[Cyclefrance]

‘This could take some time,’ said UT. ‘I can’t see a decision being made quickly on this issue. Clearly it’s something that has been occupying Kit’s thoughts ever since he left the Caribbean. There must be some way to turn this to our advantage….’

Just then the door to the powder room opened and out stepped Cheyenne: ‘That’s better,’ she said, coaxing her long flowing hair into shape with the palm of one hand while pouting at her reflection in the mirror she was holding in the other. She didn’t seem to notice where she was.

‘How did she get here?’ said Griff. ‘I never saw her come on board our ship…’

Something told Cheyenne that all was not right. Her hair-shaping hand stopped its shaping activity. And her eyes strayed to the reflection of Griff and UT that was just visible in the top right hand corner of her mirror.

‘EEEEeeekk!!’ she screamed. ‘This isn’t the Bacardi Breezer, where am I??

And with that she fainted

What seemed like only a second later, she opened her eyes to see several of the Flossie’s crew around her - she could feel Brianna wiping her brow with a damp cloth. Cheyenne went to scream again, but held back as she tried to take in the scene around her.

‘I’m not on the Bacardi Breezer, am I.’ It was more of a statement than a question.

‘No,’ said Brianna. ‘This is the Flossie Jetsam. What makes you think it should be the Bacardi Breezer?’

‘Because that’s where I was when I went into the powder room a few minutes ago. I wanted to look nice before we set sail for California.’

‘But that wasn’t a few minutes ago, Cheyenne, the Bacardi Breezer set sail for California seven weeks ago. Both our ships are even now off Claifornia.’

Cheyenne fainted again.

She awoke for a second time.

‘Let me get this straight,’ said UT. ‘You went into the powder room of the Bacardi Breezer “a few minutes ago” according to you, and now you’ve come out of the powder room on the Flossie Jetsam, only seven weeks have passed. Look, are you sure about it only being a few minutes, only you know how long women can be when they go…’

‘Don’t be so silly!’ Brianna and Cheyenne together.

‘OK, OK, I take the point. But there has to be some explanation why you are now on the Flossie Jetsam and not on the Breezer, and also why you think only a few minutes have passed when in fact several weeks have.’ UT looked puzzled, as well he might.

‘It has too be some kind of a portal, ‘ volunteered Reggie, now safely re-installed above UT’s right ear and insde his cranium.

‘What do you mean, portal?’ asked UT.

‘Well, it’s something I learned from my ancient ancestors, the ones that existed just after the meteorite fell. A portal is some sort of gateway between two distinct objects. It can just as easily span a million miles as it can a few feet. The way I see it is that Cheyenne went into the powder room and was in there long enough, taking the normal amount of time required to do what every women has to do in a powder room (and that being something which no man will ever really know) which was enough for her to miss the departure of the Breezer.

‘Both our ships must have passed the point in the Caribbean Sea where the meteorite had landed and then deposited a skeleton portal all those millions of years ago. It clearly has lain dormant all that time, and now our two ships passed over it at exactly the right place and time, permitting it to re-establish itself in each of the ship’s powder rooms. Why it chose the powder rooms, I am not yet sure, but there will be a reason. The point is that the process of re-establishing the portal would have taken several weeks to complete, but Cheyenne would have been held in a state of timelessness while this happened. Then, once it was complete, she would have been released and so she came out of the powder room door that she thought she had entered thinking only a few minutes had passed and that she was still on the Breezer. Only it wasn’t a few minutes and it wasn't the Breezer, it was us, and now!

'But I still need to work out what it is that caused the transference….. Hang on a minute! It must be that mirror she is holding! It’s just the thing to reflect the portal’s energy from one ship to the other.’ Reggie felt very pleased with himself, as well he might.

’Are you saying that there now exists a sort of gateway between our two ships and that we could use that gateway to gain access to the Breezer, without anyone on board the Breezer knowing…?’

‘I suppose I am!’

‘Amazing! Well then! No time like the present to profit from the advantage that has just turned our way! Lookout123, send back a signal saying we are working on a solution to Kit’s little problem - if I know Kit he will give us the time we need then. After that, you, Griff and… let me see… I need someone with extra stealth and determination for this – yes, Urbane Guerilla! – the three of you and I will wait another half an hour by which time the sun will have set, and then we will board the Breezer. Only not the way they expect! Sorry Cheyenne, I’m going to need that mirror of yours…. But I promise, that if everything goes to plan, no harm will come of Kit and the rest of his crew.’

What no-one knew, however, not even I at this stage, was that Reggie had also passed on some information to UT about other powers which the portal possessed….

The cabin boy inside the dinghy boat (which he now considered home) set the gramophone going again: Diana Ross started singing ‘Chain Reaction’…