PROFESSOR HANSSEN'S TIME MACHINE CHAPTER TWO
(Another Alternative Universe story because that's what I like to write. Freechamp, Dyfty, and some familiar characters along the way. Rated K plus just in case.)
PROFESSOR HANSSEN'S TIME MACHINE
CHAPTER TWO
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Casualty or any of the characters.
They walked down the winding corridor to the main part of the attraction. It was quite dimly lit. Connie nearly tripped in her Louboutins but this made her all the more determined to go on. Rita gave a nervous little giggle, Dylan tried to look totally bored, Ben looked uneasy. As well he might.
At the end of the corridor were three or four men with machine guns, while a fifth, a tall, thin man, leered at them malevolently.
"Are those props really necessary?" snapped Dylan.
"Oh they're not props. Show him, Dave."
Dave fired at the ceiling, and plaster fell down. Ben felt sick with nerves but wanted to keep a brave face in front of his crush.
"I have armed guards because I need guinea pigs for my little experiment and you were foolish enough to volunteer. Now step this way please."
He led them to a strange looking hut with a large door.
"Step in there."
"Will we all get in?" asked Connie.
"I think it's like the Tardis" Ben replied, trying to keep the conversation light, despite the way his heartbeats were almost choking him.
It was, indeed, a large room with a control panel at the back. Normally Ben would have been thrilled to be living his sci-fi dreams. But this was too close for comfort.
"So, ladies and gentlemen, you have a choice. Either travel in my machine and bring back some treasures on your journey – oh, you could be away for years but to us back here it will only seem like fifteen minutes. Or be shot. Just to see if there are any true gentlemen around still, the ladies would die first. Saying yes to my little venture would save their pretty skins."
Rita had seen quite a few American mob films and felt sick.
"Those shots would be heard outside. Even if you killed us you'd risk arrest." Dylan snapped.
"This attraction is very much soundproofed. Now choose!"
It was Ben – who was supposed to be the stupid one of the group by Connie's reckoning – who gave the most logical answer.
"The way I see it, if we say no, we die here. If we agree, at least we have a fifty-fifty chance."
"The lad's right. What do you say?"
"I'd say that we don't know how to operate this machine of yours" Connie replied.
"Simple. I shall demonstrate without actually touching anything. Forward for forward in time. Back for back in time. Sideways would take you to the same timeline but another country. I recommend going back for a few ventures, if you return empty-handed my death threat still stands."
They all nodded.
"So there'll be a one minute delay between operating the machine and it actually moving. This will enable us to run to safety after you've pressed a control switch" Hanssen explained.
Deep breaths, then a group hug. Ben felt a slight degree of comfort in that he'd at least managed to hug Dylan once.
"Now one of you operate the machine."
"I'll do it" Connie replied bossily.
Nobody wanted to deprive her of that privilege. Slowly, as the notice overhead instructed, she turned the 'back' switch. Hanssen and his mob ran for their lives.
And the room span round then settled down again.
Nobody wanted to open the door but Rita decided it was her turn to be brave.
She turned the handle slowly.
The smell of roast pork. A man's voice saying:
"Ah, 'tis a great day for us all with Good King Charlie on the throne, and Cromwell's mob's heads on poles like the traitors they were. Come, friends, let's go to Slatternly Honey's and buy the company of a wench for the night!"
Rita had a good idea that Good King Charlie wasn't Charlie Fairhead.
She turned back and said to the others:
"Charles the Second's time, I think."
"We might be burned as witches and warlocks if we go outside in these clothes."
Connie saw several blankets in the storage section of the machine.
"Quick! We were attacked by ruffians and they even took our clothes, okay? So take your clothes off."
"All?" Ben looked terrified.
"It's safer that way. Now remember you've been beaten and robbed, and don't forget to mention how brilliant good King Charlie is."
"I preferred Cromwell" whispered Dylan, adding:
"But I'll play it safe."
Leaving their original clothes folded and hidden in the living quarters of the machine, and swathed in blankets, they slowly descended the steps then closed the door to the machine. Connie locked it and kept the key firmly in her hand.
They were close to a crowded square, and were able to pull back against the wall while they assessed the situation.
A sign that read 'Slatternly Honey's House of Joy' was visible across the cobbled street.
Round the corner came a chubby, jovial looking man who seemed to be rich, from his clothing.
Connie pushed Rita forward.
"You look the most vulnerable. Now tell him of our plight."
"Please, sir, will you help us?" Rita cried.
The man came over, and gave a polite bow.
"My goodness, little wench, what happened to you and your friends? And why is your hair shorn like a boy's?"
"Alas, Sir, I was forced to flee from my lover who was monstrously jealous" improvised Rita, "He clipped off my hair and said the next day he would cut my face, and so I fled with my loyal servants here. We were robbed and stripped naked by ruffians! This wench is Constance, my maid. Here are Dylan and Benjamin, who did the heavy work."
"What is the name of your lover? I will run him through!" bawled the man.
Rita strove to remember names from history and came up with:
"The Duke of Monmouth, Sir."
The man's face paled.
"Ah, that is a great shame, for he is favoured by the King, being Nelly Gwynne's son. But no matter! Tonight you shall all have fresh clothing, and sleep in my home. You ladies I'll leave to rest this evening, but I shall treat the gentlemen here to a rollicking evening at Slatternly Honey's."
"And what is your name, Sir?"
The gentleman doffed his hat.
"I am Sir McKenzie Chalker."
True to his word, Sir McKenzie went to the house of a clothes seller, hammered on the door until they answered, and offered them several gold pieces to open their shop. Soon all four were dressed again. Rita's apparel was made of the finest material but Connie, as 'the maid' had to be contented with a plain woollen dress and an apron. Even her shoes were flat. The two men were just grateful to be clothed and warm, and to heck with fashion, but the girls had to agree they looked fetching.
"Now you ladies can sit by the fire and stay warm after our meal. You'll keep the fire stoked, won't you, wench?" Sir McKenzie asked Connie.
She nodded, tight-lipped. If this wench gets her chance to pay you back for this dirty trick, Freeman, you'd better be careful, she thought.
Sir McKenzie was already ushering the men outside.
"'Tis but a step to Slatternly Honey's, friends. We'll drink to His Majesty, bed some lusty wenches, and have a right merry night!"
Dylan and Ben, who were both gay but not yet out of the closet, looked at each other in horror.
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