Strangers and Shadows

by John Kowalsky

  The driver of the car chasing them, had just enough time to slam on the brakes and turn into a skid before the car entered the crater in the street, effectively ending their pursuit.

  “There, that takes care of that. For the moment, anyway.”

  They drove on in silence for the next ten minutes before the man spoke again. “What do you think, Mike, Starbucks?” he asked the driver, who nodded his approval. “You two have coffee back in your New Britain?” the man cheerfully inquired.

  “Not anymore,” Asher replied. “The last stores of it ran out years ago. I’ve always wanted to try it, though.” He was surprised Ava hadn’t opened her mouth yet. He looked over at Ava to see her still fuming in the seat next to him.

  The driver pulled up to the drive-thru window and ordered four coffees.

  “Hope to-go’s okay. We don’t really have time to spare, there could be more of them out there.” The man in the black suit took the coffees from the driver and passed two to the back seat.

  Asher took a sip of the scalding black liquid and winced. His tongue burned in his mouth. He swallowed the bitter tasting coffee quickly, not sure what to make of it.

  “Might want to let it cool a bit first.”

  “Thanks, now you tell me.” Asher ran his raw tongue over the roof of his mouth. “Listen, not that we don’t appreciate the ride and the coffee and everything, but do you think you might explain what this is all about?”

  “I suppose you have a valid point,” the man said, taking a deep breath and smoothing his shirt with his hands. “I am Dorian Wallace, the Minister of Defense, if one simply must have a title.” He smiled at Ava over the last part. “This is Mike. He’s the driver,” he lowered his voice to a loud whisper, “he doesn’t like to talk much.”

  Mike laughed in the driver’s seat.

  Asher wondered when Ava was going to snap out of her little hissy fit. This was not the time to act like a spoiled child, though he couldn’t help but realize that Ava was, essentially, just that.

  “I understand all of this is a lot to process, but, in time, you’ll have all the answers you want. For now, just enjoy the ride.” Dorian turned to the driver. “Alright, Mike, I think we’ve good and lost them. Let’s head for our door.” Dorian seemed to be in a rush.

  “Is that what the glowing sphere was? A doorway?” Asher couldn’t help asking.

  Sighing, Dorian answered. “Sort of. An old version of one, perhaps. And that ball you’re carrying in your pocket is what we would call a key. There were originally two keys made, one for both of you, but the Stranger, sorry, the agent, who was delivering the keys was ambushed and left for dead by the people who were chasing us. He nearly didn’t pull through. Anyway, only Asher’s key made it through.”

  “That’s why the door wouldn’t work for me,” Ava said, finally coming out of her self-pity party.

  “Right again. You two aren’t as Fourth Verse as you look.” Dorian didn’t pause to wait for the stare of death that Ava was preparing for him. “The keys are coded to a specific person’s DNA, and cannot be duplicated or used by anyone else.”

  “How was Ava able to come through then?” Asher asked.

  “Mike, remind me to suggest a debriefing vid to the Council for times like these,” Dorian said, as if Asher had not just asked a question. “Sorry, where was I? My head’s always running off with something new.” He paused, remembering what he was explaining. “Ah, yes, Ava was able to come through because of something called the Nearness Induction Principle, or the NIP. The engineers stumbled onto it by accident. I’ll skip the specifics, but whenever you’re in direct physical contact with the key holder, you may use the door too. It’s like a piggy back ride. Technically, as long as the door is open, anyone or anything can go through, the problem, and why you want to be in contact with the key holder, is that as soon as the key holder goes through, the door closes. Anything caught half-in, half-out, and, well, let’s just say it isn’t pretty.”

  Outside the window Asher saw a large city approaching steadily. “So where exactly are we then, or, when, I guess?”

  “You guess wrong,” Dorian said. “You were right with the where question. The city out there is Chicago. The Chicago of the Third Verse to be more exact.”

  “I remember reading about a Chicago, but what’s the Third Verse?”

  Dorian rolled his eyes briefly. He really must have his people update the flash device to include an explanation of the Verses. He was growing tired of playing tour guide to the MultiVerse, but he continued. “We have discovered several parallel universes to which we can travel physically. In theory, there are an infinite number of them, but only some of them are stable enough to have allowed life to evolve. Many of the verses don’t have an earth, or at least not a whole one, anyway. We discovered six other stable verses before we depleted most of our resources in the searching. Nothing in life is free, after all. Long story short, we stopped looking for new verses and focused on the ones we had already discovered. We brilliantly named them the First Verse, Second Verse, Third and so on. We neglected to include ourselves however when we began naming the verses, so we added ourselves to the end as the Seventh Verse.”

  “What about our home? Which universe are we from?” Ava asked, the spark was returning to her eyes.

  There’s my girl, Asher thought, wondering where the phrase had come from. Must have read it somewhere.

  “Why, an excellent question, my dear princess. You are from the Fourth Verse. Now, does anyone know what’s missing from the where-are-we question?” Dorian asked. “Anyone?”

  “When?” Asher answered. “This is all a bit confusing.”

  “Correct! On both counts.” Dorian seemed pleased. After all, it wasn’t everyday that he got to speak with someone from the Fourth.

  “Sooooo?” Ava asked. “When are we?”

  She’s close to losing it again, Asher thought.

  Dorian paused for dramatic effect. “The year is 2012.”

  Ava immediately retorted, “But that’s almost twenty-five years before The End War.”

  “Perhaps in the Fourth, but not here in the Third,” Dorian replied.

  Ava frowned, not following the logic.

  Growing impatient, Dorian explained, “Each verse is on its own time line. Depending on when each verse started to keep track of time is up to them, and they all refer to the year differently. We do know that each verse appears to be the same age however. at least from comparing samples of the different earths. Still with me?” Dorian asked.

  They both nodded.

  “While some verses seem to have evolved at a similar pace, like the Third and Fourth, others are decades and centuries more advanced, like the Seventh. We believe this to be due to certain extinction level events as well as certain societal and civilizational factors that either speed up or hinder a verse’s evolution.”

  “So we didn’t travel back in time then?” Asher asked, disappointed.

  “No, the similarities between this verse’s present and your own verse’s past are just coincidental. For all of our advancement, time travel is still beyond our grasp, if it can be done at all. And truth be told, there are many who think that the potential harm it might cause, should it become a reality, far outweighs the potential gain. At any rate, here you are.

  “Mike, take a left here, we need to go shopping.”

  “Shopping? For what?” Ava asked.

  Dorian made no attempt to conceal his continued annoyance and didn’t bother to answer her question.

  Mike pulled the car over to the busy sidewalk and let Dorian, Ava, and Asher out.

  “Don’t go too far, Mike, we shouldn’t be long. I’ll call you when we’re ready.”

  Asher was watching Ava as she stepped out onto the sidewalk. He couldn’t help but notice how beautiful she was as she looked around at all the people on the sidewalk.

  “Oh! For clothes!” Ava blurted out suddenly. “I’d completely forgotten how we’re dressed. What with the door
and the key and the chase... I do love new clothes!”

  “Glad the princess could join us,” Dorian remarked dryly. “Over the shock now are we?” He walked past them on the sidewalk. “Come on, children, this way.”

  Asher offered the princess his arm, which she took as they followed Dorian down the sidewalk.

  Dorian led them into a clothing store, and a young woman greeted them as they entered.

  “Can I help you with anything?” the girl asked, glancing over the strange clothing they were dressed in.

  “Yes, my niece and nephew here are visiting me from the, uh, farmstead back in England. Anyway...” Dorian leaned in and lowered his voice ever so slightly, “their mother’s somewhat old-fashioned, but I thought that it might be fun to… update their look. Would you be so kind as to pick out something for my niece, maybe some jeans, a shirt, and a jacket... you know, the whole thing, and I’ll help my nephew?”

  “I’d be more than happy to help.” The girl flashed Dorian a flirtatious smile before taking Ava’s hand and leading her away like they were dear old friends. “What’s your name, sweetie?”

  The pair disappeared into racks of clothes.

  “And now for you, young master,” Dorian kidded, tousling Asher’s shoulder-length brown hair. “You kinda look like a vampire with all that hair. You ever think of getting it cut?”

  Asher looked like he had just been sexually propositioned by a homeless man. “I, uh… the princess likes it this way.”

  Dorian held his hands up. “Suit yourself.”

  Asher and Dorian had finished and were waiting for twenty minutes when Ava returned, wearing what she and the sales lady had picked out.

  Asher’s jaw dropped. He’d always known she was beautiful but she looked stunning.

  Ava was wearing a pair of tight, low-rise jeans, and a white patterned t-shirt under a dark green blazer with a dragon printed on the back. She had a pair of sneakers on that looked almost exactly like the ones Asher had picked out. Only hers were green not black. He couldn’t take his eyes off her.

  “What?” she asked.

  “What do you mean, what?” Asher replied.

  “Well, you’re staring at me like you’ve never seen me before.”

  “I’m beginning to think that I haven’t.” He reached up and traced the lines of her face.

  Ava blushed and swiped his hand away.

  “Do you two mind?” Dorian asked with raised eyebrows. “I don’t like to be sick before I’ve eaten lunch.” He paid the girl at the counter and left her a healthy tip. “Thanks again for your help with my niece, she looks terrific.”

  “Anytime. Come back and see me, my name’s Tiffany.” She paused, biting her lip. “Would you like my number?”

  “Thank you, that’s very flattering for a man my age, but I’m leaving with my niece and nephew soon, and I’m afraid I haven’t much time for... fun.” Dorian grinned.

  The girl kept smiling and staring at Dorian like a little puppy dog. “That’s okay, but if you change your mind, you know where to find me.”

  “Indeed I do.” Dorian said goodbye and turned to the newly infatuated couple. “Shall we?”

  “Why, of course, Uncle,” Ava said, laughing at her own quip as she walked past him.

  Asher and Dorian followed several paces behind her, side by side.

  “I don’t know how you do it, nephew,” Dorian said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, that’s an overwhelming amount of attitude to put up with just to procreate.”

  It was Asher’s turn to laugh. “Yes, she does have her moments, doesn’t she?”

  “Moments? Is that how you sleep at night? Calling them moments? She’s practically a child at times.”

  Ava spun around. “What are you two talking about?”

  Dorian started to reply when Asher cut him off abruptly. “Nothing.”

  They had several hours before they were due back in the Seventh. Dorian called his driver. “Mike, we’ve got some time before we need to be back. Why don’t you get us a couple of rooms at the Omni. I’ll walk the two doves down. I think we could all use a good shower, and I, for one, could use a nap.” He paused, listening to the reply and then added, “Sounds good, send me the details when you have them.”

  Dorian led the two lovers through downtown Chicago, educating them in the ways of civilization. At least, the kind of civilization that most of the universes had in place.

  The walk took the better part of an hour and it was just turning dark as they reached the hotel. Mike met them at the door with room keys.

  “Here are yours. You have about three hours to shower, nap, or do... whatever. I’ll come get you at 11:30.” Dorian checked his watch. “Which reminds me... here.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out two wristwatches. “You’ll need these.”

  Asher never had time to ask where the room was before Dorian turned and left. The couple stood for a moment, wondering what to do when suddenly, their watches beeped and Dorian’s voice said, “Sorry, forgot to tell you... room 274. Second floor, down the hall on your left.”

  “Well, I guess that answers that,” Asher said, heading for the stairwell.

  “Yes, that man has an answer for everything, it seems. He can be quite childish at times,” Ava said.

  Asher laughed. “That’s funny.”

  “And why’s that?”

  “Well, he said the same thing about you.”

  “Did he?” She seemed a bit surprised.

  “Oh, you didn’t notice?”

  Ava regained her poise and took a deep breath. “Well, naturally, I just assume that everyone adores me.” She cracked a wide smile and Asher shook his head and rolled his eyes.

  He wondered at the change in humor in his princess. What was she thinking about all of this? No doubt, he’d find out soon.

  They found the room easily enough, right where Dorian had said it would be. After a moment’s exploration, they decided to test the shower out first. It had been days since either of them had bathed, and they were excited to be alone together in this strange new world.

  Asher fumbled with his new clothes as he undressed.

  It took them a few tries to figure out the shower controls. Their first attempt left Asher’s leg red from where the water scalded him. They climbed in the shower and danced their young lover’s dance, washing each other in turn, enjoying the excitement of it all.

  They finished showering and dried off, putting on the bath robes that the hotel’s guest packet suggested.

  “How much time left do we have?” Asher asked as he walked toward the watch Dorian had given him. He fastened it around his wrist.

  “Roughly two hours or so.” Ava had already put hers on and was now drying her hair with the blow dryer. “These things are great, I wish we could find a way to bring one home with us.”

  The hotel room was full of things that existed in their time, the difference being there wasn’t anything on the television back home. In fact, with the darkness falling, it had been a while since Asher had had a chance to visit the Museum at the Palace, with all its relics of the past. Refrigerators, toasters, curling irons, nearly anything you could imagine from the past, it even had a DVD player. I’ll have to find one of those, Asher thought as he laid down on the bed next to Ava. He fully intended to watch the television that he had read so much about as a kid, but instead fell asleep next to Ava who had already nodded off herself.

  He awoke with a start. There was a loud beeping in the room, and it took Asher a few moments to realize that the sound was coming from the watches.

  “RISE AND SHINE CAMPERS!” Dorian’s voice blared in stereo. “RISE AND SHINE, THE WORLD IS WAITING!”

  Asher was beginning to get annoyed, not only by the sound of Dorian’s voice, but also by the fact that Dorian seemingly knew that they’d been asleep.

  “RISE AND SHINE!” Dorian continued, “THIS IS A RECORDING. PRESS ANY BUTTON TO STOP PLAYBACK.”

  Asher im
mediately hit a button as did Ava beside him. He glanced at the time. Fifteen minutes left. “Come on Ava, let’s get dressed, we’re supposed to be leaving soon.”

  The watches beeped in unison. “I trust everyone’s awake?” Dorian sounded as smug as ever. “Sorry for the alarm, but I had to be sure that we’re on schedule… don’t want to miss our jump window. The jump controllers hate it when your late.”

  Across the room, Ava rolled her eyes.

  “Are you two there...? Oh, right, press the bottom left button to talk.”

  Ava pressed her button once, slowly and deliberately. “Uncle, is that you?”

  Asher thought she seemed in a rather playful mood. A little out of character for her. Maybe she was nervous about where they were going.

  “Are you two ready? We have to leave soon.”

  “We’re ready, Dorian. Where should we meet you?” Asher asked.

  “Stay there, I’ll come get you.”

  Several minutes later there was a knock at the door.

  Asher opened the door and Dorian walked in. He closed the door behind him.

  “Where’s Mike?” Ava asked.

  “He’ll be along at a later time,” Dorian paused, staring intently at his watch. Presently, it chirped out a little tune that Asher didn’t recognize. “That’s our cue. Be sure not to leave anything behind.” He walked over to the door and opened it, standing to one side and motioning, after you, to Ava and Asher.

  Just as Ava was about to exit the room, Dorian stopped her. “I almost forgot,” he said, holding out his hand. “Watches. Let’s have them.”

  Ava and Asher took off the watches with puzzled looks on their faces, and handed them to the Stranger who then placed them in a plastic bag along with his own. He left them sitting on the table of room 274.

  “Won’t be needing these where we’re going.”

  “Why are we leaving them?” Asher wanted to know.

  “Now, now... All in good time,” the Stranger replied. “You’ll know more soon enough.” Dorian motioned them through the door and they complied, finding themselves not in the hallway of the hotel as they were expecting, but in another hallway entirely.