<meta name="LineWrap" content="true"><TITLE>SR_Bk1 0010</TITLE><A HREF="SR_Bk1-0011.txt">Next (Page 11)</A><BR>"<P><P>"Will you be back?"<P><P>"Yes! Yes, I will be back. Just, it won't be for a while. That's why I called. I don't know if I'll be welcome, but I will be back, but not for a while."<P><P>"Like how long a while?"<P><P>"Like, I don't know. Like a few more weeks, a month. I don't know."<P><P>"Okay Daptin. We don't want any trouble. Our main concern is loyalty. We understand if you need a break, but you could have called sooner. But if you have had another offer or any contact from another company, I advise you to tell me now, since I'll find out sooner or later anyway."<P><P>"No Eb, it's just a break, and I haven't called cuz I've been pretty pissed-off, that's all. I will be back, but I don't know exactly when. But it might be like a month or at most like two. Okay?"<P><P>"Alright Daptin. You know where I stand. I hope to see you back here soon. You're not the only one feeling the strain around here. And Daptin, do you have a number where I can reach you?"<P><P>"Um... I'm not sure if I can give you this number--hold on."<P><P>"Well do you have a number of someone who can then get in touch with you? In case of emergency, you know."<P><P>"I know, I know. Um, I guess I can give you this number. It's the switchboard at a hotel I'm staying at. I uh..."<P><P>"Which hotel on the Alley is it?"<P><P>"Um, it's like not exactly on the Alley, but real near it, um."<P><P>"Which Earth is it on?"<P><P>"Look, I better not give the number out. You have the number at my apartment and I have a machine there. Just call there if you have to."<P><P>"Okay Daptin. I hope to see you soon. You are okay, aren't you?"<P><P>"Yes! I'm fine. No problem."<P><P>"Well, take care."<P><P>"Bye bye," Daptin said as he hung up the phone and looked over the buildingtops at the distant Agoopi hinterland.<P><P>Eb wasn't such a bad guy, but Overwhelm Associates was a really annoying company to work for. Daptin totally wanted to quit, but he had the legitimate fear of losing contact with all the friends he had in Aconck. Maybe this was why they never taught him bridging--the art of travelling between Earths--to keep up the pressure to remain loyal, to keep him needing the bridging services the company could provide. It made some kind of sense, that the ability to cross over into an alternate Earth was not something they'd be overly eager to share.<P><P>--------------------------<P>CHAPTER 3<P>--------------------------<P><P>"A year?" Lemon screeched, an abstract cosmic wonderland drifting by outside the window behind her.<P><P>"Please," Chamomile said, cringing and holding her finger to her ear. "There's no need to shout. You'll burst all our eardrums."<P><P>"Okay! I'll be quiet! But a year! We have to hang out in here for an entire fucking year?" Lemon said, not much quieter than before.<P><P>"Okay," Chamomile said, turning to an information screen. "As you know, Kimberly only gave me an overview of Yellowhaus's systems, but from what I'm seeing here, our flight time, or whatever you want to call it, will be something like 410 days."<P><P>"Great," Sulfur said. "You gave us the impression we'd be instantly transported to another world, and now this? Talk about a letdown!"<P><P>"Sulfur!" Chamomile said. "Would you rather be dead like everyone else? Wake up! I don't think you've absorbed this yet--the world is destroyed. Everyone is dead."<P><P>"Yeah but still, five minutes into our journey and we find out this. What's next? I mean, do we even have enough food? Oxygen? Supplies?" Sulfur said. <P><P>"You underestimate Yellowhaus," Chamomile said. "That kind of stuff is no problem. All you guys getting along for a year--now that's a problem."<P><P>"Hey! We can spend some quality time together!" Canary said.<P><P>"Shut up," Lemon said.<P><P>Suddenly, Colonia the Sword moaned.<P><P>"What's wrong, Colonia?" Chamomile asked.<P><P>"Oh dear--this is not good," Colonia said, looking very pale.<BR><A HREF="SR_Bk1-0011.txt">Next (Page 11)</A>