by Tom Merritt
“And I can only accept if I understand. Which I kind of think will need an explanation.”
Guardian Lau sighed. “Fine. The current Secretary is excellent at his job, but we have a special operation that must be held back from him. It involves some cooperation with the Alendan Core, which is why we can’t just jump around in time to keep it from him. We’ve arranged to grant him a year’s temporal exemption for a period in which his wife’s family went through some rather difficult issues. We’re taking that year to execute this project. He believes we will not need him during that year. We can inform him of use of an interim if need be, but we don’t think we will. And no, I can’t tell you about the project until you’re sworn in. Is that enough?”
Instructor X thought about it. He nodded. “Do I get to keep using Verity?”
“The Verity will be your conveyance for the four days. In fact she must be. She’s the only one I trust to execute the pinpoint arrivals required to keep this secret. She’s going to have to return as close as possible to her departure moment from here, so no one can detect her absence from the party. Do we have a deal?”
Instructor X thought about it for a moment mostly not to look too eager. To be Secretary was a great honor. And the Secretary had in fact trained him personally, right? Then the old man’s words echoed through his mind. He tried to remember why they were important, but Guardian Lau interrupted his train of thought again.
“Instructor X?”
“I will do as you say.”
Guardian Lau gave him a strange look. “Excellent, then. We leave at once. Come this way.”
Guardian Lau pulled a book like a lever and a shelf of books swung open, revealing a corridor.
“Library with a secret passage?” he asked. “You told me not to think in stereotypes.”
She laughed. “My own embellishment, dear. Not the Briamuns. Follow me.”
“Verity, I’ve missed you,” Guardian Lau said as she entered the ship.
“Guardian Lau. Welcome aboard.”
“I love how you always say that.”
She never said that to Instructor X. He wondered why.
“I have some coordinates for you, dear.”
“Will you be assuming Pilot duties, then?” Verity asked.
It was a simple question. It was also a bit rebellious. One didn’t question a Guardian of Alenda, especially if one was a machine.
“Well no, dear. No need to get sensitive. Your Instructor remains in charge. But it certainly isn’t the first time you’ve taken coordinates from someone other than your Pilot.”
“Thank you for the clarification. I am ready for the coordinates.”
Well now, that was interesting. If Instructor X could refer to Verity’s AI as frosty, this would be the time to do it.
They arrived in Instructor X’s home era at a hidden—though not necessarily secret—landing area near the offices of the Guardians. A group of guards met and escorted them on a long, winding walk through a complex of buildings.
He had no idea what building they were even in. They all connected in this part of the Capital. Finally, he arrived in a small chamber with white walls and dark wooden shelves filled with antique scientific instruments. He noticed they were from different points throughout the early history of the development of time travel. He turned to Guardian Lau, who was the only other person in the room now, the guards having left.
“Go ahead, have a look.” She motioned toward the shelves. “We have to wait a few moments for the others anyway.”
Instructor X was fascinated. He had studied all these devices but never seen the originals. Travel to the era of time travel’s discovery was not only forbidden by policy but also by practicality. There was just no natural way that time travelers could visit the inventors of time travel and not somehow undo the invention of time travel. So it just never happened. A few had tried and found that for a variety of reasons—mechanical, accidental, or through miscalculation—their intentions were thwarted.
All of that meant that the usual way Alendans inspected something was impossible. Early time-travel implements needed to be preserved and protected through linear time. That made him think of the Alendan Core.
“Are we in the office of the Alendan Core?”
Guardian Lau laughed. “Oh heavens, no! They wish this was their office, I expect, if not for the decorative objects, for its purpose. But no.”
“But who has preserved these through linear time?”
“The Core helped, certainly. But the objects have been in this office or earlier versions of it since their invention. That said, a representative of the Core will join us. Ah, here they are.”
A man and woman entered the room and greeted them. The woman was dressed in the typical outfit of a government Administrator. The man was the host from the diner Instructor X had visited when he was an Ambassador.
“You!” Instructor X yelled involuntarily.
The man laughed. “Hello, Ambassador X.”
“Instructor X now. But I thought—I was told—you were an android.”
“I’m not an android, but I play one at a diner sometimes. I hope my secret can stay safe,” he said.
“I see you two know each other,” Guardian Lau raised an eyebrow.
“Sort of,” Instructor X explained. “I was to meet a representative of the Alendan Core at a diner, but they never showed. At least I never found out who it was. Until now. But he was . . . well, never mind now. I never got your name.”
Guardian Lau intervened. “Allow me. Instructor X, meet officially for the first time Hennesy of the Alendan Core.” They nodded and touched hands as if meeting for the first time.
Instructor X coughed, a little embarrassed. “So, Core members do not use titles?”
“Not among ourselves and our friends and associates,” Hennesy explained. “Please call me Hennesy. And my apologies for calling you by the wrong title earlier.”
“And this is Administrator Tezel,” Guardian Lau said, turning to the woman.
“Instructor X, a pleasure,” the woman said.
“That name sounds familiar. Wait, you mentioned her, Hennesy. At the diner.”
Hennesy shrugged. “A little truth mixed into a lie makes it all the more believable. I confess I don’t remember what I said, but I often refer to my friend in the Capital when making conversation. And she is my friend. Though, as I am always asking forgiveness for, the opinions I ascribe to her are not always accurate.”
Administrator Tezel chuckled. “It’s fine, as I have told you a million times, Hennesy.”
“Well, I’m glad we’re all friends now,” Guardian Lau said. “I’m afraid I must move us to business. We have much to do and discuss. Let’s sit.”
They took seats in overstuffed antique chairs around the room. Instructor X found it to be an awkward arrangement since none of them directly faced each other, but no one made a move to rearrange the chairs.
“Administrator Tezel, I have informed Instructor X of the basic outline, but he does not know our main purpose yet.”
Administrator Tezel looked at Instructor X sideways from the odd angle of her chair. “Have you heard of something called ‘the Instant’ or its legend?”
“Yes, of course, the children’s stories about a device that could rip out all of time and space, replacing it and all of us in it. It’s the typical doomsday device tale. Be careful, kids, for our hubris could destroy us all.”
“Well, yes. The tale is exaggerated. But there is a real device that inspired it. And it is called the Instant, though most likely because of the tale, not because that’s what it was originally called. What it was originally called is now lost. It was created in the era of time travel’s invention, so we can’t investigate it.”
“The Instant is real?” Instructor X said skeptically.
Administrator Tezel didn’t miss a beat. “Yes. In a sense. Not the one from the stories, but one almost as dangerous. It was invented as a device to help investigate the th
reads of time. However, before it was activated, its creators realized that it would not be possible to investigate those threads without undoing them. And if left active, it would quickly destroy all time threads.
“The Instant itself would not replace them but cause the conditions for it to happen, and physics would take its course. Only the person who activated the Instant and anything near that person would be preserved, left to survive in a reality in which they don’t belong. We suspect it would be nightmarish. The laws of physics might change, causing them constant pain. At the very least, they would be culturally orphaned. They would not fit in anywhere in history. It would drive any activator insane.”
“So I assume it was destroyed?”
“No. Well yes, once. Hennesy can explain.”
Hennesy now picked up the story. “The original Instant was destroyed once it was discovered what it could do. But the knowledge was not destroyed. So others pursued making it, and one finally succeeded. The Instant she made was recovered with great difficulty. The decision was then made by members of the Alendan Core at the time not to destroy it. After the original had been destroyed, multiple people over time tried to re-create it. Whereas when one was known to be in existence, people had tried to steal it rather than re-create it. We decided it was safer to try to defend one than possibly allow several to be created.”
Instructor X nodded. “I see. So where do I come in?”
“Its location is at risk of being discovered,” Guardian Lau answered. “We need someone we can trust to take charge of the Instant and move it. Your Secretary is a fine man, but, let us say, he does not meet our criteria for handling the Instant. Few could. But you do.”
Administrator Tezel chimed in. “Once you are sworn in as Secretary, we’ll tell you exactly what to do.”
“And if I decline?”
They looked at Guardian Lau. She looked down with a grim smile. “That’s a dangerous question. You would need to have declined before we came here.” She looked him in the eye, unwavering.
“Fine. I suppose I accept, then. What do I do?”
Guardian Lau stood. “I will assemble the Committee of the Minority in here. We’ll swear you in. Hennesy and Administrator Tezel will tell you the rest.”
As they waited, the guards brought in coffee and carol-root pie. Instructor X enjoyed the incongruity of the gruff, sober, and tough guards daintily pouring coffee into delicate china cups and slicing off slim pieces of pie to put on flowery dishes.
“What is the Committee of the Minority?” Instructor X asked Guardian Lau as they waited.
“Alenda once had secret agencies that served under the Secretary and would brief selected Guardians. It led to abuses. So all Guardians were made aware of all secret operations. That proved just as dangerous, with compromises in secrecy leading to great crimes. So the Committee of the Minority was born. The Secretary must brief all members of the Committee on all secret matters. The Committee is elected by the other members to represent them, thus speaking for all the Guardians. And, of course, in times when the Guardians need to operate secretly, the Committee will sit in the Guardians’ place so as not to draw attention.”
“So the rest of the Guardians do not know about this?”
“No, in this case they do,” Guardian Lau corrected. “They gave their powers and consent to a representative. The Committee could not otherwise name a Secretary.”
Eventually three elderly women and one man arrived, the Guardians that served on the Committee of the Minority.
It was a simple ceremony. The Committee convened officially and Guardian Lau was named speaker pro tem. They each affirmed which Guardians they spoke for. They confirmed all Guardians were represented. Then Guardian Lau submitted the agenda. It was all very bureaucratic.
“We have one item. The confirmation of Instructor X as Secretary Pro Tem for a term of one year for the purposes of presiding over the transfer of the Instant. I open the topic for discussion.”
The oldest of the women spoke first. “We have read your recommendation of Instructor X and understand the reasoning. I have no more discussion to carry out.”
The other women said even less in agreement. The man spoke last.
“On behalf of Guardian Sim, I must express the opinion that familiarizing Instructor X with the Instant may prove damaging in the future. He says this because of the relationship of the Secretary with the proposed Secretary Pro Tem. I have personally investigated this, and for my part, although I cannot visit the fixed point about which Guardian Sim is concerned in particular, there does not seem to be any ill effect on the other side. But we cannot know what will happen at Mersenne. Guardian Sim urges us to consider that.”
The use of the name Mersenne caught Instructor X’s attention. He also wanted to know what was meant by his relationship with the Secretary. But before he could speak, Guardian Lau moved on.
“Discussion is over. How do you vote in the proposal of investing Instructor X as temporary Secretary under the conditions described?”
All the Guardians voted yes.
Guardian Lau turned to Instructor X. “Under the provisions of the power of the Committee of the Minority of the Guardians of Alenda, I declare you Secretary Pro Tem in confidence for the term of one year local. Congratulations, Secretary Tem.”
As was customary, the Secretary went only by his title. Secretary Tem missed hearing his real name, but it would only be for four days.
Instructor X, now called Secretary Tem, promised to fly Guardian Lau back to the party after his four days were up. Then he left with Administrator Tezel and Hennesy for his first task. They took the Verity but only traveled in space to reach a warehouse on the outskirts of the Capital.
Hennesy went inside first to take care of “some things.” Administrator Tezel waited in the Verity with Secretary Tem.
“How much do you know about Guardian Lau?” Administrator Tezel asked.
“Virtually nothing,” Secretary Tem said.
“And yet you agreed to this plan.” She stated it, but it was definitely meant as a question.
“I suppose it appealed to my vanity,” he admitted.
“Your vanity?”
“I get a chance to be Secretary and be trusted with something nobody else could be trusted with.”
“Do you have a grudge against the Secretary?”
Secretary Tem paused. “He made me build a mud hut for four years with two other versions of myself for a total lifetime experience of twelve years.”
Administrator Tezel had no response for a moment. “He what?”
“He also trained me, though. Doesn’t take that long to build a hut, really. In fact, most of it was training. Or busy work. Getting coffee. Well, growing coffee. Inventing coffee, really. I’m not supposed to tell anyone, of course. State secret and all that. But now that I’m Secretary, I suppose that no longer applies. As I have the same authority as him.”
“You surprise me, Secretary Tem. And yet, I think you’re lying. Or if you’re not lying, you’re not telling me the whole truth.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because you’re not angry. Not really. You would have done different things in your subjective past if that were the truth.”
“Maybe I just didn’t have the opportunity?”
“You wound me, Secretary Tem. I do my research.”
He wanted to ask her what she meant by that, but Hennesy returned.
“Everything is ready. Follow me.”
The warehouse was empty but for the remnants of someone’s dinner, which sat on a side table, still warm and greasy. Secretary Tem thought he smelled coffee.
“Over here,” Hennesy said, his voice echoing through the empty building. In the corner sat a large wooden crate, partially opened. Secretary Tem heard a door slam as they approached. Someone had been watching over it until the last minute, he guessed.
“Administrator Tezel, if you would wait outside the crate, please. Secretary Tem, please follow me.�
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The crate was just large enough for the two of them to enter. They stood on either side of a small suitcase.
“Secretary Tem. In this suitcase is the Instant. It will be in your possession for the next three days. You must guard it, and others will guard you. But I implore you. Do not open it. I have no doubt that if you opened it, you would not do anything with it. But there is one way to be certain that nothing, even accidental, happens with the device. And that’s to keep it in this case.”
“Maybe it should have a safer triggering mechanism, then,” Secretary Tem countered.
Hennesy laughed. “It does have protections so you can’t just drop it and wipe out the universe. But, at the same time, there are many scenarios by which someone might come to activate it, even though they did not intend to when they took it out of the case. All I’m saying is if it never comes out of the case, none of those scenarios can happen. Do you understand?”
Secretary Tem nodded. “I do.”
Hennesy picked up the case and solemnly handed it to Secretary Tem. “It is yours from now until the handover.”
Secretary Tem took the case and began to leave. Hennesy stopped him.
“When you hand over the case, the proper phrase must be uttered to you. That phrase is ‘one chance out.’ Can you remember that?”
“What if someone accidentally says it? Like, ‘There’s one chance out there for us’ or something?”
“That’s not likely. But if it comes up in casual conversation before the fourth day, do not hand over the case. It must be on the fourth day in the appointment you are guided to by Administrator Tezel. Administrator Tezel will tell you where that place is. I don’t know it. You must hear the phrase spoken to you in that place. Administrator Tezel doesn’t know the phrase. You will be the only one besides the recipient who will know both.”
“Fair enough. So don’t tell Administrator Tezel the phrase?”
Hennesy shrugged. “That’s up to you, Secretary Tem. You’re in charge. I’m just passing along the information I was meant to. Best of luck. The fate of the universe is literally in your hands now.”