Maybe I’m still alive as a bloody hound, thought Ed, as he was jolted again, falling down around a short curved incline to the bottom of what felt like a tunnel. The wind pushed him more fervently and soon he felt bits of cloth pulling at every part of his body. It jerked his limbs into contorted and pained extremities with his right leg bent up to his stomach and his knee at a right angle. His head was twisted around slightly to the left and he could see his arm and hand caught up in a weird texture of homemade netting.
Thank goodness I’m not that hound still, he mused, as he began to realise he was once again in the tunnels.
What was that rifle butt though? And what am I doing caught up in this makeshift net?
Ed could hear someone calling out to him.
“-9, =5 2>;=C9B5AL. / 2KABC?0N 2 4@C3>. / 1C4C C 20A, B> 8 157>?0A=K8 2 =5B 2@55=8. / Donald, 2K?CI5= 20H5 8
“Er???”
“Dag, bare rolig. Jeg er ven. Jeg vil have dem der og sikker i nogen tid. Jeg er donald, whats dit navn?”
“Erm,” uttered Ed as he felt a sharp jerk on the netting which closed violently in all around him, wrapping him up in a little ball like a captured orang-utan.
“Dag, bare rolig. Jeg er ven. Jeg vil have dem der og sikker i nogen tid. Jeg er donald, whats dit navn?”
“Hé, ne vous inquiétez pas. Je suis un ami. Je vous aurai de là dans aucun temps. Je suis Donald, quel est votre nom?”
“Arrghh!!” yelped Ed as he was yanked and tugged upwards.
“Nem, ne aggódj. Én vagyok barátja. Nekem te meg az ott és biztonságos rögtön. Én vagyok, Donald módosított név?”
“What the fuck!”
“Hey, don’t worry, I’m a friend. I’ll have you out of there and safe in no time. I’m Donald. What’s your name?”
“Thank Christ for that, you speak English. Don’t I look a bit English? Couldn’t you have tried that first?” yelped Ed as he was humped up the side of the curved tunnel and over a flat ledge. The wind noise immediately lessened to a hush and from where he had landed he could see back through into a side passageway. He was relieved to realise that he had landed back in the tunnel complex but at the same time, felt completely disoriented and confused by the transition that jolted his mind to its very core.
He heard a loud ‘clunk’ beside him and glanced round to see an old Enfield rifle settling on the dusty ground. The makeshift net was loosened and he started to free himself from the uncomfortable restraint. It fell around him on the floor as he scrambled unsteadily to his feet like a newly born deer.
“Oh, it’s a relief to be paused again,” breathed Ed as he turned round to be greeted by a British soldier from WW1.
“Who are you? Where are we? Is this Silicon Alley or Ancestors’ Cove by any chance? Have you seen Thomas?” asked Ed as he dusted himself down, happy to be reunited with his familiar jeans, jacket and wrist watch.
“This is not Silicon Alley or Ancestors’ Cove I’m afraid. The names ring a bell though. Maybe someone else has mentioned them at some point,” replied the private.
“Really? Can you remember who?” enquired the life hopper as he reached out his right hand towards the young man, revealing the big shiny-faced watch that adorned his wrist.
“I can’t remember. No one here called Thomas that I know of either,” replied the individual as he reached out and gently shook Ed’s hand before gathering up the strange net and tossing it to the side of the tunnel. Ed glanced over to see it land, and noticed a densely rich tapestry of leafless vines all over the tunnel walls. They stretched as far as the eye could see, illuminated from behind with the familiar recessed jets of light that he remembered from before.
“I don’t remember any vines,” commented Ed.
“This is the Koan Dome community, not Silicon Alley or Ancestors’ Cove. We’re one of the last ones before the white light sucks in the Transients. If I hadn’t pulled you out then you’d have just got stuck at the end on the floor. Luckily I knocked you off that ledge with the butt end of my rifle and then caught you in the net and dragged you up. Christ, it took me over an hour to get you off that bloody ledge.”
“Thanks. I appreciate it.”
“Not a problem. We try and help out as much as possible when there are stragglers in the tunnel. Come, come and have a look. You can see the white light from here,” replied the soldier, beckoning Ed over towards the entrance to peer back down the tunnel. There it was, the brilliant white light, perfectly still and sharply delineated, no shimmer or movement. With unstoppable omnipotence and power, it sucked everything in the tunnel towards it. The noise was horrendous and forced the duo back from the opening quickly.