Chapter 16
As soon as he’d been given the all-clear by the medics on board Columbus, Will called Billy and arranged to meet him in one of the navy restaurants. Both he and Sarah had changed out of their navy uniforms into civilian clothes, Will’s provided by the navy, so weren’t quite to his taste. They were both pleased, now that the refugees had been given the all clear, that the masks were no longer required.
When they arrived, holding hands, Billy was already there and had ordered drinks.
After Will and Sarah had sat down, Billy said ‘I’ll be honest, Will. I didn’t think we’d ever meet up again after your disappearance. Peter was very upset and Kate was thoroughly pissed off with you, vanishing without so much as a by your leave. She couldn’t understand how you could just vanish, leaving your boots behind like that. I certainly couldn’t explain it to either of them in the circumstances.’
‘Having got back into this reality, I’d hoped to be able to see them both again and apologise but it sounds like that might be a bad idea.’
‘For now, they seem to have forgotten about it but that won’t last forever. At least I know you’re OK and can try and reassure them if you come up again in conversation.’
‘Thanks. I’d appreciate that. One day, I’d like to see them again, should you think it’s appropriate. I assume they know nothing of the work you’re doing?’
‘Definitely classified as top secret at the moment but I doubt we can keep it that way forever. I see you’re wearing one of our new bracelets, by the way.’
‘Captain VanD suggested it would be a good idea in the circumstances.’
‘If there’s anyone who can make good use of them it’s you but I hope you won’t need one anytime soon.’
‘Me too. So far, I’ve managed to survive but I reckon I’ve been lucky I didn’t finish up in space or the middle of a wall or something. Sarah’s suggested, and I agree with her, that the safest place for me at the moment is planetside. Even that could prove fatal if I make a switch into something solid. At least I have a way back to this reality which, I have to say, is very reassuring. My own reality’s out of the question at the moment, unfortunately, as it would mean leaving Sarah behind, never mind causing a bit of a stir, with all sorts of convoluted explanations required as to where I’ve been.’
‘You may be able to pay a visit someday and take Sarah with you. Anyway, how are you, Sarah? I haven’t seen you since you left the Sea Lion.’
‘Well, I’ve been kept pretty busy. The Admiral wanted to make sure that the multiple realities issue was kept under wraps, so everyone who knew of the base on Astraeus 5 was promptly ‘seconded’ into the navy. Some of my ex-colleagues were less than impressed, I can tell you, as some of them had been trying to get into the navy for years without success. I’m currently a Lieutenant on the Sea Lion, working alongside Auryn Truran. We’ve been searching through the bases on the Astraeus 5 equivalents. The Captain has just gone to the foreign-language realities to see what can be retrieved from them before we confront the people in General Gott’s reality. Will and I are going to have a couple of weeks in Waterbeach for a little R and R.’
‘So tell me, when did you two get together?’
‘It’s odd but we’d both been thinking about the other one ever since we first met on Astraeus 5, so when Will was rescued from Reality ten, it just sort of happened. We’re both looking forward to get to know each other better’ replied Sarah.
‘I hope you have an enjoyable time down there. I wish I could join you but Angela, my boss, wouldn’t approve. We’re making too much progress on the work we’ve been doing to take time out at the moment. After the current crisis, we may be able to take a breather, which I’m sure Kate would approve of.’
‘I’ve asked the Captain if there’s any way I can get involved in your development programme. Alternatively, as I’ll probably be stuck on the planet for a while, better mapping of the various realities would be useful.’
‘It would be up to the Commodore and Angela to decide if you could get involved but, as I said, we’re making good progress. Not sure we could slot you in at the moment but it’s not up to me. Our current project is to develop a means of communicating with our ships in other realities. We’re hoping to be able to test something out within a few days. It’s a development of our ship-based RSC. It’s a bit rough around the edges but think it will give us something to work with. Anyway, I’m sorry but I need to get back, as things are starting to get a bit intense.’
‘Not a problem. By the way, before you go, you might be interested to know that when I left you, I landed in the bed of an alternate version of Kate’s. Then I met Bill Hunt, an alternate of ours, and his wife Becca. I was just getting used to that reality, when I switched to reality ten, where the Captain found me and a search party that had crash landed there trying to find out what had happened to the people who’d gone there to settle the planet.’
‘Sounds like you’ve been getting around a bit. Was Kate’s equivalent the same as my Kate?’
‘Pretty much identical in most respects, though she lives with her girlfriend, a Janet Walters. Unfortunately, I haven’t met Janet yet but I hope I can sometime.’
‘Er, OK! I’m slightly taken aback by that little twist.’
‘It took me by surprise as well, having just left you and Kate, especially as I’d also dated my version of her for a few months. I guess these are some of the little differences that we’ll soon get used to. Even odder was that there’s a Bill Gott who lives down the corridor from Bill, who seems to be the alternate of General Gott. Apparently, he’d been in the navy but had been invalided out after an accident. Bill says he’s a lovely bloke, unlike General Gott. He showed me a block party picture of him and he does seem to be a genuinely nice guy. From what Bill and Becca said, he’s a real party animal. There’s probably an unpleasant version of you and me out there but fortunately, I haven’t met him yet!’
Billy got up and moved from the table. ‘Enjoy your holiday, you two. Good to see you both again, you especially, Will. Keep in touch.’
‘I’ll do my best. Hope the comm system works.’
Billy left the restaurant followed, a few minutes later, by Will and Sarah. They had two hours to kill before the next shuttle down to New Oregon, so Sarah suggested she show him around. Although Will had been given a very brief tour by Billy, there was a lot he hadn’t had to time to see, so was happy for Sarah to give him a tour of the station.
In the next hour and a half, Sarah showed him several parts of the naval part of the station, as well as the public areas, including the shops, a small park and the viewing platforms, where they watched several ships as they came and went. As they were the only ones on the viewing platform, they took the opportunity to snuggle up to each other.
As they walked, Will told Sarah of some of the things they had in his version of the station. Progress wasn’t always that quick as walking, hand in hand, laughing and joking along the walkways and corridors, they occasionally needed to move out of the way of others. Sarah felt they were probably making spectacles of themselves as they wandered through Columbus but, frankly, she didn’t care. She hadn’t felt this happy since she’d split up with her former boyfriend, Simon, two years ago.