What James Did: The Accidental Time Travellers-Book 3 (22 page)

“No, not for a second.”  Chase replied.

Jacob chuckled.  “So tell me Chase, we have hours to kill.  What will you do with your future?”

Chase managed a laugh this time.  “Why do you care?”

“I don’t, but it may help to pass the time.”

“You tell me and then I’ll tell you.”  Chase replied.

“I am going to be the head of the newly formed CIA.”

“How do you work that out?”

“I’m about to be the man that killed Adolf Hitler, and regardless of who becomes President, I will make sure that they are aware of that fact.  I will get exactly what I want.”

“Time will tell.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Just saying, you never know what the future holds.”

“And what will your future hold?”

“I have no plans.”

“No thoughts?”

“Well, I guess we’re stuck in 1963 so I need a job and a place to live.”

“Back to law enforcement?”

“No, I’ve had my fill of guns and death.”

“You’re a lover, not a fighter.”  Jacob laughed.

“Something like that.”

“I think Scarlett was making eyes at you.” 

Chase was baffled by the statement.  “Why would you tell me that?”

Jacob looked confused.  “Why wouldn’t I tell you?”

“Well, you never usually say anything nice.”

Jacob chuckled.  “I say what I think, if more people were like me the world would be a better place.  She’s a good kid, you could do worse.”

Chase was gobsmacked.  “You should be careful Jacob, you’re starting to sound like a normal person.”

“They are the closest thing to a family I’ve got.  When I saved Jane, Nancy, and Clint, I took them to Scotland.  I gave them the money to buy a bar and I lived with them.  I was there when she was born, she was an adorable child.  She deserves the best, if you ever do ask her out you had better be good to her.  If not her father will be the least of your worries.”

“She’s a beautiful looking girl but I doubt I’ll see her again.” 

Jacob chuckled.  “Yes I suppose if this doesn’t go as planned our lives will be shortened considerably.”

“Why are you being nice to me?”  Chase asked.

Jacob smirked.  “I don’t hate you Chase, you are clearly a nice guy.  I just think you are highly incompetent and incredibly idealistic.  I find it odd that you don’t do what is best for you.  You have antagonized me from the moment I came to see you.  I really do not know why you wanted to save Bobby, and I think it is strange that you chose to come down here with me, the most dangerous man you have ever met. Rather than go with that other idiot.”

“Faraday?”  Chase asked.

“Yes.”

“Why do you call him an idiot?”

“He is like you Chase, only he already has what he wants, he just continually puts himself into a position where he can lose it.  I never liked him, but I sent him into the future for Jane and the kids.  I never thought I would see him again, but he brought them back here. Why in the hell would he do that?”

“They said Scotland was under Nazi control.”

“So why come back to the sixties?  He would have been just as well staying there with his family.  But he comes back here and then lets them go.”  Jacob chuckled again.  “Strange.”

“He is doing what is right.  So are the Kennedy’s and so am I.  You are doing what is best for you.” 

“I think the Kennedy’s are doing the same as me.  They want power, I want power.”

“They want power to do good.”

“Don’t be so naive, they are no different to any other politician at any other time.  They are doing what is in their best interest.  It is people like me that have built this country.”

“Oh God.”  Chase muttered.

“I fought in Vietnam.”

“And you were imprisoned for war crimes!”

“They would have done the same if it were the other way around.  We go to these places to help them fight communism and they fight us, they are terrorists.”

“One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.”

Jacob smiled.  “That may be the most profound thing you have ever said.  In the war, I was trying to give the people freedom and yet I was imprisoned.  When I got out I was branded a terrorist, yet I was still attempting to fight communism.  And that has led me here, to kill fascism.”

“You are deluded.  You shot civilians. That is not what a freedom fighter would do.  And your definition of fighting communism does not actually reflect the innocent Americans you killed on that plane.  You were guilty of treason.  You are not here to destroy fascism, you are here to help yourself.”

“Well, if I’m so bad, why don’t you do something about it?”

Chase turned away from Jacob, he knew that prolonging the conversation would only make it worse. 

Chapter 44

“I can’t believe you Mum.”  Scarlett snapped.

Jane took a sip from her coffee and stared at her daughter, Clint was sat beside Scarlett on the other side of the table.  They were the only customers in the diner.  “I won’t have you getting dragged into this mess.”

“Your Mum is trying to do what’s right.”  Clint said, putting his arm around Scarlett.

“Oh piss off!”  Scarlett snapped.

Clint withdrew his arm from around her and blushed.

“Look at what has happened to you in one week of having your father back in our lives.  You tried to kill someone, then Guy died, then we ended up here, and you saw Abaddon die.  In the last twenty-one years, I have done what is best for you and nothing like that has ever happened.”  Jane explained.

“So you are just leaving him?”

“Did I say that?”  Jane snapped.  “I’m just not going to be putting any of our lives in danger.”

“So we are waiting for him?”

“Yes, we can go to Dealey, I mean Hitler Plaza, but we are not getting involved. Is that understood?”

“Yes.”  Scarlett said with a smile.

Chapter 45

They had been sat in the red Volkswagen for hours, it was now 11:30.  Both of the Kennedy brothers were in the front seat and Faraday was in the back.  He had been trying to stay with the conversation, but his mind kept drifting to Jane.  He understood why she had chosen to leave him, she was a mother now, and the problem was that he was not a father, not really.

The sun was shining brightly in the morning sky and Hitler Plaza was already filling up with spectators.  They were parked in the car park behind the grassy knoll and the radio was giving endless broadcasts about Hitler’s visit. To Faraday’s surprise he was being spoken about like a God, the Kennedy’s had explained to him that the reporters had to praise him for fear of death.

“You feeling alright back there?”  Bobby asked.

Faraday was startled by Bobby’s words.  “Oh, yeah it's nothing.”

“You nervous?”  Jack asked.

“No.”

“You look worried.”  Bobby commented.

“I was thinking about Jane.”

“Why didn’t you go with her?”  Bobby asked.

“I need to do this.  We caused this, the four of us, Jane, Bobby, David and me.”

“And you’re the only one that stayed.”  Bobby commented.

“Jane has to do what’s right by Scarlett.” 

“Kids need their mothers.”  Bobby stated.

“They need their fathers too.”  Jack interjected.

“Well, I don’t think Scarlett needs me. I only met her a few days ago.  She seems okay.”

“You’ll get them back.”  Bobby said, trying to comfort Faraday.

“Well, as long as you don’t get shot first.”  Jack added.

Faraday removed a cigarette from his packet and lit it, taking a long slow pull.  “Do you think this will work?”

“If Hitler dies it will.”  Jack stated confidently.

“And you are destroying the wormhole generator?”

“That’s the first thing we are doing.”  Jack guaranteed.

“Good.”  Faraday nodded.

“You think your friends in the sewer will be alright?”  Bobby asked.

“I have no idea.”  Faraday began.  “Jacob is unpredictable, Chase hates him. As long as they don’t shoot each other, then hopefully they’ll be fine.”

“Well let’s hope that they can work together.”  Jack added.

The next half hour went by slowly, the importance of what they were about to do was not lost on anybody.  It was Faraday that said what the others already knew.

“We should get in position Jack.” 

“It’s that time.”  Jack agreed.

“Good luck, I’ll be here for you James.  Jack I’ll pick you up at the entrance to Turtle Creek Park, Jacob and Chase are going there too.”

Chapter 46

Faraday watched Jack walk down the steps to the roadside.  As he took up his position behind the white picket fence on the grassy knoll, he found it hard to believe that this was where his life in the sixties had begun.  It felt like a million years ago now, although it had only happened twenty-two days ago, the 1
st
November 1963.

He looked at the crowds in Hitler Plaza, it surprised him, he had expected the people to feel repressed and broken.  The people that lined the streets were smiling and laughing, surely a world run by Adolf Hitler could not be like this.  How many people had died under this bastard, and these people were laughing.

Some of them probably didn’t know a life without Adolf Hitler as the dictator of the world, well in the next few minutes they would, he thought.  He noticed that the security on the road side was much tighter than it had been when Kennedy had driven through Dealey Plaza. Not that that would be difficult.

He tried to find Jack in the crowd, and spotted him right by the road above the storm drain.

“Perfect.”  He said under his breath.

As he looked at Kennedy, he noticed a family trying to push in front of him and then Jack backing off, letting them through. What the hell was he doing?  Faraday removed the Walkie Talkie from his back pocket.

“You need to move forward Jack.”  Faraday spoke urgently.

He watched as the man accompanying the family that had just pushed in front of Jack, turned to face him accusingly. 

“Please don’t have heard it, please don’t have heard it.”  Faraday spoke under his breath.

He saw a Nazi guard approach Jack and place him in handcuffs.   The Nazi soldier led him away from the scene, and up the street towards the School Book Depository.

“I’ve fucked it!”  He spat.

Chapter 47

Jack took up his position on the pavement above the storm drain, he had his black umbrella in his right hand waiting for his moment.  The plaza was filled with soldiers wearing Nazi uniforms, the triple overpass had been decorated with Swastikas.  He looked up at the Hitler Youth Book Depository and thought of Lee Harvey Oswald, poor bastard was probably already dead.  They had probably tortured him for hours.

The sign that had once been for Hertz Rentals was now an advertisement for the Hitler Youth. The group that brainwashed children and convinced them to report members of their own family for betraying the Fuhrer.  People simply disappeared, usually for a very minor offence.  The image on the sign was a rip off of the old Uncle Sam, “I Want You” posters, although instead of Uncle Sam the image was of Adolf Hitler giving the Nazi salute.  The time on the clock was 12:25.

He surveyed the crowds, there were nothing but white faces, Hitler had seen to that.  Jack tried to think back, he hadn’t seen a member of any other race for years.  He had often wondered what had happened to the people. He had had his suspicions, but he had only discovered what had taken place in the death camps through Abaddon’s meetings with Edward Teller.  

He noticed that a number of the men in the crowd had little moustaches just like Hitler, another way to show your support for the bastard.