by Brad Raylend
“Had a feeling you’d like it,” Kevin said.
The lemony alcoholic beverage left a sweet taste on his tongue. “Let me guess …”
Kevin smiled and nodded. “Yeah, it took me a while to find a drink that York liked that wasn’t just bourbon.”
Todd leaned up against the bar and looked out into the warehouse. He saw D dancing like a goofball with Amber next to him, laughing. Albrecht was in the middle of a circle of students talking to them with a beer in his hand. Todd could tell that the students had great respect for Albrecht. When he spoke, they listened intensely, like their lives depended on it. He wondered how it must have been before they traveled back in time, as a government scientist and college professor teaching forty-some odd students about quantum physics. He realized then how close they must have been before they made the jump. How much trust and faith they must have had towards him to abandon everything to follow him to the North Pole on a crazy assumption that they had the ability to alter the dark course of time. Using technology that many would never believe or even know existed. The thing that gave him the most admiration towards the students, however, was the sad truth that they could never be a part of the future they altered. Each and every one of them had already been replaced by the younger version of themselves, who would assume their lives with their families in happiness. Meanwhile the originals would spend the remainder of their days in this arctic wasteland.
Bohden walked into the rec room and spotted Todd. He gave him a nod as he approached him. “You ready to roll, man?” he said as he motioned Kevin for his usual glass of scotch.
Todd took a sip of his drink and watched a student break on a game of pool. “Yeah … I’m set,” he said through his teeth. “My gear is all prepped and I’ve already coordinated primary and alternate extraction points with D.”
Bohden just nodded and sipped his drink. Todd looked over at Bohden, who eyed the students around the room. It didn’t make much sense why he was so distant from everyone. He had been a part of the facility from the beginning; meeting Albrecht before he had even fully developed the technology. One would think he would be more outgoing considering he was going to have to accept the predicament he was in and try and make the best of his new life. Perhaps Bohden didn’t exactly agree with the upcoming mission, maybe he still cared for York, who had saved his life a long time ago. Maybe he saw Todd as a sorry replacement for a great warrior he had held in high regard.
Todd asked, “How close were you and York?”
Bohden took another drink, blinked slowly and licked his lips. “We were good friends for a long time. The first time I met him was in the original timeline in 2023. I was in mainland Japan during the ACS invasion helping fend off endless waves of Chinese forces to protect the evacuation ports. He and a few other guys from Team Six were operating with a Force Recon platoon in Okinawa. When we got pushed back south far enough, we finally ran into each other.”
Todd noted that he didn’t mention York saving his life and left it at that. Albrecht walked into the rec room and smiled when he saw Todd.
“How you doing, Todd? Do you have everything you need?”
Todd’s mouth curved up and he nodded, raising his glass slightly. “I’ve never gone back in time before, but I’m pretty sure I’m ready to go,” he said humorously.
Albrecht chuckled. “Trust me; you’re ready.”
Todd replied, “I guess you would know. Since you’ve pretty much already done this.”
Albrecht looked over at Bohden, who was slumped against the bar. “What’s the matter, Steven?” he said in an almost fatherly way.
Bohden said something back to him that Todd didn’t catch. He was too preoccupied trying to get an idea as to what Amber and Kara were having an argument about out in the warehouse. Amber was making large dramatic movements with her arms and shaking her head, obviously trying to prove some kind of point to Kara, who stood with her arms crossed, looking down at the ground. He couldn’t hear what they were saying over the loud music. He looked over at Albrecht and Bohden, who were having a quiet conversation, and then over at Kevin, who was watching the same thing he was. Kevin looked at him, then back at the two girls. He set his empty glass down on the bar and started walking to the door. Kara didn’t see him coming. She was still listening to Amber, who was yelling. She rolled her eyes and stormed out the door into the cold darkness. Amber crossed her arms and shook her head in anger.
“What’s the matter?” Todd asked.
Amber looked at him as she breathed out heavily and rolled her eyes. Todd quirked an eyebrow. “Is it just girl stuff or something?” he asked.
“You need to talk to Kara,” she said in his ear.
“About what?”
She pulled back and glared at him.
“Alright, alright,” he said. He turned and squeezed through a group of students and headed to the door.
“Where ya goin’, man?” one of the students yelled over the music.
“I’ll be back in a minute!” Todd replied. He opened the door and ran to the main building, hunched over with his hands in the crooks of his arms. He got to the main building and shook off the clinging flakes of snow. Looking down the main corridor, he saw that the lights in the workstations were still off. He made his way to the end of the hall, briefly checking the archive room to see if Kara was at her desk. The Communications room and the R&D lab were both closed and locked. He headed up the stairs to the second floor and saw that her door at the end of the hall was open. He walked towards it and noticed the lights were off in her room. He could faintly see movement reflecting off the walls. When he got to her door he peered in and saw her standing down in the landing at the base of the large windows, her arms crossed, as she stood motionless, gazing out into the night sky. The Northern Lights shone through her windows and danced on the dark walls of the room. It appeared as if she were looking into an aquarium. He knocked softly on the steel jam of the door. She didn’t respond in any way.
He entered the room, walking softly, yet loud enough so she could hear him approach. The beautiful shades of turquoise lit up the smooth features of her face and reflected off her sharp eyes. He came to her side, but she didn’t look at him. He turned and looked out into the breathtaking horizon. He didn’t know what to say. He had concluded that she and York had been in a relationship and, like Bohden, she saw Todd as merely a lookalike. Nothing more than a reminder of the loss of a dear friend … or perhaps in her case a loved one. He exhaled through his nose, shaking his head slightly.
“Please … just go,” she said without looking at him.
He turned and took a few steps towards the door, then looked at the photo on her nightstand. It was a photo of York, most likely before he was a member of DEVGRU. He was wearing an old Ops-core helmet, which led Todd to believe that the picture had been taken around 2018-2019. He was smiling in the photo, and his face was cleanshaven and clear of scars. He looked like a different person. He looked like Todd. He turned back towards her, his heart rate picking up as the words left his mouth.
“Were you … in love with him?”
Her head lowered, and her arms remained crossed.
“No more games, Kara.” He stepped towards her. “When I find this man … there is no telling what will happen, but I can guarantee we won’t be hugging each other and swapping stories. If I have to kill him … I need to know what went on between the two of you.” He came to her side. “I’m not planning on staying there after I complete this mission. I need to know.”
Her eyes portrayed a look of sorrow, their beauty adding to the effect. They left his, and went to the floor. “I … no, there was nothing … no matter how much I wanted there to be. He was older, and far too preoccupied to pay any attention to a foolish girl with a crush.” She looked back out the window. “But I’m over it, I’ve put aside childish things. All that matters is making a better world to live in, good enough for all the people here to have real lives again, and if that means you having to kill
him, then so be it.”
He turned towards the window and scratched the stubble on his face. He looked over and saw her eyes were filling with tears. There was nothing more to say. He would either end up killing York, or condemn him to the nineteenth century. Either way, she would hate Todd for it.
He walked away, stopping at the door to glance back at her.
“Someone who gives up their entire life in order save millions of people isn’t foolish.” He shook his head and said, “Goodbye, Kara.”
He left the main building and returned to the party where he spent the remainder of the night drinking and conversing with the students.
* * *
September 3, 2013
As I sit in my room looking out into the endless white, I can’t help but wonder if what I’m doing is worth it. I had seen where the world was heading near the end of the original timeline; the fall of the United States was no doubt eminent, but what about the rest of the world? Many say that the end of the U.S. means the end for everything. To an American, that may seem so. As one of three global superpowers, we are the only one who still maintains a level of democracy and diplomacy which aids in our false sense of self-righteousness. We have a well-funded military full of young degenerates who truly believe that everything they are doing is for the continuation of their God given freedom, for their families and fellow countryman. Only few grasp the situation and reality of their purpose, which is not much more than being cannon fodder and a show of force. Yet they are sent to fight an enemy that knows true suffering, knows what it is to starve, has felt the unforgiving brutality of a harsh environment, and has adapted to live in it, thrive in it, and use it to their advantage.
In this war, both sides are fighting for “freedom,” but only one was actually fighting for their home, their families, everything they knew. How could we possibly beat that? I know how, but unfortunately there is only so much I can do, and I sure as fuck can’t win a war with just an invisible suit. After ten long and painful operations in Vietnam, the end result was over fifty thousand casualties for the U.S., a withdrawal from the country, and multiple scars for myself. I had predicted that the war would leave the country in turmoil, so I’ll chalk this one up as a win … considering the substantial delay in the Soviet Union’s rise to power.
After each op, Bohden, Albrecht, Kara, and I sit down and review the consequences of my actions and how they have affected the present. We do this by simply using the internet. It’s always interesting to see how much was changed by my actions alone, and how I was the only one who was aware of the past which no longer existed. I had to document everything so that we could compare the present to the altered past. LBJ’s sorry ass quit, which I thought was funny considering the chances of his reelection were about as good as JFK’s. The U.S. went into a kind of recovery period for the next ten years after Nam; meanwhile the USSR continued expanding both geologically and economically while side-stepping a major conflict in Afghanistan. Eventually, they looked to China just like they had originally and began putting plans in the works to engage the U.S. directly.
It was 2013 and WWIII was still on the horizon. We needed to hit the Russians at home, we needed to cripple them in order to buy ourselves some time to work our way out of the pathetic state of limbo we were currently in (which was the mid-‘70s). We started looking to events of the late ‘70s all the way to the ‘80s, trying to find a key moment where we could inflict a crippling blow. We started looking at them industrially, and our research finally led us to a nuclear power plant on the outskirts of Pripyat. Our research showed that, in the late ‘90s, the plant was closed due to multiple accidents that were direct results of poor maintenance and the many cut corners that were done while they were designing the reactors themselves. This led to a negative impact on their economy. If I could sabotage only one of the reactors, the plant would turn a large portion of Ukraine into an apocalyptic wasteland.
As Bohden and I started putting plans together for the operation, my mind briefly went to the civilians of Pripyat. Did they deserve this? The region would most likely suffer from the effects of fallout for many years to come if we went through with this.
THE BIG DAY
The next morning, Todd ate breakfast with the students and headed out to the warehouse to get a few hours of range time and run a few miles on the treadmill.
Around 11 a.m., he gathered up all his gear and loaded it into one of the few 4x4s tucked away out back of the warehouse. He then rode with Bohden over to the hangar where he was met by D, who was obviously not a morning person, and/or had too much to drink the night prior. His eyes were heavy and he stumbled around with a cup of coffee in his hand.
Todd laughed at the man’s lethargic state. “You gonna be able to handle the eight-hour flight?” He chuckled as D plopped down into a chair in the hangar’s kitchen.
D simply nodded as he took a sip of his coffee and leaned back in his chair.
Todd stood in the kitchen with Bohden, who continued to drop extra bits of intelligence that he had gathered throughout the previous week. Most of it concerning the reported weather from that time frame, and the social state of the area regarding criminal activity. The weather was supposed to be fairly nice during that time frame, but there were not hard facts and for all Todd knew he could be jumping into a snow storm.
A few more students showed up who had been trained by D and Bohden to assist as the flight crew. The group then walked out onto the catwalk, which lined the walls of the hangar and overlooked Odin’s massive presence. The giant LED flood lights reflected off the slick grey skin of Odin’s hull. The wings were so large, and they stretched so far, that they appeared to be almost a second level of the building. The back ramp was open and the cargo section lights were lit, presenting a very military-looking area that was very familiar to Todd. The crew made their way down the steel steps of the catwalk and walked to the back ramp, passing beneath the aircraft’s tail. The crew set down their bags and began going over a checklist of pre-flight inspections. D made his way up to the cockpit, where he pulled out a tablet and began flicking different switches and knobs which activated different lights and displays on the console.
Todd pulled the armor suit out of the large duffle bag he carried and began undressing. Bohden walked up the ramp carrying his web gear and parachute and set them down on the red cargo netting bench next to Todd, who now had the lower body of the suit pulled on and was pulling his t-shirt off.
He heard Amber whistling at him.
“Whatta hunk!” she yelled, her voice echoing throughout the hangar and making Todd blush.
Albrecht came in behind her with Kara and Kevin. The four made their way to the plane carrying personal carry-on bags for the long sixteen hours they would spend on Odin. Todd had finished getting his arm through the tight sleeve of the suit when Albrecht came up to him and patted him on the shoulder.
“Ready, son?” he said.
Todd breathed out and cocked his head to the side. “We’ll find out soon enough.”
Kara didn’t look at Todd as she passed him and made her way to the mid-section of the plane where the onboard kitchen and lounge were. He thought about their conversation the previous night and he felt more awkward now than he did when he asked her. He decided that he would just leave it alone. Maybe York would prove him wrong and would comply. Hell, maybe he would end up deciding to come back with him. The thought of this brought Todd hope. Maybe he could salvage what was left of the good in York and return him to the only people in the world who cared about him. He tried to put himself in the other Todd’s shoes. What would he do if he was approached by his same-self and told to relinquish the technology that gave him the power to manipulate time? He wouldn’t fight … at least he didn’t think so. The only reason that York would fight him was if he was mentally unstable, which Todd believed was possible.
Todd sat on the netting chair and tapped the screen of his MTX, making it come to life, displaying a pass code entry screen. He ty
ped in his code and the screen changed to a main menu with multiple applications including the time travel settings, history records, communications, navigation, and system settings. He tapped the time travel app and it opened the screen showing the multiple wheels labeled in years. Using his index finger, he rotated the digital wheel to the specified date and pressed “set” at the bottom of the screen. He then shut off the device and leaned back in his chair. His mind raced through endless possibilities of scenarios that could present themselves to him upon his insert. He did his best to stay positive and keep his mind straight. He looked down at his helmet beside him; its sleek black visor showed his distorted reflection on its smooth curved surface. He thought about what could happen if he was seen in the Western days wearing such attire. How could somebody from back then even describe what they saw? It was absolutely imperative that he remain undetected, or at least ensure that his suit was not seen. He would have to do a good job at adopting the lingo of the day. He went through the mission in his head at its simplest form. Get in, blend in, find York, and retrieve the tech. It all sounded far too simple when put this way, but it was the only way he could think about it without believing that the entire task was lunacy.
It was now almost 1300. Todd had dozed off in the back of the plane, and he was woken by Albrecht, who patted him on the shoulder. “We are about to take off, Todd. We’re all up in the lounge if you would like to join us,” he said, motioning his head towards the nose of the plane.
Todd rubbed his eyes and looked at the clock on the top right corner of the MTX. “I’ll be up there in a second,” he said as he stretched out his legs. Albrecht nodded and headed upstairs. Todd took a few seconds to take in the moment sitting in the cargo area. It felt all too familiar, yet it was new to him. Ordinarily he would be accompanied by several other Operators who would be hanging up hammocks or sprawling out in the plane either reading, or watching movies on tablets. Rob would be cracking jokes or sharing his trail mix with Todd as they watched a movie. The thought brought a smile to his face.