Naffi let out a long sigh. During the travel a meal was eaten and sleep obtained. The trio returned to the lab as the station came to a halt.
Reno said, “I'm ready.”
The bio-links were inserted and the clone slipped into the pod. Minutes later, the screeching sound of space-time being ripped open had Reno's clone standing in 1802 France. Monies and resources that had been put in place before were used to finance a set of factories in Antwerp that would produce ten thousand depth-charges and pack them away in a separate warehouse for later use. After a brief discussion of events as they were played back for the others, the Reno cloned self-terminated.
After another move, Naffi returned from Bouthis's former lab with his new clone. The clone was soon running the streets of New York after coming to rest in an apartment rented by Vara's clone the week before.
Naffi sat up as Reno and Vara disconnected sensors. “Well done Vara. Clothing, money, and food were waiting for me.”
Reno looked at the display. “You were only there for a day?”
“Yes. And I would suggest we make the download of the archive and begin our move immediately.”
“What happened?”
Naffi sat in front of the display console. “I went out into the streets and scraped together two groups of unemployed ruffians. I then gathered materials to set a blaze. One group of ruffians were paid to start a riot at the entrance to Marwal's complex. I escorted the other group around to the side where three separate fires were set.”
Vara said, “The archival download is complete.”
Naffi typed on the console. “Good. Now we leave. I believe I may have been captured.”
Reno pulled back. “What?”
“We set the fires and saw to it they got off to a roaring start. As we turned to flee, a group of security guards rounded the corner in front of us. I turned back but blacked out. I have to believe I was captured. The time parameters say I remained alive for another sixteen hours. That is more than enough time for Marwal to do his work.”
Vara asked, “So we're in danger now?”
“Yes. Nunol may have ships coming this very moment. We'll know within twelve minutes.”
Reno shook his head with a scowl on his face. “You seem awfully calm for someone who only has about ten minutes of freedom left.”
“What can I do? Panic won't change the outcome.”
Vara agreed. “We've done all we can do. Let's at least check the archive.”
Naffi scanned through for events of the day, coming to a stop with a grin. “A great factory fire in New York on that day in 1798. It says the Dakota company, a new shipbuilding entity, completely burned to the ground.” Naffi smiled. “And no one was killed in the fire.”
“And the submarines?”
“Let's see. A new factory was built in its place. And the ship battle of 1809... the French fleet was again turned back. I suppose this means we make use of your depth-charges.”
Reno nodded. “If we have a chance to do so.”
“We'll know in eight minutes. Perhaps I should go warm a clone.”
“For what purpose? The station won't be in a set position for another eleven hours.”
“Then I suppose we wait.”
Tension filled the room as the three outlaws watched a timer tick down to a “safe” point in their attempt at escape. Reno stood and paced the room as they waited.
Naffi checked the Opamari ancestry. “Wait! We have a change! And it is significant! Nearly two million people are no longer showing with just under three million new names added. And.... uh, Nunol's family is still there... as is that of Marwal.”
Vara said, “Five more minutes.”
Reno stopped and stared. “You rushed your assault on that factory. We knew he would be looking for us. This wasn't properly planned.”
“It was well planned. Just a bit of bad luck. The diversion should have kept most of his security at the front gates.”
“Apparently it did not. Are you certain the men you hired did as you paid them to do?”
“Now how could I know that? I can't be in two places at once.”
The argument continued back and forth as the timer ticked down. When the numbers reached zero, Naffi grinned. “Obviously there was nothing to worry about.”
“Why do I feel as though we were reliant on luck?”
Vara said, “It is over. Can we move on and move forward? Should we not be studying the archive for our next move?”
Naffi turned back to the display. “Excellent suggestion.”
Three hours were spent reviewing the future Earth. The attack on the French fleet lasted fourteen additional hours with the same number of ships defeated before the fleet turned back.
Naffi said, “That can only mean one thing. Marwal fielded fewer submarines. Perhaps we should explore a second attack on his production facilities.”
Reno shook his head. “And risk capture again? I think not.”
“How about this, I go back and try to make use of your depth-charges against his submarines. If successful, we move on, if not, we go back and give the sabotage route another try?”
Vara nodded. “I think that sounds reasonable. We can take extra precautions on the second try to minimize being caught.”
Reno sighed. “I suppose that is within reason. Fine. But you will put in your best effort to make the depth-charges work.”
Naffi chuckled. “Why would I not? And what's getting into you of late? You seem especially irritated.”
“Everything appears to be two steps forward, two steps back. I'd just like to see positive change for once.”
“We just effected the lives of two million of our citizens. Maybe not the ones we wanted, but that tells me we are on the right track. That is progress. We are talking one of the warships taking almost an hour longer to conduct its business during the Opamari invasion. That delayed the entire fleet by nearly twenty minutes before they departed. That is real change.”
“I suppose.”
Mentox-I came to a stop in a new location. A clone was readied and connected. This time, a body of Scandinavian descent was used, changing the Naffi clone's usual appearance. A reference from Jacques Lamonde earned the clone, named Bertel Hansen, a captain's rank, and the officer responsible for the new depth-charge defensive weapons. Fourteen days at sea saw the first encounter with a Marwal sub.
Bertel Hansen stood on the bow. “There! Approaching from the north!”
A cannon on the bow was spun in the direction of the sub. A skilled shot, having practiced repeatedly with artillery in his former Human bodies, Bertel delivered two explosive rounds just above and in front of his target. An order was given to the navigator to turn the ship directly at the sub.
Two large spires of water shot from the waves, raining down as droplets as the charges ignited near their target. A third shot aimed at the lowest angle saw the charge going just long of the submarine.
Bertel raced to the center of the ship looking back up at his spotter. “Port or starboard?”
“Port!”
“You men over here, prepare to drop charges on my command! As soon as they are away, reload your racks.”
Bertel moved over to the rail. “Depths should be at ten meters and... go... go... go... go! Reload! Captain! Come about!”
The clone again ran, this time up the steps onto the back deck. The single depth-charge cannon was aimed down to its minimum elevation and readied for a shot. Four fountains of water erupted one second apart and directly in and around the submarine that had attempted an attack. Captain Bertel Hansen never got to fire a final shot as the near-surface submarine slipped deep beneath the waves.
A run back to the small fleet's captain had results coming in over the radio. Three submarines had been destroyed along with one French frigate. The ship of the Grand Republic, Baliliu, was sinking. Rescue efforts for the remaining crew and force of soldiers she carried were already underway.
The fight continued for seven hours b
efore the small fleet of submarines silently slipped away. Debris fields indicated twelve had been sunk along with five ships of the French fleet. The survivors were pulled aboard other ships and the fleet continued on its way.
Four days later the invasion of Halifax, Nova Scotia began. A short burst from the newly arrived cannons saw the fort defending the town surrendering to the hundreds of ships occupying the harbor. Troops were dispersed with the local militias surrendered as well. In a matter of a day, three hundred thousand troops were landed by six hundred eighty-five warships. A week was spent occupying and securing the area before columns of men began moving inland. It was early May, and the cold weather from the winter months had passed.
Naffi forwarded the recording to several points. “We marched, and we marched and we marched. It brought back memories of the Civil War, only we were much better supplied. We moved inland to Amherst, then to Moncton and finally south to St. John. With the colonies having been French and then British, and with Britain being a part of the French Empire, there was little resistance.”
The playback was again sped through by Naffi. “After consolidation of the area, two thirds of the fleet returned to England. In the six weeks that followed, another hundred fifty thousand men were brought over. During this time we marched south into Maine, Our force took Bangor, then Augusta and Brunswick before meeting a reasonably sized resistance force of one hundred twenty thousand Americans at Portland.”
Vara said, “That must have been a tremendous battle.”
“A battle that didn't occur. Napoleon ordered his troops to bypass Portland, cutting it off from Boston by land, and then by sea as a large part of our armada steamed into Casco Bay. In a surprise move, one that I was not aware was coming, a two hundred fifty ship fleet engaged a much smaller American fleet before making a landing at Chatham on Cape Cod. One hundred twelve thousand men were set on the peninsula, quickly overrunning the locals. The coastal defenses of the Americans were meager.”
Chapter 20
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Naffi again forwarded the playback. “With the large force of Americans trapped in Portland, we proceeded to move the bulk of our army south to Portsmouth before splitting and sending half to Concorde, in what was last known as New Hampshire. At that point it became clear, we would be surrounding each of the port cities by land and sea and cutting off their supplies. The siege of Boston began in August.”
Reno paused the playback. “Wait. You were marching with the army? I thought you were commander of the depth charge forces, in the French Navy.”
“I was personally congratulated by Napoleon when he came ashore in Halifax. I asked to be moved to the artillery regiments for the land assault. Since artillery was his passion, he allowed the transfer. I was also promoted to captain for the siege of Portsmouth and then colonel when we surrounded Boston.”
“The parameters show you only live another four months. What happened?”
“Our assault of Boston was repelled several times. As the weather began to turn, our efforts were turned to constructing housing for the coming winter. Marwal was again successful at upgrading their weapons. This time it was rockets with a crude infrared guidance system and deadly accurate sniper rifles. The Americans were successful at establishing guerrilla fighters who would sneak into position and kill dozens of our troops before disappearing into the trees and hills.”
“And the rockets?”
“The rockets. Launched from twenty kilometers away, they rained down on our troop shacks, specifically targeting the fireplaces in each. Snow was on the ground and after several weeks of quiet, the rockets came down with a vengeance. From what I could tell before my shack was struck, we had lost tens of thousands of troops. We'll have to look in the archives to see what the final result was.”
Reno typed at the keyboard. “It says... the Americans launched three such attacks simultaneously. In two of those, to the south and west of Boston, a large armed force followed immediately behind those attacks, smashing the French defenses and then outflanking those that remained. At the site of the north-side attack, half of the army of Boston charged out, effectively trouncing the French and nearly capturing Napoleon's command.”
“He escaped?”
“To Concorde, where he was captured, quickly tried, and hanged.”
“And the war?”
“The French Army in America surrendered. A peace was negotiated and the remaining soldiers were allowed to board the ships and leave. Five years later the British rebelled and again the Empire fell apart. Let me check our ancestry records... it says most of the prior change is now gone. We are back to a few thousand lives having changed... and the Nunol and Marwal families remain intact.”
“I just don't see how this keeps coming back to the same end result. What are we missing?”
Vara said, “We are missing time. There is too much of it between the 1800s and the Opamari invasion. And not enough of it for the three of us to make changes that will alter the outcome of that invasion.”
Reno frowned. “It is frustrating.”
Naffi scowled. “Look at the two of you, defeatists. We are making changes. They are yet to be significant enough to give the results we desire, but I believe that outcome will happen. And if we determine the prior route we were on, the one where Marwal's subs sink a third of our fleet, if that is a better path, we can always go back.”
“How so?”
“I return and destroy the stockpile of depth-charges you created. Napoleon will still send his fleet to America, only Marwal's subs will again take their toll.”
“Interesting. The complete history from that point on, everything you just experienced on this last journey, will be different. It boggles the mind to think about it.”
“We all live a linear life. Things happen and become history. New events occur because of that history. Every time we travel back we are altering history from that point forward. Had you gone back and discovered the warehouse and depth-charges had been destroyed, what would your reaction have been?”
“At that moment in time? Probably that I would believe Marwal had somehow gotten to it.”
Vara shook her head. “Are we all to go insane before this is over?”
Reno replied, “Perhaps we are already there.”
Naffi cleared the display in front of them. “We need to decide if we are moving forward with this current plan. Unless we all believe that to be the case, we should look to change it. Do we continue to promote the French Empire under Napoleon?”
Vara said, “I think we have to see this until its end. Marwal again caught us by surprise. Now that we know that is going to happen, we take steps to move Napoleon safely away from being captured. He remains the key to holding this Empire together.”
Reno nodded. “I believe that to be our best option, for now.”
“Good then,” Naffi replied. “Let's get on with our efforts and stop all this second guessing. Vara, I would suggest you lead a team in to rescue Napoleon, but I don't feel a female to be suited for that task in that male-dominated world. It will be physically challenging and any deficiency would draw the ire of those you are trying to command.”
“I couldn't agree more. There are some who would follow, but most would balk at a woman trying to assume such a role. You, of course, are best suited to this task.”
Reno held up a hand. “Wait. She is not restricted to making use of a female body. She can be connected to any of the clones.”
Vara agreed. “True, but Naffi has the experience of being out in the wilds and leading men. I'd rather he take on this task and reserve me for ones where I might excel, such as another spy mission. That was thrilling.”
Naffi smiled. “Look at us. Taking on the universe. I am proud to be partnered with both of you.”
A new clone was warmed and readied. Naffi's clone was dropped near La Rochelle, France and quickly got to the task of raising his squad of commandos who would be tasked with bringing Napoleon out.
Reno asked, “You were successful?”
“Yes. And I will have to show you how it will come about. You, Reno, built the engines for our tanks we originally deployed. I remembered you had a smaller, light-weight prototype at your factory should we desire to build motorcars.”
“And you were able to use that how?”
“I took a few liberties with the memory injections of this particular clone, which I will show you shortly. The engine was packaged up and my squad steamed across the Atlantic to our base in Halifax. From there we hiked inland and then down through the state known as Maine, coming to a stop at Mount Chocorua. Napoleon was captured while fleeing past that location.”
“You lugged the engine all the way to that mountain?”
“We did. And what you probably didn't notice was my resetting the time of this activity.”
Reno looked at the display. “You went back to 1806? Why?”
“It was available. We were not at war with America and trade at the time was robust. So the engine was moved ashore and hauled all the way to the mountain. The most difficult part was the climb up to the summit, where a cabin was built.”
“What purpose would the engine serve? Are you building a lift to carry him up? Certainly that wouldn't offer much of an advantage.”
“Which is why that is not the case.”
The recording was sped through until the cabin was complete and a barn was constructed after.
Reno scratched his head. “I don't understand the track leading out to that bluff.”
“Perhaps you will see why when I move to this next section of playback.”
The recorded data was forwarded to a place where the clone of Naffi, now known as Wilbur Wright, was carrying in a long piece of timber.
As the image on the display entered the barn, Reno tilted his head to one side. “You are building an airplane?”
Naffi grinned. “Yes. It is powered by your engine.”
“That engine was a prototype, hardly broken-in. I would not qualify it as flight-worthy. Why didn't you reveal this plan to us where we could have helped?”
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