Unscheduled Departure by T.M. Franklin Read Free Book Online

"Okay, what?"
    Lindsay smirked. "It's kind of arrogant to think we're all there is, you know? There are theories of other dimensions, other universes or realities. Some that are very similar to our own. Maybe, somehow, you've been communicating with a Finn in one of those other realities."
    I slumped back in my seat. "Come on, you don't really believe that, do you?"
    "How else would you explain it?" She raised a brow in challenge and lifted a finger. "You're sure it's Finn on the phone. You don't think Finn— the Finn here and now— is lying about not calling you." She ticked off the items on her fingers. "The Finn on the phone seems to be calling from far away. And apparently only you can hear him." Lindsay leaned forward, elbows on the table. "Face it, Ro. You've opened a portal to another realm or something."
    "Through my phone," I said flatly. "I can barely get service in Costco and you're telling me it's getting calls from another dimension?"
    Lindsay just shrugged. "Don't make me quote Spock again."
    "Sherlock."
    "Whatever." She grabbed my hands across the table. "The point is, something is happening to you. And, like it or not, it seems to be something not of this world." She waved her hands wiggling her fingers to emphasize her words, then picked up her pen and tapped it on the list. I knew she was waiting. Waiting for me to respond, to acknowledge what she'd said.
    To believe.
    I wasn't quite there yet.
    "Okay, let's say you're right." At her victorious look, I hurried to add, "Not that I'm saying you are, but hypothetically speaking." I waited until she nodded slightly.
    "How would it happen? And why? Am I supposed to, I don't know, do something?"
    She frowned. "Like what?"
    "I don't know." I threw up my hands and sat back. "But I would assume things like this happen for a reason. And if I've created some kind of portal, couldn't it cause a tear in space-time or something?"
    Lindsay snorted. "Now who's quoting Spock?"
    "Okay, touché," I said, rolling my eyes. "But you're the one who's so big on destiny and fate and . . . and karma and everything. Shouldn't there be a reason for all of this?"
    Lindsay pondered that for a moment. "Yes, I would think so. It would seem Finn— the Finn on the phone— has a message for you. He has to be trying to tell you something."
    "Tell me what, though?" I asked, more than a little exasperated. "He hasn't been saying anything significant."
    Lindsay visibly deflated. "I don't know."
    I reached for the notebook and flipped it around to study the list. "It's all outrageous anyway," I muttered. "Alternate realities and portals." I scanned the page before me.
    I forgot it's early there.
    We can make it through this.
    "There's got to be some other explanation," I said.
    The coffee stain - when did he change his shirt?
    "Got to be . . . "
    He's different. Something's different.
    …meetings all morning…
    Different
    ...it's early there.
    "Ro?" Lindsay's voice jolted me out of my thoughts.
    "What is it?" she asked.
    I looked down at the notebook again, the pieces beginning to fit together in a strange, outlandish puzzle.
    "These alternate dimensions or whatever," I said slowly. "If people can communicate between them . . ."
    "Yeah?"
    "Could they actually . . . God, this sounds so crazy." I slumped back and hid my face in my hands.
    Lindsay reached across the table to pull my hands away. "Not crazy, Ro. What are you thinking? Tell me."
    "Okay." I took a breath and went for broke. "Could someone actually travel between these realities?"
    She frowned in concentration for a moment. "I'm no expert, Ro. But . . . yeah. From what I've read, it's theoretically possible with the right focus and if the veil between the realities is thin enough."
    I couldn't be bothered with the details. Not when the words on the page before me were swimming, my head spinning.
    "What is it, Ro?"
    "What if . . ." My words came out as a croak, so I cleared my throat, bracing myself. "What if it's not what Finn's