The sun was slowly slipping below the Earth-1 horizon as Cassia slowly pulled the ship up to the curb and parked it. Grit looked around curiously.
“I really thought we were being sent on a wild goose chase,” he muttered, staring up at the weakly lit sign indicating that the building in front of them was called The Tin Counter. There appeared to be a small apartment on the top floor, perhaps indicating that the owner of the diner lived there. Cassia’s door hissed open and she stepped out with a groan.
“I know you did,” she said. “You told me that a million times. You don’t even trust your own girlfriend to…” The rest of her complaining was cut off as the door slid closed. Grit sighed, then got out as well, stretching until he’d popped as many joints as possible.
“She’s not my girlfriend,” he said quietly into the gathering gloom, even though Cassia couldn’t possibly hear him. He had to admit, though, that there was a small part of him that enjoyed it every time. Rolling his neck to loosen up, he stepped up onto the sidewalk. Cassia was already headed to the entrance, so he hurried to catch up. The diner seemed to be the only building on the street that was open, and Grit again worried that Tek was sending them after nothing, but this time he kept his doubts to himself. There were only two other vehicles in the parking lot which only reinforced his fear. He was very surprised, then, to find that the place was relatively full.
“This way,” Cassia called over her shoulder, already being seated by an older woman wearing a permanent frown. Grit followed, feeling transported back through time by the locale. The smell of burnt coffee and cigarette smoke mingled with the irresistible scent of bacon and pancakes on the griddle. Had it really been so long since those breakfasts with his dad?
“Um, Grit, everything ok?” Cassia’s voice cut through his reverie and Grit blinked in surprise. Looking around, he realized that he’d stopped at the correct table, but had simply remained standing. The waitress was frowning at him and Cassia was looking up at him with a worried expression. Grit quickly seated himself.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” he said gruffly. “Just had a weird feeling that I’d been here before.” The waitress waited for a moment, then sighed and began to run through the specials. Judging by her tone, she’d been part way through this when Grit interrupted. After listening to the spiel, which Grit barely heard anyway, Cassia seemingly ordered one of everything. Grit just asked for pancakes, bacon, and coffee, which earned him an eye roll from the overworked waitress. She scribbled on her pad and then stalked off towards the kitchen. Grit wondered if he actually would get any coffee.
“So, how do you think we’re supposed to find Thorn?” Cassia asked, sipping her water and surveying the rest of the diner behind him. Grit shrugged. He figured if Tek had legitimately wanted them to meet this Earth’s Thorn, then she either would’ve provided instructions or would have Thorn approach them. Or she was simply sending them here to waste time, in which case he would eat his breakfast food and leave. Either way he was going to get some pancakes. The coffee still seemed like a question mark, though, as he had yet to see the waitress reemerge from the kitchen. Across the table, Cassia sighed.
“Sometimes I wonder if I just talked to myself, I might get more answers,” she said, narrowing her eyes at him. “I know you have helpful thoughts in there, no need to keep them to yourself.”
“Sorry,” he said. “I’ll work on it.” Movement at the corner of his eye caused him to notice the waitress making her way back out of the kitchen. He noticed with disappointment that she wasn’t carrying a coffee pot. She was, however, approaching their table. A plate of toast thumped down on the table in front of Cassia, and then she turned to Grit.
“Coffee’s brewing,” she said bluntly, then jabbed a thumb towards the kitchen. “You can go grab yourself a cup. Cook’s got a question for you anyway.” Then she was headed off to another table, leaving Grit in confusion. When he looked back at the table, Cassia was already halfway through the toast.
“That was weird,” she said around a mouthful of bread. Grit grunted in reply, and then stood up abruptly. He turned towards the kitchen, then paused to look back at Cassia. She probably wanted more than a singular noise.
“I’m going to go in there,” he said slowly, pointing towards the kitchen. Cassia’s eyes widened, then she snorted in laughter.
“Look at that,” she said. “It can learn!” Grit grunted again and then strode over to the swinging doors that led to the kitchen and pushed his way through them.
The kitchen was surprisingly empty, save one old griddle cook with his back to Grit. The cook continued dicing something, and didn’t turn around. Grit was unsure what he was supposed to do, so he chose his default response and simply waited quietly. After a moment, the waitress appeared at the window.
“Flop two, a Noah’s boy, and a dough well done,” she barked, sticking an order sheet to the magnetic strip above the window and then disappearing again with the pancake laden plates already sitting on the counter. The cook nodded to himself as he finished his dicing, then turned and glanced at Grit.
“Make yourself useful and pass me that egg carton,” he said, gesturing with his spatula. Frowning in confusion, Grit did so. The cook grunted his thanks, then cracked a couple eggs and tossed them on the flat top.
“Tell me, Mr. Patterson, about when you first met Tek K’Nani.” The sentence was delivered so casually, with the cook facing away from him again, that Grit almost didn’t realize the words were directed towards him. With a start, he realized that the cook must be the Elias Thorn he was looking for. Was this some sort of test? If it was, Grit suddenly felt that he was taking too long to answer.
“Why?” he finally asked, which prompted a chuckle from the cook as he laid a slice of ham on the griddle. The man turned to look at him again, and Grit could see the deep creases in his face. This man had been through many things.
If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.
“Because I’ve heard your name from her many times, which is high praise from Tek.” Thorn chose each of his words carefully, and despite the odd situation, Grit found himself at ease.
“But mostly,” the other man continued, “because I want to know if you are who you say you are. I’d hate to have to kill you right here in my kitchen.” He turned back to the griddle and scooped the eggs and ham onto a plate. Then he squeezed past Grit and set the food on the counter in the window. He smacked the small service bell to indicate to the waitress that the meal was ready. Thorn turned back to Grit, and Grit realized that he had a couple inches of height on the other man. He also had a deep sense that those inches wouldn’t matter in a fight.
“Well, the first time Tek and I met, she…well, she arrested me,” Grit admitted. Thorn nodded.
“Why?” he asked, and Grit sighed.
“Got in a fight with an IPF officer over an unauthorized multiversal jump,” Grit said. “And to be perfectly frank, if you need more information than that, then you’ll need to take that up with Tek.”
Thorn chuckled again at this, and studied Grit for a moment. The other man had surprisingly bright light blue eyes that took in everything underneath his mop of unruly white hair. Eventually, Thorn nodded once more.
“Fair enough,” he said, then smacked Grit on the shoulder. “You pass the test, Mr. Patterson.” At that moment, the waitress reappeared at the window.
“Burn two,” she called out. “A yellow blanket on a hockey puck and keep the other one off the grass.” She disappeared again, and Thorn gave Grit a shrug.
“I’m off in ten,” he said. “Go eat your pancakes, and tell Marta to keep the coffee flowing. You’re gonna need it.”
----------------------------------------
Cassia was obviously startled when Thorn draped his apron over the back of a chair and then sat down at their table, but Grit was impressed with how well she covered it.
“You work here,” she stated, and Thorn smiled.
“I live here,” he replied, then stuck out his hand. “Elias Thorn.” Cassia shook his hand cautiously, and Thorn smiled again.
“The two of you are careful,” he commented. “I like that. Let me show you my home.” He stood up again, and Grit quickly finished off his coffee.
“Don’t worry about that, it’s on the house,” Thorn said, when Cassia looked around for the waitress and the check. “Follow me.”
Thorn led them back through the kitchen, where Grit saw a different, much younger, cook cleaning the griddle. The cook didn’t even glance up as they passed through and out the back door. There was a flight of stairs on the outside back wall of the building, and Thorn led them upwards to the front door of the apartment.
“Short commute,” Grit said, but no one responded as Thorn unlocked the door and ushered them inside. An alarm started beeping, but Thorn quickly silenced it with something that looked like a key fob for a car.
“Have a seat,” he said, gesturing towards the only furniture, a small dilapidated couch. Then he stepped into the kitchen, which was really just an extension of the living room, but with a sink and fridge.
“Coffee?” he asked. Grit was interested, considering Marta had not, in actuality, kept the coffee flowing, but Cassia answered first.
“All I want is answers,” she said firmly. Thorn didn’t reply until he’d dragged a small chair in from the kitchen. He sat on it with a sigh of relief.
“Well, I appreciate your directness, Cassia,” he said. “Tek told me you are here in search of information regarding the Weft and Warp. I’m sure you know that such information is often considered to be rumors or myth.” Cassia nodded impatiently.
“Unless you have some groundbreaking knowledge on the Weft and Warp, I probably already know it,” she replied, somewhat testily. Thorn raised an eyebrow, but Cassia either didn’t notice, or didn’t care.
“I’m more interested in what you know about the Varynnic line,” she continued. “More specifically, the Eldest.” Thorn raised both eyebrows now, and then settled even deeper into his chair.
“Interesting that you are even aware of the Varynns, and the Eldest,” he said, very slowly. “Are you part of the line then? The multiverse has largely forgotten what they look like, after all.” Cassia gave him a strange smile, but then simply shrugged. Thorn smiled back, as if he’d expected such a response.
“Well then, you have already skipped ahead of the information I was willing to reveal,” he said. “Thank you for coming, and I hope you enjoyed your meal. Please don’t come back.” The man stood up abruptly and gestured towards the door.
“That’s it?” Cassia exclaimed, leaping up from the couch to face Thorn. “You don’t have any information on the Eldest?” Thorn didn’t reply, just smiled and walked to the front door. Grit finally stood up from the couch.
“You told me earlier that Tek had high praise for me,” he said softly, and Thorn stopped to listen. “She obviously sent us here expecting you to help us. Isn’t there some direction you can provide?” Thorn stared back at Grit, considering. He seemed about to reply when another alarm began to beep from somewhere in a back room. Thorn cursed and immediately leapt into action.
“Now we all have to leave, I’m afraid,” he called over his shoulder as he disappeared into what Grit assumed was a bedroom. He reemerged almost immediately holding a communicator that looked very similar to one that Grit had seen Tek using, as well as a small duffel bag.
“And we have to leave now,” he said, then cursed again. “Something’s going on at the IPF. I wonder if it has anything to do with what Tek did.” He seemed to be talking to himself.
“What’s going on?” Cassia asked, and Thorn pulled himself out of his musings.
“I’ve been discovered,” he said, and his sentence was punctuated by a loud crash in the diner below. Thorn threw open the front door and ushered them out, but stopped them abruptly at the top of the stairs.
“In case we get separated, I will tell you this one thing.” Thorn suddenly looked more stern than he had all night.
“The IPF is keeping the Eldest in one of its black prisons,” the old man said. “They are trying to get information about the very fabric of the multiverse out of him.” He noticed Cassia’s shocked face, and leaned towards her, gripping her shoulders.
“Someone has to get him out of there,” he said. Any chance of more discussion was gone with the sound of a siren at the front parking lot.
“This way!” Thorn called as he led them down the stairs, then threw open a trap door at the very bottom. “Let’s go find Tek!”
Grit followed Cassia as they climbed down the ladder into the ground. As he dropped below ground level, Grit pulled the trapdoor shut, plunging them into total darkness. All he could do was follow the whistling of the strange old man as it led them further into the earth.