A Gulf in Time

by Chris Kennedy

  “Today, however, all of that has changed. Just a couple of days ago, I was 20 light-years from here, an unfathomable distance to travel just a few short years ago, and in an alternate universe. Today all those things are accepted, and if they’re not routine, they’re well on their way to being commonplace. And, as difficult as it might have been to believe some of those things, we’re going to need to stretch our awareness of the universe around us a little further. Just as we had to learn to use the Jinn Universe to overcome the Efreeti and Shaitans, we’re going to have to use another dimension—time—to defeat our new enemy.”

  “I’m sorry,” the vice president said. “Did you just say time? That you’re going to have to use time to defeat our enemy?”

  Calvin nodded. “I did. And while it may seem impossible to you now, remember how impossible it was for an Efreeti to step into our world and detonate a nuclear device in Tashkent. You’d have said that was impossible, too…but we found out to our chagrin that it was very much possible.”

  “Okay,” President Nehru said. “Suppose we’re able to wrap our heads around the concept that using time is possible. How do you intend to use it, and what do you intend to do to save the world? And the galaxy, too, I suppose?”

  “We’ve known for a while, ma’am, that the Shaitan missiles have a time-based component. Somehow, the missiles cause a time bubble, where anything in the area of effect is knocked backward in time about 10 seconds. As ships are usually in motion, sending part of it backward in time has the effect of carving out portions. What we intend to do is build a bubble big enough to take the whole ship back in time, but instead of going backward just 10 seconds, we intend to go back ten or twenty thousand years. Maybe more; we don’t know yet. We’ll go back to the time of the Progenitors, who had a much higher technology level than we currently do, and we will beg, borrow, or steal the equipment and technology we need to defeat the Enemy.”

  Calvin looked around the room. Most of the people’s mouths were hanging open, with looks of complete incomprehension on their faces.

  The president shook her head slightly. “And you seriously think this is possible?”

  “Yes, ma’am, we do.”

  “I have to tell, you, this whole idea is nothing short of mind-boggling.”

  “Mind boggling?” asked the vice president. “It’s lunacy! It’s madness! There’s no way any of this is possible!”

  “Well, actually, it is possible,” Captain Sheppard said from the front row of the stadium seating. “At least, that’s what some of the leading minds seem to think.”

  “And who are these ‘leading minds’ to which you’re referring?”

  “We’ve spoken to a number of leading physicists in the field,” Captain Sheppard replied, “as well as a number of science fiction authors. They all seem to think it’s not only possible for this to work, but they believe it’s actually probable that we can do it.”

  The Speaker of the Council of States, the upper house of the legislative branch, snorted. “Seriously? You’re asking science fiction authors whether time travel is possible? Why not go and ask the preacher on the street corner outside? He probably has as much knowledge of what you’re talking about doing.”

  “Actually, you’re wrong,” Calvin said, eliciting a somewhat dramatic intake of breath from around the auditorium. Calvin knew politicians didn’t like to hear they were incorrect—and most of the ones in the assembly didn’t like him much, anyway—but he knew he needed to nip that in the bud. “Many of the things that are now ‘science fact’ started out as science fiction, and let’s face it—who thinks about the future and future technology more than science fiction writers? The US president has long had a think tank of science fiction writers who advise him; this is no different.”

  The vice president, formerly the vice president of the United States, nodded his agreement. “That much is true.”

  “The human mind is a wondrous thing,” Calvin continued. “Once we conceive of something, we can usually figure out a way to make it happen. The science fiction television shows of the 1970s became the science of the 1990s. Now, we just have to take the next step. Both scientists and science fiction authors have long believed time travel was possible—in fact, the concept of ‘time’ is often called the fourth dimension—and we’ve already been shown how to do it by the Shaitans. We only need to make a few improvements to the technology, and we ought to be able to do it.”

  “But it would seem most of this is speculative, and there are so many things that must be done in order to make this technology a reality,” the president noted. “Then you have to figure out where and when you want to go. Then you have to go there, get the technology, and return. And all this has to be done in…what did you say? Two months? That doesn’t seem possible.”

  “Well, yes ma’am, there are a lot of things we have to do, but not all of those have to take place in a linear fashion. As much as we can tell, all we need to do is actually leave on our journey through time before the Enemy comes here and destroys us. If we can do that, we have the ability to move through time and accomplish the things we need to do, and then get back here in time to save the world.”

  “That’s another thing,” the vice president said. “You’ve talked about going back in time. You even have a piece of technology—the Shaitan missiles—that will hopefully show us how that can be made to work. I have a simple question. How will you get back?”

  Calvin couldn’t meet his eyes. “We will…uh…have to reverse engineer the technology. Somehow. We aren’t entirely sure how that’s going to work, but we already have people trying to figure it out. To be honest, we’re still working on it. At least that doesn’t have to be completed in the next two months.”

  “I seem to be missing something,” said the Speaker for the lower house, the House of the People. “You’re going back to get advanced technology from the Progenitors to use to beat the Enemy. Is this correct?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Calvin replied.

  “Didn’t the Progenitors also fight the Enemy? And didn’t they lose to them? What makes you think the technology exists that will allow us to defeat the Enemy, even if you’re able to do all the things you just said you’re going to do?”

  “Well…some of that is correct. The Progenitors and the Enemy did exist at the same time, and the Enemy was responsible for the eradication of the Progenitors. With that said, ma’am, the Progenitors didn’t believe in fighting and didn’t have a standing military. When the Enemy attacked, they were unable to defend themselves and were forced to flee. We believe, if we can get there prior to the Enemy arriving, we can warn them about what’s coming and help them defeat the Enemy then. Failing that, we’ll bring their technology back and use it ourselves to defeat the Enemy in the here and now.”

  “Can you do that, though?” the vice president asked. “Can you fight them in the past and win? Wouldn’t that be changing history and changing the timeline as we know it?”

  “Well, yes sir, it would…” This was another subject he wasn’t comfortable discussing, especially in public, for a number of reasons. “We’re discussing the implications of changing history, too. There are many physicists and science fic—other people who believe we won’t be able to change history. Whatever happened before will still continue to happen, and we’ll be stymied in changing it. If so, we should still be able to bring back the technology needed to fight the Enemy now.”

  The vice president looked like he’d swallowed something distasteful. “What if the reason you can’t change history is as soon as you get there, something destroys the ship. What if you run into the Enemy as soon as you go back, and that’s why nothing changes?”

  “Well, I—”

  The president cut him off by raising her hand. “That’s enough hypothetical talk,” she said. “With this many items of uncertainty, we could ‘what if’ the plan for the next two weeks and be no closer to a solution—we’d only be closer to our ultimate destruction.” The president
pursed her lips. “So, let me see if I have all this correct. You’re going to take your ship and go back in time through a process you don’t understand yet, get a technology you aren’t sure exists from people who may not want to give it to you, return here through some manner yet to be determined, and defeat an enemy who hasn’t been defeated in all the millennia the galaxy has existed, at least as far as we know. Does that about sum it up?”

  Calvin gave her a wan smile. “Yes, ma’am. I think that’s pretty much what we’re going to have to do.” He laughed to himself. At least he didn’t have to mention the dragons and really make it sound farfetched.

  The president looked to Captain Sheppard. “That’s a pretty tall order.”

  “Yes, ma’am, it is.” The captain looked like a man with the weight of the world on his shoulders, and one who was not entirely sure he could bear the load.

  “And do you think the plan, as Lieutenant Commander Hobbs has laid it out, is achievable?”

  “Honestly, ma’am, no, I don’t.” There was a collective intake of breath from the audience, as many realized even their slim hope for survival had just been taken away from them. “There are too many unknowns, and the time frame for achieving all these different goals is far too narrow,” the captain continued.

  He held up a hand as many members in the audience and at the front table started muttering. “Still, we’ve been in an awful lot of situations where the future looked bleak, and this man right here found a way to pull us back out of them again. If there’s any way all this can be done, this is the man who can do it.” He shrugged. “And, as near as I can tell, this is our only hope. If we don’t do these things—if we can’t do them—we’re likely to be destroyed by the Enemy, one way or the other. This is the only plan that gives us any chance of survival; we must pursue this course of action.”

  The president nodded. “We haven’t always trusted the crew of the Vella Gulf, yet somehow you’ve always managed to beat the odds and come back to us with the victory. I hope you can do so again this time…I really do.” She looked at the head of Fleet Command. “I’m sure you’ll give them all the support they need?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Good. After you do, please come see me. We need to begin planning for what happens if this doesn’t work out as well as Captain Sheppard hopes.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  She turned back to Captain Sheppard. “We have more to talk about here, but nothing that will postpone what you need to do. Get started and bring us back another win.”

  * * *

  CO’s Conference Room, TSS Vella Gulf, Earth Orbit

  “All right,” the CO said, looking around at his department heads and their key players. “We have 57 days. How are we going to accomplish what we need to in that time?”

  “It’s not going to be easy,” Calvin said. “We need to go to Grrrnow and talk to the emperor, then we need to get at least one of the Shaitan missiles and figure out what makes it tick, and then build a time machine. Oh, and we also have to find the dragon home world and talk to them to figure out where we’re supposed to be going. And when.”

  “Okay, well, at least the first one is easy. We know where the 61 Virginis system is and how to get there. Is there any reason we’re not headed there right now?” He looked around the table. Most of the people shook their heads. The others just looked lost.

  “We have almost everything we need,” the supply officer replied after consulting with some of his people over his implants. “There are two personnel shuttles heading up to us to fill out our rosters, but they can join us as we head toward the stargate; the shuttles have the legs to get there and back. The last of the replacement Viper space fighters are also en route; they’ll get here before the shuttles.”

  “Good,” the CO said with a nod. “Solomon, please liaise with the helmsman and lay in a course for Grrrnow, best speed possible, and execute when ready.”

  “We expected you would ask for this,” the AI replied. “It is planned, prepared, and,” there was a slight jump as the ship’s motors went to power, before the inertial compensators nulled it out, “executed. We are en route to Grrrnow, best speed, while still giving the shuttles time to catch us and unload before we reach the stargate.”

  “Very well,” the CO replied.

  “One question,” Solomon said. “If we do not slow down going through the stargates, anyone in those systems will know we are passing through. Is this acceptable?”

  “Yes, it is. Those systems should all be held by friendlies or unoccupied. We’ll keep our speed up and make the journey as quickly as possible.”

  “Aye, aye, sir.”

  Captain Sheppard smiled. “See? That was easy. First task completed. What’s next?”

  “Getting one or more of the Shaitan missiles is going to be the first chore,” Calvin said. “It’s also a sine qua non; if we don’t get some of them, none of this is going to be possible. I say ‘some’ because having multiple missiles will give us more opportunities for experimentation. We brought on a science team of some physicists to help with this, but none of them can really do much until we show them the guts of one of those things.”

  “Okay,” the CO said. “So how are we going to get them?”

  “Well, we could run around the Jinn Universe looking for a Shaitan ship we can board, or we could go straight to Bad Guy Central and assault the Dark Star system again. Maybe with friends, maybe without. Grrrnow is on the way, so at least we’re already headed that way…”

  “Doesn’t sound like you’re a fan of that plan.”

  “No, I’m really not. It’s a long way, and we don’t know how much they’ll have reconstituted their force there…there’s just a lot of things that could go wrong.”

  “I have an idea,” Solomon said. “In the Battle for Golirion, there were a number of Shaitan vessels that were destroyed. There have to be some missiles in the debris fields. Golirion is much closer than the Dark Star, and while it may take a little bit of searching, I believe it’s possible to find what we’re looking for there, especially if we use the Vipers to search.”

  “There ought to be large pieces of some of their ships,” Steropes agreed. “If we start with the big pieces, we might get lucky and find one with missiles still onboard.”

  “Let’s do that,” Captain Sheppard said. “Solomon, I imagine you can help with the search pattern on that.”

  “Indeed, Captain. My sensors may be able to identify what sections of the ship the pieces are from. A bow section would be the most likely piece to still have them in it.”

  “Outstanding,” the captain said. “See? Look at all the progress we’re making.” He looked at Calvin. “What next?”

  “Once we have them onboard, Lieutenant Bradford can begin analyzing them, along with the science team, and hopefully they can figure out how they work. The problem is going to be how to get the power we need to activate them.”

  Captain Sheppard waved his hand as if the matter was of no consequence. “I have the power requirements figured out,” he said. “Don’t worry about that aspect. What else do we need?”

  “Well, once we have the technology figured out, it’s just a matter of determining how far back in time we need to go. We don’t even need to wait for them to figure out the technology; once we’ve got the missiles, we can make the trip to the home world of the dragons—”

  “Do we know where that is?” the XO asked.

  “—but we’ll have to get the information on where that actually is from the Aesir.” Calvin shook his head. “No, sir, we don’t know where the dragons’ home world is. When we defeated the Efreeti, we had to run back to Earth. The Aesir were going to take the dragon Lieutenant Knaus met back to her world. Well, actually, they were going to take her to the planet in our universe that matched up with her world, as she was actually from the Jinn Universe. Once on that planet, Bordraab—that was the dragon’s name—was going to use a device to teleport over to her universe.”

&
nbsp; “That should be easy enough,” Captain Sheppard said. “Since we’re already going to Golirion, we can ask there, get the missiles, and then go to the dragons’ home world once we have them. As long as the dragons’ home world isn’t too far, we should have plenty of time to get there in time. It all seems fairly simple.”

  “I know,” Calvin replied. “That’s what worries me.”

  * * *

  Armory, TSS Vella Gulf, Transiting Vulpecula 452 System

  “That’s a lot of damn boxes, sir,” Master Chief said, looking at the containers cluttering the armory. “What exactly have you got for us?”

  “Good stuff from Department X,” Lieutenant Bill Bradford said excitedly. “While we’ve been gone, they’ve been updating equipment to standardize it across the fleet, and we’re the first recipients of the new gear.”

  He opened one of the long containers and pulled out a rifle. The black weapon had a glossy look that reflected the lights in the armory. “First, new weapons. Before, you had two separate weapons for lasers and grenade launchers; this combines them in one handy rifle.”

  “That shines to high heaven and is going to get the attention of any enemy within 10 miles,” Master Chief grumbled. “Couldn’t you get it in something a little more matte?”

  “Sorry, the guys in the department thought it looked cool,” Bradford said with sad, puppy dog eyes. “I thought it did, too. They sent the patterns, though, so I guess we could have the replicator onboard remanufacture it with an anti-reflective coating…”

  “That would be great, sir,” Master Chief replied, biting back his internal monologue on weapons being produced by people who weren’t trigger pullers. Bradford was a good guy, after all, just a little too enamored with the new technology sometimes. “So, uh, how does it work?”

  “Oh! That’s the really cool part,” Bradford said, getting excited again. “It’s a lot like the legacy firearms that had a rifle with an under-mounted grenade launcher. It’s got the laser on the top that fires a lot like the lasers you used to have, but it also has capability of the trident antimatter grenade launchers you used to have.” He turned the rifle so Master Chief could see the side. “See? Here’s the dial to set the size of the blast, just like you used to have on the trident.”