Flight

[thefirststark]

The space within the SXF-16 is cramped. Three seats, and room for maybe two suitcases. Ask anyone who flew on the Pan Am clipper ships, and they would say that this is a step backwards. But ask anyone who sat at the controls of the SF-12 Mockingbird or SF-11 Vulture, and he would be thrilled there's room for a co-pilot.

Howard opens the hatch from the outside, leading his passenger aboard.

"Welcome aboard, Helena."

Comments

[timelessinventor]

"Not really. People are in large planes and flown about when they travel, which is quite common, but not many people actually do the flying themselves. It's a shame, really. Perhaps I will attempt to get a flying license when I go home."

She pauses, still making the plane go straight and true. "People do mostly travel by air if they are going long distances. Cars are more used, but they're useful mostly for short-term travel."

[thefirststark]

"We're looking into making larger airplanes. Though it's a crowded marketplace. Still, clearly we need to go in that direction." Helena's not altering history. Howard would have thought about it either way.

"I guess the car isn't ever going away. But I find it limiting somehow." The view is never like this.

The port comes into view below.

[timelessinventor]

"It's probably a good idea, darling. Large planes are all the rage in my bit of the future." She smiles.

"No, I think the car increases in popularity. From what I know of your era, there is more, oh, what would Claudia call it, public transportation, busses or trains or things like that, than there is in the future."

[thefirststark]

"Los Angeles is known for its streetcars. And there are places that have good subway systems. Not as good as flight, of course, but practical." And less likely to add to the misbegotten Ford fortune.

"We're now over Long Beach, and near Orange County. Want to see the orange groves?"

[timelessinventor]

"Well I believe New York has a subway still in the future, as well as some other large cities." When Helena travels, she tends to find taxis to get places. "I do not believe street cars are as much of a thing anymore."

She grins again, pulling her brain out of thoughts of transportation and the future. "That would be absolutely lovely. I don't think I've actually seen orange groves before."

[thefirststark]

"It would probably be rude to land at one. And also a hard landing and takeoff." Howard takes control long enough to steer the plane inland. "I hope you've at least eaten oranges."

[timelessinventor]

"Oh, of course, darling. Leena, the lady who runs our bed and breakfast back home finds them a quite good supplement to pretty much every meal. I am also quite fond of orange juice for breakfast." She smiles, relinquishing control a tiny bit reluctantly. "And it would very likely be rude to land on someone else's property."

[thefirststark]

"I could land and offer to buy it," he says puckishly, even as the landscape changes from lightly populated suburbs to semi-desert browns mixed with more and more orange trees.

[timelessinventor]

Helena's bright and cheerful laugh comes back. "I doubt that you need an orange grove, Howard." She watches out the window, entranced by the trees and the occasional tiny vehicle below.

[thefirststark]

"Diversification is an important approach to maintaining a successful corporation." He is not serious, of course.

[timelessinventor]

"And I am certain that you know all about diversifying, however, I do not think oranges would go very well with a mechanics factory." She's amused, still grinning as things go by underneath them.

[thefirststark]

"Unless I invent a way to make fuel from oranges." Hey, it could happen.

"Where to next? Further south, back up the coast, or back to the field? I have enough fuel to hold out a while longer." Though not that much, since this is a prototype and it's best not to have too much, in case he has to ditch.

[timelessinventor]

That also gets a huge laugh. "Now there's a thought, Howard. Not only would be an interesting fuel, it would smell wonderful." Helena is more than a little fond of citrus.

"Hm. I do not know the terrain around here, but perhaps back out to the coast." There's that sparkle in her eyes again.

[thefirststark]

"We'll head north for a bit. Over the rockier areas and cliffs." He knows all of it well, never needing to look at a map.

[timelessinventor]

"That sounds lovely. I did once get to see the white cliffs of Dover, which were quite lovely. The Artifact was not so lovely, however." She makes a face, but the expression quickly flees as she goes back to watching the world go by underneath the plane.

[thefirststark]

The plane wends its way back up north, Howard once again paralleling the coast, the sun shining to his left as the day passes. They move back over the coastline they saw before, and then towards Malibu.

[timelessinventor]

Helena watches things go by, pointing out a few features, both human and natural, and asking a few questions about the land winding below them.

[thefirststark]

Howard knows about the people and about the places the rich and famous live. He knows less about the land, though he can tell that a lot of the hills below are very dry and likely to have brush fires soon.

[timelessinventor]

Helena revels in the stories about the rich and famous, joining in with a few of her own about the elite in London in the 1890s. She knows more than a few salacious details about movers and shakers, and tells the stories with the true art of the writer that she is.

[thefirststark]

Howard thinks he's heard it all, so he doesn't blush. But her tales are wilder than a lot of even the typical Hollywood fare of his life.

He also wonders if he met any of the children or grandchildren of Helena's social set during his time in London.

[timelessinventor]

Helena moved in a pretty interesting set in London, so her stories tend to disprove the theory that Victorians were repressed and boring.

She doesn't run out of stories for quite a while, going from prominent names that Howard would likely know to others who were lost to history.

[thefirststark]

"I remember that name from science class," he says about one person in particular. "I would have never guessed."

[timelessinventor]

Helena smirks. "Oh, the stories I could tell you about him, darling. He was quite the character outside of what I'm certain history said about him."

[thefirststark]

"I am not sure I want to know. Best to leave my illusions alone, at least once in a while." He really has no illusions. War does that. So does being rich in a world where most people are poor.

[timelessinventor]

"Honestly, that is probably for the best." Helena sighs, shaking her head. "Sometimes it is best to cling to the stories, whether or not there is truth to them." She has seen more of the gritty underside of things than she cares to admit.