Wormholes by Dennis Meredith

‘Hell, no.’ He was just being polite.”
    She smiled. “Then lower away.” The workman flipped a switch and the winch whined to life lowering her inch by inch down the side of the massive tower. She fended off the cold gray-painted steel face with her hands as she went, rivet by rivet, down the side. She twisted and looked down. The laser beam splashed its green color against the tower far below and to the right of her. She’d have to swing back and forth to reach the spot. As she’d done so many times before on a rock face, she began to walk herself to the left across the face of the tower, swinging back to the right, to see how far she could get.
    “What are you doin’?” she heard Gaston in her ear.
    “I’m going to have to swing over to line myself up. I’m just testing.”
    “Well, you’re scaring Jimmy.”
    “So damned sorry,” she laughed. After another thirty feet, she had lowered to about the level of the laser beam. She ordered a halt and twisted to look back at the building. It was a remarkable sight, the intense green light streaming from the distant building. Many of the lights in the building were on, as the tenants had stayed late to watch the experiment. She turned back to the vast steel wall before her.
    “Okay, I’m going to start at the level of the beam, then work down until I find an impact mark.” She began to walk herself to the left, swooping back to the right. Walking left, swooping right … left … right, until she began to build up enough momentum to swing herself over to the laser beam. One last bounding stride to the left and she knew she had enough momentum. She swung wide right and into the laser beam and was astonished to see flash past her eyes a hole as large and perfect as the one through the building.
    “Jesus!” she huffed as she swung back left.
    “Jesus, what?” asked Gaston.
    “There’s a hole here, too. Same level as the beam.”
    “Wow!”
    Dacey pushed left with her legs and hands to give herself enough momentum to swing wide right once again. Sure enough, she swooped into the green brilliance and the hole was there. Whatever had made these holes was unaffected by gravity!
    Suddenly, the laser beam was overwhelmed by a white glaring light and a powerful thudding sound behind her. A news helicopter had drifted in to hover between her and the beam. She waved the helicopter away. The cameraman leaning out of the helicopter waved back. She waved again. She heard the faint pop of gunfire from above him. The helicopter swooped away and the laser beam returned.
    Dacey pushed out and looked upward, although she knew she wouldn’t be able to see anything. “What was that? Did you shoot at them?”
    “Jimmy brought a gun. He says it was just blanks. I made him put it away.”
    “Well, hell, it worked!” Dacey resumed the swinging. Sweat trickled down her forehead from the exertion. She swung up to the hole and grabbed for it. An excruciating pain shot through her fingers and she yelled and grabbed her hand and allowed her swing to dissipate. The two slices had cut right through her gloves and to her fingers. They were the width of the tower steel’s thickness, and they bled profusely, like being cut by a razor. She rummaged in her tool bag and pulled out a cloth, wrapping her fingers tightly. Through the pain, a realization: the hole was sliced as cleanly as the sliced-off rock that rested on her office desk!
    “What happened?” asked Cameron.
    “The edges are sharp,” she said, not wanting to worry Gerald more. She set her jaw and resumed the swing. Using the bloody cloth as a cushion, she grabbed the edge of the hole again, careful not to draw her hand along the edge. She could see that the ultrasharp edges were fraying the cloth, but she was determined to see this hole up close. She hauled herself up even with the hole.
    The cut edge of the inch-thick steel plate gleamed in the laser light like polished metal. Holding onto the hole, she carefully stuck