A/N: Hey, guys! Here's the next chapter. I really hope you like it. I would love, by the way, if I could get 20 reviews for this chapter (all together, I mean- I have 14). Whoever reviews for this chappie will get a preview of the next one, so pretty please review!
Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I own nothing. Therefore, I do not get paid for this. Therefore, I am broke. Therefore, I cannot buy the rights to this. So once again, I own nothing. It's all a circle, people.
Shout-out to tridecagirl whose line I kinda stole in here. I'm too lazy to state which line it is. Just know it's from her amazing drabble collection Snapshots and that you should go read it as soon as you're done reading (and reviewing) this. Thanks a bunch tridecagirl, for letting me borrow your line. :)
WARNING (type…thing): PLEASE READ THIS! I am not in a wheelchair. I don't have any close friends in wheelchairs (just friends' parents). Therefore, I know nothing about the hardships of being in a wheelchair or just what it's like. To be honest, I put Marta in a wheelchair because my friends and I were acting out this story and I was too lazy to get out of my chair. So, I apologize deeply if any people reading this are in wheelchairs and are offended by Marta's actions or Lisel's thoughts. Please forgive me and tell me if I ever say something that's insulting to you. Thank you all for taking the time to read this. Now, on to the chapter.
Chapter Three
Lisel reluctantly led the strange girls inside. She'd worked so hard keeping the Committtee a secret for the past three years, and now… she was the president's daughter, this "Marta" girl. And if the president found out…Lisel would end up just like her father.
But on the other hand…Marta claimed to be able to help bring back Alek. Lisel had no idea how the girl knew what the Committtee was doing, but at the moment it didn't matter.
The time machine wasn't working. The ring hadn't been enough. Lisel had promised the kids it would be working by tonight, but without Marta's help, she might not be able to keep that promise.
So she led the girls inside and made sure to lock the door behind them.
"So… what is this place?" Marta asked, looking around.
Lisel raised an eyebrow at her. "It's the storeroom of a casino; what does it look like?"
Marta rolled her eyes. "Well, duh. But what do you use it for?"
"I'm getting to that," Lisel promised. "But first… you know, sit down. Make yourself comfortable."
Marta's friend, whose name Lisel didn't know, plopped herself down in a chair and put her feet up on the table, though she quickly removed them after a stern look from Marta.
The girl was also very fidgety, Lisel noticed. She had a tendency of piling her dark brown hair into a bun shape on her head and then letting it fall down over her shoulders again. (A/N: This strange idiosyncrasy- love that word- will be important later on, by the way)
Marta, on the other hand, was an entirely different story. The girl was very still and proper- why wouldn't she be, after all, being the president's daughter? Her long blonde hair cascaded down her back and her dark green eyes shined as she surveyed the Committtee's headquarters. Lisel couldn't help but notice how comfortable Marta looked in that horrid chair of hers, and Lisel wondered what had happened that could've gotten her into it, and so used to it. Lisel tried to avert her eyes, though. Marta might not help the Committtee if she was insulted.
"Let's start from the beginning," Lisel began, taking a seat across from the other two. "Once again, I'm Lilit." Lisel had to struggle not to use her real name. "I think it might be better if we don't share last names."
"Agreed," Marta's friend said. "I'm Lena."
"And you already know my name," Marta said distractedly, still gazing around the room. "Now, what do you use this place for?"
Lisel sighed. This girl sure didn't beat around the bush.
"We call it the Committtee," Lisel explained. "The Committtee of Darwinistic Fabrications."
Marta gasped. "Fabrications? But- but they're illegal!"
"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Lena muttered, her feet on the table again.
"You're welcome, Lieutenant Sarcasm," Marta replied; then said to Lisel, "But really—you know you could get arrested, right?"
Lisel looked down at her hands and mumbled, "You see why I was reluctant to let you in."
Marta nodded in understanding. "I would never give you away, though! My father wouldn't listen to me, anyway."
Lisel shrugged. "Besides, it's not like we actually fabricate. We wouldn't know how—the oldest of us is only sixteen. No, Miss Schultz. The Committtee has another plan."
"Plan?" Lena asked, her head tilted in confusion.
Marta pulled her strange letter out of her pocked. "How will you bring him back?" she whispered.
"Bring who back?" Lena questioned, completely lost.
"We have a machine," Lisel said to Marta, ignoring Lena.
"A machine that does what?" Lena demanded. "Seriously, guys, what are we talking about?"
Lisel sighed. "The Committtee and I have built a time machine to bring back Aleksandar."
Marta gasped, while Lena just looked even more confused.
"How does it work?" the former whispered. (A/N: Marta whispers a lot. Don't know why)
Lisel hesitated, thinking of how to explain. Finally, she said, "Let me back up a bit. It'll make things a bit less confusing."
"Thank you," Lena muttered.
Lisel took a deep breath; then began to explain.
"It started three years ago. It was winter, but I wasn't in school—uh, family issues, you see—and I was sitting on my porch when I received a package. I occasionally get mail from distant family and such, so I wasn't surprised when it came, but the strange thing was- there was no address on it."
Lisel took another deep breath; then continued. "The label on the package simply read- 'To the most capable descendant of Zaven in 2014.' And then, in smaller letters- 'From Doctor Emma Nora Darwin Barlow.'" (A/N: According to Wikipedia, that's her full name; also she's only 29 in 1914 which makes Varlow really awkward considering she was married and with two kids at that point and Volger's like forty; anyway)
Lisel paused, but the girls nodded for her to go on. "You can imagine that I was hesitant to open the box. But I was too curious, so I did. Inside were only two things: a cage and a very, very, very long letter.
"The letter explained that the writer—Dr. Barlow—was a Darwinist scientist—long dead now—who had interacted—and even been acquainted—with Aleksandar von Hohenberg and Deryn Sharp. She told the story of Alek's family's role in the starting of the Great War. She told about how Alek had escaped his home and his country's 'allies' who were chasing him. He met Deryn during his escape—or Dylan, really, since she'd been disguised as a boy at the time so she could be a soldier."
Lisel went on to explain to Marta and Lena all the great adventures Alek and Deryn had had a hundred years ago. She explained about the couple's time on the Leviathan—while Deryn was a boy and a girl—and even stories of their married life that were a bit too personal to be in most German accounts.
By the time Lisel had finished basically telling Alek and Deryn's life stories, Lena and Marta looked more than interested. But, although the visiting girls were unaware of it, Lisel hadn't told them the whole story. She deliberately left out Alek and Deryn's pet loris, now the Committtee's top agent. Lisel didn't know why, but she wanted to keep Bovril a secret for as long as possible.
"And at the very end of the letter," she concluded, "Dr. Barlow explained that, even in 1967—when she was writing it—she had a feeling that the Germans would continue to prevail—that the Darwinistic Empire would fall. So she gave me instructions—instructions to build a machine."
"A… time machine," Marta clarified.
Lisel nodded. "The blueprints were all there. The parts needed were clearly listed. The only thing we really had to find was the fuel. Obviously, a time machine can't run on batteries or gasoline. Dr. Barlow explained in that letter that to power the machine, we- that is, the Committtee, of course- had to locate artifacts- or old objects- that used to belong to Alek and Deryn. Any fingerprints on the objects contained something that Darwinists called 'life threads', but scientists refer to as 'DNA'. This DNA was the coordinates for the time machine, as well as fuel. But so far, what we have isn't enough."
"What artifacts do you have?" Marta asked.
Lisel thought back. "The first thing was part of the package. It was the fur of one of Alek's and Deryn's… uh, pets." Lisel once again chose not to mention that they had the pet itself as well. "Then, we found an old newspaper clipping of the two of them in on of their memorial sites- it must've been a newspaper they'd owned because it had Deryn's DNA all over it.
"After that, things got a little rougher," she continued. "Both being from the heart of Europe, Alek and Deryn don't have many artifacts in the U.S. But then, recently, some war memories were sent over from Europe, and a whole bunch of Alek and Deryn's stuff was part of it. So, earlier today, our best agent, uh… liberated Deryn's wedding ring, which we just put into the machine. But… it wasn't enough. The machine's still only halfway fueled. And anything else we could use is under lock and key."
Lisel sat back in her chair, glad to be done with the explanation.
"I'm still confused," Lena said. "What's the time machine supposed to do?"
Marta rolled her eyes. "Well, obviously, they're going to go back in time, explain the country's situation to Aleksandar, bring him back to the present, and have him fix everything." She turned back to Lisel. "Right?"
Lisel nodded. "Exactly. But we can't do anything of the sort until we have enough fuel. And I promised the kids it'd be tonight."
Marta frowned. "How old is your youngest?"
"Five and a half. But she stays with her brother, who's ten, most of the time," Lisel replied.
"What do their parents think of this?" Lena wondered aloud with a laugh.
Lisel looked down at her feet. "Most of us are orphans."
Lena self-consciously lowered her feet from where they still rested on the table. "Sorry," she muttered awkwardly.
Marta was staring at Lisel, speechless.
Lisel shrugged. "It's alright. Not like it's your fault or anything. But Marta," she turned to the girl, "you said you could help us. If I told you our plans. So can you?"
Marta's hands gripped the arms of her chair tightly as she took a deep breath, shaking herself out of whatever strange state she'd fallen into.
"I think I can," the president's daughter said. "You see, my father has this—"
Marta was cut off by the squeak of the opening door. Coming from the other room, Bovril padded in, holding a tray of tea and cookies in his paws.
But when Bovril saw Marta, the tray fell to the floor with a crash.
"Mr. Sharp!" Bovril exclaimed, running forward. Before anyone could even wonder what was happening, the loris leapt into Marta's arms.
Immediately, Marta let out a little, "Oh," of surprise, but after half a minute or so of Bovril cuddling up to her chest, she began to hesitantly stroke his fur.
"Sorry," Lisel said, trying to take Bovril from the girl's arms.
But Bovril's claws tightened around her shirt, and Marta waved Lisel away, assuring her, "It's alright. I like him."
Lisel and Lena watched as Marta, hands shaking, held Bovril close to her. Every once in a while, Bovril would mutter, "Mr. Sharp," or, "Missed you," but Lisel could tell that Marta only pretended to make sense of the words.
As she cuddled the loris, Marta whispered, "Who does he think I am?"
"You're related to Aleksandar, right?" Lisel asked.
Marta nodded.
"Then he thinks you're Deryn."
Marta shook her head. "I'm so sorry, liebe," she murmured to the loris. "I'm not who you think I am."
Bovril ignored the words and was soon asleep in her arms. Marta kept him in her lap since he held her too tightly to be let go.
The three girls sat in slightly awkward silence for a minute or two, until Lisel remembered that Marta had been about to reveal something about the object that might save the Committtee.
She was about to ask the girl about it, when there came a loud banging on the back door and shout through the wood. "Police! Open up!"
A/N: Pretty epic ending, huh? In case it wasn't obvious, that was the police talking, not someone saying the police were there. Wasn't sure if that was clear or not. Anyway, hope you guys liked the chapter. I'm pretty sure it's my longest yet (this makes me happy). Pretty please review (and remember that all reviewers get a sneak peek for chapter four)! I'll try to update soon!
