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Chapter 13
Lewis had returned to the New York apartment that afternoon. Dressed in a pin-striped suit, he picked up the paper as he walked by the table in the hallway. He turned the corner and nearly ran completely into Sam.
"Ah! Didn't know you were back yet, Lewis. How's Arla?"
"She is well, thanks."
"Watches working?"
Lewis shook his head and looked at the paper. "Nah. Timon still has the transport system down. Why?"
Sam crossed his arms and planted his feet. "Well, none of my business, but-"
Lewis smiled. "But?"
"How did you go to….oh." He suddenly realized. "You used the ship's transporter."
Lewis appeared to be a bit disappointed, "Yeah, Sammy just left. So, now I'm back."
"So, we're bending rules?"
Lewis took the paper down from his face and grinned, "No, I'll confess to completely just breaking the hell out of it."
Sam shook his head. "You better watch it with that, man."
"Completely under control. But, thank you for your concern."
Sam chuckled, "You've always been like this. I don't know why I would think you would have changed."
"I'm not that much older than you are used to-"
"And…." Sam looked around to ensure no one was listening to their conversation.
Lewis rolled his eyes and tapped the side of his head as he spoke telepathically to him. 'Come on, man. Are you Quauthin, or not? It's much safer to speak telepathically around these humans.'
'You're right. It's just, the future. You're from how far in the future?'
'Dangerous subject, mate.'
'Who is Sammy? Is he….'
Lewis smacked his friend with the paper playfully and spoke aloud. "No!"
Sam seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. 'Good. I mean. Well, you said he wasn't your son. I'm just trying to sort out who he belongs to.'
'His name is John. Johnathan Smith. He'll be here sometime next year. I think. The time on this planet doesn't make any sense. A day lasting 24 hours? That's insane. No wonder these people are all so damn nuts.'
'Says the man who never sleeps.' Sam teased.
'Have you heard anything out of Danny today?'
Sam shook his head. "No. Why? What's up?"
Lewis bit his lip. "Nothing really. I was just…curious. What's the news around the building?"
"Around the building? The elevator is still slow as shit. And…"
"And what?"
"Pete called and Rose has been invited to-"
Lewis rubbed his face. "Oh, this entire shit is so stupid. Has she done anything with researching anything to get the Dimension to open?"
Sam held up his finger and tapped the side of his head. 'Telepathically, please.'
Lewis groaned, 'You're right. Well, has she?'
'She just doesn't seem the type to be able to do that.'
'There is a lot more at work here that I even know.' Lewis sighed, 'I'll have to talk to Sammy to see how we need to proceed. She has to open the gate.'
Sam nodded, 'How's Tony?'
'He's bad. I sat with him briefly. I didn't know him when he was injured. I'm amazed he survived it.'
'How is Soli taking it?'
'I plan to contact him later tonight. He's worried. Of course. I went ahead and sent them to Plentitude before they head out into deep space and-'
"What are you lot doing?" Rose asked.
Lewis and Sam both looked back at her in surprise.
Lewis cleared his throat and pat Sam in the chest with the paper. "Well done."
Sam smiled at Rose, "Training exercise, Rose. That's all."
She had taken some ice cream out of the freezer. She opened a lid and shook her head. "For a moment, I thought you were both going to kiss one another."
Lewis and Sam both laughed.
Sam winked at Lewis. "He'd like that."
Lewis smiled and shook his head. "Respectfully, I must decline."
Rose smiled and found a spoon. "Did you hear charity event?"
"Oh yes. You were telling me about that, Sam. When is it?"
"Tonight." Sam said. "And she already has a dress if she wants to go."
Lewis sighed and put his hands on his hips. "Alright." He turned to look at Rose. "Would you like to go?"
"Well, no. Not if it's any trouble."
Lewis smiled and reassured her it was no trouble at all. "That's why we're here. To take you places and keep you safe. It's no trouble. We're working. Whether we work here or work there. And, it may be fun. You need to be around others."
Rose smiled with the spoon in her mouth. "Sounds like you want to go, Lewis."
Sam laughed, "Of course he does. Lewis loves a party."
Lewis rolled his eyes. "I don't necessarily care. It's up to you."
She looked into her ice cream and teased. "There will be some weird food there."
"Oh, I don't eat weird stuff."
"Chocolate chips!"
"That was delicious. Next time I'm having the little colors on it…what are they called?"
"Sprinkles." Rose smiled.
Lewis snapped his fingers. "That's it."
She giggled, "So gross, Lewis. I need to go start getting ready."
They watched her leave the room.
Sam asked, "Chocolate chips? What is she talking about?"
"I thought she asked for chocolate on chips. The restaurant downstairs put chocolate syrup on her chips so I told her I asked for them that way. It wasn't bad. A little strange on the fish."
Sam crossed his arms and looked at his friend. "Have you talked to Sammy about this problem?"
"What problem?-"
"You eating odd crap. Lewis, you do this with everything-"
"It's food, man. You're supposed to eat it-"
"Even that snot soup that Poltious makes? You and him are the only ones that will eat that."
"Oh, that's not even true. Legate eats it. Legate loves it. And it's not snot."
Sam held his tongue out. "So gross, man."
Lewis shook his head. "And how do you know what snot even tastes like, Sam?"
Sam was speechless. "Umm. Well-"
Lewis grinned, "Maybe you are the one that needs to chat with Sammy. I'll let him know you're looking for him."
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