Suddenly all the frantic pirates and the smoke and flames were gone, and the screens showed big trees. Cordelia switched off the systems. "We're here."
"And where is here?" the Duke asked. He held the Skreller as if he expected another attack from somewhere.
"Safe, trust me," said the STAR-pilot. "There are no pirates within thousands of miles." And hopefully no wild animals either, she added to that for herself.
David put the girl that he had carried about on her own feet and opened the hatch. A serene silence entered the crowded cabin, as well as the fresh scent of an undisturbed forest. Everyone left the STAR. David and Cordelia picked up the left-over bits of palm-tree leaves and dropped them outside. Cordelia grinned as she thought of a botanist in the future, finding palm-tree traces in this forest. She didn't care.
"It is beautiful here," said the Duchess as she held her youngest in her arm. "And thank you for saving us."
"I'm very sorry that you had to go through that ordeal," Cordelia said. "I was convinced that island was a safe place."
"We all live," the Duchess said and smiled. "They treated us rather well, given their background. They wanted to trade us for a ransom." That was kind of a good thing, Cordelia knew. They would have to be alive to be traded. Still, it was better now they were free and safe here on the North American continent.
"I fear I will have to leave another time," Cordelia then said. "All these extra movements with my machine make that I have to recharge it." She looked at David. "I'm sorry, David. I need you to stay here and watch over them. The Duke will be glad to hand over that heavy Skreller-gun to you."
The Duke frowned at her words, partly because a Skreller was made to be light, but he handed the gun over, be it with pain in his heart. "When will you be back?" the man asked.
"Quickly," Cordelia promised. "In five to ten minutes. I will bring some things to sleep under tonight, and I'll also bring more food." She had already planned to drop by the island where all that food now was waiting. It would be a quick pick-up.
"Be careful, Cordelia," David said. He walked to where she was and hugged her with one arm; the other holding the Skreller. "Hurry back. I miss you already."
"So do I," Cordelia said. "Now watch... There are a few things you need to know about this gun. I'm sorry I have to get all technical on you but if you have this in your hands, at least you need to know what you're holding and what it can do." She showed him the various switches and the switch that changed the mode from stun to the most lethal setting. "Only use that in an emergency. It will kill almost anything known to mankind in my time but it will also drain the power-cell very quickly."
"I understand. If you will be gone for five to ten minutes, I won't need that, but thank you for telling me all this." David gave her another hug. "Now go before I won't let you leave." Cordelia smiled at that sentiment and kissed him on the cheek before entering the STAR.
"Norbert, first trip is our cellar. We're going to recharge."
~
Once she had made it into her oversized spacesuit and they had gotten near space, did Cordelia think of everything that had happened. Why hadn't she anticipated pirates? Was that sloppy research on her end? She went through the fact database and found that her choice of island hadn't been a strange one. Piracy in that region during that time had been minimal. It had just been a matter of bad luck that those pirates had shown up at that specific island.
It made her feel bad that she had run off so quickly. She should have taken more time to look after the Duke and his family. Especially the wife and kids. They had been through quite an ordeal and now it felt to Cordelia as if she'd left them to their own means to process those experiences. On the other hand, she reasoned, being dragged out of their home whilst being shot at, and ending up on a Hawaiian island several centuries earlier wasn't something they went through on a daily basis either.
"How far are we?" she typed to Norbert.
68%, it showed on a screen. She could have punched that up through a keyboard as well, but it felt nicer to interact with the system intelligence, even when that went through the keyboard as well. It made her feel less alone up here in almost space. Would there be a way to go to the future and find a way to make the comms-system of this suit work with Norbert's speech interface? That would be great, Cordelia thought as she sat back for another wait.
It didn't take her long to think back to the two agents who had surprised them at the Lexington picnic. How on Earth had they found her? She had already determined it had to be some kind of bad luck - another bout of it - but was that really so? Maybe the future had developed a way to track STARs. As she thought about that, it occurred to her that such things worked two ways. There had to be a tracking module inside the STAR for the 'home' system to be able to track it. So that probably wasn't it. But what, her mind kept going, if they had come up with a way to track a STAR by its travel signature? Each STAR had a distinct pattern of energy it left behind for a while after jumping through time. Damn, what was that again... Cordelia bit her lip as she tried to remember the basics of that. There were enough many basic details that made up a time-machine like this to blow up someone's mind.
"Norbert, do we have the schematics of the time-shift generator on file?" she typed.
"What are you planning? I don't like to be altered without being in a specialised facility with a proper test-environment," it answered, and then pointed out the location of the schematics in its databank.
By the time she had gone through lots of information that hadn't shown her what she was looking for, a small screen blinked. It told her the STAR was fully recharged.
"Finally," she sighed. "Let's go back so I can get out of this thing."
~
Once out of the spacesuit, Cordelia felt a lot better. She could take the time for a bath and still be back in time but she didn't want to spend too much time outside the pattern she had set for herself.
"No bath. We're off to the island, get the food and then back to the US," she told herself as she sat down at the controls. There was a pile of blankets and some pillows on the floor in a corner. Those would have to do for the night. A first-aid box was among the gear she had stuffed into a backpack as well. The traveller quickly set the time for a few minutes after they had created havoc on the pirates' ship but hesitated as her finger moved to the "Go"-button. "Maybe not..." She adjusted a few small things in the temporal coordinates, then pressed the button.
The STAR appeared in the spot where it had been just a few moments before. Cordelia set the camera to maximal zoom and looked at the monitor. The ship was ablaze in both places! It shocked her to see how many flames there were, and she had taken David and the Duke to that same ship! She saw the STAR in the centre of the ship. Pirates ran back and forth, trying to put out the fires, but it was an unfair battle. The phosphorus was too eager to devour the wood of the ship, and she saw how some pirates jumped overboard. It was the smartest thing to do, she agreed. Remaining on the ship was a death-sentence.
A few of them swam towards the rowboat that was tied to the aft of the ship and climbed aboard. It didn't take them long to cut the rope that kept the rowboat to the main ship, and then the men set course to shore. At that moment the STAR disappeared from the ship. That shook Cordelia up.
Damn! There were pirates on the way to this very island and she still had to get out to pick up all the food they had left here! She threw open the hatch and hurried towards where most of the food was. Grateful that most of it was still in the bags she had brought it with, she hauled the supplies to the STAR, at times looking out to the beach. As soon as the pirates made it to shore, she had to get away. After a second run for the food, which brought everything inside, she looked again. They were close but still at a safe distance.
More relaxed, Cordelia got inside the time-machine and set the coordinates for the American forest. After a last look at the ship, which had started to fall apart now, she engaged the system. The STAR vanished, leaving only an indentation where it had been.
~
"Cordelia..." David came running towards her and he picked her up as soon as he could. "You're back! These were the longest ten minutes of my life."
"Miss Lexington, a pleasure to see you again," said the Duke, who had followed David in a more sedate manner.
"A pleasure to be back, sir," she said to the Duke, as she enjoyed the feeling of David next to her. "I brought blankets and food." David and the Duke both helped to carry all the goods to the small group. Cordelia took care of the backpack with special gear.
"David, where is the Skreller?" she asked as she saw him without it.
"Sorry. Left it with the Duchess when I saw you return," he explained. She told him to never let that gun out of his sight while he was responsible for it. "I'm sorry, Cordelia. I'll never do that again."
She accepted his apology but she felt some worry. The Skreller was very dangerous. People who had no idea what it was shouldn't be left alone with it. Luckily the Duchess wasn't interested in the weapon.
Blankets were distributed so everyone could sit or lie more comfortably, and food went around to have something to do. David told her that the Duke and he had explored the area a little bit. There was no one here; they were convinced of that.
"Miss Lexington... you are an intriguing person," the Duke said as he held an arm around one of his daughters. "All these... things... you have..." He pointed at the Skreller-gun, the backpack and the food, all of them items that didn't belong in his world. "It almost makes me believe that you are from somewhere else." He didn't elaborate on what he meant by that, but Cordelia knew he suspected something. That was fine as long as he kept his suspicions to himself.
They all sat and talked until evening came. The children were surprisingly calm, Cordelia thought. Maybe they were in some kind of shock but she couldn't tell. She was glad she had the first-aid kit with her, even when she didn't need it. Better safe than sorry, and they still had a day to spend here. She pondered setting up some kind of watch schedule, but after consulting Norbert, who confirmed that there was no dangerous life around, she decided against that. She did want to have the Skreller near through the night and hoped it would remain silent.
Before everyone laid down to rest, the Duke asked for a word with Cordelia in private. Most of the children were already asleep from pure exhaustion.
"What is on your mind, sir?" Cordelia asked after they had walked off a short stretch. She didn't want to stray too far from the 'camp' so they walked around it in a circle.
"I really want to know who you are. What this incredible machinery is that you possess and know how to steer. Where we were earlier, and where we are now. And I want to know if we are out of danger here. The surprise of those pirates was a nasty one. And speaking of that... it has been very long ago since pirates were seen last. Is there a reason for concern for the Empire?"
Damn, this man was sharp.
"No, there is no reason for alarm, sir," Cordelia said. "We had some bad luck. Well, extreme bad luck. I am truly sorry your family was captured and put through all that misery." She had absolutely no idea how to make up for that, even when it wasn't exactly her fault that the pirates had shown up in that improbable place.
"I am glad no one got hurt," the Duke said, "except the ones who deserved it." Cordelia detected a definite delight in the man's voice. "And that weapon of yours... Where does that come from?"
"I am very sorry, sir, but I am under strict obligation not to give out details on the Skreller-gun nor on the machine we travelled in," Cordelia said. "This is strictly need-to-know and most people don't need to know." She was surprised he took that as a valid answer.
"Do you think we need to keep watch overnight?"
"That won't be necessary, sir, but we can do it if that makes you feel safer. In regard to your family, that is, of course."
"Of course," the Duke said. "I would feel better if we do. And I volunteer to take first watch."
Aha, Cordelia understood, he wants to hold the Skreller, and he may even hope for an opportunity to use it. "Let us decide on that when we return to our camp, sir," she said, hoping he would forget. There was no reason for a watch here. She trusted Norbert. The system would scan the environment constantly and wake her if there was anything to worry about. Had the STAR been complete, she would have been able to set up a forcefield around it, keeping unwanted visitors and even small weapons' attacks out. Unfortunately that was not installed.
They arrived back at the camp, where the Duchess had gone to sleep as well. David sat near the small fire they had lit, the Skreller resting in the cradle of his right arm.
"Everything is well, David," Cordelia said as they came closer and he looked up, reaching for the gun.
The Duke sat down next to his wife and looked at her. In a move Cordelia had not expected, the man reached out and stroked his wife's hair. She saw his lips move in silence. This man really loved her, so much was clear.
"Maybe you should lie down as well, sir," she suggested. "This has been a busy day."
"Maybe I will, for a moment." He looked at her gratefully, pulled a blanket near and rolled over. It took mere seconds for the man to be oblivious of the world around him.
"He wanted to keep watch," Cordelia whispered. "Norbert will warn me if anything is suspicious. We can sleep as well."
"How will 'Norbert' warn you?" David looked at her in wonder. "He can't come out and wake you."
"Norbert is an it, dear, not a he. There is a rule that the system intelligence is genderless."
"But his name is Norbert. That is a man's name."
"True, I decided on it for a while. Before that it was Rita until I got bored with it. It's a matter of running a simple program to reset the name and the sound of the intelligence." She saw he wanted to understand but that her words were way over his head. "And as for how it warns me..." She pulled up her long dress and showed him the small ankle bracelet she wore. "This is a tiny device that is in contact with the STAR. Norbert can activate a signal that wakes me up through the bracelet. It's not pleasant but very effective."
"Interesting," said David. "And I mean that about everything around you. You are one intriguing woman, Cordelia Lexington. And brave and uninhibited."
"What makes you say that?"
He smiled. "You don't hesitate to show me your naked ankle in the middle of a forest." It made it clear to her how different their backgrounds were.
"Well, this brave woman is about to go to sleep," she said. "There is only one little thing to check. Lie down, dear, I'll be back soon."
As David started to put some blankets together, Cordelia walked to the STAR and went inside.
"Norbert?"
"Cordelia. You are not going anywhere, are you?"
"No. We're all going to sleep. Two things. Alert me when there is only the slightest sign of danger, or anything coming close that shouldn't come close."
"I will do. And the second thing?"
Cordelia gritted her teeth. "Test the bracelet. Just a short burst." Norbert did so immediately, making her jerk for a moment. "Yeah, that still works." She hoped she could get to sleep after that jolt but she had to be certain. She hadn't needed the system in over a year. "Thanks for keeping an eye out, Norbert."
"Sleep well, Cordelia."
She returned to David who was waiting for her. He draped the blanket over her he was holding up. She saw the Skreller. It would be between them. Unpractical but smart.
"Sleep well, David."
"Good night, Cordelia."
It took a while before her eyelids closed and her mind drifted off.