A Step to Nowhere (24 page)
I woke up to the smell of fried eggs and thought that I didn’t hear my mom coming in or Jason leaving. Did she see us in bed together? It didn’t matter, we were adults and had been dating for awhile, but … I opened my eyes and found myself not in my reddish-brown bedroom, heaped up with clothes and tomfoolery, but in one that was empty and gray. I was in a different universe. Get used to it.
I got out of bed, went to the bathroom, and brushed my teeth before going to the living room. It was empty. I heard muffled sounds coming from another room. Also from there, came the inviting aroma of food. I went to where I assumed would be the kitchen, and saw Dan by the stove. He turned an omelet with tomatoes and onions in a big skillet. This bald giant looked strange cooking. It was easier to imagine him tearing off somebody’s head.
Ronald and Steve were sitting at the table. Steve was facing me and waved to me as soon as I entered.
“Good morning,” he said.
“Morning,” I answered. No
good
mornings on this planet for me, thank you very much.
“Come in and sit down,” Dan said. While I was settling at the table between Ronald and Steve, Dan cut the omelets and put them in plates in front of each of us. Then he filled four glasses with light green liquid, and only after that he joined us. What a nice mommy. Who would think?
“I’m dying from hunger,” I muttered as I grabbed the fork. The hell with manners and rules. My stomach turned into a mean, sucking monster, demanding sacrifice. He would accept omelets with gratitude.
“It’s great you make omelets.”
“Do you have this dish, too?” Steve asked with his mouth full.
“Yep,” I answered, rolling my eyes. It was the best food I’d ever eaten in my life. I didn’t enjoy it for long. The sound of the opening and closing of the entrance door reached my ears and I froze.
“Are you expecting someone?” I asked. I didn’t even swallow the chewed food for fear of missing the sound of approaching steps.
Dan put his fork down, looking at me, then switched his sight to the kitchen entrance and moved his hands to his knees.
I wished I had swallowed, because when the person came in I almost choked. I coughed and drank juice or whatever they called that stuff, but everything threatened to come out.
There at the threshold stood Ray, dressed in a shining, blue uniform; groomed, and fresh. An observer who had become my nightmare.
I glanced at the guys sitting at the table. Only Steve, I supposed, didn’t understand what was going on.
Everything inside me shrank. From offense, anger, misunderstanding. I put the fork on the table and stood up. I wanted to run away and hide, but where?
“You didn’t tell her,” Ray said matter-of-factly, and frowned.
“I decided it was better for you to tell,” Dan said. “She was in shock after everything that happened yesterday.”
“I’m in shock now,” I said. “What is he doing here? What’s going on?”
Ray raised his hands like he was surrendering and I wanted to smack him. Beat the crap out of him. Not only him, but this whole company. I didn’t trust him, didn’t trust anyone. I didn’t understand what they wanted from me or what was going to happen next. He took a step toward me – I stepped back. He stopped, keeping his gaze on me.
“Sam.” He stopped as if listening to the sound of my name or to the thoughts in my head. “Sam. Try to listen to me and believe. I’m doing everything I can to stop this nightmare for you, forever. We’re doing everything.” he added, catching Steve’s glare.
“I should
trust
you?” I asked and took two more steps back, pressing my back against the window. It was covered with blinds and I couldn’t see the street when I’d turned back. Maybe there was an army waiting for me.
“First, I should tell you the address of this house. Park Street Twelve.”
I raised my eyebrows and looked at Dan. He sighed.
“Maybe we should have told her,” Ronald said.
“You’re friends,” I said.
Dan nodded, then picked up his fork, and started to eat, staring at his plate.
“What’s going on there?” Ronald asked, switching his attention from me.
“Raids,” Ray said. He walked to the fridge and took out a bottle of local juice, untwisted the cap, and took a couple of gulps. He acted like he was at home. “Sam?”
I startled even though he didn’t raise his voice and I wasn’t lost in my thoughts.
“Can I talk to you alone?”
I had a mass of caustic remarks, evil jokes, but I didn’t want to disseminate in the presence of the guys who had saved me, risking their own lives.
“Please.” Ray put the bottle back into the fridge and looked at me.
“Do you want to handcuff me first?” I couldn’t help it. I had to bite. “You never know. I might scratch you.”
Steve snorted and that was it. No one had shown any reaction. Men. Zero emotions.
Ray smiled sadly and headed to the door leading from the kitchen. I followed him. Only, not immediately. First, I sat down at the table, finished my omelet, drank my juice, and said thanks to Dan who looked pleased with my behavior, and only after that I went to the living room. Oh, I also washed my hands.
Ray had settled comfortably on the couch. He looked as if he’d had a great time and I believed that he had. He wasn’t chased, shot at, or almost executed. He took a shower, ate great food, and slept with his wife in a comfortable bed until an alarm clock woke him up, and then his car brought him here to meet me.
“Stand up,” I demanded.
“Why?”
“I’m not going to talk to you until you have stood up.”
Ray sighed, then yielded and I did something I’d never done. I wasn’t even sure I’d get to the target but my foot, in the heavy boot, flew into the air and rammed into the crotch of my lover. Even I winced when I saw his eyes and heard his moan, before he bent in half.
“Are you okay, guys?” Ronald asked from the kitchen.
“Never better!” I answered, watching the color changing on Ray’s face. His breathing was fitful. He slowly went back down on the couch.
I sat in the chair opposite him, waiting for my brain to pick up and feel better, feel satisfied. It didn’t happen. My brain didn’t care if it was my Ray or not. I felt good during those few hours with him, I couldn’t deny it. I wouldn’t admit it to him, ever, but I wanted to be honest with myself. Life is unpredictable. It could finish unexpectedly and you wouldn’t always have time to let your mind reconcile with its own desires and emotions. It didn’t make sense lying to myself when death was chasing me in the wake. And did it make any sense to think about it when my lover was cringing in pain, feeling all the power of my love?
“So? Did you want to talk?” I asked, trying not to smile. On one hand I felt bad for the induced pain (go figure), on the other hand – he really looked funny. Where was all his power and pride?
He glared at me with such reproach that I lost any desire to laugh, but I still considered my little revenge fair. I would repeat it without a second thought.
“That’s what you did to my heart,” I said.
He nodded. Color slowly returned to his face. After a few seconds he straightened up, then put his hands on his knees and looked at me, lowering his head.
“It hurt,” he said.
“I noticed.”
“Can we not go back to it? No repeats?”
Now I did smile. I suspected the smile was malicious, because my friend crossed his hands over his friend. He didn’t say anything else as if he waited for me to start. We looked at each other for some time even though I wanted to cast my eyes downward, give up. I hated myself for it. I talked about being honest in front of myself, but it didn’t apply to others. Sometimes it was better to die than let another person know about your weakness. Especially when this other person used your sincerity and walked over your feelings in kersey boots. That was why I couldn’t stand the silence any longer and started to talk first. He probably expected that, but it was easier for me to hate him when I talked.
“What happened to Alexis?”
“He’s in onis. For now.”
“He got there because of you.”
“You can’t make me feel worse than I do already. Sam, I’m sorry. I couldn’t prevent any of this. I couldn’t. Believe me.”
I folded my arms on my chest and smiled. The cat appeared from nowhere and jumped on my lap. I was grateful to have something to switch attention to and ran my hand over his soft back.
“I’ll tell you what’s really going on here.”
“Go ahead.”
“Thanks. The corporation belongs to me, only formally. In reality, Bristow has owned it for a long time. I led the invention program that developed the mechanism for transportation to the parallel universe. I’m not a scientist as you understand, but I was always interested in science. I should thank my parents for that. They always supported me in all my adventures and they presented me with funds to organize a laboratory and gather the best specialists. We created a lot of new products and made a good profit. For example—a universal remote. Of course, it’s a small bird compared to the transportation hallway, but its introduction into everyday usage presented people with a quantity of convenience.”
“I have to agree with that. You can use it to let someone go to the bathroom or to electrocute a disobedient. Cool stuff.”
“I know what happened,” Ray said. “That man doesn’t work for the corporation anymore.”
“Why?” I raised my eyebrows. “You shouldn’t let go such an efficient employee because of me. He just did his job. Something his boss ordered him to do.”
“You’re very kind and fair.”
“You noticed? But only one person can make sarcastic remarks here. In this case—it’s me.”
“I agree.” Ray raised his hands. “Talking about the remote,” he bent to the table and picked up a rectangle thing with buttons. “They are all different and have different designations. You don’t have to worry about all of them having an electrical charge.”
“Trust me; it’s the last thing I worry about. I’m not even interested in how it works.”
Ray returned the remote to the table.
“Let’s talk about the hallway,” he said. “I want you to know that we didn’t create it for the sake of making money. We have all been enthusiasts, travelers. We traveled to your planet to learn about another life, culture. At that time, our planets didn’t differ that much. I mean, they were different, but the politics on
our
planet hasn’t been so bad. Then I proposed to the woman I loved.” Ray took a pause, gazing at me expressively. I kept stroking the cat and waited for the rest of the story. “By that time, I was almost broke. I invested everything in the program and my parents stopped sponsoring me. They also had a difficult time with my father’s illness. I sold the rights for the remote because I needed finances and I’ve lost everything with time. I have to admit—I’m not a great fantasist. The program was in jeopardy. Then Samantha offered me her father’s help. He had this idea of a corporation and I thought it could work. He promised that I would remain in control and make the decisions. He told me that he was interested only in the scientific aspect of the program. After three months, after the deal had been sealed, I understood what had happened but it was too late. Actually, not exactly like that, I’m getting ahead of myself. At the very beginning, when Bristow just started selling trips, it wasn’t bad. We created detailed strategies for travelers; rules, directions. The corporation began to receive huge amounts of money. It made our heads spin, but it felt good. Then Bristow started to talk about permanent placement or work placement of our people on Planet Two, to help travelers. He didn’t talk about planting somebody there secretly as an agent. He talked about
replacement
.”