The His Royal Majesty Richard the Seventh King of 26th Century Britain had been kidnapped by terrorists, and the government was furious.
The PM had ordered all agencies to concentrate on his safe return.
As the two eye witnesses to the actual kidnapping, Steve and Omega the Kings special Storm trooper bodyguard, had been called to No. 10 for a private meeting with the PM.
The Prime Minister Marcus Armstrong was a very clever man, he had considered sending in every Time Agent and Storm trooper available to rescue the King.
However he realised that sometimes it was more efficient to use a small team.
He therefore asked Steve if he would accompany Omega, in his mission to rescue the King and punish the perpetrators of such a heinous crime.
He assured them that all the help they required would be freely given. Steve immediately asked the PM for a QT device to be loaned to Omega, so he could follow Steve in his investigations.
Omega looked at Steve when he asked this, his black visor couldn't show any emotions, but if it could have it would have shown puzzlement.
Omega was the only Storm trooper that knew the QT device could transport more than one person at a time.
However he chose to say nothing; and simply stood there, allowing Steve to do all the talking.
Marcus had to agree, and instructed the B.T.O. to loan a QT device to Omega immediately.
Marcus had reason to trust Steve, as it was because of him that Marcus was still PM of Great Britain.
Within a few seconds, a Time agent materialised in the PM's office and handed over his QT to Omega.
Steve would have thought the agent would resent doing this, but he didn't realise the respect that the British people had for their King.
Steve communed with Merlin, and had Omega's QT synchronised with his own.
Now whenever or wherever Steve jumped, Omega would automatically follow.
Saying a polite goodbye to the PM and assuring him of their best efforts, Steve jumped himself and Omega to his kitchen in the 20th Century for a pre-mission briefing.
Omega stood alertly in a corner of the room, whilst Steve made himself a cup of tea.
'I don't suppose you drink tea do you Omega?' he asked politely.
'Yes Sir I do occasionally, my human brain needs a minimal amount of food and liquid to stay at optimum performance. My body however has a small fusion reactor as a power source and requires nothing else,' Omega answered in a deep melodious voice.
'Would you like a cup of tea?' Steve offered.
'Yes Sir I would like a cup of tea,' said Omega.
'There is no need to call me Sir' said Steve, handing the Storm trooper a cup of tea.
'You are a Knight of the British Empire, Sir Steven Steele, and I respect that' replied Omega.
'Right, but as a personal favour to me could you please call me Steve when we are alone?'
'As you command,' agreed Omega.
'I don't suppose you can sit down?' queried Steve looking up at the blank face visor of Omega.
'My weight is such that I would smash any chair you possess,' he replied factually. 'I prefer to stand, my body is synthetic and cannot tire.'
'I must admit I am surprised that you can talk, I got the impression that Storm troopers were basically robots with human brains.'
'We are Steve, but we have to be able to talk to communicate.'
'If you don't mind me asking, how did you come to be a Storm trooper?'
'The same way that we all became Storm troopers; it was a better alternative than death. My human body was very badly injured in a police action, and the government offered me a chance to live as a Storm trooper. It was a great honour, Britain only has Ten Storm troopers and I jumped at the opportunity.'
'Do you miss being totally human?' asked Steve.
'I did at first but now that I am used to this body, I would not want to be simply human again. This body is tireless, and immensely strong and fast, I can see in various wavelengths including infrared. Plus I am able to do a job I love. As a bonus barring violent death, I have a life expectancy of hundreds of years.'
'I never expected to hear a Storm trooper talk about love.'
'I am still a human Steve, I have just been transplanted into a better body.'
'I wouldn't ask this of a 20th Century man but as you are of the 26th Century I will ask. Do storm troopers have any kind of sex life?'
'Certainly Steve, it is of course Virtual, but we can and do meet people on the World web and can pursue a relationship if we choose.'
Steve was pleasantly surprised at Omegas forthrightness, and began to relax in the Storm troopers company.
'Why didn't you say something when I asked for another QT device for you, when you know I could take us both using just mine?' Steve asked.
'I believe it will increase out chances of rescuing the King if we can both jump independently of each other, if the situation demands it. I also deduced that this unknown capability of the QT was your secret, and so decided to respect your reasons for not divulging it,' explained Omega.
'However,' he continued 'I also noticed that before you grabbed the first bomber, your body seemingly turned to glass, is it permitted to ask what that was?'
'It appears that I am going to have to divulge all my secrets to you Omega, the transparent effect that you observed is something I call Phasing. My QT pushes me a nanosecond out of synchronicity with this timeline, and makes me invulnerable to weapons.'
'I am impressed Steve, you seem to have pushed the limits of Time travel further than our 26th Century scientists,' said Omega respectfully.
'Necessity is the mother of invention,' replied Steve modestly.
'Would it be asking too much of you Omega, to keep these modifications to yourself?'
'My mission is to rescue the King, I need every advantage possible to do this, and I will keep them secret unless directly ordered to reveal them by my superiors,' said Omega.
'That's the best I could hope for,' replied Steve.
Omega seemed to freeze for a second, as he received an encrypted message from his superiors.
'We have a problem Steve; the Home Office has just received a message from the kidnappers. They say they have wired the King with explosives. If they see any attempt to rescue him by Storm troopers or Time Agents, they will detonate the explosive belt he is now wearing and he will be killed.'
'Damn it, I will have to show you how to use the Phase shift, it will make us invisible to all detection systems except the human eye. As you have seen yourself it seems to turn those phased into transparent glass. As long as you don't move no one notices you. I was planning on simply jumping to the last known location of the terrorists QT and simply observing what they do. I still intend to do this but it will have to be when we are phased. Once we have reconnoitred the scene we can make our plans,' said Steve to the attentive Omega.
Without further ado Steve jumped them both to a location where they could observe the terrorists.
Merlin had informed Steve of the location of the terrorists QT.
This enabled them to watch, as the terrorists captured the King when he materialised in the predetermined landing spot.
