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I nodded my head and surveyed the sinusoid up on the main screen; an ideal opportunity to ignore Mimi's presence and dress. It was International Orange, of course. And even as I stood there, staring, it was expanding.
"Time and location, Amanda?" I asked, having recognised the dispatcher on arrival before I was sidetracked by Mimi and little pink pigs.
"September 23rd, 1958. St Petersburg, sir."
"Leningrad," I automatically corrected.
"Indeed, sir. Leningrad in the 1950s," Amanda acquiesced.
"We need to fly, Jack," Harding pressed. "This one is going to be big."
"But why?" I asked. What did the Luna Programme have to do with Leningrad? The Soviet Space Programme was centred around the Baikonur Cosmodrome and Star City in Moscow Oblast. Nothing of note happened in Leningrad that I could think of.
A moan sounded out behind me. I glanced over my shoulder and noted Malcolm clutching his stomach and bending forward, his face obscured by an unruly mop of brown hair. Had he even run a brush through it?
"What's the matter, Novitiate?" I asked.
"Stomach," he groaned. "Don't feel so good, sir."
I turned to face him fully. "Can you fly, Mr Malcolm?" I asked.
He shook his head, his face still obscured by his hair. "Don't think so, sir. Sorry."
I sighed and turned to Amanda. "Who's next on-call?"
"We don't have time for this!" Harding snapped, interrupting Amanda's reply. "That sine wave is getting enormous."
"Perhaps a slight exaggeration, Doctor Harding," I said. "Malcolm, get yourself to the infirmary. Amanda, who's next on the list?"
"We don't have time!" Harding stressed.
What was her problem?
"Doctor Bauer's team," Amanda was saying. "With Pratt and Lewis."
"Jack," Harding said, stepping closer. "That sine wave is about to go supernova on us. By the time they get dressed, get in here, and then get to the Orion, it may well have blown 1958 apart."
"Do you not think perhaps, Dr Harding, that I am familiar with how this all works?"
"It's just that, we're here, we're ready. We could fly now, deal with it, and be back before Malcolm even makes it to the sickbay."
She did have a point. But Novitiates were expected to fly with each team. It wasn't the Royal Conglomerate of Time Surgeons. It was the Royal Academy of Time Surgeons. We were as much a learning facility as we were a time-travelling one.
"I could be your Novitiate," Mimi's voice sounded out from behind us. "I'm here. I can go as soon as you want."
"You're not even dressed," Harding snarled. Actually snarled. I stared at her.
"I won't leave the module in my PJs," Mimi told her. "I'll dress appropriately for 1958 in Russia."
"The Soviet Union," I automatically corrected.
Mimi nodded as Jessica said, "You won't be flying at all. You're grounded."
Amanda chose that moment to break her silence and said, "The sine wave is unstable, doctors. Time could be starting to fracture."
I had long suspected that Amanda Cockburn had a flare for the dramatic and exemplary timing. Nothing she did was without purpose. She was helping Mimi.
Officially, Mimiwasgrounded. Unofficially, I'd had enough of all of this.
