TWO-WAY MIRROR

Chapter IX

Portofina Caye , Belize – April 12, 2141AD

The rest of the five-hour flight from Geneva to Belize was uneventful. John left the goggles and journal in the safety of his courier bag and forced himself to sleep hoping to allay the inevitable eight-hour jet lag. Once the plane touched down, Cindi completed customs for him, and Johns' head of security arrived on the tarmac to escort him to the helicopter pad for the short hop from the mainland to Portofina Caye, a private island he had purchased through a numbered company three years earlier.

In his villa surrounded by high tech security monitors and a small army of personal bodyguards, he could finally relax. It was five-thirty pm local time. He considered checking his email for a moment but the idea of sifting through the death threats and hate mail made his stomach hurt.

He opened the refrigerated compartment in the side of the overstuffed sofa, pulled out a bottle of water and took a long drink. John stared blankly at the bank of windows that made up the western wall. The setting sun had begun its' slow dip below the horizon and the room was bathed in a reddish-pink glow. Beyond the sun-bleached wooden deck the perfect white sand extended like a field of new snow to the waters' edge. Waves lapped languidly at the beach and a few hundred feet out he could see the spray as the larger waves crashed against the protective reef that ringed the island.

It was after midnight in Geneva, far too late to call William and let the old man know he'd left. Besides, he really didn't want to call. His friend would be angry he had run away, back to his cocoon.

Perhaps a swim... but that would mean changing and he really wasn't in the mood. John grabbed the remote from the coffee table and pointed it at a blank spot on the far wall. A three foot by five foot rectangle bloomed with light and resolved itself into an image of a man speaking to a gaggle of reporters. Across the bottom of the screen ran a news ticker emblazoned with the name Richard Crane – CEO NeoWorld Technologies. John had heard of the man of course, although they had never met. He thumbed the sound up on the remote.

"...betterment of humankind. This document has been signed by every leader of every country on earth. As of today, we are no longer Americans, Africans, Europeans... we are Humans. We are one and we are free. I want to thank...." John muted the volume and Richard Crane continued his speech silently.

"Wow, he actually did it..." John mumbled to himself, "... world-freakin-peace." He leaned his head back on the couch and considered the implications for a moment.

"What are we gonna do with all those guns?" He chuckled.

Johns' hand absently brushed the courier bag on the sofa to his left. It lay half-open where he had tossed it and as he turned his head he caught a glimpse of the goggles inside. After a moments' hesitation, he reached in quickly placed the goggles over his eyes and secured the strap behind his head before he could lose his nerve. He squeezed his eyes closed and then slowly opened them.

Nothing changed... the room was exactly as it had been. Same overstuffed armchairs, same mahogany sideboard, even the same paintings on the wall. John began cataloging everything to ensure there were no differences and indeed, his safe haven seemed to be protected even from the effect of the goggles. He reached up and began to remove them, but as he did something caught his eye. On the television Richard Cranes' image seemed to jump cut. John moved the goggles back and Richard jumped again. The television Richard was definitely different. He was wearing a different suit and although the backdrop behind him was similar it was not the same. John got up from the couch and moved closer to the image. There were other people standing behind Richard as he spoke and John became mesmerized as he moved the goggles into and out of his line of sight. As he did so the background people changed. Without the goggles to his left was a fat balding man with black-framed glasses and to his right a lovely red-haired girl in a tan dress. With the goggles, the person to his left became a tall handsome man with dark hair and a beard, while the red-haired girl remained the same but her dress changed to a teal color. John stared intently at the screen trying to make out what Goggles-Richard was saying without any luck. One thing was evident the other Richard wasn't giving the same speech. He looked tired and angry. He slammed his hand on the podium obviously yelling at the reporters. John moved even closer to the screen and as he did so he saw the tiniest tinge of color around Richard's head. He squinted and realized the tiny blue glow was not jus around his head but around his entire body. A similar glow surrounded the bearded man but not the girl.

John inspected the scene for a few more minutes and then took off the goggles and shook his head. Suddenly it came to him, the forty-eight hour time difference... this was a different speech altogether.  He sat thinking, trying to wrap his aching head around the idea of different dimensions but finally gave up in frustration.

"This is crazy... and now I'm talking to myself!"