A Time To Every Purpose

by Ian Andrew

  “Oh, nice. Are you coming to do something else to me?” she winked at him, “I’d quite like that, although naughty Heinrich. Leigh will be upset.”

  He was a bit taken aback and knew he was reddening under her observation. He managed to say, slightly unconvincingly, “What do you mean Leigh?”

  “Oh come on, if you two aren’t fucking, you should be. Really, you should see how het up she is for you.” She laughed lightly and blew him an over vamped kiss.

  He tried to regain a little composure, “Quit it. The camera’s out because I have a proposition for you.”

  “I know; you want to proposition me.”

  “Mary,” he said with an exasperated tone, “shut up and listen. I want you to come with me.”

  “A caring lover as well, how cute,” she interrupted.

  “Enough! I’m trying to tell you I’m getting you out of here. Are you interested or shall I just leave?” he said bluntly and watched as her eyes concentrated on him.

  “Okay, go on.”

  “You and I are leaving. We’re not going far but I need you to buy us some time. If it all works out you get to walk away. If it goes badly you get to go down fighting. Fighting hard.”

  “So option A is a life on the run and option B is death in a firefight? Your sales patter needs to improve.”

  “Option A is a different life. A new Mary, not on the run.”

  “Okay, that’s better. Option B still sucks.”

  “There is Option C.”

  “Which is?” she asked, looking interested.

  “Sunday at dawn, you, a post and a well drilled, fully formed up, military firing squad of ten rifles pointing at you.”

  “See, your patter is improving. Let’s go.”

  Heinrich slid the bag over to her. “One last thing,” he said.

  “Yeah?”

  “I’m going to take your cuffs off and then you need to change into the clothes you were wearing when we brought you in. If between now and when we get to where we’re going you decide to do something strange and unusual I will drop you as quick as look at you. I know your skills are probably good and you think they’re probably better than they are. But trust me Mary. You do not want to try me. Are we clear?” he watched her and for the first time she really looked at him. Not in a superficial way but she appraised him properly. She scanned him from head to toe and back again. Then she settled on his face and then his eyes. He stood calmly waiting for her to finish and stared straight back. They held eye contact but this wasn’t the light kick and flutter that he got when he looked at Leigh. This was two quite cold and, when need be, ruthless people looking at the measure of one another.

  “Fair enough,” she said and offered her wrists up over the cot end. He stepped forward, unlocked the cuffs and stepped back. She stood, kicked off the thin, flat pump shoes and with no embarrassment unzipped the front of the prison issue jumpsuit and let it fall to the ground. Heinrich didn’t flinch but couldn’t help look and admire the shape of the woman in front of him. She wore only the plain, white, prison issue underwear and yet looked better than the models on any Berlin or Parisian catwalk.

  “Last chance Heinrich, take me now and I’ll not say a thing to anyone. Would you like me on my knees or on my back?”

  He just shook his head and smiled at her, “Can’t say you’re not persistent. Get dressed and let’s get going.”

  She gave a dramatic sigh and pointed to herself, “You’ll never know now, will ya?” and began to pull on her jeans.

  When she had finished dressing he stepped outside of the cell, turned left and came face to face with Peter Vogel.

  Chapter 53

  Both men stopped abruptly and Heinrich held his hand out and down to stop Mary from coming out into the corridor.

  “Standartenführer, what’s going on?”

  “Nothing of concern Peter. New rules from Berlin.” He paused, “What brings you down here?”

  “I was passing the control centre and noticed the camera in her cell was out again.” Heinrich watched Peter lean slightly to look around him. From the look in his eyes it was obvious he had seen Mary dressed in non-prison issue. Heinrich also saw his right hand rise slightly towards the waist holster he wore.

  “I’m sorry but you can’t move the prisoner Sir. We’ve received no authority to move her. I haven’t seen any RF108,” Peter said, referring to the official custody transfer form.

  As Heinrich was about to make something else up, he sensed Mary move from behind him and come around his right hand side. He watched Peter’s eyes follow her movement and could see his hand beginning to reach for his pistol. Heinrich felt a shove on his right shoulder as Mary pushed him to his left. As he momentarily lost balance he saw that Peter’s eyes again followed the movement and his head half turned to look at Heinrich’s stumble. That small distraction meant he didn’t see the vicious, downward scythe of a straight right that Mary delivered directly into his left temple. She had at least a fifteen centimetre height advantage over the young SS officer and that extra potential energy was turned into devastating kinetic force. Peter’s head snapped away from the blow and his right temple hit and ricocheted off the corridor wall. He stayed upright for a teasing moment and then collapsed straight down, folding into a flopped heap at Heinrich’s feet.

  “Talking’s way overrated,” she said.

  “Bloody hell, I was only going to manoeuvre him into the cell.”

  “Yeah, well he was getting twitchy. What were you going to do, shove him like kids in a schoolyard? In my experience as soon as you realise that it’s going to go physical, then the only thing to do is to land the first one. Do it straight away while the other guy’s still thinking about building up his courage.”

  “You can be a vicious bitch can’t you?”

  “Ah stop complaining. Would have been even better if you’d given me a gun. I wouldn’t have bruised my knuckles.” She winked at him.

  They both dragged the unconscious Peter into the cell and Mary used the discarded jumpsuit to fashion a makeshift gag. They put his hands behind his back and secured them with the cuffs that had previously been on Mary. As they went to leave Heinrich stopped and turned back, taking Vogel’s Fone and keys.

  “Here, you’ll need this,” he said as he handed her the Fone and then led her to the equipment lockers in the administration spine of the building. He opened the main armoury locker using his own scan card and retrieved a double zipped holdall. She held it open whilst he put in four Sturmgewehr S-98s, the latest design variant of the Schmeisser Company’s assault weapon. Then he grabbed twenty loaded magazines along with a dozen boxes of unopened ammunition. He dumped all of this into the bag before adding his own holster and sidearm to the collection.

  As he went to shut the door Mary said, “Hey, if we’re shopping, stick a couple of the Glock-46s in please.”

  Heinrich did as she asked and threw in a set of twelve preloaded magazines for the pistols as well. He then used Peter’s keys and opened up a double locker at the end of the row. It was filled with cold weather jackets, waterproofs and odd remnants of uniform. A couple of field caps, a forage cap, a pair of high leg combat boots, a half dozen belted holsters and a couple of combat smocks and jackets.

  “Grab a combat jacket and do your best to look like your wearing uniform,” he said to her.

  “Where are we off to?”

  “Across the car park, to the Todt Labs.”

  “I need a jacket and four assault rifles to storm a nerdy bunch of geeks?”

  “Not quite. We’re going to walk past a Wehrmacht security point of access. Then you’re going to be my shield so I can finish what I’m doing.”

  “And what are you doing?”

  “We’re just talking to some people,” he said vaguely.

  “Yeah, who’s we and who’re you talking to?”

  “Leigh and I and another scientist called Franci. We’re talking to a few people that can alter the course of the Reich. I’d love to br
ief you but we don’t have the time.” He zipped up the now heavy holdall and awkwardly slung it over his shoulder as he walked up the corridor toward the entrance doors. Mary stood still.

  “Nah, don’t think so,” she called after him.

  He turned and stopped a few metres from her. “What are you doing?”

  “I’m not going till you tell me what the fuck I’m risking my already dead arse on.”

  “We haven’t got time Mary.”

  “Yeah, we do, cos no explanation, no me. So you have time. Talk to me.”

  He drew a breath, “Fine. This is the potted version. You said you wanted a vengeful God. What happens if Jesus wasn’t as believed as He’d been? You’d still have the old God of the Old Book. They wouldn’t all have joined together. So then there would be Jesus and His followers and maybe the next prophet wouldn’t have united with Him because he wouldn’t be the only ministry. Then the next and the next and finally the Last Prophet. All of them would have their own followers. There would never be complete harmony. There would be conflict throughout the last two thousand years and a need to continue to have military forces. That would mean that the complete and utter victory of the Reich might not have happened.”

  “Yeah, all interesting and all the sort of stuff we talked about before. I seem to remember you saying it was a shame we couldn’t go back and tell him to be less Jesus-like or something like that.”

  “Yeah, I did. Well, I knew something you didn’t. The geeky nerds came up with a way to look back in time and communicate if needed. We can do what you suggested.”

  “Ha-ha, very good. Now, tell me the real reason,” she said sarcastically.

  “That is the reason. Mary, you suggested it and we’re able to do it.”

  “Aw fuck off! Tell me the real reason or I’m going back into my cell.”

  “You do what you like but give me half an hour. If you still think it’s bullshit I’ll drive you into London myself and you can run. My word on it.”

  She looked like she was about to dismiss him and the whole idea when he said, “Mary, you said that you were sorry for shooting Thomas Dunhill. You said you wanted to make it up to him. You told me Thomas said you were God’s instrument. Well, guess what, he was right. This is your last chance to be brilliant and to do good.”

  She dropped her gaze to the floor.

  “I know every man that has come into your life has hurt you in one way or another. Most have promised much and delivered little and most have betrayed you and shattered your ability to trust. But please, please, trust one to be different. It was your suggestion that started Leigh and I onto this path. Your suggestion that’s put us where we are now, please, come with me.”

  “Because you’re the one I should trust?”

  “No! No, not me. Him! Yeshua, Jesus. He’s already spoken your name. He knows of you in our conversations. He’s the one to trust.”

  Heinrich didn’t know if it was his tone of voice or the look on his face but whatever the reason, Mary said, “You’re serious. You’ve either done this for real or you’re so crazy you think you’ve done it?”

  “We’ve done it. Come see.”

  “Is this all just a ruse to walk me into a trap, shot whilst escaping?”

  “Why would I do that? If I want you shot I can wait till Sunday.” He glanced at his watch. It was time to force the issue. “Mary, I don’t have time. I need to protect Leigh and Franci. Come with me or don’t but it’s decision time.” He opened the holdall, fished out a Glock pistol and a magazine and set them on the ground. “Here. You’ll need these either way. Good luck.” He turned and walked off, wondering if he would hear the click of the magazine being pushed home. He kept walking and said a quick prayer for her not to use the Glock. As he reached the door separating the corridor from the entrance foyer she still had not moved, nor fired.

  He opened the door and was about to let it swing shut when she called, “Okay, okay. Wait up.” She lifted the pistol and magazine and jogged up to join him.

  Heinrich briefed her on the layout of the above ground entrance to the ‘Jewel’ and told her how the Tubes worked. He gave her the security detail’s card that Leigh had given him. They passed through with no hassle from any of the guards. His rank certainly helped and the fact she was dressed in what, at first glance, looked like a Special Forces mix of military and civilian attire meant that no one from the Wehrmacht detail got close to asking them any questions. The inner door from the rubber walkway was likewise opened with no hesitation. The duty guard saluted Heinrich and couldn’t help but look at Mary as she walked a few paces behind. She made fleeting eye contact with him but nearly stared through him with hard eyes. He blanched under his forage cap and blonde hair. By the time they were passing the entrance to the Oscar Lab she knew what was going to be expected of her and had programmed a speed dial for Heinrich into Peter Vogel’s Fone.

  He walked her into the briefing room at the end of the corridor and sat her in a front seat whilst he accessed a small computer terminal marked with an official ‘Geheime Reichssache’ tag. He pulled up a file and pressed play. The room’s secondary display screen lit up with the official digital record of the Thule team looking at the Projection of Mary Reid killing Uwe Joyce. The official commentary of the material had been added by Sturmmann Hannah Tensfeld.

  Ten minutes later Heinrich left a thoroughly stunned, yet wholly convinced, Mary at the front of the Oscar Lab with the zipper bag and he went back to the High Powered Laser Lab, ringing Leigh on the way.

  Chapter 54

  “How’s it going?”

  “Good, we’ve probably got another five to ten minutes left before we can run it back up. What have you been up to?”

  “That’s was quick,” he said as he ignored her question. He followed her through the lab and the automatic doors that led to the small hallway.

  “I told you Franci was a good practical engineer.” Leigh slid the heavy manual doors open and they re-entered the Thule Room. Francine was standing at the entrance to the Ringroom.

  “Hey soldier boy. What’ve you been up to whilst we’ve been redesigning the most complex piece of hardware in the history of the Reich?”

  “He won’t tell me,” Leigh said, showing that she hadn’t missed his earlier avoidance.

  “Reading comics mainly,” he said and shrugged at her, “So Franci, Leigh tells me you’re making good progress. Not bad for a Canadian I guess?”

  “Yes, I know, fuck you very much.” Francine flicked a middle finger at him.

  “Loving your work,” he said and winked at Leigh.

  “Okay, a bit of focus? We’ve got to get back to this. Do you need anything?” Leigh asked him.

  “Access to the satellite database,” he answered and both of them pointed to a console.

  “We already logged you in, it’s all yours.” And with that they went back to their work.

  Heinrich called up the satellite imagery of the area he hoped was correct. He tried to correlate the current day imagery with the Roman surveyor’s maps but it wasn’t easy. He knew that most old temples and monuments had been eradicated by the Reich’s architectural cleansing program. Speer had been tasked by the founding Fuhrer to ensure each capital city had a fitting tribute to the Reich and he further tasked him with eradicating any churches that could be used as rallying points for dissenters. But towns hadn’t changed position, or the roads that led to them. It took him a little time but he found the road to Jericho and on it, at the foot of the Mount of Olives and across a valley from where Jerusalem’s temple would have been, was the old outline of a vineyard and potentially what could have been a garden. Comparing the features of the image to the markings on his copied map he noted down what he hoped would be the correct coordinates. He also double checked the dates and times that he had worked out and then he sat still and waited.

  Either he was going to be told that the TOW was ready to work again or he was going to get a call from Professor Wolfgang Faber. As it wa
s, both things happened within seconds of each other.

  As soon as he saw Faber’s name on the Fone display he terminated the call. He knew it wouldn’t buy him very long but the more confusion he could generate the better. Another minute and the Fone rang again.

  “Professor?”

  “Yes! Where are you and Leigh and Francine?”

  “We’re not coming Professor. It’s for the right reasons.” And he terminated the call again. He then rang Peter Vogel’s Fone.

  “Mary, go do it.”

  “On it.”

  The door from the Ringroom opened behind him.

  “We’re all set Heinrich,” Leigh said.

  “Good. Before we start I need to let you know what’s about to happen.” He briefed them quickly but didn’t mention Mary’s involvement.

  “Who’s out there helping us?” asked Francine.

  “Just a favour I called in.” Before they could ask any more he said, “We better get started.”

  ***

  Professor Wolfgang Faber had been a fervent Nazi as a young man. Born in Munich, still regarded as the home of the Party, he had excelled in the Hitler Youth. A crack shot and, rather surprisingly when compared to the shape he was now, a good athlete. But, it was for his scientific studies that he had been recognised by the Reich. He still remembered with immense pride how, on his fourteenth birthday, he had been awarded the Fatherland’s Science Scholarship by the Founding Führer himself.

  But, his zeal for fascism had faded somewhat over the years. As friends and colleagues had fallen foul of the regime he had become quite disillusioned with the never-ending oppression and control that the State wielded. Nonetheless, at his deep core, he was still loyal, still a Party member of some standing and still held the significant SS rank of Gruppenführer. He had been and continued to be fiercely patriotic and intensely protective of his Nation.

  Wolfgang also knew that he was disorganised and dishevelled yet only in the things that he never considered important. In the scientific realm or in areas that interested him he had a sharp and focussed intellect. He was, in all measurements, a true genius with a speed of thought second to none and matched by a mere few in the history of theoretical science. It was this precise Wolfgang that considered the potential ramifications of what his scientists were up to in the Oscar Lab. He was convinced now that Leigh and Francine, influenced by their great respect for Konrad Lippisch, had decided to use the Time Observation Window to go back and change events. He had no idea how they had convinced Heinrich but he surmised they had not explained what the consequences might be. It was time to put this to an end and there was no more leeway for informal approaches. He just hoped he would be able to save Leigh and Francine from a firing squad.