Part 4- The Doctor, Dodo, Steven and Marlowe find themselves confronting a strange green mist within the depths of Canterbury Cathedral.
There was the sound of music in the distance as Dodo excitedly poked her head around the TARDIS doors and sniffed the air. She coughed. She was then shoved by Steven who was growing impatient of lingering in the doorway, so she let him and Marlowe pass her by and out into the open air. Finally the Doctor joined them after he'd finished checks in the machine and was certain it was safe outside.
"The air's not as clean as I hoped," Dodo said as she took a deep breath. As soon as she exhaled, her breath could be seen lingering in the cold winter air. "But there's definitely a fine beat going." She bopped from side to side as her hips moved to the rhythm of the music in the distance.
The Doctor was already examining the street in front of him as Steven looked around making sure they weren't being watched. Dodo pointed into the distance. "Look!"
The Doctor, Steven, and Marlowe looked up at the same time, glancing to where their young friend was pointing at the almighty structure towering into the clouds.
"It's Canterbury Cathedral," Marlowe said slowly. His eyes watered as his mouth hung open in surprise. "Am I back to my time, Steven, am I back?"
Panic crept into Christopher Marlowe's voice as he stared at the magnificent cathedral in the distance. He stammered for a few moments before he was almost knocked off his feet by a woman on a bicycle. The woman cursed as she rode away, annoyed for him standing in the middle of the cycle path. Steven helped Marlowe to steady himself and they headed onto the main pavement which led onto the high street of what appeared to be a city centre crammed with shops and eateries.
Marlowe gazed at the hullabaloo around him. It was the city he grew up in, and yet he could barely recognise it- the people and the buildings were so different. There were tall buildings with coloured signs hanging in their many windows and there was little wooden huts lined with green trimming and red bows. People scattered around the centre like mice and they all seemed to be carrying parcels and bags of items around with them.
"I'd say we're long after your time my boy, and Christmas it seems," the Doctor said, patting Marlowe's shoulder.
"Are you alright, Kit?" Steven asked.
Marlowe nodded. "Yes. What year is it?"
The Doctor rubbed his chin. "Well at a guess I'd say it was after Dodo's time, quite possibly around the turn of the 21st century."
"Fab!" Dodo exclaimed.
"I've never seen the cathedral," Steven said as he narrowed his eyes at the landmark. "By my time it's concealed in a large dome, half in ruins by the Dalek invasion force that decimated Canterbury on its way to London."
"An invasion force obliterated Canterbury?" Marlowe questioned sadly. "The Spanish was it?"
"Well, this is far into your future and nothing for you to worry about young man," the Doctor said. "You'll learn soon enough that travelling aboard my ship takes a bit of getting used to. Of course some take to it easier than others."
He glanced at Dodo who had joined them almost in a daze and barely had had time to take in the magnitude of what was happening to her. Sometimes he still wasn't sure; even after all they'd been through, whether Dodo quite understood the seriousness of adventuring.
He sighed when he noticed she was already talking to a couple of people carrying shopping bags.
"Excuse me, what year is it?" Dodo asked them.
The man laughed. "I know I'm getting on a bit, but I haven't lost my marbles just yet!"
"Is it the 20th century or the 21st?"
"It's 2015, why don't you know that?" the woman asked, surprised at the strange group of people in front of her. She eyed the Doctor's Edwardian outfit. "Oh I see, you're entertainers playing along, how delightful!"
"Yes, yes, quite so, quite so," said the Doctor as he approached them. "Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas."
He nodded at the couple and then ushered Dodo away and gathered his companions together by a nearby bench which too was decorated in an assortment of tinsel.
Dodo clapped her hands together in excitement. "2015, how fab! I still might be alive and kicking. If I catch a train I can go to London and meet myself."
"You're staying where we can keep an eye on you," Steven told her as his eyes cast down upon her with his 'older brother protectiveness' expression. "Do you think we could have a look around a bit though, Doctor? Kit may like to see what's changed in the last few hundred years."
Marlowe nodded in favour of Steven's suggestion. "Now I know I'm not going to be carted off to prison I shall like to see the city where my life began and was shaped."
"Very well," the Doctor began. "It can't hurt to have a look around."
…
Dodo raised an eyebrow at the Doctor as the two of them separated from Steven and Marlowe and made their way onto the main high street.
"Why is your face pulling that bizarre expression? What is it you have to say?" the Doctor asked.
"Well you can't ignore Kit forever. You have to get to know him sometime."
"As I've told you before I have nothing against the man personally. I just felt Steven wanted to go with him, they seem to have become quite good friends."
Dodo was distracted and stared up above her. She pointed to the sky, tugging at the Doctor's sleeve as she did so. "Doctor, what is that strange green mist in the air?"
The Doctor looked upwards and his eyes narrowed suspiciously.
"I've never seen anything as pretty," Dodo exclaimed. "Is it something normal that will happen in my future?"
The Doctor scratched his chin, considering for a moment. "No my dear, this is indeed very peculiar. In fact, I think we should investigate- it seems to be coming from the direction of the cathedral. Now my dear, would you like to do some detective work with me?"
Dodo linked her arm through his. "I'd love to."
…
Christopher Marlowe sat in the middle of Canterbury town centre next to the theatre that was named after him. Tears filled his eyes as he stared at the sign on the building that displayed his name in silver letters, and watched as people flocked into the building at an alarming rate. Even stranger was the plaque outside the theatre that listed his birth and death dates. To the world he'd died in 1593, but he was alive in 2015. Life was never going to be the same again.
Steven noticed that his friend was quiet and sat down beside him on the steps leading to the theatre. "Maybe I shouldn't have brought you here."
"To a theatre named after me, a place in my honour, hundreds of years after I died?"
Steven patted his friend on the shoulder. "But doesn't it show how much your work is respected?"
"It shows that it's gone hundreds of years and that everybody thought I'd died in 1593. I'm but a mere ghost wandering the streets of Canterbury."
"You're alive, Kit."
"Am I? I don't feel it."
"In this time, though it seems primitive by the time I'm from, is clearly safer for you than your own."
Marlowe was about to reply when he spotted two men walking hand in hand which was followed by a brief subtle kiss. His eyes widened in surprise. "Are such displays of affection between two men so openly accepted in the future?"
"No, not always, not everywhere. But sometimes in some places."
"But everyone is dressed so garishly. And what are all these illuminations that hang around us like angel halos?"
"They're Christmas lights I imagine," Steven said. "It must be the lead up to the big day. It's busy because of all these shoppers." He looked up at the theatre behind him. "Looks like its panto season too!"
…
Dodo snuggled up to the Doctor's shoulder as they made their way to the cathedral hand in hand. The winter chill was in full force and Dodo regretted not taking another jumper from the extensive TARDIS wardrobe.
"Oh I love Christmas time, well not the actual day, that's a right bore, but the lead up, the carol singers and all the Christmas trees and delicious food. Do you celebrate it, Doctor?"
"Well I suppose I've studied it at some length, among the other religious holidays, traditions, winter solstices on many a place, country, region or planet. Still the patterns emerge throughout."
"You'd make a jolly old Father Christmas."
"Yes, well don't go getting any ideas my dear. I'm not sure red suits me!"
…
Steven and Marlowe walked through the high street, neither talking to one another, instead looking around at their surroundings as they tried desperately not to walk into the people walking in the opposite direction. Marlowe had never seen the city so busy and he'd never seen so many places to buy things, like food and clothing and even holes in the wall where money spilled out as easily as water from a pump.
They both had their cold hands in their coat pockets and their hair blowing in the wintery breeze. Neither of them said anything for a moment or two until finally Steven broke the silence.
"It's bloody freezing," he said. "All these people and the crowds don't make much difference." As he said the words, he realised that Marlowe had stopped a few paces behind.
He joined him as Kit looked intrigued at a music band playing a song on their own instruments by the side of the road, in front of some shops.
"Music and theatre upon the very streets. I love this atmosphere, so very merry."
"Its strange music," said Steven quietly. "But I see what you mean."
"The music is unlike anything I've heard, and the instruments strange, but live entertainment is always the best."
Steven smiled. "Come on Kit, as nice as this is we better find out where the Doctor and Dodo are."
"Do we always go by his schedule?"
"If you know what's best for you, you do."
Marlowe's eyes sparkled in wonder. "I still can't believe these streets are where I grew up. It seems like another life."
"It is another life. I never imagined I'd find myself travelling back in time, but such is the life with the Doctor."
"And if you hadn't, we'd have never met, dear Steven. I count myself very lucky indeed."
…
As Steven had predicted, the Doctor and Dodo were to be found at the entrance to the cathedral, waiting in a queue at the ticket booth. Steven waved at his two companions and they smiled, signalling them over to join them to get tickets.
"I didn't realise we were taking a tour," Steven said as they stood in line with their friends.
"We're not really," the Doctor said, leaning in close to the two men. He whispered. "We're investigating that strange green mist that hangs over the cathedral like a spectre of some kind."
Marlowe and Steven looked into the sky at the same time, and both gasped in astonishment as they noticed the green mist eerily gracing the skyline. What was even stranger was how people seemed to be ignoring it. Steven himself hadn't even spotted the strange glow until the Doctor had mentioned it and he was starting to think that people were too busy to even notice the differences anymore, too caught up in Christmas shopping and all the chaos of Earth life.
"Is this a common occurrence in my future, light orbs in the sky?" asked Marlowe, surprised.
The Doctor shook his head. "No, my boy, certainly not. There is a strange phenomenon here that I want to get to the bottom of."
Steven nodded and as soon as they had arrived inside the cathedral, the Doctor was suggesting they split up and search around as much as they could.
"It seems like there's areas that we can't go in," Steven said pointing to a 'no entry' sign on one of the partitions.
The Doctor chuckled. "Well, we may just have to not tell anyone hmm?"
Steven sighed, knowing full well the Doctor was going to get them into trouble. He placed his hands on his hips and leaned in close. "Alright, alright, so what's the plan?"
"I say we go off and just find this strange mist thing," Dodo said hastily. "No use standing around like idiots. Come on Steven, we'll go this way." She pointed to the right which led around one side of the cathedral.
"And the Doctor and Kit take the left I suppose," said Steven.
The Doctor and Marlowe glanced at one another quickly, knowing why their friends had put them in each other's company, but not exactly revelling in the awkwardness of them having to bond with one another. The Doctor shook away his personal feelings and agreed, giving Marlowe a quick smile.
"I want to meet back at the entrance in an hour," the Doctor said wagging his finger at Steven. "Any dangers…well you come and find me, do you understand?"
Steven nodded and then turned to his newest friend. "Kit, are you going to be alright?"
"Steven, I'm fine, I can do some things without you, you know? You have to let me work things out for myself."
Steven smiled shyly. "Of course."
…
The direction Marlowe and the Doctor had taken was rather empty despite it being an area the public were allowed to venture into. Marlowe felt his heart thumping in his chest, not really knowing what they were going to find in the depths of an old cathedral. He wasn't sure if he believed in ghosts and spirits but there was definitely something frightening about hunting for something which you didn't know existed.
"Do you think this mist could be dangerous, some poison perhaps?" Marlowe asked the Doctor as the old man took a breather. Noticing the Doctor was breathless, Marlowe steadied him.
The Doctor looked at the young man curiously, his eyes narrowed. "Intelligent," he said. "It could very well be dangerous or a toxic gas of some kind, though no one seems to be affected by it so far so that could just be a worse case scenario."
"You're surprised that I have a brain inside my head, Doctor, for I am not some backwards man from the 16th century with no idea of the advancements of every century to follow?"
"I think nothing of the sort dear boy. Experience with a variety of travellers from completely different eras has led me to never be surprised by the capabilities of humans."
Marlowe raised a curious eyebrow. "You say at as if you're not one yourself."
The Doctor smiled cunningly and didn't reply. Marlowe was shocked, he'd never thought the Doctor himself was anything other than human, and Steven hadn't mentioned it. Of course the old man had access to an alien machine that could take one into the past and future and to other worlds, but for Marlowe, he had never expected the inventor to also have been alien, to have been the most different of them all.
"Doctor, one thing I wanted to ask. Your life is full of contradictions. Your ship is new and white and futuristic and yet Steven tells me your clothes are old and unfitting to their time. You are wise and uncertain and yet the rebel in your heart calls out. You do not fit in, just as I do not."
The Doctor turned back to face him. "I don't think our lives are quite the same my dear boy, but I appreciate the sentiment."
"You don't much approve of me do you, Doctor?"
"It's not a matter of approval, I'm sure you're a capable man Mr. Marlowe, but the fact remains you were never meant to be here. Steven was risky in allowing you the trip."
"I realise that, but he thought it was for the best. Is it wrong for me to come with you but not for Steven or the others you have taken as companions?"
"It's entirely different."
"Why? They too were from other times and they too were taken into the future. This is Dodo's future and yet I see no protest from you for how her life has changed."
The Doctor thought for a moment, pursing his lips and nodding along as if he understood. "You're right my dear man, yes, these things are true. But as dear to me as Dodo is or Steven, I don't personally know about their lives or what is to be."
"So because you have heard of me it's somehow different. I don't see how that works, Doctor."
"Mr. Marlowe, this discussion could go on for hours, we do have a job to do, let's look behind this dusty old alter hmmm?"
The Doctor led Marlowe to the location he had pointed out and they peered curiously around the area, looking for any unusual signs.
"You know you can call me Kit now, I think our relationship has developed to first name terms."
The Doctor smiled. "Yes, Kit, fine, do you hear a noise?"
They both fell silent, listening carefully. "I think it's a group of fellow tourists, Doctor."
The Doctor sighed with relief. For all the times he was used to sneaking around, he was jumpy even when he wasn't technically in restricted locations, always ready for an answer to explain his snooping.
"I believe you're right Kit, carry on."
…
Steven found Dodo's pace hard to keep up with, even with his good fitness level.
"Would you slow down?"
"The quicker we find this strange green mist, the quicker we can go out and enjoy the 21st century."
"It'll still be there when we finish."
"How can you be sure?" Dodo said, staring up at him. "If that mist is aliens, they could wipe out the world in five seconds flat."
Steven laughed lightly. "You're very optimistic aren't you? I was born after this time, let's hope that's a worst case scenario but if I disappear suddenly then you'll know your right eh?"
"I'm only pulling your leg. I don't think some mist is likely to be hostile do you? And they might not be aliens at all. Maybe it's just like the northern lights or something, just over Canterbury that's all."
"Or maybe its just some Christmas display, I mean it is green. Not that I'm much of a Christmas enthusiast."
"Well, I'd love to see a Christmas display," Dodo said as she hugged herself for warmth. "Dancers- and people dressed up."
"You'd make a good elf that's a given."
"I would as a matter of fact. The Doctor could be Father Christmas, Kit could be a cute reindeer- you could be Scrooge."
Steven smirked. "I'm sorry, I suppose it can't hurt to get into the spirit more." He put his arm around Dodo's shoulder and gave it a tight squeeze. "I promise I'll stop with the bossy big brother act and after this we'll have some fun ok?"
"Deal."
There was a sudden high-pitched noise and Steven and Dodo instinctively huddled closer together, looking around trying to find where the noise could have come from. They listened again but the noise had stopped. Just as Steven was about to give up and lead them away from the room, he saw a sparkle of green light from the corner of his eye.
"Dodo," he whispered, pointing to where he could see the green glow emulating from behind another door marked 'no entry'. Dodo stared at the light in fascination. She began making the way toward the door, feeling both excited and terrified at the same time as to what was lurking behind. She felt Steven's hands on her arm trying to lead her back but she shook him off so that he had no choice but to follow her. They took the next few footsteps toward the door together and as they reached the handle, the green was even more vivid, sort of like the eerie green colour from the science fiction comics Dodo had seen in her own time- tales of crashed spaceships letting out a vibrant green aura. Steven pushed in front of Dodo and cautiously he reached for the handle and pulled it open slowly. Once the door was flung open and nothing greeted them on the other side, they slid into the room carefully and were plunged into semi-darkness.
"It's a bit dark in here," Dodo said.
"That's what I'm afraid of," Steven said as he rubbed his hand through his thick unruly locks. "We can't exactly see what's approaching us if you see what I mean."
"Approaching us?" Dodo said. "I don't like the way you said that!"
Steven's hands gripped around Dodo's shoulders, standing behind her in a protective manner, searching around the room for any kind of light. Just as he was about to suggest leaving, the green light intensified and the two friends could make out a shape coming towards them. Dodo yelped quietly as she realised the shape was glittery and sparkly and was hovering along the floor, it certainly wasn't a human.
"Who are you?" Steven asked as he moved to the side of Dodo. "What are you doing in here?"
Dodo wondered why Steven was talking to it. Could it even talk, it wasn't even humanoid or fully formed? The shape moved slightly towards them and sifted like a mist between the two of them, forcing them to separate in surprise.
"Hey what's the meaning of this?" Steven snapped, forgetting the danger they were in.
"Don't annoy him Steven," Dodo whispered before she turned back to the strange being. "We're not here to hurt you, we just want to help."
The being stopped its high-pitched squeaking noise for a minute and then rather suddenly a loud screech rung out and the being headed in the direction of Steven, barrelling down on him. Dodo wanted to scream but felt nothing escape her dry lips as she saw the being head right for Steven's body and then disappear. Steven's body shook erratically- he'd obviously been hurt in some way.
"Steven!" Dodo screamed as she raced over to him and held him upright. "Are you alright, what did that thing do to you?"
"I don't know." Steven's voice was quiet.
"Where did it go?" Dodo asked flummoxed. She was about to examine him to make sure he wasn't injured but then she saw that his eyes had turned a bright luminous green.
"Oh my god!" she said, backing away slightly. "Steven? What's happened to you? You're inside of him, aren't you?"
"Yes," said the eerie reply from Steven's mouth.
Steven began approaching her with his arms outstretched. Dodo turned and sprinted for the door, turning the handle and running as far as she could into the room outside. She slammed the door behind her and gasped for breath.
"Doctor! Doctor!" she called. "Where are you?"
…
It didn't take too long for Marlowe and the Doctor to be alerted to Dodo's cries for help and as they arrived the Doctor hushed her in case of anyone listening to what she had discovered.
"What's the matter?" the Doctor asked calmly.
"It's Steven, I mean it isn't Steven," she said with one breath. "I mean, some weird green thing just went into Steven and he's in that room, both of them."
"A being possessed him you mean?" Marlowe asked.
"Yes, I think so. He tried to grab me so I legged it."
The Doctor comforted her and scratched his chin. "So our concerns were well founded."
"Yes, and Steven's at the mercy of whatever it is," said Marlowe.
The Doctor couldn't help but notice the fear in Marlowe's voice.
"Not to worry young man, Steven is a strong capable person, I'm sure he'll come to no harm. First things first, we must confront this thing once and for all. Dodo, open the door and let me go first."
Kit and Dodo grasped hands as they cautiously followed the Doctor into the room. It was barely seconds after they'd all entered when Steven reached out for them with his arms outstretched. The Doctor raised his walking stick in the air.
"Stop there, whoever you are. I need to have a word with you," he said with more authority than Marlowe had ever heard from anyone in his entire life.
Steven stopped still, his green eyes staring at his three friends. It was hard for them to see whether Steven was still Steven when he was being controlled in the way he was.
The Doctor puffed his chest out. "What is it you want here and what is it you want with Steven?"
"We are here," Steven said in his usual voice but with a slight dull tone to it. "We are here to observe. I am lost, I am lost."
"Oh no, lost," Dodo said. "It's alone, Doctor, all alone."
"Yes child, thank you. You are cut off from your people are you hmm? Well that is unfortunate but stealing my friend's body is not called for is it?"
"It is necessary."
"For what?" Marlowe asked, slightly unnerved and directing the question at Steven, knowing it wasn't his friend answering back.
"To meet up with the others."
"Necessary?" the Doctor said examining Steven and the room at the same time. "Why must you use Steven to get back to your people?"
"He was here and I needed him."
"I see." The Doctor scratched his chin. "You can't go outside can you? It's dangerous for you there, or polluted, toxic?"
Steven nodded his head simply. "I cannot exist in the cold winter air. Our bodies are not physical like yours."
"What about that green mist?" Dodo asked. "Is that you?"
"We are green mist to you but to each other we are much more. I must contact the others, I have no choice."
The Doctor sighed. "But every second you inhabit my friend you are draining him. He may crack under the strain."
"I am sorry but I have no choice."
Marlowe was shocked. "You mean its going to kill Steven?"
The Doctor frowned. "Quite possibly my dear boy, quite possibly- if he isn't removed as hostage."
"Then you'll have to find some other way to your people," Marlowe shouted. "Steven has done nothing wrong. We can help you somehow but we are not going to let you take him."
"Do you know what its like to be cut off?" Steven said. "I must find my people."
The Doctor approached his companion and laid a friendly hand on him. "I understand your predicament but I cannot let you take him. You'll have to leave his body immediately and then we can talk about what you can do."
"You can take my body," Marlowe said. "Let him go and use me instead."
The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Just what we need, heroics."
"Well what else? And what does it matter for me. I was meant to be dead, Doctor. The people of this city think I died over four hundred years ago."
"You can't just offer yourself," Dodo pleaded. "You're alive now and just as important. Steven would never let you risk yourself."
"I need to get to my people before they leave, I haven't much time," the alien inside Steven said.
"Well where are your people?" the Doctor said, becoming tetchy. "Show them to me. You don't have much longer before I take action."
Steven's eyes blazed greener. "Directly above, in the ship, my people have emitted a gas but I was lost inside this cathedral and cannot escape the building without a vessel. You were the first to arrive inside this room. Most of these people ignored me, the mist, we were unnoticed but somehow you knew where to find me."
The Doctor paced the room, pursing his lips together. "Then asking would have been your best option my dear fellow. Why it's quite simple."
"It is?" Marlowe asked, surprised. Steven had been right- he really was a very sharp and wise man. Up to this point he'd never seen him really take charge or show just how clever he was, but it was obvious he was intelligent and cared about Steven, even if Steven didn't see it.
"My ring!" the Doctor chuckled. "It can carry you completely safely back to my ship and we can contact your people from there."
"What that costume jewellery?" Dodo said before stopping when she noticed the Doctor glaring at her.
"It's a trick," Steven replied slowly.
"I can assure you this is no trick," the Doctor said. "Do you think I'd risk my young companions for a scam? No, this ring is a vessel of its own you know. It's a very special ring and if you allow me, I will carry you. Go on, try it out."
Marlowe and Dodo watched in anticipation as the strange green mist departed from Steven's body and circled around the Doctor. Within seconds Steven became aware of his surroundings and the ring pulsated with a green glow.
"There we are," the Doctor said to the ring on his finger. "Stay tight, it won't take long."
"Steven, are you alright?" Dodo asked as she checked his eyes to see they were no longer vivid green.
"I'm fine. I don't know what happened. Where are we?"
"We can talk about that later," the Doctor said. "We must get our little guest back to its own people."
"What people?" Steven asked with confusion.
"I'll explain on the way back," Marlowe said. "It's good to have the real you here with us again."
"The real me?"
…
Watching on the scanner, the Doctor and his friends observed the alien spaceship depart from the atmosphere and out into the stars where they belonged. Dodo whooped excitedly as she glanced at the television screen.
"Oh I know the creature went about it in the wrong way but I did feel sorry for him."
"He was just alone I suppose," the Doctor said. "We act in strange ways sometimes when we are cut off and unsure of our surroundings."
Marlowe looked at the Doctor and wondered what secrets he was hiding. Did he have first hand experience of loneliness and isolation? Was that something that came with travelling with the Doctor? Only time would tell.
…
The Doctor and Dodo had retired to their rooms after their encounter with the alien and had relished the idea of some sleep. Steven bought Marlowe a cup of hot chocolate which prompted a smile from the playwright.
"This brown liquid is delicious," he said as he sipped the drink. "I think I'm going to get quite fat travelling with you. And what are these little things floating on the top of the beverage?"
"Now don't tell me they didn't have marshmallows in your time, now you really were missing out!"
Marlowe laughed and ate one of the little treats. "The consistency of a cloud and rather sugary and sweet but I like it," he said looking at Steven and smiling. "I like the marshmallows too."
Steven laughed but then his face turned serious. "I'm sorry we didn't get to see the rest of Canterbury, Kit. I know you wanted to think about the past."
"That's quite alright. I was pleased to see what became of the city. I never quite expected to see an alien in it though. My first alien I suppose, albeit a rather strange non-bodied one."
Steven smiled. "Though not technically your first alien- that would be the Doctor."
Marlowe put down his drink and let out a chuckle. "Oh I wondered if that were true. So the first alien I ever meet was an ordinary man with funny hair and funny clothes?"
"You write too many plays Kit," Steven said as he took a sip of his drink. "You keep expecting the strange and the bizarre."
Marlowe smiled and looked at Steven. "The Doctor is quite something. Dodo is lovely too. You're quite a team I must say."
"I suppose we are," Steven said and he shook Marlowe's hand vigorously. "But don't forget that includes a certain Mr. Kit Marlowe now."