Beauty & The Beast

[Carthrat]

"Perhaps. But there is no telling when we may be discovered here," replies Rick. "I suppose I'd better ask her now..."

He quickly pops into the room she's staying, and soon comes out again.

"She claims she can, but I don't know if she'll be used to a modern car. I suppose it's not that different.

How much time do you need to prepare?"

[Brian]

N'dovu looks a bit glum, and says, "All I brought with me is on hand.  I can leave within the minute, if the spirits demand it."

[Carthrat]

"Then you'd best get going. Look, there's a map in the car. You shouldn't have much trouble finding the airport if that's what you decide to do."

Ricks nods. "This isn't going to help the womans nerves at all. I really think she needs a day or so to calm... but time isn't so lenient."

With that, he goes to the woman, and begins explaining to her...

<->

...and a short while later, the woman is eyeing Rick's car, and wordlessly climbs into the drivers seat.

"Good luck," says Rick, nodding to N'Dovu. "Contact me when you think you're safe. I'll still be here."

[Brian]

N'dovu nods to Rick.  "I will send letters in the Cahuilla language when I can," he promises, climbing into the car with the woman.  This should be fun.

[Carthrat]

"Time is of the essence, I think," says the woman, sounding profoundly unsure of herself. She starts the car, and hits the accelerator way too hard, zooming down the street and managing to just avoid crashing into a building. Biting her tounge, she reverses the car back so that it's properly aligned with the main road, and starts guiding it out a little more cautiously.

"Um, where exactly should I be trying to go?" asks the woman, blinking at the power of the car in front of her. "And what *are* you?"

[Brian]

"The scion of the spirit of King Shaka," N'dovu says, distracting himself from his immediate demise by locating the airport (and his eventual demise) on the map.  "Turn ... left up at the sign," he adds, daring a peek over the map at the oncoming road.

"For now," he adds, releasing the parking brake for the woman, once she seems to have gotten a good idea of how to handle the car, "I will also be your protector."

At the woman's blank glare, he points frantically at the offramp.  Once her eyes are where they belong, N'dovu briefly explains that he was raised to speak with spirits, and is otherwise a warrior from Africa.  He leaves out the sordid political details.

[Carthrat]

"I always wanted to go to Africa," mumbles the woman. "I suppose a negro protector will be the closest I'll get.

Mother always warned me not to go out without a chaperone, and if James is really... dead... then there's nothing for it."

[Brian]

"I did not see his spirit," N'dovu says, shrugging.  "He may yet be alive."

After a short, uncomfortable silence, N'dovu verbally files for an extension:

"And we may yet see Africa."

[Carthrat]

"Maybe," replies the woman, sounding distant (and swerving into the wrong lane). "There's so much to see that I havn't seen... but if this is the future, then I can see things I could never have seen before."

She's silent for a short moment.

"Can we go to London?" she asks, abruptly. "If we're going to go anywhere, I want it to be London."

[Brian]

N'dovu looks up from his map, and blinks at the woman.  "I've never been there," he finally says, pondering.  "Do you have a passport?  If you do, then that's fine."

[Carthrat]

The lady fumbles within a pocket and produces... a passport.

A ridiculously out-of-date one.

"Do you think it will still work?" she asks, fidgeting in her seat and swerving away from a man on a bike.

[Brian]

N'dovu wilts at the sight of it.  Then brightens a bit.  "It may help," he says.  "You are not an American citizen?"

[Carthrat]

"No, no," replies the woman. "Technically, I'm from Italy... for all the time I spent there, though, you'd think I'm a tourist."

[Brian]

"Hmm," N'dovu muses.

After a long silence, N'dovu finally says, "I have a friend who may be able to help us.  Dr. James may know someone who is able to get us to ... London."

[Carthrat]

"That so," replies the woman, brightening up a little. "That's good."

<->

The airport is small, but not too small. A small plane takes off as the lady drives the car into a parking lot, and a larger one is landing at roughly the same time. The airport only has one main admin building, by the looks of things; it's big enough to be a small office building. The whole airport is surrounded by a chain-link fence, and a couple of other, smaller buildings are dotted around here and there.