Chapter Ten
Waking to the sounds of some farm machinery trundling past the house, I glanced at my bedside clock to find it was just gone twenty past seven. Bloody hell, I had slept in and was due to be picked up at eight! I quickly got myself out of bed and made for the window to see what sort of a day it would be – it was really pouring down with rain and. all in all, the weather matched my mood perfectly - it was pretty dark and grim.
I did my best to ready myself as quickly as possible. However, I ended up by keeping the driver waiting for around five minutes as I wasn’t quite ready when he turned up for me, dead on eight o’clock as promised. It was the same driver as before, a large burly figure who looked to be in his late forties. He was dressed in a very official looking black chauffeur style uniform that included a hat and, in spite of the fact that it continued to pour down with rain, he was actually wearing his designer sunglasses! I had no idea if he was civilian or military, and I did actually wonder if he sported a handgun under his jacket.
Once in the car we went through the now familiar procedure with the blindfold, and then we were off. I would soon be back in the complex and be meeting up with Alistair and his team. When I had previously been taken to the complex, I recalled just how bored and frustrated I was during the drive. That was definitely not the case on this journey – not at all. My mind was now going over everything that had happened to me over the last few days.
I was still convinced that I, or to be more precise my mind, had travelled into another dimension. This had taken place because I had been part of Project DR2, under the guidance of Alistair and the rest of his team. When I had travelled into the other dimension and met or became another version of myself, I found that I was married to a very confident woman called Caroline. After the experiment, or the ‘first run’ as everybody referred to it, I then remarkably find myself meeting the same, albeit a different more timid and disturbed Caroline, in my own dimension.
No matter how strange or weird all of these events seemed to me, I could nevertheless now accept that they all did take place and are real. It’s the other strange occurrences that seem to me to be completely baffling, scary, and even downright sinister.
For a start, there was the shadowy figure that I had seen when I was in the complex. On the face of it, he, she, or indeed ‘it,’ did appear to be real – even though Alistair never saw a thing when he was standing right beside me at the time. No, I really did not know what to make of that at all. It did not really play on my mind too much, and yet deep down I had this resigned sinking feeling that I would see whatever it was again, and more probably that would happen sooner rather than later.
Then of course there is that very weird sensation that I constantly get whenever I see, or get close to Sarah. It really is a most peculiar and odd feeling. In fact just thinking about it, or indeed just thinking about Sarah, begins to make the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. To make matters even stranger, I now find out from Alistair that the very same sensation is happening to Sarah whenever she is close to me. If that was not remarkable enough, she then adds that the feeling she experiences is the same as if we were once lovers. Lovers? What on earth is going on? I found it simply impossible to try and come up with any sensible and plausible ideas to reason any of this out.
It’s a funny thing, just as I was now accepting that I would again see the shadowy figure, I have also started to reason that I would very soon find out what was really going on between Sarah and myself. I was beginning to feel that I was somehow being used and moved about on some greater stage, just as a pawn is used and manipulated by its masters. Was this some kind of fate? Was I now beginning to accept that I was no longer in charge of my own destiny? It was certainly beginning to feel like that. However, that defeatist attitude was not like me at all. No, in a few days I would be right as rain, and all of this silly ‘fate’ nonsense will be behind me.
Nevertheless, I was still greatly disturbed by the various recent goings on with Caroline and that nasty piece of work, Kim. As I far as I could work it out, Caroline seemed to somehow have the ability to transmit her mind into other dimensions, or was it more likely that she was able to receive images from other dimensions? I did not know, but whatever was going on, her special abilities had ruined any possible resemblance of a normal life. That much I could up to a point understand, but it was the sinister Gautier Association and the evil Kim that I could not work out.
Kim had very deliberately made as clear as she could, that in just a matter of days from our initial meeting or, to be more precise, our initial confrontation, she had carried out some sort of an investigation on me. The only information I had given Caroline was my name and address, and yet there was Kim asking me about my dead mother. She then follows this by threatening me in no uncertain terms that through her, I could find myself as a patient of the Gautier Home. If that wasn’t enough, her parting statement to me more than hinted at the fact that she knew what I had been doing, and would be doing – with the Project? But, how could she? I didn’t even know where I was being driven to, so what the hell did she know about me, and just what where her sources for whatever she knew? I found the whole thing to be very disturbing and unsettling.
My mind was still working overtime as we arrived at the complex. I found it difficult to believe that we had arrived so quickly. Had we actually done the same journey? I suppose we must have. Anyway, I really could not wait to get out of the car and remove the awful blindfold.
I now performed a repeat of when I had previously arrived, with the driver taking me out of the car and leading me into the complex. We walked together for perhaps two or three minutes, and then at long last we stopped and my blindfold was removed.
It took a few moments for my eyes to adjust to the bright light around me – I had forgotten just how well lit the complex was. When I was able to finally focus my eyes properly, standing directly in front of me with a big grin was Sarah.
She stretched her hand out to me and together we greeted each other and shook hands. It was as we were briefly shaking hands that I again had the strangest feeling come over me. The best way I could think of describing it was that it was almost as if some form of energy had shot up my arm and had now left me with tingles all over. I could feel the hair on the back of my neck beginning to rise. My most immediate thought was, is the same thing happening to Sarah just now?
‘Come on Martin, I imagine that you must be feeling pretty tired from your journey,’ she said as she started to lead me through the corridors. ‘I’ll take you to your room so that you can shower and change if you want. That will give you around forty minutes or so, and then we can all meet in the meeting room, if that’s okay with you?’
Although I was taking in what she was saying to me, my mind was again full of activity, desperately trying to work out the very strange phenomenon between us. Knowing that she had already told the project team about us two, I decided that now would be as good a time as any to broach the subject with her.
We were now through the second security door when I said ‘Sarah, Alistair has told me what you said to him about the odd feeling you have when you see me.’
We stopped walking, and for the first time I could see that Sarah was actually looking very embarrassed. She did not answer immediately and when she did at last respond, she did not look at me directly. ‘Did he now? And I suppose he also told you that I said…’
I interrupted her and said, ‘That we were once lovers? Yes, he did tell me.’
‘Did he now?’ she again repeated in a very quiet voice.
‘I’m not too sure about once being lovers but, ever since we first met, well I have been getting those same funny feelings whenever I see you.’
A look of surprise now shot across Sarah’s face and she now looked at me directly, not saying a thing.
‘Yes, it would appear that we experience the exact same feelings, and at the same time. I was just keeping it to myself as I didn’t know what to make of it u
ntil that is, Alistair told me that it was happening to you.’
‘Oh my God and I had thought it weird when it was happening to me, and now this?’ She glanced at her watch and again composed herself. ‘Come on, this conversation will have to wait. Let’s get you to your room.’
We continued our journey in silence until we got to my room. Sarah told me that somebody would collect me at 15:00 and there would also be a small buffet in the meeting room. Apparently it wasn’t only me that was yet to have lunch. She was just about to leave when she gave me her now familiar cheeky grin, then she very deliberately leaned forward and took my hand. Holding it, she said, ‘Do you feel it too Martin?’
I knew exactly what she meant. It was as though some sort of faint energy was flowing between us. It was a hell of a strange feeling. As she continued to hold my hand I started to feel very strange and light headed, and I quickly pulled my hand away. As I did so, Sarah immediately put her left hand up to her forehead and said excitedly ‘what the…what the hell…what just happened?’
‘I don’t know Sarah, but to answer your question, yes I did feel it, whatever it was.’
‘It felt like I was on a trip…if you know what I mean?’
‘A trip?’ I asked.
‘Yes, you know a trip. Like when you’ve taken something, not that I’ve ever taken anything - but you know what I mean don’t you?’
Now I understood what she was talking about! I was certainly not about to argue. Whatever had just happened between us was wholly inexplicable. She again glanced at her watch, and her face was now a picture of complete and utter surprise.
‘Oh my god, look at the time, shit - look at the time.’
I had no idea what she was getting at and I returned her a puzzled look.
‘Martin, it’s nearly twenty to three! That means that we have been standing here for twenty, no…no, it’s more like twenty five minutes. Hell, when we were holding hands just now, twenty five minutes have just passed, but…’
‘Sarah that’s not possible, we only held hands for…, well it was definitely less than a minute, of that I’m pretty sure. No, you must have got it wrong.’
‘No, I don’t have it wrong. Just before we stopped here at your door, I checked my watch and it was coming up for quarter past two, giving you plenty of time before three o’clock. No, I don’t have it wrong. Twenty five minutes have just disappeared. Look, you get yourself ready, you really don’t have much time and I will meet you in the meeting room,’ she turned and left immediately without saying goodbye.
I looked at my own watch and realising that I had barely fifteen minutes left to ready myself, I quickly unpacked and showered. As I showered I reasoned that the first time I had checked the time myself since arriving at the complex was only a few minutes ago and consequently I could not prove, or disprove, what Sarah had said about the apparent missing twenty five minutes. However, I was pretty sure that she had got it wrong. After all, if she was indeed experiencing the same feelings as I had earlier, and it clearly looked like she had, then she more than probably had got herself all worked up and confused – she must have got the time wrong when she had first looked at her watch. Yes, that was the only explanation. It was nothing more than Sarah getting herself off balance followed by a bit of a panic.
Just as I was finishing putting my training shoes on, there was a knock on the door. I checked the time; it was dead on three o’clock – or 15:00 as they always said in here. I opened the door to find a fresh-faced soldier who could have been no more than twenty years old.
‘Mr Chalfont?’ he enquired in typical military fashion.
‘That’s right.’
‘I’ve come to escort you to the meeting room, please follow me.’
I had already decided that it was best not to make any idle chit chat with any of the military people in the complex. As far as I was concerned none of them knew how to hold any light-hearted or meaningful conversation down here. And so we arrived at the door of the lift that would take me down to the meeting room. We had not said a word or exchanged glances until we arrived at the lift door.
‘This is where I leave you Mr Chalfont,’ he said as he entered a code into the door enabling it to open.
I stepped into the lift and said goodbye to him as the lift doors closed between us. The lift descended, stopped and as the doors opened, I saw the meeting room directly in front of me. I took a step forward and was immediately greeted by Davila who had just got out of her chair and was now walking towards to me.
‘Martin, it’s wonderful to see that you’ve returned to us,’ she said with her big welcoming smile.
I quickly went round the table and greeted, Sarah, Paul, Alistair, and of course Davila. This was beginning to feel rather pleasant and familiar. In fact I was actually looking forward to working with them all again. It was only as I began to get seated that I noticed the buffet, laid out on the table in front of us.
Alistair saw me looking at the food and said in his loud jovial voice, whilst giving me a slight thump on my back, ‘Tuck in Martin, don’t be shy, come on, you must be hungry. I know I am,’ as he finished talking he immediately started helping himself.
On the table was a pretty grim selection of sausage rolls, quiche slices, those silly cocktail sticks with ghastly looking bits of cheese and pineapple on them, some cooked sliced meat and a few ‘interesting’ salads here and there. There were also some bread rolls and a couple of bowls of crisps.
Everybody was now diving in and helping themselves like there was no tomorrow. The spread in front of me looked pretty miserable - to the point where I was beginning to work out what was actually safe to eat. I finally settled on a few bread rolls, a couple of croissant looking things, some crisps and some ham. I decided to give everything else a miss - I judged this as the best course of action if I wanted to survive the day and to enjoy the rest of my life! We finished helping ourselves to the food and drinks and began to tuck in. It was Davila who spoke first.
‘So Martin, how are you feeling after your journey today, not too tired I hope?’
‘A little weary Davila, but not too bad.’
‘Good, because we do have a great deal to discuss with you. I’m sure that you are aware that the only reason that none of us here had our planned one or two day’s leave, is because of what you told Alistair.’
‘I did rather gather that – I hope I haven’t ruined anybody’s plans?’
‘Oh I wouldn’t worry too much about that. Working on this project we are all used to an awful lot of unsociable hours. I’m afraid it comes with the territory. Anyway, with so much to do we have delayed our lunch so we can have it with you and get straight down to business if that’s alright with you?’
‘That’s why I’m here Davila.’
‘Good, we’ll eat up and get started in about five or ten minutes then.’
For the next few minutes silence descended over the table as we sat and ate the food. I was just thinking that I was glad I had not helped myself to the quiche, as the food I had chosen was very definitely so-so, when I noticed somebody else coming into the meeting room. I never stopped eating and I could just make out through the corner of my eye that whoever it was had now stopped just behind where Davila was seated.
I noticed Sarah turning her head and looking up to see whoever it was, and that prompted me to do the same. I looked to where I expected the figure to be, and there was nobody there! This was just like the last time, when I was previously in the chamber looking at the floating ball with Alistair beside me. I looked at Sarah and noticed she was doing the same as I was doing. Together we were glancing back and forth between where we were both expected to see someone, and looking in disbelief at each other. I could feel a chill go right through me, but this time it was different – this time I knew that somebody else had seen it as well. What that meant to me, I had no idea.
‘What has got into you two?’ asked a puzzled looking Paul.
‘You didn’t see it?’ asked Sara
h.
Alistair and Davila had not been aware of anything until Paul had asked his question, and they both now exchanged questioning looks across the table.
‘Didn’t see what?’ responded Paul.
‘You saw it didn’t you Martin? I know you did,’ said Sarah.
‘I certainly did. Alistair, I, or rather we, have just seen that weird shadowy figure again. It came from where the lift is, walked towards us and then stood just behind Davila. When I looked to see who it was, there was nothing there, just like last time. Is that what you saw Sarah?’
‘Exactly the same - and it was just like before. It’s more than just unsettling - it’s bloody scary. And none of you saw anything at all?’ asked a very animated Sarah.
‘That’s bloody incredible,’ exclaimed Alistair. ‘I’m beginning to think that all these weird occurrences seem to happen around you Martin, I really do. Well I can tell you that I never saw a thing. What about you Davila? I take it you were not aware of any strange ‘presence’ behind you?’
‘No, I wasn’t. You know Martin, I think I have to agree with Alistair. Strange things do seem to happen around you, you know that? I mean, you’ve only been here for ten minutes and events are…are turning out to be surreal or strange already!’
‘I didn’t know you had seen that figure before Martin, when was that? Nobody told me about it,’ asked Sarah, looking around the room with a puzzled look.
Before I had the chance to answer her Davila now responded, ‘Sarah, with everything that has been going on over the last few days, I really should have told you earlier, rather than leave it until now as I have – so I apologise. When you told us about the shadowy figure you had seen, it was in fact the very same description that we had from a former construction guy that was working on the chamber during the construction process. I’m sure you can appreciate that we took the decision on both those occasions to keep it quiet due the secrecy of the complex, not to mention the project itself. However, only a week after your sighting, Martin saw the same thing when he visited the chamber with Alistair.’ Davila now paused and took a small drink before saying, ‘It was and still is our intention to discuss this phenomenon whatever it is, alongside all the other strange goings on, in this meeting that we are about to start.’
‘You must lead quite an interesting life Martin,’ said Paul in a very tongue-in-cheek manner.
‘I had a normal life until, that is, I came here and joined the project. It’s everything that has happened – and continues to happen to me ever since I first visited that I can’t work out. I just hope that you guys have some answers for me.’
‘That’s what we are all here for Martin. Let’s see if we can get some answers, and a better understanding to some of the strange phenomena of recent days,’ replied Davila in a much more business manner. I could tell that she wanted to get the meeting going by the change in her tone.
Davila controlled the meeting in her customary firm manner, and she probably did most of the talking as well. Together we discussed at great length all of the events that had taken place both inside, as well as outside of the complex. Our discussion must have easily lasted between three to four hours. It was peppered with the usual drink breaks beside the wretched drinks machine, whose only purpose in my eyes, was to keep your hands from getting numb from the cold.
Just as Davila looked as though she were beginning to draw things to a close, I said very seriously, ‘Davila, we have discussed pretty much everything that I am aware of, but there is still one more thing that I have yet to tell everybody, and this only took place yesterday.’
I had everybody’s undivided attention for the next fifteen minutes or so as I then went into all the detail that concerned the evil Kim and the sinister Gautier Association. The room fell into complete silence for what seemed an eternity when I finally finished talking.
‘What a wicked bitch that one is!’ said a straight-faced Sarah before adding, ‘Just who the hell does she think she is? What a cow!’
‘I don’t really know what to say to that, not at all. I make no secret of it to you all, that from what Martin had said to Alistair, I had already instigated an investigation into this Gautier Association, whoever they are. Now, as that investigation is already under way, I think it best that for now that we just park that one. However, after what you’ve just told us, I’ll see what I can do to move things along with a bit more urgency,’ replied Davila.
‘I have to say Martin, and I know I have joked about this before, but all of these strange events do seem to be centred around you – it really does seem like that. It’s quite remarkable,’ exclaimed Alistair.
‘Does anybody have any theories as to why it’s only myself and Martin that experiences that weird sensation when we see each other? And, why it’s only the two of us that sees those strange shadowy figures? Anybody?’ asked Sarah.
Silence again fell upon us all as nobody answered for what seemed ages. It was Paul who now answered.
‘There is of course the possibility that these shadowy figures are indeed travellers from another dimension as has been previously suggested. Now, if we assume for just now that they are, it begs the question, just what are they doing here? Are they observing what we are doing, or are they trying to manipulate events?’
‘What do you mean by manipulate events?’ asked Davila.
‘I think we can all readily accept that we are going into the unknown whenever we send somebody’s thoughts into another dimension. None of us here really knew what would happen with the first run. However, there are a few things that have taken place that seem to defy any logical explanation at all.’
‘You’ve got my attention Paul – don’t stop now,’ interjected Alistair as he leaned forward in his chair as if to hear better.
Paul looked in my direction and now continued, ‘I simply cannot begin to fathom out how Martin is sent into a different dimension, and once there, he actually sees his very own car in the first magazine that he happens to buy. Explain that one if you will. Then of course it gets even stranger. On Martin’s return to our own dimension, he then in a manner of speaking meets Caroline again and she then recognises his car, this time from one of her so-called dreams! Now I know that coincidences do happen, but these two events?’
‘So when I say to you that events could have been manipulated, that’s what I’m talking about – it’s like the whole thing has been stage-managed.’
‘Are you trying to suggest that these shadowy people are directing which dimension we are sending Martin to?’ asked Davila.
It was now Sarah who now suddenly spoke out in a very excited and animated manner. ‘Yes of course! You know you could well be onto something there. After all, we have absolutely no control over where the MDT is going to send Martin. We simply don’t understand enough of where the transmissions go, so who’s to say that somebody else could not interfere, or for that matter, actually direct what we are doing?’
Unlike my earlier meetings that I had been part of, I was actually able to follow, and for the most part understand, what was being said, and I decided that now would be a good time to join in.
‘I know that you are only theorising about our shadow friends, but I have to tell you that if these people are really manipulating our travels into the other dimensions, well I can tell you that it does not fill me with any confidence – whatsoever. Because if they are doing as you suggest, then I doubt very much that they are doing it just for the hell of it. They must surely have some sort of an agenda. The only question that remains is - what agenda? Just what is their agenda, and could I, or any of you for that matter, come to any harm?’
There was a few moments silence after I finished and then Alistair added, ‘I wonder…I know we are only speculating…but I just wonder, if it’s possible that there is some sort of a connection here between being able to see these shadowy figures and that unexplainable connection that very obviously exists between both Sarah and Martin?’
‘I did rather
wonder that myself,’ admitted Davila before adding, ‘but for now, all it is only speculation – that’s all.’
‘It’s the first thing that crossed my mind Davila, but just how we would pursue this line of reasoning, I really don’t know,’ exclaimed Paul.
Davila now stood up and said as she stretched herself a little. ‘It’s just gone half six, apart from looking into the missing twenty five minutes that Sarah spoke to me about just before we started the meeting, I think we have for now discussed as much as we reasonably can. I suggest we break for now, have some dinner and meet back here for 20:00. We can then spend another hour before we finish up for the day. All in agreement?’
Her question was again one of her now-familiar directives, and everybody agreed and began to leave the table. I was more than happy that we were at last having a break; I felt that my whole body was going numb and stiff from just sitting there so long in the cold, as well as having to suffer those horrible, uncomfortable chairs.
As I stepped into the lift with everybody else, I had another one of those ‘flash visions’ from when I was the other Martin. Just as before, it was such a strange experience and I could not really see or understand what had just flashed across my mind. However, I knew straight away that it was connected to my time as the other Martin - no doubt about it. It’s funny, I had almost forgotten that these flashes had bothered me before, and unlike with the previous events, this time it never disturbed me at all. In fact I was desperate to try and focus on what I had briefly seen, but it all happened far too quickly, and at best it only left me with a briefest of feelings – feelings I just didn’t understand. I couldn’t wait for the next vision. Maybe then I would be able to catch even just a glimpse of what it really was.
As we reached the canteen, I realised that nobody around me had noticed that anything peculiar had happened to me – why would they? That was reassuring. The last thing that I wanted was to begin reacting strangely in front of other people whenever these flash visions took place.
I noticed as we took our food to the tables that as Alistair and I sat at one table, Davila and Paul did not join us, but instead, sat at the table beside us. Meanwhile Sarah chose to sit on her own, three tables away from us. I didn’t know why she wanted to isolate herself, but I was nevertheless quite relieved that she was not at our table. I found her presence quite unsettling at the moment. Now that I thought about it, she must be just as disturbed as I was – that was probably why she had decided to sit way from me.
We all ate in relative silence for around twenty minutes. Just as we were in the process of finishing our meals, one of the soldiers from the complex went over to speak to Davila, who was clearly looking extremely interested in whatever was being said. The soldier had something in his hand, which he pointed to several times and together they conversed for three or four minutes, and then he left as quickly as he had appeared.
After eating, we immediately made our way back to the meeting room. I was feeling rather tired and if I was honest with myself, I really could not be bothered with any further discussions today. At least I could console myself with the knowledge that Davila had promised us all that it should be no more than about an hour.
As we entered the meeting room I decided that unlike the others, I would immediately sit down, rather than head straight for the drinks machine. Sarah had done the same, and was now sitting directly in front of me.
‘Not cold enough for a steaming, hot coffee Sarah?’ I asked.
‘Not brave enough! You want to know something strange?’
I returned her a blank look.
‘Whenever I’m in the lift, just before we get into the meeting room, the first thing that comes to my mind is to get myself a hot drink – I always do. But this time, well something funny happened in the lift. No sooner had the thought of getting the drink come into my mind, when…when you told me that you were going to give it a miss as the drinks are so horrible, and that we’ve only got to survive a one hour meeting.’
‘Sarah, I never said a word to you when we were in the lift.’
‘No you didn’t, but your mind did – like it was telepathy or something. You also said that you could not be bothered as you were too tired.’
Sarah was giving me a hard stare across the table, this was her serious stare and it now started to make me feel uneasy again. On the one hand her stare convinced me that she did believe in what she had just told me, but then on the other hand, I was now getting that same peculiar feeling whenever the two of us are close together – and it was this thought that now gave me that all-too-familiar chill that went right though me. In fact, now that I began to think about it, she was right. She had just repeated back to me everything that I was thinking in the lift just before we arrived. Nobody has ever done that to me before. Is she somehow telepathic as she suggested?
‘That is bloody strange…’ my words trailed off as the others started to take their seats at the table.
‘Now that we are all fed we can continue, and I’m sure that your all going to be more than interested in what I have just found out,’ announced a very energetic looking Davila. She looked round the table to gauge our reactions. She now started to stare directly at Sarah and me.
‘Just before we started our earlier meeting, Sarah had explained to me what she had just experienced with Martin.’ She again looked around the room before continuing, ‘She told me that as she was saying goodbye to Martin outside his room, that they shook hands for twenty five minutes. That’s right isn’t it Sarah?’
Sarah looked a little hesitant for a few moments before she finally answered. ‘Yes, I was telling Davila that as we shook hands, a really weird, and I really do mean weird, feeling came over me, difficult to describe really…’
‘It’s as if there is some sort of a connection, like there’s an energy flowing between us,’ I quickly added.
‘Yes that’s it, Martin’s got it right. It’s like a sort of energy. Anyway, as I pulled my hand away it’s like I came over all strange and faint. If that wasn’t scary enough, I then immediately looked at my watch and realised that we must have been standing there shaking, or holding hands for nearly twenty-five minutes, but I never felt the time passing at all. It was so damn strange and scary.’
‘I have to say to everybody that I did experience the same thing as Sarah, but I don’t know anything about standing there for twenty five minutes.’
Silence descended over the table for a few moments as Alistair and Paul were now exchanging questioning glances. This was clearly the first time that they had heard any of this. Before anybody started to speak, the lift doors opened, and in walked the same soldier that had been talking to Davila in the canteen earlier.
‘Dr Lebronska, I have the recording as you requested,’ he said in a very military like manner.
‘Everybody, I would like to introduce you all to Captain Finch. Captain Finch is responsible for internal security here in the complex, and I’m now going to hand things over to him for the next few minutes.’
Without saying a word Captain Finch walked round to where the projector screen was, gave it a few adjustments, and then gave the projector that was sitting on the middle of the table a quick once over. He seemed satisfied, and now proceeded to open his folder. It was unmistakably the same one that he had earlier pointed to in the canteen when he had been talking to Davila. From the folder he pulled out what looked to be a USB stick or something similar, and he inserted it into the projector. As he picked up the remote control he began to square up to us all – he was evidently about ready to get down to business. I had absolutely no idea what this was about, and I couldn’t wait to find out.
‘Good evening folks. As Dr Lebronska said to you earlier, I’m Captain Finch and I look after the internal security here in the complex. There is actually a good number of hidden security cameras dotted around the complex, its all part of our integrated security system. Now, I know that some of you were previously unaware of this, but I can assure
you that there is nothing sinister at all about it – this is for our security as well as yours.’
We all sat in absolute silence as he talked. I can remember thinking to myself that this was the first time that I knew anything about any secret cameras. Just where were these hidden devices? In my bedroom, what about in my bathroom? Did I have any privacy in here at all? However, my mind didn’t wonder too much as the Captain continued.
‘Now earlier on today, Dr Lebronska had informed me of a rather strange incident that had been reported to her by Dr Soames. From what I understood, Dr Soames and Mr Chalfont had been standing together for a twenty five minute period. However, none of them had actually been aware of the passing of this time.’
Dr Soames? Just who the hell was that? I had been there with Sarah. Come to think of it, I did not know her full name. Was that who she was, Dr Sarah Soames? Bloody hell, she was young for a doctor! Why the hell couldn’t the idiot Captain address us by our first names instead of being so bloody formal? I found this stupid military-speak very irritating.
‘I have examined our security records and can now show you some camera footage of the corridor outside the room of Mr Chalfont,’ he announced as he now lowered the lights and began the projector with the remote control.
There we were, Sarah and myself in the corridor both talking. It’s funny, I had not expected to actually hear what we were saying, and I had just assumed that we were only going to see pictures. As I listened to our conversation I found the whole experience to be very intrusive and unsettling. I did not like this at all. I was now sure that I had absolutely no privacy whilst here in the complex. Nevertheless, just like everybody at the table around me, I watched the film footage with absolute fascination. After all, I really did want to find out what had really taken place earlier between Sarah and myself.
This was the moment I was waiting for, Sarah turned to face me and grabbing my hand, she said, ‘Do you feel it too Martin?’ I was convinced, or at least fairly certain that in the next a moment or two she would then pull her hand away.
Captain Finch now moved towards the projector screen and said to us all, ‘I would like you to now take notice of the time and date-stamp in the bottom right hand corner.’ Just in case we didn’t know which corner he meant, he now used a pointer to circle the date and time. The time was 15:14. So that was the time that we first held hands. I continued to watch both Sarah and myself as we held hands. The clock had now moved onto 15:16, and still we remained as before, as though frozen in time. We were not moving at all! I found the whole experience of just watching the events unfold in front of me really surreal, if not pretty creepy.
The clock moved onto 15:17 and the Captain now continued, ‘We have checked and re-checked the recording as well as the equipment and this strange scene continues for a full twenty-four minutes until 15:38. I am sure that I do not need to point out to any of you that both Dr Soames and Mr Chalfont are as good as completely stationary throughout this whole time. Now, we can watch the whole film through to the end if you wish, or we can skip most of it, and go directly to the end. It’s your choice.’
‘No, that can be for another time Captain. Please take us to the end of the scene for now,’ answered Davila on behalf of all of us.
The Captain nodded and in only a matter of moments had forwarded the film footage to the point where the time was now 15:37. ‘Okay folks, we have around a minute then it is done. Please continue to give it your full attention.’
I can remember thinking to myself, ‘Idiot!’ Did he really think that we were not going to look at the film? Anyway, it didn’t really matter as we again continued to watch in complete silence.
The clock moved onto 15:38, and still we continued to just stand there, as though we were statues, or in some kind of weird trance. It was incredible. Then the strange scene suddenly changed, as I moved by pulling my hand away from Sarah’s, exactly as I had remembered. The room was still silent as we now watched Sarah immediately putting her left hand up to her forehead saying, ‘what the…what the hell…what just happened?’ We watched for probably a further two or three minutes before the projector finally stopped and the Captain then increased the lighting levels in the room. At last, the performance, or rather the lack of performance, from Sarah and I was now over.
I have on previous occasions watched myself on film when I had done various seminars at the bank. I can remember the odd feeling I experienced when I scrutinised my own presentations and noticed how my audiences had reacted. I had never really felt truly at ease watching my own performance on film, nevertheless it was part of my job and I just had to get on and do it. But this, this film with Sarah and myself, this was very definitely different. In fact, it was downright unsettling, so much so that I could feel goosebumps come all over me.
‘I’m going to take the film away Dr Lebronska as I need it for the archives however, I can get you a copy should you need it,’ stated Captain Finch as he retrieved the film from the projector.
‘Yes, if you could get me a copy that would be great.’
‘No problem, I’ll get it over to you first thing tomorrow. Well that’s me all done for now, any questions from anybody?’
Silence again fell across the room for a few moments before Sarah enquired, ‘I have a question. Have I got a secret camera in my room?’
Captain Finch gave a quick glance in the direction of Alistair and Davila before answering, ‘We have a lot of security in the complex Dr Soames, and a lot of that is classified, as you know.’
‘No No, I’m sorry – of course I’m aware that there is a lot of security in here in the complex, and for good reason, I accept that. But, in my room? I think I have a right to know.’
‘I would like to know as well,’ stated Paul.
‘Same goes for me,’ I said joining in.
Davila decided that she would now diffuse the situation. ‘Yes there is surveillance in all of our rooms. However, it is classed as ‘Grade Three’ surveillance. This means that it is never viewed, instead it is immediately archived. The only reason that personal footage would ever be viewed is if, security is deemed to be at risk - for whatever reason. So your privacy is not at risk, for any of you.’
‘Any other questions?’ enquired the Captain.
‘Thank you for your time Captain, you’ve been very helpful,’ stated Davila. The rest of us thanked him as he bid us goodnight, and left the room.
‘I have said it before and I will say it again, all of these incredible unexplainable events do seem to centre around you Martin,’ stated Alistair.
Silence again fell over the table. Davila tried to keep some kind of momentum going by asking, ‘Well, you have all seen the camera footage, does anybody have any sensible comments to make? Anybody?’
‘At least I was right about the missing minutes,’ stated Sarah.
‘I still don’t get it, so what did you guys feel during this time? You must have felt something?’ asked Paul.
‘It’s like we both said before. For what seemed to be less than a minute, it was as if there was some sort of strange energy, flowing between us. It’s not something that you can really put into words,’ I answered.
‘Yeah, Martin’s got it right. There’s no better way to describe it. It was really eerie when we stopped holding hands. That was really weird and scary. It’s like I felt…’
Davila cut into Sarah’s story as she now said, ‘Well according to the footage that we all saw, you said it was, and I quote, ‘It felt like I was on a trip…if you know what I mean?’ that’s what you said. So what sort of a trip were you talking about Sarah?’
Sarah was beginning to go very red with embarrassment, and for a few moments silence again descended across the room. Finally a few chuckles, followed by laughter from all of us now echoed around the room.
Sarah had no idea how to respond or what to say and simply looked at the notes on the table in front of her. ‘Sarah, you should know us by now, we’re only teasing,’ interjected A
listair, as our laughter subsided.
Looking rather tired and weary, Sarah looked up and replied very slowly and hesitantly, ‘I know you lot are only having a bit of fun. It’s just that…it’s just that the whole experience, was so peculiar and damn scary – just thinking about it, let alone trying to put it into words…is…well it makes me feel horrible, it just does.’
Silence again descended over the table. There was something bothering me about what Sarah had done immediately after our hands had parted, and this prompted my next question to her. ‘Sarah, when you put your hand up to your head and looked unsteady on your feet, did you feel a bit dizzy, and unsure of where you were for a few moments?’
‘Yes I suppose that’s pretty much how I felt,’ she replied, looking directly me.
‘You see the reason I asked, is that that is exactly how I felt for a few moments when I had a flash vision when I went to Caroline’s House.’
‘Yes, now I remember,’ stated a very animated Alistair, ‘Yes that’s when you felt so strange and dizzy you rushed through her front door so you could sit down.’
‘So let me get this right, both Martin and myself see this shadowy person, we have some unexplainable energy sensation between us whenever we are close together, and now we have suffered the same, or similar dizzy experience – and that was after we stand together like unmoving statues for twenty four minutes. Is it me, or am I right to be getting freaked out by all this?’
‘It would appear that as the days and hours go by, we seem to be getting further away from what we are supposed to be doing,’ stated Paul looking at us one by one. He continued, ‘We have all worked on this project together for a long time. Our only goal was to transmit the brain waves of an individual into anther dimension. Now, it pretty much looks like that we did manage to do that – first time out. Nevertheless, we now seemed to be getting bogged down with discussions about sinister organisations, the weird experiences of first Martin, and now our own team member Sarah. Let’s also not forget when I had earlier suggested that the first run had all the hallmarks of being ‘staged managed.’
‘I do agree with what you have said Paul – up to a point. However, I am sure that you will also agree with me that we do need to properly discuss all of these strange events. After all, it would appear that they are all connected with this project. So we do need to talk things through so that we all understand what is going on. Just so long as none of us forget that we are all here to carry on with the work and aims of the project,’ answered Davila very formally.
For a few moments silence again fell over the table before Alistair said, ‘I have to tell you all that I cannot even begin to understand or to explain those missing twenty four minutes. It simply defies all explanations. As does that strange connection between Martin and Sarah. None of it makes any sort of sense and I fear that we could end up talking in circles for ever without getting any sensible answers.’
‘Okay, it is as good as nine o-clock and I think we should draw things to a close for now and get some well deserved shut-eye. Here is my suggestion, how about we all do nothing tomorrow morning and meet up at 14:00 to continue our discussions? That way we can all have a bit of time to ourselves, and hopefully that may give us a chance to clear our heads as well as giving us some ideas so that we can further this more sensibly. How’s that sound?’ asked Davila.
‘I think it’s an excellent idea. However, I fear that we still may not be able to further any of this by just talking about it – we simply don’t have any data or hard facts to go with,’ responded Alistair.
‘You could well be right Alistair, all the same, before we discuss advancing the project in any meaningful way, we really do need to try to understand what is going on here. So tomorrow we shall run the meeting for only two hours – unless that is we are progressing with some genuine answers. That will leave everybody, apart from Martin that is, with two or three hours after the meeting to finally catch up with some proper work on the project. Everybody okay with that?’
We looked round the table at each other, before agreeing with Davila’s suggestion. She then proceeded to end the meeting. I was in the process of leaving the table when I asked her, ‘So what am I to do with myself in the morning?’
‘Of course, I’m sorry Martin – we do have a gym here in the complex as well as a cinema. You’re free to use them at any time.’
‘Tell you what Martin,’ said Alistair cutting in, ‘How about we do the gym together in the morning, and I can also show you the cinema. There’s a different film every day and it’s shown three times a day. Eleven thirty, four in the afternoon and the last showing is eight thirty in the evening.’
‘Fine by me,’ I replied.
‘Good man. How about I come to your room at around ten - how’s that with you?’
‘Sounds good to me, but I must warn you that it’s been a few years since I’ve been in a gym, so you’ll have to show me the ropes.’
Alistair gave me the now familiar slap across my back as he laughed, ‘It’s a walk in the park Martin, a walk in the park. Unfortunately, unlike when we go running, there will be no pub to be found at the end of it! Come on, I’ll accompany you to your room.’
We said our goodbyes, and finally we were able to escape the dreaded cold room. By the time I finally closed the door after Alistair had left me it was gone half past nine. I took my shoes off, slumped into the chair beside my bed, and turned on the television. What a day that was! How much stranger could it all get?