tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-46179429404329184802024-03-14T06:25:22.731+01:00Complete the Circle - the blognovelTime travel is not going to be invented.
It is just going to happen.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304290220531518030noreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4617942940432918480.post-10906867373558637482013-10-29T18:59:00.001+01:002013-10-29T18:59:49.458+01:00COMPLETE THE CIRCLE - Chapter 26<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<h2 style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>TO GO TO THE HOMEPAGE - <a href="http://completethecirclenovel.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/home-page.html">CLICK HERE.</a></i></span></h2>
<div style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0px; widows: 2;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">To go to Chapter one, <a href="http://completethecirclenovel.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/complete-circle-act-1-chapter-1.html">click here.</a></span></div>
<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 32pt;"><br /></span></b>
<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 32pt;">Chapter 26<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="border-top: solid black 1.0pt; border: none; padding: 1.0pt 0cm 0cm 0cm;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-top-alt: solid black 1.0pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 0cm 0cm 0cm; padding: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">And so Mr. & Mrs. Lutman began
the second week of their honeymoon, with Miami next on their itinerary. They
checked in at a luxury hotel a few minutes from downtown.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">As they prepared for their evening,
Deanne emerged from the bathroom of their honeymoon suite in her new, red, shoulder-cut
dress. David Lutman’s jaw dropped; she was even more beautiful than that first
day he had met her. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">He also dressed the part, wearing a
brand-new tailor-made tuxedo.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">After cheerfully depositing their
keycard, they jumped into their hire car and set off to a quiet and
well-recommended restaurant serving typical American cuisine in a
not-so-familiar area of the city.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">It was well past midnight, much later
than they intended, when they eventually emerged with the handful of remaining
diners from the restaurant. Lutman cheerfully said goodnight to the maître d',
and he and Deanne left arm in arm for their car. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">It was a pleasant, warm, but slightly
sticky evening. The sky was clear, and the stars were clearly visible despite
the large and powerful street lighting that swamped the street. After he had
looked up, Lutman began to notice that everyone else had gone in the opposite
direction to them, or had leaped straight into waiting taxis; they were alone.
Only the occasional car raced past them as they walked hand-in-hand. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">The fact that they were now left
alone made him feel decidedly uneasy. The shops had looked very attractive upon
their arrival, but now they had all been replaced with ominous-looking solid
Graffiti-strewn metal shutters that covered every pane of glass at ground
level. It may have been only a short walk to the car, but Lutman and Deanne's
pace had notably quickened.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">And then a young, unshaven skinhead,
around Lutman’s height, and wearing a dirty blue bomber jacket, approached them
from around a corner with an unlit cigarette dangling from his mouth. Whether
Lutman or Deanne liked the idea or not, it was clear that they were going to be
engaged in conversation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Got a light?’ he sneered, gawping at
them malevolently.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Erm, no we haven’t,’ Deanne
responded apprehensively.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘‘kay,’ then the skinhead
nonchalantly walked by, seemingly to have accepted their nervous response.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">But what mild sense of relief they
had felt soon turned to intense apprehension when a black man with distinctive,
short bleached blond hair suddenly emerged from around that very corner where
Lutman and Deanne’s car was parked a further three hundred feet up. Dressed in
a black leather jacket with the inscription ‘Free Spirit’ on the backside, this
individual’s face was covered with an intimidating number of facial piercings. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">He was also about two inches taller
than Lutman. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"> He smiled a
bright yellow smile.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">And then from a holster, he swiftly
produced a switchblade knife, and pointed it in their direction. ‘Say, you sure
you ain’t got no lighter… or wallet, maybe?’ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Lutman and Deanne froze in fear. Then
they turned, only to find that the skinhead who had appeared to have ignored
them just a few moments earlier was now standing only a few feet away, blocking
their escape. He was also holding a large blade. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">The only direction left was the road,
but even this option had been blocked. Two more individuals in black leather
were now standing there and were ominously heading towards them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">The skinhead who was known to his accomplices
as Staib – and who still had the dangling cigarette from his mouth – walked
towards them slowly, his knife brandished menacingly. He slowly took the stick
out of his mouth to reveal two gapped front teeth. ‘Listen,’ he sneered as he
stood in front of Lutman, whose expression told him that this boy had clearly
never experienced such a confrontation, ‘we’re in a pretty good mood today, you
know what I mean? We don’ wanna hurt anyone, certainly not you lovely people.
So all you guys gotta do is just giz your money pronto and we’ll leave you
alone. I can’t be fairer than that, can I?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Still in a state of shock, Lutman
made the fatal error of not removing his wallet. To the thugs, making
absolutely no movement whatsoever was the worst thing he could have done.
Patience was not a virtue regardless of their mood, good or not. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Now whatever had masqueraded as
friendliness disappeared completely in an instant. Their language became
considerably more colorful and threatening: the knives, only inches away, even
more menacing. Staib shrieked at them to give them his money.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘For Gods sake David!’ shrieked
Deanne, ‘just give them your money!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Listen to your pretty lady, man!’
taunted Staib, ’cos I ain’t got no more time to hang about! Gizzus your wallet!
And now!’ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Unwisely, Lutman tried to reason with
them. ‘Look, come on, this isn’t fair, is it?’ he stammered, struggling to
muster some kind of courage. ‘There’s four of you, and only two of us!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">The clear British accent was not lost
on the thugs. ‘What’s fair? Welcome to freakin’ Miami. We dictate what’s
freakin’ fair.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Didya hear that accent?’ shouted one
of his accomplices. ‘He’s a freakin’ limey!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Well, for a limey,’ added Staib,
glaring at Lutman, ‘you sure got yourself a pretty woman.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">The skinhead put out his hand to try
to touch Deanne’s bare arm. She backed away, petrified. ‘Aww, I wouldn’t hurt
you, pretty lady!’ he scoffed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘She’s got a pair of nice tits an’
ass!’ shouted Shaif, the black man with a cigarette that had been lit by Wag,
one of the other youths that were both shaven-headed and dressed in casual
black clothes. They appeared to be unarmed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Shaif’s hand stroked Deanne’s right
arm. <i>‘Keep your hands off of me!’ </i>she screeched. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">At that moment a blue saloon slowly
went by, slow enough in that there was no way its occupant could have not seen
what was happening. But it was clear the driver was not going to get involved.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">As their muggers inched inexorably
forward, Lutman found himself backed up towards a brick wall and a garbage bin.
He looked to his right. Someone was walking towards them, but then having seen
the youths quickly turned in the opposite direction. Shaif also looked that
direction, noted Lutman’s expression, and smiled. ‘Now that’s a sensible guy,’
he said threateningly to Deanne, ‘as you can see, ain’t anybody gonna help you
now, pretty lady.’ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Shaif turned his threatening gaze to
Lutman. ‘You had your chance to giz your money,’ he said slowly, ‘and now we’re
gonna take what we want.’ He smiled a nicotine-stained smile, one front tooth missing,
and gaps either side of his grin. He grabbed Deanne’s arm. Deanne screamed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘I wan’ her first,’ shouted Brag, the
fourth attacker. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘No worries!’ retorted Shaif. ‘We
want a show!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘For God’s sake someone help
us!’</span></i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"> Deanne sobbed, her voice almost at a
whisper. She could not shout; fear had consumed her to the point she could
hardly breathe; she was almost gasping for air. She truly believed she was
about to be violated and killed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Then something snapped in David
Lutman’s mind. His whole being just told him that he clearly no longer had a
choice in the matter. These animals were obviously hell-bent on finishing him
off permanently. They were about to inflict serious, psychological, and sexual
injury upon Deanne. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">And then he was going to die.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">And Deanne was going to be violated
several times over.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">And he had a mission to
complete. <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">He was scared, but he also felt
anger. Extreme anger.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">There was nothing to lose. He had to
fight like a madman, or die.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">In complete desperation, or by
compulsion - even he did not know what it was - Lutman placed his hand into the
open garbage bin. Miraculously, he had grabbed something large, heavy, long,
and very solid. He smoothly and quickly, without catching the sides of the bin,
pulled out a heavy, long piece of solid wood that resembled an old but very
solid, table leg. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">And then he screamed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">He swung the wooden bar wildly, and
viciously. He smacked the cheek of Staib, the shock of which forced the mugger
to drop his knife and fall to the ground, totally shocked and bewildered at the
reaction of his victim.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">This totally unexpected attack caught
the gang completely unawares. Before they could even think of retaliating, the
same stick had swung viciously into Brag’s groin. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">He collapsed into absolutely agony. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Two more cars swept by.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Two down.</span></i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Buoyed by his attack, Lutman stood in
front of Deanne. He waved his makeshift weapon threateningly at Shaif and Wag.
Shaif grinned, trying to mask the fact that even he had been stunned by what
happened. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">But he remained confident. ‘Very
good,’ he sneered, ‘Very, very good. You sure is a lucky English man.’ He
glared at Lutman, positive his experience would get the better of his victims.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Shaif attempted to grab Deanne.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘KEEP YOUR DIRTY HANDS OFF MY
WIFE!!!’<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"> This
Englishman, this man that should have been one of their easiest pickings of the
night; this Englishman, who should have been a pushover the moment he even
clapped eyes on them; this Englishman, who initially seemed to be <i>incredibly
stupid</i>, was crazy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">And this Englishman, who clearly was
no longer that straight forward, was brandishing a particularly solid looking
wooden bar, and was clearly intent on taking them all on. He had successfully
felled two of them,with one still writhing on the sidewalk and the other
totally dazed, his face drenched in blood from the impact of the bar to his
cheek, which had been cut open. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Nevertheless, Shaif reasoned, the
other two should recover quickly enough to restore the uneven status quo. He
had to let the Englishman know the odds were still in their favor. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘You shouldn’t have shouted at me.
You made me very angry,’ he said slowly. But his voice very definitely had a
note of uncertainty. <i>‘Now you’re gonna freakin’ well –’ <o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"> But before
he had the chance to complete his sentence, the wooden bar was swung with
astonishing speed onto his knife arm. The crack was audible. Shaif quickly
backed away, clutching his arm in agony. <i>‘My arm! Man, you broke my freakin’
arm!’<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">At that very moment Lutman hit
Shaif’s arm, Wag had tried to make a grab for the makeshift club. But the
momentum and confidence was with Lutman, and as if reading Wag’s mind, stabbed
him hard in his stomach with another vicious swing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Although his other attackers were
coming to their senses and recovering their composure, Lutman was ready, now
supremely confident of his ability and superiority. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Although another car avoided the
opportunity to watch a spectacular display of self-defense directly under the
floodlit gaze of the street lighting, residents from the surrounding apartments
above the shops, having been woken up by the commotion, were also watching,
fascinated.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">As Staib slowly got up from the
ground, Lutman kicked away his knife and let out such a vicious kick onto his
chin that he rendered him totally unconscious. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Shaif, handicapped by a broken arm,
had his nose split by the bar before he could react. Off-balance, he tumbled
off the curb and onto the road.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Lutman was not interested in admiring
the result. His adrenalin was overflowing, and his confidence sky-high. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">No need for the wooden bar now. He
handed Deanne the stick and walked up to Staib, who was sniffing and spitting
blood. His eyes were now of fear rather than menace. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">But there would be no mercy. In
Lutman’s mind, these thugs had never given their victims that luxury. He
continually kicked him in the stomach, causing him to lay flat onto the road.
His head cracked on the tarmac. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">With increasing rapidity and madness,
David Lutman laid siege on the hapless thug, foot cracking into his side, his
ribs, his face, anywhere that could be booted. For the coup de grace, he
grabbed Shaif’s jacket lapels, picked him up, and smashed him in the face with
his fist. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"> Deanne’s
expression had rapidly turned from extreme fear to extreme horror. <i>These
were not the actions of a normal man!</i> Her husband was crazy with anger,
shouting and swearing at his hapless attacker. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">She glared as he picked up Shaif once
more and hit him once again with his right fist. And then again. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">He would not, or could not, stop
hitting him. <i>‘You bastard! You bastard! You bastard!!!’ </i>he screamed with
increasing ferocity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Staib, however, was not fighting
back. He had not been able to do so for some time. His body was limp, but that
did not stop Lutman. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"> Oh my God, </span></i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Deanne thought with panic. <i>’David!!!’<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Lutman’s arm suddenly stopped as he
was about to smash into that face again. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">He glared at Staib, and paused,
breathing heavily. He released his shirt lapels, the head cracking onto the
road once more and into a rich pool of blood. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"> Lutman then
stood up, then turned to see the now-conscious Shaif staring at the mess. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘And now you!!’</span></i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">He turned to Shaif and looked into
his eyes, and then purposefully marched over to him. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"> With no
support from his cohorts, fear completely took over. Shaif turned and ran, his
nose desperately blooded and clutching a broken arm. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Lutman knew he could have easily got
him, but this thug was not going to come back. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Besides, in his mind, there was one
other conscious psycho to sort out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">He snatched the stick from Deanne and
made for Brag, who was still clutching his groin in agony.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘And now I’m gonna make sure
you’re never ever gonna get the chance to rape my wife or anybody else again.
YOU’LL HAVE NO, AS YOU PUT IT, FREAKING BALLS LEFT WHEN I’VE FINISHED WITH
YOU!!’<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Both Brag and Deanne had seen enough.
Like a frightened child, Brag turned to run away as fast as he could. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Lutman was all set to run after him
and meter out the same relentless and merciless treatment as he had done to
Staib, but Deanne, who was clearly shaken by the fact that the difference
between attacker and victim had now become blurred, grabbed the bar from him.
She threw it away, and pushed Lutman forcibly in the direction of the car. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">He glared at her in complete
astonishment as she pulled his jacket. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">A minute later, he was bundled into
the passenger seat. Police sirens could now be distinctly heard in the
distance. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Despite coming to some of his senses,
Lutman was still under the influence of a full adrenaline rush, and appeared
not to notice Deanne sit in the driver’s seat. She was making no attempt to
start the engine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Shit, did you see that?’ he cried
out excitedly. ‘I’ve never fought like that… the closest thing I’ve ever had to
a fight was in the school playground… but with <i>four</i> of the bastards…’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Who the hell do you think
you were?’</span></i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"> Deanne screamed, shocked and
terrified. <i>‘You could’ve had us both killed!’<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘But I didn’t!’ Lutman countered
firmly, ‘and besides, I’m absolutely certain we’d’ve both been dead if I hadn’t
done something, or reacted, or at least’ve spent the next few weeks in some
hospital. Are you going to start the car?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Those bastards could’ve had guns!
Didn’t <i>that</i> even occur to you?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"> Lutman could
now hear the sirens. The only thing that occurred to him now was that they were
not moving. ‘Come on, Deanne! Let’s get out of here!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Answer me!’<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘But they didn’t have guns, did
they?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘All right David,’ said Deanne, her
voice now sounding dangerous. ‘Tell me now, right now, and don’t give me any
crap. What the hell’s going on?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Deanne, start the bloody car! Let’s
get out of here!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘TELL ME WHAT THE HELL IS
HAPPENING!’<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘What the hell are you
talking about?’</span></i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"> he yelled back indignantly.
He really did not know what point she was trying to make. The sirens were
getting louder, but Deanne still resolutely refused to start the car.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Just tell me. Where the hell did you
learn to fight like that?’ she said, almost hysterical. ‘And how the hell did
you know there’d be a weapon in that trash can? That was an incredibly handy
place to find one, wasn’t it?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Sorry?’<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"> ‘Did you set
this whole thing up? You know, that was a really remarkable coincidence, wasn’t
it? There just <i>happened</i> to be a nice handy wooden club in the trash can
that you just <i>happened</i> to find, and then you start acting like… like…’
She began struggling for words, her frustration fuelling her anger further. <i>‘…like
a… a raving lunatic!!’<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: olive; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"> </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Lutman’s adrenalin rush, having reached a peak with
incredible rapidity, was now doing the same in reverse. ‘I… I don’t know what
came over me… and the stick, the table leg or whatever it was, I swear, Deanne,
I had no idea it’d be there! And those guys...’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Did you set them up? <i>Tell me! </i>Are
you one of those specially trained super soldier killing machines or
something?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"> ‘W-what?’ </span></i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">He started breathing harder, and was no longer in the mood
for an argument. ‘You think I’m <i>what</i>? Of course I didn’t set them up!
Who do you think I am?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘I’m not sure I know any more.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">It was becoming an almighty struggle
to concentrate as his head began to spin. ‘Please Deanne,’ he said wearily, but
with as much composure as he could muster. ‘Let’s go. Please.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">It still took her a few more seconds
before she eventually started it as it occurred to her that the police, despite
his heroism, might see the situation differently after viewing the mess. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">As the sirens were almost on top of
them, she decided that contact with the police would have to wait, and
uncharacteristically span the wheels and set off towards their hotel. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">But she hadn’t finished lecturing
him. ‘Don’t you ever, ever, do that again!’ she screamed, her foot hard down.<i>
</i>‘D’you hear me?<i> Never</i>, ever, AGAIN!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">David Lutman was silent. He really
did not want to talk any more. He was not feeling too good. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">As his breathing rate began to
increase, he opened the passenger window and took in the rush of sticky,
moisture-filled sweaty air. Deanne’s anger-fuelled erratic driving and the
state of the roads were doing nothing to help him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: olive; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Georgia;"> </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Deanne desperately wanted to hate him. She wanted to tell
him further how stupid he was, and that he should have just given them the
money without hesitation. What he did was neither big nor clever. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">But he had seen off four thugs. They
were both safe, in one piece, and totally intact. She could not ignore that.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">She began to wonder if she really
knew or even understand him, this man she had married almost at a whim, this
mild mannered Englishman. Was there something about his history that he had not
told her? How much of this had to do with this whole time travel thing, and
everything that had happened to her so far since she met him? Was he actually
dangerous? Was she even safe to be in his presence? Should she turn him over to
the police?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">She desperately wanted more answers,
but she knew she was not going to get them imminently, plus her husband was
clearly in no state to give any. In the meantime, she thought, the best thing
to do would be to keep quiet and just ignore him. That would surely be enough
to let him know how she felt.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">The rest of the ten-minute journey to
their hotel was conducted at speed, but in silence. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">On arrival, Deanne was about to get
out of the car, lock it, and intended to march straight to their room without a
further word. But as she pulled the ignition key out, she changed her mind and
turned to her husband for one more stern look and lecture, only to find that he
was noticeably shaking. The adrenaline rush was well and truly over as waves of
nausea swept his head. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Her expression now changed to one of
anxiety. ‘Are you all right?’ she said, concerned. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Suddenly, he opened the door, and vomited
onto the hotel parking lot. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">When convinced his retching was over,
he sat back up in the passenger seat, looking very sorry for himself. He did
not want to talk.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"> ‘Come on
David,’ said Deanne, her hostility turning to sympathy, ‘let’s get inside,
washed and changed. And then we’ll talk.’</span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Chapter 27 ></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304290220531518030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4617942940432918480.post-27762126389669256552013-10-14T21:13:00.001+02:002013-10-29T19:01:30.723+01:00COMPLETE THE CIRCLE - Chapter 25<div align="RIGHT" class="western" style="widows: 2;">
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>TO GO TO THE HOMEPAGE - <a href="http://completethecirclenovel.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/home-page.html">CLICK HERE.</a></i></span></h2>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">To go to Chapter one, <a href="http://completethecirclenovel.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/complete-circle-act-1-chapter-1.html">click here.</a></span><br />
<br /></div>
<div align="RIGHT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<div align="RIGHT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 32pt;"><b>Chapter
25</b></span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="border-bottom: none; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: 1.00pt solid #000001; margin-bottom: 0cm; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0.04cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">For
David Lutman, dressed in a traditional black morning suit, bow tie,
and a top hat that would never be worn throughout the whole day
except for photographs, the whole occasion seemed terribly American
and surreal. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Although
his brother Tom was his best man, Patrick Clarkson had ensured that
his duties would be made easier and simpler by assigning him only the
giving of the ring, introducing the guest speakers, and delivering
his speech. The house staff would be handling the rest.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
service was conducted in his future father-in law’s small church.
Lutman was duly asked if he would take Deanne to be his lawfully
wedded wife, and that he would love her, and cherish her, for as long
as they both shall live. After looking into her eyes, and gazing at
the brilliant white wedding dress with the longest train he had ever
seen, he had no qualms or hesitation whatsoever in declaring that he
would do so. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> Deanne’s
voice faltered as she was about to answer. She looked up at the high
stone ceiling. She felt sure her mother was enjoying the whole
occasion.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
bride and groom’s relief was apparent when the service, and all the
photographs that immediately followed, was over. Happy couple and
guests were driven over to Clarkson’s house for the recepetion in a
brilliant white and suitably dressed-up Rolls-Royce. As to whom their
guests were, apart from his immediately family, Mr. David Lutman had
no idea who anyone was, with one exception. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Carl
Pickover’s presence had been a subject of considerable debate
between him, and Lutman and Deanne. They felt he was not well known,
or known long enough by them to be justified as a guest. In the
event, they agreed his presence might be useful: Deanne’s father
had invited a lot of physicist friends, and he could chat to them to
see if he could discover anything. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> For
Deanne, there was certainly one other very familiar face in the line
of people that were waiting to formally greet the couple and to hand
over their wedding gifts.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Hello
Deanne,’ said a youngish, well-groomed man in a broad Nottingham
accent. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Tony?’
</i></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">She
stood, surprised, and then she smiled broadly. ‘Tony! Tony Fenton!
It’s really lovely to see you again! How’s Collette? Is she
here?’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Sadly
she isn’t,’ replied Fenton dryly. ‘Bit short notice, you know.
But she’s fine. She says hello, and congratulations. Han, Abs and
Em all send their love, too, and are asking when you’re coming back
to Nottingham!’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I
suppose you’d better ask my husband!’ she laughed.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> ‘Well,
you couldn’t’ve got a better day for the wedding,’ Fenton
added, ‘no way you’d’ve got sunshine all day and daytime
temperatures close to 80 degrees in April in the UK.’ </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">They
hugged, he kissed her on both cheeks, and turned to her husband.
‘That was a lovely service today. You’re an incredibly lucky man,
David.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">So
you must be Tony, Deanne’s father’s friend!’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Certainly
am! How’re you doing?’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">They
shook hands. ‘Couldn’t be happier. Tell me, how's Hensfield
doing?’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
football team? Lost two nil last Saturday, I’m afraid. Struggling a
bit now, unfortunately for you, although I reckon we’re going
down!’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Ah
yes,’ added Deanne, ‘I forgot you love soccer.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Well
I’m not going to let that spoil your day,’ said Fenton
cheerfully, ‘You two enjoy yourselves.</span></span></span><span style="color: olive;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Pickover
mulled around inside and outside the marquee, introducing himself as
a friend of Deanne’s, and keeping small talk strictly on his and
their occupations. When it came to sitting down for the wedding meal,
however, he found himself next to one of Clarkson’s physicist
buddies. He appeared to be genuinely happy to discuss his work with
him.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> David
Lutman had insisted that, as they had a proper wedding, then they
should have a proper honeymoon. And so both agreed that the subject
of time machines would be dropped completely during their two-week
vacation in Florida. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">He
quietly acquired a new card for his cell phone, and only both sets of
parents were given the new number: no time machines also meant no
Carl Pickover. Pickover had, naturally, wanted to tell them what he
had learned at the reception, and insisted that they take her phone.
‘No, we’ll call you when we get back,’ Lutman had cheerfully
enthused.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> Pickover
decided to arrange a meeting with his new buddy, Cameron Carter,
three days later. At the reception, he had felt confident enough to
divulge his theories to him about traveling through time and the
possibilities of the technology required. His reward was Carter
telling him that he knew one of the 3000 scientific and technical
staff that helped to prepare, run, analyse and interpret the
countless complex experiments at the CERN laboratory in Geneva. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">When
asked why he felt it so important to pursue his time-travel theory,
Pickover carefully responded, ‘I… just have some positive ideas
but I need someone with extensive knowledge in this field of quantum
physics to either prove or disprove my theories.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Then
this guy at CERN should be able to help you out,’ said Carter
enthusiastically. ‘In fact, he’s due back in the States in a few
days. I’ll give you his cellphone number. He’s smart, and there
are few people who know more about the subject then, of course, your
Hawkings, Einsteins, Thornes, Malletts, and Davies’s.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">So
he’s American?’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Sure
is, but he does a lot of work connected with particle accelerators in
Geneva, particularly with the LHC. And he’s a bloody good
mathematician, too.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Pickover
was handed Cameron’s business card and wrote down the name and
number of the man at CERN on the reverse.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Hope
you’re not gonna need the LHC,’ added Carter.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Let
me guess. Broken down again?’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">What
d’you think? And when it’s repaired?’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Two
year waiting list for use.'</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: medium; text-indent: 1.27cm;">Carl
Pickover tried to force a smile.</span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://completethecirclenovel.blogspot.com/2013/10/complete-circle-chapter-26.html">Chapter 26 ></a></span></span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304290220531518030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4617942940432918480.post-17900082744656463172013-08-22T13:18:00.001+02:002013-10-14T21:16:44.788+02:00COMPLETE THE CIRCLE - Chapter 24<div align="RIGHT" class="western" style="widows: 2;">
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>TO GO TO THE HOMEPAGE - <a href="http://completethecirclenovel.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/home-page.html">CLICK HERE.</a></i></span></h2>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">To go to Chapter one, <a href="http://completethecirclenovel.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/complete-circle-act-1-chapter-1.html">click here.</a></span><br />
<br /></div>
<div align="RIGHT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 32pt;"><b>Chapter
24</b></span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="border-bottom: none; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: 1.00pt solid #000001; margin-bottom: 0cm; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0.04cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Despite
the initial optimism that had been provided by the finding of, and
the teaming-up of like-minded individuals, the following two months
proved fruitless as they attempted to lay down some kind of
foundation for a time machine.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Unsurprisingly,
Carl Pickover had failed - with spectacular success - at the
California Institute of Technology to convince the powers that be to
lend him a laboratory, despite the supporting presence of Deanne.
Despite his pessimism, the discussion did last more than five
minutes. But no more than that, even though he even let her do most
of the talking.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> So
trying to find that next elusive piece to their incredibly
complicated jigsaw was becoming more frustrating. Pickover’s lack
of patience was not helping either, and on more than one occasion
reminded David Lutman and Deanne that the one thing that had not been
accomplished, according to Lutman’s information, was for him to be
with his future wife. He and Deanne were not yet officially husband
and wife. Just simply being partners in a relationship did not count.
Unhelpfully, he suggested that they get the marriage over with by a
service arranged in Las Vegas first thing in the morning, followed by
a quick cheap meal in one of the numerous casino restaurants. This
suggestion was greeted with a predictable response, and Pickover
retreated, tail firmly between his legs.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> While
Lutman and Deanne were certainly not altogether unhappy about the
prospect of spending the rest of their lives together, they strongly
felt that any wedding now would feel forced. Time machine or not,
they had opted for a proper wedding ceremony, which would be properly
conducted within a church, and followed by an organized outdoor
reception afterwards. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">And
all this would be set for the following spring, much to Pickover’s
chagrin. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">So
with little else to do, Pickover decided to return to the Florida
beaches a few days later and resume his semi-retirement, much to the
relief of his new colleagues.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">As
Autumn drew to a close Lutman returned to Britain to tie up the
numerous loose ends left as a result of officially moving to the
United States. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">He
avoided his Hensfield office and the much loathed Mr. Meade; he was
sure he would be unwelcome there. A letter amongst the many that had
been collected by his parents at home had simply confirmed his
dismissal, despite his sending an e-mail a few weeks earlier
tendering his immediate resignation. He thought about calling Jeannie
to get the latest gossip from her but decided against it. On the one
hand, he felt that the break from the council offices had to be
completely clean, but on the other, he did not want to be reminded of
that traumatic morning.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> Winter
and Christmas rapidly followed, and Deanne was finally introduced to
Janice and Dennis. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">David
Lutman’s parents had flown over to Phoenix and, after a quick and
emotional reunion at Sky Harbor International airport, they were
taken by Lutman and Deanne to her father’s house.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> Janice
Lutman was a petite lady, two years younger than her husband, but
still very active. She had kept herself equally fit and youthful as
her other half. She revealed how she cried when she got the news of
their impending marriage, but adding that she had always felt certain
he would have got married eventually. In the end she was blissfully
happy that the ceremony was going to be a lot earlier than she had
expected.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Patrick
Clarkson explained that Deanne’s mother, who had passed away three
years earlier from a brain tumor, wanted her daughter to have a
fully-fledged service; church, reception, lots of guests, the works,
and he was not going to deny her that request. Besides, he added, she
would almost certainly be up there keeping an eye to make sure her
daughter was happy. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> Janice
Lutman was a little concerned about the timing of the service as it
occurred just after the Easter Holiday, and that the weather could
not be guaranteed. Clarkson, however, reminded both she and Lutman
senior that even though the temperatures in Phoenix were now similar
to a British winter, in April they would be well into the eighties
and more than warm enough to set up a marquee for the guests. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Deanne
had asked her father to keep the guest numbers down, despite her
mother’s wishes. So it was agreed that the immediate families,
along with a few immediate friends of theirs and her father, would
receive invitations. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> The
remaining two weeks with David Lutman’s parents in the United
States was to spend Christmas Day at the Clarkson family home and in
and around Phoenix. New Year’s Eve became their penultimate
evening, and as they all sat in the large, plush dining chairs that
surrounded the solid oak dining table, a procession of catering staff
brought out a sumptuous spread, all courtesy of Patrick Clarkson.
After thirty minutes of eating and casual chat, the discussion turned
towards the impending wedding and the church service. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Having
established - via his parents - that David Lutman belonged to the
Church of England, Clarkson inquired as to how often he went to
church.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I
have to admit, sir, I haven’t been to church for a while,’ he
said humbly.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Clarkson
thought for a moment. ‘Hmm, well, I really think you should go </span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>once</i></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">
in a while.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lutman
shook his head slowly, his expression one of uncertainty. He was not
sure how to answer this.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Do
you believe in God, David?’ Clarkson asked unexpectedly.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Deanne
sensed Lutman’s unease with the question. ‘Dad!’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Clarkson
smiled. ‘It’s okay, you can say what you feel. I really won’t
mind. But you don’t have to answer the question.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I
have to say I don’t, I’m afraid,’ Lutman said sheepishly.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Oh?
Okay, why not?’ Clarkson asked politely.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lutman
took a deep breath. ‘Well, there are many people in the world who
all seem to worship different Gods, and seem to fight wars because of
that. Let’s face it, almost all wars that have taken place all have
their roots in religion.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">That’s
an interesting way of putting it, I suppose, although it’s not the
first time I’ve heard that argument,’ Clarkson commented
ruefully, ‘but they all do have one other thing in common. People
try to find a religion to discover their purpose and meaning in
life.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lutman
believed he knew his purpose and meaning, but kept it to himself.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">So
you don’t believe in God then?’ chipped in Deanne.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Um,
I have to say I don’t,’ said Lutman, a little surprised at Deanne
entering the debate.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Really?’
she grinned. ‘Then what do you think guided you here, to be here
with me, to become engaged to me, in such a short space of time?’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> ‘Well…’
He turned to his audience, who were all staring at him, expectantly
waiting for his answer. ‘I… don’t really know what guided me
here.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">As
they say,’ broke in Lutman senior with a slight slur attributed to
his fourth glass of brandy, ‘God moves in mysterious ways!’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">They
politely laughed, all generally sensing that the topic should now
die. after which Clarkson stood up with another glass, this time
filled with red wine. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Ladies
and gentlemen, I give you… my daughter, Deanne, and my future
son-in law, David! May God – if he exists, of course...’ he
smiled, adding, ‘…bless you both. Cheers!’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">They
all raised their glasses and finished off their wines and brandies. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
little party continued, with glasses raised once more for the New
Year, and then David Lutman’s parents politely announcing that they
were going to bed.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> Lutman,
Deanne and Clarkson continued the celebrations for a short time until
Clarkson declared he was turning in too. ‘You two go up. The
morning staff'll clear this mess up in the morning,’ he announced.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Okay
Dad,’ said Deanne, slightly wearily, ‘we’ll see you in the
morning.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> New
Year’s Day was considerably more low-key then the fun and games of
the previous evening, with everyone relaxing, particularly Dennis and
Janice Lutman. But at 9am the following morning, it was time for them
to return home. Clarkson arranged for a limousine to take them to the
airport. At his own expense, he even had their seats upgraded to
business class. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">A
tearful Janice Lutman bade her son goodbye, promised to keep in
touch, and looked forward to seeing him again just after Easter.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
rest of January, along with February and March, passed with little
incident. Pickover returned from his self-imposed retirement, and
forced himself to return to teaching as his personal finances began
to dry up. Although Deanne maintained communications with him, these
were at increasingly irregular intervals.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">As the
wedding preparations continued apace, Deanne returned to work. After
some training, David Lutman gained employment at the laboratory
maintaining and updating the center’s web page, along with numerous
little menial jobs that everyone else had little time to do. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Clarkson’s
exceptional influence in scientific and government circles ensured
that his green card was processed rapidly. Within a week of the
initial application, Lutman could now legally live and work in the
United States.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It was
the Wednesday before Easter that both of them wrapped up work for the
final time as single people. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
following Thursday, Janice and Dennis Lutman returned, accompanied by
Lutman’s older brother Tom and his wife. Pretty younger sister
Rachael would arrive the day after, all flying business class
courtesy of Clarkson.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">They
would all enjoy Easter together before the big day.</span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://completethecirclenovel.blogspot.com/2013/10/complete-circle-chapter-25.html">Chapter 25 ></a></span></span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304290220531518030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4617942940432918480.post-24103770254829781422013-08-16T20:07:00.003+02:002013-08-16T20:07:24.097+02:00Home page<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3pt; text-align: center;">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3pt;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">COMPLETE THE CIRCLE - the e-novel</span></span></b><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>by Roger Hartopp</b></span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span>
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>NEWS: I have now made getting through the book easier by posting at the end of each chapter </b></span><b style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">the link to the next</b><b style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">!</b><br />
<b style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></b>
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>NOW, IF YOU HAVE JUST DISCOVERED THIS BOOK, and you are in a mood for a bit of reading, here's a little background to what it's about:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>(If you have joined us for the next chapter, then click on the link on the menu on the right for the chapter to join.)</b></span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;">Time travel is not going to be invented.</span></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3pt;">
<b><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-size: x-large;">It is just going to happen.</span><span style="font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US"><b><span style="color: blue;">BOOTSTRAP PARADOX:</span></b> Also known as an </span><span lang="EN"><span style="color: blue;"><b>ONTOLOGICAL PARADOX. </b></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: large;">A paradox created when someone from the future travels back in time to pass on an object, information, or themselves to someone in the past, who then uses what has been passed to them in order to create that very situation in the future that allows that person to travel back in time with that object, information, or themselves to that same individual in the past…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">And David Lutman is going to be an innocent player, with devastating consequences.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">But is there a way to break a loop that will essentially be repeated again and again with no apparent end and with devastating consequences every time? Is it even possible to change events if you already have the knowledge on how to do so?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 3pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">This is what David Lutman is going to find out as the unwitting victim of the bootstrap paradox.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/By_His_Bootstraps">"<b>By His Bootstraps</b>"</a> is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_fiction" title="Science fiction">science fiction</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_story" title="Short story">short story</a> by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_A._Heinlein" title="Robert A. Heinlein">Robert A. Heinlein</a> that plays with some of the inherent <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradox" title="Paradox">paradoxes</a> that would be caused by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_travel" title="Time travel">time travel</a>. It is from this story that the term 'bootstrap paradox' comes from. "By His Bootstraps" <span style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.1875px; text-align: start;">refers to the expression "</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bootstrapping" style="background-color: white; background-image: none; color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.1875px; text-align: start;" title="Bootstrapping">pulling yourself up by your bootstraps</a><span style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.1875px; text-align: start;">". This short story</span> was originally published in the October 1941 issue of <i><a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astounding_(magazine)" title="Astounding (magazine)">Astounding Science Fiction</a></i> under the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pen_name" title="Pen name">pen name</a> Anson MacDonald. It was reprinted in Heinlein's 1959 collection, <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Menace_from_Earth_(collection)" title="The Menace from Earth (collection)">The Menace From Earth</a></i> and in several subsequent anthologies,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/By_His_Bootstraps#cite_note-1">[1]</a></sup> and is now available in at least two audio editions. Under the title "The Time Gate", it was also included in a 1958 Crest paperback anthology, "Race to the Stars". </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: blue;">AUTHOR’S NOTE:</span></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Welcome to my first novel, which I am going to be publishing chapter by chapter on this blog (and maybe, in the future, turn it into an e-book, unless I am extremely fortunate to have a publisher). </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">The whole story has completed as a draft, and what I will publish here will be effectively that draft. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Indeed, I may go back to earlier chapters from time to time to correct errors in continuity, grammar, or for other reasons.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So it is not going to be perfect – indeed, as an author from the UK, I am sure my American readers will be happy to point out flaws in dialogue and culture that may occur as my American characters come into play, so please let me know about them and how to correct them in the comments boxes after each chapter!</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Pardon the pun, but telling this story will take time.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Click on the links on the right, or scroll down the page for the latest chapter.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">So over the next few weeks and months, enjoy the story! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Roger Hartopp</b></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>TO BEGIN THE STORY, <a href="http://completethecirclenovel.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/complete-circle-act-1-chapter-1.html">CLICK HERE.</a></b></span><br />
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>But do read on first...</b></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b></span></span><span lang="EN"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Do you like this blog? If you are studying English as a second language, then check out my other blog at <a href="http://tsmsinenglish.blogspot.com./">tsmsinenglish.blogspot.com.</a> It deals with typical student mistakes in English with examples and how to correct them. It's fun, written in an easy, casual prose, and plenty of cartoons!</i></span></span></span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304290220531518030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4617942940432918480.post-55440176408167506912013-08-16T18:21:00.000+02:002013-08-22T13:19:38.452+02:00COMPLETE THE CIRCLE - Chapter 23<div align="RIGHT" class="western" style="widows: 2;">
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>TO GO TO THE HOMEPAGE<a href="http://completethecirclenovel.blogspot.com/2013_02_01_archive.html"> - CLICK HERE.</a></i></span></h2>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">To go to Chapter one, <a href="http://completethecirclenovel.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/complete-circle-act-1-chapter-1.html">click here.</a></span><br />
<br /></div>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 32pt;"><b>Chapter
23</b></span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="widows: 8;">
<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="color: black;"> ‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">So,
wait a minute,’ said Carl Pickover after having heard David
Lutman’s story, ‘what you’re saying then, is, that we actually
have here, in existence, in this time, a baseball cap, which is the
very same baseball cap, taken from two different time-periods, one
year apart, and now co-existing within the same time and space? You
realize that’s impossible? And if that’s the case, if those
things end up touching each other, theoretically they could create an
explosion that makes Hiroshima seem like a tea light? How do you know
they’re one and the same baseball cap?’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="color: black;"> ‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We’ve
examined them both at my labs,’ answered Deanne, ‘closely, with a
state-of-the art molecular microscope. They’re the same.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="color: black;"> ‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">And
they won’t go bang,’ added Lutman, ‘I held them together not
realizing at the time they could be possibly dangerous. So I’ve
already blown away that theory, so to speak!’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> Pickover
sunk back in his chair. ‘This thing is not only a concept beyond
anyone’s imagination, but it throws the physics rulebook right out
the window once and for all!’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="color: black;"> ‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">So
the impossible is now looking possible,’ said Lutman confidently.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="color: black;"> ‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Was
there anything else, David?’ asked Deanne hopefully. ‘You sure
there’s nothing else – some other information that can help us?’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="color: black;"> ‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">That’s
it, I’m afraid,’ he said apologetically. ‘I don’t remember
anything else.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="color: olive;"> ‘</span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Well,’
said Pickover with a deep intake a breath. ‘Let’s just think
about this for a moment. Clearly we have the theories but not all the
know-how or access to the kinds of minds and kit needed. We can’t
do this on our own. We need some other guys. Who else could be
possibly involved in this – sorry, let me rephrase that – will
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>want</i></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">
to be involved in this project? Do we have to find these guys or do
they come to us? Or is it literally just going to be the three of
us?’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="color: black;"> ‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Obviously
someone or something did happen as regards getting this thing off the
ground,’ mused Lutman, ‘but it looks like we’ll have to wait a
bit longer for any obvious clues. It took me nearly seven weeks to
get the next clue by meeting Deanne, but I got there. I’m certain
we’ll know soon. This thing's going to happen. Think about it. I
made the journey successfully. I ended up where I was supposed to end
up, and therefore the machine is going to be built and it’s going
to work. Something, or someone, out there,’ he continued as he
looked up, ‘is going to ensure it’ll happen. So we'll know soon
enough. I’ve started something, unintentionally or not, and the
Almighty – whatever he, she or it is – is going to ensure that we
– or I – will complete a journey where I will go back in time and
meet myself –’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="color: black;"> ‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Who
in turn will receive your message and start the whole loop all over
again,’ Deanne cut in.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="color: black;"> ‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">A
pre-destination paradox,’ Pickover added. ‘You’re caught in a
loop of events that pre-destines you to travel back in time. You’re
actually fulfilling a role in</span></span></span><span style="color: olive;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">creating
history, and not actually changing it. But if you think about the
whole thing logically, surely, somewhere in this time or maybe even
in another time, there had to be a start to the whole thing.
Otherwise it’ll all go in one continuous loop and start all over
again. Or maybe it’s the bootstrap paradox.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="color: black;"> ‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I
read that,’ said Lutman, ‘not that I’m any the wiser. Can you
just explain in simple terms what you’ve just said?’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="color: black;"> ‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">What
do you mean?’ asked Lutman, puzzled.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="color: black;"> ‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Well,
you made a trip from the future to tell yourself to do this, right?’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="color: black;"> ‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Yes.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="color: black;"> ‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Do
you honestly believe that the fates had always destined you to become
involved in some kind of time-loop – that you were always fated to
do this, even though you never realized it at the time?’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> Lutman
thought for a moment to absorb this question before answering, ‘Yes.
But after the event happened.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="color: black;"> ‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Well,
just think about this for a moment. Surely that future incarnation of
you also must have had to have met himself in his bedroom in his
past, to carry out the same procedure…’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="color: black;"> ‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Well…’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="color: black;"> ‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">And
that particular version of the future </span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>You</i></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">,’
Pickover continued slowly, knowing that what he was going to say next
would sound totally inexplicable, ‘that’s visiting the future
</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>You</i></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">,
that is, </span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>you</i></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">
here – the version that is talking to me right now, would also had
to have met himself in the past.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="color: olive;"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype, serif;"></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> Lutman
looked at him thoroughly confused. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> Pickover
was exasperated, fully aware that he was not making himself at all
clear. ‘You don’t get it, do you?’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="color: black;"> ‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">No,
I don’t get it! It all sounds so unnecessarily complicated!’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> Pickover
looked to Deanne for some support, but she simply shrugged her
shoulders. He took a deep breath and prepared himself, once again, to
explain his overly complicated explanation. But endeavoring to
express himself clearly about this particular paradox, and to make
himself understood, was proving increasingly difficult. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> But
he would give it one more shot. ‘There has to be a point in the
past, present, or near future,’ he said slowly and measuredly,
‘that the time machine gets built for the very first time, to send
the future </span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>you</i></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">
into the past for the very first time. To start what’s going to be,
in fact, a never-ending loop.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="color: black;"> ‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I
see,’ said Lutman. ‘I think I understand you now. So is it then
possible for me to try and change events? Stop myself from inventing
the thing in the first place? I go and say something else instead of…
DCCR, or something?’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="color: olive;"> ‘</span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">You
could try, if it is possible to change that part of history, but it’s
also possible that you just simply inspire your past self to do what
you’re doing now in another way,’ said Deanne.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="color: black;"> ‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">An
onthological paradox?’ said Pickover, ‘No, I don’t buy that.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> Lutman
shot Pickover an exasperated glare. ‘Oh God. What the hell’s the
difference between a predestination and, erm, that ona-something
paradox?’ </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> But
Pickover was not listening, and his tone was becoming over-excited.
‘Look, let’s look at it another way,’ he said excitedly, ‘why
haven’t we had any more visitors from the future since this
wonderful discovery? Surely we –’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="color: black;"> ‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Carl!’
shouted Deanne, sensing that both the men were losing their patience,
‘you and I know all the theories about temporal mechanics. I’ve
studied them too, but nothing’s been proven yet. I’ve often
thought about all those things you’ve said, but even I still get
bemused by it all.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> But
Lutman was now well and truly lost by all this. But by the reasoning
that he had accumulated from what he did understand from the
conversation, all the David Lutmans that Pickover was referring to
were in fact one and the same person, and that the paradox that had
emerged was simply a quirk of fate. There was no start. This whole
thing was some kind of destination paradox, and that was good enough
for him. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="color: black;"> ‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Okay
then,’ he said firmly, ‘let’s just say what’s happened has
happened, and I have the opportunity to do it. I’m simply going to
continue this loop, and the first pieces of the jigsaw have been
placed. I’m doing it. It’s fate. It’s going to happen. It’s
got to happen.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="color: black;"> ‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Then
that’s a predestination paradox,’ said Deanne, smiling.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="color: black;"> ‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Deanne,
give me a break, okay?’ said Lutman wearily.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="color: black;"> ‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Okay,’
said Deanne matter-of-factly, ‘we’ll drop it for now, enjoy
breakfast and go out for a walk. I’m sure Carl can give us a guided
tour of the city, can’t you Carl?’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="color: black;"> ‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Huh?
What, Oh yeah, but there’s a couple of things I need to do after
breakfast. Will take me at least an hour.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="color: black;"> ‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Let
me go to the bathroom first,’ said Deanne, ‘I’ll be ready in
five minutes.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" class="western" style="widows: 132;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="color: black;"> ‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Do
you like computer games?’ asked Pickover in a low voice, once
Deanne had left the kitchen.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> Lutman
was suddenly taken aback by the question. ‘What? Sometimes. Why’re
you asking me?’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="color: black;"> ‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">There’s
an old Nintendo connected to the TV. </span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Sim
City 2000.</i></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">
I find it great for mental stimulation and relaxation. There’s
nothing else in here that you’ll find interesting to keep you
entertained. It’ll give you something to do if you’re waiting for
me.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="color: black;"> ‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Another
time, maybe.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="color: black;"> ‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Give
it a go,’ said Pickover firmly. ‘Just do it, okay?’ He stood
closer to Lutman, staring at him face-to-face, noses almost touching.
‘Look. Imagine it’s Sim City this year. I’ll probably still be
playing it in the future. In my mind it’s the most important
computer mind stimulating exercise. Always will be with me. Sim City
2010, 2011, 2019, whatever… good for the mind and the memory. If
not, OK, but -’ he said with a smile, ‘- remember it. Remember it
well. Please. It could be important. And,’ – his voice was almost
a whisper – </span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>‘keep
it to yourself. Okay?’</i></span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="color: black;"> ‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Er,
sure,’ said Lutman, looking perplexed. ‘We’ll, er… just go
for a walk.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="widows: 8;">
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> He
knew that Pickover was trying to give him some kind of message that
was meant for him only. He had passed it on in a way that had
appeared confrontational, but in fact he was ensuring that he would
remember what he was told. It was also crazy enough to avoid
discussion with someone else. But why?</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="widows: 8;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://completethecirclenovel.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/complete-circle-chapter-24.html">Chapter 24 ></a></span></span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304290220531518030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4617942940432918480.post-42940261364404113312013-08-06T16:23:00.002+02:002013-08-16T18:22:21.246+02:00COMPLETE THE CIRCLE - Chapter 22<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>TO GO TO THE HOMEPAGE<a href="http://completethecirclenovel.blogspot.com/2013_02_01_archive.html"> - CLICK HERE.</a></i></span></h2>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">To go to Chapter one, <a href="http://completethecirclenovel.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/complete-circle-act-1-chapter-1.html">click here.</a></span></div>
<div>
<div align="RIGHT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<div align="RIGHT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<div align="RIGHT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>Chapter
22</b></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="border-bottom: none; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: 1.00pt solid #000001; margin-bottom: 0cm; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0.04cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It was
still dark outside when David Lutman awoke to a rather animated
discussion going on between Deanne and Carl Pickover from the
kitchen.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>So
how the hell can we blast particles in a machine that keeps breaking
down?’</i></span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>I
don’t know, but if that’s not the way, there must be another.’</i></span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>There’s
no way we’ll get in there anyway…’</i></span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> Lutman
quickly put on his clothes and found Pickover and Deanne sitting on
opposite sides of a kitchen table. Although it had already been lain
out for breakfast, much of what was there was smothered by copious
sheets of paper. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Good
morning,’ he said sarcastically. ‘So. Why didn’t you wake me?’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Deanne
sighed. ‘Sorry darling,’ she said apologetically, ‘but I was
awake at five and couldn’t get back to sleep. I went to the
bathroom, and discovered our friend here still up and looking at all
these sheets of paper.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I
didn’t get much sleep either,’ Pickover added unnecessarily.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Well…
from what I could hear from you pair,’ quipped Lutman, ‘it sounds
like there might be a problem with our problem! Want to tell me about
it?’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I
don’t think you’ll be able to help us,’ said Pickover snidely.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Why
not?’ snapped Deanne.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Well,
I don’t really think he…’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘</span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>He</i></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">’s
not exactly that unfamiliar with the subject, Professor,’ Deanne
shot back. ‘Besides, he’s my fiancé, and I’m not keeping
anything from him. He is the key to all of this we’ve been
discussing.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Okay
Doc. You’re the boss.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Thank
you.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Although
she and Pickover had spent much of the early morning discussing it,
Deanne decided to explain once again to Pickover – primarily for
Lutman’s benefit – how it might be feasible to enter a
stabilized, swirling black hole. The start of a tunnel. Carl Pickover
added keenly that it was also called an ‘Einstein-Rosen bridge’.
If only to prove that he did know something about what they were
talking about, Lutman added that it was also called a wormhole. At
least he was thankful he had listened to Deanne back at the
restaurant on the way to Phoenix.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Deanne
once more emphasized the point that these wormholes only existed at a
quantum level, and that countless numbers existed within their space
and at any one time. They would open and close in milliseconds or, as
she was keen to clarify, about one
10-million-trillion-trillion-trillionth of a second. If they were
able to see these wormholes at a quantum scale it would be like
looking at a massive sponge. ‘And if it were possible to grab one
of these wormholes within this ‘spacetime foam’, and hold it
open,’ she enthused, ‘one could travel through it to another time
or, as the theorists believe, an alternative or parallel universe.
They may even be the solution to interstellar travel.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Assuming
the good doctor’s correct about being able to grab the correct
wormholes,’ said Pickover enthusiastically.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Yeah,
okay, we discussed that,’ replied Deanne dismissively.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">And
if that’s the case,’ Pickover continued, ‘I can begin designing
something that can grab one of these quantum-sized wormholes. I just
need to discover what the best way of going about it is.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">One
of our main problems among the many thousands of others we’re going
to encounter,’ continued Deanne, ‘is power. We need the supply of
an entire power plant to do that.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">You’re
telling me. And the only other tiny problem,’ added Pickover, ‘is
having the necessary technology to detect these wormholes.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Okay,
right,’ said Lutman, trying his best to seem knowledgeable, but was
slowly getting increasingly lost, ‘so what does that entail?’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We
need a very large particle accelerator,’ said Deanne
matter-of-factly. ‘We need one to try and get hold of a particular
particle.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lutman
glared at them. They stared back, both silent. But after a few
seconds, both of them could not help but crack into grins. He felt
certain they were winding him up. ‘And?’ he said impatiently.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Do
you take in what she just said?’ smiled Pickover.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Ah.’
Now he understood. ‘I take it one just can’t go down to the local
shop to get one of these things. And what exactly is a particle
accelerator for my benefit?’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It’s
a machine that can move electrically-charged particles at high speeds
by using magnets,’ Deanne replied. ‘It’s basically a large
tunnel that’s a perfect circle. There’s a chrome tube about three
feet in diameter that lines it, inside which particles are
accelerated in opposite directions so they can then smash into each
other.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Sounds
interesting but I don’t really understand… er, don’t you have
one of those things housed in one of the blocks at your labs?’
Lutman asked Deanne.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Er,
no,’ she answered, ‘one of those things would not fit into any of
those buildings.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It’s
has to be a big bastard,’ Pickover added, ‘and there’s only one
such machine that will be the size we want, and it’s out of action.
Again. No idea yet when it’s due back in operation. Another
eighteen months, they reckon.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">So
how big,’ said Lutman slowly, ‘is… this thing?’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">27
kilometers long,’ said Pickover matter-of-factly.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lutman
looked at Pickover, expecting another grin that told him it was
another wind-up. But this time, Pickover’s remained serious. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">He
turned to Deanne. ‘He’s not joking… is he?’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">He
isn’t,’ said Deanne, ‘but we do agree that there is a slim
chance that with the help of this accelerator, we might be able to
get something to keep a wormhole open and with only the fraction of
the power needed.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Okay…
I think,’ said Lutman uncertainly, ‘and how does this particle,
which you hope to get from a bloody great big tube that isn’t even
working and won’t be for another year, fit into all this?’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Ah
yes, hereby lies another problem,’ said Pickover.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It’s
a particle that hasn’t yet been discovered,’ said Deanne.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"> ‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Or
even proved to exist,’ added Pickover. ‘The one thing that might
give us the remotest chance of discovering one is from our
27-kilometer machine.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Really?’
said Lutman sarcastically, ‘well, that’s buggered things up then,
hasn’t it!’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Yeah,
and to bugger it up even more, as you so eloquently put it, when it
gets working again there’s a whole queue of jobs waiting for it.
We’ve no chance of just going in and saying, </span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>hi
guys, can we just borrow your particle accelerator for a few minutes?
We’d be eternally grateful</i></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Would
you like some more bad news?’ said Deanne, almost breaking into a
grin. She could not help thinking how ridiculous, far-fetched and
impossible everything was that they were discussing.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Is
it worth it?’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Well,
I’m going to tell you anyway,’ Pickover continued. ‘We can’t
exactly build our time machine in a bedroom. At best we’ll either
to have to build it at one of the labs at my old university or
somehow convince the guys at the California Institute of technology
to lend us a lab.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Could
you do that?’ asked Deanne.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> ‘Before
you came along,’ he replied, ‘if I’d’ve proposed such a
project to the powers that be, there at both places, I’m sure
they’d’ve kicked me out before I could say ‘machine’, after
having said ‘time’. Now, you, a nice, pretty, intelligent young
physicist, I estimate that our chances will increase astronomically
from no hope at all to the minisculest of chances. I might just
survive the discussion by the end of the word ‘machine’. Then
I’ll get booted out. That’s another two seconds we’ve gained in
any negotiation.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Yeah,
right,’ said Lutman unhelpfully.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">And
even then, definitely not at the Institute,’ Pickover added.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I
can tell you’re trying to make me happier.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Anyway,’
Pickover continued, ‘That’s still the least of our problems.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Oh
really?’ </i></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lutman
was now starting to believe there was really little further point of
the discussion with so many obstacles to overcome. And more. But he
kept these thoughts to himself. He had seen the evidence. </span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>It
had been done.</i></span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Aside
from not having an extremely high-powered particle accelerator, and a
particle whose existence has yet to be proved,’ began Pickover,
‘we’ve still one crucial element of the equation to solve.
Assuming we’re successful in grabbing a wormhole, and in turn
successful in opening it, how do we know where it’ll lead us? Is it
at all possible to predict where one’s going? If we can, will we be
able to select the right wormhole to go to a specific destination and
time? Or for that matter would we know whether we’re going to end
up in a parallel universe or some distant part of the galaxy?’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">As
I already told you,’ Deanne added with a hint of impatience, ‘my
calculations showed which were the easiest wormholes to grab and keep
stable. And it’s those ones specifically for traveling through
time.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Oh
come on,’ scoffed Pickover, ‘how can you possible know that?
There’s absolutely no way you can know that!’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I
didn’t until last week.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">And
what makes you absolutely sure?’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Carl,
I just </span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>know</i></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">.
Trust me. After all, you seem absolutely confident about the
likelihood of getting tachyons!’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lutman
quickly cut in. ‘Well, I believe everything’s possible,’ he
said confidently. ‘My only concern is just how we can do it after
all you pair’ve been saying. But I’ve every confidence in you
two. You, perhaps even with me, will find a way.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Oh
yeah,’ smiled Pickover, ‘and what makes </span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>you</i></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">
so sure?’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lutman
turned to Deanne. ‘Have you told him yet?’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Told
me what?’ said Pickover suddenly. ‘What’ve I missed?’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">No
I haven’t,’ Deanne sighed, ‘so I suppose you should tell him,
rather than me. Maybe there’s something else in your story I’ve
missed, some other missing clue, perhaps.’</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="text-indent: 1.27cm;">‘</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; text-indent: 1.27cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Story?’
asked Pickover incredulously, ‘do you mind telling me what’s
going on?’</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; text-indent: 1.27cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; text-indent: 1.27cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://completethecirclenovel.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/complete-circle-chapter-23.html">Chapter 23 ></a></span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304290220531518030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4617942940432918480.post-64971647134471657852013-08-05T13:32:00.002+02:002013-08-16T18:10:43.422+02:00COMPLETE THE CIRCLE - Chapter 21<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>TO GO TO THE HOMEPAGE<a href="http://completethecirclenovel.blogspot.com/2013_02_01_archive.html"> - CLICK HERE.</a></i></span></h2>
<div>
<div align="RIGHT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<div align="RIGHT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 32pt;"><b>Chapter
21</b></span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="border-bottom: none; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: 1.00pt solid #000001; margin-bottom: 0cm; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0.04cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">As the
sun descended from its mid-day peak over the Florida beaches, Carl
Pickover polished off his fifth can of beer, after which he dozed off
in his beach chair. A short time later he heard his cell phone bleep
low battery, and decided that as there was little else to do that
day, he would go back to his room, put the phone on charge, and
finally find out, after over a week, what he had missed. He was not
particularly looking forward to this as his expectations were only of
messages asking where he was, why he had not met their appointments,
to return their calls, and so on. He had put off all this as he was,
in his mind, still supposed to be getting a life, a woman, and a
proper job. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="CENTER" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
text messages contained no surprises. The first three voicemails were
as expected. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">His
email box appeared to be full of trash, and he seriously contemplated
deleting the lot of them. But then as he skimmed through the senders
and subjects, something caught his eye:</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">From: Doctor Deanne
Clarkson</span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">Re: Darek Carl’s
Chronology Report: Important, please respond.</span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">! This message is
high priority.</span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">His
mind still foggy from the several beers he had consumed all day,
Pickover tried to read the message. He looked out to the clear, blue
Atlantic, and decided to read it again. He polished off the contents
of another can, but this one did not seem quite so enjoyable. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It was
slowly dawning on him that there may be someone seriously interested,
or crazy enough to believe, in his meticulously-typed, hand-written,
carefully-drawn boxed-up pile of drivel stored away back at his
apartment! </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: olive;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It
was becoming a sobering thought. There was a cellphone number. He
called it.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Ten
minutes later he had sobered up sufficiently to start making
immediate arrangements out of Miami.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">At the
same time Carl Pickover was grabbing the first available flight out
of back to San Francisco, David Lutman and Deanne Clarkson were
heading out of Phoenix and onto Highway 10 towards Los Angeles, north
on Highways 5 and 180, and across the San Francisco-Oakland Bay
Bridge. Lutman had visited San Francisco on his first trek two years
earlier, but was now enjoying the view from transport that offered
him more independence than a minibus. It was also a different bridge
to approach the city, giving him a whole new thrill. That joy was
enhanced further when Deanne allowed him to drive the latter part of
the journey – over the bridge itself, albeit in the dark.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Having
left early that morning they arrived in Daly City, exhausted, at
Pickover’s little apartment shortly before midnight. Carl Pickover
was already waiting at the front door, Deanne having called him of
their impending arrival.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Glad
you could make it,’ he cheerfully announced. ‘Good you warned me
otherwise I might’ve been well gone in bed.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We’re
glad to be here,’ Deanne replied.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Pickover
looked at Lutman uncertainly. ‘Who’s your friend?’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Her
friend’s name is David Lutman,’ said Lutman irritably, certain
that Pickover knew exactly who he was. ‘And this is my </span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>fiancée</i></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">,
Doctor Deanne Clarkson.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Oh,
you're English. Like the accent. And pleased to meet you.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Pickover
turned back to Deanne, taking her hand and kissing it. ‘Please come
in – here, let me take your bags.’ </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">They
followed him inside the block and to his apartment door where he
dropped their bags just inside. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Doctor,
as you probably realize,’ Pickover said nervously, ‘I don’t
want to be putting up someone who has already come to the conclusion
that I’m, erm, a little strange, and taking advantage of me because
of what I may’ve said, but could you give me some proof of your
credentials?’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> ‘Sure,
Professor.’ Deanne produced her business card and identification
badge from the Hartington Labs. He examined them closely for a few
moments before cheerfully returning them. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">You’re
a lucky man, sir,’ he said to Lutman, ‘but was there
really a need for you to be here too, besides being Doctor Clarkson’s
fiancée?’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Call
me David. I’m here because I believe I hold the key to what we’re
all looking for.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: olive;">‘</span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Really?’</i></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">
said Pickover, surprised. ‘So you know something?’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Professor,’
Deanne interrupted wearily, ‘can we discuss all this in the
morning? We’ve been driving for the past fifteen hours or so, and
frankly, we’re bushed.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Oh
yeah. Sorry. Where’re my manners? Let me show you to your…’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> Pickover
paused, coughed slightly, and apologetically gestured towards his
bedroom/office. ‘Ahem, your bedroom.’ </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">He
pointed to the double bed. ‘So, are you guys…, erm?’ he said
nervously, waving his hand.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It’s fine, thank you,’ said Lutman firmly.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="text-indent: 1.27cm;">‘</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; text-indent: 1.27cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Goodnight
Professor,’ cut in Deanne. ‘We’ll see you in the morning.’</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; text-indent: 1.27cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; text-indent: 1.27cm;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://completethecirclenovel.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/complete-circle-chapter-22.html">Chapter 22 ></a></span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304290220531518030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4617942940432918480.post-83227732409052284332013-08-01T12:53:00.000+02:002013-08-16T18:09:19.911+02:00COMPLETE THE CIRCLE - Chapter 20<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>TO GO TO THE HOMEPAGE<a href="http://completethecirclenovel.blogspot.com/2013_02_01_archive.html"> - CLICK HERE.</a></i></span></h2>
<div>
<div align="RIGHT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 32pt;"><b>Chapter
20</b></span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="border-bottom: none; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: 1.00pt solid #000001; margin-bottom: 0cm; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0.04cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">After
a pretty active weekend with each other, Deanne Clarkson and David
Lutman left the house the following Monday morning, immediately after
another sumptuous breakfast, for the Hartingdon Physics Laboratories.
There were no changes in their current plans as there still had not
been any e-mail. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">To
Lutman’s surprise, the labs were located fairly close to the centre
of town; he had expected them to be placed somewhere isolated, miles
from anywhere. Upon arrival, however, there was the immediate task of
arranging the necessary clearances required for him to gain access
into the complex. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">As
they waited outside the perimeter, he could see that the facility was
a series of white blocks: low-level, clean and modern. The whole
structure was surrounded by two separated five-meter high wire
fences. The inner was electrified, with red notices ominously telling
him in no uncertain terms what would happen if touched.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Accessing
the complex required clearing two sets of security. At the main gate,
they entered a reception area contained within one of the smaller
white blocks. It was here that Lutman’s passes were arranged,
sorted, signed, and verified. Despite her father’s string-pulling,
it still took a whole hour of sitting and waiting before he was
finally able to get into the grounds.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Passing
countless other blocks and white-coated people, they walked about
four hundred meters towards another white building, the purpose-built
laboratory block where Deanne’s workplace was housed. Despite its
extremely modern appearance, it was one of the older constructions,
around thirty years old. It was also completely surrounded by another
high wire fence. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Another
security guard frisked Lutman, taking two minutes to closely examine
all his shiny new identification cards before letting him through.
But if he was surprised to find that the two cardboard boxes they
were carrying contained two identical green baseball caps, he did not
show it.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lutman
was both surprised and puzzled. ‘So why all the high fencing and
the two sets of checks if your lab isn’t considered high security?’
he asked as they finally made their way through the heavy blue swing
doors and down the white-walled corridor.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It
isn’t,’ Deanne said, smiling. ‘There’s other places here that
require not just two checks, but three or more, not to mention
special pass cards allocated only to certain staff. There’s even
electronic scanning machines that examine your palm prints or eye
retinas in detail before they even let you in.’ She added that
access to these levels demanded an incredibly intensive investigation
into an individual’s historical background before they could even
seek gainful employment at the labs: for certain, Lutman would not
have been allowed inside if it had not been for her father’s
influence.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
sophistication, the variety, and the number of pieces of equipment,
along with the brain-power contained within the facility, was, Lutman
learned, unique and even covert. As Deanne pointed out, the secrets
that could be unravelled from the minds and machines here was perhaps
only second to a certain set of laboratories in Switzerland.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">She
pushed open a heavy swing fire door, revealing a long,
fluorescently-lit but featureless grey corridor. They walked past a
number of windowless white doors before approaching another heavy
door with a frosted-glass window. Once opened, they entered a small
office area where the far side wall was one large window.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">My
laboratory,’ Deanne said proudly.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Jesus.’
The laboratory was far bigger than Lutman had ever imagined. He
learned that it was not only occupied by Deanne during working hours,
but it was also used by five other staff. They were decked out in
spotlessly clean pale blue gowns, hats, and gloves, and wearing
surgical masks. They looked more like surgeons than scientists. The
lab itself was pretty much what he had in mind: pointlessly big,
white, grey, lots of big metal boxes, and lots of flashing lights.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Deanne’s
workplace was about the size of her apartment living room. Like most
offices, it contained bookshelves, a desk, two office chairs, a large
metal cupboard in the corner, and a computer. There was also clear
glass which made up the wall facing the laboratory. ‘Right,’ she
announced nonchalantly. ‘We’re off to take a shower.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Er,
sorry?’ said Lutman, really not believing what he had just heard
her say.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">We’re
taking a shower. Now.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Er,
you’re having me on… aren’t you?’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">No,
I’m not joking!’ she laughed. ‘Follow me!’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">They
left the office and made their way to a blue door that was clearly
marked with a shower rose pictogram.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Get
your clothes off,’ she said firmly after they walked into what
looked like a sports changing room. She immediately began stripping
off. ‘Put your clothes in the lockers over there,’ she said
casually, ‘then follow me through to the next door. You’ll see an
air-sealed shrink-wrapped towel inside. Take it with you, but don’t
open it.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Er…
okay,’ Lutman was feeling shy and very uncomfortable as he began to
remove his clothes, looking around to see if there was anybody else
in the same room, or if there was anybody about to join them. ‘Can,
er, anyone use these rooms? I mean, are they unisex?’ he added
coyly. But then the next door hissed slowly open, sliding to the
right. Lutman suddenly felt a rush of air. Clearly the next area was
pressurized. Completely naked, they walked through to be met by four
shower cubicles. Deanne strode straight to the one on the far left
and began washing herself. ‘And wash yourself thoroughly,’ she
called to Lutman.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">They
spent the next five minutes scrupulously soaping and cleansing
themselves in the most powerful showers he had ever experienced.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Wrapped
in her towel, Deanne opened a white metal locker and took out one of
the surgical gowns he had seen earlier, and what appeared to be a
disposable bra and knickers. She indicated to Lutman that his gown
and underpants would be found in the same numbered locker as his
clothes locker. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I
hope it’s warm out there,’ said Lutman hopefully, ‘’cos we
really don’t have much on!’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Believe
me,’ said Deanne, ‘it is!’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">They
proceeded to a heavy glass door which automatically, but slowly,
opened with another, very audible hiss. After entering Deanne ensured
it clicked shut behind them. Another large glass door was right in
front of them, next to which was a keypad. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Deanne
tapped in another combination. The room suddenly depressurized, and
then the large, very heavy glass door also opened slowly. Warm air
suddenly blew hard into their faces. As Lutman caught his breath, his
lungs were suddenly filled with the sweetest, freshest air he had
ever experienced. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This
is perhaps one of the most sterile places around,’ Deanne
explained, ‘and although we’ve air-con, the heat these machines
generate means we’re constantly in the eighties here.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
first thing to hit Lutman as he surveyed his new surroundings was
that everything was spotlessly clean and immaculately white. There
was a considerable amount of electronic equipment: large, small,
sophisticated, with lots of flashing, lots of perspex, miles of
wiring, constant humming noises, in fact everything he would expect a
hi-tech laboratory to contain. There were two sets of metal stairs
that led up to another floor that lined all four walls, and which
contained even more electrical apparatus. This left the centre of the
lab with considerable space which was covered by a clear blue-glass
ceiling. The far wall was made up of several additional windows to
allow as much natural light as possible into the laboratory. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Despite
the size of the lab, Deanne’s tour took less than ten minutes. ‘It
would take me the best part of a week to explain what everything does
and how they all work, and I have to get on with my own tasks,’ she
explained.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">So
when can we get to look at the caps?’ Lutman asked restlessly, at
the same time wondering if they would have to go back through the
complicated showering routine to retrieve them.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Later
David, when things aren’t so busy, okay?’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">So
what can I do here?’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">She
shook her head. ‘Not a lot, I reckon. Look, why don’t you go to
my office and do a bit more investigating on my computer, and check
whether Mr. Carl or Mr. Pickover have responded?’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>What?</i></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">’
said Lutman incredulously, ‘after all that palaver? You're kidding
me, right? You mean I’ve got to go back through the whole shower
routine again?’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Oh
dear, you do complain!’ she said laughing, ‘It’s not so bad on
the way back. Just press the glowing red button, all the doors will
slide open automatically, look for the perspex box, and get rid of
your gown by following the instructions.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Okay,’
he said uncertainly, ‘so how long will you be out here?’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">All
day, at least ‘til six. Don’t worry – they come round often
with drinks and sandwiches, so you’ll be well fed.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Right,’
said Lutman dully. ‘Thanks a lot.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Lucida Console, monospace;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Do
you want to dispose of your protective gown?</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Palatino Linotype, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lutman
pressed </span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>yes</i></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">
on the touch screen. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
next instruction then told him to place the gown into the container,
and to close it. A second later, everything inside was immediately
swallowed up as the suction sent it into a sterilizing vacuum
chamber. He was then directed straight to the main door and out of
the changing rooms. Another shower was not necessary.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Soon
he was back in Deanne’s office. He then saw Deanne, who was waiting
for him, and standing at the window, holding a tiny remote receiver.
She beckoned to him to switch on the similar device on the desk. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I
have a little additional task for you,’ said her voice from the
speaker. She pointed. ‘See that Perspex case over there?’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lutman
looked across the room. ‘I do.’ </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I
want you to put the baseball caps into the two clear bags in the
case, and then put the case into that small door over to your right
marked ‘goodies’.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Goodies?’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">That’s
where stuff has to go before we can examine it. Decontamination,
sterilization, the rest of it. Put them in when you see me gesture at
you from the other side, okay? Again, just follow the on-screen
instructions. I’ll also give you my log-in name and password so you
can use my computer.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lutman
placed the caps into individually sealed containers as per
touch-screen instructions, and placed them into a larger, blue
perspex container. The containers then dropped slowly down and out of
sight into a box that was attached to the wall. Thirty seconds later
Deanne received them from the other side, eagerly scooping them up
and disappearing behind one of the big machines.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Returning
to the computer, David Lutman began to check their mail. Still
nothing. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">He
decided it was high time to find out what was happening back in the
UK; he had not done this since he and Deanne set off from Las Vegas;
he was too focussed on her.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">There
were messages from his family, and even one from work from his boss,
Mr. Theodore Meade, that was dated the previous Friday. He told him
to get in contact on a special number as soon as he returned home. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">He
went back to the search engine and decided to see if Deanne Clarkson
herself was listed in any of the indexes. Indeed, this name was
listed several times, and there were four different Deanne Clarksons,
most of the entries concentrating on a little-known author. After
discovering his Deanne, Lutman found that the first four links
mentioned her being involved in some scientific projects. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It was
not until he clicked on the fifth link that he found something of
more interest. There was a student yearbook that included a group
photograph of sophomore physics students from John Carroll University
in Cleveland. He looked closely at the photo, clicked to save, and
then pressed print. There were six students in the photo, and despite
having much longer hair, Deanne was distinctly recognizable. There
was also another girl, and four men. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">He
made a note of the web site address and the names of each of the
students. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
one remaining link had her listed, with her father, as respected
physicists on a specialized website, which required an account to
access.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">He
decided, once more, to conduct a little more time travel research.
After about fifteen minutes sifting through a few initially hopeful
sites that promised much but said nothing, he hit upon a magazine
interview with someone who claimed they had successfully built and travelled in a time machine. The magazine was called </span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>SBT</i></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">
(Strange But True), a monthly science and fantasy periodical that
published selected extracts from contributors online. It had chosen
to publish the latter part of an interview it claimed as ‘exclusive’.
</span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
interviewee concerned was referred to only as Nick in the dialogue:</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="border: 1.00pt solid #000001; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm; padding: 0.04cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">SBT: So tell us a
little about your machine.</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="border: 1.00pt solid #000001; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm; padding: 0.04cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">NICK: I’m afraid
the mechanics and the motions are confidential, and I hope that as
this interview progresses you’ll appreciate that.</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="border: 1.00pt solid #000001; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm; padding: 0.04cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">SBT: So when you
traveled which direction did you move in first?</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="border: 1.00pt solid #000001; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm; padding: 0.04cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">NICK: I went into
the past.</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="border: 1.00pt solid #000001; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm; padding: 0.04cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">SBT: But when you
traveled to the past weren’t you worried that you could change an
event which subsequently affects the present?</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="border: 1.00pt solid #000001; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm; padding: 0.04cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">NICK: I was only
there for about five minutes in each case, so I had little or no time
to do so. I didn’t at that stage want to test out the grandfather
paradox, or be part of any paradox, or to find out if I was to become
part of a pre-destination paradox.</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="border: 1.00pt solid #000001; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm; padding: 0.04cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">SBT: What are these
paradoxes?</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="border: 1.00pt solid #000001; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm; padding: 0.04cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">NICK: The
Grandfather paradox is when you go back and kill your own grandfather
before mom or dad are conceived. But then what happens to you? Try
this. If you try to kill someone but fail, could you then just try
again and keep trying until you get it right? I personally don’t
warm to that one but I wouldn’t want to unintentionally disrupt the
timeline to affect mine. There is a similar paradox known as the
Bootstrap Paradox where things exist without ever been created.</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="border: 1.00pt solid #000001; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm; padding: 0.04cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">SBT: Explain.</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="border: 1.00pt solid #000001; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm; padding: 0.04cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">NICK: The Bootstrap Paradox, from the
expression ‘pulling yourself up by your bootstraps’, from a short
story written by Robert A. Heinlein, is when you travel back in time
to pass on an object, information, or themselves to someone in the
past, who then uses what has been passed to them in order to create
that very situation in the future that allows that person to travel
back in time with that object, information, or themselves to that
same individual in the past…</span></div>
<div class="western" style="border: 1.00pt solid #000001; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm; padding: 0.04cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">SBT: And the
pre-destination paradox?</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="border: 1.00pt solid #000001; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm; padding: 0.04cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">NICK: That’s when
you are destined to do something, and thus become part of a
never-ending time-loop. For example, if you go into the past to
change something, it could be something you were meant to do. You
change it, and in turn set up the events that lead to your future
self doing the whole loop all over again.</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="border: 1.00pt solid #000001; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm; padding: 0.04cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">SBT: So how far did
you get in the future?</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="border: 1.00pt solid #000001; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm; padding: 0.04cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">NICK: First of all
it was three hours forward, and then, with a little tweaking, I got
it to go forward a week, and then two months, and eventually I
managed to get there by almost a year. To get it further into the
future was rather like trying to get more horsepower out of a motor,
and at one point on that latter journey I was afraid I might cause
irreparable damage to the machine. But thankfully it got me back
okay. Just before I managed that, one of my friends, who has a device
built along the same lines, made it five years in the future, and
what he told me filled me with considerable optimism.</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="border: 1.00pt solid #000001; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm; padding: 0.04cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">SBT: And what did
your friend discover?</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="border: 1.00pt solid #000001; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm; padding: 0.04cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">NICK: A complete
step forward in the human condition. Everyone was happy, no war, no
violence, racial tolerance, flying cars. He said it was so wonderful,
so peaceful. The human race had finally grown up. And in only five
years!</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="border: 1.00pt solid #000001; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm; padding: 0.04cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">SBT: Didn’t he
try to find out what happened that made us change in those five
years? It’s a considerably short space of time to change the way
the human race works, when you think about the last century…</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="border: 1.00pt solid #000001; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm; padding: 0.04cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">NICK: He was only
out there for ten minutes or so…</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="border: 1.00pt solid #000001; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm; padding: 0.04cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">SBT: But did he
bring back any evidence?</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="border: 1.00pt solid #000001; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm; padding: 0.04cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">NICK: No, nothing.
Nothing tangible. There really wasn’t any material he could bring
back as solid proof. There were no newspapers, magazines… nothing.
People were no longer interested in that kind of thing.</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="border: 1.00pt solid #000001; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm; padding: 0.04cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">SBT: Couldn’t he
have been the catalyst of what is to come? That is, a pre-destination
paradox? That he was destined to do this?</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="border: 1.00pt solid #000001; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm; padding: 0.04cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">NICK: He didn’t,
so clearly he was not.</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="border: 1.00pt solid #000001; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm; padding: 0.04cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">SBT: So where is
your proof that you have travelled in the future? You traveled a year
into the future, and the world still appeared to be fine. Didn’t
you bring back any newspapers or magazines – assuming they still
had… they’re still going to have these things?</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="border: 1.00pt solid #000001; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm; padding: 0.04cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">NICK: After my
friend’s revelations, I decided to make that trip. And when I did,
well, the world still seemed to be just like it is today, but it
started to have that feeling of more… optimism.</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="border: 1.00pt solid #000001; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm; padding: 0.04cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">SBT: Just as an
example, how was the situation in the Middle East? Did its problems
get solved?</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="border: 1.00pt solid #000001; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm; padding: 0.04cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">NICK: No idea.</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="border: 1.00pt solid #000001; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm; padding: 0.04cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">SBT: When did you
make this journey?</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="border: 1.00pt solid #000001; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm; padding: 0.04cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">NICK: A month ago
now.</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="border: 1.00pt solid #000001; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm; padding: 0.04cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">SBT: How did you
know you’d progressed a year?</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="border: 1.00pt solid #000001; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm; padding: 0.04cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">NICK: Well, quite
naturally, I went straight to a newsstand. Yes, papers were still
available, and I looked at a copy to confirm the date…</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="border: 1.00pt solid #000001; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm; padding: 0.04cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">SBT: So we already
know that fact. Do you have this newspaper?</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="border: 1.00pt solid #000001; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm; padding: 0.04cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">NICK: No.</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="border: 1.00pt solid #000001; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm; padding: 0.04cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">SBT: Why not? That
was the proof you needed!</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="border: 1.00pt solid #000001; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm; padding: 0.04cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">NICK: I’ve
thought long and hard about this. In the end, I decided, if I had
brought this paper back, then its future contents, if known in the
present, could have serious consequences on the future. And after my
friend’s experiences, I decided I didn’t want to be the catalyst
to end what would be a wonderful future for us all. I did not want to
inadvertently change the future.</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="border: 1.00pt solid #000001; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm; padding: 0.04cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">SBT: Is this why
you are here today? To tell us we needn’t worry about some kind of
impending disaster simply because it’s not going to happen?</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="border: 1.00pt solid #000001; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm; padding: 0.04cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">NICK: That is the
main reason. And I believe the future that my friend and I saw will
happen. My friend says he has seen the future. We will all live in
peace and harmony. He seriously believes it cannot be changed, as it
has already happened – in the future sense. I, however, do believe
it can be changed because, for us now, it hasn’t happened yet and
therefore we can still change it. But mankind still has every chance
of f_____g it up.</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="border: 1.00pt solid #000001; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm; padding: 0.04cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">SBT: Do you still
have your machine?</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="border: 1.00pt solid #000001; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm; padding: 0.04cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">NICK: I do, but I
haven’t used it since. I did send invitations out to many prominent
scientists to come and check it out, to confirm my story, but they’ve
all ignored me. I think they’ve just simply torn them up and thrown
them out. However, my friend has agreed to share with me the
modifications necessary to make that leap further.</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="border: 1.00pt solid #000001; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm; padding: 0.04cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">SBT: So what are
you going to do now?</span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="border: 1.00pt solid #000001; margin-bottom: 0cm; margin-left: 1cm; margin-right: 1cm; padding: 0.04cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, serif;">NICK: I’ve
persuaded my wife and child to make this journey into the future with
my friend, and we’ve no intention of coming back.</span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: olive;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It was
not until 6.30pm that Deanne felt able to make use of the technology
available to her. Most of the staff had now disappeared, although
there was one assistant keeping busy in another corner and showing
absolutely no interest in anything else around her.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Using
the Newton DCTT-A324A computerized electron microscope, the most
sophisticated analytical technology possible, Deanne conducted a
detailed analysis of her cap. She then conducted the same tests on
the other, and then examined the findings of the two printouts.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">After
a few minutes she emerged back in her office straight from the lab,
her face as white as a sheet. David Lutman looked at her, alarmed.
‘What’s the matter?’ he asked urgently.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
caps!’ she gasped, ‘David, they really are one and the same cap!
Exactly the same, molecule for molecule, from what I can make out!’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">So
that’s it. There’s no doubt now in what I told you!’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Part
of Deanne had still remained convinced that Lutman had managed to
pull off an incredibly elaborate and clever trick. But now there was
absolutely no doubt. ‘I’m so sorry I ever distrusted you…’
she said remorsefully, ‘but… but you realize we’re now in
completely unknown territory here as far as science and physics are
concerned! God, I don’t even know what the implications are of
having two caps that are basically one and the same but are occupying
the same time and space when they shouldn’t be!’ </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Her
voice then changed to one of extreme urgency. ‘David, whatever you
do, you mustn’t let these caps touch each other! The consequences
if the atomic structures of each make contact…’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Erm,
Deanne…’</span></span></span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Goodness
knows, it could trigger some kind of cataclysm…’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Deanne!
Hello! Listen to me!’ </i></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lutman
shouted. ‘They won’t cause the end of the world!’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">She
stared at him. ‘And how do you know?’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">When
I hugged you last night. I took your cap with my cap hand, and the
two touched each other then. Nothing happened!’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Of
course!’ </i></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">she
said angrily to herself, but then added in relief: ‘how the hell
could I forget that?’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Well,
it was an emotional time –’ </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">And
not to forget that we’ve even touched both indirectly, for sure
picking up molecules of grease or dirt in both caps, an atom of which
would have been sufficient to destroy anything, if that really’d
been the case…’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">She
breathed an audible sigh. ‘Well, that’s blown that particular
theory wide open, so to speak!’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It was
quite late when they eventually got back to her apartment and had
dinner. The excitement they both felt after such an overwhelming
discovery, along with the evidence they had before them, was
impossible to comprehend. Nevertheless, they settled down onto the
spacious green sofa in the living room to discuss Lutman’s earlier
discoveries on the Internet. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">He
produced the photograph of her student days. In his mind, she really
was a very pretty young lady even then. However, he could not help
but ask about the four males. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Well,
out of those ‘males’, as you so eloquently put it,’ she began,
‘one of them I did keep in touch with for a while – that’s the
guy there on my right – he’s also a physicist, but he’s more
into numbers. Perhaps one of the best mathematicians I’ve ever
met.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Looks
a bit like Shaggy out of </span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Scooby-Doo,</i></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">
what with the mop of brown hair and the goatee,’ Lutman observed.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I
confess we did date for a couple of weeks, toured the west together
five years ago, but quickly realized we didn’t have that spark.
Thankfully it was a short enough relationship to ensure we’d remain
pretty good friends afterwards. Funnily enough, that Grand Canyon
tee-shirt was a present he bought me, after he did the walk there and
I didn’t. The green shorts I showed you, in fact, also belonged to
him – I washed them for him when we got back, asked him if he
wanted them, and he told me I could keep them! I just put them away
with all my other stuff, and they’d never seen the light of day
until you arrived. Actually, I haven’t heard from him for quite a
while. I know he left the States about four years ago but that was
the last I heard. After that, I went to the UK and you know the rest.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Now,
this guy on the end, on the left, with the wavy blonde hair, he
dropped out a year before finishing his studies after getting quite a
lucrative job elsewhere, and I haven’t really heard from him since.
The girl – ah yes, that’s Tonya. She was nice, but you know, she
tended to sleep around a bit. She completed her studies, of course,
but eventually met a nice guy and now happily married with three
kids. Then you’ve got me in the middle, then the mathematician,
then this guy with the short blond hair – now he did very well,
Works for secret government guys –’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Secret
government?’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Those
guys that work for the government, and who keep an eye on things and
make sure people don’t cross the line. On the odd occasion they
even pay our labs a visit.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">So
what about this one at the end? He looks rather strange.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Her
tone shifted uncomfortably. ‘Yeah, well, I don’t know what he’s
doing these days,’ she said abruptly.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lutman
sensed her discomfort and decided to let it drop. ‘Erm… Okay.’</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://completethecirclenovel.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/complete-circle-chapter-21.html">Chapter 21 ></a></span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<div align="RIGHT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304290220531518030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4617942940432918480.post-73594240545558315262013-08-01T12:37:00.000+02:002013-08-16T18:08:28.019+02:00COMPLETE THE CIRCLE - Chapter 19<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>TO GO TO THE HOMEPAGE<a href="http://completethecirclenovel.blogspot.com/2013_02_01_archive.html"> - CLICK HERE.</a></i></span></h2>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<div align="RIGHT" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: 32pt;"><b>Chapter
19</b></span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="border-bottom: none; border-left: none; border-right: none; border-top: 1.00pt solid #000001; margin-bottom: 0cm; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 0cm; padding-right: 0cm; padding-top: 0.04cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<br /></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">David
Lutman and Deanne Clarkson eventually got up at 10.00am. They had not
made it successfully out to a restaurant. But they were both
extremely hungry, and Deanne suggested that they eat a substantial
breakfast at the apartment. He would be sent out to get what was
needed.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">After
receiving directions from Deanne, David Lutman drove to the local
shopping centre for groceries. He also wanted to try and minimize the
contrived circumstances that surrounded their impending marriage by
finding a jewellers at the same time and buy an engagement ring. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">He
found a cash machine. But to his surprise, the machine rejected his
debit card. He examined it, gave it a wipe with his hand and tried
again. Once more, the ATM coughed it back out, but this time it gave
a clear message on the screen: he had insufficient funds. Lutman was
baffled. He felt certain he had enough money in his account to see
him through the entire trek and beyond, although he had not checked
his account recently. Fortunately he still had sufficient change to
buy everything bar the ring, but decided to hold on the restaurant
reservation.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">He
returned to the apartment with the news of his cash problem. Deanne
reassured him that she had enough to see them through and to pay for
their evening meal. Even so, Lutman decided to call his bank. To his
horror, he was informed that three thousand dollars had been
withdrawn from a cash machine in the States three days ago, from his
card. Somehow, someone was able to make a copy of his card.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">He
immediately cancelled his account.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Deanne
and her excellent presentation of a cooked breakfast ensured that
Lutman’s spirits were soon lifted. As they settled down for
breakfast, he asked, ‘Deanne, do you have any ideas as to what
Dzizzy-R or DCCR could mean?’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Well,
it could be an acronym involving my name,’ Deanne responded, ‘but
what the other CR might mean, well, I don’t have a clue. Have you
looked it up on the net?’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Already
did that when this whole thing blew up all that time ago,’ he
replied, ‘there was absolutely nothing on time travel.</span></span></span><span style="color: olive;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Well,
maybe it’s changed since then,’ she suggested. ‘We’ll take
another look after breakfast. Oh, by the way, I’ve just called my
father and he’s going to be expecting us at his house this evening,
and my presence back at the laboratory first thing Monday morning! He
says dinner’s going to be at the best Italian restaurant in town
and it’s all on him! He’s quite enthusiastic about meeting you,
you know, what with you being from somewhere not far from
Nottingham!’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Okay,
that’s great! Look forward to meeting your dad. He sounds like a
great guy.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">After
breakfast Lutman sat himself down at Deanne’s laptop. In the search
box he typed ‘Time Travel’, pressed the plus sign and typed
‘DCCR’. Although his previous searches had revealed nothing, this
time the search engine appeared to hit gold. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘</span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><b>Darek
Carl’s Chronology Report</b></i></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>
– </i></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>An
interview with a top scientist about the possibilities of time
travel’</b></span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lutman
clicked on the link to the web site, and there was the entire
transcript that Carl Pickover had written some weeks before. ‘Deanne!
I think I’ve got it! Come here!’ </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">He
printed out a copy and showed it to her. She read it through,
smiling, after which she noted the e-mail address of Darek Carl.
Immediately afterwards she drafted an e-mail and sent it to that
address. ‘That, my darling, looks like the next piece to our
puzzle,’ she said. ‘This blog’s only been up for a short time,
so no wonder you never found it. Now… well, we can only wait and
see what sort of response we’re going to get. And surely that is
only going to be positive. Let’s see and see how quickly we get a
response.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">But
although the laptop was left on throughout the day, and it made the
necessary noises indicating that it had received mail, none of it was
from Darek Carl or Carl Pickover. ‘Maybe he’s out of town,’
mused Deanne. ‘So we’ll just have to wait.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">That
evening Lutman and Deanne went to visit Patrick Clarkson, Deanne’s
father, at his large house that was located just a five minute walk
from Deanne’s apartment. Lutman was slightly taken aback to see
that it was surrounded by high wire fencing, and the impressive
residence lay in the middle of several acres of garden that itself
was set back two hundred meters from the street. A security guard
greeted them as they arrived at the ten-meter high metal gate. Deanne
explained that, as the Hartington Physics Laboratories were the
biggest and most advanced physics laboratories of their kind in the
country, and that it had been working on a considerable number of
hush-hush government projects, the administration felt strongly that
the director should be assigned appropriate security. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
guard smiled at Deanne but grimly asked Lutman for identification.
After a few seconds careful examination of his passport he was let
through. They then walked unescorted along the tarmac road that led
up to the main door where Patrick Clarkson was waiting for them on
the marble steps.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">A
handsome man, the American roots of G. Patrick Clarkson - as he was
formally known - began when his Spanish grandfather, on his mother’s
side, married a Puerto Rican woman. He looked considerably younger
than his late fifties would suggest, which was thanks to a trim build
and a full head of greying dark hair. To Lutman’s surprise, he was
greeting their arrival in a tee-shirt and jeans. He suddenly felt
rather overdressed in his white polo shirt and brown cords.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Good
evening,’ he said softly, offering his hand to Lutman, ‘you must
be this Englishman Deanne’s been talking so much about.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Hello,’
said Lutman nervously, taking his hand and shaking it. Clarkson had a
very firm grip.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> ‘I
always thought she’d finish up with a guy from England,’ he
smiled, looking proudly at his daughter. ‘So, shall we go inside?
We may be in the middle of the desert, but even at this time of year,
it can get rather cold in the evening.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">After
a brief conversation about Nottingham and Hensfield, Patrick Clarkson
took Lutman for a tour of the house. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lutman
could not help but be impressed by the considerable, and sizable,
number of rooms within its three floors, along with a conservatory
that seemed to take up the same amount of floor space as an
Olympic-size swimming pool. In the darkness, the gardens were
well-illuminated by powerful wall-mounted halogen lamps, and even
looking from the inside of the house Lutman could clearly see the
lawns had been immaculately-groomed. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The
swimming pool,’ added Patrick Clarkson proudly, ‘is behind those
bushes over there, about a hundred feet away. Hopefully you’ll get
the chance to try it before it gets too cool.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">That’ll
be nice,’ said Lutman, still feeling slightly uncomfortable. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">He
turned to Deanne. She looked even more embarrassed. ‘Are we ready
to go then Dad?’ she asked urgently.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Yes,
of course,’ he smiled. ‘I’ve already summoned the car here.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lutman
glanced at Deanne, bemused. </span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>‘Summoned
the car?’</i></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">
he mouthed.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Deanne
mouthed back, </span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>‘security.’</i></span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It was
a short chauffeured journey in the Cadillac to the local Italian
restaurant. Their assigned security officer maintained a discreet
distance as the group made their way to their reserved table. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">After
their starters and main course, Clarkson, upon a veiled cue from
Deanne, excused himself for a few minutes. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Once
they were clearly alone, Lutman had no hesitation in formally asking
Deanne to marry him. She toyed with him for a minute, but without
faltering, said yes. Lutman felt comfortably relieved that she did
not respond with a line connected with a time machine. But there was
a small measure of frustration on his part that he could not deliver
a proper proposal without the ring, so he promised to do so as soon
as he had the money.</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Your
dad’s got a massive place,’ he added, still impressed with what
he had seen earlier. ‘So why do you live where you do? There’s
plenty of room here.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I
just want a place of my own,’ she said quietly, ‘a place where I
know where everything is and I don’t have to set aside time getting
from one room to the other.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">So
you’re not impressed with the house?’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;">‘<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It’s
just so unnecessarily big,’ she said, ‘but it’s one of the
perks, if you like, of the job. Along with all the security. And if I
do well in my job, I’ll probably have to go the same way.’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Lutman
grinned. ‘Don’t you mean</span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>
we</i></span></span></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">?’</span></span></span></div>
<div align="CENTER" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">*</span></span></span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">At her
father’s insistence, Deanne reluctantly agreed to spend the rest of
the weekend at her father’s house. Lutman was not exactly unhappy
about this: the prospect of being lazy, being doted on by the
resident staff, and enjoying everything the place had to offer was
not exactly unappealing. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;">By mid
morning the following day, Lutman could no longer hide his curiosity
and made his way to the swimming pool. </span></span></span>
</div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> As
temperatures reached the upper twenties, he could not help but think
that this was, in fact, the day, and probably the time, that he
should have been on the plane, on his way back to cold, wet,
miserable London, back with his parents in their car and the drive
home, and back to that dull, dreadfully dull, desk job, and talking
to all those idiots that made up the general public and the local
media. And no doubt getting some kind of official warning about his
conduct by his idiot boss Meade. But he no longer cared. He was
happy.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: medium; text-indent: 1.27cm;">He and
Deanne pledged that they would drop the subject of the time machine
for the weekend (‘but I’ll keep monitoring the e-mail on my
phone,’ she whispered.), as he would not be able to enter the
laboratory anyway; no one would be available to arrange the
clearances. (‘I thought you said it wasn’t considered that high a
security risk?’ asked Lutman when told of this.) Deanne admitted
that this would be a shame: there would have been very few people
around her particular lab over the weekend, and thus it would have
been an excellent opportunity to discreetly check out those baseball
caps.</span></div>
<div align="JUSTIFY" class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 1.27cm;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://completethecirclenovel.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/complete-circle-chapter-20.html">Chapter 20 ></a></span></span></span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304290220531518030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4617942940432918480.post-43528542273622826532013-07-31T16:26:00.003+02:002013-07-31T16:26:44.170+02:00NEW CHAPTERS COMING SOON!Hi folks,<br />
<br />
Sorry if you are all sitting waiting for the next chapter, but I've been spending some time in the UK, but the good news is that I have a good deal of chapters to upload over the next week or two.<br />
<br />
So keep an eye out for more on the mystery of David Lutman and co!<br />
<br />
In the meantime - and if you are a new reader, go to the homepage. Or if you are feeling a little lazy, well, here is the homepage details anyway...<br />
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 3pt; text-align: center;">
<b><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large;">Time travel is not going to be invented.</span></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 3pt; text-align: center;">
<b><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="color: blue; font-size: large;">It is just going to happen.</span><span style="font-size: medium;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 3pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 3pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN-US"><b><span style="color: blue;">BOOTSTRAP PARADOX:</span></b> Also known as an </span><span lang="EN"><span style="color: blue;"><b>ONTOLOGICAL PARADOX. </b></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 3pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span lang="EN" style="font-size: medium;">A paradox created when someone from the future travels back in time to pass on an object, information, or themselves to someone in the past, who then uses what has been passed to them in order to create that very situation in the future that allows that person to travel back in time with that object, information, or themselves to that same individual in the past…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 3pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;">And David Lutman is going to be an innocent player, with devastating consequences.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 3pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;">But is there a way to break a loop that will essentially be repeated again and again with no apparent end and with devastating consequences every time? Is it even possible to change events if you already have the knowledge on how to do so?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 3pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;">This is what David Lutman is going to find out as the unwitting victim of the bootstrap paradox.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br /><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US">From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/By_His_Bootstraps" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;">"<b>By His Bootstraps</b>"</a> is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_fiction" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;" title="Science fiction">science fiction</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short_story" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;" title="Short story">short story</a> by<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_A._Heinlein" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;" title="Robert A. Heinlein">Robert A. Heinlein</a> that plays with some of the inherent <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paradox" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;" title="Paradox">paradoxes</a> that would be caused by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_travel" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;" title="Time travel">time travel</a>. It is from this story that the term 'bootstrap paradox' comes from. "By His Bootstraps" <span style="font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19.1875px; text-align: start;">refers to the expression "</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bootstrapping" style="background-image: none; color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19.1875px; text-align: start; text-decoration: none;" title="Bootstrapping">pulling yourself up by your bootstraps</a><span style="font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19.1875px; text-align: start;">". This short story</span> was originally published in the October 1941 issue of <i><a class="mw-redirect" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astounding_(magazine)" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;" title="Astounding (magazine)">Astounding Science Fiction</a></i> under the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pen_name" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;" title="Pen name">pen name</a> Anson MacDonald. It was reprinted in Heinlein's 1959 collection, <i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Menace_from_Earth_(collection)" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;" title="The Menace from Earth (collection)">The Menace From Earth</a></i> and in several subsequent anthologies,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-1"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/By_His_Bootstraps#cite_note-1" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;">[1]</a></sup> and is now available in at least two audio editions. Under the title "The Time Gate", it was also included in a 1958 Crest paperback anthology, "Race to the Stars". </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"><b><span style="color: blue;">AUTHOR’S NOTE:</span></b></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;">Welcome to my first novel, which I am going to be publishing chapter by chapter on this blog (and maybe, in the future, turn it into an e-book, unless I am extremely fortunate to have a publisher). </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;">The whole story has completed as a draft, and what I will publish here will be effectively that draft. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;">Indeed, I may go back to earlier chapters from time to time to correct errors in continuity, grammar, or for other reasons.</span></span><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So it is not going to be perfect – indeed, as an author from the UK, I am sure my American readers will be happy to point out flaws in dialogue and culture that may occur as my American characters come into play, so please let me know about them and how to correct them in the comments boxes after each chapter!</span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;">Pardon the pun, but telling this story will take time.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;">Click on the links on the right, or scroll down the page for the latest chapter.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;">So over the next few weeks and months, enjoy the story! </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: medium;"><b>Roger Hartopp</b></span></span><br /><span style="font-size: medium;"><span lang="EN"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><br /></b></span></span><span lang="EN"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Do you like this blog? If you are studying English as a second language, then check out my other blog at <a href="http://tsmsinenglish.blogspot.com./" style="color: #888888; text-decoration: none;">tsmsinenglish.blogspot.com.</a> It deals with typical student mistakes in English with examples and how to correct them. It's fun, written in an easy, casual prose, and plenty of cartoons!</i></span></span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304290220531518030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4617942940432918480.post-71008237942964270412013-06-17T23:23:00.004+02:002013-08-16T18:07:32.643+02:00COMPLETE THE CIRCLE - Chapter 18<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right; text-indent: 36pt;">
<h2 style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>TO GO TO THE HOMEPAGE<a href="http://completethecirclenovel.blogspot.com/2013_02_01_archive.html"> - CLICK HERE.</a></i></span></h2>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 32pt;">Chapter 18<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="border-top: solid black 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 1.0pt 0cm 0cm 0cm;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 0cm 0cm 0cm; padding: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘I’m sure, Deanne, with all that equipment in your laboratory, you
could have both baseball caps examined in minute detail under an electron
microscope or something and prove they’re exactly the same,’ said David Lutman
confidently.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Certainly her labs
could prove they were the same, she thought, but even so, it looked abundantly
clear that he was telling the truth. <i>‘I’m
sorry...’</i> she said sadly, <i>‘I’m so sorry to have doubted you…’</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">He leaned down and hugged her very tightly, taking the caps from
her hand, throwing them onto the floor, and then gently pulling her to her
feet. She then went to the bedroom to retrieve a box of handkerchiefs. Lutman
followed her, and they sat together on the bed as she wiped her nose. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Now, Lutman believed, was the right time to tell the full story.
He explained to her how it all began with meeting his future self, and that this
future David Lutman told him that he would meet his wife one year into the
future. And that his double disappeared into a small, faint circular glowing
hole that had grown big enough for him to jump into before explaining anything
properly. He described the clothes he had been wearing, and then told her about
the baseball cap that he had left behind.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘But why would you want to wear my clothes?’ Deanne asked
curiously.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘I’ve really no idea! For what I remember though, they didn’t look
small, just a bit silly.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">He then told her about booking the holiday as a result of his
future self’s advice; his ‘relationship’ with Claudia, and their accidental
meeting in the clothes shop. He decided to tell her about the acrimonious
circumstances that surrounded his departure from the tour, and in doing so,
could feel a great burden of weight being lifted. Deanne initially looked at
him with slight mistrust, but before long any remaining doubts soon passed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Under the same circumstances,</span></i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"> she thought, she would
probably have done exactly the same thing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘I’m so sorry I snapped at you,’ she sniffed, ‘I’m afraid that’s
just one of my negative traits, I’m afraid. I can get really bitchy
occasionally. Perhaps that’s really why I frightened off all the other
Englishmen!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘It’s okay, Deanne, it’s okay.’ He put
his arm around her. ‘Even now,’ he added, ‘what’s happened to me so far seems
so unreal, and so fast.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Yeah, it’s still incredible to take in. But nobody’s going to
believe it or us. Maybe, after I examine the two caps extremely closely, then
that might give us all the evidence we need. God though, the implications of
all this… it’s either so fantastic… or so… so…<i>frightening</i>, even.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Frightening?’ said Lutman in disbelief. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘It’ll completely revolutionize scientific thinking or complete
destroy it… David, we have to go and check those caps!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Lutman looked at her
wearily. He now felt that he had had enough excitement for one day. ‘Deanne,
can it wait until tomorrow? It’s dark, we’ve come a long way, and I’m rather
tired.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘But this is the potentially the biggest thing –’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘I’ve been living with this biggest thing for the past six weeks
or so, and I’d like a break from it for just one moment. Please.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Deanne smiled. ‘Okay. We’ll leave it ‘til tomorrow.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Thank you.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Now kiss me please.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘So David,’ said Deanne, smiling, as they prepared to settle down
for the evening, ‘after only, what, knowing me for just over twenty-four hours
or so, are you now going to ask me to marry you?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Um…’ Her question took him by surprise. ‘Well, after what you’ve
just been through, I don’t really know if I should. But…’ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">He placed his hand onto hers. ‘Every ounce of my being tells me
you’re going to be my wife and I… well, as you say, it’s only twenty-four
hours, but in that time I’ve never felt so happy, so at ease with myself, so
content to be with you. Deanne, you’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever met.
Really, I mean it. But I may have unwittingly dragged you into something you
would’ve never imagined.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘I think you’ve already done so,’ she smiled, ‘but now life's
never sounded quite so exciting. I’m now shaking with all the possibilities!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Yeah, well, believe me, it does kind of wear you out after a
while.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Deanne took a deep breath. ‘Hmmm. Tell me David, have you ever
heard of Steven Hawking?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Of course I have. He’s the physicist in the wheelchair. A
brilliant guy. He wrote that book ‘A Brief History of Time’. Why do you ask?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Well, Hawking himself doesn’t believe in time travel as such. He
believes that nature will always contrive a way to ensure time travel can, in
fact, never occur. But if it did, he suggested a so-called chronology
protection conjecture, or, if you like, some kind of cosmic censor. Something
that butts in to prevent a paradox.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘I am a bit ignorant about all this,’ Lutman admitted, ‘so what do
you mean exactly by a paradox?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘These are facts or qualities that seem to contradict each other.
It’s something very popular in sci-fi circles, and the very idea is itself used
as overwhelming proof that you cannot travel back in time. Basically, if you had the chance to go back
in time and kill your own grandfather before your mom or dad have the chance to
be conceived, then what would happen to you? Do you simply disappear as a
result?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Lutman shook his head and shrugged. ‘I really don’t know.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Well, according to Hawking, the cosmic censor will ensure it’ll
never happen. If you try to kill your grandfather, then the censor will ensure
that the man you kill is not your grandfather, or any serious injury he
sustains as a result of your attack will still result in some kind of
miraculous recovery to ensure that you will be born in the future.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘I remember reading something about that on the internet,’ admitted
Lutman, ‘although I’d be lying if I said I understood it all. Anyway, I’ve made
it, I’m here, and my future self has done his job. I’ve met the girl of my
dreams and I can now relax and be by her side, right next to her, to touch, to
feel, to enjoy!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">He wrapped both his arms around her and they flopped onto the bed.
He was just about to kiss her when she put her hand across his lips. ‘What did
you just say?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Er… that I’m going to meet my wife, and, erm, well…’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Hey now, wait a minute – not so fast!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Lutman took his arms away from her
shoulders. ‘Why?’ he asked, puzzled.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Are you certain it’s really going to be me? <i>To touch, to feel, to enjoy. </i>Isn’t that what you’re really saying?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Oh, sorry Deanne, that was erm, a little out of line,’ he said ruefully.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘And that I’m going to be your wife? That’s a bit presumptuous,
isn’t it, in such a short space of time?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Lutman straightened up. ‘But Deanne, I’ve never felt so sure in my
life! And you just asked me…’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Do you know how I really feel about this?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">He paused for a second. ‘I don’t. How do you feel about me?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘I’m a scientist, David, remember? Don’t you think that it would
be very presumptuous on my part to say I’ve met Mr. Right within the space of a
day!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Lutman stood up, feeling he was being playfully wound up. ‘So how
am I really going to know if you are her? I mean, every ounce of my being tells
me it’s you, and from what I’ve seen, you certainly feel the same way about me!
I mean, look at the baseball cap –’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Hey,’ she smiled, ‘it still doesn’t mean to say I’m the one. This
could be another link in that long chain of events you described that may lead
you to meeting another woman, who will then set you on a course to make that
journey into the past to tell you to do all this!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Making that journey? If you're the one, than surely that’s not
necessary now… is it?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘But what makes you think you’ve finished? How do you know the
journey isn’t only just beginning?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Now confused, Lutman did not have an answer. But he knew she had
by the tone of her voice.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Look David, Just because you’ve found me now doesn’t mean to say
I’m suddenly going to produce a time machine out of the wardrobe. You’re going
to have to help me, you know.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘But how? I’m not a scientist!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Deanne stood up. ‘Listen to me, David,’ she said firmly, ‘you’ve
got to continue this journey for two reasons. First, to ensure the timelines are
not going to be affected. You’ve got to complete this journey properly
otherwise... we may face consequences we don’t know or yet understand in
physics. You are the first true piece of evidence that a journey through time
has been successfully completed… once I’ve completed analysis of that baseball
cap. Look David. As I see it, your future self has made a deliberate journey
into the past to give you a message.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Yes, that I’m to meet my future wife.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Well, in a manner of speaking, okay. But what he’s essentially
done is to tell you that time travel has been invented and that you are going
to be the catalyst in getting it invented.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Lutman was bemused. ‘Did he? You know, I’m now getting very lost
in this conversation. And what was that second reason?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Unless you continue that journey, you will <i>never</i> know if you have truly met Mrs. Right. You can meet any girl
you like and hope she’s the one based on the rather limited information you
already know and have about your future. But the only way you’ll be certain is
to find the girl that leads to the machine being built in order to make the
journey. She doesn’t necessarily have to be the one who builds the thing. She
may have contacts. She may do something accidentally. She could do anything
that sets off the chain of events leading to your future appearance!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Lutman really was not certain that he fully understood what Deanne
had been saying, but he quickly added: ‘But I’ve found you. All the pieces fit
in place. You’re a physicist. You’re interested in why I’m here, with you,
today! Otherwise it’s all a pretty remarkable coincidence, isn’t it?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Look, if I marry you, I may still divorce you the following week.
A lot of Americans do that, you know. You’ll still be none the wiser. Think
about it David. Forget the technical bits and think about the plausabilities.
How do you think <i>you</i> would manage to
make that journey into your past?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘I really don’t know. Maybe I built the time machine, which is
unlikely, or maybe… I will bump into someone who happened to have such a thing.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Do you know anyone who owns a time machine?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Of course not!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘But you presume you’ll meet someone who has, okay?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Well… maybe.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Do I have one?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘From what you’ve told me so far, and from I’ve tried to
understand, I don’t think so.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘And you seriously think someone's going to come to you with a
machine, right?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘I don’t know Deanne,’ Lutman said impatiently, ‘all right, so
maybe I’m going to build the thing after all!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Do you know how to?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Of course I don’t!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Deanne looked into his eyes and spoke softly. ‘Well, you’re right
about one thing. Yes, by a nice coincidence or by a twist of fate, or by the
way all the pieces of this puzzle are trying to fit together, I not only know
about the theories about how black holes may be the answer, but I just happen
to understand the theories that could build a time machine!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">At this, Lutman went silent for a moment before asking, ‘so can
you build one?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Not on my own, no.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Lutman’s shoulders dropped. ‘Great.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘So are you going to marry me David?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘What?’<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Are you going to marry me?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘I er…’ Every ounce of his being said
yes, but he could not get that particular word out of his system. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Sensing his sudden discomfort, Deanne continued. ‘The fact is,
David, in order to ensure time travel does get invented, your future self told
you you’re going to meet your wife during your particular holiday. This has
filled you with an irresistible compulsion to find some woman who may, or may
not turn out to be, a physicist.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Look Deanne, I’m getting rather little lost here. This whole
thing’s rather bewildering.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘So bear with me a little longer. As I said to you, you're the
catalyst in getting this time machine or whatever invented. You have
unwittingly become part of a pre-destination paradox – something that you’re
meant to do. This is another extra component in the cogs that have been set into
motion in getting this time machine built in order to send you, back in time,
to tell yourself to do it all over again, and thus completing what will be a
never ending circle, and as a result avoiding another kind of paradox – with or
without disastrous consequences!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Lutman looked at one of the bedroom walls, now very perplexed. ‘So
you’re saying I do have to build a time machine, then?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Not necessarily, but somewhere on the way you’ll be involved.
You’ll either meet someone who has done so, or someone who’ll be involved in
the project of constructing the thing.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘But you said you knew how to build one, with help.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Yes, but even so it still might not be me. I might only furnish you
with all the ideas that are the first stage in building a time machine. As I
said, I might not even end up as your wife. You may meet some mad scientist next
month who’ll be happy to put some of my theories into practice, and meet his
equally crazy daughter and fall in love with her. Either way, you have to do
something to ensure this event is going to happen.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘And what if I don’t? You said there would be dire consequences!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘<i>Could</i> be. Well, many
things might happen. We may not get married. You may not meet your wife here.
It’s possible you may never marry and the pieces to the puzzle may disappear
for ever, and you never get to travel in time and never meet yourself in the
past. You might, as a result, cause a paradox disruption which could lead to potentially
devastating consequences!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Jesus,’ Lutman blew hard. ‘That sounds a bit strong. What do you
mean by that? What devastating consequences are you on about?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Who knows? On the one hand, it could mean absolutely nothing at
all will happen, but on the other… the end of the universe, perhaps?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Lutman laughed. ‘And I thought I was the one who was supposed to
sound geeky! Erm… yeah, but we don’t know that! Come on, the end of the
universe? That is surely pure science fiction! This whole thing is now beginning
to sound like some pretty awful sci-fi story!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘So tell me, was what happened to you pure fiction?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Lutman shook his head. ‘I… suppose not…’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘And what is Dzizzy-R?’ she added.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘What?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘What’s Dzissy-R – or DCCR? You said he shouted this at you before
he went back into that cloud.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘I don’t know. Really, I have no idea. I’ve been trying to find
out and everything.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Do you want to marry me?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">He paused.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Still shy, I see. Do you really feel that this is the end of your
journey?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Lutman looked down, and then up. He
always had this gut feeling that there would be more to come in this crazy
adventure. Deanne had simply confirmed it. ‘No,’ he admitted.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Sit down.’ Deanne put her arms around him, and together they lay
back onto the bed. ‘If it’s any consolation to you, I too feel absolutely
certain you’re destined to marry me. And I can’t avoid it. Simply because,
since the day I first met you… god, that’s a silly thing to say, since <i>yesterday</i> when I first met you, I always
felt that you were going to be my husband. And now I know. My compulsion to be
with you is equally irresistible!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">She put his arms around him. ‘A pre-destination paradox. What will
happen, will happen. It’s unstoppable.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Exciting it all sounded, particularly
with the feeling of Deanne’s warm body holding him very tightly, Lutman really
felt he had enough of the time travel subject for now. ‘Look, I’m getting a
little hungry,’ he said softly, ‘is there a nice restaurant near here?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Yeah, but don’t you want to eat here?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Well, if I’m going to ask you to marry me, I’d like to do it
properly regardless of whether some time machine, paradox, projection…
conjecture thing or whatever makes me do so.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">She beamed, and then kissed him. ‘Of course darling! And I’m sorry
for being so upset a few moments ago. But you have to bear this in mind. I’ll
marry you only on the one condition.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘And what’s that?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">She smiled broadly. ‘You’ll help me towards this time machine!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">There may have been one huge weight
already lifted off his shoulders, but he began to feel that it had now been
replaced by another one. ‘Okay,’ he said quietly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">He then suddenly remembered the caps, ‘Deanne, what does ‘DJC’
stand for?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Deanne Jane Clarkson.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Ah, I see. I understand. And what happened to the Mickey Mouse
bag?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Now in the hands of my friend’s niece. But I’m sure she’d let us
borrow it for a couple of days, if it turns out we need it! Okay David. Look,
get the rest of your stuff unpacked. As you already said, it’s been a long day.
I’m tired too and would like to get cleaned up and get some sleep. Let’s leave
it now till tomorrow. We’ll go to the labs then.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Sure. Oh, by the way, why did you write ‘I WANT THIS TO BE </span><st1:stockticker><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">TRUE</span></st1:stockticker><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">’?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Isn’t it obvious why?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Stupid of me to ask, I suppose.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Just a little, but I forgive you.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Deanne?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Yes, David?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘If I help you towards building the time machine, will you marry
me?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Deanne leaped up into the air. ‘YES! I will! I’ll marry you!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;">They kissed long and passionately, remaining on and in the bed
until the first rays of morning sunshine seeped through the window shutters.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt; text-indent: 36pt;"><a href="http://completethecirclenovel.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/complete-circle-chapter-19.html">Chapter 19 ></a></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304290220531518030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4617942940432918480.post-33159327205667436542013-06-03T23:08:00.000+02:002013-08-16T18:06:06.897+02:00COMPLETE THE CIRCLE - Chapter 17<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<h2 style="text-align: center; text-indent: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>TO GO TO THE HOMEPAGE<a href="http://completethecirclenovel.blogspot.com/2013_02_01_archive.html"> - CLICK HERE.</a></i></span></h2>
<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 32.0pt;">Chapter 17<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="border-top: solid black 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 1.0pt 0cm 0cm 0cm;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 0cm 0cm 0cm; padding: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">It
was early evening when the rocks, forests and deserts of </span><st1:state><st1:place><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">Arizona</span></st1:place></st1:state><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;"> finally gave way to
the urban sprawl that was the </span><st1:city><st1:place><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">Phoenix</span></st1:place></st1:city><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;"> suburbs. The traffic
on I-17 increased accordingly. But conversation had all but ceased between David
Lutman and Deanne Clarkson except for when he wanted to check with her that
they were on the right highway and whether she wanted further breaks, which she
did not. For Lutman, this silence was worrying: she was unhappy with him for
some reason, and he did not know why. She did lighten up slightly when they
approached Fountain Hills. Even so, this joy was muted.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">Her
home was a small apartment that was located on the second floor of a
three-storey block in a quiet corner of the town. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">As
she opened the door, she barked instructions to Lutman to dump her bag onto the
floor and to put his into the spare room. He went inside and she followed. This
room, which had been kept in immaculate condition, acted as her office and
storage facility. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">Deanne
immediately made for a large trunk in the corner that sat on the floor. It was
next to a desk which was surrounded by shelves of countless text books. She
opened it. Inside the trunk was all manner of clothing: tee-shirts, blouses,
skirts, shorts, all of which had not been worn for some time. After a few
seconds sifting, she pulled out a tee-shirt and a pair of shorts, and held them
in clear view of Lutman, clearly intending him to see them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">He
gasped. They were exactly the tee-shirt and shorts that he had described to her
earlier.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘Come
with me,’ she said curtly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">They
walked into a bright white bedroom that contained a king-size bed and four sets
of wardrobes, one of which was clearly quite old. Deanne opened it. She went
through one of the shelves, and hidden among the gloves and scarves was that
day-glow green baseball cap. And those letters,<i> DJC</i>. She took it out and held it in front of him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘Oh my God,’</span></i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;"> he murmured.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘Is
<i>this</i> the baseball cap?’ she snapped.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘Oh
my God,’ he repeated, shocked. ‘It <i>is</i>.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">He
put his hand out to take it but Deanne swiftly pulled it away. ‘Tell me, David,
honestly and truthfully,’ she said grimly, ‘who was this traveller? <i>Was it you?’</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">He
hesitated. Was what he was going to say next going to be the right thing? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">But
Deanne was not going to gave him time to ponder about that. <i>‘David!’</i> she
screamed, <i>‘Tell me, for God’s sake!’</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘Yes,’</span></i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;"> he said, very quietly. ‘It was
me.’ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<i><span lang="EN-GB" style="color: olive; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span></i><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘Oh. My. GOD!’ </span></i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">She stood back, laughing in
disbelief. ‘I gotta think,’ she said to the wardrobe.<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: olive; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">She paced up and down the room three
times, and stopped again, then looked at Lutman disbelievingly. <i>‘You?’<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">He
nodded nervously, staring at her, hoping for a change in her expression. But her
beautiful, beaming, cheerfulness had totally disappeared. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘All
right Buster,’ she said brusquely, ‘how did you know about my clothes?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">Lutman
stared at her, suddenly numbed at the question. ‘I told you, I –’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;"> ‘I haven’t touched these clothes in <i>years</i>!’ she yelled. ‘I haven’t worn them since… since… <i>shit</i>, there’s no way you could’ve seen
me wearing them… unless you’re not who you say you are.’ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">She
took both garments in her right hand and thrust them in front of his face. ‘So
when and how the hell did you sneak into my apartment to check what I had? Have
you been rummaging around my things? And did you get some kind of perverted
enjoyment out of that?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">Utter
bewilderment was now sweeping in. <i>‘Deanne!?’</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘And
to cap it all you managed to get your ultimate prize – me, and successfully got
me into bed?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘Now
wait a moment, Deanne,’ Lutman quickly blurted, ‘you’ve well and truly jumping
to conclusions!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">She
shook her head in disgust. ‘Oh yes. I am. And you, traveling through time…
stupid, childish, nerdy little story. Really should have recognised you were
one of those nerdy, geeky, sci-fi single types. Couldn’t you really have come
up with something a little more original as an excuse to shag me?’ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘What?! Deanne! –’ </span></i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">That comment unsettled
him. That was, in his mind, below the belt.<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">She
began sobbing, her voice full of outrage. ‘<i>Don’t
you Deanne me</i>! I was hoping you had some kind of explanation but clearly
you don’t. You can pick up your bag again right now and get right out of my
apartment!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;"> ‘I haven’t
done anything!’</span></i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;"> Lutman knew he had to somehow fight his corner. ‘Look, for goodness
sake, what the hell would I’ve gained by telling you I saw your clothes?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;"> But Deanne Clarkson was no longer interested. ‘<i>And to think for some stupid reason I fell
for you!</i> The moment I saw you in the store, I… an <i>Englishman!</i> A perfect gentleman! It was all going to be so
wonderful! And I wanted to be so much with you and now I’ve been such a… such
a… an idiot!’ She became almost distraught. <i>‘Why
the hell did you do this to me? Why did you take such advantage of me?’</i> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">And
then she slowly sat down on the end of her bed, the mental and physical energy
used to express her anger and exasperation leaving her exhausted. She still
wanted to shout at him, to tell him what an utter bastard he was, but the words
were struggling to come out. Her tears were uncontrollable. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;"> Still staggered by her reaction, Lutman tried to think. <i>This wasn’t fair! Talk about jumping to
conclusions! </i>He now seriously believed he was about to lose this beautiful
girl. <i>And everything else will just simply, surely, fall apart…<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="color: olive; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">And then a thought struck him. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">After
collecting some kind of composure, he began. ‘Deanne, please, I have to show
you something – something that should help prove I did not and have never been
through your clothes!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">Although
she continued to ignore him, Lutman made up his mind that things could not get
any worse. There was nothing to lose.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">He
sat down next to her and put his arms around her, expecting to be shaken off
violently and receiving a torrent of abuse. To his surprise she did not. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘Deanne,’
he said slowly and softly, ‘come on, listen to me. What would I have hoped to
have gained by telling you all this? I could’ve just kept completely quiet, you
wouldn’t have been any the wiser, and we would’ve still lived happily ever
after! Look, I have to show you something.’ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">He
got up, opened his bag, and took out the baseball cap. The very same baseball
cap she had shown him. A little dirtier than hers, but it was the same. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">She
reluctantly looked up, and then stared at it. ‘Oh <i>God</i>,’ she sniffed quietly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘Deanne,’
said Lutman firmly, ‘show me your baseball cap, please.’ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">She
handed him the cap and he looked inside for the black biro lettering. It was
not there. He had expected this, but was then not sure what to do next. Deanne
looked up at him, wanting to believe him, but she could not accept what he had
told her so far. It all just defied reason. ‘You could’ve course have just gone
down to the store and had an identical baseball cap made up,’ she said with a
hint of derision.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;"> And then, more in desperation than inspiration, he came up
with an idea that, to him, seemed logical. Plus, as far as he was concerned,
this would surely prove his innocence and his story once and for all. ‘Listen to me, Deanne,’ he said to her
quietly, ‘and listen carefully. I want you to find something to write with, and
then I want you to write a message anywhere inside your cap. You can write
anything you like – as big or as small, as short or as long as you’d like it.
Do it out of my sight, but do it where you can still see me.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Deanne looked at him incredulously.</span><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;"> ‘What?’<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘Deanne,
I’m serious. This will prove everything I’ve told you.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"> She looked at him still doubtfully, but
having regained some of her composure, took her cap. She got up and grabbed a
pen from one of the many drawers and left the room. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Okay. I’m game. But you wait there,’ she told him bluntly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘But one more thing,’ Lutman quickly added, ‘I’m going to put my
baseball cap on my head, so you can see there’s no way I can affect what’s
going to happen next. Now, I’m going to turn my back away from you and put my
hands behind my back. You write whatever you want to write in your cap, and at
the same time you can keep an eye on me to make sure I’m doing nothing stupid.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘All right,’ she said suspiciously from across the room.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">She sat on the wooden living room floor next to the large green
sofa. She fixed her gaze firmly and distrustfully at Lutman, and then she
studied the inside of the baseball cap. She slowly but carefully wrote
something inside, every two seconds looking across at the spare room. His arms
were clearly fixed behind his back, and there was no way he could see what she
was doing, or that he could do anything suspicious. He could only hear her
shuffling, but, significantly, he also heard a little tearing of stitches.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"> It was five minutes before she was
ready. ‘Okay, that’s done. Now what?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Okay, now don’t show me what you’ve written. I’m going to take
off my cap and show you exactly what’s inside mine.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">He walked into the living room and held out his cap. Deanne placed
her cap on her lap and took his. She looked inside. Her eyes widened as she
examined it very carefully. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Then her face turned white. She picked up her cap and looked inside.
Then she looked again into Lutman’s, and then exchanged each cap from lap to
floor, from right to left hand. Her breathing was noticeably faster. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Oh my God…’</span></i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">She kept looking at both caps several times in both hands. She
could not believe what she was seeing. She was about to ask him how he did it,
but she knew there was no way he could have known. Despite the slight sweat
marks, there, written in exactly the same block handwriting style in the very
same white lining where she had torn the stitches away, and in the very same
size and lengths, and with the very same ink smudges, were the very same words:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">I WANT THIS TO BE </span></i><st1:stockticker><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">TRUE</span></i></st1:stockticker><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">.<o:p></o:p></span></i><br />
<i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></i>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="http://completethecirclenovel.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/complete-circle-chapter-18.html">Chapter 18 ></a></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304290220531518030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4617942940432918480.post-35545060889886320992013-05-22T09:37:00.000+02:002013-08-16T18:05:14.443+02:00COMPLETE THE CIRCLE - Chapter 16<br />
<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>TO GO TO THE HOMEPAGE<a href="http://completethecirclenovel.blogspot.com/2013_02_01_archive.html"> - CLICK HERE.</a></i></span></h2>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right; text-indent: 36pt;">
<br />
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 32.0pt;">Chapter 16<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="border-top: solid black 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 1.0pt 0cm 0cm 0cm;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 0cm 0cm 0cm; padding: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">It
was not until they joined Interstate 40 that David Lutman finally began to
relax. That need to be with Deanne had now overwhelmed him to the point that he
firmly believed that, even if the circumstances had been different and that he
had entered into a relationship with Claudia, he would have still done the
same thing. Deanne had made his decision so much easier to handle, although he
felt he would have to keep the truth of what happened that morning to himself
for the time being.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">If
not forever.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">Deanne was smiling, and when not focusing on her driving, looking
at him dreamily. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">Although
it was well into the second half of October, the temperatures were in the high
twenties. They drove to the sounds of Pink Floyd, REM, The Flaming Lips,
Radiohead and some obscure American band Lutman had never heard of. Not that he
cared. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">They
spoke very little for the first hour, the desert scenery unfailing in its
fascination and beauty. When they were just short of </span><st1:city><st1:place><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">Flagstaff</span></st1:place></st1:city><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">, Deanne decided a
break was needed and pulled into a service area. She was still quite keen to
get back to </span><st1:city><st1:place><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">Phoenix</span></st1:place></st1:city><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">, and so suggested they went for
something fast foodish. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">As they settled down inside the half-empty restaurant to
enjoy their burgers and fries, Lutman felt confident and relaxed enough to attempt
to ascertain how she might be connected with his future. ‘Deanne, I hope this
doesn’t sound like a stupid question, but what do you think of the idea of time
travel?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">She
sipped her coke and smiled. ‘You getting geeky? That’s a strange topic to
suddenly bring up now! Why do you ask?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘Well,
you’re a physicist, so you’re probably the ideal person to ask. It’s just one
of those things that, well, I’m… just a little curious about.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘Just
a little?’ she giggled, before adding, ‘you know, it’s actually kind of funny
you mentioning that.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">She
took another sip. ‘What I do could be said to be connected with that subject
but in an indirect kind of way. But this thing, well, it’s all just theory at
the moment.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘And
what’s this thing?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘Well,
you heard of black holes?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘Er…
aren’t they large stars that’ve collapsed under their own gravitational pull or
something?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘Very
good! To be exact, it’s what we call the area of space around a dead, collapsed
star, from which not even light can escape.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">Lutman
was intrigued. ‘So what’s the connection with time travel?’ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘Well,’
she began, ‘In my work I study quantum theory. I won’t try to explain that to
you, as I can see you’re already pulling a face!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">Lutman smiled and unconvincingly tried to feign innocence.
Deanne lent forward, whispering. ‘I believe it is genuinely possible to fall
into a black hole, certain, swirling, black holes, into which you wouldn’t be
crushed into something so infinitesimally flat. I believe that you would, in
fact, enter a tunnel – or a bridge if you like – between two universes, and
you’d come out of the other side. Now this other side could be one of three
things.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">Her
enthusiasm for this subject was clear as she continued. ‘The most popular
belief amongst scientists is that one could use it to travel into another part
of our existing universe. Another is you could end up in a parallel universe –
a universe similar to ours in every way, where another you, and another me,
exists, but where, for example, you made the decision not to join me here but
opted to stay with your group in Las Vegas. Or, perhaps even more interesting,
travel into another time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘This
bridge that links these two universes of another place, another dimension,
another time, whatever, we call a wormhole, or stargate. Now, this phenomenon
doesn’t only work out there in space where these black holes are very big, but
they also occur at a quantum level too.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">Lutman
looked at her puzzlingly. ‘You’ve mentioned that word quantum again. What do
you mean by a quantum level?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘It’s
the study of things that are the total opposite of very, very, big!’ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">“…right,’
Lutman grinned.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘Okay, now, just to give you some context, within this restaurant,
outside, in the United States, in Britain, over the oceans, in the Arctic,
everywhere around us, there are in fact countless fantastically minute
wormholes all around us, an infinite number of them, all forming and decaying
all the time within microseconds. Because they’re so small and their existence
is so brief, we obviously don’t notice them.’ She paused to allow him to absorb
this information, although she was not entirely convinced he had understood
anything.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘Okay…
I think I’m with you so far…’ Lutman said cautiously. He was not entirely
convinced he had understood everything, either.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘Now
I believe that if we’re able to capture and harness the power of one of these
wormholes, and have the capability to keep it open, then it can take you to another
point in time and space. The technology, the complexities, the known knowledge
of physics, however, is extreme, but plausible. As I say, there are billions of
these wormholes, and if you’re able to hold one open, great, but it’d be very
unstable. If it’s allowed to collapse, it could have catastrophic consequences
for both ends of the bridge – there, and here. But if you’re able to capture
one and, if you’re able to keep it stable and hold such a wormhole open, then
where would you go? Somewhere else on the Earth or in the middle of another
galaxy? Maybe to another universe where you are in fact the scientist and I am
the girl who’s running away with you? Is there some way of knowing beforehand? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘David,
I believe I know. You see, most, if not all of the more stable wormholes
occurring here are, in fact, the ones that lead you to another time on this
planet…’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">Lutman’s
heart skipped a beat. <i>Lead you to another time on this planet.</i> ‘How can
you be certain?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘Let
me finish. The ones that are the most unstable are the ones that can lead you
to those parallel universes. The ones that fall in the middle are the ones for
traveling interstellar distances. But, unfortunately, it’s all only theory and
frankly, and despite support from my father and a few eminent folk, there’s no
way anybody with the vast amounts of money or influence is going to be
interested in helping me fund and complete my research into this. And as for
the technology involved… well, I wrote a thesis on wormholes which got a few
people’s attention, but apart from that, and the few months after when I was
taking it seriously, I eventually gave it up.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘But
you said you were doing this in an indirect way.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘Indirect
is right. I’ve got lots of lovely complicated kit in the lab for quantum
studies, but not in that particular field.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">Lutman
took another sip of coke. He felt certain he had found the next few pieces of
his puzzle.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">Deanne
felt confident enough to let the Englishman take the wheel, at least until they
reached the suburbs of </span><st1:city><st1:place><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">Phoenix</span></st1:place></st1:city><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">As
he started the engine, Lutman felt confident enough to ask <i>the</i> question. ‘Deanne, I know you think I’m going to sound crazy,
but what if I were to tell you that I’d met someone who claimed to come from
the future?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">Deanne
laughed. ‘You know, I’ve read hundreds of accounts from people claiming they’ve
done just that. Even people who’ve claimed to have built machines to do it.
It’s all just total crap. Look, David, the fact is, we’re many years away,
perhaps hundreds, from getting anywhere near that level of technology, so your
comments have to be treated with extreme skepticism, particularly from me.
C’mon, let’s go.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">The
car slowly inched forward. ‘Deanne,’ said Lutman slowly, ‘I just want you to
humor me for a moment. This person claimed he came from the future. This was
about seven weeks ago. When he arrived, he said he’d just made the journey from
a short time into the future.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">He
paused for a reaction. She smiled, but nodded slowly, so Lutman felt safe to
continue. ‘Let me tell you what he was wearing. He was wearing a pink tee shirt
with a picture of the </span><st1:place><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">Grand Canyon</span></st1:place><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;"> on the front that included the
words, <i>I hiked the </i></span><st1:place><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">Grand Canyon</span></i></st1:place><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">, and there were further words on
his back saying, <i>I’m lying</i>.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">Then
to his surprise Deanne suddenly turned and glared at him. ‘Really? What else
was he wearing?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘He
was wearing a day-glow green baseball cap with the letters ‘DJC’ on it, a pair
of green shorts tied with a black cord, and a small blue waist bag with Mickey
Mouse on the front. He also shouted Dzizzy-R or something like that at me.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘Stop
the car!’ she shouted, ‘I want you to repeat what you just told me!’ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">Lutman
quickly put the car on the shoulder. This was a reaction he did not expect. ‘Well,
I said it was about seven weeks ago –’ he began.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘The
<i>clothes</i>! What did you say he was wearing?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘I
said he was wearing a pink tee shirt with a picture of the </span><st1:place><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">Grand Canyon</span></st1:place><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;"> and <i>I hiked the </i></span><st1:place><i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">Grand Canyon</span></i></st1:place><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;"> on the front, and further words
on his back saying <i>I’m lying</i>. And a
day-glow green baseball cap with ‘DJC’, a pair of green shorts and a small blue
waist bag with Mickey Mouse on the front.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">Deanne
went completely silent for a moment, and then said with a tone that expressed
astonishment, shock and disbelief: ‘Oh. My. God. David, keep driving. Get me to
</span><st1:city><st1:place><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">Phoenix</span></st1:place></st1:city><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;"> as quickly as possible. I have to
check a few things.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘What
is it, Deanne?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">Her
response was curt and abrupt. ‘Just drive, please.’<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="http://completethecirclenovel.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/complete-circle-chapter-17.html">Chapter 17 ></a></span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304290220531518030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4617942940432918480.post-58449777687398962842013-05-17T19:48:00.001+02:002013-08-16T18:03:39.625+02:00COMPLETE THE CIRCLE - Chapter 15<h2 style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><i>TO GO TO THE HOMEPAGE<a href="http://completethecirclenovel.blogspot.com/2013_02_01_archive.html"> - CLICK HERE.</a></i></span></h2>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 32.0pt;">Chapter 15<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="border-top: solid black 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 1.0pt 0cm 0cm 0cm;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 0cm 0cm 0cm; padding: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">After
consummating their relationship that night, David Lutman and Deanne Clarkson talked
well into the early hours. He felt as though all his inhibitions, all his
emotional baggage, all his senses of frustration had finally been released, and
he had no hesitation in expressing all his innermost feelings about her. He
wanted her life to become part of his. He wanted to remain with her and abandon
the trek. She added that there was no further reason for them to remain in </span><st1:city><st1:place><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">Las Vegas</span></st1:place></st1:city><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">; they could disappear
together almost immediately and go back to </span><st1:city><st1:place><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">Phoenix</span></st1:place></st1:city><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">. So he emerged from
her room at six to make his way back to his hotel to collect his belongings. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">Despite the fact it was still early, the city remained a hive of frenzied activity. Aware that
he still had to sign the necessary resignation documents from the trek, he
rehearsed what he would have to say to Janet. He had tried to contact her, but
the battery in his phone was flat; he had no charger handy and he did not
remember any of the group’s cellphone numbers. He prayed that he would not bump
into any of them: he would just walk into the hotel, grab his things, inform
Janet of his resignation from the tour, and then get out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">Although
he was walking quickly along the strip, Lutman would still occasionally pause
to peer through the countless casino windows, all of which seemed to be raking
in just as much business as they had been doing a few hours earlier. He glanced
at the individuals who still seemed happy to fritter their fortunes and their
lives away. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;"> But now he could not help but feel he had just done
something similar; his guilt complex was now telling him that he just been
disloyal to Claudia, even though it had been by no means certain that they had
a relationship that would have blossomed into something more serious. The only
thing that had stopped him from feeling outright regret was his conviction that
splitting – if indeed, it was a split - was the absolutely right decision.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">The
<i>Brown Sands Tapestry</i> was now right in
front of him. Lutman took a deep breath and prayed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 36pt;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">There
were many worried faces at breakfast in the hotel/casino restaurant that
morning. When Jeannie was pressed by Janet, she would only reveal that ‘David ‘went
somewhere’, but did not know where. She had expected him to be back that same
evening. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">Claudia,
looking totally exhausted and virtually in tears, was the last to join them in
the restaurant. She had spent her night worrying and waking an increasingly irritated
Marcus to check if his room mate had returned. She had tried calling Lutman’s
cellphone often, but it was always switched off.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">Janet
was now sufficiently worried enough to call the police. She stood up from her
half-eaten breakfast and left the dining room, saying nothing. She was just
about to make for her private office when she spotted him heading towards the
stairs. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘David!’<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">Claudia
suddenly stood up sharply. She pushed her chair aside, squeezed her way past Kathrine
and Jeannie who were sitting in her way, and ran out of the restaurant. As soon
as she spotted him, she put her arms around him and held him as tightly as she
could. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">And
kissed him passionately.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">But
after a few seconds, she pulled away. She knew something was very wrong.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">Now
the rest of the group had emerged from the restaurant, alerted to the fact that
Lutman had not only arrived, but that trouble was also brewing. They stood
stock still at the pair, silent, staring with a sense of fascination and waiting
to see what was going to happen next.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;"> It was Claudia who spoke first. ‘David, what’s the matter?
And where have you been? I’ve been so worried… I’ve been so <i>scared</i>! Why didn’t you contact <i>me</i>?’ She put her arms around him again
and held him tight, hoping, even desperate for the response she craved. Tears were
streaming down her cheeks. ‘David, please, don’t you realise it? Haven’t you
realised how much I feel <i>towards</i> you?
I <i>love you, David, I love you</i>!’ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">Lutman
slowly put his arms around her, but did not hold her tightly. His expression
was one of anguish.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘I’m
so relieved you’re here,’ Claudia sniffed. ‘Please David, I don’t want you to
leave me I want you <i>with</i> me.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;"> Lutman closed his eyes. <i>Oh
God, no.</i> He had not expected to feel such intense regret. He had not
expected this kind of reaction or feeling at all. He, in all honesty, had not
expected her to have even fallen in love with him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">He
gently eased her arms away from his body, and took a small step back from her. She
squealed in disbelief. He looked into her reddened eyes and then turned to his uninvited
audience who had all remained disturbingly silent, waiting to see what was
going to happen next. They looked at him, clearly expecting the next move or
words to come from him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">Lutman
had not rehearsed for this scenario. He had convinced himself that all those
events that had taken place hours before had been so clear, so straight
forward; everything had been surely mapped out for him, and that everything
would just happen so naturally. He should not have bumped into Claudia. He should
not be standing in the middle of the lobby being the centre of attention in an
emotional drama. It should have been Janet, his group leader that he was
speaking to, confirming his departure, and that was going to be it. That <i>was
how it felt it was going to be.</i> Any actions, anything he said, would just
happen automatically. If anyone saw him, they would have been surely smiling, wishing
him good luck, but no. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">And
now he had to say something…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘Claudia…
everyone...’ Lutman’s voice was audibly quivering, struggling to find the right
words. ‘I have to leave you all. Today. And now. I can’t explain why, but I
have to go...’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">Then
Janet stepped forward, her expression one of both shock and disgust. ‘David,’
she said angrily, ‘why didn’t you call us and let us know you were going to be
out for so long last night? We’ve all been worried sick! I was just about to
get the cops in!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">The
imaginary hole that Lutman had now dug for himself was just getting deeper with
every second. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said unconvincingly, ‘but… I really can’t talk to
anyone. And now I have to go.’ He had to get out of the place, and fast. It was
all beginning to make him feel rather ill. ‘Janet, please do whatever’s
necessary to release me from the trek. <i>Please</i>!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">Claudia
could only stand there, in total shock. Kathrine glared hard at him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘Yes,
okay,’ said Janet wearily, ‘But I’d still appreciate some kind of explanation.
I think we all would. Just letting someone go like this without a proper
explanation doesn’t look good with my bosses or anyone else here.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;"> ‘Okay… sure,’ he said quietly. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">Now
the whole group glared at him. He just wanted to run. ‘Can we do it privately?
And now?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘All
right. Come with me.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘David!’
shouted Jeannie, ‘When are you going to tell us what the hell happened last
night?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘I’ll
tell you later,’ he said gloomily. He really did not want to speak to any of
them anymore.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘<i>David</i>?’ </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">Claudia began to cry
once more. ‘What’s happened to you? Why are you doing this? If you’re going
somewhere else, then please take me with you! I want to be with you! I love
you, <i>don’t you understand that?</i> I
love you David!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘Claudia...’ </span></i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">He was struggling to remain
composed. ‘I-I do like you very much. Over the past few days I’d really grown
very fond of you… I even began to fall in love with you, but I really, truly,
didn’t know you felt that way towards me... but… something’s happened.
Something that… well, if I tried to explain, you’d probably… oh God… but I
didn’t know. I really didn’t know you had truly fallen in love with me… you
have to believe me… and now it’s all too late… <i>it’s all too late…</i> oh
God…’ He looked down at the floor, shaking his head. His mind went blank. He no
longer knew what to do or say.<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">But
Claudia clung on to whatever hope she had left. ‘Tell me David, please. <i>Please.</i> What happened? Say something to
me, will you? What are you trying to do? Why are you doing this? I want us, you
and me, to be together! <i>Please!</i>’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘Oh
Claudia! <i>I’m so, so sorry…’</i> He went
up to her and hugged her. He no longer knew whether he was doing the right
thing… it was all going wrong again, just as it did back in </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">England</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">NO! Not again! You are doing the right thing! You are going to spend
the rest of your life with a girl who fell in love with you at first sight, and
which allowed you to release all your inhibitions, and to whom you made
passionate, unprotected love to last night…<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">His
voice faltered. <i>‘I’m so sorry but I
can’t…I can’t tell you… I have to leave you now… I have to leave you all.
Goodbye.’</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">Although
she had let him hold her, she then suddenly and forcibly removed his grip.
Raising her hand, she unleashed a slap on his face that was so ferocious the
force and pain sent him stumbling to the floor. <i>‘Go then if that’s what you want to do, you bastard! I never want to
see you ever again!’</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;"> Claudia was now inconsolable. Kathrine put her arm around her
and led her towards the stairs to their room. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">As
he was nursing a bright red mark on his cheek, Lutman watched them. He
desperately wanted to call out to Claudia. He wanted to explain everything. Absolutely
everything. The time travelling. The baseball cap… <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">But
he knew it was pointless. He could only sit there on the lobby floor, still not
having got up from the slap; his eyes were firmly fixed on her as she and
Kathrine slowly disappeared up the stairs and away from his sight, seemingly
for ever…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">Saying
nothing, Marcus, Raoul, Marianne, Cindy, Sylvie, and Andrea slowly followed:
nobody was in the mood to finish their breakfasts. Only Jeannie stayed put, and
she certainly was not smiling. In all that time a number of other hotel guests
had appeared, curious to see what all the commotion was all about. Many
remained, glaring at him, wondering what he was going to do next. They only started
to disappear when he finally got up, slowly and carefully, and glared back at
them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘You
didn’t do that very well, did ya?’ said Jeannie grimly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘No,’
said Lutman sadly, ‘I didn’t.’ He had thought the Caroline incident back home
in Hensfield was the most awful thing that he had been responsible for, but
this seemed to cap it all. He nearly decided there and then that the fates, the
supposed future that had been set out for him was simply not worth all this,
this pain, this misery that had been put upon him and others around him.
Claudia had found him first, she had fallen in love with him, and he should
have reciprocated. She was a lovely, genuine girl who would have made any man
very, very happy, including him. But he knew it was now too late.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">But
Doctor Deanne Clarkson…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">No. This is the right thing to do.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 36pt;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;"> Janet clearly did not really want to speak to David Lutman either.
As she gestured him to sit down in her tiny room/office, she opened a grey
metal cupboard next to her bed. She removed a box file, taking out a number of different
colored sheets of paper. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘So,
David,’ she began sternly, ‘this is the document that officially authorizes me
to release you from the trek.’ She put the sheets on the small table in front
of him and placed a ballpoint firmly onto the table. ‘Fill out your name and
date here, sign it at the bottom and I’ll do the rest. But it would help me
considerably with the paperwork if you were to tell me what on earth is going
on. I have to give my bosses some kind of explanation.’ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">Lutman
took a deep breath. ‘Janet,’ he began as he filled out the form, ‘I’m going to
ask you to keep to yourself what I’m going to say. Write it down for your
bosses if you must, but please don’t tell anybody in the group what happened…
with the exception of Jeannie, and even then only tell her when the trip’s
completely over. The bottom line is, well, I’ve met another girl. And I’m going
to stay here with her. I don’t want to go back to </span><st1:city><st1:place><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">Los Angeles</span></st1:place></st1:city><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;"> or to the group. I’m
not even going back to </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">England</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">. She’s no ordinary
girl. I’m convinced… well, let’s just say I truly <i>believe</i> she’s going to be my future. Don’t ask me why. It was hard
enough for me to… to…’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘To
tell Claudia,’ Janet finished. ‘Okay, look, at the end of the day, it’s your
decision. I’m not going to stick my nose into your business, and I don’t
particularly care, but the moment you sign this, I and <i>StatesTrek</i> are no longer responsible or liable for any further
actions you take.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">As
he passed the completed documentation to her across the table, she lent
forward. ‘I’ll be frank with you,’ she said firmly, lowering her voice. ‘Everybody,
including me, believes what you did was rash, irresponsible, and totally
upsetting. You’ve ruined everyone’s holiday. And as for poor Claudia… well, in
all my years of doing these treks, I’ve never seen anything like this! Okay,
I’ve seen relationships develop and end among individuals in my groups, but
never ending like that!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">She
sighed and shook her head. ‘I sincerely hope Claudia’s going to get over this
quickly,’ she said softly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘So
do I,’ said Lutman sadly, ‘I really do.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">But
Janet’s voice turned serious once more. ‘I suppose I should really be
exercising my right to have you thrown off this trip regardless, something I’ve
never had to do before. I’ve nearly done it for disruptive influences, and I
have to say you’ve well and truly crossed that particular line. So I suppose
you signing this at least saves me from taking such action.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;"> ‘Thank you, Janet,’ said Lutman solemnly. ‘And I’m really
sorry this has happened. As to whether I’m going to eternally regret this,
well, it may well be… a matter of time. Thing is, yeah, I do feel a right
bastard now. And if I were Claudia I’d certainly never understand what I’ve
just done. But I just find it… <i>sad</i>
that she didn’t really tell me she loved me up to that point – I’d have never,
ever, done what I did if <i>she’d have told
me before…</i>’ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">He
stopped, realizing that saying anything more would be pointless and irrelevant.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">He
then stood up and put his hand out, but Janet refused it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘Good
luck then on whatever you’re up to and whoever she is,’ she said coldly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘Well,
thanks. Up to a few minutes ago, it had been a lot of fun. At least I was
almost there right to the end.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘Yeah.
Now go. Please. And as quickly as you can. I don’t want to see you again.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 36pt;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">Once
Marcus had vacated the room, Lutman quickly packed up the remainder of his
things. Neither of them felt like being in the presence of the other. In fact,
none of the group was to be seen: it was though they had all decided to stay in
their rooms, out of sight, until he was well and truly gone, which suited him
fine. Then, making sure he was not spotted by anyone else, he ran to the hotel
lobby, checked out, and ran into the parking lot. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">To
his immense relief, Deanne was waiting in her dazzling, white Toyota Corolla,
motor running. Lutman opened the trunk to throw in his bags, then got inside.
He swiftly belted up and asked her to get going. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘Boy,
you’re in a hurry,’ she said, surprised at his haste, ‘any problems?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘Let’s
just say… well, I still have to get comfortable with the idea of what I’ve just
done.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;"> ‘Well, you are comfortable, aren’t you?’ She grabbed his
hand and held it tight. ‘We’re together now.’ She paused, before adding: ‘David,
look, I do hope everything was all right in there. Be honest with me, was
everything okay? Were there any problems getting yourself released from the
group?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">He
forced a smile. ‘Look Deanne, let’s have a change of scenery and then I’ll be
comfortable, relaxed, and very, very, happy.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;"> ‘Well,
okay, but…’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘Let’s
just say my trek leader was less than happy about me being absent this morning.
It seems I got everyone worried, and I do feel bad about that. That’s why I
look a little mopey.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">She
looked at his face. ‘I notice your cheek looks a little red.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;">‘Yeah,
erm, I accidentally opened a wardrobe door the wrong way while I was packing at
record speed.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;"> ‘Oh, okay then.’ She put the automatic gearbox into drive
and pulled out into the busy street. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;"> Only Jeannie saw them leave, peering through her room
window. ‘See ya, David,’ she said softly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;"> At
that moment there was a knock on her door. It was Kathrine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;"> ‘How’s
Claudia?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;"> Kathrine
shook her head. <o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="http://completethecirclenovel.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/complete-circle-chapter-16.html">Chapter 16 ></a></span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304290220531518030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4617942940432918480.post-59741948386408989992013-05-09T10:09:00.001+02:002013-08-16T17:52:37.041+02:00COMPLETE THE CIRCLE - Chapter 14<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><b><a href="http://completethecirclenovel.blogspot.com/2013/02/complete-circle-blognovel-by-roger.html">For more details on this blognovel, click here.</a></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 32pt;">Chapter 14<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="border-top: solid black 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 1.0pt 0cm 0cm 0cm;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 0cm 0cm 0cm; padding: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">She had a very slight Latino complexion that was
complemented with what he considered to have the most attractive brown eyes and
red lips he had ever seen. She had long, brownish-red hair that was swept back
and tied up with a red hair band. She was well-shaped without being particularly curvaceous,
and she stood just short of his own height. She was dressed in a tight white
cotton top that clung around her chest. She wore figure-hugging jeans and Nikes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">David Lutman just stared for a few seconds before
he brought himself back to his senses, suddenly remembering that this stunning
looking girl had just asked him a simple question. ‘Er, yes,’ he finally
stammered.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">She had entered the shop some ten minutes earlier,
also looking for a pair of jeans, but had not yet tried anything on. She was
about to leave when, her perspective, she noticed this rather interesting individual walking in.
He was not somebody that she would have called exceptional
in appearance but there was something that compelled her to approach
him, a compulsion which she found strange and overpowering, a compulsion to
walk up to this man and engage him in conversation. And then, when she heard
the British accent, an accent she had loved hearing from in the past, this
rather average-looking tourist suddenly became the most wonderful, longed-for
man in the world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘I think the British accent is really cute,’ she
cooed nervously, her smile revealing a perfectly aligned set of bright white
teeth. ‘I was in </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">England</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"> only last year for a few months.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">
Lutman’s voice went up a pitch, his eyes still firmly fixed on hers. ‘Oh yes…
so, erm… where were you exactly in </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Britain</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">?’ he added uncomfortably.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘In a city called </span><st1:place><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Nottingham</span></st1:place><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">. Do you know it?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘</span><st1:place><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Nottingham</span></st1:place><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">? Really?!
I, er, come from Hensfield – it’s erm, it’s just down the road from Nottingham,
about, er, thirty miles east, in fact, yeah, thirty miles.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">She giggled. ‘Hey, right!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘So, hmm…’ said Lutman, struggling for words again,
‘erm… oh yeah, by the way, my name’s David – David Lutman.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘David. Pleased to meet you, David.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">They shook hands. She smiled broadly. ‘My name’s
Deanne, Deanne Clarkson.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">He also felt himself relaxing. ‘Nice to meet you,
Deanne Clarkson.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘And you, too, David Lutman.’ She waited for him to
make the next move. It was only a few seconds, but it seemed like an eternity
before he finally said, ‘erm, so where did you stay in </span><st1:place><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Nottingham</span></st1:place><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Oh, I stayed with a friend of my father’s while he
was working in </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">England</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"> a few years ago. He was living in an area called Old Basford for a couple
of years and got to know a guy called Tony, his neighbor, pretty well. They’ve
kept in touch ever since, frequently writing and even visiting each other here
and in </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Britain</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">. Lovely man. He and his wife have got three beautiful daughters.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">But not as beautiful as you
are,</span></i><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"> Lutman thought.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘I’d just graduated and had a bit of time to
spare,’ she continued. ‘I’d always wanted to visit </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">England</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">. I’d always heard that British men were always
charming and polite so I had to find out. Wasn’t quite what I expected, but
that British accent is something else.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘So, er, did you meet any nice men out there?’ said
Lutman as his confidence started to build.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Oh yes,’ she said cheerfully, ‘I even dated a
couple. Seriously to begin with, but I told them I wasn’t prepared to come and
live with them in </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">England</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"> but I’d be quite happy for them to come out here. That put them off a
little of course. Probably that English reserve.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘They were daft,’ smiled Lutman. ‘So, are you, are
you… with a loved one now?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘No,’ she said firmly, ‘frankly, guys here are all
too forward and sure of themselves. I dunno, I find that strange sometimes. I
kind of quite liked the English though. Quiet, a little introverted maybe, but
they’re reliable. But they are reserved.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Lutman smiled. <i>That’s me,</i> he
thought.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘So why do you ask?’ she asked with a broad smile.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Oh, I’m er, just curious,’ he said nonchalantly.
‘Not all Brits are like that, you know, that is, being all introverted and
reserved.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘So,’ she said softly, ‘how could I describe you
then, David?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">He looked around the shop to see if they were
attracting any attention, or if anyone was looking or listening, but there were
only customers paying attention to clothes, and shop staff paying attention to
customers. ‘Well…’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Oh yes, you are!’ she laughed, ‘a typical
Englishman! All shy and introverted!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">
‘Oh well, no, no, not totally!’ he stammered. But then he laughed with her.
‘But I like to think that I’m at least trustworthy.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">
But then he thought of Claudia. Well, okay, they had hugged and even kissed on
the lips – but perhaps only once could it have been described as anything close
to passionate. Despite plenty of hints, neither of them had made a clear move.
He could not help but firmly believe he was now in the process of ending what
should have been a potentially blossoming romance with Claudia. He then thought
about Deanne's comments on her being happy for an Englishman to come to the
States and live with her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">And then there was going back to work in </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">England</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">. <i>Oh God, he thought, that office job. </i>‘Well,
I’m not afraid of leaving </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Britain</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"> if it leads to a better life,’ he said firmly and
assuredly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">She smiled and looked to one side. ‘You’re really
cute, you know. What are you doing in </span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Las Vegas</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">He blushed slightly. ‘Oh, I’m on a touring holiday…
and… well, you’re really cute too. Not just cute. I’d even say, really
beautiful, too, Deanne. The most beautiful girl I could ever hope to have met.’
It had taken him just a matter of minutes to say what he had been struggling to
say to Claudia for the past eleven days.<i> It was so easy! It was so
natural!</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">She smiled. ‘Say,’ Deanne asked, looking at a pair
of jeans that had been dangling on Lutman’s arm ever since they started
speaking, ‘are you buying those?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">He had completely forgotten about them. ‘Well… I
can pick them up tomorrow.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘No no, get them now. Why put off till tomorrow
what you can get done today!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Lutman’s confidence was now at its peak. He felt
assured and assertive, the best feeling he had ever felt. ‘Okay!’ he said
enthusiastically.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">He quickly tried on the pair while Deanne was
waiting outside the fitting room.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-hyphenate: auto; text-align: center; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">After he had paid for the jeans, Deanne asked,
‘Would you like to join me for a coffee?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Without any hesitation, Lutman replied, ‘Yes! Hey,
aren't I supposed to invite you? Well, but, erm... I don’t actually like
coffee, unfortunately… so let's make it a tea!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Oh yes,’ she smiled. ‘I forgot. English tea! No
problem! My favorite coffee bar in this city is only a couple of blocks from
here, and they serve tea there. You coming?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">He grinned broadly. ‘What do you think, Deanne?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">They walked out of the shop. ‘I’ve the whole day
free up to this evening,’ he added, ‘but tonight’s plot hasn’t been fixed yet.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Oh, so you’re saying you only <i>might</i> be
free this evening?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">
‘No. I<i> am</i> free this evening,’ he said firmly, quickly adding,
‘so would you like to go to the cinema? No, I’m going to rephrase that. Deanne,
I would like to ask you out. I would like to ask you if you would like to go to
the cinema with me tonight.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘The movies? Sure! I’d love to!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Good. What time – and well, you know this place
better than I do - do you know the best place we can go?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">
She looked into his eyes and smiled. ‘Yeah, there’s a movie at the Brenden
Palms Casino. 6.30 tonight. We can go out afterwards for a dance, if you like.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘There’s a cinema at the casino?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Yeah, everything here in </span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Las Vegas</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"> can be found in a casino, even movie theaters
and nightclubs.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">
He hated the things, but tonight this was going to be an absolute exception.
‘Okay, great! So, let me know where it is and we can meet up there… or,
er, maybe I should be the absolute Englishman and pick you up in a taxi!
How about that?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘David, that would be wonderful!’ said Deanne
brightly as they arrived at the door of the coffee shop.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Even she could not believe what was happening to
her. In a matter of a few minutes, she had fallen madly in love with an
Englishman she had just met in a shop and, even now, hardly knew. She tried to
tell herself this was not right, that it was a pretty dangerous whim to follow.
But all of her being was telling her that this man was a nice, kind, gentle,
honest guy. ‘So it’s a date then. Here’s my address.’ She handed him a business
card from her rear pocket.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Lutman’s eyes widened as he examined the card. ‘Oh,
I see! You’re erm, <i>Doctor</i> Deanne J. Clarkson!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">
‘Sure am. Anyway, My hotel’s only two blocks away.’ She reached into her pocket
once more. ‘And here’s their card!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘The <i>Four Seasons,</i> </span><st1:street><st1:address><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Clark Avenue</span></st1:address></st1:street><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">. Okay, great. I’ll pick you up at five.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Five it is then! But let’s go in and have that
coffee first.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Tea!’ said Lutman, laughing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Tea it is!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">She put her arm around his and they walked inside.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Any guilt in Lutman’s conscience about betraying
Claudia had vanished for now. In his mind, he was assuring himself that they
had not gone out on any dates. They had not actually expressed their feelings for
each other. Well, she had not. And in Deanne, he felt he had finally found his
voice, his coming, his future. His answer to everything. Here was someone who
seemed very reassuring, a good listener, and understanding. A doctor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #993300; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Amidst the chimes of the ubiquitous one-armed
bandits that had even spread to a simple coffee shop, the couple found
themselves a table and placed their orders.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">As they waited, he explained to her that his job in </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Britain</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"> was dull and boring, and that he was totally
fed up with the continual process of writing press releases, working for the
council, and receiving incessantly stupid phone calls. He pointed out that he
had deliberately changed the phone number on his mobile so noone but his
immediate family or fellow trekkers could contact him. After adding her number
to his phone’s address book, Deanne told him firmly that the </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">United States</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"> was the place where he could carry out any of
his dreams and his desires. He liked the bit about desires.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘So what do you do, Deanne?’ he asked airily,
finishing his tea. ‘Are you a doctor of science or medicine?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Science - I work with my father. He’s the director
down in the Hartington Physics Laboratories in </span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Phoenix</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">. A place that’s studying all sorts of complicated
things you really wouldn’t understand.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">
A key word. <i>Physics. Time travel certainly has a lot to do with
physics! </i>‘Go on then!’ he laughed, ‘tell me about all the complicated
things I really wouldn’t understand!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #993300; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘You know David,’ she giggled, ‘you don’t really
seem the type who’d be that enthusiastic about physics!’ She then leaned
forward, lowering her voice, and adding, ‘So what do you know about it, then?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Well, I have to confess nothing really,’ he replied,
also leaning forward and lowering his voice, ‘but there are certain areas I’m
particularly interested in.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Such as?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Well, erm, speed, time, Einstein’s theory…’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">She smirked. ‘Isn't that a bit geeky? Well, if
you’ve got enough weeks, I’ll be able to explain it all to you!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘I’ve got plenty of time,’ said Lutman nonchalantly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Really?’ she said with a mock tone of incredulity.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘<i>Well</i>… I know physics can be incredibly
complicated but I do have my reasons for wanting to know something about it.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘And what’s that, then?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘I’ve read one or two books on the topic and, well,
I’d just really like to get your side of the story, and erm…’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">She laughed. ‘What story? David, you really don’t
have to try to impress me, you know. You've done the job. I’ve met men who
thought they knew it all and more than once I shot them down in flames!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Ah,’</span></i><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"> he said uncertainly. This was the first time
he felt uncertainty, but this quickly passed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #993300; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">She started stroking Lutman’s left hand with her
right index finger. ‘I would rather talk to a guy who’s just plain and simply
himself and doesn’t need to impress me with physics or science or maths or
anything remotely academic just because I'm a doctor. I just want him to be
himself.’ She then sat upright excitedly and picked up her coffee. ‘Look, if
you really do have the time and you really want to learn a little something on
the subject and what exactly I do, I can take you down to the labs. I’ll give
you a grand tour of the place and equipment.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Sounds great,’ said Lutman, ‘but don’t these
places usually have a lot of secrets, you know, places where you just can’t let
anyone come in?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">
The tea and coffee arrived. ‘Well, first of all, as I told you, the laboratory
isn’t here in </span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Las Vegas</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">. It’s a five and a half hour drive. In </span><st1:city><st1:place><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Phoenix</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">. Secondly, my particular lab isn’t considered top
security. Yeah, there are sections of the complex we can't go to, but there’s
nothing in my place to interest even a first-year student. You’ll get in there,
no problem.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Lutman sipped his tea. ‘So what are you doing <i>here</i> then,
Deanne?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Oh, God, well, the usual,’ she sighed. ‘I was
tired, bored, fed up with work. You know, rather like yourself. I just wanted a
little vacation. A complete change of atmosphere from the confines of the
office, so to speak. See a bit of the nightlife, people, maybe even gamble a
little.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘So when do you go back?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘I have to go back tomorrow afternoon,’ she said
dejectedly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Oh.’ </span></i><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">His disappointment was hard to disguise. <i>Surely
not?</i> Surely this was threatening to be an extremely brief encounter?
He too was due to leave tomorrow.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘I actually love Phoenix,’ she added,
struggling to put on a brave face, ‘I’ve always said to myself that’s the place
where I’ll always be. A city in the middle of the desert. It’s where I’ll
always live and eventually die. Yeah, it’s a stupid thing to say, but, well,
what the hell. That’s me.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Lutman’s pocket bleeped, and instinctively removed
his cellphone. ‘Ah, battery’s low.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Can’t help you there,’ said Deanne, ‘different
phone, sorry.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Lutman shoved it back into his pocket. ‘Hey, come
on Deanne, look, I , I can be here longer, if you really want me to. Look, why
don’t you just delay your return for another twenty-four hours? Give us a
chance to get to know each other a little bit more. Hey, by then we might know
for sure whether we really do like each other, or we don’t. If we don’t, well,
I’ll, erm…’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Do you have any idea how you’re going to get back
if you stayed longer?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #993300; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Lutman shook his head and smiled. ‘None at all,’ he
said assuredly. ‘Yes, I’m on a trekking holiday and my minibus leaves here and
goes back to Los Angeles tomorrow morning. But… well, perhaps we can
make a decision after tonight.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Deanne just looked at him, expressionless and wide-eyed.
That was not the answer she wanted.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Lutman understood immediately. ‘Deanne, look, if
you’ll stay longer, I’ll stay longer!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">She brightened up and took his hand. ‘Good. A firm
decision! That’s what I want! Okay. Let’s see how things go tonight, and if it
doesn’t work, fair enough, we both go back to our original plans. But if it
does… I’ll call my father tomorrow, make up some kind of excuse, you know, and
tell him I found this rather charming Hugh Grant-type Englishman who’s taking
me out to the movies!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Me?’ he laughed, ‘like Hugh Grant?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Okay then, someone close!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Another coffee, Deanne? My pleasure again!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-hyphenate: auto; text-align: center; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">As they enjoyed their second round of tea and
coffee, Lutman told her all about the trek and the many places he had visited.
Instinctively holding hands, they left the coffee shop an hour later and
strolled aimlessly past the multi-colored neon glare that surrounded the
endless restaurants, casinos, and everything else associated with Las Vegas.
Except it was still daylight.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Five minutes later their arms were wrapped around
each other. Time had become irrelevant, but Lutman was only too aware that soon
he had to be back at the hotel for the group’s evening get-together.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Are there any nice girls on your trek?’ Deanne
asked.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Oh yes,’ he answered truthfully, but then lied,
‘but… none of them are really my type.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">
‘You know, it’s all so weird,’ said Deanne quietly, ‘well, to be frank, it’s
stupid even, stupid that it’s only been a short space of time, but, I don’t
know, I just feel I know you so much…’ She stopped, and looked down at her
feet. ‘I’ve truly never felt this way about someone before.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Lutman sat up and spoke assuredly. ‘Deanne, truly,
I’ve never met anyone like you before. I’ve never felt so much in love with a
girl in such a short space of time... I’ve never felt like this, just like you,
I never even thought that there was any truth in love at first sight, but the
moment I saw you in the shop… <i>I just knew</i>… He glanced at his watch.
‘<i>Damn!</i> I have to get back to the hotel! Oh <i>GOD!’</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘I’ll come with you,’ said Deanne, ‘you have your
meeting, and then we can then get to the movie theater without hurrying. You
don’t need to bother about ordering a taxi. I’ll sort that out when we’re
ready.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Look, tell you what,’ Lutman said breezily, ‘I
noticed a bookshop a couple of doors down from the hotel. I don’t have to be at
the meeting. You wait in there while I quickly nip in and tell Janet, my tour
leader.’ In truth he did not want to be seen with Deanne by any of the group,
particular Claudia.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Which hotel?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘The<i> Brown Sands Tapestry</i>,’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘I know it. What’s the bookshop called?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘I don’t know, unfortunately.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘If it’s the one I’m thinking of,’ Deanne said
slowly, almost in a whisper, and adding a bemused look on her face, ‘then I bet
you don’t know what kind of bookshop that is!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Well, it looked like a bookshop, as far as I could
make out!’ he laughed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">She shook her head and grinned. ‘I see you really
don’t know Las Vegas very well! Hey look, I’ll be around. There are
plenty of other shops here. I’ll be in one of those. You’ll soon find me.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Okay. Erm, you will wait for me, won’t you Deanne?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Of course I will. And David…’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Yes?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">She looked at him from top to bottom. ‘Do you have
any long pants you could wear?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Pants?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Yeah, sorry, <i>trousers</i>.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">He looked at his white shorts and top, and
announced, ‘well, I do have some new jeans to try!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Okay, and for God’s sake, change that tee-shirt
too!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-hyphenate: auto; text-align: center; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">*</span></i><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">As he walked across the hotel parking lot, Lutman
saw Jeannie approaching from another direction with a bag of clothes shopping.
This gave him an idea.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">
‘Jeannie!’ he shouted as she was about to walk into the hotel.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Hi David!’ she breezed back, ‘How’s it going?
Where’s Claudia then?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">He took a deep breath. ‘Erm, Jeannie, I want you to
do me a really big favor.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘What’s that?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Look, I’m going to ask you not to mention this to
anybody, but… I’ve got a date tonight. I’ve just meant the most beautiful girl
ever. I won’t be at the meeting. Can you let Janet know I won’t be there? Don’t
tell her why.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Sure! But what shall I tell her?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Just… well, tell her that I’ve actually bumped
into an old friend I met on my last trip, and that … he and I are going out for
a drink. Or something like that…’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Jeannie looked at him with slight bemusement.
‘Isn’t it a bit late in the day now find a date?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Yeah, I know, we’re leaving tomorrow. But Jeannie,
if tonight goes really well, it’s highly probable I won’t be going back with
you.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘What? Oh… okay,’ she said, trying to sound
cheerful, ‘it’s your life, your happiness, so if you feel if it’s what you want
to do...’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Thanks Jeannie. I promise to make it up to you
some time,’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Maybe send me a wedding invitation?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Hey, give us a chance first!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Okay David, have fun!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Thanks again. Love you!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘See ya! And good luck!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-hyphenate: auto; text-align: center; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">
It had taken almost the whole trek just to get Claudia to sit with him inside
his tent, but mere minutes to be arm in arm and holding hands. He was about to
take out Doctor Deanne Clarkson, a beautiful American physicist, to a cinema in Las
Vegas. And it now seemed clear to him that as a consequence, she had given him
the first true clues to the fate that had been dictated to him by the visit of
his future self some weeks previously. He was convinced that she was his
destiny, and every ounce of his being told him he had to follow it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">He followed Jeannie inside the hotel a minute
later, and counted himself fortunate that he did not bump into any of the other
members of the group inside. He was supposed to be sharing a room with Marcus,
but the Canadian was still busy enjoying himself with the Australian
girls, something which could be clearly heard as he walked past their
door. And it was not just giggling and laughing. <i>Good luck mate,</i> he
thought, <i>on getting them both into the same bed and at the same time</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Within ten minutes he had washed and changed.
Taking care not to be seen, he rushed out of the hotel and found Deanne in
front of a men’s clothing shop window just a block down. Even though she had
put a light white jacket on top of her tight white cotton top to be a little
less conspicuous, she was fairly easy to spot.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Now that looks much better!’ she gushed
approvingly, eyeing him up eagerly as she offered her hand for his.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">She called for a taxi on her cell phone. It duly
arrived within five minutes and subsequently took them to the <i>Brenden
Palms Casino</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">They quickly found the movie theater and
sat in the back row. A Woody Allen movie, which Lutman knew absolutely nothing
about and had little interest in, was playing to an almost empty auditorium.
But it soon became clear that Deanne was not interested in the film either.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">
In relative privacy, they snuggled up together. When the brightness of the
movie screen switched to a darkness that sent the rows of seats at the back
into comparative gloom, Lutman took the opportunity to kiss her neck. This was
something he would never have dared to have done previously with any girl on a
first date, but he felt that he could do almost anything.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">She slowly turned her head towards him, moved
closer, and then kissed him full on the lips.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="mso-hyphenate: auto; text-align: center; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Two hours later, the movie was over: it was now
dark outside. After a short conversation about what the movie may have been
about as neither of them paid any attention to it, Deanne invited him to her
hotel for a tea. To get there, they chose to walk along the garishly neon-lit Las
Vegas Boulevard, or as better known to Las Vegans, tourists and gamblers, The
Strip.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Arm in arm, they enjoyed the bright lights and
dazzling excesses of the countless casinos and over-extravagant visual displays
of the lavishly and excessively-designed hotels so typical of the city. Every
one of them would have stories of how financial hopes and dreams became real
or, more realistically, certainly in Lutman’s mind, shattered and ruined. He
had been one of the very lucky ones. He had found his prize.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #993300; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-bidi-language: HI; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Lutman was then brought to his senses when he
noticed several groups of men handing out little magazines in the strip. One of
whom caught his attention, and foisted a copy into his hands. He then got a
funny look from Deanne, and suddenly realized he had got hold of a catalogue
that was full of scantily-clad, topless, bare backsided, or totally naked young
women.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">After sheepishly throwing it away, Deanne smiled.
Realizing his ignorance, she informed him that prostitution was legal in Las
Vegas. ‘Anyway,’ she added with a slight twinkle in her eye, ‘<i>you</i> don’t
have to pay for that kind of thing.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Lutman smiled. He knew what she meant.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"> They walked for another
twenty minutes without further incident. The doorman greeted them as they
entered a lavish four star hotel that was fronted with the ubiquitous casino,
and looked like every other casino they had walked past. The novelty of Las
Vegas had now completely worn off for Lutman.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Deanne invited him to play on one of the black jack
tables, but after five minutes he lost thirty dollars. ‘That will well and
truly do me,’ he said. ‘I’ve no intention of becoming destitute over the next
hour or so!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">
She took him by the hand and walked into the biggest hotel lobby Lutman had
ever seen. The male receptionist recognized Deanne immediately, smiling. ‘Room
644?’ he asked tonelessly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Nodding, she took the key and they walked into a
large, glass elevator with a view over the casino.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">The contrast was amazing when they exited on the
sixth floor. There was not a slot machine to be seen, and the silence was
almost deafening, with only the hum of the air conditioning. There was
absolutely no audible indication of the raucous activity from the ground floor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Deanne’s room was just a short walk from the
elevator. She unlocked the door and entered, pulling Lutman inside.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Without putting on the light, she closed and locked
the door. She then put her arms around him tightly, kissing him passionately
and guiding him onto an extremely large and sumptuous bed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">David Lutman did not return to his hotel that night.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<a href="http://completethecirclenovel.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/complete-circle-chapter-15.html">Chapter 15 ></a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304290220531518030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4617942940432918480.post-11492289313576005332013-05-08T07:12:00.001+02:002013-08-16T17:51:37.281+02:00COMPLETE THE CIRCLE - Chapter 13<br />
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 32pt;">Chapter 13<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="border-top: solid black 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 1.0pt 0cm 0cm 0cm;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 0cm 0cm 0cm; padding: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">As the night of day eleven had been forecast to be the coldest yet
so far on the trek, David Lutman grabbed one of the camping gas lamps from the
van and placed it into his tent. He knew from experience that these lamps, when
lit, would give out considerable amounts of heat. And, he thought, also attract
bodies searching for warmth. Although he only wanted Claudia, he felt obliged
to invite both she and Kathrine inside his tent. And so they arrived together,
Kathrine bringing a bottle of wine. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">A short time later Jeannie poked her head into the tent briefly,
looking for Kathrine. She helped herself to a glass of the wine and nodded to
her, winking at Lutman and exiting with a ‘see ya later’. An hour later,
Kathrine smiled, said goodnight, and left. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Claudia was just about to do the same, but this time Lutman almost
pleaded with her to stay for a
little longer. She smiled and agreed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">After five minutes of uncomfortable chat and silence, Lutman lay
down on his sleeping bag. Claudia followed suit, lying down next to him. She
did find his warmth reassuring, but did not get too much of her body close to
his. Lutman reached out and turned off the lamp. He then covered them both with
a blanket that he had picked up earlier on the trip. Their faces were almost
touching, but nothing was said as they just looked at each other. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Lutman just could not bring himself to make that move: to kiss
her, slowly first, then with a passion so she could no longer resist. Her face
was just not sending out that kind of message to him. What happened with
Caroline those short months ago had decimated his self-confidence. He could
only feel despair. Inside, he just wanted to weep.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Eventually it was Claudia who made a move. She kissed him on the
cheek and stood up. ‘Goodnight, David.’ She smiled, and made her way out and back
to her tent.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Everyone packed up early on day twelve. This was their last night
under canvas, and it was a <i>StatesTrek</i>
requirement that the group would completely clean all the camping equipment,
and that their tents to be ready for the next group upon their return to Los
Angeles. They still had one more evening on tour together, but this night would
be spent in a hotel.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">After leaving the campsite at 11am, the group arrived in Las
Vegas. The weather here was a complete contrast to the below-freezing nighttime
temperatures they had experienced over the past few days. It was cloudy, but it
was warm - 25 degrees centigrade. Although most of the group’s ideas for an
evening out revolved looking around the city at night, for some of them Las
Vegas still seemed brash and visually extreme in broad daylight. In contrast, Cindy
and Marianne were visibly excited by it all.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">They arrived at the <i>Brown
Sands Tapestry</i> hotel/casino, a place that lacked the splendor, glamour,
size and brashness of all the other hotels in the city. ‘Okay,’ shouted Janet
as she leaped out of the van, ‘let’s get everything out! We’re all sharing the
same floor. Let’s check in, then you can all do anything you like. But get back
here this evening at six so we can all see the city together!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">The prospect of seeing the city in all its nighttime glory –
either a desert wonderland or a city gaudy to the extreme – was not something David
Lutman found particularly thrilling. This is largely due to the fact that he
had been quiet most of the day, the cloud of disappointment of the previous
evening still hanging over him. As far as he was concerned, he had totally
bottled it last night. Claudia had opted to sit elsewhere in the van. For the
first time on the trip, he found himself sitting next to the Australian girls. With
that free afternoon looming, the group split up into their usual little units.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">An hour after checking in at the <i>Brown Sands,</i> Kathrine declared that she wanted to visit a cosmetics
shop and to look around for a few clothes. Claudia agreed that this was a good
idea, and announced that she would like to go with her. Lutman tried his
hardest not to express his disappointment at this. He had hoped that he and
Claudia would still have some time for themselves; now that time was
agonisingly short. Aside from that evening, they had one more night back at the
hotel and their adventures would then be officially at an end. That would be
it. The trek would be over.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">That initial dream of he and Claudia walking hand in hand along
the streets now seemed an eternity ago. Having a meal together in a quiet
restaurant was now certain to remain a dream. And saving the best for the
evening, he would have invited her out to the cinema and finally declared that
he loved her: now it was going to be another fanciful notion. And now what was
probably the only remaining opportunity for him to make that move had been
ruined by Kathrine’s wonderful shopping idea. <i>Damn you, Kathrine!</i> So this evening was going to be his last
chance. <i>Ask her out,</i> he kept telling himself, <i>ask her out, for God's
sake! She is surely the one! Do it! Do it now! No… it’s still not the right
time…</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Claudia asked if he wanted to join them. He had planned to buy a
pair of jeans. Looking at only women’s’ clothes and cosmetics and spending
hours just standing around with them would not be at all fun. But he perked up
when they suggested he go with them for a coffee first. But the problem
remained of Kathrine still being there. <i>Well, tough,</i> he thought, <i>if
she’s there, she’s there. My time is almost up. It may well be my last chance.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">After a few minutes in the coffee shop next door Lutman gave
Claudia a quick hug and a peck on her cheek. He could not understand why he
could not do something so simple as ask her out tonight. Kathrine chirpily
asked where <i>her</i> kiss was.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">They split up outside, and Lutman, now thoroughly depressed,
headed towards a branch of Levi’s he had noticed two blocks away from the
hotel. Trying to focus on this immediate task, he decided that this was an ideal
opportunity to get a pair of name jeans at American prices.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">He entered the larger-than-life glitzy air-conditioned store, not
failing to notice the obligatory one-armed bandit that seemed to be placed in
every Las Vegas store. This one had been placed smack in the center of the shop.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"> He made his way to the men’s section,
and then browsed through a selection of stone-washed jeans, searching the racks
until he could find the right waist and leg measurements. ‘Can’t believe these
prices!’ he audibly exclaimed as he picked out a suitable pair. ‘These are less
than half the price at home!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘I know they are,’ said a woman’s voice, ‘sounds like you’re
British!’ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Lutman turned. ‘Oh, hi-’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">And then he stopped.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Standing right in front of him by the opposite rack was the most
beautiful girl he had ever seen.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="http://completethecirclenovel.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/complete-circle-chapter-14.html">Chapter 14 ></a></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304290220531518030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4617942940432918480.post-35876088856702981392013-04-30T11:16:00.002+02:002013-08-16T17:50:34.277+02:00COMPLETE THE CIRCLE - Chapter 12<br />
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 32pt;">Chapter 12<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="border-top: solid black 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 1.0pt 0cm 0cm 0cm;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 0cm 0cm 0cm; padding: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">A five-hour drive on
the ninth day took the group to a ranch near Antimony, Utah. Everyone was left
to their own devices for the rest of the day and the whole of the next. Groups
and pairs were formed, but not from Lutman’s perspective, not with the person
he really wanted to be with.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">It was not until the
end of day ten that David Lutman had the opportunity to be alone with Claudia
again. But he had finally mustered some confidence to ask her out, and was relieved
that she said yes without hesitation. It was quite cold that evening, so they
put on suitably warm coats. For the first ten minutes she took his arm and
then, to Lutman’s surprise and excitement, held his hand. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">They arrived at a
warm, brightly-lit bar which was as clichéd as Lutman could expect from
something in the Western United States. It was busy, filled with jovial chatter,
and on one wall a sixties-style jukebox was blaring out country rock. The
natives were very friendly, and an enthusiastic hello from the barman greeted
them as they approached the counter. Claudia ordered an orange juice whilst Lutman
opted for a small beer. They managed to find a quiet corner and spent the first
few minutes talking further about their countries and their families.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">After forty-five
minutes and another two beers, Lutman finally felt man enough to show off a
little to Claudia, and decided to take on one of the locals who had invited him
earlier to shoot pool. This was a young, unshaven, brown-haired individual in
his mid-twenties who was dressed in a blue checked shirt and jeans. Lutman had
played pool regularly in the past, so felt reasonably confident. But he lost
the first frame quite convincingly, unused to American rules, but to his
surprise – and his opponent’s - won the second, forcing a decider. This time,
his opponent got a fortunate break-off and virtually cleared the balls in that
one visit to the table. Game over, the American shook his hand and complimented
him on his pool skills.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Claudia was impressed.
‘Do you play pool a lot?’ she asked as Lutman returned to sit down and complete
his fourth beer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"> ‘Not
as much as I did,’ he said, grinning. ‘But I felt I still had the skill to give
him a game.’ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">As Lutman felt a new
surge of confidence spread within him, Claudia glanced at her watch. ‘Oh,’ she
gasped slightly, ‘I didn’t realize that was the time. It’s gone 11. We’d better
get back. They’ll’ve probably locked up the ranch by now!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Disappointed yet
again, Lutman had a strong desire for another beer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">They took a taxi back
to the ranch where, fortunately, there was still someone waiting up to let them
in. ‘Actually,’ said the grey-haired but chirpy lady standing at the door with
a smile, ‘some of your friends are still outside, if you wanna go and see them.
They’re over in that direction somewhere,’ she added, pointing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘I'll think we'll
pass,’ said Lutman politely.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">The pair slowly
traipsed up the open creaky wooden stairs to the upper floor and their rooms. Lutman,
who had been given a room for himself, hoped upon hope that Claudia would want
to join him. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">If she would just say
the word. He was still too polite to do it. No, not polite, he thought. Too
shy. This would be rather direct, too risky, if she refused…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">His room was at the
end of the corridor, illuminated only by the one ceiling night-light. Claudia’s
room – sharing, as usual, with Kathrine – was the first door they approached.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">With just about enough
alcohol-induced confidence, Lutman slowly wrapped his arms around her. ‘Well,
it’s been a lovely evening,’ he said quietly into her ear.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Claudia released his
grip and looked at him. ‘I’ve enjoyed myself very much too, David. Thank you.’ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">They stared at each
other then, after a little hesitation, they kissed. But then she forced her
lips away from his. Smiling, she then took his hands off her hips, opened her
door and entered her room. She said goodnight and told him she would see him
tomorrow, leaving Lutman disappointed and confused. He prayed that it was not
the alcohol breath that prompted her to go back to her room quicker than he had
expected. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"> So
another day had passed and still he had no idea. He did not want to think this,
but maybe… <i>maybe it was not meant to be Claudia</i>, he thought, <i>maybe it
was meant to be someone else in the party.</i> But none of the girls have
attracted his interest. So if it was somebody else, then who the hell was it?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">There was a lot of
excitement that following morning at breakfast. Marcus and Raoul were
especially cheerful, being more than friendly to Jeannie, Marianne, Sylvie, and
Cindy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">More than once Lutman
had been woken up that night by the excited laughter of those girls entering
the boys’ room, which just happened to be next door to his. The girls looked extremely
happy, the Australian pair sitting down either side of Marcus and occasionally
poking him on his sides with their fingers. They had clearly discovered he was
ticklish. Lutman could only look enviously.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Jeannie and Sylvie cheerfully
sat either side of Raoul. Claudia, however, sat herself between Kathrine and
Andrea, much to Lutman’s dismay. He had sat next to Andrea, leaving one chair
free next to him, fully expecting Claudia to take it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">An hour later
everything was once more packed and loaded onto the van. A few hours later, the
group found themselves in Zion Canyon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Only Lutman, Claudia,
Andrea, Kathrine, and Janet decided to venture into the canyon. The others made
their excuses and set off in another direction.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Although they remained
close together, Lutman and Claudia did not touch hands. He had expected Claudia
to take the inititive. She did not, so once again he felt uncertain about his
confidence. Maybe, he thought, he had been too pushy the previous night.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">The walk among the
bright orange pinnacles and rocks that made up the park was filled with plenty
of light banter from the group. Plenty of photographs were taken by everyone,
and Lutman’s confidence returned when Claudia quite happily continued to pose
for him when he asked. Kathrine even offered to take a photo of them both. They
did so with some reluctance, but despite posing shoulder to shoulder, there was
no physical touching. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Six hours later they
rejoined the rest of the party.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Day eleven was a visit
to Bryce Canyon. There was quite a hard walk up to Angels’ Landing, a 1000-foot
plus mountain from ground level. But it was made more challenging by some of
the track having to be negotiated by chains. Despite this added difficulty,
nobody dropped out. Claudia, however, was terrified of heights. She often
gripped Lutman’s hand hard, refusing to let go. When they came to the chains,
she held on by putting her arms tightly around him. There was palatable relief
on her face when they finally reached the summit, and he was rewarded with a
big hug and a quick kiss on his lips. This gesture was witnessed by the entire group,
and prompted an enthusiastic cheer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Almost two weeks had
now passed since Carl Pickover wrote his blog. Since then – and he would admit
to himself that he did not expect anything else – very little. Although his
blog had had a respectable one hundred plus hits, most of these being picked up
during the second week he posted it, when the world’s search engines finally
found it - no-one had felt inclined to comment on anything.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"> Now,
Pickover decided, was the time to go back and do normal things that a professor
should be doing, like studying a few equations or lecturing a few students. Or
get a woman. No, better still, take a vacation. Tomorrow. Stuff the university.
Now that was a good thought. It felt so good that he felt his spirits uplift;
that thought really did mean something. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">He would pack a few
things, just go to the airport first thing tomorrow morning, and get the next
available flight. He would enjoy himself and go and do something completely
different. He would find himself a girl, have fun together, marry her, have
three kids. From this moment onwards he was going to retire from science and
education.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Professor Carl
Pickover vowed to hand in his resignation upon his return.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="http://completethecirclenovel.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/complete-circle-chapter-13.html">Chapter 13 ></a></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304290220531518030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4617942940432918480.post-76030896308958240402013-04-22T21:15:00.003+02:002013-08-16T17:49:11.974+02:00COMPLETE THE CIRCLE - Chapter 11<br />
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 32pt;">Chapter 11<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="border-top: solid black 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 1.0pt 0cm 0cm 0cm;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 0cm 0cm 0cm; padding: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">As far as finding out who was likely to end up being his wife was
concerned, the first day of David Lutman’s holiday would be uneventful.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">For everyone else, there were experiences to be had all the way. After
getting up at six thirty, re-packing, and then loading all the baggage onto the
roof of their white mini-bus, Janet drove the<i> Indian Adventure</i> group to a local diner for a cooked breakfast.
Then they ventured east on Highway 10 away from Los Angeles, collected a day’s groceries
in Palm Springs, and then visited the Joshua Trees in the eponymously-named
National Park. Their first night was spent at a campsite near Blythe where the
group was paired off into their tents. Conveniently, there was one extra tent which
spared Lutman and Raoul having to share. Of course, in Lutman’s mind, this was now
the tent to invite someone to share with him, but even he did not expect any of
the girls to join him on what was only the first night.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Janet, the tour group leader, volunteered to do the cooking for
the first night, after which they would then split up into groups of three or
four and take turns with the cooking and washing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">The following day, the group crossed the state line into Arizona,
and visited an Indian museum in Phoenix. Their second night was spent in Camp
Verde. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">The party had found itself splitting up into their own little
groups. All the boys, much to their glee, found themselves within their own
group of girls. Raoul, unsurprisingly, joined up with French speaker Sylvie,
and Andrea, who also knew a little of the language. Jeannie tagged herself along
to Cindy and Marianne, who in turn hooked up with Marcus, whose humour the
Australians found rather amusing. David Lutman happily found himself with
Kathrine and, as far as he was concerned, also with his current favourite for
the potential romantic role - Claudia. Their particular ‘grouping’ had been
established when together, all three decided to try out the campsite’s hot tub
that evening. Having left the comparative warmth of California and into a cold
Arizona autumn, bathing outdoors in hot water was a very pleasant experience. Lutman
joined Claudia first, and it was there he finally had the chance to talk to her
on his own. Kathrine quickly followed, to his slight irritation, but her
infectious personality meant her presence was easily tolerated. The rest of the
party tried out the tub after dinner, which that evening had been prepared by
Marcus, Andrea and Marianne.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">After a long drive to the Grand Canyon on the third day, the whole
of the fourth day was spent visiting this awe-inspiring natural monument. Although
Lutman had visited the canyon before, he still could not help but be astounded
at what the Colorado River had carved out over several million years: the immense
bright orange rock faces that lined the river several hundred feet below still
took his breath away.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">As the group slowly made its way down the path into the canyon,
Kathrine joined up with Sylvie, to Lutman’s hidden delight. They slowly moved
ahead, with Lutman now finding himself with Claudia. There was almost a sense
of being alone, now that they were happily walking slowly together. Despite the
seven thousand feet altitude, the strong sunshine prompted Lutman to bring out a
baseball cap that he had purchased back in Palm Springs: the green baseball cap
was now too delicate and precious to begin absorbing moisture from his sweaty
head.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Now with plenty of time to converse privately, Lutman learned that
Claudia Safarova came from a small village in the Czech Republic just outside
Olomouc, and that she had two older brothers. She studied English Philology in
Brno, and this was her first trip to the United States. She had spent the past
year studying American English and working in a children’s camp, the result of
which was an almost perfect American accent.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Lutman was struggling to contain his curiosity. <i>Did she have a boyfriend?</i> But to his
surprise she asked him first. ‘Is Jeannie your girlfriend?’ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"> ‘Well, Jeannie’s just a friend,’ he
said quietly, ‘I’m not actually seeing anybody at the moment. I’m quite happy,
but I’d like to think that I’ll settle down in the near future. I’m just
waiting to meet the right girl.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">She smiled. ‘Is that why you’re on this trip?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Well,’ said Lutman, ‘I suppose it’s one reason why. It’s certainly
possible!’ He looked at her and asked, with increasing confidence, ‘Claudia, listen,
you don’t have to answer this if you don’t want to, but what about you? Do you
have someone in your life, or are you hoping to meet someone here?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘No, I don’t have a boyfriend,’ she said, grinning. ‘When I booked
this trip, it was because I wanted to see what the west coast of the United
States looked like. I’d heard so much about it. This particular tour gives me
the chance to see some of the cities, the country, the parks and the people. I
hadn’t actually thought about looking for someone here.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Lutman grinned. ‘But you never know!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">She giggled. ‘And why are you asking me, David?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Well,’ he began, slightly uneasily, ‘love can be a funny thing.
Comes from anywhere, often from where you least expect it, and never from where
you think it’s likely to come from.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘So tell me,’ said Claudia after a short pause, ‘how are you and
Jeannie… connected? After all, I can’t think it’s easy for a man and a woman to
simply meet and remain only friends.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Lutman thought for a moment, and then said, ‘Well, we’re actually
just friends from work, but we’ve absolutely no serious interest in each other.
We don’t meet privately, apart from the last few days before this trip. I was
supposed to be coming out here on my own but, well, she did have a boyfriend,
but they split. She decided to go on this trip after I’d told her about it…
which was before they’d split, which is a bit of an unfortunate coincidence,
really. As you saw, she seems perfectly happy going off with the others. She’s
not really my type, anyway. Too extrovert for me.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">They soon spotted the rest of the group ahead of them pausing for
a break, and soon they were all back together again. Although everyone had prepared
themselves for a cool day and were dressed accordingly, being in direct sunshine
with very little shade made it feel so much warmer. Cindy, being a little more
well-built than everybody else, was already looking fairly exhausted. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">In the end none of the group made it successfully into the bottom
of the canyon: as it was, such a trip would normally require an early-morning
start and a whole day’s walk.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">The evening was spent watching the sunset from a popular viewpoint
known as Hermit’s Rest, located on the southern rim of the canyon. Lutman decided
to take a few photographs of the sun setting behind the canyon rocks after struggling
to suppress a desire to place an affectionate arm over Claudia’s shoulder. Although
he felt certain she would not have minded, past experience and lack of
confidence prevented him from doing so.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Claudia looked at him and smiled. But there were no exchanges of
words. Lutman took her reaction as one of just being friendly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">The canyon and the day finally over, they all enjoyed a pizza in
nearby Tusayan. Claudia chose to mingle with the Australians, not having spoken
to them since the start of the trip. Kathrine lightened up David Lutman and
Marcus’s meals considerably with some funny anecdotes, and enjoyed both their
companies that evening as they all watched a movie of the canyon on a screen
the size of a small office block in the town’s </span><st1:stockticker><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">IMAX</span></st1:stockticker><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"> cinema. Lutman
found himself sitting next to the Australian girls, who had now made up their
minds to find out more about him. This not altogether unpleasant esperience
enabled him to put Claudia to the back of his mind for a while and enjoy their
company. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">It was now the end of day four. Almost a third of the trip
completed. Lutman still had no clues whatsoever as to whether he had already
met his wife, but he was getting increasingly confident that there was only going
to be one possible candidate.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">But was it just going to happen or did he have to do more to make
it happen?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">On Day five the party joined a Navajo Indian guide on horseback.
Having never ridden before, Lutman was immensely relieved to dismount when they
had reached their destination. He had been nervous throughout the six-mile hike
and vowed he would never ride a horse again. Their tents were pitched at the
foot of one of the park’s most distinctive natural monuments, a towering bright
red outcrop of rock.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">On day six, after crossing the state line into Utah, the group
briefly ventured into Colorado to visit Mesa Verde, a site where numerous ruins
of homes and villages had been built into a set of spectacular cliffs by the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anasazi"><span style="color: black;">ancient
Pueblo people</span></a>s. Lutman took several photographs that deliberately included
Claudia in shot. Then it was back across the state line to Moab where they
would have tents pitched in the same campsite for the next three nights.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Day seven was the halfway point of the <i>Indian Adventure</i>, and this was spent kayaking on the Colorado
River. To the group’s relief, the Colorado here was calm and tranquil, fast-flowing
only in patches, unlike the Grand Canyon where the </span><st1:stockticker><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">IMAX</span></st1:stockticker><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"> movie presented
the river as fast-flowing and treacherous. The guide for their trip was Terry,
a dark-haired, bearded, six-foot tall individual with a physique that turned
the heads of all the girls on the trip. He was in the large rowing boat that carried
all the necessary equipment and refreshments, along with a pair of two-man
kayaks. The party would then be paired up for an hour to take turns in these
little craft, following the boat. But the pairings for the boats did not go in
the way Lutman had hoped: These were Cindy and Marianne, the Australians;
Marcus and Raoul; Andrea and Sylvie; Claudia and Kathrine, and David and Janet.
Jeannie, who shared a tent with the two Australians, opted out, claiming she
was terrified of water. She seemed happy enough to enjoy the ride on the main
boat and sit facing Terry.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Halfway. And still nothing happened. Maybe it’s going to be at the
end, thought Lutman, but he did begin to feel uneasy about the situation.
Claudia did not seem to be making the signals he expected.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">The group rented jeeps on day eight for their own personal treks
into Canyonlands, another of the many spectacular National Parks spread around
this west side of the United States. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">This time the groups were split into threes and fours. All the men
were split up, with Marcus going with the Australians and Jeannie; Raoul with
Sylvie and Andrea; and Lutman with Claudia and Kathrine. Lutman was both
thrilled and disappointed; Okay, at last, he and Claudia would be together at
last after a lot of time being apart. Unfortunately Claudia’s tentmate,
Kathrine, was coming along with them too. But Lutman did try to console himself
with the fact that, if somebody else did have to tag along, then Kathrine would
have been the best choice. Janet took this opportunity to spend time away from
the others to take care of some administrative matters.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Lutman took the wheel of their jeep first, and as they left Moab
and turned off the main road, paved road soon gave way to rocky track. What initially
seemed like daunting terrain to Lutman soon proved effortless in a four-wheeled
drive vehicle. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">When they reached the end of the road, they were rewarded by a spectacular
vista of the canyons. After Lutman parked the vehicle, Kathrine announced that
she would like to spend some time on her own. Having agreed to meet back at the
jeep in an hour, she wandered off to find a solitary viewpoint. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Finally,</span></i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"> thought Lutman,
<i>Finally.</i> They were alone out last. After a few moments, he and Claudia
left the vehicle and walked in the opposite direction to Kathrine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘So, Claudia…’ began Lutman nervously, looking in the direction of
the cliff edge, ‘shall we go over there?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Okay,’ said Claudia, not sounding as though she was particularly
concerned about anything.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">They sat on a bench a meter away from a drop of several hundred,
and a spectacular view that seemed to stretch into the distance forever.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Lutman turned to Claudia. ‘It’s beautiful, isn’t it?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">She smiled. ‘You know, all my life I’ve wanted to visit the United
States for its natural features. I’ve spent a year here but rarely left the
cities. And now, well, here I am. My dreams have come true.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘And there’s still so much more out there,’ added Lutman, softly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">After a minute, he stood up and offered his hand. ‘Shall we go
over there? We can sit facing the sun.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Without hesitation, Claudia reached out for his hand to assist
herself from the bench. To Lutman’s delight, she then put her arm around his
right arm.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">They wandered to another spot on the edge and Lutman placed his
left hand on the hand that rested on his arm. There was an uneasy few moments
as both felt too awkward to say anything. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"> Eventually Lutman broke the silence. ‘I
understand we’re spending the next two nights in a ranch,’ he said cheerfully, ‘and
then it’s off to two more canyons, a night in Las Vegas, and then,
unfortunately, home.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Oh God, it’s all going by so quickly!’ exclaimed Claudia. ‘I
don’t want it to end so quickly.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Hey, we still have seven days, you know,’ said Lutman soothingly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">They found a dry grassy patch. Claudia released her grip from his
arm, and they sat down. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Lutman looked ahead at the rocky horizon. ‘You really think it’s
that awful this trip’s going to end in seven days?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘I do,’ Claudia said quietly, ‘these last seven days have been
some of the best and happiest of my life.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">There was a short silence as Lutman was then reminded of work and
the unfortunate circumstances that had left him feeling uncomfortably shy with
women. ‘You know, Claudia, a while ago, when I spoke to a friend of mine about
something awful that was going to happen to me in the near future, she gave me
a rather interesting little piece of her philosophy.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Really?’ Claudia replied, suddenly sounding very interested. ‘What
was it?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Lutman beamed. ‘This friend, she said that, if you know something
unpleasant or something bad’s going to happen at a set time in the future, but
you’re happily enjoying the here and now, then you know that the time up to
that bad time is going to be happy – or should be, anyway. So she said, why
worry? Between now and then nothing worse is going to happen to you. She often
said this whenever she or I were going to something unpleasant like being told
to see the boss for some unknown reason. I have this stupid fear of the
dentist. I do go, but I’d be unnecessarily be extremely nervous about it days
ahead of the appointment. When I mentioned this to her, she’d ask me if the
dentist had already made his analysis. I said no of course, and she’d then say
to me, look David, until then your teeth will remain in exactly the same place,
and you will still work for this council. So relax! So, I often find myself
closing my eyes, taking a deep breath, and trying to enjoy the very moment I’d
find myself in now, knowing that nothing bad is happening or will happen until
that moment arrives.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘And does it work?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">He laughed. ‘What do you think? Yeah, it all sounds great in
theory, but when your mind’s constantly reminding you that something’ll happen
and there’s nothing you can do about it, it’s advice that’s just a little
difficult to follow!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Claudia smiled. ‘I actually think it’s a pretty good piece of
philosophy! Was your friend always that calm?’ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Well, she had her strange moments, and she certainly wasn’t always
calm, but she was a lovely girl. Infact…’ – he paused as his expression turned
to sadness as he thought about his next words carefully - in fact, she was
tragically killed in a car crash earlier this summer.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Oh.’ Claudia did not know what else to say about this.
Instinctively, she put her hand on his, and gripped it. ‘I’m sorry. You must
have liked her very much.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Lutman looked up at her. ‘Actually, we weren’t dating, but, you
know, I once thought she really liked me. But then what she did to me really
upset me. The one time in her life when she didn’t follow her own philosophy.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Claudia was intrigued. ‘She did something to you? What happened?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Well, it started when she invited me to some club in the city I
come from. Now, I don’t like dancing, discos, clubbing in general. But, you
know, I couldn’t resist her. Part of the deal was for me to drive her to such a
place, but that was fine of course, you know, we’d be driving down together.
But when we got there, there was some other guy who was also at the place who
she happened to like. Well, after letting me have a dance with her early on,
she started to get very friendly with this other guy and afterwards just completely
ignored me for the rest of the evening. It was then I started to feel used,
betrayed, very angry, angry towards her. She’d invited me to this place and I
had driven her there, and what do I get in return?’ His voice then went quiet. ‘In
that moment of intense frustration and anger, I… grabbed her by the arm to get
her… to dance with me.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Woah, I don’t think she would have been very happy about you
doing that!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘You’re right about that, but, God, you know, I just felt so
betrayed! She’d basically conned me into taking her to a club to be with
someone else! Well, after that, I went straight home, almost in tears, and left
her there with this guy, who I presume took her home. I was still upset about
it all the next day. Unwisely I tried to confront her about it, telling her how
she effectively tricked me into getting her to take her there, but that just
made things even worse. She shouted at me, telling me what she thought of me
and left the building immediately after, getting into her car.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Lutman then
took a long pause for breath, before adding, his voice shaking slightly, ‘A few
minutes later, she drove straight into the back of a truck and died instantly.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Claudia looked genuinely shocked. ‘Oh God.’ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Yes. And now I am living with… with this guilt, this… Oh, God, if
I hadn’t tried to argue with her that morning she wouldn’t’ve got herself killed!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘But how can you be sure of that?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">As well as the quivering in his voice, Lutman’s eyes moistened.
But if he was about to break up, he held himself back, determined to remain firmly in control. ‘She left the
building straight after I bawled at her. The crash, I’m sure, was the result.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘I’m sorry,’ sighed Claudia, clasping his hand reassuringly. ‘I
don’t know if this is the right thing to say… forgive me if I seem a bit…
unsure, but… maybe now you are wiser for the experience.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Maybe so, but the pain's always there. I set off a chain of
events that led to the accident.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Claudia looked at him thoughtfully, thinking over what he had just
told her, and then said: ‘Well, perhaps you should think of it this way,
another… philosophical view on the situation. You could always say that what happened
at the club that night had, in fact, saved you both from having a car crash in
your car somewhere else if you both went home together. That incident made sure
you left earlier. All right, maybe you did drive home quickly, but at least you
made sure such an accident never happened. You could also argue it wasn’t you
who set off the chain of events, but her. If she hadn’t tricked you, it was
always possible you both wouldn’t be around now because of you both crashing,
or if not, a separate chain of events would have started up, she’d still be
alive today, and you wouldn’t be here talking to me now. I don’t know if I’m
even making sense. I don't even know if I understand what I'm saying!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Lutman smiled. ‘Well, I think I understand what you’re getting at,
Claudia. I don’t know, well maybe. But it’s an interesting way of looking at
it, I suppose.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘It’s fate,’ Claudia added. ‘They say we all have our futures
planned and mapped out ahead of us, from some almighty being up there. You were
simply destined not to be with that girl.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘And she wasn’t destined to be with me. But fate killed her.
Cruelly.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘David,’ said Claudia forcefully, ‘there’s no way you can be
absolutely sure your anger resulted in her driving into the back of the truck.
It may well be just pure coincidence. Maybe the reason you’re out here, with
me, here in America, is that you are trying to help yourself, to put those
events to one side. Maybe you’re out here looking for something to take your
guilt away. Have you actually spoken to anyone about this? Have you seen
someone who is an expert?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘If you mean have I sought any professional help, the answer is
no, and yes, I think I am probably out here trying to help myself.’ Lutman
desperately wanted to tell her the real reason he was in America. His secret
was now six weeks old, and he desperately wanted to talk to somebody about it.
But he could not help but believe that she would think him strange, and would
then stay clear of him for the rest of the tour. And if she were the one, then
she might not like the idea of being told she could be his wife.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Was everything that he had recently experienced, even the time
travel business, a consequence of Caroline dying? And that her death was to
ensure that he would finish up with the right girl? Was this the whole point of
all this – that he, from the future, was just ensuring that he would not have made
the wrong choice?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">They gazed in silence for several minutes out towards the rocks
and valleys in the distance until Claudia’s mobile trilled. ‘It’s Kathrine.
She’s asking where we are.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Lutman looked at his watch. ‘Ooh dear, we’re late!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">That evening everybody congregated around large wooden picnic
tables that had been shifted from various parts of the campground and that now surrounded
a small bonfire. That evening’s meal was prepared by Lutman, Sylvie and
Claudia. The mood was jovial, with plenty of anecdotes exchanged about the day’s
experiences. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">As the fire slowly died and the stories dried up, some of the
group said their goodnights and headed wearily back to their tents, including
Claudia. Lutman watched as she glanced in his direction and smiled, but her
‘goodnight’ was clearly directed at everybody, and not particularly at him. Now
he sat alone at one table for a few more minutes whilst Marcus, Janet and
Kathrine were at another talking about the plot for tomorrow.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"> Maybe,</span></i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"> he
thought, it would all come together tomorrow, he and Claudia. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">It was inevitable. Who else could it be?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Once again he cast his mind back to six weeks ago. His bedroom,
his sweaty future self entering through an invisible door wearing a green
day-glow baseball cap, a pink Grand Canyon tee-shirt and green shorts, and… <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">It then suddenly dawned on him that he had not bought a tee-shirt
at the Grand Canyon. Was he supposed to have done so? How on earth had he
completely forgotten about that? That surely was not right – this was for sure
something that would have been automatic. Okay, he had not entered any souvenir
shops on this visit as he had been there, done that at the canyon only a short
time before. But even taking that into account, for some reason that he just
could not understand, he did not even think about getting a tee-shirt.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">He felt a gnawing and tightness in his stomach. He had been to the
Grand Canyon, and he had not even thought about buying a tee-shirt. With no
tee-shirt, then surely the pieces would not fall into place.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">He traipsed sadly to his tent, saying goodnight to the others.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">David Lutman did not sleep well that night. He felt certain that
he had completely screwed everything up.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="http://completethecirclenovel.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/complete-circle-chapter-12.html">Chapter 12 ></a></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304290220531518030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4617942940432918480.post-35259267783975245202013-04-12T15:23:00.000+02:002013-08-16T17:48:11.335+02:00COMPLETE THE CIRCLE - Chapter 10<br />
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 32pt;">Chapter 10<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="border-top: solid black 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 1.0pt 0cm 0cm 0cm;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 0cm 0cm 0cm; padding: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">As with previous holidays, David Lutman’s
parents took him to the airport. He never bothered with the train because of
its inconvenient connections, and the buses never seemed to run at the right
times. But one difference this time was the addition of Jeannie. Dennis and
Janice Lutman knew beforehand that she was coming with him, but not for the
first time were they to be disappointed when told she was only a friend. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">But a part of David Lutman was still
trying to convince himself that this was the official line.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">After collecting Jeannie from her flat they
set off in the Saturday morning darkness; dawn was still over an hour away.
Although their flight was not scheduled to depart for a number of hours, Lutman
always preferred to give himself plenty of snag time to get to Gatwick, </span><st1:city><st1:place><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">London</span></st1:place></st1:city><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">’s second airport, which was located forty miles south of the other side
of city. And as with all the other trips to the airport with his parents, they
arrived without a hitch.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">His parents dropped them off at the front
of the terminal, which was already very busy. Jeannie grabbed a baggage trolley
and wheeled it up to the back of the car, onto which Lutman and his father put
their bags. They then said goodbye to his parents, and together wheeled the
trolley inside the building. They quickly found the departures board to confirm
their flight. They still had to wait two more hours before the check-in desks
would open. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">After processing their bags, it took another
forty-five minutes to get through passport control and the routine tight
security. Then they had to wait around for another two hours before being able
to board the flight, which would in fact leave on time. All this waiting around
had elicited a little impatience from Jeannie, and she sat quietly most of that
time, entertaining herself by flipping through several magazines she had picked
up from one of the departure hall shops.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">She spent most of the flight dozing,
stretched out over her seat and an aisle seat which, fortunately, had remained
vacant. Lutman was next to the window admiring the Arctic ice, enjoying the
videos, doing some puzzles from a book he had bought at the airport, and
occasionally reminding himself about why he was doing all this.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">The uneventful ten-hour flight ended just
as uneventfully as the Boeing 747 began its approach to </span><st1:place><st1:placename><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Los Angeles</span></st1:placename><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><st1:placename><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">International</span></st1:placename><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><st1:placetype><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Airport</span></st1:placetype></st1:place><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">. This prompted a little animation from Jeannie, who was displaying all
the excitement of someone who had never experienced the conclusion of a
long-haul flight or set foot on American soil. Lutman obligingly let her have
the window seat so she could enjoy the view and the sensations of the landing
in all their glories.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">It took them a while to clear American
customs, having to wait in line for an hour at immigration. Once this was
dispensed with, they were relieved to find all their luggage was waiting for their
collection at baggage reclaim.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #993300; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">They ordered their shuttle bus for their hotel from one of the marked special
phones at the airport for this service, and soon found the bus stop placed under
a green marker just a short distance from the terminal building entrance. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Five minutes later, a small white bus appeared,
and they and their luggage duly boarded. Ten minutes later, after collecting
three other people from around the terminal, they arrived at their hotel, a
low-rise innocuous-looking block. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">There would not be any Mr. & Mrs.
Smith jokes. Having booked the trip separately, Lutman and Jeannie were
assigned separate rooms, informed that same-sex roommates would be joining them
later. Whilst the desk clerk dealt with the rest of the formalities, Lutman
struggled to stifle a jet-lag induced yawn. Their pre-trek instructions stated
that everyone was to meet up in the hotel lobby at </span><st1:time hour="19" minute="30"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">7.30pm</span></st1:time><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">.
They still had a couple of hours to spare, and so they agreed to meet up
downstairs a few minutes beforehand. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">After her customary ‘See ya!’ Jeannie
entered her room. He continued three further rooms along the corridor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Closing the door immediately behind him, Lutman
threw his bags into a corner, chose a bed, and collapsed straight onto it. As
he closed his eyes, he pondered on the fact that so far everything had been
running incredibly swimmingly; no disasters, no delays, no problems of any
kind. Unless, of course, he counted his little run-in yesterday with Meade, his
boss. Normally he would worry himself constantly about these kinds of minor
incidents, but for some reason that he could not explain to himself, he felt a
sensation of relief, a sense of closure, a sense that his time at the office
was over. Finished.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Fate was ensuring he was going to carry
out everything he was meant to do. Now all he could do was wait and see what was
going to happen next.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">David Lutman’s roommate arrived about
ninety minutes later, his entrance arousing him from what had been, for all
intents and purposes, a deep sleep. It would be several minutes before he could
rouse himself completely.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">His new roommate was Raoul, a young man in
his mid twenties. He was a medium-height black-haired Frenchman with a little
bit of black fluff on the end of his chin. Unfortunately for Lutman, he spoke
very little English. He was not that much better with his French, but somehow
they managed to acquire some kind of rapport – enough, to establish, that they
were definitely on the same trip.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">With still half an hour until he was
expected to meet up with Jeannie, Lutman took a quick shower to completely
freshen himself up. Afterwards, he put aside the clothes he wore on the flight
and changed into something more casual. After a few seconds rummaging through
his clothes bag, he found the green baseball cap, took it out and gripped it in
his hand. Raoul also cleaned himself up briefly, and soon the pair were making
their way into the spacious lobby shortly after </span><st1:time hour="19" minute="20"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">7.20pm</span></st1:time><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Jeannie had not yet made an appearance
down there, but Lutman could see plenty of prospective fellow travelers who
were happily milling around. Some were already interacting, others remaining
quiet and alone. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">After donning his cap he was pleased to
see that the girls outnumbered the men. He was aware that there were probably
two or three other groups that were going on separate trips, and that these
trips all began from the same hotel, and at the same time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Although he scanned the group for bridal
possibilities, his attention on the girls was soon broken when Jeannie arrived
with her roommate, an overweight girl who was very pretty with her long blonde
hair but, he thought to himself, would have been extremely attractive without all
that fat. After momentarily reunited with Jeannie and exchanging pleasantries,
he learned that she was a Danish girl called Helga, and that she would not be
joining them on the <i>Indian Adventure</i>.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Jeannie did not waste any time getting to
know all the other girls in the lobby. Lutman soon found himself talking to a
tall, short-cropped bespectacled Canadian named Marcus, a gangly individual who
was wearing a </span><st1:place><st1:placename><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Banff</span></st1:placename><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><st1:placetype><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">National Park</span></st1:placetype></st1:place><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"> tee-shirt and long shorts. He was on their trip. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">More trekkers filtered into the lobby, and
then three trek guides – recognizable by the fact that they were all wearing
the same polo shirts in the company’s corporate colors – emerged from a small
room next to the main desk. Positioning themselves in the centre of the lobby,
they called for everyone’s attention. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">As everyone fell silent, one of the
guides, who announced herself as Janet, produced a clipboard and began to reel
off the names for the first group who would be embarking on a trip known as the
<i>South</i> <i>Western Adventure Trek</i>. As trekkers peeled off one by one to their
assigned leader, Lutman - still standing next to Marcus - watched the girls who
were disappearing, mentally crossing them off his list. Along with five men,
five girls were joining a blond-haired guide announced as Andy, who was a fit-looking
American who was being eagerly eyed-up by his female party, a group that included
two young, but very pretty, Europeans. Once they left, Lutman noted there were
eleven girls left in the room. But there were still eight men too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Janet then announced the group for the <i>West Coast Adventure</i>. This time, the
slightly hefty Helga, along with four other girls, joined tour guide Brian,
along with five other men. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">After they all headed to the lobby exit, Lutman
looked around to see who was left. These would be the people joining him for <i>The Indian Adventure</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">He smiled. <i>All</i> the girls in this trip looked pretty good.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">After the <i>West Coast Adventure</i> group departed, Janet greeted the remainder, and
reeled off the names of David, Marcus, Raoul, Jeannie, and the remaining six
girls, Andrea, Kathrine, Marianne, Cindy, Sylvie, and Claudia from her list.
After announcing that she was to be their guide, they were all invited to a bar
just five minutes walk away from the hotel.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">It was now dark outside. It was only </span><st1:time hour="20" minute="0"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">8.00pm</span></st1:time><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">,
but Lutman’s day had now lasted well over twenty-four hours.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">After two large tables had been seconded
for the group, Lutman and Marcus continued their small talk, with Raoul and his
limited English sitting alongside for mutual male support. Jeannie was already
chatting away merrily with the other girls; they were all now relaxed, each of
them engaged in conversation with the other. The bar itself was nothing
remarkable, and neither was it all that bright inside, but their table was
reasonably well lit and close to the entrance. The ambience did, however, allow
enough darkness to offer some impression of privacy. Soon the beers, ordered
courtesy of <i>StatesTrek,</i> arrived and
distributed among everyone that made up the<i>
Indian Adventure </i>party.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">After two minutes as the thirsty group
downed half their glasses, Janet gently rapped a spoon on the wooden table for
attention. ‘Hi…’ she began in a west coast accent, ‘…as you already know, my
name’s Janet, and I’m originally from </span><st1:city><st1:place><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Denver</span></st1:place></st1:city><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">, but I’ve spent the last ten years living in </span><st1:place><st1:city><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Sacramento</span></st1:city><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">, </span><st1:state><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">California</span></st1:state></st1:place><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Lutman learned that Janet was only a
couple of years older than himself, although she looked more in her
mid-thirties, and was slightly plumpish. She was not what he would call glamorous,
but with her shoulder-length curly hair certainly not unattractive. She
revealed that she had a young daughter, although the father – or for that
matter, any man in her life – was never mentioned. He quickly dismissed her as
a possibility, but knew very well that love had its own strange ways of
deciding otherwise.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">The boys were first up for introductions. Lutman
voluntarily began the proceedings, deliberately putting on the baseball cap as
he stood up, and eager to make a good impression. As he delivered his personal
information, he looked at each of the girls. They all sat in polite rapt
attention, although apart from smiling courteously, none expressed surprise or
bewilderment at either he or the cap. When he finished, he removed it and
stuffed it into his pocket. <i>Plenty of time,</i> he thought.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">The lean Marcus followed with his
introduction. Despite his short cropped brownish/ginger hair and large, thick,
black rimmed glasses that gave him a slightly nerdish appearance, he was
equally confident and drew a few smiles all round.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Raoul was next. Although his broken
English speech took only fifteen seconds to deliver, his very Frenchness was
enough to impress some of the girls. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Now it was their turn. First was a brown
haired girl, who was a good six centimetres taller than Lutman, and she introduced
herself as Andrea from </span><st1:place><st1:city><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Dresden</span></st1:city><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">, </span><st1:country-region><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Germany</span></st1:country-region></st1:place><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">. She was a student studying medicine, and despite a heavy German accent
and slightly husky voice that suggested she may be a heavy smoker, she had no
problems being understood. Lutman stared at her, assessing her, marking her out
of ten. She was okay, but in his mind just a little tall.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Then there was Kathrine from </span><st1:place><st1:city><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Skien</span></st1:city><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">, </span><st1:country-region><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Norway</span></st1:country-region></st1:place><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">. She was the youngest of the group – eighteen, petite, with quite
short, cropped blonde hair and elfish features. She had a lean but very fit
figure. Her quirky presentation was such that the whole group knew she was
going to be quite a character on this trip, and she hit it off immediately with
everyone. Unsurprisingly, she revealed that her favorite activity was keeping
fit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">The next two girls had come on the trip
together from </span><st1:place><st1:city><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Melbourne</span></st1:city><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">, </span><st1:country-region><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Australia</span></st1:country-region></st1:place><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">. Friends and workmates for many years, they introduced themselves as
Marianne and Cindy. Marianne was in her mid twenties, about Lutman’s height,
and had long, black, slightly straggly hair. Her skin was dark, her features
suggesting a touch of aborigine which made her quite attractive. Her
introduction was brief and to the point, and made without smiling. Lutman wondered
if she really wanted to be on the trip. Not a likely proposition for a wife.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">The brown-haired, pony-tailed and
bespectacled Cindy delivered her introduction with a heavy Australian accent.
She was well built but without looking fat; indeed, it suited her. Lutman was
surprised to learn that she was, in fact, just over thirty years of age, and she
did look pretty good for it. Although not unattractive, he thought she was perhaps
the least glamorous of the group. In her presentation, also short, she
explained that she and Marianne had flown in from </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Australia</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"> that afternoon, so she asked everyone to forgive them if they were
being a little stroppy. But she held up a video camera, explaining that she was
a keen videographer and would be filming the trip. She offered to make copies for
anyone who wanted them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Jeannie was up next, her bubbly
personality almost but not quite matching Kathrine’s. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Sylvie from </span><st1:place><st1:city><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Neuchatel</span></st1:city><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">, </span><st1:country-region><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Switzerland</span></st1:country-region></st1:place><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"> followed, a very attractive girl of Lutman’s age with short, very tidy
light brown hair that was tied up behind, and make-up applied with a lot of
care and precision that suggested she may be a model. But he had to smile,
along with everybody else when they learned she was actually an engineer. Smiling,
Lutman then noticed that Raoul had perked up considerably. He now had someone
to talk to. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Finally up was Claudia, an attractive girl
in her early twenties, and who came from </span><st1:city><st1:place><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Olomouc</span></st1:place></st1:city><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"> in the </span><st1:place><st1:placename><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Czech</span></st1:placename><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><st1:placetype><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Republic</span></st1:placetype></st1:place><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">. She was slightly shorter then Lutman with brown hair that reached down
to her neck but not quite to the shoulders. She had blue eyes and a few
freckles around a little nose which, in his mind, made her look very cute. She
was wearing a sleeveless tee-shirt and white shorts which showed off a lean but
shapely figure. Her English was almost fluent, and she explained that this was
only her second trip outside of her home country. She planned to stay on in the
States for a further two weeks to check out the possibilities of working as a
nanny. She then hoped to return to the States the same time the following year
to do another trek and get a job. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">It was Claudia that made the biggest
impression on him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Pleasantries over, everyone relaxed again and
congregated into little groups to discover more about each other. Everyone
mixed with everyone else, with Lutman spending some time, and feeling
comfortable, with Sylvie, Kathrine, and especially Claudia. She seemed to very
much enjoy talking to him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Eventually the introductory party ended,
and everyone returned to the hotel at </span><st1:time hour="22" minute="0"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">10.00pm</span></st1:time><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">. They all had an
early start to make the following morning.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="http://completethecirclenovel.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/complete-circle-chapter-11.html">Chapter 11 ></a></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304290220531518030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4617942940432918480.post-15400767984727559682013-04-05T13:55:00.002+02:002013-08-16T17:47:23.906+02:00COMPLETE THE CIRCLE - Chapter 9<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="http://completethecirclenovel.blogspot.com/2013/02/complete-circle-blognovel-by-roger.html">For new readers, please click here.</a></span><br />
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 32pt;">Chapter 9<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="border-top: solid black 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 1.0pt 0cm 0cm 0cm;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 0cm 0cm 0cm; padding: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">At five minutes to five, on his final day at work, David Lutman decided that
was enough. He switched off his mobile, removed the memory card, and inserted a
new one that he had purchased during his lunch break. This was a new telephone
number, and so there was no chance of anybody or anything to do with work
calling him while he was away. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">He cleared the top of his desk in fifteen seconds, shoving everything
into its two drawers. His boss had not been anywhere near him all afternoon, so
he would be very surprised if he showed up now. With little else to expect, he
simply just sat back and waited for the rest of the working seconds to pass by.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">But that momentary bliss of completion proved somewhat premature, as the
phone on his desk rang. Again. For what seemed like the hundredth time today.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"> <i>‘Eff off!’ </i> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">The phone duly ignored him. <i>‘Will
you just -</i>!’, and when this was followed by the inevitable and very audible
profanity, all the surrounding partitions suddenly went silent. Heads were now peering
out from behind those padded walls. It was a shock to Lutman that he even
swore, let alone doing this so loudly. In public relations, self-control was
all important in all pressure situations: he had to be cool when it came to
dealing with all kinds of individual and the media, whatever the circumstances.
He had always prided himself in that self-control. Even so, he could still barely
contain himself as his superior, alerted by all the attention he was getting,
made an appearance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">The phone continued to ring. ‘You’d better answer that,’ his boss said
darkly, giving Lutman a hard stare. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Lutman picked up the receiver. ‘Yes?’ he said tonelessly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Oy! What’s up with you then?’ </span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">It
was a friendly, but rather surprised, familiar voice, <i>‘your mobile doesn’t
seem to be working.’<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Oh, hello,’ he said cheerily, thankful it was Jeannie bringing him back
to earth. He turned and looked up at his superior, forcing a smile. But his
boss refused to reciprocate and stood there, staring, refusing to move, waiting
to see how he was going to handle the call. <i>‘Yeah…’</i> said the voice at
the other end, <i>‘it’s only me. Listen, fancy meeting up after work to quickly
sort out tomorrow’s plan?’</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Oh yeah, right, I’ll buzz you when I’m ready,’ Lutman said quietly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Oh, right,’</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"> said Jeannie’s voice,
surprised.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Lutman put the phone down and looked up at his boss. ‘Well, Mr. Lutman,’
said the tall, unflinching figure, his tone low and dangerous, ‘I can see it’s
almost time, and you’re about to leave us for a couple of weeks. I wouldn't
like to delay you any further, but we’ll be discussing this little matter and
your conduct on the Monday you get back. You understand?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Yes. I understand,’ Lutman replied neutrally. He was not going to make any
excuses.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">His boss turned and walked away. Lutman immediately grabbed his jacket
and case, and left the building. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">He felt almost certain he would not be coming back.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">The <i>Dog & Gun </i>public house
was only five minutes walk away from the office. Being Friday afternoon after
work, there were several other individuals who had also made it inside, all
equally relieved that the weekend was upon them, although a large number stayed
outside as smoking in public places was forbidden. This meant that Jeannie easily
found a free table while Lutman bought the beers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘So Meade wasn’t happy with you then?’ she said jovially.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Complete arsehole, as far as I’m concerned,’ Lutman replied testily, ‘and
to be frank I don’t really care any more. I feel I’m done with the council.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Jeannie spoke between several sips of lager. ‘Good for you.’ She then
added, ‘Well, I’ve think I’ve got everything.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Lutman lightened up, the incident now largely forgotten. ‘Oh yea?
Passport, tickets?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Of course!’ she snapped back. ‘And you too?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">He laughed. ‘What d’you think?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">She laughed back. ‘You know, I just thought of something.’ She had a
slightly mischievous look in her eye. ‘We’re going <i>together</i>, right, and therefore we’ll arrive at the hotel on our
first night <i>together</i>.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Yeah?’ Lutman sat up slightly. ‘So?’ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Jeannie leaned forward, softening her voice slightly. ‘Look, I’ve got a
little idea. Let’s see how they react if we jokingly say we’re checking in as
Mr and Mrs Smith!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"> Lutman grinned. He was relieved she
was her old self again. ‘Nice idea! Mind you, the joke will be over rather quickly
when we have to show the front desk our passports.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Show our passports?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">‘Yeah, hotels in the States always want identification on your arrival.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">Jeannie chuckled. ‘Oh well, that’s buggered that bit of fun, then!’<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="http://completethecirclenovel.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/complete-circle-chapter-10.html">Chapter 10 ></a></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304290220531518030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4617942940432918480.post-69798558249060073922013-03-25T21:33:00.002+01:002013-08-16T17:46:00.215+02:00COMPLETE THE CIRCLE - Chapter 8<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="color: blue; font-family: Georgia; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; text-align: center; text-indent: 36pt;">New readers: </span><a href="http://completethecirclenovel.blogspot.com/2013/02/complete-circle-blognovel-by-roger.html" style="font-family: Georgia; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; text-align: center; text-indent: 36pt;">To learn more about this story, click here.</a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right; text-indent: 36pt;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 32pt;">Chapter 8<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="border-top: solid black 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 1.0pt 0cm 0cm 0cm;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; padding: 0cm; text-align: center; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia;"> </span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Impact; text-align: center;">D</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Impact; text-align: center;">EREK</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Impact; text-align: center;"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Impact; text-align: center;">C</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Impact; text-align: center;">ARL’S</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Impact; text-align: center;"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Impact; text-align: center;">C</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Impact; text-align: center;">HRONOLOGY</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Impact; text-align: center;"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Impact; text-align: center;">R</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Impact; text-align: center;">EPORT</span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Century Gothic';">An
interview with a top scientist about the possibilities of time travel<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">DEREK CARL: So, before we talk about the possibilities
of time travel, I’d like to ask you straight – are you someone we should be
taking really seriously, or are you one of those geeks who likes boasting to
the world he’s successfully built a time machine, but then is unable to produce
any evidence?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">SCIENTIST: You can take me either way. I like to think
of myself as a chronologist who’s more than just an expert on cosmological
physics. Let’s just say I’m a person who’s familiar with the subject of chronology…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">DEREK CARL: Can you explain to us all what chronology
is?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">SCIENTIST: A chronologist is someone who is an expert
on the subject of time, or to give it its correct term, chronology. Now here
you can, of course, take me as one of those geeks you describe, but I am
perfectly serious about my field. Accordingly, I’d like to think that those who
are interested in reading this on the subject of time are also perfectly
serious in reading to what I’m going to say. If you’re not interested, then, of
course, you don’t have to. But if we go back to 1895 when Lord Kelvin openly
declared to the world that heavier than air flying machines were impossible, well,
we all know what happened shortly after that. Today, in the 21<sup>st</sup>
century, there are many eminent scientists who say that time travel is
impossible. But I believe it can be done. I’m here today not simply to say to
you all ‘Look everyone, I’ve invented a time machine’ or ‘I can build a time
machine’, but to draw attention to the possibilities of such a concept.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">DEREK CARL: Okay… so, before we go into all the
details, perhaps for the benefit of those reading this to be able to understand
this… this whole concept, we should perhaps ask you to explain, what exactly is…
<i>time</i>?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">SCIENTIST: Well, that’s a good question. In fact,
scientists still can’t really explain what the concept of time is. Albert
Einstein’s interpretation was that time is simply what a clock reads, and this
was a belief that was held well into the twentieth century. But that clock
could be the rotation of a planet, a metronome, water falling at a constant
speed from one container to another with measurements, a digital or analog
watch, or simply your pulse.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">DEREK CARL: So time is a constant – it’s fixed. It’s
not a thing that we can control, alter or manipulate to our own devices.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">SCIENTIST: Only if it’s not subject to external
forces.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">DEREK CARL: Could you explain what you mean by that?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">SCIENTIST: Certainly. You have to believe that time is
well and truly linked with the three dimensions of space. There’s length – how
long something is; breadth – how wide something is; and thickness. The fourth
dimension – well, we would call time that fourth dimension. Anything that
happens, any kind of activity however big or small, however miniscule or
gargantuan it is that is conducted at any given point, happens at a particular
point in space and a particular point in time. We call this space-time. Now,
this space-time can be distorted by the gravity of large objects such as stars,
and as a result it moves more slowly. As I mentioned earlier, until
comparatively recently, everyone believed that time was simply just there – it
exists, it’s constant, it’s absolute. One second that passes for me is the same
second that passes for you. But it was proved that time is simply relative.
That means that your time and my time are not the same, as we occupy different
positions in space and we move differently.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">DEREK CARL: Hang on, don’t we both occupy this same room?
And at the very same time? And what about our readers? They’re all reading this
at the very same time, aren’t they?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">SCIENTIST: Well, you and I do occupy the same room, of
course, but we are sitting in two different positions, just as everyone else
around us today is occupying a different position around the world. But as far
as looking at it in terms of actual space, well, they’re all at different
points. We, for example, are not actually occupying the same space. You are
over there, and I’m over here.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">DEREK CARL: Could you give us an example that would be
better understood? Can you prove that my time and your time, my space and your
space, are really that different?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">SCIENTIST: Yes. For example, if I were to take a plane
from San Francisco to Sydney and back, and put an atomic clock on board – the
most accurate timekeeping device we have on this planet which is accurate to
several milliseconds – and someone in San Francisco also had a similar clock
fixed there, and we had them both set at exactly the same time just before I
departed, I would find that, when comparing those same clocks upon my return, I
would discover that I had, in fact, actually lost a few nanoseconds of time.
This shows that the time interval between two events is not fixed. This is what
we call ‘time-warping’!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">DEREK CARL: Well, flying by plane to lose just a few
fractions of a second doesn’t amount to much as regards time travel, does it?
And certainly you couldn’t surely measure the difference between the two of us
sitting here in this room?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">SCIENTIST: Obviously not – you’re really talking about
absolute milliseconds, nanoseconds, in that situation, a millionth of a
millionth of a millionth of a second as far as difference is concerned. But
what the plane experiment proved is that Einstein’s theory of relatively –
perhaps the most famous equation ever, <i>E = mc</i> squared, was absolutely
correct. Your time and mine can get out of step if we move differently. The
effect becomes greater the faster we travel. For example, if we were able to
approach the speed of light which travels at around 186,000 miles a second, the
time dilation effect on the ship would mean that, on a one-year trip, you’d
return many years further into the Earth’s future. This does mean, in effect,
that it is theoretically possible to travel <i>forward</i> in time, but not <i>backwards</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">DEREK CARL: So you’re saying that if we want to travel
around the galaxy like in <i>Star Trek</i>,
for example, it’s impossible because every time we go to warp speed we only end
up traveling into the future?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">SCIENTIST: That’s basically correct as far as known
physics is concerned. And as far as known physics is concerned, it is
impossible to travel faster than light.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">DEREK CARL: So you are saying that time travel is
impossible.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">SCIENTIST: Many eminent scientists say it’s only
theory. There are many who say it can be done.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">DEREK CARL: And what about traveling beyond light
speed?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">SCIENTIST: As I said, the facts say we can’t, but
scientists have learned never to say can’t as far as physics is concerned.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">DEREK CARL: So are you about to tell us that you
believe you could build a faster-than-light space ship or even a time machine?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">SCIENTIST: Not a ship as we would understand it that
can travel at such speeds, no. As I said, it would close to impossible.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">DEREK CARL: Why is that?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">SCIENTIST: Well, the problem is, that, when the mass
of anything – our time machine, space craft, or even a simple atom – has to
travel at such speeds, it requires additional power from somewhere to power it
to that speed. That, in turn, would increase its mass – that’s the amount of
physical matter that it is made up of. The faster you go, the more power you
will need, and the more the mass of your machine will increase as you take on
board the extra energy required to get that extra power. As you approach the
speed of light you would require an enormous power source. And as we further
increase the power, we further increase the mass, and by the time we reach the
speed of light we’d need an infinite amount of power stored in an infinitely
large mass. In a nutshell, light speed requires an infinite amount of power. To
put it in more laymen’s terms, even if we were able to reach 99 per cent of
light speed we would need around 2000 years output from the Earth’s entire
energy supply!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">DEREK CARL: So you’re saying that traveling across
space to other planets and galaxies in a short time is impossible.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">SCIENTIST: As regards our current thinking and the
known physical laws are concerned, I’m afraid so.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">DEREK CARL: And the same for time travel?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">SCIENTIST: We can do that, if you remember–<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">DEREK CARL: Ah yes, that it’s theoretically possible
to travel a very short distance forward in time with what we have today – a few
milliseconds. But not back, right?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">SCIENTIST: By this means, correct, but I believe not
impossible by another means.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">DEREK CARL: Another <i>method</i>? So you are saying a
time machine is in fact possible?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">SCIENTIST: Theoretically, yes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">DEREK CARL: So how would such a machine work?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">SCIENTIST: Well, I’ve been studying this subject for
some considerable time now, and I’ve also made copious notes about it. I
honestly believe the theory behind such a machine is sound. The problem is that
there are elements missing. There are parts of the overall equation that I
alone am unable to solve. It’s difficult to go into those finer points but if
there’s anyone out there, reading this blog who is serious enough to assist me
further, well, I’ll certainly show them some of the details. I would be
interested to talk to them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">DEREK CARL: But surely you can give us some idea as to
how such a machine would work, even if it’s not by traveling at light speed?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">SCIENTIST: Well, we have to go back to this notion of
interstellar travel. I believe it is possible to do it through a wormhole in
space – a gateway, or stargate, if you like, a bridge, a tunnel that links two
separate parts of the universe and time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">DEREK CARL: A wormhole?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">SCIENTIST: Yes. It’s a particular kind of black hole –
well, two black holes, in fact, that are linked together by a bridge. If you
enter the right one, it can take you to another time – or even another part of
our universe.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">DEREK CARL: And what is a black hole?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">SCIENTIST: Well, it’s the result of the death of a
very large star, a star that’s so big its gravity is several times stronger
than our sun. When it dies, that immense gravity it has will make it collapse
in on itself, making itself smaller and smaller until eventually it has a
finite thickness – it’s like having a pancake so thin it’s impossible to measure.
This has now become a black hole. Now, that black hole’s gravity is so powerful
even light can’t escape from it. Some of those holes are spinning: these are
holes that haven’t collapsed to a point, but have become ‘spinning rings’, with
centrifugal forces that keep it from collapsing totally.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">DEREK CARL: So where can we find these particular…
spinning black holes?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">SCIENTIST: That’s one of those subjects I still have
to try and find out. But cosmological scientists are certain they do exist, but
they’re not what you’d imagine. It’ll take a while to explain.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">DEREK CARL: So are you going to build a machine that’s
able to cross one of these wormholes… one of these bridges? To basically travel
through time?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">SCIENTIST: I’d like to think that it would be
possible. I’m not saying I’m the man who can build such a thing or that I would
even do so. I’m not one of those people who claim to have built time machines
and actually traveled, but certainly no one has done so by the methods I’ve
mentioned.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">DEREK CARL: So why haven’t these guys who claim to
have built successful time machines saying anything, then?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">SCIENTIST: Derek, am I someone you should take
seriously or some kind of crazy fantasist? Perhaps there are people out there
who really did invent such a device, and perhaps they have attempted to tell
the world. But no journalist in their right mind would believe them without
absolute proof. It's rather like claiming you've seen aliens. And frankly, I
don’t think any of them have managed to prove anything because I don’t believe
they have absolute proof… I don’t know, I haven’t spoken to any of them about
it, I haven’t honestly met anyone with a creditable name who’s claimed to have
done so. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">DEREK CARL: Do you plan to build such a machine? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">SCIENTIST: To be frank, if you really want me to give
you an absolutely affirmative answer, then I may as well cart myself off to some
kind of secure institution. I‘m still several years away from even constructing
such a device – should I decide to do so - maybe even in my entire lifetime I
might not get that far. But I might be able to help those to get closer to the
answer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">DEREK CARL: Well, I can’t say I’ve managed to actually
grasp all that you’ve said today, and I’d love to talk to you more on the
subject, but thank you very much for allowing me to talk to you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Verdana;">SCIENTIST: My pleasure.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14pt;">And with that, after reading it aloud to
himself from his laptop, Carl Pickover pressed <i>publish</i>. His blog,
featuring a mock interview with himself, was now available for the world to
read. As to how many would read it, he would have thought that was probably
going to be pretty minimal. After all, he felt, he wrote this just to get a few
things off his chest even if it was not particularly important. But he liked
the title, <i>Derek Carl’s Chronology Report, </i>using his first two names as
a s</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">ynonym. It would be at least a week before many of the
Internet search engines would find it, so if he expected any kind of response,
it would not be for some time yet.</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="http://completethecirclenovel.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/complete-circle-chapter-9.html">Chapter 9 ></a></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304290220531518030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4617942940432918480.post-29339458932241211222013-03-25T21:33:00.000+01:002013-08-16T17:40:48.461+02:00COMPLETE THE CIRCLE - Chapter 7<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 36pt;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia;"><i><span style="color: blue;">New readers: <a href="http://completethecirclenovel.blogspot.com/2013/02/complete-circle-blognovel-by-roger.html">To learn more about this story, click here.</a></span></i></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 36pt;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia;"><i><br /></i></span></b></div>
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 32.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Chapter 7<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="border-top: solid black 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 1.0pt 0cm 0cm 0cm;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 0cm 0cm 0cm; padding: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">David Lutman sat slouched in his
chair, doing nothing but stare at a pile of stationary brochures that had been
unceremoniously dumped on his desk prior to his arrival at the office that
morning. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">It was now three weeks since
Jeannie’s surprise announcement. His thoughts were becoming much less focused on
work, and more on the trip. He was also beginning to feel a little more
relaxed, even happy in that he had a sense of purpose as to why he was doing
this. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Even so, the holiday was not
coming quickly enough. Arrangements had now been made for the car journey to
the airport with his parents the following Saturday morning, with Jeannie now
added for mutual support. When Lutman asked her whether she had seen or spoken
to her old boyfriend, she made it very clear that she did not want to see him
ever again. Being single once more was great.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">So was all this part of the course of events that were
being set up for him? Was it really going to be Jeannie? She loves discos,
nightclubs, late nights, all those activities that he utterly despised. Maybe
she was going to change…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">But <i>sleeping</i> with her? Well...<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">‘You packed yet?’ she chirped that
morning, as she had done so every morning so far that week, popping her head
around the partition wall. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">‘Not yet,’ he would always reply
with equal enthusiasm, although this time he added that he would be ordering
his dollars later. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">‘So how much you taking?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">‘About two hundred pounds’ worth. The rest I'll use my
card.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">‘Rich man! Hey - d’you think it’s going to be cold? I
know it’s usually hot out there.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">‘Well…’ After having been there before, Lutman considered
himself to be reasonably knowledgeable on this subject. ‘I think it’ll be warm
on the coast and also in </span><st1:city><st1:place><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Las
Vegas</span></st1:place></st1:city><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">, but when we get to the likes of
the </span><st1:place><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Grand Canyon</span></st1:place><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">
I reckon we’ll need a sweater or two. After all, it’s going to be close to
mid-October.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Jeannie grinned. ‘Especially as we’re camping… Hey
David,’ she sniggered, ‘just think, I might need some help keeping warm in the
tent!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">‘Er, sorry…?’ Lutman’s heart skipped a beat.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">‘Oh Dave,’ she laughed, after reading his expression. ‘I
really didn’t know you cared! I’d better go now. See ya!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Was she being serious?</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">
Lutman looked down at the office furniture catalogue he planned to thumb
through. He had to think of something else.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Well, she was the playful type. But did she really
want him to keep her warm in bed? Share the tent, eventually share the sleeping
bags? Eventually have sex?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> <i>Stop
it,</i> he kept telling himself. There was no way on earth she would become the
future Mrs. Lutman. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">With just two days to go, Jeannie
bought a few more clothes and obtained her dollars, and Lutman collected his
tickets and a few other items. He had not really purchased anything of
significance towards the trip as experience had taught him to travel economically.
Even so, he had deliberately packed more extras than usual. After all, he
reasoned, there was a distinct possibility that he would be spending more time
in the States than two weeks if things turn out in ways he did not expect, but
were in fact to be part of the course of events that would lead him to meeting
his wife. And, of course, he made sure he included the most important item of
them all – the green baseball cap.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent3" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">His daily conversations
with Jeannie were now firmly focused on the trip, but these were not nearly as
jovial. Since that remark about the tent, she seemed a lot more careful with choosing
her words. His feeling was that she was distancing herself slightly; her visits
to his work space had become less frequent, and their discussions had become
more focused on the serious aspects of their trip. This small change in their
relationship convinced him that the possibilities of her being his future wife
were becoming more remote, which he felt a little relieved about. After all, he
just could not feel that there was a relationship to be had with her. There was
no inate desire to do so. But as a consequence he could not help but think that
their once good pals/buddies relationship had irrevocably deteriorated. Jeannie
was supposed to be a good friend. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent3" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Come on,</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">
he told himself. There’s no way she was going with him so that he could bed
her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent3" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">David
Lutman now felt stupid and disgusted with himself.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="http://completethecirclenovel.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/complete-circle-chapter-8.html">Chapter 8 ></a></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304290220531518030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4617942940432918480.post-27860684834631783612013-03-21T16:40:00.001+01:002013-08-16T17:39:58.830+02:00COMPLETE THE CIRCLE - Chapter 6<br />
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 32pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Chapter 6<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div style="border-top: solid black 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 1.0pt 0cm 0cm 0cm;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 0cm 0cm 0cm; padding: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It had now been exactly a week
since his future self had paid David Lutman that visit with that message. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">On this particular Saturday
evening - as he did so on most Saturday evenings - Lutman kept himself shut away
in his bedroom from the rest of the world. With his computer connected to his
large wall-mounted high-definition TV, he then flung himself on the bed, laid
down and settled to watch some television.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">His bedroom had seen little change
since his teens. Apart from the heaving bookshelves and a rather messy dressing
table covered with loose coins, a few magazines, and piles of mail that had
been both opened and unopened, it was reasonably tidy. Miscellaneous junk had
been placed into neat piles upon whatever spare space existed on the shelves,
and there were two orderly piles of magazines stacked in one corner. There was
also a thickish layer of dust around the sills, cupboards and wardrobes that
perhaps only saw a duster in Lutman’s hand once a month. His mother had long
abandoned the idea of keeping his room in order. As far as she was concerned,
Lutman was more than old enough to do that job.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As an action-packed drama unfolded
on the screen, his mind, not for the first time, wandered back to the events last
Sunday afternoon.<span style="color: olive;"> </span>Maybe his future self might
come back and tell him more? Maybe the baseball cap was <i>deliberately</i> left behind. It had that message, and that surely meant
something. But<i> Dzizzy-R</i> was all that he
said before he disappeared, a phrase that was blurted out with such urgency
that it, unquestionably, had to have meant something important. <span style="color: olive;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">But what was he supposed to do
next? The holiday was now booked - that earlier instruction was clear enough -
but he had no clue as to his next course of action. But every ounce of his
being was telling him to continue as normal. The scenario had been set, and
that there would be no way of turning back.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: olive; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">He then
realized that he had been staring at the TV screen for the past ten minutes
with absolutely no idea as to what had been happening.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> So he switched off the TV, deciding
that there really was nothing worth watching, and turned on his laptop. He went
to a search engine, and once again, began the task of punching in key words and
hope he would hit on something useful. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This time he spotted something. One of the results
looked like it had something worth reading. He wondered how he had missed it
last time around. He clicked on the link.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Headed <i>Time and
Time Travel: A Supplement to Temporal Manipulation</i>, the piece began with
some complicated and confusing explanations before stating that there were two
laws of time. The first law was that no one should be allowed to meet themselves,
after which it then stated that it would be impossible for anyone to interfere
with their timeline. Lutman grinned, feeling pretty certain that this law had
already certainly been broken, thanks to his future self.<span style="color: olive;"> </span>As regards the second law, the article said that it
would be impossible for one to go back to the same point in time and have
several attempts to change something in order to get it right. To break these
rules would create paradoxical situations. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">All of this was rather
interesting, but Lutman then decided to return to the search engine, typing in
the letters ‘DCCR’. And just as before, he was faced with a list that included
‘Detroit Catholic Charismatic Renewal’, ‘</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">Division of Commissioned
Corps Recruitment’ and the ‘Deaf Connect Chat Room’</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;">,</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> along with another 50,000 plus
hits. And just as he had done so on that long night after the event, and had
been doing so regularly since then, he tried ‘DCCR’ and ‘Time Machine’
together. And not for the first time, the search engine simply told him: </span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 36pt;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Your search did not match
any documents.</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-indent: 36pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Now getting increasingly
frustrated, he once more typed in all the obvious words and phrases. <i>Time
travel. Time paradoxes.</i> He briefly glanced at those hits that looked
promising, but not for the first time got absolutely nowhere, mainly because he
soon found himself completely and utterly lost in the scientific language.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">A very unhappy-looking Jeannie was
waiting for Lutman as he arrived at work the following Monday morning. As he
plopped himself into his chair, she began to explain that she and her boyfriend
had split after a blistering row Friday evening. But what he had not expected
to hear was that the following Saturday morning she had rushed to the travel
agent, and discovered to her surprise that there had been a cancellation on his
trip. She booked the slot. ‘Well, I’m free now,’ she explained cheerfully, ‘and
after what you told me, it sounds fun,’ adding, ‘and it’d be a great way to
forget about that arsehole.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Yes, he thought sadly. She's free.
She's young. She's single. And she’s three years younger than he is. A good
age. In the current scenario, the first potential candidate for a wife.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Don’t be such an idiot</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">,
he told himself. Had he forgotten his ‘no colleagues’ rule? There will probably
be many more girls to meet in the tour party when he got there. Nevertheless,
he thought, who was to say that the girl concerned would come from his tour
party?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">‘David,’ said a graspy,
chain-smoked voice from next door, ‘I’ve got someone from the <i>Hensfield Mercury</i> on my line wanting to
talk to you about those planned night shelter spending increases.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">There would be plenty of American girls out there too.
So many possibilities. Pleasant though she was, he really hoped Jeannie would
remain an outside bet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">‘David!
Pick up your bloody phone, will you!’<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">‘What? Oh, bloody hell!’ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">‘It’s the <i>Hensfield
Mercury!</i>’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">‘<i>All right!</i>
Okay! Yeah, what do they want?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">‘Didn’t you hear me? For goodness sake, find out
yourself!’<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="http://completethecirclenovel.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/complete-circle-chapter-7.html">Chapter 7 ></a></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304290220531518030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4617942940432918480.post-28855019392294932172013-03-18T15:33:00.004+01:002013-08-16T17:38:51.489+02:00COMPLETE THE CIRCLE - Chapter 5<br />
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 32pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Chapter 5<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div style="border-top: solid black 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 1.0pt 0cm 0cm 0cm;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 0cm 0cm 0cm; padding: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For Professor
Derek Carl Pickover - or Carl to both his friends and family - the United
States was the country for many strange and remarkable things to take place. It
was a place that had inspired countless innovative ideas and activities over
the years, and leading to some of the most inventive, intelligent, and
entrepreneurial individuals on the planet. But with its pretty substantial,
cosmopolitan, varied and sizeable population spread across and throughout its
fifty states, in Pickover’s view the country has also produced its more than
fair share of cranks, oddities, and occasionally dangerous people. He certainly
did not consider himself a crank or dangerous, an oddity perhaps, although he
often thought he perhaps gave that impression when he considered his scientific
interests.<span style="color: olive;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Physically,
Pickover did not appear to look particularly different to anybody else. An
Afro-American, he was 33, single, and 170 centimeters tall. He had bushy black
curly hair that was slightly thinning on top, a black moustache, and he always
had at least a days' chin stubble that was already beginning to show some
shades of grey. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13pt;">Influenced
by an upbringing in mild poverty in a run-down neighborhood, he was always
casually dressed in a tee-shirt and jeans, never once having the desire or incentive
to appear more formal. Despite those potentially limiting circumstances, he
came from a stable family, his parents actively encouraging him to be
independent when it became clear their son was academically brilliant. After
supporting him both financially and spiritually, they were rewarded with a son
who graduated with honors in physics, and Pickover duly paid them back, helping
them financially with enough cash to move into something more respectable. With
little time to even consider his next move whilst teaching at the </span><st1:place><st1:placetype><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13pt;">University</span></st1:placetype><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13pt;"> of </span><st1:placename><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13pt;">Connecticut</span></st1:placename></st1:place><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13pt;">, Carl
Pickover was invited to take over the post of Professor of Modern Sciences. In
the ensuing years there he became a highly respected individual. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13pt;">It was
after he arrived at </span><st1:state><st1:place><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13pt;">Connecticut</span></st1:place></st1:state><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13pt;">
that Pickover befriended a brilliant physicist who also taught at the
university, Professor Ronald Mallett. He was an individual who had received
many distinctions as well as being featured in numerous television
documentaries about his work, particularly in a mission inspired from childhood
when Mallett’s 33 year-old father died of a massive heart attack. Carl Pickover
soon became fascinated in that mission, which turned out to be a time machine
project. The young Mallett had resolved to construct a device that would enable
him to travel back in time to save his father, and by doing so pursuing
everything in his ability to attain the knowledge and theory required. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Although
the initial reasons for construction of the machine now had lesser
significance, Mallett's line of research had drawn the attention of numerous
academics, along with rookie professor Carl Pickover. A short-term
collaboration was forged, although Pickover wanted to push the envelope beyond
the professor’s original theories, theories which had been centered around a
device that focused on the gravitational force of a ring laser. The external
gravitational field that had been generated in Mallett’s experiments seemed to
indicate that time travel – at least travelling into the past – was a distinct
possibility. The drawback was that the device would only work if the machine, if
it were switched on now, would still be working in the future. This meant that
the only backwards time travel that was possible was for someone <i>in the
future</i> to use that machine which, hopefully, would still be working by then,
and then to be able to travel <i>back</i> in time. But then that person would
only be able to travel back only as far as the point the machine was initially
activated. As far as Mallett was concerned, actual activation of the device,
let alone its actual construction, was still only an idea and a long way from
any form of reality. Pickover sensed Mallett’s unease over his impatience, and
graciously withdrew from the project. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13pt;">Pickover remained
in </span><st1:state><st1:place><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13pt;">Connecticut</span></st1:place></st1:state><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13pt;">
until some five years later, when he moved to the </span><st1:place><st1:placetype><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13pt;">University</span></st1:placetype><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13pt;"> of </span><st1:placename><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13pt;">California</span></st1:placename></st1:place><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13pt;"> in </span><st1:city><st1:place><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13pt;">San Francisco</span></st1:place></st1:city><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13pt;"> where he
was free to work on a separate set of theories that would take him away from
Mallett’s work. By now he was beginning to express his ideas to a much wider
audience, namely his students, although he always took great care to ensure
that his arguments were presented as well-thought out and reasoned arguments in
his lectures. Thanks to his upbringing being a contributing factor, Carl Pickover
was a thick-skinned individual and always had a ready, reasoned answer to
everything, invariably ensuring that any doubtful individual who felt a need to
express themselves forcefully would be leaving the lecture hall with their
tails firmly between their legs. On one occasion, one individual gatecrashed
such a lecture wielding a tattered bible in his hand, but before he had the
chance to vent his anger directly at Pickover he was swiftly escorted out of
the hall.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Pickover had
no doubt in his mind that it was this particular group of people, the
narrow-minded, bible-bashing, creationist-theory peddlers who were the cranks
and oddities, the fundamentalists who would prevent the likes of physicists
such as he and Mallett from being in the positions and influence they now found
themselves in.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">*<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13pt;">Sprawled
out on a large green cushion on the bare wooden floor in the living
room/bedroom of his cramped apartment on the edge of </span><st1:city><st1:place><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13pt;">Daly City</span></st1:place></st1:city><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13pt;">, Carl
Pickover sifted through the countless pages of text and diagrams in a
half-hearted attempt to try and place them in some kind of comprehensible
order. Although he did possess a computer, a laptop, and a electronic tablet, he
still preferred to see everything printed out. After printing out yet another
sheet of freshly printed notes to the collection, he placed these with the
older sheets that were filed in numerous catalogued cardboard boxes lined up
against the walls. He then grabbed a can of beer in one hand, opened it, and
picked away at a pizza takeaway. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13pt;"> Carl Pickover once prided himself in being physically
able to five kilometers every morning without pausing for breath. But now with
daily sitting at a computer, and spreading himself out on a sofa or bed while
relaxing at home, he no longer had any incentive to do something about his
weight. He was not attached, his parents had both passed away, and there was no
family in the Bay area. He always got around by car, even if it was just to buy
a paper from a shop that would be only five hundred meters away. He had
recently given up full-time teaching, and now solely concentrated on delivering
presentations and lectures to those institutions that wanted him to do so.</span><span lang="EN-US"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13pt;">He was always gratified to see
that there were always plenty of people in attendance, mostly students, who
were willing to listen to his ideas, although the lecture halls were never
full.</span><span lang="EN-US"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: olive; font-size: 13pt;"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13pt;">This kind
of touring around the halls and colleges had made him a minor celebrity in
student circles. To everyone else, however, he was just another harmless and
enthusiastic professor. This, and the occasional call for assistance or
substitution from the local university, ensured Pickover a reasonable but
unremarkable income.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13pt;">In one
presentation, he had put together a mock-up of a time-travel device with an
equally enthusiastic student. It consisted of an unlikely collection of bits
and pieces of metal, glass, circuits, spaghetti wiring, and several computers. But
from this the ideas generated further bolstered Pickover’s interest in the physics
of time travel. But a short time after the presentation, and without any
warning, the student just simply disappeared. The machine’s main benefactors, </span><st1:place><st1:placename><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13pt;">San Francisco</span></st1:placename><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13pt;"> </span><st1:placetype><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13pt;">University</span></st1:placetype></st1:place><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13pt;">, decided
that the crudely put together device was technically theirs, and that it should
remain with the college until some kind of use for it could be found.</span><span lang="EN-US"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The
machine was then stored away, left forgotten amongst the countless spare parts,
the numerous contraptions, gizmos, and other objects in a garage that was located
deep within the bowels of the Mudrick Institute, a non-descript building named
after the late Marvin Mudrick, a professor and essayist at the University of
California. This unremarkable brick building would often act as a classroom
extension and museum for the university’s projects and objects. It was an
institute that very few people in the city knew or were even aware of, let
alone be concerned as to whether it had a garage. Virtually forgotten by
everybody else, the machine had sat there ever since, with even Pickover
himself now having largely forgotten about it. But one day he happened to be in
the area, and out of curiosity, he went back to the garage two years ago to be
surprised to find it still there and intact.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As further
theories and ideas relentlessly flowed from his imagination and onto computer
and paper, and having compiled so much material based on a far more logical,
scientific, and advanced mathematical approach, Pickover quickly realized that
he needed help. He was certain that much of the mechanical theory of his
machine was sound, but someone would be required to calculate the complex
equations needed to at least make the machine do what was necessary. He also
needed someone to help resolve the problem of the phenomenal amount of energy
that would be involved in powering such a contraption. It would only work using
a substantial power source; only government research laboratories had access to
that, and he still was not sure whether even that would be enough.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Searching
for inspiration and for possible collaborators, he read endless essays by noted
luminaries or keen enthusiasts on similar subjects in hundreds of books,
magazines, papers, and websites. He even read texts from those who claimed to
have actually built working time machines. These individuals produced plenty of
discourse, along with a lot of wasted paper, time and broadband, but virtually
nothing in the way of actual or physical proof. No video evidence, and no
independent or credible witnesses. They were all just talking a load of bull. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Pickover sincerely believed that he, himself, had
cracked the problem. He just needed a couple more like-minded experts to assist.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">He was certain he knew how to build a time machine.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia;"><o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13pt;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://completethecirclenovel.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/complete-circle-chapter-6.html">Chapter 6 ></a></span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304290220531518030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4617942940432918480.post-59682106650478381882013-03-11T12:37:00.001+01:002013-08-16T17:37:43.938+02:00COMPLETE THE CIRCLE - Chapter 4<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 32.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br />Chapter 4<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="border-top: solid black 1.0pt; border: none; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 1.0pt 0cm 0cm 0cm;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 0cm 0cm 0cm; padding: 0cm; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">After a few minutes, David Lutman parked
his car a short distance away from the agency. He then picked up the baseball
cap, and without really thinking why, decided to give it closer examination. It
was then that he noticed the cotton lining around the inner rim had come apart,
revealing something grey inside. He turned out the rim and saw it: small, thin,
and sweat-smudged, but legible black biro lettering.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I WANT THIS TO BE TRUE. </span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">He read it
again.<i> I WANT THIS TO BE </i></span><st1:stockticker><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">TRUE</span></i></st1:stockticker><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">. </span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">What the
hell did that mean? He carefully folded the cap in half and placed it inside
his front jacket pocket.<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Lutman entered the small but busy travel agency, and
sat down while he waited for a mother’s plane tickets to be sorted. When that
was done, the pretty ginger-haired travel agent - Becky, as her name badge
identified her - beckoned him over. She smiled. Lutman was one of her regular
customers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">He blushed slightly. He knew he could have done all
this over the Internet, but Becky was a comforting presence. She was very
pretty and had a very pleasant demeanour, but she was also very extrovert,
which he knew placed her well out of his league. She removed a <i>StatesTrek</i> brochure from a filing
cabinet that was placed in the far corner of the agency, and thumbed through
the pages to the booking instructions. Most of her holiday business was
standard family packages, so booking trips like this were a welcome change. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Worryingly for Lutman, his original choice of trip, <i>The Indian Adventure</i>, was booked up for
the next four weeks. Becky added that there was one place left on the trip for
the fifth week, which flew out October 8th, and that the trip itself was starting
the following morning. It was the last such trip of the year, and if he did not
book it now, she warned, it would almost certainly be gone by the morning. Lutman
accepted it without hesitation. If anything, booking that far ahead would
ensure that there would be no problems getting time off work.<span style="color: olive;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Things
were starting to happen. He was going to the </span><st1:country-region><st1:place><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">United States</span></st1:place></st1:country-region><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">. He was
comfortable with the decision and about why he was going. He took the cap out
of his pocket, now feeling some kind of assurance that he was on his way to
solving its riddles and the considerable number of others that it had provided.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">His regular
car park full, David Lutman was forced to park his car in a metered area two
minutes walk from his office. But as he dreamily turned the corner towards his
rooms, a disturbance just a few meters away swiftly brought him back to
reality.<span style="color: olive;"> </span>Down a quiet side street he could see
a skinhead dressed in a leather jacket and jeans, assaulting an old woman and
trying to snatch her handbag. Although she was putting up a pretty good fight, the
thug eventually forced her to the ground<span style="color: olive;">. </span>Lutman’s
initial instinct was to walk away as if nothing was happening, but something
compelled him from doing so. Despite her cries, and being clearly visible to
everyone who happened to be crossing the road, she was ignored. Then he
swallowed hard in horror as her attacker produced a large knife. He found
himself backing away, anxious not to be seen. <span style="color: olive;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">When he
did summon up the courage to look, the old lady was sitting up on the pavement,
dazed and sobbing, shouting for help, but otherwise looked uninjured. It was
only now that when he ran towards her, he was relieved to see that the thug had
got out the knife to cut the strap of her bag, and so removing it from her arm.
He called the police on his cell phone; the lady thanked him and told him it
was a pity he could not have got to her earlier. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">But Lutman
knew he could have done. Just like everybody else who walked away, he thought,
he was a coward. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The
mugging incident had somewhat curbed his enthusiasm for anything else, even any
temptation to close his eyes. Tiredness had been replaced by regret, not the
first time he had had this feeling. In his workstation, he felt like doing
little else but staring at the computer monitor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">‘Nothing
to do?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Lutman sat
up suddenly. A slightly plumpish, but petite, attractive blonde popped her head
around the corner and strolled casually into his cubicle. She was dressed in a
blue blouse that teasingly revealed the start of her cleavage, and a pair of
loose fitting jeans.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Jeannie
Cattrell had joined the council only three months previously, and in that short
time had quickly built up a friendly rapport with Lutman. He was not interested
in pursuing any kind of romantic relationship with her, and it seemed that she was
giving him the same impression. Besides, he knew she already had a boyfriend
and was co-habiting with him, and she was quite happy telling him this. She
loved going out and clubbing. Safe that there was no way she was going to be his
type or be at all interested in him personally,<span style="color: olive;"> </span>Lutman
felt very comfortable and relaxed in her presence. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In fact,
he was relieved of her relaxed company with him. His confidence with the
opposite sex had been shattered ever since he tried to chat up her predecessor,
in his eyes, a lovely shoulder-length brunette named Caroline. That
relationship had begun in a similar way, developing to the point that they
would occasionally go out together, if only to have a casual drink in local bars.
Although he liked her – and, he had thought, she liked him – he wanted it to be
so much more. Six months later, she started to get romantically involved with
someone else who worked in one of the two council blocks. Despite the fact that
she was firmly in the belief that they were only meant to be friends, Lutman
felt betrayed and decided immediately upon confrontation. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Shortly
after </span><st1:time hour="13" minute="0"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">1.00pm</span></st1:time><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">
when everybody had left their desks and gone out to lunch, he complained bitterly
to her face about her dating someone else after all the numerous occasions he
had taken her out. Shocked and livid, she told him in no uncertain terms what he
could do with himself. It was a reponse that he had been totally unprepared
for, and he was absolutely distraught. She then immediately left the office,
marched to the car park, started up her old Ford Fiesta and headed towards the
centre of town. Five minutes later, she went straight into the back of a truck
that was waiting at a red light next to the </span><st1:place><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Rugby</span></st1:place><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">
ground. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Within
seconds, the car was completely engulfed in flames. Crash Investigators would
find very little evidence to establish what had exactly happened; many
witnesses who were standing at a bus stop nearby claimed that she was driving
excessively fast, and was unable to stop. There was very little left to work
with, and there was no way of determining what exactly happened to the car and
driver. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 36pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">As a
matter of routine, police interviewed all her colleagues, Lutman included. He
admitted that he was in the office when she left and that he was the last
person she had spoken to; although they asked him what they had talked about,
he could not bring himself to admit the quarrel, simply saying that she had to
leave the office quickly, but not stating why. In the eyes of everybody, the
Caroline/David relationship had been purely platonic; in addition, she had not
been at the office long enough for anyone to get to know her properly. There
were no suspicious circumstances, and so an open verdict was given. But this
was no comfort to Lutman. He felt responsible, and vowed never to attempt a
relationship with a work colleague again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 5.0pt; text-align: center; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">*<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 5.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">‘Hi, gone
a little quiet now on the inputting,’ Jeannie chirped, ‘so I’ve got a spare
couple of hours or so. What’s happening this end then, Dave?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">‘Well,’ Lutman began, thankful for the interruption, ‘apart
from the usual boring press releases and the bloody phone calls preventing me
dedicating a hundred per cent concentration to the job, I’ve gone and booked
myself a holiday.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Jeannie looked surprised. ‘Oh yeah? When for? Next
summer?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 5.0pt; text-indent: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">‘Nope, in
a few weeks. I’m off to the States.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyTextIndent" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-line-height-alt: 5.0pt; text-indent: 0cm;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> ‘Again?’ She sounded genuinely puzzled. ‘Didn’t you tell
me you went last year? Oh yeah, it’s a trek again, isn’t it. How many of these
things did you say you’d been on? Weren’t it two or three–?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">‘Two,’ said Lutman, ‘but I’m rather excited about this
one.’ He got the brochure from his case and opened it up on top of the piles of
unopened correspondence. ‘Here, look. <i>The
Indian Adventure</i>. I fly out from Gatwick to Los Angeles, and from there we
go into the desert, visit Phoenix, Mesa Verde, go to the Grand Canyon, Monument
Valley in the heart of Indian country, visit Canyonlands, go canoeing on the
Colorado river, spend a couple of days at a ranch in Utah, see Bryce and Zion
canyons, spend a couple of days in Las Vegas and then return to Los Angeles.
Can’t wait!’ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">‘But haven’t you been to some of those places?’
Jeannie asked curiously, ‘I mean, I remember you telling me only the other week
you were thinking about Florida, or going somewhere different…’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">‘Well, I was,’ said Lutman uncertainly, ‘but, well, I
don’t know. I like the West.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">‘Must be a very nice place if you’re going back. So,
how much is that going to set you back then?’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">‘It’s, er… about eight hundred pounds.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">‘Hey, that ain’t bad.’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Lutman forced a grin. ‘Are you interested in going
then, Jeannie?’ <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">She laughed. ‘Only if the other half lets me!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">‘Well,’ smiled Lutman, ‘you’ve got no chance anyway. I
just got hold of the last slot!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">‘Oh…okay.’ Her voice went quiet for a moment, but then
quickly reverted to its chirpy, bubbly tone. ‘It’ll be great… thinking about
it, I think it’d be a super trip! Go for it, Dave!’ She glanced at her watch. ‘Well,
now you’ve given me the idea,’ she laughed, ‘I might well check up on what else
they’ve got, if not now, then next year: At least it’ll get the other half off
his arse all day and do something!’<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">They both laughed. As he finally became relaxed again,
Lutman stifled a yawn as weariness set in. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-indent: 36.0pt; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">But then Jeannie noticed her boss wandering around the
partitioned workspaces. ‘Here’s Trouble. Better get back to my desk. See ya!’<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="http://completethecirclenovel.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/complete-circle-chapter-5.html">Chapter 5 ></a></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01304290220531518030noreply@blogger.com0