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Chapter Nine
I trudged through the housing estate in what I knew to be the town’s general direction. My extremely brief visit to the offices of SES had established beyond doubt that the two worlds were indeed very different. For a start we’d got the name of this place wrong. It wasn’t Capistrano Two, or Capistrano anything. No matter what it called itself I had to get organized. The crappy glowing suit had begun to decompose as wisps of it floated in the air around me. I looked like a human Dandelion. A police car slowed to observe me before moving on. Perhaps Jervis had made a report about some eccentric turning up for a non-existent interview. They’d probably be back and I obviously had no ID on me. Camouflage was needed quickly. I began to jog into town whilst attempting to hold the remainder of the suit together.
The first thing I did when I got there was to find more suitable clothes. I bought something called a Smartwatch, some casual clothes an
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I’d reacted badly again. Carver wouldn’t give me any more information until I agreed to take part in another Projection. There was more to come but only if I signed a compliance form that I’d do the farcical task they required. I said I needed time to think about it. It wasn’t discussed what they’d do if I refused apart from never telling me anymore about dad. Maybe they’d wipe my memory and start again from scratch again? I’d arranged to see Amelia again that evening at her posh River-way flat. I had the afternoon to kill so decided to take a look at that mysterious old guy’s house properly, the one glimpsed when I’d helped him home on Sunday evening. The grand old place towered above me as the sun cast its shadow down the steep road. I lifted the large brass doorknocker then let it drop. After a minute there came the sound of a handle turning. “Yes, can I help you?” A small grey-haired woman gave me a querulous smile. “Have you made a booking, what’s the name?” She
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