Fantasy The Time War

The family in the lifeboats closest to the sub were literally blown to pieces before they had a chance to scream. Red Bull kept cranking the machine gun, even as screams were heard from the other boats. They tried to row away, but it was too late. Soon the sea was filled with drifting lifeboats filled with bodies riddled with holes.

"I think you missed one over there," said Maria, pointing to one drifting boat.

"I got them," said Red Bull.

"Do it again, just to make sure," said Maria.

Red Bull sprayed the boat, and the screams of children were heard. "You were right," said Red Bull admiringly.

Dana looked up at Maria with surprise and shock on her face. "Why, Maria?"

"Did you forget why we came here, little one?" Maria asked, grabbing Dana by the shoulder so tightly she almost cried out. "To liquidate the capitalists. It made no sense to sink the ship they were on and then let them escape in lifeboats. Did it? DID IT?"

"No," said Dana, in a choked sob.

"Good. I hoped that clarifies things for you," he said, releasing her with a little push. A shadow fell over Maria's face. "You worry me sometimes, Dana."
​

********​

"Come in, Sarah," said Commander Strayker.

As Sarah entered the Colonel's office, she smiled at Ayesha, who was just on the way out, her large buttocks swaying as she smiled back at Sarah.

"How is Captain Calle doing?"

Sarah swallowed. "I wouldn't know, sir."

"That's the problem, isn't it?" said Strayker, puffing on his nuclear cigarette. "You were sleeping with him, weren't you?" She didn't respond. "But not any more. Why?"

"John was... very upset about the Scunathorpe mission."

Strayker rolled his eyes and blew a smoke ring. "I wish we all had the luxury of being upset when it suited us." He paused. "But Captain Calle is a Special Talent, so we give him some latitude. We want to keep him happy. I was pleased to learn when you had taken on that role. But no more, it seems."

"So it seems, sir."

Strayker paused. "We still want him to be happy. Do you know anyone else who might fill that role?"

"Sir?"

"Lieutenant Green? Lieutenant Kildaire? Ayesha? Maybe that nurse in medical, the one whose name I forgot, Jenny, I think, the one with the big-"

"No, no sir, John is not attracted to any of them," Sarah said, a little too quickly.

Strayker's eyes narrowed as he puffed and stared at her. "Is there any chance you might rekindle what you had?"

"There's always a chance, sir," said Sarah, staring at the wall behind Strayker.

Strayker stared at her for a long moment, as he puffed some more. "Give it a try, Sarah. He's a good man. We want to keep him that way."

Sarah nodded, and got up to leave.
​

********​

"You wanted to see me?" said Calle, entering the control room.

"Yes, John," said Sarah. "How are you?"

Calle's eyes narrowed. "Fine. What is this about?"

"Nothing. I just wanted to say hello."

"Hello," said Calle, his eyes narrowing. He turned to go.

"John, wait!"

He turned around.

"John, I didn't plant that nova bomb on the Scunathorpe. I didn't even make the decision to do it."

"No, you didn't," said Calle. "You're just another cog in the machine, another part of all this." He waved his hands dismissively at the room around them. "And to be honest, I'm not so sure if I want to be part of all this anymore."

That was dangerous talk.

"Was there anything else?" Calle asked.

"No," said Sarah.

Calle turned to go.

"Yes," said Sarah.

Calle turned around to face her.

"John... I miss you," said Sarah. "Sometimes."

Calle gave a sad smile. "I miss you too... sometimes."

"Then... why don't we miss each other... together... at my place?" she said, looking away as she spoke, like a teenager asking someone out on a date.

"I... I just want to be alone right now. I hope you understand, Sarah."

"Of course," she said, her voice becoming frosty, as she turned away.

But as Calle walked out of the control room, she set one of her holomonitors to follow him.
​

*********​

"It seems the GNP of the United States has shrunk by a third," said Colonel Strayker. "Certain industries collapsed, and never recovered. Many jobs were lost." Strayker glared at them all. He was wearing a severe looking beige suit with high collars. His rough blonde hair looked especially uncombed today.

"What happened?" Major Reynolds asked.

"Sarah... has traced it back to the sinking of a luxury liner called the Titanic. It struck an iceberg in 1912 and sank, killing approximately 40 very important industrialists," said Strayker.

"So?" said Reynolds.

"In our timeline, the Titanic was never sunk. It returned safely to port," said Sarah.

"An SOS distress call was received from the Titanic at 3:54 AM on June 14, 1912," said Strayker. He turned to Calle. "Your job is to go back in time and find out why the Titanic sank. This is a reconnaissance mission only. I think Sarah's expertise may help here. Take her with you."

"Yes, sir," said Calle.
​

********​

Sarah and Calle stood at the ramp to the Binochi Corridor.

"How do I look?" Sarah asked.

She was dressed like a 1920's socialite, a little ahead of the time, but still fashionable for the period they were entering, wearing a frilly white dress that gave her the illusion of a bosom. She had even styled her hair to look like a 1920's flapper.

"You... you look fine," said Calle, who was dressed in a suit of the period.

"Fine?" Sarah frowned at him. "You know, if you don't want me on this mission, I'm sure you could take Ayesha instead."

"What use would Ayesha be on this mission?" Calle asked.

"I don't know, John, perhaps you could find one for her," said Sarah.

"Let's go," said Calle.

He and Sarah stepped through the gateway into the Binochi Corridor.

Calle sometimes saw visions in the swirling mists, things that had already happened or were going to happen. This time he had a vision of Sarah making love to him, but something was wrong. He was lying in bed with a dreamy look on his face, as if he had one of those parasites on his back. He was wide eyed and his mouth was open, as if he were hypnotized.

Calle looked at Sarah. She obviously didn't see what he saw.

Did that mean he would get back together with Sarah?

Calle liked Sarah, and was quite fond of her. Maybe he was even beginning to fall in love with her. But Sarah was part of the Continuity Service, and he wasn't feeling so good about the Continuity Service right now, right after they had killed 74 innocent people on the Scunathorpe. Strayker had said that was the only way to save the Earth from those parasites. Calle thought that that was the only easy way to do it, perhaps.

They emerged in a dark corridor on the USS Titanic. It was after midnight, and it was difficult to see the ocean. But Calle did smell the salty ocean air.

"What now?" Sarah asked.

"Let's find out where we are," said Calle. He looked around to make sure no one was around, and took out his Pad and pressed a few buttons. "We're a good hundred miles north of where we should be. No wonder the ship hit an iceberg. Let's get to the bridge."

The third mate was on duty during the night watch. He started to tell them that passengers weren't allowed on the bridge, until Sarah touched his arm and asked him how he liked his job. That left Calle free to snoop around, within reason. He quickly found the ship's compass, and scanned it, and found exactly what he expected. A magnetic resonance on one side of it. In essence, part of the compass had been magnetized so it would show a false north.

He nodded to Sarah, who made a few more pleasantries with the third mate and followed him out. "So?" she asked.

"Someone sabotaged the compass."

"So what do we do, try to convince the Captain he's off course?"

"He'll never believe us," said Calle. "And...."

"And what, John?"

"It doesn't feel right," said Calle.

"What doesn't feel right?"

"The compass. It's not the focal point. It's not the key issue here," said Calle.

"More of your Special Talent?" Calle couldn't see her smile in the dark night.

"Yes," said Calle. "This is a reconnaissance mission, right? Let's wait here and see exactly what happens."

And so they stood by the railing, just spending time together, for more than two hours, when all of a sudden there was an explosion that sent them off their feet onto the deck.

Calle helped Sarah up as a klaxon sounded.

"That was no iceberg," said Sarah.

"No, it wasn't," said Calle.

A few moments later, there was a second explosion.

"This ship's been torpedoed!" said Sarah.

"Yes," said Calle.

Everyone started screaming and running for the lifeboats, even as a third torpedo rocked the Titanic.

Calle and Sarah got to their feet. They were the only semi-calm people on the ship, which made sense since they were the only ones who could leave at any time. They watched as crowds fought over the lifeboats.

"History says there were no survivors. But on a ship this size, there should be some," said Sarah.

"Unless the survivors were killed first. Look!" In the dim light they could see something, surfacing in the water. "A U boat. There wouldn't be any survivors if the U boat finished them off," said Calle.

"Oh my God," said Sarah.

People were running around them and screaming in panic now as the deck was shifting at an angle precipitously.

"We've got to get out of here," said Sarah. "Let's look for a private place-" the deck started to tilt even more, and they grabbed a railing.

"No time," said Calle, activating the recall device. A gateway appeared, below them on the tilted deck, and they slid into it.
​

*********​

"Torpedoed? How is that possible?" Strayker demanded.

"They have a submarine," said Calle.

"But they can't have a submarine in 1912," said Strayker. "Where would they get it from?"

"The future, perhaps?" said Calle.

Strayker shook his head. "There's no way you can get a submarine through the Binochi Corridor."

"Colonel, is there really anything beyond these fanatics' capabilities?" said Calle. "The fact is, they did it."

"So how do we counter it?" He turned to Doctor Vladek. "Can we bring a submarine into the year 1912?"

Vladek shook his head vigorously. "No. Totally infeasible. Not unless we could carry it in pieces-"

"No," said Strayker. "We need another answer. Think, people!" he commanded, as he paced back and forth, his blue eyes blazing.

No one spoke for several minutes. Every time Strayker glared at someone, they lowered their head in shame.

And then, finally, Strayker nodded. "All right. It's not the ideal solution, but I think I have an idea."

"What is it, sir?" Major Reynolds asked.

"We'll gate aboard the Titanic, and evacuate the 40 prominent industrialists and their families."

Calle shook his head. "We'll loop ourselves, remember? We're already there."

"You arrived at, what, one AM?" said Strayker. "We'll arrive at 10 PM. That's plenty of time to evacuate these people."

"And how exactly will we do that, sir?" Erica Green asked.

"We'll stun them with concussion pistols," said Strayker. "We will bring them back here, and then transport them once again back to 1912, this time on a Norwegian fishing vessel, one actually crewed by CS operatives. We'll tell them they survived a terrible accident at sea. They'll have no memory of it, of course, but they should be grateful to be alive."

"And how do you propose to drag 40 bodies, plus their families, across the ship to an assembly point to gate them out?" Daniel asked.

"We won't drag them anywhere. There are excellent records from that era. We'll find out what cabins our targets are in, shoot them there, and open recall points within each cabin."

Sarah gave a nervous smile. "Sir... you're talking about establishing at least 40 recall points in a tight geographic area. That's never been done before. There could be... complications."

"Then you'd better be prepared to handle them, Sarah," said Strayker.

"What about the other three thousand people on the ship?" Calle asked.

"They will have to go down with the ship, I'm afraid," said Strayker.

"Won't the death of nearly 3000 people affect the timeline?" Calle asked.

Strayker glared at Calle. "I told you it wasn't a perfect solution, Captain. But the fact remains that those 40 lives are exponentially more important than those 3000 lives. We do what we can to restore continuity to the timeline, but there are times when we can't get it perfectly the way it was."

"Just like with the Scunathorpe."

Strayker stepped forward towards Calle, his eyes blazing. "Yes, exactly like the Scunathorpe. In the Survey Service they take a similar oath to ours, you know, to give their lives to protect Earth, and a gallant crew of Survey Service officers did just that."

"They just didn't know they were doing it," said Calle.

Strayker ignored him. He turned to Reynolds. "Major, I'm putting you in charge of this operation. Use whatever resources you need."

"Yes sir," said Reynolds.

Strayker was putting Reynolds in charge. Not him, Calle reflected. That was because Reynolds didn't have the same moral qualms that Calle did about leaving innocents behind.
​

********​

This was to be a big operation, the biggest Calle had been on, with more than twenty operatives. Before Reynolds stepped through the Binochi Corridor, Calle saw Colonel Strayker talking to him. It seemed that Strayker and Reynolds looked at Calle while they talked. After they were done, Strayker walked by Calle briskly. "Good luck, Captain."

"Thank you, sir."

Calle went up to Major Reynolds. Everyone was in two man teams. "What team am I on, Major?"

Reynolds looked at him. "Mine."
​

********​

Reynolds didn't actually perform any of the extractions. He just coordinated the work of the nine other teams that were, monitoring their progress over the hidden earpieces they all were given for this mission.

"Team two. We have sedated our first target. Transportation commencing."

"Roger that," said Reynolds, as he and Calle stood in a long corridor of passenger quarters. "Return immediately for your secondary targets once you get them across."

"Affirmative."

At first, the news was all good. One by one, they were taking the industrialists and their families back to CS Headquarters, where they would then be reshipped back to a Norwegian fishing boat in 1912 the CS had taken control of.

"Major?" said Calle.

"Yes," said Reynolds.

"Everything seems to be going on schedule," said Calle. "I was wondering, if there's time, after we rescue all the assigned targets, perhaps we could also rescue some of the others-"

"That's not in our mission profile, Captain," said Reynolds.

"Reynolds, there are women and children aboard this ship!"

Reynolds blinked. "Women have no special right to life over men. We're all equal, remember? As for the children, well, that's regrettable."

Regrettable.

"Major-"

"I have my orders, John," said Reynolds. "And I have orders regarding you too," he added, his hand on his compression pistol. "Don't make me follow them, please."

Calle bit his lip and took a step backwards. There was nothing he could do.
​

*********​

Problems started to develop on the 14th extraction. "Major, some artifacts appeared around us as soon as we opened the gateway."

"Does it hinder your egress?" Reynolds asked.

"No, but-"

"Then proceed."

"Artifacts?" said Calle, his eyes narrowing.

Reynolds made no answer.

They received more and more reports like this, until finally the team conducting the 34th extraction called for help.

They arrived to find the team, and their unconscious targets, surrounded by a web of tiny black lines. It sealed them off from the active gateway, and prevented them from leaving the cabin. Reynolds and Calle couldn't even get inside the cabin, not unless they touched the small black lines. Calle held up his hand to touch one but Reynolds pulled it away. "Are you crazy?" he said.

"Help us," said one of the two temporal operatives, who Calle recognized as Lieutenant George McGovern.

Reynolds looked around. It wasn't possible to get around the black lines. "Can you get out from under them?"

"I'm not sure," said Lieutenant McGovern.

"Try," said Reynolds.

"We won't be able to bring our targets with us."

"Forget them," said Reynolds. "Move."

Lieutenant McGovern and his partner, Lieutenant James Carter, tried to wiggle under the field. But they couldn't get low enough. McGovern screamed and fell to the ground as his head struck a black line, and the same thing happened to Carter when his body crossed two other black lines. As they watched, the number of black lines started to expand.

"Get out of here," said Reynolds, pulling Calle out of the room. Suddenly, his earpiece crackled. "Major Reynolds, come in?'

"Yes, this is Reynolds."

"Major Castleman, sir. I've just arrived from HQ. New orders from the Commander. You are to abort the mission.

"Abort? But we've only recovered 33 of the targets."

"I'm told we have all we need, except for John Rockefeller," said Castleman. "You are to retrieve Rockefeller, and get off this ship now."

"Roger that."

Reynolds started for Rockefeller's cabin at a run. Calle followed. Major Castleman and his two man team met them at Rockefeller's cabin. When they arrived, Reynolds knocked quickly on the door. A woman answered. Reynolds didn't have time to parley. He shot her with his concussion pistol, and she fell to the ground. He entered the cabin.

But John Rockefeller was not there.

"Where is he?" Reynolds thundered.

"Excuse me sir," said a new voice.

They turned and saw a young man in a steward's uniform, perhaps 16 years old. "And you are?" Reynolds said, hiding his pistol.

"Leonardo Dicapristrano," said the young man. He had blonde hair, his face seemed set into a permanent leer, but he seemed friendly enough. "I see Mrs. Rockefeller has fainted. Should I get a doctor?"

"No... we need to find her husband," said Reynolds. "Do you know where he is?"

Leonardo Dicapristrano nodded. "I just saw him a few minutes ago in the C deck lounge. Maybe-"

"Take us."

Major Castleman literally lifted Mrs. Rockefeller and carried her on his shoulders. The sight of her unconscious body being carried in the hallways generated all the unwanted attention they feared. But they dare not activate more than one more gateway. By now, all the teams had left the ship except Castleman's and Reynolds'. There were just four CS operatives left on the Titanic.

They went into the lounge, and saw several older men sitting there, reading newspapers.

"Mr. Rockefeller-" Leonardo began.

"Is that him?" Reynolds asked, pointing to the older man in a blue jacket.

"Yes," said Leonardo.

"Good," said Reynolds.

"What is this all about?" John Rockefeller asked. He saw his wife being carried on Castleman's shoulders. "What happened to Mimi?"

"Perhaps this will clarify things," said Reynolds. He pulled his concussion pistol out and shot him. The people in the lounge gasped.

But Reynolds didn't care. Rockefeller was his last target, and soon everyone who had witnessed this abduction would be on the bottom of the North Atlantic. He activated his recall device.

A gateway formed in the lounge... and all around them, rips in the fabric of space and time.

But these rips were different. They weren't black, like the others. They had bright light gleaming through them, as if they were a thin sheet with holes in it, held up in front of the sun. The brightly lit lines started to suck in air. Passengers and CS operatives alike started to be pulled into the holes.

"Grab on to something!" Reynolds shouted. Calle grabbed onto a vertical pillar. Reynolds grabbed on to a sofa. But one of the passengers, an elderly lady, wasn't so lucky, and she got sucked into the rips, and her body was torn into pieces as it was sucked apart.

The bright cracks started to grow in size. Calle felt his grip on the pillar waning.

And then, all of a sudden, one of the elderly men in the lounge stood up, raised his arms over his head, and clapped his hands together. There was a sound like a thunderclap as his body started to morph and change. His arms became very thick and muscular, like a bodybuilder. So did his legs. The man started to glow orange as his clothes and skin became transparent. Suddenly Calle could see the organs of his body, clearly backlit by some orange light. He could see the man's enormous arm and leg muscles, like giant red fibers tightly wrapped together.

And the man's face... now the man was wearing clunky goggles, with glowing orange eyes inside, and he was wearing a mask over his mouth, with a small tube coming out of it.

The Bioman had returned.

Time seemed to freeze, and it was as if the room filled with water, or some kind of liquid. Once again Calle could see what looked like small air bubbles coming out of the side of the Bioman's mask, and whenever the Bioman walked he saw small vibrations in the air.

The Bioman looked around the room for a moment, and seemed to stare at Calle for a moment longer than necessary. Then he went over to the bright lines in the air. And then... most astoundingly.... He plucked at one of them! He plucked at one of them, and something like a bright shiny gem came out of it, and the Bioman put the gem into a pouch on his waist.

One by one, the Bioman plucked the shiny gems from the rips in the air around them, until, one by one each one faded slightly and turned black. When he had collected all of them again, he turned and looked at Major Reynolds for a moment. Then he turned and looked at John Calle for an even longer moment. He felt those glowing orange eyes boring into his own. And then the Bioman pressed something in his hand, his body glowed... and he was gone.

Time seemed to suddenly return to normal.

The suction was gone.

The rips in space/time were still there, but they were small and black, and weren't sucking in air.

Reynolds picked up John Rockefeller's body. "Come on!" He yelled, running around the tiny rips, to the gateway.

Major Castleman and his partner, Lieutenant Dahlquist, reached the gateway first, carrying Mrs. Rockefeller's body, and disappeared into it. Reynolds and Calle were just behind.

"Wait!" cried Leonardo Dicapristrano. "Take me with you!"

Calle looked at Reynolds and opened his mouth, but Reynolds grabbed Calle's hand and gave it a mighty tug, pulling him forward. Suddenly, they were both in the Binochi Corridor.
​

********​

"34 out of 40," said Colonel Strayker, nodding. "And you saved the Rockefellers and the Vanderbilts. Not perfect... but sufficient."

"Thank you sir," said Reynolds.

"Are they all on that Norwegian fishing boat?"

"They are, sir," said Reynolds.

"Sarah?" said Strayker.

"The timeline seems to be restored," said Sarah. "The industries and GNP of the United States are what they were before."

"But what about those 3000 lives, and their children, and their children's children?" Calle asked.

"We did the best we could, Captain," said Strayker, giving him a warning glance. Turning away, he marched at a rapid pace back to his office.

Calle turned to look at Sarah. She bit her lip and turned away.
​