* * * * * * *
Compared to my recent experiences, my next two days were relatively quiet and relaxing which is definitely what I needed. All I did was to go jogging twice a day, potter around my cars and unusually for me, watch the television in the evenings. I just wanted for my life to fall back into place and now at long last, it felt that it was doing just that.
Nevertheless, from time to time I was still getting what Caroline had described to me as ‘flash visions.’ No matter where I was or whatever I was currently doing I would just for an instant, have a glimpse of a memory from when I had been the other Martin. Although these flash visions did not stop me in my tracks - they nevertheless did manage to throw my concentration. It was bloody annoying. Mind you, at least I understood why and where they were coming from, and I pretty much expected them to slowly fade with time, unlike poor Caroline. How the hell could anybody cope with such visions, day in and day out? I was pretty sure that I couldn’t have coped with them and Caroline certainly didn’t. I really could not begin to think of a more horrible existence to have.
I was still greatly disturbed by all the events concerning Caroline and I could not get her, or indeed her current predicament, out of my mind. I even spent a small amount of time trying to find out more about the Gautier Association, but so far my investigations had led me nowhere. I felt that in some strange way that I had some sort of an attachment, or a bonding with her. I even felt that I was somehow responsible for her – although I knew that not to be true. Through absolutely no fault of her own she had clearly lost control over her life, and I wanted to do something about it. Exactly what I didn’t know and, after all, if I was not going to help her, just who would? Not the Gautier Association that was for sure. However, I had a sneaky feeling that Alistair or Davila could possibly help her. Both of them were full of connections in high-up secret places. Yes, I’m sure that they can help me to help her, or at least I hope they can.
Of course no matter how hard I tried, there were still quite a few things that I just could not get out of my mind. For example, who, or what, were the shadowy figures that were obviously very real? What was that odd feeling I got when I was around Sarah? What had we done to the other Martin or to the two Carolines for that matter? Why did I see my car in a magazine? It was still very confusing and I found it a lot easier to just not dwell on these issues.
At least I had finally come to accept that my mind had indeed travelled into another dimension, for real. It’s funny, but now that I accepted this new unnatural concept, I felt that I had been on some sort of a day out, a bit like going to the funfair. It’s strange, but it doesn’t bother me at all. It also means that Alistair and his team had my trust once again. I had got myself so wound up and completely paranoid about them for nothing; they had never lied to me, not once. I now felt that I could once again start to look forward again. Yes, I was now feeling pretty good again.
After breakfast I telephoned Alistair as we had previously arranged only a few days ago. Alistair had suggested that we meet up in The Rising Sun later on in the evening. However, I persuaded him that we really needed to sit down for a few hours together, because I had a great deal to tell him about the project. That got his attention; after all, what could I possibly tell him about the project? It was agreed, we would go jogging together later in the morning, shower then have lunch at The Rising Sun. We would then both come back to my place in the afternoon for a bit of a chat. I made a point of telling Alistair that I would not tell him anything until we had lunched and we were back in my house. I wanted to just relax and enjoy a couple of beers with him first.
So, having had lunch we sat quietly for a few moments nursing our beers before Alistair said with a roguish laugh, ‘Now I know you keep going on and on that you don’t want to talk in anyway about the project till later, but there is something that does interest me, and I’m sure it will interest you.’
‘Oh yes, come on then.’
‘It’s Sarah…, you do remember Sarah don’t you?’
‘Of course I do Alistair, and do tell me - just where is this going? I remember you trying to nudge me towards Davila, are you up to your tricks again?’
He had a very big grin now before replying, ‘No no, not this time, but what I am about to tell you is, well rather curious shall we say.’
‘Why is it that my alarms bells are starting to sound? Is it possible that I suspect some mischief-making afoot?’
Alistair chuckled again and now picked up his beer glass as if looking for divine inspiration before he said, ‘It’s a bit like my glass, is it half empty, or is it half full? Well I suspect that it rather depends how you look upon it doesn’t it? Now, what Sarah said to myself and to Davila about you, well I suppose it’s a bit like this glass, it rather depends how look upon it doesn’t it?’
‘Alistair, just what the hell are you getting at? What Sarah said…half full, half empty? I’m afraid you’ve lost me on this one.’
‘Have I Martin? Are you so sure? Tell me, have you two met before?’
I did not like the way this was going at all. Ever since I met her I had this strange feeling that deep down I somehow knew her very well, but that was just my strange feeling, wasn’t it? What on earth had she told them about me? She never hinted to me that she had the same feeling towards me, but then again, I suppose that I never let on to her either.
I deliberately frowned at Alistair before answering, ‘You know very well that other than you, I’ve never met any of you guys before and that includes Sarah. So what’s the big deal with Sarah?’
‘Well, it turns out that the moment that Sarah set eyes on you, it’s as if there were some secret chemistry between the two of you. According to her, she really could not work it out at all; it was as if you were once…lovers! Of course she knew that was impossible as she had never met you before, but it was like some deep feeling that she had. It wasn’t in any way a normal feeling that you can describe, but there you have it. Of course whatever weird connection she was talking about, does mean that she must have the hots for you now - you lucky old dog, and don’t tell me you haven’t noticed her ‘come to bed eyes’!’
Oh my God, all this time she had the same unexplainable feeling that I had. I could feel a shiver go through me yet again - this was getting weirder and weirder. Did she fancy me, or was Alistair up to his usual crafty tricks? She sure as hell was a bit of a teaser, there was no doubting that, but then I had just assumed that that’s how she behaved when she was when around most men and not just me. No, she didn’t fancy me - I was old enough to be her father! What was I supposed to say now? I just sat there looking out the window.
‘You have got to be kidding me - there is something to this isn’t there?’
‘Alistair if there is something…you try to explain it, because I sure as hell don’t understand any of it, none of it. Bloody hell, yes I did have a weird feeling when we first met, as if we somehow knew each other - just as Sarah described, except that I wouldn’t have said like lovers, but there was something, definitely something. A hell of a strange feeling.’
‘Why didn’t you say something, anything?’
‘Come on Alistair if you were in my shoes, now be honest, would you have? It did cross my mind, on more than one occasion, but I was pretty sure that whatever I would have said would have sounded like some cheap chat up line or more likely, making myself out to some sort of a pervert!’
‘You needn’t have worried on that front, we know already that you’re a pervert!’ laughed Alistair before he slapped me hard on the back. ‘I suppose you’re right though, if the same had happened to me, I probably would have kept quiet as well. Still there it is. It’s like I said before, it rather depends on how you look upon it. So what do you think about this?
‘Believe me, I really have no suggestions, haven’t a bloody clue. It’s just bloody weird that’s all. Mind you, it’s just a shame that’s she is about half my age though, cos she sure is incredibly gorg
eous, and no - I really don’t think that she has the hots for me in spite of all this nonsense. Come on, enough of this for now, let’s save this discussion for a little later. If you want to hear a lot of even stranger things, we should be getting back to my place.’
Alistair agreed and together we left the pub laughing like two little boys as we now made our way back to my house. I had to laugh at Alistair, he had been getting extremely frustrated because I continually refused to tell him anything about my new knowledge, until that is we had got back to my house. ‘Alistair we are only about two minutes from my house. What is it they say? All things come to those that wait! Like I said in the pub, you’re going find it pretty amazing – it’s going to make you think, that’s for sure!’
‘I hope I am not going to get any nasty surprises. Tell me it isn’t so.’
‘I have never said that either you or Davila are going to like what I am going to tell you, but I can tell this, blow your socks off it will!’
‘So come on then, is it good or bad news? You can at least tell me that.’
‘Good question, I really don’t know if it is good, bad, or indeed both for that matter, but for sure it’s going to open yours eyes a little bit wider. Come on let’s go inside,’ I replied as I opened my front door.
We both made ourselves comfortable in the front room with some lovely fresh coffee I had made. After building up my story so much over the last few hours, I could see that he was now eagerly waiting to hear my news, whatever it was.
I left out absolutely nothing as I described in detail to Alistair as much as I could about all of my experiences since I had got home. He was completely fascinated by my story and he often would be leaning forward in his chair. He actually paced up and down the room a couple of times and I could see by the look on his face that he had expected none of what I was telling him. To say that I had his undivided attention was the understatement of the year. For the first time that I could remember, he never interrupted me once and I was sure that I had been talking for over an hour.
‘And there you have it Alistair, god knows how I have been keeping my sanity with everything that I have been through, but I’m sure you’ll agree, that it’s without doubt a case of the truth being stranger than fiction.’
He again got out of his chair and saying nothing he paced up and down a couple of times before sitting down again. ‘That’s incredible, just what the hell do you say to that? It’s opened up an entirely new set of questions about what we are doing, it’s incredible. One thing is for sure, like you said, truth is stranger than fiction - incredible,’ he finished off with his familiar chortle.
‘Tell you what, let’s get ourselves another coffee,’ I suggested.
‘Coffee? After what you’ve just said, no I think I need something a lot stronger than coffee,’ replied Alistair as he followed me into the kitchen. ‘Simply amazing. Wait till the others back at the complex hear about this. Incredible. I’ll take that coffee, just make sure that’s its strong, very strong!’
We returned to the sitting room with our cups of coffee. ‘So tell me Alistair, is it good or bad news then?’
‘Well now let’s see if I understand this. These shadowy figures whoever, or whatever they are, are indeed real. Caroline has somehow been transmitting her thoughts into other dimensions, or…or is it more a case of that she has been receiving transmitted thoughts from other dimensions? Just who or what is the sinister Gautier Association? There is, as you have rightly pointed out, the very odd occurrence that just by chance you stumble across your car in a magazine in another dimension. Let’s not forget the rather odd sensation, or bonding that seems to exist between Sarah and yourself, that’s very odd indeed. Good or bad? I really don’t know, but it sure has complicated things somewhat though…’
I then asked ‘Leaving aside what I have just said, easier said than done I know, now that you have spent a few days doing your analysis of all of the data from the first run, how did it all go? Was it considered a success?’
‘I suspect that we are going to have to revisit our findings somewhat after what you have just told me, but to answer your question, we are all pretty chuffed, as in the main we did manage to achieve what we set out to do. Of course, we will need to spend a lot more time to go through all of the data as there are still quite a few loose ends that we need to sort out.’
‘So what about my day and a half as the other Martin? Has that one been resolved yet?’
Alistair sighed, I could see him thinking carefully before he answered, ‘We are not sure yet, but it could well be that Sarah was right when she theorised that the MDT was actually warping space during it’s transmission, if that is indeed what’s taking place, then it does make our job a lot more difficult when we are trying to piece it all together. However, if space were being warped, then yes it would very likely mean that your time spent in another dimension would be very different to what it is here. Theoretically, you could potentially spend weeks if not months in another dimension for what is only one minute here. Of course if that were to happen, then it begs the question as to what it would do to the mental state of whoever is doing the dimension travelling, or indeed for the other person in the other dimension that has been connected to. Let’s face it Martin, look at how confused and paranoid both you and your other self became for what was only a day and a half. Can you imagine what months away would do?’
‘Moral and ethical issues aside, tell me, when is the second run planned for?’
‘Is this you offering your services again? Not had enough punishment eh? Alistair asked with his chuckle.
‘I have never said that I will do another run. I might if I’m asked, but for the moment I really need to take stock of everything, as I’m sure you’ll agree, and you still haven’t answered my question Alistair. The second run is…?’
‘We are planning a second run in eight days time, but only if everybody on the project is satisfied with the results of all the data from the first. However I’m sure that when I report back what you’ve just told me - well let’s just say, it’s definitely going to have some bearing on what we do, no doubt about that. Assuming that we do go ahead with the run, would you consider it Martin?’
‘I would consider it for sure. However, before I add to my confused state of mind, I do need to have a proper discussion with all of you before I decide to do anything, I’m sure you know just what I mean.’
I could see that he was deep thought before he said, ‘Who would have thought it, that you would actually end up by visiting the same town that you had visited when you were your other self? And to top it all, meet the very same woman that was your wife? It’s just incredible, it’s no bloody wonder you kept questioning your sanity Martin.’
‘The sooner I talk to the guys back at the complex, the quicker we can try to make some sort of sense of all that you’ve told me.’ Alistair looked deep in thought for a few moments before he continued, ‘My wife is going to kill me you know that? This is all your fault, I’ve only just got back…I am going to call Davila and get everybody back to the complex for tomorrow morning for a meeting. I am clearly not going to be the most popular person, but we have a lot of ground to cover and only eight days before the second run. I really must get going so that I can set things up. Thinking ahead, we may need to get you back to the complex so that we can all get a better understanding of what has been going on - if that’s all right with you?’
‘It’s okay by me. There is one thing that I would like you to do for me. It’s Caroline. I know that I should not get myself involved, but I would like you to find out what you can about the Gautier Association. It’s just not right.’
‘Don’t you worry about it Martin, given the strange circumstances surrounding Caroline it’s one of the first things that I will do tomorrow. I know that she must be sick to death with doctors and strange institutions, but at some point in the future it may be beneficial to us and to her if she were willing to spend a little time with us and the pro
ject. It may help to answer some of her questions, and some of ours. I don’t know how you would feel about that, do you think she would be willing to get herself involved with some other secret institution, as she would no doubt view us?’
‘I obviously can’t answer for her, but if it held out the possibility that it may help her, then yes she may agree to it. Although I do suspect that she would only agree to such a thing if it came from me. It’s very clear that because of what happened between us that she does trust me, or at least I think she does. She has little respect and trust for anybody else, and for good reason. However, I can assume that were she to phone me just now, the project is still ‘hush hush’?’
‘Very much so Martin, very much so. Right then, I’d best be making tracks and I will be in touch with you, and very soon.’
I was sure that Alistair would take some sort action once I had explained to him what had been going on over the last few days. However, it never once crossed my mind that he would immediately take off and go straight back to the complex. It was pretty obvious that I had more than surprised him with my revelations.
Now what was I to do with my time? I hadn’t really thought beyond meeting up with Alistair again, and now he was gone. I pondered as to what conclusions if any the project experts would come up with, and I now eagerly waited for Alistair to come up with some good news about Caroline. I simply couldn’t wait to tell her. Yes I’m sure that it would be good news, whatever it was.
Uncertain about how the next few days would unfold, I decided that in between my pottering in the garden and repairing my Lancia, I would spend a few hours on the Internet and see if I could spend my money on a boat. My parents had introduced me to my lapsed love affair with all things nautical. However, in spite of my love of the water and boats, I simply never had the time to further my passion over the last twenty years or so. So that’s what I would do, check out how I could get back into it, as well as the costs involved.
As I considered boating again, a rather odd thought came into my mind. A couple of years ago my mother had died in a boating accident, and yet in the other dimension where I had been the other Martin, she was clearly still alive. Assuming that I once again returned to the project and did another run into another dimension, would I possibly meet my mother again? It’s funny, the more I thought about it, the less I accepted that she was really dead. I could feel a shiver begin to go right through me.
I realised that I was being completely sucked into this now familiar notion of travelling into other dimensions. Would I meet my wife Caroline again? How about, taking tea again with my dead mother? Very strange indeed…or at least it should be, and yet it now seemed quite normal to me. The more I dwelled on these strange ideas, the more it seemed that my life was becoming like the ever changing channels on a television set, the possibilities were simply endless and they could continually change – at the press of a button.
Another odd line of reasoning now came into my mind. Taking tea with my dead mother…when of course she is not dead in reality she is simply another person, and in a different dimension. What about the strange goings on with so-called mediums that supposedly make contact with the dead? Assuming that they are not frauds, just who are they really contacting? The dead? Or, as I now reasoned, are they somehow contacting the still living – but, in another dimension?
For as long as I could remember I had never for a moment believed in all that absurdity surrounding the paranormal, ghosts, mediums, and especially all of that nonsense with séances. That was before – but now? With everything that has recently happened to me, I was finding that my confused mind was now starting to entertain some very new and strange notions. Exactly just what I was beginning to accept, I wasn’t sure. On reflection, I really wasn’t sure what to believe - it was probably nothing more than my very speculative mind going into overdrive once again.
I made up my mind that I would spend the rest of the day doing some investigation on the Internet. I must have spent at least three hours sitting in front of my computer, utterly mesmerised by all the boating information that was available. Feeling that I had barely scratched the surface, I retired to bed with a book. Having had a taste of what was available on the Internet, I was pretty sure that I would spend even more time on my computer tomorrow.