The Citadel and the Wolves by Peter Goodman Read Free Book Online

parallel universe too. He followed me unfortunately with his stale tobacco and cheap scent.
    “I haven’t seen you around in awhile, Jade,” said Kevin Willis in a rather pitiful voice.
    Once again, I found myself having to explain to Kevin Willis that I’d been extremely busy after class, what with the course work, extra maths and science, and homework too, which was extremely exhausting, and I really did not have time for any kind of social life. Excuse Number 3 was catching up on my private violin lessons in the evenings.
    Sending Kevin Willis into outer space without a spacesuit slipped briefly into the dark of my mind.
    “Jade, I was wondering if-”
    Then the school bell rang in the corridor calling us to class. Saved by the bell, I thought.
    I sat around the table with my classmates in the school library later. As I talked about the ‘Coming of the Comet,’ the others listened to me intently, hanging on to my every word.
    Wendy and I left the candy store near our school at lunchtime. We pressed strips of chewing gum into our dry mouths. We screwed up the wrappers, dropping them carelessly onto the pavement.
    “Do not drop litter on the pavement, morons!”
    The robotic voice behind Wendy and I startled us. We glared down at the pavement robo-sweeper. It reminded me of a giant, alien beetle. On its smooth, shiny, black body were two bug eyes that were in fact camera lenses. The pavement robo-sweeper sucked up our sweet wrappers on the pavement. Then it stopped momentarily, puzzling us. It seemed to be observing us (the two humans) through its bug eyes, the camera lenses.
    Wendy frowned. “Jade, is that thing looking up our skirts?”
    “Yeah.”
    We removed the moist chewing gum from our mouths and stuck it onto the ‘eyes’ of the pavement robo-sweeper. It suddenly lost all sense of direction. It spun around wildly till it collided with a fixed street litter bin and fell over on its side. The suction pads on the underside were still whirring. It looked like a giant creepy-crawly insect lying helpless on its back. If it had been much smaller I’d have stamped on it.
    “Help! I need assistance…Help! I need assistance,” it said repeatedly in the same robotic voice.
    Wendy and I looked at each other a little worried. Then we fled, laughing loudly. We were young.
    We were returning to class a little later. Wendy was discussing fashion and make-up, but I had my mind on higher things, the coming of the comet and the fate of mankind. I winced when she gripped my hand excitedly. Then I saw him too. The alien life form was walking towards us in the school corridor with a slight arrogant swagger. He was out of uniform, so I presumed that he must be a 6 th former or something like that. He had black, penetrating eyes, a mocking smile and slick back jet black hair. The stretched rock print T-shirt that he wore enhanced his slim, muscular frame. I rolled my eyes, for I knew what my sister was about to do next. She let her schoolbooks slide carelessly out of her hand. He graciously helped her pick them up. When he spoke to Wendy, her cheeks filled with blood. His name was Nick O’Donnell, and he was indeed a 6 th former. However, this brief, romantic encounter in the school corridor had a rather sad ending for my sister. You see, it turned out that Nick O’Donnell preferred other guys. He was gay.
    I stood outside Room 100B after class. I read the sign on the door:
    Group Discussion
    Parallel Universes
    Fact or Science Fiction?
    I smiled.
    I had tried to persuade Wendy to come along too because I needed her to keep me company, but she wasn’t interested. She said that it was all rather silly, and she went home alone. She has no sense of adventure. I do.
    The door was open. I put my head around it curiously. Room 100B was empty, puzzling me. I was early. I looked at my watch. No, I was a little late. Were the others running late too? Perhaps I’d got my dates mixed up, but Mr Whitehouse had said Thursday afternoon