Chapter Four

Mickey didn't know what to do with this man, Rory Williams. He had helped him to get the Saltwater Room back to Doctor Carver and earn his two grand. But he had lost a hand in the process. He was still zonked out on the floor, and Mickey didn't have the heart to wake him. He left him to sleep while he spoke with the Doctor.

"Steve, what should we do with this guy? He's not from here." He said to the doctor.

"I gathered as much when you returned with him. The scanners detected an increase in the planetary mass when you returned."

"He lost a hand."

"I can see that. I can give him a… What shall we call it, an upgrade?"

"Whatever, he just has to get back home, and must have no recollection the events that took place. He also needs a new car and matching keys."

"I can do that. I just need to fire up his memories so I can get it correct."

"Go ahead. Ethics need to be put aside for this. It's too dangerous for him to know."

After this exchange, he looked at the sleeping man on the floor. He wondered if he too had a wife, and what she would think after he had been missing. That gave him another idea.

"Steve, can you send him back a few days when he returns? It will be much easier to explain things."

"I'll see what I can do, Mickey."

"Thanks."

Rory had started to wake up, so Mickey sprinted across the room, picked up a sedative syringe and injected Rory with enough sedative to make him sleep for 24 hours.

"You need to be done in 24 hours. That's when the sedative with wear off."

"I certainly shall."

Mickey collected his payment, left half in Rory's jacket, and felt that he had done the right thing. He did beat that thing to death, Mickey reasoned, so he kind of deserves half of the money. He also removed Rory's phone from his pocket, programming a Trans-Dimensional Signal in to it. He then put his number in, leaving a message saying, "If something gets too weird to handle."

He left the lab and proceeded home, where he entered, kissed his wife Rose on the cheek, and asked her about her day.

"Uneventful. How was your day at the office? She said, as her three year of daughter ran around her on the floor.

"It was good," he replied with a small smile. "I think I've made a good friend."

Rory woke up on the Wednesday before the event had happened with a pain in his right hand.

I must have slept on it, he thought. He looked at his body and was alarmed to see himself in his clothes. He stood up quickly, trying to remember what had happened the night before, but couldn't. He smiled to himself. It must have been a good night. He had the impression he had met someone, but couldn't remember who. Oh well, he thought, it can't have been someone very important. He switched on the radio by his bed, and heard music playing.

…And saw you in the low light, walking down by the bay, on the shore, staring up at the stars that aren't there anymore.

He smiled to himself. Why did those words sound so familiar to him?

Author's Notes:

So, that's it. None of this stuff belongs to me other than the plot and the machine. Also, you can probably guess what drove me to write this, can't you?

Read please, and Review if you want to.