He wondered what solvent had been used.

He sniffed and then frowned. Kev had half-expected to smell carbon tetrachloride, one of the standard NMR solvents, or possibly the weird oyster smell of DMSO. Neither one was apparent. But there was a faint smell and he knew it, though he couldn’t place it immediately. For some reason, he thought of… Christmas?

Kevin shook his head. He carefully attached the tube to a pencil stub barely long enough to work, made sure the rubber bands were tight and then wrapped the whole thing in a heavy paper towel several times. He then shoved it into his back pocket and took stock of his options.

He smiled thinly and slapped his left hand pants pocket to check—sonovagun. The crystal Marcus had given him was still there. That was a surprise. Okay, he’d check that out later. Now, what was next?

Find Kat. Get the whole story from her and only then, gently bawl her out for putting him on the spot. Well, maybe not. Upon thinking about it, she might have merely known something was going to happen. But she should have warned him.

If she could have. There was that possibility to consider as well.

Kevin stretched and then grimaced as he strained his stitches. He was going to have to watch that. But I can maybe use that when I talk to Kat. Might keep that in mind. Could use some nursing…

Kev grabbed his keys and let himself out the door, locked it and turned around. He suddenly recalled his vanishing door and key hole.

He walked over, quietly, and examined the concrete wall, vainly looking for any sign that there was anything else there, ever. Not a hint.

Chris.

Recruiter.

Kevin got a prickly feeling about his ears, which quickly migrated to his neck and down his spine. Without giving it much thought, he knocked three times on the concrete surface. Hard enough that his knuckles protested, rather vehemently.

Not even an echo.

After a moment, when he was about to turn away, he thought he saw a flicker about where the keyhole had been and while he watched, it slowly appeared. Lightened. Began to shine with a yellowish light.

He bent over and, instead of placing an eye to it, merely put his mouth beside it and said, softly, “Chris, get your ass out here. Now.”

He stepped back to watch if anything happened.

About ten seconds went by.

Kevin sighed. Working blind like this was beginning to wear on him. Making guesses, pushing at reality walls he’d trusted his entire life. About now, he really, really wanted a beer. Maybe something stronger.

Five more seconds and he was rewarded with a faint hissing sound. Next, a razor-edge of soft light started to appear, from what soon became the upper left corner of a rectangular area, about the size of a normal door.

A knob appeared, twisted slowly and then the door opened inward.

Chris Marlow stood in the doorway. After a moment, he grinned and said, “Fancy meeting you here.”