Chapter 7: Dot Com

The New World, 1609

"Where have we found ourselves, Sir George, besides at the mercy of God?" Christopher Newport had managed to make his way back the helm through the commotion of passengers after the beaten vessel had made an emergency dock. Sir George Somers—second in command—was frantically moving about with charts and the sextant. After taking a sight, Sir George turned to Captain Newport and lowered his spectacles. His finger rested on a plot of land located next to a rather intimidating looking sea creature, the English cartographer who had made the chart indicating their predicament.

Newport read "Bermoothes" as the name given to their location while Sir George announced dejectedly, "Welcome to the Isle of Devils."


San Francisco, Present Day

"Pete is supposedly looking up information on our victim. So I guess we have a little time to kill?" Myka looked at her two companions as they walked further away from the coroner's office, wondering what they would do with the rest of the afternoon. She noticed H.G. looking around wondrously at the bustling city around them.

"It is pleasant to see San Francisco thriving after that horrid earthquake." H.G. commented.

"Oh, no, the World Series quake in '89 didn't do as much damage as people think. The Bay Bridge was up and running in no time." Claudia countered.

"I meant 1906. But thanks for the history lesson." Helena patted Claudia on the back as Myka held back a smirk.

"Why don't we find a nice place to get a late lunch?" Myka just remembered no one had eaten since before the flight.

"I know just the place! It's a little down Market Street." Before the other two could assent, Claudia was already jumping on a bus.

..

"This area is so colorful! What country does the rainbow flag represent? Its immigrants have seemed to make this area their own…" H.G. pointed out the plethora of banners hanging prominently in the district.

"Oh, it's not a country. It's for Gay Pride." Claudia explained as they stepped into a lovely looking restaurant called Café Flore.

"People are celebrating how happy they are?" Helena reasoned out loud. They approached the counter and waited to order behind a few couples ahead of them.

"No, 'gay' in this instance doesn't mean 'happy.' It symbolizes…" Myka was having trouble figuring out a way to put it.

"It means same-gender relationships, H.G. Among other things." Claudia announced nonchalantly as she made an "oohing" sound and pointed to the scrumptious pastries on display.

"Same-gender relationships?" H.G. looked around at the various tables and their occupants, noticing that many of the men with men and women with women were sitting rather close to one another. Intimately close. "Oh my, and rather publicly at that." Helena turned to Myka, her tone turning accusatory, "Why did you never tell me about this?"

"Well, it never came up." Myka tried to change the subject. "I'm thinking the soup and half sandwich. What about you?" Luckily, they were up and the cashier looked at them expectantly. Myka dodged the bullet momentarily.

..

The girls found an unoccupied corner booth, H.G. purposely sliding into the outside seat on the same side as Myka. Claudia sitting across from them didn't notice the tension between the pair, instead focusing on the musician singing an unrecognizable tune and strumming away on her acoustic guitar. Helena followed Claudia's gaze and was instantly mesmerized by the beautiful olive-skinned woman and her clear voice. The performer noticed H.G. as well, winking to the British woman and motioning her to one of the empty tables closer.

Before Myka could stop her and ask her what the hell she was doing, the Farnsworth signaled a call from home base. "Pete, horrible timing!"

"Woah, you're the one who asked me to—hey, what's that sound in the background."

"My worst nightmare, just tell me what you found."

"You won't believe this, but remind me to tell Claud that we need to renew our ancestry. com subscription. I got a two week warning and didn't—"

"Pete! Focus!"


A/N: 6 days...