“What was the location of his last jump?”
“It says... at the derailment site. That cannot be good.”
Naffi stood and stared at the second clone that sat in a semi-conscious state in a chair behind them.
Vara walked into the room. “What's happening? What's the crisis?”
Naffi said, “Marwal has my clone. We need to take action.”
Reno asked, “What are you thinking?”
“I'm thinking we ready this clone.”
“For what purpose?”
“Pull up the ancestry logs.”
“Why?”
Naffi yelled. “Just do it! We don't have time to quibble!”
The logs were soon showing on the display.
“No change,” Reno replied.
A proximity alert sounded on the station. The sensors had detected a fast-approaching ship.
Reno hurried to the console and typed away. “It's a... warship. They've found us!”
Naffi hurried to the remaining clone, giving it a waking injection. The clone was hustled to a table where a bio-link was installed. It was then helped to the pod and placed inside.
Reno again asked, “What are you doing?”
Naffi laid back on the table and started the sequence for the insertion of the other end of the bio-link. “I'm going back.”
Reno came to stand over him as the automated operation took place.
As the bio-link inserter rolled away, Reno asked, “Where are you going?”
“How long do we have?”
“Not long enough. We can't outrun that warship.”
Naffi again yelled. “Just tell me! How long?”
“At this speed? Fifteen minutes.”
“And if we stop?”
“Stop? Why?”
“Just answer the question!”
“Six... maybe seven minutes?”
“Reset the pod and bring us to a stop.”
“What? What is it you are trying to do?”
Naffi waved Reno and Vara over to the table as he attached the myriad of sensors for recording. “You two have thirty seconds to tell me of an event my clone would be capable of that could possibly cause a significant change to the ancestral logs.”
“Change?” Reno scowled. “If I knew what to do we would have done this before!”
Naffi took the sleep injector from Reno's hand. Reaching over, a button was pressed that would begin the pod reset.
“Twenty seconds. You got nothing?”
“How am I supposed come up with a solution in twenty seconds to something we've been trying to solve for months?”
Naffi sighed as he injected himself. “You know, for a genius... you are sometimes a complete idiot.”
Seconds later, his eyes were closed, the rumble of the station generators humming up to full power was followed by the horrific ripping sound of space-time being torn open. In a flash, the clone of Naffi was standing in the private room of his mansion. Clothes were selected and put on.
Reno sat, staring at the display as the warship closed on their location.
Naffi awoke from his sleep on the table beside him. “Check the logs!”
“What happened? What did you do?”
“I assassinated Napoleon and his senior advisors.”
“What? You realize that can't be undone, right? We don't have any available time to fix such a move.”
“Just check the logs.”
“The archives show the Empire breaking up shortly after.”
“I don't care about the Empire. The ancestry logs... what do they say?”
“The logs show... whoa. That is nearly a billion people changed. But how?”
Naffi looked over the display and grinned. “And we have something even better.”
“What? Where? What are you talking about?”
“The sensor display. Tell me what you see.”
“Wait. What happened? The warship is gone!”
Chapter 29
_______________________
A comm came in from Mentox-II.
Naffi set the station in motion, headed for a new location as he answered. “Nunol. It seems you once again failed.”
“What have you done?”
“We told you change was coming. Now you have it.”
“A billion lives gone forever. You are a butcher, Naffi. All those people...”
“And yet it shows a near equal number now exist who didn't before. And none of them know any different.”
A shocked Marwal sat in the camera view behind Nunol.
Nunol asked, “What is it?”
“My family.”
“They are gone?”
“Yes. And a new family, one with a wife and children I do not know, are in their place.”
Naffi pursed his lips. “I am truly sorry for your loss, but you left us no choice.”
Reno, still looking through the archives, said, “And I have more news. The OSSHR. It no longer exists. My experiments... they never happened, nor did I.”
“What?”
“My parents never existed, so neither did I.”
“What of me?” Vara asked.
“You... gone. Never existed. And Nunol... it says you held another governmental position, something in interstellar traffic control. And Marwal and his new family... a school teacher. Naffi... you still became a tycoon, but your family... you never married.”
Marwal sat with his head in his hands, Nunol with his mouth agape.
Reno helped Naffi from the table. “We have to fix this.”
Naffi shrugged. “How?”
“We go back and make changes. Where were Napoleon and his advisors when they were killed?”
Naffi shook his head. “Doesn't matter. They were inside the time bubble of my travel. We can't get to them to stop this.”
Nunol looked over the archives on his end. “The Americans took control. As the Empire fell into disarray, they came in and asserted control through a number of treaties. Within thirty years, the British and the other Europeans joined the Americans in a new world government.
“With that, a new, peaceful renaissance took place. The Earth was able to put up a better fight, although still losing badly. It says two Opamari warships were heavily damaged by heavy-laser satellites that were made to defend against asteroids.”
Vara said, “If we disrupt that development, can we turn back the changes?”
Nunol asked, “Who is this? You realize you are now a wanted criminal too?”
“Don't care. You killed Naffi's family.”
“It was an accident. One for which I am truly regretful.” Nunol turned to Marwal. “We can fix this. All we have to do is see to it the Americans don't absorb the Empire. That change will prevent the advances that lead to these heavy lasers. We can restore the past and therefore our present.”
Naffi turned to Reno. “We have to stop them.”
Reno shook his head. “No Naffi. We don't.”
Naffi growled. “If they change the past that warship will once again be bearing down on us.”
Vara cut in. “Won't matter. In three minutes we will be gone from the location they know. If the changes are rolled back and the warship comes to our last location it won't make a difference. We are no longer there. They will only find empty space.”
Nunol nodded. “You hear that Marwal? We can bring your family back. And the OSSHR can be restored. We can go back to the way it was.”
Naffi said, “So we are right back where we were.”
The comm was closed.
Naffi stared at Vara for most of a minute. “You can no longer go back.”
“Why?”
“Because you exposed your face. You said you have the location of Mentox-II. Can our people get there?”
“I believe so. I have a team standing by.”
“Then send them in.”
“You want the station destroyed?”
Reno took hold of Naffi's shoulder. “No. Captured. If the station can be
captured we can put Marwal and Nunol back planetside somewhere.”
“And Bouthis?”
“And Bouthis. Without that station they have no way to stop us. They would not be able to raise the funding to build another.”
“They have Baritoc. He has the funds.”
“And why would he commit those funds to a project he has no way to profit from. As to continuing his own existence, they would have to reveal everything to him. If approached with such a deal, would you expend that much capital on such a project?”
“I see where you are going, Reno. I would have to be thoroughly convinced. The investment Baritoc has made to date is minimal. Though expensive by anyone's standards, maintenance of that station is only a pittance when compared to its construction. Vara. I have to agree. Capture that station. And if capture is not possible, evacuate the people and destroy it.”
“And if evacuation is not possible?”
Naffi hesitated.
Reno said, “Then just destroy it. Nunol and Marwal, and even Bouthis have chosen their side. Whatever happens is on their own heads.”
Vara smirked. “All of this is assuming we can even get close. I would expect they have a defense plan in place. Maybe even warships. If so, our force of mercs won't be able to get near the place.”
“Send the order as we just suggested. If they fail, we keep trying.”
Eleven hours of moving Mentox-I passed before evidence of another journey appeared on the display. A clone from Mentox-II had again visited the past. And as expected, Human history had again been altered.
Reno scanned through the new archive. “No laser defenses... and the ancestry logs have returned to their prior state. Marwal has his family back. The OSSHR again exists.”
Vara asked, “Where do we go from here?”
Naffi looked through the archive. “We continue. As of now the Americans take eventual control, but there are no nuclear weapons unleashed. It says at the time of the invasion, the world remained at peace, although it was evidently not advanced enough to make a difference.”
Reno said, “Then we have to continue our push. The laser satellites were unexpected. They made the advancements needed to do that on their own. We have that information in the prior copy of the archive, why not go back and exploit it?”
Naffi sighed. “Look at all the things that came about. Embedded comms. A digital network for the transfer of technology. Even a small colony on the planet Mars. And these lasers, they were evidently a surprise, although Nunol and Marwal have seen to it they weren't a surprise when the fleet arrived.”
“What are you saying?”
“I'm saying these advances aren't nearly enough. I know we can continue to accelerate their discoveries, but I don't think it will be fast enough.”
“But they just made significant progress... on their own. With our help, imagine the difference that can be made. We may have to push for another hundred years of their existence, but we will get them there.”
“I just don't think we have enough time. Had we begun these advances earlier, we might have a chance of the Humans making the final push on their own.”
Vara said, “The two of you seem mixed in your vision. What outcome are we looking for?”
Reno replied, “To bring the Humans forward to the point where they can defend themselves. And if while doing so we can bring back Naffi's family, all the better.”
“And Naffi?”
“We have the same goal. Our question now becomes, how do we get there? I don't believe we can make enough advancements in the time we have left. Many of the people are struggling to adapt to what we have already introduced. Some are just not capable of living in this new world. They are too simple-minded.”
“Nonsense,” Reno countered. “Each new generation is absorbing the technology as fast as it comes about. In another twenty years, the simpletons you speak of will be relegated to the simple tasks, of which there are still plenty. With education, each new generation advances at the speed with which we can implement these technologies. These Humans are very adaptable. And the more new that is introduced while they are young the better they will respond.”
“So what is our decision?” Vara asked.
Naffi stared at the display for several seconds. “First, we wait for the outcome of the raid on Mentox-II.”
Vara nodded. “That should be happening within a few minutes to a few hours. When the time comes, our commander of that force will be broadcasting to us live.”
Reno leaned back in his chair. “Let's suppose the raid is a failure. What direction would you propose, Naffi?”
“I would have to believe we need to go back further in time. Maybe not by much, but by enough to show a real difference is even possible. We've spent months with Napoleon and the French. His armies were the perfect vehicle for setting up a one-world government. If not for Marwal and Nunol we would have achieved that and our progress would be further accelerated. But their interference is a reality. Perhaps the French option was not the best.”
“But we've already come so far,” Reno countered. “Why abandon all this work we have already done?”
“Because once time has been visited we have to consider it burned. With only a few hundred years left before the invasion, and with the interference by Marwal and Nunol, I can't see us making a big enough difference. And these last two hundred years are critical. Once used, we will not have another shot at them.”
Vara said, “Quiet. We have an incoming comm.”
“This is Darmot. We have the station on sensors. So far there is no indication of any other ships. Within the next few minutes we will know if we have a free approach.”
Vara replied, “If so, you know your orders. If at all possible, capture the station and move it to the coordinates I provided.”
“We'll do our best.”
An image of Mentox-II came up on the display. Reno, Naffi, and Vara watched as the station seemingly grew in size.
Darmot said, “We have confirmation of free space. We will be in the docking bay in thirty-six seconds.”
Reno rubbed his three fingered hands together nervously. “I can't believe this is happening. How did you find it?”
“Baritoc led us there. I can only believe after our brief capture of him that he wanted some answers. We had a tracker on his ship. I'm certain Nunol and Marwal would have chastised him for the visit if not for the need of his capital.”
Darmot flipped the image from the ship over to his helmet cam. A team of sixteen mercs hustled down a ramp into the bay and were immediately met with blaster fire. The guards on the station were hired from an Empire firm that provided security, but security in the homogeneity of the Opamari Empire was light at best. Crime was low, and there were no threats from an outside nation or other species.
The mercs, trained by Vara using Human tactics from the archives, outmatched the guards, quickly pushing them back from the docking bay and into the main hall.
A comm came in from Nunol. “Give this up. You are only harming innocent people.”
Naffi replied, “You are outgunned and outnumbered. The station will be under our full control momentarily.”
Nunol shook his head. “We have sealed the lab. Your team will not enter before help arrives, which is already on the way.”
Marwal moved into the camera view. “I have to congratulate you on finding us. I thought I had taken every precaution. Since you are now here, for curiosity's sake, would you be opposed to telling us how?”
Naffi laughed. “Not a chance. Just open the door or we will be forced to take drastic measures.”
Nunol smiled. “I'm certain Reno can tell you about the security of this room. It is hardened beyond anything your people would have brought with them.”
“Then you leave us with no choice. Darmot. It would seem capture is impossible, please proceed to option two.”
“The generators?”
“The generators.”
Nunol glared at the camera. “Yo
u wouldn't.”
“We are prepared to destroy the station. You have one minute to open that lab or your generators will be destroyed, and with that, your oxygen supply.”
“Go ahead. We have enough supply in here to last us for hours. More than enough for our help to arrive.”
Reno shook his head. “Of that you are mistaken, Nunol. You see, we had a bit of a fire incident here, something your agents arranged I believe. Anyway, that little mishap identified some shortcomings to our fire design. Shortcomings that any engineer would also describe as vulnerabilities.”
“I'm making this offer one final time, Reno. Give up this quest, return here and now and all will be forgiven. You will even be allowed to continue your research, under tight scrutiny of course, but fully funded.”
Reno huffed. “You cannot deliver on those promises. Your own funding has to come from an outside source. The Empire has abandoned you, Nunol. Just give up. Save your families. Come and live a life far beyond your dreams. Be—”
Darmot was running. “We have reports of a dozen ships heading this way! I'm pulling my team out.”
Naffi leaned forward. “And the generators?”
“Not going to happen. They have a dozen guards still blocking up that hall and we don't have the five or ten minutes required to clear them out. Our agreement was this would not be a suicide mission.”
The ramp to the merc shuttle began to raise. “I'm sorry Vara. It just wasn't meant to be.”
The comm closed as the raiding shuttle departed.
Nunol gazed at his display with a smile. “It seems your team has abandoned their mission.”
“There will be future opportunities,” Naffi replied.
“And we will be prepared.”
The comm to Nunol closed.
Naffi tapped his fingers on the console in front of him. “It is time for a change. We cannot win this scenario.”
Reno scowled. “So you are tossing our accomplishments into the void?”
“I am.”
Vara asked, “Our new direction?”
“We dump the French.”
Reno scowled. “And?”
“And we try a different route. Until we interfered, the British were ruling the seas. Perhaps it's time we tried to build a British Empire. Who was their biggest problem in the original archives?”
Napoleon Page 24
