Dorian's Grayl SFSD #4 Round II

Teabing, Tea and Biscuits

All Dorian saw was a giant blue flash of light which eclipsed his vision.  Disoriented, he fell to the floor and let out a grunt as his head bounced off of the hard surface.  “What the hell was that?” he shouted, rubbing his eyes with his hands as he sat up.  Everything seemed to carry a faint tint of blue.

“We’ve jumped into the Intergalactic Void,” said a male voice which Dorian recognised from the hologram.  “It also seems that we’ve found Manco Capac I, as we’re currently in orbit around it.” Teabing extended a hand towards Dorian who grasped it and allowed himself to be helped up. “The name’s Teabing,” he announced.

Dorian noted that he was as well groomed as the hologram had portrayed with a pair of spectacles perched on the tip of his nose and the sort of jacket generally favoured by Librarians; tweed, with artfully placed elbow patches.  He looked as though he was in his mid forties as a hint of grey streaked his dark hair.

“Come on then old chap, lets go have a sit down and a cup of tea.  We can talk all about it, the Enforcers won’t come out here.  Sophie, be a dear and put the kettle on.” Sophie nodded and Dorian allowed Teabing to escort him through a large metal door.  Dorian gasped in amazement, it was as if he’d been transported back to the Victorian Era.

Oak bookcases lined three out of four walls, each filled with heavy, ancient tomes, the floor was also oak and covered with threadbare rugs.  Three plush chairs surrounded a low table upon which Sophie was setting out a large china teapot, three cups and saucers, a sugar bowl and a jug of milk.  The fourth wall was almost entirely taken up by a very imposing fireplace, logs burning and crackling merrily in the grate.

“Not what you expected?” Asked Teabing,

“To be honest, everything since Sophie pulled me out of stasis is not what I expected.  The galaxy has changed a lot.  This is however, certainly not what I expected to find inside a spacecraft.”

“Good-oh,” Teabing grinned, “Sit down man, for goodness sake.  You’re making the place look untidy.  Now then Sophie, what’s this spot of bother that you’ve got yourself into?”

“Well, it seems that Dorian here is still banned from Paris and we got this from the locker.”  She placed the fabric bundle on the table and took a dainty sip at her cup of tea.  “Biscuit?” she asked, offering around a plate of chocolate Hob-Nobs.

“Oooh, ta muchly.” Dorian helped himself to a biscuit.

Teabing unwrapped the package, “Good grief Sophie, you’ve only gone and found the bloody Keystone.  You really are onto the Grayl,” he breathed in amazement. As he opened the Keystone; a box with intricate wooden carvings and retrieved a small tube.

“Crikey, I haven’t seen a cryptex like that since I was in the TA,” Dorian carefully took the bundle from Teabing’s hands.  He stared at the cylindrical, hand-held vault with its five concentric, rotating dials.  “Look, the dials are labeled with letters that when lined up properly will form the correct password, unlocking the device.”

“Can’t we just smash it?” asked Sophie, pouring another round of tea.

Dorian shook his head, “No, If the cryptex is forced open, an enclosed vial of vinegar ruptures and dissolves the message.  Traditionally, they’re  written on papyrus. It would render it useless.  Who would have set the code?”

“Saunière. Hey Teabing, Dorian... look at the Keystone...”  All three peered at the carvings on the wooden box.  Teabing grabbed a pen and paper, pouring yet another round of tea.  For the next two hours they pored over the box, scribbling notes, bouncing ideas back and forth and drinking tea.

“This box is depicts images from your childhood.  The tree with the swing that Saunière made for you.  All these trees, but only one has a swing, and the animals, they’re your childhood pets... Sophie isn’t your real name, is it,” Dorian stated.  “It’s not french enough.  What is on your birth log?”

“Sofia,” mumbled Sophie reluctantly.

“That’s it!” Exclaimed Teabing as Dorian rotated the five dials to spell out ‘SOFIA’ before twisting the cap of the cryptex. “Well done lad. Do you want another cup of tea?”

“Ooh, no thanks, twelve's my limit.”

“Enough about tea, what’s in it?” asked Sophie.

Dorian tipped the cryptex up-end.  A smaller cryptex fell out into his lap and a scrap of papyrus wafted down to join it.  “More bloody riddles, that’s what.”  He quoted from the papyrus, “Nature and nature's laws lay hid in night; God said 'Let Newton be' and all was light.”

“Isaac Newton’s epitaph,” said Sophie and Teabing.

“Teabing, would you be so kind as to take us to Westminster?”

“Of course Sophie, it would be my pleasure. Did you know that the Grayl isn’t actually a goblet?  It’s a painting.”

“Shit,” muttered Dorian. Hoping that this ‘Grayle’ wasn’t what it thought it was.

Teabing bounced cheerfully out of the library and stopped only when he reached the controls. He pushed buttons and flicked switches.  Cheerfully. “Setting course for London,” he proclaimed.

Dorian remained in the library with Sophie, covering his eyes with his hands just in time to evade the flash of blue as they left the Intergalactic Void.  “I don’t trust him,” he whispered.

“Teabing? I’ve known him since I was a kid,”

“He’s too cheerful.  Just like Tim.”

“Hmmm...” Sophie contemplated before she wandered out of the library to join Teabing at the controls.  “Can we leap? We need to be quick.”

Teabing nodded, “I thought you’d never ask,” he said as he yanked down on a huge ‘we belong dead’ switch.