The Time Bubble Box Set 2, стр. 307

“Then what – you go back to 2070 to live happily everafter?”

“You know, I really do hope so this time,” said Josh. “Iseem to spend most of my time these days putting right problems in thetimeline. As soon as I fix one thing, something else goes wrong. It’s likepatching a hole in a bucket which immediately then springs two new leaks. It’san incredibly complex system what with all these universes popping intoexistence here, there and everywhere. But someone’s got to look after it.”

“Sounds to me like you’re the cause of half these problems,”I replied. “Take that debacle in the hospital for a start. That wouldn’t havehappened if you hadn’t been tinkering about with time.”

“You’re not wrong,” replied Josh. “Sometimes I wish I’dnever started all this, but I guess it’s my raison d’être now. Still, at leastI’ve always tried to use time travel for good reasons.”

“And what if someone else out there had less pure motives?You can’t be the only time traveller in existence, surely?”

“It’s funny you should say that,” he began. “But that’s yetanother story. Right now all you need to know is that your world is safe. Allyou need to do is get on with your life like before.”

“Speaking of which, I need to get up and get dressed,” Isaid. “So if you wouldn’t mind…?” I gestured towards the door.

“No need for a door,” he said, reaching into his backpackand pulling out a familiar-looking object. “I’ve got this.”

“Well, you just be careful where you point that thing!” Iexclaimed. “Remember what happened last time!”

“That’s what she said,” he replied, laughing and eliciting asmall chuckle from me, too. In a strange way I was going to miss thismysterious time-travelling man.

“Will I ever see you again?” I asked.

“Do you want to?” he replied.

Did I want to? It was an interesting question. Despite therelief of being back where I belonged, part of me was going to miss theexcitement that my time-travelling had brought, even if I had spent most of itworrying that I was about to die.

“Tell you what,” I said. “How about I become your specialagent in this time zone? If you ever find yourself back in this time and needsomeone with time-travel experience to help you on one of your projects, thenlook me up.”

“I’ll do that,” he said. “And now, I must go.”

He held out his device in front of him which I noticedwasn’t the same as the one he had had in the past. This looked newer, made froma shinier metal of a type I didn’t recognise. It was also larger with morebuttons on the front than I remembered.

“An upgrade?” I asked.

“Yes, and it does a lot more than the old one did. And thisone actually works properly,” he said. “Well, I guess this is it.”

He pressed a button and began to step forward.

“Until next time,” I said, and watched as he disappeared.For a few seconds I held the quilt close to me, as if, irrationally, I believedhe could still see me, before I let it drop and began to look for some clothes.

As I did so, I heard the telltale clink of coffee mugs fromout in the flat.

Phoebe and Lily! I felt overwhelmed with joy at the thoughtof seeing them again. Pulling on just a T-shirt and knickers, not caring ifthis would offend Lily, I wrenched the door handle open and ran out into thekitchen.

There they were, standing by the coffee machine, cups inhand, the picture of normality. If they were surprised at my sudden appearance,they were even more taken aback when I launched myself around the pair of themin a huge group hug, almost knocking their cups out of their hands in theprocess.

They must have thought I was crazy, but I didn’t carebecause right now I was exactly where I belonged, with the two people I lovedmore than anyone else alive in the world.

The End…for now, but the story will continue.