Temporal Exploring 101 - Cultural Immersion

II.20 Girls' talk

I facepalmed.

"Sara is going to kill me," I moaned.

"There is no need for her to know about this like, at all," Natty, ever the pragmatic one, observed.

"Who is Sara?" Nancy inquired. She was staring at the ansible, in utter fascination.  "And what on earth is that gadget?"

Natty and I exchanged a glance.

I sighed. "I guess we might as well tell her." I turned towards Nancy. "You've got to promise that you are not going to tell anybody else about it though."

Nancy shrugged. "Sure, I promise."

"Nobody would believe you anyhow, if you ever talked about this," my roommate cheerfully informed her. "They would only conclude that you had finally and irrevocably lost your mind."

Nancy giggled. "That wouldn't exactly make me the first Kerrington in history notable for not playing with a full deck of cards."

"Really?" Natty looked intrigued. "Are there so many of your ancestors who have lost their marbles then?"

"You'd be surprised." Nancy grinned. "There is great aunt Marjory, who actually is still alive, and there were was great-great-great grandfather, who set our family's Cornwall estate on fire."

"Truly? Like Nero setting Rome on fire?"

"Yes, except on a somewhat smaller scale. He looked the part, too. Remind me to show you his portrait in the main hall, the next time you visit."

"I'd love to see that," Natty gushed.

"And I would love to hear your story. Or rather, Cathy's story, I suppose."

I took a deep breath. "Alright, then. Here goes."

"But that is marvelous," Nancy exclaimed, about ten minutes later when Natty and I were done telling her about my mission and about our adventures. "Totally and utterly marvelous. I only wish you could have taken me along with you to the future."

We had pretty much told her everything: how I had been sent here from the 23rd century on my First Temporal Assignment, on a mission to investigate the mysterious Natty Fogg, author of the famous Red Notebook. How I had realized that the 'Ruggedly Handsome Devil' as well as a group of pyrtar both must have arrived here from some unspecified future era, apparently with the intention of kidnapping or killing Natty. How the three pyrtar had locked Natty and me in our school's volleyball hall and set the building on fire. How Natty and I had narrowly escaped via transit to the 23rd century, and finally, how we had found ourselves compelled to return to the 1960s.

"I fail to see what is supposed to be so marvelous about it," I grumbled. "It was dangerous and scary, we almost got ourselves killed. We literally peed our pants when we were caught in the middle of that fire."

"You did? Gross." Nancy made a face.

"Even though, it would totally have been worth it," she concluded. "I mean, to travel to the future and all. Come on, guys. You've got to admit that's pretty fabulous."

"Maybe so", Natty conceded. She frowned. "But now it looks like we won't return to the 23rd century anytime soon."

"Who cares?" Nancy beamed. "We can have all kinds of fascinating adventures here, too. Almost like the Famous Five."

Natty rolled her eyes. "First of all, there are only three of us. Secondly, I don't see that we are going to have further adventures any time soon. Seeing as how those pyrtar and the Ruggedly Handsome Devil both appear to be convinced that Cathy and I died in that fire. Which is like, perfect, as far as I am concerned."