Fools of us All - Chapter 13

I wiped the remnants of tears from my eyes. The past few months had been difficult for me and the last week especially so. It felt good to release those emotions. I looked over at the young man beside me, noting his apprehensive expression. I couldn't blame him for his scepticism of before, as I couldn't blame him for his nervousness now. Even though he now believed what I had said to be true, the implications therein were rather severe. He seemed to come to an acceptance faster than I had when I had been told much the same story by Dun a lifetime ago.

With a sudden nod of the head, he reached into his pocket. Some decision had been made, and now he was acting on it. Fascinated I watched as he pulled out a primitive communication device and flipped it open, pressing a button before placing it to his face.

"Hello mom," he said into the device. "Oh, you've already heard. Don't worry, everyone is fine. No one was hurt. Okay okay, Gerry was hurt, but not seriously. They're only keeping him in the hospital as a precaution."No mom...mom. Mom. Mom. Mom. MOM!" He rolled his eyes in exasperation and listened for some time. I hid my smile behind my hand. "No, we're fine, don't worry. Yes the car is driveable. The windshield is being repaired right now, I can afford it.
"Look, I just wanted you to know that I am going to be a few extra days out here. No, I don't hate you. Mom, will you pipe down for a minute?" By now his head was resting against the steering wheel. I didn't bother hiding my smile any longer. This was the most amusing thing I had witnessed in some time.

Finally he managed to get a word in edgewise. "I met an...old friend here in town.
"In Moose Jaw. We're going to stay here for a bit and hang out for a while.
"No, I'm not sure when I'll be home." He looked at me, a sly grin on his face. "We'll just have to see how the timing works out."

Now it was my turn to roll my eyes.

"I'm not sure what Cindy and Gerry are going to do. He might be in the hospital for a few more days, we'll see. And if not we might send them ahead on the bus or help them rent a car or something. We'll figure that out. But I have to go now. I'll call you later. Yes, I love you too. Okay mom, good-bye." He closed his communicator and slipped it back in his pocket. "Oi."

I laughed for a bit and he smiled at me. But all good times, it seems, must come to an end, and this brief respite was no exception. "So what's our next move?"

I had anticipated the question, but I had no ready answer. "If we had any further information it would probably be easier to say, but you now know all that I know."

"Hmm, and that's not much."

We lapsed into silence, watching as a few final drops of rain splattered against the windshield. The rain was going away, and the sun was valiantly trying to break through.

Suddenly Spin perked up. "I don't know all that you know. You have that glowy globe, the one you threw at the thugs in the hospital. What exactly does that thing do?"

I could feel my cheeks become warmer. "I don't actually know. Dar died before he told me what it was for."

"So you threw it?" Spin shook his head. "I'm glad it wasn't a bomb."

I merely shrugged. What more could I say.

Spin opened his mouth to speak again, but was interrupted by two small beeps. He looked at the device on his wrist. "Oh man, we'd better get back to the hospital before Cindy or Gerry miss us."

I shook my head. "I cannot return there. Those goons may still be lurking around, or the staff will recognise me and try to examine me again. Too many truths may be found out and that will complicate things unnecessarily." At his confused expression and indicated my left leg. He tilted his head and then his face brightened as he remembered.

"Just stay in the car, then, and I will go in and deal with Cindy and Gerry myself."

Again I indicated my disapproval. "I do not think that it would be wise to separate at this point. If something should happen to one of us it could spell major trouble."

He looked out the front window for a moment and then back at me. I wasn't sure I liked the grin on his face.

* * * * * *

Twenty minutes later I was sure I didn't like the grin on his face. We had made a couple of quick stops on the way back to the hospital. I was now standing outside of Gerry's room wearing a long blonde wig, high heels and a dress. I also had a large pair of sunglasses, three gaudy (but fake) diamond rings on my fingers and extremely vivid red lipstick. His instructions to me were to stand in the hallway, chew my gum and look suitably ditzy. "Flirting with the doctors probably wouldn't be a bad idea either," he had said before disappearing into the room. I still wasn't sure why I had agreed to this ridiculous plan. After a few minutes he came out of the room and grinned when he saw me. "Well hey there good lookin'," he said mischievously. "You going my way?"

I pulled the sunglasses down to the end of my nose so I could properly glare at him. "Careful or you are going to regret that you made me wear high heels."

He nodded but didn't stop smiling. "I've managed to explain everything to them satisfactorily enough. Gerry is supposed to get out today and then they are going to rent a car to drive home. He said I could pay him back later. So we're free to do what we need to do."

I pushed my glasses back up to cover my eyes. "I've been thinking about that. I think our best bet would be to find somewhere so I can get information about this time. It may be that we are to accomplish a task in this time era."

"A task?"

"It occurred to me that I was given two recall devices, which means that you are to go back with me. Obviously you have some part to play in your future. But it is also in our best interest to ensure that we do everything that we can do here before we leave. We may not be able to return and if we leave anything undone it may prove to be costly." I watched as the full weight of my words hit him.

"May not be able to return?"

I nodded. "Surely the M.E.R.C.s have destroyed the machine by now. I do not even know if we will be able to return to my time without it, but I suspect that the recall devices will still be able to do that. But once we are back in my time we will no longer be able to use the machine to return you to now."

"IF it was destroyed." He said this almost desperately.

"Yes," I agreed softly. "If."

He took a deep breath and nodded. "All right then, I think I know of a place. Let's go." With a sense of purpose he turned and began to walk down the corridor. I followed, glad that he seemed to be accepting things fairly well. It would not have been good to see him resisting what he had heard.

We rounded a corner and I had to stifle a gasp even as I grabbed Spin and shoved him back around the corner where he fell to his knees. Exiting a room was one of the bruisers we had confronted before. He paused at the threshold and looked back inside. "Don't worry Tank, I'll find the punks who did this to you. They won't get far." With that he closed the door softly, his expression dour. With a well practiced flick of the eyes he scanned the hallway, hesitating only slightly when he saw me. He didn't recognise me behind my disguise, however, and with a slight nod he turned and walked the other way, disappearing around a corner.

"What was that all about?" Spin had regained his feet and was peering around the corner.

I let out a breath I hadn't realised I was holding. "It was one of the thugs. The other one is in that room there--" I pointed down the hall-- "and neither, it would seem, are too happy at the moment." Turning around I headed back the way we had come. "I think it would be best if we took the stairs."

A few minutes later we stood at the bottom of the stairs, peering out of the door for any signs of our thuggish friend. Everything appeared to be clear, so we cautiously made our way towards the main waiting area and our exit. I was watching behind us when I heard Spin make an interested sound.

"Huh. I don't think I've seen those uniforms before."

I turned my head and stopped cold. Grabbing Spin's arm I pulled him back a couple steps. "That's because it does not become a uniform for some time yet." I found that I was whispering, my throat suddenly dry. "Those are M.E.R.C.s."