JACK McDEVITT

VARIABLES

Big Al was very good at his chosen line of work. He provided protection to small
businessmen, created gambling opportunities, and was respected for his many
services as peacemaker among the Chicago families. The latter activity had got
him indirectly involved in various money laundering activities, and that in turn
had got the feds interested. Nevertheless he was cautious and would probably
have continued to prosper for years had Tony Bullets not cut a deal and traded
him in. Tony went into protective custody, and Big Al headed for open country.

He had planned originally to retire to a little place in Oregon that nobody knew
about. But a Nova special caught his attention, and two days later he arrived
with two associates at the Orin Randall Physics Laboratories outside
Minneapolis.

Big AI did not like to show hardware. The practice was heavy-handed and lacking
in taste. In the social circles through which he customarily moved, it was
rarely necessary. Enlightened people generally understood a tightening of the
jaws or a sudden silence. Significant communication is always implied.

But among those not sensitive to the diplomatic niceties, it is sometimes
necessary to be more direct. AI knew instinctively that nonverbal communication
would not work with the people at Randall. The receptionist blinked at him as if
he were looking for a handout, told him Dr. Seabright was busy, and did not
respond in a positive manner until Henny explained that he hoped he wouldn't be
forced to shoot her. She responded by leading them into a lab where a man and a
woman stood in front of a bank of computer screens. Both turned and stared.

The receptionist mumbled a frightened apology.

Big Al took an instant dislike to Archie Seabright. He could see immediately
that the man was not polished. He was nondescript, much like Rat Silvana if you
could imagine Rat in bifocals and a white lab coat. He wore a lot of pens in his
breast pocket, he tended to look over the tops of his bifocals, and his hair was
going fast. Dunk took his cue and showed him a piece. Seabright's mouth opened
and closed. Henny brought in the luggage and locked the door.

"What is this?" demanded Seabright in a voice that had a lot of squeak. "Please
get out. The general public is not allowed in here."

It always amazed Al that certain types of persons will go out of their way to
annoy an armed man.

The woman who was standing beside him laid a hand on his arm, cautioning him.
She had black hair and good features and she was trying not to look scared.

"Lady," Al said, "what is your name?"

She looked steadily back at Al. A good babe. "Janet Keel," she said.

"Okay, Janet Keel. Nobody has anything to be afraid of. We are only here to
conduct a little business, and then we will be leaving."

The lab was a long whitewashed room ringed with desks piled high with printouts
and binders and magazines. Posters with illustrations of atomic cross sections
and occluding gases and other abstractions covered the walls. There was a vague
noxious smell, as if a fire had just gone out.

The device that AI had seen on Nova occupied the center of the room. It looked
like a ten-foot-high bell jar made of steel struts, cable, wire netting, plastic
and glass. It was raised on a low platform and open in front. A table, crowded
with computers and electronic gear, wrapped around the other three sides.

"Just relax, Doc," Al said, switching his attention back to Seabright. "I have a
proposition for you."

Seabright's eyes had locked on the gun. "You don't need that."

Dunk caught Al's glance and put the weapon away. Seabright started breathing
again. "The boys and I have a problem," Al said. "There are certain parties
about fifteen minutes behind us, and we don't want to be here when they show up.
It is in fact essential that we move out of their jurisdiction." He took a long
satisfied look at the bell jar. "Tell me about this thing." A signal passed
between Seabright and the woman, by which AI grasped that their relationship was
more than merely professional. His respect for her declined.

"I don't know what you mean," Seabright said.

"Doc, we are not going to get anywhere with that attitude. The boys and I would
like to use this little exit that you have. If I understood you correctly on TV
the other night, we can clear out of here and go to another Chicago, right? One
that's like ours, but isn't quite the same."

Seabright's jaw tightened. "Not to Chicago. Minneapolis, maybe. But not
Chicago."

"Why not? If you can do the one, why not the other? What's the difference?"

Seabright started to push his hands into his pockets, saw Dunk's piece appear
again, and changed his mind. "The Tunnel opens onto this exact spot. No matter
which terminal universe we look at, it's always here. Of course, most of the
time, here is only empty space."

"Why is that, Doc?"

"Because in the vast majority of cosmic sequences, there is no definable
structure of any kind. Just a few gases."

"Oh."

"Where there are worlds, there is rarely an Earth. But the point is, Randall
Labs is located on a couple of hills outside Minneapolis. That's the only place
we can send you. At least, the only place where you'll be happy."

Al ignored the attempt at sarcasm. "Let's get to it. Get me a place that's a lot
like this one, Doc, and we'll make it worth your while." He fished out a roll of
hundreds about six inches thick, showed it to him, and laid it on a chair.

"It's not a good idea."

"Turn it on, Doc."

Seabright bent over the wraparound table and toggled a couple of switches. Lamps
began to blink. Janet sat down at a keyboard. "You have to understand, Mr. -- ?"

"His name's Big Al" said Henny. He had wandered over close to the window, where
he could watch the parking lot. Dunk stood behind Janet.

"You have to understand, Big Al, it's unrested. We've never sent anyone through
it. I don't know what might happen. You could be killed."

"Don't worry, Doc. We'll take our chances."

"No. If something goes wrong, God knows what might happen to the project."

"Doc, I could shoot you now and let Janet try. Whatever you want." Dunk began
screwing a silencer ostentatiously onto his muzzle.

"It would have been easier," Seabright said, "if you'd given me advance notice."

"Yeah. Well, unfortunately, the feds didn't call me for an appointment, either."
Al glanced at Henny. Henny shook his head no. Nothing yet. "If I understood you
right, Doc, the same people live in these other places. But stuff is different.
Janet there for example might be a redhead."

"That's right. The variables will change."

"So Big AI might not be so big?"

"In some places they might call you Little Al."

Al smiled. He appreciated a sense of humor in a man standing on the wrong end of
the artillery.

Seabright played with the keyboards, Janet helped, and they both tried to look
as if there was no chance it would work.

"If the feds get here before you two are finished there's going to be some
shooting. Probably nobody will walk out of this room. In fact, I could guarantee
it."

Seabright nodded, and walked into the bell jar. He poked at cables and tapped
gauges and pronounced himself satisfied. The floor inside was covered with a
black rubber mat. "It's not a good idea," he said again.

Henny caught his eye. The feds were in the parking lot. They had five minutes.
"Okay, Doc. Show me how you do it."

"It's simple enough." Seabright came back out and pointed at the keyboard.
"Amber light means it's still powering up."

"How long will it take?"

"Another minute." His fingers moved across the keys. Four sets of twenty zeros
blinked onto a monitor. "Coordinates," he said. "They determine what's at the
other end of the tunnel." He entered numbers and most of the zeros converted to
positive values. When he was satisfied, he pushed back from the terminal. "Okay,
I think we're ready." The amber lamp turned green. More green lights blinked on
around the system. "If you want to step inside, we'll get going."

Al pushed down beside him. "Which button, Doc?"

"What do you mean?"

"Which button makes it work?"

He pointed at a large square press pad that was as white as his face.

"Okay. Let's try it with you first." He nodded toward the bell jar. "Get

"You can't do that," said Seabright. "You don't know how to bring me back."

That was true. After all, they needed somebody to operate the thing. "Tell you
what. Why don't we push Janet there through? See what happens?" Janet's eyes
narrowed. If looks could kill, that little babe would have had them all for
dinner.

Dunk eased his right hand into his pocket. (This was the kind of elegance that
AI appreciated in his people.) Janet got up and the moment froze while they all
waited for something to happen.

Seabright had come half out of his chair. But he slipped back down and tapped
his fingers nervously on the table. "Let me make some final adjustments." He
began to poke in a new set of coordinates.

Al grinned. "If there's anything I can't stand, Doc, it's people that aren't up
front with me. I am not happy with you. You are lucky I am essentially
good-hearted."

Seabright was trying to return the smile. "No," he said. "I just realized there
was a better terminus. I'd forgot about it. We found it last night. It's a lot
like here."

"I hope so. But I think it would be a good idea if you came along, just to
reassure me."

Seabright opened his mouth to argue but thought better of it.

"Al," said Henny, "they're coming in the front door. Whatever we're going to do
here, we better do it."

Big Al nodded. Henny picked up the bags and dragged them into the bell jar. Dunk
said something to Janet. Al couldn't hear the specifics, but he knew she was
being told her life depended on sitting still for the next minute or two. He
looked at Seabright.

Seabright traded nervous glances with Janet. "You've got the con," he told her.
He got up, walked into the bell jar, and stood beside the baggage.

Al and Dunk followed him, and when they were all inside, Seabright signaled
Janet.

"Good luck," she whispered. Big Al noted with pleasure and with some disquiet
that a tear was rolling down her cheek.

She touched the white presspad. Power flowed into the system. The lights dimmed
and the bell jar filled with a brick-red glow. It came in like a rising tide and
Al's feet and ankles began to feel as if a mild electrical current were running
through them.

Janet Keel raised one hand to wave goodbye. Al watched her, admiring her
exquisite appearance and thinking how good she would have looked on his arm. Her
shoulder-length black hair swirled as she got up and came around to stand
directly in front of the bell jar, just outside its energy field, her dark eyes
locked on Seabright.

Henny and Dunk no longer appeared solid. Henny, fading into the red light, was
looking at his watch. Dunk's eyes were squeezed shut.

The room faded, flickered, and stretched. It was as if they were watching a
reflection in a distorted mirror. All definition flowed out of it, and the floor
no longer existed. Al drifted in a fiery cloud. He felt a surge of vertigo and
then tumbled forward and fell hard on his face.

He was back in the lab.

Janet stood off to one side. She walked past him and out of his view. "Archie,"
she said, "are you all right?"

The walls had changed color: these were light green. And the room was smaller.
Most of the desks were gone. The bell jar had become a cube, its tangle of glass
and wiring had disappeared inside metal walls. He twisted around so he could see
Janet. She had thrown herself into Seabright's arms. But she wore a yellow lab
coat, and her black hair was cut short.

"Doc, I think you did it."

The boys looked a little shaky, but they were okay. And the luggage had come
through.

Al was still trying to get his bearings when the lab door broke open and a
half-dozen feds spilled into the room, guns drawn. At least, Al thought they
were feds. They were dressed in brightly colored suits with hand-painted red
ties and yellow hats. He recognized Frank O'Connell, the Chicago SAC. O'Connell
looked so funny Al laughed out loud.

"I'm glad you're amused, Al," said O'Connell. "We should be able to provide you
with a lot of laughs over the next thirty years."

"I don't get it," said Al. "What happened?"

O'Connell's confederates slapped cuffs on him and they read him his rights.

"Doc?" Al glared accusingly at Seabright, who seemed preoccupied with the cube.
"Doc, you said everything would be different here."

"I said the variables were subject to change. But human nature? I wonder."

O'Connell took him by the elbow and pushed him toward the door. "Say, Al," he
said, "you need to cut back a little. You've been gaining weight."