Traveller Probo
72. England

“Okay my love, I won’t be long, I promise. I’ll finish the tests on Transporter One and then be on my way,” stressed Zak wearily. After leaving Transporter Two in the hands of the Turkish Military, he managed to catch a few hours of sleep on the Turkish Airways flight to London. He had then made his way to their home in the English countryside. No matter how often he flew, he found skipping time zones exhausting. Mel and Zak decided to keep their little home near the original Saxon project headquarters of Welbeck as a place to escape to the charming English countryside. Not so charming now, conceded Zak, for the rain was falling and, compared to Turkey, it was freezing. He looked out of the cottage window as the veil of rain obscured the rural view.

He was due to brief the Ukrainian Travellers and thought he had best get to it. They were to meet at the Transporter building within the hour and he had yet to debrief the engineers who had been involved in Project Healthy Giolgrave. While the media had taken to the campaign, Zak had been more concerned with how the multitude of activations would affect the Transporter itself. Add to that the requirement to send more military missions and the impending birth of Tatae and Hunter’s baby, there was even more pressure to ensure the Transporter operated perfectly.

Fortunately, the drive there was short and, with a wave to the guards, Zak keyed himself into the building.

As he entered, he was enveloped by warmth and light. In the main operational area, the ten Ukrainian Travellers were already seated on the spectator stand. They were dressed in the usual tunic and breeches that typified the dress of Saxons and Vikings of the period. Zak noted, with interest, that the two female soldiers were also dressed in male attire. A couple of engineers supervised the Transporter while a few guards stood at hand, though most surveillance was via the latest in Helguard security equipment.

“Welcome ladies and gentlemen. I’m sorry to be a little late,” he began as he removed his coat and draped it over a chair. He carried no briefcase, as all of his notes and briefing images were kept on his tablet. “But I understand that you’re to undergo your familiarisation of a real, live Transporter. I’ve been advised that your principal trainer, Sergeant Mike Hurley, was only just Transported earlier today.”

A good looking young man smiled in welcome. “Mr Chandler, we are most grateful for your time. Our other trainers send their apologies as they are engaged in some administrative concerns. It seems the Russians are still up to their tricks.”

Zak shook his head in frustration. “Every time we start a Traveller Project it seems to become a political football,” he added in apology. “Oh for the good old days, before anyone really knew anything about the Transporter.”

The familiarization proceeded swiftly, for the Ukrainians had engaged in formal study of the device, though finally having access to the famous machine seemed to leave them in a mood of tense anticipation. Zak and the engineers demonstrated how the Transporter worked and how it had been manufactured to permit easy disassembly. The especially manufactured component travel cases were stored in an adjoining room.

As they concluded the tour, Zak and the engineers checked the system while the Ukrainian Travellers watched. “As we’re supporting the mission in Saxon Aengland, it’s vital that we remain vigilant. You would be aware, of course, that Michael Hunter and Tatae were extracted recently for medical reasons. We have just sent three extra Travellers back to Saxon Aengland to receive special training, from which you will no doubt benefit, so we have to keep this Transporter on-site and operational. Our procedures now require activation of the Transporter to retrieve and replace the data Base-Station every hour, day and night. This now takes place using two members of the support team.” He gestured to two of the guards, both with weapons and in full combat gear.

One of them, with Royal Marine insignia, smiled as he added, “We take it in turns but it’s important that you know that we’re the real heroes here, as we’ve been Transported, what, over a hundred times?”

His companion nodded. “Yep, well over a hundred.”

There were smiles and one of the Ukrainians asked, “There are no ill effects?”

Zak replied, “Well none that we can determine, and you can imagine that our research has been thorough. It seems that some Travellers experience temporary nausea but none who’ve been Transported exhibit any real issues. As for our data transfer and communication, we’re trying to develop a better system but, for the moment, it’s been decided to manually exchange the data modules. These, as you know, are essentially robust computers. We send guards to make sure that we don’t bring back locals. We’re trying to learn from the mistakes of New Zealand of course, though our imperative is to be available to assist those on the ground as needed.”

The Ukrainians gathered to observe the Transportation of the two soldiers, an utterly silent process that always deeply impressed.

“How long will they be there?” asked one of the Ukrainian women, a solid, stoic woman who, Zak had to concede, looked much stronger than he.

“We have the Transporter timed to initiate again in five minutes. The process is really quite simple as all it requires is the …” and he stopped in confusion as the other woman, the tall, pretty one, stood with a pistol aimed at his face.