Once Upon a Time Traveler

Chapter Six

Penn hurried into her flight suit. The green silks had been laying over the back of the chair next to her desk.

Swearing under her breath, she kept the thought of the handsome, obviously troubled, man in the back of her mind, attempting to focus. What could have caused the alarm to trip? What kind of mission would it be this time? Prevent an assassination? Prevent a possible world ending event? Alert a High Ranking Official's security team of a
kidnapping plot?

As soon as the small contingent of men finished thundering past her sleep cell on their way to the sphere's launch pad, Penn hurried to the command conference room to get her flight orders.

There she was a bit chagrined to see Nate standing at the head of the table.

It was also rather comical to see everyone else there in their pajamas and robes. Sort of like a governmental sleep over. With grown ups. In their pj's. Standing up, but, somehow, still sleeping.

Nate was the only other one dressed for the day shift. He clicked the stop watch and announced to all assembled. "Good! Three minutes off of our best time!"
Penn blinked for a minute, realizing that she had yet again been had' by the officious putz. Nate reached for the intercom and pressed the button, "Stand down. Dry run is Satisfactory."
As if nothing had happened, the recruits began to file out of the sphere's main launch room. Everyone else, (Talmedge included!), began to whine, groan and complain. "Really, Nate, you should have warned us."

"Sir, it's my obligation to make sure this facility is running at top flight level." He looked around the room at the obviously run down, disheveled group. "How could I have run this test properly if I'd told anybody about it?"

"You wouldn't have been allowed to!", Penn interjected, her voice rising with real irritation.
But, Nate glared at her, while speaking to the assembled group, "Even if y'all don't seem to care, I know I do! And, I know the American people are depending on us as well. Hell! Everybody's dependin' on us to come through should there be a disaster that calls for our intervention."

It was Olga's voice that rose, although she'd put her head down on the conference table, her eyes closed as though a kindergarten teacher had called for quiet time' , "Nathan, the people don't even know we exist, how could they be depending on us?"

"They may not know we exist Miss Volkovich, but, I can assure you, they're dependin' on us just the same!"

Penn could take it no longer! She lunged at Nate and caught him sideways, "You Freaking Son of A Bitch!"
As the requisite fight ensued, she stood up and lo and behold, Nate was stuck in a head lock!

"Sir! Sir!", Nate flailed his arms behind her. "You know what I did was for the best of the mission ops, sir!"

"How the hell can I be at my best' when you fuckin' exhaust me day an' night just because' you think you can get away with it!"
He stopped struggling, and his arms hung limply at his side. It was an hilarious view. Nate's badly balding head caught the faint light of the room and was threatening to blind any who looked at it for too long with shiny bald spot glare'. Now, he was trying to regain any lost dignity, by attempting to sound intelligent with his bent posture, enduring Penn's lock down'.

"Sir? Is this really necessary?", Nate was looking for back up that wasn't coming.

"Don't ask me, Nate, I'm not the one who has to pilot the craft!", Talmedge was not-so-secretly enjoying the sight.

"Okay, That's It, Missy!", Nate began the struggle anew. His hands flying to Penn's toned triceps that flexed against his throat. "Siiirrrr!", Nate's voice box was being squeezed in response to his attempt to jimmy himself free.

"You just want me to screw up so Badly that I either Die or get somebody else killed? Is that it?", Penn found adreniline that she didn't know she had. In truth, it was payback for the second dreamus interruptus' that she'd

endured because of Nate's overzealousness. "You know what happens to people who get deprived of their sleep?"

"Siiiirrr!", Nate's voice went up another octive.

"They get Mean!", Penn emphasized this last word with another twist and flex' motion, which left her arm with a bit of beard burn, but, otherwise unharmed. She released Nate who put a hand to his neck and glared a hole into Penn's unflinching face.

Olga hid her smirk under her hand and as staid an expression as she could muster. Donavan put a hand to his mouth, barely stifling his own sputtering. He finally had turned away in an attempt to simply say he hadn't seen it'!
Mina stood nearly in the corner, nearly in the darkness, out of the way of the fight and the other humans, and watched.

Yes, it was time. Penn wasn't going to last much longer. The outburst had been humorous, but, Nathan wasn't one to find humor in his come uppance. Talmedge stepped forward and intervened as only a patriarchal
Mission's Leader could.

"Now, Penn, just try to relax, it was, after all, for the good of the mission.", Talmedge moved to his desk to retrieve a cigar from his humidor.

"Are you Kidding me, sir?", Penn struggled to keep her temper in the face of the kind hearted head of the Back Step Project, "Do you Know how dangerous it is to send an op into the field with less than –"

Talmedge interrupted her, gently insisting, "Now that this little demonstration is over, I suggest we all go back to bed."

Penn, however, wasn't to be silenced. "Sir, I understand Nate's concern, and it is commendable, however, this is the second night in a row. And, I have to say, I'm not the kind of person who can just go back to sleep after I've suffered a shock to my system such as the one I did when the alarm went off."

"Soldiers in the field don't usually Get eight to ten in a bed, Missy! They've gotta be sharp no matter what kind of circumstances they find themselves in!"

"Nate! This isn't a full on war! It's intervention! It's not like you can go back and try to win Viet Nam over! Okay? You can't go back and win one for the gipper! Just get a grip and let us get our rest while we can!"

Talmedge lit his cigar and said, "Well, Nate I've done everything I can do.", and prepared to step away. Best to let the children fight it out amongst themselves.

Nearly everyone else had filed out, not wanting to spend any more time with Penn's and Nate's on-going battle. He was prejudiced against the fact that a woman had been chosen, and she was prejudiced against the fact that he was prejudiced.

Mina stepped forward in an almost gliding motion. As the wrestling match threatened to begin anew, she spoke, "Nate."

Her voice caused both of their heads to turn, yet, Nate was the one who fell into her hypnotic gaze, "Go to bed, and let me speak with Penn alone."

"Yes, Ma'am.", he droned, like a zombie, and without a parting jibe or glare, he was gone.

Penn nodded to herself. "Cool trick, wish I could learn it. I'd send him off of a short pier."

Mina smiled to Penn mischievously, "Still not sleepy?"

"Not really.", Penn admitted, wondering if Mina was going to use vampire powers on her.

Mina smiled again, "Good. I need to tell you something important."

Penn crossed to the little refrigerator and pulled out an orange juice, "I can't wait. Is it something really good you got on Nate?"

Mina sighed, and waited for Penn to situate herself. "No." Mina began carefully. "How much do you know about me?"

Penn frowned her confusion. "What's there to know? You're Mina Harker, widow of Jonathan, survivor of an attack and transformation by Dracula."

Mina looked Penn in the eyes.

Penn backed up a bit, "Uh, you're not gonna – ", she began.

"No.", Mina chuckled lightly, "I need to tell you this. It might help you later."

As Mina recounted her time with the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Penn became more and more aware of the uneasy feeling settling in the pit of her stomach. When Mina had finished, she sat upright and fixed Penn with a most serious expression. "I know that you've been having some very odd dreams lately."

Penn's furrowed brow deepened. "How would you know about that?"

"I'm the one who disabled the monitoring console.", Mina confessed flatly.

Penn glanced over each of her shoulders, making sure their conversation wasn't being over heard by human ears.
"What?", Penn's whisper wasn't nearly as quiet as she had hoped and it startled her to hear the emotion in the one word.

"I did it so that you could continue whatever contact you were having.", the Vampiress offered.

"Do you know what kind of contact I was having?", Penn was now wondering if there were tapes stashed somewhere.

Mina softened. "If it's who I think it is, he will be most surprised as well when the two of you come face to face."

Penn felt completely confused by this last and waited for clarification which did not come.

Mina continued along her own path, "Do you remember the previous chrononaut ahead of you?"

Penn conceded, "I've heard of him."

Mina nodded, "Yes. Frank Parker."

"What about him?", Penn was now more curious that she felt safe to be.

"You remind me very much of him.", Mina noted.

"Thanks.", Penn replied not knowing if it was, indeed a compliment. "Forgive me for asking, but, is there a point to all of this?"

Mina tried to explain, "When they found Frank for the program, he was in the Mental Ward of the Veteran's Hospital."

Penn inwardly shivered as she realized the similarity Mina was referring to, "Have you ever wondered why they chose their pilots from such a place?"

"I'm not sure I want to know.", Penn had to admit.

"If the pilot in question is caught – or tries to extend their own lives past the point the government deems acceptable', and attempts to blow the whistle on the project –", Mina was carefully leading Penn in the direction she wished her mind to wander.

"Who better to have deniable credibility.", Penn concluded.

"Yes.", Mina sadly confirmed.

Penn chuckled bitterly. "Well,", she shrugged, "I was fairly certain it had to be something like that."

"Do you know why they chose you, specifically?", Mina prodded.

"Because I fit the flight suit?", Penn deflected.

"It was the way in which you wound up in the Mental Ward.", Mina softly reminded Penn.

"I see.", Penn glanced away, feeling new anger welling in her.

Mina then decided to let Penn in on another secret, "Do you know what happened to Frank Parker?"

Penn felt her throat closing, "He died in an accident."

Mina shook her head. "I assure you, what happened to Mr. Parker was no accident."

Penn nodded, silently acknowledging the dirty under-handedness of Nate, "I was pretty sure of it."

Mina stopped her from thinking too much further. "Penn. What I'm about to tell you now, you may not repeat to another person, if you want to live."

"I can't believe this. You want to debrief to me?", Penn again looked around, sensing a set up.

"Frank Parker is alive and well, I would assume – in Australia.", Mina was still reveling in her techo-lust with the sphere's capability.

"What?", Penn blinked hard as if trying to take it all in. Something was unknotting in Penn's stomach and she wasn't sure if it was something good'.

"That accident was no accident'."

"Oh, my god.", the entire weight of what Mina had accomplished was finally settling in on Penn's mental shoulders.

Mina carefully continued, "Most of the sphere came back, only he wasn't in it. I made certain the trajectory was sufficient to be out of the scope of the mission's control. As far as I know, he's living a good life as a sheep rancher in the mid 1950's."

"But, the –", Penn simply gestured to the large geodesic blue sphere still hoping that she wasn't right in believing what she was believing on the launch pad. She was beyond making any comprehendible utterances at the moment.

"Yes, I know; seven days; that's the farthest back that they can easily track the sphere. It doesn't mean that's the farthest it can go. And, it doesn't mean that it won't be found', eventually. It just means that that's as far back as they are willing to allow another person to go."

Penn turned her head to lean an ear in, silently begging repeating of the facts as known by Mina.

"Listen," Mina reached into her pocket and brought out two letters. "I want you to take these. One is addressed to me. It will identify you to me. I'll also tell you something about me, when the league was first being formed, that no one else, except those in the league would know of.", Mina shoved the other envelope into the stunned pilot's hand.

"This one is addressed to Allan Quatermaine. You're to give us both these letters the minute you regain consciousness."

"But, I – ", Penn was more confused than ever.

"Now, when you leave here, I want you to go straight to sleep. And, as for my little confession about Mr. Parker, you're to tell no one. Do you hear me? You tell no one, until the appropriate time, that we've spoken.", and just to make certain that the secret would be kept, Mina did something that she hoped wouldn't harm the chrononaut
too much.

"But,", Penn asked as she unzipped the pocket at her flight suit's knee. She turned her face to Mina again, almost pleadingly, "How will I know - ?", Penn's eyes glazed over, and Mina leaned in and spoke in a whisper only a dog could have heard. A secret that only she and the other members of the league would know.