Astraeus 5 Page 17

  ~~~~~~~~~~

  Will awoke with the feeling that he wasn’t alone. He looked to his left and saw the back of a sleeping form, but couldn’t make out any detail in the dark, the light of the clock being insufficient to make out any details. He focussed on the clock and saw that it was 04:00. Slightly odd, he thought, as the last thing he could remember was going to sleep on a settee, and he was definitely alone. With that thought, he fell asleep again, still feeling tired from his long day.

  He was rudely awoken. "Who the hell are you and how did you get into my bed, never mind my apartment?" screamed the woman standing at the foot of the bed, dressed only in her underwear.

  He rubbed his eyes and tried to focus. Half asleep, all he could say was "Where am I?"

  "You’re in my apartment, bone head! What I don’t know is who you are or how you got here. I remember getting a bit drunk at the party last night but I don’t remember coming home with anyone. I must have been more drunk than I thought though if I came home with you. You’re not my type."

  "Pleased to meet you too. I’ve no idea how I got here, either. My name’s Will, Will Hunt, by the way" he replied.

  "Well Will Hunt, you had better get out of there, pronto."

  "Say, aren’t you Kathy Brown?" he asked. "Your hair’s different, though, and you’ve filled out a bit."

  "No, I’m Katarina Brown and I hope you don’t think I’ve put on weight" she said, challengingly, putting her hands on her hips.

  "No, no. All I can say is that you clearly need a little more, er, support, than you used to"

  She looked down and realised what he meant – what little she was wearing singularly failed to hide her figure. "I’ll take that as a compliment, I think. So, how do you think you know me, exactly? I don’t remember you at all?"

  "It was meant as one. It was a long time ago, we were at college together and you and I dated for a while. That was before I moved to Shackleton permanently to work as a Senior Technician for Galactic Comms."

  "I don’t date men. Where’s Shackleton?"

  "Aren’t we on it now? It’s a space station orbiting Ohio in the Aquarius system. What do you mean, you don’t date men?" he said, starting to work through the sleep-filled fog in his head. He swung his legs out of the bed and realised he was still dressed in the navy uniform apart from the boots, which he vaguely remembered taking off before he lay down on the couch in Billy’s apartment.

  "No idea what you’re talking about. Trust me, we’ve never even met, never mind dated. I’ve live my entire life here on Cantabrigia. I’ve never even been planetside. I only dated a boy once, when I was fourteen. All I can say is that I’ve only been with girls ever since. Anyway, how come you’re almost fully dressed and I’m wearing next to nothing?" asked Katarina.

  "Not sure you’d believe me if I could explain it. I’d better leave you in peace" he said, backing towards the apartment door, the while thinking back to the rather strange day or so he’d had in the other reality. He was beginning to think it had all been a dream, when he realised he had a small toy in his pocket, which he could only assume had been put there at some stage by Peter. He was also beginning to feel somewhat uneasy, being clearly in yet another reality.

  "What, just like that? You get into my bed without any explanation and think you can just walk away?"

  "OK. I’ll try to explain. I don’t expect you to understand, though" he replied.

  "Try me" she countered, challengingly.

  "First of all, it involves alternate universes. With me so far?"

  "I think you’re right. You’re bullshitting me. You’d better get out of here before I report you to the cops" she said, somewhat angrily, pointing towards the door.

  "Hang on. Doesn’t the Navy uniform give the game away, even just a little?"

  "Wrong colour, buster! The navy wear black uniforms, not blue. Out!" she responded, still pointing at the door.

  "OK, OK" countered Will, moving backwards towards the door. Hang on a sec’. I think I have some holo images that might help. He flicked through the collection on his organiser and picked one of him with Kathy.

  "Here’s one of me and Kathy together a few years back" he announced, hoping the image would, at least, generate some understanding.

  As she watched the moving image, with Will and Kathy talking casually to the image-taker, she was intrigued "How exactly does that thing work? I work in a research lab for a tech company and I’ve never seen anything with that level of clarity in a holo. The ones we’re working on are grainy, jerky and slightly out of focus, and that’s bleeding edge technology. That looks like you’re actually looking at the subjects. You could almost be there."

  "Sorry, no idea. This is just a basic camera kit from where I come from. Hang on a mo, while they’re just still images, I have some pictures of Kate, her husband Billy and their little boy Peter that I took yesterday with the camera application. Peter was hard to pin down, as he’s only seven and VERY lively, so I couldn’t capture a holo."

  As he showed her the images, she started to relent, realising that he wasn’t quite as mad as she had first thought.

  "OK, these look genuine and the girls do look like my twins. That Billy does look kinda like you. Perhaps there’s something in your madcap story of alternate universes. Tell you what, if you’ll let me examine your organiser, I might be able to at least help you out a little."

  "Is there any way that can be done without me losing the contents?"

  "Hmm. I need to discuss this with my boss. We might be able to come to some kind of arrangement. That thing is streets ahead of what we have here and I’d love for us to be able to have a good look at it."

  "OK, we might have a deal. However, I’m shoeless, homeless and moneyless, never mind jobless so, for now, I think we might have to come to some kind of arrangement so that, if nothing else, I have some chance of being self-sufficient. Changing the subject, is there any way to easily see if there is a William Hunt in this reality?"

  "No probs. I’ll have a quick look on the station contact database. By the way, my friends call me Kat" replied Katarina.

  As Kat moved towards her computer terminal, Will said "OK, Kat. If there is a version of me in this reality, I’d like to try to hook up with him."

  Kat sat down in front of her terminal and said "Helen. Please look up William Hunt in the resident database. If there isn’t a William, use any variation of William."

  The terminal image changed from a rotating image to that of an attractive young woman. Within seconds, the image said "I have two possible Hunt’s in the database. Please select the one you wish."

  The uppermost image was one of a middle-aged man, who looked nothing like Will. The one below it, however, was an image of a man who looked almost identical to Will, although he had slicked-back hair and a moustache. His name was shown as Bill Hunt.

  "Oh my God" exclaimed Kat "He looks like your brother."

  "My brother has very short hair and is clean shaven but I know what you mean. Any chance of calling him and seeing if he would be willing to see me? I suggest somewhere fairly public, such as a café or bar."

  "Helen, please contact Bill Hunt" said Kat.

  A few seconds later, the call was answered by a woman who looked, to Will, a lot like Becky Williams "Hello. Can I help you?"

  "Is it possible to speak to Bill, please?" replied Will.

  As the woman looked closely at Will, she looked visibly surprised "Who ARE you?"

  "My name’s Will Hunt and what I would like to discuss with Bill would be better face to face."

  "He’s in the kitchen. I’ll call him" she replied, still looking bemused by Will’s appearance.

  A few seconds later, Bill came into view "Hello?" he said. As he looked into Will’s face, he looked confused.

  Will explained the need to meet with Bill and asked if this would be possible.

  A few minutes later, they had agreed a location which Kat assured Will she would take him to. As it was a weekend, Bil
l wasn’t working, which meant that they would meet in two hours time.

  After they had closed the connection, Kat turned to Will and informed him that she needed to shower and dress, after which they could have some breakfast, then go meet Bill and his wife. In the meantime, she had a friend who should be able to lend Will a pair of shoes he could wear until he could buy some of his own, so contacted him and asked if this would be possible.

  An hour and a half later, fed, watered and wearing shoes, Will escorted Kat towards the lift that would take them to the main station concourse and their rendezvous with Bill. Despite the uncertainty, Will was feeling positive and walked with some anticipation towards the forthcoming meeting.

  ~~~~~~~~~~

  "Mummy, Mummy. Will’s gone" shrieked Peter into Kate’s left ear.

  Blearily, she said "Whoa, slow down, dear. Say that again, slowly this time."

  "I just went into the living room and Will wasn’t there. I’ve even looked in the washroom" explained an excited Peter.

  She nudged her husband, who had somehow managed to stay asleep during the brief exchange.

  "Your cousin has disappeared, Billy" she informed him.

  "Maybe he couldn’t sleep and went for a walk" he suggested, not being entirely sure how Will would have managed such a feat but, in his sleepy state, it made sense to him. "Better go have a look" he said, reaching out for Peter’s hand.

  As they entered the living room, he realised that Peter was correct. There was no sign of Will. The duvet that he had covered him with last night was still there, still thrown over the settee as if Will was still under it – it hadn’t been thrown back when he got up. There was also a pair of naval-issue boots on the floor where they had been left by Will when he laid down on the settee.

  Billy’s heart sank. He had a feeling they’d never see Will again.

  The End

  About the Author

  Graham M. Phillips was born in England around 60 years ago. He is married with two adult children and has lived in Cambridgeshire, England for over 30 years. He is a retired Accountant and wrote this book to prove to himself that he could do it!