end was the familiar stun gun electrical contact point.
I shrugged, determined not to be impressed.
He grinned. ‘OK, then how about this?’
The handle was shaped like a duck’s head. He did something to the beak and a shot of amber fluid tipped into my teacup. ‘For emergencies only, of course.’
Actually, in my life, pretty well every day is an emergency.
I chugged back a suddenly very enjoyable cup of tea.
‘What’s going on behind me?’
‘Dr Bairstow’s paying the bill. What shall I do?’
‘Let them go.’
‘What about Ronan?’
Good question. We both looked at Ronan who was sagging untidily in his seat. A stream of drool ran down his chin. We could lug him out through the crowds, explaining he was an uncle who’d had a funny turn, whatever, get him back to the pod and take him back for Dr Bairstow to deal with. Or, more likely, the Time Police. But what good would that do? He had to be at liberty to commit the crimes in his future. Our past. It makes my head ache, it really does.
‘The thing is, Max, he knows you now. He’s seen you in daylight. You can’t afford to let him go free. You’re the one who ruined his chance today. He’ll hate you for ever more.’
I already knew that was true. Today was the day I had made a powerful enemy. One day he would pay someone I considered a friend of mine to throw me off a cliff. He would try to shoot me in the Alexandrian desert. And who knew what else that hadn’t happened yet. How much easier just to shoot the bastard.
With regret, I shook my head. ‘Come on, let’s get out of here.’
‘We’re going to leave him? He’s going to get away with it?’
‘Well, we are sticking him with the bill.’
‘Fair enough.’
Safely out in the main boulevard, I called in the troops. I could see them making their way unobtrusively through the crowds.
‘Please don’t discuss this with anyone, Mr Sands. And your report is for my eyes only.’
‘Understood. Did I pass?’
‘Maybe,’ I said, striving to maintain at least the appearance of authority as his head of department.
Water off a duck’s back. ‘Great. Hey, knock-knock …’
‘Shut up.’
I took our reports to the Boss, personally.
He took them from me and grinned. He actually grinned. I didn’t know he could do that.
‘Well?’ he said. ‘Did you see us?’
‘We did, indeed, sir.’
‘You should have come over.’ His smile faded. ‘I would have liked to introduce you.’
‘We were busy, sir.’
I sat quietly and looked out of the window at the rain while he read first Mr Sand’s report, and then mine. Finally, he laid them both on his desk and looked at me.
‘I really am not sure what to say.’
I said, ‘No, sir,’ because that seemed a safe bet and left it at that.
‘I remember being in the Western Court. Miss Bessant and I.’
He paused for a moment and I made sure to shuffle some papers.
‘And Ronan just happened to be there as well?’
‘I don’t think that was coincidence, sir. I think he’d been following you. He would be familiar with your assignments, after all. I think he chose the Crystal Palace because he could escape easily in the crowds.’
‘And all this was going on behind us? We had no idea.’
No, they wouldn’t. They had been in their own little world.
‘No, sir,’ seemed a tactful response.
‘Well, that will be a lesson to me always to sit with my back to the wall in future,’ He smiled and suddenly, that young historian wasn’t so far away after all. ‘How did I look?’
I remembered his hand on hers. The eagerness of a man snatching at a few unexpected minutes with the only woman he would ever love.
‘Unfamiliar, sir.’
He smiled.
‘Sir, what are we going to do about him? About Ronan, I mean. He’s rampaging up and down the timeline, always causing trouble. He leaves a trail of dead bodies wherever he goes and we can’t touch him. We can’t do anything except foil whatever dastardly scheme he’s concocted this
I shrugged, determined not to be impressed.
He grinned. ‘OK, then how about this?’
The handle was shaped like a duck’s head. He did something to the beak and a shot of amber fluid tipped into my teacup. ‘For emergencies only, of course.’
Actually, in my life, pretty well every day is an emergency.
I chugged back a suddenly very enjoyable cup of tea.
‘What’s going on behind me?’
‘Dr Bairstow’s paying the bill. What shall I do?’
‘Let them go.’
‘What about Ronan?’
Good question. We both looked at Ronan who was sagging untidily in his seat. A stream of drool ran down his chin. We could lug him out through the crowds, explaining he was an uncle who’d had a funny turn, whatever, get him back to the pod and take him back for Dr Bairstow to deal with. Or, more likely, the Time Police. But what good would that do? He had to be at liberty to commit the crimes in his future. Our past. It makes my head ache, it really does.
‘The thing is, Max, he knows you now. He’s seen you in daylight. You can’t afford to let him go free. You’re the one who ruined his chance today. He’ll hate you for ever more.’
I already knew that was true. Today was the day I had made a powerful enemy. One day he would pay someone I considered a friend of mine to throw me off a cliff. He would try to shoot me in the Alexandrian desert. And who knew what else that hadn’t happened yet. How much easier just to shoot the bastard.
With regret, I shook my head. ‘Come on, let’s get out of here.’
‘We’re going to leave him? He’s going to get away with it?’
‘Well, we are sticking him with the bill.’
‘Fair enough.’
Safely out in the main boulevard, I called in the troops. I could see them making their way unobtrusively through the crowds.
‘Please don’t discuss this with anyone, Mr Sands. And your report is for my eyes only.’
‘Understood. Did I pass?’
‘Maybe,’ I said, striving to maintain at least the appearance of authority as his head of department.
Water off a duck’s back. ‘Great. Hey, knock-knock …’
‘Shut up.’
I took our reports to the Boss, personally.
He took them from me and grinned. He actually grinned. I didn’t know he could do that.
‘Well?’ he said. ‘Did you see us?’
‘We did, indeed, sir.’
‘You should have come over.’ His smile faded. ‘I would have liked to introduce you.’
‘We were busy, sir.’
I sat quietly and looked out of the window at the rain while he read first Mr Sand’s report, and then mine. Finally, he laid them both on his desk and looked at me.
‘I really am not sure what to say.’
I said, ‘No, sir,’ because that seemed a safe bet and left it at that.
‘I remember being in the Western Court. Miss Bessant and I.’
He paused for a moment and I made sure to shuffle some papers.
‘And Ronan just happened to be there as well?’
‘I don’t think that was coincidence, sir. I think he’d been following you. He would be familiar with your assignments, after all. I think he chose the Crystal Palace because he could escape easily in the crowds.’
‘And all this was going on behind us? We had no idea.’
No, they wouldn’t. They had been in their own little world.
‘No, sir,’ seemed a tactful response.
‘Well, that will be a lesson to me always to sit with my back to the wall in future,’ He smiled and suddenly, that young historian wasn’t so far away after all. ‘How did I look?’
I remembered his hand on hers. The eagerness of a man snatching at a few unexpected minutes with the only woman he would ever love.
‘Unfamiliar, sir.’
He smiled.
‘Sir, what are we going to do about him? About Ronan, I mean. He’s rampaging up and down the timeline, always causing trouble. He leaves a trail of dead bodies wherever he goes and we can’t touch him. We can’t do anything except foil whatever dastardly scheme he’s concocted this
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