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Chapter 5: Crab Dinner and Help

Miss Parker sat in her car and watched the patrons of the Blue Crab Diner walk in and out of the restaurant. They all seemed so happy, so sure of their past, present, and future. Miss Parker was far from that. All through out the long fourteen hour drive to Blue Cove, she had thought over all that had happened in the past twenty-four hours. She was no closer to an answer than she had been at the beginning of this mess. All she could figure was that this was some alternate universe. Or dimension. And somehow she had gotten pulled or sucked into it while she was sleeping. Miss Parker admitted to herself, though, that that explanation was very poor and made no sense. Only Broots would have been able to comprehend it.

And even if that was where she was, it didn't answer why she was there. It made no sense that coming here was some random fluke of the universe. Something or someone had planned this. Jarod? No, even in her world, Jarod was not smart enough to cross dimensions. God? Now, why would He take an interest in her? Miss Parker shook her head to clear those disturbing thoughts away and massaged her right temple. All this thinking was giving her a headache, not to mention the severe lack of sleep.

She hoped her mother and Jarod had found the note and that they weren't too disappointed that she had run away. A worried thought said that maybe Jarod would come after her, giving the affection between him and this Andrea. But, Miss Parker dismissed that thought. For one thing, he didn't know where she was going. And for another, Jarod would not get anywhere near the Centre if he could help it. No, he was quite safe at home with her mother.

"Mom." Miss Parker murmured, resting her hand on the steering wheel. Miss Parker had only seen her mom for less than a day and already she wanted to feel her arms around her. She did miss her mom. Why was she always searching for answers? Why, for once, could she not have been content to stay there? Because, she sternly thought, it's not natural to me. I need answers. And I need to go home. As much as I miss my mother, I wouldn't be able to handle living here. Being married to Jarod is worse than having to kiss my dear brother. That thought brought a smirk to her face.

A distinguished looking man getting out of an Oldsmobile caught her attention. Sydney. He was here. She got out of her car and grabbed her purse, which she had conveniently taken out of the house last night. Following Sydney, she entered after him, staying away from his line of sight. After he was seated with his back to her, and waving off a too-friendly waiter, Miss Parker walked toward him.

"Sydney." She whispered from behind him. He turned around quickly and his face went about as pale as the white-washed walls of the restaurant.

"My god. Catherine?" He asked, staring up at her. Miss Parker shook her head and a rare smile tugged at her lips.

"No, but real close. I'm her daughter." Sydney nodded.

"Miss Parker. I remember you. You were only a little girl when you and your mother disappeared." He looked at her quizzically. "What brings you here?" Miss Parker sat down across from him and looked around the restaurant. If sweepers had followed Sydney, she wanted to know.

"Answers. I'm so confused, Syd. I don't know what's happening anymore." Sydney held up his hands in the universal sign for slow down.

"Miss Parker, I appreciate you calling and asking for my help, but what can I do for you? You said you knew me. That's impossible. I lost contact with you and your mother after you both disappeared. How could you remember or know me?"

"It's really hard to explain. Now, don't laugh, because if you do, I'll be really tempted to shoot you." Her humor was lost on him. Apparently the only reason why her Sydney laughed at such things was because he was used to her sense of morbid humor. This man in front of her was not. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't joke at a time like this. You see, two nights ago, I went to bed in my house. I woke up here." Miss Parker grappled for the right words to say. A waiter came by and Sydney ordered two dishes of crab legs for them.

"I don't understand. Tell me everything from the beginning." Resting his head on crossed hands, he waited for her to start again. Miss Parker drew in a deep breath.

"Okay. I think I've found myself in an alternate universe. When I went to bed two nights ago, you, me, and Broots had just gotten back…" Sydney interrupted her.

"Broots? The technician from sub-level 5?" Miss Parker nodded.

"We had just gotten back from chasing Jarod around Seattle." Sydney gave her a confused look. "I don't know how to make this sound any less confusing. I'm confused and I'm in the middle of it. Basically, I fell asleep in a world where my mother was dead, Jarod had escaped from the Centre, and you and Broots were helping me bring Jarod back, per orders from my father. And now, I wake up to find myself in a world where my mother is alive, I'm not working at the Centre, and I'm married to Jarod. Sydney, I need help." She looked at him in desperation. Sydney leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and thought.

"Extraordinary. You married Jarod? Yes, I could have seen that happening. You two are perfect for each other." Miss Parker gave him an exasperated look. Yep, he was the same old Sydney, no matter what world he was in. "But, I don't think I can help you. If what you're saying is true, then the only thing you can do is wait and see if the portal that brought you here will open back up and take you home. There's not much else you can do." Miss Parker breathed in deeply. It was time to put the other part of her plan forward. The one she had come up with while driving here. Her first thought had always been to ask him about her mother, but she opted against that. There was no guarantee that Sydney wasn't so drugged up in Centre policies that he wouldn't try to harm her mother. So that subject would remain hidden.

"I need your help with something else, Sydney. And it might be my way home, it might not. I need you to get me into the Centre." Sydney's eyes widen and he opened his mouth to protest but Miss Parker cut him off. "That's the only world I know, Syd. I need to get in there. I need to see my father and I need to speak to Broots. You probably don't know him very well, but I do. He might be able to find a way to get me home. But he can't help me if I'm not at the Centre. Please, Sydney, I need your help. Help me." She reached across the table and grasped his hand. The waiter came with their dinner, but not wanting to interrupt what he thought was a romantic moment, walked away.

"I can't, Miss Parker. What would your mother say? I know how much she didn't want you growing up in the Centre. I can't. I can't." He looked at Miss Parker questioningly. "What does your mother and Jarod have to say about all this?"

"They didn't believe me. They thought I had a really intense bad dream. That for some reason I wasn't connecting to reality. But, it's true. I can tell you everything, every thing Jarod has done. Every thing I remember about my life since my mother died. I'm not lying."

"I believe you." Sydney said. "Catherine, forgive me." He whispered to himself, low enough that Miss Parker didn't hear. "Okay. I'll bring you to the Centre tomorrow. I'm sure your father will want to see you. He talks about you often."

"Really?" Sydney nodded. "Sydney, can you tell me what happened? I mean, with my mother leaving and all that."

"I'm not sure what you want to hear. She got you, Jarod, Kyle, and Angelo out like she had been planning on for the past few months. Then you all disappeared. Your father had me out looking for you, but to no avail. You had disappeared from the map. Searches were made for you five very often in the first five years of the disappearance. Now, no one talks about it much. It's the one thing the Centre has failed at." Sydney glanced at Miss Parker. "I guess it won't be such a failure anymore."

"No." Miss Parker sighed. "It won't be."