ancestral home of the House of Fuilrix, with a small town on Old Earth called Dogwood. For many decades the House of Fuilrix has tried without success to acquire ownership of the land where the portal, Aurora Hollow, exists. Aurora Hollow is the final uncontrolled portal, and the royal family considers it an unacceptable threat to their secrecy from the world they fled 2,000 years before.
* * *
“Land of the Midnight Sun,” Katie said, her curiosity piqued. “What is a Midnight Sun?”
“I’m not certain,” Erasmus said. “No one on my world knows what it is, but I believe it is what your astronomers call a black hole.”
“Now you’ve done it,” Bowen said. “You’ve stumbled onto one of his pet subjects.”
Erasmus bypassed his usual grumpiness and smiled widely.
“My theory is that the first major divergence between your world and mine was the formation of a second sun in our solar system.”
Katie nodded as if this made perfect sense.
“Most solar systems are binary,” she said, happy for an excuse to discuss one of her favorite subjects. “Ours is kind of an oddball.”
“Indeed,” Erasmus said, almost bouncing in place in his enthusiasm. “Some of your astronomers think there’s a massive, undiscovered gas giant even bigger than Jupiter, a Planet X that might have become a second sun, but didn’t.”
“That’s a pretty fringe theory,” Katie said.
Erasmus ignored her and plowed on.
“Whether it didn’t acquire enough mass, or lacked some other essential spark, it’s there, but too far away from the sun to reflect any of its light.”
Penny yawned.
Erasmus ignored her as well.
“In my solar system, there are no Uranus, Neptune, or Pluto, and no sign of the rocky debris in your Kuiper Belt.” He rubbed his hands together and grinned so widely Penny thought the top of his head might fall right off. “I believe my Planet X did become a star, and one massive enough to consume all of the matter that would have become your outer planets. It became so huge in fact, that it collapsed in on itself to become a black hole. The bright ring we see in our night sky is its accretion disk, the light that it’s pulling into itself.”
“Like Saturn’s rings, but made of light?” Ellen ventured, then seemed surprised when Erasmus responded with a sharp nod.
“Exactly.”
Anxious to steer the conversation back into the land of the comprehensible, Penny cleared her throat and addressed Bowen.
“Is that the book that got you in trouble?”
“It is,” Bowen said. “It was the legend of the Death of the Phoenix that angered them more than the histories.”
“It’s a punishable offence in Galatania to openly discuss the Phoenix,” Erasmus said. “The Reds don’t like having their noses rubbed in it.”
“Punishable?” Katie sounded equal parts curious and skeptical. “Punishable by what?”
“Fines and imprisonment usually,” Bowen said. “But they took special exception to my crime.”
“He didn’t just talk about it,” Erasmus clarified. “He used their own press, a one of a kind tool in our world, and printed hundreds of copies of the taboo subject, then distributed them far and wide.”
“I was lucky to not be executed,” Bowen said.
“That’s a little harsh,” Ellen said.
“It was treason,” Erasmus said and shrugged. “Your government still executes people for treason.”
“Just for writing a book?” Zoe seemed to think they might be having their legs pulled.
“Ideas can be dangerous things,” Bowen said. “And the right book can be a weapon.”
“And speaking of books,” Erasmus said, “I’d like a look at the book you keep hidden here. Ronan told me a little about it, but I’d like to see it for myself.”
Penny had no more than to think about him, and Rocky was at her side. He removed the key from around his neck and dropped it into her open palm, then scrambled up the old ash tree to the split in the trunk. The old tree bore
* * *
“Land of the Midnight Sun,” Katie said, her curiosity piqued. “What is a Midnight Sun?”
“I’m not certain,” Erasmus said. “No one on my world knows what it is, but I believe it is what your astronomers call a black hole.”
“Now you’ve done it,” Bowen said. “You’ve stumbled onto one of his pet subjects.”
Erasmus bypassed his usual grumpiness and smiled widely.
“My theory is that the first major divergence between your world and mine was the formation of a second sun in our solar system.”
Katie nodded as if this made perfect sense.
“Most solar systems are binary,” she said, happy for an excuse to discuss one of her favorite subjects. “Ours is kind of an oddball.”
“Indeed,” Erasmus said, almost bouncing in place in his enthusiasm. “Some of your astronomers think there’s a massive, undiscovered gas giant even bigger than Jupiter, a Planet X that might have become a second sun, but didn’t.”
“That’s a pretty fringe theory,” Katie said.
Erasmus ignored her and plowed on.
“Whether it didn’t acquire enough mass, or lacked some other essential spark, it’s there, but too far away from the sun to reflect any of its light.”
Penny yawned.
Erasmus ignored her as well.
“In my solar system, there are no Uranus, Neptune, or Pluto, and no sign of the rocky debris in your Kuiper Belt.” He rubbed his hands together and grinned so widely Penny thought the top of his head might fall right off. “I believe my Planet X did become a star, and one massive enough to consume all of the matter that would have become your outer planets. It became so huge in fact, that it collapsed in on itself to become a black hole. The bright ring we see in our night sky is its accretion disk, the light that it’s pulling into itself.”
“Like Saturn’s rings, but made of light?” Ellen ventured, then seemed surprised when Erasmus responded with a sharp nod.
“Exactly.”
Anxious to steer the conversation back into the land of the comprehensible, Penny cleared her throat and addressed Bowen.
“Is that the book that got you in trouble?”
“It is,” Bowen said. “It was the legend of the Death of the Phoenix that angered them more than the histories.”
“It’s a punishable offence in Galatania to openly discuss the Phoenix,” Erasmus said. “The Reds don’t like having their noses rubbed in it.”
“Punishable?” Katie sounded equal parts curious and skeptical. “Punishable by what?”
“Fines and imprisonment usually,” Bowen said. “But they took special exception to my crime.”
“He didn’t just talk about it,” Erasmus clarified. “He used their own press, a one of a kind tool in our world, and printed hundreds of copies of the taboo subject, then distributed them far and wide.”
“I was lucky to not be executed,” Bowen said.
“That’s a little harsh,” Ellen said.
“It was treason,” Erasmus said and shrugged. “Your government still executes people for treason.”
“Just for writing a book?” Zoe seemed to think they might be having their legs pulled.
“Ideas can be dangerous things,” Bowen said. “And the right book can be a weapon.”
“And speaking of books,” Erasmus said, “I’d like a look at the book you keep hidden here. Ronan told me a little about it, but I’d like to see it for myself.”
Penny had no more than to think about him, and Rocky was at her side. He removed the key from around his neck and dropped it into her open palm, then scrambled up the old ash tree to the split in the trunk. The old tree bore
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