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The Barnes Wallace (standard:science fiction, 2165 words) | |||
Author: Richard Egan | Added: Apr 10 2001 | Views/Reads: 3878/2251 | Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes) |
A time travel adventure serial that spans over a hundred years. Leigh is a twenty year old student, home for the Christmas holidays. She is expecting a quiet couple of weeks with her family, before returning to the heavy routine of university li | |||
The Barnes Wallace Part One It was late when the train finally reached its destination, and the station was almost deserted. Leigh hurriedly finished the paragraph she was writing and closed down her laptop, pausing briefly to accept the save changes prompt the machine gave her. She slid the computer away in its protective carry case, then got up from her seat and reached into the overhead compartment to retrieve the remainder of her luggage. First she pulled down the medium sized backpack, and slung it over her left shoulder, before collecting her clarinet case. Then, with the bag on her shoulder, her computer in one hand and the instrument case in the other, she followed the other passengers down the aisle to the exit. Leigh Woodward was a twenty-year-old student. She was in her last year at university studying for a National Diploma in New Media, and was on her way home to spend Christmas with her parents and her two sisters. She was a tall woman with short hair, which most people said was ginger but she insisted was "Strawberry blonde". She was traveling light, as she didn't expect to be home for more than a couple of weeks. She had brought with her the lap top computer she used for her course assignments, and her clarinet. Before she went away she had been a highly active member of a local marching woodwind band, and the group was always glad to welcome her back when she had the opportunity to come home. Leigh knew that over the next couple of weeks the band would have a number of engagements, as the Christmas season was always a busy time for concert bands. As she stepped down off the train and onto the platform, Leigh wasn't surprised to discover that it was raining. It wasn't very heavy at the moment, but it would be just her luck if it decided to pick up now that she had nowhere to shelter. As the train pulled away behind her, she tucked her clarinet case under her arm and searched through her pockets until she finally found her phone. Struggling to prevent the instrument case slipping from her grasp, she located the stored number that would automatically dial home. There was no answer, apart from the recorded voice of her mother apologizing for being unable to take her call, and asking her to leave a message after the tone. Leigh left a few words, saying she had arrived at the station, and would call a taxi to get her home, then she ended the call and put the phone back in her pocket. Returning the clarinet case to her other hand, she looked around the dark, almost deserted railway station in the hope of finding someone or something that might help her find a taxi. As she was doing so, she happened to catch sight of someone on the opposite side of the track. The man was a complete stranger. She had never seen him before in her life, but for some reason he seemed strangely familiar. He was fair-haired, lightly freckled, dressed in dark navy blue jeans and a light brown leather jacket, and he seemed to be looking straight at her. Starting to get a little scared, she glanced quickly around, looking for a quick way off the platform. It was getting very late now and there was no one else around apart from her and the man. There had been a number of reports in the papers and on the news recently, about young women out on their own at night being attacked. A cold chill passed over her when she realized there was no exit on this side. The only way out was via the subway that led to the other platform, as the exit from the station was on that side. She looked back to see if the man was still watching her, but he had gone. She looked around, both ways, up and down the platform but there was no sign of him. He couldn't have left so quickly without her seeing him, could he? She turned to glance behind her at the entrance to the subway, sure that he was about to jump out on her at any moment, but no one emerged from the tunnel. Slowly, peering nervously ahead, she stepped forward into the tunnel. It was the only way she could go in order to leave the station. Victoria Babbet grabbed her handbag off the desk and dashed out the office door just as her boss switched out the light. Once outside the room, she waited as he closed the door and locked it, before turning back to her. "Thanks for staying," Reuben Greggs said, as she hung her bag over her shoulder. She pushed a few loose strands of her long blonde hair back behind her ear and smiled at him. "No problem," she replied, as she followed him down the corridor in the direction of the elevator. "I didn't have anything planned for tonight anyway." Reuben Greggs was head of Systems Development at SynTec. Victoria was Click here to read the rest of this story (113 more lines)
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