TIME MACHINE CHAPTER TEN
"You b*stards! You absolute b*stards" Rita wept.
A man in the crowd turned on her.
"Look, little Ms Bleeding Heart, it makes sure they get fed, and if one of them happens to snuff it, it's one less to feed, innit?"
Rita was about to argue, but Connie held up her hand for Rita to be quiet. She'd heard one of the men speaking:
"Come on, Baby Brother, let's make it simple. You break my neck, you win, you get to eat tonight. I've had enough."
They were brothers. Connie suddenly yelled:
"Who organised this fight?"
Jeers and catcalls. Then someone she never expected to see again was at her side, shouting loudly:
"Lady says, who organised this fight? Answer her or I'll turn up the sound louder and bust all your eardrums."
"Adam Trueman."
"I should have known" snapped Connie. She began to shout something, and Jacob's metallic hand came over her mouth.
"Let me, sweetheart."
Trueman came striding over, glaring at Ben as he did so. Ben had ruined his night already.
"I'll give you every penny of that twenty thousand IMU's back if you just stop this fight. Now."
Trueman gawked at Connie but shouted:
"Okay! Fight's over. The lady says."
Jacob moved protectively in front of Connie, who added:
"Those two men who were fighting are coming to work with us, get it? So they won't cost your rotten city another Unit. Okay?"
"They'll slit your throat in your sleep by way of thanks, you silly cow-" Trueman blustered. Jacob cut in:
"They won't. I've scanned their minds. Believe me, they're grateful, however much sass they give you at first. Now I don't think you're safe on the flier, somebody might have a go at you for stopping their precious fight. "
Jacob counted the travellers quickly.
"I'll order you a private car that takes seven people."
As they waited, with Jacob standing guard, the travellers noticed that the two newcomers were hanging their heads, almost abjectly.
"You-you're really going to give us work?"
"Oh yes. Though quite where, I couldn't tell you yet. We'll find out tomorrow.
"Th-thank you."
The car arrived. The robotic driver snorted in disgust.
"I'm not taking these two. They'll stink."
"The lady's gonna give you money to cover that, aren't you, Connie?"
Connie found herself agreeing, then glared at Jacob. Who did he think he was? But then, he'd saved them from an angry crowd.
After thanking Jacob once more, they were en route to the apartment.
"So who are you?" Rita asked them.
"We're brothers. Caleb Knight and Ethan Hardy. Different dads", added Cal by way of an explanation.
"How did you get into that situation?" Dylan asked bluntly.
"Unemployment, eviction, starvation, desperation."
Connie made the driver stop at a cheap clothing store and came out with sweaters, trainers and jogging pants for Cal and Ethan, plus some basic clothing for everybody else.
They reached the apartment. The tip Connie paid him for the ride made him all but kneel and kiss her feet. Inside the apartment, the two brothers looked round almost adoringly. When Connie told them to go and shower, they more or less ran there and emerged holding on to their towels as if they were a lifeline.
"Get dressed and there'll be food and a hot drink for you."
"Um… we don't eat very nicely. We got out of the habit" said the younger one, Ethan.
"Dylan here eats like a grizzly bear anyway, so we won't mind."
"And Ben eats so prettily, like a little sugar plum fairy, that we get fed up of waiting for him."
"Ah, you two are mirror-biased!" Cal said as casually as if he were discussing the weather.
"I like that name" Ben smiled.
"You would, you soppy thing."
By the morning, the travellers had two loyal slaves for life in the two brothers. Trying to convince them that they weren't slaves was the hardest part.
"We can cook breakfast, Connie. What does everybody like?" Ethan asked next morning, excited as a puppy.
"We'll not be eating a big breakfast because we'll be travelling today. The machine tends to make people feel a little seasick the first time. I think we've all had enough of life in Andromeda."
"I hate Andromeda!" Cal said fervently.
"So if you two would go and mix some smoothies for us in the blender that would be ideal. Have whatever you like for yourselves."
Cal and Ethan would have loved to have gone for the full English, with unlimited toast, jam and honey afterwards, but settled for smoothies. They didn't want to blot their copybooks by being sick in front of their new friends. Ethan especially did not want to be sick in front of Jess. Besides, having been on the point of near-starvation, they realised overloading their guts could lead to some unpleasant cramps later.
After breakfast came the big decision.
"So no more visits to the future. How far back shall we go?"
"Just a minute."
Dylan looked grim.
"We need to tell these two the real reason why we're travelling and what's likely to happen to us when we go back."
"We hand over the stuff we've brought and Professor Hanssen lets us go."
"No, Rita. We hand over the stuff we've brought and then the henchmen kill the lot of us and Hanssen takes all the credit. Did anybody really think we were going to just be sent away with a big smile and a thank you when we got back?"
Ben blushed.
"Oh trust you, Mary bloody Poppins."
"So" Connie took a deep breath, "In that case, we might as well just keep travelling and let those thugs wait for us indefinitely. At least we survive and see a bit of life that way."
Rita began to weep silently. Connie went over to her.
"Come on, you silly sod. We'll look after you."
She stroked Rita's face and then realised. So, she thought cheerfully, I've had men in the past but right now I'm definitely mirror-biased. And I have a feeling this dizzy little bugger is, too.
"Hey, come on, Rita Skeeter. Where's that smile of yours? We're all in this together."
She put her arm round Rita's shoulders.
"Come on, let's delay travelling for a bit. I'll wash that blotchy little face for you."
It was a long time later when Ethan, thrilled to bits to be chosen, listened carefully to the instructions and then gently and carefully turned the machine backwards.
Cal went a little green and quipped:
"I think this is the seasickness…"
He crouched and put his head between his knees as the machine landed.
"Let's see where we are this time."
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