Between two Worlds

Chapter 2

"Those cloudies just love to waste money. They haven't found anything and won't. No sentient life out there. I say, pull the plug."

We hadn't reached him, but at least his mind was on something new. Perhaps, it was a start about him thinking about things in a broader scope.

Zack looked up to the heavens with a smile. "You never know. The Bible doesn't say Earth is the only place of creation in the universe. Just that God created life, here."

Willie looked at me. "What do you think? Anything out there?"

It wasn't a second feather, but the slow drop of the first. Of course, being the stubborn man I was, I paid it no attention.

"I'm a Schrodinger's Cat person, when it comes to sentient life in the universe."

Zack looked at me a bit confused, and Willie soon joined him. It wasn't a phrase I'd used before, simply because nothing had come up for me to use it.

"What's that mean, college boy?" Willie asked.

It wasn't spoken as an insult, just a humble reminder that I'd gotten a degree and neither spent so much as a semester in college.

"Schrodinger's Cat basically means there isn't enough information to give an answer. Sentient life in the universe either exists, or it doesn't. Without more information, there's no way to know if God created only us or created others."

It was a reasonable explanation, at the time.

Willie grinned, while looking me right in the eyes. "I thought you didn't believe in either/ or outside morality and the law. Doesn't lack of choices mean no free will?"

I shook my head, which caused his grin to fade. He really thought he had me.

"Outside morality and the law, so long as enough information's known, numerous choices are be made by us. None of us have to be on this site. I could walk away, but I choose to stay. We could rush the drying, but Mr. Hayes would stop us from getting very far. When it's dry, not all of us can check to make certain the frame's level, which means we might have to do it again. That last part is the unknown. Without checking before, it'll either be level, or it won't."

He nodded as I spoke. I'd made my point about free will and having choices. It was up to him to accept.

The timer went off, which caught the attention of John Hayes, our foreman, who insisted on being called Mr. Hayes.

"Breaks over. Helmets on. Grab that frame and get to work, except you, Ryan."

As bad as you think he sounded, he was worse. A rather unpleasant man who was angry at everyone. Had it not been for his skill as a foreman, I could've pictured him doing any number of illegal things.

I picked up my blue hardhat and left the frame to be carried over. They're light enough for one person to carry, if needed.