Through the Looking Glass Ch. 02

Mitch brought her up to his face and gently kissed her, running his hand through her wild, unkempt hair.

"I love you."

Lisa smiled, the tear leaving her eye, "I love you."

Relaxing back onto the pillows, the satisfied pair snuggled together, touching and caressing each other, and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Lisa squealed under the hot spray of the shower when Mitch reached down and pinched her round ass. She turned and gave him a scrunched faced look.

"Didn't you get enough last night?" she asked, not quite able to hide the grin that tugged at her lips.

Mitch chuckled, rubbing the soap into her shoulders and back, "I can never get enough of you; you know that."

She giggled, rinsing the suds off her arms, "You are such a horn dog."

"I can't help it. A beautiful woman like you... I'm afraid somebody will come along and try to steal you away from me when I'm not looking."

Smiling, Lisa turned around and draped her wet arms over his shoulders, hugging him and pressing her slippery body against his, "Not a chance, handsome. I'm more worried about some babe strutting up and trying to get her claws into you."

"No way," said Mitch, rubbing the remaining soap off of her body and rubbing her back to slide his hands down and cup her beautiful butt cheeks, "I've got all the 'babe' I need right here," and lovingly kissed her as the water cascaded down their skin.

After rinsing, the loving couple exited the bathroom and dressed, readying themselves for the day's events; mainly, the dimensional gateway that will open later in the morning.

Driving towards the lab, they decided to stop for a while and explore the city further. They discussed their plans for the next 'jump' as they found more differences in the city that technically wasn't theirs.

"That fountain is different," Lisa remarked as they strolled through the small park taking in the sights, with Mitch concurring. The granite horse, rearing back on its hind legs, stood proudly in the middle of the spray of water where before an elephant marked the location.

"I guess all the differences we've seen proves our theory," said Mitch, idly perusing the flower beds lining the walkway where there were suppose to be small apple blossom saplings, "One decision is all it takes to alter events and things in the dimensions, even if it's just mundane and ordinary."

"Or alter them drastically," Lisa warned, "I've been thinking about a few things while we've been here. The things we've seen aren't all that different from our dimension on the outside, but what about on the 'inside'?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, just because things we've seen are altered only superficially, doesn't mean other things haven't. I mean like things that aren't readily known to us."

Mitch stopped walking and faced her, "Like what?"

"Well... laws, for example. Something that's against the law in our dimension might be perfectly legal in this one or others, or vice versa. Some laws aren't enforced too much; you know: 'it's only illegal if you get caught' kind of thing. But what if laws are strictly enforced and I mean 'strictly'?"

"You mean like surveillance or 'thought police'?" Mitch rubbed at his forehead, "Jeez, you make it sound like George Orwell's "1984"; 'Big Brother' and all that."

"What if it is?"

Mitch saw that Lisa was looking at him with dead seriousness and had to shrug, conceding her point.

"I suggest that if something doesn't look or even feel right about a dimension we jump into, we should check it out on a computer to know for sure where we stand. At the very least, head for a library and start reading the reference sections and the newspapers."

Mitch nodded, "Okay; that makes sense. Until we can get a grasp of the situation, we'll have to play along with whatever scenario pops up and be as unassuming as possible."

"Good idea," Lisa agreed, "Another thing: when we jump, we should make the jump in the lab, or as close as possible to it. We do work there after all, and everybody will be expecting us to be there from their point of view."

Mitch countered, "It might not work out that way sometimes; we'll have to be on our toes if, by chance, we're not employed at Ener-Dyne. But it's still a good idea, though; you're right."

Lisa thought for a moment, then, "Okay; how about this: we jump just outside the building, then go inside if it's a work day. If anyone asks, we'll say that we were... 'getting some air' or 'taking a break', things like that."

Mitch smiled, "That's smart thinking; they're never know the difference. Brilliant."

"Thank you, Professor," Lisa grinned back.

"But like I said," he offered, his smile fading, "we have to be on our toes and ready for whatever gets thrown at us. We could easily wind up near a place that's considered 'off limits', and get into serious trouble."

But Lisa hugged him for assurance, "Don't worry; we'll be ready. We're good at thinking quickly on our feet. We'll think fast, and then worry about it later."

Mitch hugged her back with a smirk, "Okay, Doc; whatever you say."

They both laughed and continued their walk, heading back for their car. Once back on the road, they steered towards the laboratory and took in the remaining sights before they left on their next journey.

"Pull over up there for a minute."

Lisa edged the car over to the side at his request, and Mitch jumped out, saying, "I'll only be a minute." He walked into an electronics shop that, Lisa noted, was suppose to be a music store in their universe. After a moment or two went by, Mitch came out with a small bag and returned to the car.

Lisa pulled back out onto the street and asked, "Okay, what goodies did you get this time?"

Mitch pulled out a small recording device, along with extra digital memory cards and a charger, and a small fanny pack.

"These are for me to take along," he said, dumping all of the equipment into the pack, including the flash reader he still had in his possession and a tiny flashlight in a fabric pouch with a belt loop, but held onto the recorder, "I'm going to make a record of our trip, so we can keep track of our movements."

Lisa nodded and continued down the road to the lab as Mitch adjusted the controls on the small device. Clearing his throat, he spoke into it to begin the official record of their adventure through the multiverse.

'April 4 -- Doctors Mitchell and Lisa Parr; inter-dimensional travel experiment. Mitchell Parr, recording.'

'Our experiment began on March 21, two weeks prior to this recording. Due to an accident involving the research and trial run of a new energy source that utilizes the process of cold fusion, the two of us have been given the ability to travel from one dimension to another. Both of us have the power to create an inter-dimensional gateway that will allow us to pass from one universe to an alternate version of it. The dimension we now reside in is our first attempt at dimensional traveling; the jump into this dimension was made yesterday...'

As Lisa navigated the streets of the city, Mitch continued reciting their findings into the recorder and explaining the unique circumstances that led up to their discoveries and their rather bizarre trip through the multiverse. He dictated the details of the events that happened that led to their discovery, and made them as easy to understand as possible. He didn't want to inundate the recording with highly technical terms if he didn't have to, in case someone without the proper scientific knowledge happened to find the device, whether it was lost or they...

Mitch shook inward at that; he didn't want to think of that circumstance right now, but kept it in the back of his mind. It was a distinct possibility that the two of them, due to an accident or some unforeseen event, might... die. And the recording he was making would be a testament to their journey to whoever found it and he said as much at the end of the first log.

'If by some chance this recorder is found because we are no longer able to continue our travels... whoever finds this, please get it to the scientific community with all haste. We will try to document our journey with other means as proof of our discoveries, but for now this recording will have to suffice.'

'We will be making our next jump within the hour.'

Mitch clicked off the device and slipped it into the pack as Lisa gave him a worried look.

"You're expecting trouble, aren't you." It wasn't a question.

"'Expect the best, but assume the worst', or vice versa if you prefer," he answered, seeing the lab coming into view, "We have to be prepared for any situation, including... the chance that we might not make it to the next dimension." He let the words hang in the air for a moment, then, "But let's not dwell on it now; we'll just focus on the task at hand and gather as much information as possible," he reached for her hand and squeezed it, reassuringly, "I'm betting we're going to have a lot of fun with these trips."

Lisa smiled back at him, letting her own confidence surge again, as she pulled into the facility's parking area. The lot was empty of cars, with the exception of a few that belonged to the cleaning and maintenance staff.

Mitch checked his watch; it was almost time. Lisa hung the stopwatch lariat around her neck and made sure the device's timing was set properly.

"What do you think we'll find next?" she asked as the clock ticked down to one minute and beeped its alarm.

Mitch shrugged, "Who knows. I'm sure some of the other dimensions will be about the same, with a few alterations here and there. But I'm willing to bet that others are going to be... quite different in very interesting ways."

They both grinned in anticipation as they felt the quantum energies start to build up inside their bodies. In a burst of photonic power, the energy raced out of them and formed the spiraling vortex mirror, swirling and pulsing in front of them. All around the scientific pair, time stopped and froze everyone and everything in their tracks, an eerie stillness hanging in the air.

Checking one last time to make sure everything he had was secure in his pack, Mitch took Lisa's hand and asked, "Ready?"

She nodded eagerly, "Ready."

They held their breath for a second and then walked through the reflective barrier, its watery surface shimmering all around and dousing them fluid light.

Mitch and Lisa emerged from the other side and found themselves once again in the parking lot of the science building, this time the lot full of autos. The gateway sputtered and shrank the second their feet hit the pavement and its energies rushed back into the bodies. They both shivered for a moment, then looked around to get their bearings as the dimensional time line resumed from its frozen state.

"So far, so good," Mitch remarked, noting that the lab was still there and, even though their clothes had changed again but only slightly this time, things for the most part looked relatively the same as before: quiet and harmless. He felt around his back and found the pack and its contents still attached to his belt line, while Lisa felt for the stopwatch hanging from her neck and clicked it to reset the countdown; their theory proven correct, so far.

She noticed the sign on the side of the building. It still said 'Ener-Dyne Technologies', but it had changed; the lettering font was slightly different and the usual bright green that colored it was now a royal blue with golden chrome edging the letters.

"A few changes," she said, seeing a couple of trees in the wrong places and shrubs lining the drive instead of a fence, "but you're right; so far, it looks okay."

"And the pack and your watch are still with us; let's go inside."

Lisa got into pace with Mitch as they entered the facility and were greeted by a number of fellow tech people. They smiled back, reassured that they were recognized and were suppose to be there... at least Mitch was sure. When they entered the lab, his team greeted him with the usual rhetoric, but for some reason didn't quite warm up to Lisa. Mitch's eyes narrowed a bit when he saw Maggie working at the control console flashing her usual shy smile at them. But he simply went along with the events now going on about them and did their best to 'act normally'.

The pair noticed a few things out of their 'normal' places but, all in all, the laboratory was the same as before with equipment in the process of being assembled into the cold fusion test module. Apparently, the device in this dimension wasn't quite finished and ready for testing yet.

Just as they were ready to dive back into the job at hand, Darrin waltzed in and immediately headed towards the pair.

"Made it back in good time, I see," he said with his usual cheery smile.

"Uh, yeah; no problem," Mitch responded carefully.

"Have you seen Denise around?"

Mitch's eyebrow climbed a little, "Um, no I haven't." It wasn't exactly a lie; he had no idea who Denise was, so technically he really hadn't 'seen' her.

Then Darrin turned to Lisa and made her face drop slightly when he asked, "And who do we have here?"

Mitch started to stammer but Lisa picked up the slack, like him going along with the flow of events. 'Keeping on their toes' and 'thinking fast on their feet'.

"Dr. Lisa... McIntyre," she answered, extending her hand and coming within a hair's breath of saying 'Parr'.

"Ah, yes," Darrin replied and shaking her hand, "Our new assistant. Darrin Zane, facility director; welcome aboard, Doctor."

"Thank you, Mr. Zane."

But he waved his other hand and added, "No, no; none of that 'Mister' stuff. We don't stand on too much ceremony around here; call me Darrin."

Lisa nodded with a smile, "Thank you, Darrin. I'm looking forward to working with everyone on such a unique project; I'm ready to get at it."

"Great; just the enthusiasm we want here," he beamed back, "If your work is half as good as your background says it is, you'll be a fine addition to our team."

Just then, both of the pair's eyes lit up when saw someone walk into the lab; someone they didn't immediately recognize.

The woman was about the same height as Lisa, with a very beautiful face and a lovely figure to match. The white lab coat didn't quite hide the lines of her curvaceous body and contrasted sharply against her dark straight hair and her equally dark cocoa brown skin. Her chocolate, fashion model eyes locked onto Mitch and a smile appeared revealing her gleaming white teeth.

"Hi everyone; sorry I'm late," she said in a soft sweet voice, "Traffic was terrible coming back from the fabrication plant."

"On the contrary," Darrin countered, "you're just in time. Meet our new tech member; Dr. Lisa McIntyre, just in from San Francisco. Lisa, this is Dr. Denise Foreman, our mechanical genius."

"How do you do."

Denise took her hand, "Welcome aboard; Mitch has said great things about you. He loves your ideas for the project, and I'm looking forward to discussing them with you."

But Lisa smile dipped, not visibly but dipped nonetheless, when Denise turned to Mitch and, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, kissed him lovingly.

Mitch wasn't sure how to react and just stayed as neutral as possible when she smiled at him after releasing his lips and asked, "Hi, sweetheart; did you miss me?"

* * *

...to be continued.