THE MULTIVERSAL CRIMINAL

Chapter 4: The Crime

"We couldn't support to find enough materials to evacuate the whole planet and go to a safe enough distance. It's like..." tears formed in her eyes, "you have to live knowing you would die in a year. Only the filthy rich could afford to get out of here." She cleared her throat. "But economy wasn't the main reason. The resources were," she finished in a low voice.

The words struck deep in the hearts of the IMG as they processed her story. Grief was evident in each and every word and they all felt how painful it would have been for everybody on 78PF.

"And so, understanding the situation, I took off. Into a black hole that is."

They looked at her with their eyes popping out. The look was not taken as a surprise by her. She gave an understanding nod and continued. "I know that sounds suicidal but bear with me. What you all think about black holes is incomplete. We all know that right? What happens on the inside has remained unanswered... till now. I found a way to a black hole, a supermassive one, the one at the centre of our galaxy by teleportation. It is very expensive, but I had no better way. I couldn't waste years by traveling as we were left with only one." She paused. "The black hole is a bit like a worm hole. The only difference is that rather than connecting points of space within our universe, it tunnels to different 'verses. This information has been confirmed and is known by only about a thousand people including me."

"So are you trying to say that you accessed a black hole to get outside of our universe!? Why?" Sierra asked, her eyebrows set into a questioning manner, and intrigue showing itself in her every word.

"Yeah, I'm getting to that. These black holes opened to white holes in another 'verse. One that is just beside ours. This was the one I needed to visit. The one, that was capable of saving our solar system. This 'verse, contained magic."

Every jaw in the room dropped, except hers of course. The IMG was spellbound. What she had just said, seemed to loosen the hinges of their brains. It didn't even seem plausible anymore, yet they knew that properties of other 'verses were a complete mystery.

"There's still more guys," she said eyeing them briefly then looking down at her hands. "By going there... I broke a law. A law of the Gods." She pulled her lips in and narrowed her eyes. "Here I'm not talking about the ones that help to develop other civilisations. No. By the Gods I mean the Supreme ones. The rulers of this Multiverse."

The air within their bodies seemed to be knocked out by the statement as they stared at her with a shocked look on their faces. And from somewhere deep inside, fright crept in their bodies.

"The law was that, no living being of one 'verse should go to another as there is something within us, living beings, that if comes in contact with the matter of another universe, can annihilate it. Yeah it's true. But astonishingly (I knew it won't happen but still)" she murmured, "nothing happened to that 'verse when I got there. So you all must be wondering why I went there in the first place." She looked at them all with their eyes focussed on her. She gave a half-hearted smile. "Well. The matter in that 'verse has extraordinary properties. To be honest, there was one in particular that I needed. Teleportation. The scale that it was required in was impossible to achieve in our universe, so I had to go there. I took some of the matter from there and brought it back with me through a black hole that opened into a white hole here."

The last line caught Drio's attention."But where? Where are the white holes? Why haven't we detected them yet?" Drio asked, a look of fascination in his eyes.

"They are located at the very edges of the universe so we have never found them. I teleported from there and back to our universe and carried out my job. The deed for which I should be praised but am being killed for." Sadness crept back into her body. She looked at them sorrowfully and continued, "To save our planet from that star burning up into a supernova, I teleported it. The whole star."

A look of awe shot out of their faces. "I teleported that red giant in exchange for another medium sized star elsewhere in the universe that was roughly of the size as of Earth's Sun. And... in that way I saved Remanisis and our solar system from getting wiped out. But... that is my crime- I went to another 'verse and used that 'verse's matter here. For breaking the law, the Gods are now after me. And it was their warning. The rays of fire were shot by them at us so that our people get forced to hand me over to them. But I wonder if any are left." She looked up, tears breaking the threshold of her eyelids as she couldn't contain them any longer. The shivers in her body deeply struck at their hearts and a sympathetic feeling aroused from deep inside of them.

"We'll see what we can do, but...who are these 'Gods'?" Lily asked softly.

Sharlotte looked up with a reddened face and answered, "They are from the planet, Hitharia. It was somehow shot out of a 'verse and is the only planet in the Multiverse. They are the sole driving force for the proper functioning of every 'verse that's out there. They look upon the infinite 'verses and make judgements. Now it is my time. When I came back here and saw what was happening, I called you guys with the help of the 'magic' matter to create a live connection. And with the little bit of it that I was left with, I teleported your ship to here." She looked away. "The Gods had sensed the energy fluctuations caused by the teleportation of our sun and thus, the 'rain' of warning shortly followed. I became trapped inside this building when the topside of it toppled over. And now, finally, you guys are here," she finished.

They all remained in silence for a while. Then Jayden softly asked, "So, what are we going to do now? I mean how can we, possibly defeat the Gods?"

She quickly replied, "There is no way to defeat them. We are nothing against them. We don't stand a chance."

Thunderstruck, they all looked at each other's troubled faces. Markus asked, "Then what?"

She looked down for a moment, then sharply pointed her head in his direction and said, "We have to talk to them. We have to make them believe that what we did was not wrong. That's the only way." She stood up.

"Excuse me lady, but give me a solid reason why we should help you." Sir Sanduo began in that same commanding voice. "After hearing it all, it seems too dangerous to be a maiden mission for any agency. How can you guarantee the well being of my group? We are talking about beings of inconceivable power! And you are apparently a threat to them, so why should we help you and become threats ourselves?"

Albeit rude, but each word of his statement was true. The IMG shared puzzled glances.

"Sir, I have it all planned. Your lives won't be compromised anyhow. I have received words from beings that ensure it. There's a lot at play here and it's not only me you are saving by doing this. But I shall tell more of that later. For the meanwhile I need you to trust me." The glisten in her eyes and her bold and certain voice bespoke surety that marked her words. They asked no more questions and nodded, though each one of their faces was lashed with fear and dread.

She looked straight at Sir Sanduo, took his hands in hers, and gave a reassuring squeeze which conveyed warmth in this cold and desolate environment. Then she looked at all of them and said, "Follow me."