Derrick watched Elaine as she chatted with one of the Switchboard employees. The older, gray haired man said something that made Elaine laugh, and the man smiled at her as she patted his arm. Derrick found himself smiling as well. He wasn’t sure what it was about Elaine that was so attractive to him. Perhaps it was just that she was so normal, even though she’d worked for a company bent on gaining multiversal power. As he watched, Elaine said something back to the employee that brought on more chuckles. Maybe it was just that she could still laugh.
A changing graphic on one of the small screens to his right caught his eye. There was a scrolling banner of text rolling across the screen repeatedly.
The IPF has located escaped prisoners on Earth-73. More information as events develop.
“Elaine!” Derrick called, the urgency in his voice causing her to jump in surprise. She followed his pointing finger to read the message, and her face fell.
“They found them already?” she asked, walking back to where Derrick was sitting. He nodded.
“The IPF is the biggest multiversal organization that exists,” he said. “They have resources we don’t even know about. And I think they’re very interested in that kid that Cassia and Grit busted out.”
A chime sounded as Derrick finished speaking, and the room seemed to pause in expectation.
“IPF landing on Earth-73 confirmed”, the electronic voice said. Another chime signaled the end of the message.
“They’re already there!” Derrick said, as he scrambled around the table. A screen at the front of the room had come to life, showing video of Earth-73. Sure enough, there were a number of IPF vehicles speeding down a highway. The text information in the top right hand corner indicated they were somewhere in Ireland.
“Derrick, I don’t think they know they’ve been found,” Elaine said, in a worried tone. She’d followed him to the screen and was leaning across him to get a better view. Derrick shifted a little to give her more space. Elaine was more and more distracting, but Derrick shoved aside his feelings and focused on the screen in front of him.
“They definitely don’t,” he agreed. “There’s no way they would be prepared for the IPF to be there already. We’ve got to warn them.” He turned towards the staff member Elaine had been talking to.
“Do you have messengers on Earth-73?” he asked. The staffer nodded, glancing over at Elaine.
“Indeed we do,” he said, surprisingly upbeat. “I prepared one already, actually. I thought maybe the young lady would want to contact her friends.” He gave Elaine a fond look.
“Could you send ‘IPF in Ireland, headed towards you. Signed, D and E.”? Derrick asked. The man nodded and moved away to begin tapping on his computer. Elaine watched him, then looked over at Derrick questioningly.
“Messengers?” she asked.
“Yeah. The Switchboard has a network of messengers across universes,” Derrick answered. “When I said the IPF was the biggest organization, I wasn’t lying. But the Switchboard has employed at least as many people across the multiverse. Just not as a policing force, and often only for small jobs here and there.” Elaine looked awed, and Derrick couldn’t blame her. The Switchboard was a shockingly large organization that functioned better than most across universes. Though it much preferred to remain in the background, available only to those who knew about it.
The chime sounded again, indicating a new update was coming through.
“Messenger successfully scheduled on Earth-73.” The chime sounded again, and Derrick looked at Elaine.
“Now we just have to hope the messenger gets there before the IPF does.”
----------------------------------------
Elaine settled back into her chair, keeping an eye on the screen with the messenger in it. So far, it appeared that the Switchboard messenger was going to arrive at Eli Thorn’s house ahead of the IPF. Though it wouldn’t give the group much time to react, it would at least give them a chance. She idly wondered at the existence of leprechauns, and magic. There was so much of the multiverse that she had never seen, let alone heard of. She stole a glance over at Derrick. His golden blonde hair wasn’t perfectly parted like it usually was. Running his hands through it nervously had given it an unkempt look that she kind of liked.
He was staring intently at the screens, going back and forth between the messenger and the IPF. Elaine frowned. Why was he so invested in the safety of this group? They hadn’t spent that long together, and it would probably be safer to cut and run instead of being tied to a group wanted by the IPF. Her frown deepened. For that matter, why was she still here? Initially, when Kevin had first given her hope of escape back at the Singularity, she’d convinced herself she stayed with the group because she didn’t know where else to go. Now, though, she was fairly confident that she could settle down well enough in any of the universes in the Initial Hundred.
Elaine looked over at Derrick again. There was something about him that was different than the others. He was often obviously nervous, and he had the shapeshifting ability that she hadn’t fully seen in action. But she found herself feeling calm around him, in a way that she didn’t around the others in the group. In fact, probably calmer than around anyone else in her life, going back to before the Singularity. She sighed, looking back at the screen, and tried to tell herself that she was not still hanging around because of Derrick.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“Hey, Elaine, I was thinking -” the rest of Derrick’s sentence was cut off by a sudden blaring alarm that blasted through the small room, accompanied by a flashing red light. Immediately, staff members in the room scattered. The old man who had sent the messenger stopped by Elaine in his rush out of the room.
“Intruder alarm!” he shouted over the wailing. “We’ve been compromised! Follow me.” Without looking to see if she would, the old man shuffled off towards the back of the room. Elaine looked back at the screens, which were rapidly going blank. She glanced at Derrick, who gave her a worried shrug, and then she quickly followed the Switchboard staffer. Derrick paused for a moment, then tagged along.
The old man led them to the back wall, and then opened a door. Elaine peered in, only to see a bunch of mops and cleaning supplies. The old man gestured for her to enter. Elaine thought for a moment, and then went in. She’d already decided to trust the man, so why stop now? Derrick followed her, and then the old man squeezed in behind the two of them and softly shut the door behind him.
“What is the pl-” Derrick started to ask a question, but the man glared at him and held a finger to his lips.
“Later,” he mouthed. Then he turned to the wall and flipped open a breaker panel that Elaine hadn’t seen initially. The man squinted at some scribbly writing next to each breaker, muttering something about handwriting. On the other side of the door, there was a loud thumping sound. Elaine looked at Derrick.
“Entrance breached?” he said, in the barest of whispers. Even so, the man turned to frown at him.
“I think we need to hurry,” Elaine whispered to the man, who nodded and looked back at the breaker panel. He paused for a moment, then rapidly switched off three of the breakers, before turning the second one back on. Then he turned off two more, before turning the very first one back on. Immediately, Elaine felt a small hum of vibration in her feet, and Derrick actually jumped.
“Hold on,” the man said in a normal voice. “This is the fastest elevator you’ve ever been on.” The vibration in the floor kicked up another notch, and Elaine looked around for something to hold on to. With surprise, she realized that there were various metal hand holds screwed to the wall. They looked like something you might find in a shower. She quickly grabbed one, and glanced over to see Derrick doing the same thing. Before she could say anything, though, the closet fell straight down.
Despite herself, Elaine screamed. It felt like the floor had simply ceased holding up the closet. It was an odd sensation, the sense of falling while standing in a broom closet. Just when she thought her stomach might not be able to hold out, the elevator closet stopped abruptly and Elaine fell forward directly into Derrick. He caught her with a grunt, letting go of his hand hold and falling back against the wall. She stayed there for perhaps a moment too long, then stood up and pulled Derrick to his feet.
“Sorry about that,” she said, desperately trying not to blush. What was wrong with her anyway? She’d hadn’t really known this man for very long. Derrick mumbled something in response, and Elaine realized he felt just as awkward as her. The old man cleared his throat, and then opened the closet door. Beyond the doorway was darkness, but the man stepped out into it confidently. Elaine and Derrick were more hesitant.
“Come,” the man said, turning back to them. “We must hurry. The IPF has probably already opened the closet door and seen the elevator shaft. They will be down here soon.” As he was talking, the man moved farther into the darkness. There was a scratching sound, and then a lantern blazed to life. The flickering flame cast dancing shadows around the small cave, but at least they could see. Elaine stepped out of the closet and looked around. It was like they had walked into the middle of a mine shaft. There was mine carts on tracks, pointed in five different directions. There were signs above each of the smaller shafts, with a number on each one. The fifth one simply read “Out of Order - Cave In”.
“I am sorry we didn’t have more time to chat, Miss Elaine,” the old man said, approaching her and grabbing her hands in his. “I would’ve liked to get to know you.” The man turned to Derrick and gave him a stern look.
“You take care of this young lady,” he commanded. “She is a bright spot in this world.” Derrick coughed, and then nodded awkwardly. Elaine couldn’t keep her face from flushing this time. The old man turned back to her once again.
“Take the cave in,” he directed, pointing towards the fifth mine cart. “It’s misleading, you’ll be fine. If you’re lucky the IPF won’t follow that tunnel right away.”
“But what about you?” Elaine asked, frowning. The old man smiled at her.
“I have to go to Earth-57,” he said. “I need to alert Switchboard operatives there that this one was compromised.” He chuckled at her worried expression and patted her hand.
“Don’t worry, dear,” he said reassuringly. “This has happened before, and it will happen again. The IPF doesn’t really like the Switchboard, though it also doesn’t have the resources to fight it. Occasionally it breaks up one of our stations. We always regroup though!” He said the last bit proudly. Elaine gave him a hug.
“Be safe,” she said. “Maybe we’ll meet again.” The man smiled.
“I would like that,” he said. Then he turned and clambered into the mine cart pointed down the 57 tunnel. He nodded to each of them, and then yanked a lever on the outside of the cart that caused him to shoot forward into the darkness. Derrick looked over at Elaine.
“Should be fun, huh?” he asked her wryly. Elaine looked skeptically at the mine cart, but then climbed into it. Derrick got in behind her, and they quickly realized that the cart wasn’t made for two full grown humans. She was practically sitting on his lap by the time they got themselves situated.
“Sorry, I um…well, you see -” Derrick awkwardly tried to discuss the situation. Elaine rolled her eyes, though he couldn’t see that, and then abruptly reached over and yanked the lever. The cart immediately lurched forward, and she was pressed back against Derrick, who grunted in surprise. She was just thinking that perhaps the ride wouldn’t be that bad, when the cart jerked to the left, then went straight down for a moment, before veering back to the right. Elaine peered into the darkness, trying to see anything in front of her, but to no avail. As the cart yanked them to the right again, she changed her opinion. This ride might actually kill them.