Consigning Fate (32 page)

So Bertha had to know before she made her final call on the forgive or forget issue, whether or not he intended to harm her personally.

She knew the answer to that the second she stepped into Mike’s cell.

He was sitting on the bunk, hands to his face. And with a shocked expression, he pulled the skin to his face as he stood. “You’re all right,” he said with relief.

“Yes. It’s been one hell of a recovery though.”

“I’m sorry. If I had known it was you … You looked like any male soldier …”

Bertha held up her hand. “I know. I lost the baby.”

Mike nodded. “I figured as much.”

“Tigger is doing well,” she said, pulling up a chair.

“That’s good to know.”

“Mike, you don’t belong in here,” she said. “You have skills that are needed. Beginnings and the Society have called a truce. In fact, they have formed a pact.”

“I find that so hard to believe.”

She shook her head. “Don’t. We have. We really have Mike. Beginnings doesn’t want you dead or prosecuted. The Society doesn’t want you dead or prosecuted. Both sides want you to help out. Every man is needed. Every skill is needed. If Beginnings and the Society can put things aside, hell George is vacationing there. If that can happen. You need to make it happen with you, too. For the sake of everyone.”

Mike chuckled. “You sound so gloomy. As if some sort of bug war is gonna happen.”

Mike didn’t need a verbal response from Bertha. The look on her face said it all, and he stopped chuckling.

<><><><>

“Hal knows,” Robbie greeted Dean when dean opened the door.

“Hello, to you, too Robbie. Man, what did you do, fly here.”

“Pretty much,” Robbie said. “Hal knows.”

“Hal knows what?”

Robbie laid the backpack on the table. “He knows we dug up the grave. OK maybe he doesn’t know it was us. He might. But he knows the grave was tampered with.”

Dean’s head spun, Robbie was speaking fast. “How … how does he know?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t have time to ask him.”

“Robbie, slow down.”

“I can’t. I have to get going.” Robbie laid the plastic bag on the table. “Here are the sandwiches for the DNA. And here ... here’s this box.”

“Why are you in such a rush?”

“Running from Hal. I lost him on the way here. Had to go to Jordan, spin back down the back way…”

Dean laughed. “Why are you running from Hal? Wait. Why is he chasing you?”

“Who knows?” Robbie shrugged. “I’ll be back tonight. Run those DNA tests.” He walked to the door.

“What is this box?” Dean lifted it.

“It’s cool. It’s weird. I haven’t a fucking clue how or what it does and why. Don’t touch it. We’ll play with it together tonight. Two people should do it. Wait until you hear what happened.”

“What …”

“Put that down, Dean. I gotta go.” Robbie opened the front door.

“Robbie what …” The door closed. “Happened.” Dean exhaled. “Typical Slagel.” Shaking his head, he set down the box and focused on the sandwiches. Until he heard Robbie’s voice in his head.

“It’s cool. It’s weird. I haven’t a fucking clue how or what it does and why. Don’t touch it.”

Dean’s eyes shifted to the box. Cool? Weird? Don’t touch it. It was like telling a kid not to peek at his presents.

Don’t touch it.

Dean chuckled and lifted the box. It was unlike anything he had ever seen. The alphanumeric keypad. He recognized, that was obvious. The shift button next to those ... obvious as well, to shift from numbers to letters. The three top buttons just under the blank LCD display he didn’t have a clue.

The symbols looked Greek.

Sort of. Almost hieroglyphic.

Two camera lenses, one on top, one on the side. Was it a photo machine? A projector …

Dean smiled. A projector.

Only one symbol was encased by a circle. Using what he thought was common sense, and thinking ‘O’ for on, Dean pressed it.

The blue funnel light swirled up.

“Help me, Obi-won-Kenobi, you’re my only hope.”

Dean chuckled.

“Hello Roy. My, you look Handsome. Where do you want to go?’

Curious, Dean looked down to the LCD display; it read ‘set time’. He looked at his watch.

13:22

Dean pressed in the military time of 13:22.

“Ok,” he spoke out loud. “Where is am or pm?” It wasn’t the power button, he tried the Green one.

Zap!

Thump.

“Shit.” Dean found himself on the ground, midst of a wooden area. He picked himself up and looked about. “Oh my God.” He looked down to the box. “I’m so stupid!” shaking his head, and hoping common scientific sense would kick in, Dean pressed the green button.

Zap!

He was back.

He shook the electric chill from his body and laughed at his own stupidity. “Green means go. Of course. Of … shit.” If he had been zapped elsewhere, like Robbie, he wondered where he zapped for his return. He put down the box and lifted his phone. He dialed. “Hey, Robbie. Um … just checking in. How long ago did you leave here?”

“You touched the box, didn’t you?”

“No. No, I didn’t.”

“Dean. You touched the box.”

Dean sighed. “Yes.”

“I told you not to touch the box.”

“I know. But that made me do it.”

“And?”

Dean paused. “We have to talk, figure it out, and learn this thing.”

“It’s really cool, isn’t it?”

“Without a doubt.”

“Should we tell anyone?” Robbie asked.

“Absolutely not. Not yet.”

“I agree. See you tonight. Don’t touch it again. Wait for me.”

“I will.”

“Promise.”

“I promise. See you tonight.” Dean disconnected the call. The box set on the table, and though the scientist in him really wanted to touch that box again, learn more about it. He gave his word to Robbie. It would drive him insane not being able to play with it, so Dean threw his focus on the remnants of the sandwiches and the DNA to be found.

<><><><>

Lunch time. Of course, it was a late lunch, but Roy didn’t mind. He had to admit being a bit frightened when he saw the Slagel clan, minus Robbie walking across town.

They were like a wall. Roy carried his lunch sack and was going to sit in the park like everyone else in Beginnings. He tilted his head when he saw the newness of it.

“What’s wrong?” Frank stopped to ask.

“That concrete square.” Roy pointed to the large object in the park. “What is that?”

“The base of the statue,” Frank said. “For my dad. You know, you even told us you saw that when you went through the Aragon Window.”

“Yes.” Roy nodded. “Yes. I did.”

He mumbled the Aragon Window as he walked to the park and took his seat on the bench. It was a great day. As he unwrapped his sandwich, he watched the Slagels walk into Containment.

Roy smiled when he realized it.

The Aragon Window. Frank referenced the statue of that time frame, yet Roy never recalled hearing about a statue in his future history.

Had it worked?

Had he succeeded?

When he had returned from his first time trip and realized nothing had changed, Roy went into a learning frenzy. He knew he had to make another trip, and he had to prepare for it.

But in order to do so, he had to get the government to do another one.

“It’s a waste,” General Spade said. “We sent the first LEP soldiers through. We sent the second batch through. Nothing. No change.”

“But I think you are missing the point,” Roy said. “I think you need to send assassins in with the mission to stop anyone that tries to get in the way of our LEP soldiers.”

Roy knew he was taking a risk. But also knew the history of Beginnings and Frank. Even wearing invisible suits, they couldn’t be victorious.

“No,” Spade said. “I don’t think so. We’ve sent thirty.”

“Then what is ten more?”

“First, the power supply …”

Roy fluttered his lips. “Power cell is unlimited. You know I invented that.”

Spade nodded.

He knew it was a subject of debate and thought for Spade, and until he had his information of when the government’s next trip would be, he had to figure out what he had to do.

He had to realize his error.

Roy believed that by giving Joe the forewarning of the war then Joe would be prepared.

Joe tried. But preparedness wasn’t the wrong doing.

He heard of the Aragon Window history.

They had a Great War there, too, but the world was different. It was free. Pleasant, not hungry and dying.

What was the difference?

Frank was the leader in that future. Danny explained to him that Dean was supposed to die and when his death was averted, he was able to be around to cure Joe from disease. Joe lived, when otherwise he would have died.

That was the one big difference he could think of.

The invasion would still take place, the same way, the same time, no matter who led Beginnings. Both times it would have been a surprise hit. But it was the action of the leader that made the difference.

History dictated Joe as a great leader. A founding father of the country. What could he have possibly done wrong?

During coffee, something General Spade liked to do with Roy, he broke into a conversation about that.

“The Great War,” Roy said. “Did you study it?”

“Yes,” Spade replied. “I love history.”

“What do you think Joe Slagel could have done to make a difference? Or do you not know that much about the war.”

“I know a lot about it,” Spade said. “See Roy, leaders make decisions all the time. Some good. Some bad. They don’t deliberately make bad decisions. They truly believe that they are correct in what they are doing. Advisors tell them differently. Example. In 1991 The President of the United States, George Bush defending Kuwait against the Tyranny of Iraq, went into Iraq and stopped them from invading Kuwait. George Bush should have pushed further, taking the leader of that country. He should have done that. He didn’t. Had he done so, it would have averted the Iraq war of 2002. During World War II, MacArthur told the president to push though Russia while they were weak. The US president didn’t do it. Had he done so, he would have avoided the cold war. See?”

Roy nodded.

“Now to say what Joe Slagel did wrong is easy in hindsight. It’s always easier in hindsight to see what you did wrong. I can sit here and tell you the decision he made. And what I would have done. But who is to say, in his position, at that time, I wouldn’t have made the same decision. There were a lot of factors to consider at the time of decision making. Factors, I know now, that they didn’t know.”

Roy slipped into thought. Did Frank know those factors when he was leader in the Aragon Window? Frank knew as much as Joe. What made Frank make such a different decision?

Roy asked. “So is it possible a different leader would have made a different decision?”

“Very possible,” Spade said. “It depends on the man, the views, the humanity.”

“Hmm.” Roy rubbed his chin. “So then tell me. What error did Joe Slagel make? What decision was it that you may not have made?”

General Spade proceeded to give Roy a history lesson and tell him all about the factors he knew regarding the Great War. He then told Roy the one crucial turning point. The one decision Joe and his cabinet made that was the wrong move. It was one decision. One error. One thing that totally changed the outcome of the world.

General Spade even pulled up history dockets where experts wrote about the error. How it was deemed a human decision that brought about inhumanity.

Roy copied that history information, just like he did the other information, tucked it in his backpack for safe ‘time travel’ constant keeping and made his move.

He plotted, planned, and knew his direction.

When the time came and the government was sending one last squad through, Roy made his trip.

Only instead of going back pre Great War, he went mid Great War.

He had to. It was the only way to get Joe to see that he made an error and that he had to make a change. If he went before the war, it was conceivable that Joe would feel the impact.

It wasn’t the scene he expected to see. It wasn’t the happy Beginnings. It was a scene of tents, fires in cans, gunshots, and explosions in the distance.

He asked where Joe was and was directed to the tent.

Roy could see the amber glow of a warming fire and stepped inside. “Joe.”

Joe looked up. “What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be with the others?”

“Not me, Joe.” Roy stepped closer. “You know who I am, don’t you.”