The Temporal Adventuress

Katherine watched her fingers hesitate above the lever. Although fashioned from heavy brass the exquisite balance of the intricate clockwork mechanisms concealed within meant the merest touch of a forefinger would send her spinning into the darkness. She was accustomed to the rustle of her black crepe mourning dress with her every breath but at this moment drew conscious that only silence reigned. Valves blinked. Paper mache insulation, strong as steel and fire resistant as water, sucked in the glow of the stained glass panel before her. She could back out now, she could just walk away, they could send another rabbit, knowing it would never return or hear it's horribly mutilated wailings from afar. There was no urgency, no - she tried to force a smile despite her utter isolation - pressure of time. If she stayed her hand, who could blame her?

If she stayed, after all, she had many suitors, good prospects indeed for one of her middling station. If she stayed she would never want for money, comfort or love. If she stayed she would bear two fine sons perhaps, marry a gentlemen from the continent, even travel to the wild and westernmost reaches of the new world before returning to the familiar bosom of her home. If she stayed she might find employment better suited to her sex and temperament, some succour for her idle hours, perhaps behind the counter of a provincial library. Katherine blinked, the rarest of occurances. When she opened her eyes, she saw her hand on the rotor's tiller.

Her stomach lurched in a most singular fashion. She clutched at the guard rails and missed. She reached again and her hand passed through the study wrought iron as if through dust motes in a stray shaft of sun. She took a breath and found she didn't really need to breath but exhaled if only for the sake of convention. Something had gone terribly wrong and yet, if this was death, she was neither sorry nor greatly surprised. The heavy set dodecahedron steadied around her, its rivets easing after their spasm of unnatural torment. Despite the hundreds of hours she had spent here, fashioning the mechanisms, polishing the very idea, she knew, even now, she would not need it anymore. She wondered how much the Professor had noted. Her hand reached for the door latch. Despite herself, she stepped boldly outside.