Departure

Dear Diary,

As I write this, I can still hear Cordelia moan in pleasure in the other room. I am glistening in sweat, my legs still shaking. Also, I have had quite a bit to drink. Mr Drake's "tantra" is something to behold. Even now, I find it difficult to put into words. We've been at it for several hours, combining in every conceivable fashion. As I write this Cordelia is being held completely off the ground, a leg in the arm of a servant each, as Drake insinuates his manhood into her in waves and slippery thrusts. I believe I'll nap for awhile, after finishing this glass.

Every cell in my body is aetherofied with energy. The very thought of him entering me again excites and terrifies me! Perhaps I will see what they are up to...

Dear Diary,
I am dreadfully hung over today, and quite sore. Wayland was still packing up the shop when Drake's servant dropped us off. Cordelia and I certainly made quite the fools of ourselves; arriving with disheveled clothes and tossled hair, smiling weakly at him as we ascended the stairs. We both pulled off our clothes, which after as much time without them felt odd and foreign, closed the windows, and curled up in each others arms, and fell fast asleep.

When I awoke, a bath had been drawn, and the curtains opened. Cordelia was sitting in the tub, Aga gently washing her hair. I had to giggle. "I know!" she said. "there was so much of it, I fear it'll take days to fully come out." she said, beckoning me over to the tub. Aga moved to the side, allowing me to lean over the tub and kiss her soft, pouty lips. As she drew me toward her, Aga was moving behind me.

"Not today, Aga." I said, sliding into the tub with her. What a fool I was to not enjoy her sooner. We'd kissed, and explored each other as many close cousins not related by birth do, and certainly had plenty of fun, but the way I feel when I kiss her...

We bathed and lounged and caressed each other's bodies, laughing about the positions we found ourselves in yesterday. Every hint of a touch sent shivers through both of us. It was in this position that Wayland found us. His gaze didn't linger, but I could tell he disapproved. At the moment, I didn't care.

He handed the keys to Aga with instructions to leave and protect his family in the event of trouble. It was odd, leaving the shop behind. In truth, I didn't study nearly as much as I should have, but I can fashion my own Aether batteries, wire up an electrical bulb, and in anticipation for the ride home, suggested a recalibration of the Soma engine. The engineer, seeing who I was accompanying, did the arithmetic and grudgingly concluded I was right.

As we approached to board, Cordelia nudged me in the side and smiled. I followed her gaze, and to my surprise Mr Drake was directing his employees where to load several crates. I beamed a smile back at her. Perhaps he was planning a stay in our province. "Mr Drake! she blurted out, waving her hand. He turned, smiled wickedly, and tipped his safari hat at us. Cordelia blushed, and giggled as she looked down. This wasn't her normal self. I gasped when it dawned on me.

"Cordelia! you are infatuated with him!" I said under my breath, glancing back in his direction. When he met my gaze, I joined her in her blushing coyness. Not a day before, he was slowly penetrating me as I was lowered onto his erection, and lifted back off by his butler, whom Cordelia was pleasuring with mouth. He barely moved, but it was as if he possess a spark inside him that ignited my passions to heights I've never known, even with Wayland. My orgasm exploded from me suddenly, sending my screams of ecstasy echoing through his chamber. When he asked if I wish his negro to join us, I simply had to decline to keep from swooning. Cordelia, bless her, had no such reservations.

Once upon the train, it was Wayland who approached him. "Going off to fight the mole men in the South?" he quipped cheerfully. They shook hands, and patted each other on the arm. I wonder how they know each other?

"Quite so. I feel I will finally get a chance to fire this last round." he said, pulling a bullet the size of my forearm from his vest. I blushed badly when I saw it. Both Cordelia and I were intimately familiar with its length and size.

"And you still won't use one of the new Aether rifles?" he replied, accompanying the man to the dining car. I followed, unsure what else to do.

"You know my feelings on that." He said, his mood darkening slightly.

"You can't still believe..." Wayland said before being waved off.

"This is the problem with you colonials. You cross the land in these wretched things and miss the world around you. Look at the vein patterns, the locations of the mines, both here and on Earth. In every instance of mineable Soma, it is found in the impact crater where life once flourished. Soma isn't a mineral. Soma is life itself. It is a bridge built on suffering and catastrophe; its essence snuffed out in one locale to appear in the other, changed; like the Mole Men."

He leaned back in his chair, and took a sip of his gin. Drake, the fearless explorer, looked out of the window. What he said chilled me. Singh, for once, was silent.

"It wouldn't be the first instance of a man being transported through space and time." He reached into his satchel, and pulled out an old, worn book. "The Adventures of Rupert Van Dorne and The Jungles of Venus".

"Is this the book that greatly inflated your fortune when you sold the rights to your stories to that penny dreadful writer?" Wayland asked, handing it to me. I opened the first page. "To Rebecca, my wife, who shall always be in my heart." - Conrad Byrnes." I flipped the page, and kept reading, tuning out the sounds of the rumbling engine.

"I am Rupert Van Dorne. I was born in Morocco before the Great War in the year 1856, and I am a man out of Time."