A Step to Nowhere

by Natasha A. Salnikova

  Steve slowed down to take a better look at the car.

  “The bitch has arrived,” Dan hissed. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed a number. “Ray, we’ve got a problem … Yes … Okay … Okay.

  “What, what, what?” Steve squeezed the wheel.

  “Wait. I need to call Ron.” Dan dialed another number. “Ron, it’s me. Bristow’s spawn arrived. How are you doing? … Got it. Pard! Lleh!... Okay, I’m waiting.”

  “What?” Steve drove to the shopping plaza and parked by the vegetable store where instead of vegetables they’d been selling liquid, an aromatic mess.

  “Ron called everyone he could reach and they are waiting for a signal. He’s going to call as soon as they arrive on the scene. They’re ready to storm at any time.”

  “You think Ray would allow it now? When … Sam is in the building?”

  “He said we should do nothing before he called.”

  “It’s not going to work, right?” Steve could hardly keep himself from crying. He felt hopeless. Only Dan’s presence prevented his tears. He’d had such hopes for this operation. If it failed now, they would never change anything. The people were too scared, Bristow was too powerful. This attempt could become the last one if something happened to Ray. If anyone else tried to protest, it would not happen soon. It meant that he would never see his parents again. Never.

  “Stop panicking,” Dan roared, and Steve inhaled air through his nose, exhaling through his mouth. Calm down. He wasn’t a girl to start crying. Calm down and hope for the best. “Waiting for a signal then.”

  CHAPTER 32

  I saw as Ray’s facial expression changed when he’d answered the call. From the scraps of conversation, I understood that something had happened. Something we hadn’t foreseen.

  “Your wife?” I whispered when Ray turned off the phone. “She’s here.”

  “She was going to spend the whole day at the corporation and she would let me know about any changes in her schedule.” Ray’s eyes quickly scanned the room.

  “What should we do?” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “She’ll know now that you betrayed her.”

  “We have to get out of here.”

  “No kidding. How are we going to leave?”

  “We can’t do it if she’s downstairs. The only exit is there.”

  “We can hide somewhere. In one of the offices.”

  “Cameras are everywhere. We won’t be able to make a single step unnoticed.”

  “What then? Just surrender? No way!” I found a gun in my bag that Ronald gave me this morning.

  “You think I will let you shoot the way out?” Ray said. “It’s not happening.”

  “No one asked you. Let’s go.” I headed for the door, but Ray grabbed my hand.

  “No,” he said. “Ron’s not ready yet. We need a few minutes.”

  “Do we have a few minutes?”

  Ray snatched the phone/remote from the table and pushed one of the buttons.

  “Yes, it’s Mr. Bancroft,” he said. “I just found out that my wife’s double has sneaked into the building … Yes. Don’t let her cross the security area … Skip the panic … I know you are not prepared. I’m calling for help right now … You see her? … Shut up and do what you’re supposed to do! I rely on you!”

  “We have a few minutes,” I said when Ray put the remote down.

  “If it works,” Ray said. “We’re going to call your father … Her father.”

  My jaw dropped. I hadn’t seen my father since I was two and he was always young in my memory, like on a wedding picture from my mom’s album.

  “Tell him your double wants to storm the building and you need his helicopter.”

  “I should say it?”

  “Take a deep breath.” Ray dialed a number and gave me the remote/phone. I needed time to prepare, but I only drew as much air as I could into my lungs and tried to convince myself that it wasn’t my father. It was a different person. The concept of a parallel universe and doubles hadn’t settled in my head just yet, in spite of the fact that I had met my double. In spite of everything that had happened during these two days. All of it still seemed like science fiction.

  “Sammy,” the older male voice said in my ear. Ray could hear him too; the phone was put on the speaker. “What are you doing in the main office?”

  “Dad,” I said, my voice trembling. Ray mimicked and gestured me through. It looked like he wanted to show me that I was a daddy’s girl: spoiled and smarmy. “We have a critical situation here.”

  “What else?” the voice roared. “Are you okay? Who is it now? Hlifian? Those zacry people are not dead yet?”

  “I think it’s them, Dad.” It didn’t matter that my voice was shaking. It actually sounded more credible. “My … my stupid double! She’s with them! I think they saved her yesterday and now they are here, in the building! Can you believe it, Daddy? She had guts to get in here!”

  “It cannot be!” the voice hollered. “I’ll throw everybody in onis! What is going on? Tell me!”

  “You didn’t let me explain!”

  Ray showed me his two thumbs up. I copied my copy believably.

  “Security just called me from downstairs and reported that she arrived with her jackals. She’s in the lobby already. They’re holding her, but I don’t know how long they can last. We are locked in my office!”

  “I am surrounded by idiots! No one could predict it? Stop it from happening? Of course they would use her to get inside.”

  “I don’t know! Daddy, I need help now. Can you send your helicopter for me? I don’t want to be under fire. I want to get out of here!”

  “I’ll organize it immediately. Give me a few minutes and I’ll call you back. Is your spouse with you?”

  “I’m here Mr. Bristow.”

  “Good. Take care of her.”

  The connection disconnected and I returned the phone to Ray.

  “What now?

  “Now we are waiting.”

  “She may also call her father.”

  “She’ll do it, but we have no choice.”

  The phone/remote rang. Ray looked at the lighted screen and transferred it to me.

  “Security. Answer.”

  I pressed the green button, looking at Ray.

  “Listening. What’s going on?”

  “Ms. Bancroft. She’s here … The woman who looks like you. She demands that we let her go inside.”

  “I called my father and he’s sending help. You do everything possible to not let her in! We need time. How many people are there with her?”

  “One.”

  “Just one? Stop panicking before I fire you! Don’t let her fool you. Don’t talk to her.”

  “Understood.”

  “I rely on your loyal service. Wait for help. I’ll call you soon. Don’t do anything without my orders.” I turned the phone off and threw it on the table. My heart was beating in my throat.

  “They stopped her; great,” Ray said.

  “They mistook her for me.”

  “It’s great, great. Let’s hope your father sent the helicopter. Also let’s hope she will not convince him that you’re the imposter.”

  “Her father.”

  “Her father,” Ray agreed. He walked around the room, looked out the window. “Damn! I couldn’t stop it! I want you to believe me!” He looked into my eyes, approaching me so closely it appeared he wanted to kiss me. I took a step back. It wasn’t my Ray and the fact that I didn’t mind his kiss just reminded me that I was an idiot. “Then, at your planet, they were going to kill you. Here or there. They were ready to take a risk and liquidate you because you looked dangerous to them. Samantha didn’t want to wait. Do you understand? I couldn’t do anything!”

  “Okay, I understand, don’t yell. It’s done already.” I sat down in the chair and put the gun on my knees. Could I use it if I had to? I could. Yes, I could. I turned to Ray. He frowned, gazing at me. “What?”

  “Nothing.”

 
“Okay. We need to transfer the stuff we’ve found.”

  We found more recordings from the controller and one of them almost made Ray faint. There were videos of interrogations. Suspects of potential crimes, such as the organization of a revolution, storms, supporting of Hlifian and more, were questioned verbally and tortured as in the middle ages. I couldn’t watch it. If this landed in the hands of the parliament, Bristow wouldn’t enjoy his power much longer.

  Ray walked from one corner of the room to another. “We don’t have a lot of people, but they are loyal. Ronald will find a way to give these recordings to the right party. He can do it; he’s the best. Even Samantha knows his name. He’s helped so many irnaners that his name has become denominative.”

  “Maybe soon you won’t have any irnaners. Maybe this nightmare will stop.”

  “I hope. Sam, you don’t understand what you have done … for all of us.”

  “I know. You owe me, even though I didn’t do it for you.”

  Ray smiled.

  “You didn’t lose your sense of humor. I like it.

  “You didn’t see me in my glory. What are we going to do if they get to us?”

  “It’s not going to happen.”

  Ray checked the memory sticks in his pockets, took the phone/remote, and approached the window.

  “The exit to the landing site is in Bristow’s office, but we can get there through the window.” He pressed a button and the window panel drew up. Cold wind burst from the outside. “Ladies first.”

  I returned the gun to my small purse, went to the window, and climbed through to the other side, holding onto Ray’s shoulder with one hand, while keeping my skirt in place with the other. I had to take off my heels and go barefoot again.

  CHAPTER 33

  Samantha waited for the driver to open the door for her and left the car, holding onto his hand. The day was wonderful: no rain, no wind, neither hot nor cold. She could spend her time by the pool, but instead she had to hunt for this scorfah, who had run away again. She didn’t just run away, but she ran away from Dan the Great. Her best guard—her right hand. She doubted now that she had really known the people working for her. Who was her copy from Planet Two? Superwoman?

  Samantha smoothed her skinny pants, flipped her hair, and headed toward the building. Her assistant followed her, carrying all her devices and other necessary things like remote, water, tissues, make up.

  All morning, Samantha had spent time in the corporation in case her copy turned up there. Everything she needed to get back to her world was there. Only this disgusting little snip didn’t appear and Samantha decided to spend a few hours in her main office, waiting for a call from Jason Stanly. Lead hunter, the best dog. He found this piece of pard the first time; he was going to do it again. How dared she to look like her? Like Samantha Bristow herself? Even though it was a superficial similarity. Only idiots could mistake that imitation for Samantha. Only those who didn’t know her well. Ray saw the difference and told her they were completely different. His wife had class, sophistication, style, intellect and her double from the other dimension didn’t have any of those.

  Ray also was looking for her, working with his people. He said he had his people. Hmmm. Who were they? Cleaners from the corporation? Sometimes he was so funny.

  Samantha walked up the stairs, pressed her thumb to the reader, and entered the lobby. Usually she didn’t pay attention to the guards, ignoring them as species. Her father wanted them, not her. He worked with the best specialist in security systems and he relaxed only after confirmation that even a moth was not going to get inside the building without permission. Old paranoiac. Samantha was tired of him, but his ideas made her life the way it was.

  She couldn’t ignore the guards this time. They stared at her with wild eyes. One of them screamed, another one jumped back, pulled his gun out and pointed it at her. Samantha stopped and turned to her assistant, who pressed his case to his chest while studying the guards, who obviously had lost their minds. They had lost their minds; she couldn’t explain their behavior differently.

  “Call him!” the guard with the gun yelled.

  “They know!” the second one answered.

  “He said to call him when she arrived!”

  Samantha moved farther, but the guard shook his gun.

  “Stop there! Don’t move! I’ll fire!”

  “Are you zacry?” Samantha asked in a calm voice. She wouldn’t show any emotions to these idiots.

  The second guard was talking on the remote but Samantha couldn’t catch his words.

  “I’ll fire if you move!” the guard with the gun yelled and turned to his colleague. “Tell him she’s here! What should we do?”

  “What is going on?” Samantha took a step forward.

  “Don’t move!” the guard bellowed.

  “I’m asking you what is going on,” Samantha hissed through her teeth.

  “We know who you are!” The second guard finished his conversation and joined the first one, pulling his gun out now. He looked more reserved and confident than his colleague, who looked as though he could shoot if somebody sneezed. It was obvious he hadn’t been in a situation like this and had never pointed his gun at real people, only at targets during his training. What situation was this, by the way? “You won’t take another step from here. We were ordered to stop you. They are sending the whole army to get you!”

  “Wait? Who made that order?”

  “Samantha Bristow! We know who you are and what you want!”

  “Are you saying…,” Samantha said quietly, trying not to break into a scream. “Are you saying that a woman who looks like me entered the building already?”

  “Samantha Bristow–Bancroft entered this building in the company of her husband,” the second guard said, also calmly. “You are the one impersonating her. You are a spy from Planet Two!”

  “What?” Samantha shook her head, took a deep breath. Never in her life had she been shocked like this. Never in her life had she been so scared. “What did you say? She came here with her … husband?”

  The guards exchanged glances. The second one even dared to smirk.

  “What? Didn’t expect this, huh?” he asked. “You can try to pretend to be her, but you can’t get her man. Bad job.”

  “Ray was with her?” Samantha asked, still keeping her voice down.

  “She forbade talking to her,” the second guard said.

  Samantha turned to her assistant, but he seemed to shrink under her gaze as he clenched his case tighter. From a man of some six feet tall, he suddenly compressed to a dwarf. Useless. All of them were useless. How had she approved hiring them? She turned back to security, who held their positions. Now, behind their backs she saw a couple of workers, frozen in indecision.

  “You have no idea what you have done,” Samantha hissed. “You let our enemy get into our heart. Anything can happen now.”

  “Shut up!” the second guard shouted. The first one also calmed down and now looked, or tried to look, like a superhero.

  “All of you are going to onis!” Samantha yelled, and the people behind the guards ran back to the elevators. “You’ll be liquidated! I will personally see to it. How dare you to take … that woman … for me? I’m asking you!”

  The guards looked at each other again, now confused.

  “Let me in, this instant!”

  The guards didn’t move. The gun was shaking in the hand of the first of them. He could shoot her out of fear.

  “Idiots! All of you are stupid idiots! Lleh!”

  Samantha walked away from the security point and from the stupid guards who couldn’t distinguish her from that scorfah. Did they look the same? No way. Ray …

  Samantha clenched her fists and teeth. It was difficult to believe in his betrayal, almost impossible, but probably the scorfah did not lie. Ray … that ungrateful snet. He slept with her and now he was helping her.

  “Helping her with what?” Samantha muttered. “What does she want? Why did the
y come here? Why not the corporation?”

  Samantha became dizzy and went back to the exit, sat down in the chair near the door.

  “Don’t move!” the guards shouted to her back. “The police are going to be here any second!”

  Samantha didn’t listen to them. They were going to pay for everything. They would pay for their stupidity, for not being able to see the difference between real and fake.

  If Ray wanted to help her, Samantha thought, he would try to send her back to her dimension. Try to get her inside the corporation. What were they doing here? Dad was right. This man wasn’t worthy of her.

  “How could I not see it? I don’t understand!” Samantha yelled. She was near tears. She had never been in a situation like this and didn’t know what to do. People had never set her up. “Dad.”

  The assistant stood close-by and Samantha reached her hand in his direction.

  “Phone.” The guy didn’t answer and Samantha turned to him. He looked shocked and confused. “Give me my phone!”

  He shuddered, looked at her for a few seconds without motion, and only after she snapped her fingers, he gave her what she’d demanded. She pressed the button, said “Father” into the speaker and put the phone to her ear. She didn’t want to talk on a speaker.

  “Sammy, I’m doing everything I can. The soldiers are on their way. I’m going there, too.”

  “Dad, what are you talking about?”

  “I’m talking about help, of course!”

  “Did she call you?”

  “Who are you talking about?” Her father’s voice became cold.

  “My double from Planet Two! She broke into the building! They are at the top, in my office! These stupid guards that you hired won’t let me in!” Samantha bit her lip to stop herself from crying.

  “How did you get my daughter’s personal number?” her father roared.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Scorfah! You’ll pay for this!”

  “What? Scorfah? You think that I am her? You don’t recognize me? Are you zacry?” Samantha’s lips barely moved from the shock.

  “Where’s your husband?”

  “He’s with her! He betrayed me! Everyone betrayed me!”