Cassie's New Ride

Cassie looked over the lot full of machines. There were horse drawn carriages waiting to be hooked up to horses, there were Model T type old cars, there were sleek current sport's cars, and there were futuristic indescribable vehicles. She really wanted one of the latter, but was unsure if she would know how to drive it.

So she stuck with something more current for herself and picked out a moderate sized four door sedan with a comfortable interior. She was only taking a "test drive" and her plan was to get her kitchen appliance home and get Sten and Frau to come and see if they could teach her to operate the futuristic vehicle.

She got back to her house and realized she was starving. She plugged in her kitchen appliance and looked at the listed recipes. She selected blueberry pancakes with butter and blueberry syrup, a rasher of bacon cooked crisp, and coffee with cream. She dined with relish. Everything was perfectly prepared. She put the dirty dished back into the machine and hopped back in her car.

She was on her way over to Sten's house when the thought struck her that she really didn't know what time it was. Would she be intruding? Were they still asleep? Had they had their breakfast yet? She had no idea how time functioned here and she had no idea how convenient it had been to have time zones before. She really like stability in her life, she now realized.

She sat in the car parked in front of Sten's house for several minutes trying to decide what to do when Frau's head poked out the door. Frau followed and walked over to Cassie's car. "What are you doing out here?"

"I was afraid to disturb you. I wasn't sure if it was a good time to visit. I would have called first, but I don't know how since I don't have any numbers. And I don't know what time it is." Cassie was really beyond simple frustration and was close to tears.

"Come in. We do have communicators and can give you numbers to reach us. I will write them down for you. Have you had lunch?"

"Lunch? I just had breakfast. A very delicious breakfast. Lunch? What time is it?"

"It doesn't really matter, as long as you aren't still hungry. I guess you finished your kitchen."

They had walked through the garden, entered the house and sat down in the comfortable living area. Sten came in from the back of the house. "How are you doing today, dear?"

"I had a restless night, but I'm doing okay. I went into town to get my kitchen appliance. I had a walking stick or perhaps I was simply carrying a club, but I had something. I looked up and Doston was flying." Sten had looked highly concerned, but nodded her approval when she heard of Cassie's precautions. "I then got a car to get my stuff back home."

Cassie looked around and didn't know whether to ask another favor of these kind people or not. "There were some highly futuristic vehicles, shaped like triangles, no wheels. They must hover somehow. They looked sorta like a motorcycle, but not quite. Do you know what I mean?"

Frau thought for a moment and then said, "Quintanian by the description. Sten who is that fellow from Quintan, the man with the curling mustache? I can't think of his name."

"Norton? No. That's not it – Thorton. That's his name. Yes, I'm sure," Sten finally said.

"Yes. Cassie, why don't we introduce you to Thorton and then maybe he can help you with the vehicle?"

And they all piled into Cassie's Mercedes Benz and went in search of Thorton.