You pace around your office impatiently. You've been away for two weeks at a conference studying the feasibility of life in exoplanets, but you had to cut it short. You've missed her wife Rinzell terribly, but that isn't why you're here. You received an urgent message from her several hours ago summoning you back without explaining why. She isn't the hysterical type, so you assume the reason must be important.
While waiting, you poke around, ensuring all your stuff is where it should be. As befits your personality, your office is a study in organized mayhem. You're a perfectionist but also thrive in chaos, finding inspiration in the jumble of your possessions.
Your myriad journals and dissertations are filed haphazardly in two filing cabinets. There are papers about almost everything: monographs describing new species, theorems about space-time, and even a dubious article about an Egyptian curse from a pharaoh's tomb.
There are several tall shelves filled with dog-eared books covering a range of subjects between the natural sciences, military history, and speculative fiction.
Framed photographs from your travels litter every flat surface, showcasing such curiosities as a rare abyssal fish or a mummy's jewel buried for millennia. A few portray a ruggedly handsome man with sandy brown hair and blue eyes making silly poses with a pretty blond woman in front of tourist spots in Hong Kong--snapshots taken from your honeymoon.
A space above your desk, which you jokingly call your "vanity wall," is crowded with framed diplomas, certificates, awards, and medals that illustrate your numerous achievements.
Satisfied that everything is in place, you walk out the door in search of your wife and almost collide with her. You lift her off her feet and give her a bear hug. Zell laughs and hugs you back but then almost immediately pushes you gently away, her face alight with excitement.
"What would you do," she says breathlessly, "If I told you you're getting your wish?"
You grin mischievously. "Which wish? Of mounting an expedition to the nearest M-class planet? Or producing my own double-sauce, double-cheese pizza topped with nothing but mushrooms and onions?"
She rolls her eyes good-naturedly. "I mean," she exclaims, "Your wish to travel to the center of the Earth!"
YOU ARE READING
The White Singularity: A Choose Your Own Adventure
Science FictionYou are Dr. Brent Phillips, scientist extraordinaire, and have explored all the frontiers on Earth. There's only one place you haven't been... the very center of our planet. Until now. What will you encounter on your way down? Extinct species...
