Back | Next
Contents

CHAPTER 10

The next morning, Sean called a class so they could go over in more detail their recovery response. They had equipment, transportation, a timeline. They needed to talk about specifics.

Cryder and Arnot arrived as requested, exactly on time, along with Researcher Zep and another he didn’t recognize. Male, looked early middle age, so here, maybe seventy? He waved them to seats and took the head of the table himself.

Zep announced, “This is Senior Researcher Barzer. He is from our management council.”

Barzer was slightly shorter than the local average, slightly darker, and not nearly as handsome. He was still fitter and better looking than half of Hollywood’s elite, though. He had almost a Spock hairdo, and didn’t seem unfriendly, but didn’t smile.

“Greetings. My predominant purpose here is to be informed. I will comment if I see a need or have questions. Please proceed in your regular fashion.”

Sean thought, Fair enough, and started the discussion.

“We need to discuss our response to this missing element, assuming we find them.”

Spencer said, “Likely, they didn’t handle it as well as we did. We lucked out on skill set. These guys don’t seem to have that kind of background. The terp might actually help them a bit, he’s used to a less technological society. There’s the two females.”

“I’m worried about them,” Caswell said.

Of course you are. On the other hand, there were legitimate concerns.

She said, “I want to take some makeup and manicure stuff. Do we know their sizes?”

That was on file. “Yes. Or, what their sizes were.”

Spencer asked, “Girly stuff to make them feel more modern?”

Caswell nodded. “Exactly. Just like you got a haircut as soon as you could. And you should take shaving gear and stuff for the guys.”

“Right, I wasn’t criticizing. Good idea. Then we need to worry about food so they don’t get sick the way I did. Doc?”

Devereaux said, “Yeah. So, we literally want to start them on a bite a day of modern stuff—bread, candy, beans, sweet fruit, probably dairy. But we should give them one of something at each meal. Let their guts get used to it again. This assumes we can take enough to do so.”

Cryder said, “No problemo. We’ll have vehicle capacity. Also, we can adapt clothing on site with the vehicle tool set.”

Sean sighed. “I keep forgetting to ask about those amazing capabilities. Please remind me as needed.”

The man grinned. “Of course. I just did.”

Dalton spoke. “Uniforms. We get them dressed immediately. What’s the ranking officer again?”

Sean replied, “A lieutenant, and his date of rank is after mine.”

“Good, so even if they did field-promote him, you rank him.”

He nodded. “Yes, the general said they’d have breveted me if necessary.”

Continuing, he ticked off on his fingers. “So we recover the people, if possible. We account for remains, if necessary. We recover all the equipment it is possible to recover. We tell the locals they didn’t see anything.”

Dr. Sheridan blurted, “Wait, how does that work?”

They all laughed.

“Last time we told them we had specific rules from our spirits on how we conducted ourselves. Everything was explained as being ‘far away,’ but still in the same world.”

“Ah, yes,” she agreed. “I read about it. Got it.”

Sean made notes as he went. Command would want a heavy AAR, and he was going to write FRAGORDERS and OPORDs for everything, just to have them on file. He’d even be able to retroactively fix any errors before they were submitted, with SFC Spencer to verify. That would make the wrapup on this mission a whole hell of a lot quicker and easier.

They covered a few specifics, including potential remains recovery and isolation/preservation of same.

Cryder said, “We can store in a state of inert atmosphere and suppression of cellular activity. Your sciencists can take samples and analyze and we’ll secure them. If there are memorial services you need, we can assist.”

Dalton nodded. “I guess that’s me as the closest to a chaplain, unless you want to do it, sir? You’re in command.”

Sean shook his head. “You are far better at it than I could be, and have a talent and the inspiration for it. Please take charge of such duties and inform me if you need to. That reminds me of something. Chaplains have privileged communication. You don’t and I don’t. However, I want us all to have the same verbal understanding as last time. There are things that our people back home do not need to know about. If our own laws and regs run up against necessities in this environment, we do what we need to do, and never mention it.”

There was a chorus of “hooah,” as he remembered taking charge of four badly injured Neolithics, gutshot or worse, who couldn’t possibly survive and would have died horribly. He’d sliced their throats as a mercy, which wouldn’t have raised an eyebrow in most historical eras, but would have resulted in a war crimes charge from the Army. He still felt cold and empty about it over a year later.

Dalton replied, “Roger that, sir. Do I need to inform you on matters of personal counsel?”

“If you think it is necessary, or if you are unsure, yes. I’ll trust your judgment otherwise, but bear in mind it’s my ass in a sling if it slips past you.”

Spencer leaned forward and said, “It’s entirely possible they’ll blab everything. So everyone needs to be prepared to shrug and insist we have no idea what they’re talking about. At the same time, if it happens too often or if their stories are consistent, we’re going to blow it.”

Doc whooshed out air. “This is a hell of a juggling act.”

“It is. Scientists, do you follow all this?”

“Yes, sir,” Sheridan agreed.

“We will comply and assist as best we can,” Raven said firmly.

Sean looked around. “Okay, then. Anything we haven’t at least touched on?” There were shakes. “Researchers Zep and Barzer, any comments?”

Barzer looked around and replied, “I’m impressed. I have no present comments. Your element operates in a very cohesive fashion.”

“Thank you, sir.”

The man asked, “Do you have any questions for me to respond to or forward to our leadership? Understanding my responses may be limited.”

Sheridan said, “What I don’t understand is why you need these troops personally. We could have provided data, even recordings, to show your bona fides, and it’s not as if they’d refuse a ride home. Glad as I am to be here with them, it’s hard to grasp.”

Barzer explained, “The nature of our displacement technology is that the more factors are on file, the easier it is to transition. We had all of your biometric, neural, and other data charted from last time. We wanted all of you. We had no idea there’d be substitutions and hadn’t accounted for it. That was our false assumption. Sending Cryder back was actually more complicated than bringing you here, though you two scientists and Shug complicated things in counter to some degree. We will need another scan of you before we proceed.”

“So you have us here, why send us back again, then?”

Zep said, “We sent a pair. A different pair. They couldn’t get within the time frame and struggled with location. We didn’t get as good a read on them. You’re familiar with the element, experienced in the past, and by zeroing on your tempus, we were able to refine the technique further. Beyond that there are several factors. The mission ideally requires more than two people, the system can easily handle more than two people. You will more readily be able to interact compassionately. You will recognize any incongruities—behavior, other inconsistencies—that we’ll need to deal with. There’s the issue of potentially misplaced equipment and other anachronisms that must be dealt with. From our research, it appears there are both loci and people who are easier to transition.”

Sean asked, “Is that due to us being there, or due to it being near us? Or both?”

“Unknown.”

“But every time you do it adds to the inconsistency, right?”

Zep almost shrugged and replied, “It’s more complex than that. Every jump creates incongruities, misalignments, and the possibility of further inaccuracy. Are you familiar with the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle?”

Sheridan replied, “Certainly in concept. The observer becomes part of the process.”

Zep nodded. “Good enough. However, as we refine it, we can be more precise, create fewer incongruities, and eventually we should be able to minimize it, though we’ll still need neutral monitoring to ensure we don’t overlook anything or damage the Temporality.”

He wanted to clarify. “So it’s literally easiest to use the same people, and that’s more important than the time frame.”

She said, “Yes. Random persons mean randomized jumps. It’s going to be awkward enough with your replacements along.”

“That makes sense. So it’s becoming less of an issue?”

“It’s becoming less of an issue for Bykostan and Suhrny, the two major actors in the process. Shain and Brazil are catching up fast. Hundreds of smaller entities and private operations are experimenting and making messes. Fortunately, small ones usually make smaller displacements.”

Sheridan nodded. “But each one causes a problem when they interact with the past,” she said.

“Some of the time. The Temporality is fairly elastic.”

“To what extent?”

She raised her arms. “There are too many factors, some of which we don’t know yet, to give an answer.”

Sean said, “So avoid killing anyone we don’t have to.”

She looked quizzical. “Don’t you always?”

“Yes. Humor. Okay, back to it. We have weapons, shelter, transport, food and water. Those are covered by Bykop. We need uniforms for the recoverees, familiar food, whatever we can get in medical and dental care for them. Toiletries and cosmetics, and I assume feminine products.” It was logical and he tried to sound matter of fact.

Caswell said, “I’ll cover all the female gear. Don’t forget underwear for everyone, and bras.”

“Well, don’t you forget them. Thanks for mentioning it.”

Spencer said, “Recreational stuff. A handful of movies and books, and something resembling phones they can use for connecting and viewing. We may be waiting some time.”

Zep noted, “You will be.”

“We can load any video or games onto the vehicle systems,” Arnet assured him.

Doc said, “PT clothes, we want to get them exercising.”

Sean thought he had it all worked out, though there was a lot of data there. It was a good thing they hadn’t tried to explain the mechanics of time travel to him. He had more than enough to juggle already.

“You ladies have been quiet. Any science section input?” he asked.

Sheridan said, “We’ve already talked to Researcher Zep at length. I’m mostly concerned with the human end. I’ll need to get samples from them—cheek swabs, skin swabs, urine, feces, possibly even hair samples and ear wax. I’ll preserve most of it. We’ll study it when we have full lab facilities.”

Raven said, “I’ll be doing the same, and whatever I can get from any plants we recognize, anything edible they’re eating, some of the fauna, and especially any parasites. So, more feces samples. We have containers to store them, and the Cogi have offered to hard-freeze the specimens at forty-five Kelvin.”

“Oh, damn,” Doc said. “That’s impressive.”

“It is. I gather they have better nuclear batteries than we do, which makes sense. They’re also obviously not afraid of it to put them in ground vehicles.”

Doc put in, “By the way, the correct name for them is Guardians, more or less. ‘Cogi’ is not accurate.” He stared at Cryder as he said it. The man stared back and did appear a bit awkward.

Sean asked, “Oh?”

“You know those stupid pranks troops play by mistranslating for the locals?”

“Yeah? Oh.”

“Yeah. It comes from ‘cogni.’”

“That sounds like—”

“It is. I guess I can’t entirely blame them not wanting to give more information than they had to, but it’s certainly derogatory, given how much of our resources they used. Even when they shared, they made us do the work.”

“I remember,” Spencer agreed. “Still, we need to get along. Guardians and soldiers it is.”

Cryder said, “I apologize for the slight.”

Barzer’s expression was half annoyance, half amusement.

“I will discreetly mention that where it will be received,” he commented.

Rich Dalton raised his hand. “I’d like to take at least three Bibles, New American, I guess. I have mine, if it can be cloned.” He even had it with him, and held it up. It was well maintained but worn from their last trip. He’d taken especially good care of it. Whenever he felt frustrated or overwhelmed, it was comforting.

Zep said, “It can.”

“Please be careful. It’s very important to me.”

She smiled and took it very gently. “I’m aware how special it is to you. It won’t be harmed. We can have that done within the hour.”

They all dove in for lunch, and Rich decided on a ham steak and duck eggs, because why not? Duck eggs had more yolk and an almost meaty flavor. He’d missed them. There was miscellaneous chatter, and Shug was still very much an outsider hanging on. The scientists were incorporating well enough. He really wasn’t sure how to deal with them. Everyone else was in good morale and getting along.


Zep returned after lunch with four Bibles. Dalton accepted them, turned them around and over, looked inside.

“Um…which is mine?” he asked. “Ah, the one with the liner notes. The others are clean.”

“Correct,” she said. “I understood that was what you wanted, your personal notes kept personal.”

“It is. These are perfect. I can’t tell them apart.”

“I also made a copy for our archives of your incident, if that is acceptable. It does have your notes.”

That was very cool. “Certainly. I hope it will be read and enjoyed.”

She said, “It will most definitely be studied in context of you and your beliefs.”

“Thank you.”

Perhaps their intellectual interest would turn spiritual. If not, his documentation persisted, and he had spare copies of his most valuable possession.


Sean Elliott, with Doc, Spencer, and Sheridan, was in conference with the…Byko leadership council, of whatever description it was. Cryder accompanied them, but was representing his own element. Senior Researcher Barzer was seated among several others. They sat in a ring, with the subjects—meaning him and his troops—in the middle, swiveling as needed and called. It made one feel like a bug on a plate.

The council might only be local in reach, but they had effective life, death, or lifetime detention authority over he and his troops. So far, they’d ultimately been fair in all decisions. He’d learned the year before, however, that there was nothing like having your safety be bandied about in debate to focus your attention.

This time, though, their English was better, and the discussion was on the transfer.

The current Speaker of the council was Yral Luvaik, a blond woman who actually looked older, to the point of gray hair. Based on their encounters, he guessed she was probably in her eighties or better.

“Captain Elliott, you of course understand, and we record for clarity, that interference with other groups is to be minimal, nonlethal weapons used where possible, assuming peaceful solutions are not of order. Our window is fixed at forty-seven days, and you must be at the recovery point at that time, regardless of mission achievement. The observations of your group, including your scientists, will be shared with our academics, who will assess the value and risk of said data, whereupon you may keep as much as we can safely allow. Your primary priority is the rescue of your fellow American soldiers, and as much of their equipment as is feasible to recover. Secondary is the return of the displacee Shug to his people or a group with whom he is comfortable. Third is the gathering of data. Is this agreeable and understood?”

He didn’t have much choice, but that did fit his orders as well.

“It is, and I understand and agree.”

“Excellent. Your chain of command will be parallel to Shuff Cryder. Please make every effort to cooperate with his command of equipment and process. He will extend the same courtesy to you relevant to your operations.”

“Absolutely.”

“Feel free to ask any questions you would like clarification of.”

Good. They still hadn’t said, so he asked, “How close can you get us?”

One of the other councilors answered, “Within a few months and a few kilometers. Shug should be able to find his own people.”

“Well, that’s good.”

The man warned, “Keep in mind he must be after their time. I don’t know how to stress that to him.”

Sean said, “That could be an issue. So we want as close as possible for our people, but we absolutely need to be past that time for him.”

“And for them. You have a limited window to find his people, and to find your displacees.”

“Yes.”

The man reiterated, “As stated, we’ve been able to allot just over forty-seven days for the mission.”

“And we have to remain for the duration?”

“Correct. We have no way to monitor a displacement at this time. There are discussions of launching reconnaissance satellites into that era, but there are many issues to work out.”

Sheridan put in, “I’ll say. People seeing bright lights in the sky. Potential wreckage. Sheer overload of data.”

“All that and more, yes.”

She reiterated, “Your scientific rules have been explained to us, and we will abide by them. We remain uncomfortable with restrictions on data.”

Luvaik replied, “I personally understand your concern, but I am aware you operate with similar restrictions in your time.”

Sheridan almost chuckled. “I do. I disapprove of it there, too. I’d hoped here would be more open. But there is no reason to argue. You have made rules, we will comply.”

Sean was glad that was at rest. He was afraid she was going for a lengthy argument.

He confirmed again, “So, we have forty-seven days to find, relocate to extraction point, and be done. If we find them, that doesn’t seem to be a problem. If not, what then?”

“We will have to discuss a further response.”

“Okay. Find them, secure the personnel, equipment, and site. Sanitize whatever we can. Move to extraction point. Be ready for extraction.”

“That is the outline, yes.”

“Doc, Sergeant Spencer, any input?”

Spencer asked, “Do your troops have any specialized equipment to help locate lost, abandoned, or displaced gear? I know we have reasonable odds of finding the people, but if they panicked and dumped rucks on the way, what then?”

“Yes, our sensors have significant reach on chemical signals. It will take some time of that schedule to conduct searches, but there will be sweeps made. This will also provide other data on environment, entropic markers, and life-forms.”

“Good.”

Doc asked, “Are there quarantine procedures to follow?”

“Whatever you and Arnet deem necessary and appropriate on location is acceptable. Quarantine on return will be as last time, taken care of here, largely without intrusion into your lives.”

“Got it.”


Back | Next
Framed