What James Did: The Accidental Time Travellers-Book 3

by Marc James

  “A big day for you Jacob.” Jack smiled.

  “So it is happening?” Jacob replied nervously.

  “We gave you our word.” Bobby replied.

  “From this day forward you will be known as Director Cohen of the CIA.”

  Jacob blushed for perhaps the first time in his life. He grinned broadly and chuckled to himself.

  “Thank you for keeping your word.”

  Chapter 84

  Faraday looked out at the Loch and smiled. It seemed like a million years ago that he had proposed to Jane on the very same spot. The sun was shining in the sky, and they were all in excellent moods. They had closed the Auld Hole in the Wall for the day and had come to Loch Ness for a family picnic.

  Chase and Scarlett walked hand in hand towards the shore, Jane was pushing the pram that held David, their second child, and Clint Stinson was walking alongside her. She waved at Faraday and he waved back.

  Faraday pushed the canoe into the water and it gave a playful splash. He got in and started to row into the middle of the Loch. He found it much easier to row the small canoe than he had found it to row the lifeboat he had been in after they had escaped the Titanic.

  Memories were everywhere he looked.

  Bobby Stinson had once died here, and Jane had disappeared here. Faraday himself had managed to get through the wormhole from this very location.

  He rowed for a few minutes, until he could barely make out his family. He removed the packet of cigarettes from his pocket and chuckled to himself. He had promised Jane that he would quit this weekend and he fully intended to. He just felt that his one last cigarette should be had at the location that had caused him to start smoking again in the first place. He put the cigarette in his mouth and lit it.

  He had a feeling that he may well receive a visitor on the boat and he didn’t have to wait long for David to appear.

  “How are you James?” David smiled.

  “Perfect.” Faraday replied with a smile.

  “I’m glad to hear that.”

  “How are you David?”

  “Not much changes for me anymore, I’ve had my time.”

  “We did it David. We changed things.”

  “I know you did.” David did not smile.

  “Are you alright?”

  David gave a false smile. “I’m alright. I just wish that I had done things differently.”

  Faraday nodded his understanding.

  “You did what was right, you deserve this.” David acknowledged unconvincingly.

  “You did what you thought was right at the time you did it David, you can’t say fairer than that.”

  “I wish that were true James.”

  “How do you mean?”

  “I knew I shouldn’t have helped Abaddon. Even after you came to visit me, to ask me for help, I did what I knew was wrong. I didn’t go to him for help, I went to him because he asked me to let him know if you ever got in touch. He wanted you dead.”

  “And you told him?” Faraday replied in amazement.

  David nodded. “I just wanted to keep my family safe. It was nothing personal.”

  Faraday took a deep pull on his cigarette and just stared at him. “Nothing personal? We were friends David.”

  “I know that James. I was wrong, I know that now.”

  “So he just killed you?”

  “Yes. He wanted rid of us, we knew too much.”

  “I have to say David, I don’t have any sympathy for you.” Faraday snapped.

  “I’m not asking you to have sympathy for me, I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am.”

  Faraday nodded and took another pull on his cigarette. “Okay.”

  David smiled, he could see the disappointment on Faraday’s face. “Can you forgive me?”

  Faraday nodded. “We both got what we deserved.”

  David managed a smile. “That we did.”

  Faraday took another pull on his cigarette and just looked at David.

  “I see you named your kid David.”

  “You’re a friend David. Nothing has changed in that regard.”

  “I appreciate that. I also have a message to deliver to you.”

  “You do?”

  “Will wanted me to tell you again how sorry he is, to both you and Jane.”

  Faraday nodded. “Okay, I’ll tell her.”

  “He wanted to know if you could forgive him?”

  Faraday frowned. “No, I can’t.”

  David nodded, it was clear he was disappointed. “A word of warning, I believe you are about to add another member to your family.”

  “How do you mean?”

  David smiled. “You’ll see.”

  David suddenly disappeared from sight and Faraday was left alone in the canoe. It hurt him that David had betrayed him, but it didn’t matter anymore, it was done. He took a draw of his cigarette and watched Jane playing with baby David.

  They were both in the water and she was swinging him gently in the air. Scarlett was lying with her head resting on Chase’s chest. Clint was sat drinking a beer and smoking a cigarette, he was similar to Bobby, but he was a happier man. He didn’t have any chip on his shoulder, and he was quite easy going.

  As he watched the five of them, he suddenly felt emotional. This was exactly why he had gone through the trials and tribulations of the past few years, for his family.

  He was delighted that Scarlett and Chase were together. Chase was a good man, and although he would never be the father to Scarlett that he hoped to be to be to baby David, he wanted the best for her.

  He began to row the canoe back towards his family, it was almost effortless, the weight of the world was no longer on his shoulders.

  When he reached the shore Chase had jogged over to meet him.

  “Faraday, I was hoping we could have a word in private.”

  Faraday smiled. “Of course we can.”

  They walked along the shore, away from Jane, Clint, Scarlett, and baby David.

  As they walked, Faraday spotted a bench that sat in the same place as the bench that was donated in Jane’s memory had sat.

  They both sat down and Faraday lit another cigarette.

  “I thought you were quitting?” Chase asked in confusion.

  Faraday smiled. “I was planning to have my last one on the Loch, it was spoiled by something. What do you want to talk about?”

  Chase blushed. “It’s about Scarlett.”

  Faraday took a pull on his cigarette and smiled. “Okay.”

  “I wanted to ask you for permission to ask for her hand in marriage?”

  “I’m afraid not Chase.”

  Chase’s eyes widened, he had not been expecting that.

  “It is not my place to give you permission Chase, you should ask Jane.”

  Chase smiled, he had never felt so relieved.

  “I’ll go and get her for you.”

  Faraday rose from the bench and walked back towards his wife, Clint, and his two children.

  “Where is Chase?” Scarlett asked as she saw her father approaching.

  “Just along there. He needs to have a quick word with you Jane.”

  Jane looked surprised. “Shall I just leave David with you?”

  Faraday nodded and picked David up and out of his pram.

  “Is everything okay Dad?” Scarlett asked with a worried expression on her face.

  “Everything is great.” He replied with a broad smile.

  Jane walked towards Chase with trepidation, she had an awful feeling that this had something to do with the upcoming destruction of the wormhole generator. Her legs were feeling weak as she approached the bench, Chase looked nervous, it only added to her worry. She took her seat beside him and silently wished that it wasn’t bad news.

  “I want to ask you for permission to propose to your daughter?” Chase said hopefully.

  Jane let out an involuntary squeal of delight. “Is that all?”

  Chase blushed. “Yes.”

  Jane wrapped
her arms around him and laughed. “Of course you have my permission.”

  Scarlett was now playing with her younger brother, and Faraday had continued walking along the shore, he now had Clint in toe.

  “You having a nice time Clint?”

  “Yeah, it’s a great spot.”

  “Yeah, the view is beautiful.”

  Clint took a swig from his beer. “Have you heard from Bobby at all?”

  “Not for a while.” Faraday replied. “The last time I heard from him was when I called him about the new law practise he was opening. I just called to see how they were doing, but he didn’t really seem to want to chat. He said they were happy, but I think he just wants a fresh start.”

  Clint nodded. “I can understand that. He has been through a lot.”

  Chapter 85

  Jack and Bobby Kennedy stepped out of the black Lincoln limousine, and they were followed closely by Jacob Cohen. Jacob could barely believe that he was back in this place, the stench still lingered in the air but the chimney that had once bellowed black smoke was no longer in operation.

  Auschwitz had been liberated, they would never discover how many people had died, as millions of people had literally disappeared.

  That was not the purpose of the visit, today they were here to witness the destruction of the last wormhole generator in existence. It had been built underneath the building that Bobby Stinson had once been imprisoned in.

  The three men entered the dark corridor that had been home to their friend, none of them had ever spoken to Bobby about it much, but even now it was evident that this building had been a living hell.

  They walked down the flight of stairs that was to the left-hand side of the corridor. It was a metal spiral staircase that went deep into the earth below Auschwitz. It creaked as they walked, and Jack had to stop twice for a break. The Addison’s disease and the bullet in his back caused him constant pain. As he stopped to take a break, Jacob was concerned for his President.

  “Sir, are you alright?”

  “I’ll just be a minute Jacob.” Jack smiled.

  Jacob and Bobby stopped and waited for Jack, after a few minutes he was able to continue down the staircase.

  Jacob was not entirely happy about the decision to destroy the wormhole generator, which is not to say that he didn’t understand why they were destroying it. But he believed they could use it effectively, they could succeed where the others had failed.

  When they finally did reach the bottom of the staircase they were met by a man in military uniform. The man gave a salute before speaking.

  “Mr President the explosives are in place.”

  “Thank you. I would like to detonate the device personally.” Jack Kennedy replied.

  “Of course sir.” The soldier handed the detonator to Kennedy.

  “Could you wait upstairs?”

  The soldier did as he was asked and began to ascend the staircase.

  The three of them stared at the wormhole generator in silence for a moment. It was in the same form as it had been in Nevada. Two metal poles and a computer at the side, there was no light in the middle, as it had not been activated. As it had been in Nevada, the generator was at the other end of a long room, they could hardly even see it from where they were stood.

  “So here we are.” Bobby Kennedy stated, breaking the silence.

  “Mr President I am aware that we have discussed the pitfalls and the danger of keeping this device active, but I believe we can use it to do good.” Jacob tried.

  “Jacob he has made up his mind, you of all people should be aware of why this must be destroyed.” Bobby snapped.

  “I do. But we have seen the device used for the wrong purposes, what if we can use it for the right purposes?” Jacob replied.

  “Such as?” Jack asked.

  “There are so many ways that this could benefit us. For example in recent years the effects of climate change have been highlighted by scientists, when I was living in the future it was still an issue. We could find a solution by travelling into the future. Or if an asteroid were to hit the Earth, we would be able to find out about that and then stop it. Not to mention the weapons and technology we could gain access to.”

  Jack smiled. “I’m sorry Jacob, you started well but you hit the nail on the head when you mentioned weapons and technology. I think we must let these things develop naturally. Too much power can cause even the most well-meaning man to become corrupted.”

  “Even you?” Jacob asked.

  “I will only be President for the next few years, who knows who will follow me?”

  “It must be destroyed.” Bobby stated.

  “That’s right.” Jack nodded. “So here we go.”

  He pushed the button on the detonator and the generator was engulfed by smoke.

  The explosion was barely audible at the end of the room that they were stood.

  As Jacob watched the explosion he could not deny that he was disappointed, it could have made America the leading super power in the world for all eternity.

  “It’s done. It’s over.” Jack said with a smile.