He Stays a Stranger

Do Not Try to Prove my Instincts Wrong

Can't buy me love, love

Can't buy me love

– The Beatles (Can't Buy Me Love)

=/\=

While Carmen and Crystal were below, in Meridian, Mississippi on June twenty-first of 1964, Levi Cavendish sat, alone, in the Audrey II, and piloted it as it orbited the moon. The orbit was what, if he had been flying over Earth, would have been called geosynchronous. That is, he went as fast as the orb below him went, and so he remained above the same fixed point. This was the dark side. After all, in 1964, there were plenty of telescopes. Plus it was only two months previously that the Saturn SA-6 had been launched. It was a boilerplate rocket, designed to eventually haul the Apollo missions. Plenty of people were looking at the skies, so he had to be cautious.

But he was bored, and his mind wandered. He was already battling Adult ADHD and any number of other afflictions that split his focus. Boredom did not help things one iota.

He fiddled around with broadcasts and eventually settled on Bonanza. He was busy watching Hoss Cartwright rope cattle and put them in a pen when he realized exactly how to combat the Varg-i-yeh.

=/\=

Back in 2192, Malcolm came to a preliminary decision. "We shall have to think about this. We are all accustomed to politeness, but surely you must know that we cannot yet trust you," he said to Helen. They were still standing in Joss's back yard.

"Take your time," she said.

"We'll stay out here with her," Tommy said, nodding at Neil, "while you two go in and talk."

Malcolm nodded back. He and Joss went into Joss's house. "Well?" Lili asked as soon as she saw them.

"We've got an intruder all right," Malcolm said, "and she claims to be a time traveler."

"Well, we did see that ship go over to the mirror recently," Lili said, "but Tom Grant said it was stolen." That had been true, but in the correct timeline, it was Rick Daniels who had informed them of that fact. But that part was long forgotten for the nonce.

"It would explain why she doesn't have a time ship," Joss pointed out, "she could have an accomplice, too. Didn't you say, Mom, when you made contact with High Priestess Yimar that they saw another pulse shot fired, and a woman hopped across, back to our side of the pond?"

Lili nodded. "What do they want with us? Are the children safe?" She gestured slightly in the direction of Jenny Lee and Jay, who were both about two years old, and were raptly attentive as Norri and Melissa played with them using Tommy's old set of blocks from when he had been that small.

=/\=

"2200," Rick said, piloting the Wells. They had passed by Andoria and were nearly in the Lafa System. Their travel had become spatial as well as temporal.

"What are your plans?" Polly asked.

"Go down there and hope that the change from '94 at least let the family remember who I am. Then I suppose we cross over to the mirror and retrieve our man and our equipment. Bring back whoever stole Fluxy, if we can, although if they're in the Empress's clutches, that may turn out to be punishment enough."

"I don't suppose I can go to the surface," Otra said, "but you should probably take a partner, to both places. After all, like you yourself said, the family might or might not know you, and the same may be true of Grant."

"Damn, I hadn't counted on that."

"Let's do this," Deirdre said, "I'll go with you on this side, and then Polly goes to the other side. Unless you think you need engineering work in the mirror."