Déjà vu all over again

A bottle episode in which Nate and Lolly learn much about each other and discover that reality is sometimes analogous to a dream.

‘Order.’ shouted Doctor Mentor, as more and more injured patients flooded into the chaotic surgery. ‘I will have order. You must form an orderly queue.’

I gasped in pain as the night nurse pulled down my jacket to examine my injured shoulder.

‘This is a bit more than a scratch.’ she said, examining my wound. ‘Your skin is broken, your ligaments are torn and your triceps muscle has been damaged right down to the bone. Category C minor. I can patch you up just now, but you’ll have to come back after Doctor Mentor has dealt with the critically injured from the Great Hall.’

‘I’ll be alright.’ I said, wincing, as she cleaned my shoulder with an antiseptic wipe.

‘That’s the best I can do for you.’ she said, handing me a medipac. ‘Take this and clean your wound again before you go to sleep. Is someone staying with you for the next few hours?’

‘I’m looking after Nate.’ said Lolly, who was standing staring through the window of the isolation ward.

Once again my spirits rose at the prospect of spending time with the Commanders beautiful daughter.

‘You’ll have to sign for the medipac and this key to your cabin.’ said Captain Wright, handing me a key. ‘Sign here, print your name there and… try not to lose the key.’

‘At last! I have my own key.’ I said, remembering my first night aboard the Uchronie. ‘When am I getting my wave gun?’

‘Monday.’ said Captain Wright, rather abruptly. ‘Look… we’re extremely busy just now. If it’s ready before that, I’ll get someone to bring it round. We really have to deal with the seriously wounded.’

‘How is Ginger?’ I asked, as Lolly turned and walked towards me.

‘He’s sedated and stable in the isolation ward.’ said Doctor Mentor, pulling on a surgical mask. ‘He won’t wake up for at least twenty four hours… look, we really have to get on. Good night.’

‘Good night, good night!’ sighed Lolly, blowing a kiss through the window to Ginger. ‘Parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say good night… till it be morrow.’

‘I recognise that quote.’ I said, as Lolly and I left the overcrowded medical unit. ‘For never was a story of more woe, than this of Juliet and her Romeo.’

‘Ah, you’ve read Shakespeare.’ said Lolly, linking into my good arm as we ewalked up the long corridor. ‘I’ll test you on your knowledge when we get to your quarters.’

‘Over a candlelit supper, perhaps.’ I said, squeezing her hand.

‘Look, let’s not get silly about this.’ said Lolly, as we went upstairs. ‘This is just a practical arrangement. Daddy wanted us both looked after while he‘s in the war room with Winston Churchill. We’ll both be going to church tomorrow morning.’

‘Actually it’s already Sunday morning,’ I said, smugly, ‘and I don’t normally go to church anyway.’

‘Perhaps you should go to hell then.’ said Lolly, with a wicked grin. ‘I’m sure you’ll be much more comfortable there.’

Although her tone was rather sharp, I realized that Lolly was teasing me.

‘Sorry.’ I said.

‘Seriously, Nate.’ said Lolly. ‘We’ve both been through enough in the last few hours, so let’s just be friends and be kind to each other.’

‘Alright.’ I said, unlocking the door of my cabin. ’Come in and I’ll make you a cup of coffee... if I can find the coffee machine.’

‘These cabins are all laid out to the same plan.’ said Lolly, opening a small hatch in the kitchen area. ‘The coffee maker is in here.’

‘How on earth does that work?’ I asked, as Lolly lit the gas underneath an intricate looking machine.

‘So… it looks like I’m making the coffee.’ said Lolly, pouring cold water into a delicately engraved, white ceramic, container. ‘This is a steam heated; Italian twin flask coffee machine.The water is heated in this and bubbles over into the glass flask.’

‘I see.’ I said, examining the appliance. ‘Along these little silver pipes.’

‘Yes.’ said Lolly. ‘It’s rather ingenious. When the flask is empty, the flame goes out automatically, the ceramic cools and the vacuum pulls the boiling water over the coffee and into the pot.’

‘Clever.’ I said. ‘I hope the gas shuts off properly. Do you know what time it is? My pocket watch has stopped.’

‘All I know is that its late, past the hour of Venus.’ sighed Lolly, folding down a heart shaped kitchen stool. ‘And I’m worried about Ginger.’

‘He’s in safe hands.’ I said, as the coffee machine began to bubble. ‘He’ll get the best possible care from Doctor Mentor and the medical staff.’

‘Daddy will see to that.’ said Lolly, studying the world map on the kitchen wall. ‘Ginger is the eldest son of his best friend… Viscount Onme. I met him when we were doing the Grand Tour of Europe last year. We visited his family estates in France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and Monaco. It was my best summer ever.’

‘I’ve only ever seen a tiny little bit of Europe.’ I said, as the smell of coffee filtered into the room. ‘Mostly aerodromes and crew quarters. Working aboard the Uchronie has made me realize how little I understand about the world.’

‘Well. You may think that.’ said Lolly, getting out two coffee cups. ‘But you are very spontaneous.’

‘What does that mean?’ I asked, as Lolly searched for cutlery.

‘I mean your intuition is more valuable than your intellect.’ said Lolly, putting a spoon of sugar in each cup. ’You made daddy relocate to the control room just in the nick of time during that countdown. It was as if you knew that his hand held tachyscreen was about to fail.’

‘Well I didn’t know anything of the sort; it just seemed like common sense.’ I said, taking a sip of the wonderful coffee. ‘Mmm this is nice… There was no point in everyone getting blown up.’

‘And you were brave enough to run out on to the dance floor to rescue Ginger.’ said Lolly, with a sweet smile.

‘Well, Corporal Price did most of the rescuing.’ I said.

‘You’re so modest.’ said Lolly. ‘You really interest me Nate, it’s a pity it‘s so late. We really need to get our heads down. What are your sleeping arrangements?’

‘I’ll sleep on the chair.’ I said ‘You take the bed.’

‘Look, we can both sleep in a bed.’ said Lolly, opening a hatch and pulling another single bed out of the wall.

‘Well, I didn’t even know that was there.’ I said. ‘Of course I spent my first night in here on the floor.’

‘Yes… sorry about that.’ said Lolly. ‘Daddy often gets the wrong idea about new people.’

‘All forgotten about.’ I said. ‘Why don’t you go and get ready first.’

‘Alright.’ said Lolly, going into bathroom. ‘I’ll just be a minute.’

As I waited, sitting on my own in the cabin, I spotted another hatch in the wall. Out of curiosity I pulled it open and found another bathroom behind it. ‘Well!’ I muttered to myself. ‘These cabins are full of surprises.’

I closed the door and undressed carefully in front of the large mirror. The posy of carnations that I had been given down at Lakehurst aerodrome was bright and fresh in the coronation mug where I had left them. I cleaned my shoulder with the medipac and examined my wound. It actually looked smaller than it had a few minutes ago. They had wonderful equipment aboard this incredible steamship.

‘Oh Romeo, Romeo… wherefore art thou Romeo.’ I heard Lolly, calling from outside.

‘Deny thy father and refuse thy name.’ I said, popping my head round the door. ‘I’m in here.’

‘Oh… you’ve found another bathroom.’ said Lolly. ‘That’s strange. I thought all the cabins were the same design. This must be a family room.’

‘Look at my shoulder.’ I said. ’There’s hardly any wound left at all.’

‘Yes, it looks much better.’ said Lolly. ‘But we need to get to bed… errm to sleep.’

Suddenly the doorbell above the door sparked and rang loudly.

‘Somebody at the door.’ said Lolly, disappearing into the bathroom I had found.

I pulled the door open but the corridor was deserted. There was no one there.

‘That’s strange. I said.

‘Faulty wiring.’ said Lolly. ‘Just lock the door and let’s get some sleep.’

‘I would, but I can’t remember where I put my door key.’ I said, sheepishly. ‘It’s not in the lock.’

‘You must have had it to get in the cabin.’ said Lolly, searching the room.

‘Well, it’s not in any of my pockets.’ I said hanging up my dress uniform. ‘What the devil have I done with it?’

‘The smaller objects are, the easier it is to make them disappear.’ said Lolly, looking under the kitchen units.

‘I didn’t leave it outside in the door did I?’ I said, going out and coming back in again. ‘No it’s not there.’

‘It’ll reappear in a minute.’ said Lolly. ‘It’s people's awareness of things that makes them real. You were the only one thinking about your key so, as soon as you stop thinking about it, it disappears until you think it back into existence again.’

‘That’s an interesting concept.’ I said. ‘But it won't really help us.’

‘Big things, like The Uchronie, never disappear or get lost,’ continued Lolly, ‘because lots of people are thinking about it all the time, but earrings, keys, and mobile phones disappear very easily until they are thought about again.’

‘Well I’m not sure about that.’ I said, searching the pockets of my uniform jacket again. ‘And I’ve never had a mobile phone… Ah, here they are.’

‘Good, now we can get some sleep.’ said Lolly, as I turned the key in the lock.

‘I’m going to disconnect that door bell.’ I said, sniffing the air. ‘Before it causes an explosion. Gas and sparks aren’t a good mixture.’

‘Do you know what you are doing?’ asked Lolly, as I climbed up on to a chair.

‘Yes, yes.’ I said. ’I wired up lots of things aboard the Hindenburg.’

‘See… you can be very functional as well.’ said Lolly. ‘But you were worried about an explosion down in the waiting rooms at Lakehurst weren’t you?’

‘How do you know that?’ I asked, unscrewing the main wire to the bell. ‘That was before we even met.’

‘You told me about it.’ said Lolly, finishing her coffee.

‘Did I?’ I asked.

‘Yes. When we were dealing with the card game.’ said Lolly, refilling the coffee maker.

‘What card game?’ I asked, jumping down off the chair.

'The steamchav’s card game.’ said Lolly. ‘I warned you about playing with Wayne and Dwayne.’

‘I vaguely remember having a dream about a card game.’ I said, sensing that there was something wrong here that I couldn’t put my finger on.

‘You create a special card with your blank card.’ said Lolly, as coffee scented steam billowed across room.

‘What do you mean?’ I asked, sure that I could smell gas.

‘Go and get the blank card they gave you and I’ll show you.’ said Lolly, taking a spoon out of her cup.

I found the blank card in my top pocket of my leather jacket. My posy of mauve carnations really were looking brand new and shiny in my Victorian coronation mug since I’d put them in water.

‘You can make a card with any rule you want.’ said Lolly, pulling of her delicate lace gloves. ‘I usually make a recycling card that lets me collect cards from the heap to improve my hand. But you could make a bomb disposal card. Look, I’ll show you.’

Lolly drew a stick figure wearing a bomb disposal vest with the words. ‘Clear the Area.’

I was astonished.

‘Watch out for reverse plays and especially look out for Wayne and Dwayne.’ said Lolly. ‘They work together.’

‘What do you mean?’ I asked, still feeling that I had said these words before.

‘When there’s enough money in the pot, one of them makes a bomb card, the other makes the trigger card and that ends the game.’ said Lolly.

‘This is exactly like the dream I had.’ I said.

‘Doc Tormentor has a cure for that.’ said Lolly.

‘Doc Tormentor? Where have I heard that before?’ I heard myself say.

Clouds of steam billowed across the room from the coffee pot on the flaring gas ring.
An image of an unblinking eye, circled by a gold monocle flashed through my mind.

‘In the steamchav’s card game the odds are loaded from the start,’ said Lolly. ‘You make your bet and...’

‘I’ve had this whole conversation with you before.’ I said.

‘I don’t think so… you must have dreamt it.’ said Lolly. ‘You really are such an interesting fellow Nate.’

‘Why did Wayne say I was a causality?’ I asked.

‘Wayne sometimes gets his words wrong.’ said Lolly. ‘But usually he’s spot on. Don’t spend hours worrying about it. We could talk all night, but it’s late, between mercury and moon at least. It’ll be dawn before we get to sleep…But, soft! What light through yonder window breaks?’

‘It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.’ I said.

‘Very good.' continued Lolly. 'Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon. Who is already sick and pale with grief. That thou, her maid, art far more fair than she. Be not her maid, since she is envious. Her vestal livery is but sick and green. And none but fools do wear it. Cast it off. It is my lady; O, it is my love! O that she knew she were! She speaks... yet she says nothing! What of that?’

‘You really know your Shakespeare.’ I said, looking again at the posy of carnations in the coronation mug. There was something wrong there.

‘I only know some of the famous quotes.' I said. 'What’s in a name, that which we call a rose…’

‘… by any other name would smell as sweet.’ said Lolly immediately.

‘I broke that coronation mug last night!’ I said, looking at my shining posy of carnations. ‘I know I did.’

‘Maybe it was another mug.’ said Lolly.

‘I don’t think there’s another one like it in the world.’ I said, examining it closely. ‘And why is it trembling like that?'

‘It’s just the Uchronie’s natural vibration.’ said Lolly.

‘But the floor isn’t trembling.’ I said. ‘The walls aren’t shaking. Nothing is vibrating except the mug. I know I broke it last night, I remember waking up on the floor surrounded by the debris.’

As I spoke the coronation mug slowly separated into trembling pieces that shivered together in mid air with the posy of mauve carnations suspended inside them.

Next Episode ‘Curiouser and curio user - said Lolly.’ released January 14, 2013.