Andrew gives the man a wry look, eyebrow raised in amusment as he goes off, "I understand your ... skepticism, but had I come to you two weeks ago and displayed powers unlike anything you had ever seen would you not have been more likley to believe me? It's not that we are seeking your help per se. You see you are no longer entirely human yourself. You are now part of a new species, a subset of humanity. We are trying to prevent a war between us and them," here Andrew gestures out at the wall beyond which is the rest of the restuarant and the general public.

"In this time period our history does not record you having gained any such power let alone the level you now posess. Individuals of your strength, my strength, are far above the average person to become empowered. We have the means, and in the case of myself and my freinds, the drive, to alter the path that humanity walks down. To prevent the next World War which will make the Great War pale by comparison. To prevent the deaths of millions, and to eventually usher in a golden age. "

Andrew pauses letting the death toll sink in, "... We can back up our claims however I am choosing to allow you to make the descision to join us. My associates seem to prefer the strong arm techniques. Philip here was whisked away to our ship without any warning, and thrust into things. I hope he does not harbor a grudge against us for it, and I do wish it could have happened differently. You ask for proof, I can give you that, we will take you to our ship soon enough, but I ask in return for a commitment to improving the world.

"Philip maybe you can persuade Mr Gaines that what I have told him is not only true but that our work is ... imperitive. "

"I am new to this as well, but I thought it was more into the billions. '95% of earth' I belive was the figure." Phillip shuders as he says it.
"As to truth, I have seen the 'boat'. It is a lot more than a boat. What is up there will blow even an ilusionists mind. They are either 'human' aliens or speeking the truth. There are no other explenations. That and they ARE fighting to stop this. I have lived with them for a few days, and they seem very sincear and candid. Now, you have the oppertunity to help stop humanity coming to the brink of extinction. Even if you don't care about most of those people, it is hard to leave your mark in history if only 1 in 20 people are left to remember."
Phillip pauses, "As to 'what you can do', you have just lived through a war. There another one just down the road, and ilusion would be of great assistance. It would enable us to sneek to the places we need to go, and it could be used to defuse combat without having to hurt people. I think you would be of more use than me!"
Phillip turns to Andrew and says "I understand why it was done, and I did chose with my free will. It is hard to refuse to help stop that much carnage."

Bradford sipped his water and took up his cigarette again. This other man was a little strange, but The Amazing Warlock didn't sense any deception. This man BELIEVED in the tale that "leader" of this group was spinning. He felt compelled to at least investigate this nonsense to see if there was any truth in it. At the very least, he could see their ship...

"Well, if it means saving the world, I guess I really have no choice. However, here is a matter of my run of performances. Mr. Carlisle would never forgive me if I ducked out of my contract, unless he could be duly compensated. Do you have any future money that could be used to those ends, my friends?"

Bradford smiled, and, without waiting for a response, raised his glass in toast. "To new friends and new beginnings."

Andrew bows his head in a nod, "I only meant that I disagree with the way that the others operate at times, were I the one to make the choice I would not have simply brought you to the ship without first talking to you."

Turning to Bradford, "We may be able to arrange for something. In the meantime we should finish our meal. Once we are done we shall visit the ship..."

Andrew turns to Lorean and whispers, "Can you mentally control the landing craft from here? I think we should bring him up that way, it will be more credible if he can see the earth drop away and see us approach you from outerspace."

Lorean sends back though the ship comm to Andrew, "I'm afraid not, that is bonded to Cody, I'm sure he could send it over though if he isn't too busy in Russia right now." She extends her thoughts to Cody *Cody, could you send your craft to pick us up? I can help guide it if you are too occupied with the mental adjustments.*

The rest of the meal goes well. Four novas can really pack it in and the wait staff are in awe of your appetites by the time you are all satiated. In fact several of them are watching you closely by the end of the meal to see if you have somehow hidden some of the food in a bag or something.

Once outside you find Cody's craft shaped like a 1920's high end car rumbling at idle, but with no driver behind the wheel. Fortunately no one seems to have noticed that detail. Once you pile in and drive away the car finds an empty alleyway and lifts off. It gets some distance above the ground and the view of the city below is quite spetacular. As you continue to rise however, the craft morphs into an enclosed pod with plenty of window space so that you can see both where you are going and where you've been. Even the modern folks find it a beautiful and inspiring sight no matter how many times they've seen it now. Once outside the atmosphere the craft rendezvous with Lorean and enters the cargo bay dedicated to the storage of the craft.

Once the bay has been pressurized the craft opens and allows you all to exit, whereupon Lorean leads the group to the bridge.

Anyone keenly watching Bradford's eating will notice that he is not really eating as much as the other novas present.



Bradford looks at the car and rolls his eyes. "This is your ship. I have one of these. It never took me to the future."



As the car lifts off, Bradford's jaw drops. "Maybe these people aren't crazy," he thought. He is floored by the view and eagerly awaits to hear what his new associates from the future have to say.

Bradford tears his eyes away from the window and really notices Lorean and her beauty for the first time. "Tell me, Lorean: are all women in the future as beautiful as you?" (Cue overdramatic schmooze :))

Lorean blushes prettily and smiles, "Thank you for the compliment, but I'm afraid people of the future look pretty much as they do now, although they do have much better teeth in general due to better dental practices." She grins and flourishes her hair in a very fashion model overly dramatic way, "As for me and other Nova's, that's what we are called by the way, can manifest with enhanced physical appearance as one of our distinctive attributes that set us apart from the average human. Oh, and to further your shock, I am also the ship. This body you see is a physical representation of my consciousness." Seeing the expression on Bradford's face she smiles, "Yes the ship you are in, is alive, and I am a physical manifestation of the ship."

A hologram of Lorean's head appears in the center of the bridge and smiles at Bradford then speaks, "I hope this isn't too much for you to take in at once. If so please feel free to have a seat and relax."

Bradford felt the twinge of a headache coming on.

"So, let me get this straight: you are 'special' like me, but you're also a part of the ship?"

Bradford loosened his collar and took a deep breath. "I don't know what's worse," he thought. "That I have no idea what's going on, or that I have the hots for a ship."

Lorean smiles in return. "Have a seat, I'll have one of the crew bring some refreshments. Do you prefer coffee or tea?"

Sitting in one of the other command chairs she continues, "This body is a real body just like your own, and like yours and the others here, it is a nova body as opposed to a plain human one. The difference is that novas have the ability to manipulate some of the fundamentals forces of physics directly with no need to resort to mechanical means. For instance I can fly without the need to use a plane. You can create illusions without resorting to mirrors and trickery."

Andrew watches in amusment as the car takes off into orbit and Bradford's comfortable smugness is replaced with shock and awe.

"You haven't seen anything yet," He says as the craft docks. "Just wait, till you see the recreation of future events, Lorean is going to lay everything out for you. Hopefully you take it better than some have..."

"Tea, of course. Milk and sugar. Please continue, my dear Lorean."

Bradford takes off his jacket, places it on the seat behind him, rolls up his shirt sleeves, and gives his undivided attention to Lorean, until the tea is brought. He meticulously adds milk and sugar as though he were conducting a chemistry experiment, before drinking the beverage. He lights up a cigarette and listens.

Fortunately, as he lights his cigarette the smoke seems to just disappear shortly after it leaves his mouth and nose and no smoke comes off the cigarette itself despite the fact that it continues to burn. So luckily there is no foul smell or pollution of the atmosphere inside the ship. Lorean, smiles at Cytorak, "How is the tea?" Looking to Andrew and Phillip she continues, "I will let you continue filling in Mr. Gaines. Just tell me what you want to show him and I'll play the images."

*** d'oh ... this is Andrew whups!***

Andrew sits back in his chair and puts his feet up, "Lets start with World War 2. You see in about fifteen years Germany will emerge from its current economic crisis with a war machine ready, willing, and able to try and retake Europe. Millions will die in this next world war including many non-combatants killed by the Germans as part of an ethnic cleasing. Jews mostly, but gays, gypsies, and others will be slaughtered or forced to work in concentration camps until they die."

Andrew watches as Lorean rolls various historical footage of WW2 and it's most horrific moments all culminating with the ultimate end of the war with the bombs dropped on Japan. "That is a nuclear weapon. It break matter apart at the smallest level releasing a tremendous burst of energy. It's not clean but it ends the war, the US and USSR, Russia, ultimately spend the next forty years building bigger more powerful versions. A stalemate is kept through the concept of Mutually Assured Destruction, basically if they struck the USA first out weapons would be sure to wipe them out as well..."

Andrew leans forward and looks Bradford right in the eyes, "And all this will happen without anybody special like us ... for a while though things are stable and even seem as though humanity is growing up a bit. Then in the 1990's ..."

Andrew continues for some time letting Lorean visually document the major points of the rise of the Novas then the Aberrants and eventually the nuclear holocost that destroys the world.

Phillips eyes are glued to the screen. He had heard about this, but this is the first footage. Ocasionaly he winces, but doesn't actualy turn away. He needs to know this, how else can he help?

Phillip looks to Bradford expectingly. "I had time to prepare myself to see that, but you probably thought it was a joke before. Are you ok? Can we get you anything?"

The cigarette slipped out of Bradford's mouth as the horrifying images came one right after another. These people were serious. He quickly fumbled for the smoke before he burned a hole in his suit.

"Yeah, friend, something a bit stronger than tea to start." He pushed the cup and saucer away from him.

Bradfor sighed and rubbed his temples. Having seen the horrors that awaited his world, he knew he had to help these strangers. But how? "Some parlor tricks aren't going to rewrite history", he thought.

"But...if this has already happened elsewhere, what makes you think WE can stop it? And, God forbid, what if this is SUPPOSED to happen? Can we really be sure what we do is for 'the greater good'"?

Phillip tries to remember where the "stronger stuff" is, then returns with a strong wiskey, and gives it to Bradford.

Lorean looks at both men, "That was the edited version. It gets much more gruesome than that. You've seen the immediate threat now, the one that we present to each other, now witness this next bit. This is the external threat." With that she plays the footage of the Earth devastated by asteroids and the projections of the other three massive space rocks heading toward the already wrecked planet.

"We found this treat on another timeline, apparently there are an unknown group of aliens out there that don't have Earths best interests at heart. Of the timelines we have visited, nearly half have experienced massive devastation either from internal or external threats. Our goal is to see to it that this timeline survives and prospers." She looks at both of the new members of the team and smiles a wiry smile. "The sad thing is that in the future many may not appreciate what we have done, no knowing what the alternative was, but we are committed to doing what we can regardless of public opinion."

"As for what either of you specifically can do with your powers? Well, you will have to decide that for yourselves. If you see some way you can contribute, please offer. We do not have a leader as such, but you can alway coordinate your actions through me, or speak with Steve. He seems to be the one everyone turns to with their plans, though he isn't our leader he does give good advice."

Focusing on Bradford, "If you are committed to joining us, as I believe you are from the expression on your face, let me be the first to welcome you aboard. I'm sure Phillip can show you around. I already have a cabin prepared for you, although you are welcome to continue living down on the surface and just visit the ship when we meet together, but given that everyone else lives aboard that might be a bit inconvenient, but it is up to you."

Bradford looked at the faces of his new associates. He could tell that their message was earnest and sincere: we have to save this timeline! He took a hard pull from the whiskey bottle before addressing them.

"I have some business to take care of back...on earth, I guess, before I am fully at your disposal. Mr. Carlisle, the theater manager, was kind enough to give me an exclusive contract with the theater, and he will have to be compensated for the lost revenue by me not performing. I will also have to tell my dear father that I will be going away for some time. Perhaps I shall tell him I have been appointed to some sort of entertainment diplomatic mission in Europe or the Orient."

Bradford rolled down his sleeves and rebuttoned them.

"So, ladies and gentleman, where do we start?"

"We already have, as we speak a few of our members are ... discussing politics with Stalin and the other Russian leaders." Andrew gave an amused smile. "As for us, we all have our unique talents and skills. Which reminds me, I need to review some data, if we are to prevent some of the more disasterous long tern environmental effects I should make sure that we can show bio-diesel to be cheaper than petrol." Andrew gets up from the table and leaves the room headed for his lab to continue his work.

Bradford arched an eyebrow at the departing Andrew.

"Well, he's going to his lab. What about the rest of us? Do we have a "mission", or should we be helping in Russia?"

Phillip, still not looking to good from what he has just seen says "Well, you have a lot of loose ends to tie up, and it doesn't look like we are doing much until the others are back (I hope I am wrong), so you may as well head back. Also, we have a bruiser here, and he is likly to want to spar. If you would like to practice first (or use that as an excuse to not spare with him (C: ), just let me know."
Phillip looks to Lorean "do we have some way to pay for Bradfords debt he has incured because of the 'mission'?"

Lorean smiles at the two men, "Oh yes, we can definitely take care of Mr. Bradford's financial responsibilities." She shows an image of the hold where the gold is stored. "We are prepared for being in a timeline other than the ones our crew are native to, where the currency might be different than their own. In the mean time make our guest comfortable and show him around. I'm sure he will be impressed with the accommodations. I suspect that the others will be back soon so you might as well enjoy your time until they get back."

After spending a while recovering from the "show", Phillip says "Well, I may as well show you around now. They are not back yet, and it seems it will be a while longer." If Bradford accepts, Phillip procceeds to show him what he knows of the ship. After the tour, he asks Elizibeth "So, with these newfound facilities, have you found something interesting to work on?"

Bradford accepts Phillips offer of the tour. As he marvels at all of the accommodations, he asks, "What makes you special, if you don't mind me asking?"

Phillip grins "Well, you have seen me 'eat' with a blowtorch, I seem to be able to ignore temperature, and, well I'll show you..."
Arcs of electricity jump over Phillip's body. A slight burning smell fills the air. "Ahh! I have to remember not to do that until I learn more!" Next, a blade of electricity appears in Phillips hand. "I can also throw electricity, but I think my biggest ability is immunity to 'energy'" Phillip offers the blowtorch to Bradford to examine, motioning him to give it a try.

Sometime during the middle of the night the others return in time to get some sleep before everyone gathers in the Galley for the morning meal.

Omar wasn't particularly tired, so he went to the gym to lift weights. After a few hours he jogs to the library where he researches the costs of setting up a newspaper.

When morning comes, he is waiting for the others as they enter the galley.

Once breakfast comes around Lorean is sitting at the table with Omar having a healthy nova-sized breakfast and waiting with a computer pad at her side and a holographic chalkboard near the table waiting for the morning discussions.

Bradford looks well-rested as he plops down in a chair. He lights a cigarette and takes a few drags before noticing Omar.

"Morning, mate. You must be one of the blokes from the 'Russian assignment'. You want one?" He offers the pack to Omar.

He winks at Lorean. "Lorean, dear, you look even more lovely than yesterday."

Bradford then looks around for a crew member. "Can a get a cup of tea? Someone? Anyone?" He goes back to smoking his cigarette.

"No thank you, I don't smoke." Omar says, as he stands up to shake the newcomer's hand. "Yes, we were over in Russia making some adjustments to the future."

After shaking his hand. "Are you that magician we have been hearing about?"

"Magician. Illusionist. Master of Prestidigitation. I've been called many things in my career." Bradford gives a satisfied smile and pulls a long drag off his cigarette. "I guess I can add "World Saver" to that soon enough if your compatriots are correct, yeah?"

"All jokes aside, what are your special abilities, if you don't mind me asking? Phillip apparently always has a blowtorch on hand, for some reason."

Omar gives him a large toothy smile. "I will tell you what I can do, but you have to see it for yourself."

Looking over a Lorien. "If you still have that footage from Vegas, Bradford can see for himself."

Omar leans foreward. "Aside from being an Olympic Wrestler, I can increase my size. I also am able project spines from my body, as well as 18 inch spears from my forearms. Oh, yeah, I also regenerate my wounds."

One of the crew who is on breakfast duty does bring Bradford a refill. Meanwhile Lorean runs the footage of Omar's 'Magic' show in Vegas. It concludes with the stacking of the buses on top of each other, and images of the amazement on peoples faces in the crowd.

Sitting at one end of the table Elizabeth, Phillip's companion, speaks up after seeing the video, "That is incredible Omar." Looking to Phillip and the rest, "Phillip asked me last night if I'd found anything to focus my studies on yet, but I'm still so overwhelmed by everything. Not to belittle what you do Omar, but I'm honestly not sure if I'm more impressed with what you did there or of the vechicles you were stacking." She smiles with a little bemusement in her face.