Exadelic by Jon Evans

Author:Jon Evans [Evans, Jon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

9

CLANDESTINE

It was easy to tell from the clothes and the accoutrements lying around that this room was shared by a man and a woman, and it was easy to tell that they were Scott and Liz because—“Look,” I said, holding up a pair of twenty-first-century collectible Nike sneakers. “Have you ever seen any shoes like this before?”

Clara took them from me warily, holding them as if they might be infected, curiosity clearly warring with the urge to flee and in the future avoid me at all costs. “They are rather unusual,” she allowed, “but hardly…”

“Holy shit,” I interrupted her.

“I beg your pardon?”

I had recognized something peeking out from beneath a shirt discarded on a chair. Something very familiar to me, but impossible in Clara’s world. I picked up the clamshell case and unfolded the Motorola Razr phone.

“What is…” Clara began, and then her mouth fell open, shocked into silence as the phone came to life. It did hardly anything compared to phones only five years later, but its cheerful “Hello Moto” boot-up sounds, and its glowing full-color LCD screen, were still obviously technology far, far beyond the capacity of 1946.

I tried to guess its unlock code, pushing keys and causing asterisks to appear on the screen. It beeped its demurral. I wondered how they kept it charged—solar power?—and why they even bothered. Then I peered more closely at the top right of its screen, which claimed, impossibly, that it had two bars of service.

“What the fuck?” I muttered.

“Language,” Clara said automatically.

I looked at her, and she looked at me, and I realized we were both on the brink of hysterical laughter. I decided that would do no good, and said, “This is quite an unusual experience for me as well. There are things here I can’t explain. Which don’t seem possible.”

She took a deep breath. “Well. I can assure you we are sharing that experience.”

I handed her the Razr. She stared at it in her hand as if it might explode.

I said, “I’m not saying you need to believe everything I say, but do you now believe that there are unusual activities taking place here, the reality of which you would not previously have admitted?”

“I do.”

“Good. It’s a start. Now—” Then I fell silent.

“Now what?” Clara asked, falling silent when, wide-eyed, I put a finger to my lips.

There were voices approaching. A man and a woman. Scott and Liz. Coming down the hall, toward the room we were in. I did not think my Lone Ranger costume would be enough to protect my identity if they found us skulking in their room and going through their things.

Clara, realizing what was happening, clutched at my arm. I took the phone from her, put it back where I found it, and looked around wildly. There was a closet, but it had no door, and was too sparsely populated by clothes to offer any real concealment. That left only—

“The bed,” I whispered.

It fortunately stood some distance off the floor, but it was still

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