Another seven journeys were taken that day, with the last having Naffi return from a successful industrialization trip. It was decided the risk of capture by Marwal was low. A comm came in from Vara. Naffi hesitated to answer.
Reno looked on with a scowl as he reached past his friend to press the accept button. “What is wrong with you?”
Vara replied, “What are you asking?”
“Sorry, not you, Naffi. Anyway, Vara, please tell us of your mission.”
“The gala speech went off as planned. I had a team in place as he left the stage and was heading to a reception area. We had him. He was escorted to a side room for extrication. I have a recording. Would you like to watch?”
Naffi pushed into camera view. “Of course we would like to watch. Patch it through.”
“First,” Vara replied. “Let me add that at no time did I compromise myself or our operation. The grab was conducted using a private group who believed they were under government contract. I questioned Baritoc through a surrogate, who was talking to another surrogate. Any attempt to trace us back will lead nowhere.”
“That doesn't sound promising.”
“The recording is relatively short. I'll start the playback at a relevant point.”
An image of Baritoc being held in a chair filled the display.
“... again, who are you and what do you want?”
“We only wish to educate you on who you are supporting. The operation on Mentox-II, it is illegal.”
“What are you talking about? What is Mentox-II?”
“We know you are financing the operation. What we don't know is if you know what they are actually doing. They are interfering with a world in the past, that may bring about drastic change in our present. Have they told you of the changes to our ancestry logs? As of right now there are thousands of people who no longer exist, while thousands more are completely new.”
“None of what you are saying makes sense. Who are you?”
“Mentox-II is a time travel station. Dr. Nunol and Marwal are sending cloned bodies back through time in an effort to disrupt the past. Those disruptions can ripple forward to today, making wholesale changes in our present universe. Irreversible changes. I work with a consortium who is trying to stop them. They sought your backing because they decided to operate outside of government sanctioning. We are asking that you pull funding, or at a minimum allow us to show you what is really happening.”
“How am I to know I can trust what you are saying?”
“What if we could connect you to a cloned Human that was sent back through time? You would know precisely what it is they are doing. And if at that time you choose to continue backing them, we would not stand in the way.”
“You kidnap me and expect me to believe you?”
Naffi said, “He makes a good point.”
Vara's surrogate replied, “Which is why we are willing to take you with us. You will be released unharmed afterward.”
Reno shook his head. “But you are lying to him about our position in all this. Why would he choose our side over theirs?”
Vara paused the playback and scowled. “Because he won't want to be involved in any of it when he knows the potential for harm. If we can get him there with you on Mentox-I, I believe he would be willing to stay if only for the existence-protection our time-bubble offers. Out here, changes made by Nunol and Marwal could make him disappear.”
“So why wouldn't he demand to be on Mentox-II where it is safe also?”
“Because we will not be telling him our full purpose. We only need convince him to pull their funding.”
Reno rubbed his hand on the back of his neck in a sign of worry. “I believe it is time you came back to the station.”
“Why?”
“Because you are deserving of the same time-bubble protection we ourselves enjoy. With any of these journeys you could be made to no longer exist.”
Vara smirked. “While I have no desire to have that happen, I refuse to live in fear from it either. After all, I won't know it happened if I never really existed, so I won't be ruled by some misplaced fear.”
“It is not misplaced. It is a reality. You are valuable to this team and I think you should return.”
“My job is here... for now. We are close to ending the issue of Mentox-II, and I plan to see that effort through to the end.”
Naffi gave a nod. “It is that same determination and tenacity that compelled me to hire you to begin with. But I think Reno is right. You are valuable to this team. When this business with Baritoc is over, you should come back.”
“I'm happy to serve where you think best, sir. Now, shall we continue the playback?”
Several minutes of questioning followed before blaster-fire could be heard out in the hall. A short battle ensued, with Vara's team being driven into the room and then one by one... annihilated. Ten minutes after it began it was over, with Baritoc rescued.
Reno asked, “I thought your secondary mission was to take him out? And where was this feed coming from?”
“The camera was installed prior to the grab. And yes, the secondary mission was a fail. Our operative didn't carry out his orders. Had I been there, Baritoc would have been dead.”
“As would you.”
Naffi held up a hand. “The effort was as good as could be expected with such short notice.”
Vara replied, “He is scheduled for another event in five days, although, I would expect that might be canceled given this incident.”
“Plan to make another attempt. If the event is indeed canceled, make your way back here. At that time send a signal and I'll send back the new coordinates.”
Vara nodded before the display went dark.
Reno slowly shook his head. “We are running out of time.”
Naffi nodded. “We are. But we also have the ability to go on hundreds more journeys before the nuclear event. With the right combination of advances, we may be able to prevent the Americans from attaining the bomb. And we may as of yet find the location of Mentox-II. In the meantime,” Naffi stood, “I'll be readying another pair of clones.”
An hour later, the clone of Naffi, Charles Ducat, emerged from the private room of his heavily guarded, fortified mansion. As the clone walked, Naffi awoke on the table in a scramble.
“Is something wrong?”
Naffi growled. “Plans were changed. A train accident ended my life. I have to believe it was sabotage.”
Reno turned to the console. “Let me download the archives and we'll be on our way. Any sign of Marwal?”
“Not certain. We'll have to go through the playback to see. My team changed schedules on me, so I'm uncertain as to my time of death from the time of the accident. We'll have to forward through the playback.”
“Archives are complete... and this station is en route to a new destination.”
On the playback, a special car, one of ten that traveled as security for one of the most important figures in the French Empire, was waiting outside the mansion. It would whisk Charles Ducat away to a private bullet train that would take him from Paris to a new factory in Vienna. Aircraft parts were in high demand and the new factory was due for an inspection.
An assistant was waiting at the depot when the caravan of cars came to a stop. A dozen heavily armed guards emerged, checking the grounds for anything suspicious... and anyone who should not have been there. Charles Ducat emerged from his car and boarded the middle car of the train. A locomotive in front and back sandwiched three club-cars.
When the clone was safely aboard, the guards followed. The train pulled away with a start and began to rapidly accelerate, heading up to a speed of two hundred fifty kilometers per hour.
Charles Ducat sat across from an assistant. “What is our schedule this afternoon?”
“An hour of status from the plant management, followed by a short tour of the facility. We then move on to Prague where the companion plant to this one has just begun production. The tour there has similar timings.”
“And after?”
“After Prague we are due in Moscow and then we go south to Constantinople. Two new destroyers are being commissioned there.”
Charles glanced out the window. “The snows will be falling soon.”
“The reports say Stuttgart received a light dusting last evening.”
“The order of these inspections, I would have thought Prague would come first.”
“We received word of an incident in Vienna this morning. They asked for several hours of delay. We accommodated, knowing the time could be made up on the trip between there and Constantinople.”
“I don't like these changes. The tracks from Stuttgart to Nuremberg and on to Prague have not been properly cleared by our people.”
“Our teams are making the transition now. Your security team thought the risk to be low given this is now an unscheduled route.”
“And you are certain the teams will be in place before we arrive at those points?”
“Chief Aguillard believes that to be the case.”
“Raise him please.”
Moments later a voice crackled over a radio link. “Sir?”
“This change in plans, I wish to be informed before such a final decision is made.”
“My apologies, Mr. Ducat. The team thought it best to not bother you with such details.”
“You are certain the tracks will be secured?”
“I will admit to the section from Nuremberg to Prague being less than optimal, but our published itinerary still shows Vienna as our destination. For anyone to react in that short a time would mean we have a traitor among us. Only the people on this train know of our reroute. And the airwaves surrounding this train are both screened and jammed. If an attempt is made to contact someone else, we will know.”
“Very well, Chief. But I would like to remind you we take these precautions for a reason.”
“Understood. And you will be fully informed from this point forward. Should we change the plan back to the original destination?”
Charles sighed. “I suppose not. Just keep alert for me if you would.”
“Absolutely, sir.”
The aide repeated. “As he said, everyone involved in or privileged to the knowledge of this change is on this train.”
At two hours out, the bullet trained zipped past Stuttgart on its elevated rail. At three hours and just beyond, the buildings of a bustling Nuremberg seemed to move in the opposite direction of the train as they passed.
Chapter 28
_______________________
Marwal hopped up on the table.
Nunol assisted with connecting the sensors. “I don't see this as a good opportunity. It would be better to first slow the train before derailment. You yourself may not survive.”
Marwal smiled. “You are missing an important piece of information. I don't want to survive.”
“I don't understand.”
“When the train derails, I fully expect my clone to die. Immediately following that moment, you will send me back again in a new body. With luck, Charles Ducat will survive.”
“This doesn't make sense. How is it your clone jumping directly to the second locomotive will derail a highly secure train?”
“Administer the injection and watch.”
The clone of Marwal felt the slight falling sensation for only a moment before rising to his feet. A stunned engineer stood with his mouth agape, staring at the naked individual who had appeared in front of him out of thin air.
“What? Who?”
The clone, its vision clearing seconds later, took action. A guard sitting in a chair and staring out a window at the passing landscape, replied, “Who what?”
As the guard turned he was met with a hard punch to his temple. A short beating ensued, ensuring the guard's demise. The engineer, still in shock, attempting to make sense of what he had just witnessed, failed to set off an alarm to the security team in the club-cars.
Marwal awoke on the table. The sensors were removed and he took position in front of the display. “Enjoy the show.”
The clone was quickly in control, wrapping his hand around the thin neck of the much smaller man. “Detach us from the others.”
“What? Why?”
The clone tightened his grip. “Because I said. Would you rather I snap your neck?”
“Ok. Please. I have a family.”
Several buttons were pressed. A clank could be felt in the cabin as the rear locomotive unhooked from the other cars.
“Now slow us down. And if you ask why... I'll snap your neck.”
“Please, sir. I'll slow.”
Seconds later the distance between the back locomotive and the club cars began to grow.”
“Faster. Slow us faster. I want five hundred meters between us.”
The engineer complied, applying the brakes.
A voice came over a speaker. “Lasalle? What are you doing back there? I show you've disconnected.”
“Tell him the engine was struggling, you'll catch back up in a minute.”
“It's the engine. Something isn't right with her. Give me a moment.”
“What? The indicators up here all appear green.”
“Sound snappy. Tell him to just give you a minute. You are handling it.”
“Just give me a minute would you. I'm handling it.”
As the five-hundred-meter distance was reached, the clone said, “Now. Full speed. Everything you have.”
“But we'll hit them.”
“Would you rather die now or take your chance then?”
The accelerator lever was pushed to the maximum position. The clone smiled as he released his grip on the engineer’s neck. The unconscious guard was pushed from his chair and his weapon taken. A single shot saw to the death of the engineer. The clone followed with a single shot to his own head.
Nunol scowled. “I find that so distasteful.”
“It's not pleasant.”
“That locomotive will not reach a sufficient enough speed differential to cause a derailment.”
Marwal smirked. “You are right. But my job there is only halfway done.”
A second clone, of three that had been brought forward, was bio-linked and helped into the pod. Marwal received the corresponding bio-link and was soon fast asleep on the table. Nunol jumped, shaking his head as space-time was ripped open and the clone sent back to the past.
An image from the clone, showing the forward engineer and another guard in the cabin of the front locomotive, came into view. The guard was quick to draw a weapon.
“Who are you? How did you get here?” Was yelled out.
The clone of Marwal leaned over clutching his stomach. “Help me, please, where am I? What is happening?”
The engineer, showing compassion for the naked and seemingly sick man before him, took a step forward, blocking the guard in the process. It was a move the clone needed. Leaping forward, the engineer was driven back into the guard.
A struggle ensued with the clone gaining the upper hand. The engineer, who had been tossed to the side, stood propped against the wall of the cabin with his mouth hanging open. A short fight saw the guard dead of a gunshot wound and the pistol turned on the engineer. Seconds later, with the engineer dead, the brake was applied fully as the clone again used the gun on himself.
The images from Charles Ducat showed his body being thrown forward as the screeching of metal on metal echoed from the braking wheels of the speeding train. The intercom had blared an alert only moments before the view was turned into broken and flipping scenes. A high-speed derailment was taking place.
Marwal motioned to Nunol. “Now, if you would please, bio-link the next clone and send me back once more.”
“How do you know Naffi is even alive?”
“The club-car he rides in is hardened. He will have been tossed about, and will possibly be dead, but possibly not. Now please, and have the fleet standing by to accept coordinates for Mentox-I.”
The clone again tr
ansitioned to the past. A search of the wreckage found an injured and unconscious Charles Ducat. A knife and spoon were gathered from the debris inside the car and the operation was performed.
The clone of Marwal said, “If he survives for another twenty minutes we should have our coordinates.”
~~~~~
Vara came over the comm. “I've returned. I'm docking now. I believe we may have the location of Mentox-II. I need your input as to how I should proceed.”
Reno replied, “Please, hurry to the lab. We are in a bit of a crisis here. Naffi's clone is vulnerable.”
Naffi looked at the display. “Forty-seven minutes until death. And I appear to be unconscious.”
Reno pulled up the archive. “It says... the train was derailed... by itself.”
“How is that possible?”
“The report says the rear locomotive detached and fell back before it sped up, as the remaining locomotive and cars applied heaving braking. The train derailed when the back locomotive slammed into the club-cars that were still traveling at over one hundred kilometers per hour. Are you worried about this being Marwal?”
“With such a freak accident? Yes.”
Reno looked at the parameters on the display. “We have nine minutes and fifty seconds before we are clear. How could Marwal possibly be responsible. There is no automation on that train to be tampered with. I don't think this is something to worry over.”
“For another nine minutes... yes it is.”
Reno sat back. “Something just occurred to me. When the Americans decide to nuke Paris in 1877, that can't be directly because of Marwal. They have to have come to that decision on their own.”
“Why would you say that?”
In the archive, from this moment forward, we have no influence on that history. And there's no indication Marwal visited at that time.”
“Marwal is still there.”
Reno shook his head. “No. The parameters say his timeline came to an end shortly... after... your... death. That cannot be a coincidence.”
Napoleon Page 23
