''So, this is Greenworld'' Cassandra Savage said, without a great deal of enthusiasm. The presence of Nikki at her side notwithstanding, living in a fenced enclosure surrounded by primordial woodland and forest didn't match her city-girl preferences.
Nikki gave her a slightly apologetic smile. Cassandra understood all too well that her lover had been over-the-moon about the prize which her father had dangled in front of her - a free hand to explore, discover and - if need be - modify the huge Time Master mothership that had been locked away in a secure warehouse on Earth 1 at the time.
It had not taken long for Caspar and Dronon to begin to complain about her activities - particularly the modifications she was making to those aspects of the ship's technology which she considered 'clunky'. Vandal Savage had looked at them and wondered aloud if he really needed them both, now that he had Nikki. That shut them up nicely. Now he looked at the two young women walking at his side across the newly established base. Nikki was an unconventional genius at engineering and technology, who'd been working in the black market when he'd found out where she was - along with the bonus of finding Cassandra as well.
He'd been surprised to find his daughter living in this time period - one of the side effects of the changes Caspar and Dronon had made. It was a pleasant surprise, giving him a reason to keep at least one of these Time Masters around. What was even more welcome was his daughter's evident affection for him, her reaction to Greenworld notwithstanding - he didn't think this Cassandra would betray him.
''I won't need the two of you to be there all the time'' he had assured her. ''But there'll be important work for Nikki to do. And I want you to keep an eye on Tandy.''
He glanced at the sixth member of their group, as he recalled that conversation. Tandy was a crook, a relatively small-time crook. Someone he praised to his face and secretly despised. Tandy had been able to steal certain pieces of technology for Nikki to study and been rewarded by being put in charge of this base during the construction phase. Cassandra would keep a check on him and - eventually - he would be replaced by someone better.
Cassandra barely gave the man in question a glance. She had been consoling herself by thinking what she had been able to arrange in the way of compensations. The cabin assigned to Nikki and her might look functional on the outside but inside the furniture and fittings were the best she'd been able to get hold of - a small island of luxury in a primitive world.
''Home from home'' Nikki had said approvingly.
