<meta name="LineWrap" content="true"><TITLE>SR_Bk1 0040</TITLE><A HREF="SR_Bk1-0041.txt">Next (Page 41)</A><BR> Immediately, he noticed that the hallway was wider than it had been before--about twice as wide.<P><P>With the sheets draped around his massive form, Grant set off for where he remembered the stairs had been.<P><P>Granticaine passed by his former suite, and saw the door was open. Glancing inside, he saw the twin naked strangers up and about--one rummaging in a desk, and the other writing in a notebook. The one at the desk looked up, paused a second, and then held up a piece of stationery from the drawer.<P><P>"Is this where you were before? In this hotel?" the woman said, then looked at the sheet herself. "The, uh, Haybelcord Landovaj? 1151 Main?"<P><P>Grant paused in surprise.<P><P>"Before?" he said.<P><P>"This isn't Earth," the other twin said, looking up from her writing.<P><P>"A dream, then?"<P><P>"Not at all," the first twin said, looking at the door. "Suite 2102--is that the right number?"<P><P>Grant looked at the door.<P><P>"No--it was 3103. But it was certainly the Landovaj," Grant said suspiciously, trying to figure things out.<P><P>"Common," the second twin said.<P><P>"When you get back, wait for my phone call," the first twin said. "My name is Supple Jake, and today is without a doubt your lucky day."<P><P>"What's your sister's name?"<P><P>The two were lost for words.<P><P>"We're, uh, we're both the same person," the second Jake said. "I hadn't considered you might be having such a wild party."<P><P>Grant looked up and down the hallway. It was all so real, so lucid, so calm.<P><P>"What exactly is the situation here?" he asked.<P><P>"We'll talk in person back on Earth. Depending on your decisions, you'll be told everything."<P><P>Grant thought about that, looking at the wall he had destroyed. <P><P>"Sorry about my abrupt exit before--but I felt it the most prudent course of action."<P><P>"Not at all. It merely confirms what the process has discovered."<P><P>"Um, we're shutting down," the other said.<P><P>"Okay," the first Jake said. "But I just want to verify--you are Granticaine Chug Perion? The war hero in all the magazines?"<P><P>"I am."<P><P>"Good," the first one said, pausing as if listening to an unheard voice, then looking up. "So you'll return to where you were, but remember--you will have been physically absent. We'll call as soon as we can--under an hour for sure. Anything else?"<P><P>"What happened to Joy and Tapha? Are they okay?"<P><P>"Your lovers? They are unaffected. But remember--they'll have seen you disappear and then reappear. If you're been using drugs or anything, use that as an explanation. Otherwise--well, who cares. No one would believe them anyway."<P><P>"I don't know--the tabloids are looking for anything bizarre to say about me, after what happened. They want to make me into some sort of freak."<P><P>"Shutting down--now," the second Jake said.<P><P>And in the next instant Grant was standing on his bed, head brushing the ceiling, facing the no-longer-demolished wall, the sheets still draping off his shoulders. He looked down to see Joy and Tapha staring up at him in disbelief.<P><P>"Where did you go?" Joy asked.<P><P>"What happened?" Tapha added.<P><P>Grant looked at the lovelies, and then slowly sat down.<P><P>"Tell me exactly what you two remember. We were watching the tape, and then the phone rang," Grant said calmly, but with an edge of rage.<P><P>"You answered the phone, and then all of a sudden, you were gone. I saw it myself--I saw you vanish!" Joy said.<P><P>"My leg was on top of your leg," Tapha said. "I felt it drop. My leg dropped!"<P><P>Grant noticed the two were keeping their distance, whereas before, they had been all over him. Fear of the unknown, he supposed.<P><P>He sat motionless for a few moments, then clapped his hands. <P><P>"Okay team, the party's over," he said, looking at each of them in turn. They looked up at him dumbly.<P><P>"Get up and get dressed," he said, finding himself getting angry.<BR><A HREF="SR_Bk1-0041.txt">Next (Page 41)</A>