Dr. Snip Ch. 03

Three. The day of the Jeckell.

Steve woke up slowly; he had stayed at Angel's apartment in the Twenty Sixth Century. His ears were missing the sound of birds twittering outside. There were no birds outside her apartment, it was underground as was all of this centuries London.

The birds were on the surface with all the other wild animals including wolves and wild boar. He could feel Angel's naked body hot against his side, due to her high metabolism. Even in her sleep her slow and powerful breathing, reminded him of a female tiger asleep.

Luckily for him she had kept her deadly claws sheathed. Even so she had damn near killed him again last night in her passion. She was so demanding in bed, that he was sure she would kill a lesser man. At least he had finally persuaded her not to use drugs, to enhance their sex. He liked his sex the old fashioned way, without chemical interference. Not counting of course the contraceptive drug; that her implant administered to keep her sterile.

He opened his eyes to look upon her, and instead saw a monster standing over the bed staring down at him. He assumed it was staring at him because of its hunched posture. Its eyes were completely hidden by some sort of black steel mask. The body looked like a humanoid insect, chitinous and bulky. It then seemed to ignore him, and turned away towards his table in the corner of his bedroom.

It was there that he emptied his pockets at night; scattered on its surface were all the usual bits and pieces that a man carries about with him. All except for one item; his QT Device. The monsters hand was reaching for it, as Steve's brain finally kicked in and told him that he was in danger.

'Hey, what the fuck are you doing? Get away from that,' he yelled throwing back the covers and lunging towards the intruder. Steve was just over six foot tall and strongly built, as an ex-para and now ex-policeman he had kept himself in very good shape.

As he reached the grotesque figure, it threw its arm backwards as if to brush off an annoying fly. He felt a crushing blow to his chest, and found himself flying back onto the bed. He slammed into Angel, who had woken at his first shout. He barely noticed her body jerk, as she called upon her boost facility to ready herself for attack.

She leapt off the bed naked and blurred towards the intruder, faster than Steve's eyes could register. To his stunned amazement the monster also seemed to blur, and turning like lightning caught her outstretched arms easily.

Angel screamed in fury, as she was held off the ground easily by this strange thing. It seemed to realise that it couldn't pick up the QT, whilst holding a furious woman. Twisting its hips it threw Angel into the nearest wall, and turned back to pick up the QT.

Steve was still trying to breath so could only watch, as Angel somersaulted in mid air so she landed with her feet against the wall. She had slammed into full battle mode; her enhanced muscles were flooded with adrenaline. As if defying gravity she flexed her long legs, and sprang back off the wall towards the intruder.

Steve just managed to put his hands over his ears, before her battle screech smashed through his skull. In battle mode she used every weapon available to incapacitate her enemy, including sound. The crippling decibel levels her throat implant generated, were enough to disorientate any human.

In this instance however it only served to warn the strange creature of her attack. Without any sign of distress it turned again to meet her, seeing this Angel called upon her ultimate weapon. As she flashed across the room, Steve saw her nails glow as she deployed her monofilament implants. The glow was caused by dust motes in the air, being annihilated by the molecule sharp edges of her nails.

He had seen her cut through steel walls with them, and dismember a steel killer Robot. Not to forget the Tyrannosaurus rex that she had decapitated. The creature evidently recognised its danger, and to Angels total amazement although already boosted, it boosted again. Even in her already boosted state she saw it blur, and before her nails hit it, it had grabbed Steve's QT and flashed out of the door.

In full flight Angel's hands hit the bedroom wall, and cut deeply into it. As she fell to the floor her boost cut out, she sagged against the wall in defeat.

'Fuck me, Steve, did you see that fucker move.' She said dispiritedly. Since associating with him in the twentieth century, her vocabulary had become richer with expletives.

Steve had only just got his breath back, from the backhanded smash from the creatures arm.

'Are you alright?' he gasped painfully.

'Fucking peachey; I just feel a right cunt for having my arse handed to me by that fucker.' She muttered.

'Any idea what it was?'

'Only one thing it could be love, a fucking government Storm Trooper.'

Angel climbed to her feet and brushed the debris from her naked body.

'Only a Storm Trooper could boost at twice my speed. My implants are ex-military; that means obsolete, compared to the latest technology available to the British Army.

'You are joking I hope, why would the British Army attack us?'

'Attack us! I can assure you that it wasn't sent here to attack us. If it had been we would almost certainly be dead.' She answered.

'It was sent to "acquire" your QT, which it did with the minimum of effort on its part.'

'You say "it" is it a human being or a robot?'

'Who the fuck knows, it probably doesn't remember itself. They start out as super fit humans, but by the time the government has fully modified them, they are more synthetic than flesh and blood. My modifications are pathetic shadows compared to theirs.'

Steve walked into the kitchen rubbing his sore chest; Angel followed still unconcernedly naked and plonked herself down on a chair. She watched while Steve brewed up his answer to everything, a hot cup of tea.

'Do you want one?' he asked politely.

'No thanks love I've already hit,' she replied absentmindedly.

'I wish you would stop taking drugs, it worries me.'

Angel came from this Twenty Sixth century, where recreational and performance-enhancing drugs were routinely taken.

Drug taking was as common there, as smoking is in this century. One of her many implants monitored her vitality, and adjusted it for maximum performance automatically. It achieved this, by releasing various drugs into her bloodstream as it deemed necessary.

'Tea contains Caffeine,' she pointed out.

'Yeah right,' he said sitting down with his cup of tea.

'Why didn't it take your QT as well?'

'It follows orders to the letter, it was obviously told to take yours. Had it been told to take mine it would have done so.'

'Well I want my QT back, how do we go about it?' he stated quietly.

'We first have to know who has it, where it is, and of course when it is,' she replied handing him her QT.

'I suggest you ask your favourite magician Merlin.'

'Do I need to be holding a QT to talk to him?'

'How the fuck do I know, you're the one that's been chatting to the fucking World Brain for donkey's ages, don't you know?'

Steve placed Angel's device on the table, and removed his hand from it.

'Merlin are you there?' he spoke out loud so Angel could hear. OF COURSE STEVE, HOW CAN I HELP. Steve let out a breath he hadn't realised he was holding, thank God he could still talk to his friend Merlin.

'I am so glad I can communicate with you without my QT.'

YOUR QT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH COMMUNICATION. THAT IS ACHIEVED BY THE IMPLANT IN YOUR BRAIN. THE QT ENABLES YOU TO TRAVEL THROUGH TIME AND SPACE.

'Houston we have a problem, my QT has been stolen, possibly by the British Army.'

IT WAS BOUND TO HAPPEN SOONER OR LATER. YOUR DEVICE IS ONE OF ONLY TWELVE IN EXISTANCE. IT IS PRICELESS.

'Any ideas on who has it?'

SOMEONE WITH ACCESS TO ELITE ARMY PERSONNEL.

'Like who?'

THE BRITISH PRIME MINISTER AND OR MEMBERS OF HIS CABINET.

'Oh fuck me backwards,' muttered Angel, 'that's all we fucking need.'

'Thanks Merlin, I'll be in touch,' said Steve ending the conversation.

Steve looked at Angel sitting there with her head in her hands.

'Are you sure it was a Storm Trooper love?'

'Yep.'

'How many are there in the British Army?'

'Ten'

'Ten?' repeated Steve in disbelief,

'the British Army has only ten Storm Troopers?'

'The British Army has only ten soldiers, all of them Storm Troopers,' she clarified.

'How in God's name can Britain control all that it controls around the world, with just ten men?'

'You've seen one; they are almost superhuman, almost indestructible and totally loyal to their superiors. We don't need any more than ten, combined with the War Department's QT they can go anywhere and anywhen and kill anyone.'

'If the War department has access to a QT, why would they want mine?'

She reminded Steve that there were only twelve QT's ever made, and all of them were in the possession of Time Agents. If any of those were stolen it would create a furore at the highest level. Even Angel's was protected, since she worked for the British Temporal Organisation, albeit on a freelance basis.

'It appears that yours is the only one up for grabs, I'm afraid,' she said, 'no one is on your side in this. I assume a very powerful person near to the Prime Minister wants one for their own use.'

'In that case I believe they have made their first mistake,' said Steve.

'I do have people on my side, you and Merlin, I would bet on you against all the British Army.'

Angel pushed her QT across the table towards Steve,

'Here love you'll need this to find your QT.'

Steve got up, and went around the table until he could take her in his arms.

'Thank you darling, but it is too dangerous to let it out of your possession. If I used it our enemies could consider it mine, and feel free to take this one as well.'

Angel hadn't considered that consequence, and was lost for ideas.

'We do know something that they don't,' said Steve, ' your QT can carry both of us.'

'You never did explain that Gold moving trick to me properly, how did you manage to transport tons of gold from one place to another?' Angel asked.

'This is a secret that only I know and I am about to tell you, Merlin can adjust the field strength of the QT to carry just about anything.'

'That sneaky fucking AI, no one in the BTO knows this?'

'Nope, just us chickens,' he replied with a smile.

'Hey we're a team again,' she exclaimed with a big grin.

Steve had an idea,

'Merlin, I remember you saying that you could track all QT's if they were used, is that so?'

YES

'I would bet money, that the first thing our thief does is try out his new toy. We have only got to wait a bit and Merlin will detect its location.'

SOUNDS LIKE A PLAN TO ME.

'What shall we do while we wait?' asked Angel.

'Get some sleep I suppose, it's still early in the morning.' He replied.

'I've got a better idea,' said Angel bending over the table, ' I'm too hyper to sleep.' She looked coquettishly over her shoulder at Steve, and wiggled her beautiful naked bottom.

'Sounds like a plan to me,' he said.

JURASSIC Merlin's announcement rang in his brain, and he jumped out of bed in shock.

'For God's sake Merlin, can't you clear your throat or something, before scaring the shit out of me?'

COUGH, COUGH JURASSIC.

'Sorry old friend, I was just taken by surprise for a second.'

FRIEND?

'Yes, of course we're friends, did you ever think we weren't?'

I HAVE NEVER CONSIDERED THE MATTER. I WILL CONSIDER IT NOW. YES I WOULD LIKE US TO BE FRIENDS.

'Thank you, I am proud to be your friend Merlin.'

COUGH, COUGH JURASSIC, OLD FRIEND STEVE.

'What is he saying Steve?' asked Angel sitting up in bed.

'Merlin could you include Angel in our conversations please?'

CERTAINLY, OLD FRIEND STEVE

'Have you found that fucking QT yet?' she asked. IT IS IN THE FUCKING JURASSIC Steve burst into laughter at the sight of Angel's face; it had turned red. Although she had embraced the Anglo-Saxon expletive, she had been totally shocked to hear it repeated back to her by the omnipotent World Brain.

'The fuck..... cheeky cu... bugger he is going through your QT's memory,' she stuttered.

'I bet he is at my sunbed right now.'

'Well we can't do anything about it just now, we are both naked and I haven't had any breakfast.' He pointed out.

Despite her desire to retrieve Steve's QT, Angel saw the logic in this and they both washed and dressed quickly. Angel simply dressed in one of her sprayed on catsuits, with her utility belt that carried her QT and other useful things.

Steve wore his usual clothes, covered with his favourite Black Kevlar coat. On impulse he slid his sword into its hidden sheath, sewn into the back of the armoured coat. Only Excalibur's hilt showed just sticking up behind his head.

'That won't be much use against a Storm Trooper love,' remarked Angel.

'Don't forget whoever is using my QT, can only go to places by himself. With any luck we won't see any Storm Troopers.' He replied hopefully.

They were ready to depart, Angel's QT was calibrated for the combined weight of them both.

'What's our plan?' asked Steve.

'We jump in, kill the fucker grab your QT, Jump out,' she said succinctly.

'Sounds like a plan to me,' said Steve, ' let's go.'

Angel visualised her sun bed, and they were both there. The ledge was high on the side of a cliff; fifty feet beneath it was a crystal clear lake. The heat and smells of the fecund Jurassic world 65 Million years in their past, assaulted their senses. As Steve had suspected the ledge was empty, the enemy had been and gone.

Looking down at the lake he was surprised to see the carcass of the T-Rex, that Angel had killed a long while ago.

'Why is that still there Angel? I would have thought the carrion eaters would have stripped it to the bone by now.'

'They haven't had time yet Steve; in this time we have only been gone a few minutes since our last visit here,' she explained.

'When programmed, the QT always brings us to the same place and time.' It just ensures that we always arrive, a few minutes after we previously left. This is a default setting, that makes sure we never meet ourselves.'

'So if we were to jump to any of our previous destinations, we would only have left it a few minutes earlier?' asked Steve thinking deeply.

'I think I know where we might catch him,' said Steve.

'He is obviously wary of trying out new destinations; he is going down our record of previous destinations as a training exercise. I think if we jump to "Caligula" we will only have to wait a few minutes until he jumps in.'

'Good thinking Batman,' said Angel admiringly.

Caligula AD 12 -- AD 41, few names invoke such an image of lust and depravity, as the Roman Emperor Caligula. His real name was Gaius. Gaius, Julius, Caesar, Germanicus, to give him his full name. Bizarrely the feared name "Caligula" means "Bootikins".

From the ages two to four, he lived with his father Germanicus's legions, on the Rhine. He was a lovely cheerful boy, who loved to run around wearing his father's boots. His father's soldiers; gave him the affectionate nick name "Bootikins". With the death of the miserable paranoid Tiberius, he became Emperor.

He was 24 years old and very popular with the people; he loved sponsoring lavish games for the Roman's to enjoy. Unfortunately less than a year into his reign he fell desperately ill. He recovered, but underwent a personality change, and his mind became unbalanced.

Steve and Angel had jumped back home to dress in togas, and from there had jumped to Rome AD 40. They arrived un-noticed in a side room, from whence Angel had departed just a few minutes earlier. She had been here taking a break from work, and had joined in the orgy with abandoned gusto.

Angel had shagged every fit young man and some of the women. Then after watching Claudius's wife being serviced by a white bull, she had become bored and jumped out. Slaves were still shovelling up the bull droppings from the floor. There were various drunken but handsome men, she could see lounging around the room.

They were in in various states of undress, she hoped they wouldn't recognise her as the woman they had been fucking. Only a few minutes ago as far as they were concerned, but over a year ago as far as she was concerned.

Caligula was sitting on a raised platform at one end of the room. Two of his praetorian guard were standing behind him, keeping watch for assassins. As he surveyed the room, he allowed a naked young slave boy to pour wine down his imperial throat.

He was attended; by his three sisters. Drusilla was kneeling between his legs giving him oral sex. Livilla was sitting beside him, letting him absentmindly feel her young firm breasts. Agrippina was fondling a large horse, in a most inappropriate manner.

The horse had a circlet of laurel leaves on its head, and was held by two slaves. It was richly caparisoned in white silk to resemble a toga.

'What's with the horse,' asked Steve.

'Caligula has made it Consul, just to piss off the Senate,' she replied.

'He likes to keep it in the family.' Angel whispered to Steve.

'How will we spot our thief,' Steve asked, ignoring the tableau. He didn't care what adults did together sexually; he just concerned himself with protecting children.

'I'm not sure; I have all the faces of the most powerful men in the country downloaded into my implant. The facial recognition programme will alert me, if my eyes see one of them.

'Didn't Caligula have something to do with seashells?' asked Steve rummaging through his meagre knowledge of Roman history.

'Oh that, yes he went to conquer Britain, but only got as far as the shore of the Channel. So he ordered his soldiers to collect baskets of seashells, to take back to Rome,' she answered with a sad smile.

'Why on earth did he do that?'

'Fuck knows,' she replied absently scanning the crowd.

'It proved to be the final straw against him, his praetorian guard killed him, his wife Caesonia, and his daughter in AD 41.' Steve clenched his fists in impotent rage. He hated the fact that when a new emperor was chosen, often every member of the previous emperor's family was killed. This was to avoid challengers to the new regime.

'Fuck me I see him,' said Angel drawing Steve's attention to a man who had just entered the room. He had come from the same side-room that they had just emerged from.

'I might have guessed, it's Jeckell the war minister. No wonder we had Storm Troopers up our arse's, he's their ultimate boss,'

Jeckell was looking around in wonder; everywhere his eyes fell there were naked women. They were copulating with whomsoever was nearest, regardless of gender.

'Can you see my QT?' whispered Steve.

'It must be on a belt under his toga,' deduced Angel, ' I have an idea.'

Without any fuss she slipped off her toga, she was now naked and fitted in almost perfectly, with the majority of the women in the room. Affecting a drunken stumble, she weaved her way across the writhing bodies towards her target. She was just stepping over the last body to be within grabbing range, when a drunken hand reached up and grabbed her pubes painfully.

'Fuck off you stupid cunt,' snarled Angel and backhanded the drunkard. Unfortunately Jeckell heard her swear in colloquial English, and his hand darted towards the QT on his belt. Angel had hoped that having to reach inside his toga, would give her the few seconds she needed to grab it before activation.

Jeckell however pressed the activation button, through the thin material and disappeared. Angel was furious, she had considered boosting and grabbing the QT. However she had a sneaky feeling that Jeckell, with his unparalleled access to military technology may himself be able to boost. Thus she had tried the subtle approach and been rumbled.