After dropping off the record of the burn to Stormbringer's village Morgan lets the warp close with a sense of closure on this timeline. "Ok, Lorean, that's done, you can jump whenever you like." Sitting around the bridge you all notice that Lorean still seems a bit stressed out. Strange that a ship even an intelligent one would show stress, but she definitely does.

Lorean looks at you all with some relief, "I will jump in 5, 4, 3, 2, Jump!" The hologram shifts from high earth orbit to a sunny day in the south Pacific. You all begin to notice a slight movement in the deck beneath your feet and then you realize that Lorean isn't hovering above the waves, she is actually floating in the ocean just offshore of a rather picturesque tropical island. Lorean smiles tiredly, "If you don't mind, I think I'd like to try swimming for a bit since we are here to relax. I'm sure Morgan will be able to warp the crew to the island and back or to where ever you like."

After Smythe organizes everyone it is decided that everyone will go ashore and that tonight there will be an old fashioned beach barb-b-que. He ensures that people take all that they need with them to stay the night and have some fun camping out.

Before you go Lorean announces, "I have jumped us in 10 days before the Hammersmith event, 11 July 1922. You should have plenty of time to relax and enjoy things. I've delved into the records and I am fairly confident I have the exact date and location as well as a partial list of attendees. Sir Calvin Hammersmith of west London will give his demonstration at his home. Once his device, which he calls a Telluric engine reaches full capacity there will be an explosion and fire that will kill most of those who are there to witness the event. Sir Calvin, will give his own life trying to save the survivors from the conflagration. Attendees who survive include Maxwell Mercer, Dr. Benjamin Franklin Dixon, Michael Donigal, Annabel Lee Newfield, Dr. Hephaestia Geary-Wexler, Jack Tallon, and Jake Stefokowski."

--Before the jump--

Noticing the emotion present in Lorean's voice, Cody reaches out to touch the hull of the ship. He carresses the smooth surface gently , even affectionately.

Telepathically contacting her mind, he privately asks,

*You aren't just an ordinary AI are you? You're really a person in here, and this is really your body. I know everyone may seem to take your services for granted, but I wanted you to know that you aren't alone. How are you doing?*

--After the jump, on the shores of Paradise--

Cody clears his throat.

"Has anyone considered warning the good professor of what is going to happen? I for one would like to see a timeline where his experiment occurs successfully...though I suppose it needn't be this particular timeline, if you all really want to see him get blown up..."

Lorean sends back to Cody, "Yes, I am more than just an AI. I am alive although I was 'created' directely rather than through a process of evolution. Thank you, I'll be fine, I just need to focus on something else for a bit. Witnessing that much loss of life really bothers me."

--After the jump, once everyone has left the ship.--

"Well, it is supposedly the explosion that causes Mercer and the others to gain their abilities so without it this would be a bit of a waisted trip I think. However, it would be interesting to see what happens if his telluric engine did work. Perhaps we can see that after we finish here," Lorean says over the comm.

As you all gather on the beach to organize the bar-b-que you notice that Lorean who is now floating in the lagoon near the beach, begins to get smaller. So far you haven't seen her reconfigure from the outside and it is an interesting sight. The hull seems to soften and almost flow like a liquid into whatever form she is changing into. Except that she is mostly white and not metallic, it is similar to what the advanced model terminator does in that movie. This time however, she doesn't just make minor changes, she gets smaller and smaller her form becoming more compact and flowing. At first you think she is reforming underwater but it soon becomes apparent that she is actually shrinking. It takes nearly thirty seconds but she eventually changes shape completely and impressively into that of a human. Most of the crew including most of the novas just watch in stunned silence. After a few minutes she swims to the beach and comes striding up out of the water completely naked. She looks just like her hologram, except that she is now more than just a floating head. She looks completely alive and made of flesh and blood. She stands six feet tall and has the body of a supermodel, a nova supermodel. She obviously has at least one dot of mega-appearance which is only more apparent since she is in the buff. "Would one of you mind handing me a towel? I'm afraid that I don't come equipped with cloathing. Hmm... next time we go to a nova timeline I want a suit of eufiber. A really really big suit." She smiles at the expressions on everyones faces and gives a bit of a dignified giggle if such a thing is possible. "Sorry for not giving you warning, I didn't know for sure I could do this until now either, but something that Cody said got me thinking. Oh, and cargo and everything is still intact. I can handle whatever is inside me much the way you can attune things that you are wearing or holding." She looks around at everyone, and smiles a breathtaking flesh and blood grin as someone hands her a towel. "I don't suppose anyone would be up for some shopping later?"

Steve thinks, *Mental note to self: Avoid worlds like this, and it may be necessary to extend our vacation.*

To Lorean: *You need a vacation too. Sorry to put you through all of this Lorean, I’m sure you saw things everywhere. The good news is this was probably as bad as it gets. Will 10 days be enough time for you? It’d be easy to expand that.*

Steve answers,

“He did get blown up, 10 days from now. And this is it, the turning point that creates novas. We need to know what happened. As for fixing things so it was a success… I’m not sure. My impression is he’s playing with gasoline and matches, good things are unlikely to come of it.”

Steve exits onto the beach and configures his eufiber into a typical “Cancun” outfit including sandals, sun glasses, hat, and a small pack holding some useful things including some gold coins and his handgun. The shear difference between the sun filled paradise and the radioactive hell they’d come from was jarring, but in a pleasant way. The things that came before could have been from a different world, and could have happened to different people.

They’d all needed a break he decides again.

(At the beach)Steve says with some concern,

“You’re good with salt water I hope?”

(After she transforms)

Stunned silence is an apt description for Steve for several moments. *Coming to the beach was a really good idea.*

Steve says,

“Venus rising from the waves. Wow! Lorean, I’m just… Wow. You look great.”

Lorean blushes slightly. "Thanks. A vacation was a really good idea. If you guys don't mind sleeping on the beach tonight, I'd like to enjoy this body for a day or so." She wraps the towel around herself, and continues, "Maybe I'll learn how to clone myself or at least make a body like this. After all Andromeda has an android version of herself, who says I can't have a clone." She grins.

Steve grins back and says,

"Oh, I'm all in favor of enjoying that body. Maybe I'll get the chance to take you to dinner and dancing."

Now she really blushes. "That would be nice, but I don't think I want to eat. I don't exactly digest food," she grins. "Before you can take me dancing, you're going to have to take me shopping. I can't exactly go dressed in this. But for now, how bout we all go for a swim. The water is great!"

As the crew prepares to disembark, Cody goes down to the hangar where his Cruiser is stored. For space considerations he keeps its default form as a kind of sleek hovercycle. Asking Lorean to open the hangar doors he jets out and circles the island from the air before settling down on the beach to watch Lorean's transformation.

His ebony skin blushes violet as she exits the water though he says nothing. Anyone watching will notice that he scowls slightly when Steve begins to flirt with her. Steve himself would know that its been hard for Cody...despite his attractive appearance,his aberrations have been a major barrier to normal intamacy.

Rather flatly he announces, to no one in particular, "I'm going to go fish for our dinner...the mercury levels should be lower here, and the populations greater. Have the firepit ready when I return"

The Cruiser takes off in a quick hop, transforming in the air to gracefully alight in the water as a streamlined speed yacht. Cody motors off into the distance.

Andrew disembarks from the ship with the rest of the crew and squints into the bright tropical sun. He piles a wad of eufiber onto his head in the form of a wide-brimmed straw hat and opens his eys a bit more to take in the island. He turns around at the sound of astonished gasps to see a naken woman walking out of the ocean Who the ...? he thinks until Lorean speaks. Andrew turns away, better to look disinterested than be caught staring he feels.

Moving up the beach Andrew lounges in the shade of some palms and opens a book, Finally a chance to relax, he thinks as he begins reading.

Lorean seems to be very much enjoying her new form and the freedom it grants. When Cody takes off to fish however, she frowns everso slightly and then pauses in her conversation for just a few seconds before she continues, smiling again.

Steve mentally increases the need for shopping on his priority chart, watches Cody leave, and then goes swimming. He's really good, far beyond Olympics good.

While doing this he has time to reflect on Cody and worry about how much longer Cody can tolerate his taint before going mad.

Cody returns as the sun is beginning to set. Apparently he used the Cruiser to go submarine and the fish have been neatly and efficiently killed with a railgun round through the brain.

His catches include a massive deep sea bass and an even more massive tuna. He smiles at Omar and the gathered Novas as the cruiser floats up to the shore and sprouts wheels to continue up the beach.

"We're eatin' good tonight!"

After a bit of a swim Morgan returned to the beach and helped some of the crew dig a good sized firepit. By the time Cody returns with the catch of the day, the fire has died down to good coals for cooking the fish. With the help of some of the others he finds some big tropical leaves for wrapping the fish in. Once everything is set he turns to Smythe and gives a slight bow. "I've prepared the fire, I'll leave the preparing of the fish to you." With a grin he opens a warp about 15 feet above the water and cannonballs through, creating a large spash out in the lagoon. He leaves the warp open for a moment in case anyone wants to follow him through.

After a bit he gets playful and uses his warp underwater to dump large swimming pool sized 'splashes' on people swimming in the lagoon. This has got to be the most fun he's had since his wife was alive. He winces briefly at the thought, and then is surprised to find that thinking of his wife doesn't cause him quite so much pain as it once did. Just then he found himself driven underwater when a giant splash of water created by the tail of a white whale that had just replaced Lorean's sleek new human form. Then just as suddenly Lorean was back laughing and floating gracefully in the water nearby.

The water was warm and crystal clear. Steve could see most of the lagoon and went exploring on the bottom. While down there he still tried to keep an eye on the others, mostly to make sure everyone stays un-drowned although the nude form of Lorean got more than her fair share of attention.

Eventually even warm water feels cold and when the baselines retreated to the beech Steve followed and spent an entertaining 10 minutes failing to get a fire started by focusing light through a eufiber lens”and then again by rubbing two sticks together at superspeed. Eventually someone else took over.

One of the crew said to him, "I thought you could do anything?"

Steve responded with good humor, "The Quantum Genii skipped that one. I was never a boy scout so there was nothing to build up.” More loudly, “In My Humble Opinion this is why man invented matches. And if you think that was bad you should see my cooking."

Omar spent most of his time on the beach. It was not that he couldn't swim, gut that it was not one of his better athletic pursuits. The Tigris and Euphratese Rivers are not the greatest for swimming, given that they are highly polluted. Still, Omar's natural athletic abilities would prevent him from harm.

After snorkling for a short stint, in which Omar made his acquaintance with several large fish, he left the water slowly and deliberately. His massive, glistening body, rippled with muscles, and dripped a godlike beauty. If the ancient Greeks were to have seen him, they would think that he was Adonis.

Slowly his figure rose from the water and made its way onto the beach. As his feet left the water, he caught a glimpse of Lorien in her human form. He felt like he would faint. She was like Ishtar, returned from the heavens. Omar's knees were weakening and he was forced to remover her from his gaze, lest he do a faceplant in the sand.

The evening goes very pleasantly. The night sky is absolutely georgous and the stars are more impressive than anytime you've ever seen them from the surface of the planet. The night is warm, but there is something primal about sitting around the bonfire on the beach of this deserted island. There is plenty of fish left over for breakfast, but for such a small crew you sure put a dent in it.

The next day several of the crew elect to stay on the island and enjoy the beach while some of you go shopping. Fortunately, one of the ladies lends Lorean some clothes for the day. Of course those not wearing eufiber are going to be very out of place until you get the shopping done.

After breakfast and a quick dip in the lagoon Morgan opens a warp to London England. Many of the crew go with you to enjoy a day in 1920's London. The agreed on meeting time is set and people wander off in different directions, some to shop and some to find entertainment, and some just to sight see. Lorean enjoys the experience thouroughly and gets two or three diffent outfits.

At one point she looks to the novas "If you don't mind, I would like to make a side trip to a nova timeline while everyone is vacationing to buy a suit of eufiber. If anyone wants to go along they can."

Steve says,

"Lorean, I'd love to see you in Eufiber. But won't the timeline split, making one where you came back and one where you didn’t? As an alternative, perhaps we could split mine in half and ask Morgan to heal both sides?”

Morgan nods at Steves solution. "Yeah, I could do that. We could always get more eufiber next time we jump back to a future timeline."

Lorean seems touched by Steve's generosity and pleased with Morgans suggestion. "Steve, don't divide yours in half, give me just enough for making cloths out of, I don't want to lessen your colony any more than necessary.

You all make a quick stop at a private dining room where Steve splits his eufiber and Morgan heals the pieces. Lorean looks very pleased with her new outfit.

Steve says,

"It looks a lot better on you than it ever did on me."

For the trip to London, Cody had once more transformed the Cruiser into a luxury limosine of the period. He still sits in front, but the interior is actually open and he controls the craft mentally, freeing him up for conversation and such.

Cody doesn't wear Eufiber either, having never quite trusted it. Also, his monocular eye-coverings make him look very strange indeed, but the tailor is quickly hypnotized into service.

He emerges in a tony dark violet 3-piece and black fedora. With Lorean appearance and a retinue of Novas and Baselines, the entire affair is very high class.

Omar watches, as the others take on period style clothing. For a Middle Eastern man, in the 1920's, a Western suit would seem odd. So he looked up the style of dressing in the post Ottoman Empire period, and found something suitable. He had his eufiber take on the form of luxurious white robes, hemmed in gold. For headcover, he chose a stylish Fezz with golden tassles.

For Omar it was the best of choices..not only would he stand out, but he would also be dressed in an outfit that was fitting for the period.

Steve says, “I think the fly boy image is in right now. Lindbergh’s doing. You look rich and famous.”

Steve looks at Omar and compliments, “Very Sheik. And this is the beginning of the rule of black gold too.”

With his eufiber Steve’s outfit varied, but typically he chose to wear a brown three piece suit that managed to scream “bodyguard” to either Omar or Cody… although walking with Lorean he usually (and perhaps subconsciously) chose to match her level of style. Fancy when she chose fancy etc.

The days go by slowly for some, but all too fast for others. The fun of experiencing 20's London is a real adventure. Given your wealth you are all treated very well and the level of service you receive from hotels and other such places is far superior to what you are used to in the twentieth century. Omar receives a combonation of fear, respect, and racial bigotry from the locals. This is still the days of the British Empire afterall, and Brittian has its hand in manipulating much of the actions of the mideast.

As the days pass you firm up your plans for observing the Hammersmith event. Many trips around the area of his home allow you to discover a vantage or two that will allow you to observe visually, and in person if you wish from not too far distance. Alternatively, Lorean can have a probe just outside one of the windows filming and aquiring data. The only question remaining is how close you wish to be to the event, orbit, a neighboring building or taking a chance by attending in person.

England in the early 20th century was a place of remarkable contrasts. Everywhere were people from the four corners of the globe as was befitting of a colonial power. Yet with its outward diversity, there was an undercurrent of bigotry based on British superiority. Even with his lavish clothing and incredible physical beauty, Omar was not immune to those undercurrents. In the migrant and poorer areas of the city Omar was treated with profound respect and to some, he was seen as visiting royalty. In the wealthier areas however, Omar was just another Arab, displaced from his home a few years earlier when the Ottoman Empire was split amongst the vicorious powers. Among these people, Omar was looked down upon. On several occasions, he had to restrain himself from pulverizing the bigot.

The Hammersmith event everyone talked about, made Omar curious. He wanted to be as close to it as posssible. But he also knew that it was a dangerous situation. He was not sure of the nature of the energies involved, and if his massive stamina and hardiness would protect him. Maybe Lorien could advise him better. If Lorien said it was not going to kill him, he would try to attend in person.

"Lorien, if I was to attend the experiment in person, would there be a good chance of the explosion killing me? Could you scan a future timeline in which I attended, and tell me if anything bad happens to me in the explosion?"

Lorean looks at you and smiles at your obvious curiousity. "I can only scan them by going to them, but I'd guess that in far too many you would be injured or killed unless you were standing in precisely the right place. I've examined the reports of the incident that were listed in the papers of the time from other timelines we've been to and I think that a few of you could attend in person. The trick is that at the moment he turns on the machine, you must be within three feet of one of the known survivors. I expect most of them were sitting or standing near each other at the time, so it is likely that the novas of our group could attend and survive without too much likely hood of death. I can't say that you wouldn't be injured though."

Steve opens his mouth, changes his mind about what he was going to say, closes it, then opens it again,

"I think the bulk of the Hammersmith incident was an eruption story. It blows up, starts a plasma fire, and we have an eruption. Future Divis controls plasma, and some of the literature about this fire talks about it being almost alive. I think he erupted and accidentally fired some people. The ones close to him survive, and note that close might mean physically close or emotionally close. It’s also possible the Hammersmith’s invention was a pure fake, and the eruption was the cause of everything. Say he thought he was going to see an important theory of his disproved and wanted it to blow up.”

“There are advantages and disadvantages to going there to see this first hand. The advantages are obvious, we’ll learn a lot more. The disadvantages are also obvious, we may be in danger and we run the very strong risk of altering the future. If Max becomes a water manipulator rather than a time traveler then the whole time war doesn’t happen.”

“On the other hand… we can always go back and do this again.” *And Omar’s instincts for this sort of thing have been remarkable good.*

Andrew adjusts his eufiber into in neat tweed suit befitting a professor at any of the eminent colleges of the time. He produces a pair of spectacles fitting for the period as well and while on the island grows a neat moustache and a short beard. He applies a small amount of his power and alters his features and coloring from the clearly Irish of his ancestry into a darker more English look. Lastly he adopts a British accent and studdies up on speach patterns for the time period.



Though he was fond of mimicry before his eruption he could hardly have claimed to be good at it. Since his change he has found that his powers allow him more leeway to slip into an alternate persona. While with proper dress and style he looks like he fits into the period as well as the others he goes the extra mile and tries to assume the proper attitude, speech, and mannerism to completely blend in. If they really are up against time travellers every little bit will help.

Finally as they gather to discuss their plan in a fancy club Andrew looks up over the rim of a highball, "Omar, I'm not sure that would be wise, we've no idea what could happen, not just to you but to the timeline and events. We've come back here to observe what did happen to set these events into motion. The closer we are to the actual trigger event the more likely we are to change the outcome.

"For example when the accident happens you may instinctively shield yourself but in the process you may cause somebody that died in the original timeline to not die or cause a previous survior to perish. While it is unlikely that Maxwell Mercer will be affected, as he seems to be one of the constants, we do not know how the smaller interactions could cascade through the years. This is very much a situation where knowledge of Chaos Theory would be usefull.

"I would vote that we do not attend and merely maintain a vigil over the next few weeks from positions near to those who survive but do not interact with them."

Lorean nods at what Andrew and Steve have to say. "I agree, while it is possible that you might survive, it would very likely effect the future of this timeline, which is something you were planning to do, but in a controlled way. The best way to do that is for me to use probes to transmit data to you as the event occurs. The only question that remains is, do you wish to be aboard ship or in one of the surrounding buildings during the event?"

"If being at the event is going to alter history so mcuh, then I will have to resign myself to watching from a nearby building." Omar pouted slightly, but he understood the repercussions.

Omar began smiling. "It would be fun to attend the event, if just to meet these people. I could leave before the accident occurs. This way, I would have already met the major players involved, and have a reason to hang around them after the event."

"I understand your desire Omar, I would love to be there as well, this Dr. Hammersmith appears to have made a huge technological leap, a hundred or more years beyond where he should be. And yet any interaction by us could cause a change in the events.

"Further, would it not look suspicious if you were there prior to the experiment but oddly abscent for the main event? You could be blamed for the accident as some sort of sabotage. No I think we need to be as distanced as possible from the event and the attendees this time out in order to preserve the timeline.

"We can of course come back and do what we like after this first pass. "

Steve says,

"We go there before it happens, we talk to people, they end up standing in different spots... and different people will live and die. That's not a risk, that's a certainty. I'm not convinced Hammersmith was the root cause here, after seeing the result we should go back and check out his device in detail."

"Still... there is something to be said for the first hand look. If I could do a node ping I'd seriously like to be there right after the fact to do a couple and see who became novas."

"Does anyone know how to 'ping'?"

Andrew looks up over his snifter, a quizzical look on his face. It's hard for the others to keep from laughing, between the look of puzzlement and his archaic (and somewhat silly) costume. "Ping? What exactly is a ping?"