What James Did: The Accidental Time Travellers-Book 3 (13 page)

“That will not be a problem, I have plenty to spare.  I will call Josef if you want to tell the others I have agreed to help them.  We can have dinner and then show them to their rooms and we will leave first thing tomorrow morning.”

“We must tread carefully.  We cannot allow them to become suspicious.  The others should not be a problem, but Jacob already seems to suspect something is amiss.”

“Is he dangerous?”

“Quite.  We must be careful.  The others do not trust him, so just try not to do anything to anger him and it should be okay.”

In the dining room the atmosphere had been cold, Jacob was staring straight into Clyde’s eyes and had been since they had sat down.

“Did you not learn your lesson Jacob?”  Clyde asked aggressively.

Jacob chuckled.  “Two on one is hardly a fair fight, does your girlfriend always do your fighting for you?”

“Is there really a need for this bickering?”  Edward asked.

“I would warn you not to irritate me at this moment doctor.”  Jacob snapped.

“You are not in charge here.”  Clyde barked.

“Yes I am.”

“No you’re not!”  Sarah interrupted.

Jacob laughed mockingly again.  “Who is then?  We have two shitty bank robbers who don’t even know who the Nazis are, and who can hardly walk.  A journalist whose only qualities appear to be her looks. A lunatic who invented the atom bomb and the cursed time machine that brought us all together, and a kid who once thought he was a hero, but now seems to have realized how pathetic he is.”

“I’m pathetic?”  Chase asked in disgust.

“Yes Chase you are.  Like I said earlier you had three field missions, during the first one Oswald died, during the second you were captured and later lost your mind, and during the third you were shot.  It’s hardly an impressive resume.”

“I do what’s right Jacob, not what benefits me the most.  You are only here out of revenge and as far as I can tell you offer us nothing but trouble.”

“In order to actually do what is right, you must succeed at least some of the time Chase, you have failed to do anything of value.”

“And what have you done?”  Chase snapped, blushing a little.

“I overthrew Castro and Bobby Kennedy, I found Oswald, and I caused the plane crash.  She isn’t even interested in you Chase.”  Jacob laughed.

“You don’t even know what you’re talking about!”  Chase yelled, his face now scarlet.

“Oh no?  I’ve seen the way you look at her, I think she is here for Bobby.”

“Shut up Jacob.”  Sarah snapped.

“And who is going to make me?”

“You do realise Jacob that those victory’s you just mentioned all led us to be here.”  Chase shouted.

“Yes, you are quite right.  But you were trying to stop me every step of the way.”

Clyde rose from the far end of the table and walked towards Jacob, he stopped in his tracks when the older Wernher entered the dining room. 

“No more fighting.  We are in, my younger self has agreed to take us to Auschwitz first thing tomorrow, he has uniforms for us and the prisoners can just wear their ordinary attire.”

“Well done Wernher.”  Chase said.

“Yeah good work.”  Sarah added.

“Thank you, he is going to make us some dinner and then we will get an early night.”

“How far are we from Auschwitz?”  Chase asked.

“This is my home in Krakow, we can make it there in little over an hour.”  Wernher replied.

“And we have a car?”  Clyde asked.

“Yes we have a Mercedes Benz 770, we should all be quite comfortable, it is a big car.”

“Could we get a Ford V8, they are very reliable?”  Clyde replied.

“Not in Nazi Germany I’m afraid.”

Around an hour later Wernher had prepared dinner and they were sat around the long dining room table.  He had made potatoes and beef. 

The young Wernher sat at the top of the table, to his right was his older self, Edward Teller, Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker.  To his left were Chase, Sarah and Jacob.  The atmosphere had improved slightly, but Jacob and Clyde had various staring contests throughout the evening.

“So Dr Teller, I here that you successfully made the atom bomb and a time machine, quite a life you have led.”  The young Wernher stated.

“Well, it’s not a time machine, it is a wormhole generator and I was part of the team that made the atom bomb.”  Edward replied modestly.

“Still, very impressive.  Tomorrow morning, who will be wearing the Nazi uniforms?”  Wernher asked.

“Myself, Dr Teller and Wernher.”  Chase replied.

“And what about the rest of you?” 

“Well, Bonnie and Clyde will stay in the car, and Sarah and Jacob will be our prisoners.”

Wernher nodded his understanding.  “Bonnie and Clyde will need uniforms too.  Should anyone ask why we have prisoners with us, I will explain that they are being used to build rockets that I am working on. Try not to talk, let me answer any questions.”

“So Wernher, do you know Hitler?”  Jacob asked, smirking at the older Wernher.

“Yes.”  The young Wernher replied.

Jacob laughed.  “You see, your older self is normally quite reluctant to admit he is a Nazi war criminal, or so I am told anyway.”

“I wouldn’t describe myself as a war criminal.”

“But you said we are going to Auschwitz on the pretence that you are choosing slave labourers.”

“Yes.”

Jacob laughed.  “I think that makes you a war criminal.”

“Would you rather I didn’t help you?”

“No he doesn’t mean that.”  Sarah said apologetically.

“Well, what does he mean?”  Wernher asked looking around the table.

“He’s an asshole.”  Chase replied.

“Agreed.”  Clyde added.

“Well, at least I’m not a Nazi.”  Jacob chuckled.

“But you are a war criminal.”  Chase stated.

“Perhaps you should just eat your dinner.”  Edward suggested.

Jacob laughed again.  “If I have to tell you one more time, it will be the last thing you ever hear.  Watch what you say to me!”

“Who the hell do you think you are?”  Clyde barked.

“Clyde I would give you the same advice.”

The rest of the meal was eaten in silence.  After dinner, Wernher led them all to their sleeping quarters.

Both Wernher’s shared the master bedroom, Bonnie and Clyde shared a room, Sarah and Dr Teller shared another and Chase shared with Jacob.

Bonnie and Clyde stayed awake long into the night, Clyde smoking cigars whilst Bonnie smoked cigarettes.

“Do you think we can do this Clyde?”  Bonnie asked, the fear palpable in her voice.

“Of course we can, we have escaped dozens of shootouts.”  Clyde said confidently, puffing on his cigar.

“But these people, they aren’t normal.”  Bonnie replied.

“Sarah, Edward and Chase seem okay.” 

“Chase seems like a complete wimp, he never stands up to that nutcase.”

“I think he is frightened of him.”  Clyde agreed.

“I don’t like him one bit.”  Bonnie stated.

“Who, Jacob?”

“Yes.”  She said inhaling her cigarette deeply.

“I don’t like him either, he won’t be surviving tomorrow, I guarantee that.”

“I don’t think we should stay here tonight Clyde, I don’t trust them.”

“We have to baby, how will we get home with the world at war?”

“Clyde what if we need to run, neither of us can do it.”

“We won’t, I’ll get us out of there baby.  You know that.”

“But it won’t be a Ford V8.”

“Bonnie have you ever met someone that can drive like I do?”

“No.”  She conceded.

“And have you ever met a man that can shoot like me?”

“No.”  She conceded.

“Well, there you go.”  He smiled.

Sarah felt slightly awkward at having to share her room with Edward Teller, but Chase had insisted that he would put up with Jacob, he didn’t trust him with the others.  They lay side by side, perfectly still, neither one wanting to disturb the other.  Edward’s breathing was fast, as she looked at him she saw that his eyes were wide open.

“Are you alright Dr Teller?”

“What?  Oh, yes it’s okay.  Nothing to worry about.”  He said quickly.

“Are you worrying about tomorrow?”

“Yes, only natural I suppose.  How are you feeling?”

“I’m a little worried, but I thought I would be worse.  My primary concern is Jacob, I just don’t believe that we can trust him.”

“It had crossed my mind.”  Edward agreed.

“Not only that, but Bobby walks with a limp, if we need to get away quickly it might not be possible.”

“Is what Jacob said true?”  Edward asked.

“Which part?”

“Are you here because you love Bobby?”

“That is quite a personal question.”  Sarah replied, blushing.

“I’m sorry, this is possibly the last night of our lives, you can share your secrets.”

“Well, you have a point there.  So answer my question and then I’ll answer yours.  How do you live with yourself after everything you have done?”

Edward was silent for a moment.  “I do my job Miss Salmond.  You are a journalist and you have, I’m sure done things that play on your conscience.  Lawyers knowingly save the lives of guilty men.  I am a scientist and I produced a bomb that helped win the war. That does not play on my conscience in the slightest.  I did not drop the bomb, I did not kill anybody.  If I handed you a gun that you then use to shoot someone, is that my fault?”

“Then why are you here?”

“I did pull the metaphorical trigger in Mr Stinson’s case, I am here to fix that.  Also, Faraday didn’t give me much of a choice.  So now you answer my question?”

“I wouldn’t call it love, I like him, and I thought something might happen before everything that went wrong.”

“You are taking an incredible risk to save the life of a man that you simply like.”

Sarah did not respond.

“Do you know that Chase seems infatuated with you?”

“He’s not infatuated, he is a gentleman, he is looking out for me.”

“Seems like there is more to it than that.”  Edward replied.

“Trust me there isn’t.”

“Do you think we can do this?”  Edward asked.

“Do what?”

“Get in and out of Auschwitz in one piece.”

Sarah paused before answering.  “If everything goes according to plan then there is no reason we shouldn’t be able to.”

“The thing is though, how likely is it that everything will go according to plan.  Since we have all been together, Jacob and Chase have physically tried to fight each other.  Then he recruited two bank robbers, who can barely walk, to help us.  Then he fought the bank robbers before antagonising a Nazi, who is our only hope of getting in and out of Auschwitz.”

“So what is it that you are trying to say?”

Edward sighed.  “With the people that are accompanying us, I think we are doomed.”

“I know Jacob can’t be trusted, but it is better to have him on your side than to have him against you.”

“I entirely agree, but he doesn’t actually act as though he is on our side, does he?”

“I’m sorry Edward what is it that you are getting at?”

“I don’t think we should go through with this.”

“What?”

“We are all marching into certain death.  I have the generator in my jacket pocket, we can leave.”

“What about the others?”

“They would not want to come with us.”

“I am here for Bobby and I am seeing this through, one way or another.”

Edward sighed.  “I almost didn’t come.”

“What do you mean?”

“Back in Dallas.  When we were in Mr Stinson’s condo.  You had all walked through the wormhole, and I contemplated leaving.”

“So why did you come?” 

“I was stood there and then I heard the front door being opened, I panicked.”

Sarah was unsure as to what she should say.

“I suppose you must think me a coward?”

“No, no I don’t.  I understand that you are scared Edward.  You are not a soldier, like you said, you are a scientist.”

“You are not a soldier either.” 

“No, but I care about Bobby.  You are here because you are trying to fix a mistake, I have more of a motive.  The important thing is that you did come with us.”

“You are very kind.”   

In the other bedroom, Chase was doing his best to ignore Jacob’s taunts.

“Do you think you might do a little better tomorrow young man?”  Jacob asked sarcastically.

“You do realise that I will be dressed as a Nazi and you will be my prisoner, I could kill you if I want and no one would care.”