under cover goose on the Titanic

Part 20 - Shakespeare's Bodyguard

I called Licia as soon as I got home and I told her about the kidnapping attempt. She immediately invited Miguel and me to meet at her home right after supper to talk about it.

Miguel came to my place and I filled him in as we trudged through the snow drifts together. Licia said her parents were out. I was beginning to think they didn't really exist.

We began by looking up Haiphong Road, Ottawa, but the first entry on Google said it was in Kowloon, Hong Kong which seemed completely crazy until Licia reminded us that we had been on the Titanic.

We were still arguing about it when the front door bell ran. Licia, assuming her mother had forgotten her key, ran to open the door. She quickly returned looking puzzled. 'It's a big man. He says his name is Onderdonk but he doesn't have a beard.'

We all rushed to the door where Triple Oh was sweating even as he brushed snow from his thinning hair.

'How now, master Ziff Dion. Good thou art safe.'

'Am I ever glad to see you,' I gasped. 'Thanks again for rescuing me. Have you found my parents?'

'Sadly, no. But, we identified Murga's time phase shifts which puts him in western China, we think, with your parents. We have a local agent looking for them but the area is vast and the terrain mountainous.'

'He has Mom too!' I gasped.

'I fear so. Our agent reported that she left Urumqi with a local man who said he knew where your father was.'

'How did you know where we were?' Miguel asked.

'We tracked Ziff's wrist band. Keep it well. It will aid thee against the spears and axes of outrageous fortune.'

'Don't you mean, "slings and arrows"? Licia asked.

'Prithee, forgive me pretty lass,' Triple Oh grinned. 'Will Shakespeare has rewritten this so many times, memory fails. And, as I am seconded from the fifteenth century department, I must, perforce, learn thine parlance.'

'Do you mean our language?' Licia asked. 'You'd better come in. Can I get you some tea?'

'Aye, thankee. Tea will serve, if thou hast not a pot of small ale nor a flagon of good Rhenish. But I may not tarry long.'

'Fifteenth century?' I asked incredulously.

'Did I not say? I'm Shakespeare's bodyguard.' Onderdonk's eyes twinkled as Licia made him take off his heavy boots and leave them by the door. 'There are fools who would prove he wrote not a single play. And still more, i'faith, who would help him write them. A pox on them all, say I . . . though they keep us entertained.'

We all moved to the kitchen where Licia poured a cup of tea. 'Sorry, we don't have any milk.'

Triple Oh warmed his hands on the cup as he sipped the tea. 'This is an excellent brew.'

'What about your Darth Vader side kick?' I asked. 'Is he working for Shakespeare too?'

'Theo? No. He is the twenty first century station chief but he is new to the work and lacks experience.'

'What is the Time Agency?' Miguel asked.

'The Agency was formed in the twenty-second century to prevent criminal use of time phase technology,' Triple Oh replied. 'And 't'is my task to protect Ziff and arrest Murga, a murderous psychopath who has learned to skip time phases.'

'Time phase . . .' Licia repeated. 'Then this really is time travel, eh?'

Triple Oh sighed. 'Thou mayst call it that.'