Ensemble [Book 1: SEKTOR V Trilogy]

Chapter 30: Swimming Upstream

Chapter 30: Swimming Upstream

Stanley awoke from his in-flight nap, bleary-eyed and uncomfortable. He had every right to be, as far as he was concerned. Looking out the window from row 28, he sipped at the flat, warm ginger ale from his plastic cup. Four days of nonstop travel, dozens of Underground checklists, combined with endless paranoia that he'd get caught yet again in some crazy alien universe, had driven Stanley's mental and physical tanks to near zero.

One more day and I'll never have to do this again, he told himself.

As always, when he let his mind wander, he thought about Maria and the kids. A smile formed on his face as he envisioned them appearing in front of him as he materialized in the machine from his world. One more day...

A voice blaring over the plane's communication system interrupted his thoughts. "Folks, we're on final descent into Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris," the airline captain said in a thick Nigerian accent. "Please prepare yourself for landing and make sure everything you came with also leaves with you," he added with a well-meaning chuckle. "We should touch down in 14 minutes and be at the gate ten minutes after that. As always, we greatly appreciate your business and hope that you'll consider using Lagos Airlines on your next visit to our beautiful country of Nigeria."

Twenty-four minutes? Better than nothing. Stanley shrugged. "I could always use a bit more shuteye."

As he shifted his body sideways in his seat for another nap, the head of a man appeared just below the overhead bins a couple of rows back on the opposite side of the cabin. Stanley's eyes had barely closed when his tired and overtaxed brain finally reprocessed the information and jolted his body into high alert, his heart pounding. "What the hell...?" Stanley whispered aloud as he watched the teenage girl in the middle seat give him a squinty look of disapproval. Ignoring her, he sat up straight in his seat, and cautiously looked to his left as the man entered the aisle and walked towards the front of the cabin.

JESUS...it's him! Stanley froze. He could hear his heart beating in his chest as the man approached his row. How is this possible? That unfortunate brown birthmark at the very tip of a rather large nose was unmistakable. Stanley was 100 percent sure it was the same person he tripped over and nearly spilled hot coffee on just outside a small café at the São Paulo airport almost 36 hours earlier.

Is he trailing me? Does he know who I am?

As the man entered the bathroom stall, Stanley started racking his brain. "Maybe it's not him, maybe it's just a guy who looks like the guy in São Paulo," he muttered, which generated another stare from the girl next to him. OK, not good. I'm freaking this kid out, which in turn is starting to freak me out. He sat back in his chair and exhaled deeply.

Think...Think!

His attempt to relax his mind and concentrate wasn't working as his mouth began to run dry. He picked up the empty can of ginger ale from his food tray and attempted a 180-degree final-drop extraction. No dice. Canada Dry indeed! He shook his head.

As he put the can down, he saw the bathroom stall door open as Mr. Nose Dot exited and returned down the opposite aisle.

This is it. Stanley shrank in his seat. Will he glance in my direction? Does he even know I'm here? Is this some sort of crazy coincidence?

The man approached row 28 and let out a big yawn. He didn't look in Stanley's direction at all. Stanley wasn't sure what was going on but he was convinced this was not some sort of crazy coincidence. It didn't look like the guy was trailing him, but what were the odds that they both were in São Paulo, then traveled eight hours to Lagos, and then nine hours later jumped on a plane to Paris.