Gravity Rises (S3)

TTF: Part Twelve

Ford watched in horror as his brother tumbled toward the portal.

"Stanley!" he screamed. He pushed off the control switch, flying to his brother. His hands scrambled for his twin in a panic; he managed to catch onto Lee's pant leg just before his safety rope went taut. He pulled on it with all his strength until he could wrap his arms around both of Lee's knees. "It's okay, Lee! I've got you!"

No response. Ford glanced up.

Lee was halfway submerged in the opening of the portal. Color danced around him.

"Lee! Can you hear me, Lee!" This close, the roaring of the portal was so loud that Ford could barely hear himself. All he could do was hope for the anomaly to end soon — before his rope snapped.

And before he lost his tenuous grip on his brother.

Just as Ford thought he couldn't hold on any longer, gravity disappeared. With gravity no longer pulling Lee away from him, Ford heaved his brother out of the portal. The frantic motion sent both brothers flying away from the portal and toward the far wall. They hit with a thud and rebounded, floating to the center of the room.

Ford did his best to rotate Lee in his arms until they were both oriented the same way, facing each other. "Lee, are you okay?"

Stanley just stared at him with wide, unseeing eyes.

"Lee?"

A breath burst from Lee's chest, and he gave loud, gasping breaths as he clung to Ford. "I'm. . . never. . . doing that. . . again."

Ford let out a breath of relief. He was okay.

Gravity returned, sending the brothers back to the ground. Ford hurried Lee out of the portal room, calling for Fidds to follow. There were still ninety seconds on the timer — ninety seconds before the portal truly opened — and Ford wanted to wait out the rest of the anomalies where they wouldn't have such dire consequences.

Lee braced his hand over the control station desk and leaned on it, breathing heavily. "Lee, are you okay?" asked Ford, putting a hand on his back. "What. . . what did you see?"

His response was another wide-eyed look. "I. . . it's. . ." Lee shook his head. "It's a wasteland in there, Sixer." He took a deep, shuddering breath. "Nothing but an empty wasteland." Then a wince. "A very bright one, though."

What? No, that couldn't be right. There had to be something on the other side. Something to discover, something to study. "Maybe you didn't get past the white barrier," Ford said. "You probably didn't get through to the other side." He turned. "Right, Fidds?"

He froze as he found himself staring down the barrel of a gun.

"Fidds?" He took a step back, putting his hands up. "Fidds, what's wrong?"

Fidds' hands shook as he pointed the stun gun at his research partner. "I'm sorry, Stanford."

He fired.

Lee caught Ford as he fell. "Fidds, what the—"

"You got to see the other side."

Lee stared at him warily. "I. . . I did. Wherever you have that portal set to, Fidds, it's empty. Now, just put that down, and we can—"

"No." Fidds' hands shook even more. "No, it can't be empty. I've been promised — great rewards—"

"What?"

Fidds shook his head. Never mind. There was an explanation, he was sure. Ford was probably right: Lee probably hadn't seen the other side at all.

"Fiddleford, put the gun down." Lee stepped forward, reaching out. As he did so, gravity disappeared again, sending him higher into the air with his footstep than he'd anticipated.