QUANTUM

by Imogen Rose

  I thumped him. “Stop! I’ve basically been treated like a tourist with a personal tour guide. Luna and I have been doing the Paris sights until I got fed up this afternoon.”

  “Why does she call you that anyway?”

  “I have no idea, but, like you, I’m keeping all my options open for the moment. I’m being taken to London tomorrow, as well, and was told that I’ll find out more then.”

  “Luna is Potomal’s daughter and you met the son as well?”

  “Yeah, one of them. The youngest–I believe–Stan. He seemed okay. We’ll probably see him in London, that’s where he’s based. Justin, we need to figure out how to get Simla back. What are we gonna do?”

  “We’re on the same team, right?” Justin asked.

  “You tell me!” I retorted. “Our recent history has been confusing. I’m still not sure if we are friends or enemies.”

  “Arizona, we’ve been friends for a long time. I think that overrides any drama we’ve had recently. We need to stick together for now. We need to help Simla out as well, if we can. We’re dealing with forces much more dangerous than we’ve ever been to each other. So, can we call a truce and work together?”

  I nodded. It sure would be easier if we worked together. Could I trust him? “How are we going to communicate with each other if we get separated in London?”

  “I don’t know. We’ll have to find a way. Did you snitch a cell phone off anyone yet?”

  “No, of course not! How could I?”

  “Haven’t you been around any people other than Luna all day?”

  “Yeah, guess I have. I couldn’t just take one off someone, could I? Besides, I can’t recall a word of French, which really sucks.”

  Justin reached into the front of his pants.

  “Eeewww, do you have to adjust yourself in front of me? Gross!” I complained.

  He rolled his eyes at me and pulled out a cell phone.

  “Where did you get that?” I whispered excitedly. “Hide it, they may be watching!”

  “I slipped it out of someone’s gym bag in the changing rooms earlier today, after weight training.”

  “Fricking awesome!” I said, and hugged him. “Does it work? Who have you called?”

  “Haven’t tried it yet. This is the first time I’ve been left alone all day. Olivier was standing right next to me when I slipped the cell phone out of that bag. I’m majorly lucky that he didn’t see me.”

  “No kidding. Let’s try it when we get back to the apartment tonight–after you clean it. Okay?”

  He nodded.

  Just as I was about to ask him to explain his bi-dimensional life, Olivier and Luna came walking up to us. We got up; both of them looked fairly pissed off. They didn’t say a word as they grabbed us by the shoulders and transported us back to the apartment where they unceremoniously dumped us on the couch.

  “Angry maybe?” I snickered, rolling my eyes. “Come on, let’s go to your room and try the cell.” I grabbed the phone and looked at the date. Phew, our time hadn’t changed. Only one way to find out if we were still in the same dimension. I called Kellan.

  I listened nervously as the phone clicked and a French speaking voice came on. I’d no idea what she said. “Justin?”

  “Did you dial the international code?”

  “No, what is it?”

  “001.”

  “How do you know that?” I asked, impressed as I tried that. The phone clicked a number of times and then I head the comforting sounds of a ringing tone.

  “Hello?”

  “Kellan?”

  Raj Sen surveyed the room around him. He could get used to living like this. His earlier walk through his new, unexpected living quarters had filled him with the warm sensation of opulence. Every detail in this suite reeked of unabashed luxury. The suite itself consisted of three separate rooms–a bedroom, a living room and a bathroom. To call them rooms were not doing them justice, though. They were works of art. The bathroom, for example, had its own endless pool. Yes, settling into this suite was no problem whatsoever. His only complaint was the complete lack of windows; there was no view to the outside world. Still, if one was going to be deprived of the natural light from the sun, the light twinkling off the thousands of crystals hanging from the five-foot chandelier would do.

  He made himself comfortable on the couch and reached out to pour himself a cup of tea from the steaming silver teapot, which seemed to have magically appeared on the glass coffee table when he had been in the bathroom enjoying the luxury of the Jacuzzi. He inhaled the aroma of mint emanating from the steam and then carefully took a sip.

  The question was: what was he doing here? And, where exactly was here? He looked at his clock. An hour ago, he’d been at that nasty–he had not bothered to clean it–cottage in Mountain View watching Oprah. There hadn’t been much to do since Simla left. He spent four nights hanging out at the motel he’d been dropped off at, and then, when he thought it was safe to go back to the cottage, he’d returned to it. It was deserted, with no signs of Dan, Sophie or police around. So he made himself comfortable, to the point of being a slob, but who cared? He only had a few days left of living in squalor. Once Simla returned, they could get on with getting the portal blueprints to its new owner in return for a disgusting amount of money. He’d been feeling good enough about his future to spend his last days at the cottage watching endless hours of TV, not worrying about a thing.

  The sudden pressure to his shoulders had taken him by surprise, during his favorite Oprah segment–the one where Tom Cruise jumps on the sofa. His eyelids felt unbearably heavy to the point that they’d been forced down. An indescribable weightlessness followed, accompanied by a loss of all perception of time. He must have temporarily lost consciousness, waking back up in this suite. It had taken him a few moments to collect himself and find his balance. Once he’d done so, he investigated his surroundings as best he could. Perhaps the buyer for the blueprints had somehow brought him here for the exchange. There was not much he could do while he waited to find out. The doors to the outside world were locked and his cell phone was missing. So, he sat back, closed his eyes and relaxed.

  He quickly opened them again when he heard sounds coming from outside the locked double doors and sat as still as he could with excited anticipation. His future was about to walk in and greet him.

  He was slightly taken aback when Simla appeared and then flung herself at him. She hugged him so tightly that he couldn’t see her face, but he could feel the wetness of her tears soaking into his shirt. He could also feel her trembling body and he wrapped his arms tighter around her to calm her. After a few minutes, he could feel her relaxing slightly, so he pulled back from her to be able to see her face. Her eyes were bloodshot and swollen, she had obviously been weeping.

  “Dad,” she sobbed.

  “Simla, what on earth’s going on? Have you been harmed?”

  “I don’t know, Dad. I mean I’m okay, physically, but I’m scared.”

  “What are you scared of? Where are we?”

  “Madison is really furious with me and I’m scared to death of her.”

  “Who’s Madison?”

  “She’s a Sigma-W-Pi,” sobbed Simla, and pushed her face into her palms.

  “Simla, I don’t understand what you’re talking about. Calm down and then explain. I’m going to pour you some tea.” Once he handed her a cup of tea, Raj sat back and watched her drink it.

  She looked so different from just five days ago, when he last saw her at the cottage. She had appeared so polished and mature. The girl drinking tea was far from that. She was the scared, unsure, disheveled Simla from a year ago. Whatever could have happened in just five days? She was only supposed to go back through the portal with Olivia and call the number he’d given her. She wasn’t even supposed to have any contact with the buyers apart from just calling Dr. Masterson and asking him if he was still interested in the purchase. Something had obviously gone terribly wrong. Who was Madison? He allowed his qu
estions to swim around in his head while Simla calmed down. Once she put her cup down, he allowed himself to voice them.

  “Simla, are you feeling a bit calmer? I need to know what’s going on. Did you make contact with the buyers?”

  “Dad, I didn’t even make it back through the portal!” she muttered angrily. “The Sigma-W-Pi took me before Olivia had a chance to take me back.”

  “The Sigma-W-Pi?”

  “They are a type of Wanderer, only they can travel geographically in addition to the usual stuff. Isn’t that how you got here?”

  He nodded. He must have. The transport had felt a bit like when he had wandered with Erica, but it was also different. So this made some sense. But this was the first time he’d heard of this type of Wanderers. What did they want with him and Simla? They weren’t after the blueprints, that was for sure. They hadn’t exactly imprisoned them in uncomfortable surroundings, so whatever the Sigma-W-Pi wanted from them couldn’t be all that bad. “Who’s Madison?”

  “She’s the Sigma-W-Pi in charge of my training. She’s been working me like a slave,” Simla said, welling up with tears again.

  “Training? She’s mistreated you?” Raj asked, getting angry.

  “No, Dad. Not really mistreating. She’s just been on my back to train really hard. We’ve been out running, doing weights. I’m exhausted. I hate it.”

  “I’m confused,” Raj mumbled, furrowing his brows. “What are you training for?”

  “You know, I’m not even sure! I think I’m here because they want to recruit me for something. I’m guessing they’re going to teach me to wander, that’s why they’re training me so hard. But they haven’t actually told me anything yet. I got fed up with all the exercising and tried to run away. That’s why I’m in trouble. What are you doing here?”

  “I’ve no idea. Simla, tell me everything. Start from when you left the cottage, don’t leave any detail out.”

  As Simla recounted the events, Raj found himself getting more and more confused. Hopefully someone– perhaps this Potomal character that Simla had mentioned numerous times–would enlighten them. In the meantime he sat and listen to his daughter tell him a story that would have landed any of his patients into a locked ward with heavy medication–indefinitely.

  He was happy when he heard the door open again, but he could feel Simla tensing up, so he laid his hand over hers. A woman walked into the room, he guessed from Simla’s description that this was the formidable Madison. She was certainly wearing a fearsome expression as she marched into the room to face them.

  “Come with me,” she beckoned, waving her hands at them.

  “Where are you taking us? Where are we?” Raj demanded.

  “Your questions will be answered shortly. Come with me,” she repeated.

  Raj stayed put on the couch, pulling Simla back down when she made an attempt to stand up. “We’re not going anywhere until we get some answers,” he said firmly, pursing his lips into a thin line.

  “Dad!” Simla protested in a whimper.

  “Shush, Simla! Not a word. Let me deal with this.” He could see that the Madison woman had been taken by surprise at his lack of cooperation. Well, no one was ordering him around.

  Unexpectedly, she smiled at them. “Suit yourselves. Stay here if you want.” She shrugged and turned to walk away.

  “Wait!” Raj called. “Why have you brought us here? Where are we?”

  “Like I said, if you want answers, you’ll have to come with me. So, what’s it going to be?”

  Raj would have loved to tell her where to go, the insolent woman! Remaining in this place indefinitely without answers, however, was not an option, so he got up and pulled Simla up with him.

  “This way,” Madison said, and led them along the corridor to a bank of elevators. They were taken to the top floor where the elevator doors opened into a marble-floored hallway surrounded by Greek-looking statues. They followed Madison through brass double doors into a round conference room surrounded by floor to ceiling windows. Well, at least one of Raj’s questions had just been answered. The gleaming metal capsules of the London Eye dominated the view. They were definitely on the north side of the river Thames. London. He certainly had not expected that. The journey didn’t seem long enough to be able to bring him all the way to London from Mountain View. Normally, that would be at least a ten-hour flight, by airplane that is. These Sigma Wanderers could really travel fast. He was impressed.

  “Please sit down,” Madison instructed, pointing them to a couple of chairs.

  As they seated themselves, the doors opened again and a bunch of people walked in. Raj tried to get a good look at each. However, one person stole his attention. The man must have been about four hundred pounds. He was at least six-foot-six inches tall, easily towering over everyone else in the room. His shoulder-length blond, straight hair was secured in a low ponytail. He was smartly dressed in a three-piece dark business suit and gleaming brown Brogues. He wore an out-of-place looking silver medallion. He took a seat directly opposite Raj and Simla. He stared at Raj with his ice-blue eyes as he spoke in a soft baritone voice.

  “Welcome to London. I hope you’ve been comfortable,” the man said, looking at Raj, and ignoring Simla completely. “My name is Potomal. I head the Sigma-W-Pi.”

  The big cheese, Raj thought to himself. He should have known! He was hardly likely to be one of the hired muscle guys in that fancy suit.

  “I’m sure you are looking for answers. You must be wondering why we brought you here.”

  Raj nodded. “Yes, we are.”

  “We need Simla to work for us, temporarily only. Once she’s completed the project we need her for, you both will be free to go.”

  “What project?” Raj queried.

  “We need her to extract some information for us. She will be given adequate training for it. There is no danger involved.”

  “Well, I’m not doing any more training!” Simla whined. “Why should I help you anyway?”

  “We were hoping that you would do it for the reward of being able to wander,” Potomal replied. “However, since that doesn’t seem like a strong enough incentive, we’ve decided to hold your dad and hand him over to the FBI team, who were investigating the Darley children’s disappearances last year, if you don’t cooperate.” Potomal looked at Simla with a smirk on his face.

  Raj couldn’t help but be impressed. Whatever it was this giant of a man wanted Simla to help him with, she didn’t have much choice now. She would have to suck it up and get on with it.

  “You’d really do that?” Simla muttered angrily, looking away from Potomal’s glare.

  “You better believe it!” he growled back at her.

  She shook her head and looked at Raj in dismay. “Okay, I’ll go along with it as long as neither of us is put in any danger,” she conceded.

  Potomal’s facial expression relaxed, but his voice was as hard as before. “You’re in no position to bargain with us. I suggest you now shut up and complete your training with Madison. Once you’re done, you’ll execute your project and then you’ll be free to go home. Your dad will be offered the hospitality of staying in the suite downstairs until you are done. I take it that it’s to your satisfaction?” he asked, looking over at Raj.

  Raj nodded. It wasn’t like he had any choice. His only concern was how long all this would take. He needed to head back and deal with the blueprint sale. “How long do you think Simla will be?”

  “Not long at all. We’ll get to work immediately,” Madison said from behind them, and nudged at Simla’s elbow to follow her. “Dr. Sen, please accompany us, we’ll drop you back at your quarters.”

  “Simla, no more warnings. Any tricks and your father will be marched straight into the FBI’s capable hands. Capish?”

  Simla looked over her shoulder in defeat and nodded at Potomal.

  It was almost surreal to hear Kellan’s voice over the phone. I hadn’t for a moment thought that I would actually be able to make contact with him
.

  “Hello?”

  “Kellan, it’s me, Arizona!” I said, breaking into a huge grin.

  “Shrimp?” his voice crackled and then went silent.

  “Kellan, you still there?”

  “Yeah, is that really you, Arizona?”

  “Kell, yeah. Listen, I don’t know how much time I have….”

  “Arizona, where are you?”

  “In Paris.”

  “Paris, France?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I’m still in Mountain View, but we’re going to head straight over there to get you. Where are you exactly?”

  “We?” I asked, wondering whom he was bringing with him.