Utility Company (Book 1): Blink

by Swardstrom, Will

  On one hand, Smith was amazed Dr. Anna could have seen something so small, but it was the only thing that color blue in walking distance. The tans, browns, and mottled greens dominated the land, and the TARDIS’ bright blue popped out. Smith was surprised he hadn’t seen it.

  The two stood under the olive tree for about a half-minute as though something magical were about to take place, but the world kept going, and nothing transpired. Smith could tell Anna felt the same way he did, but had to ask anyway.

  “Where’s Liszt? Why are we still standing here?”

  “I don’t know,” Dr. Anna whispered. “I wish I knew.”

  Roadrunner Rest Area

  Nik followed Agent Tinker and his other self into the restroom at the Roadrunner Rest Area. A row of urinals lined one wall with stalls and sinks along the other. He didn’t really need the restroom too much, but a moment of alone time would be welcome, and he shut himself in the farthest stall in the back.

  It had only been a day since Penny had turned up missing‌—‌their kids alongside her‌—‌but to Nik, it seemed as though it had been weeks. He went to another world, met himself, and came back just to deal with Agent Smith and get his family back. Instead of finding answers and finding his family, all Nik had found was more questions. Smith was still a mystery, but he had the feeling the government agent was more on his side than not.

  And yet his family was still in the wind.

  Damn it, he thought, pounding his fist against the steel door.

  “Davidson? You okay there?” Tinker called out.

  He hadn’t meant to draw attention to himself, and Nik called back to the agent, “Yeah, sorry. Everything’s fine.”

  As silently as he could, Nik put the lid down on the toilet seat, and sat. Not the best place to think, but better than sitting in the back seat of an SUV with the government breathing down his neck.

  _____

  Agent Smith and Dr. Anna spun around, looking in every direction.

  “He’s got to be watching us, don’t you think?” Dr. Anna asked.

  “I don’t know. I would think so, but he really had no idea if you would get his message or if you did, when you would come. There’s got to be more to this,” Smith answered. He looked up in the olive tree, attempting to find something‌—‌anything to lead to Liszt.

  A whistle made Smith jump‌—‌he’d been on edge for a few days now‌—‌and Anna pulled her phone out. “Maybe it’s him,” she said, swiping across. Instead, Smith saw her face darken. Something was wrong.

  “What’s up?” he asked.

  “Hold this,” she said, handing him the TARDIS toy.

  He took the small plastic piece, turning it over in his hands. He’d watched Doctor Who a few times, but wasn’t home enough to ever really get into it. Too many times he’d tuned in just to see some green-skinned alien expound on the virtues of living beneath the surface of the Earth, or robots intent on destroying all of mankind. Too much weird without any background. He preferred a nice police procedural like CSI or Law & Order. Simple. Contained in an hour. Simple.

  He flipped the TARDIS over and noticed some writing on the bottom. He squinted in the Arizona sunlight. “Um, Anna? Would Liszt have written on his TARDIS?”

  She was engrossed in some readings off her phone, but she shook her head anyway. “Of course not, that would be heresy.”

  “Okay then, I think Liszt is telling us where he went next,” Smith said, turning the bottom towards her. On the bottom of the blue phone box were two words, written in black marker: “THE HOUSE.”

  Her eyes widened, but she turned her phone screen to him. “Maybe, but I imagine you want to check this out first.”

  On the screen, was a map with a yellow highlight pulsing.

  “What’s this?”

  “This is a map of portal activity. I transferred it to my phone for whenever portals opened. I figured after the plane…Whatever, the point is, there is portal activity going on inside right now!”

  _____

  Nik took a few deep breaths, not enjoying the smells of the rest area bathroom, but enjoying the privacy, at least for a few minutes.

  “Hey you two, I’m going to go out to the lobby. Finish up and come out when you’re done. Got it Davidson and...Davidson?” Agent Tinker shouted.

  “Yeah, I got it. Gimme a minute,” Nik said.

  “Me too,” Nicholas said.

  Apparently it was just the two of them‌—‌a chance for them to have some alone time with each other, talk about what was going on, yet Nik wasn’t too anxious to spend any time with his mirror-self. In fact, he was beginning to think Agent Smith‌—‌at least, this version of Agent Smith‌—‌was really interested in helping him. Nik was so confused, and it didn’t help when the person who looked exactly like him wasn’t exactly like him. He claimed to be married with two kids, like Nik, but was he really? Nik threw him fake names on the plane and his opposite just went with it. And what was it with the man being a trained pilot? Nik had never had the urge to take up flight school…

  Nik was about to get up from the cold seat when he heard a flush and knew he was out there, washing his hands.

  “But I’m not ready yet,” Nicholas said.

  “What?” Nik asked. It had been almost a minute since Tinker had left them alone, and it sounded as though Nicholas was giving a delayed answer to the federal agent.

  “I’m not ready, please...I need more time,” Nicholas said. He sounded insistent. Urgent.

  “Then go back to your stall,” Nik shouted back.

  “Fine. I’ll go. But I’m not happy,” Nicholas said.

  He was so strange. Nik had always been a bit of a nerd‌—‌an outsider at times throughout his life, but this guy was confirming his outsider status in other realities as well.

  A few moments later, Nik heard a commotion just outside the restroom, and loud muffled voices told him Tinker and Smith were both out there. A second later, both men burst into the restroom. A moment of quiet and then, “Get out, get out! Nik! Nik Davidson?” Agent Smith shouted.

  He stood quickly, and unlatched the stall door. He peeked his head out. Smith reached through and grabbed his shirt, pulling him out. He looked over and Tinker had Other Nik by the arm.

  “What’s going on?”

  Neither agent responded, but as Nik was being taken out of the bathroom, he looked across the room and noticed the mirrors were not quite mirrors. They had become portals and each of the four mirrors contained a single word.

  GET TO THE HOUSE

  Liszt

  Dr. Anna fed Agent Smith a series of directions, and before long he found himself parked in front of a house.

  The home was large and imposing, but something screamed at Agent Smith to leave while he still had the chance. That there was something inside to be afraid of, something no one wanted to be around. The landscape was sparse‌—‌desert scrub and chaparral everywhere with reddish dirt and rocks around, dotting the edges of a golf course that backed up to the house.

  “Liszt!”

  And just like that, Dr. Anna jumped out of the SUV, before Smith could even put it in park. He slammed the gear into the “P” position, and leapt out of the vehicle himself. “Stay here, Tinker. Keep an eye on those two!”

  “No problem, boss,” Tinker replied, as Smith sprinted after Dr. Anna.

  She ran past the house and towards a rock formation between the house and the golf course behind it. The boulders were stacked in such a way as to make castle-like formation.

  “What did you see?” Smith shouted as she sprinted toward the rocks.

  “I could have sworn I saw some...one when we pulled up. It’s him. He’s over here, I know he is.”

  Smith had no doubt she thought that, but he wasn’t taking chances. He pulled out his service weapon and held it at the ready, continuing to follow Dr. Anna.

  “Liszt?”

  Smith and Anna stopped just shy of the rock pile, waiting, listening. Finally, “What’s my
name?”

  “Your name is Liszt,” Dr. Anna replied.

  “No...what is my name? I need to know you know who I am. I have a gun, and I’m not afraid to use it,” the voice called back.

  Smith positioned himself in front of Dr. Anna, but she pushed back, clearly not afraid.

  “Everyone at The Agency knows you as Frank, but your name is Franz. Franz Hoppenweiler. Middle name is Werner after your mother’s maiden name,” Dr. Anna called back confidently.

  A figure stood up on top of the rock formation. It was Liszt. He was a little red after being out in the Arizona desert for a couple of days, but overall seemed to be okay. He jumped down a series of landings until he stood in front of Agent Smith and Anna. He immediately hugged Anna.

  “Oh, thank God.”

  Liszt opened his eyes and finally seemed to register that Agent Smith was standing there as well. He released Dr. Anna and shook Smith’s hand.

  “Thank you, sir. I trust Anna found my messages?”

  “She did. Thanks. Care to tell me what’s going on here? And why you decided to camp out here instead of the rest stop?”

  He sat on the closest rock, relief washing over him. Agent Smith wasn’t as at ease, but granted Liszt a moment of respite.

  “I don’t know. I guess...I guess I couldn’t just stay there. I know I told her to go to the rest area, but I couldn’t sit there, knowing this evil place was still here,” Liszt said.

  “Evil?” Anna asked.

  “What else would you call it? I’ve seen the reports from everyone else‌—‌I tapped into The Agency’s database. Portals opening to another world...giant holes left around the country in their wake...mass murders...I don’t know. What I do know is that after Jones and Quincy went into that house they came back changed.”

  Smith was quiet. He knew Liszt would tell them what had happened. He didn’t need to pry.

  “I was monitoring the action from the SUV. Jones’ whole team went in and only Jones and Quincy came out. Both were...different. They almost didn’t even acknowledge any other members of the team. They barely knew I was even there. And the biggest...well Jones took up smoking again. Just an hour beforehand, he was chewing half a pack of that nicotine gum, and once out here he couldn’t wait to suck on a cigarette.”

  “Damn it,” Smith said, mostly to himself. He knew Jones and his attempts to kick the cancer sticks. Smith himself had a smoking habit as a teen, so he understood Jones’ struggles and was sympathetic.

  But from what Liszt was saying, it wasn’t Jones anymore. If he connected the dots, it seemed as though Jones and Quincy had both been replaced by their alternate universe doubles.

  Outside the House of Mirrors

  From the SUV, Nik could see a little of what was going on beside the house, but his line of sight was impeded by cacti and boulders. Smith and Dr. Anna were talking to someone, but it was difficult to see much else. Even as he tried to watch, Nik was constantly distracted by Nicholas next to him. Instead of being between them, Agent Tinker had taken the seat directly behind the driver, putting Nicholas in the middle. Nik’s mirror double was touching the buttons on his shirt and sticking his hands in his pockets occasionally‌—‌just like he’d done on the plane.

  Then suddenly, without any warning, “I have to pee,” Nicholas announced.

  “Excuse me?” Tinker asked.

  “Yeah...um, I have to pee.”

  “You just went. Man up.”

  Nik looked over at the other version of himself. Nicholas was grimacing; Nik felt bad for the man.

  “I did, but I have a nervous bladder. Always have had one. Kids used to make fun of me in school for peeing while I took spelling tests in elementary school.”

  Tinker looked over at Nik. “That true?”

  “How would I know?” Nik replied. “Just because we look the same doesn’t mean we lived the same lives. He might be me if you check our DNA, but we are a lot more different than I even thought. I’ve never had bladder issues, but he might’ve.”

  Nicholas gave Nik a quick “thank you” look, and turned back to Tinker. “So, can we run in just so I can use the can?”

  Agent Tinker tried to look past Nik and over at Agent Smith and Dr. Anna. Nik suspected that while he was more than competent as a federal agent, he wasn’t used to making executive decisions for himself.

  “Fine,” Tinker said with a sigh. He opened the door and gestured for Nicholas to go past him into the house. “Be careful. We haven’t…”

  But Nicholas ran past Tinker, up to the front door, opened it, and scampered through into the house, with no regard for Tinker’s words. Tinker looked back into the SUV at Nik with a bewildered look.

  “Don’t look at me, I’ve only known the dude for a day.”

  “Yeah, but he’s you.”

  “No...no, he isn’t. I don’t have a pilot’s license. I don’t fidget in my seat. I am not him. I am not like him. I...I’m not sure if he is really someone I can trust.”

  “Really?” Agent Tinker asked.

  Nik unlocked the door next to him and got out. He walked around the car and stood by Agent Tinker. “Yeah. Matter of fact, I don’t trust him at all.”

  Tinker’s face fell just enough for Nik to notice. He put his hand on Nik’s arm. “Stay here,” he said, and ran to where Smith, Anna, and Liszt were on the side of the house.

  Puzzle Pieces

  Finally, Smith thought. A piece of the puzzle is becoming clear. Not enough to matter yet and at too great a cost. If a false Jones and Quincy were running around that couldn’t mean good things for the members of Jones’ team. And whatever happened to them happened inside that house.

  “Anna, do you have that app on your phone available? I need you to check that house right now.”

  Anna pulled out her phone with Liszt looking over her shoulder. Smith fumed internally. Jones had been his first partner when they were junior agents under Wall and Street. Unbelievable. Whatever was happening had disabled or killed seven agents, and he just discovered that he’d lost five of them. That left Smith and Tinker as the only active agents in the investigation. Agent Black was doing cleanup duty in Indiana while the Johnsons were doing the same in Michigan. Smith’s world felt very small at the moment.

  At least one thing was clear now. Whatever was happening involved their counterpart agents from the other side of the portals. That had all sorts of implications that made his head hurt to even contemplate.

  Anna looked up from her device. “You’re not going to like this. The numbers are off the charts in there and fluctuating wildly. If I had to guess, I’d say the portals are in use right now‌—‌several of them.” Liszt nodded behind her.

  “Smith!” Tinker came running up, alone. That couldn’t be good.

  “What? Where are the twins?”

  “Uh, I messed up, Boss. One of them looked fidgety, like he really needed to go and he asked, so I let him.”

  Smith was incredulous. “You let one of those guys not only out of your sight but into that house?”

  To his credit, Tinker had the grace to accept responsibility. “Yes sir. It was the one from the other side of the mirror. And it was only after he left that the other one told me he didn’t trust him at all.”

  “Smith,” Anna broke in, “The readings from inside the house can’t be a coincidence.”

  “Right.” Damn it. Can’t anything go right? “I want to talk to the other one.” He jogged back to the SUV leaving the others to follow.

  _____

  Nik waited by the SUV. There was a strange sense of release in what he had just done. Although Smith was coming and Nik could tell he was pissed.

  “What the hell do you have to say?” Smith demanded as he came up to him.

  “I don’t think either of us should trust that guy,” Nik said.

  “I’ve just had some really bad news and now this,” Smith said. “Tell me something substantial or I’m finding a dark hole‌—‌I have one in New Mexico‌—‌and droppin
g you in and forgetting about it.”

  Nik swallowed before answering, “Well, for one thing I’ve figured out he’s been lying to me. He straight up lied about my kids on the plane after I started to suspect he wasn’t telling the truth about other things.”

  Smith rocked back a bit on his heels. “Huh. All right, tell me more.”

  Nick thought for a moment, “If I had to guess, I think he knew what was going to happen on the plane, possibly even instigated it.”

  Smith looked surprised. “Why do you think that?”

  “Right before everything happened he was fiddling with his jacket buttons and zipper. He did the same thing just now before he ran in the house. And then when everything was happening he seemed to know exactly what was going on and pulled me through the galley at exactly the only possible moment we wouldn’t get caught. And then there’s the piloting thing.”

  “What do you mean?” Smith demanded.

  “I’m not a pilot. I’ve never had the training or the need to go through that training.” Nik paused before proceeding, “It’s like I told Tinker here, but I’m even more convinced of it now. That guy may look like me and the very beginnings of our lives may have been the same, but he isn’t me at all and I think he’s up to something.”

  Smith turned to Tinker, “Get the flak jackets out of the back. We’re going in. I want to get that bastard out of there right now and get some answers.”

  Anna put her hand on Smith’s hand. “Wayne, would you stop and think? You were just ready to wait for backup. You can’t go in there.”

  Smith’s voice answered, but from the other side of the SUV, “I agree with her. You need to stay away from that house.”

  Smith and Tinker drew their weapons quickly and pointed them towards another Agent Smith. “You!” the original Smith said, “What’s going on here?”