The STAR jumped to the edge of space as Cordelia took a deep breath. The lack of air-tight sealant on this STAR made the oxygen seep away fast. Sullivan and the soldier hadn't been prepared for that and gasped as they suddenly couldn't breathe any more. The rifle floated through the cabin, as did Sullivan and the soldier who were fighting for air. Cordelia grabbed the rifle and put it under her feet. Then she secured herself in the seat and grabbed the small oxygen mask. The gift from the space miner. She stuck the mouthpiece between her lips and hoped it would indeed give her five minutes of air as the space miner had promised.
Cordelia waited several more seconds. She had to be certain that Sullivan and the soldier had passed out but she didn't want to kill them. Quickly she typed the coordinates for Location C and hit "Go".
Almost immediately gravity returned. The two men who'd been floating through the lack of gravity, dropped to the floor hard enough to be knocked out for hours. Cordelia took the oxygen tube from her mouth and checked the two men for heart-beats. To her relief they were still alive. Quickly she opened the hatch and dragged the two outside, leaving them on the stone floor of the cellar. She decided to take the old rifle with her. It might make a nice trophy someday.
Back inside the STAR, she thanked Norbert for acting so quickly. It had saved her life. Then she set the coordinates for the room where she had left Selma and Stanley.
~
It took a while before someone showed up in the room. Cordelia was waiting outside her STAR, with the tiny gun in a pocket. She still wasn't certain she was safe here but taking the Skreller-gun with her wouldn't look friendly.
"Miss Brown." The man who had taken Stanley and Selma with him, entered the room. "Mrs Orwald is looking forward to meeting you again." Without another word he turned and walked off. Cordelia followed him, wondering where she'd end up. She also tried to keep track of where they went. She wanted to find her way back to the STAR in case she needed to run off. The man took her into a huge room with far too lavish furniture. The only thing that wasn't looking expensive was the simple, wooden desk that Mrs Orwald sat behind.
"Miss Brown," the woman said as she rose. She actually smiled. "How good of you to return so promptly."
"Where are the children?" Cordelia wanted to see Selma and Stanley. She had to be certain they were safe.
"You need not worry. They are being entertained by a few of the staff. I first had them cleaned and fed, and their clothing was in dire need of washing as well. They will be here shortly." Mrs Orwald switched on a screen. "Visual, guest room six," she said. On the monitor Cordelia saw the two children. There were two women with them, who seemed to enjoy entertaining the small guests. "Okay, that looks good."
"I am glad you approve." Mrs Orwald offered Cordelia a seat and sat down again. "I have been thinking about your situation, Miss Brown. Mr Hendrix explained about the bounty-hunter to me. I have no idea who arranged that. Is there someone you know who would want you dead?"
Cordelia could think of Mr Sullivan, whom she had left in a cellar, half suffocated, but that wasn't a likely candidate. "I have tried to come up with an answer to that myself. So far I came up blank."
Mrs Orwald nodded understandingly. "I have asked around here as well. Discreetly of course. I asked Merana and Leo, because they are... were Monroe's siblings, and they say they don't know about a bounty-hunter either."
"Someone has to be behind that," Cordelia said. "I'll find out over time."
"Have you given thought to my offer of your new position?"
Cordelia shook her head. "I've been too busy for that. I'm sorry. There still are a few things I need to get done before I have time to consider that offer." Half of her mind screamed she should say yes here and now because this was the position she'd always wanted. The other half, however, valued the freedom she had at the moment much more.
"Of course." Mrs Orwald kept her disappointment under control. To Cordelia it was obvious she had hoped for that yes. "You have a few more moments for visits on the grellum. If you change your mind, do let me know. I will have someone bring the children."
It only took a few minutes for the kids to be in the office. Cordelia hoped they wouldn't attract too much attention back home. They were clean and smelled very nice. That would probably change very quickly, once they were with their mother again.
"Thank you for looking after them, Mrs Orwald."
"Please. Call me Marybeth."
That was a surprise for Cordelia. "Thank you. Marybeth." She hesitated for a moment before she asked Mrs Orwald to call her Cordelia. The woman smiled and thanked her for that.
"I think you should now take the children back," Marybeth Orwald said. "It was... entertaining to have them here. They are so raw." Cordelia knew what she meant. This modern society was so different from the way of life in the 19th century.
"Do we have to go back?" Stanley looked at Cordelia.
"Yes, Stanley. Your mother is waiting for you," Cordelia told him. "By now she will wonder where you are." She frowned as she noticed that she would have to be creative now. The children would be kept away from home for three days so she would have to return three days in the future to stay on schedule.
The butler-type appeared again and waited near the automatic door for Cordelia and the children to leave.
"We'll talk again," said Cordelia. "Thank you... Marybeth."
"Until next time, Cordelia. And if I hear something about that problem-person, I will find a way to notify you." It was obvious she meant the bounty-hunter.
Cordelia was relieved to see her STAR again. Once they were inside, the children took their seats and waited in silence. Before leaving, Cordelia turned to them and asked if they had been treated well.
"Yes, Miss Lexington," Stanley said. "They washed us and now we smell funny." His sister just nodded, observing Cordelia with her big eyes as she held her brother's hand.
"That's not funny, Stanley. It's how you always should smell. But I'm glad you both are fine." Then she turned to the console and set the coordinates for her cellar, three days after she had left with the children. As she pressed "Go", her mind was with David again. She really had to go to the future and get him back. Although the future from where she started now was actually the past.
~
Mr Brown came later that day to pick the children up. He was honestly glad to see the two again and thanked Cordelia non-stop as long as he was at the door.
Cordelia had never been happier to see the man, because she was good at a lot of things but not at keeping children occupied. She had made them promise to keep quiet about where they had been. Mr Brown had no business knowing about the STAR and the strange places they had seen. She had also been thinking about the upcoming trip to 2199 and she had decided she would need some weapons against the bounty-hunter, but toting the Skreller-gun with her wasn't a good idea. Taking just the tiny gun with her felt like not enough.
"Mr Brown," she said, "I think you are someone who knows many things. Would I be imposing on you if I asked how one would prevent another person from following me if I wanted to get away from someone?" She had thought hard about that way of putting it.
The man pondered her words as he looked at her. "That isn't what I would expect from you, Miss Lexington."
"I am glad about that, sir, but still I would like to know," she said. Mr Brown nodded and said that a pistol or a rifle were very adequate means to make sure someone wouldn't bother her again. "I am not the one to carry such weapons around in public," Cordelia said, knowing that wasn't true.
"Well, then there's knives. Or ropes. Or you could do a nasty thing."
Cordelia was surprised now As if guns and knives weren't nasty.
"You could set fire to someone. Or throw acid in their face. That would keep them busy for a while."
"I see." Acid and knives sounded good. "Thank you for this insight, Mr Brown, and I hope your sister will be glad to have the children back."
"I'm sure she will, Miss Lexington. Thank you again for looking after them. And I hope you two didn't make her life miserable," he growled at the children in a most endearing way. Cordelia knew he was a good uncle to them. "Say goodbye and thank you, and we'll be on our way."
"Thank you, Miss Lexington," the two said. "Goodbye." Then they were gone, walking off hand in hand with their uncle.
Cordelia closed the door and felt relieved. At least the two kids were back and safe. Then she walked to the kitchen and inspected her drawers. She had plenty of knives. Ah, that one. She had seen that knife sticking in the bounty-hunter's arm so she would have to take this one. It was a good knife for it. Small enough to hide and sharp enough to cut through leather. How nice to know what she was going to face. She put the knife on the kitchen table, then thought of the mask she'd gotten in the store. For free even! She went to her bedroom to get it from the bag she'd hidden in her secret closet. The mask and the knife ended up in the leather bag she was going to take with her. Now all she had to do was find a pharmacist who was willing to sell her some hydrochloric acid. She wouldn't need much, just a tiny bottle...
~
"But Miss... this is very dangerous," the chemist said, holding the small bottle out of Cordelia's reach. She had feared as much. Why had the stupid man shown her the acid and then told her he couldn't sell it to her?
"Sir, I am very aware that this acid is dangerous. I do, however, need it." Cordelia talked to the man again but he wouldn't budge. Hydrochloric acid was not something he would sell to just about anyone.
As a last resort, Cordelia took one of the envelopes she had in her purse. The ones with the Royal emblem. "Do you recognise this emblem, sir?" she asked. "I am on official business for the Crown. If you do not cooperate swiftly, I shall find someone who will cooperate. And the Crown will hear of your lack of cooperation in what is a very urgent matter indeed." She gave it her best uppity English, as if she interacted with the court on a daily basis.
"Oh." The chemist's expression changed immediately. "The Crown? You mean the Queen?"
"I most certainly do, sir." Cordelia sensed she'd made the right move. Why hadn't she pulled that envelope out sooner? The chemist's change in attitude couldn't be greater. He hurried to wrap the bottle up safely, marking the top of the package so that no one would mistakenly hold it upside down.
"Here you are, miss," he said, handing over the acid. "My respect to the Queen, miss. And do be careful. You are too pretty... ehm... I mean, please, be careful."
"Thank you, sir. The Empire should have more loyal men like you." Cordelia put the small bottle in her purse and made sure it wouldn't fall over. Being careful with this stuff was definitely important. The chemist hurried to open the door for her as she left.
Cordelia decided she had her weapons all laid out and ready for the rescue mission. She headed straight home, looking around at times to see if anyone was following her. Recent events had made her a little paranoid so she was relieved to close the front door behind her. So far, so good.
She went up to the bedroom to change. Only when she had done so did she notice she'd put on what she had seen herself wear. These clothes were, in her opinion, the most logical ones to wear for this. Cordelia went to the kitchen and picked up the knife and the mask and, together with the bottle of acid, made her way to the STAR.
"Now is the time to save David," Norbert said as it registered the coordinates Cordelia put into the console.
"It is indeed. We're going to get him and teach that big woman a lesson." She pressed the button to take the STAR to the field where she'd been before, making sure she avoided getting too close to the STAR her other her had already left here.
"Are you certain this will go the way you planned?" Norbert asked.
"Of course. I've been here before and I've seen the current me save David. It has all happened before." Cordelia felt safe about this, took the navigation module and set it up to get her to the main square by a slightly different route. She didn't want to accidentally run into herself. Again it felt weird doing this. Again she was going against the main principle of time-travel: meeting yourself. But it had gone well the first time, so it would be fine.
She set the STAR's system to stand-by to ensure a quick get-away and set out to go to the town.
~
Before getting too close to the square, Cordelia took the weird mask she'd gotten for free at the "Hair Jewels" shop and slipped it over her head. Using the nav-module she made sure she found a different way to the big square than she had used previously. Which in local time was only a few minutes earlier. Thinking about it this way began to confuse her, so she pushed that thought away. She could already hear where she was going; the huge screens kept announcing bits of information about the happenings on Phobos.
Mere minutes later the sea of people appeared as she turned a corner. Cordelia checked her mask before she slowly walked onto the square. She looked at one of the huge, hovering screens to see the exact local time so she had an idea where her other self was who had been here before. Her other self was now walking through the crowd, trying to locate David and that bitch who had dragged him out of their home.
The two were standing beneath the far screen, she knew. Timing was important now. Or wasn't it, she wondered, since she'd already seen all this happen before.
Since she knew where her target was, and also her other self, Cordelia walked around the square instead of pushing through the masses. That would give her more speed and that way she could make it there in time without having to run. Faster than she had imagined, she reached the spot. Now she had to wait, which was the worst thing at this moment, because she could see David standing there. The bounty-bitch was holding on to him as if he was made of gold. Cordelia hated to see that because to her he was worth so much more!
"Only one more minute!" That was the moment she needed. Now she had to wait for the announcer... Seconds crawled along...
"And here is the moment we've all been waiting for!"
Finally! She stepped into the crowd and approached David and the woman in black leather from behind and punched the woman in the kidneys as hard as she could. A searing pain shot through her hand. The woman's leather was reinforced with something incredibly strong.
"What..." the big woman said as she turned around to Cordelia. In a swift move she ripped the mask away. "Well, well, who do we have here." She flicked her arm to make a knife spring from her sleeve. "No funny things or your boy here gets it. And you're next."
Cordelia knew she shouldn't move now. Behind the bounty-hunter someone came running with a Skreller-gun in her hands. That was her other self and she watched the gun come down on the hunter's head. The impact was so hard that it should have cracked her skull. As the hunter turned, Cordelia took her own knife and slammed it into the wrist of the woman's hand that held David. David, who had seen her, pulled himself free from the hunter's hand and looked at the other Cordelia in the moon-mask. Cordelia grabbed his hand and pulled David away from the bounty-hunter, pushing to a safe spot behind her.
She already had the bottle of acid in hand and took the stopper off. In the same motion, she threw the bottle's contents at the bounty-hunter, who had turned around to them. Most of the acid hit the woman in the face, guaranteed to make a mess there. Cordelia grabbed David by a hand and dragged him along as she started running. They had to get to the STAR as quickly as possible.
"Cordelia!" he called out as they ran, "what did you do? And who was that other person?"
"Later," she called out over the din. "First we need to get away! Are you okay?"
"Mostly, yes."
She didn't like that answer but first they had to get off the square.
~
Once outside the town, Cordelia dared to stop for a short time and look at the man she'd just saved. His face was bruised and he looked thin and tired. "Oh, David..." She wrapped her arms around him until she heard him wince. "What's wrong?" she asked as she stepped back.
"That woman wasn't too kind to my ribs," he explained as she saw the pain in his face. "I'm glad we can stop for a moment so I can catch my breath."
Cordelia bit her lip. They couldn't stay here long. She looked around and saw nowhere they could hide for a while. "Can you at least just walk? If running is too painful..."
"Yes. I can walk. I can't believe you are here and that you saved me from that brute." They started walking at a normal pace now, and she let David set the pace. "Who was that other person?" he asked. "The one with the Skreller-gun?"
"That's complicated." Cordelia explained how she had come here twice and how her other self originally had been here just to observe. "But things went a bit differently. I saw that things were going wrong so I had to do something." She thought of the gash that the bounty-hunter's knife had left in her arm. That still wasn't healed but the wound had held under the new bandage she'd put on it before coming here.
"You are one amazing person, Miss Lexington," said David as he stopped walking and put his arms around Cordelia. "Thank you for coming here twice to rescue me."
That was when things started to go wrong again.