He isn't there. I check my notes again and make sure I didn't miscount anything, but this is the time and this is the place. Half an hour, give or take, after I and Zeke met the Time Slug, in the same room where that happened.
The fresh traces of an explosion as the best proof of it.
But there are no signs of Zeke himself. Instead, I see someone absolutely unfamiliar.
This is a gray-haired old man, wearing clothes the kinds of which I've seen on Medieval paintings. His shoes, with ends so long and pointy they are tied to his ankles, are especially notable. This, and that the man is half-transparent and emanates a faint odor of magic.
The man is using a small hammer to straighten one of the dents the bomb's explosion left on the machinery in the room. Each hit sends a loud *ding* through the room.
*Why is he transparent?* I wonder. *Is he a ghost? Is he dangerous?*
