Page 16 of Dream Mates
Please please please let Professor Jaffey be guilty so I can go home.I couldn’t handle being relocated. Short of stealing Agent Weigmier’s interdimensional-traveling car, I didn’t know how else to get home.
Not that I knew how the car worked.
The door opened. The cat jumped off the desk and hid. Captain Claussen strode in, alone. She was the one that hadn’t wanted me taking the stand without knowing what I was going to say.
“Hi, Captain. Do I need to make more statements?” I asked.
She was just an unyielding stickler for rules and protocol–and didnotlike how Agent Weigmier had taken control of things.
“I need you to come with me.” She huffed a little as if it was a massive inconvenience.
The captain had a disdain for my class of world. Class and type were two different things.Classreferred to a world’s level of knowledge regarding parallel worlds and travel along with their ranking in the Temporal Authority food chain.
My world was Class IV, meaning while we had some tech and were developing, we didn’t know about interdimensional travel,and all comings and goings of the sort were strictly prohibited except for official business.
Typereferred to the people that lived there. My world was Type-H, just an ordinary humanoid world without magic, paranormal beings, superheroes, or alphas.
To Captain Claussen, I was just some backward country bumpkin who had little use beyond putting away the bad guys.
“Okay.” I stood and trotted after her as she was already at the door, without any concern for me and my short legs.
Certainly, I wasn’t worth any special treatment.
I followed her through the warren of sterile halls, wondering where I was going now. Back to the judge? More testimony? The cafeteria? I’d like to choose my food. Maybe something would finally taste right.
She took me to a room that saidProcessing.An uncomfortable feeling fluttered in my belly.
“What’s going on?” I frowned.
“The case is over. We’re done with you.” She opened the door, expression hard.
“Oh.” My belly dropped further. “Where’s Agent Weigmier?”
“Probably doing his actual job. I have no idea who he pissed off to be made to babysit you.” Her face scrunched up with distaste as she pushed me inside.
A hard-featured woman with predatory eyes sat behind a desk. “Captain.” She eyed me. “Return?”
Shivers crawled up my spine. “Where’s Agent Weigmier.”
“I told you, he’sbusy,” the captain snapped. “Judge wants relocation. I don't know why. Gloria, if you want to throw her back home and lose her record no one would care. Why do we even bother with trials for lower-class worlds? Waste of time and resources, we should just turn and burn.” Scorn filled her voice.
Without a backwards glance at me, or even athank youto the woman at the desk, the captain left, the door slamming behind her.
“Well.” The woman stood. “Hi, I’m Gloria. Let’s get you set up.”
Fear filled me, because I didn’t want to be relocated any more than I wanted to be returned to my sad little apartment and lonely life. Not that I probably had an apartment anymore. My landlord had most likely thrown away my stuff and rented my studio to someone else.
“Can you get Agent Weigmier? Please?” I didn’t want to tell her I had a place that I needed to go back to.
“It’s going to be fine, Dr. Ellington. Type-H world? Pity, you’re such a tasty little thing. Maybe we can send you someplace a little better. Hmmm…” Her eyes went a bit black around the edges as she led me through another door and down a hall. “Has anyone ever told you that you smell like peach pie with vanilla ice cream? Mmmm.”
“I… I have been told that.” No. Things weren’t right. Agent Weigmier said that I could go back to Wes.
No, he said he’d try.
Still, something felt wrong.
She opened the door to something that looked like an exam room. “You sit here. We’ll get some readings and find a nice place for you. Relax, I’m very good at my job.”
