Temporal Exploring 101 - Deep Future

IV.7 The one and only

It was bit of a deja vu.

I was sitting on the transit pad at the Transit Control Center of the Institute of Temporal Physics, with Natty awkwardly sprawled on top of me and looking vaguely apologetic.

Two young technicians were hovering in the background. I recognized Lucian and Jacqueline who had also assisted us during my first transit. The two of them exchanged a brief smile.

"Not to worry, Professor, we fully understand that all the particulars about Catherine's temporary return from her assignment are to be considered as classified," Lucian told Sara. He turned towards his colleague. "Don't we, Jacky?"

"Of course we do," Jacqueline acknowledged. She cast Natty a curious glance. "And we are not going to ask who the other girl is, either."

"I appreciate that." Sara gave a brief nod as the two techies waved at me in a casual greeting and then discretely left the room, closing the door behind themselves.

My Temporal Instructor and her grad student Mira were standing nearby. They were staring at us. Or, in the case of Sara Jenkins, glaring at us.

Sara was looking majorly pissed, not without a reason, while her grad student was looking intrigued.

"Noether's naughty knickers!" Mira exclaimed, as Natty and I awkwardly disentangled our separate limbs. "Cathy, you've done it again!"

Sara cast her a disapproving look before she turned towards me. "What have you got to say for yourself, Catherine?"

"It totally wasn't my fault this time," I burst out, somewhat indignantly. I pointed at Natty. "She did it. She jumped right into the transit zone, knocking me over as she did so." I angrily rubbed my right elbow.

"I am sorry about that, Cathy. I did not mean to knock you over like that." This time, Natty was looking truly apologetic.

"I am not sorry for coming here, though," she added, folding her arms in front of her chest.

"Well, you ought to be. Natalie. If nothing else, what you did was dangerous. Jumping into the transit zone like that! You could have gotten yourself killed, and Catherine too."

For a tiny little moment, Natty looked somewhat taken aback. Then she broke into a cheerful grin. "But hey, nothing bad happened, and now I am here!"

"Indeed you are." Sara did not sound happy. She was regarding Natty thoughtfully. "You realize that you will have to stay at my apartment again, for as long as you are here, don't you?"

"That won't be a problem," Natty assured her. "I can totally handle that."

"I do not doubt that," my Temporal Instructor replied somewhat frostily. "The question is if I can handle it, Natalie."

"Oh." For once, Natty appeared to be at a loss for words. That did not last long either, though. "But, see, we could sit down and write up the entropy story while I am here, couldn't we? You know, what we were talking about, the other time. You asked me to write a paper on that, remember?"

Sara's face brightened. "Actually, that would be a good idea."

Natty grinned happily, correctly surmising that this had gotten her off the hook. At least, for the time being.

A grin that did not go unnoticed by my Temporal Instructor.

"Don't get me wrong, Natalie. You and I, we shall need to talk about what you did. I shall not tolerate that sort of behavior, from you or from anybody else."

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence. Natty was looking sullen.

"Excuse me, but will I have to stay at your apartment as well, Sara?" I inquired.

"That may be a good idea, Catherine." I noticed that she did not exactly seem to be overjoyed at the prospect. "There are a couple of points we need to talk about related to your hearing before the committee. Also, that way you could keep an eye on Natalie."

Keep an eye on Natty?  If only it were as easy as that.

Sara checked the time. "It's getting late, already. So let's walk over to my apartment and continue our discussion there."

About half an hour later Sara, Mira and I were sitting at the kitchen table, each of us with a huge mug of coffee in front of her. Natty had gone into the bathroom to take a shower.

"Natalie could easily have gotten you killed, Catherine, with that stunt she pulled at the onset of transit," Sara mused.

"Sara's right about that," Mira agreed. "If nothing else, that girl is a hazard to your health, Cathy."

"Well, that is part of who and what she is," I ventured, in an effort to explain my roommate to them. "But hey, she is Natty Fogg, the one and only Natty Fogg in this universe, so you don't get to pick and choose." 

At this point, Natty returned from the bathroom. She appeared to have gotten ready for bed, as she was wearing a long orange T shirt  – and not much else, as far as I could discern.

Mira was watching, bemused, as Natty turned towards the coffee machine to make herself some coffee.

Natty's T shirt might have been long, but not that long, leaving the lower part of her bare bum on display. She leaned forward to grab a mug, thus affording us a brief glimpse of a bit more than her buttocks. Mira made a startled little noise, something between a gasp and a giggle. 

"Like I said," I commented, with a grin.

Natty half turned to face us. "What?"

"You are not wearing any panties, are you?" Mira inquired. I noticed that her cheeks were looking a little bit flushed.

Natty shrugged. "No, I don't. Do I have to?"

"No, you don't have to," Sara assured her. She sounded vastly amused. "If you feel more comfortable like this, there is no need for you to put on any underwear."

"Thank you." Natty joined us at the kitchen table, and we talked a bit about the schedule for the next few days.

Sara, Mira and I were to prepare for the hearing while Natty was supposed to write up her results concerning entropy's role in effectively preventing temporal transits to the future.

Still later, after Natty and I had relocated to Sara's guest room, we were both stretched out on the huge double bed and watching ancient movies on the room's vid/holovid system.

"Do you figure it would be possible to fit a miniature version of a transit facility into a modified DeLorean?" Natty asked me, at one point.

She had inquired about movies featuring time travel scenarios, and I had obliged by watching Back to the Future with her. I probably should not have done that, as that movie was produced no earlier than the 1980s. That is to say, about twenty years in the future, as far as Natty was concerned. But I had found myself unable to resist.

Predictably, Natty was fascinated.

"I doubt that it would be possible, at least not with current technology," I replied. "After all, you would have to fit not only the lasers but also a particle accelerator into the car.  Then again, it may suffice to just have a built-in ansible."

On the big virtual screen projected to the wall opposite our bed Marty McFly, chased by Libyan terrorists, drove Doc Brown's DeLorean straight into the 1950s.

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A / N : Thanks a lot for reading this new chapter. Your feedback is greatly appreciated, so please consider adding your comments and/or voting for this chapter.