Borrowed Time- the Force Majeure

by E W Barnes

  “Ok,” Sharon said, distracted by trying to comprehend a world without money. “That means the debt that was due wasn’t money. What else could it be?”

  “A debt is something that is agreed to be owed when something of value is exchanged in return for future compensation,” Miranda said, thinking out loud. "In this case in solidum gentium.”

  “Solid what?” Jonas asked.

  “It’s Latin for when all nations share liability for a debt,” Miranda explained.

  “Putting it another way, everyone in the world received something of value and agreed to pay later. Then this email arrived and demanded payment,” Caelen said.

  “What was received and what was the promised payment?” Sharon asked.

  “I don’t know,” Caelen answered. Miranda looked chagrined and Jonas shrugged.

  “How can you not know? It’s part of your history. You are historians—how can you not know what this means?”

  “History has changed, remember?” Jonas said.

  “Miranda said the focal point, the point of divergence where history changed, was when the email was sent, not when the debt was incurred. Right?” Sharon looked to Miranda for confirmation.

  “Correct,” she answered scanning her tablet.

  “That means the debt is part of your history in both timelines,” Sharon continued. “Why don’t you know about it? It was big enough to cause a worldwide panic, but 77 years later no one knows about it?”

  “Something must have been removed from the historical records,” Caelen said.

  “It must have been something big,” Jonas said. “Big enough to stop people from talking about it, too.”

  “Like those analyses you told me about,” Sharon said looking at Caelen. He frowned.

  “Right, that was the other timeline.” She took a breath. “When we were in London in the other timeline, you told me that when the temporal mainframe was brought online, the first analyses the TPC requested were what would happen if terrible events in human history were erased.”

  Caelen nodded. “Yes. The analyses resulted in even worse outcomes.”

  “And the results were buried and not shared with the public,” Sharon added. Miranda stood.

  “You think they also buried the knowledge of the debt and the payment due?” she asked.

  “I think it might be worse than that,” Sharon answered darkly.

  “What do you mean?” Jonas asked.

  “Cui bono,” Sharon said looking at Miranda.

  “It means who benefits in Latin,” Miranda said, her eyes narrowing.

  “You said 95% of the world population got the email,” Sharon said as Miranda breathed in suddenly.

  “Someone called in the debt, a coordinated effort that the World Government could not trace,” Miranda started.

  “What are you suggesting?” Jonas asked, now looking a little green.

  “Miranda said the president shouldn’t have the authority to take over the TPC. The reason given for the presidential takeover was to prevent another Alexander Event, but you and Caelen are convinced that's impossible.”

  Miranda and Caelen nodded.

  “So, the whole Alexander Event thing was a pretext.”

  “I suppose…” Miranda began.

  “And if it was a pretext, what does the president gain by taking control of the TPC in 2127?”

  “Unlimited access to time travel,” Caelen answered.

  “I know where you’re going with this,” Miranda said. “But you can’t be right.”

  “Why not?” Sharon asked.

  “You’re thinking this is the work of the Chestnut Covin. That’s impossible.”

  “How is it impossible?”

  “I know you come from a time when heads of government were frequently corrupt, serving themselves and not the people. But that doesn’t happen in our time. Our heads of government are true servant leaders. They are educated, trained, and prepare themselves to govern for the benefit of the people. No one would consider using governmental power and authority for their own gain. It would be a profound betrayal and the criminal consequences are serious.”

  Sharon took a deep breath. It was true, she came from a different time, a time where Miranda’s explanation seemed simplistic and naïve. Part of her wanted to laugh at Miranda’s gullibility. But another part felt a deep stab of envy that someone could have such faith in their government. She could not bring herself to argue.

  “Ok, perhaps that’s not what’s happening. But you still have a world threatened by a person or persons demanding recompense on a global scale which resulted in a drastic change. You have a president who may or may not be seizing power over the TCP illegally. You have martial law and a mission focused on weapons instead of science. And you have the TPC powerless to do anything to stop it. The question is: What are we going to do?” Sharon concluded.

  “Do we have to do anything?” Jonas asked.

  “What do you mean?” Sharon said in surprise.

  “Shouldn’t we trust that the government is doing what’s needed to take care of the global population?”

  “Director Veta told us we had to do something,” Sharon said. “This is not how things are supposed to be.”

  “What if she’s wrong?”

  “Even if she’s wrong, we know the timeline has changed. We know it’s not ok to live with martial law, Jonas,” Caelen said. His voice was quiet, but its power stopped Jonas from speaking again.

  “No, you are right,” Miranda said to Sharon. “There is injustice here, and we must correct it.” Where she had appeared defeated before, now she radiated determination. “The TPC’s hands are tied and it cannot help itself. But we can and so we will.”

  Miranda spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon reviewing legal and ethical documents and treatises stored on her tablet and on her lenses. Now and then she muttered to herself and made notes on the tablet.

  Caelen went out with Jonas to pick up groceries using cash Sharon provided, and Sharon made up rooms for her guests. Caelen and Jonas were to share one room with two beds at the back of the house off the kitchen, and Sharon gave Miranda the master bedroom across from the library. Sharon would sleep on the sofa opposite the bookcases in the library, as she had through much of her adolescence.

  It was strange to have people in the house after living alone for so long. While Sharon’s family visited regularly - her parents might come for a weekend dinner, her sister brought baby Olive to say hello, and her brother and his family on the east coast called regularly—most of the time Sharon’s only company was Mrs. Bower who stuck to business as her program dictated.

  When Caelen and Jonas came back with several bags of food, Sharon realized she liked the company.

  “Wow! Whose army is joining us for dinner?” she said with a grin as she helped carry their haul into the kitchen. With six hands they emptied the bags, and had the food put away within minutes, except for one bag. Caelen had picked up Chinese food for lunch so no one would have to cook.

  “I wasn’t sure what you liked, so I got a wide selection,” he said, setting out carton after carton on the table.

  The aroma lured Miranda into the kitchen.

  “That smells wonderful,” she said as Sharon set out plates. They served themselves buffet style in the kitchen, and moved to the table in the dining room, some eating with chopsticks, some with forks. There were satisfied sighs as they ate.

  “Thank you, Jonas, and Caelen,” Miranda said as she deftly maneuvered her chopsticks.

  “Our pleasure,” Caelen said. Jonas nodded vigorously; his mouth too full to answer. He looked more relaxed than he had in hours.

  “Have you had any luck?” Sharon said to Miranda as the meal wound down. Miranda set down her chopsticks.

  “Yes and no,” she said as she steepled her index fingers in front of her face. Her eyes were black now and Sharon wondered if that was their natural color.

  “I think I have found a way to fix the situation. B
ut to do it would require going against TPC policy and world law. I’m not sure I can sanction correcting an injustice by committing a crime,” she said reluctantly.

  “What’s the solution?” Sharon asked.

  “We would have to go back in time and change a law,” Miranda said.

  “Aren’t laws made with lots of people standing around arguing about them?” Jonas asked in exasperation. “How do we incorporate ourselves into that kind of situation in history without people rejecting us? Or finding out about time travel? I don’t see how we could get people to do something different than they did?”

  Miranda nodded. “You see the problems clearly. And you can see that the notion is rife with ethical issues.”

  “What law would we have to change?” Sharon asked.

  “Theoretically, we would have to change not one law, but three.”

  Jonas coughed, choking on a kernel of rice he inhaled. Caelen thumped him on the back once and Jonas took a long drink of water.

  “Three?” he croaked after swallowing hard.

  “Yes,” Miranda said, unruffled. “We would need to change a subsection of Proclamation 4 set forth by the World Government Convening of 2126. That proclamation drew on another law, the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights ratified in 1948. We would need to change a subsection of that law, too. Finally, because both laws derive many of their concepts from the Magna Carta in 1215, we would need to change a section of that document.”

  Both Jonas and Caelen stared open-mouthed at Miranda. Sharon’s brow furrowed.

  “What would we have to change in those laws? How are all three connected?” Sharon asked.

  “They are connected by a thread of recognized rights belonging to individuals. My analysis focuses on the rights of debtors included in each law.”

  “Debtors,” Sharon repeated as if she’d not heard Miranda correctly. “Let me get this straight. You’re saying these documents, famous for their advocacy of basic human rights, cover protection from debts?”

  “Of course,” Miranda said before taking another bite of her lunch. “Unfair treatment of debtors is an important human rights issue. You’ve learned of the terrible things human beings do to each other when there are power imbalances, like between who owes and who is owed.”

  Sharon didn’t answer. Everyone at the table knew of the darker facets of human history.

  “If these laws already have provisions for debtors, why do we need to change them?” Jonas asked.

  “We need to strengthen them to make the debtor provisions stronger,” Miranda answered.

  “I don’t understand,” Jonas said. “How does changing laws about debtors correct the timeline?

  “The crisis in 2127 began with an email calling in a debt due, in terrorem, to the gross detriment of the debtors, the planet, and our history. It’s that component that must be changed to eliminate the divergence and restore the timeline. We must change the laws to make it impossible for people to enter into any kind of debt that would result in loss of their liberty, property, or their lives.”

  “But we don’t even know what the debt was, er, is!” Jonas exclaimed.

  “No,” Miranda said. “But we know it was something serious enough to cause a panic. As a rule, people don’t panic unless their lives or security are threatened. By changing the law, we would stop the population from entering into a debt that endangers the world.”

  “And you think tweaking these existing laws will solve the problem,” Sharon said nodding.

  “I recommend we focus on the Magna Carta. Successfully modifying that document would theoretically change the rest of the laws in succession and minimize the ethical violations and the number of shifts we’d have to make,” Miranda said.

  “Like dominoes falling,” Sharon nodded. “How long before the Temporal Protection Corps would know of the change?”

  “The TPC would know almost immediately and it would dispatch agents to investigate.”

  “What you are proposing… it’s impossible. It’s insane!” Caelen had finally found his voice.

  “I agree, there would be many obstacles to success,” Miranda said.

  “Wait, we’re not really considering doing this, are we?” Jonas asked.

  “Director Veta said the mission was to follow Miranda’s plan,” Sharon started.

  “Director Veta was bootstrapping!” Jonas said vehemently. “She said to follow a plan that had already been completed. Don’t you see? That means we don’t have to do it. And if we don’t do it, she won’t need to bootstrap the mission back to us. Then nobody violates policy. That seems like a better plan.”

  “And we would be in the wrong timeline forever,” Caelen said.

  “The TPC will know as soon as we change the Magna Carta. If we can change it,” Jonas said. “We would be violating the Law of Temporal Continuity. They will terminate us from the TPC. And you will never be a full agent,” he said to Sharon.

  Sharon stared at the table. Being a TPC agent meant everything to her. She had not considered that if the mission failed, that dream might be taken away.

  “You’re right. But I don’t want to work for this … dark side TPC. Do you? If you’re terminated you can get another job, right? Isn’t it the principle of the issue?” Sharon asked.

  “You don’t understand,” Jonas said clenching his fists. “Termination is more than just losing a job. The TPC will erase all memories of our time as agents if we’re terminated.”

  “What?” Sharon gasped. She looked to Miranda.

  “It’s a security measure, to protect against accidental divulging of sensitive information,” Miranda explained. “Unfortunately, the process is not precise, and results in a block of memories being removed instead of individual ones. I understand it is a difficult experience. No TPC agent wants to be terminated.”

  There was a long silence.

  “Ok,” Sharon said finally. “The risks are huge. Yes, I might not become an agent. Yes, they may remove my memories. But I think we have to try to return things to the way they were.” She shrugged. “I think it’s worth the risk.”

  “I swore an oath to uphold TPC policies, including the Law of Temporal Continuity. I’m not enthusiastic about doing anything that changes the past, but I agree there is a wrong that must be righted” Miranda said.

  “And you Caelen?”

  He sighed. “I don’t object to the mission,” he started. Jonas rolled his eyes and clicked his tongue. “I worry it might be too complex for just the four of us.”

  Sharon chuckled. “I’m not worried about that. You and I survived a riot, being held at gunpoint, and a bombing in World War II. We make a good team.” She looked at Miranda and Jonas. “All of us make a good team.”

  “I agree,” Miranda said. Caelen nodded in agreement. Sharon looked at Jonas.

  “It’s your decision,” she said. “We’ll understand if you choose to stay behind.”

  He looked even more unhappy at the thought of being left out of the mission. Several emotions Sharon couldn't identify played across his face. Finally, he chuckled.

  “What the hell.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  They used the dining room as their staging area. Mrs. Bower stood in the corner next to the kitchen door as they brainstormed, available to assist if needed. Jonas routinely glanced at her as if to reassure himself that he was doing the right thing.

  “We need the right clothes, the right money, an idea of how to function in society in 1215 - we don’t know how to do any of that,” Jonas said.

  “That’s why we’re here,” Sharon said. “We’ll take as much time as we need to do all the planning before we make the shift.”

  “As I’ve already visited 1215, I can guide us,” Miranda added. “Jonas, you and Caelen are experienced agents which will be invaluable.”

  “I guess I provide the temporal amplifier,” Sharon said with a short laugh. Her expertise on the Chestnut Covin wouldn’t be needed for this mission, which left he
r the task of organizing the details.

  Soon the dining room walls were covered with large sheets of paper on which they recorded their ideas and questions. They made lists of things they would need, such as period clothing and bags for carrying the remote control and Miranda’s tablet computer.

  “Will that work in 1215?” Sharon asked, looking at the tablet. Miranda nodded.

  “Yes. It connects with the temporal mainframe no matter when in time I take it.”

  “Like the temporal amplifier and the remote control,” Sharon nodded.

  “It works on principles of quantum computing and quantum entanglement that were first identified in the late 20th century,” Jonas explained enthusiastically.

  “We can go into that later, Jonas,” Caelen said, heading off a verbal detour. Jonas closed his mouth with a snap but did not appear disturbed by the interruption.

  “Won’t it automatically upload to the temporal mainframe, though?” Sharon continued.

  “Yes, once I access the temporal mainframe, the inquiry will be recorded by the new algorithm Mrs. Bower told us about. But it won’t matter. If we’re successful, the TPC will know what we’ve done as soon as history changes.”

  Miranda was standing next to the page on which they had written their clothing needs.

  “I think the best thing for us to do is to get some of these… what did you call them? Renaissance fair costumes? We’ll use those to start with. They will not be as period accurate as what we’d get from the TPC, but they’ll allow us to not draw attention to ourselves when we shift in. Once in 1215 we can borrow or barter for the correct period clothes.”

  “We’ll need to bring something to carry our, uh, costumes after we get our period clothing,” Caelen said. “We can’t leave anything behind, especially not clothes made by machines from synthetic materials that won’t be available for 800 years.”

  “What will we barter with?” Jonas asked. “We can’t bring items from the future and leave them in the past.”

  “I can help with that,” Miranda said, reaching for the small backpack she carried, pulling out several items. There were several skeins of wool dyed a deep blue, red, green, and a delicate yellow. There was a well-made knife in a leather sheath, and a small wooden box with a tree carved on the top.