"Great Scot!" Doc exclaimed as he saw Caitlyn standing there, looking at the time machine with wide blue eyes.
Marty looked at Caitlyn and then back at Doc, then back at Caitlyn again, feeling panicked. He had no idea how to explain away the flying train and what Caitlyn had surely overheard.
"Marty? What's going on?" Caitlyn looked at him as if she was looking at a stranger. There was disbelief, yet curiosity in her eyes.
"Uh...um..."
"Is that your friend up there?"
"Hold on, alright? I'll explain everything, I promise," Marty held up a hand then turned back towards Doc. "We'll talk later Doc! But I'm not leaving yet!"
"Marty!" Doc called out, hoping to convince the young man to leave now before the inevitable happened.
"Later Doc!" Marty waved him away before taking Caitlyn's arm and leading her to the other side of the ship, where Doc and the time machine were out of sight.
"Marty, what's going on? What was that? Who are you?" Caitlyn questioned, her mind still trying to come to grips with what she had just seen. "And did he say that this ship was going to sink?"
This was definitely heavy and he didn't know how he was going to handle it. He had no choice but to tell her the truth, he just didn't know what the outcome would be and that's what scared him.
He lead Caitlyn to a bench and had her sit down. "What are you doing out here?"
"I woke up and saw that you were gone. I was worried. Marty, are you going to tell me what's up or not? I mean...excuse me if I'm wrong, but that was a flying train!"
"Shhh! Not so loud. Look, I know how you're feeling right now, because I felt that way too at first...but once I got used to it...it was all pretty rad."
"What?"
He sighed, realizing that he was making no sense and was probably making things worse. It was best to just stop beating around the bush and just come out with the truth. He ran a hand through his brown hair and sat down next to her, making sure to look her square in the eye so she'd know that he was serious.
"Okay. I'm going to tell you the truth. You may find it hard to believe me, but I'm for real. Okay?"
Caitlyn just nodded. "What is it? Are you some kind of alien like in the science fiction books? Was that train some kind of space ship?"
Marty laughed. "No, no. I'm not an alien. I'm an earthling, just like you are. And no, that train was no space ship. It's a time machine."
Caitlyn blinked, unsure if she heard right. "A time machine? What...are you serious?"
Marty nodded. "You see, Doc and I both are from the year 1986. We're both from the future. There was a school assignment and...well I had thought it'd be a good idea to use Doc's machine to visit 1912 and see the Titanic in the flesh before she...well...hits an iceberg and sinks."
"But this ship is supposed to be unsinkable."
"Sorry, sweetie. It's not. Tomorrow night, we will hit an iceberg and since there's not enough lifeboats, not enough by half according to my teacher, half of the people on this ship are going to die."
Caitlyn placed a hand on her head, feeling a headache coming on as she tried to process what Marty was telling her. "So you're from 1986, here to explore the Titanic, which is destined to sink tomorrow night? Marty, if this is true...why did you board it right along with us?"
Marty shrugged. "Hey, I have a hard time remembering to turn in my homework on time. Can I really be expected to remember a little thing like a ship sinking and the time and date? Come on..."
Caitlyn laughed, and it wasn't a good laugh. It was a 'I've fallen in love with a raging lunatic' laugh. "Oh my god! You are totally insane! And so am I for listening to you!"
Marty frowned, not liking how this was going at all. He really liked Caitlyn and didn't want her to think him insane, but could he blame her if she did? He had just told her that he was from the future and that the unsinkable ship that they were sailing on was destined to sink. Not to mention the flying train...yeah. He'd think he was insane too. "I'm telling the truth Caitlyn. Really..."
"I...I'm sorry Marty. I just...I can't deal with this. This has to be some crazy dream. I mean, come on! Trains don't fly!"
"Caitlyn..."
"Yes...yes, that's right. This is a dream. A weird dream that all that rich first class food had brought on. I'll just go back to my cabin, go back to bed, and when I wake up in the morning everything will be fine. I'll tell you about this and you'll laugh. We'll all just laugh. I can hear Jack now. Caitlyn and her crazy dreams..."
"Caitlyn please..."
She got onto her feet, a little unsteady. He took her arm to balance her. She looked at him with unfocused eyes, her denial in full affect. "I have to go now, Marty. Back to our room..."
Marty sighed, resigned to the fact that she didn't believe him. That she had convinced herself that this was just a dream. "I'll walk you back."
"I think that's a good idea," Caitlyn nodded, allowing Marty to steer her back below decks. He took a look around as they went and saw no sign of Doc anywhere. He wondered where he had gone and if he'd ever see him again. One thing was for sure though. He wasn't going to leave this ship until he knew that Caitlyn and Jack were safe, that they'd survive this disaster. Only then will he return home to 1986.
…..
The next day, both Marty and Caitlyn woke up with headaches. Their eyes met as Marty climbed down from his bunk. She quickly looked away and walked over to the sink and splashed water onto her face.
Marty sighed. He didn't want it to be like this between them. He wanted things to go back to the way they were before Doc had showed up with his time machine, reminding him that Titanic was destined to sink.
Finally she spoke.
"I had the strangest dream last night, guys. I dreamed that Marty was a time traveler and that this ship was going to sink. Isn't that silly?" Caitlyn looked away, not wanting to meet Marty's eyes, afraid of what she'll see there.
"You sure have strange dreams, Cait," Jack laughed. "Time travel. You know, maybe you've been reading too much science fiction. Whatever happened to that one book I managed to get you? The Secret Garden?"
"I lost it, but the first class library has a copy," Caitlyn grinned.
"Perhaps I can talk Rose into borrowing it for you," Jack winked, picking up his portfolio.
"You're planning to see her again?" Marty asked, deciding to put his own relationship woes on the back burner for a few minutes.
"Of course. Why not? Rose is...amazing. She's different from other girls in first class. She's smart, fun...beautiful! She has these eyes...and her hair, wow, and her smile," Jack sighed.
"Aww, he's in love!" Caitlyn teased, ruffling his hair playfully. "You know, ordinarily, I'd say forget about it, but I saw how she looked at you all through dinner...and the dance. You definitely have a chance of talking her into a fling. Just don't expect more than that. I mean, she is engaged to Mr. Ego."
Marty laughed at Caitlyn's nickname for Cal. It seemed to fit.
"Thank you for your support, sis. Now let's go eat so I can go talk to the girl," Jack winked, leading the way out of the room.
Before Caitlyn could follow Jack and Fabrizio, Marty grabbed her arm. "Hey, we have to talk...about last night..."
"What about last night? Those kisses? They were nice..."
"Yeah, they were, but..."
"I'm sorry if I'm a little weird. Those dreams I had last night have made me a little loopy. We'll talk later. When I'm more awake," Caitlyn pulled away and walked out the door, leaving Marty in the room alone.
"Great. Just great," He shook his head, feeling dejected. How can he save her from the sinking when she thought everything was just a dream and wasn't really talking to him? He didn't know what to do. Should he force the issue or just let it go? Find Doc and leave? But if he did that, he'd be leaving her and his new friends to possibly perish and he just couldn't do that. Somehow, during the past few days, he had grown rather fond of Jack and more than fond of his sister. He couldn't just forget them. They deserved a chance at a full happy life and he was going to do what he could to make sure they had that. He just hadn't figured out how yet.