Orpheus felt himself hit the ground. It was not the hard packed ground he expected. In fact, it was not ground at all. He opened his eyes to find that he was laying face down on a cold, metal floor. He sat up to see that he was in the Nautilus, the medical ward to be more precise. He had not fallen from a floating room, he had just fallen out of bed.
A ship’s medic came running when he heard the crash. “Are you okay Mr. Angkarn?” exclaimed the medic as he helped Orpheus back into bed. “You had us right worried M’lord. You have been in a delerium for days. Kept mumbling about ‘Portkeys’ or some such nonsense. You been dreaming some right crazy stuff I’d imagine.”
So everything had been a dream. He had never left the submersible. He had just fallen ill and been in a deep sleep. But everything he had gone through seemed so real. “Is it possible that it was real? That I really was travelling and I somehow returned here anyway?” thought Orpheus. But if that was true, how could he have been on the Nautilus. He was back where he needed to be, en route to New Babbage, and he put his troubling thoughts out of his head for the time being.
Later he sat down with Captain Nemo to discuss his dreams and find out what had happened. During their conversation, it was revealed that, unfortunately, the Nautilus had been required to make a slight detour. Rather than continuing across the Northern Ocean to New Babbage, they had made a course correction toward the eastern coast to make some unexpected repairs. While making repairs, the captain had received a message that he was needed in Arkham. “We are approximately 2 days from the New England coast,” he explained to Mr. Angkarn. “I apologize for the inconvenience, but I must make this stop. Unavoidable really. You can charter a vessel when we reach Arkham.”
“If it’s all right,” said Mr. Angkarn, “I’ll just wait for you perhaps. If I remember, Arkham is not far from Boston, and I have a friend, Prof. Burrell at the Conservatory there. I shall pay him a visit, since we’re in the area.”
“Very well,” said the captain. “When you are done in Boston, come to Arkham. If everything goes to plan, I think I shall have some wonderful stories to share with you.” The two men laughed over the promise of new adventures to share. And yet, the strange dream that Orpheus had lingered in his memory. Such strange dreams….
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