Ruth wasn't having a good day. She didn't have a good morning after getting up late, which she admitted was her own fault. Her alarm had woken her up at 6.15 and she felt unusually awake when it did. I'll be ready in plenty of time today. She thought. How it suddenly then became 6.48 she wasn't sure. Then breakfast didn't go well either. Twelve minutes after entering the kitchen, she only really had a bowl of cereal to show for the time. In reality, most of it had been spent prepping the coffee machine; something she could have done last night but didn't so that was her own fault too. At some point, she remembered that she needed to make two bowls of cereal. In theory, the small Human that lived with her would trot down stairs expectantly though in reality, at least one trip back up stairs was required to instigate their own 'getting up' procedure and another one usually at some point to check that said procedure was still ongoing. After breakfast had been successfully eaten, coffee drank, bags packed, teeth brushed, faces washed, coats on and they were out the door, Ruth bundled what felt like the thirty bags needed for the handover into the car and set off for the mother-in-law's. The drop-off was rapid, the kiss goodbye as short as possible without taking anything away from how much she was going to miss him between now and Sunday evening... She still missed the train and had to drive, most of which felt like a never ending crawl into the city.
Work had not been kind that day either. It wasn't that there was too much to do that day, just that everything had been about as awkward as it could have been. That definitely wasn't her own fault and neither was the usual traffic creeping slowly out of the city. The drive home felt mostly like it was autopilot save for the sudden realisation that getting chicken out of the freezer to defrost for dinner was yet another thing she hadn't done that morning. By the time she pulled onto her street, Ruth had pretty much had enough of today and all she had to look forward to now was a cook-from-frozen pizza and a beer. She pulled onto her drive as usual, got out of her car as usual, turned to the house as usual and only then did she notice what was so unusual today. Yes, Ruth's day was bad enough already without coming home to find an elaborate victorian hot air balloon had crashed through her roof into her loft.
Running inside, she caught a glimpse of a face in the hall mirror, it just wasn't hers. Neither was the large hairdo it sported. The over-sized bright red flares weren't hers either but they weren't in the mirror - she was wearing them. She made for the lounge, the lurid colour scheme, patterned carpet and yellow net curtains of the hall assaulting her vision. She felt feint, the colours became a blur. She awoke with her face on the cold, hard floor. All she could see was greasy lino and a lot of mess.
"Tea?" A voice asks. She looks up to see a man sat calmly at the kitchen table with a pot and two cups and saucers. He is wearing a dark velvet jacket with two rows of silver buttons over a thick red and gold patterned waistcoat, slim maroon trousers and black leather, heeled ankle boots. "You passed out." He explained. "My balloon creates a kind of bubble; you walked through it. It's quite disorientating. I can explain, but I warn you, it's a bit weird... Milk?"
Ruth carefully brought herself to her feet. "Yes please... I think." She said as she looked around her kitchen at the laminate cupboard fronts and formica worktop that she knew hers didn't have. "Balloon?" She said. "Bubble?" Her gaze returned to the man. "So... I'm not dreaming?" She pulled out an ancient wooden stool with a leather seat top, steadied herself and slowly lowered herself onto it. Her hands trembled as she reached for the porcelain cup with the freshly poured tea in front of her. "Anddd youuu arrre?" She asked nervously.
The man finished stirring his tea, gently tapped the spoon on the edge of the cup and rested it on the saucer. He raised the cup to his lips, pausing. "I am a time traveller." He answered with a wry smile before taking a sip and quietly setting the cup back down. "I am an explorer. I am an adventurer... I am not what you expected... And I am very sorry I crashed my balloon into your roof." He let the revelation hang before a realisation suddenly burst upon his face. "My name!" He exclaimed. "You were just asking my name!" He beamed a warm smile at his folly.
"Captain Lucious Swordeye." He said. "What about you?"
"Okay, so let's make this clear." Ruth replied, trying to gather her thoughts. "Time traveller?.. Time traveller!" Her legs began to shake, her head became dizzy, her breathing heavy. The walls start to move and all of a sudden she finds herself back hugging the awful lino. The man looked down over the twice feinted girl.
"Really need to stop leading with the time travel thing." he said to himself.
Ruth awoke lying down on her settee. The room was an awkward mixture of patterned carpet and crazy colours and the muted tones she was familiar with. She still had the bright red flares on but at least her hair felt back to normal. The man was stood across the room examining a DVD case. He heard her sit up and turned, gesturing at the case.
"Books with no pages." He said, holding the case open. "Curious." He added setting it aside as he stepped towards her. "History... Adventure." He said, pointing back to the shelf containing her DVD collection. "A girl who longs to be somewhere else... Or maybe just doesn't belong here." The man perched on a nearby chair with curvy oak brown arms and mustard upholstery that she was sure she didn't own. "Let's forget the balloon for a moment." He said. "And talk about a girl who doesn't belong and the adventures she dreams of going on..." He allowed a moment for her to adjust to being awake again. "... There's plenty of tea, after all." He added as she noticed the set had been relocated to a nearby side-table. Ruth once more reached out, took the cup and had a gentle nervous sip; the tea was refreshing, hot and soothing. Lucious knelt before her on one knee, confidence in his eyes and reassurance in his voice which spoke with a deep velvet tone to match his jacket. "You're not like other people are you?... And my balloon is not like other ba..."
"Daddddyyyyyyy!" A young voice cried out as little girl dashed into view wearing small dungarees covered in pockets and pouches, goggles and an old flight cap that was slightly too big for her. "He's here!" She exclaimed as the thunderous sound of a low-flying propellor engine rumbled through the building. Lucious was already back on his feet.
"The Earl." He murmured. "Prep for launch." He said to the little girl.
"Gotcha Daddy!" She replied running back up the stairs.
"Time to fly." The man said, a little startled as he hurriedly packed the tea pot and cups into a small case. As he did, seeing Ruth's cup was not empty, he threw the contents out onto a brightly coloured patch of carpet. "Don't worry." He said. "That bit's still in the sixties." Locking the case, he looked at her and pondered for moment... "Perhaps this isn't the right... time." he said, then made for the stairs but stopped at the door and thought for a moment, something troubling him. A decision to make or not to make. "Where does the girl who doesn't belong go when she closes her eyes?" he asked. Ruth was a little bemused. What kind of a question was that? He walked back over to her, his stance as heroic as he could manage and outstretched a hand. "What do you say..." He asked with a daring smile. "... Would you like to go on an adventure?" Ruth was near trembling. Where had this man even come from. Her house was a mess and most of it didn't look like her house... and there was a hot air balloon in her roof.
"I've got a kid." She uttered nervously. It wasn't an answer but it was true.
"We'll have you back in plenty of time." Lucious said. Ruth didn't find it very reassuring. She sat there, the girl who didn't fit it. The one even the weird people she knew described as weird, unable to move, unable to answer. All the adventures she dreamed of having but somehow being offered them for real... Lucious withdrew his hand.
"Another time perhaps." he said in a low, soft voice with tones of both understanding and disappointment. He returned to the doorway, looking back one last time before heading up the stairs alone.
Climbing into the attic. Past the christmas decorations and around the holiday suitcases, part of the gondola from the balloon had pierced through the roof tiles and was nestled in the building. He was able to get around to a point where he could climb into the Gondola where the little girl was busy operating the controls around the centre console beneath the burners.
"Molly." Lucious shouted, reassuring her that he was there.
"Daddy." She shouted back as another thunderous roar passed overhead.
"Are we good?" Lucious asked.
"Ready to go." Molly replied giving him a determined little thumbs up. Lucious reached for the burner handle and pulled down. A bright green flame burst from the top of the cluster and slowly, the balloon began to move. The progress was quickly halted as part of the gondola had become caught under some of the roofing. The gondola creaked.
"Molly!" He shouted viewing the source of the problem. "Get ready on the burner when I say."
"Yes Daddy." Molly replied, running to the burner control which had an extention on the cord reaching down to within reach of the little girl. Lucious leapt over the gondola's edge back into the attic and positioned himself ready to push it outwards.
"Ready?" He shouted. "NOW!" Leaning into the gondola he pushed hard as Molly pulled the burner, the lift easing the weight. The gondola was still too heavy though and didn't move until the extra two hands and shoulder of the girl that didn't fit in joined the push and slowly, it scraped out from under the eave that snagged it.
"Now or never." Lucious said. Ruth took the opportunity and grabbed a rail, stepping onto the gondola. Lucious kept pushing to ensure it cleared the debris but the balloon was gaining momentum and he quickly found himself chasing the basket, leaping towards it as he reached the edge of the building. Ruth had climbed over the side and looked back to see no-one there. A moment of panic was broken when an arm appeared, grabbing the inner edge of the gondola's side, pulling the rest of Lucious up and over into the vessel. Lucious stood and adjusted his jacket.
"Really shouldn't do that in heels." He exclaimed before setting himself to the task at hand. He went to the opposite edge, observing an aircraft in the distance, a fighter-like biplane of some kind. Urgency overcame him. He turned back to the centre console and began flicking switches. "Molly. Ready the shield." He instructed the little girl who responded by operating various controls of her own. Ruth stood, unsure what to do.
"Excuse me." Molly said with urgency as she moved past Ruth to access a different control. Above Ruth, the Victorian-styled balloon was connected to the gondola with what appeared to be metal rods rather than rope and around the centre of the balloon, some kind of metal band with glowing green gems set into it was rotating around the balloon's equator in between four larger dias-like pendants, set at ninety degrees to each other and each with a larger glowing green centre. Looking up to the inside of the balloon's envelope She saw the space had more than just hot air in it. At the centre, a glowing green light was forming. The shape was hard to discern but it was spinning and growing in size. Lucious moved to a large lever, his eyes trained on the distance where the biplane was now completing a turn and heading straight for the balloon. Lucious waited, hesistant, while Molly observed a gauge.
"Readyyyy!" The little girl shouted at the top of her voice and Lucious pulled the lever. As the bi-plane opened fire and a stream of bullets careered for the balloon, a wave of energy was emitted from the glowing centre of the envelope and one at a time each bullet appeared to stop short of the balloon, suspended in the air. Ruth looked at them, bewildered.
"You've stopped them!" She exclaimed.
"No." Lucious replied. " Only slowed them." The bi-plane roared past them and began another sweeping turn. The Balloon kept gliding up and away and as it did and the edge of the energy field reached each bullet, they zipped past, continuing their journey as if the balloon had never been in the way at all. "We can't do this all day.' Lucious exclaimed. "Charge it up for a trip." He turned to Ruth. "Next pass, keep your head down."
"What?" She asked, surprised.
"We can't keep using the shield." Lucious explained while operating the controls. "It drains power and the plane will be round for another go before we build up enough charge to leap out."
"Wait, you built a time machine out of a hot air balloon." Ruth asked rhetorically. "Who in their right mind would choose a hot air balloon?"
"It wasn't my idea." Lucious answered with a half crazy smile.
"Then whose was it?"
"... Yours." he replied with a grin. The claim took Ruth aback.
"How?" She asked, unable to comprehend how it could possibly be. She'd only just met this man.
"Pick a direction and find out." He answered, gesturing to a lever with two options... Forwards and Backwards. Lucious nervously checked on the plane as it lined itself up. "Just do it quick." He added. "Molly, get down!" The little girl responded immediately, tucking herself under the console. The plane closed down on them, lining them up. Off to the side of the balloon, a green swirling glow appeared in the air. It rapidly expanded it a spinning mist of fog and energy and it didn't take long for Lucious to realise the implication. "GET DOWN!" He shouted as the swirling energy at the centre of the mist exploded with a shockwave that rocked the balloon and from the vortex of light, an identical elaborate victorian balloon swung into existence. Ruth looked over to it as two figures at the controls wrestled to steady the vessel. One of them, a young woman with black hair and a black vest top, just like her own also wore a visor in transparent yellow and upon her face, the look of a woman that had seen and survived enough adventures to tell stories about. The man at the controls, in his tailcoat and maroon trousers, operated a control that spun the gondola round towards the approaching enemy while the woman readied herself at the controls of a large brass gatling gun fixed to the gondola's side. Poised and ready to fire, the man halted the spin and twisted a conrol on his goggles.
"Range six fifty!" He shouted. The woman operated a control on the gun, a small brass target flicked up and She closed one eye
"... FIRE!"
The woman began turning the gun's crank and a loud barrage of bullets flew from the barrels. Zipping past the approaching plane, it peeled right to avoid the hail of metal. The woman tracked it, eye locked, teeth gritted and as it attempted to evade her fire, a thin trail of smoke began to pour from somewhere on the plane. Seeing the target hit, the woman threw a fist in the air, excited in her victory.
"Good show." The man said with a smile.
"They're retreating!" Lucious shouted, observing the plane continue away from them into the distance. He moved to the edge of the gondola to see the other man looking straight back, an identical twin but for the goggles. The man made a brief signal with his left hand. Lucious nodded and made one back. Ruth was stunned, unable to believe her own eyes. The two pairs watched each other for a moment as the second balloon gently passed, gliding down towards Ruth's home. "Time to go." Lucious said, looking round at her. He led her back to the lever, his own hand on a different one, ready to pull. Molly was back at the console herself, looking up into the envelope.
"We're ready Dad!" She shouted.
"Guest's prerogative." Lucious said. Nervously, Ruth reached for the lever and in a moment of abandon, just cranked it full to the backwards position. Lucious smiled the smile of a man who knew he was about to take someone on an amazing adventure.
"Here we go!" He exclaimed, pulling the main lever. Inside the envelope, the green energy rapidly grew to a swirl of glowing mist and a moment later, in a tornado of green light, the balloon disappeared leaving only a shockwave of green energy where it had just been.
In the other balloon, Lucious turned to Ruth as she deactivated and raised her AR visor.
"See... I told you We'd get you back in plenty of time." He said with the same knowing smile.