Time Scout

"This is ridiculous!" she fumed, heading for yet another hotel. "He's got to be here somewhere!"

The desk clerk at the Hotel Acropolis looked at her like she'd taken leave of her senses. "Meeting? What meeting? I am the manager." The middle-aged woman patted the back of Margo's hand "Honey, Jimmy probably called Kit, wherever he was, and warned him you were coming. Kit doesn't much care for una

Margo thanked her for the advice and left in a hurry, more determined than ever to track him down. If she simply called for an appointment, he'd find some excuse or other to delay meeting her, probably permanently. Margo might be a nobody, but she wasn't going to remain one and she wasn't going to let a little thing like impossible-to-get appointments stand in her way. Working as she was against a ticking clock-with a six-month countdown not even God could delay, she simply didn't have time for failure.

"If I were Kit Carson," she muttered half-aloud, "and I were trying to find out who was looking for me, where would I go?"

Someplace where he could talk to the people who'd already talked to her.

"Right Back to the Down Time."

She transferred the hateful suitcase to her other hand, eyed the vast stretch of Commons she had to re-cross, and groaned aloud.

"Consider it training in physical endurance," she told herself. The scent of food wafting out into the Commons from various restaurants was nearly more than Margo could bear. She was sorely tempted to stop for a good hot meal, but didn't want the trail to grow any colder than it already had.

You'll see, she told a host of nay-sayers, begi

She closed in on the Down Time Bar & Grill.

Kit ducked under the girders and stepped across the Down Time's threshold

"Hey!" Malcolm called from a crowded, jovial table. "Did you meet her?"

"Not exactly," Kit said dryly. "I'll get with you in a minute."

Malcolm only gri

Kit stepped behind the bar and borrowed the phone.

A voice at the other end said, "Time Tripper, may I help you?"

"Yeah, Orva, this is Kit. What can you tell me about the girl who's been asking for me?"

Kit was tempted to hold the receiver away from his ear as Orva vented considerable irritation. She was just starting to say, "I have no idea why..." when the subject of their conversation stalked through the Down Time's door and dropped her suitcase with a bang. Kit held back a groan and tried to blend in with the wall. Sven gri

Thanks, buddy, Kit thought sourly. I owe you.

Malcolm was gri

"Uh, gotta go," Kit muttered

The line clicked dead. The outrageous little redhead cornered Kit behind the bar. "Mr. Carson? Kit Carson?"

She was standing directly in the center of the only narrow egress from this end of the bar, arms akimbo, hands on her hips, eyes flashing with barely suppressed irritation. Kit didn't think he'd ever seen a sight quite like her. She stood glaring up at him like an enraged scarlet parakeet.

Kit hung up the phone and said cautiously, "And you are ...?"

"Margo."

Uh-huh. He surveyed her silently, waiting for the rest. When she didn't offer it, he prompted, -Margo.. ."

She still didn't offer a last name. Instead, she said, "I have a business proposition for you, Mr. Carson."

Oh, God, here it cones. The story of your life, major news feature, blockbuster motion picture ...

In that getup, she looked like a Hollywood wa

"Lady," he said, with as patient a sigh as he could manage, "I never discuss business on my feet and I never, ever discuss business with someone who has backed me into a corner."

Her eyes widened. She had the decency to color an unbecoming shade of pink. Margo No-Name backed off sufficiently for Kit to edge out from behind the bar. Once he'd escaped, he leaned against the comfortably worn wooden bumper. "Now, if you want to talk business, kid, I suggest you buy me a drink."

From the way her mouth dropped open, one would've thought he'd suggested they get naked and mud wrestle. He revised his estimate from Hollywood to Smallville. She closed her mouth and said primly, "Of course."

She moved one hand surreptitiously toward a small belt pouch, giving away her insecurity and lack of funds in one greenhorn motion. Kit sighed Journalism student, he revised his mental estimation, and not overly bright at that.

He said, "Marcus, how about my usual-no, make it a bourbon and whatever the kid wants. She's buying."

Marcus, who by this time was accustomed to the oddities of up-timers, only nodded. "House bourbon? Or the Special?" He glanced from Kit to the kid then back, smiling far back in his dark eyes. Marcus had seen it all, even before his arrival in La-La Land The "Special" was a particular bottle Kit had brought back on one of his last trips. The Down Time kept it in a private cabinet for special occasions. Two matching bottles sat in Kit's private liquor cabinet. Getting through an interview with a Journalism student called for more fortitude than a lone bottle of Kirin (his usual) could provide, but this was not a celebration.

"House will be fine."

Marcus nodded. Kit reluctantly led his mystery pursuer to a table. He chose a spot as far toward the back of the Down Time as he could get, in the dimmest corner of the dark room, far enough from his friends to prevent casual eavesdropping and dark enough to make it hard to read his face. If he had to endure this, by God, she was going to work for the story. The darker the corner, the better.

Wordlessly, Margo picked up her suitcase and followed.