The Spaceship Took Us to Octavia Page 9

  “Come in,” Carol said, barely recognizing her voice as the words left her mouth.

  A young woman entered the office.

  “Good morning! How’s your day so far? I brought tea,” she said, placing a hot drink on the table in front of Carol.

  “Oh, thanks! My day so far… is wonderful. Thank you. How is yours?”

  The young woman threw a slightly suspicious glance at Carol. “Fine, thank you. Are you feeling alright? Have you caught a cold, maybe?”

  “Um, just a little one,” Carol coughed to be more convincing.

  “Oh, get well soon! I brought you a portfolio of the artist we talked about yesterday. I can’t emphasize enough how talented he is!” The young woman hoisted a hefty folder on the table.

  “I will definitely take a look at his work. (‘What’s her name again,’ Carol thought, ‘Right, Nina’) Thanks, Nina,” Carol’s memory gradually recovered the necessary information.

  “Also, your brother called. He said he couldn’t reach you on the phone, so he asked me to tell you that you absolutely must go visit him during your lunch break.”

  “Thank you, Nina.”

  The woman left the room, and Carol stared bemusedly at the monitor of her computer.

  “I guess it means I’m going to visit my brother. I hope it’s Vic.”

  Before lunch, Carol wanted to know what exactly she was doing at this job. She found portfolios of other artists that needed to be selected for the group exhibition. Carol also found out that her duty was socializing with collectors, art critics, artists, and photographers, which seemed to be interesting. The only thing that bothered Carol—the world looked the same. Everything was as if Carol never knew about Octavia. She wanted to see Vic to discuss everything with him and also see how his life changed.

  When lunchtime finally arrived, Carol darted out of her office onto the street. Intuition prompted Carol’s every action. She withdrew a set of car keys and pressed the “unlock” button. A small car not far from Carol beeped expectantly. Carol walked over to it, opened the driver’s side door, and sat down inside. She looked at the multitude of cars passing by. At that moment, young Carol worried and feared that she wouldn’t be able to handle her new task, just as older Carol’s experience instructed her not to fret.

  “So,” she said aloud to herself, “I insert the key, start the car, and press down on the gas. Oh-no-no! Alright, turn to the right, good job, Carol, let’s go, let’s go...” Carol exited onto the road, and many years of driving experience returned to her. “Oh! But where do I go? How am I supposed to know where he lives? Okay, I felt from the start that I needed to go in this direction, so I’m just going to keep going that way.”

  Carol drove for about twenty minutes when she found herself in a neighborhood of houses, most of which were not particularly attractive. She parked her car in front of a five-story house.

  “I guess this is the place,” Carol said, stepping out of the car. She peered into the windows, knowing for sure that someone inside was waiting for her. She grabbed the metal door handle and pushed. Carol appeared in the hallway smelled of mold, the floor occasionally creaked under her feet. She climbed the stairs to the second floor and stopped in front of the furthest door. After knocking on it, she immediately heard approaching footsteps.

  “Who’s there?” a muffled voice asked.

  “It’s Carol.”

  She heard a key turn in the lock, and the door creaked open slowly. Vic stood before her. He was taller than her, with sunken cheeks and an unkempt beard. They looked one another in the eye for a while. Vic smiled and, almost laughing, said, “Well, hello there.”

  Carol threw herself around her brother’s neck and hugged him as tightly as she could. She didn’t know why, but tears welled up in her eyes. Carol noticed a large dog sitting peacefully in the far corner.

  “Look at you. You’ve become such a lady! And, to be honest, that’s close to what I imagined of you.”

  “Oh, Vic, cut it out. What is this place? Do you live here?”

  “This is my house as it appeared,” Vic answered. “You don’t like it? Me too. It looks as I have hard times or something.”

  “I probably just imagined it would be a little different, and to be honest, I expected you to be different as well.”

  Vic didn’t answer.

  “I am sorry, Vic. Everything’s so confusing.”

  “I saw myself in the mirror. I don’t like much the reflection either.”

  Carol walked up to the dog and stroked its head. “So, what have you become? I get the impression that you’re some kind of underground scientist working in your hovel in the hopes of making a great discovery.” Carol smiled, and Vic smiled back at her.

  “I remembered that I was working on one subject for a very long time… I found here some written works, and also it seems that some of my material was published,” Vic said as he approached one of the shelves and picked up several journals. He handed them to Carol.

  “What is the subject?”

  “The matter of a multidimensional universe. I’ve already searched info about Octavia and things concerning it, and there is barely even a glimpse of the truth. Everything is so veiled. Something’s not right here.”

  “Something’s not right in my life, too. Well, it looks right, but I feel that something is missing.”

  “So most probably, we still live under Ortigon’s rule.”

  Carol walked over to Vic’s desk. A typewriter with a half-typed piece of paper protruding from it was atop the desk; a few dirty cups containing the dregs of tea were nearby.

  “Do you have a wife or children?”

  “Looks like no.”

  “I have a husband and a kid—a cute little girl.”

  Vic’s eyes widened. “Really?”

  “Yes, I saw a photo of us in my office.”

  Carol turned her attention to a small photo encased in a black frame, which depicted an older man. It was Grandpa Joe. Carol felt her eyes begin to well up with tears again.

  “Carol, he was very old… And please, I am begging you, this is a far future. And this is not an absolute probability as you said yourself,” Vic spoke unevenly, unsure of how best to comfort his sister. He sat down next to her, placing his arm around her shoulders and handing her a handkerchief.

  “Yes, I know, but…I just wasn’t ready for this. Ok, I have to calm down, this is not a reality. We are safely sleeping in Room Sixteen now, and this all is just a …” They didn’t finish the conversation, as abruptly everything began to dissolve.

  “Students, prepare your reports for the next meeting. You will need to include…”

  The words reaching River’s ears were becoming clearer and clearer. River found himself in a meeting taking place in one of the university classrooms. At first, he felt acutely unaccustomed to be inside his adult body. He stared at his hands and noticed that they grew almost two times in size if not three. Then, he surveyed the other people sitting at the table. They were around the same age. One of the young woman’s faces seemed familiar to River, and he tried to remember who she was until she caught his gaze and smiled. River tried to be polite and responded with an unsure smile, covering his face with his palm afterward.

  ‘Where am I?’ he thought. ‘This looks like a university. And I seem to be in a classroom. Oh, I just hope they don’t make me talk about anything.’

  Luckily, one person speaking concluded the meeting. When it was over, everyone headed toward the exit. River followed the general flow. A young man approached him and said, “Hey! Are you coming to training tonight?”

  “Uh, I think so,” River said unconvincingly.

  “Alright, see you later, then,” the young man patted River on the shoulder and, upon exiting the building, set off toward a building next to a lawn. An identical building was located to its left, and River headed toward it without hesitation. Entering his student apartment, he noticed that one part of the wall was full of photos. River approached and started exa
mining them with curiosity. He recognized one shot, which was captured before their journey to Octavia. Others depicted moments from high school, a prom photo in which his arm was wrapped around a familiar girl, pictures with his parents, where River and Arthur looked like model children. University photos and shots from basketball games.

  “So, I guess that’s what he meant by ‘training’,” River mused to himself.

  River turned and saw his reflection in the mirror. He froze for a second, looking at his appearance. He was twenty-something, the scrawny boy turned into a strapping, muscular young man. His brown hair grown darker and his facial features coarsened. He sat down at the desk and examined the textbooks lying atop it. He was surprised to see that each pertained to the field of medicine. Did he change his mind about studying astronomy? This baffled River even more. Suddenly he heard footsteps approaching in the hallway. Someone stopped in front of his studio and twisted the door handle, opening the door. River saw an unfamiliar young man.

  “Fudge berries! I thought I’d never find.” Looking at River from head to toe, the young man quickly added, “Well, look at you!”

  River took a few moments to realize that Arthur was standing in front of him.

  “Arthur, is that you?”

  “Who did you think it was? Of course, it’s me!” Arthur walked over to his brother and hugged River so firmly that one of their backs cracked.

  “Hey, easy bro... you’ve just, well, changed a little,” River said.

  “Wait, just to make sure, are you aware of Room Sixteen, Mrs. Lilley, and other stuff?”

  “Yes, I have “woken up” during the class earlier today. Where were you?”

  “I was on my way home from work. Can you imagine, I ‘woke up’ while driving a car. Elders should improve their time machine. It was sort of risky, as I didn’t know how to drive a car. Thankfully skills of my older self uploaded fast. Also, as it appeared, I work as a loader at the supermarket. That’s about as far as my future goes.”

  “You aren’t studying anywhere?”

  “No. But I see that you’ve done quite well,” Arthur said, walking over to the wall with photographs and examining them. “Is that your girlfriend?” he jabbed his finger at the girl standing next to River in a prom photo.

  “I am not sure…”

  “In such matters, brother, you have to be more confident. So Carol and Vic are not with us, right?”

  “No, I haven’t seen them. Maybe elders separated us or something.”

  “Any photos of Carol and Vic? I think we should be friends with them in the future.”

  River suddenly realized that, indeed, they were not in any of the photos.

  “Maybe I just don’t recognize them. You try looking more closely. But something tells me that they’re just not there.”

  “How is that possible? They must be,” Arthur said, examining faces in the photographs.

  River picked up his cellphone and looked through his contacts.

  “Strange, I don’t have their numbers.”

  Arthur didn’t have them either. “That’s weird. Could it mean that Ortigon still rules our world?”

  “I guess we are going to figure out soon.”

  “Yeah. By the way, can you imagine, Mum called on my way here wanting to know when we would be stopping by today? She said we should make it in time for dinner. So I guess we should go. What do you think?”

  “Is it far from here?”

  “About an hour's drive.”

  The brothers decided not to linger and get on the road immediately.

  “Look, this memory card got some music in it,” the younger brother said while driving. “The artist of the songs has the same name as me. I’m kind of afraid to listen to it.”

  “Come on, let’s check it out. What if you’re talented?”

  “I somehow doubt that,” Arthur said when electronic music issued from the speakers.

  “You’re an electronic producer, haha!” River shouted. “When did you manage to become a musician?”

  “I have no idea! I better switch it to the radio.”

  “Arthur, it wasn’t that bad! Come on!”

  But Arthur refused to do so. A familiar melody started to play instead. They turned off of the main highway onto a road that stretched on through cornfields on either side. River opened his window, inhaling the fresh air. When they entered the town, it seemed as if nothing changed—all the same houses, cafes, and shops. Even Mr. Green still sat at the entrance of his salon and smoked a pipe. Although, he, of course, aged with time. Their house stood on the very outskirts of town. The brothers parked the car when Mrs. Wellington went out to meet them. Arthur was ready to shed a few tears, but remembering his new age, he tried to act accordingly.

  “Finally,” Mrs. Wellington said. “Oh, River, you’ve grown so thin!”

  “No, Mum, it just seems that way to you,” River replied.

  When they entered the house, Mr. Wellington met them; his head was covered with grey. ‘About ten years have passed,’ River thought.

  “Grandma!” Arthur shouted and ran to meet her like a ten-year-old boy. He hugged her so tightly that he picked her off the ground.

  “Honey, put Grandma back down, please,” Mrs. Wellington said. “How could you have grown so homesick? You were here just last week.”

  Arthur set Grandma back on her feet and gave her a cane, only now understanding he behaved suspiciously. Mrs. Wellington invited everyone to sit down.

  “How is basketball?” father asked River.

  “Everything’s great,” River said with false confidence. “The team’s in great shape.”

  “Getting ready for the championship?”

  “Yeah…”

  “Regionals, as I understand?”

  “Yes, that’s the one,” River said without the slightest comprehension.

  When the conversation turned to Arthur, the tone took on a different shade.

  “How’s work, Arthur?” Mr. Wellington asked dryly.

  “Fine.”

  “Are you planning to look for a new job?”

  “Maybe, I mean sure. I have to find something… better”

  “Dear,” Mrs. Wellington said caringly. “You need to change something soon. Get into university, for example. You’re a smart young man. You are just wasting your precious time at that job. ”

  Arthur tried to gather his thoughts, trying to find a suitable answer. But he couldn’t recall anything related to his current situation. The brothers couldn't wait to talk to their Grandma. After dinner, when Mr. Wellington went to his home office, and Mrs. Wellington was making tea, River and Arthur finally could speak to her.

  “Grandma, we’re currently on an assignment! They sent us into the future,” Arthur blurted out.

  A few seconds passed before the meaning of Arthur’s words finally reached Grandma; she started to cough. At that moment, Mrs. Wellington stepped out with a tray.

  “Mother, are you all right?”

  “Yes, dear, everything’s fine. There’s no need to worry.”

  Mrs. Wellington set up the tea service on a table and returned to the kitchen.

  “I had a slight suspicion from the very beginning that something was off in your behavior. You two are acting like the same little boys you once were,” she smiled. “I had the same assignment. They sent us into the future as well.”

  “Grandma, when you grew up, did those things that you saw during the assignment happened to you in real life?” River asked.

  “Certain things indeed coincided.”

  The older woman spoke slower than usual, pausing frequently.

  “Grandma, what happened with Carol and Vic? I get the feeling that we have no connection with them,” Arthur asked.

  “Sorry, darling, who are they?”

  River and Arthur looked at each other.

  “Our friends, we met them in Octavia.”

  “I believe something I remember… They live far away, and as I am aware, you don’t keep
in touch much.”

  Grandma Doris picked up her cup of tea. She took a small sip and placed the cup back in its spot.

  “Grandma,” River said, “why did I decide to study medicine instead of astronomy?”

  “Now that’s just a hobby for you. Together with your parents, you chose to study medicine. One of the reasons is because medicine would be less noticeable to Ortigon. But you seem even started enjoying it.”

  “So Ortigon’s curse is still in effect, then.”

  “Unfortunately, yes.”

  This, of course, was not exactly what the brothers were hoping to hear. River now had something to think about. He finished his tea and said that he wanted to look around the house. Everything was in the same place as it was ten years ago. River climbed to the second floor and entered his bedroom. It looked a little different than it was before: a basketball team jersey hung on the wall, several trophies adorned his shelves, and his wardrobe was filled with adult clothing. The globe stood on the table, as well as a map of the night sky was still there. River closed the curtains and lie down on the bed. The glow-in-the-dark stars and painted nebula gleamed. It was nice to be at home again.

  “River!” Arthur’s voice rang out. He shook his brother’s shoulders. “You amaze me! Falling asleep in a dream.”

  River indeed nearly fell asleep.

  “Let’s go to my room,” Arthur said.

  River rose unwillingly from his bed.

  “What is this?” River burst out laughing when he saw Arthur’s walls covered with posters of different musicians. “They’re probably all autographed too!”