by gerald hall
“She’s doing fine, Mister Cavill. The doctor said that everything is going well. Dorothy is in the delivery room already.”
“Thank you, Rebecca. We just weren’t expecting for her to go into labor quite so soon.” A clearly relieved Harold responded.
“I guess for now, we just wait.”
Harold nervously waited with Rebecca for over two hours before Doctor Phillips came out with a huge smile on her face.
“I guess that everyone is doing well.” Harold said.
“Yes, mother and son are both doing very well indeed.” Angela replied.
“I have a son?” Harold asked, a sudden smile erupting on his face.
“Yes, Sir. You do. Would you like to go see him and your wife now?”
At that, Harold immediately rushed towards Dorothy’s hospital room. When he opened the door, he found a smiling Dorothy holding their new baby boy next to her breast.
“We finally have a son.” Dorothy said.
“So I heard. We certainly put enough effort into the process.” Harold replied with both he and Dorothy laughing afterwards.
“I have an idea for a name. I think that you might find it familiar. I would like to name our son James Stevenson Cavill.” Dorothy explained.
Dorothy was offering quite a special homage to the old life that Harold had. When Harold finally revealed to Dorothy years earlier about his journey from the future and who he was then, he had no idea that she would want to preserve that name. But just as she had kept Harold’s first wife’s name alive by naming their first child Judith, Dorothy wanted to show her love for Harold by reminding him of who he was before he traveled back to the past to try to save humanity.
“Are you sure that you want to name him that? It might get a little confusing at times.” Harold noted.
“I’m sure that you will manage, Sweetheart. Besides, you got to pick the names for the twins.” Dorothy said with a twinkle in her eye.
“Yes. But you always pick names that have something to do with my old life. In any event, I’m sure that Susan and Beatrice as well as their big sister Judith will all love to finally have a baby brother. We are rapidly filling up all of those extra bedrooms in the children’s wing of our house now.”
“That new addition to that cave that you call a house should be far enough away from our special area to keep the kids out from under foot until they are old enough. Then we can tell them about our little secret. Until then, they will be busy enough with schoolwork and their new playroom.”
One of the nurses then stuck her head in the door.
“Excuse me, Mister and Mrs. Cavill. There is a lady here who would like to come in and visit. She’s the person who brought Mrs. Cavill in to the hospital.” The nurse said.
“Please, go ahead and let Rebecca in to visit.” Harold answered.
“Hi, Dorothy. How are you feeling?” Rebecca Martin asked just as soon as she walked in the door. Harold was already holding little James in his arms.
“Tired and sore, but very happy.”
“I’m sure that you are. I’ve got three children of my own, two boys and a girl. They are quite enough to keep me busy even when Alfred is not busy at the shipyard working with Alexander Portman on Mister Cavill’s latest new project.”
“Which project is that?” Dorothy asked.
“They’ve got that big German speedboat of your husband’s sitting up on the shore on blocks, going over every centimeter of it so that they can build a bigger version of it.”
Dorothy looked over at Harold and nodded her head. She already knew exactly what the project spawned from. Dorothy had transcribed information, specifications and even produced a few drawings based on information on German Second World War motor torpedo boats commonly referred to as ‘EBoats’. Harold had purchased a motorboat from Lurssen several years earlier because his research indicated that the boat’s design would eventually be the basis for the E-Boat.
Only Harold intended to produce a vessel that was slightly larger than the German torpedo boat at approximately one hundred and sixty tons. That would give the motor torpedo boat from Cavill Naval Yards greater range, payload and seakeeping for operations in littoral waters in the Southwest Pacific. Harold believed that this ‘super E-Boat’ would be particularly deadly against Japanese warships in the narrow waters of the Solomon Islands and Dutch East Indies.
Only the final design had not been revealed to anyone except for Alex. As far as the rest were concerned, Harold simply wanted a larger civilian version of his German motor launch.
“It sounds like Alex and your husband have their work cut out for them, Rebecca.” Dorothy noted without revealing what she already knew.
“Well, since Harold’s here and everyone appears to be alright, I better get back home. I’ve got kids and a husband to feed.” Rebecca said with a laugh before leaving Dorothy’s hospital room.
“I guess that we have the room do ourselves now, Sweetheart.” Dorothy said to Harold as he sat down on a chair next to her bed.
“Yes, but we still have to be careful about what we say, even here. You just never know who might come in next. I am assuming that Helen has the rest of our children at home?”
Helen Moore was the Cavill’s combination governess, housekeeper and homeschool teacher for their children. Like many of the women who work for the Cavill’s, Helen’s husband Fredrick worked for one of Harold’s companies in Derby.
”Yes, she is. Don’t worry though, Sweetheart. I made sure that your study and the ‘toy room’ were both completely secured. I do not believe that she has any idea of the existence of our hidden room still.”
Harold had significantly improved the security measures for the portable computer and all of the other items that he had brought back from the future. The locking mechanism for the secure room, which Harold and Dorothy now referred to as the ‘toy room’, had been much more carefully hidden and now employed an entry code as well. This code was known only to Harold and Dorothy. The study was now kept locked as well and served as another barrier to anyone who could possibly discover access to Harold’s secrets, such as three very inquisitive young children.
“That’s a relief. I had almost forgotten about it in the rush to meet you at the hospital. But keeping that secure is also very important. Thank you for taking care of that, Dorothy. I shudder to think about what could happen if any of that fell into the wrong hands.”
“I know. But someday, we are eventually going to have to tell our children about your secrets. It is almost a certainty that they will find out for themselves, either by accident or because they managed to figure it out on their own. We have to prepare them for the incredible responsibility of that knowledge and the need to keep it secret, no matter the temptation to tell others about what is being kept in that hidden room.” Dorothy while keeping a careful eye on the door to ensure that no one comes in while they are talking.
“I agree, Dorothy. But we have to wait until we can be sure that they are ready to handle the knowledge. Hopefully, none of our children prove to be unable to be trusted with this. If one of them is, we will have to make some hard decisions at that point.”
“I hope that it never comes to that. We are going to need their help in the years to come. You are already in your mid-fifties and not getting any younger. While I have learned so much, I have had only a few years exposure to the sort of technology that you brought back with you from the future.”
“So the choice will be either to introduce them to our secrets or to protect our children from them.”
“I’m afraid so, Sweetheart. But I pray that they will all prove to be brilliant and worthy enough to carry on our work to save humanity.”
Chapter Eighteen: Cavill Airlines Cavalier Flying Boat Somewhere over the Indian Ocean December 20, 1935
Harold had been sleeping, when he woke up and found the seat next to him empty. Dorothy had been sitting there. Their four children were all still asleep as the plane flew westward away from the early morning sunrise. Th
e flight was not scheduled to make its final stop in England for another day though.
“Excuse me. Do you know where my wife Dorothy is?” Harold quietly asked one of the flight attendants on the huge seaplane.
“Mrs. Cavill is up in the cockpit right now, Sir.”
“Thank you.” Harold answered as he wondered what Dorothy could possibly be doing up in the cockpit. So he climbed up a ladder to get onto the cockpit flight deck.
“Am I going to have to fire the pilot of this airplane?” Harold asked after seeing Dorothy sitting in the aircraft’s left-hand seat, her curly red hair sticking out from under her radio headphones.
“No, silly. I asked if I be at the controls for a while so that Doug could get a little rest. Besides, I need the flight hours on my log book so that I can earn my multiple engine rating. You know that I earned my instrument flight rating a few months ago.” A clearly delighted Dorothy said while looking over her shoulder at Harold.
“At the rate that you are going, Dorothy, you will end up becoming a flight instructor for some of our pilots.”
“Maybe even a test pilot?” Dorothy mischievously asked.
“No, I don’t think that I would go that far. Being a test pilot is a very dangerous job. You are dealing with the unknown whenever you are flying an unproven aircraft. It is far too easy for something to go terribly wrong. I do not want to lose you, certainly not that way.”
“Well, Sweetheart. I am doing just fine up here. How are the kids doing? They were all sleeping when I left them in the back.”
“They are all still asleep, even the baby. Although I don’t know how much longer he will remain that way. He’s getting due for a feeding, I do believe. That will mean that you will have to leave the cockpit, whether you like it or not, Dorothy.” Harold said with a chuckle.
“Then it is a very good thing that we have the entire first class section of this airplane all to ourselves. Better still, we have a curtain between us and the rest of the passengers so that I can nurse our son in privacy.” Dorothy said as she turned her head towards Harold. He could see that she was smiling both about the situation as well as because of her enjoyment of the opportunity of flying the huge aircraft.
“We can afford it. After all, I do own the company.” Harold laughed while still standing behind Dorothy on the cockpit flight deck.
“I see that our pilot has returned from his break and is ready to resume his duties.” Harold noted a few seconds later as the pilot entered the Cavalier’s flight deck.
“I’m just glad that you invited the kids and I along with you on this trip. We don’t get to see you very much because of all of the traveling that you do anymore.” Dorothy said as she climbed out of the pilot’s seat. The pilot sat back down in the left seat as Dorothy climbed down the ladder from the flight deck with Harold and walked back to her seat.
“I know. I am sorry about that. There is just so much to do. You alone know just how incredibly important my work is, Dorothy.”
“Yes, Harold. But your family is also important. Our children and millions more like them are who you are trying to save this world for, you know. But our children need to have you in their lives so that they understand why you are doing all of these things. They need to know the brilliant, compassionate and selfless man that I fell in love with.”
“We are going to spend some time together in England. But I will also need to visit some places by myself as well. Besides, I don’t think that we want the children carrying around the odor of Mister Churchill’s cigar smoke on their clothing, now do we?” Harold said with a slightly wry expression.
“No, of course not, Sweetheart. But if you do go to visit the aircraft factories, perhaps we can join you there. I’m sure that the children would find them interesting. I know that I would.”
“Maybe, but I would like to get to spend some time with our family together in the English countryside as well. It is so much different than the land around our home in Australia.”
“I know. It is so much greener where I grew up in England because of all of the rain that the island gets. But, I still wouldn’t change a thing about the decision that I made to come with you to Australia. Our home is quite extraordinary in its own right.”
Harold leaned over and gave Dorothy a kiss just as their baby son James woke up and began to cry.
“I have a feeling that someone is hungry.” A smiling Harold said.
“I’m sure that he is.” Dorothy answered as she picked up the baby, sat back down with James on her lap, unbuttoned her blouse and began to nurse him. At the same time, Harold pulled a small thin blanket out of one of their bags and gave it to Dorothy so that she could cover her milk-engorged breasts if needed.
Before long, Dorothy finished nursing James and closed her blouse back up. She continued to hold the baby in order to burp him before setting James back in the basket where he had been sleeping.
“While I do enjoy nursing James, I will be glad when he is ready to eat regular baby food. That way, I can get back to more activities at work.” Dorothy commented.
“You’re lucky that you are not one of the Aborigine women. They breastfeed their babies for a lot longer than we do in our ‘civilized’ Western world.” Harold laughed.
Harold and Dorothy continued to talk for a while longer before both decided to get some sleep before the Cavalier’s next stop at the port of Bombay, India. Of course, Harold had to be careful not to refer to the city by the name that it was known by in the future, Mumbai.
From there, the plane would have one more stop to Venice along the northern coast of Italy before finally reaching its final destination of London, England. He had an airplane trip from Venice to Sibiu, Romania that he needed to make first.
One of the areas that Harold wanted to try to impact was in the field of rocket design. If he could convince the German rocket developers to leave Germany to focus their efforts on their true goal of spaceflight instead of ballistic missiles, perhaps another element of the last war could be stopped. Harold had done extensive biographical research on key members of the German rocket program even before he and his family left Derby.
At Sibiu, Harold hoped to find Hermann Oberth. Hermann was one of the earliest advocates of rocketry and space exploration. Harold’s research indicated that Hermann taught physics and mathematics at the Stephan Ludwig Roth high school in Medias, Romania but that he had maintained a residence in Sibiu.
Because the Cavalier was scheduled to stay in Venice for only a couple of days, Harold decided to fly to Sibiu rather than take the train. So he left Dorothy and the children to enjoy the sights of Venice while he boarded a small airplane heading for the middle of Romania. After only a couple of days, he returned without saying anything about what he accomplished in Sibiu. Dorothy was worried because of how Harold behaved upon his return. He was distracted, perhaps even disappointed.
“Hi, Sweetheart. I’m glad to see that you are back. We are going to have to hurry if we are going to catch our flight to London on the Cavalier though.” Dorothy cheerfully noted, hoping to distract Harold from whatever was concerning him.
“Dorothy, have you ever been to Paris?” Harold quickly asked with a smile after looking through his notes.
“No, I haven’t. But I have heard that it is very romantic.” Dorothy replied while returning his smile.
“Good. Let’s tell our plane to go ahead and continue its flight to London as scheduled. We are going to take another flight from here to Paris instead. We will catch up with our Cavalier in London a little later.”
“Do you have someone else that you want to meet there in Paris, Sweetheart?” A curious Dorothy asked.
“Yes, I do. He is someone who is related to that special project that we have been working on. I am hoping that he will convince his brother to come work for us. It would be incredible if we can redirect his brother’s efforts towards something much more peaceful like perhaps the exploration of space. ” Harold answered.
Dorothy
knew that Harold was referring to his plans to change the future timeline to prevent humanity’s destruction. But she still didn’t know or understand everything that Harold was doing to accomplish this goal.
During a previous business trip to Germany a few years earlier, Harold had attempted to directly contact Wernher von Braun, the engineer and rocket expert who first designed the V-2 artillery rocket for the Nazis during the Second World War before joining the American Space Program after the war. But by then, Wernher was already working with the German Army. This made it very difficult for Harold to make direct contact with him, even though Harold had developed a variety of contacts within German industry during the previous decade. With the failure to recruit Oberth, Harold’s interest turned back towards the von Braun’s.
Wernher von Braun’s brother Magnus was still far too young at this time. He was also a member of the Hitler Youth movement. Magnus was being thoroughly indoctrinated into Nazism at one of the Hitler Youth camps. There was very little chance that he could be convinced to help redirect Wernher’s work away from designing ballistic missiles.
However, Harold’s research had indicated that Wernher had another brother who could perhaps be convinced to speak to Wernher on Harold’s behalf. Sigismund von Braun was only a few years younger than Wernher and had studied for a year in Cincinnati, Ohio before entering the German Foreign Service. He would probably still hold some positive feelings towards the West as a result of that exposure. Currently, Sigismund was the personal assistant of the German ambassador in Paris.
So Harold and his family then quickly caught a plane to Paris. He went ahead and had the Cavalier continue its journey to London on schedule since there were other passengers onboard. There was no need to force them to wait. Besides, Harold did not want to raise any suspicions about his reasons for his travel destinations.
A few hours later, Harold and his family were onboard a Fiat G.18 airliner and on the way to Paris. Once they arrived at Le Bourget airport near Paris, Harold and his family traveled via taxi to a hotel near the Seine River.