The parks time-travel ride is malfunctioning. The park’s top technicians board the ride. The fix might be to rewrite history.
Today’s story is “Teatime on the Titanic” by Reid Minnich, who co-writes with his wife, Stacy Bender. Today’s story will be read for you by William Dingo, the sunrise spectator.
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https://thevoice.dog/episode/teatime-on-the-titanic-by-reid-minnich-read-by-william-dingo
You’re listening to The Voice of Dog,
Speaker:and Today’s story
Speaker:is “Teatime on the Titanic”
Speaker:by Reid Minnich, who co-writes with his wife, Stacy Bender.
Speaker:Today’s story will be read for you by William Dingo,
Speaker:the sunrise spectator.
Please enjoy:“Teatime on the Titanic”
Please enjoy:by Reid Minnich Titan Boltz fought his way through the crowd of crying children and
Please enjoy:growling parents to the front of the line for the carousel. A chipmunk much
Please enjoy:younger than himself trembled at
Please enjoy:the controls as
Please enjoy:a mother fox stared down at him
Please enjoy:while comforting her crying kit.
Please enjoy:Boltz stepped between them and pushed the start button. There
Please enjoy:was a faint click from the first relay,
Please enjoy:then another, but the latter one wasn’t right. He
Please enjoy:looked at the children waiting on the ride
Please enjoy:and spotted the hippo family sitting on one side.
Please enjoy:It was easier to make the adjustment
Please enjoy:than try to explain load balancing to the kid.
Please enjoy:“Twenty seconds.” He scampered to the center of the ride
Please enjoy:pulling the screwdriver from his toolbelt.
Please enjoy:With the practiced twist and flick of his wrist,
Please enjoy:the screws of the access panel popped into the air.
Please enjoy:He caught them in his mouth and pushed them to one side of his cheeks.
Please enjoy:Leaving one loose screw holding the panel,
Please enjoy:he shorted the actuator with the screwdriver
Please enjoy:while turning the adjustment in his fingers.
Please enjoy:When the led popped on,
Please enjoy:he put the tip of the screwdriver in his mouth.
Please enjoy:His tongue moved the first screw to the magnetic tip.
Please enjoy:He put the screw in the plate and tightened it
Please enjoy:in one twist of his wrist.
Please enjoy:He repeated the motion a dozen more times and
Please enjoy:nodded to the attendant who slapped the button.
Please enjoy:The ride moved under his feet
Please enjoy:as he stepped off at the ride’s exit.
Please enjoy:Behind him, a soft cheer went up
Please enjoy:as the music began to play. As he left Kiddie Land,
Please enjoy:his wristband buzzed.
Please enjoy:He swiped across it
Please enjoy:and the face of squirrel appeared.
Please enjoy:It was Krackar Nutse, the
Please enjoy:park’s top engineer. His tail
Please enjoy:flicked with irritation.
Please enjoy:“Meet me at Teatime on the Titanic. It’s
Please enjoy:happening again worse than before.”
Please enjoy:“On my way.” Boltz swiped the image closed
Please enjoy:and cut across the concession boulevard
Please enjoy:to Time Travel Land. In
Please enjoy:the three months since the park added the new area,
Please enjoy:the crowds doubled,
Please enjoy:but so did his overtime.
Please enjoy:Time travel rides were finicky.
Please enjoy:As a chipmunk, it was easy for him to maneuver through the throng of children of larger species,
Please enjoy:but here in Time Travel Land the patrons were mostly large. To
Please enjoy:get to Teatime, he had to cross the lines of the other rides.
Please enjoy:The speakers in the castle-shaped entrance of the first ride blared,
Please enjoy:“Enjoy a good fight to the death in history’s most epic battle.”
Please enjoy:Terror in Troy was the favorite of large predators. Behind
Please enjoy:the plastic fronts,
Please enjoy:each ride was a long box the size of a tractor trailer
Please enjoy:with a door at the front.
Please enjoy:He dodged between the legs of three laughing teenaged lions.
Please enjoy:“Wow. Did you see the size of the one I fought?
Please enjoy:I got in a few hits before he cut me in half.”
Please enjoy:“Yeah. He was huge.
Please enjoy:I saw everything lying there with an arrow in my chest.
Please enjoy:I never got to fight.”
Please enjoy:The third one grumbled, “I don’t
Please enjoy:know what killed me.
Please enjoy:I didn’t get to fight at all.
Please enjoy:all.” Boltz made a mental note to check the temporal alignment on that ride.
Please enjoy:It tended to drift from the relatively calm start of the battle to the violent end.
Please enjoy:Since the guests were fighting for their lives against the Trojan army,
Please enjoy:most assumed they had been killed if the ride suddenly spit them out early.
Please enjoy:He timed crossing the exit of Party in Pompeii
Please enjoy:to avoid the cloud of sulfur and ash as dragons in togas filed out. The
Please enjoy:sign over the entrance showed burning ash falling on running animals.
Please enjoy:How anyone found this entertaining was a mystery,
Please enjoy:but then who could understand dragons? Their
Please enjoy:togas were singed, and
Please enjoy:they reeked of sulfur.
Please enjoy:That meant the new entanglement module was holding,
Please enjoy:keeping the quantum lock dome big enough to cover the volcano.
Please enjoy:The entrance for Teatime was a tasteful collage of pictures.
Please enjoy:“Come experience the greatest luxury cruise ship of all time.”
Please enjoy:Creatures of all types were in line here.
Please enjoy:This ride had a dedicated following who loved to speak in Queen’s English
Please enjoy:and wear Victorian costumes. For
Please enjoy:all their refined appearance and practiced manners,
Please enjoy:this crowd got ugly if the temporal lock drifted
Please enjoy:and the ship hit the iceberg while they were dancing or
Please enjoy:the quantum lock barrier prevented them from playing shuffleboard.
Please enjoy:Boltz walked up the exit and into a side door that opened with his badge. He found Nutse’s behind Teatime fumbling
Please enjoy:with a screwdriver. “Let
Please enjoy:me.” Boltz popped the screws from the panel and caught them in his mouth.
Please enjoy:“You know that is unsanitary.”
Please enjoy:Nutse shook his head
Please enjoy:and plugged in the handheld diagnostic. “Guests
Please enjoy:are complaining about ghosting.”
Please enjoy:The screen displayed numbers and graphs that made no sense to Boltz. Boltz
Please enjoy:scratched his head. “I’ve
Please enjoy:never heard of ghosting,” he
Please enjoy:mumbled through the screws.
Please enjoy:“It’s not in the manual.
Please enjoy:Guests are complaining that things are fading in and out or disappearing. I’ve looked
Please enjoy:through every technical manual I can find.
Please enjoy:There is nothing like that in any of them. My
Please enjoy:guess is a crack in the shielding around the phase
Please enjoy:-lock causing the temporal positioning to flicker.
Please enjoy:That would look like people disappearing. He disconnected
Please enjoy:the device. “There
Please enjoy:is no problem on this side, but it looks like the qubit phase lock might be dirty. We’ll
Please enjoy:need to look at it from the other side.” He
Please enjoy:dropped the device into a toolkit of high-tech equipment and parts.
Please enjoy:Boltz screwed the plate into place, ignoring the disapproving looks from Nutse.
Please enjoy:They entered they ride through a side door where the crowd faced the portal at the back and a
Please enjoy:mole standing in front of it.
Please enjoy:Over one side of the round portal, a
Please enjoy:display was counting down from twenty. Through
Please enjoy:the portal you could see into an engine room as
Please enjoy:long as the food boulevard
Please enjoy:where giant gears and levers moved.
Please enjoy:In the distance, dragons shoveled coal into a furnace.
Please enjoy:Voices emanated from a curved
Please enjoy:horn. "40 knots, sir." "Engine room.
Please enjoy:What's going on down there?"
Please enjoy:The mole standing on a platform to one side of the portal
Please enjoy:held one end of a velvet rope. “I’m
Please enjoy:Kiki, your tour guide.
Please enjoy:In a minute, you will board the Titanic. You can
Please enjoy:eat, dance, and stroll
Please enjoy:the ship,
Please enjoy:interacting with the people.” She
Please enjoy:paused and the voices from the horn blared, "Iceberg ahead. Hard to port. Engines full stop."
Please enjoy:She smiled and pointed up to an empty area on the wall. “The
Please enjoy:portal resets every hour. Do try
Please enjoy:to get back on time. It
Please enjoy:is unpleasant to be outside the containment shield when the field resets.” Kiki’s
Please enjoy:hands searched the velvet rope for the clasp and
Please enjoy:hooked it to a chrome stand. “Any
Please enjoy:questions?” A tiger cub in front waved her hand over her head.
Please enjoy:“Very well, as soon as the counter reaches zero, follow me for a guided tour.”
Please enjoy:The tiger cub cleared her throat. “Can
Please enjoy:we get stuck in the past?”
Please enjoy:Kiki opened her mouth, but her first word was drowned out by a bellow from the horn. She smiled
Please enjoy:and waited a second for the noise to stop.
Please enjoy:"We've hit." Kiki shook her head. “No, if someone
Please enjoy:could, then someone would have,
Please enjoy:but since no one has, we can't. It’s
Please enjoy:simple when you think about it.”
Please enjoy:Behind her, dragons ran past the portal waving their arms. "The
Please enjoy:sea door won't close.
Please enjoy:close." The sound of creaking metal reverberated through the room followed by the sound of rushing water. There
Please enjoy:was sudden silence as a
Please enjoy:dark water and debris formed a wall across the portal.
Please enjoy:A dragon was swept along with arms flailing.
Please enjoy:The counter over the portal reached zero. All
Please enjoy:was dry and bright. Dozens
Please enjoy:of smiling creatures appeared in the portal
Please enjoy:and filed out the exit.
Please enjoy:Kiki let the velvet rope fall
Please enjoy:and picked up her cane.
Please enjoy:Feeling her way through the portal and tapping her cane before her she called, "Now
Please enjoy:if you will follow me.
Please enjoy:me." The crowd surged through the portal and around the guide.
Please enjoy:Soon she was alone,
Please enjoy:tapping her cane along the floor.
Please enjoy:“This is the engine room.”
Please enjoy:Boltz followed Nutse through the portal. He took
Please enjoy:a moment to admire the incredible machinery
Please enjoy:and smell the fumes of the engine. “Isn’t
Please enjoy:it beautiful?”
Please enjoy:The sound of metal fighting metal was deafening,
Please enjoy:and the burning oil stung his nose.” A
Please enjoy:few squirts of lubricant quieted the nearby machinery. Sadly,
Please enjoy:in thirty minutes, everything was going to reset, and
Please enjoy:the noise would return.
Please enjoy:But they should be finished by then.
Please enjoy:Nutse shrugged. “Let's take some readings.” He set
Please enjoy:the toolbox on the floor and fished out an entanglement meter.
Please enjoy:Boltz could barely make out his partner’s words over the rumbling of poorly fitted pistons and
Please enjoy:metal grinding against metal,
Please enjoy:yet he marveled at the mammoth machine. What
Please enjoy:it lacked in technology, it made up for in beauty and size.
Please enjoy:The power of this monster was unimaginable.
Please enjoy:His eyes analyzed each
Please enjoy:part. It astonished him that it even worked.
Please enjoy:The bushings and fittings were so crude. On
Please enjoy:this side, the portal appeared on the side of a nondescript metal box the size of a train car with
Please enjoy:a few access panels and an antenna on top. Nutse plugged his scanner into the diagnostic port at the back of the machine. “That’s
Please enjoy:interesting.
Please enjoy:The electronics are fine, but there’s an oscillation in the field.
Please enjoy:It’s too irregular to be a malfunction.” He closed
Please enjoy:the scanner and took a field strength meter from his toolbelt. Something else
Please enjoy:is happening. We need to take some field measurements.”
Please enjoy:They made their way to a metal spiral staircase and
Please enjoy:climbed to a higher deck where rabbits carrying armloads of vegetables scurried through a door held open by a polar bear
Please enjoy:wearing a white apron.
Please enjoy:“Field strength seems strong,
Please enjoy:but the oscillation is worse up here.” Nutse continued up
Please enjoy:the stairs with his face on the meter.
Please enjoy:A penguin in a tuxedo raced down the stairs toward Nutse carrying
Please enjoy:a silver tray of cheese.
Please enjoy:Boltz was about to warn them,
Please enjoy:but the image of the penguin flickered.
Please enjoy:For an instant, there were two penguins,
Please enjoy:one collided with Nutse,
Please enjoy:the other dodged around him with practiced grace. They merged
Please enjoy:together behind Nutse
Please enjoy:who never looked up from his meter. It
Please enjoy:happened so quick Boltz wasn’t sure he saw it.
Please enjoy:They climbed to the next landing where a hallway stretched into the distance on both sides.
Please enjoy:It was lit by glass bulbs under shades set into sconces on the wall. Boltz
Please enjoy:squinted and peered into to glass.
Please enjoy:A thin wire glowed white hot.
Please enjoy:The concept of producing light by such a wasteful means horrified him,
Please enjoy:but the warm light added a luster and opulence of the doors and walls that
Please enjoy:no one in the modern age could emulate.
Please enjoy:Nutse waved the meter around before veering down the hall.
Please enjoy:A walrus with a handlebar mustache
Please enjoy:and top hat popped out of a stateroom with a cane in his hand and white gloves draped over his arm.
Please enjoy:He pressed his back against the wall to avoid Nutse. His
Please enjoy:wide eyes followed the squirrel as he passed. “Pardon
Please enjoy:us.” Boltz bowed quickly and hurried to catch up with Nutse who paused by another staircase and climbed.
Please enjoy:They followed the direction the device sent them
Please enjoy:to the foot of a wide staircase.
Please enjoy:It was a glorious structure that took them up and onto the deck of the ship.
Please enjoy:The sea rolled around a cold, dark sky.
Please enjoy:“The oscillations are getting stronger.
Please enjoy:This way.” Nutse followed the signal to the bow of the ship.
Please enjoy:A flying squirrel stretched out her arms
Please enjoy:and leaned over the edge. Boltz held
Please enjoy:his breath.
Please enjoy:His legs trembled as he considered running to her rescue. The
Please enjoy:flying squirrel flickered.
Please enjoy:Nutse walked by him with his face on the meter. “Wow.
Please enjoy:The meter is going crazy.
Please enjoy:Something is really messing with the field.”
Please enjoy:Boltz took a deep breath and called out,
Please enjoy:“Please come away from there, miss.”
Please enjoy:She turned her head. The
Please enjoy:image flickered. A
Please enjoy:scruffy opossum who was no where to be seen moments before rushed
Please enjoy:to the flying squirrel and escorted her from the edge.
Please enjoy:Boltz felt relief wash over him.
Please enjoy:Nutse looked up. “What are you doing?”
Please enjoy:Boltz pointed at the squirrel strolling away in the arms of the opossum.
Please enjoy:“She was about to fall.”
Please enjoy:Nutse gave him a sideways look. “She is
Please enjoy:going to fall or not.
Please enjoy:There is nothing you can do about it.
Please enjoy:Stop wasting time and do your job.”
Please enjoy:He looked down. “See what you did? I’ve lost
Please enjoy:the trace. Now
Please enjoy:we’ll have to pick it up again.” He
Please enjoy:waved the meter around.
Please enjoy:“We’re going to have to triangulate. We’re at
Please enjoy:the front of the ship. We’ve been to the bottom center. Let’s start
Please enjoy:with the center top and work our way down.”
Please enjoy:They measured the sporadic signal back into the ship
Please enjoy:and up to a control room where a bear in a dark blue uniform stood in the center of a small room where various species monitoring archaic machines.
Please enjoy:An eagle scanned the horizon through binoculars.
Please enjoy:“Clear ahead.” “Ahead ten knots,”
Please enjoy:the bear growled. “Ahead ten knots,”
Please enjoy:a mockingbird yelled into a circular horn connected to a flexible tube.
Please enjoy:A rabbit hopped up to them and pushed his paws forward.
Please enjoy:“No guests are allowed on the bridge.”
Please enjoy:“We’re not guests. We’re here to fix something,”
Please enjoy:Boltz apologized as Nutse walked around the rabbit.
Please enjoy:“You’re out of uniform,”
Please enjoy:the bear growled. “What
Please enjoy:is that thing?
Please enjoy:It has lights that move.”
Please enjoy:The bear stared in wonder.
Please enjoy:Nutse waved the meter around.
Please enjoy:“Nothing here.” He pocketed the meter and walked between the captain’s legs.
Please enjoy:“I’m the captain. I demand to know what needs to be fixed.”
Please enjoy:Nutse turned in the doorway. “Come
Please enjoy:on, Boltz. Nothing here. Let’s go.”
Please enjoy:“Wait, Nutse.” Boltz called him back. Confident
Please enjoy:he was on the right,
Please enjoy:Boltz walked up to the captain.
Please enjoy:“Sir, in twenty minutes, this ship is in danger of hitting an iceberg and sinking.”
Please enjoy:The captain puffed out his chest and his neck bulged. He
Please enjoy:roared with laughter.
Please enjoy:“Have you ever seen an iceberg, son?
Please enjoy:They are mountains of ice, easy to avoid. Are
Please enjoy:you drunk, sailor?”
Please enjoy:Boltz was a downcast. There
Please enjoy:was no flickering.
Please enjoy:His half-formed theory was falling apart. “But
Please enjoy:they are hard to see at night.”
Please enjoy:He scrutinized the image of the captain. There
Please enjoy:was no trace of ghosting.
Please enjoy:“Everyone knows this ship is unsinkable. Now
Please enjoy:get off the bridge or spend the day in the brig.”
Please enjoy:The captain turned his back on Boltz.
Please enjoy:Nutse grunted in frustration outside the bridge. “What
Please enjoy:was that about?”
Please enjoy:“Maybe some of the guests are interacting with the crew causing the problem.
Please enjoy:I thought if I made them make some other decision, I could reproduce the ghosting.”
Please enjoy:“Nonsense. If that were possible, someone would have done it
Please enjoy:and history would be rewritten. This
Please enjoy:is clearly an electrical problem, so stop wasting time. We
Please enjoy:need to find the source in twenty minutes,
Please enjoy:or we’ll have to start over.”
Please enjoy:They descended the stairs until it ended at floor
Please enjoy:where a beaver in a formal white uniform stood before large double doors. “Good
Please enjoy:evening,
Please enjoy:sirs. Back tie is required for the main dining room.”
Please enjoy:Nutse swung the meter around and froze.
Please enjoy:He stepped around the beaver and toward the main doors.
Please enjoy:“Excuse me, sir, but you cannot go into the formal dining room dressed like that.”
Please enjoy:The beaver pointed to the tool belt.
Please enjoy:Nutse sidestepped the beaver and entered.
Please enjoy:The beaver’s shoulders slumped.
Please enjoy:Boltz grinned sheepishly.
Please enjoy:“We’re dressed for a private costume party. We won’t be long. Two please?” “Well,” the beaver shook his head slowly, “at
Please enjoy:this hour, we could make an exception.” He pulled two
Please enjoy:menus from a sliding drawer.
Please enjoy:One with the outline of a squirrel,
Please enjoy:the other with a chipmunk.
Please enjoy:He rushed in front of Nutse and slapped his wide tail on the marble floor for attention.
Please enjoy:“Follow me.” Boltz allowed the waiter to seat him at a table while
Please enjoy:Nutse scanned the room.
Please enjoy:“There is something wrong here. I’m getting fluctuations in the field now.”
Please enjoy:They sat at a table with a lace tablecloth, a candelabra,
Please enjoy:and more spoons and forks around the plates than anyone knew what to do with. The
Please enjoy:waiter placed the menus beside them,
Please enjoy:bowed, and left. Boltz looked at the long menu.
Please enjoy:Everything sounded so good.
Please enjoy:“Do we have time for a snack?”
Please enjoy:Nutse didn’t look up from the meter.
Please enjoy:“This is a time machine.
Please enjoy:We have all the time in the world.”
Please enjoy:Boltz scanned the desserts.
Please enjoy:It all looked so tempting.
Please enjoy:The meter in Nutse hand buzzed.
Please enjoy:He looked down at it resting on the table. “Whoa. Off the scale. We’ve
Please enjoy:got to be close.”
Please enjoy:Nutse waved the meter around. “It
Please enjoy:stopped. We’re going to have to wait here for another spike.”
Please enjoy:“What? It’s gone again.” Boltz
Please enjoy:looked around and spotted the waitress he saw last time.
Please enjoy:He let his eyes rest on her.
Please enjoy:She was so polite
Please enjoy:and had a lovely voice.
Please enjoy:A penguin with a monocle came beside their table
Please enjoy:with a pencil and a pad of paper in his hands.
Please enjoy:“May I take your drink order, gentlemen.”
Please enjoy:“Just a bag of pistachios for me.”
Please enjoy:Boltz nodded at the engineer.
Please enjoy:“And a cup of hazelnut coffee for him.”
Please enjoy:“Very good, sir.” The penguin hurried through swinging doors at the back of the dining area.
Please enjoy:Somewhere behind the doors, glass and china shattered.
Please enjoy:The doors parted for the lone form of Kiki swinging her cane in a wide arc
Please enjoy:and knocking a pitcher of water onto the floor.
Please enjoy:Her cane tapped the wet carpet
Please enjoy:and she stepped around the puddle.
Please enjoy:“And here we have the swimming pool.
Please enjoy:The popular dances of the time are the foxtrot and the waltz.”
Please enjoy:She tapped her way along the wall
Please enjoy:toppling a statue.
Please enjoy:“Pardon me.” The beaver dived and caught the statue before it hit the floor.
Please enjoy:“Now stay close and I’ll show you the gambling hall.“
Please enjoy:A penguin waddled up to the table and placed a bag of nuts before Boltz
Please enjoy:and poured coffee from a silver pot into a china cup in front of Nutse. Nutse adjusted the meter as he sipped the beverage. At
Please enjoy:that moment, the meter buzzed and light up. “There.
Please enjoy:up. “There.” He looked up.
Please enjoy:“Something in this room is the cause.”
Please enjoy:Boltz tried to keep focused,
Please enjoy:but the lovely waitress approaching the table held his attention.
Please enjoy:“Nice to see you again, sirs.
Please enjoy:Do you wish anything from the menu?”
Please enjoy:“It’s off the scale.”
Please enjoy:Nutse pointed the meter in an arc around the room.
Please enjoy:Boltz blinked and looked into her eyes.
Please enjoy:“Do you recognize us?”
Please enjoy:“Your pardon, good sirs.
Please enjoy:Perhaps I was mistaken.”
Please enjoy:Her eyes fell to the floor.
Please enjoy:Her tail bristled in embarrassment.
Please enjoy:Boltz’ mind raced.
Please enjoy:A small amount of variation had to exist to make interact with people of the past possible,
Please enjoy:but they would always make the same decisions
Please enjoy:and be in the same places. Memories
Please enjoy:were not possible.
Please enjoy:Or were they? “Do you remember what I had the last time I was here?”
Please enjoy:“A piece of rhubarb pie, I believe.
Please enjoy:believe.” Boltz gasped. His legs kicked involuntarily, sending his chair tipping backward.
Please enjoy:When it righted, he grabbed the table with both hands.
Please enjoy:“That’s right. Nutse, did you hear that?”
Please enjoy:“What of it? She has mistaken you for someone else. Pay
Please enjoy:attention, will you?”
Please enjoy:He waved the meter around frantically.
Please enjoy:Look for something that would interfere with a signal or cause a reflection.”
Please enjoy:“I think she is the problem. She remembers us.”
Please enjoy:Boltz shouted and pointed to the waitress.
Please enjoy:The waitress’ shoulders shook, and her head was bowed to her chest. “My
Please enjoy:apologies, sir.
Please enjoy:I meant no offense.”
Please enjoy:“Impossible.” Nutse crossed his arms.
Please enjoy:“It is all the same moment to her.
Please enjoy:Otherwise, she’d be terrified right now knowing what is going to happen in,”
Please enjoy:he checked the time,
Please enjoy:“nine minutes.” He took another sip of tea and cleaned the face of the meter.
Please enjoy:The waitress squeaked.
Please enjoy:“Sir?” “Was that necessary?”
Please enjoy:Boltz rasped. “What does it matter?” Nutse’
Please enjoy:cocked his head and he raised a hand palm up.
Please enjoy:“That was cold.” Boltz shook his head.
Please enjoy:He turned to the waitress.
Please enjoy:“Pay him no mind.” He patted the waitress’ hand.
Please enjoy:Nutse took a sip of his coffee and dropped
Please enjoy:his cup in the saucer.
Please enjoy:“I’ll prove it.” He turned to the waitress.
Please enjoy:“If you remember us,
Please enjoy:when were we in here?”
Please enjoy:She looked perplexed.
Please enjoy:“I… can’t remember.
Please enjoy:It seems like a day ago.
Please enjoy:Why can’t I remember?”
Please enjoy:“You see?” Nutse shouted and crossed his arms.
Please enjoy:The beaver in the white coat hurried to their table.
Please enjoy:He took the waitress by the elbow.
Please enjoy:“Has she been rude, sirs?
Please enjoy:I shall see she is properly punished for her insubordination.”
Please enjoy:Boltz waved a hand.
Please enjoy:“No, she was very nice.
Please enjoy:Please don’t punish her.”
Please enjoy:The beaver bowed.
Please enjoy:“As you say, sir.” He glared at the waitress.
Please enjoy:“You have duties to perform. Come with me.”
Please enjoy:He turned on his heel and marching to a doorway.
Please enjoy:She followed slowly and got halfway
Please enjoy:across the floor before the beaver turned on her.
Please enjoy:“I’ve warned you before. Now I’ve had enough.”
Please enjoy:His voice was hushed
Please enjoy:but grated through his teeth.
Please enjoy:“You’re fired. I’ll see you are not paid for the rest of the trip.”
Please enjoy:The waitress fell to her knees,
Please enjoy:“I did nothing.” “Don’t make a spectacle of yourself.
Please enjoy:Leave this dining room at once.”
Please enjoy:The beaver pulled her to her feet
Please enjoy:and shoved her toward the kitchen door.
Please enjoy:The waitress stumbled forward but turned.
Please enjoy:The meter in the table Nutse’ hand buzzed non
Please enjoy:-stop and he paced the room.
Please enjoy:The waitress hurried back to the table.
Please enjoy:“I’ve been afraid all day as if
Please enjoy:something was going to happen.
Please enjoy:What is going to happen in nine minutes?”
Please enjoy:Nutse returned to the table and turned off the buzzing meter off. “We’re
Please enjoy:out of time. We’ll have to try again and start here next time.” He
Please enjoy:finished his cup and wiped his mouth with the napkin. “Let’s
Please enjoy:go.” The beaver’s face poked out of the doorway.
Please enjoy:His eyebrows formed a V and his nose wrinkled.
Please enjoy:There was a slapping sound as his tail pounded the floor.
Please enjoy:The waitress stood within arm’s reach,
Please enjoy:her shoulders trembling.
Please enjoy:Boltz took her hand.
Please enjoy:“Come with us.” “What.
Please enjoy:No.” Nutse rushed around the table and pulled Boltz hand from hers.
Please enjoy:“You can’t. It won’t work.”
Please enjoy:Boltz shoved him back and took her hand.
Please enjoy:“I have to try.” Nutse strode away
Please enjoy:and threw a hand in the air. “Fine.
Please enjoy:air. “Fine.” “You’re going to see some things that may frighten you.
Please enjoy:Just say with us and you’ll be fine.”
Please enjoy:Boltz pulled her close.
Please enjoy:She looked over her shoulder at the scowling beaver then
Please enjoy:nodded. Boltz kept her hand in his and hurried after Nutse.
Please enjoy:“Where are we going?
Please enjoy:What’s going to happen?”
Please enjoy:The waitress struggled to keep up.
Please enjoy:Her breathing was strained.
Please enjoy:“We’re going to the engine room. This
Please enjoy:ship is about to hit an iceberg and sink.”
Please enjoy:“I remember now. I had a dream. It
Please enjoy:was terrible, cold water,
Please enjoy:people crying. It wasn’t a dream,
Please enjoy:was it?” She collapsed to the floor.
Please enjoy:Boltz helped her to her feet and slowed his pace. Nutse hurried
Please enjoy:on out of sight. Not
Please enjoy:that it mattered. He
Please enjoy:knew the way. The worst that could happen to him was he’d be caught outside the containment field
Please enjoy:and experience the ice-cold water,
Please enjoy:maybe even drowning,
Please enjoy:but he’d be fine in a few seconds.
Please enjoy:He worried more for the waitress.
Please enjoy:Was is hopeless for her?
Please enjoy:He didn’t have the deep understanding of relativity tensors that the engineer had,
Please enjoy:but something in his gut told him there was hope for her. Her
Please enjoy:breathing was ragged gasps.
Please enjoy:As he rounded the spiral stairs into the engine room,
Please enjoy:Nutse stood halfway up the stairs and pointed. “There’s
Please enjoy:the real problem.”
Please enjoy:Boltz followed Nutse direction to the top of the time machine.
Please enjoy:The antenna on top was bent over at ninety degrees.
Please enjoy:“How did that happen?”
Please enjoy:Nutse shrugged. “Well, we’ve got five minutes. I’ll have
Please enjoy:to order a replacement. I’ll
Please enjoy:straighten the best I can, but the load balancer will need adjusting
Please enjoy:and you’ll have to put in key in the new calibration settings manually.”
Please enjoy:A steady stream of smiling park guest was coming from every direction, descending on the portal. One
Please enjoy:by one, they touched the side of the box and disappeared. Kiki’s
Please enjoy:tapping and talking could be heard by no one
Please enjoy:as she felt her way along the wall.
Please enjoy:The waitress’s eyes filled with tears. “Where
Please enjoy:did they go?
Please enjoy:What is happening?”
Please enjoy:“They are safe. Stay here and rest for a minute.”
Please enjoy:Boltz steadied the waitress who was doubled over trying to catch her breath.
Please enjoy:She nodded. He and Nutse went to the back of the time machine.
Please enjoy:Nutse climbed the ladder. Boltz
Please enjoy:popped the screws of the tensor transmitter plate and caught them in his mouth.
Please enjoy:The readouts glowed.
Please enjoy:One by one, they flashed the word fault
Please enjoy:as Nutse straightened the antenna. Boltz finger
Please enjoy:poised over the keypad ready to enter the new settings. Beside
Please enjoy:the keypad, a number was counting down.
Please enjoy:The digits flew by faster than he could read except for the zeros which advanced to fill the end of the readout.
Please enjoy:Nutse’ voice was drowned in the engine noise. Boltz
Please enjoy:could barely make out but a few disconnected syllables.
Please enjoy:He spit the screws into his hand.
Please enjoy:“I can’t hear you.
Please enjoy:What was the number?”
Please enjoy:Nutse call out louder this time.
Please enjoy:His voice cracked with effort,
Please enjoy:but it still wasn’t loud enough.
Please enjoy:Boltz thought about climbing the ladder,
Please enjoy:but he doubted he could get up there,
Please enjoy:remember a nine-digit number,
Please enjoy:return, and enter it in time. He
Please enjoy:removed a spray can from his tool belt and sprayed all the engine parts thoroughly.
Please enjoy:The noise dropped and the engine moved with a speed and silence that it had never been able to achieve before.
Please enjoy:“What?” he called up.
Please enjoy:“I said four five seven eight one six zero five five.”
Please enjoy:Boltz keyed in the numbers and hit save.
Please enjoy:A panicked voice echoed from the horn on the wall.
Please enjoy:“Captain. We have increased speed. 30 Knots. "Impossible,”
Please enjoy:the captains voice growled.
Please enjoy:“This ship can't go that fast.
Please enjoy:fast." "40 knots, sir," a timid voice quavered.
Please enjoy:“Come down now.” Boltz waved frantically.
Please enjoy:The waitress straightened
Please enjoy:and picked her way down, her
Please enjoy:heels catching the holes of the metal steps.
Please enjoy:The captain’s voice bellowed,
Please enjoy:"Engine room. What's going on down there?"
Please enjoy:A low sound like the beating of large wings erupted from the horn.
Please enjoy:horn. "Iceberg ahead.” “Hard to port.
Please enjoy:Engines full stop."
Please enjoy:The ship lurched to the side.
Please enjoy:The waitress screeched and clutched the handrail.
Please enjoy:"We've hit,” the horn bellowed. Boltz dropped his screwdriver and let the last of the screws fall through the floor grating, leaving the access panel to shake
Please enjoy:and the ship shuddered beneath his feet. He
Please enjoy:took a few steps before he fell sideways.
Please enjoy:Nutse shook his head as he descended the ladder of the time machine.
Please enjoy:“You’re wasting your time.”
Please enjoy:Water poured from the hissing boilers.
Please enjoy:One of the dragons yelled,
Please enjoy:"Close the sea doors.
Please enjoy:doors." The others turned wheels on the wall.
Please enjoy:Dragons pulled frantically against the red wheel on the wall nearby.
Please enjoy:Metal screamed in protest.
Please enjoy:“Look out.” The waitress stood on a stair and pointed. Boltz looked up. Movement
Please enjoy:overhead caught his eye.
Please enjoy:A heavy lever was coming down on top the time machine.
Please enjoy:It caught on the antenna and bent
Please enjoy:it over. The heavy iron bar bent as it came down against the top of the time machine and
Please enjoy:stopped. The dragons ran past the time machine yelling, "The
Please enjoy:sea door won't close.
Please enjoy:close." “Hurry.” Boltz waived the waitress on,
Please enjoy:but she froze as sea water washed across the floor.
Please enjoy:Rushing water threatened to knock Boltz’ leg out from under him as he ran to the stairs.
Please enjoy:He held the waitress in his arms and helped her into the water.
Please enjoy:They fought their way against the rushing water to the time machine. A
Please enjoy:wall of water raced toward them, and
Please enjoy:with a final leap, he
Please enjoy:threw them into the portal.
Please enjoy:He fell on the floor and opened his eyes in time to see a dragon, twisting and thrashing,
Please enjoy:get swept by. Boltz turned his head.
Please enjoy:The waitress lifted herself on hands and knees
Please enjoy:and looked around. “What
Please enjoy:is this place?”
Please enjoy:Behind her, Nutse’ mouth hung open as he stared at her back. “That’s
Please enjoy:impossible,”
Please enjoy:he sputtered. Head engineer, Titan Boltz chewed his pistachios and gazed into the candelabra. Teatime had
Please enjoy:not had the slightest problem in the five years
Please enjoy:since he did the unthinkable.
Please enjoy:It made the perfect place to take lunch.
Please enjoy:He mouthed the words in perfect sync with the beaver’s angry protest.
Please enjoy:“Where is that waitress?”
Please enjoy:At that moment, Boltz phone rang.
Please enjoy:“Hi dear. I was just thinking about you.”
Please enjoy:This was “Teatime on the Titanic”
Please enjoy:by Reid Minnich, read for you by William Dingo,
Please enjoy:the sunrise spectator..
Please enjoy:You can find more stories on the web at thevoice.dog,
Please enjoy:or find the show wherever you get your podcasts.
Please enjoy:Thank you for listening to The Voice of Dog.