Convergence
April 1994
Sandra adjusted the overhead visor to block the worst of the on-coming glare. She squinted. Between the sheeting rain and the pitch-black night, driving was hard enough, but when a car approached, the headlights caused a glare that made it almost impossible to see the road. Keeping her eyes on the white line on the right hand side of the two-lane road, she breathed a sigh of relief when the car passed by. It didn’t make things any easier that she had to frequently remind herself to stay on the right hand side of the road. One would think after living in Canada for two years, this would be second nature, but when she was tired old habits were hard to break, and she found herself drifting to the left side. She glanced at the dashboard clock of the rented Camry. 6:22 pm. She was running later than anticipated, but should have a few hours to spare nonetheless. She was never one to run late.
Sandra had finished her master’s studies in the evolution of communication at McGill the preceding year, and celebrated by spending the past eleven months traveling the world and doing freelance computer work to pay the way. With her father’s and step-mother’s connections, she was never short of work, no matter where she found herself. After months in Vancouver, San Francisco, Sydney, and Hong Kong, as well as shorter sojourns in smaller cities, she found herself back in Montreal. She had spent the past three weeks as the guest of her collegic advisor, paying her way by upgrading and networking Sofia’s antique home computers into the McGill University system. It was frustrating and challenging both, and given the very limited budget Sofia had given her, a fair amount of scrounging was needed. The visit had come to a successful end earlier today, and after a last minute tweaking to the wireless router, Sandra had gotten on the road shortly after a late lunch.
She would miss Montreal. It had become a home away from home of sorts. Her Canadian French was much improved, and her blood quite a bit thicker than when she had left England back in 1991. But if she were honest, she’d have to admit she preferred slightly warmer climes. Now, her destination was Pittsburgh, where she would link up with her stepmother, Diane, and then return with her to the UK. The drive was a long one from Montreal, but she enjoyed travel and the cost savings in this instance was significant. The overnight drive would allow her to listen to some of the more unusual talk radio channels… the UFO conspiracy-organ harvesting theories were the most fun. She was looking forward to being home tomorrow, to see Papa again, and find out how much her small sister Julia had grown and changed.
The clouds overhead parted briefly and the rain slacked, Sandra looked up through the windshield in relief. Maybe the rain would stop now. Looking at the clock and judging the travel time ahead of her, she decided to take the slightly longer route that would let her see Niagara Falls. For the past three years she had meant to come down and see the natural wonder, but what with this project or that, had never made the time. This could very well be her final opportunity for who knew how long. She really had no idea when she would make it back to this part of the world.
11:50 pm. The Falls were stunning by moonlight, even through the intermittent mist that at times obscured the light of the waxing moon. She arrived shortly before they turned off the illuminating lights, but they remained on long enough for her to appreciate the grandeur in front of her. She walked the pathway along the gorge to see both the American and Canadian Falls, ending up at the overlook by the elegant horseshoe falls that Canada claimed. She spent a peaceful while simply looking over the guardrail at the water a mere meter or so below her rushing to fall over the precipice. To feel the power of the Falls through the soles of her feet, and feel the mist on her face had well been worth the extra time this added to her trip. Now it was time to get going again. Although there were a few other tourists still about, a kindly security guard took it upon himself to escort her back to the rental car, sharing with her the folklore surrounding the Falls. Yes, all in all, a wonderful stop.
1:45 am. Sandra swore quietly under her breath. The turn south to the multi-lane expressway called I-90 should have happened by now. She pulled off at the next rest stop to regain her bearings. She usually found it relatively easy to travel in North America, but to be fair, she usually didn’t travel this late at night. Getting out of the car to enter the well-lit visitor’s center, she looked about for any signs. There had to be directions hereabouts. It wasn’t as if it were all that easy to mislay an entire interstate, not mention a major metropolitan city!
The rest area was well-appointed and obviously new, but unfortunately not staffed this late at night. Or, rather, there was a janitor, but he only spoke an Eastern European language Sandra thought was Croation, but in any case, she did not speak. Sandra looked around for the toilet. There. She walked back into the long, narrow room, one side lined with a row of sinks, the other with stalls. After a quick restroom break, she washed her hands, studying the face in the mirror in front of her. Looking back at her was a young, tired Eurasian woman, dark black hair tucked neatly behind her ears, her white cotton blouse and blue jeans wrinkled and creased. Too young at twenty-two for the space program? Perhaps. That wasn’t going to stop her from trying.
She stepped out, stopping to refill her waterflask at the fountain, then looked about for a map. There usually was one in her experience. Ah ha… there is was. A large map of Ohio and Pennsylvania posted with all the major thruways highlighted and a helpful red ‘you are here’ arrow. Sandra sighed. Yes, somehow she had missed the off-ramp. She needed to backtrack about thirty miles, or, make it about fifty kilometers. And that was only after she reached the exit further along that allowed her to reenter the Ohio Turnpike eastbound. But… Sandra studied the map closer. There did seem to be an exit-only ramp just a few kilometers away, and if she followed the smaller, two-lane road it led to, she could link up with the desired southbound expressway in only twenty or so kilometers. That looked to be the optimal approach.
Sandra called Diane from her cellphone to update her, returned to the Camry and then stopped by the petrol station to fill the tank. One thing her father always stressed was never allowing the tank to get below half full. And given the distances involved in driving about Canada and the States, Sandra had found it to be sound advice. 2:00 am. Time to get back on the road.
2:30 am. Well, exiting the turnpike was easy enough, and the automated tollbooth had thankfully failed to notice the difference between Canadian and American quarters. The two-lane road had started off well, but was now narrow and winding with occasional switchbacks. She only knew she was continuing south by keeping the moon in sight. Sandra always knew where the moon was. That was her dream, to one day serve on Moonbase Alpha. All her advanced studies and research were aimed to impress the ILC and help gain a coveted spot on the lunar fast tract. The ILC favored those with advanced degrees, even for postings in the relatively straightforward position of data analyst.
The mist was turning back to a steady rain, and then to a downpour. Sandra slowed down to a more cautious speed to navigate the road’s frequent twists and bends. The hills were becoming higher the further south she drove. She wished she could pull over, but time was becoming an issue. The rain thickened into a solid wall. Sandra repositioned her hands on the steering wheel for a tighter grip… when a pair of headlights rounded the bend bearing down directly on top of her! She wrenched the car out of the way, pulling the car left and around the path of the oncoming vehicle. There was a blast of horns, a confusion of rain-smeared headlights… and the car was past. Sandra fought for control, had it, then nearly lost it again at the sound of metal on metal crashing and grinding behind her. The other vehicle must have impacted on the guardrail. She looked away from the rear-view mirror… only to see more headlights dead ahead. She slammed the brakes, the car’s rear fishtailing on the wet concrete. She closed her eyes, felt the anti-lock breaks pulse against her feet... and prayed.
Silence. The sound of rain hitting the windshield. A car door slamming. Sandra collected her scattered wits and looked up when someone stopped outside her door. Tapping on her glass. Sandra jumped.
“Are you okay?”
Sandra lowered the window.
“Are you okay?” the voice repeated more clearly.
Sandra nodded her head. She looked at her questioner. The woman was thin, American, blond hair plastered to her head from the rain. The woman pointed to the dark car stopped almost nose to nose with the Camry.
“That’s mine.” The woman looked into Sandra’s car. “Anyone else in there?”
“No.”
“I’m going to check the other car.” The woman walked into the darkness.
Sandra took a few more deep breaths. She opened the door, the rain immediately soaking her through. The woman’s muffled voice called from further down the road.
“There’s a man trapped. Can you come help?”
Sandra looked toward the woman. She couldn’t see her, but from the headlights she could tell the small, silver SUV that had nearly hit her was now off the side of the road. It had torn a hole through the metal guardrail and fetched up against a large tree that kept it from rolling further downhill. She crossed the road, trying to see where the American woman was.
“Here.”
Sandra walked around the back of the vehicle to the driver’s side, careful not to slide down the sharp embankment. The smell of petrol was strong. The woman had climbed into the front passenger seat, and from the interior light coming through the shattered windshield, Sandra could see she was doing something to the driver slumped over the steering wheel.
“See if you can get the driver’s door open. I want to get him out. I don’t like the smell of that gas.”
Sandra nodded and moved around to try to open the door. She pulled on the handle but the door was still locked.
“It’s locked.” She knocked on the window to get the woman’s attention. The woman looked up. Sandra saw very green eyes looking up at her. She pointed to the handle. “Locked.”
The woman reached across the back of the man and unlocked the door. It took a few good pulls, but the door eventually opened.
Sandra walked around the door, catching herself from slipping in the mud. She stepped up and braced herself on the running board. She leaned into the SUV, grateful to get at least some part of herself out of the rain.
“Hold his head still, I’ll come around to help.”
Sandra put her hands where she was shown. She had enough knowledge to realize that the woman wanted her to keep the man’s neck from moving. It probably only took a few seconds, but it felt like hours before she felt the woman at her side.
“Okay, you keep that neck stable. I’ll pull and let’s see if we can get him out. The gas smell is getting stronger.”
Sandra had her doubts that this plan would work. The man wasn’t exactly large, but neither was she or the other woman.
“On three. One, two, three!”
Sandra was impressed. The man actually shifted! The woman was much stronger than she looked. With a few controlled tugs, the man slid out and into the mud. Sandra slipped down to the ground next to the man, but managed to keep the man’s neck straight.
“Good job. Let’s move him over there.”
Sandra looked up to see the blond woman pointing down the road. Using a bit of ingenuity and a rain poncho from the woman’s car boot, they pulled the still unconscious man the fifteen or so meters that woman wanted.
Sandra sagged down on the ground, pushing her long, wet hair out of her eyes. Pulling an eighty-kilo man through the rain while hunched over was hard. Especially an eighty-kilo man who smelled of alcohol. The blond woman busied herself checking him over. The rain took that moment to ease up, becoming, a drizzle, and Sandra wiped the worst of the rain from her face. She was finally able to see by moonlight what the man looked like. He was Caucasian, perhaps mid-thirties, bearded. Blood was still oozing from the multiple cuts over his face.
“Thanks for the help.”
Sandra looked up from the still unconscious man. “You’re welcome.”
“I called 911 already and gave them our location. Someone should be here soon.”
Sandra nodded her head, finally remembering 911 was the American distress number. She felt her pants pocket. Her cellphone had gone missing. The woman had a small smile on her face as she continued.
“I’ve never really needed to use the GPS before, but right now it’s a godsend. My husband insisted we get one for the car. He’s British and always complaining about the distances and poor road signs over here.” The woman looked back at the SUV, her arms wrapped around her chest and obviously shivering from the cold and wet. Her face turned grim again as she looked up at the fast scuttling, threatening clouds. “I suppose we should be grateful for the rain. It should help wash away the gas. I’m still worried there could be a fire.” She looked at Sandra. “This time of year, bands of storm clouds run through this part of the state. We’ll probably get more heavy rain in a few minutes.”
Sandra nodded again. They were lucky the woman’s husband had the foresight to provide a GPS unit. Sandra was well familiar with them, but civilians owning one was still unusual.
The two women sat side by side in the dark, the thin rain chill and drizzling. Sandra felt numb and confused as she stared out into the dark. She needed to get to the Pittsburgh airport within the next three hours. She didn’t want to leave the woman alone in the drizzly dark with a hurt man. At least not until the authorities arrived.
“Are you from Europe?”
Sandra looked at the blond woman. It was very dark, but even so she could see the woman was watching the man.
“England. I just finished my studies as McGill.”
The woman looked at Sandra but did not ask any other questions. Sandra knew she was not the typical representative of the United Kingdom. A few minutes passed as the woman checked the man’s pulse.
“Are you a nurse?”
The woman shook her head. “Doctor. Space Medicine specialist. I’m heading, well, was heading, to Cleveland for my medical board exams.”
Sandra felt mildly embarrassed. She hated it when she was underestimated. About to apologize, she focused on what the woman has said. Space Medicine.
“Are you connected with…”
The man started seizing and the doctor immediately returned to his side.
“Help me roll him over.”
Sandra’s knees slipped once in the mud, but soon she and the women had the man on his side, the doctor holding his neck still. It seemed like eternity, but finally the seizure stopped. To Sandra’s surprise, the doctor left the man on his side, continuing to support his neck.
“Where is that ambulance? He needs to be in a hospital. The blow to his head could cause seizures. So could intracranial bleeding. And I can’t tell if he has any internal injuries. Come on, hurry up!”
There was nothing Sandra could say. She was scared. Scared that the man would die in front of them. Scared that the local police might arrest her for the accident. Scared of missing her flight and being trapped in this unfamiliar country.
The distant wail of sirens was the most wonderful sound Sandra had heard in ages. The doctor looked up, relief obvious even in the dark.
“Good.” Rescue now arriving, the doctor looked at her carefully. “Are you sure you’re all right? You didn’t hit your head?”
“No.” Sandra shook her head, trying to reassure the doctor she was fine. “I stopped in time.”
“So did I. I saw your headlights. The SUV crossed the midline coming round the curve and just about hit you before you swerved out of its way. I was slowing down to help when I saw you in front of me.”
“I’m sorry. I know I should have pulled off the road to the right. Old habits.” Sandra shrugged. It seemed like it happened ages ago, not just fifteen or twenty minutes.
“Don’t be. If you had pulled right, you would’ve run off the road and down that hill. It’s really steep just there.”
A chill washed down Sandra’s spine. That was close.
The paramedics pulled up just then, jumped out, and gently shouldered her aside. They expediently transferred the man to a gurney and into the ambulance, the doctor following them inside. A police car pulled up, one uniformed officer walking over to her through the squishing mud, the other going to the rear of the ambulance.
“Miss, did you see what happened?”
Sandra concisely explained what had occurred, dutifully including her irresponsibility of pulling into the oncoming traffic lane. The second officer joined them, listened while Sandra repeated the account and nodded.
“That’s what the doctor described. And by the smell of it, the man certainly had too much to drink.”
The second officer handed a clipboard to Sandra. “Write down what happened and sign and date it. We may need to contact you again.”
Sandra took the clipboard, still worried. “I’m to fly out to the U.K. this morning. Will there be a problem with that?” She looked between the officers who looked at each other.
“Well, it would be easier if you were local, but since the doctor saw the same thing and she’s more or less local, I guess it’ll be okay.”
Sandra almost sagged in relief. She filled out the paperwork as the officers spoke amongst themselves and one moved off to the SUV, searching the ground carefully with his torchlight.
The officer questioned Sandra further. “Did the man give his name?”
“No. He never spoke.”
The police officer grimaced. “His wallet’s missing, too, so I guess he’s a John Doe for now.” He took the completed clipboard from Sandra, copied the information from her Canadian driver’s license and insurance and the rental registration she had fetched from the car, and returned them. “You can go now, miss.”
“Thank you.”
Sandra looked back at the ambulance. One rear door was closed, but through the other she could see the blond doctor seating herself on a bench. They made eye contact, and the doctor smiled slightly and nodded her head. The door closed and the vehicle moved away with a wail of sirens.
Sandra checked her watch. 3:35 am. It would be close, and she still couldn’t find her cellphone to call her step-mother to update her. Diane would worry if she were late. And if Sandra didn’t show, Diane would undoubtedly miss the flight herself and notify the authorities. Sandra was angry with herself that she hadn’t thought to ask to borrow the doctor’s phone. The woman had certainly seemed willing enough to help others.
She walked back to the side of the road, ready to cross it and walk the twenty or so meters back to her car. Now just out of the range of the officers’ torchlights, she looked both ways and crossed the street. Almost on the far side, her shoe heel caught on a rock and she stumbled, barely keeping herself from falling on the wet asphalt. Looking down, she saw it wasn’t a rock she had tripped over, the angles weren’t right for that, but something flat. Again checking for oncoming traffic, she quickly bent over and picked up the object. By touch, it was a small piece of folded leather. A man’s wallet? Sandra turned to return it to the police, but a flash of lightening with thunder just overhead warned her the storm was returning. She hurried to the car, holding the object tightly.
She found the keys still in the ignition and realized she hadn’t even had time to worry about losing them. Turning the key, the car thankfully started on the first try. Switching on the overhead light, she looked at her find. A man’s wallet indeed. Now safe, curiosity reared its head. Was this the injured man’s? She looked over to the police car, the officers were still searching the ground. She opened the wallet and out fell a folded paper with directions from Hampton, Virginia to the NASA-Lewis Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, about 150 kilometers northwest of where she was now. Next was a laminated ILC security card bearing a picture of the bearded man. And a name. Sandra looked at it a long time, her heart sinking. What were the chances of meeting such a man out here in America? On a narrow two-lane road in the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere?
Sandra closed the wallet, then closed her eyes and counted to ten. Opening her eyes, she put the car in reverse and backed up to where she had tripped. Opening the door slightly, she dropped the wallet where she had found it. Closing the door quietly so as not to draw the attention of the officers, she drove off in the gathering storm.
Maybe it was time for a change in hairstyle. Short hair might be different. And maybe work on her accent, make it a more standard British. Just in case the man had been more alert than realized. If such a powerful person ever found out she knew of his intoxication and accident, that could end of her space career before it even started. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself and slow her racing heart. But really, she tried to reassure herself, what was the chance of ever again crossing paths with someone so important as Deputy Lunar Commissioner Gerald Simmonds?
2 July 2007
MGK
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