The Diamond Out of Time

Thunder rumbled but it was not from the sky, and unbeknownst to the crew of the HMS Glowworm, the thunder had brought them a new member.  Deep in the hold of the ship, a small pocket flickered into existence.  With a flash of lightning and resounding boom, reality ripped open and spewed out Kelvin Kincade.  He landed on the ground in a heap.  Despite having made several practice jumps, he still could not manage the real thing.  But as much as he wanted to criticize himself, he had more important things to do.

Before he had made the decision to break the Time Code, Kelvin had noticed several anomalies within the timeline around the year 1921.  Things that did not make sense, but they were small at first.  Items showing up before they were supposed to, inventions being released a few years before their time.  But the one that really caught Kincade’s eye was a mutiny aboard a small Royal Navy vessel just after The Great War.  It was at that moment, he began searching and his own theory led him to this place, Baja, Hungary.  And at the center of it, the famed Florentine Diamond.  It had showed up again, causing World War II to happen twelve years earlier with France turning on the United Kingdom.  It was on Kelvin’s shoulders to find the diamond and prevent the war from happening earlier.

With a grunt, he climbed to his feet and dusted off his borrowed uniform.  It was dark and musty as he suddenly felt the rocking of the ship underneath his feet.  He pulled back the sleeve of his jacket to reveal a strange time piece.  It morphed and shifted from a smooth obsidian face to a more appropriate wristwatch.  It contained what looked to be a normal watch face, with the usual two hands that held the meaning of hours and minutes.  A smaller face with four numbers read ‘1921’ with a smaller hand that spun toward November as if being adjusted by invisible forces.  The last noticeable hand pointed toward a number one amongst the small circle of thirty other numerals.  Kelvin eyed it for a moment. 

“Seems to be in the right time,” he whispered, looking up to squint at his surroundings.  “Hopefully, the right place too.  If I could just see.”  He stumbled as he groped at the darkness.  He could make out basic shapes in the inky blackness, but they seemed to move as he reached for them.  He would normally access the small flashlight on his wristwatch, but if he were caught, it would be even more detrimental than his mere presence here. 

Suddenly a light burst into the darkness, almost as if his thoughts were answered for him.  Two men speaking in thick British accents entered through the illuminated doorway.  He quickly crouched behind a crate as they came in.

“Why do you think we’re going through Romania?” One of the men said as they moved into the hull.  They were up on a balcony overlooking the cargo hold.  The first man in stroked his thin beard in thought as the shorter of the two continued.  “An awful long way to go for us, eh?”

The bearded man leaned on the railing.  “Strange for the captain to be so silent about it.”

“Aye,” the shorter one said.  “You think we’re smuggling contraband again?”

The bearded man shook his head.  Turning to lean his back and elbows against the rail before continuing.  “I would’ve been told about something like that.  Feels like it’s something else. Something far more mysterious.”

Kelvin used this moment to scurry toward a larger crate.  He had to be able to get out of here before they noticed him.  He could only shake his head at the two.  Kelvin knew exactly what they were about and why they were heading to Romania.  The former emperor of Austria was said to have taken on this vessel.  With him, was rumored to be the famed diamond. The same necklace that Kelvin was now tracking.

“What do you mean?” the shorter man said, crossing his arms.  There was a pregnant pause that made even Kelvin uncomfortable.  “If you know something, tell me.”

The bearded man chuckled.  “You’re too eager for rumors.”  He took a moment to glance at the door to ease his own suspicions.  “Word is they are bringing on a passenger.  Someone very important. But these are the stories of sailors, so it could all be mischief.”

Kelvin smirked.  Leave it to some bored sailors to confirm his suspicions.  It was often that travelers such as himself would end up at the wrong coordinates but in the right time and very rarely the other way around.  However, to get both right on his first try was something of a miracle.  It was not his fault that other agents had failed to see the issue.  And like his grandfather used to say, “If no one is taking action to stop a wrong, the responsibility falls on those that bear witness.”  With that, he could not allow himself to stand by any longer.

“What?  Like a politician or something?” said the short man.

“Think bigger,” the bearded man said, spreading his arms to represent his words.  “Why would the captain need to keep it a secret if it was some sort of politician?”

“You mean like a princess or someone like that?”

The bearded man tapped the tip of his nose and nodded.  “Or someone.  Whoever they are, there’s a sure good reason to keep it from us.”

“Makes me want to have a word with the captain,” he said, pressing a balled-up fist into the palm of his other hand “if you’re catching my meaning.  He promised us equal shares of everything. Keeping this from us calls for double the recompense.”

“Aye, true.  Only one thing we can do then.”

“We’re definitely on the same thoughts today,” the shorter one said, punching the bearded man’s shoulder with a grin.  The bearded man moved to cover his arm, rubbing the pain of the strike as he chuckled.  That’s when Kelvin spotted something.  There was a glimpse of something that the shorter man failed to notice.  He could swear he saw the bearded man’s arm flicker.  It was faint, but it was there.  There were other time agencies out there, other people, like Kelvin and his like-minded agents, that looked after the timeline, but there were also those who saw to use the power of time to rewrite things to their own liking.  Kelvin watched the bearded man closer, but failed to notice such phenomena again.

“That would mean we have to talk to some of the other boys, though.”

A whistle blew on the upper deck that made both men turn with startled energy. “Damn,” the shorter man said, as they exchanged glances.  “Looks like we have to talk about this later.”

As they rushed off and the door slammed shut, Kelvin was left alone in the darkness once more.  His stomach grumbled angrily.  He blamed it on the flash jump, but a part of him knew that it was the effects of timeline manipulation.  There is a theory that people from the current, correct timeline will feel disproportionately uncomfortable around anomalies.  Despite how he felt, Kelvin could not deny that this could be proof of that very theory.  If he were better at planning, he would have brought something to write down his symptoms, but alas, he had none.  He resigned himself to upholding the timeline, even if some of the events were not recorded, it was not his job to interfere.  With a nod of reassurance, he made his way for the ladder and eventually though the door. 

The halls were much narrower than he imagined as he tried to follow the bearded man.  Counter to all his research it was nothing like he imagined.  Kelvin had spent most of his life finding the information for other agents, and never was he able to use the information for himself.  Through that research, he found himself enamored with this old kind of technology at work, being lived in.  It was what he had always dreamed of being able to do as he stood in the countless museums during his schooling years.  It was a holy site where he would make his pilgrimage when he wanted to make sense of the world and where it had been, where it was headed.  And now, he was living the history, being an unwritten part of it, or at least he hoped to stay that way. 

Other crew members squeezed by him as they passed, but he made sure not to make eye contact.  His uniform may have matched but even with all his technological advantages, his voice and accent would most definitely set him out.  At best, they would think he was American, at worst, he shuddered to think about.  He reminded himself that even being stuck in some post-Great War jail would have felt better than spending hours squinting at a screen checking anomalies.  It was not until then, that he noticed he had lost the trail of the bearded man in the maze-like hallways of the ship.  He reached a set of stairs and began his climb out into the night.

The cold winds shocked him as he plunged into the November air.  His watch buzzed on his wrist and quickly flashed with a solid red color twice before going dormant again.  He had to get to a higher position, and once synced up, he could look for the bearded man.  Not far off, was a thin ladder secured to a balcony that would give him an unobstructed view of the night’s sky.  He clambered up the rungs with ease, making sure no one was taking notice of his sightseeing.   Before long, he found himself at an ignored scenic view of the main deck.

The bow pointed outward into the darkness as the shapes of sailors flowed back and forth below him.  Orders were being called to each side of the ship while crew members hustled back and forth on the deck to make sure the lifeboats were strapped down, and the guns loaded.  He watched with intense intrigue seeing how they moved and worked.  Kelvin felt entranced, like he was watching a weaving pattern of colors that swayed and bent. Of all the demonstrations he had watched, this beat them all. Kelvin had always wondered why more history wasn’t taught this way.  But his watch, the very technology that would allow people to wrinkle time, potentially ruining it forever, reminded him of why that was forbidden. The clock face buzzed twice and flashed green.  At least he was in the right place, he thought as he congratulated himself with a smirk.  He leaned on the railing and continued to watch the men work. 

“Hey, you!” a voice called out.  Kelvin did his best to not look but at the same time, he felt like not looking when someone calls out only made him more suspicious. 

“Stay calm, Kelvin,” he whispered to himself.  His stomach grumbled again, but Kelvin quickly covered it with his hand.

“I’m talking to you, mate!” the voice was accompanied with the slap of a hand on his shoulder.  Kelvin was spun around in a blur of motion until he was face to face with a gruff man sneering at him.  “What in the bloody hell are you doin’ just standin’ around?  We gots work to do ‘ere!”

“Sorry, sir,” Kelvin said in his best attempt to mimic the accent.  His watch had a built-in translator, but despite being cutting edge compiled with the hundreds of thousands of different languages out there, it was quite shoddy with accents.  He brushed off his shoulders and took a stiff stance that somewhat resembled a sailor at attention.  He looked straight ahead with his chin up.

The man squinted his dark eyes at him, they were a sort of amber that glinted like gold as they scoured over him in intense inspection.  Even in the dingy light of the ship’s lanterns, Kelvin could see out of the corner of his eyes that the man’s skin was leathery and wrinkled from years in the wind-whipped sea and unrelenting sun.  He let his eyes wander as he took the rest of him in.  His grey hair was slicked back and mostly hidden under the hat of an officer, most likely a lieutenant, Kelvin judged by the two lines of golden thread, the top with a loop sown onto his sleeve.  His beard was well kept, almost to the point of being too clean.  As he took in more and more, he realized, as his stomach knotted itself that this was the bearded man from the hull.  The lieutenant tilted his head to the side as if one eye were better to inspect him with than two.  He reeked of rum and body odor and when he spoke, Kelvin had to struggle to stomach that added stench as well. 

“Be on then!”  The man bellowed as though Kelvin were on the aft of the ship’s deck and relaying orders to him.  It was effective to say the least as it got the younger man moving.  To where, he had no clue, but he was going at great speed.  Sliding down the ladder he found himself amongst the other sailors.  He touched the lifeboats as if that were a job someone would be doing, but as the panic wore off, he tried to follow what others were doing until the unrelenting eyes of the older man had finally turned to glare at some other poor seaman. 

Several men began to crowd near the port-side as low whispers floated though the night sky.  The energy of the ship changed from rushed preparation to hushed anticipation.  Kelvin could feel it as well.  The other men around him kept hungrily eyeing their crew members as they set out the planks and made sure the ship was ready to receive.  This was the moment Kelvin was here for.  His special guest would be arriving soon.  A few series of gasps or shouts accompanied the sound of slow footsteps accented with a hint of metal chains.  Two sailors crowned over the edge of the ship, making way for the two meek-looking individuals behind them.  A man, sweaty and disheveled, his once regal mustache was mussed and greasy.  His eyes never left his feet as if making eye contact would instantly blind him for eternity.  His hands and ankles were bound by thick metal chains complete with manacles that left red marks where they had been resting for too long against the skin.

Kelvin was taken aback by the other prisoner.  She was just as unkempt, but her posture was defiant.  Her eyes met everyone else’s to shame them into looking away.  But it was not her defiance that caused Kelvin’s stomach to churn in apprehension, but for the way her ruined dress bulged near her stomach.  She was pregnant.  She looked to be in terrible condition and for these men to not show any compassion pained Kelvin.

The lieutenant strode over smirking.  “Gather round, gents,” he said with the presence of a ringmaster at a circus.  “Take a long look at the emperor and his empress.”  There was a wave of laughter that washed over the crowd.  “They’ll be coming along with us on a short little trip.  How about you make them feel at home?” 

Some jeers and curses were shouted from other crew mates as the pair were led toward the central tower of the gunboat.  As soon as they were out of sight, the crew began to loiter, sharing their thoughts and jokes about the situation.  The shorter man that Kelvin had seen from the hold was talking with animated gestures with three other men.  A few of them giving cursory glances to where the pair had been.  Their faces became eager, their bodies rigid with anticipation as they continued their conversation, like starved dogs about to be served their meal.  Kelvin used this moment to stroll toward the open stairwell the pair had disappeared through.  His stomach grumbled in protest.

“Where do you think you’re going?”  The lieutenant said as he stepped in front of Kelvin.  “Trying to sneak off for some shut eye, eh?”

“No, I was—”

“Oh, wait, I know,” he said, cutting off Kelvin’s rebuttal.  “You was trying to get a better eye on that lass.  Well, I say it to you, and I say it to all of you.”  He shifted his attention to the crew and raised his voice so it would carry.  “No one goes near those prisoners except me and the captain, got it?”

The lack of response made him purse his lips.  “I said, got it?”  His bellow returned. 

“Aye aye, Sir!” they responded in practiced unison as they saluted.  Kelvin missed the queue but managed to follow suit holding his salute until everyone dropped it on the lieutenant’s acknowledgement.  Kelvin tried his best to slip away unnoticed, but when the lieutenant called out to him again, he began to swear that the man had eyes in the back of his head.

“You are a slippery one,” he said, getting back to his uncomfortable distance where Kelvin could feel the hot breath from his nose.  “Keep trying to jump back in the belly there and I’ll toss you in the river, get me?”

“Aye, sir,” Kelvin said in his best accent.  It was at that moment he felt the fear of being discovered wash over him.  The feeling dissipated to his lower stomach as he watched the man walk away from him. It was still there, but caged by his sense of duty.  He needed a plan, and one before the boat got too far away from the city.  Without the proper amount of mass nearby to counteract the amount of energy being shoved through space and time, his jump could become unstable.  The buildings and other centers of mass acted as a sort of homing beacon for travelers, and with less mass around when making or finishing a authorized Time Leap, let alone a flash jump, the landing zone can be tragically missed.  He assured himself that he had to act fast, but in a way that was not going to get him launched into the cold, November waters of the river below.

His eyes roamed the deck as he watched the lieutenant break up the other loiterers, distributing orders to boatswains and sending them to do various duties to get ready to leave port.  Every now and then, the old man would turn toward the two men that had taken positions next to the stairs down to get a nod that told him no one was heading for the innards of the ship.  When satisfied he would continue toward his perch on the upper, scenic deck.  Kelvin knew that he needed to find some way down there and cursed the stars for having to sync his watch astronomically, but it was necessary for his escape later to confirm his coordinates and he could not do that without clear line of sight to the cool night sky.  

He wished that he could just follow the lieutenant and ambush him, maybe throw him in the water instead, but he knew that this would cause even more detriment to his mission than he was already dealing with.  Harming anyone that belonged there on the ship could cause a potentially catastrophic cascade of chronic molecule collapse and, in doing so, render time into a quantum bomb.  In other words, he had no wish to destroy the entire timeline just for some minor revenge that does not, ultimately, help him achieve his goal.  But it might have felt good in the moment.

Another plan was to try to act injured himself, he thought.  If he could simply get injured enough to go back below deck, he could find his way to the prisoners.  As good as this sounded, he doubted it would work.  With how paranoid the lieutenant was acting, and on top of that, the shorter man’s lackeys planning whatever sort of mutiny they had conjured up in their minds, Kelvin believed that he would be escorted to the infirmary with little to no privacy. 

In his deep thoughts of plans, he felt a familiar rush of energy as the boat rocked in the river.  His eyes widened as he rushed to the side of the ship.  The current of the river had been altered, pulling all the ripples in the water toward the ship as if it had gained a massive amount of weight and was then released shortly after.  The ship bobbed, the crew stirred in confusion.

“Oh, quarks and quasars,” Kelvin said, running a few fingers through his dirty blond hair.  It meant someone else was here too.  Someone that didn’t belong here, just like him.  His watch however remained unaware of this chronological disturbance and that troubled him even more.  If someone else was here, that meant they would already be cognizant of his mission or, worse yet, a rival.  The bearded man paused in his shouting.  His eyes looking around as the color of his face drained.  Kelvin was watching as the lieutenant sensed it, turning toward his observer.  As they locked eyes something clicked within their minds separately.  Their eyes widened in their mutual realization.

“Oi, I need a word with you,” the bearded lieutenant said, clenching his fists as he began stomping toward Kelvin. 

Not wanting any words with him, Kelvin shoved his hands in his pockets and made his way to a dark shadow cast by the second deck gun, trying his best to break line of sight from the lieutenant.  But as he heard the heavy footfalls, he knew that the man was giving chase.  Panic began to set in, like a rabbit being chased by a fox, Kelvin wanted so badly to run.  As the steps came closer, Kelvin’s stomach rumbled like Mt. Vesuvius’ awakening.  Massaging his abdomen with his hand in hopes of calming it down, Kelvin looked over the railing into the dark waters below.  If he ran, other sailors might try to stop him, however, if he jumped, and the water was cold enough, he would drown before he even reached the shore.  His hesitation of either choice became his decision as a pair of fists balled up on his uniform.

He was torn from his position on the railing as the lieutenant got in his face.  “Did you bring them here?”  The accent was gone, his voice a higher pitch than Kelvin could remember.  He looked back around the boxes before asking the question again, the accent back again.  The lieutenant’s eyes flicked back and forth between Kelvin’s. 

“Bring who?” Kelvin said, playing dumb.  “Who are you?”  He narrowed his eyes at the man.  The lieutenant was angry, but it was not at Kincade.  He was scared and frustrated.  In that moment, while watching the bearded man’s amber eyes, he made a motion to pull on the hairs on his chin.  Sure enough, the beard came peeling away with skin still attached.  Kelvin would have groaned in disgust as he saw the clumps of hair and skin in his hand, but there was no blood, only smooth, pale skin left behind on the lieutenant’s face. Sparks of blue energy flickered under the false skin.  “Wait a minute.”

The lieutenant gasped and slapped Kelvin across the face.  “Why did you do that?  Are you insane?”  It was notably feminine in tone, something that he did not even catch a hint of before.  The body odor and bad breath were gone too.

“I had a hunch,” Kelvin said rubbing his burning cheek. 

“Well, now you’ve doomed us both,” the false lieutenant dropped their grip and peered out toward the deck.  Touching the missing patches on their face, the false lieutenant groaned.  “That mask was a fortune.”

“How were you changing your voice so well?”  Kelvin asked, his mind wondering how he had missed it so easily before, only seeing now that this person had narrow shoulders and a shorter build. 

“Projectors, and a synthesizer,” the false lieutenant said, “but somehow your daft attempt to unmask me ruined both.”

“Seems like a shoddy design to me,” Kelvin said, kneeling next to them.  “Look, I need to get down to those prisoners, and you’re my only ticket in.”

“No, not today,” they said.  “I should just throw you in the river now and be done with it.”

“You can’t,” Kelvin said in a confident tone.  “If they find my tech, then things are going to get really messy.  We need to both get down there and I can help you get out of this time period.”

 “Yeah, and what do you propose, Einstein?  I can’t exactly talk to them anymore.”  The lieutenant said through gritted teeth.  They were furious at this point, clenching fists, and gnashing teeth.   “Besides, why would I want to come with you anyways?”

“Act like you’re injured,” Kelvin said. 

“What?”

“They won’t think twice if an officer is being carried passed them.  And you’ll still be moving so they won’t get suspicious, right?”

The lieutenant pondered it for a moment.  With a sigh, they agreed.  A moment later, the pair moved toward the stairwell down, the lieutenant leaning on Kelvin’s shoulder, one arm slung over his back, the other holding their face. 

“Found him like this,” Kelvin said to the guards, huffing.  “Needs medical attention.”

The two guards looked concerned as the two approached, but seeing as their lieutenant was injured, they made a move to come investigate.  But, the lieutenant held out their hand, tilting their face in a way to hide the ruined disguise. A moment of hesitation was all it took to stop the two sailors in their tracks. 

“Well, get a move on then,” one of them said to Kelvin.  “Need him in tip top shape for tonight.”

They moved down the stairs, and once out of sight, the act was dropped.  The false lieutenant shoved away from Kelvin, finishing the motion with grunt.  “Well, we’re here.  Off you go, now.”

“Wait,” Kelvin said, “but who are you?”

“A traveler, much like yourself,” they said, pulling free the rest of the mask.  Emerging from the leathery skin, a woman with shoulder length brown hair, her golden eyes glaring at Kelvin.  “My name is Lena and I’ve been stuck here for a while, trying to make sure no one messes up the timeline.  But then you came and blundered everything up.”  She kept herself from shouting, as she motioned at her discarded mask.  She pulled out a small spray bottle and aimed it at the mask.  “So, you said you’re going to get me out,” she said spraying a mist over the mask.  As it settled onto the fake skin, the former disguise began to evaporate leaving a clean spot on the floor where it had laid.

“I did say that,” Kelvin said.  “And I mean it, but I have to find something first.”

“Well, I guess that makes us partners now,” Lena said, crossing her arms.  “So, what is it?”

Kelvin’s stomach grumbled. He didn’t want to work with this person. There was no way he could trust her, but she didn’t belong here either and that rising sense of duty caged in more of his anxieties.  “I don’t know if I should tell you.”

Lena shook her head.  “Why not, sir?  Mister I-don’t-tell-people-anything.”  She brushed her hair out of her face with a frustrated gesture as if swatting a fly.  Her words cut him in a way he was not prepared for.  Something about how she said that bit at him.  He took in a deep breath and thought, hope this doesn’t ruin everything.

“Fine, okay,” Kelvin said putting his hands up in surrender.  “My name is Kelvin, so now you know that, and I am here,” he paused as he heard clanking coming down the hallway.  “I am here—” he tried to finish but the heavy rhythmic clanking was getting louder.  Even Lena had lost interest in his words as they both peered down the hallway.  The lights flickered and blinked out as the hallway beyond was pitch black.

Emerging from the shadows was a bipedal machination.  With gleaming, polished black armor pieces covering its body to mimic the human form, it stopped a few feet away.  Its faceless head turning to each of them accompanied with a whirring noise.  It was something that Kelvin had feared would show up, but not this soon.  The Time Agency used these machinations, Blankers as the other agents have come to call them, for when there was a significant time breach that was deemed irreparable.  When the order was given, a single Blanker was sent to remove all agents from the corrupted timeline and then erase the moment from history, creating a moment that time forgot. Later being attributed to bad historical records, but for the Agency, hidden in archives of history’s erased events.

“Quarks and quasars!” Kelvin shouted and turned to sprint away.  Lena was already down the hallway, cursing between breaths. 

“You did bring them here, you asshole!”  She yelled back at him over her shoulder. 

“We need to lose it!”

“Well, no shit,” Lena said.  “Look, I’ll distract it, but you have to promise me, you won’t leave me here.”

Kelvin’s heart thumped.  He still didn’t trust her, but they had a common enemy, common ground to maybe find equal footing.  The Agency needed allies. Or at least Kelvin did. Especially in a time with this many issues.  “Yes, I promise.”  And he meant it.

Lena disappeared around a corner, and as Kelvin turned the corner, Lena shoved him hard into an open doorway before slamming it.  “Hide. Wait for it to pass.” 

Kelvin sat in the small storage closet as he heard Lena call out followed by the clunking metal steps of the Blanker.  Only a few minutes passed before Kelvin clambered out of hiding.  He was alone in the hallway and began moving through the ship, listening intently for the heavy metal footfalls.

He wound his way toward the back of the ship when he heard a pounding sound.  He instinctively crouched out of sight, fearing it to be Lena and the Blanker, but he realized it wasn’t the metallic sound he was listening for. Someone was pounding repeatedly against a door.  Following the sound, he came upon a hallway with two guards standing outside a loud, thumping door that was closed.   

Kelvin walked past the hallway at first, listening to the muffled voice yell out.  Luckily, he remained unseen by the two guards, crouching to peek around the bulkhead.  He took a deep breath and prepared himself.  He needed to get into that doorway, but if a fight were to break out, he would need to defend himself.  He had been trained in non-lethal forms of combat, but he’d rather not have to risk it, especially with the Blanker running around.

He pressed down his uniform and made his way toward them.  “Oi,” he said.  The guards looked at him with narrowed suspicion.  “Shift change.”

“Seems a bit early, don’t it?” said one of the guards.  He crossed his arms and looked down at Kelvin. 

“Well, the boss said that you two been having a hard time with the new guests,” Kelvin said, motioning at the door.  “Said you two should be able to take a break in the mess.”

“About time,” the other guard said.  “They been yellin’ since they got here.”

Kelvin nodded.  “Aye, so take a load off,” he said, his voice slipping into some other accent.  But if they had noticed, the guards did not care. 

He was handed the keys and the guards made their way toward the mess. One stopped as though he wanted to ask something but shrugged and finally left Kelvin alone in the hallway, the door still thundering from the inside.  Inserting the key, the pounding stopped.  And as Kelvin unlocked the door and pushed his way in, the occupants backed away, huddling together in the back corner.  Kelvin closed the door behind him, then slowly placed the key in the pocket of his jacket.  Then turned his palms outward to show that he meant no harm. 

“Charles?” he said.

The man, standing between Kelvin and his pregnant wife titled his head.  His face contorted in confusion. 

Kelvin cleared his throat.  “Karl Franz? Is that you, your highness?”  His voice rang out in Austrian, the words translated as he spoke them. 

“What sort of trick is this?”  the former emperor said.  His brow folded inward into a burning scowl.  “Haven’t we given you enough?  You come to gloat in my native tongue?”

“No, no, nothing like that.  I’ve come to help you.”  Kelvin stayed where he was, his hands still up.

Karl Franz scoffed.  “And how are you going to help us?”

“I have infiltrated this ship to keep you safe, sir.  You and your wife.” Kelvin hesitated for dramatics.  “However, they are coming, and they are convinced you have riches hidden on your persons.”  He watched the former emperor’s face, but it was not his face that broke.

“We have nothing,” he said, but his wife put a hand on his shoulder, to stop him.

“Can you ensure our safety?” she said, her eyes searching Kelvin’s face for hope.  As long as Kelvin could do his mission successfully, he could keep his words true.  But he would never be able to tell her that.  So, he would only be able to show confidence and hope that that was enough.  When her eyes stopped searching and her face softened slightly, he knew it would be enough.  She locked eyes with Karl and nodded.

“No, Zita, my dear,” Karl said.  “it’s all we have left.”

“We have to, darling.  They are coming,” she said, and turned to Kelvin.  “Can you keep it from them?  And make sure it helps Austria?”

“You came on the ship,” Karl said, preventing Kelvin from responding.  “Surely you can get us off.”

“I can’t do that,” Kelvin said as his stomach dropped.  Knowing someone’s destiny, and their whole life always made these choices hard for him in training, and yet, no matter how much he had prepared himself for them, he knew it would always hit him like a punch to his stomach.  He had heard other agents being terrified that the next person to ask to be saved like this would be the one that pierced their soul. Kelvin now understood why they said such things.  “If I take you off this boat, they will find us again.  We can’t run anymore.  Frustrated, they would bring you back and there would be nothing to keep them from lashing out.  The only way you’ll be safe is to do as they say.”

“He’s right,” Zita said, doing her best to use her presence to keep her husband calm.  “Think of our child.”

Karl gave her a long, hard look.  Studying her, with his dark eyes.  He ran a hand against her cheek and let out a long breath.  “No, you’re right, my love.”  His eyes wandered to Kelvin.  “I know we don’t know you but if Zita trusts you, after all we’ve been through, then it would seem we have no choice.  But as long as we’re together…”  He trailed off as he looked at his wife. 

“This is the best way,” Kelvin said, looking back at the door.  “But we should hurry, they’ll become suspicious without anyone watching the door.”

Karl lowered himself slowly onto the small pad.  Zita knelt near his boots and moved the heel to the side.  With a quick motion she pulled something free and cupped it in her hands.  She hesitated as she looked at it for a long moment.

“Let him have it, Zita,” Karl said with a reluctant tone. 

“I know,” she said, “I just wanted to put my hopes and dreams into it so that the regret won’t haunt me.”  With a nod, she held out her hand, slowly opening her fingers to reveal the gem.  A diamond that filled her palm glittered even in this dark place.  It was a brilliant yellow diamond with a small casing that looked to be part of a hat ornament before they were captured and forced to hide it.  But above all else, it was the Florentine Diamond, his objective.  He felt a sense of awe wash over him as he took in the diamond.  However, the excitement was dashed as shouting could be heard from outside.  The three of them looked at each other with widening eyes, but only Kelvin knew the true danger. 

The Blanker had found him. 

Kelvin shoved the diamond in his coat pocket.  “I’m going to lock you in here, you’ll be safe.”

“What are you going to do?” Karl said as he grabbed Kelvin by the forearm.

Kelvin looked back and smiled with all the conjured confidence of a practiced liar.  “I don’t know, I’m just making it up as I go.”

Kelvin had the item and took a deep breath before shoving the door open.  The sight gave him pause.  The Blanker had Lena by the throat, its arms bloody from where it had clubbed the two sailors who must have attacked it.

“Hey!” Kelvin yelled, not thinking of what else to say, he stared at the Blanker.  Its head turned toward him.  “I got an anomaly in my pocket!”

“Time Agent Kincade,” the mechanical voice spoke from the faceless head that reflected Kelvin’s determined face back at him.  “You and everyone on this ship must perish from the timeline.”

Tossing Lena to the side, the Blanker came at Kelvin in a few steps, lifting him in the air. 

With a quick motion, he brought his arm upward, slapping on the inside of the assailant’s arm to force the grip free.  A pain shot through his arm, but the maneuver worked as the grip on his jacket loosened enough for him to tear free.  He had no means to fight this being, but he could distract them long enough to figure out how to stop it.  He turned and ran, sprinting toward the hallway junction.  But in the sheer panic, he forgot to keep his opponent from running after him.  Disabling his attacker would have guaranteed his escape.  However, as the Blanker grabbed his foot, and he was yanked effortlessly into the air, only to come crashing down on the metal floor.  

“You have something that does not belong to you,” the voice rumbled out again, the being stood over him.  “Give it to us and we will make your death short and painless.”

“Very comforting,” Kelvin said, coughing looking up at his assailant.  He used the act of coughing to prime his wristwatch.  “I should just hand it over right now, huh?”

“Your attempts at sarcasm are—”

Whirring to life, the Blanker stopped talking as the watch erupted in a shrieking sound.  The lights flickered and dimmed.  It was enough of a distraction for Kelvin to kick away, sliding on his back toward the junction again.  Then there was a crack as something hit the being on the backside of the Blanker’s head.  Sparks flew from the severed cables leading to the head as the Blanker stiffened and slumped over, collapsing next to Kelvin to reveal Lena standing over the black-clad opponent with a fire extinguisher.

“Glad to see you,” he said with a smile of relief on his face.

“Did you get what you needed?”  She said, dropping the fire extinguisher. She was a mess; haggard, bloodied but still the determination in her stance said she was ready for anything.  Kelvin nodded to which she responded, “Then it’s time to go.”

They made their way toward the hold when Lena turned to Kelvin.  “So, what is it?”

Kelvin chuckled.  “You really want to know?”

She nodded, giving him a stern look of disappointment.  “I think it’s only fair, since I just saved your life back there.”

“Fine, fine,” he said, digging into his coat pocket.  He produced the palm-sized gem just as they reached the door to the hold.  “The Florentine Diamond, ma’am.”

She stopped running. Kelvin slowed as she looked at him. She came closer, almost a saunter as her eyes were glued to the diamond Kelvin was still presenting. Her golden eyes gleamed at the diamond.  “By the stars, that is mighty impressive.”  There was a hint of an accent in those words, and Kelvin had trouble determining whether it was facetious or not.  “Have you ever looked at something so beautiful that you just had to have it? Hold it in your own hands?”  Her eyes floated up to his, meeting his with a sort of intoxicating allure to them.  There was this sense of curiosity and excitement, but something else was just underneath those.  “Can I hold it?”  Something that gave Kelvin pause. 

“Ehh,” he said, pulling the diamond away, “I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

Her eyes turned cold in an instant.  “Kelvin, I don’t want to do this,” she said, her brows mashing together in that glare.  “But I’m gonna have to have that diamond.”  Before he could answer, she produced a revolver from behind her.

“Whoa, now,” he said putting his hands up.  “This was all you wanted?”

Lena scoffed.  “No, but it could be very useful to me,” she said.  “Look, I never meant it to be this way, but I’m in with some terrible people and they want something like that there diamond.  And people like you would only get hurt.”

“People like me? Oh, I see,” Kelvin said.  “But I know people who can help you.  My team is very good at this kind of thing.”

“It’s too late for that, Kelvin.  Look, I like you, you’ve got a good heart, but it’ll never work.”

He was unsure why that hurt so much, but it must have shown on his face. As a sort of pity flashed across Lena’s face.   “Just give me the diamond, and your watch and you can go,” she said, putting out her hand.

“You expect me to just let you abandon me here instead? After all that, don’t leave me here bull you spouted?”  There was a pause, but finally he relented.  “Fine,” he said, stripping off his watch and placing it on top of the diamond.  “Take it and go.”

Lena hesitated, her golden eyes studying him before she snatched them both and disappeared into the hold.  In a moment she would slip away, but if Kelvin could get back to the Blanker, he believed that he could hot wire the thing to work for him.  She may have escaped with the diamond, but his main job was accomplished.  The Florentine Diamond was safely removed from the anomaly, and without their mutinous lieutenant, the mutiny was halted without a shot.  However, Kelvin had a new mission, a time thief, and Lena’s people to deal with.  He just needed to get the Blanker up and working.  A few hours of work, Kelvin knew that he could manage it.  Then it would be time to flash jump again.