Twin Earth

Chapter 57

Arriving back in Swindon I was greeted by a fairly normal looking office building and a typically rainy afternoon. A part of me was relieved that to all sense and purposes nothing had changed, even if the place did look just as depressing as it always had done.

Thanking the taxi cab driver I slammed the door closed and made my way up the familiar concrete steps to the UK space agency headquarters. I was surprised to see everything unlocked and pulling open the front door I quickly made my way inside without swiping myself in.

"Tom," a voice shouted over to me from behind.

"James," I exclaimed. "You look shit," I jested, hugging him and slapping his shoulder affectionately.

"Well, a lot has changed since you left," James replied in a serious tone, motioning me to join him inside. "I've been promoted to head of the agency..."

"Head? What happened to Robert? Did he finally get arrested," I interrupted.

Pausing, James stopped in the corridor and turned to look at me.

"Tom, there really is no way of saying this, but you've been gone for twelve years. Robert died of a heart attack three years ago."

Stunned, I stumbled backwards and stared at James. I could see it now. How much James had aged. Yes, he looked tired, but the beard, the hair, it was all so much greyer.

"How can that be?" I mumbled confused, feeling a cold sweat consume me from deep within.

"Come, sit down. Your father's assistant, Doctor Yuki Yamamoto is going to join us shortly. Do you remember Yuki?" James replied, putting his arm around me and gently coaxing me into a small meeting room decorated only with two blue sofas and a white board. The sterile atmosphere only making me feel more isolated in how I was feeling.

"Of course I remember Yuki, why wouldn't I? But where is my father?" I asked concerned. "Is he dead? Please tell me he's not dead?"

"No, no, he's fine, but he's retired. After your memorial service he lost all interest in space exploration. He never fully recovered from the loss of you and now lives in Hawaii," James replied passing me a plastic cup of water from a previously unnoticed water cooler.

"But I'm not dead!" I exclaimed. "I'm very much alive. I've only been gone, what, a few days, a week or two at best? It doesn't make any sense."

Before James could reply, a much older Yuki than I remembered walked in and closed the door behind her and taking off her round rimmed glasses she beckoned James to sit down as she stood staring at me.

"It is good to see you Tom, may I call you Tom?"

"Well you did last week," I replied confused.

Sighing, Yuki perched down next to James and rubbing her eyes as if she too hadn't slept in weeks she put down a very creased looking folder and turned towards me, pausing as if she was thinking carefully of how to proceed.

"After you left Tom, James and I stayed on in Puerto Rico with Hayden and Trevor to monitor your progress, but shortly after you left there was a huge explosion and your space vehicle disappeared."

"That's because I passed through the sphere, or the ripple we detected," I corrected myself.

For some reason I was keen to keep everything about Mochuvia to myself until I knew exactly who I could trust. It hurt me I felt that way about my old friend James, but I couldn't risk myself being excluded from any future research or locked up for scientific experimentation. 'Okay, maybe that was being a bit too paranoid,' I mused to myself.

"So you just gave up and came back here?" I asked confused. "What happened to Trevor and Hayden? Magnus for that matter?"

I was curious to know if they had any inkling about Magnus' invasion plans. It still amazed me that no-one seemed to have any idea about what was happening on Mochuvia right now.

"I'm not sure," James replied. "Magnus went into obscurity. He was accused of fabricating his expertise in space travel and was ultimately shamed into hiding..."

'Convenient,' I thought.

"...and I think Hayden went to work for Trevor in America. What did happen to Hayden Yuki?" James asked, looking over to who I now assumed to be his wife, judging by the rings on their fingers.

"Trevor went to work for the military I believe. Hayden, I'm not sure."

"And the rift in space? All the chaos on Earth?" I spluttered in desperation at the lack of anything out of the ordinary in this conversation.

"Hours after the explosion things did get worse. There were at least four tsunamis that ripped through South America, Africa and Asia as well as numerous earthquakes around the world. For a time there was so much turmoil politically and a lot of people did die, but it was so long ago now," James replied with a hint of sadness but also acceptance in his voice.

"Why haven't you asked about Rachel? Or why the earthquakes and tsunamis even stopped?" I suddenly asked, thinking how odd their behaviour was being.

I watched as James looked at Yuki and upon her nodding turned back to me and placed his hand on my arm. Looking down at the surprising gesture I frowned in confusion.

"What are you not telling me? For fuck sake James, this isn't like you," I snapped impatiently.

"Tom, we just have to be sure about where you've been. It just seems a little odd that you miraculously appear in Peru after all this time."

"That's because to me I haven't been away all this time. It has literally just been a few days."

"James, I think it is okay we take Tom to the YM Institute of space and time exploration," Yuki replied.

"Time?" I questioned in surprise.

"I think you might be in for a surprise," James finally grinned, pulling his hand away and slapping his hands down on his legs before standing up. His previous demeanour now giving way to an unexpected bout of excitement, which for the first time made me feel like he was still the same old James. "It will certainly help explain a few things."