Part 16
You're irritated but you see the sense in what Liz is saying and step off the pad to leave her room as TIM jaunts all three to the distant danger zone. As soon as they're gone you step onto the jaunting pad.
"The studio, please TIM. And quickly!"
You emerge from hyperspace in a white corridor stretching to left and right with identical vistas of doors and sick-looking plants. You hesitate before deciding which way to go and close your eyes momentarily to concentrate. Your games of hide and seek with Andrew and Hsui Tai in the last few weeks have been more than just games. You do what you've been learning to do and clear your mind, listening, opening yourself to the sense of John's presence.
Left. You follow the trace of John's mind like a bloodhound following a scent, barely even aware of the doors you are passing. The few people you see in the corridors ignore you, assuming that anyone inside this building must have some right to be there. You pause outside the final door, aware of the red light outside it. Your news for John is urgent though and you slip quietly through the door.
John is sitting awkwardly on a blue sofa, set in front of a paler blue backdrop. John looks crumpled and plain in the clothes you help select for him. Beside him, his interviewer is sitting in a firm armchair, leaning forward as if enthralled but propping his head up with an elbow on the chair arm. The little tableau is surreal somehow, a square of light and life in the cavernous space of the studio.
"But surely such a wealthy young man as yourself enjoys the attention of a horde of admirers." The presenter probes with mock camaraderie. He sounds desperate for something juicy to counterbalance the tedium John has been providing him with to date.
John blushes a shy red.
"W..well I don't know about that." He says in uncertain tones. "I have a girlfriend." He tells the presenter as if confiding a secret. "We've known each other for years. I hope, I hope she'll marry me one day."
His last chance of an interesting story lost, the presenter gives an audible sigh. He forces a fixed and insincere smile for the cameras.
"And that's where we have to leave it, I'm afraid. Thank you, John, for sharing your fascinating life!"
"Cut." Someone calls from the gloom around the room and instantly there's a surge of noise and energy. The presenter slumps and murmurs some insincere courtesies to John. John himself looks up and straight into your eyes. While his face stays fixed in the blank mask he's affecting his eyes are the same penetrating black diamonds as always.
[Jay!] He exclaims anxiously. [What are you doing here? What's wrong?]
He leaves the sofa and comes to you, the guest star overlooked now his usefulness was at an end.
[A volcano, John! In Russia. The others have gone already, Liz asked me to fetch you.]
You feel John reaching out for Elizabeth and TIM checking that both were still alright. He takes you by the arm and you both stride out of the studio, out of sight.
[Come on.] He says, [Let's go.]
Do you:
a) Go to the Lab first to get equipment and information?
b) Go straight to the USSR?
To return to the start click here.
To skip this storyline and start another click here.
You are currently on Path 4.
Click here to return to my homepage.
Email me on tiylaya@yahoo.com with coments or suggestions.