Chapter Twenty-Nine – Back to Work
Carrie scrambled from beneath her kitchen sink and waited for Dave. Outside her window, it was still dark. She’d been sure it would be morning on Earth by now. They’d been away for ages. Rogue bounced into the kitchen, his tail a waggy blur, and jumped up at Carrie to lick her face. She rubbed his neck and ears and made a big fuss of him. Toodles was nowhere to be seen, reserving her affection as usual, but Carrie knew she was about somewhere, just waiting for her to come in and say hello.
Dave’s head appeared under her sink, quickly followed by his arms ,shoulders and the rest of his body. The green mist faded as he clambered out. “What’s the time?” he asked as he got to his feet.
According to the clock on Carrie’s kitchen wall, it was nearly eight o’clock. “That can’t be right.” She went into her bedroom to get her phone. Returning to the kitchen, she showed it to Dave. It displayed the same time as the clock, and the date showed it was still Friday. From her living room came the sounds of the Leonardo DiCaprio biopic still playing on her TV.
“No time’s passed since we left?” said Dave. “The gateway sent us back in time to the moment we left as well as returned us to Earth. That’s something your boss didn’t mention.”
“No, but it’s great, isn’t it? I’m shattered. All I want to do is go to bed.”
Dave was looking at the objects on Carrie’s table; at the things she had left behind when she had dived through the gateway after him. “You don’t have a translator anymore.”
“No, I lost it when we crashed into the oootoon’s planet.” Standing in her ordinary kitchen in an ordinary town in the U.K., hearing the sounds of traffic in the street below, the words sounded weird. She frowned. “That did all happen, right?”
Dave smiled. “Unless we both took the same hallucinogenic drug, yeah, it all happened. But, what I mean is, you won’t have one for your next assignment. You’ll have to ask Gavin for a replacement.”
Carrie rubbed her forehead. “My next assignment? I don’t know. I need to recover from this one, and think about it a bit.” The prospect of visiting more planets was exciting, but the idea also made her heart race.
“I know what you mean. It’s a lot scarier than it looks on TV or at the pictures, isn’t it?”
“A lot.”
“Best put all that stuff somewhere safe while you have a think about it, then,” Dave said, gesturing to the devices supplied by the Transgalactic Council and the fluorescent orange jumpsuit.
“Yeah, I’ll do it tomorrow. I’ve got to find whatever it is I need to use to send in my report first. Might as well do the job properly. I don’t want to disappoint Gavin. He’s a good person, or thing, or whatever, even if he does look like he walked out of an alien horror flick.”
Dave laughed nervously. “Yeah, he is. And it’s a good idea to tie up the loose ends.” He picked up a flat, black object and looked at it closely then, with apparent reluctance, he replaced it on the table. “You did a great job, Carrie.”
She beamed. “I couldn’t have done it without you. You know, I don’t care what the Transgalactic Council calls the job, I was kind of a space detective, wasn’t I?”
“Yes, you were.” Dave grinned and stretched. “Okay, I’m going to head home now. I’ll see myself out. See you at work on Monday.”
“Yeah, see you then,” she called as he left.
Dave’s words reminded Carrie she had to return to the call centre on Monday. She was relieved that she had a whole weekend to recover from her work as a space detective. A thrill of excitement passed through her. Maybe she would take on another assignment.
She also took a brief mental inventory of the items in her hallway, but there was nothing there she would mind losing to Dave’s light fingers.
***
Monday rolled round too soon. After a weekend of putting the finishing touches to her new flat, walking Rogue and coaxing Toodles out of various hiding places—receiving several deep scratches in the process—Carrie was at her desk in plenty of time for her nine o’clock start. Maintenance and IT Support had been busy over the weekend, because a new telephone had appeared on her desk, and when she logged on to her computer, the call centre’s network of operator terminals was displayed.
Carrie eyed the folder of complaints procedures on her desk, her heart sinking at the memory of all the customers she had put off with airy promises to fix their problems on her first day at the job. But she recalled what Dave had told her when he brought her some cake. The great long lists of questions and tick boxes were probably intended to frustrate the customers into giving up their complaints, which didn’t seem much better than what Carrie had done.
“Welcome back.” Ms. Bass was standing at Carrie’s desk. Her eyebrows seemed to have moved higher on her forehead.
“Oh...thanks?” Carrie couldn’t decide if Ms. Bass was being sarcastic.
“It’s good to see you here bright and early, Ms. Hatchett. Your positive attitude will not go unnoticed.” She leaned closer. “To be frank, our turnover rate for supervisors is rather high. But you seem to be keen to do a good job.”
Carrie winced. “I am keen to do a good job. Which is why I wanted to talk to you about this complaints procedure manual.”
The warmth drained from Ms. Bass’ expression, and her look became stony. “Is there a problem with it?” Her calcified look didn’t deter Carrie from a thorough explanation of why the manual was a bad idea and how the customers might prefer a more practical response. “Thank you for your comments. I will give them due consideration,” Ms. Bass said, and strode back to her office. She closed the door behind her.
Carrie sighed. Oh well, small steps.
An icon was blinking on her screen. An operator was transferring a complaint. Carrie put on her headset and clicked a button. A barrage of angry words spewed into her ears. Sighing, Carrie swivelled her chair away from her desk while she waited for the customer to take a breath. She made eye contact with Dave, who was talking into his mic. He gave her a thumbs up, and she smiled and waved.
At the first brief pause in the customer’s tirade, Carrie said, “I’m sorry to hear that, sir. Please go on, I’m listening.” Carrie paid careful attention to the customer’s explanation. She thumbed through her manual to find the relevant section, but it seemed to lead down a rabbit hole of inaction. She would have to find another way to deal with the complaint. Opening her desk drawer to find a notepad and pen, Carrie spotted a box of paperclips. She shivered.
***
But when she got home that night, the very first thing Carrie did was to check inside her Transgalactic Intercultural Community Crisis Liaison Officer’s toolbox. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw a message running across the screen of a flat, transparent device. She removed the device from the bag. Liaison Officer Hatchett, the message read, please report for duty at 7.45 am Saturday June 7th according to your Earth time zone. You will attend a briefing session before embarking on your second assignment, which involves a visit to the planet Dandrobia.
Carrie made herself some tea. She sat at her kitchen table, Rogue at her feet, his tongue lolling. Sipping from her mug, she mentally repeated the final word of the message. Dandrobia. She wondered what kind of place it was, and what kind of aliens lived there.
NEXT: PASSAGE TO PARADISE
CARRIE HATCHETT, SPACE ADVENTURER #2
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