Super Nova

“This is your assignment, just get it done.”  Jennifer, Assistant Editor of the City on The Hill newspaper kept her eyes glued to the computer monitor as she typed.

“If I cared about these human interest stories- I would be working at, Santa Cruz Style Magazine, or High Times!”  Rosie Bear, newly promoted Investigative Journalist, clenched her fists as her face turned red.

“I’m going to be a real reporter, that’s why I’m here.”  The stacked books and papers surrounding her in her Boss’ cramped office began closing in, making her feel small and insignificant.   Rosie shook off the feeling, she had to believe in herself, even  if no one else would. In her 6th year at University of California Santa Cruz, she finally had the job she wanted on the school paper, and wouldn’t let anything stop her.

 “Is there anything even interesting about this woman? Does she have special powers, kidnap aliens, steal secrets from the Russians? Does anyone care about some scientist?”

“She is a top woman scientist here at UC Santa Cruz.” Jennifer interjected.

“The Physics Department just wants positive press since the reports that Professor Balakrish couldn’t keep his hands off his female graduate students-”

“Find out if she has any family, a husband, or a kid. Our readers love that.” Jennifer added, her fingers a blur on the keyboard.

“Family?” Rosie almost spit out her latte. “Why should we care about families?  If she was a man would we ask about a, family?”   Rosie shook her head. “I finally get to do investigative reporting, and you give me this? I should grill her on why the Graduate Students get paid less than minimum wage, while the University spends millions on the Lick Observatory searching for intelligent life.”

Rosie leaned in. “Maybe they should look for intelligence down here on earth-”

Jennifer turned from her computer with her eyes bright.  “The interview is in one hour. I want to see the first draft by noon tomorrow.”

A trick of the morning light showed Rosie two reflected images of herself in the glass doors of the gray building.  She had always known another part of her existed in the world, waiting for her.  She had felt this way for as long as she could remember. Rosie had a family, a Mom, and a brother, even a Dad somewhere, but she didn’t feel whole.  She assumed she would find her soulmate someday, but they hadn't shown up yet.

Rosie pulled open one of the doors, breaking up the double image and walked into the lobby of the UC Santa Cruz Secure Space Lab.  

A motion in the back of the lobby drew her eye.  A small dog cowered against the wall. With reddish brown fur framing its small face, it looked at her, eyes pleading, before scurrying down a partially open door and out of sight.

“What a cute dog!” Rosie said.

“Dog?” A large, muscular guard stood behind the security gate, with ‘Owen’ printed on his chest. His small, tight eyes burned into her, questioning her sanity. 

“There is no dog.” He cursed out the word.  “Put your bag there, walk over here.”  He gestured broadly toward a bag check and a metal detector.

Owen frowned as she made it through without any alarm bells. “Wait here for your escort,” he pointed to a back corner.

 Rosie loved dogs, but her small apartment did not allow them. Just seeing the dog made her feel better,  a co-conspirator that also didn’t want to be there. Rosie knew this interview would be a waste of time.  She had worked hard to get to the prestigious investigative desk at the paper, staying in school longer to get the position. She loved being a reporter, collecting interviews, finding the underlying truth, and telling stories.

She cared nothing about space, or human interest stories. A scientist and her family had little importance compared to the fight for the collective rights of the oppressed.   She checked her watch. Five more minutes and then she’d leave, she had real stories to find. 

In case the scientist did show up, she pulled her notes out of her shoulder bag to review the assignment.  Lizzie Trenholm, PH.D candidate in the Astrophysics Department led the deep space exploration project called DECLAN.  The project studied planets outside the earth’s own solar system, particularly the Proxima Centauri system, which had a potential earth-like planet. Rosie shook her head at this scientist, another crazy person chasing aliens. 

Rosie could barely understand the titles, let alone the subject matter of the large number of scientific projects Ms. Trenholm had participated in. 

In the demographic notes, Rosie noticed the scientist was the same age as herself. 

“Wow, I haven't done anything!” she said under her breath. Rosie had her head down, leaning against the wall when she heard someone walk up to her.

“Sorry for the delay!  I am here to take you to Ms. Trenholm.”  A woman with dark curly hair in a white lab coat stood next to  Rosie.  “ My name is Kristen.”  

Rosie straightened and turned, when suddenly Kristen stopped, her eyes wide. She looked Rosie up and down. “My goodness, you are the spitting image of...” Kristen’s smile came back.  “Come follow me.”

Kirsten took Rosie through the open door, and through a maze of corridors, flashing her ID card at each locked door. They passed rooms with elaborate technology, and others with white boards covered with scribbled letters, numbers and symbols.

“Kristen,” Rosie ran to catch up to the fast-walking woman.  “I thought I saw a dog earlier- do you know if it is an office pet, or-”

Kristen turned back laughing, but then saw Rosie’s face. 

“You’re serious.  We don’t have any animals here. This is a scientific laboratory! You must have been mistaken. Here we are.”

Kristen opened a door to a run-down room with a conference table and chairs.

Kirsten looked around, “Ms. Trenholm should be here soon, I'll get some water. Would you want coffee?”

Rosie smiled and nodded, and Kirsten left. 

I hope the scientist is that nice.  Rosie thought. 

Rosie heard a scraping sound from the hallway. Opening the door, she looked out into the corridor to see the small dog.  In a brown blur it darted between her legs and into the conference room. “What are you doing?” 

The dog spun around the room, and then jumped up on the table. Rosie couldn’t tell the breed, a dachshund maybe?

She looked into its eyes and it looked back,  with an intelligence she had never seen in a dog before. It opened its mouth, but instead of a bark, a thin song erupted from it, then it tilted its head.

“That’s so cute! Come here little guy.”

The dog went into her arms, and once close, Rosie wrinkled her nose at the dog’s horrible, strange smell. “Oh, you stink!”

The door burst open, “Hey, put down Nova!” A woman shouted into the room.

Rosie winced and turned to the voice. Squeezing the dog to her chest she saw an unbelievable sight, a mirror image of herself in the open doorway.  The woman had longer, darker hair and wore turtle shell glasses. An open lab coat covered black leggings and a blue top. And her face glowed red with fury.

 “Who are you, and how did you get Nova?” She pointed, her hand shaking.

“I am Rosie, Rosie Bear, the reporter? I was supposed to meet Ms. Trenholm for an interview…” Rosie squeezed the dog even tighter in fear.

“How did you get Nova? Did you let him out, I have been looking everywhere-” 

 “He ran in here, is he your dog?” Rosie felt protective of the small animal and did not want to let him go.

The woman looked back down the hall, stepped in the room and closed the door behind her.

“You can call me Lizzie, and that is not a dog.”

“What do you mean it is not a dog?” Rosie said. 

Lizzie breathed out, and her body slumped. “Nova, and several others like it, were found on a probe that came back from a deep space voyage.  Nova looks like a dog, but is not from earth.”

“This is an alien?” Rosie gawked at the animal in her arms. A story about aliens on earth, will be the greatest new story ever!

“He has a totally different chemistry, which is why the strange smell.   I’ve been studying him, and well, I am not getting enough information.  The biology department wants to take him, and they plan on invasive testing. I think Nova figured it out and escaped.   All of the rest of the experiments failed, and the subjects perished.” 

“The other dogs died?” Rosie’s mouth dropped in horror. The newspaper headline ‘University Lab Killing Aliens’ spun in her mind.

“Nova’s the last one. He looks like just a dog, but I think he’s extremely intelligent.  Nova is trying to communicate with us, but we still cannot make sense of the sounds.” Lizzie moved over to the door, opening it slightly. 

“With more time,  I know I could learn how to talk with him. I’m going to break him out with me to save him.” Lizzie paused. “He seems to like you.  Nova doesn’t like most people.”  She leaned in, her eyes wide. “Is it just me, do you think we look alike?”

“Yes, exactly!”  Rosie sat up, needing to talk about this strange situation.  The idea that someone in the world looked exactly like her vibrated in her head. “It’s like looking in the mirror, sort of. And I saw in the file that we were born the same year. Doesn’t that seem strange-”

Lizzie leaned back, both hands on the conference table, her eyes intent on Rosie.  “-I was born on Christmas Eve-”

“- I was too!”  Rosie screamed. “How does this happen?”

“It’s like we are twins”  They said together, their voices harmonious in the small room. 

Lizzie reached under her shirt and pulled out a necklace, a half pendant of a panda bear.

 Rosie’s eyes went wide and she pulled the other half.

“My father gave me this when I was little, Lizzie whispered, ”he said it was a connection to the rest of my family-”

 “Is this true- we’re family?” Rosie’s sense of balance left her, the room tilted, and then righted itself.  A wave of wholeness rolled through her for the first time in her life.  Unmatched puzzle pieces began to spin and click together in her mind, creating a picture that finally made sense. She was a twin!  The empty space in her life suddenly filled with Lizzie.  She had so many questions to ask.

“Do you-” Lizzie began.

“Tell me about-” Rosie said, simultaneously.

Both women smiled, then a shrill alarm echoed through the room.

“They know Nova is missing!” Lizzie looked up at the siren. “I have to get out of here. You have to make a choice, Rosie.  You can report this, that aliens are on earth, and be the most famous reporter in the world. Or, we can leave together with Nova, but you’ll be a fugitive.”

Rosie looked across the table at her new found twin.  “We just found each other, I can’t leave us!”

Lizzie grinned.  “Do you have a bag or-”

Rosie lifted up her large shoulder bag.

“Perfect.” Lizzie took the bag, dumped the contents on the table and threw it at Rosie. “Put Nova in here.”  She opened the door and looked down the hall.  “Come on, I think we can make it. Are you a fast runner?”

Rosie paused, not sure if this was the time to say ‘no’, but Lizzie took off.  The two women only made it three steps before they saw a security guard crossing the corridor.

Lizzie pulled Rosie into a small janitor closet.  Darkness surrounded her, and Rosie’s heart thumped so loud, she knew they would be found. 

Abruptly light filled the closet, and a large figure stood in the doorway. The walls began closing in, again making her feel small and insignificant. Did she make the wrong choice? In moments she would lose her job and her sister.

Owen held a pistol in his massive fist.  “Come out right now!”  

“No!” Rosie grabbed Lizzie’s hand and squeezed.  She wished to be outside, away from this evil place, and this man with too large muscles.  She closed her eyes and imagined the place that made her the happiest.

Rosie felt a breeze on her face and opened her eyes.  They were sitting in a canoe on a small creek, Lizzie next to her, and Nova in the bag at her shoulder.

“What happened- where are we?”  Lizzie’s mouth gaped open, the boat tipped slightly as she turned to look at the lush greenery surrounding her, pink hydrangea’s billowing on one shore. 

Rosie laughed. “This is the place where I am most happy, Capitola!  I was scared so I thought about being safe- and we’re here!  But how did that happen?”

“Well this is beautiful and all,” Lizzie said, as the canoe righted itself, drifting in a slow circle.  “But we don’t have a paddle, and maybe you could imagine being on land- “

Rosie grabbed her own shoulders, squeezed her eyes shut and wished. But nothing happened. She tried again, thinking hard. “I don’t know what I did before-”

Lizzie reached out. “We were holding hands!”

Rosie nodded and grabbed Lizzie’s hand.  “I know just where to go.”

Moments later, they were standing in front of an overgrown garden of a ranch style house. “My Mom, our Mom, might be able to help. She has lots of dogs and can speak to them, I think.”  Rosie knocked on the door. 

Lizzie looked down, her hands clasped tightly together.  “Do you think she will remember me?” She asked, her voice soft.

A small blonde woman opened the door. She put her hand to her mouth, and then screamed, jumping at Lizzie.  “My Lizzie!” I missed you so much!”

After rounds of hugs, and tears, they all huddled around the dining table.

“What about our Dad?” Rosie asked.

“He lives in Canada.” Lizzie said.  “He is a bit strange, but all those Canadiens are. He is an engineer, lawyer; he knows everything. He has a lot of dogs too.

“Doreen, uh, Mom, how did I grow up there, with my brother Willie, and you Rosie and Charlie grow up down here in California?”

Doreen took one look at Lizzie and squeezed her again. Tears flowed down her face.

“I missed you so much Lizzie! I have been following your career- I am so proud of you!”

“Why did you keep us apart?” Rosie asked, frustration beginning to spread across her shoulders.  She spent her whole life missing out on being with her twin, and her Mom knew the whole time. 

Doreen picked up Nova and whispered something in her ear.  Nova stood up and began yapping and singing in a strange sing-song manner. Doreen sang back.

“This might be hard for you to hear.  Mike, your Dad, is from the same exo-planet as Nova. Lizzie, you probably know it as Proxima Centauri b.   It’s close, just 4 ½ light years away. Mike, of course, just calls it home.”  Doreen smiled.  “He came as an ambassador many years ago, but, there doesn’t seem to be much support for immigrants, or aliens right now, so we are laying low.  Nova  and her team were sent to support Mike, with new information to make a new, better world.  I only speak a little of Nova’s language but Mike knows it.  She has something to tell us. Mike and Nova have extra powers here on earth they did not have on Proxima Centauri b. He isn’t sure why, something to do with the magnetic field-”

Doreen held Nova in her lab and rubbed his head.

“Maybe because you are identical twins, you both are extremely powerful. I don’t know if you have noticed-”

“When we’re connected, whatever we wish comes true!”  Lizzie said.

“ Sort of.  You need to be in a heightened emotional state, or at least you used to be.  You two together are the most powerful force on earth.  Which caused a lot of problems!” Doreen laughed. “We had to separate you two, because you almost destroyed our house many times.  We designed your lives to get you to the places where you can be your best.” Doreen continued. “We have done everything we could to let you build on your strengths, and build your own success. Because your growth and careers will be important to communicate with these crazy earthlings.” Doreen grabbed Lizzie and Rosie’s hands in her own. 

Police sirens echoed from the distance.  

“They must have tracked my phone!” Lizzie said.

“Can we fight the government, stop them from taking Nova back?” Rosie asked.

“No,” Doreen said. “Too much danger in that. We must go to Canada, meet up with Mike and then we can figure out what Nova is trying to tell us and begin to make a better world.”

The sirens grew louder.

“I have an plan, but we need a car-“ Rosie said.

“Come with me!” Doreen said. She led them outside to a electric blue Chevy Bolt, and they climbed  in.  Three police cars pulled into the driveway, blocking them, lights flashing.  Kristen and Owen jumped out, his gun in the air. “If you try to escape- I will shoot!”

“How did they get here so fast?” Lizzie said.

Ok, you ready?”  Rosie held her hand out to her twin. She knew they had everything they needed between them.

Lizzie grabbed her hand and they both closed their eyes.  Nova began singing as the car lurched forward, and then up, over the police cruisers in a slow graceful arc.

“I will get you!” Owen’s voice trailed off below them.

Rosie had a new story to write.