LUCID

CHAPTER 14

The jump was instantaneous. We caught Captain Sorrell, Paul and Susan completely off guard. It was funny to see their reaction. Shock and fear, at seeing Kat, froze them for a moment, then recognition and relief flushed back into their faces.

"I would have called first," I said, "but I don't have a phone."

"We need to work something out," Sorrell said, but he was staring at Kat when he said it. They were all staring at Kat.

I did the introductions – helped to ease the tension. They knew about Kat from their remote-viewings, but this was the first time they'd seen a Feline up close, in the flesh – or rather in the 'fur' – and it was clear they found him imposing. Seemed quite in awe of him actually – offered him a seat, which he declined. Then offered him a coffee, which he accepted despite my advice. I saw him wince as he sipped it. I took one too in solidarity.

"No gun-toting guards this time?" I asked.

"No," the Captain said, "they were pulled away – new assignment."

"Glad to be rid of them too," Susan said. It was the first time I'd heard her speak. "They made me nervous – like they were keeping an eye on us."

"They were just following orders," Sorrell assured them.

"Yeah," said Paul, "Colbert's orders."

"Whose Colbert?" I asked.

"A douchebag!" Susan said.

"Major Colbert..." Sorrell said, "my direct superior."

"And now our's too," Paul added. "Tell them Cap'."

"Major Colbert – formerly Colonel Colbert – is a rather disgruntled individual who unfortunately heads our division of the Astral-Travel program. He used to head another division, a military division, with higher clearance than we have, until he lost one of his team and was demoted. He doesn't have much respect for the work we do here, or for my team – he doesn't trust civilians he can't pull rank on. This creates a lot of tension when he's around. Luckily he wasn't around much... until lately. Until you came along. He sees you as his ticket back to his former status. I don't know what he has in mind, but I warn you – because you'll no doubt be meeting him – he's ambitious and unscrupulous."

"Okay... maybe that explains something I was going to query you about. I just got back from a little trip to check on my family – they're under surveillance. And I checked in on my body at the hospital – found a guard outside the ward. Wouldn't have anything to do with this Major Colbert, would it?"

"Sounds exactly like something he would do. 'Protecting his assets' he would call it. He still has the resources to arrange something like that."

"I'll say! All the way from the U.S. to the Netherlands! I hope protection is the only thing he has in mind."

"Well, you can ask him when you see him."

"I'm looking forward to it. So what happened, you said he lost one of his team, did someone get killed?"

"No. They were on some mission in the Astral. I don't know the details, but it seems one of his operatives, a female, just disappeared. They don't know how or where-to, and they couldn't detect her frequency anymore. Her physical body went into a coma, just like yours. That was two months ago."

"And he got demoted for that?"

"It wasn't the first time – I've heard at least three have gone missing under his watch. I've also heard there are many more gone missing throughout the whole program over the last few years. Rumour has it there are enough bodies of military personnel lined up in a coma somewhere to make up a whole platoon. You see now why this makes you so important?"

I looked at Kat. Kat looked at me, and nodded.

"I think I know where they might be," I said.

I told them again about the Void and my brief experience with the Durge. I let Kat paint the bigger picture and explain how his sister became lost there.

"Jesus!" Paul said to me. "If I ever make you angry, hit me or something, but don't ever drop me in there like you threatened."

"So you're really going in to fetch Kat's sister?" Susan asked.

"If I can find her."

"But you do think our lost operatives are trapped there too?" Sorrell asked.

I let Kat answer.

"It's the most probable scenario," he said. "There is a slight chance they could be somewhere on the higher dimensions, too high for your technology to detect, but it is a very slight chance. There is one other scenario I can think of, though it's possibly as bad as being lost to the Void – that they've been abducted by higher beings of the malevolent sort. I can't really say without knowing the circumstances of their disappearance, but let's go with the most probable scenario for now."

"I'm suddenly thinking we're being seriously underpaid," Paul said.

Sorrell was quiet a while before he spoke again. "I think Kat is right, we should go with the most probable scenario. But I'll have to report this to Colbert. See what his reaction is. He'll probably want to speak to you. If you agree, I can arrange a meeting."

"Sure. Can't really refuse – he's got my body and my family under guard after all."

"Good. Give me a couple of days and I'll find a way to get in contact. When are you planning to go into this Void?"

"When Kat thinks I'm ready. Got some training to do first."