Part 68 (2/2)
”Oh, yes, we can. We just got chased by a giant tentacled thing; that's quite enough excitement for one day.”
After a moment, he shrugged. ”You're the boss.” Sighing, he pulled on his other sock.
”Do you believe him?” Claire asked Jacques, dusting the sand off her own feet. ”He thought that was fun.”
”Not fun,” Dean protested. ”Exciting.”
”Dangerous,” Claire corrected.
”But we all got away. We're all safe.”
”We could have been eaten by something out of a bad Lovecraft pastiche!”
”But we weren't.”
”Jacques.” She turned to the ghost. ”Help me out.”
”He has a point, cherie. No one was hurt. And we are at the second floor. It would be a shame not to look.”
Arms folded, she sagged back against the elevator wall. ”There's just way too much testosterone in here.”
”My watch seems to be working again, Boss.”
”I'm thrilled.”
Standing, Dean shot Jacques a ”now what” glance, and received a ”how the h.e.l.l should I know” shrug in return.
”All right.” Claire straightened. ”A compromise. We'll look through the grille, but we won't actually open the door and we certainly won't join in the fun.”
”Fun?”
”It's a figure of speech. Dean. Together on three so that we all see the same thing... one, two, three.”
A familiar hallway stretched off in both directions, the doors to rooms one and two clearly visible.
”This is the second floor.” Shoving up the gate, Claire pushed the door open and barely managed to stop herself from stepping out onto a familiar stars.h.i.+p bridge.
”Make it so, Number One.”
Slowly and quietly, she closed the door again. ”And that wasn't.”
”But what was it?” Jacques asked, peering out in some confusion at the second floor hall. ”It was a military vessel?”
”It was an imaginary vessel, Jacques.”
”What is an imaginary vessel? It is not real?” He shook his head. ”But it was as real as the beach. And the not-a-squid.”
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