World Walker 1: The World Walker by Ian W. Sainsbury Read Free Book Online Page A

Stephen Hawking for two days. The scarred face he sometimes dreamed about, wondering if it was his father. His first show with Clockwatchers. The famous video call he'd made to the rest of the band after writing Sunburst Sunday - forgetting he was naked.
    Seb groaned and walked closer to the largest window, pulling up a hard wooden chair. He sat facing the morning light and closed his eyes, feeling warmth as he looked at the deep red behind his eyelids. He took three long breaths, inhaling through his nose, exhaling through his mouth.  
    Father O'Hanoran had taught him the technique of contemplation when everyone else seemed to be writing him off as a disturbed teen. Although the weekly meetings had begun as a tedious chore for Seb, he'd soon realized that some of the things Father O talked about made sense. Sense was the last thing 15-year-old Seb had expected from a Catholic monk, but as he gradually overcame his initial misgivings, he began to try the technique he was being taught. He had let it slip lately, but now his body and mind moved quickly into the first stage. Within minutes, he had taken a step back from his chaotic thoughts and was calmly watching them enter and leave his consciousness.
    Thirty minutes passed as Seb watched his thoughts and his breath. At the deepest point of awareness, he found something new. A presence - passive but awake, vast, powerful - waited for him in the place of silence. He felt no threat, no fear. He was there and he/she/it/they were there. He opened his eyes. A feeling of someone being close to him lingered for a few seconds, then dissipated. He stood, stretched. His hand went to his scar and his eyes widened when he discovered he could feel it again. Turning to the mirror he confirmed its reappearance, the thin white line curving slightly where, 18 years earlier, Seb had grabbed Jack Carnovan's wrist and stopped him carving him up like a joint of meat.
    He walked into the kitchen and drank three glasses of water. He was hungry - hungrier than he should have been considering the amount of sushi he'd consumed the night before thinking it was his last meal. Opening the ice box, he found a bag of spinach that had probably been there since he moved in. Tearing open the plastic, he began tearing off dark green chunks and stuffing them into his mouth, crunching them like cookies. His cell phone rang.
    "Hi, Mee," he said, his mouth full of frozen spinach. "Guess what? I don't have sensitive teeth any more."
    "No shit," came Mee's East London tones. He could hear her smiling. "And that's the most important thing going on at the moment?"
    "Well," he said. "It's pretty weird, don't you think?" He poured another glass of water and washed down the last handful of spinach.
    "I think I've had to redefine weird this morning," said Mee. Seb looked at his watch.
    "Mee!" he said, "it's before noon. What are you doing out of bed?"
    "It's a long story," she said, "but you and I need to talk. The main thing is, are you ok?"
    "That's another long story," said Seb, "but the short answer is yes. Come on over."
    "Be there in ten," said Meera.  
    Seb sat at the piano and gently placed his hands on the keys. He smiled and began to play, the music flowing again, his fingers moving seemingly ahead of his brain's signals as he improvised. Almost immediately he felt himself approach a similar state of consciousness to when he sat in contemplation.  
    A phone rang. He put his hand on his pocket. Not his. He ignored it and went back to the piano, but it continued to ring loudly. He sighed and stood up. The noise was coming from the door of his apartment. He checked the spy hole but there was no one in the hall. He opened the door cautiously and looked down. On the floor outside his apartment was a cell phone, still ringing. He picked it up and held it up to his ear.
    "Mr. Varden, my name is Westlake. I represent the United States Government. I know you're scared, but I am not here to hurt you in any way. Please