Emma and Brandon trudged wearily to the coffee house where their new companion had asked them to wait. It had been a long day, both physically and emotionally draining, and the children were exhausted. All the activity was taking a toll on them. Brandon in particular was worn out. He, who could always come up with excuses to skip PE lessons in school, could not believe the amount of walking he had done that day.
His stomach growled painfully and he whimpered. He remembered that he had not had a meal, square or otherwise, since the prawn crackers, which were now only a distant memory. He perked up a little at the thought of the scrumptious meal awaiting them at the coffee house. Western-style cuisine was right up his alley, and he was looking forward to beef steaks and chicken chops. Bring it on, he thought to himself gleefully.
After what seemed like an hour but which was actually only twenty minutes, they reached their destination. Brandon wasted no time in ordering a mouth-watering banquet for Emma and himself. After a brief perusal of the menu, he summoned a waiter and gave his order. The waiter who took his order was apt to be supercilious, not believing the children capable of paying for the meal. However, his manner soon changed and he became more respectful when Brandon wafted the notes casually.
Soon, the dishes started arriving and the table groaned under their weight. Sizzling steaks, fragrant fried rice, sweet and sour pork and other delectable dishes covered the entire table. This was not a problem though, as Brandon made short work of it all. Even Emma, who was usually a picky eater, ate happily and wolfed down food which she would have sniffed her nose at if it had been served to her at home.
They rounded off their feast with a sago gula melaka pudding. Neither of them had tried it before, but on sampling it, declared it as the best dessert they had ever eaten. Hunger probably had something to do with their decision.
Repast over, they leant back in their chairs, enjoying the comfort that comes at the end of a satisfactory meal. As they cooled their heels, they debated about the intentions of the mysterious Mr Dux. Emma was convinced that he was a millionaire who went around doing good deeds in secret. "He's Henry Sugar come to life. You just have to look at his kind face to know it's true," she argued.
Brandon, uncharacteristically, was apt to be cautious. "He speaks such fluent Japanese," he retorted. "Maybe he's a spy who will befriend unsuspecting folks like us, and later inform the Japanese of our location. In fact, he could be getting in touch with his Japanese cronies right now, and here we are, sitting ducks for the military when they arrive," he ended dolefully.
"Your argument doesn't hold water, Brandon," reasoned Emma. "If he was on the side of the Japanese, why would he let the Force 136 insurgents rescue the whole lot of prisoners?"
"Perhaps that was just a ploy to lull Force 136 into a false sense of security," Brandon claimed.
"It's terrible how war makes people cynical and distrustful of one another," said Emma despondently. "But you do have a point," she conceded. "How about we move to another eating place nearby, and watch this one? This way, we can observe whether he's alone or whether he's brought any reinforcements."
"Good thinking, Em, let's get a move on," said Brandon, standing up.
The children moved to a modest eating place across the street and kept a discreet but close watch on the establishment which they had recently vacated.
Fifteen minutes later, Mr Dux returned.
Thankfully, he was alone. Relieved, Emma and Brandon made their way to Mr Dux.
"There you are," Mr Dux said. "I was worried that you had run off. Get your skates on, we've got a walk ahead of us." Seeing Brandon's face fall at the mention of more physical effort, he smiled, "It's not very far, a matter of five minutes or so." He led them through a maze of narrow back lanes and true enough, they fetched up at a Chinese medical hall a few short minutes later. Greeting the proprietor with a cheery 'Good afternoon', Mr Dux said, "The owner is a friend of mine, he won't mind us using his place for a while."
Mr Dux led them to a cosy room at the back of the house. Surveying the chamber, Brandon noticed a round marble table surrounded by several marble-topped wooden stools. Mr Dux gestured towards the stools, indicating that they should take a seat. At one end of the room was a low cupboard made of polished mahogany, atop of which stood a brown teapot on a folded towel, and some Chinese teacups in an enamel dish. The top of the cupboard featured three drawers, one beside the other. The handles on the drawers were semi-circular, each held in place by a scowling lion. They reminded Brandon of the ornate knockers found on the doors of Chinese temples. It was from one of the drawers that Mr Dux obtained some tea leaves. With them, he brewed cups of Chinese tea for himself and the children.
"Sorry I can't offer you a Coke or even any cold drink," Mr Dux said apologetically. "My friend does not think that cold drinks are good for the human body. I could murder a 7-Up right now, but since that's not available," he sighed, "this will have to do." Raising his cup, he drank deeply.
After Mr Dux had drained his cup, Brandon waited a moment to be sure that their host did not keel over. Comforted, he took a tentative sip.
"I'm the leader of a very special group of people," Mr Dux began. "We travel through time. Yes," smiling broadly as Emma and Brandon gasped, "I know that the two of you do not belong in this period. Like you, I come from the future."
Brandon's jaw dropped. "How do you know that we come from the future?"
Ignoring Brandon's outburst, Mr Dux carried on, "I am actually born in the year 2068. Ever since I was young, I have been fascinated by history, and as I grew older, I was saddened by how many children throughout time needed help. Some required just a leg up in life, while others, like your new acquaintance Tian Wen, who together with his sister, were on the verge of losing their father and becoming orphans."
Mr Dux ambled over to the sideboard and brewed himself another cup of aromatic Chinese tea. In contrast, Emma and Brandon were mesmerised by his narrative and had quite forgotten about their drinks. Blowing gently across the top of his cup to cool the tea, Mr Dux took up his tale again, "On weekdays, I'm a computer programmer. On weekends and in my spare time, I like to call myself an inventor. One of the things I've developed is a time travel device. This is version 7. You should have seen version 1."
He chuckled at the memory. "It was the size of a chest of drawers! Imagine lugging that around and trying to hide it from curious eyes. Took me quite a few years to shrink it down. My time travel device alerts me to other time travellers. In fact, it's how I keep track of my team members. Here, have a closer look," he said, pushing up his left sleeve to reveal a square silver gadget resting on his wrist.
"We saw a glimpse of that when we were at the Kempeitai HQ," exclaimed Emma excitedly. That's what you were using to point at Nanako and her father earlier!"
"It's just a watch," said Brandon scornfully.
"It tells the time certainly, but take a closer look," Mr Dux urged. As the children bent their heads over Mr Dux's wrist, they saw that the glossy screen featured several icons along the top. Below the icons, a miniature world map was displayed, with a number of small blue dots scattered across the continents. As they watched, one of the blue dots gradually turned red before fading away.
"Those dots represent my people," Mr Dux said simply. He looked sad when he saw the red dot disappearing and bowed his head in silence. A minute later, he looked up.
"Why did that blue dot turn red?" breathed Emma fearfully, half-afraid of the answer.
"One of my associates has been slain in the line of duty," Mr Dux answered unhappily. "This is a risk that all of us take, but it does not make it any easier to bear."
Mr Dux took a deep breath. "Ready to see something else?" he asked. As the children nodded mutely, he aimed the device at Emma and then tapped the icon marked 'Identify' on the screen.
In less than a second, the screen displayed Emma's full name, date of birth and contact details. Different icons at the base of Emma's profile offered more information on Emma, including physical characteristics and her genealogy.
"What you saw was just the identification feature. Basic stuff which every mobile communications device manufacturer includes in their gadgets," said Mr Dux. Looking at their astonished faces, he added, "In my time, this is a standard feature. No self-respecting manufacturer would sell a mobile device without it. Now for the cool stuff, the actual time travel. Pick a date and place," Mr Dux suggested.
Brandon decided to pick his date of birth and the hospital where he was born. This way, he reasoned, Mr Dux would not be able to fool them into thinking it was another date.
WHOOSH!