Chapter 16 Chapter fifteen
Three hours and thirty minutes later Dahl knocked on the door of Captain Kerensky's private chamber.Hurst and Hansen followed him, hauling storage boxes and delivery carts.
The door slid open, and standing in the room was Duvall. "God, come in," she said.
Dahl looked around the room. "We can't all squeeze into this room," he said.
"Then you come in alone," she said. "Bring the suitcase," she looked at Hester and Hansen, "behave naturally."
"Understood," Hurst said.Dahl pushed the storage box into the room, walked in, and closed the door behind him.
Kerensky lay naked in the room, unconscious.
"Can't you help him put his pants on?" Dahl asked.
"Andy, next time you want to put down the person who slept with you, do whatever you like." Duval said, "This reminds me by the way, this favor is really at the level of 'sex with someone'."
"It's ironic when you think about it." Dahl nodded in Kerensky's direction.
"Haha, that's funny," Duvall said.
"How long has he been unconscious?" Dahl asked.
"Within a few minutes," Duvall said, "it was unbelievable. At first I wanted him to have a drink with me first—then I put that little pill in his glass—but he just wanted to Straight to the point. I could tell you how much work it took me to get him to drink, but I'm afraid you're not interested."
"I tried really hard to imagine it, but I still had no idea," Dahl said.
"That's better," Duvall said. "Anyway, he's unconscious now, and if I judge by the results of my own experiments last time, these little pills are enough for him to lie down for a few hours."
"Great," Dahl said. "Let's do it." Duvall nodded, pulling off the sheets and blankets and spreading them over the bottom of the storage box.
"Is there enough air?" she asked.
"The box isn't airtight," Dahl said, "but maybe you should help him put his pants on now."
"Not yet," Duvall said.
"I don't know what's going to happen next," Dahl said.
"Cut the bullshit, we'll put him in," Duvall said.
Five minutes later, Kerensky was stuffed into the storage box by the two of them.Duvall picked up Kerensky's underpants and jacket and stuffed them into a duffel bag.
"Where's his communicator?" Dahl asked.Duvall snatched it from Kerensky's desk and threw it at Dahl.Dahl turned on the text message function, typed a message and hit send. "Come on," he said, "Kerensky has called in sick for his next shift, and no one will be here for him for at least twelve hours."
"Poor guy." Duvall looked at the locker. "I really feel sorry for him. He's an idiot and self-centered, but he's not really a bad guy. He's pretty good in bed, too."
"I don't need to know that," Dahl said.
"Prudish," Duvall said.
"You can make it up to him later." Dahl said as he opened the door, and Hester was standing across the corridor.
"I thought you were all starting to play craps," Hurst said.
"Don't pick a fight," Duvall said. "Let's get him in the car."
A few minutes later, the four of them and their unconscious cargo arrived at the door of the shuttle boat hangar.
"Go and start the shuttle." Dahl finished speaking to Hurst, then turned to Hansen and Duval, "You move the cargo into the cabin as soon as possible."
"Somebody's got the airs of a boss," Duvall said.
"At this moment, I hope you will cooperate with me and pretend to respect my authority." Dahl said.
"Where are you going?" Hansen asked.
"I have to go somewhere else," Dahl said, "I need to get some extra supplies." Hansen nodded and pushed the delivery truck back to the hangar, Duval and Hurst followed.Dahl walked on until he found a deserted cargo aisle.He quietly pushed open the passage door.
Jenkins was on the other side of the door.
"You know how creepy you are doing that?" Dahl said.
"I try not to waste your time," Jenkins said.He is carrying a briefcase. "It's what Abernathy, King, and Hartnell left over from their last mission," he said. "Mobile phone and money. This phone can be used for communication and information transmission on the Internet in that era. The Internet speed is very slow and the function It’s also very basic, so be patient. The money is all physical cash, which they used when you went back.”
"Will they notice something's wrong?" Dahl asked.
"They didn't last time," Jenkins replied.
"How much money is in it?"
"About ninety-three thousand dollars."
"Is it a lot of money?"
"Enough to get you through six days," Jenkins replied.Dahl took the box and turned to leave.
"One more thing." Jenkins stopped Dahl and handed him a small box.
Dahl took it and said, "Are you really going to let me do this?"
"Since I'm not coming with you," Jenkins said, "you'll have to do it for me."
"Maybe I don't have time to spare," Dahl said.
"I know, if you have time."
"And this thing won't last long, you know that very well."
"It doesn't have to last forever," Jenkins said, "just enough time."
"Ok."
"Thank you," Jenkins said. "I think you'd better get on the shuttle now. It's a clever way to send a message pretending to be Kerensky, but don't take too much chance. Your good luck has already been used up." Enough."
"You can't do this to me." Kerensky's voice came from the storage box.He fell asleep for more than ten hours, and finally woke up five minutes ago.Hearst had been laughing at him. "Just thinking about where you're in, what you're saying is ridiculous," Hurst said. "Let me out!" said Kerensky. "That's an order!" "Are you still joking?" said Hurst. "You're in the box. You can't escape." Hearing this, the box fell silent. After a while, Kerensky's plaintive voice said: "Where are my trousers?" Hurst glanced at Duvall and said, "Leave that to you." Duvall gave him a blank look. "I want to pee," Kerensky said, "in a real hurry." Duvall sighed. "Anatole," she began, "it's me." "Maya?" Kerensky said. "They got you too? Don't worry, I won't let these bastards touch a finger of yours. You sons of bitches, you hear me? " Hearst looked at Dahl suspiciously, and Dahl shrugged. "Anatole," Duvall said louder, "they didn't get me." "What?" Kerensky was speechless for a long time, and finally said, "Oh." "'Oh.'" Duvall knew what he meant. "Now, listen up, Anatole. I'm going to open the box and let you out, but I hope you don't be stupid and make a fuss. Can do it Are you there?" After a while of silence, Kerensky said: "Yes." "Anatole, your hesitation just now tells me that you will really do something stupid once we let you out," Duvall said, "so you have to think about it, two of my friends are holding pulse guns To you. If you do something stupid, they will really blow you up. Got it?" "Understood." This time, Kerensky's answer was much submissive. "Okay." Duval finished and walked towards the storage box. "Pulse gun?" Dahl asked.No one carries that kind of thing.So this time it was Duvall's turn to shrug. "You knew he was lying just now?" Hearst asked. "That's why I buttoned his pants," Duvall said, undoing the chain. Kerensky rushed out of the box, rolled over, quickly found the door, ran, and slammed open the door at full speed.Everyone in the room watched his series of actions. "What should we do now?" Hansen asked. "Go to the window and watch," Dahl said.They all stood up and went to the window sill, and rolled up the blinds, so that the view outside was unobstructed. "There's a good show," said Hurst. Thirty seconds later, Kerensky came into view, bolted into the street, then stopped, looking totally confused.A car was blocked by him and was honking violently in protest.He stepped back onto the sidewalk. "Anatole, go back to your room." Duval called to him from the window. "Please, you're not wearing pants." Kerensky looked around and found the direction from which the voice came. "It's not on a ship!" he yelled at the windows. "No, it's the Best Western Media Center Inn and Suites," Duvall said. "At." "Some planet?" Kerensky exclaimed. "What system are we in?" "Oh, for God's sake," Hearst grumbled, turning to Kerensky, "you're on Earth, you idiot." Kerensky looked around in disbelief and said, "Is this the end of the world?" Hearst said to Duvall, "You really slept with this retard?" "Well, he's had enough of a bad day," Duval said, calling out to Kerensky again, "We've traveled back in time, Anatoly, it's 2012, and this is what the Earth looks like right now .Okay, hurry back to your room." "You drugged me and kidnapped me!" Kerensky complained. "I know, and I'm sorry about that, too," Duvall said. "It was a real emergency. But listen, you gotta come back first, and you're half naked. Even in 2012, it was like that on the street. You'll be arrested too. You don't want to be arrested in 2012, Anatole. It's not comfortable being in prison these days. Come into your room, okay? We're in room 215, you take the stairs. " Kerensky looked around, then at his naked lower body, then turned around and rushed into the hotel gate. "I don't want to share a room with him," Hearst said. "I just want to make it clear." A minute later, there was a knock on the door.Hansen walked over and opened the door, and Kerensky burst into the room. "First, give me back my trousers," said Kerensky. All eyes were on Duvall, who made a "how" look, then pulled Kerensky's trousers from her rucksack and threw them at him. "And then," Kerensky said, as he unsteadily pulled on his pants, "I wondered why we were here." "Because we hid the shuttle in Griffith Park after we landed, and this hotel is the closest to there," Hurst said. It's not light!" "I don't mean the hotel," Kerensky spat. "I mean here, on Earth, in 2012, in Burbank. Someone explain all this to me right away!" This time all eyes were on Dahl. "Oh," he said, "well, it's complicated."
"Eat something, Kerensky," Duvall said, pushing the rest of the pizza over.They were sitting at a table at Pizza Number One near the hotel, this time Kerensky had his trousers on. Kerensky did not even look him in the eye. "I'm not sure it's safe," he said. "There are already food safety laws in the 21st century," Hansen said, "and this is America." "I won't eat," said Kerensky. "Let him starve to death," Hurst said, reaching for the last slice of pizza.Kerensky reached out and took it first. "There is news." Dahl showed the news on the screen of his communicator-his twenty-first century mobile phone-to the crowd. "The Chronicles of the Intrepid," he continued, turning the screen back to himself, "runs every Friday at nine o'clock on a channel called Corwin Action Movies, sort of like a 'basic cable channel.' Stuff, it’s been airing since 2007. In other words, it’s now on its sixth season.” "This is ridiculous," Kerensky said, munching on his pizza. Dahl looked at him, then clicked on another text on the screen. "The name of the actor who played Captain Anatoly Kerensky in "The Chronicles of the Dreadnought" is Mark Corey," he said, turning the screen to show Kerensky a photo of a long A very Kerensky-like man in a smart blazer and open-necked shirt. "Born in 1985 in Chatsworth, California. I don't know if it's close." Kerensky grabbed the phone and read the message unhappyly. "That doesn't tell the story," he said. "We don't know the accuracy of this information. All we know is this—" He scrolled for the title he wanted, "—this Wikipedia information The database was put together by a bunch of idiots." He handed the phone back to Dahl. "We can try to find this guy named Corey." Hansen said. "I want to focus on other people first," Dahl said, poking at the screen again. "If Mark Corey is one of the stars in this movie, it may not be easy to get close to him. So I think we should Go for a smaller target." "What do you mean?" Duvall asked. "I mean, I think we can start with me," Dahl said, turning the screen around again, where his face was showing, "meet Brian Abnett." Dahl's friends all looked at the photo.After a moment of silence, Hansen said, "It's disturbing, isn't it? Looking at a photo of someone who looks very much like you but isn't you." "Really," Dahl said, "of course there is another one for each of you." Having said that, everyone else turned on their phones. "How did Wikipedia introduce him?" Kerensky snorted.He doesn't have his own cell phone. "Didn't say anything," Dahl said. "Looks like he's not famous enough. I linked from the Dauntless Chronicles page to a database called , which has cast information for TV shows. He has a profile page there." "Then how should we contact him?" "There is no contact information on this page," Dahl said, "but we can search other pages by his name." "I found my own," Hanson said. "I was played by a guy named Chad." "I used to know a guy named Chad," Hurst said, "and he beat me up like hell." "I'm sorry," Hansen said. "I'm not talking about you," Hearst said, "I'm not talking about you two." "He has his own page," Dahl said. "Chad?" Hansen asked. "No, Brian Abnett." Dahl scrolled down the screen until he found a "Contact" button.Dahl clicked, and the page jumped. "It's his agent's," Dahl said. "Wow, actors had agents back then," Duvall said. "You mean, even now," Dahl tapped his phone screen again. "His office is only a few miles from here, we can walk there." "What are we going to do when we get here?" Duvall asked. "I want to ask for his address," Dahl said. "Do you think they'll give it to you?" Hurst asked. "Of course," Dahl said, "I am him."
Notes:
"You can't do this to me." Kerensky's voice came from the storage box.He fell asleep for more than ten hours, and finally woke up five minutes ago.Hearst had been laughing at him. "Just thinking about where you're in, what you're saying is ridiculous," Hurst said. "Let me out!" said Kerensky. "That's an order!" "Are you still joking?" said Hurst. "You're in the box. You can't escape." Hearing this, the box fell silent. After a while, Kerensky's plaintive voice said: "Where are my trousers?" Hurst glanced at Duvall and said, "Leave that to you." Duvall gave him a blank look. "I want to pee," Kerensky said, "in a real hurry." Duvall sighed. "Anatole," she began, "it's me." "Maya?" Kerensky said. "They got you too? Don't worry, I won't let these bastards touch a finger of yours. You sons of bitches, you hear me? " Hearst looked at Dahl suspiciously, and Dahl shrugged. "Anatole," Duvall said louder, "they didn't get me." "What?" Kerensky was speechless for a long time, and finally said, "Oh." "'Oh.'" Duvall knew what he meant. "Now, listen up, Anatole. I'm going to open the box and let you out, but I hope you don't be stupid and make a fuss. Can do it Are you there?" After a while of silence, Kerensky said: "Yes." "Anatole, your hesitation just now tells me that you will really do something stupid once we let you out," Duvall said, "so you have to think about it, two of my friends are holding pulse guns To you. If you do something stupid, they will really blow you up. Got it?" "Understood." This time, Kerensky's answer was much submissive. "Okay." Duval finished and walked towards the storage box. "Pulse gun?" Dahl asked.No one carries that kind of thing.So this time it was Duvall's turn to shrug. "You knew he was lying just now?" Hearst asked. "That's why I buttoned his pants," Duvall said, undoing the chain. Kerensky rushed out of the box, rolled over, quickly found the door, ran, and slammed open the door at full speed.Everyone in the room watched his series of actions. "What should we do now?" Hansen asked. "Go to the window and watch," Dahl said.They all stood up and went to the window sill, and rolled up the blinds, so that the view outside was unobstructed. "There's a good show," said Hurst. Thirty seconds later, Kerensky came into view, bolted into the street, then stopped, looking totally confused.A car was blocked by him and was honking violently in protest.He stepped back onto the sidewalk. "Anatole, go back to your room." Duval called to him from the window. "Please, you're not wearing pants." Kerensky looked around and found the direction from which the voice came. "It's not on a ship!" he yelled at the windows. "No, it's the Best Western Media Center Inn and Suites," Duvall said. "At." "Some planet?" Kerensky exclaimed. "What system are we in?" "Oh, for God's sake," Hearst grumbled, turning to Kerensky, "you're on Earth, you idiot." Kerensky looked around in disbelief and said, "Is this the end of the world?" Hearst said to Duvall, "You really slept with this retard?" "Well, he's had enough of a bad day," Duval said, calling out to Kerensky again, "We've traveled back in time, Anatoly, it's 2012, and this is what the Earth looks like right now .Okay, hurry back to your room." "You drugged me and kidnapped me!" Kerensky complained. "I know, and I'm sorry about that, too," Duvall said. "It was a real emergency. But listen, you gotta come back first, and you're half naked. Even in 2012, it was like that on the street. You'll be arrested too. You don't want to be arrested in 2012, Anatole. It's not comfortable being in prison these days. Come into your room, okay? We're in room 215, you take the stairs. " Kerensky looked around, then at his naked lower body, then turned around and rushed into the hotel gate. "I don't want to share a room with him," Hearst said. "I just want to make it clear." A minute later, there was a knock on the door.Hansen walked over and opened the door, and Kerensky burst into the room. "First, give me back my trousers," said Kerensky. All eyes were on Duvall, who made a "how" look, then pulled Kerensky's trousers from her rucksack and threw them at him. "And then," Kerensky said, as he unsteadily pulled on his pants, "I wondered why we were here." "Because we hid the shuttle in Griffith Park after we landed, and this hotel is the closest to there," Hurst said. It's not light!" "I don't mean the hotel," Kerensky spat. "I mean here, on Earth, in 2012, in Burbank. Someone explain all this to me right away!" This time all eyes were on Dahl. "Oh," he said, "well, it's complicated."
"Eat something, Kerensky," Duvall said, pushing the rest of the pizza over.They were sitting at a table at Pizza Number One near the hotel, this time Kerensky had his trousers on. Kerensky did not even look him in the eye. "I'm not sure it's safe," he said. "There are already food safety laws in the 21st century," Hansen said, "and this is America." "I won't eat," said Kerensky. "Let him starve to death," Hurst said, reaching for the last slice of pizza.Kerensky reached out and took it first. "There is news." Dahl showed the news on the screen of his communicator-his twenty-first century mobile phone-to the crowd. "The Chronicles of the Intrepid," he continued, turning the screen back to himself, "runs every Friday at nine o'clock on a channel called Corwin Action Movies, sort of like a 'basic cable channel.' Stuff, it’s been airing since 2007. In other words, it’s now on its sixth season.” "This is ridiculous," Kerensky said, munching on his pizza. Dahl looked at him, then clicked on another text on the screen. "The name of the actor who played Captain Anatoly Kerensky in "The Chronicles of the Dreadnought" is Mark Corey," he said, turning the screen to show Kerensky a photo of a long A very Kerensky-like man in a smart blazer and open-necked shirt. "Born in 1985 in Chatsworth, California. I don't know if it's close." Kerensky grabbed the phone and read the message unhappyly. "That doesn't tell the story," he said. "We don't know the accuracy of this information. All we know is this—" He scrolled for the title he wanted, "—this Wikipedia information The database was put together by a bunch of idiots." He handed the phone back to Dahl. "We can try to find this guy named Corey." Hansen said. "I want to focus on other people first," Dahl said, poking at the screen again. "If Mark Corey is one of the stars in this movie, it may not be easy to get close to him. So I think we should Go for a smaller target." "What do you mean?" Duvall asked. "I mean, I think we can start with me," Dahl said, turning the screen around again, where his face was showing, "meet Brian Abnett." Dahl's friends all looked at the photo.After a moment of silence, Hansen said, "It's disturbing, isn't it? Looking at a photo of someone who looks very much like you but isn't you." "Really," Dahl said, "of course there is another one for each of you." Having said that, everyone else turned on their phones. "How did Wikipedia introduce him?" Kerensky snorted.He doesn't have his own cell phone. "Didn't say anything," Dahl said. "Looks like he's not famous enough. I linked from the Dauntless Chronicles page to a database called , which has cast information for TV shows. He has a profile page there." "Then how should we contact him?" "There is no contact information on this page," Dahl said, "but we can search other pages by his name." "I found my own," Hanson said. "I was played by a guy named Chad." "I used to know a guy named Chad," Hurst said, "and he beat me up like hell." "I'm sorry," Hansen said. "I'm not talking about you," Hearst said, "I'm not talking about you two." "He has his own page," Dahl said. "Chad?" Hansen asked. "No, Brian Abnett." Dahl scrolled down the screen until he found a "Contact" button.Dahl clicked, and the page jumped. "It's his agent's," Dahl said. "Wow, actors had agents back then," Duvall said. "You mean, even now," Dahl tapped his phone screen again. "His office is only a few miles from here, we can walk there." "What are we going to do when we get here?" Duvall asked. "I want to ask for his address," Dahl said. "Do you think they'll give it to you?" Hurst asked. "Of course," Dahl said, "I am him."
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