“Need I remind you there are also two Ambers, two Shashis, and two Jons?” Shashi reminds us anyway, and sharply.
“Oh yeah, that’s a good point,” I concede. “Okay, so a little less time again.”
My own lovely August stands tall, his hand running down to the small of my back in a delicious show of support. “It doesn’t matter. We don’t need much time. We’ll locate the closest supermassive black hole, and we’ll blow this place and all the others the fuck up. In a good way. Let’s do this. Jon, hand me the clicky thing.”
“Hand you the…” His head flies fast to the blank space from which we all tumbled into this world. “The… What do you need?”
“The clicky thing.” August’s hand shoots out, palm up and waiting. “Pass it over.”
Jon’s eyes lock with mine. It’s like I can see his soul drip down through his feet, sliding away, taking all the colour from his face with it.
August sees it. He opens his mouth, but no sound comes out. He swallows hard. “Amber, did… did you think to…”
“I didn’t want to… um…” She blinks twice. “Pop like a grape. I was in a hurry.”
Face ashen, August stays remarkably calm. “Shashi, please tell me you grabbed it on the way through.”
Lips pressed so hard they all but disappear, she only shakes her head.
Then we all stand statue-still, stuck in an alternate reality that’s already collapsing somewhere in its distant reaches.
I think my beloved speaks for all of us when he mumbles out a quiet and resigned, “Fuck.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
BAD AUGUST
TALK DIRTY TO ME
Ihave no regrets.
Okay, well, I do, a lot of them, but as far as this one very specific situation goes, I’m good.
I’ve got my man, I’ve got four of the brightest minds I’ve ever encountered, plus Jon and Amber, and I’ve got a reason to live.
Energised, my first direction slides out effortlessly. “Shashi, you’d better see if you can log on to the intranet in this world.”
Her hands are shaking, but she moves straight for a computer, Amber running across the room after her. Amber drops to her knees beside her, while Shashi stares hard at the screen. “I didn’t want you to die,” she says softly. “You saw it. That world was crumbling around us. We had no time.”
“Amber…” Shashi stares a few seconds longer, fingers suspended above the keys, then bursts into tears. Her arms fling around Amber, and the two of them fall into a relatively useless mess of snot and apologies.
And it’s okay. Because I’ve got this.
“We’re going to need food, shelter, and money. But we can’t stay long in this world, not with so many of us having doubles here. We need to get back to London as soon as possible.”
“My van!” Jon’s cry makes every head turn on him in thick judgement. “Sorry. I know… um… maybe it’s not as important as the clicky thing. That’s definitely more important.”
He’s really been such a massive dick to both me and August, but I have to admit, there’s something endearing about his general, idiotic goodwill, even if it is tied up in desperately stupid selfishness. “We’ll get you back to your van. But for now, let’s try a train. Shashi? Is that working?”
She pulls away from Amber, offers a determined nod, then tries the computer. “Not working. I can’t tell if I don’t exist on this network or if I just have a different login.”
“I’ll search you up on the internet.” Amber pulls the phone from her pocket.
“That won’t work,” I warn her. But she tries anyway, soon slamming her fingers down on the screen repeatedly in frustration.
“Your bank cards won’t work; phone numbers won’t be the same. We have to pray this world even has trains, or has a London for us to go to. Every time, it’s different. But if we stick together, with a bit of luck, we can do this. Let’s get to the station.”
“How can we catch a train with no money or tickets?” Amber asks.
