The Lilliput Legion Read online

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  The Time Commandos face a new generation of General Drakov's bio-engineered hominoids - but just how deadly could these tiny enemies be? Just six inches tall, the Lilliputian warriors are armed with laser rifles and a vast technology that threatens the existence of two universes!

  In eighteenth-century London, Doctor Lemuel Gulliver’s tale of the deadly little people is disbelieved by all but that mad author, Jonathan Swift… and the observers of the Temporal Intelligence Agency. Now the Time Commandos wage a vicious battle that rages across a thousand years!

  Time Wars– Book 09 of 12

  The Lilliput Legion

  By Simon Hawke

  An Ace Book

  August 1989

  A CHRONOLOGICAL

  HISTORY OF

  THE TIME WARS

  April 1, 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 non-specific 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 co-operate 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 Trans-Atlantic Treaty Organization.

  January 25, 2492:

  The Council of Nations meets in Buenos Aires, capitol 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 redesigned 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 temporal 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 improvement 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:

  T-SALT held in New York City. Mensinger appears before June 1, 2515: the representatives at the sessions and petitions for an end to the Time Wars. A cease-fire 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 off-shoot 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 beads of state and injuring many others.

  September 17, 2613:

&nb
sp; 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 subatomic structure, rendering it unstable. Darkness becomes “the man who is faster than light…

  November 3, 2620:

  The chronoplate is superseded 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 Bel1 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 timestreams of both universes ripple and occasionally intersect, creating “confluence points” where 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 lime Wars escalate into a temporal war between two universes.

  May 13, 2626:

  Gen. Moses Forrester, director of the Temporal Intelligence Agency (which has absorbed the First Division), becomes aware of a super secret organization within the T.I.A. known as “The Network.” Comprised of corrupt T.I.A. section chiefs and renegade deep cover agents, the Network has formed a vast transtemporal economic empire, entailing ‘extensive involvement in both legitimate businesses and organized crime. Forrester vows to break the Network and becomes a marked man.

  Prologue

  “Go on, ask him about the little people,” said Pontack, grinning and nudging Addison in the side.

  “The little people?” said Joseph Addison, taking a small pinch of snuff and then sneezing prodigiously into a Mechlin lace handkerchief. “You mean the leprechauns?”

  “Leprechauns?” said Richard Steele, who together with Addison published The Spectator, a daily periodical of news, essays, philosophy and gossip that was very influential among the citizens of 18th century London. “What’s this about leprechauns?”

  Pontack, the proprietor of the fashionable French eating house that bore his name, shook his head and chuckled. “No. not quite leprechauns, exactly,” he said. “Something a bit more original than that, near as I can tell. Something even smaller, on the order of six inches.”

  “Six inches?” Steele said, frowning. “What, you don’t mean six inches tall, surely?”

  “The very thing,” said Pontack, as he conducted them to a table in the back around which a small crowd had gathered. “Six inches tall. Or so the man insists. And he swears that every word of it is true. I thought perhaps it might make for an interesting story for your paper.”

  “And a bit of free advertisement for your own establishment, is that it?” Steele said, with a wink at Pontack as they pressed through the crowd, “Very well, we shall ask this adventurer of yours about his leprechauns. “

  “Not leprechauns,” said Pontack. “Little people.”

  “L’il pipils,” slurred a disheveled-looking man slumped over at the table. “L’il pipils …”

  His eyes were bloodshot and wild looking. His clothes were tattered and filthy and his hair stood out in all directions. His hands trembled.

  “The poor man looks hopelessly demented,” said Addison, with concern.

  “The poor man looks hopelessly drunk,” commented Steele, wryly.

  “L’ilipipils ...” the man stammered, having difficulty getting out the words.

  “Lilliputians!” boomed a stentorian voice behind Addison and Steele. They turned around. “That’s what we shall call them, gentlemen, Lilliputians!”

  “Swift,” said Addison, rolling his eyes. “I might have known. “

  “Addison!” said Swift. “Pontack, you old poltroon, since when do you allow Whigs upon these premises?”

  Addison turned to his friend and collaborator. “Richard, allow me to present Mr. Jonathan Swift, indefatigable champion of the Irish resistance, Tory politics, and any other lunacy that happens along. Oh, and he writes a bit, as well,” he added, as an afterthought.

  “Steele!” said Swift, as if it were an accusation. “I’ve read some of your essays.”

  “And I’ve read some of yours,” said Steele. “Quite amusing. Are we witnessing another in the making?”

  “Perhaps, perhaps,” said Swift, evasively, elbowing some people aside and resuming his place at the table beside the drunken man. Having made room for some more wine, he immediately started to fill up again. He had, apparently, a capacity far greater than his friend.

  “Gentlemen,” he said, “allow me to present Dr. Lemuel Gulliver, late of the good ship Antelope, under Capt. William Prichard, which was tragically lost at sea while en route to the East Indies. Dr. Gulliver was the ship’s surgeon and the only one to have survived the disastrous shipwreck somewhere in the waters off Van Diemen’s Land.”

  He turned to Gulliver with an expansive gesture. “Dr. Gulliver, these two gentlemen are Messrs. Addison and Steele, late of that eminent journal of philosophical and political buffoonery, The Tatler, and currently publishing The Spectator, wherein one may find all manner of portentous nonsense concerning which nostril to stuff snuff in and the etiquette of breaking wind and whatnot. Perhaps you would care to repeat your fascinating tale for their benefit?”

  Gulliver grunted and passed out, striking his forehead on the wooden table with a resounding thud.

  “Brief, but effective,” Steele said, wryly.

  The people standing around the table laughed, all except for one young man who stood at the edge of the crowd. He was in his early twenties, tall and well built, light haired and fair complected. He looked like any other young London dandy, but there was something about him that was different. Just prior to the arrival of Addison and Steele, he had been listening intently to Dr. Gulliver pouring out his tale as Swift poured in the booze and continued to encourage him, occasionally adding editorial embellishments of his own.

  It was difficult to separate fact from fancy when it came to the whimsical Swift, but it seemed that the satirist had encountered Dr. Gulliver in a pub somewhere not very far from Pontack’s in Abchurch Lane, though one that attracted a considerably less-well-heeled clientele. Swift claimed to “hate and detest that animal called man,” meaning he had little use for society as a whole, but he had an affection for the common individual, the ordinary working man, and he often frequented their watering holes, ever on the alert for inspiration. In Dr. Lemuel Gulliver, he had struck the motherlode.

  “Dash it all, Swift, now look what you’ve done!” said Pontack, indicating the unconscious and thoroughly disreputable looking Gulliver. “I simply cannot have this sort of thing in here!”

  “Indeed?” Swift said. “My good Pontack, you have ‘this sort of thing’ in here all the time, only the patrons are generally better dressed and have bigger purses which you considerately lighten for them while they’r
e resting. Here, you may lighten mine a bit if it will improve your disposition. “

  Everyone laughed once more and Pontack pretended to be outrageously affronted.

  “Now See here, Swift, that is most egregiously unfair—”

  “Egregiously?” Swift interrupted, raising his bushy eyebrows in mock astonishment. “Egregiously?” He glanced at Addison and Steele. “He has been reading your modest little journal, hasn’t he? Egregiously, my buttocks!”

  This elicited another burst of laughter as Pontack sputtered and turned red in the face. Addison and Steele merely smiled at one another, thinking that the incident might indeed make for an amusing bit of reportage in their paper. And it would serve Pontack right for raising the prices on his claret. Only the dapper young man who stood at the edge of the crowd seemed unamused. His expression remained alert and somber.

  “Say what you will, Swift,” Pontack said, “but I cannot have this … this sort of person lying about senseless on my tables as if this were some seaman’s tavern! You brought him, now you must get him out of here. Take him outside and let him sleep it off in an alleyway somewhere, where his sort belongs. “

  “His sort?” said Swift, with an edge in his voice. “This man is a surgeon, Pontack, a learned physician. ‘His sort,’ as you so disingenuously put it, keeps you and your establishment in business. Under other circumstances, you’d be fawning over him like the servile dog you are, because he represents the medical profession, yet because he is in tattered clothing and drunk to numb the pain of his ordeal, you so harshly and unfairly—yes, even to the point of being egregious—judge a poor unfortunate survivor of a terrible shipwreck, who has gone through God only knows what manner of hardship. If it were not for me, you would throw this poor man into an alleyway like so much human refuse. Shame, Pontack! May you never find yourself in such a pitiable condition, lest you should encounter someone with as lime heart as you.”