Acme Time Travel Incorporated - Volume 2

Glorieta de Mejico – Seville

Gabriel and Ginny had eaten a late-afternoon meal with Sara and Zackery. Then they had wished them well and set off walking back towards the flyer park where they had killed Smythe and his colleague.

“Good idea about making a slow journey with the tracer,” Gabriel said, “but how do you plan to do it? We haven’t got the starship any more, and I would have no idea how to use regular transport to get across Spain and into France.”

The street they were walking down opened up into the Glorieta de Mejico ... the flyer park.

A few people were walking about, but it looked as though most people had maybe parked there for the evening and were now in the main part of town.

“Vicky?” Ginny said.

“Yes, Ginny.”

“Could you get us some transport?”

“What sort would you like, Ginny?”

“Well, the starship was good, but I suppose anything will do. It’s just that, if we are going to take a slow trip across Europe, something with sleeping facilities would be good.”

In the empty space next to them a faint shimmering suggested Vicky’s request was about to make an appearance.

“It’s a fucking starship,” Gabriel laughed, recognising the general shape and the fish-scale appearance.

The starship floated a few inches above the ground, making the other vehicles in the flyer park look like toys.

Its hatchway slowly unpeeled.

Ginny stepped up into the ship, followed by Gabriel.

“Good day, Ship,” Vicky said. “May I introduce you to my clients. They are called ...”

“Pleased to see you again,” said Ship. “No introductions are necessary, I believe.”

“How the hell ...?” said Gabriel. “I thought we left you two years in the future.”

“I don’t rightly know,” said Ship. “As you know, I was registered as docked on one of the ACME-HUB stubs. Maybe the service facility left in place by ACME, the one to supply equipment to its lost clients, maybe that can teleport equipment from registered docking points.”

Ginny couldn’t help but to smile.

“Well, anyway ... I don’t really know how it happened,” Ship continued, “but here I am, and I’m very pleased to see you again.”

“Ok then Ship,” Ginny said. “Can you please plot a route through Spain, up into France and then into Switzerland. I want to make it look like we are making a trip in a basic flyer. Not fast. Low altitude. Take three days. Head for Zurich. Stop and land somewhere in the evenings. Try to find places with some open countryside. And during the day, just stop every few hours. Then wait around for an hour. But don’t land anywhere conspicuous ... just areas that look sort of pretty. Is that ok?”

Gabriel looked on proudly.

“Yes, I understand that, Ginny,” said Ship. “Shall we set off right now?”

“Yes please, Ship.”

“Ok, Ginny. We are underway. Shall I initiate cloaking?”

“No. Leave it off, thanks. Keep us visible. We don’t have a care in the world.”

“Ok, Ginny.”

Gabriel stood watching Ginny. He thought that she seemed to have risen to the challenge they were facing. He hoped it was a good thing.

“I’ll get the hot chocolate on, then,” Gabriel said.

“That would be nice,” Ginny said.