Chapter III: Tempus Fugit

"What?" Chip asked, looking at Gadget curiously across the dinner table.

"Tempus fugit," she said. "Latin. It means, 'time flies'."

"And what brought this on?"
"I don't know. I guess it's just this whole new case, getting a glimpse of our future, seeing the offspring we raise…it's weird."

"Well, if Sprocket's any indication, then you'll do a great job raising our kids," Chip said with a smile. Gadget blushed, and looked down at her plate in embarrassment.

"Golly, you always know just the right thing to say."

"It's not easy, let me tell you. Sometimes I'm just so stunned by your beauty that I don't know what to say."
The deep red flush spread from Gadget's face up to the tips of her ears. After the day that they'd all had, he'd left the other Rangers to get to know Sprocket a little better, while he took Gadget out to a nice restaurant. He knew the stress that the whole incident must be causing, and his only wish was to make her feel better somehow.

"This is a wonderful place, Chip. I haven't been to a French restaurant since before Dad died."
"Well, Bernard told me it was the best in the city. I'd just been looking for an excuse to bring you."

Chip had met the Rescue Aid Society operative and his wife, Bianca, on a case some time earlier, when the Society had called in the Rescue Rangers for a joint investigative effort. But that's another story.

The waiter, a short, dumpy mouse of an unintelligible age, stepped up to the table, bearing two small pastries on gold-trimmed china.

"On ze house, mademoiselle," he said graciously. "Ze manager wishes you congratulations for your coming arrival."

"Why, thank you," Gadget said, surprised. "Just who is the manager? I'd like to thank him."
"Right here, you two rascally kids, you."

"Bernard!" Chip exclaimed, standing up to shake hands with the middle-aged mouse who had appeared. "You're running this place?"
"Well, I took a semi-retirement from the Society, and it keeps life interesting to have something like this to do. So Chip, when did all this happen? I haven't seen you two in a cat's age, I didn't even know you'd gotten married!"

"We were going to invite you, but apparently you'd been recalled for a special assignment."
"Oh yes, that one about eight months back. Special case, very hush-hush."
"McLeach came back, didn't he."

Bernard looked impressed.

"You're a mind-reader, Maplewood. He'd started up business again in the north of Asia, but we managed to track him down and start the human authorities on his trail. Got a bit sticky there for a while, but we got the job done."
He sat down, taking a minute to shower congratulations on Gadget. He looked back over at Chip, with a knowing expression on his face.

"So what's the new case? I know that look you've got by now. Must be a big one."

"It is. Time-travel big."

"Get out! Fill me in, maybe I can help."

Chip explained the few details that the Rangers had at the moment, while Bernard listened raptly. The older detective shook his head.

"That's some situation. I'm no expert on temporal science, but I do know that you need to clamp a lid on this villain whenever he arrives."

"No kidding. Has the Society gotten any intelligence on Professor Nimnul lately?"

"Not much. We keep our eyes on him, just like you fellows do. But whatever he's up to, he's keeping it very low key. Something's up with him, though. I can feel it like a change in the weather."
"So can I," Gadget said quietly. "This whole business just makes me uneasy."

Seeing a wave from one of the other patrons, Bernard got up, and made his good-byes.
"Good luck to you both, with the baby and the case. Just remember, the Rescue Rangers are held in good esteem by the Society. If you need help, just call, I can guarantee a contingent of operatives wherever you need 'em."

"Thanks, Bernard. Hopefully it won't come to that. We've always been able to handle Nimnul in the past. You guys have your hands full with patrolling the globe already."
"Isn't that the truth. You two have a good night."

Chip had to smile as he watched his friend walk off into the sea of other tables.

"There goes a great guy," he said sincerely. He pulled a small pocket watch from the vest of his suit, and checked it.

"Eight-thirty. Wonder what the rest are up to?"
"Oh come on, dear, Monty's there, and Sparky too. What trouble could they get into?"

"Tah-da!" Sprocket said, brandishing the serving dish he'd been working on. Rising from it was a towering confection of cheese and pastry that he'd been working on for the past hour. Monterey Jack and Sparky looked on in admiration.

"Strike me starkers, lad, that's somethin' else, there! What d'ya call it?"

"Well, since you already make the triple-cheese surprise, I've always called it the quadruple-cheese surprise!"
"Oi like it already," Monty said, his mustache twisting straight out. He was just reaching for the plate, when a screech came from the kitchen.

"Okay, who made this mess!" Tammy yelled.

"Uh-oh," Sprocket muttered. He made a beeline for the garage chute, bumping into a chair on his way. Pain shot up his arm, and he collapsed backward against the aforementioned furniture.

"Lad! Are ya all right?"

Monty helped him up with concern. Sprocket tried to work his arm properly, but he found a grating sensation prevented him.

"Great," he said, gritting his teeth. "I must have popped the bones apart again today in that fight."
"Well, that's what you get for rushing in without using your head," Tammy announced as she stepped out of the kitchen. "We'll have to reset it."

"Again?" Sprocket blanched, remembering the first session.

"If you want to keep using it, then yeah, again. It's a good thing it was a clean break, or you'd really be in trouble."

After a few minutes of painful work, Tammy had her 'nephew's' arm securely bound and bandaged, enough to get it serviceable. Sprocket was able to flex his fingers enough to do basic tasks, and was content with that.

"Oh well," he said. "It's not as bad as the time Uncle Monty and I got into that big dust-up in Cat Alley."
"Hoho, wot's this then?" Monterey wondered. "Care to entertain us with th' story, mate?"

Sprocket chuckled, and looked around.

"Uncle Sparky's not anywhere close, is he? We kinda used him as bait to lure out this gangster cat we were after, and he might not take too kindly to it."

This brought a round of laughs from all present. Sprocket was fully into telling his tale, when an eerie light bathed the windows from outside.

"What in nuts and acorns is going on out there?" Tammy asked, getting up to check the view. She gasped, and motioned for her friends to join her.

"Guys, you've gotta see this."

"Wot's the big—croikey!" Monty breathed as he took in the scene.

A short distance away from the tree, the park pond was frozen solid, the surrounding spotlights casting an odd glow on the fountain of ice that rose from the center. Sparky and Dale joined the others, and were equally distressed.

"Whoa, when did this happen?" Dale breathed, taking in the scene.

"Not too long ago, if the steam coming off the ice is any indication," Sparky answered. The absent-minded mouse was constantly forgetting things, but could effect a mind-boggling transformation to science professor when the situation required. He walked over to the door, taking down his toolkit from a peg there.

"Let's go have a look. If this is Nimnul's doing, then there's no sense letting the opportunity get away."
Sprocket followed, grabbing his tattered bomber jacket from the sofa.

"I'm with you. Let's just hope our perpetrator has already left the scene of his crime. We're not exactly prepared for the usual duel with him."

The Rangers made their way down the trunk of the tree, and moved cautiously toward the pond, which in the heat of the June night was already beginning to defrost somewhat. Sprocket knelt down, fingering a wedge of ice that had crumbled from the rest.
"It's no illusion. If this is Nimnul's new weapon, he must have been making a trial run. This must be the start of the case that the Nimnul from my time was coming back for."

He stood up, and walked over to the rest of the group.

"I believe we'd better start winterizing HQ. When the two Nimnuls meet, it'll probably be one of the first things they strike."

"You mean in your time, he knows where it is?" Tammy asked.

"Naturally. Remember the modemizer case? Nimnul never forgot what he learned in those few days."

Monterey jerked a small icicle from the edge of a park bench, and broke it over his knee in frustration.

"This mystery just keeps gettin bigger and bigger, mates! We're gonna have ta confront this loser sometime."
"True enough, Uncle Monty, but we can't really strike at him until his counterpart gets here. It'd be futile. We need to wait till Mom and Dad get back, and lay out a plan of action."

"Agreed," Sparky said. "And start trying to come up with some sort of edge."

Sprocket thought for a bit, and then grinned.
"I think I have an idea. I'll need Mom and Aunt Tammy's help, but I think I might know how we can get that edge."

Chip and Gadget returned later in the evening, thoroughly disturbed upon seeing the still melting pond.

"So this is what we can expect out of Nimnul? He's going to try and freeze the city?" Chip mused.

"I don't know," Sprocket answered truthfully. "Your Nimnul will be out for money. Mine will be out for revenge. They'll meet somewhere in the middle. But like I was telling the others, I think I have an idea to give us a defensive boost. Mom, did you get a chance to look at the wreckage from the R-IV?"
"Not yet. Is there something important there?"

"Very. If we can salvage the main computer, then there's a definite hope. In my time, you once gained access to Professor Nimnul's computer network, and made notes on several of his inventions. One of those was…"
"The weather changer," she finished.

"Exactly. If we can rig something like it, not exactly, but enough to shield Ranger HQ, it'll give us an advantage from which to fight."

Gadget rolled up her sleeves.

"I'll help all I can, but I don't know how much that'll be, considering."

"That's okay, Mom. You just give us the necessary pointers, I think Aunt Tammy and I can handle salvaging the computer. We just need it long enough to access those files. You can help with soldering all the boards and stuff back together. It's gonna be an all-night job I'm afraid, but it needs to be done."

"Right," Gadget said, in her take-command voice. "Monty, you get the percolator running hot, and keep it that way. I'll have to have a bit of caffeine for an all nighter, I can tell you that. Sparky, ground yourself. We can't risk you shorting out the components. Chip, Dale, you two just…well, stick around in case we need some spare hands."

Chip clapped his hands together, and looked around at his compatriots.

"You heard the lady, Rangers. Let's get cracking!"