by Jeff Yee
Kris slowly turned the phone to the left of the sphere to the big display that captured video activity within the time transport from its internal cameras. In the middle of the time machine, that was empty only seconds before, stood the object that made Tace employees cheer in celebration. The rat had returned from the future.
Chapter 28
Timelines, theories and math equations filled twenty pages of Sean’s notebook. It was nearly five o’clock on a Friday afternoon, the third day of the senate hearings, and he was bored. Sean sketched an imaginary spherical time machine by making an outline around a coffee stain from a drink that he had spilled earlier in his notes. Fortunately for his drawings, the coffee stain formed a perfect circle. Next to it, he drew a picture of the famous time traveling rat. His mind was solely fixed on the previous evening’s experiment. Backwards time travel was possible! On another page, he wrote himself a puzzling question.
We suspect that if time transport is interrupted in forward travel that its contents are then unrecoverable. All matter is lost. However, with backwards travel, if the rat is already in the present, what happens if the time transport is destroyed in the present? His matter traveling backwards in time in the machine would certainly be lost. But how would that affect the rat that has already arrived from the future?
The question challenged him throughout the day and Sean had a hard time following the committee hearings. He knew it would be a difficult problem to receive a quick answer, because with only one time machine, they could not risk destroying it to answer the question.
“Thank you Mr. Seitz. That will be all for today,” said Senator Cordeiros.
Sean’s attention switched back to the hearings. He sat all day as a participant, watching from the back row. Occasionally, he listened to the senator when he spoke, when he wasn’t scribbling into his notebook. With the discussions coming to an end, Sean stopped to hear the senator’s closing remarks.
Cordeiros spoke like a politician running for office. “We have learned a lot this week from our special guests. On behalf of my fellow committee members, we would like to thank everyone for their time. But our work is far from complete. We will resume on Monday morning after the weekend to digest the information we have gathered thus far. This session is now adjourned.”
Sean’s leg had fallen asleep. When he stood after a long day of sitting, a tingling sensation ran up and down his right leg causing a slight limp as he walked out of the room. He was no further than a few feet into the hallway when he saw a familiar face quickly approach him.
“It’s John, right?” said Sean when the man was within reach of a handshake.
The CIA agent wore his identification on the exterior of his navy blue suit to allow him unrestricted access in the government building. CIA special agent, John Clements, responded, “Yes, that’s correct. I know I’m a bit early…”
“I thought we were meeting at the hotel?”
“We’re short on time,” John answered. “I was about to come in and get you if the hearings were to go longer. We need to hurry.”
Slightly concerned about putting his trust in a man that he had met only one day before, Sean asked, “Where are we going and why is it a rush?”
“My director will explain when we get there.”
“No, sorry,” said Sean. “I hope that you will understand, but with everything that has gone on this past week, I’m not going anywhere without an explanation.”
John Clements was simply a gopher – whose only mission was to transport Sean Harrison to his intended destination. It wasn’t his job to provide answers. Nevertheless, he realized that if he didn’t provide more information that his own objective would be at risk. “We’re going to Langley. There’s an operation to extract your friend Ryan Graves that will commence within the hour. I have a car ready to take you.”
Convinced that the man was telling the truth, and excited to hear the good news, Sean quickly followed him back to his car. The bad traffic on the George Washington Memorial Parkway was typical for a Friday afternoon rush hour commute, but the two managed to reach CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia in a half hour.
Despite numerous checkpoints required for security at CIA headquarters, Sean passed through them with relative ease due to prearrangements for his special badge and clearance to reach his destination on time. Walking quickly through the corridors of the CIA building with his escort, Sean eventually reached a war room – a room designed for special operations that could be monitored and controlled remotely by senior CIA staff. Large screen monitors covered the walls of the war room with video feeds from around the world.
A tall brunette introduced herself upon his entrance. “Hello Sean, I’m Lisa deVeas, CIA Director.”
Sean replied, “Sean Harrison. But I guess you already knew that.”
“We have less than fifteen minutes now, so I don’t have enough time to introduce you to everyone.”
Sean looked around the room and saw a dozen people engaged in various activities, although he was amused that there were more monitors mounted to the walls than there were people to watch them. A highly decorated military official walked towards him.
“I’d like to do one quick introduction,” Lisa said. “Sean, this is Lieutenant General Bill Bradshaw, who leads the Army Special Forces group that you’ll be watching today.” Lisa turned to General Bradshaw and did another introduction, “General, this is Sean Harrison of Tace Technologies.”
“Nice to meet both of you,” said Sean. “I don’t mean to interrupt, but I’d love an explanation. Is Ryan alive? Do you know where he is?”
Lisa answered, “Yes, he’s alive.”
A sense of relief filled Sean’s body, although he knew that finding Ryan’s location was probably only part of the mission given the activity in the room.
The CIA Director provided an explanation. “Your company gave us a list of popular web sites with information on time travel. We asked for a list that would be supplemental information if your scientists were to attempt to reconstruct a time machine. We took this list and put a watch on all of the web sites. Of the ten most important web sites to your organization, we found that the same computer hit four of them two days ago. We tracked the IP address of the computer to a building in southeast Pyongyang, North Korea. This was helpful to narrow down a possibility, but we were unsure if it was a strong lead or wishful thinking until yesterday. Cell phone chatter in the area confirmed an American being held in a lab here.” Using a laser pointer, Lisa drew a circle around a building from a video feed from North Korea.
“And you know for certain that it’s Ryan?” Sean asked.
“The chatter has stopped short of saying his name specifically, but given the other data points in the conversation, I’m certain that it is.”
Sean was ecstatic. Ryan was alive and there was a mission to retrieve him.
“There’s a reason why I asked for you to be brought here, Sean. In just a few minutes, General Bradshaw’s team will penetrate the building where Ryan is being held. In addition to getting Ryan home safely, the team has also been instructed to destroy any materials that the North Koreans may have obtained or manufactured that would allow them to create a time machine. If Ryan is not in a position to assist them with the necessary information to destroy the materials, I need your help to guide our team. Are you comfortable with doing so, if we need it?”
“Yes, I can help.”
Lisa guided Sean to an empty seat with unobstructed views of all the monitors and activities in the room and then said, “Great, thanks Sean. Please have a seat. I need to assist with the mission, but if I need you, I’ll come and get you.”
Although the dark of night had already set in the early fall evening in Washington D.C., it was morning in Pyongyang, North Korea, which allowed sufficient light for the streaming video feeds coming from the five-member special forces task force in Korea. Sean watched in amazement as the operatives took their positions and surrounded the building. Live feeds
from their helmet cameras fed five separate monitors on the wall, supplemented with satellite images and heat maps on the remaining monitors. Sean made an assumption that the three glowing red spots on the Korean building heat map meant that there were three warm bodies inside the lab. He thought to himself, Which one is Ryan?
“Go! Go! Go!” suddenly came through the audio from the team in Pyongyang. Sean had missed the green light from the general to his team in the room, but it was clearly evident that the mission had started.
Surprisingly, the helmet cameras, half a world away, supplied very high-quality video back to the war room. The small team of five operatives stayed relatively close together when they quietly penetrated the building. Sean held his breath as the team made their way towards two of the red spots on the heat map. When the Americans entered the building, he counted a total of eight men inside the structure, although the five spots representing the Special Forces unit nearly looked like one big red oval given their tight formation.
Sean overheard commands from the war room being communicated to the Ops team. “Delta Five, hold your position. Two guards directly east of you in adjacent room. If they move, take them out.”
Continuing to watch the monitors, Sean could see one of the men stop and get into a position to guard the door to the room that contained the two unknown bodies on the heat map. The remaining four operatives continued their way down the hall until they reached two rooms. Two operatives went into the room with the last of the unaccounted red spots on the heat map – Sean assumed it was Ryan Graves. The remaining two operatives diverted to the last and the largest of the rooms in the building.
Within moments, it was clear that they had found Ryan Graves and that he was alive. Seconds after seeing video confirmation of his friend, he heard a soft voice confirm, “We have Graves. He appears to have been beaten badly.” Sean could vividly see the extent of the bruises, in high-resolution video from the helmet cameras of one of the operatives. Ryan’s torn shirt revealed cuts and black welts the size of oranges on his arms. Upon closer inspection, it was also clear that Ryan had suffered multiple head injuries and that he had numerous bruises on his face.
“Can he walk?” asked General Bradshaw.
After seeing his rescue team, Ryan immediately rose from his bed and hobbled to them, quickly answering the general’s question. The special operations team wasted no time moving Ryan into the next room where two operatives were already placing explosive devices.
One of the operatives asked Ryan, “Is this the lab? And are all of the materials you were working on in this lab?”
Sean continued to watch the monitors, amazed that the mission was being executed perfectly. The explosives were planted in less than a minute and then the four operatives carried Ryan Graves back down the same corridor that they had originally used to enter the building. The group soon caught up with Delta Five, who remained in his position to monitor the door to the kitchen where the guards were likely eating their breakfast. Silently, the entire group reassembled and carefully maneuvered the corridor to the building’s entrance, with Delta Five watching their backside as they exited.
A warning was quickly communicated to the Special Forces team from the CIA headquarters at Langley. “Delta Team, be advised, we have a large vehicle approaching your direction.”
On the satellite view display, Sean watched a vehicle approach the building. Unfortunately for the Special Forces team, the intelligence did not give them sufficient time to set an appropriate defensive formation. Three of the operatives were already outside the building, in direct sight of the van that was pulling into the dirt-covered parking lot. The van came to a quick stop, only fifty yards from the building entrance.
“Are they friendly?” asked the lead of the team in Pyongyang.
The answer to his question was apparent within seconds. Gunfire erupted from the vehicle, pouring down on the three scrambling Special Forces operatives in the parking lot.
“Man down! Man down!”
Sean watched the video closely, stunned that the surprise attack took out one of the men instantaneously.
“I’ve got them on my backs! We’re trapped on both ends!” yelled Delta Five. The two Korean guards in the kitchen, hearing the gunfire, had rushed into the corridor, trapping the Special Forces team. The Langley team watched the battle on two fronts unfold with stunning clarity as the live video from helmet cams fed into monitors on their wall. The room was eerily silent. Sean held his breath.
The Special Forces team scrambled to find cover amidst the rain of bullets coming from every direction. Delta Four pulled Ryan Graves towards two barrels located ten feet from the doorway and then took aim against the van. Delta One and Delta Three fired shots immediately at the second group of Koreans in the parking lot and lowered their profile by moving to a prone position on the ground. Inside, Delta Two and Delta Five backed into the doorway wall facing towards the Korean guards quickly approaching them from behind.
After the better-equipped American team had a chance to reposition themselves, they slowly picked off the three Koreans in the parking lot. Inside the building, Delta Five managed to neutralize the two Korean guards behind them, but only after sustaining a damaging shot to his left leg. With the five Koreans down, the battle came to an abrupt end.
The gunfight lasted only twenty seconds, but for Sean and those in the war room, it felt like an eternity. By the end of the fight, two of the live video feeds from the operatives were stationary and fixed on pointless targets on the ground – a sign that the men were either killed or badly injured.
“Are there any others?” shouted one of the remaining operatives.
“Negative,” replied someone in the war room behind Sean. “Map is clear.”
“We need help! We have four men down!”
“Backup is on its way. What’s the status of your men?”
“James has a leg wound. Lee and Doug are down – checking them now. Graves is down too.”
Sean turned to get confirmation from Lisa deVeas. “Did he say Ryan Graves?”
In an instant, one of the cameras focused on Ryan. Delta Four was checking Ryan’s pulse and reviewing his wounds. Bloodstains in three areas across Ryan’s chest meant that three different shots had possibly hit him.
“Lee’s alive but he’s hurt pretty bad! Doug’s … gone,” said Delta Two, sadly reporting their status back to Langley.
The coordinator in the war room answered, “Delta Two. Assistance is three minutes away. When they arrive, you need to detonate the explosives and destroy the lab. Delta Four, what’s the status on Graves?”
“No pulse on Graves! He’s dead.”
Chapter 29
The door to the CIA Director’s office slammed so hard when it closed that it jolted a picture mounted to the wall of the office, causing it to fall to the floor and break the glass frame. Sean Harrison didn’t even notice the damage that he had done. He finally had Lisa deVeas and Bill Bradshaw alone in the room to let out his frustration.
“What a FAILURE!” Sean shouted at the two leaders. “With all of your technology, how did you not know about the van?”
General Bradshaw quickly countered in the shouting match. “Our primary objective succeeded! It was not a failure! Our mission was to ensure that the North Koreans could not build a time machine.”
“Succeeded? Ryan Graves is dead!” Sean reminded the general.
“We destroyed their lab and prevented their access to a key scientist, who if compromised, could have given them the technology. Our secondary objective was to get Graves home safely.”
Sean’s eyes widened in disbelief. Ryan Graves was not the primary objective? Furious, he looked to the CIA Director for the answer that the general was avoiding. “Lisa, how did you not know about the reinforcements?”
“I understand your disappointment,” said Lisa, “but let’s remember that you are not the only one that has lost a man here. We have a soldier who has lost his life, another in critica
l condition and a third man with injuries.”
Her points were valid and Sean realized that he was rudely focused on his colleague. With an acknowledging moan, he put his hands in his pockets, recognized his selfishness and allowed Lisa to continue.
“It is possible that we tripped an alarm,” she said, “which would have alerted additional men. But it is also quite possible that it was extremely bad coincidence and that these men were arriving for the start of the day and we caught them at the wrong moment in time.”
Sean, bug-eyed, looked down to the floor as he thought through the possibilities. Wrong moment in time? What if the mission had been conducted at a different time? Perhaps an hour earlier? Would the additional men have been there? After carefully considering the scenarios, Sean gave the slightest of smiles and said, “Give me a moment to make a call. I have an idea…”
Mystified, the two leaders looked at each other while Sean walked away.
A mobile phone was already in his hand before Sean turned his back on Lisa and the general. He walked to a quiet corner in the CIA Director’s office and dialed his son Kris.
“Hello, this is Kris,” the voice on the phone answered.
“Kris, I have unfortunate news,” he broke to his son. “I’m here at CIA headquarters. They found Ryan and attempted to rescue him from a lab in North Korea.”
“And…” Kris replied, waiting for the bad news.
“I’m sorry. Things went bad. Ryan was alive when they found him, but he was caught in a shootout as they were trying to escape. He didn’t make it… I’m sorry.”
Silence.
“Kris, before we notify his family, I want to run an idea by you.”
Still in shock, Kris groaned, “What? What is it?”
Sean detailed the failed mission. “Ryan and the American team sent to rescue him were trapped between two sets of Koreans. Had one of those groups not surprised them, they would not have been caught in the trap. Ryan was shot and killed during the crossfire.”
