The Adventure of the Young Visitor
Part 2by Black Wolf (blacklab2000_2000 at yahoo.com)
As the darkness ebbed away from Rebecca's mind she began to regain
consciousness. No, she told herself, it was all a dream. I
dreamed that I went to a place called New London and that I saved a man's
life as a wolf and when I open my eyes I'll be at home.
Slowly she began to open her eyes. OOOOHHHHH NNNNOOOO! she
thought. She was still a black wolf and she wasn't at home. In fact she
didn't know where she was. She got up abruptly but stopped when white-hot
pain crashed through her head.
The man she had saved, Holmes, watched over the rim of his teacup
from his seat in an armchair. On a long couch was the lady that had fought
the robots, Lestrade. Slowly Rebecca sank back down to the rug on which
she lay and stared at the fire. NO! she thought, No, this is not
happening!
From his seat on the armchair Holmes was puzzled. Hmmm, he
thought, this is not at all what dogs or wolves act like. That wolf
should be all over the place with or without a mild concussion.
Suddenly, instead of the black wolf sitting on the rug in front of
the fireplace, there was a young girl!
"Great Scott!" he said as he almost spilled his tea. "How in the
world did you do that?"
Rebecca, dressed in the same clothes as before, got up slowly and
replied shakily, "I haven't the faintest idea."
Lestrade's jaw dropped as she stared at what was now Rebecca. "How
in the.....oh, zed it all!" she stuttered.
Watson had now come in from another room and was now staring with a
dropped jaw.
"Er.... Perhaps I should introduce myself," said Rebecca shakily
again." I am Rebecca Wolffe, from the United States. And if I might say so,
very confused on where I am."
Holmes, the first to recover from the shock, replied with dignity,
"I am Sherlock Holmes and you are in New London."
"Then I wasn't dreaming, then. I was truly transported here somehow
and turned into a wolf...." She trailed off as Lestrade smirked at her.
"I don't know how you turned into a wolf, or whatever you were, but
you have got to know that this is New London. And come on, that just
sounds too crazy!" she smirked again.
"Perhaps I should explain, Inspector Lestrade," she smiled.
Lestrade froze and turned pale. "How did you know my name?" she
said nervously.
"Simple observation," she said slyly. "You see, you have an
air of a police officer and you are wearing a badge on which I can see
your name. I then simply took a guess at your rank."
Lestrade stared openmouthed for a few more seconds, then looked
from Rebecca to Holmes.
Holmes chuckled. "I see you use your mind in a constructive way.
Yet you do not seem familiar with anything."
"I shouldn't, sir; you see, where I come from there is nothing like
this. I mean, you would kind of think our technologies are good for the
year 2001, but...."
"Wait," broke in the compudroid Watson, "you mean to say you
think it is the year 2001?"
Rebecca gave him a quizzical look. " Yes. I mean, last I checked
it was January 2nd, 2001," she replied, puzzled. "What year is it, then?"
"2103," said Lestrade shortly.
"No. No way. This is just some crazy....," Rebecca began to shake
her head but stopped when again pain crashed through her head.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," said Watson,"You have quite a
concussion there. Oh, I am Watson," said he, as he noticed the quizzical
look the girl gave him.
"Perhaps you should relate your story to us so we might have a
better understanding of what has really happened," said Holmes from his
perch on the armchair.
**************************************
"And then I rushed in to help," related Rebecca. She had just
finished telling her story to Sherlock Holmes, Inspector Beth Lestrade
and Watson. "I must admit that sounds farfetched but every word is true!"
she vouched again.
Holmes tapped his fingers on the table, thinking. "Where is this
book that you said transported you here?" he asked.
"Well, actually, when I rushed in to help I left the book by the
far lamppost." she replied.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. You mean the one where a hovercar was parked?"
said Lestrade.
"Yes, that's the one," Rebecca replied.
Lestrade groaned "So that's what Fenwick picked up as he ran!"
Lestrade related the happenings after she had blacked out to Rebecca.
"That book is my only ticket out of here, not that i want to leave,
mind you," she groaned, "but I've got to go back for some friends."
Lestrade snorted. " Trust me, kid, I don't think your parents would
approve of you living nearly 2 centuries ahead of time."
"That, Inspector, is where you have gone astray. You see, my
parents died in a plane crash 3 years ago. Since then I have lived under
the school's protection and it gets awfully boring at my place," she
retorted.
I can see why the girl is so independent, then, thought
Holmes. Still I wonder.... "Why did you rush in to help us?"
asked Holmes.
Rebecca thought for a moment, then answered, "I don't really know.
It's just I got really angry and leapt. Next thing I know I'm a really big
wolf!"
" Did you know that you could...do that?" he questioned again.
She shook her head slowly and replied, "No, I had just gotten here
when I jumped in and realized I was a wolf. I shouldn't've been so slow. I
should've seen that attack coming!" Rebecca rubbed her head and winced.
"Perhaps next time I should keep my senses more open," she said again.
"This is all very interesting, but why did Fenwick break into that
warehouse and what for?" interrupted Lestrade. Lestrade turned to Watson.
"Think you can tell us what was in that warehouse, Watson?" she asked.
"According to records it is a storage room for spare computer
parts," he replied smartly. "Do you think Moriarty is trying to rebuild
his crypnotic reversal machine?"
"Possibly, but we know how to stop that and Moriarty is smarter
than that to try a plan that didn't work again." Holmes said.
"If you don't mind, may I make a suggestion?" asked Rebecca, who
was still listening.
"By all means. I'm sure you can see something we can't," mocked
Lestrade.
"Watson, can you track what parts were stolen or Fenwick tried to
steal?" asked Rebecca.
"Well, yes. Here is the warehouse manifest list," answered a quite
puzzled Watson.
"Now would you please point out the ones that were stolen?" she
asked again. "Now, since I am not familiar with your technologies, all
you have to do is figure out whether or not this Moriarty character has
the extensive knowledge to build anything that could harm the human race."
Quite good, thought Holmes. I'm glad I let her explain,
for I could have not put it better myself.
"The only records to figure out stuff like that are at New
Scotland Yard," said Lestrade. Lestrade got up and went towards the door.
"Are you coming or not?" she asked impatiently.
Holmes gave a look towards Rebecca. "If you don't mind, I would
like to get an insider's view of the city of New London," said Rebecca.
"Yes, that would be fine, but perhaps later you could relate to us
more information on your experience here so far," replied Holmes.
Once in the hovercar, Holmes's mind was racing. What did Moriarty
want with those computer parts, and why did the girl seem so knowledgeable
on New London crime even though she had just arrived in this timespan?
Memory flared. Holmes remembered when he had first been reawakened
in the 22nd century. Nothing was familiar and he had been quite nervous.
He had felt as if he was on his own. Lestrade thought she could put all
her problems into his hands and he would hand back nothing but answers.
He shook his head. Holmes knew that the girl had to be tough to put
up with all of that stress. He himself had never experienced anything like
that but knew that in the 22nd century children without parents often
suffered from depression and became hardened criminals.
The hovercar stopped and Holmes was jolted back to reality.
"Hey, Holmes, you okay?" asked Lestrade.
"Yes, Lestrade, just fine," Holmes replied.
They walked up a flight of stairs to a huge computer. "Scan for
the uses of all those parts put together, Watson." commanded Lestrade.
After a few seconds Watson had an answer. "According to this, three
things can be made from those specific parts," replied Watson, "a crypnotic
device in which orders can be fused into someone's mind without them
realizing it; a motion and speech controller in which everything a human
does or says is connected to a kind of remote -- the person in charge of
the remote can cause the 'actor' on the other end to do whatever he or she
wants; and finally a weapon which can literally melt steel."
"Moriarty can do extensive damage with any of those weapons." said Holmes
grimly.
"Not without a few extra parts, he can't." piped up Watson. "He
still needs a few more parts; without them he can't build any of those
things." Watson handed Holmes a piece of paper.
"These can all be found in the CompTech storage buildings, correct?"
asked Holmes looking up at Watson.
"Yes, that is correct," admitted Watson.
"Then we must secure the area. Moriarty is not patient and will
send Fenwick right away to capture his needed implements," Holmes replied.
"But won't Moriarty figure out we'll be there to greet him?" asked
Lestrade. "I mean, he'll want us out of the way before he makes his move."
"Precisely, Lestrade. He will probably cause a diversion so we
will be too busy to stop him," answered Holmes, nodding. "We should, of
course, get down to the storage building before anything happens."
The group walked back to the hovercar and sped off in the direction
of the CompTech storage building.
On to Part 3!
Back to part 1.
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