Surfacing (Spark Saga) Read Online Free

              Mr. Zach Webb
    FROM:               E.G.W.
    SUBJ:                             A tip
     
    Dear Son,
    You will need to steam open those pages.
    E.G.W.
     
    I am flabbergasted, thrilled, and completely blown away.  My father has indeed contacted me from the future.  I never would have guessed this possible, and yet, if I were to think about it with any degree of intellectual depth, of course, it makes sense.  Not only did he discover time travel, but he made it accessible—to me and to Tess Turner. Presumably, we are the only three people in the universe with this privileged information.  What are the odds?  Excitedly, I type in a reply:
     
    August 14, 2012
    TO:                             E.G.W.
    FROM:               Zach Webb
    RE:                             A Tip
     
    Dad,
    I can’t believe it!   I am simply blown away by what you’ve accomplished.  There is so much to talk about.  Not only is your research incredible and life altering—indeed, universe altering—it is downright cool to be a part of it.  I have a lot of questions, as you may suspect.  And yes, I am in the midst of a particular quandary involving Tess that I won’t go into at the moment (though I’m sure you already know the details of it, intimately).  For now, I will investigate the pages in The Time Machine (once I get home, as I have no way to open them here at the lab), and I will reply as soon as possible. 
    Love,
    Zach
     
    Contact with my father eases my anxiety about Tess somewhat.  If anyone can help me figure out what to do, it’s him.  I can’t help think that somehow Tess’s chip can be re-programmed.  It seems like the most logical conclusion.  I reprogram her chip to include the memories of us, and all will be back to normal.  Whatever normal is….
     

Tess
    One thing that completely baffles me.  After everything that has happened—a freak accident, out for eight days—for some reason, this cheesy movie was one of the first things that came to mind.  The question just keeps nagging at me:  What would it be like, to have never been born?  Would the world be a different place, just like in the movie, It’s A Wonderful Life?  Does one person have that much impact?
    I’m still pondering these questions when I realize the room is empty.  My parents are gone and I’m staring at an empty chair.  It’s still light outside and the sun is filtering through the blinds.  As if by cue, a doctor glides into the room with a clipboard, his glasses on the end of his nose, and sits deliberately in the chair beside me.
    “Ms. Turner?  I want to visit with you for a moment, would that be ok?”
    Do I have a choice?  “Sure,” I reply.
    He shuffles some paper and pushes his glasses up on his nose.  “What is your birthdate ?”
    Why does he keep calling me Ms. Turner?  “April 18.  And you can call me Tess.”  I smile.
    “Very good,” he sa ys, scribbling on a piece of paper.  “Now, how old are you?”
    “Seventeen.”
    “And what is your full name?”
    Really?  “Tess Elaine Turner.”
    “What year is it?”
    “2012.”
    “Excellent.”  The doctor look s up from his papers and glances at me.  “How are you feeling, Tess?”
    “Fine, I guess.”
    “Do you know why you’re here?”
    “I had some sort of run in with a storm, so I hear,” I repl y.
    The doctor nod s.  “And, what do you remember about that, Tess?”
    Was this a trick question?  “Well, my dad tells me I might have gotten struck by lightning.”
    “Yes, but do you remember anything about it?  Where you were?  And what you were doing?”
    “Not really,” I admit.
    A slight expression—something between a frown and a smirk—creeps across his face, as if my condition both worries and excites him, in a professional sort of way.  Maybe a doctor waits years to get a case as messed up—and,