by E W Barnes
Sharon exchanged glances with Caelen.
“Is there some way we can find out who made the request?”
“Yes, but how will that help?”
“Cui bono,” Sharon said, thinking of Miranda. They could really use Miranda’s insights right now, Sharon thought with frustration.
“It means who benefits,” Caelen translated for Agent Berg.
Understanding flashed across Agent Berg’s face. She went to a computer terminal on a table against the wall across from the bank of windows.
“I have access to all but the most sensitive TPC data. I should be able to see who made the request to Director Constantine,” she said as she tapped the screen, opening one page and sweeping another to the side until she found what she was looking for.
“The request came from Acting Director Yorga Zintel,” she said as she turned to face them.
“That’s the one who came to talk with me,” Sharon said as Agent Berg nodded.
“I’m assuming she was not the one who gave you the assignment to correct the timeline,” she said.
Sharon pursed her lips. “No, our orders came from Director Veta.”
“The request came with an urgent injunctive from President Bjorn Ricket and someone named Natalie Johnson,” Agent Berg said.
“President Ricket ordered the investigation?” Caelen breathed.
Agent Berg nodded. “Apparently.”
“Who is Natalie Johnson?” Sharon asked.
“I don't know,” Caelen said absently, still absorbing the revelation that the World Government President had ordered an investigation at the TPC.
“I don’t know her either,” Agent Berg added.
“Isn’t there some record of her on the temporal mainframe?” Sharon asked.
Agent Berg tapped the screen.
“There are many Natalie Johnsons in the general population in 2204, but there’s nothing about a Natalie Johnson involved with the TPC or the World Government,” she said.
“What about your director? Could he know who she is?”
Agent Berg chewed her lip. “I'm not sure.”
“Do you think he could be involved?” Caelen asked gently. Agent Berg exhaled.
“I’ve been wondering about that since your report uploaded. I can’t imagine Director Constantine voluntarily joining this kind of hoax on the people of the world. It wouldn’t be consistent with the character of the man I've worked with for the last five years.”
“Have you told him about the report?” Caelen asked.
“Not yet. He has access to it, but it may not have crossed his desk yet. The report flagged for me as soon as it uploaded because of my assignment on this investigation.”
“Maybe we need to ask him,” Sharon said.
“And if he is involved?” Agent Berg raised her eyebrows at Sharon.
“We need a way for you to get information without arousing suspicions,” Caelen said.
“Then I’ll have to arrest you again,” Agent Berg answered.
◆◆◆
To make it look good, Agent Berg called for a security guard who accompanied them glaring at Sharon and Caelen as they walked to Director Constantine’s office.
Agent Berg knocked on the door.
“Director, do you have a moment?”
“Always time for you, Astrid.”
“Thank you, Officer, you may wait outside,” Agent Berg said to the security guard. “Director Constantine and I are more than enough to handle these two,” she added when the guard hesitated.
The security guard stepped out of the doorway with her back to the wall to wait until she was needed again. Agent Berg closed the door.
“What do we have here, Astrid?” Director Constantine eyed Caelen and Sharon warily. “I thought we sent all the agents from the TPC in the future to their respective time frames.”
“We did, but these two defied their orders, returned here, and I captured them. They have told me an unbelievable story. Before I ignore what they’re saying as a desperate attempt to escape discipline in their own time frame, I wanted your opinion on it.”
Director Constantine sat back in his chair.
“What is this unbelievable story?”
Agent Berg told him everything they had discussed in the meeting room: About how time had changed while they were on a training shift; how they had traced the change to an email sent in 2127; how that email had triggered a panic and the imposition of martial law. She did not tell him they believed the email was a fake.
Agent Berg stopped speaking and the only sound in the office was the creak of Director Constantine’s chair as he sat forward. Agent Berg had not drawn any conclusions, offered opinions, or asked him questions. She was waiting and watching to see what his response would be.
Sharon watched the director closely, too, and her heart sank when she saw a hard look come into his eyes. Agent Berg must have seen it too because her shoulders and neck tightened. Sharon glanced at Caelen. He was tense as if he were waiting for a signal.
Director Constantine’s eyes flicked to Sharon and Caelen and then back to Agent Berg.
“What is the status of these prisoners?” he asked.
“They have been removed as agents of the TPC in their time frame and are scheduled to be returned to custody in 2204 unless you decide otherwise,” Agent Berg responded. Director Constantine clasped his hands in front of him on his desk.
“I believe their unbelievable story, and I think you do, too, otherwise you would not have brought it to my attention,” he said.
“Does that mean you will override the order to return them to their time frame?”
“No.”
“I don’t understand, sir.”
Director Constantine tapped a computer panel embedded in his desk. Sharon thought she heard a short buzzing sound. Her ears suddenly felt stuffy, as if she were on an airplane rapidly descending.
“I know all about this story, Agent Berg,” he said quietly.
“With all due respect, Director, I am head of temporal security. Why didn’t you tell me? This is information I could have used in my investigation.”
“It was need-to-know, Agent Berg.”
“That may have been the case, but things have changed now. I respectfully request that you tell me what I need to know to do my job.”
Director Constantine exhaled.
“Perhaps I erred and should have brought you in from the beginning, Astrid. I apologize.” He glanced again at Sharon and Caelen.
“There is no risk talking in front of them, Director,” Agent Berg said. “I will return them to their time frame as ordered and it won’t matter if they know something that will have happened 78 years before. And you've activated the electronic suppression system. There will be no record of this conversation.”
Director Constantine frowned, as if examining all the angles before he proceeded. Sharon held her breath.
“All right,” he said, leaning back in his chair again. “A TPC director from a future time frame communicated with me on the director’s compartmentalized network.”
Agent Berg nodded. “So, there would be no record of the communication on the mainframe.”
“That’s correct. As we feared, our world could not devise a defense against invasion from a parallel universe and the future was in danger of falling to the conquerors from the other earth. The future World Government decided that the only course of action was to change history, to send the world down a different path, one that would give us a better chance to protect ourselves.”
“The email was to be sent with the intent to change history,” Agent Berg said.
“That’s correct. With the threat of the email, the World Government could keep the population at heightened alert and shift the TPC’s focus from research to security to develop weapons and strategies to defend the planet. The director from the future had run the scenario through the temporal mainframe and was convinced this change in the timeline would protect the world.”
> “Who will send the email?”
Director Constantine shook his head as he spoke. “I wasn’t privy to that information. My role is to provide access to the email network for the planet. The email will be sent from the future through time to arrive on the pre-selected date in 2127.”
Sharon could practically see the wheels turning in Agent Berg’s head trying to think of a way to get Director Constantine to tell them more.
“I understand, sir. What are my orders?”
Director Constantine sat forward and tapped the computer panel again. Sharon felt rather than heard a hissing sound and the stuffiness in her ears subsided.
“I don’t think this unbelievable story is anything to worry about,” he said picking up where the conversation had left off before he had turned on the electronic suppression system. “What is the status of the other two prisoners from 2204?”
“They both agreed to return to their timeline with Acting Director Zintel,” Agent Berg answered. Sharon was crushed to hear that Miranda had also sided with the other TPC as Jonas had.
"Very well.” Director Constantine turned to Sharon and Caelen. “Pursuant to the orders of Acting Director Zintel, I affirm her order for your return to your time for whatever disciplinary action she deems appropriate.” He nodded at Agent Berg.
“They are to return to 2204 immediately. Send them back. And thank you, Agent Berg.”
“Thank you, Director.” Agent Berg stood and opened the door. The security guard came to attention.
“Escort these prisoners to the temporal amplifier.”
◆◆◆
With the security guard at their backs, there was no opportunity to talk with Agent Berg about what they’d heard. The temporal amplifier—located in a meeting room with a sophisticated-looking computer on a table—was only a few feet from the director’s office. The security guard positioned herself against the wall as Agent Berg programmed the temporal amplifier.
Sharon’s heart raced. If Agent Berg sent them back to 2204, they would be arrested on arrival. There would be no chance for them to plan. But with the security guard within inches, they couldn’t even whisper.
“I am programming the unit to send you back the day after your accomplices returned,” Agent Berg said. “I have informed them of your incoming shift.”
She turned and looked them each in the eye intently.
“I think that’s everything needed to resolve this,” she said. She held their eyes for a long moment. Then she activated the temporal amplifier. Sharon waited for the telltale warping of a shift, but it didn’t come. She looked at the security guard, expecting a reaction but the guard didn’t move.
No, not just not moving. The guard was frozen. She looked at Agent Berg for an explanation.
“I placed us in observation mode for 20 seconds in real time,” Agent Berg said. “It will give us a chance to talk, but we must talk quickly before the system automatically shifts you to 2204. Our talk with the director did not go as I expected. Did you get information you could use?”
“No,” Caelen said at the same time Sharon answered “Yes.”
“We didn’t find out who sent the email,” Caelen said. “Or who Natalie Johnson is.”
“But we know Director Constantine was acting in good faith, even if he was lied to. And we know when the email was sent,” Sharon said. When Caelen frowned at her, she grinned. “It was sent in 2204 because that’s when we experienced the change in the timeline.”
“And maybe we do know who sent the email,” Sharon added. “Who benefits? What about the Chestnut Covin?”
“What’s a Chestnut Covin?” Agent Berg asked.
“It’s a long story… just be on the lookout for it,” Sharon said.
“There’s not much I can do from here without tipping my hand to my director. If that were to happen, they might change the plan and we would lose our chance to stop them. Do you know what you will do in the future?”
“Yes,” Caelen said at the same time Sharon answered “No.”
“Trust me,” he said as Sharon glared at him.
Agent Berg chuckled. “Good luck to you both,” she said. “And, if you get a chance, let me know how things turn out.”
Her voice faded. The room warped and Agent Berg disappeared in a blue blur. They emerged in the atrium of the TPC headquarters within a circle of security officers. They were back in 2204.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Yorga Zintel stepped into the circle.
“Thank goodness you've returned safely,” she said. She pitched her voice low, sounding convincingly like a concerned and caring leader. She turned to the security officer next to her.
“While they are no longer agents and must face disciplinary action for their transgressions, they were valuable and admired colleagues at one time. Please treat them with respect.”
“I understand,” the officer said, though Sharon was not sure the two guard dogs watching them intently agreed with the sentiment.
He nodded to four officers who ushered Caelen and Sharon to the training hall. Instead of turning left into one of the training rooms, they were escorted to a small room on the right at the end of the hall. The room might have been used for “book” training or for private conversations but now it was set up for interrogation.
The walls facing the holographic grounds were opaque, the glass dark gray and cold. There were two chairs set in the middle of the room and nothing else. Sharon shivered as they walked in.
“Please sit,” the lead security officer said in a stern voice that suggested resistance was inadvisable. Sharon sat in the chair next to the windows. The chair was icy, and she was trembling.
The security officers left the room. She should have felt relief—maybe they could devise a way to escape while they were unattended—but she felt only dread.
“You said you knew what to do,” Sharon hissed at Caelen. “What’s the plan?”
Caelen didn’t answer. Seconds later Yorga walked in.
“Please remain here. I’ll only be a few minutes,” she said to the officers stationed outside as she closed the door.
She studied them silently with crossed her arms.
“You could have stayed in your comfortable home, with your comfortable life, you know,” she said to Sharon. “But no. You had to defy the TPC, you had to do it your way.”
“You lied to me," Sharon said, fighting the shaking in her voice. "You were never going to assign me any missions. You were going to just leave me there, an agent in name only."
“So what?” Yorga said. “You'd still receive pay for being an agent. You could have had a very cushy life doing whatever you wanted.”
“And you,” she turned to Caelen. “You know, Director Veta once called you the most trustworthy agent in the TPC. You never violated the rules, never deviated from protocol. The most dedicated agent in our ranks. Until now.”
Yorga uncrossed her arms.
“Unfortunately, it falls to me to decide what to do with the both of you.”
“Unfortunate for who?” Sharon asked.
“Unfortunate for you. Most of the time when agents don't follow protocol, it is a simple matter of relieving them of duty. They are terminated from the TPC, their memories of time travel extracted, and they hope to find another position to make their way in the world. It’s such an unpleasant prospect, most agents would do anything not to be released from the TPC.
“But you have done more than defy the rules on the misguided orders of the former director. You violated our agreement even after we gave you leniency. This requires a more serious consequence than simply terminating you from the TPC.”
Sharon glanced sidelong at Caelen. He had not mentioned what agreement Yorga had offered him and she wondered if it had been to join Jonas and Miranda as a new temporal security officer.
“After conferring together, President Rickert and I decided that we must take a more, uh, creative approach to disciplinary action with you two.”
“W
hat would that be?” Caelen said warily.
“We will remove you from this time frame, and permanently send you to another time where there are no temporal amplifiers.”
“You can’t be serious,” Caelen scoffed. “It would violate TPC protocols to banish us into the past.”
Yorga laughed softly.
“Not to the past. We’re sending you to the future. We’ve located a time in the future when temporal amplifiers are no longer used. Once you arrive in that time frame, there will be no way back. As a bonus, once you're in the future you can't do any damage to the timeline. You won’t be able to change history to avoid this consequence.”
“You can’t do that!” Caelen said in shock. “You have no way of knowing if we could be shifted to the future safely or how our arrival could change things. Our presence could irrevocably change the future.”
“We deem it an acceptable risk.”
“Acceptable because sending us to the future won’t impact you, you mean,” Sharon said bitterly.
“Oh no, you’re wrong there,” Yorga said, her eyes glittering. “You’re not going to the future. He is. We removed the temporal amplifier in your bookcases. You’ll be returned to 2023.”
“Aren’t you worried I will change the timeline to stop you?” Sharon asked, ignoring the shock that vibrated through her at the thought she would never see Caelen again.
"We ran a thorough analysis of all possible futures and no matter what you do in the past, there will be no impact on the timeline." She sneered at Sharon. "You’re just not that important."
There was a knock on the door.
“Temporal security agents. They are here to escort you to a temporal amplifier to execute the sentence. You'll have a chance to say goodbye to each other.”
The door opened and Jonas and Miranda walked in. Miranda’s face was expressionless, and Jonas eyed them
coldly before turning to Yorga.
“We are ready to execute the sentence, Director,” he said.
“Very well, Agent Fernley.” Yorga looked at Caelen and Sharon one last time.