Voynich Shift - Season One (COMPLETED)

Leonis, 1:1, 2:11 - Part I - Arrivals and Departures

11:00 AM

From across the smoky train station, a pair of hazel eyes carefully observed Parker as he made his way through the crowd of arriving passengers. "It must be him. He looks practically identical to the digital images posted on the barrack walls at home base." The two orbs watched as the young man stopped in front of the tall Adelaide Train Station Departure and Arrival board and then turn on his heel as if looking for something or someone. Without warning, Parker ceased scanning over the sea of faces and locked eyes with his observer.

"Damn it! He spotted me!" Parker's ginger-haired spectator quickly ducked into the train station's cloakroom to avoid his target's gaze. A bell over the door to the storage room dinged, announcing his sudden entry.

"Hello there, sir!" cheerfully shouted an attendee in a navy-colored suit and cap. The man smiled as he stood at attention behind a dark wood-constructed counter. "How may I help you?"

The startled man rotated his head in response to the exclamation, momentarily forgetting his target.

"Sir, your baggage?" inquired the train station employee in blue. He pointed at the brown suitcase in the stranger's hand...a container closely matching the color of its owner's suit. "Did you want to secure your luggage with us today, mister...?"

"Keane. The name is Keane."

"Well, Mr. Keane, what are we here for today?"

Pausing for a moment to consider his situation, the stranger nodded and glanced at the attendant's name tag. "Yes, um, Mr. Craig...I do wish to leave my case with you. That's a good idea," he said, generating a smile. Keane handed the attendant his suitcase. "I can say I would be lighter on my feet without this thing," Keane considered and then looked over his shoulder. "Especially since it appears there is another individual in this reality that can travel like me...most definitely not by conventional means. I have to find out what he is doing here."

The attendee removed a ticket from a book and presented it to his customer. "Please sign here Mr. Keane."

The action snapped the man's focus back to reality. Smacking down a couple of coins on the marble countertop, Keane signed the book and nodded at the attendant. He turned and carefully slid up next to the exit to scan over the station's crowds. "Damn, where did he...oh, shit!"

The observer flung himself up against the wall to avoid being seen as Parker unexpectedly walked by the cloakroom, paused to look inside, and then continued on his way.

"Mr. Keane, sir, the gentlemen is now gone. If asked, I can tell him I did not see you..." Craig held his hand out and raised an eyebrow in expectation.

Keane looked down at the man's open palm and sighed. He fished another of his quickly dwindling issued coins from a coat pocket and slapped it into the station attendant's hand. His money was rapidly disappearing. Bribes were obviously not taken into account at the onset of this operation, nor wasted money on incorrect train tickets. Nevertheless, whoever this other traveler was, Keane understood he needed to find out his reason for being here in the middle of his 'op' and do it fast. Especially, if this man was the infamous Parker Raymond that Emperor Geniel was looking for. If it was, then things were going to be much more complicated...especially since he was breaking the rules already and seeing that woman he met a couple of trips before.

<<*>>

11:00 AM - Parker

Parker eyed a copy of The Advertiser newspaper resting on the magazine rack before him. "November 30th, 1948...no kidding?" he mumbled as he read over the paper's ink print headlines. "Australia's First Mass Produced Car Revealed...U.S., Britain Examine Berlin Plan...looks like the cold war is just beginning to heat up."

A trio of men in well-pressed, business suits sauntered by with cigarettes dangling from their mouths and luggage in their hands. As they conversed, Parker noted their accents were thickly Australian. He scanned over the magazine rack once more and then up at the departure and arrival board. "I'm definitely in Australia...South Australia," he thought to himself. He had always wanted to travel 'Down Under', just not quite like this. Nevertheless, here he was hoping against hope that for once it would be an uneventful adventure.

Parker suddenly felt something. Almost as if he was being watched. He scanned the area around him, instantly noticing a man with light-ginger hair glaring back at him from across the station. Parker squared himself up with the wide-shouldered man and raised an eyebrow of concern. The action sent Parker's middle-aged observer into hiding.

"That's weird. I bet it's my clothes," Parker considered as he looked down and tugged at his shirt. He had noted he had been receiving odd looks from some of the various passersby occupying the train station. Parker shrugged. "It was 1948. Not too long post-World War II, after all."

From nowhere, an elderly, rather refined woman emerged from the crowd and walked up to Parker bearing a smile stretched over her wrinkled face. She slid her purse from her shoulder and opened it. "Hello, young man."

"Hello?" Parker responded, a bit perplexed at this woman's oddly familiar approach. Wearing a tan, well-tailored outfit and matching hat, Parker imagined this friendly lady looked a bit like Lovey Howell from one of those old...well, in this Multiverse, not-yet-to-exist, episodes of Gilligan's Island.

"...hmmm, I know I have something in here somewhere. Ah, here we are." The lady rummaged through her purse and extracted a colorful piece of paper which she then offered to Parker. "Were you in the war, dearie?"

"Ma'am?"

"I see, difficulty with the King's English? An immigrant, then?"

One rather confused Parker lifted the currency note in front of him and then did what he knew worked best in these sorts of situations. Lie. "No, I speak English just fine. But yes ma'am. I'm an immigrant."

"Ah, an American. Interesting. Well then, as I am sure you are aware, there are many foreign young men like yourself here in Adelaide from all over the world. Please, I realize it might be a bit much, but do accept my gift, for I wish you to buy yourself a meat pie or something, dearie. You look as if you could use something to eat."

"Thank you?"

"I know it might seem strange that an unfamiliar woman would simply present you with money for no apparent reason," she said as she closed the latch on her coordinated tan purse. The elder lady paused and then eyed Parker up and down. "I lost my son in the war and when I saw you...well, young man, you look a lot like my sweet boy. It's actually quite upsetting."

"I'm sorry...?" Parker could see tears welling in the woman's eyes. She lifted a silken handkerchief and dabbed it at the corner of one of them. The activity softened his concern.

"No, no need for apologies, young man. This is my own foolishness at play. My dear late husband would often tell me that my kindness was both my best attribute and worst feature." A chuckle appeared in the woman's voice as a smile grew over her face once again. "I have a farm a bit outside of town, Mr...?"

"Parker. Parker Raymond."

"Yes, very nice to meet you, Mr. Raymond. My name is Glenda Childers. If you are ever in need of work, do come by. I can always use a strong back and able hands...regardless of where they come from." The woman offered Parker a business card. "The address is on the front."

"Thank you, Mrs. Childers." Parker nodded in acknowledgement as he accepted the small rectangular offering.

"If little labour, then little gain as they say," she sang. "Have a wonderful day, Mr. Raymond." Then, as abruptly as she appeared, the kind old woman turned and was gone, blending into the bustling crowd.

"Yep, it's definitely the clothes," Parker said to himself and scratched his head. "Now, where to buy a meat pie around here? That kind of sounds good..."