Michael walked from the rental car agency clutching the
paperwork and the keys to the nondescript hatchback car he had rented using
John Staple's driving licence and credit card. He felt guilty about using both,
but had figured that Martin's crew would be looking for his own credit card
being used. They probably would be scanning John's as well but he felt the odds
to be marginally better. The reality was that he couldn't bring himself to
steal a car, which was probably the correct solution and the fate almost likely
to befall his own car over the next few days.
After making the phone call to Karen earlier he had turned
tail and headed due south, skirting Manchester and the motorway system.
Although safer it had put at least half an hour onto his journey already and he
reckoned he had another three hours at least before he reached the general area
he was headed towards.
As Michael drove he tried to probe John for information,
tried to determine 'where' he was, 'what' he was seeing. Some of the time John
was lucid and had a naive understanding of what was happening to him - he
didn't understand the science of course, nor did he know why, but he did seem
to realise that he was experiencing several versions of the same events. His
main confusion was not with the differences but when everything seemed to be
the same even though he knew deep down they were not.
Michael tried to explain some of what was happening, but
often found himself talking to a catatonic being showing no sign of
understanding. Other times John merely said 'I know, you told me,' when Michael
was beginning a new part of the explanation. This caused Michael to smile as he
realised that this conversation was being played out elsewhere and John was
leapfrogging the information. Most of the remaining journey, however, was
conducted in silence as Michael drove towards the darkening skies, attempting
to explain exactly what he had done to himself and his career.
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Copyright Ray Sullivan 2011
The characters, places and events described in this novel are fictitious and any resemblance to persons, places or events, past or present, is coincidence. All rights reserved
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