The Requiem Collection: The Book of Jubilees, More Anger than Sorrow & Calling Babel: Novel Set

by Eric Black

  Germany signed the Treaty of Versailles after World War I and for some time afterwards became a nation in disarray. As time passed, the government reconciled and was centralized and strengthened.

  In the years to come, there was no rise of a German Nazi Party. The country suffered through the Great Depression but eventually righted itself and culture began to flourish in a nation that was once nearly destroyed.

  In 1933, Albert Einstein decided to visit the United States. Where Adolf Hitler’s rise to power would have kept Einstein in the United States rather than returning to Germany, Hitler died during World War I and as a result Einstein went back to the Berlin Academy of Science. He made the same discoveries that led to the creation of the atomic bomb, only this time for Germany. Germany never entered into war on the side of the Japanese. The Holocaust never happened and the State of Israel was not created in 1947 by the United Nations partition of Palestine.

  Germany kept the Russians in check and the Cold War never developed. Over the second half of the 20th Century, Germany continued to spread its influence throughout the world. German, rather than English, was the language of business.

  Other wars that never would have happened did happen as a result of the new history. People and countries that would have lived in peace were decimated by wars – wars started through new timelines developed because of the death of Hitler. New countries were created and other countries that had previously ceased to exist such as Gran Columbia and Southwest Africa continued as nations. The Ottoman Empire did not dissolve and was now the third most powerful nation in the world behind Germany and Yugoslavia.

  All of this happened because the President of the United States and an American were both at the same monument when the President was shot. And at a Belgian hospital, somehow both of them had entered the same coma-induced state of existence.

  But the real moment when everything changed was when Vincent shot a young Adolf Hitler. Afterwards, somehow the dreamlike reality they shared edged into actual reality and that reality replaced the reality they had known.

  Now, not only were they stuck in that new reality, they took the place of the people in the dream in which they were filling. The man who lay in the bed in the hospital in Belgium and the woman who was being prepared for a flight from Belgium back to the United States ceased to exist. Vincent took the place of his great-grandfather in history and Libby took the place of Woodrow Wilson.

  What Libby and Vincent didn’t know, of course, was that the reality of Adolf Hitler ruling Germany, the reality that they had known, was also an alternate reality. Reality had been changed before; many times in fact.

  Soon they would meet a man who had also previously changed reality. He was not pleased that everything had changed again. And he was not alone.

  In 1920, Libby defeated James Cox and was reelected to a third term as President, riding the wave of popularity that her leadership had provided in making the United States a prosperous nation. What made this victory so special to Libby was that this election marked the first time that women were allowed to vote. This was also the first time that election results were broadcast over commercial radio.

  During the campaign, Libby had done something of which was almost unheard. In another life, Warren G. Harding with Calvin Coolidge as his running mate defeated Cox and his running mate Franklin D. Roosevelt. Libby decided to make Roosevelt, the Assistant Secretary of the Navy at that time, her running mate (she would realize later that she had been the one who appointed Roosevelt to that position during her first term). This was the first time since Abraham Lincoln that a Republican ticket included a Democratic Vice-President.

  Vincent had moved on from the British military after World War I and was credited for his part in preparing American troops to engage in trench warfare. Briefly, he returned to Britain to be honored there for his service during the war and for his discharge ceremony. Afterwards, he returned to Washington where he became a legal American citizen and since he was well versed in history, became a top advisor for Libby.

  “Even if you had little value at all,” Libby joked, “I would have found some way to make you a top advisor.”

  In the years following the war, Libby invited Woodrow Wilson to the White House many times. She found that since he had not served as the President of the United States, his health was good and as his stress level was not influenced by serving as the Commander in Chief, his stroke never happened. Libby invited his wife as well and she allowed them to come as often as they liked. She felt some guilt – not that it was her fault or Vincent’s. She did not understand how or why they had been placed in the same dream; or how or why that dream had become reality. But the fact was that throughout her entire life, Woodrow Wilson had been the President during World War I and now he would never even serve as the President of the United States. So the guilt remained.

  Through it all, their lives continued on. Neither Libby nor Vincent completely gave up hope that everything they were experiencing was some sort of unique drawn-out dream but as the years went by, those thoughts faded. They did not totally disappear but they were reserved for late nights alone in their own beds.

  Libby missed her husband and sons severely at first and fell into a deep depression. But she finally came to the realization that she may never see them again. She could seek her husband out but even so, he would not be born for many more years. She would be quite elderly before he was even born, if she lived that long. She knew with an unending sadness that her sons would never be born.

  In early 1921, she made the decision to move on. She decided that if this was all a dream, she would return to her husband and could chalk everything that happened up to the fact that it was a dream. She felt shame in this but didn’t know what else to do. She wasn’t sure she could live the rest of her life focused on a life that may never exist again.

  1921 was year that Vincent and she became romantically involved. That summer they were married.

  That was also the summer that Jack showed up.

  It was the photo in the American newspaper that gave Vincent away. The German read the article titled American President Weds and in the picture of the President’s new husband, he saw that man that had killed Adolf Hitler.

  And Jack was not alone in this revelation.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Washington, D.C. – November 1921

  Jack knew the man who killed Hitler did not belong in this time any more than he did. What he didn’t know was how the man had come to this time. He also knew the President of the United States, the man’s new wife, was not from this time. The President should have been Woodrow Wilson.

  Jack often wondered why he couldn’t let this go. He had a quiet life in 1897 in South Carolina. He traveled and murdered without concern and knew he could continue that life uninterrupted until his own death consumed him. But he couldn’t get the man out of his mind. How did it happen? Who was he really? Jack had to find out.

  Jack was also curious to what end had Vincent Shakespeare and his wife President Libby Williams (she of course kept her maiden name) changed history? He didn’t really care it if was for the better or not. It was changed. He knew enough about how time worked to know that however well-intentioned the change, there were always consequences.

  Jack was one of the consequences for Vincent and Libby.

  As he stood in front of the White House plotting his next move, Jack noticed a car pull up and enter the gates. The man who exited the car was a man he knew and not just from the history books. The man, the man who should have been President of the United States, was Woodrow Wilson.

  Jack smiled as he watched Wilson enter the White House. Wilson was a man he knew very well. They had history of their own together. Woodrow Wilson and Jack shared a secret. I wonder how President Williams would react if she learned Wilson’s secret? Jack smiled to himself. Then, he couldn’t help it: the irony was too much and he laughed out loud.

  As Jack stood outside, Vincent walked into the B
lue Room of the White House and saw Woodrow Wilson sitting at the marble-topped table that was the centerpiece of the room. The table had originally been purchased by James Monroe in 1817.

  The year was 1921 and in another life, Woodrow Wilson would have only earlier that year finished up his second term as President of the United States. In this life, however, he was the long-serving President of Princeton University. He was in his mid-sixties but Vincent couldn’t help but notice the strength of the man. He had seen some photos of Wilson towards the end of his life (in another life he would die in 1924 but Vincent couldn’t be sure that would still hold true) and he had seemed very frail due to the stroke he suffered in 1919. During his last years in the White House, he was bound to a wheelchair, blind in one eye and had paralysis on the left side of his body. This Woodrow Wilson showed none of those ailments.

  “Dr. Wilson, it’s good to see you again. I’m sorry to have kept you waiting,” Vincent offered, walking forward with his hand extended.

  Wilson rose and accepted Vincent’s hand. “Mr. Shakespeare, it’s good to see you as well. And please, you can call me Woodrow.”

  “Very well, Woodrow. And you may call me Vincent. In fact, I prefer it. It’s not too often that I get called by my first name. They’ve taken to calling me The First Gentleman. Not quite the ring of The First Lady, now is it?”

  Wilson smiled. “Not quite.”

  “Now, to what pleasure do I owe this visit today? I apologize that my wife is away on duty.”

  Wilson started to speak but something caught his eye just outside of the window. There was a man on the lawn and he knew that no one should be that close to the White House. Then, he saw who that man was. It can’t be, he almost said aloud. The man on the lawn was Jack the Ripper.

  Vincent started to ask Wilson if he had driven down from Princeton or if he was at his home in Washington, D.C. when he noticed the look on Wilson’s face. “Are you alright?” Vincent asked concerned. Wilson was looking over Vincent’s shoulder, staring out at the South Lawn. Vincent turned to see at what Wilson was staring but as he moved, he caught Wilson’s eye and Wilson turned his focus briefly to him. “Woodrow, are you alright?” Vincent repeated.

  Wilson didn’t answer, rather turning his eyes back to the window. Jack was gone. Wilson knew that wasn’t a good thing. He stared out of the window a moment more and then turned his focus back to Vincent. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”

  The Secret Service agent just outside of the door couldn’t hear their words but had noticed the concern on Vincent’s face through the open door and began to react. Vincent saw the agent begin to step forward but shook his head waiving him back. “I asked if you were alright.”

  “No, I’m fine. I’m sorry to have startled you. It looked like there was a man outside on the lawn but now he is not there. Perhaps I am just tired.”

  “You think you saw a man on the South Lawn?”

  “Yes, but…”

  Vincent cut him off and nodded to the agent. The agent came in immediately. “Dr. Wilson thinks he saw a man on the South Lawn,” Vincent said to the agent. “He’s not sure about this but please check it out.”

  The agent nodded and spoke into his communication device. He stood outside of the door until another agent took his place guarding Vincent and then took off down the hallway out of sight.

  “Again, I’m sorry for the trouble,” Wilson offered.

  “No, not at all. If there is a man on the lawn then you have saved us quite a bit of trouble. So I thank you. Now,” Vincent said, gesturing at the seats around the table, “shall we sit and discuss what is on your mind?”

  Wilson nodded. In another life he had sat at this table many times. He knew which of the chairs squeaked and which were more comfortable to sit in for long periods of time. It was very strange for him. He had memories of a life he had never actually lived. He had been the President of the United States in another life and could recall that experience vividly.

  Once they were seated, Vincent called for some coffee. They spent the next hour discussing various policies on economics that Wilson felt concerned the future of America’s universities. But that was not the real reason Wilson was there. He knew that the President would not be there on that day (she was off meeting with the Prime Minister of Canada). What he really wanted was to have time alone with Vincent so that he could ascertain better what type of person Vincent was. He was looking for certain clues about Vincent that would tell Wilson how Vincent got there in the first place. He knew that Vincent was out of place but he did not share any of this knowledge.

  Vincent took notes as the two of them spoke. At the end of the hour, just as they were about to wrap up, the agent came back and told Vincent they had done a sweep of the entire property, inside and out, and had found no one out of place. Vincent thanked the agent for his diligence and then turned his attention back to Wilson. They spoke a few more minutes before calling for the conclusion of the meeting.

  As Wilson was getting into his car to leave the White House, he smiled and thought about how welcome he would be in the White House if Vincent or the President knew the truth about him.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Washington, D.C. – November 1921

  Later, Wilson entered his house in Washington, D.C. It was dark and quiet. His wife was away for a few weeks visiting family so he had the house to himself. Of course, he missed his wife when she wasn’t around but it was nice to have some time to himself all the same.

  It was night in America’s capital and he turned on a lamp as he entered. (They were wealthy so they had electricity in their home.) The illuminated room revealed a man sitting in a chair in his living room.

  “Hello, Willie,” Jack said.

  Normally an unexpected person in his living room would have caused him quite a shock. But he expected the man. “Hello, Jack.”

  William Gentry was born in the year 2113 in Atlanta. It was noticed early in his life that he had a gift for science. In 2124, at age eleven, he began reading old journals on the science of time travel, especially the early work by a brilliant physicist in the previous century.

  In the late 21st Century, time travel became a serious science. But similar to cloning in the 20th Century, there were limitations put on how the science could be used. The United States Congress passed the Time Travel Restriction Act in 2098 that allowed time travel to only be used for medical exploration, seeing the value in learning from the future how certain diseases and illnesses could be prevented and cured. The time travel technology was the same that was developed by Jack (the brilliant physicist) a hundred years earlier but the technology had been improved to prevent the unwanted side effects of nausea and personality changes.

  Jack’s technology had been discovered quite by accident. After the natural death of Jack’s former associate, Jasper, Jasper’s estate was sold which included several old documents. The documents were among those that Jasper had intended on destroying but he did not. Jasper had destroyed most of the research on time travel but these papers had been put into one of his obscure books on his bookshelf and so they were forgotten.

  The book containing the research paperwork was bought by an elderly woman and her son inherited the book upon her death. He donated the book to the local university library. The paperwork on time travel was discovered by a student who took the paperwork to one of her professors. The professor called on his colleague at a larger, more influential university and Jack’s research was put into motion.

  In the early part of the 22nd Century, elements of time travel technology began finding its way onto the black market. Most of these items did not work and others killed their attempted user outright before they could actually travel. Concerned with what would happen if insurgent nations were able to begin using the technology, time travel was banned by the United States – including for medical reasons – and all research labs were shut down.

  This did not stop William, called Willie by his parents. By age twelve, he had
begun translating articles from old medical journals on time travel into equations that would explain how time travel could occur. At age fifteen, in the year 2128, William developed a homemade device that accomplished time travel.

  Unlike Jack’s technology that had to be embedded in the brain, William’s device was a circular shaped disc that was fitted behind the right ear. The disc employed the skin adhesion technology of the 22nd Century that was common with reading glasses and sunglasses. The disc emitted a pulse that interacted with the brain in the same way that Jack’s technology interfaced with the subconscious.

  Soon after, unknown to his parents or anyone else (or so he thought), William began to travel through time.

  He took a specific interest in the lives of United States Presidents. He was fascinated by the day-to-day life that they led. One of his favorite presidents was one who had once also lived in (and practiced law) in Atlanta – Woodrow Wilson. William traveled back and studied Wilson and was amazed at the similarities between the President and himself. Their personalities were eerily similar as was their appearance. William found a few pictures of Woodrow Wilson as a young man and if he hadn’t known they were taken over two hundred years prior, William would have sworn they were photos of him.

  William went back and began visiting the campus of Davidson College in North Carolina in 1873 while Wilson was a student there. When he finally saw him, it was strange, and he couldn’t quite explain it but Wilson looked very similar to the photos that Williams had seen; but Wilson looked different.

  William befriended Wilson and learned that Wilson had suffered from dyslexia and had not learned to read until he was eleven years old. William learned of Wilson’s life growing up in Augusta, Georgia and ascertained that his parents had moved to Columbia, South Carolina a few years prior. Wilson and he started to become good friends.