Cordelia hurried to the door, with David right behind her. She opened the door. There was Mr Barting and he looked like he had been running.
"Thank the lord you are here, Miss Lexington." He pulled an envelope from his pocket. "Here it is. It is urgent." The man looked over his shoulder. "Thank you. I need to go now." And so he did, running to the end of the street where his carriage was waiting.
"This is bad," Cordelia said as she closed the door and opened the envelope. The telegram inside left nothing to doubt.
"Immediate pick-up at Alnwick Castle, Alnwick, Northumberland. Stop. Stay with Duke. Stop. More instructions in two days at evening. Stop."
"What the hell..."
"Cordelia..." David looked a bit disturbed by her choice of language, which she understood since she knew his background. She had always watched her mouth in Lexington but this was different. This was showtime and he would have to get used to her language.
"To the STAR. Now. We have to move." There was no time to pack anything. The wording of the telegram made it clear that speed was of the essence. David nodded and overtook her on the way to the stairs that led into the cellar. Good grief, that guy could run, she thought. They rushed down to the waiting time-machine. As a precaution, Cordelia grabbed the Skreller-gun from a closet and hid that inside the STAR. It always paid off to be prepared.
"Do we need that?" David looked at the compartment with the dangerous item.
"I hope not," Cordelia said as the systems came on-line and she looked for Alnwick Castle. The castle's interior area was large but there was no way she would be able to put the STAR somewhere and keep it from being seen. "That's close-by. Good. We have no place to hide and that's bad, but here we go. Hold on, David." She grabbed the navigation module and slipped it into her pocket. After that she fed the coordinates into the system and hit "Go".
The light inside dimmed as the STAR moved into the inner courtyard of the castle, and a castle it was. Cordelia needed to drag her eyes from the monitors that showed where they had arrived. They had to get out, collect the Duke and high-tail it out of here.
"Let's do this." The couple left the STAR, almost running into a couple of people who stood and stared at the huge, white apparition.
"Who are you?" one of them asked.
"We need to see the Duke," Cordelia said, wishing she wasn't dressed contemporary. A more outlandish outfit made a bigger impression but this would have to do. "There is a murderer on the way to do harm to the Duke so take us to him." "But..."
This wasn't helping. "Norbert, keep the STAR online and the door closed," Cordelia called out to the system intelligence. The hatch closed. She turned to the baffled man again. "Where is the Duke? Talk or you will be responsible for the consequences. We're here by order of the Queen." Cordelia pulled the envelope with the royal seal out of her pocket.
"Oh my..." The man stared at the paper. "That is..."
"That is why we are in a hurry. Now move!" Cordelia hoped they weren't running out of time. Whatever the Duke had done to make all this happen, no one knew what the consequences might be and how soon those would come crashing down on everyone's heads. Cordelia preferred to be far away when that happened.
"Come with me," the man said, turning and jogging off. One of the other people also ran along with them, faster than their guide, so Cordelia and David overtook their initial lead and followed the fast one. The younger man led them into the actual castle, a huge, stone building originally built in the twelfth century. Cordelia had never seen such an immense construction before in her life.
They passed through a kitchen and reached a long corridor. Their guide turned right and kept up the pace. He shouted that people should move to the side as they were in a hurry. Cordelia hoped the Duke was up for a run as well, as this took longer than she wanted and led them deeper into the castle. Getting out would take longer, she was certain of that.
After climbing a large staircase and going through a corridor, the young man came to a halt in front of a massive door which he opened. "In here," he said as he stepped aside.
"Sir, we're here to..." Cordelia started as they went inside. "What..." The room was empty.
"I can't have you lot ruin our plans," the young man said as he shut the door and bolted it from his side.
Cordelia stared at the door, then at David. They had been fooled and now they were trapped, without having a clue where they were or where the Duke was. And the guy had said 'we', so there were more around to harm the Duke, probably kill him. "Fuck!" Cordelia kicked the door, which was a bad idea as the wood was tough and her shoe wasn't. She banged on the door and screamed for help, wondering if anyone would be able to hear her.
"Cordelia." David stood near a window which he had managed to open. "Does this help?" She was impressed with the way he had kept his wits about him.
"That might, but it's a big drop to the ground from here."
Something in her pocket beeped. Cordelia reached for the beeping navigation module and read the message on it. 'Are you in trouble?'
"It's Norbert," she explained and typed, 'Yes. Can you come in here?' When she read his reply, 'Affirmative', she told David to get into one of the corners of the big room. The STAR would fit in here with ease. With both of them pressed into a corner of the room, Cordelia counted the seconds. Suddenly there was a rush or air and the STAR stood in the room and the hatch opened.
Cordelia was inside and in her seat in an instant, with David right behind her. "Take us out of here, Norbert," she said as the hatch shut itself. "Back to where we were, but closer to the door." The transition only took a few seconds. Cordelia felt a bit more secure now, as they had been here before. For a moment she thought of taking the Skreller with her but that would make people think she was out to murder someone. The gun's design almost screamed to be made for that. They left the craft and ran to the door once again, but this time Cordelia stopped in the kitchen and asked the people there if they could lead them to the Duke, "because he is in grave danger."
"Come with me, please." A woman walked to the door and took them into the same large corridor. She, however, turned left and took them to a chamber not too far from the kitchen. The woman knocked on the door.
"Enter." A loud, deep voice.
"Excuse me, your Lordship, there are two people here who claim your life is in danger."
Cordelia and David pushed themselves into a magnificent room, decorated by someone with taste. "We come by request of the Queen, sir," Cordelia said, presenting the envelope again. "We have orders to take you to safety because of something you are probably more aware of than we are."
The man behind the desk froze for a moment. "So it is true," was all he said. "Yes, we will be ready soon." Cordelia frowned at the 'we'. The Duke rose. "Where are your carriages? Outside the gates?"
"Not really, sir. Our transport is in the courtyard. You can get to it through the kitchen. I'll explain more later but I think we need to hurry now. Someone in your household already tried to lock us up so there's quite a conspiracy going on."
"We will meet you there." The Duke looked at the kitchen aid. "Warn my family." The woman who had led the time-travellers to the Duke nodded and hurried off.
Cordelia hesitated as the Duke reached for a giant gun that hung over a fireplace. "I doubt you will need that, sir."
"This is about my life and the lives of my family, young woman, and I intend to take with me any means to safeguard them." It was better not to get into an argument with this man, she decided so Cordelia just nodded.
"I do want to get you to safety quickly, sir." She hoped he understood that she didn't want him to wait for his family somewhere in this castle. If she had no other option, she would ask David to knock the Duke out and carry him to the STAR.
"And I intend to stay alive. I appreciate your concern. Onwards, to the kitchens." The Duke wanted to take the lead with his big gun at the ready, but Cordelia remained ahead of him. She was glad the man didn't make a fuss. They reached the kitchens and made their way outside. "By Jove..." The Duke almost dropped his gun as he saw the white metal machine in his courtyard. "What is this?"
"This is your way to safety, sir. Now hurry."
"I was told that something extraordinary might happen today but..." Slowly the Duke walked towards the STAR. He raised the gun as the hatch opened. David quickly walked up to the machine and went inside, so the Duke saw it was safe.
There was some commotion at another door that led into the castle. Cordelia hoped it was the Duke's family but that couldn't be. He had told the kitchen aid to get his family to the kitchen. She also worried about that family. She remembered he had four kids already. How on earth would she be able to get so many people inside the STAR?
"Get inside," she commanded the Duke, but the man didn't take orders from her. Not even when a shot rang out that bounced off the STAR's hull. "Norbert, damage report!"
"There is no damage, he says," David reported from inside. He had the Skreller-gun in his hands. "Here." Cordelia grabbed it as the Duke's gun unleashed a loud bang. Her first impulse was to throw herself at the ground out of fear of being hit by parts flying around. The ancient gun was better though. The men at the far door dove into the grass as the bullet bit inside the castle wall. At that moment more people appeared from the kitchen. The Duke's family.
Cordelia aimed the Skreller at the men who were getting up and coming closer to the Duke. They all had weapons with them. No time to waste. She quickly checked the settings on the Skreller, then fired.
A shockwave bounced over the courtyard and hit. All the men were thrown back, crashing onto the paved floor. That would keep them down for a while. Cordelia looked at the group that came running towards her and the Duke. Six people: the children and the wife.
"This is going to be crowded," she said to herself as she looked back at the men who had gone down.
"Give that to me," the Duke said as he reached out to the Skreller. "That is not a toy for young women."
"Don't you dare touch it," Cordelia said as she held the gun away from him. "You don't know how to operate it and you will kill someone with it."
"And what did you do?" the man asked, pointing at the people on the ground.
"I knocked them out. They're not dead."
At that moment, the five children reached the Duke and all reached out for him. Three of the four girls were crying. The fourth girl was silent and looked at Cordelia, who told the children to get into the machine. The Duke's only son demanded to know what was going on.
"You are all in danger, and the longer we're here, the more danger will come about," Cordelia said. "Now get in there. Please. You too, sir."
The Duke's eyes were still on the Skreller, which was the very last thing Cordelia would hand over to him, apart from the actual STAR.
"Henry, I don't know what is happening," said the Duchess, "but we were threatened by someone. If this woman says she can save us, we must go." She looked at her husband, who suddenly, for several long moments, seemed to be determined to stay. Then he nodded, picked up one of the girls and carried her inside the STAR. The others followed quickly. Cordelia was the last one.
"Norbert, close up." The hatch slammed shut. Cordelia pushed herself to her seat and handed the Skreller to David. She warned everyone to keep their hands to themselves and sit down. "On the floor if you have to."
"Young woman, what is all this?" the Duke wanted to know. She couldn't blame him for being curious.
As her fingers danced over the controls to set the coordinates for the Hawaiian island, she said, "As I told you before, I will explain it. Once we're all safe." On a monitor she saw that the Skreller-blast had worn off. Most of the men were getting up again so there was no time to lose. "Sit down now!" She didn't wait and hit "Go".
~
The transition to the island was over before the screaming was. As the lights came up again, Cordelia immediately opened the hatch so everyone who wanted to get out could do so.
"Okay, we have arrived. It is safe outside. I do warn you that it is very different from home. Don't be scared. It may look strange but it's safe here."
"I'll go outside first," David said. Cordelia could kiss him for taking the lead. Unfortunately he was too far away for that. She got up and reached out for the Skreller-gun which he handed to her. She wanted that put away before anyone could make a grab for it. The Duke had eyed the gun with far too much interest.
"Hello everyone," Cordelia said, addressing all the passengers in her most proper British English. "I am truly sorry for this inconvenience, but this intrusion on your lives was done on behalf of the Queen of England." She decided that was as good a story to stick to as any other. "All your lives were in danger, as you may have noticed..."
"Who are you?" The oldest girl in the group, she was five or six years old at best, looked up at Cordelia. "And what is this strange house?"
"Louisa, please let the lady finish speaking before asking your many questions," said the Duchess. "I am so sorry, miss..."
"My apologies. My name is Miss Lexington. At your Majesty's service. As to where we are... This strange house, as Miss Louisa called it, is a special machine that can move over distances very quickly. We are on an island, where we will have to stay for two days. Those were my orders." She took the telegram from her pocket and showed it to the Duke. That way he could see she was telling the truth.
"This telegram does not mention an island, Miss Lexington."
"True. It is my task to hide people. To keep them from harm. And the fewer people know where you are, the safer it will be. You will have to trust me, sir. I don't know what is happening in London. All I know is that I was ordered to report to a specific location where I was informed by someone that this might happen."
"And who was this someone, if I may ask?" The Duke handed back the telegram.
"I don't know his name," Cordelia said, and described her contact in Location C. As she spoke, she saw signs of recognition on the Duke's face.
"You were in Location C?"
Was there actual admiration in his voice? Cordelia felt this was going in the right direction. "I was indeed. And may I suggest that we leave the STAR? It's getting quite warm in here already."
The Duchess got up from one of the narrow seats and herded the children outside.
Before leaving as well, the Duke looked at Cordelia. "This is all highly unusual, Miss Lexington. I wasn't even aware of your existence, which surprises me."
"And that is good, sir," she said. "As I said, the fewer people that know, the safer it is. For me in this case."
The Duke looked around in the cabin. "This is all remarkable, as you are. There is something special about you and your partner. I want to learn more about all this."
Cordelia already had decided to tell him as little as possible, but that still left enough to talk about. First the man had to get out so she could secure the STAR.
~
The family of Duke Henry Percy were flabbergasted about their new surroundings. Cordelia was glad she had chosen the coolest season to arrive here. These people all were dressed in regular British clothing; anything warmer than this and they would all melt on the spot. They also looked entirely out of place here, which made her wonder if this had been a smart choice, but they were here. She was glad David was there. David proved to be a natural in dealing with children, and soon he was at the beach, building sand castles with the oldest of them. Miss Louisa turned out to have a twin sister named Edith. Their four-year-old brother Henry was with them as well, and the baby was safely in her mother's arms.
Seated under a palm tree, Cordelia talked a lot and told them hardly anything. She suspected the Duke had figured that out already but he made no comment about it. As she pulled the man into the conversation, he seemed pleased to talk about himself, his family and his position with the Royal family. Cordelia learnt that Duke Henry, as Treasurer of the Household, had discovered that large sums of money had been 'disappearing'. Investigations had quickly made it clear that the perpetrators were close relatives of the Queen.
"They are not the kindest people, if I may put it that way, so the situation required discretion," the man said. "I was warned that they might not take friendly to the revelation of their misbehaviour, and when you arrived in my office, it was clear to me that something wasn't right."
"And from the looks of it, with all these people coming out to get you, there's something not right in your staff either," Cordelia said. "Somehow they had already understood that this could go wrong and so they planted several of their operatives in your house."
"They did indeed. Speaking of which... that odd-looking weapon you have at your disposal... is that a secret project of the Crown?" The Duke clearly loved the Skreller-gun.
"It is a very secret project, sir," Cordelia confirmed, "and it's probably wise to forget you ever saw it."
"It is a fearsome invention," the Duchess said. "To see so many men fall down at such a distance... and it all happened without a sound. So terrifying."
Cordelia understood the woman. The Skreller was a fear-inducing weapon even in her own time. "That is why it has to remain hidden," she said. Then a thought hit her. She had stored some food here for the Duke and herself, a few days ago. She hadn't counted on so many extra mouths to feed so she would have to go back home to get more food, otherwise the group would face a challenge.
She excused herself from the Duke and Duchess and walked over to the beach where she talked to David about her discovery. "I need you to keep an eye on everyone for a while, until I'm back. I won't be long, I promise, fifteen minutes at most." She hated this. She had promised to stay with these people, and through something unforeseen she now had to run off.
"Don't worry, Cordelia," David said as he got up. "I am sure we'll be fine during that time. Just be careful."
"And now you shouldn't worry. I've been out shopping for food plenty of times." She grinned and wished she could hug him. And dang, why not, she wondered. The Duke and his wife weren't in a position to tell them off.
After the hug, Cordelia returned to the Duke and Duchess and explained that she would be gone for a short while. She kept it to a statement, not an opening to ask questions. She wanted to get this done as quickly as possible. People had to be able to count on her.