by Steve Howrie
“We’ll have to get to know each other,” he intimated. Just then, a phone rang, and Tony went to answer it. I suggested that we all went into our chalet for a drink and sit down. Kate put on the kettle, and I opened a bottle of single malt. None of us could stop looking at Steve. Every time he caught our eyes, we’d smile then look away for a few minutes. Then Tony came in.
“Kevin – can I have a word. Won’t be minute folks – nothing’s wrong.” Once we were outside, I asked Tony what was the matter.
“I’d just had a call from Harry. The police have been to his place and found the salt…”
“What! How could they know?”
“Harry thinks they were tipped off.”
“By whom?”
“He doesn’t know. Any ideas?”
“How about Steve Saunders?”
“What? You mean Frank?”
“Yes, ‘Frank’, as you call him. If he’s so clever at activating dead bodies, why didn’t he just reactive the one that was killed. At least we’d all recognize him then.”
“He couldn’t – it was too mangled. He was run over by a car for Christ’s sake!”
“I’m sorry, Tony – it’s all just a bit too convenient. I’m not convinced. I agree with Kate’s idea – we should test him as soon as possible. None of the others are comfortable with him – you can see it in their eyes. At least if he’s clean, we’ll know he’s one of us – no matter who he is.” Tony nodded. He couldn’t deny it was a sensible step, albeit, in his eyes, an unnecessary one.
“All right – I’ll have a word with Kate tomorrow…”
“Tonight,” I insisted. “I don’t fancy sleeping in the same house as someone who could be infected with an alien virus.” Tony nodded, and we went back to my chalet.
***
Twenty-One
We now had two problems: one, no salt supply, and two, a man who claimed to be Frank. The latter didn’t seem to be a problem for either Audrey or Tony – quite the opposite for them. But for me and the others, it certainly was a problem we needed to resolve, and the blood test seemed the best way of doing that.
Tony took Steve Saunders to one side and reluctantly conveyed our feelings. Even if the test was negative, it didn’t make him Frank in my eyes; but at least I’d know he was one of us. He was surprisingly eager to take the test.
“Of course, Tony,” I overheard him say, “no problem. They should be skeptical about me – I know I would be. Let’s do it.”
“What, now?” asked Tony.
“Why not?”
“Okay Frank. Shall we go somewhere private?” Tony asked.
“No, here’s fine,” he replied. So Tony nodded to Kate and she went into the bathroom to get her kit. Minutes later she emerged with a black bag. Steve seemed to know what was required and had his sleeve rolled up already. After she’d taken the sample, she checked it out on her equipment. After just a few minutes, she turned to us with a smile.
“He’s clear.” We were all relieved – particularly Tony. I shook Steve’s hand.
“I’m sorry we had to put you through that.”
“It was nothing – don’t worry about it. In any case, I think we should all be tested.” He looked straight at Sandi. I followed his gaze. She suddenly looked a little uncomfortable. He turned back to me. “Don’t you agree, Kevin?” I could hardly disagree. I nodded, and looked at Kate. She looked at Tony.
“Do you mind, Sandi? You’re the only one who hasn’t been tested.” She seemed put on the spot, and I felt for her.
“Fine,” she said, trying to control her haltering voice. “Only, I’ve got this thing with needles – makes me faint.”
“We can do the urine test instead – it’s just as accurate,” Kate said to Tony. He nodded. Kate took a small plastic container out of her bag and held it out to Sandi. She hesitated for a moment, then grabbed it and got up to go to the bathroom. Only she made a quick u–turn to go out the front door. But Gareth was too quick for her.
“Not so fast.” She struggled in his grasp.
“Let me go, you freak! You’ll all freaks – talking about ‘salt’ and ‘aliens’…”
“Do it Kate,” he instructed while Sandi fought him. Without hesitation, Kate took the syringe and jabbed it in the top of her leg. Sandi yelp in pain, and Kate drew out the blood.”
As she tested the sample, we all waited with baited breath.
“It’s positive.”
“Oh, shit!” I exclaimed.
“What do we do now?” asked Gareth. He was still holding on to Sandi, but she had stopped struggling now.
“First of all, we tie her up,” replied Tony. Then we’ll discuss it.
*
Gareth said he’d keep a watch on Sandi whilst we went outside to talk. Tony and Steve stood with me, looking out across the water to the Calf, whilst Kate took Audrey for a walk. It had been a bit of a shock for Audrey – she really liked Sandi. I couldn’t believe that she was infected by the virus.
“When did this happen?” I asked.
“It could have happened at anytime,” Steve replied. Probably when she was a child.
“You mean that all this time…?” Tony nodded.
“I’m afraid so,” he replied.
“But what about all the salt she’s taken?”
“Have you ever actually seen her take any?” Steve asked.
I thought back to our chat in a café in London, after we went to the hospital for the first time, and I took a lick of salt: ‘Don’t, Kevin – it’s bad for you, remember? Look what happened to Frank Peters.’
Then the time in my flat after taking her out of hospital. ‘Take some of this.’ ‘I will – but I just need a drink first. I’m so thirsty.’
And right from the beginning, there was my magazine article on salt: ‘I showed it to Trevor, and he told me to bin it – sorry.’
Suddenly, a terrible thought crossed my mind. I turned to Tony.
“The salt at Harry and Jo’s… you don’t think that…?” Tony nodded sympathetically.
“I’m sorry Kevin, but I think it must have been Sandi who informed the Police. Who else would know about it?” What a fool I’d been. Steve had been watching me during this time.
“Kevin, can we talk?” I looked at Tony.
“I’m just going to see if Gareth’s okay,” he said. “Why don’t you walk down to Castles – Kate and Audrey have gone that way. I’ll meet you there later.” Castles was an area of caves set on a sandy beach along the headland – to the east of the chalets.
We turned and walked slowly in the light wind, pulling our jackets tight to keep out the cold.
“I know you’re finding it difficult to accept that the person you met in the bar in London – Frank Peters – is actually the same person you’re with now. I understand that it doesn’t make sense, doesn’t compute with anything you’ve been fed through the years. Most people call it education and schooling – but I call it indoctrination. Most of us are given the impression that we all have just one life on this Earth, and that’s it: annihilation. So we cling on to that one life like grim death – if you know what I mean.” He smiled at his own humour. “But the truth is, nothing dies. The real you, what most people call the Soul, lives on. Okay, not always in the same form – but it does not die. If it did, there wouldn’t be any point to life – and I tell you, Kevin, there most definitely is a purpose to life on Earth – in fact, on every planet.” I couldn’t say that I completely accepted what he said, but it made sense in a way. But it was what he said next that stopped me in my tracks. “I just have to tell it how it is, Kevin, that’s how I am: Frank by name, frank by nature.”
“What did you just say?”
“There’s definitely a purpose to life…”
“No – after that. You said, ‘Frank by name, Frank by nature’.” I looked deeply into his eyes, “Tell me where I’ve heard that before?” I said earnestly.
“In a pub in London, Kevin, in the Bells.”
*
Gareth faced Sandi, who was tied securely by her arms and legs with rope to a chair in my chalet.
“Why?” he asked.
“Why what?” she sneered.
“Why pretend – why go along with it?”
“You’re the ones pretending – but you’re only fooling yourselves. Frank Peters was crazy enough, but you lot win the prize. You’re all nutters – talking about an alien virus. The only virus is in your heads – you need help. I’d hoped Kevin would see it for himself – but he just got in deeper. Sucked in by your sect. He told me all about you when he came back from London – about the balaclavas, the intimidation – you with your stick. And the death threat…”
“What ‘death threat?’”
“He said Audrey told him that if his blood didn’t check out, you’d have to kill him.”
“She was joking – she wasn’t serious. No-one would do that!”
“Really. Then what are you going to do with me?” Gareth hadn’t thought about that. What would they do with her? Just then, Tony came in.
“All right?” he asked.
“Can I have a word?” replied Gareth.
“Sure. She’ll be all right for a few minutes.” They stepped outside, keeping an eye on the window.
“What are we going to do with her?”
“I don’t know yet Gareth. We can’t let her go straightaway. But we can’t keep her tied up either.”
“Can’t we cure her?” asked Gareth. After having left Emily, he’d fallen in love with Sandi and he desperately wanted her to be okay. “What about giving her a big dose of salt?” Tony smiled and shook his head.
“I’m sorry, it doesn’t work like that Gareth. You can’t cure anyone of the virus who doesn’t want to be cured. We should have been more careful with Sandi – we all just accepted her because she came along with Kevin. I just assumed Kevin had vetted her. This is what we’re up against now; we can’t trust anyone.”
“You’re not going to kill her, are you?” He was suddenly very concerned.
Tony laughed. “No – of course not!” Gareth was greatly relieved. “We do need to decide what to do with her tonight, though. As soon as the others…” There was a sudden crash from the Chalet.
“Sandi!” exclaimed Tony, and they rushed inside.
The chair lay on its side with the ropes on the floor. The back window was wide open. “Shit!” spat Tony, putting his hands to his head. He looked out the window and saw a figure scampering off to the farm next door. “I thought you’d tied her securely!” Gareth looked sheepish. “Now what do we do?”
***
Twenty-Two
It was dark by the time we came back from Castles, the small farm next to our chalets. After Kate and I heard the news of Sandi’s escape, we tore Tony and Gareth off a strip for letting it happen, but we agreed it was no use searching for her any more at that hour. She had probably sought refuge with the people at Castles and we didn’t want to show ourselves just then. The best thing was to get a good night’s sleep and decide what to do early the next morning.
*
I naturally blamed myself for bringing Sandi into the fold. I’d known her longer that anyone else, after all. Not that the others blamed me. I suppose each felt responsible for not noticing she wasn’t of the same mind. Perhaps they were like me and wanted her to be one of us – and that wanting had blinded us to seeing the truth. It was an important lesson to learn.
Frank knew though. He was the one who suggested we test her. There was more to Frank than met the eye, and I decided to find out more about him. I didn’t have to wait long.
“After the events of yesterday,” said Tony, “We’ve got to think about not just our next move, but what we aim to achieve in the future. Frank is going to talk to us about a few things, and then we’ll have a brainstorming session to see what ideas we can come up with. Okay?” Everyone nodded.
We were sitting in a circle – well, as close to a circle as you can get with seven people. Oh, I didn’t tell you – Frank had invited Harry and Jo too. We were surprised by this move at first – particularly after the Sandi situation. But Frank and Audrey said they’d met the couple yesterday when they arrived on the island – before driving down to the chalets. They had no doubt that Harry and Jo were like us, and they said they’d be happy to be tested. Both negative.
Frank smiled at everyone and started talking.
“Yesterday, we lost one person from our group, but we’ve gained two more. That’s the way it’s going to be from now on. No-one is irreplaceable. This virus we’ve come up against, is stoppable. It is very cunning, as we know, but it has a weakness – and that weakness is it’s predictability. The virus has a pattern of operation, and it never veers from that pattern. We’re going to learn how to understand it, and stop it. I’m going to tell you things now that are going to be difficult for you to accept; but I want you to keep an open mind, and don’t try to understand it all at once. Above all, don’t try to fit in this new information with your existing ideas – because it won’t fit.”
“I’ve been on this planet for the last ten thousand years.” There were raised eyebrows. “And so have you.” There was shock. My heart was racing. “You won’t remember the other lifetimes you’ve lived on this Earth, because as soon as you change from one body to the next, the memories of that previous life are lost along with it. Sometimes, you have to change bodies before the natural span has reached its conclusion. As happened to you, Kevin.” Everyone was looking at me. “Isn’t it true? What do you remember before your job as a journalist?” I cast my memory back again – as I had done every day since the meal at Harry and Jo’s. I could recall NOTHING. “It’s all right – there’s nothing wrong. It happens to many other people on this planet. And there’s something else I need to tell you: I knew you before you had the magazine job – before you became Kevin Lee.” I was stunned.
“How… when? Who was I?” I asked, not sure if I wanted to know the answer.
“John Philby – a property developer. You worked in London, and we were good friends.” I was shaking my head. I was in denial – but I had reasonable grounds. “What happened to me?”
“There was an accident – when you were inspecting a building. A roof fell in. You died instantly.” A shiver went down my spine.
“I don’t remember anything…”
“No – you wouldn’t. And it’s better if you don’t remember. Life is very complicated if you can recall all your past lives – believe me.”
“Then what about you Frank?” asked Kate. “How can you remember your lives?”
“I’ll explain that later. The important thing is that you know where you’ve come from: you are not from planet Earth – you originate from another Universe, and you’ve come here to assist this one.” We looked at each other in stunned silence. Then Gareth spoke.
“I’ve always thought I was here for a purpose. And I’ve never really fitted in with anyone else. I don’t feel like an alien though…”
“What do you expect an alien to feel like?” asked Audrey, to whom this wasn’t a surprise. Frank had talked to her before about his Universe.
“I dunno – just different I suppose.”
“Is there any time when we know who we are?” I asked. “I mean, know that we’re not from Earth.” Frank and Tony nodded. Tony obviously knew a lot more than he had every told us.
“Oh yes,” replied Frank. “In the few minutes between ending one life and starting the next – then you know. But once your new life begins, the memories quickly fade. In my case, that fleeting few minutes of knowing didn’t stop on one occasion, and I found I still had an awareness of my previous existence as well as my new one. It was very disorientating at first. But gradually, over time, I found I could be selective over what I recalled. I don’t know what caused it – but I’ve only come across one
other person with the same characteristic.” There was a bit of a buzz now – excitement around the room. I then noticed that Harry and Jo had been very quiet.
“Are you two all right?” I asked. Jo nodded and thanked me.
“In one way, it’s quite a shock Kevin – about aliens and other Universes. But we’ve both always believed in other lives. Having just one – and then nothing – has never made any sense. Life is all about learning, and there’s no point in learning anything if you’re going to a black abyss of nothingness when you die.”
“We’ve just never thought of aliens,” added Harry. “But when you think about it, there must be millions of other Universes in the Cosmos – and some must support life. So why shouldn’t they get in contact with us?”
“That’s right, Harry; but you’re actually one of them – you’re just visiting this Earth.” Frank knew it was going to be difficult for them to accept, but he knew they’d come round eventually.
We stopped for coffee – Audrey insisting she made the drinks, and Harry and Jo supplied the biscuits. Frank thought we’d had enough information for the day – ‘enough to last a lifetime,’ Gareth said – and after coffee we began to discuss the Sandi and salt situations.
“What was your feeling about the Police, Harry?” asked Tony. “How long do you think we’ve got before they come back to you?” Harry looked at Jo.
“We were talking about this last night” he said. “I think a week at the most – maybe less. Shaws will deny they put the salt in the barley sacks, and probably blame their source – a farm near Stromness I believe. All that police procedure takes time – but we can’t afford to stay around too long, just in case.”
“Then there’s Sandi,” I said. “After being tied up, you can bet she’s going to the Police. We really need to get away and lie low for a few days – that’s what I think.” Tony nodded.
“Anyone else?” he asked.
“I think Kevin’s right,” replied Kate. We also need some salt, and I can’t see us getting that on Eday.” I suddenly recalled our visit to the other islands.
“What about Papa Westray? Remember, Kate?”
“Oh yes, of course! The woman there was very friendly and helpful.”
“And there’s places to stay there – very comfortable,” I added.