Chapter 4: In a New World? No, in a new time!
Summary:
Richard and Camille are safe from certain death. At what price? James Lester and his team have had to break more than one rule to save their lives, but James Lester, if it´s necessary, skips that and more. He´s the boss!
Chapter Text
When they wake up, they find themselves in… a hospital? Camille, after waiting for the daze to pass, sits up looking at everything around her carefully and comments:
"Richard, are you okay? What happened? We are not at the Saint Marie hospital"
Richard looks at her and doesn't know what to answer. But, unlike her, he does have at least a suspicion of where they can meet. He senses problems.
He´s about to answer him with a vague approximation, but a voice already known to them answers for him:
"I would never break my own rules, but Aunt Elizabeth would kill me if I hadn't intervened, Richard"
Camille is astonished, once again Richard's double!
"What are we doing here, James? How did we get here?" Richard asks.
James Lester looks at them without any expression on his face, only a small glint in his eyes that lasts just over a second explains the dilemma he finds himself in.
"You're fine, that's what matters. This is our little 'private hospital'. Although with an advance that many hospitals already want for themselves." He stops before the surprised looks of Camille and Richard. "It´s not that they have cured you, Richard, it´s that we have prevented your certain death"
Already, the amazement is almost infinite.
"But before continuing, I think it would be interesting if you saw a cover of the little newspaper of Saint Marie" He approaches and shows them the cover: "Commotion in Saint Marie. Detective Inspector Richard Poole and Detective Sergeant Camille Bordey pass away due to a poisoning due to the fire of "Manzanillo de la Muerte"
" Camille just reads the headline over and over again. But they´re alive!
"I don´t get it. We are in….?" His assumption seems so absurd to him that he dares not even put it into words.
"No, Camille, we haven´t died and we are in another life. Right, James? " short Richard.
James Lester smiles with his eyes and answers: "Of course not. If this is the afterlife, hell should be awful. No. Richard, did you know that you have an anomaly very close to your shark? How do you think I got there and disappeared so quickly and timely?"
"So, can we go back and reassure everyone?" Richard asks concerned about Catherine, mainly.
Lester thinks about his answer for a few seconds.
"Not at the moment I'm afraid. That anomaly is also temporary and we aren´t able to open it at this time. But we tried. We have our particular genius: Connor Temple. Yes, he is very willful, but I'm afraid his solutions are certainly unpredictable, cool, but unpredictable. "
Richard and Camille look at each other in shock. More her than he, because she understands nothing! Anomalies? Why doesn't anyone explain anything to her?
"Plus, it's temporary. It's not that we saved your life, it's that we arrived tenths of a second after you passed out. It was the ONLY option to help you. Are you understanding me, Richard, we traveled a little back in time. This cover has not currently been printed. No longer exists. But we must wait for Connor to have a good day and succeed."
Richard ponders his question:
"But that plant is still there. Although before I can assure you that it wasn´t. Did you bring it?"
"There was a small temporary change. It happens when you travel and you don't always realize it. It's actually a slightly deadlier and faster-growing ascendant than the current species. Which by the way, YES is common in the Caribbean area. Bad luck. But we´ve already removed it. It won't cause any more damage," Lester clarifies.
"So ..." says Camille. "If we are here, we still don't know where we are, and we are not there. What do they think of our disappearance?"
James Lester smiles broadly and with some mischief answers:
"Sorry. There was no other way to fix it. If I had left a note clarifying that we were on some secret and official business, Commissioner Patterson would not have believed it. I think everything passes through their hands. So the only thing that occurred to me was to put a note indicating that you have escaped. Sounds much better than your death, doesn't it?"
They both go papery white. This is a nightmare!
Richard begins to think quickly: "But if that anomaly goes back to open and we go back to that moment in time. Was there some way to undo all this damn mess?"
James Lester ponders the answer and answers:
"Nothing can ever be assured. But there would be many possibilities to undo it, yes. You would always have to make very precise adjustments, but yes, of course. With luck as an ally, of course."
He stops when he sees Richard and Camille's shocked faces. "Of course it´s possible!" He have had enough fun with them already. His cousin needs a big push and he needs to have a little fun. "In answer to your question, DS Bordey, you are at the ARC, a top secret center of the British Government. It deals with detecting and controlling anomalies to protect the population. At the moment it´s not necessary to know more. Also…" he´s interrupted by Lorraine Wickes, his secretary, who informs him of the following, in a low voice: "the mamuth is already under control, sir"
Lester lets out a satisfied sigh and replies, "Perfect! It seems that we have overcome another crisis. Thank you, Miss Wickes. Apart from the unfortunate death of that civilian, is there more to regret the damage?" he questions.
"Only materials. But large, sir. They´re already taking care of that" she replies.
"Well…." He stops and, addressing Camille and Richard, continues: "Miss Wickes, this is a relative of mine, my cousin DI Richard Poole and his DS Camille Bordey. This is Miss Wickes." Keep talking to Richard and Camille. Again he continues talking to Lorraine: "They will be our forced guests until a small problem is solved"
They all greet each other properly, and Lorraine Wickes immediately leaves the infirmary. Then Lester goes to them and says:
"I have to leave you for now, Richard. By the way, it´s a more than excellent opportunity to strengthen ties with the family. You have them very abandoned. Although without telling them anything, of course. This is all secret. But please don't ask me to accompany you. If you need anything, talk to Lorraine. She will take care of everything. When you feel better, you can leave here and go to the cafeteria, they also make meals. We have a kind of mini apartments inside the ARC with all the comforts. Install to your liking. But don't stray too far from the ARC when you go outside. You can be called at any time. Have this locator. It's not just for surveillance, it's for security." And he handed them two devices similar to a mobile phone. Camille takes it apprehensively and Richard is already trying to study it to understand its use.
Then James Lester leaves the way he came.
Camille continues to investigate the device. She's still mulling over the whole thing, though have they really gotten to be dead in another time dimension, or another time? She lets out a sigh and leaves the subject for Richard (he's the scientist after all!). She just wants to see her mother again and clarify that she has not eloped with Richard! If only it was true, boy she would enjoy it!
"Camille, are you okay?" Richard asks as he watches her for a few seconds.
"No, of course I'm not okay! It´s the nightmare squared, because you are in it!" she snaps.
Richard lets out another sigh, of course he won't listen to that outburst.
"Do you think we get out of here? I assure you that we´ll not have another opportunity like this. In a way we are seeing the future. And so you forget all this a little. I promise we´ll come back and fix all the mess. I understand that you are offended by what they must be thinking of us."
Camille looks at him in amazement. He gets up, begins to walk towards the exit and says, thinking to clarify that last point at another time: "Yes, we better clear up a bit and investigate our surroundings"
Notes: "El Manzanillo de la Muerte" in Spanish is a plant that just by inhaling its smoke causes cough, laryngitis and bronchitis. Family: Euphorbiaceae. Scientific name: Hippomane mancinella. Another name: Chamomile from the sand or the beach. It grows in coastal regions, on sandy soils with high saline concentration. IT´S REAL. By skin contact causes blisters, burns and inflammation. If it touches the eyes, it causes blindness. Ingested, it causes throat inflammation and severe gastrointestinal problems. This poisonous plant is found mainly in Central America and the CARIBBEAN. Its toxins are present in all parts of the tree. Its fruits are similar to apples and are obviously very poisonous. Registered in the Guinness book as the most dangerous tree on the planet, with posters so that people DO NOT EVEN APPROACH THE TREE. Tree in mortal danger of extinction in the Caribbean due to tourism, so that it does not harm tourists. The naturalist Linnaeus classified it as one of the most dangerous trees in the world. Is there another worse? By the way, burning it to destroy it is a bad idea because ALL parts of the tree are toxic, including its smoke.
It occurred to me to put an even more dangerous ancestor in this story. Equivalent to a dinosaur of the type of dangerous predators.
