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Disaster Button
DAY I: Reasons Why
Matt looked around for a set of stairs or a ladder that would lead him upwards.
He was thankful that it had been a fairly warm day today before Ethan had knocked him through the anomaly and he hadn't needed his jacket. The man Matt had encountered when he came to here had been giving him odd looks.
He'd have to find the crews quarters and see if he'd have the fortune of borrowing a crewman's clothes without notice.
Matt climbed a set of stairs and continued his search for something to keep taking him towards his next objective: initially finding Mr. Bell, but at present finding the proper clothes for the time period.
Becker and his men managed to detain Ethan and get some handcuffs on him.
Abby and Connor had gone back down and outside to search for the device Ethan had thrown out of the window.
"Do think that was the device Helen was using to get around?" Abby asked as she and Connor looked around.
"I think that's exactly what it was." Connor answered, crouching down and picking something up.
"We may have a problem." Connor elaborated, holding up parts of the broken device.
"Can you fix it?" Abby asked.
"Might take me awhile. The ground really did a number on it." Connor replied, picking up every last piece and collecting it in his shirt.
"I'll get you something to put all of that in." Abby offered before heading off.
After navigating what may have well been a labyrinth of passages and stairs and ladders, Matt had stumbled upon some crewman from the boiler rooms and followed them at a distance, hoping they would lead him to the crew's quarters.
After ten minutes, Matt had finally located the crew's quarters.
He was under the impression that the ship had just enough people to be running the ship to get to Southampton that he could only hope everyone on the ship would be at their stations at this point in the day or night, he wasn't exactly sure of the time.
Matt looked around to make sure the coast was clear before entering the crew's quarters.
Like he had hoped, there didn't appear to be anyone; but still, he wasted no time searching for clothes that would fit him.
He borrowed a shirt from one man's knapsack a pair of pants from another's.
However, he was unable to find an extra set of shoes.
'Fingers crossed no one takes notice to my shoes.' He thought as he searched for somewhere to stash his clothes.
Lester was coming out of his office just as Abby and Connor cut through the Main Operations room to get to Connor's lab.
"Last I checked, we were running a government facility to contain rips in time and dinosaurs; not a mental institution."
"We've got Ethan in custody because he's running around with this interesting bit of kit." Connor explained, lightly shaking the box Abby had acquired for him to place the broken pieces in.
"A shoebox with junk in it?" Lester raised an eyebrow.
Connor fumbled the lid open. "An anomaly opener."
"And how did he get it?"
"We're not exactly sure. Becker's got him in interrogation to see if he can get any information from him." Abby stated.
"And, where's Matt?"
Connor and Abby exchanged a glance before looking back at Lester.
"We don't exactly know." Connor admitted.
"Ethan opened an anomaly, and knocked Matt through it before closing the anomaly and tossing the device out a window several stories up." Abby added.
"I'm sure the Minister will be ecstatic to hear this." Lester said flatly, placing his arms behind his back. "Good thing my next appointment with him isn't until Tuesday morning."
"That's good, right? Time to—to organize your thoughts?" Connor asked trying to lighten the mood.
"I'd like for that device to be fixed—or a miracle, which ever happens first—by that time so I can tell the Minister the same thing I tell him at every meeting."
"That dinosaurs haven't taken over the world, yet?" Connor guessed.
"Just get it fixed!"
"Yep, I'm on it." Connor nodded before ducking out of the Main Operations rooms with Abby.
Matt exited the crew's quarters and began his quest to find a way to the upper decks in the hopes of at least seeing the sunlight.
The man he'd encountered when he came to had mentioned that they would soon be docking at Southampton.
Perhaps he wouldn't have to locate Mr. Bell and he could just leave the ship when it docked and hope that another anomaly would open somewhere sometime soon?
Nevertheless, Matt memorized every step he took and every corner he turned in the event that he would need to recall the information.
As he rounded a corner on what he assumed to be C Deck, he was stopped by a voice.
"We haven't made port yet. Why have you abandoned your post?"
Matt turned to see a man about 5' 7" donning a mustache and an officer's uniform with a stern, authoritative presence about him.
"I took quite a fall near the end of my shift and I—"
"Took to wandering the ship? You don't seem out of sorts from your fall." The man guessed. "We need every able body we have to get her into port safely."
It donned on Matt that he wasn't talking to the Captain like he'd initially thought, but more likely Mr. Bell, the Chief Engineer.
"The walk cleared my head." Matt spoke, hoping the weak explanation was remotely believable.
"We should get you looked over by one of the medical staff to make sure that no permanent damage has been done."
The last thing Matt needed were records of his existence even further before his actual birth date.
"No, that won't be necessary. I don't think there was anything too permanent done." Matt stated, hoping that would satisfy the man.
"Well, then, Mr.?"
"Thompson. James Thompson." Matt lied.
Long before he and his father had shown up in Connor and Abby's time, there had been a list of aliases compiled in the event that they should end up in a situation like this one. James Thompson was the only other name Matt could recall off the top of his head on the spot.
"Mr. Thompson, if you would be so kind as to accompany me to the Engine Room." Chief Engineer Bell extended an arm down the hallway Matt had just come down.
Matt stood in his place a stolid expression on his face momentarily before forcing a smile. "Of course."
A little over an hour later, after assisting in stoking the fires and proving that he was in fact in good physical health and of sound mind after his fall, the order was given to draw the fires.
The ship was docked.
Provisioning would take priority before the embarking of the various classes of passengers.
After aiding with much of the duties required of him before he could set foot on land, Matt finally found his chance to leave the ship; yet felt odd about the plan to abandon ship all of a sudden.
He followed some of the men that he'd worked alongside for the past hour or so. He had discovered that he had taken the absolute longest route to the upper decks earlier when there had been a fireman's passage that led up to the crew's quarters.
From there, he was able to navigate through the third class berths, some of the first class berths and finally breathe the sea air that danced along the port of Southampton.
It seemed like a strange world to Matt.
Then again, compared to what he once called home, almost anywhere seemed a strange world.
It was rather cold.
As he set foot on land, he realized that he had no money, nothing of value to the people of this time that he could barter for anything, much less a decent pint of ale.
He watched as the passengers began to board the steam liner.
Matt's plans further changed when he noticed her boarding the ship.
And he knew he had no choice but to return to the ship.
"Emily." He whispered, solemnly.
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