The Argonaut Affair Read online

  The Argonaut

  Affair

  Simon Hawke

  Copyright © 1987

  CONTENT

  DEDICATION

  HISTORY

  PROLOGUE

  1

  2

  3

  4

  5

  6

  7

  8

  9

  10

  11

  12

  13

  14

  EPILOGUE

  DEDICATION

  For Dave Mattingly with thanks

  HISTORY

  A CHRONOLOGICAL

  HISTORY OF

  THE TIME WARS

  April I, 2425: Dr. Wolfgang Mensinger invents the chronoplate at the age of 115, discovering time travel. Later he would construct a small scale working prototype for use in laboratory experiments specially designed to avoid any possible creation of a temporal paradox. He is hailed as the "Father of Temporal Physics."

  July 14, 2430: Mensinger publishes "There Is No Future," in which he redefines relativity, proving that there is no such thing as the future, but an infinite number of potential future scenarios which are absolute relative only to their present. He also announces the discovery of "non-specific time" or temporal limbo, later known as "the dead zone."

  October 21, 2440: Wolfgang Mensinger dies. His son, Albrecht, perfects the chronoplate and carries on the work, but loses control of the discovery to political interests.

  June 15, 2460: Formation of the international Committee for Temporal Intelligence, with Albrecht Mensinger as director. Specially trained and conditioned "agents" of the committee begin to travel back through time in order to conduct research and field test the chronoplate apparatus. Many become lost in transition, trapped in the limbo of nonspecific time known as "the dead zone." Those who return from successful temporal voyages often bring back startling information necessitating the revision of historical records.

  March 22, 2461: The Consorti Affair-Cardinal Lodovico Consorti is excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church for proposing that agents travel back through time to obtain empirical evidence that Christ arose following His crucifixion. The Consorti Affair sparks extensive international negotiations amidst a volatile climate of public opinion concerning the proper uses for the new technology. Temporal excursions are severely curtailed. Concurrently, espionage operatives of several nations infiltrate the Committee for Temporal Intelligence.

  May 1, 2461: Dr. Albrecht Mensinger appears before a special international conference in Geneva, composed of political leaders and members of the scientific community. He attempts to alleviate fears about the possible misuses of time travel. He further refuses to cooperate with any attempts at militarizing his father's discovery.

  February 3, 2485: The research facilities of the Committee for Temporal Intelligence are seized by troops of the TransAtlantic Treaty Organization.

  January 25, 2492: The Council of Nations meets in Buenos Aires, capital of the United Socialist States of South America, to discuss increasing international tensions and economic instability. A proposal for "an end to war in our time" is put forth by the chairman of the Nippon Conglomerate Empire. Dr. Albrecht Mensinger, appearing before the body as nominal director of the Committee for Temporal Intelligence, argues passionately against using temporal technology to resolve international conflicts, but cannot present proof that the past can be affected by temporal voyagers. Prevailing scientific testimony reinforces the conventional wisdom that the past is an immutable absolute.

  December 24, 2492: Formation of the Referee Corps, brought into being by the Council of Nations as an extranational arbitrating body with sole control over temporal technology and authority to stage temporal conflicts as "limited warfare" to resolve international disputes.

  April 21, 2493: On the recommendation of the Referee Corps, a subordinate body named the Observer Corps is formed, taking over most of the functions of the Committee for Temporal Intelligence, which is redesignated as the Temporal Intelligence Agency. Under the aegis of the Council of Nations and the Referee Corps, the TIA absorbs the intelligence agencies of the world's governments and is made solely answerable to the Referee Corps. Dr. Mensinger resigns his post to found the Temporal Preservation League, a group dedicated to the abolition of temporal conflict.

  June, 2497- March, 2502: Referee Corps presides over initial emporal confrontation campaigns, accepting "grievances" from disputing nations, selecting historical conflicts of the past as "staging grounds" and supervising the infiltration of modern troops into the so-called "cannon fodder" ranks of ancient warring armies. Initial numbers of temporal combatants are kept small, with infiltration facilitated by cosmetic surgery and implant conditioning of soldiers. The results are calculated based upon successful return rate and a complicated "point spread." Soldiers are monitored via cerebral implants, enabling Search & Retrieve teams to follow their movements and monitor mortality rate. The media dubs temporal conflicts the "Time Wars."

  2500-2510: Extremely rapid growth of massive support industry catering to the exacting art and science of temporal conflict. Rapid improvements in international economic climate follows, with significant growth in productivity and rapid decline in unemployment and inflation rate. There is a gradual escalation of the Time Wars with the majority of the world's armed services converting to temporal duty status.

  Growth of the Temporal Preservation League as a peace movement with an intensive lobby effort and mass demonstrations against the Time Wars. Mensinger cautions against an imbalance in temporal continuity due to the increasing activity of the Time Wars.

  September 2, 2514: Mensinger publishes his "Theories of Temporal Relativity," incorporating his solution to the Grandfather Paradox and calling once again for a cease-fire in the Time Wars. The result is an upheaval in the scientific community and a hastily reconvened Council of Nations to discuss his findings, leading to the Temporal Strategic Arms Limitations Talks of 2515.

  March 15, 2515-June 1, 2515: T-SALT held in New York City. Mensinger appears before the representatives at the sessions and petitions for an end to the Time Wars. A ceasefire resolution is framed, but tabled due to lack of agreement among the members of the Council of Nations. Mensinger leaves the T-SALT a broken man.

  November 18, 2516: Dr. Albrecht Mensinger experiences total nervous collapse shortly after being awarded the Benford Prize.

  December 25, 2516: Dr. Albrecht Mensinger commits suicide. Violent demonstrations by members of the Temporal Preservation League.

  January 1, 2517: Militant members of the Temporal Preservation League band together to form the Timekeepers, a terrorist offshoot of the League, dedicated to the complete destruction of the war machine. They announce their presence to the world by assassinating three members of the Referee Corps and bombing the Council of Nations meeting in Buenos Aires, killing several heads of state and injuring many others.

  September 17, 2613: Formation of the First Division of the U.S. Army Temporal Corps as a crack commando unit following the successful completion of a "temporal adjustment" involving the first serious threat of a timestream split. The First Division, assigned exclusively to deal with threats to temporal continuity, is designated as "the Time Commandos."

  October 10, 2615: Temporal physicist Dr. Robert Darkness disappears without a trace shortly after turning over to the army his new invention, the "warp grenade," a combination time machine and nuclear device. Establishing a secret research installation somewhere off Earth, Darkness experiments with temporal translocation based on the transmutation principle. He experiments upon himself and succeeds in translating his own body into tachyons, but an error in his calculations causes an irreversible change in his sub-
atomic structure, rendering it unstable. Darkness becomes "the man who is faster than light."

  November 3, 2620: The chronoplate is superceded by the temporal transponder. Dubbed the "warp disc," the temporal transponder was developed from work begun by Dr. Darkness and it drew on power tapped by Einstein-Rosen Generators (developed by Bell Laboratories in 2545) bridging to neutron stars.

  March 15, 2625: The Temporal Crisis: The discovery of an alternate universe following an unsuccessful invasion by troops of the Special Operations Group, counterparts of the Time Commandos. Whether as a result of chronophysical instability caused by clocking tremendous amounts of energy through Einstein-Rosen Bridges or the cumulative effect of temporal disruptions, an alternate universe comes into congruence with our own, causing an instability in the timeflow of both universes and resulting in a "confluence effect," wherein the time-streams of both universes ripple and occasionally intersect, creating "confluence points" where a crossover from one universe to another becomes possible.

  Massive amounts of energy clocked through Einstein-Rosen Bridges has resulted in unintentional "warp bombardment" of the alternate universe, causing untold destruction. The Time Wars escalate into a temporal war between two universes.

  PROLOGUE

  The creature slept standing up, its head lowered, the upper half of its complex, jointed spine bowed forward. Its breathing was deep and regular. Technicians had attached sensors to various portions of its body and a robot scanner was completing a slow holographing run of the creature's torso. A civilian veterinarian had been called in to consult with the team of army doctors. The atmosphere inside the lab was one of tense, barely restrained excitement. It was the first time anyone had ever seen a real live centaur.

  From the waist up, it was an extremely well-muscled man, naked, with long, thick, manelike white hair-pure, albino white. The centaur's skin had an alabaster sheen and the pupils of its eyes were a deep red. From the waist down, it was a snowy Arabian stallion, only with tufted hoofs, like a Percheron's. Its muscles were taut and sleek, exuding a sense of explosive power. Its equine torso was over eighteen hands high, tall for a horse, but above its animal torso was the upper body of a man, a man who dwarfed the people in the laboratory. The arms were huge, the shoulders broad and powerful. The stomach muscles looked like cobblestones. It was an imposing looking creature, yet the most compelling thing about it was its most human feature-its face. It was the bearded face of an ancient, scored by time, yet free of sagging flesh. The features were lined, but firm and sharp, giving the same impression of great age that an old marble statue might convey.

  Finn Delaney shook his head slowly in amazement. His black base fatigues looked as if they had been slept in. In fact, he had been asleep when the call came and his thick, dark red hair was still in a state of disarray, but his eyes, bleary with drink from the previous night, had cleared instantly when he beheld the centaur.

  "It's grotesque, yet at the same time, beautiful," said Andre Cross. Unlike Delaney, who had a cavalier disdain for such trifles as reveille, she needed little sleep and was an early riser. By the time first call had blown at six a.m., she had already risen from bed and worked out pumping iron for two hours. Her straw blonde hair was still damp from her shower. She stared with wonder at the centaur. "I can hardly believe it's real."

  Moses Forrester grunted. "My sentiments exactly. What's your impression, Dr. Anderson?"

  The veterinarian could barely contain himself. "General, I've never seen anything like it! This is an amazing organism! It has two hearts! One in the human portion of its body and one in the equine half. Both organs are incredibly strong. The performance of its equine heart is superior to a thoroughbred's and its human heart is in better condition than a marathon runner's. I estimate this creature is at least ninety years old, yet despite its age, there is no evidence of cardiovascular degeneration at all, no signs of atherosclerosis, no calcification whatsoever. Its circulation is tremendous.

  "It has two sets of lungs, as well," the vet continued, excitedly. "The equine lungs are about average for an animal of this size, but its human lungs are at least twice the normal capacity. Both sets of lungs are interconnected by a complex system of sub-bronchials, with valves, no less! The human lungs seem to be the primary respiratory system; the equine lungs apparently act as a sort of turbocharger. The stamina of this creature must be almost boundless. Its digestive system is basically similar to ours, but larger and more complex, with a wider variety of enzymes. The creature is omnivorous, but judging by its stool, its recent diet has been primarily vegetarian. The spinal cord is the most interesting part, however, incredibly complex, with the tensile strength of-"

  Forrester cut him off. "I can well understand your fascination, Dr. Anderson, but what I'm primarily concerned with is the creature's ability to withstand a psychological conditioning procedure. It's imperative that it has no memory of this experience, but I don't want to injure it in any way if I can help it."

  "There's nothing in a psychological conditioning procedure that should cause it any physiological damage," Anderson said. "However, I'm not really qualified to venture an opinion on how well its cognitive processes would stand up to such an operation. I'm not a neurosurgeon or a cyberneticist. You'll have to consult with Dr. Hazen."

  "Capt. Hazen?" said Forrester. "A moment with you, please?"

  The officer in charge of the army medical team turned away from the monitor screens and approached Forrester. "General," she said, with a curt nod.

  "What's your prognosis on the debriefing and conditioning procedure?" Forrester asked.

  "I would say it's feasible," said Dr. Hazen. "The creature's brain seems normal by our standards, but I can't speak with absolute certainty, because we've obviously never encountered an organism like this before. We haven't had any experience with horses, much less a complex hybrid such as this one, which is why I asked to have Dr. Anderson here to assist. I don't anticipate any major problems, but we're going to proceed cautiously, taking the debriefing and conditioning procedures in very easy stages. We've had good success with the trial debriefing run. The centaur has remained essentially unconscious, yet has answered all questions we put to it."

  "We were able to communicate perfectly through an interpreter," said Dr. Anderson. "It speaks classical Greek! General, this creature is intelligent. In a sense, it's even human. We have an unprecedented opportunity here for research that would-"

  Forrester cut him off .again. "I'm sorry, Doctor. This is a top security procedure and I'm afraid you're not authorized to conduct any sort of extensive observation. Besides, it would be pointless. The moment my psych team is through with the centaur, they'll start on you."

  Anderson stared at him. "You're joking."

  "I'm afraid not, Doctor."

  "You can't possibly be serious!" Anderson said with disbelief. "This is outrageous! You . . . you have no right! What you're talking about is a flagrant violation of-"

  "I'm less concerned with your civil rights, Doctor, than with security," said Forrester. "In the event of a national emergency, the rights of civilians on a military base are governed under the Wartime Emergency Powers Act. Admittedly, I am interpreting them rather loosely. My actions may not be justified in a court of law, but it will prove difficult for you to bring suit against me if you have no memory of the incident."

  Anderson was stunned. "General, do you realize what you're saying? What you're talking about is a felony offense!"

  "Only if I'm caught," said Forrester. "I'm sorry, Doctor. I have my responsibilities. You'd probably thank me if you understood the full implications of what's happening here. Fortunately for you, you'll be spared that knowledge. It will enable you to sleep nights. Frankly, I envy you that luxury."

  Creed Steiger had never liked politicians. Politician, he knew, was not the term of proper protocol at the Council of Nations. They preferred to call each other delegates. But they acted just like politicians, he thought, right hands constantly raised t
o make a point of order, left hands covering their asses, at least when "proper protocol" didn't go completely by the boards and they started shouting at each other like traders at a commodities exchange. Perhaps delegates was a good term for them after all, thought Steiger. What they did best was delegate responsibility and the commodities they traded in were lives, his own among them. He hadn't cared much for their "proper protocol" at all, something he had demonstrated in a dramatic manner, by firing three copper-jacketed hollowpoints into the ceiling of their meeting chamber.

  The revolver was a 20th century antique, but it was in excellent condition. Steiger had brought it from its time of origin to the 27th century. It was a treasured part of his collection of antique firearms, but it was seldom fired. On this occasion, he had fired it three times into the ceiling of the Council chamber, bringing down a small rain of debris and achieving the desired effect of shocking the members of that august body into silence.

  They had asked to see a "delegation"-how they loved that word!-of historical adjustment specialists, temporal agents. They wanted to hear from the front-line troops, to solicit their views concerning the best way to handle the temporal crisis they were facing. The request had been submitted through the Director General of the Referee Corps to the Deputy Chief of the Temporal Army Command. General Moses Forrester had bumped the request down to his executive officer, Col. Creed Steiger. It was a chance to meet face to face with some of the most powerful government officials in the world and Steiger wasn't about to pass it up. He had a few things he wanted to get off his mind.

  The Council had been impressed by his appearance. He had the right look for a high ranking military officer of the Temporal Corps. For a change, it was the way he really looked. Having his own face back was a relief after the numerous cosmetic surgeries necessitated by his undercover activities as a former field agent of the T.I.A. His flaxen blond hair was parted casually on the side and fell over his forehead to a point just above his pale gray eyes. His features were Germanic in their squared regularity, only his nose was rather Semitic, sharp and hooked like the beak of a predatory bird, giving him a hard, cruel appearance. His frame was large and well muscled and his bearing was just short of textbook military, with the casual, relaxed-yet-controlled motions of the seasoned soldier. Yes, he looked like the sort of man they wanted to hear from, but the format Steiger chose for his presentation wasn't quite what the Council members had expected.