4

Teddy and Frank walked into the little office, Sophie was giving a tearful Jo a cuddle. "Hullo, hullo, whit's aw this?" Exclaimed Frank. "First of aw I lose ma joab, then I get threatened wae getting kicked oot ma digs and noo am in danger o' loosing my girlfiend tae anuther woman. It disnae get much better than this."

Sophie grimaced. "Tsch! It's not what you think, smartarse! You think you've got problems? Your not the only one getting cards dealt from the bottom, you know."

"Aye. But, whose bottom? That's whit ah'd like to know."

Teddy shook his head. "Wid you twa stoap bickerin'. The streets ootside're crawling wae guys in white, disposable coveralls. I just goat a call, oan ma cellphone, fae Hyug. Twa characters came intae the bar and were asking questions aboot young Johnny here. They hud a photo `n all."

"How could they be hip to me being here?" Johnny started to stand up. "Man, I feel weird."

"Johnny!" Screamed Rosie.

Suddenly, all hell broke loose. The lights and the computer suddenly cut out. As a pale blue glow began to flicker in the air around him, the only source of light in the room seemed to be Johnny! He staggered back, away from his companions, toward the finds table. In the ionised air, long, arcing, plasma sparks, trailed between him and the metal shelving. For a split second he seemed to flicker, fade and recede, as the glowing field began to from a spherical bubble around him.

"Bloody Hell!" Breathed Shona, "Cherenkov radiation! Everybody should get out of the room!"

Before anybody had a chance to move, however, the field vanished and Johnny slumped forward on to the floor.

"Radiation?" Jo looked scared.

Shona shrugged. "Yeah! It didn't last long, maybe a couple of X-rays worth. I think we're okay. I don't know about Johnny."

"That's kind o' light that happened, when he fell through the door at the pub." Said Frank. "Ah think Ah believe his story, noo!"

"What story?" Asked Jo.

"He's out cold!" Said Rosie. "Do you think he's alright?"

Sophie checked him over, carefully. "Pulse and respiration normal. Temperature's okay, but he's out cold. Maybe we should get him to hospital?"

Teddy looked worried. "Ah'm no sure. Radiating fields of ionising radiation? Maybe that's whit they guys ootside, earlier, wir detectin'. Maybe, hospital's no quite the right place, somehoo?"

Sophie shook her head. "Look. Maybe Johnny would be better off in the hands of the authorities. He needs expert help. Damn it, Teddy! I'm a medical student, not a Time Lord! Time travel sickness is out of my league, we need Dr Who."

"Wait a minute!" Exclaimed Jo. "This is all about time travel? What about that crazy old guy over at Dundee University? The time travel guy. He's supposed to know more about the physics of time than anyone else in Europe. Ach! What's his name?"

"Of course!" Shona clicked her fingers. "I know who you mean. 'Hour' Willy'! Professor William Watkins. He's got the Fleischer Chair of Temporal Physics over there. They've been trying to get rid of him, for years, but he's got tenure.'

'He's the best there is. But, he keeps on about time travel and time machines and embarrassing the hell out of everybody. He's supposed to be pretty friendly, he'd know what to do. If we could just get to Dundee."

Teddy shushed her. "Did ye hear that? Somebuddy's bangin' oan the front door!" There was a sound of banging and then shouting from below.

Colin and Inga came running up stairs. "Hey. They're arrestin' ev'rybuddy, folks! They reckon it's a drugs bust, but a sleazy lookin dude in a black coat hud a photo o' yon Yank!" Colin had sobered him up, pronto. "We wur lookin' fur yoose lot. Ah don't think they saw us."

© copyright, 2002 AndroMan.