Senquon

The senquon mind link.

 One of my traditions here at the wikifiction blog is the annual "change challenge" in which I force myself to experiment with a new direction in my story writing. Most of my science fiction stories are set in the Exodemic Fictional Universe for which I imagine that there are two families of fundamental particles that are as yet unknown to Earthly science: the hierions and the sedrons. Previously, I've utilized a type of hierion called a "t-particle" as a means of making possible a form of technology-assisted telepathy. Now I need to name a specific type of sedron that is important for time travel.

Near the end of 2023, I wrote Chapter 2 of a story called Time Portal. In Time Portal, there is a strange twist in time which makes it possible for Dr. Twissell to travel back in time. Time Portal takes place just before the end of Earth's Reality Chain, in the Buld Reality.

A vision of the past.

 Time Portal also includes the idea that some humans have large numbers of alien gene patterns which, along with their Phari endosymbiont, gives them the ability to access information that is inside the Sedron Time Stream. Time Portal introduces a type of sedron which is called the "senquon". Bard helped me come up with this name for a sedron that can allow humans to obtain information about the future from the Sedron Time Stream. 

In the past, I have made use of the Sedron Time Stream to move information from the future to the past. For my 2024 change challenge, I want to explore an alternative use of the Sedron Time Stream and explore the use senquons to get information from the past to Dr. Twissell in the 1920s. This will lead to Dr. Twissell going even further back in time, back to the year 1814 when Abigail Longfellow began writing her version of Time Portal.

Chapter 3 of Time Portal. (read Chapter 1)(read Chapter 2)

 Twissell and Frankie arrived early on campus, but the lights were already on inside what Twissell called his workshop. There was one of his undergraduates, Aetha Louw, soldering together circuit elements for the new Time Portal control circuit that Twissell was building. Twissell and Frankie stepped into the workshop and exchanged greetings with Aetha who lifted her head from her work and tossed back her long redish-blond hair. 

Aetha at the wedding.

Twissell began examining the newly finished part of the complex network of wires that grew out of a central dodecahedron. Every time he looked at this 1920s dodecahedron he felt a bit of embarrassment. This was a hollow Bakelite dodecahedron with eleven pentagonal faces held together by cellulose acetate and it contained none of the sophisticated micro-circuitry that had been used to create a functional Time Portal in the future.

Aetha went to the open window and shut off the industrial sized fan that had been blowing fumes out of the workshop. She hauled the fan out of the window frame and then closed the window. Turning back towards Twissell, Aetha met Frankie's eye and the two young women smiled at each-other. Aetha crossed the workshop and planted a hot kiss on Frankie's lips. She said, "I spoke to Francesca on the phone. She expects to be here at 8:00."

Frankie glanced at both the phone and the clock that were on the wall of the workshop. It was 7:25. Aetha continued, speaking to Frankie. "Francesca asked if you were here."

Frankie was still feeling a sweet after-glow from her recently-completed morning sexplay session with Twissell. She winked at Aetha, "The professor is an an early riser, but he couldn't get me out of bed this morning."

About two months previously, Aetha had the pleasure of being present during dinner when Francesca got Twissell drunk. Aetha got an invitation from Frankie to drive them back to Twissell's home and Aetha ended up spending the night in Twissell's bed with he and Frankie. For a few minutes Aetha and Frankie discussed the pleasing magnificence of Twissell's early morning erections and the benefits of starting a day off with a spine-tingling orgasm. 

Finally, Twissell looked up from the newly-added circuits and cautioned his students, "Please don't talk like that when Francesca is here. You'll scare her away before she even has a chance to teach you about her Time equations." He told Aetha, "You cross soldered two of the input and output nodes. I marked them with red tape."

Aetha's night with Twissell

Aetha said, "I'll fix that after class. I must have messed up when the phone rang." She gestured towards the mass of circuitry that had grown there in the workshop and complained, "I still don't understand why you insist that this network has something to do with Time."

Twissell went into his office which was separated from the workshop by a wall of windows. The two women followed along and Twissell flipped the switch that turned on the lights in the office. He and Frankie went right to the coffee brewing station in the corner. Speaking over his shoulder, Twissell said, "I've asked Francesca to teach Frankie the system of equations that she developed for her Masters degree project." Twissell told Aetha, "I know you are busy with your course work, but try to arrange your schedule so that you can get your own tutoring sessions with both Francesca and Frankie. Everyone has to pitch in and help push ahead work on Francesca's equations... her equations describe the dimensional structure of Time. Start exploring the equations, even if you don't understand them... yet."

Frankie told Aetha, "What I can't accept is the idea that there are two time dimensions and six additional spatial dimensions."

Twissell had never told either Frankie or Aetha that he was a time traveler from the future. "There's nothing wrong with trying to find physical interpretations for abstract mathematical constructs. Particularly when..." Twissell and Frankie had set up a fresh pot of coffee to brew in the corner of his office and now he settled into the comfortable chair behind his desk. Twissell was a bit weary, having been kept up most of the night by the sexually enthusiastic Frankie. He'd almost mentioned the idea of Francesca receiving information from the future, but he decided not to broach that subject.

For minute, Frankie and Aetha busied themselves washing dirty cups, spoons and the tea pot, preparing for the arrival of Francesca. Twissell allowed himself to enjoy watching the movements of the two cute women as they shuttled to and from the sink in the workshop with the dishes. Twissell noted that Frankie looked particularly gorgeous this morning, her lovely body moving with grace and playful little twitches that seemed designed and deployed to attract attention. 

For the past year, Frankie and Aetha had shared an apartment that was just a block off campus. Twissell was amazed that Frankie seemed attracted to an old man, himself, and seemed to prefer staying at his house rather than spend her free time with the cute Aetha. He gave his head a slow shake and told himself: There is no accounting for the ways of women. Now, while Frankie rinsed the tea pot with vinegar, Aetha had a hand on Frankie's shapely bottom as they discussed the fact that Francesca was married to a soldier.

When the two women returned to the office from the adjacent workshop, Twissell told them, "I don't think Francesca's husband is active military. He's apparently retired from active duty and is now some sort of civilian consultant."

Aetha kissed Frankie one more time and asked, "Are you ever going to come home again?"

Frankie pushed a hand into Aetha's pretty red hair and let the silky strands of the girl's hair slip over her finger tips. She said, "You get yourself to your 8:00 class and don't concern yourself with my sleeping patterns. But now that I'm back in town and expected to work with Francesca, I guess I'll be sleeping with you tonight."

"Oh, goody! I get bored when I have to masturbate and entertain myself." Aetha picked up her book bag and hurried off to class.

Frankie sat down in the office across the desk from her advisor and saw disapproval on Twissell's face. "Aetha's got quite a mouth on her. I really like the way she wields her tongue, so I'm very forgiving of her flaws."

Aetha with Babs

Twissell admonished, "I'm serious, Frankie. I really don't want you carrying on like that in front of Francesca."

Frankie was still struggling to understand the idea that Twissell had been waiting years for Francesca to appear in Perth. "Well, you know, it is one of the great things about working under you... and making love under you... and on top of you... the fact that you don't have any inhibitions about sexplay or talking about sex."

Twissell tried to adhere to the rather stuffy and conservative standards for the behavior of University faculty that existed in the 1920s, but in his private life, he deployed the sexual standards of the liberated future. "Just try to remember, darling, Francesca has a problem. She is a married woman. I don't want you treating Francesca too casually, the way you play with Aetha." Twissell was annoyed that Frankie still had a joyful lecherous grin on her face and her erect nipples were jutting out against the fabric of her dress. He asked himself: How is Francesca going to fit in with the lax conditions that are maintained in this mathematics research laboratory? "Promise me that you'll control yourself. Just try to behave. This is important."

"What's the problem?" Frankie looked down at her breasts and then rubbed her nipples with her finger tips. She asked, "I thought you enjoyed the sight of my breasts."

Frankie explains her
anatomy to Twissell.

"I do, but Francesca might not want to see you flaunting them."

"Why not?" Now Frankie held her breasts in her hands and bounced them around. "They feel different... have you noticed?"

Twissell had noticed a change in Frankie's body during their recent sexplay. Her vaginal secretions were particularly luxuriant. He nodded and said, "You surprised me last night, I thought you'd be on the cusp of a new ovarian cycle right now."

Frankie let go of her breasts and looked Twissell in the eye. He continued staring at her provocative nipples. "I seem to have stopped cycling. I might be pregnant. We ladies are supposed to wait at least one more month before getting our hopes up. I'd love to me a mother."

Twissell grinned. "Yes, that would be wonderful. If you can confirm it then we'd better make quick plans to get married. And..." He could not completely give voice to his thought.

Just then, Francesca walked into the office and told Twissell, "Good morning, Dr. Thompson." She held out her hand to Frankie and asked, "Are you Aetha or Frances?"

Frankie got to her feet, took Francesca's hand in both of her own hands and replied, "I'm Frances McMartin, but call me Frankie. Very pleased to meet you."

 Francesca was staring with widened eyes at Frankie's large breasts and pointy nipples. With her free hand, Francesca pointed two fingers towards Frankie's breasts and asked, "And I'm very pleased to meet your two friends. Have you given them names?"

Amazing Adventures

Frankie laughed and while laughing she made a special effort to make her breasts jiggle. "My girl friend calls them Babs and Babette. In fact, I have a whole collection of..."

Twissell interrupted Frankie to tell Francesca, "Frankie is an exhibitionist... she enjoys showing off her spectacular anatomical features. However, we actually do have work to do today." Twissell gave Frankie a stern look.

Francesca giggled and told Frankie, "I look forward to getting further acquainted with Babs and Babette under conditions when they are not hidden under cloth, but I suppose the professor would prefer that we talk mathematics just now."

Twissell could not keep a grin off of his face. As Francesca sat down, Frankie got her a cup of coffee and Twissell told Francesca, "I hope you are not going to be a bad influence on Frankie. I want you to concentrate on teaching her your system of equations, so don't get distracted by Babs and Babette or I'll have to impose and enforce a dress code around here. Maybe your husband can suggest a suitable code of behavior for Frankie to follow."

Frankie handed a mug of hot coffee to Francesca and told her, "Ignore him. He thinks he's in charge, but we ladies control our own wardrobes and dress... and undress. I hate wearing bras, except at parties when I can wear one on top of my dress as decoration. I don't mind if my friends stare at Babs and Babette... I'm not jealous of the attention they get. Occasionally it leads to me getting to enjoy an exquisite orgasm that I'd otherwise miss out on."

 Francesca told Twissell, "I can tell it is going to be fun to work with Frankie. And even more fun to play with her two pets." She sipped her coffee and looked over the rim of her mug to gauge his reaction the her comment about playing with Frankie.

Twissell breathed a sigh of relief. Apparently, Francesca was going to fit in just fine with the rowdy Aetha and Frankie's style of playful, sexually-charged banter. However, he was eager to discuss mathematics. Having waited for years, he now could begin learning just how much Francesca knew about time travel. With a half-embarrassed grin on his face, he said, "Two is an interesting number." He suggested, "Maybe you can explain to Frankie why there have to be two temporal dimensions."

Francesca again turned her gaze to Frankie's cute breasts and said, "Maybe there are dozens of temporal dimensions, but I'm sure there are at least two. Otherwise, I would not be able to receive information from the future."

Startled, Frankie asked, "You have visions of the future?"

"Yes." Francesca finally managed to lift her eyes from Frankie's chest to her eyes. "For example, as soon as I walked in here, I recognized your beautiful breasts. I know I've seen them before today. In fact, I seem to know that you have twelve hairs on your areolae. Let me guess... is that five on Babs and seven on Babette?" Francesca reached out and gently stroked one of Frankie's breasts. Or is it the other way around?" Francesca raised one hand and rubbed he forehead with her finger tips. "Or is it... more complicated?" Francesca suddenly had a puzzled look on her face.

Frankie shrugged, "I don't really know which one Aetha thinks of as Babs, but either she or he," Frankie nodded towards Twissell, "could have told you that I have some hairs on my areolae. I don't believe in visions of the future." She placed her hands on her abdomen an told Francesca, "It is more complicated-"

a vision of the future

Twissell interrupted Frankie and said, "Through all of recorded history there have been claims by some people that they could 'see' the future." He warned Frankie, "Most people like you and I can't see the future, but we should keep an open mind about the possibility of information flow from the future to the past." Twissell held up the index finger of his right hand. "As a starting assumption, let's adopt the hypothesis that there is some means of transferring information from the future to the past. Frankie, can't you see that it requires a second temporal dimension to make that possible?" Twissell now held up two fingers.

Frankie shook her head stubbornly. "No. Information can't flow through time the way that water flows through a pipe."

Twissell said, "I'm asking you to play a 'what if?' game. We need to test this hypothesis. Maybe we could even obtain objective evidence in support of what strikes you as a crazy idea."

Francesca nodded and told Twissell. "I agree that it is an interesting hypothesis, worthy of complete analysis, but I also agree with Frankie. When thinking about Time, we need to be quite cautious when making analogies between time travel and the movement of objects in space. People speak about a 'flow of time', but that is sloppy use of language. I think of it this way: all of Time exists; past and future. There is some rare and precious trick that allows a few unusual people like me to access information from the future. I can't imagine how that is possible, but since I experience the phenomenon, I have to accept it. According to the system of equations that I developed for my thesis project, there are collapsed spatial dimensions that are where that information about other times resides."

Frankie asked, "What do you mean by 'collapsed' dimensions?"

Francesca replied, "In my mathematical model, some spatial dimensions are extended but some are collapsed and we can call those compact dimensions. All nine spatial dimension are present everywhere in the universe, but six of them are compact and so small in extent that they have escaped the notice of physicists. So far."

Frankie complained, "That sounds like magic. 'Watch me pull a rabbit out of this hat'."

Twissell held up a hand and told Frankie, "We are being scientific." Again Twissell held up to fingers. "Here is our second hypothesis We can simply hypothesize that information about the future resides inside compact dimensions... somehow. To fit information about the future into a compact subspace, there must be fundamental particles that are far smaller than those we are familiar with. But, if some people such as Francesca can receive information from the future, then there must be some fundamental particle that can carry information out of the compact part of the universe and those particles must be able to interact with the matter that is in the human brain."

Francesca picked up a pencil off of Twissell's desk and made a small diagram on the back of an envelop. She handed the envelop to Frankie. "In my special notation, I use this symbol (ꗭ) to represent a theoretical particle that I call the senquon. I believe that my brain is somehow sensitive to the flux of senquons that leaks out of the compact subdomain of our universe."

Frankie handed the envelop back to Francesca and asked, "Why did you select this bilaterally symmetrical symbol for the senquon?"

Francesca explained, "Well, I've over-simplified things. Remember, in my theory, there are six compact dimensions."

Francesca's senquon (ꗭ) model

Frankie nodded and gestured towards Twissell. "I'm familiar with such models. Dr. Twissell handed me my Masters degree project which concerned an eleven dimensional manifold."

Twissell told Frankie. "The idea of extra dimensions is not something that I came up with. Going forward, I want everyone to credit Francesca for conceiving the system of equations that describe Time."

Francesca said, "Thank you Dr. Twissell, but I don't feel like I deserve much credit. The idea of the universe having eleven dimensions probably came to me from the future." Francesca told Frankie, "I can't even get my ideas through the peer review process and into print."

Frankie said, "When I completed my thesis, I sent an article off for review. It seems to be taking forever to get through the review process." 

Twissell told Frankie, "I warned you to expect your article to be rejected. This kind of mathematical analysis of high-dimensional models is too new to easily slip into the minds of old-school mathematicians."

Francesca continued with her account of how she devised the symbol (ꗭ) for the senquon. "Six compact dimensions is enough to form two complete and distinct compactified spaces that can each hold their own special types of fundamental particles. I call those two spaces H-space and S-space. To account for a flow of information from the future to the past, my equations suggest that the senquons flow spontaneously from S-space to H-space. Lucky for me, some of the senquon flow can alter my brain function and provide me with information about the future."

Frankie asked skeptically, "And that's how you know about the hairs on my breasts?"

"Exactly. I'm quite certain that in the future you and I will become lovers and I'll have the opportunity to count the hairs on your breasts." Francesca reached out and ran her fingers through Frankie's mane of silky hair. "I'm glad you're the kind of girl that lets her hair grow wild and free."

image source

Frankie gazed appreciatively at Francesca's golden blond hair. "And I must say, your hair is spectacular. I'd love to get you into bed so we can fully investigate each-others bodies, but right this moment I can start with..." Frankie let the straps of her dress slip over her shoulders. The top of her dress slid downwards, baring her plump breasts and she began examining her nipples. "I've never actually bothered to count the hairs..." Frankie and Francesca counted and quickly confirmed that there were only a total of five long black hairs on Frankie's two dark areolae: two on the right breast and three on the left.

Just then, Dean Wilson walked in from the hallway and gazed at Frankie's big beautiful breasts. Frankie pulled the top of her dress back up and told the Dean, "Just introducing Francesca to my two pets, Babs and Babette."

Twissell stood up and picked up Francesca's graduate school application from off of the desk. He handed the form to Dean Wilson and said, "Please set up Mrs. Maurolico as a paid research assistant in the Mathematics Department. She'll be working with Miss. McMartin and I on the 11-dimensional model of the universe."

Dean Wilson pulled his eyes away from Frankie's chest and took the application form. Twissell said, "It might be hard for you to believe, but Frances was just doing some important mathematics with Mrs. Maurolico."

 Wilson muttered, "Mathematics, eh? I begin to understand why the math department is becoming so popular." As Dean Wilson read the application, he told Francesca, "The one requirement of the research assistant-ship is that you teach a mathematics course each semester." He looked at Francesca and asked, "Is there a particular topic you would enjoy teaching?"

Francesca shrugged and Twissell said, "I'd like her to teach the third year differential equations course."

Francesca nodded, "I'd be happy to teach that topic."

Dean Wilson turned and departed, taking one last look at Frankie's chest and saying, "Sorry to have interrupted. Carry on."

As the sound of the Dean's foot falls reseeded, Francesca told Frankie, "I don't think we finished counting your hairs."

Frankie said to Francesca, "This is my experience with people who claim to have telepathy or future vision. They just keep talking until they get things right, using clues provided by their marks. That's why I'm skeptical about so-called visions of the future."

 Francesca closed her eyes. "There is something else in my mind, in addition to Babs and Babette... but it makes no sense. I'm talking about two more nipples... maybe a man's nipples." Her eyes popped open and she look at Twissell and asked, "Do you have a hairy chest?"

Twissell replied, "Yes."

Frankie elaborated, "He's a hairy ape. But let me show you this..." Again Frankie once again pushed the straps of her dress off of her shoulders, but this time she stood up and pulled the top of the dress further down, revealing not only the bouncing Babs and Babette, but also the white expanse of her abdomen where there were two more small areolae, each punctuated by a stiff little brown nipple.

Francesca leaned close to one of the nipples on Frankie's abdomen and commented, "Ah, I see on dark hair beside this nipple..." Now the two women carefully examined all four of Frankie's areolae.

When the count was complete and double-checked, Frankie said to Francesca, "Five on the top row and three on the bottom row for a total of eight, not the twelve hairs that you so confidently predicted to be here on my areolae."

Francesca shrugged. "I don't know the precise time in the future from which I received my information and that count of twelve hairs. However, I now understand why I had a future-memory of two pairs of nipples. Until today, I've never seen someone with extra nipples."

While pulling her dress back up, Frankie complained, "See, that's the problem with people who claim to know the future. When their prediction is falsified, there is always an excuse."

 Francesca suggested, "You're a young girl. I'll bet you will have more hair in the future. And your breasts, while already large, are going to become even larger." Francesca tapped the side of her head with the tip of her index finger. "I've seen it. I have a memory from the future, I've seen you pregnant... we just have not gotten there yet."

Frankie gasped and then exclaimed. "Do you know what this means? I really am pregnant!" She jumped up and rushed to throw her arms around Twissell. After a long hug and an even longer kiss, Frankie pulled away and ran off, calling over her shoulder to Twissell, "I'm going to the clinic for a Remak test."

Francesca asked, "Remak test?"

"It is an examination of cervical mucus that can detect pregnancy-associated changes in a woman's body." Twissell sank back into his chair, somehow certain that Frankie was pregnant.

Francesca asked, "Are congratulations in order, or condolences? I notice that neither of you wears a wedding ring."

Twissell sighed. "To be completely honest, I am married, but remember the request that I made yesterday. You are the only person here in the past who I have told the truth... that I'm from the future. I have, or will have, a wife in the future... but technically, she has not been born yet, so..." Twissell fell silent, again thinking about the idea that Frankie might be the grandmother of his wife, Becky.

Francesca suggested, "So you are free to impregnate your student, Frankie?"

"It might be more complicated than that." Twissell rubbed his chin. "There is a possibility that Frankie is the grandmother of my wife."

Francesca let out a long, slow whistle. "Wow, is that some kind of temporal paradox... the grand-mother paradox?"

Twissell suggested, "Maybe there are no temporal paradoxes." For a minute, Twissell and Francesca were silent, both busy with their racing thoughts. Then Twissell opened a drawer of his desk and pulled out a thick type-written manuscript which he handed across the desk to Francesca. She saw on the cover page the title "Mathematical models of Two Temporal Dimensions" by Francesca Maurolico, Patty Bekom and Laban Twissell. Francesca quickly looked through the article, seeing what looked like an adulterated version of the system of equations that she had assembled for her Masters thesis. Twissell said, "Please correct this article. I only had access to a rather garbled account of your model."

Finally, after giving Francesca about five minutes to look through the article, Twissell said, "While I have you alone, let me explain what I hope to accomplish here in the past." He took Francesca into the workshop and showed her the maze of circuitry that was gradually being assembled. "This is a copy of the Time Portal circuitry that I used to travel here to this time from the future. However, I came here to get your help in finding a way to travel back to the future."

Francesca giggled. She muttered quietly, "That seems paradoxical."

 Twissell explained, "In the future, nobody understood your equations." He did not bother saying that only he and Patty had ever cared about the equations. Now he decided to tell Francesca something about her future. "Without me here in the past, you abandoned your mathematics and quietly lived on a farm. The only surviving record of your mathematical model of Time was in your diary."

Francesca looked up from the array of circuits and said, "I still can't believe that you traveled through time. How can a bunch of electronic circuits open up a Time Portal?" Francesca ran the tip of her finger along several of the wires in the circuit that was there on the table in front of her then she continued, "Dr. Twissell, when I moved to Perth, I planned to buy a farm and raise sheep. I'd given up on the idea of a career as a mathematician. I was surprised to learn that there is a new mathematics department here at the University. Then Dean Wilson told me about your work. I still find it hard to believe that I've done a 180 and I'm quickly forgetting about sheep." She slipped the manuscript into her bag. "I'll edit this article, but I find it hard to accept the physical interpretation that you have provided for my equations."

Twissell nodded. It all made sense. By coming to the past, he had apparently altered the historical timeline. Twissell waved a hand towards the jumble of circuit elements. "The patterns in these circuits are inspired by the structure of your 11-dimansion model, which in the future, where I came from, only existed in the long-lost diary of a woman who lived on a sheep farm. A student in my laboratory discovered the diary and we built a Time Portal." He picked up one of the junction boxes off of the table and said, "As for how this electronic network allows for time travel, I don't really know, any more than you can explain how you knew about Frankie's hairy breasts."

Francesca's diary.

Francesca asked, "So in the future, you can't use a Time Portal to go into the future, you could only go into your past?"

Twissell nodded. "In the future, I could not solve the mystery of the asymmetry of the time equations. Using the Time Portal that I built, I could only travel into my past. But now that I'm here, I can get your help to solve that mystery. We'll modify this circuit network and then I'll be able to return to my home in the future."

Francesca shook her head. "No. Think about it. I never will solve that mystery. You are from the future. You know the future and in that future, where you have already lived, I will become a sheep farmer and... and you won't even know the reason why I abandoned my career in mathematics."

Twissell persisted and suggested, "No, no! Now I'm here with you. I can change the past. With my help, you will solve the asymmetry of the time problem. With your help, I'll return to my wife, in the future."

Francesca suggested, "It would be a temporal paradox if you came here to the past, learned how to travel to the future and then returned to the future, where you don't know how to travel to the future."

Francesca 1922

Twissell threw his hands up in the air. "I don't know. I'm grasping at straws... maybe I will return-" At that moment, while gazing at Francesca's pretty face and her wavy blond hair, Twissell had an experience of déjà vu. He muttered, "Mary."

Seeing a strange and distracted expression on Twissell's face, Francesca asked, "What?"

Twissell shook his head and tried to express his thoughts, which were suddenly cluttered with new ideas. "I just had a flash of... memory. A woman named Mary." He smiled lamely. "I'm too suggestible. You have me seeing ghosts!"

Francesca giggled, "No, no! That's exactly how the senquons effect the mind... suddenly you know something that you should not know... that you can't even explain how you know. Who is this Mary?"

Mary in 1545

Twissell objected. "No, it cannot be..." He closed his eyes. "I'm imagining things, just because you are cute and have powers of suggestion..."

Francesca insisted, "Tell me about your vision."

Twissell opened his eyes, carefully looking at Francesca's face, comparing what he saw to a memory that had appeared in his mind. With wonder in his voice, Twissell said, "I don't know how I know this, but..." He closed his eyes again and saw in his mind's eye the Mary in his 'memories'. "She was the daughter of Thomas More." Twissell carefully examined his memory of Mary. "No... Mary was More's grand-daughter. And she knew you... I can see..."

Francesca waited for Twissell to finish his sentence. As the silence continued, finally she asked, "A grand-daughter of Thomas More knew me? That makes no sense."

Twissell opened his eyes. "Well, maybe... a copy of you. Your name-sake... the Francesca Maurolico who lived in the 1500s."

Francesca shook her head. "Well, do I know about her... my 'name sake'. She was the daughter of a mathematician, but she is known for her book of prophecy."

Twissell asked, "Are you related to that other Francesca Maurolico by blood?"

"I don't know. When I learned of her existence, I investigated the little that is known about her life. I was not able to trace her descendants."

Francesca and Mary, 1545

Suddenly seeing through the confusion, Twissell asked excitedly, "What if you travel back in time and become... ?" He could not believe what he was suggesting. It did not fit with what he knew in the future, a future in which Francesca lived on a sheep ranch.

 Francesca asked, "What are you suggesting, Dr. Thompson? Are you telling me that I do not live and die here in this century? That I'll become like you... a time traveler... I'll go back to the 1500s?"

The truth was, Twissell had never gotten a coherent account of the life of Francesca from her grand-daughter, Patty. But now, somehow, Twissell knew all he needed to know. His time travel mission, his bumbling into the past, was not over. He mumbled, "I'm going to have to go even further back."        

Next: Chapter 4 of Time Portal.

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