by Clark Graham
Secretary Osterman strode in the room like he was on a parade ground. “Gentlemen, you already know what this is. What I need from you is the plans for the Vmax3 drive.”
No one answered. The three Air Force men walked around the plane.
Ross whispered to the two others. “There’s no corrosion to the aluminum skin. Being in salt water for years should have destroyed it.”
Dempsey whispered back, “How did they repair it? They didn’t have the Vmax3 drive schematic. We deleted it.”
Williams touched the holes in the fuselage. “It’s been shot. Someone knew the plane’s weak spot. You don’t suppose they took it back to get Dalton, do you?”
“Enough of the whispers,” Osterman bellowed. “When can I get the plans for the drive?”
Williams faced him. “You can’t. They’ve been destroyed. This plane was used to kill Hitler and stop the Holocaust. It caused a catastrophe to the timeline. The Russians joined the Germans in making almost the entire world communists. Billions die and wars continued. They went back in time and saved Hitler to restore the timeline.”
Osterman smiled. “So, it is a time machine. I couldn’t get that information out of Senator James. Think of how easily we could destroy enemies of the United States.”
“You haven’t heard a single word I’ve said, have you?” Williams asked.
“This is too important not to use. I will need those drawings.” Osterman folded his arms.
“You’re out of luck. Those have been destroyed,” Williams repeated.
“Impossible. How was a second plane built if the drawings were destroyed?”
“A second plane?” Williams' face paled.
“Yes,” Osterman replied. “Project Blackhole ended in 2029, this plane was built in 2031. It’s a different plane.”
Williams glanced over at Ross and Myers. He could tell by the look on their faces, they had no idea it was a new plane. “Senator James is the man you need to talk to. If this is a new plane, he built it. He had all the plans and it’s identical to the first one in every way. How he rebuilt the Vmax3 drive, I have no idea. The first plane crashed into the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.”
“Go get James,” Osterman yelled. His men headed out.
Williams and the rest of them turned to go.
“Don’t leave town,” Osterman said after them. They didn’t bother looking back.
When they were outside, Williams shuddered, “He built another one. We have to destroy that plane before they get James to get them the plans.”
“We can’t get into the place,” Dempsey said as they walked out of the gate.
“We have to try,” Williams replied.
Chapter Seventeen
Washington DC
2044
Senator James sat in front of the members of the House of Representatives, plotting which ones he would get rid of when he reacquired his time machine. The hearing had lasted hours and it didn’t look like it was going to end anytime soon. Representative Edwards kept harping about the missing five billion dollars. James kept telling them it was for a top-secret project he couldn’t discuss.
“Who gave you the authorization to bankroll these projects using federal money?” Edwards glared down at him.
James smiled, despite the grilling. His first mission would be to take out Edwards. History would be some much better off without the man.
“Senator, please answer the question.”
“That is top secret also.” It wasn’t. He’d been able to bankroll the project on his own using funds meant for other projects. He always overfunded the projects from his state to pad his research funds.
“Are we sure you aren’t skimming a little money for your own endeavors?”
Yes, I am and that endeavor will eliminate you from the history books. “Why, no, Representative Edwards, I’m not. You’ve gone over my personal finances with a fine-tooth comb. You haven’t found one penny of federal money that I’ve kept for myself.” Except for the Cayman bank account. He smiled again at the thought.
Edwards threw his pencil in the air then leaned back in his chair. “This is going nowhere. I’m calling a recess.”
The committee split up and headed out. James went straight to his office, checking his computer right away. An angry video message from Williams was all there was. He called him back. “General, let’s meet somewhere. I have the information you want and you have the information I want.”
Dempsy, Williams, and Ross sat at the café table when James arrived. It was a secluded corner where no one could overhear the conversation. James was with Professor Gilman. He pulled up a chair from another table and the five of them stared at each other for a minute waiting for the first to talk.
James, never one for silence, began. “Gentlemen, this is Professor Gilman. He’s an historian, much like Colonel Ross here. He’s the one that found the plane.”
With all eyes on him, Gilman fidgeted before beginning, “Adalwolf Dalton crashed his plane off the coast, as you know. What you might not have known, is the plane was recoverable. Ted, Adalwolf’s old boss, went down and got it. Of course, they couldn’t do anything with it. It was stored in a warehouse at the dock for many years. How I found out about it was the lawsuit. Bryan Dalton vs. Mel Hart. The argument was over the ownership of an airplane. Bryan claimed it was his father’s and was granted ownership of it. When he went to pick it up, Mel Hart killed him. Mel went down for murder and the airplane went from owner to owner. No one had the technology to fix it. It ended up in a warehouse on the outskirts of Philly.”
James smiled, “That’s where I came in. I purchased it for a cool million.” He cracked his knuckles. “It wasn’t fixable, but I sent the fuselage to Boeing and the engine to Lockheed. The men had worked on the originals and with the technologies in front of them, were able to recreate the airplane.” He sat back in his chair.
Gilman cleared his throat. “Plane two was sent back to collect Adalwolf. I figure he didn’t want to return, so he shot up the oil tank. The plane didn’t make it back. It was stuck in the seventies. Two hunters found it in the woods and called in the Air Force.”
“Now, gentlemen,” The senator folded his arms. “I’ve told you what I know. I want to hear your side of the story. How did the mission fail and when I get my plane back, how can I make sure it succeeds?”
Williams leaned forward to emphasize his point. “The mission was a success. Hitler drowned. Then the communists took over. They overran Europe and then threatened the United States. Billions died and the Jews were no better off with the communists than with the Germans. Your noble gesture turns out to be a nightmare. Dalton, on figuring this out, went back in time and fixed it. Your time machine will kill us all.”
James’ shoulders sagged. His eyes were so wide open one would have thought he was going downhill on a rollercoaster that had just derailed.
Gilman scratched his head. “You mean to say, the timeline changed and we knew nothing about it?”
Williams turned to him. “Yes, different timeline, different lives. We will never know. We only live in the here and now. If the timeline changes, our lives are altered, but we never know. Only the two in the plane see the difference.” He turned back to Williams. “We need to destroy that plane.”
James’ eyes were still wide open and beads of sweat dotted his forehead. “They’re building another one.”
“What!” Williams screamed. The other patrons of the restaurant turned to see what the commotion was.
James waited until they turned back around. “It’s out of my control. The CIA got wind of it. They are building the third plane. It’s them who are having me investigated. They want to lock me away. My only chance is to get the second plane and go back in time to stop them. They took my men and plans away from me.”
Chapter Eighteen
Washington DC
2045
FBI agents were all over the secret compound. It was like an ant hill. Two men sat on the hill waiting fo
r things to calm down. It was a crude but effective plan. The plane would be destroyed. It had to be.
As darkness neared, the number of men working on the Vmax3 drive was reduced. “Time to strike.” The camouflaged man nodded. He laid his rifle across the top of the hill. He donned his night scope, after acquiring the target, he slowly squeezed the trigger.
The thought of murdering a fellow American didn’t cross his mind. Everything would be undone when they went back in time. For now, he would die. The guard at the gate slumped to the ground. A truck came rushing in, smashed through the gate and through the warehouse door. The driver stopped the truck right by the Vmax3 drive reassembly area, and then pressed the button.
A flash engulfed the building and a raging fire ensued. The driver died instantly. He, too, would live again, per the plan.
Colonel Ross, USAF retired, walked up to the gate and flashed his ID. The guard nodded and buzzed him in. Walking down the long colorless hall, he showed his ID four more times before he was able to enter the caged off room with a single table.
A few minutes later, Senator James, in an orange jumpsuit, was escorted in by two guards. They sat the ex-senator down and walked out.
“I do have to admit, you’re easy to find these days.” He didn’t know why he had come. Maybe to gloat at an old adversary, or maybe he felt sorry for the man. He couldn’t decide, but hoped it was the latter.
“I’m hoping you have news that can get me out of here. Did you get control of the…” He stopped to look around to make sure the guards were out of earshot. “Well, you know what.”
“I have news. The FBI’s version of the ‘machine’ was destroyed. It was reported as a terrorist attack. The airframe and the engine were both blown to smithereens. Overkill, if you asked me. There is only one organization that had a vested interest in that thing not being repaired. Their version, according to the scuttlebutt, has been delayed again. It’s a year away from completion.”
James slumped back in the chair. “Then I’m stuck here.”
“You always were stuck here. I wasn’t about to fight the FBI to get a plane, that in my opinion, should never have existed. It doesn’t matter, however. They are about to screw up the timeline. Everything’s going to change. Maybe you’ll be a millionaire playboy in the new timeline and live in some penthouse in New York City.”
James smiled through his depression. “One could only hope. I just have to wait a year, then try to figure out how they screwed everything up.”
“If what Dalton says is true, we won’t even know. All this,” Ross motioned around the room, “won’t even be a distant memory.”
“Still, it would have been an awesome thing to have the power to fix everything that’s gone bad throughout time. I figured out how to do it, too. Change the past, then go into the future and see how it works out. If it’s better, keep the changes, if not, go back and change it back.”
Ross chuckled. “You would have been playing Time God. Deciding who lives and who dies. Now someone else will take up the role and I’m sure they don’t have the stellar ethics that you possess.”
James gave him a sideways glance. “I was going to get rid of a few annoyances along the way. I suppose you’re right. I’m not the man to be making those decisions. Still, Time God does have a ring to it.”
Ross glanced down at his watch, “Well, Time God, I have to go. Visiting hours are over.” He stood up and motioned for the guard to let him out, then shook James’ hand. “Take care of yourself.”
“It’s only for another year,” James replied.
When Ross finally came through all the security gates, Williams was waiting for him in the car. “Why do you bother with the man?”
“You should come in with me one of these days. He looks really good in orange.” Ross suddenly realized his motivation. He was briefly disappointed with himself.
“I suppose you’re right. I would love to see him in orange. I will come in next time.”
Both men laughed.
Chapter Nineteen
Seattle, Washington
2046
Jarvin Musktel, Deputy Director of the CIA, looked over the plane. It was finally finished. It was he who had seen the project to completion. He stood beside the two pilots, Ethan Fields and Felix Schmidt. “Well, gentlemen, this is going to be a historic moment. One that history will know nothing about.”
Both men milled around the airplane. It was the first time they had seen it. A few practice flights were on the agenda. Most of their training had been in simulators. The CIA didn’t want the plane sighted. Too many people would ask too many questions. All tests would be at night. Under no circumstance would they try out the Vmax3 drive. That would only be used for the real thing.
Felix would drop Ethan off in 1970 to destroy the second plane before the hunters found it. That way, the timeline would change and the men who died during the attack on the storage facility would be alive again. Then Felix would travel back to 1912 to find Dalton and destroy the first ship. Only the third ship would survive. There would be a quick stop in 1970 to retrieve Ethan then the two would head back to 2046. There was a safe landing area, close to a bus stop.
The CIA would be the only ones to know about the timeline changes. The two men had with them instructions, signed by Jarvin. If the timeline changes caused him to not know about the mission, they had instructions, signed by him, to debrief the mission so he would be back in the loop. The three of them would keep the missions secret, even from the other CIA agents. Jarvin would select the missions.
The cost of the new airplane had been cleverly disguised as another of Senator James’ projects. The plan was to always change the past, then come back to the future to see what changed, then if it was bad, go back in time to change it back if it turned out badly. That way, the timeline would be sculpted the way Jarvin wanted.
The landing and takeoff site would be some land owned by the CIA, but never used. It was within walking distance of a bus stop, so when the missions were over, they just had to open the gate of the fenced off area, and walk to the bus.
Felix was the taller of the two. With straight black hair and a jaw that jutted out, he reminded people of the classic Texas Ranger. Strong and true. Ethan, on the other hand, was balding. Thin as a rail, he stood six inches shorter than Felix. The two men made an odd pair when standing side by side. Both were amazing pilots, and that was all that mattered to Jarvin.
“Well, what do you think?” Jarvin asked.
“Ugly.” Felix was stared up at the thing.
“When do we get to fly her?” Ethan sounded eager.
“Soon, very soon. In a few nights, we will start our test flights, then move to the mission. For now, sit in the cockpit and feel the controls. It should be the same as the simulator, but the real McCoy is always a little different.”
Both men climbed up the ladders, sitting there for a few minutes before climbing back down. The design was much different than the one Senator James was constructing. Both pilots had the full set of controls. If one of them was disabled, the other had complete control of the airplane.
“Come back in three days. We will move the plane to the property and do the first test flight at the same time,” Jarvin ordered.
“I’ve been wondering,” Ethan’s voice was hesitant. “What do we do for a ground crew if the shift in the timeline has everyone not knowing who we are?”
“When you clue me back into what’s going on, I’ll find you a ground crew.”
Ethan shrugged. “It’s very hard to wrap my mind around how all this works.”
“It’s uncharted waters. We’ll get through it though. If we see a threat to the United States, we’ll eliminate it. This is the most powerful weapon ever invented. We can kill the enemy long before they become a threat.” Jarvin felt a surge of pride. “Gentlemen, we have a power here that no one else has.”
“Except for Senator James and Robert Dalton,” Felix corrected.
“Your first missio
n will change all that. Now get some sleep, history awaits you.”
Chapter Twenty
Seattle, Washington
2046
Felix Schmidt sat behind the controls of the Vmax3 airplane. His single status had given him the opportunity to participate in this mission. The fact he could speak German and was a pilot clinched the deal. He had beaten out fifteen other men for the operation.
None of them had been told what it was all about, just that it was a special op. Felix swallowed hard as he thought about it. No one flying this plane had made it back to real time. They were all stuck in the past. Now he worried.
The plane was jinxed, it was pure and simple. Jason Ralston was stuck in 1966, Robert Dalton and Gerald Myers in the early 1900s and Phillip Anderson was lost to history in 1970. Where would he end up? Felix wondered. At least he could save Dalton, and maybe Ethan would be able to locate Phillip Anderson. The other two weren’t going to make it. There were no plans to rescue them.
Ethan climbed in behind him. Felix hadn’t been able to have his friend Jack selected for the operation. The higher-ups wanted Ethan, but the man was just annoying. Felix couldn’t stand him. He didn’t read the mission briefs, expecting everyone else to interpret them for him. Then he would ask stupid questions about the things he had already been told.
“Are you ready for this?” Ethan asked.
“What, ready for the greatest moment in history? Are you kidding?”
Felix could just picture the cheesy grin on Ethan’s face.
When the canopy closed, Felix scanned the area. It was dark and the normally lively airfield was abandoned, except for a couple of men in the tower. It was Christmas Day, the perfect day to fly the new plane away.
Felix spoke into his mike. “Control, this is one-nine-zero, requesting permission to take off.”
