The chain of coincidences 8/11

Jennifer Jane woke up with a thumping headache. She opened her eyes and wondered where on earth she could be. The sky had turned orange and she seemed to be lying very uncomfortably on a heap of sticks.

"Now then, now then, what's going on here? You can't park this antique just where you want, you know. Come out of there and explain yourself."

Jennifer Jane tried to sit up and banged her aching head on a piece of wood, which appeared to stretch across the sky.

She suddenly realised she was lying down inside her canoe and looking up at the underside of the orange deck canvas. She worked her way towards the bow until she could sit up properly in the cockpit, then looked round to see if she could recognise where she was.

The last thing she could remember was having forty winks on Attersea Island. She certainly wasn't there any more.

Drawrof was lying on a strip of concrete that sloped down into what appeared to be a small harbour. On the water were hundreds of motor boats moored in neat lines. There wasn't a mast or sail in sight. Then she remembered the friendly fisherman. A suspicion began to grow in her mind. She looked a little more closely at the boats. Some of them were moving slowly under power but there was no noise other than that made by their passage through the water.

The landscape also looked vaguely familiar as she looked round. All the available ground was built on, with tall buildings made from stainless steel and glass. It would seem that by a strange coincidence, she'd arrived once again in the same world as the Holmwood Research Centre.

The friendly fisherman might not have been quite as friendly as he seemed after all.

"Come along now I can't stand here all day, explain yourself young lady, or it will be the worse for you."

Jennifer turned towards the person talking to her. As she was beginning to suspect, he was dressed in a uniform made out of silver fabric and wore a red belt. He took what appeared to be a tiny television set from a pouch hung on his belt and started pressing buttons.

"Now then, so far we have unauthorised use of a water vehicle, you're improperly dressed in unhygienic clothing, I don't suppose for one minute you have a travel permit and to my mind you probably don't have any means of support either. What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I'm sorry if I've broken any rules but I'm afraid I'm lost. Can you tell me where I am please?"

"You are in the Therdle Marina without any authorisation. Nor will pleading ignorance of the law be accepted as an excuse. Where do you live and how do you intend to get there?"

"I live in the village of Holmwood. I suppose I could return by train if there's a station nearby."

The policeman looked at her scornfully.

"Trains? Stations? What sort of talk is that? If you want to return to Holmwood you need the fare for the Public Hover. Do you have twenty credits?"

Jennifer Jane just shook her head. She was beginning to get worried. Wherever she was, she seemed to be in some sort of trouble. A quick attempt at producing a chocolate swiss roll was a failure.

She had almost certainly arrived in the same strange world that she had blundered into a few weeks ago.

"Before I take any further action I'd better inform your parents where you've got to. What's your address?"

"My parents aren't anywhere you can contact them but I think Professor Edwards of the Holmwood Research Centre might be able to help me."

The policeman pressed some more buttons on his screen and then spoke to it.

He looked at Jennifer Jane and said, "I think so Sir, perhaps you'd care to see for yourself." He turned the screen towards her for a moment.

"Right, he says he'll vouch for you. He's coming to collect you himself in his private hover. Don't move for twenty minutes. I'll be keeping an eye on you."

To her amazement he walked off. He was looking rather pleased with himself at having so quickly dealt with the problem of the mystery visitor.