Time Frame (Split Second Book 2)

by Douglas E. Richards

  To Knight’s credit, he assimilated the situation with remarkable speed, and a moment before he would otherwise have passed out, he pressed the barrel of his gun to the side of his head and pulled the trigger.

  PART 8

  “I’ve got too much time on my hands

  It’s ticking away with my sanity

  I’ve got too much time on my hands

  It’s hard to believe such a calamity

  I’ve got too much time on my hands

  And it’s ticking away, ticking away from me”

  —Styx, Too Much Time on my Hands

  72

  Lee Cargill touched his phone and the virtual presence of the Commander in Chief now appeared to be sitting across from him in his temporary Cheyenne Mountain headquarters.

  The only question was if Cargill’s job would be equally temporary. Or even his freedom.

  Janney appeared exhausted but in good spirits. And why not? The action he had ordered in North Korea could not have gone better. The US now had control of all WMD in this country, and basically all other means North Korea could use to attack its own population or any other.

  In the media and around the world this strike was being called one of the boldest in military history, and was an event of such historic and geopolitical importance that it was one of the few that weren’t completely politicized in America, the reaction not breaking cleanly along Democrat and Republican party lines.

  Still, the president was widely praised in some circles and vilified in others. Yes, the action had been flawless, as finely tuned as an expensive Swiss watch, but it was also seen as extraordinarily reckless. The attack had succeeded beyond anyone’s wildest imagination, but Janney couldn’t have been sure of this. What if the results hadn’t been so good? Was it really okay to have a president capable of making a move this risky? One who put millions of lives at risk on a plan that needed considerable luck to work.

  At least this was the general consensus.

  Unfortunately, Janney couldn’t disclose that the US had captured Kim Jong-un well before the attack, nor that a modified dosing regimen of T-4 had given the military all the intel it needed.

  But even those who complained of the president’s recklessness couldn’t help but give him the highest marks for execution. The decision itself could be criticized, but the results were beyond reproach. There were only a handful of casualties on the US side, and little loss of life in North Korea or damage to the country’s non-military infrastructure. The timing and precision had been nothing short of stunning.

  America had propped up a leader to replace Kim, by all accounts a perfect choice. This was a man who had been in Kim’s government until just a month earlier, when he had defected to the West. A man who had shown his passion to defeat all that Kim stood for, to reverse North Korea’s pursuit of weapons and its aggressive posture so that it would no longer be a pariah nation, and to focus on strengthening its economy so its people could thrive rather than starve.

  “Sorry it’s taken me so long to arrange this call,” said Janney.

  “Not at all,” said Cargill. It had only been five days since the events in Knight’s Wyoming mansion. Hours after Cargill had regained consciousness, Kim Jong-un had finally died from the poison Blake had injected, and the US military had launched its campaign. “Given how busy you’ve been, I just appreciate that you’re taking the time now.”

  The president’s expression grew somber. “Before I continue, Lee, I want to tell you how sorry I am for your losses.”

  “Thank you, sir,” said Cargill, his eyes reflecting a deep pain. “Daniel Tini and Joe Allen were good men. They served their country well. More importantly, they played a big role in helping to pave the way for a better future for humanity. One day, their contributions will be widely recognized.”

  “And Hank Vargas?”

  Cargill shook his head solemnly. “I’m afraid we lost him too. We did everything we could to disarm the titanium capsule, but we failed. At least he died a hero. He was a man I despised for many years, and he turned out to be a man I greatly admired. He could have gone along with Knight and stayed alive. Could have been the second most powerful man on Earth. But he sacrificed his own life for what he thought was right.”

  “We’ve lost a lot of good people since Nathan Wexler’s work first emerged,” said Janney. “But like you said, one day the world will honor the historical contributions they made. I intend to see to that. And this will include Hank Vargas.”

  “Thank you, sir,” said Cargill.

  The president sighed and then proceeded to get down to business. “I know you’ve been trying to cover up the mess Knight left behind,” he said. “How’s that coming?”

  “Better than expected,” replied Cargill. “I can’t take much credit. The North Korean action has completely dominated news coverage since you went in. There have been stories about missiles rumored to have hit a farmhouse in Nebraska, but these stories have been getting very little play. We’ve reported that the incident in question was a fertilizer fire and that anyone who suggests otherwise is a conspiracy nut. The harder story to kill is the one involving four gunmen who massacred seven people on a highway. People who were in the back of a pickup truck at the time. Which itself was in the back of an eighteen-wheeler. Not the kind of story you see every day.”

  “Or ever,” said Janney.

  “Fortunately, we were able to take over jurisdiction of the investigation right away. Once we feed the media a false narrative of what happened, this should eventually die out.”

  “I don’t know,” said Janney. “You’ll need some serious creativity to explain away a story this bizarre. I look forward to learning what you come up with.”

  “Yeah, me too,” said Cargill with a grin. He paused. “If I may ask, sir,” he added in a more serious tone, “how goes the fallout from your actions in North Korea?”

  “Reaction has been very favorable on the whole, as I’m sure you know from the news. But even if this had been terrible politics, we neutralized a longstanding threat that was building to the point of no return. So even if the political consequences had been strongly negative, it wouldn’t have mattered. I know that’s hard to believe coming from a politician,” he added wryly.

  “I’m just glad it was so successful.”

  “Amen to that. And we owe it to you, Lee. And to Aaron Blake.”

  “We set it up,” said Cargill, “but there have been presidents in the past who wouldn’t have risked going forward, even given these favorable circumstances. And it wasn’t my neck in the guillotine if this had somehow backfired.”

  “That’s very generous of you, Lee, but I know where the credit really belongs. Regardless, countries around the world are breathing a huge sigh of relief.” Janney frowned. “Well, at least most of them. Our chief rivals on the world stage are denouncing us, as you’d expect. As you’ve probably heard, China has publicly expressed outrage. They’ve condemned what they call our illegal aggression. But our sources in Beijing tell me that it’s a different story in private. Even the Politburo is relieved that Kim has been nullified. They haven’t been sure they could control him now for some time. And they’re in awe of our military action. It was more thorough and precise than they could have managed, and they have no idea how we could possibly have had better intel on North Korea than they did.”

  “Good,” said Cargill with a smile. “It never hurts to keep them guessing.”

  Janney’s face took on a more serious expression, an indication that the time for small talk had ended. “Let me get to the reason for this call, Lee.”

  Cargill braced himself and nodded for the president to continue.

  “I’ve decided to keep you on as head of Q5,” said Janney, getting to the punchline immediately. “That doesn’t mean I condone your actions,” he hastened to add. “But I’ve read your recent report, and I agree with the direction you’re proposing to take the group. And you did deliver Kim Jong-un.”

  Th
e president’s expression darkened. “You’ve also violated my trust,” he said gravely. “Repeatedly. And while you handled your considerable power as ethically as anyone could have—for the most part—you’re also responsible for Lake Las Vegas.”

  Cargill nodded, a haunted look in his eye.

  “But I can’t say for certain this wasn’t warranted,” continued Janney. “We’ve never faced a threat like Knight, a man capable of whipping up an instant army of unlimited size—among many other capabilities. Most of the people you killed were part of Knight’s team. That doesn’t mean they deserved to die, but given the threat he posed, who knows? It could have been the right call.”

  “Thank you for giving me the benefit of the doubt, sir,” said Cargill.

  “I almost didn’t,” said Janney, “but Aaron Blake tipped the scales. I got to know him at Camp David, and I came to like and respect him a great deal. He thinks very highly of you. He has absolute faith that you’re a good man, with a fully developed conscience. He told me he would follow you to the ends of the Earth. Anyone who inspires that kind of loyalty in a man like Aaron gets my vote to head Q5.”

  “Thank you for sharing this, Mr. President,” said Cargill earnestly. “It means a lot to know I have this kind of support from someone like him. He was my third-in-command,” he added. “With Joe Allen gone, he’ll become my second.” He paused. “Well, the Aaron here will—not the one who was with you at Camp David.”

  “Right,” said Janney. “That Aaron has agreed to conduct select Ops for Q5.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Good,” said Janney. “Even though you’ll retain your post, Lee, it goes without saying that you’re on thin ice. No more rogue operations in Nevada or North Korea. In fact, nothing significant happens from now on without my knowledge and buy-in. Understood?”

  “Perfectly, sir.”

  “I also want a hands-on role. I want to be video-conferenced in for important internal meetings. My time is limited, but I’ve been a fool. Q5 is history changing, history making. It isn’t just one of a hundred similar groups—it’s the only group. Interstellar travel, teleportation. And if you really are able to suppress the time travel effect, unlimited wealth. How did I ever think anything on my schedule was even close to this important?”

  “I don’t know, sir,” said Cargill, “but I welcome your participation. Really. I didn’t trust you before only because I thought the stakes were too high to trust you. But circumstances forced me to come clean, and I couldn’t be happier that I did.”

  “Good,” said Janney. “I’m glad we’re finally on the same page. But let me get back to Edgar Knight,” he said. “Your report says he claimed to have another duplicate ready to rise from his ashes. Do you think this is true?”

  “Hard to say. We found a titanium capsule in his head. The same one he implanted in the colonel. He admitted to being trapped in the mansion at some point. We think that when we killed his predecessor, he was freed to take over.”

  “Why such an elaborate setup?” asked the president.

  “He doesn’t like sharing power, even with a duplicate. We don’t think he had the time or resources to recreate this setup before we killed him.”

  “So you think he was bluffing?”

  “We hope so,” said Cargill. “But we have no choice but to assume he’s still out there. We’ll stay on guard and do everything we can to find him.”

  “Why would he kill himself if he didn’t have a backup?”

  “He was facing capture,” said Cargill, “which he knew would be followed by execution. Maybe he didn’t want to give us the satisfaction of beating him again. Maybe he couldn’t live with that—literally. By killing himself, we’d be likely to believe he does have a duplicate ready. Without being able to interrogate him, we’ll always have to watch our backs—which gives him a small victory.”

  “Either way,” said Janney, “you have the right idea. Hope for the best and plan for the worst.” He paused. “I understand a duplicate of Jenna Morrison survived.”

  “This is true.”

  “How did you handle that?”

  Cargill blew out a long breath. “As usual, I was forced to make some tough calls. Aaron volunteered to be duplicated, knowing the duplicates were being sent on a suicide mission. But Jenna wasn’t a volunteer. It wasn’t her fault Knight did this to her.”

  “So did you make an exception like you did with the final copy of Aaron?”

  “I did,” replied Cargill. “I’ve done some horrible things, but nothing on Earth could get me to call for her death. She’s agreed to abide by the Aaron Blake rules, to change identity and let the other Jenna live her life. Nathan was heartbroken about the situation. He insisted we duplicate him so he could join her in exile.”

  “And?”

  “I refused. It wasn’t a popular choice with either of them, but I couldn’t let him do it. Even for Jenna. I couldn’t let him purposely create a double who would also be forced to abandon his prior life. I’ve allowed duplication before, but only to take out the two greatest threats facing the world. I’m not about to allow it for anything less. Where would it end? Jenna and Nathan would surely miss their friends and colleagues on the team. So if I allowed Nathan to be duplicated, why not the entire team?”

  “You made the right call,” said Janney.

  “I did give her and Aaron the option of teaming up. Both are duplicates, in the same boat. They think highly of each other. They worked together when they thought Nathan was dead and made a remarkable team. The same was true when they teamed up to bring Knight down at Lake Las Vegas. And from what Jenna reports, they worked as a team at Knight’s guesthouse in Wyoming.”

  “Did they take you up on it?”

  “They jumped at the chance,” said Cargill. “They knew that after they left Q5 and assumed new identities, they’d be totally alone, otherwise.”

  “And you’ve already given them new identities?” asked Janney.

  “Yes. They won’t be living together, since they aren’t romantically involved, but they’ve agreed to work together on Q5 missions that I give them. She’s brilliant, and has shown herself to be resourceful and brave. And they’ve proven to make a potent combination.”

  “Are you funding them?” asked Janney.

  “Initially with a million dollars each. But there’s more if they should ever need it.”

  Janney nodded. “The debt we owe them is immense.”

  “That was my thinking,” said Cargill. “Even if this weren’t true, I expect them to be worth every penny going forward.”

  “Of that I have no doubt,” said the president.

  “They left yesterday,” said Cargill. “It was a teary farewell. I can’t describe the emotions. We were saying goodbye to good friends, but at the same time, we knew that these friends would still be by our sides. And we felt horrible exiling them. Nathan and the version of Jenna who remained on the team felt the worst.”

  “A situation unlike any in history,” noted Janney.

  Cargill smiled. “Or just another day in the life of Q5,” he said. “Once time travel is on the scene, almost everything that follows becomes unprecedented. Speaking of which,” he added, raising his eyebrows, “there is something else I need to tell you before you go. One last item I didn’t bring up when I first came clean. It wasn’t vital to our discussion, and I’d already hit you with so many bombshells I thought I’d save it for another time.”

  “So is this something fairly minor?” said Janney.

  Cargill couldn’t help but laugh. “Well, sir, if by minor you mean the most important discovery in all of human history, then yes, it’s minor.”

  “Come on, Lee,” said Janney, shaking his head. “Be serious. Q5 discovered time travel. You’re on your way to conquering teleportation and interstellar travel. No way any discovery can trump these.”

  “That’s what I thought,” said Cargill. “So I’ll let you be the judge. Have you ever heard of something called Tabby’s S
tar?”

  “Can’t say I have.”

  “Then let me make a long story short. It’s complicated, but Nathan has unimpeachable evidence that this star is at the center of a time travel suppression field. One that covers a three billion cubic light-year volume of space.”

  Janney stared at him for several seconds, stunned. “Are you saying you don’t think this is a natural phenomenon?”

  “No, sir. I’m saying we know it isn’t. Someone built it. And it sure wasn’t us. This is absolute evidence of an advanced galactic civilization.”

  “And you have no doubt of this?” asked Janney.

  Cargill blew out a long breath. “None,” he replied.

  “Maybe not so minor, after all,” whispered an awestruck president.

  73

  Blake gazed at his traveling companion and tried not to show his true feelings for her, something that seemed to get harder every minute. It had only been ten days since Knight had snatched her from the future, a version of Jenna Morrison that, by rights, shouldn’t exist here, and had tied her on the floor of a rec room in a mansion.

  It had only been six days since Cargill had given them both forged documents. Jenna Morrison and Aaron Blake had become Alissa Henderson and Cliff Webb, and Cargill had deposited a million dollars into Henderson’s and Webb’s personal accounts.

  Cargill promised to provide updates twice a month so they could be kept apprised of developments within Q5, and they were free to talk to him and their duplicates whenever they chose. They would need full knowledge of all activities to be effective on the missions to which they were assigned, and they weren’t about to miss out on the progress the group was making to achieve a variety of wonders.

  In addition to these communications, Cargill had agreed to send them transcripts of all meetings so they could offer additional perspective on the subject matter. There were so few people who knew about time travel that Cargill welcomed their input, even though, at the start, their opinions were unlikely to diverge from those of their duplicates.