“Ah, well.” Oxford gave him a pained smile. “Rebellion. Not really my bag. More of a Monterey thing.” His long fingers flicked back and forth, like he was trying to physically shake out his nerves.
“And there’s nothing else bothering you?” Ruthven pressed. He still felt a bit guilty about yelling at Oxford after the meeting with Melusine. Oxford had been avoiding him since then.
“You still miss Aesop, don’t you?” Oxford blurted. “Sorry. Obviously you do. I shouldn’t have pushed you into this. I didn’t realise it was all still so…”
“It’s fine,” Ruthven said quickly. “I mean, it’s not fine. But it will be. I think.”
They stared at each other, utterly sunk in mutual awkwardness. Then Oxford’s face broke into a beautiful smile. “Better than fine,” he proclaimed. “You and Boswell. Dream team. What could possibly go wrong?”
“Ugh,” said Tunbridge, making a face at them both from across the rose garden. “Now you’ve done it. Everything that goes wrong with this mission is officially your fault, Oxford.”
“As ever,” said Oxford, and his smile no longer met his eyes. “Come on, you lot. We have a fair damsel to rescue!”
“Young man,” said Professor Boswell gruffly. “If Cressida Church heard you referring to her as a fair damsel, she would bite your face off.”
1 As is generally the case with cats, Ptolemy’s contribution to the heavy lifting was merely that of moral support.
2 The lack of formal rules for the practice of time travel continues to be a matter of grave concern to the Chronos College administration, and has been an agenda item on every staff meeting since the college first came into being. However, the argument that Time basically regulates herself is hard to beat. Banksia College, who had a similar concern under discussion for many years, eventually resolved the issue by banning staff meetings.
3 The grey turtleneck jumper under a blazer was the most comfortable outfit Ruthven had ever worn. This could have life-changing consequences for him, if he survived this mission.
4 Bicycles were globally banned in the twenty-second century but continued to be used as if they were a relevant metaphor until the extinction of humanity.
Seventeen
The Rose Garden Incident
Incident Report CRG-511-A — formal interview with Traveller Lakshmi Tunbridge, witness to events
Melusine: What happened in the rose garden, Tunbridge?
Tunbridge: I don’t know what you’re talking about!
Tunbridge: I get so confused.
Tunbridge: Ptolemy said that it wasn’t against the rules! Is it true that Chronos College has no rules? I find that very upsetting.
Melusine: Does it seem likely to you that Chronos College has no rules?
Tunbridge: Have I mentioned how confused I get sometimes? I think I’ve fallen in with a bad crowd.
Melusine: So, Ptolemy was in the rose garden with you.
Tunbridge: I didn’t say that. I don’t think I said that? Incident Report CRG-511-B — formal interview with Traveller Ptolemy, witness to events
Melusine: What happened in the rose garden, Ptolemy?
Ptolemy: What rose garden? Incident Report CRG-511-C — formal interview with Control Techs Alex Quant & Mawaan Khan, witnesses to events
Melusine: What happened in the rose garden, Quant?
Quant: So, the fractals of the hoops started to de-click just as we locked on to the successful hop, and normally you can just wind back the chronoverticals, but having three hoops in close proximity to each other set off a Belovnikan chain, and the pre-sets interfered with the time circuits, and one of the hoops started making a sort of bzzz-wheeee sound, and that’s when the central hoop burst into flames, and started to topple on to…
Khan: What they meant to say was, no comment.
Quant: Oh, yes. No comment. Sorry. Incident Report CRG-511-C — formal interview with Traveller Nero, witness to events
Melusine: What happened in the rose garden, Nero?
Nero: I can’t imagine. I suppose it’s going to end up filed as some kind of unsolved mystery. Ah, well. These things happen.
Melusine: Where’s Oxford, Nero?
Nero: I haven’t the least idea. Gadding about, I imagine. That’s humans for you.
Melusine: What about Monterey and Lovelace? Professor Boswell? Eliott Ruthven? Fenella Church? They’re all missing.
Nero: Goodness, somewhere else must be having quite the party.
Melusine: Why aren’t you with them, Nero?
Nero: If you’ll excuse me, I have a long overdue nap awaiting me in my quarters.
Melusine: Nero? Nero! Come back here. How can we rescue them if we don’t know where they went?
Nero: Pardon my old-fashioned vernacular, madam, but this seems like a ‘you problem’.
Eighteen
