Rifter (The Survival Project Duology Book 1) (17 page)

“Maybe. But it’s worse than that. It seems like this world’s Leo is working to find disruptions. He knows what they are. And when I arrived, he knew the disruption had appeared. He came to see it. And … it’s all too much. I don’t know how this could’ve happened, but it has and I’ve made a complete mess of everything.”

Kerry let her collapse against him. Her body sank into his. It was so long since she’d been held close. It felt good. But it didn’t make her feel any better about the situation she’d managed to get herself dug into. She was supposed to be professional. To be calm and collected. She was on a mission.

“How can you have made a mess of everything? The fact that they’re here isn’t your fault.”

She didn’t want to tell him the rest, but if he was going to help her, he had to know the complete truth. He had to know how at risk she was and how stupid she’d been.

“No, but the fact that I went to their flat to find out about him, that’s my fault.”

Kerry pushed her back, so he could see her face again.

“You did what? What were you thinking?”

Then, the tears began to flow. Floods of them. All her pent up emotions from the past thirty-odd hours found their way into those tears and there was nothing she could do to stop them running down her cheeks. He hugged her close again.

She had no idea how long they stayed like that, wrapped in each other’s arms, but it was long enough for her to feel embarrassed and awkward by the time they pulled apart. They hardly knew each other. He was just some random guy and she’d told him everything. She had poured her heart out to him.

“So, you believe me?” she asked.

He cupped his hands around the back of his head, stretching, and sighed.

“I’m not sure that I disbelieve you. Let’s just say, nothing’s been proven either way, yet.”

She nodded. It was better than she could have hoped for under the circumstances. He clearly wasn’t ready to cut all ties with the crazy woman he’d met only a few hours earlier.

“So, what do I call you?” he asked.

“Mara. That’s my real name.”

“No,” he said with a smile, “What do I call someone who does this … travelling? It has to have a name.”

“Oh. We call ourselves rifters, but it’s nothing official.”

“Rifter. I like that,” he said, “Sounds a bit like drifter. It’s kind of romantic, don’t you think?”

She snorted, loudly.

“You try walking through a rift and then you tell me whether or not you think it’s romantic. It’s like walking through a tube of compacted air, all the while trying to keep your footing and make sure you go straight ahead. It’s so far away from drifting.”

“Maybe I won’t ask if I can try it.” He started picking at the blanket on her bed. “Your Leo, you loved him a lot?”

“More than anything. He was my first ever boyfriend. I thought we’d be together for the rest of our lives. You know, the way you do when you’re young. And when he didn’t come back, I simply couldn’t believe he was dead. That didn’t seem right. He was too clever. Too careful. He wouldn’t have done anything to risk it.”

“Is that why you went to see him?”

“No. Not exactly. I mean yes, but … I suppose I hoped it might be him. I was so certain he wasn’t dead. Gordon, he runs the place, he shuts off the rift after seventy-two hours because it becomes unstable. That’s why we have the counter. Leo’s seventy-two hours was up. He could still be out there, somewhere. I really wanted him to be here, and when I saw him, I thought, maybe. But I know I’m wrong. It was just me being fanciful. He doesn’t look the same. He’s older. There’s no way it can be him.”

Kerry used his thumb to brush away one of the residual tears on her cheek. He searched her eyes for something.

“You said you were based in the Atlantic. Why is that?”

“That’s where we found the rift.”

“
The
rift? As in, nice to see you again, rift, how have you been?”

She pushed her elbow into his ribs.

“Stop it. Yes. We think, we don’t know for sure, that the same one opens regularly at the same point on our world, but it doesn’t necessarily connect to the same place at the other end.”

To the best of her knowledge, that was the truth. It was the only rift site on her world, and it wasn’t terribly convenient.

“I see. Oh. My. God. The Atlantic? The Bermuda Triangle?”

She smiled.

“You have that as well?” She was surprised. That would mean there was more than one rift site on this world. She grimaced. She was lucky she hadn’t landed there. “I thought it was just a dangerous sea.”

“All seas are dangerous, but yes, we think the disruption was the cause. On our world, at least.”

“And this disruption, as you call it, can you see it?”

“Yes, if you know what you’re looking for. It’s kind of—”

“Hold on. The disruption’s still here, right? Your rift is still open?”

“Of course.”

“Okay. Show me,” he said.

He stood up like a shot, ready to go.

“You want proof? Now? Shouldn’t you be getting some sleep?”

“Yes. Yes to all three. But, if it’s there, I might as well look at it. I mean, that’s quite an opportunity, and if it’s not there, and I find out everything you’ve told me is lies, I’ll hand you over to the doctors myself.”

Mara’s mouth gaped open for a moment, but then she realised there was no reason to be dismayed at all. He wanted to see the disruption and he could. Then, he would be in no doubt that she was telling the truth. You couldn’t fake a disruption.

Twenty-one

Kerry loaned Mara a baseball cap into which she piled all her hair, as best she could. She put on her sunglasses and one of his t-shirts. Kerry took out his contact lenses and put on an ordinary pair of glasses. He also pulled his jacket hood over his head. To anyone who was really looking for them, they weren’t disguised, but they weren’t instantly recognisable, either.

They jumped on a tube train, she was beginning to get used to them, and twenty minutes later they stood outside Golden Park.

Mara began to feel nervous just being close to the disruption again, and she reflexively grabbed Kerry’s hand for comfort and support. He didn’t object. In fact, he squeezed her hand tightly, once, in silent response.

From the gates, they could see the three guards and the cordoned-off area around the disruption that was much larger than the one she’d made. She had no desire to go any closer at that time, but that wasn’t enough for Kerry, not enough to prove the existence of the disruption. He wanted to see it up close, in all its nothingness.

“Do you really think they might have a description of me?” he asked.

Mara shrugged.

“I don’t know what they have. I know Leo saw you.”

He sucked on his lips for a second. “I’m going to risk it. What am I looking for?”

“Well, I don’t want to disappoint you, but it’s not like you’re going to see a tunnel. The disruption causes a kind of heat haze in the air. It’s only the entrance. You should be able to see it, it’s light enough, but a quick glance probably won’t do it. They’ll know you’re looking.”

He huffed.

“I think pretty much anyone would stare at them standing there like that. It’s not every day you pass three scary-looking characters guarding an empty patch of ground in a park.”

She supposed that was true, but she didn’t know. He didn’t wait for her to reply. He left her standing at the entrance to the park and walked casually right up to the spot where the disruption was located. He did stand and stare. The guards did nothing. It seemed Kerry was right. People had probably been doing that ever since they’d set up their cordon. In fact, another person joined him while he was there. It did look odd. She saw them shrug at each other, and then Kerry walked on past, and disappeared into the trees. A few minutes later he came jogging around to the spot on the pavement where she stood.

“Well, either you tell a very good story, or you’re telling the truth. There’s definitely a random-looking heat haze in the middle of that patch of grass.”

“And which one are you leaning towards?”

He grinned.

“I’ll think on it. Although, I’m inclined not to believe the signs they’ve put up.”

“What do they say?”

“They’ve put up a sign that says there’s some kind of industrial herbicide they’ve had to use on some exotic sounding invasive weed.”

“Inventive.”

“Yes, the guards are a bit much for something like that, though. Whatever, I don’t think we should stay out. We can eat at the hostel. It won’t be anything grand, but at least it’ll be filling.”

She nodded. It was the best idea. A quiet evening, with no danger. There had been enough excitement and upheaval for one day. She needed to rest and gather her thoughts. At the very least, she needed to try to work out how she was going to get back. She had a feeling she might be calling on Kerry for help with that, although what kind of distraction would move the guards away from their posts, she didn’t know. Something major, for sure.

They made their way back to the hostel and freshened up. Kerry looked about to drop and she did suggest that he stay in the room and get his head down, but he refused. He claimed it wasn’t gentlemanly to let her go to the refectory on her own. She didn’t argue. She didn’t fancy going on her own. Just when they were about to go through to eat, Kerry turned his device back on and immediately received a message notification.

“Just someone hooking up online,” he said wearily, as he looked at the display, “Don’t remember the name though, although I have met lots of people in my travels. Caroline Thiessen. Caroline Thiessen?”

Mara felt the colour drain from her face.

“Caroline Thiessen? But ….” She knew that name very well. Caroline Thiessen worked at The Facility, on The Project. She was someone they all saw on a weekly basis. You’d probably call her a psychologist in the real world, but in their little world, cut off from everyone else, she had the title of Wellbeing Adviser. “What does she say?” she asked, not really wanting to hear the answer.

“You know her? That’s … Hang on. It says, ‘Saw you with Mara at the coffee shop. I want to meet up. Tell her it is me.’ What the hell?”

Mara grabbed onto Kerry to steady herself. She felt dizzy, almost nauseous.

“Tell her it’s me?” Kerry nodded. There was only one person they’d seen at the coffee shop and that was Leo. The Caroline Thiessen she knew definitely wasn’t there, even a this world version of her. She had distinctive cropped, red hair, and she walked with the hint of a limp because of her prosthesis. “It’s him.” She said, although their was no joy in her voice. “He is
my
Leo.”

Kerry’s arm dropped to his side, the device still connected to the site. He swallowed hard. His words sounded forced.

“But, how do you know?”

“Because he was at the coffee shop, and Caroline Thiessen is someone who works on The Facility in my world.”

“But, it’s just a name.”

No, that really was impossible. The odds were off the scale of him picking that name if there was no connection.

“How did …? He couldn’t have known my name.”

“Do your devices have cameras?”

“His phone. Of course. That’s why he didn’t follow us. He didn’t need to.”

No, he was too clever for that.

Mara could feel the tears building up in her eyes again. Emotions that she couldn’t control were exploding through her brain. She did still love him. If this was
her
Leo, she had no choice. She had to go and see him.

“Tell him I’ll meet him. Ask him where?”

It was clear from Kerry’s expression that he didn’t want to do what she’d asked, that he thought this might be some terrible mistake, but after a pause he nodded and typed the message into his device. He pressed send. The answer came back within seconds. It was the name of a hotel, with a room number.

“No,” he said, “You can’t meet him there. Even if it is him, you don’t know how he’s changed. He might want to hurt you. It should be in a public place.”

She touched Kerry on the arm. “Why would he hurt me? We were together, Kerry. He won’t do that. I was the one who attacked him before. I was the one who ran away because I was scared. It’ll be fine.”

Even she wasn’t convinced by what she was saying. Something wasn’t right, apart from the obvious, that he was older, but she had no idea how travelling through the rift worked. It was possible that there were distortions that would mean he’d experienced more years than her. At the very least, she needed to know what had happened to him and why he hadn’t come back through the rift before his allotted time. She owed him the chance to explain.

“Okay, but I’m coming with you. You don’t know what he wants. What if he wants you back? What if he wants to keep you here? You can’t be with him again unless you want to stay and he can’t go back unless—”

That was the point at which she was sure Kerry believed her completely, and probably the same time he realised it himself.

Mara looked down at her wrist. The readout on the brac showed her heart rate was rocketing.