Victim of Circumstance (The Time Stone Trilogy Book 3)

by Robert F Hays

  “No. Most think of us as gallant survivors, superior in many respects. It’s just a minority of idiots like Gestard who have an inferiority complex that put us down.”

  “Yes,” Harry said. “For the last thousand years French rewritten history claims that they were the heroes of mankind. Your encyclopedia burst their little bubble.”

  “So,” Dan said. “The French won the battle of Waterloo and ruled the world with such enlightenment until us barbarians destroyed it.”

  Harry chuckled. “Next time I see Gestard I’ll just hand him a print out of the description of the battle of Waterloo, with the word Wellington underlined.”

  “I know what he’d do,” Jim said. “He’d hand it back and say: ‘Written on paper? How quaint. Primitive but quaint.’”

  “And according to them the Germans contributed nothing to mankind,” Harry said.

  “You can’t blame the Germans for being pissed off,” Matt said. “Especially with Frenchmen like Gestard.”

  “What was that old saying,” Jim said. “America made it to the moon first because American captured German scientists were better than the Russian captured German scientists.”

  The group chuckled.

  “I’ve seen those old French films on the history channel depicting what they said happened on Earth,” Matt said. “The best, or should I say the worst, was that one about a group of French schoolgirls kidnapped by a primitive tribe of Germans.”

  “I saw that,” Dan said. “They were turned into slaves.”

  “Yes,” Harry said. “And that’s the image of German history the rest of the galaxy developed. Those films are from five hundred years ago but they still show them on 3V.”

  “But running around capturing other people’s planets isn’t the way to correct things,” Dan said.

  “It was the way it was done in history,” Harry said. “The great empires, Persian, Roman and British.”

  “My fault again,” Jim said. “I brought the encyclopedia.”

  “It didn’t come from us,” Matt said. “After two thousand years in a deep freeze our databases are nothing but garbled nonsense.”

  “We could still have given them an oral history,” Dan said.

  “Not nearly as powerful as the written word,” Harry said.

  “Are those new propaganda 3Vs real?” Dan said. “I mean, have the Germans really advanced that much in just eight years?”

  “According to the Secret Service they’ve gone further,” Jim said. “Every city now has a major transport system equal to or better than the Commonwealth planets. The slums have been leveled and replaced by residential estates.”

  “Slums,” Matt chuckled. “Their so called slums were equivalent to our Earth upper middle class suburbia.”

  “Even here on Casia we now have it better than they used to have on the German planets,” Jim said.

  “We had help,” Harry said. “Everyone sent us at least something.”

  “Well, the Bund can now spread out,” Jim said. “With the upgrade to their transportation system they no longer have to live within fifteen kilometers of work.”

  “Why didn’t they do that before?” Matt said. “Build and improve?”

  “Feelings of self-worth,” Harry said. “The French Empire pounded it into them that they had no value as humans. People in that situation don’t build and improve.”

  “Yep,” Jim said, “and my encyclopedia gave them back their self-esteem.”

  “They still did it the wrong way,” Dan said.

  “And now we have to fight them,” Harry said. “And we have to do it with outdated equipment, especially troop carriers. We have the 359Js. The other guards have 359Ms.”

  “I’ll see if I can get a loan from the Commonwealth,” Jim said.

  “While you’re at it, see about those new rapid fire pulse rifles, the ones with the revolving barrels. The Germans have them. In a shoot out with them it’d be like old bolt action against assault rifles.”

  “You do know that if all of you hadn’t shown up I could have paid for them myself. You all brought two thousand year old stuff too.”

  “We’re no competition,” Matt said. “Those nine movies we finally got out of our databases are years after your time. The only damage is to the current movie companies.”

  “Yes,” Dan said. “Our combined collections are still dominating the 3V networks. I heard that at least two modern movie companies have gone out of business.”

  “Same with the music,” Matt said. “Yours is mostly twentieth century.”

  “But that Chicago style deep dish pizza chain’s cutting into my pizza company’s business. I was about to become the richest guy in the galaxy, now I’m only one of the top five.”

  “You poor man,” Matt chuckled.

  “How come you had all those old videos from the fifties?” Matt said. “You know, Errol Flynn, John Wayne and Victor Mature? Where you a collector?”

  “No, the collector was a guy I knew in the Army. He got a divorce and moved back into the barracks, couldn’t keep them. All I wanted was Casablanca but he said take the lot or he’d dump them. I was going to have my own yard sale but never got ‘round to it.”

  “Do you still have the original tapes and DVDs?” Matt said.

  “Nope. After the 3V stations copied them my financial manager sold them to collectors.”

  “Ok, ok,” Matt laughed. “How much did you get for them, and talk dollars not Gs?”

  “I think it was about eighty million.”

  “Sam’s rich too,” Matt said. “What did he have, a rare plug of chewing tobacco or something?”

  “Same as me. The planet New Columbia claims to be the successor of the old United States government. When the Time Stone got him in 1876 he was a serving member of the US military, Fifth Cavalry. He was never discharged so they owed him two thousand years back pay. They settled for three hundred and fifty million dollars.”

  “That government must hate both of you,” Dan laughed.

  “No they don’t,” Jim said. “Sam’s horse was still government property, it was theirs. It’s a Wild West cavalry horse. With all the enthusiasm created by my old videos, clones of that horse sold for a fortune. They got double the money they paid us.”

  “And we couldn’t bring personal stuff from Earth,” Matt sighed. “The museums and collectors already have tons of what we have from the original colony ships.”

  “You’ll get enough,” Jim said. “All we’ve got to do is end this stupid war.”

  Chapter 12

  The morning sun reflected from the polished surface of the dining facility table. The glow from the table was matched by the glint from the shined brass trophy sitting on top of it. The trophy was a small statue of a human figure with a backpack. It gripped a hiking staff in its left hand and leaned slightly forward in a fast walking pose. General, low chatter came from the other tables in the room. It wasn’t the excited, noisy prattle from before the field exercise. It was more subdued, tired and thoughtful. The feeling of accomplishment had replaced loud enthusiasm.

  “Well they did cheat,” Tara said.

  “They sure did,” Kevin said. “But how did the camp counselors find out?”

  “No matter,” Michael said. “I don’t think the counselors’ll tell us how they did. We might pass that information on to the next kids. That’d give the next cheating group a chance to find a way around it.”

  Kevin chuckled to himself. “Doherty thinks we did it,” he said. “You should’ve seen the look on his face when I passed them in the hallway. He looked like he wanted to take this trophy out of my hands beat me over the head with it.”

  “Yack him,” Michael said. “If that’s what he thinks, then that’s what he thinks. What can he do about it? Beat us up? We’re leaving here tomorrow.”

  Tara slowly stood, plate in hand. “Well I’m still hungry,” she said. “And they finally got the mystery meat so it tastes vaguely edible.”

  Kevin laughed. “
No, your taste buds finally gave out. Take some home, eat real food for a week then try it again.”

  “It’s not that bad,” Michael said. “It’s better than some of the things my dad used to eat back on Earth in the army.”

  “Not that again,” Kevin said. “No one can eat snake.”

  Michael glanced up to see one of the counselors stand and tap a wooden spoon on the table in front of him. “People,” he said. The conversation in the room slowly died. “Today, as you know, is free time. Again I wished to congratulate all of you for the completion of the adventure course. I suggest you use today to rest. We don’t want you too tired to climb the boarding ramp of the space shuttle. We’d also like you to clean your rooms and get them ready for the next group. I will be around to inspect just before the evening meal. One thing I’d like to say, this is one of the best groups to come through this adventure camp. Thank you all and have fun on the way home.”

  “Were we really one of the best?” Kevin said.

  “Nah,” Michael replied. “He probably says that to everyone.” He stood and picked up his empty plate. “Shall we go or wait for Tara to finish her mystery meat?”

  “That’s ok,” Tara said as she suddenly appeared behind them. “They were out.”

  “Michael Young?” came a voice from across the dining facility.

  Michael looked up to see a councilor at the door. “Yes?” he replied.

  “You have a visitor.”

  Michael placed his plate on a ledge with the rest of the dirty dinnerware and followed the man out of the building, across a yard and into another. They entered a building and in a large room, set up conference style, sat a man he had never seen before.

  “Hey Michael,” the man said with a cheery smile. “You’ve grown since the last time I saw you.”

  “Ah, yes,” Michael replied, displaying confusion with the slowness of his words. He looked hard, but still didn’t recognize him.

  “Don’t you remember me? Well, it has been a long time. I’m Ken Tollen. I manage your father’s fruit packaging plant here. He asked me to drop by and give you a few things.” He reached for two plastic bags resting on the table in the middle of the room. He appeared nervous and fumbled with the bags. “I’ve got cookies, a couple of bags of candy, and some soft drink.”

  Michael smiled. “Thanks. I needed something for the end of camp celebrations.”

  “Wish I could have brought it sooner, you know, the rules, nothing from outside until the last day.”

  “Yes,” Michael replied eyeing the bags. “A couple got caught with contraband. Smuggling it in is half the fun.”

  Ken turned and opened the nearest bag. “He also asked me to give you this and take it to him.” The man seemed extremely nervous. His hand shook as he reached in and pulled something out. “It’s one of those ‘Time Stone’ souvenirs you can get at the Batalavia University Museum Old Earth exhibit. He said he wanted one to put on his desk as a joke.”

  Michael was hit with a sudden wave of anxiety. This was it. His father had lectured him for an hour on the thing he was to take back with him. Its great importance was stressed, and the fact that not even Michael should know what it was he was carrying. He forced himself to relax and worried that if someone had an infrared scanner on him at that moment they could detect the change in his emotional state by his heat pattern. He wished his father hadn’t told him that many lives and possibly the outcome of the war depended on what he carried. That thought tensed him further.

  Michael reached out and with a slight tremble in his hand took it from the equally shaky hand of Ken. He instantly tried to stuff the black, pyramid shaped object in a jacket pocket but it wouldn’t fit. Not knowing what else to do with it, he held it as Ken handed him the two bags.

  “Tell your father things at the plant are going just fine,” Ken said. “We’re well over our military supply production quota.”

  “I’ll do that, and thanks,” Michael said. He turned and headed for the door.

  After a trip and near fall down the steps in front of the building, he paused to inhale deeply. “Shit,” he said to himself and looked around. The friendly, fun camp now seemed different in his mind. Windows contained enemy spies. Every shadow concealed an assassin just waiting for a chance to acquire the thing he held, whatever it was.

  Another deep breath and he continued to walk, first speeding up then slowing down as he tried to figure which looked more natural. His dormitory seemed twice the distance away than it had before. A slight sweat from tension broke out on his forehead as he neared the steps. Thankfully, at last, he pushed open the door with his foot and entered with a sigh of relief.

  “Hey, what do we have here?” Kevin said from his bunk halfway down the room.

  “Cookies,” Michael announced, trying to sound enthusiastic.

  At his bunk, half a dozen boys who had a lot more interest in the bag than he did at that moment surrounded him. Once the rest were distracted, he quickly opened his duffle bag and stuffed the pyramid inside.

  “Hey,” Kevin said. “These cookies are Mrs. Millers oatmeal chocolate chip. Your father sends nothing but the best.”

  “What do you expect?” said a voice from behind Michael. He turned to see Doherty standing a meter away. “Rich kid gets the best, we get what’s left.”

  “Want some?” Michael said.

  Doherty sneered contemptuously a moment before replying. “You owe me more than just cookies after you turned us in to the councilors, asshole.”

  “We didn’t,” Michael protested.

  “Then who did? You three were the only ones we ran across out there.”

  “No idea. Just have some cookies and forget it.”

  “No. I want more than cookies. How bout that fancy 3D viewer you had.”

  “No way. You know how much that’s worth. I was told not to let it out of my possession. You can come watch it tonight, if you like.”

  “I’d like to watch it in my dorm,” Doherty said, looking around the immediate area. “You’ll get it back in the morning.”

  Before Michael could move, the boy grabbed for his duffle bag, opened it and started to pull things out.

  “Hey,” Michael said, jumping for it in near panic.

  “What the yack is this?” Doherty said, holding the black pyramid up and looking it over.

  “It’s mine!” Michael shouted and lunged for it. A solid shove from the boy had him overbalance backward and land on his bunk.

  “Just looking, rich kid,” Doherty said irritably.

  Michael sprang from the bunk and lunged at him a second time, grabbing franticly for the pyramid. The boy had the advantage of height and held it over his head out of reach.

  “Give it back!” Kevin yelled. “And get the yack out of our dorm.”

  “So, what’ll you do,” Doherty said. “Tell the councilors like you did about the orienteering course?”

  Michael jumped and swung an arm around his neck in an attempt at a headlock. The larger, more muscular boy lifted him from the floor then dropped him. Michael let go and fell heavily on his back. Looking up, he saw Doherty turning the pyramid over in his hand and watched him casually wander toward the door.

  “What is this hunk of crap, anyway?” the boy said.

  “It’s my father’s, give it back!”

  “Yeah, give it back!” Kevin yelled. The statement was echoed by several others in the room.

  Doherty looked down at it and smiled to himself. “You’ll probably turn me in to the councilors again, you rat.” he said. “Over a hunk of crap like this?” A quick flick of the wrist had the object flying halfway across the room, bounce once on the floor then hit a wall. Michael visibly flinched as he watched it.

  “Hey,” Doherty said once it had come to rest. “There’s that Old Earth saying: Things that go around come around. You’ll get yours, rich kid.” He then turned and walked briskly out the door.

  Michael struggled to his feet, sweat from exertion and anxiety beading on
his forehead.

  Kevin took two paces to where the pyramid lay and scooped it up. “I don’t think it’s broken,” he said. “What’s this thing? You seem to be real uptight about it.”

  “It’s the principle,” Michael said while reaching for it. “That butt head thinks he can walk in here and take anything he pleases. I don’t care if it’s a pair of my dirty underwear; he’s not getting away with it.”

  “Forget it,” Kevin said. “Let’s get to the cookies.”

  “Have to go to the bathroom first,” Michael said, walking briskly toward the back of the room.

  “Don’t be long,” Kevin said. “We might just start on the cookies without you.

  Michael locked the door of the cubicle and sat. The black pyramid shaped object in his hand glinted as he examined it. Trembling and holding back tears of stress he held it to his ear, but heard nothing. “Dad said it could take a beating,” he mumbled to himself. “Hope he’s right.”

  Chapter 13

  “Stop here,” Colin said. “I want to take a good look around before we introduce ourselves to the short people.”

  Both men raised their binoculars and scanned the area.

  “We should go down there soon,” Yuri said. “That small handcart she has is almost full. She’s liable to take off any time now. What’s she picking?”

  “Papaya I think,” Colin said.

  “Pap what?”

  “A papaya is a tropical fruit. Looks like we’ve discovered another lost product. It should make these people quite wealthy.”

  “She looks Asian,” Yuri said, “but she’s not Chinese or Japanese.”

  “Could be South East Asian,” Colin said. “Indonesian, Malay or Thai. I can’t really tell with her back to us.”

  “One of the lost ethnic groups?” Yuri said.

  “I hope so,” Colin said. “I keep getting the feeling that something’s missing in the current human…. Holy hell!” Colin paused and stared intently into his binoculars.

  “What?” Yuri said.

  “Look at that blade she’s cutting down the fruit with.”