Space-Time of Death: an Al Squires of the Protectorate Novel

Ch17.1: The Other Ghastly Affair at the World's Fair You Weren't Aware...Of.

Immediately after my witty remark that ended the last chapter, the group left the Commissary of Ouroboros HQ to the empty conference room Bainbridge-Smythe spoke of. I'm telling you this instead of jumping into the action, dear Readers, because I think it'll be easier for you if I gave you a brief description of the events between then and the moment Norah and I landed in Chicago. Despite Sister Time's message saying in a low-key way to come alone, Lt. Col. Bainbridge-Smythe refused to follow that condition. For one thing, neither Norah nor I had an ITEM, or any other time traveling device to reach 1893 Chicago. For once, I was inclined to agree with him on that. Mostly because he forbade us from using one of the other types of time machines that Ouroboros had in their possession, because most were impounded and we needed clearance for the rest of them.

So, that meant that we had to have at least one Ouroboros agent with us; at least to be our transportation as well as our backup, just in case. At first, Bainbridge-Smythe was asking for volunteers for this. Luckily, I reminded him that Lady Lane was the most logical choice for our escort; given the facts that she was currently stationed in Victorian London and was also raised to know about the era and what happened in the world at that time, America included. Lady Lane agreed with me, saying to Bainbridge-Smythe that, although her knowledge of the US during the period was basic at best, her knowledge of protocol and etiquette might be useful for this mission. Of course, another reason I wanted her to come was that she still had the other two cannisters. I needed her close by in case another opened while we were in the field. I couldn't tell them that, of course, but from the look she gave me when I nominated her, I was confident that she was at least aware of my ulterior motives.

It took some convincing, but Bainbridge-Smythe agreed to this. However, he insisted that she'd have to go in disguised, since Sister Time has seen her on more than one occasion. Also, because of the times, it would be seen improper for a lady of standing to travel abroad unescorted. At first, he insisted that Jorge take the role of Lady Lane's valet, much to Jorge's chagrin. Fortunately for the Spaniard, Lady Lane pointed out that Sister Time had also seen Jorge up close back in 1947 Hollywood; making him just as recognizable to our foe as she was. She then suggested a better candidate: Mik. With Mik's shapeshifting abilities, ze would be unrecognizable to Sister Time should she be keeping watch. Upon weighing the pros and cons of this suggestion, Bainbridge-Smythe agreed to allow Mik to come with us; provided that ze followed Lane Lane's orders, of course.

With that and all the other tiny details taken care of, we devised the following plan:

I, Norah, Mik, and Lady Lane take the Time Sphere over to the middle of the 1893 World's Fair. We would then meet with a contact who would A, take the form of a cabbie and B, provide us with prepacked decoy luggage full of era-appropriate clothing and objects- which is SOP for this sort of op in every era, for several practical reasons.

Since Sister Time had to have written the message before she captured Sylvie, we decided to arrive on the morning after the date on the postcard. That way, we can say that we showed up to 'surprise' her, so the Natives won't get suspicious of how fast we got there; all while being able to save Sylvie with time to spare, hopefully. I mean, Sister Time would want to keep Sylvie alive just long enough to know that we had arrived to save her. It's all part of the game. At least, theoretically.

Under the guise of a traveling English aristocrat and her valet respectively, Lady Lane and Mik would go with the cabbie to the World's Fair Hotel to scout the place out for us. Norah and I would travel the Fairgrounds and exhibits for about a (subjective) hour or two before we get rendezvous with the cabbie over to the Hotel as 'Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Shackleton.' Like I said earlier, we'd be showing up to 'surprise' my 'sister' while claiming to have no knowledge of the postcard she'd sent. After we collect the key to the room that Sister Time paid for us from Holmes- reluctantly for a myriad of reasons- we'd go to our room- which will no doubt be one of the booby-trapped rooms- find and disable said booby-traps before they get set off, rendezvous with Lady Lane and Mik, find an entrance to one of Holmes' secret tunnels, and find Sylvie before it's too late. While we did all that, the rest would stay at Ouroboros HQ and help in their own way: help the Lt. Col. investigate those who knew about the Kronos Quartet Protocol, strengthen security for the TU, ETC.