The Stumble Inn

"I honestly don't see what could be worse than a hanging by the Company." Elea slowly ran her finger over the rim of the glass as her mind drifted.

"Having your skin burnt off and being kept alive for three days? I've seen it." He grumbled. "The Terran Empire is rather corrupt... Never would have passed in the older days."

Elena blinked a few times and looked up at him. "What? That's impossible."

"Not in my time. The average lifespan of a human is around 700 years, now... A lot of things have changed. America is a British territory again. Our pistols can shoot rays of heat that can turn men to ash in an instant. We have bombs that can level continents. We've cured diseases and created new ones to use against our enemies. We have beings made of metal that can think like humans can. We travel the stars like you travel oceans... The list goes on."

Elena nearly choked on the rum she was sipping. "What?....good God." She looked around. "So...people from different times are here?"

"Different realities, probably. I was talking to Mel, the owner, and it turns out we have an inventor of the same name in each dimension, but he invented something different in both realities. Flying machines in my world, and horseless carriages in hers."

"Horseless carriages? You're kidding me. That's...." She shook her head and returned her attention to her rum. "I must have hit my head in the storm or something."

"I find it adorable that you find horseless carriages more interesting than flying machines." Hal smirked.

Mel stares out the window, twisting her hands. He had to be coming eventually, right? Surely he wouldn't leave her here, all alone.

Elena sighed, clenching her eyes shut. "I was hoping I had only imagined you saying 'flying machines.'" She rubbed her eyes, sighing. When she looked up, she caught sight of Mel standing at the window. "Excuse me," she said to Hal, getting up and going over to the woman. "Excuse me...are you alright?"

Mel jumps. "Ah! Yes. . . yes, I'm just fine, thanks for your concern. . . "

Hal wandered away from the bar, and out to his ship. "Now how am I going to move everything..." He grinned as he looked down at his belt. "Brilliant." He flicked a button on it, and the buckle shot a ray at the ship, shrinking it down to the size of a basket ball. He turned off his belt's shrink ray, and brough the ship inside. "I'm going to see what parts could be used from my ship to spruce this place up, Mel, so don't mind me!" He sat down, and pulled out a miniature tractor beam, which looked like a laser pointer, starting to pull out the various technologies, now tiny, from his much-smaller-than-normal ship.

Elena glanced toward Hal, then looked back at Mel. "Sorry...I didn't mean to startle you. It's just....well, you look like you're waiting for something..." Her eyes narrowed slightly. "Or....someone, perhaps?"

Mel looks at Captain Blackraven for a while, but then returns her attention to the window. "Someone. . . " she sighed.

Hal hummed to himself as he pulled out the various gadgets and resized them. "One long-range instant trasporter. Two Mind-Maximizer Helmets. One broken Inversion Beam. One short-circuited Gender Blender. Three scuffed Time Modifiers. One Genetic Recombinator. One Age-Shifter, possibly broken. One Atomic Coffee Pot. One Antimatter Rocket Launcher. One damaged Bad-News Powered Hyperengine. One partially smoked Pal Mal. A Robotic Rocking Horse..."

Elena nods and looks out the window as well. "Someone special, I can tell." She sighed softly and thought of Kiya as she continued looking out at the fog filled street. "I hope she finds her way here, too..." she whispered, more to herself, but it was still audible to Hal and Mel.

Kasei-La sighed, and tip-toed out of bed. She had pulled off the sari she was wearing, leaving her in very loose fitting pants and a midriff exposing shirt. Yawning, she squinted as the light on her antenna restarted. She quietly stepped down the stairs, hoping not to be noticed. Of course, her light gave her away almost immediately, but Hal was in another room, so she would only have to deal with Mel and Ms. Blackraven, which hopefully meant two people who didn't care.

Elena caught a glimpse of the light out of the corner of her eye and turned to see Kasei. She blinked in confusion. "What is that on the top of your head?"

"Erm... My antenna? It gets very dark on Venus, so we used these to wander through the caves." She blinked, and touched it. "Rubbing two antennas together is a sign of affection, since they're very sensitive. We're also insectivorous, and the light attracts them, so... Yeah."

"Venus? You mean...the planet?" Elena was starting to wonder if anything was impossible now.

"Yeah, I mean the planet..." Kasei-La blinked, and then put a finger on her lips. "Please, don't tell Hal I'm up. He hates it when I get up before my three hours are done..."

Elena nods. "Look...we got off on the wrong footing. I'm sorry." She held out her hand to Kasei.

Kasei-La sighed, and took Elena's hand. "I'm Kasei-La... You're Captain Blackraven, right?" She smiled awkwardly, not quite sure how to act around this strange woman, especially since she was a pirate, which meant that she had at least a little blood on her hands, and that meant she could be much more dangerous than what she had seen.

Elena could guess by the look on Kasei's face that she was nervous. "Call me Elena. And don't worry....I only kill if I have to." She thought back to one particular murder...that had been for revenge, but she had also rid the world of a dangerous man. She shook her head and looked back to Kasei.

Kasei-La nodded, and shook Elena's hand. "Alright, Elena. Good to know we can be friends... Golly, imagine if Hal actually did feel tempted to use his blaster... That would be messy." She giggled, and then cringed as she thought about it. "Dang, I need to be quieter..."