by E W Barnes
“I knew your grandmother,” Jonas said as he began the discussion.
Jonas Fernley started by explaining how the TPC had detected the fluctuations in the 20th century timeline and assigned Agent Winters.
They discussed her finding of her grandmother’s message in the crawlspace, the articles in the strongbox, and her grandmother’s holographic message. Caelen talked about contacting Sharon, moving the bookcases, and helping her find the strongbox. There he stopped. After the shift caused by Kevin’s attack in Sharon’s apartment he was in the timeline, he did not remember.
From then on, it was Sharon’s story.
◆◆◆
She told the story in order of how it had happened, with only a few questions asked to help clarify issues. She left out the kiss she and Caelen shared in the park in London and omitted their growing closeness or the evening they shared in the library.
They talked about the goals of the changes in the timeline, the theory of promoting the Soviet Union while causing the rapid shift anomaly to limit or eliminate all other usable temporal amplifiers.
“What was the end goal?” Director Veta asked the group.
At this point Jonas shifted in his seat.
“I think I might know.”
He activated the audio-visual technology wall. The windows became an opaque gray, still letting light in and dimming the room enough that the visual projected on the wall was easier to see.
The image was of a timeline in multiple colors with lines and arrows stretching off in various directions. Jonas waived his hand to move the timeline forward and backward, to enlarge one section or decrease focus on another. He pinpointed 1989 and then enlarged the section.
“As you can see, in the current timeline - the one Sharon restored - the Soviet Union dissolved in 1989 after five years of ‘glasnost’ or openness with the west. The bulk of the Soviet Union became the Russian Federation.
“The Russian Federation was conceived as a democracy, not dissimilar to its former rival the United States, with multiple parties, an elected president, and three main branches of government. However, within decades of glasnost, the overlay of democracy of the country was more a facade, and the government was in the hands of a few billionaires who ran the country behind the scenes as a kind of oligarchy.
“Eventually, one charismatic billionaire eliminated his rivals. The result was that within 200 years after the overthrow of the tzars another hereditary monarchy existed if not in name. It wasn’t until we established global governance that the power of that monarchy-in-reality ceased to exist.”
“How long ago was that?” Sharon asked.
“75 years ago,” Jonas answered.
“Recent enough that family who remembered the ‘monarchy years,’ so to speak, might still be alive,” Chausiku added.
“Yes,” Jonas nodded. “They invited several members of the family to sit on the Temporal Policy Committee, and they were the most vocal in opposition to foundational tenets of current policy.”
“Oh, let me guess,” Sharon said. “They joined the Chestnut Covin.”
“They were founding members, in fact,” Jonas answered.
“The goal of the Chestnut Covin is to use time travel to personal advantage, right?”
“That’s correct,” the Director nodded.
“And that was the argument made by members of this monarchy family which the Temporal Policy Committee rejected.”
“Yes.”
“And now we have the Chestnut Covin trying to change the 20th century, to make the Soviet Union stronger. That would have resulted in a complete change of policy, perhaps even governance in the future… uh, now,” Sharon said. “Somehow they determined that a stronger Soviet Union in the 20th century would lead to a greater position of power when the time came to develop temporal policy in the 23rd.”
Everyone around her was smiling.
“An excellent analysis,” Jonas said.
“Yes,” Director Veta said. “I think we’ve made a good decision.”
“What decision?”
“The Temporal Protection Corps considered the Chestnut Covin to be a philosophical group, lobbying for changes to temporal protection policy with the global government, and mostly keeping to itself.
“Things have changed, now. The Chestnut Covin has taken action, dangerous action. We must prevent any more attempts to change the timeline,” she smiled again. “We would like you to work for the Temporal Protection Corps.”
“You mean like an agent?”
“Assigned to the 21st century. If you accept, you will be our on-the-ground expert on the Chestnut Covin.”
“Expert! How can I be an expert on something that doesn’t even exist yet in my time?”
The Director laughed. “A good question! But you have had more interaction with members of the Chestnut Covin than anyone in this room - probably more than anyone in the Temporal Protection Corps. You’ve seen first-hand how they operate. And you’ve shown insight and understanding of how they think. Given the opportunity, you are the best person to estimate what they might try to do next.”
Sharon didn’t know what to say. She wanted to ask Caelen what he thought but the relationship she remembered, where she trusted his advice and counsel, no longer existed except in her memory.
“May I have time to think it over?”
“Yes, of course. Please take your time.”
◆◆◆
They spent the rest of the meeting trying to answer Sharon’s questions. It perplexed the group they had no answers on the identity of the person in the dining room of the house when Sharon left 1933; or who owned the house before Sharon’s grandparents; or where Lloyd had gone after he left the house when she hid in the crawlspace.
"Kevin said someone recruited Lloyd while he was in prison. That means there was a third person involved, also likely a member of the Chestnut Covin.”
Director Veta nodded. “Determining the identity of the third person will be one of your primary responsibilities if you accept the job.” Then she looked around the group.
“Is there anything else? No? Very well. On behalf of the Temporal Protection Corps, thank you, Sharon.”
While the Director, Yorga, and Chausiku left after both thanking her again, Miranda, Jonas and Caelen stayed back. Miranda gave her a small packet.
“This is more information on the job offer, including what kind of training you will need, what the work will look like from your perspective in the 21st century, what the rules and policies are, etc. It also includes instructions on how to reach me whenever you need anything.”
“Plus, if you take the job, we will work together,” Jonas said. “I can tell you great stories about your grandmother’s time with the TPC.”
“Just so long as they don’t change the timeline,” Caelen said. He met Sharon’s eyes and held them. For a moment it was as if he shared her memories of their time together.
“We can send you home anytime you’re ready,” Miranda said, and the moment was gone.
◆◆◆
Sharon asked for a tour of the building, and Miranda was happy to oblige, and Sharon was sorry that Caelen, along with Jonas, said goodbye before the tour had started.
“I hope I get to see you again,” they each said as they shook her hand.
As the tour progressed Sharon recognized she was stalling again, because she was hoping to see Caelen one more time, and because she had already decided about the job as a TPC agent. Waiting until the end of the tour seemed like a good amount of time to have “thought about it.”
“What do I need to do to accept the job?” she asked when they entered the atrium again. Miranda grinned.
“I had the paperwork all filled out, just in case.” She held out her clipboard which was a kind of computer touch screen. After Sharon pressed her thumbprint and scanned her iris, Miranda said she was all set.
“We will send the details of the next steps to your Temporal Amplifier Holographic Interface and
Security Program.”
Then, pulling out a device that looked like a sleek temporal amplifier remote control, Miranda sent Sharon home to the 21st century.
◆◆◆
Mrs. Bower was waiting for her in the library when she shifted in.
“Well? Did you accept the job?”
Sharon laughed. “Yes, I did.”
“Excellent. Oh, I am getting an update now. You have your first agent training with Agent Winters on October 19.”
“2204 right?”
“That’s right. And your parents left a message - they’d like to have dinner with you this weekend if you’re available.”
Sharon eased the bookcases back against the wall to the place where they had stood like sentinels her entire life.
“Of course, I am available, Mrs. Bower. I am the keeper of a time machine.”
THE END
The story is continued in Book 2 of the Temporal Protection Corps series
“Borrowed Time - The Force Majeure”
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Author Notes
After years of writing specialized non-fiction too esoteric to discuss, I felt the call to write fiction. It was a call I’d ignored for years, after putting aside deeply embarrassing Star Wars fan fiction, tapped out in the depths of time on a Royal typewriter with a sticky backspace key.
It made sense to start slowly, to ease my way back into fiction writing, a few short pieces here, select scene writing there. Then came a writing prompt instructing me to describe a crawlspace.
Poof!
The entire story for “Biding Time: The Chestnut Covin” blossomed into being. Going slowly was no longer an option.
I hoped to write something fun, something I would enjoy—a book I would read relaxing by the pool, or in bed before falling asleep, one that would keep me (and others) entertained and turning pages.
That goal starts with (hopefully) a good story, but it doesn’t end there. There are many steps between crafting an idea and hitting “publish,” and those steps involve a lot of wonderful people.
One of those wonderful people is Diane L. Barnes, who rigorously combed through drafts with her eagle-eyed grammatical skills.
Another is Geoff Le Pard, author of the thriller “My Father and Other Liars” (geofflepard.com). His keen interest, terrific ideas, and hilarious intercontinental brainstorming were invaluable.
Thanks also go to Shawn Inmon, author of the "Middle Falls" time travel series (on Facebook at ShawnInmonWriter), for his support and feedback.
Many, many thanks go to my amazing cover artist, Tony Lazio, who patiently and beautifully responded to each and every suggestion and tweak to produce covers that I love.
Most importantly, deep thanks go to my family, who were unwavering in their enthusiasm and encouragement.
Thank you especially to my spouse, who serves as my muse, and my offspring, who serves as my scientific think tank.
About the Author
“Biding Time: The Chestnut Covin” is the debut novel of E. W. Barnes, an adult human with a family and a hyper dog, nicknamed “Princess” for all the reasons you can imagine. They live together in relative harmony in the Range of Light.
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