concerned and quizzical expression formed on her face while staring at her portable device's display. Tom couldn't pass up the opportunity for a tease. "What's the matter ... bad news from home? Don't tell me, the sun just winked out and that thing can't run on batteries."

She pulled what was evidently a wireless micro-receiver from her ear and checked it. "It's just static. That means the machine's interpreter is confused. My, um, device, can translate any human language including most sub-dialects and colloquial expressions, but it hasn't a clue as to why a small block of something with the dimensions five by eight, together with the numbers four, and five-eighty-six, should make you feel so elated."

For some impish reason, that pleased him to no end. "The coffee's ready, so I'll let you stew over that little tidbit while I get the cups. Do you use cream and sugar?"

Kate shrugged. "I don't know. I've never had coffee."

From Chapter 3

Kate frowned. "You've changed your mind about going. The simulations were correct, I've been expecting it."

"I view it as never having had a choice. It seems like my mind was being made up for me. I'm extremely curious about something. Even with the chaos I supposedly created, the world powers obviously didn't destroy life on earth. Why is it necessary to change the order of things? Maybe, knowing what I do now, I'll just skip the country when things get hectic."

"Think about what you just said, Dr. Hughes. You, would in fact, be changing the outcome of history. The pressure valve previously available would be missing, and according to simulations, after a massive global confrontation, life on earth would indeed end."

"Okay, let's assume I believe my life is worth giving in trade for the work I will accomplish before its end. I live alone, who'd miss me. The only two places I'm happy is here at home, and buried in my work at a lab.

You alluded to the fact yourself ... discovery of the tachyon is one of the most important scientific finds on record. Now you're asking me to give it up. That should be my choice. Where does that leave your logic at this point?"

Her face took on a pleading expression. "There's more to the story than I told you. I was hoping to manage without the gruesome details."

"I thought I could trust you, was I wrong?"

Kate shook her head. "No. I haven't lied to you, but some things were purposely omitted."

"Lying by omission is still an untruth."

From Chapter 5

Kate walked to one of the TMT's and touched pressure sensitive marks on the control section of its ring. Her slow nod indicated an acceptance of the settings. The direction of the scan-lens was adjusted until it was approximately perpendicular to a line between the two units. She walked to a second TMT and performed the identical procedure.

Kate returned to the first TMT and positioned herself directly in front of the lens, approximately five feet from it. Her wrist device gave an audible countdown. On the tick of zero, a dazzling glow enveloped her entire body, then the area immediately returned to a normal light setting. She turned towards him. "Safety feature number one, I'm not standing on a transfer mat."

His gaze fell to the ground by her shoes, confirming the absence of anything unusual. "Is one of these mats a highly complex mixture of future compounds?"

She laughed. "Hardly. They're literally made of any scrap material that's currently available at production time. The only thing that makes them special is a micro-thin layer of iridium. You're probably aware that's an extremely rare earth element, so it's the perfect delineation between ground zero and whatever is being transported."

Kate opened a door on the nearest TMT tube, extracted a rolled sheet of material, placed it on the ground at her original position, stepped on, and restarted the countdown. Another flash ... and then an untold number of barely visible lines shredded her body like bullets passing through paper. It was easily the most amazing thing he had ever witnessed, making the extraordinary experience of yesterday seem commonplace. There wasn't even any smoke, then it dawned on him ... there wasn't anything, including no Miss Bright.

From Chapter 6

Tom's quiet wait became nerve racking. Kate's second TMT finally emitted a stunning burst of light, and the system that fabricated her vanishing act operated in reverse. There stood Miss Bright, who turned, spread her arms, and issued a simple, "Ta da."

Tom had no memory of standing up, but abruptly realized his legs were wobbling, so sat back down and breathed a deep sigh of relief. "I thought for a minute something had gone wrong. I expected you to appear at the other TMT instantaneously."

Kate grinned. "I thought you'd appreciate a little suspense, so I added a five-second delay. You seemed to enjoy the theatrics yesterday."

"I liked this one about as much as having a piano fall on my head. That five seconds seemed like five hours."

She smiled coyly. "Hmm, it sounds like you were worried about me, Dr. Hughes."

Tom blushed. "Well, if something happens to you, who else will pay for my window?"

She flicked her eyebrows, then bent down and picked up the mat that Tom now noticed had transmitted with her. It was rolled up and replaced in the tube.

"Any Questions?"

"Ha! How many do I get?"

Kate smiled. "Let's try them one at a time."

"When you reintegrated, there was a rushing of air, almost a wind. What caused that noise?"

She considered for a moment. "Before I answer, I need to know what you remember about the elemental constituents of the body."

Tom shrugged. "Do you mean muscle, skin, bone, and other such items?"

"No ... as in proportions of oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, etc."

"Oh. In that case, I only remember if my body gets bumped hard, it hurts."

Kate nodded. "Uh huh. Remind me to never let you adjust the physiological settings on a TMT.

From Chapter 20

She fed the animal half a dozen tablets, and soon, the tentacle like proboscis prompted for more. "It's working."

"Good. Lead it over here."

Tom climbed on top of their snow wall with the sleeping bags. "It's too tall to load from down there."

Kate moved and stood by the wall. The mammoth followed like a well-trained dog. She offered it another course, which it gladly accepted.

Tom unrolled the sleeping bags, tied their straps together, then slipped one on either side of the animal's back, with the openings toward the top. The TMT's were quickly disassembled and placed in the improvised carriers, followed by the other few pieces of equipment. He took a final look around and jumped down. "Okay, that's it. Now for us."

"Where are we supposed to sit?"

"On the built-in seats, where else?" He gently stroked the animal's face, sat on a tusk, and then leaned back against the huge nose. "Hop on the other one. Hold on, and remember to pick up your feet."

Kate approached slowly, sat on the opposite incisor, then gasped when the animal lurched into motion. "Well, it certainly seems docile enough."

Tom stretched out and locked his fingers behind his head. "Nothing like traveling first class."

From Chapter 22

Clearly, one of the most fascinating things about the settlement, aside from its surprising cleanliness, was a communal cooking pot. It had somehow been chiseled out of a large, single piece of rock and then supported over a fire pit by smaller stones below its base. The clan's younger women cleaned the vessel, half filled it with water, and then kept a fire stoked underneath.

Elder ladies cleaned potato, carrot, and beet like roots, adding them along with some other unknown herbs and greens. The root vegetables were not uniform in size or shape as modern crossed breeds, but looked tasty nonetheless. Lastly, the earlier group of women returned with many platters of chopped oomba, completing what evidently was a stew like meal.

Tom closely scrutinized one of the empty platters, then showed it to Kate. "This is clay. Not only that, it's been fired." He turned, looking back at a previously inspected object. "I'll bet that hollow rock pile is a kiln. This place is amazing. I would have never anticipated this level of sophistication. They've combined hunting with rudimentary tool making and a basic form of agriculture. Did you notice the women preparing the roots? They were saving seeds and cuttings to replant."

A moment later he laughed softly to himself. Her eyes left the platter.

"What's so amusing?"

"It's so different from what I always envisioned. I half expected the men to be clubbing each other and dragging the women around by their hair. So much for movies' views of things."

Kate scoffed, "Just don't get any wild ideas."

From Chapter 40

The couple integrated near one end of a long line of MMT stations. It was a large, rock-walled, well-lit room, crowded with people going in every direction. Tom rotated one way, then the other. "I wonder where we go now."

"I don't know ... I haven't been here before either, so I'm afraid we're on a more common footing now. We'd better get off the machine quickly though ... remember what happened on L4."

Tom stepped down and turned completely around. He looked up and saw a board with printing on it. "There's a sign that says 'arrivals' ... that sounds promising."

Tom walked up to a counter while Kate waited a few steps behind. There was a robot waiting to assist. "First trip to the moon?"

"Yes."

"Traveling together?"

"Yes."

"Place a hand on the palm scanner, please ... thank you ... are you Dr. Thomas Hughes?"

"Yes."

"Hmm, this can't be correct. The records indicate you're 362 years old."

"I traveled forward from the past."

"Oh? Let me try data integration. Ah, yes ... Dr. Thomas Einstein Hughes, born March 29 ... 1979. My, my, my, my, my ... and I thought our equipment was outdated."

It turned and yelled across at some fellow robots. "Hey, you guys want a good laugh ... punch in Hughes comma Thomas and observe what comes up."

The robot faced back towards Tom as if nothing had happened. "Is this Dr. Khattyba Bright with you?"

Tom blinked. "Uh, yes it is."

It nodded towards Kate. "It's an honor to have a member of TheTwenty visit our drab little piece of rock. Welcome, Dr. Bright."

"Thank you. It's nice to finally be here," after which she mumbled, "I think."

From Chapter 41

Tom stared out the control tower's window at the bleak, cold, rocky, dusty, red surface of Mars ... where in domed, subterranean cities ... humans lived.

Kate had just returned from a flight, upgrading her ex-mo certificate to off-planet pilot status. She still planned on letting the computer do most of the flying and navigation, but felt it's always advantageous to have manual control training in case of an emergency. She walked into the tower room, over to Tom, and slid an arm around his waist. "I just learned a lot of interesting things about Mars from my instructor. Probably one of the most important is that the planet is near aphelion."

"I know there's aphelion and perihelion, but I don't use the terms often enough to remember one from the other."

"Aphelion is the point when an object is furthest from the sun in its orbit, which on Mars, means reduced solar heating, and therefore, far fewer and less violent sandstorms ... a good time of year for traveling. Perihelion is the opposite; it's closest to the sun. The good weather will work to our advantage because there's a great deal of sightseeing available."

"What do you have planned?"

From Chapter 42

After traveling 406 million miles in approximately 36 minutes, Tom and Kate emerged on Ceres. The reception area was busy, but poorly lit. People stole quick, almost cautious glances at the newly arrived couple, then seemed to make a determined effort at fading away into the shadows.

Tom studied their reactions. "We were warned about this. The three most important commodities in TheBelt are food, water, and energy. There's barely enough for the locals, so they don't like sharing with visitors."

Kate noticed him straining to heft his bag off the integration platform. "Tom, am I imagining things or have you added even more to your cache of paraphernalia?"

"Actually, I took your advice and lightened my load. I have only a few clothes left. The rest I already sent home via standard interplanetary mail facilities. Most of what I have in here is a secret weapon that'll hopefully convince the local accommodation's manager to help us."

"What was the seed for this inspiration?"

"Remember when we were sitting at the bar last night waiting for our table and you went to powder your nose?"

"Yes."

"The guy on my left and I struck up a conversation while you were gone. He and his wife, Aristae, live on Mars, but apparently he spends a lot of time commuting between home and TheBelt. He's a mining operations manager and I think his name is Dar. Anyway, we were talking about things in general when they got a page over the intercom announcing their table was ready.

Dar and Aristae started walking away, but before getting too far he turned and told me the best way to make inroads with TheBelt locals is by bringing a gift of what they need most. I asked him what he meant, to which he replied, 'think about it', and then he was lost in the crowd."

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Catalogue Information

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