Magestic 2, p.99
Magestic 2, page 99
The General nodded, a glance at the VP from our era. ‘Yes, sir.’
‘Would an atomic bomb close it?’ the President asked.
‘Yes,’ Jimmy agreed. ‘And that may save this world. But what of other worlds that may be destroyed, what of America on those worlds – and the American voters on those worlds. You were elected to represent them ... over there ... as much as here; they’re all Americans, just in a different place.’
‘It’s a strange concept to grasp,’ the President admitted.
‘Those people, those American voters, have a common ancestor with the people on this world,’ I pointed out. ‘World’s split ... and become two identical worlds, then start to change because of random luck and random decisions. Over there, somewhere, is a version of you, or your grandchildren.’
‘Can’t think of them as strangers,’ Baldy put in. ‘Nor us. Jimmy came here to help you, but you’re from a different planet. He came … because we’re all part of the same family, just in different places.’
‘And now that we know about each other,’ I began, ‘your people can pop across to our world for a visit, and we can come here. Probably be a few trade agreements as well.’
‘Trade agreements?’ the President repeated.
The VP piped up with, ‘We’ll be happy to discuss them with you.’
‘I hadn’t considered that the worlds might interact in that way,’ the President admitted. ‘But you gentlemen have a massive advantage over us in science, so how would we pay for goods?’
‘There are ways,’ Jimmy suggested. ‘A company from our era could design and oversee the building of tall buildings or long bridges here, and you can pay in gold, or land.’
‘Land?’
‘There are probably many people on our world who would like to retire here, to live here,’ Jimmy suggested. ‘Cities are very crowded where we come from, land at a premium; you could trade land for technology. I’ll oversee it to make sure that you get a fair deal.’
‘Tourism here would probably be big business,’ I suggested.
‘As well as the arrival of unscrupulous operators,’ Jimmy suggested. ‘It would all have to be tightly guarded, or the visitors would trade the stock markets.’
‘As you do,’ the President firmly noted.
‘What do you think funded the research and building of the aircraft you now fly on, or use in the war?’ Jimmy testily pointed out. ‘If The Brotherhood hadn’t arrived here, that money would have gone towards developing antidotes for diseases, safe aircraft, safe cars and trucks, and be used after disasters.’
‘You’re welcome,’ Baldy told the President.
‘It’s ... all something that we’d have to give a great deal of thought to,’ the President suggested. ‘The idea of people with advance knowledge of the stock markets horrifies me.’
‘That ship has sailed,’ Jimmy firmly pointed out. ‘And regardless of what you may decide, the British may have other ideas. Churchill gave a speech a few hours ago and detailed who I am; your news agencies will be picking that up today. Once the egg is broken, there’s no putting it back together.’
‘And how much does the British Cabinet know?’ the President asked, seeming concerned.
‘They’ve known about us for almost a year now,’ Jimmy responded. ‘At least some of them have. Take all the time you want, Mister President, but just don’t get left behind.’
I hid a smile.
Lobster stood surveying the hurried activity at Malwini, having just come from the other Mawlini. And he didn’t get permission from the General first. He walked forwards, stopping to inspect a Boeing, and marvelling at the vintage plane, cutting edge technology on this world. In the temporary command tent he found Colonel Ngomo.
‘The General sent me to arrest you,’ Lobster loudly called, men stopping and starring, wide-eyed, Ngomo Jnr suddenly mortified. Lobster laughed loudly.
‘That’s not funny,’ Colonel Ngomo said as the officers laughed. ‘And how did you get permission to be here?’
‘I may have ... overlooked telling the General I was coming,’ Lobster admitted. ‘We’ll both be court-martialled upon our return, adjoining cells, Joshua.’
‘Now that you’re here, one of us can create a forward base in Tunisia,’ Ngomo said.
‘I’m junior, so it will have to be me,’ Lobster pointed out.
Ngomo appeared as if he was about to object, then simply nodded. ‘Grab the next flight with your team.’
‘These funny looking aircraft ... they’re safe?’
‘Designed by Mister Silo. They do, apparently, have an excellent safety record.’
‘Have you seen your father?’ Lobster asked.
‘Yes, he’s around here organising supplies, as well as Mac and Handy. Mister Steffan Silo is organising trains.’
‘Well, then I’ll leave you for Tunisia.’ They saluted each other, but with coy smiles.
Four hours later, en route to Tunisia, Lobster knelt next to the commercial pilots, British white folk, the men roped in by Rudd and paid well. ‘Gentlemen, does this aircraft have the fuel to reach Southern Italy?’
The pilot and co-pilot exchanged looks. ‘Well, yes.’
‘Then set a course for this place, Brindisi, which – I understand – is in the hands of the British Army.’
‘We’d arrive just about sunset,’ the pilot mentioned.
‘Fine, you’ll get a bonus.’
‘Do your soldiers carry the strange weapons that Jimmy Silo invented?’ the co-pilot asked.
Lobster took a moment. ‘Yes, they fire light.’
‘Light?’
‘A very bright light that burns people when it hits them, and we can hit someone many miles away.’
‘Crikey, the Germans won’t know what hit them.’
‘That’s the whole idea.’ Lobster sat back down with his men, just as his adjutant passed over a data-pad, microwave linked to Canada. Lobster peered at my face. ‘Mister Paul.’
‘How you doing, buddy?’
‘On my way to Southern Italy, a place called Brindisi.’
‘You’ll be fighting your way up Italy then.’
‘Indeed so.’
‘You may have heard, but we’re organising a parachute drop directly into Germany, to where the fighting is around the portal.’
‘Sounds like the landing would be ... interesting.’
‘Casualties could be high, old friend, so don’t go volunteering for it.’
‘I’m not one for breaking the rules, Mister Paul,’ Lobster suggested, getting a look from those around him.
‘You’ve come a long way since Scorpion Base,’ I said.
‘A long way, yes. I even have lessons on how to talk like I have plumbs in my mouth.’
I smiled. ‘Don’t go too far, and don’t end up looking like Michael Jackson!’
‘A tragic loss to the world, his parting, although my men have forbidden me to moon-walk when drinking.’
I laughed. ‘That sounds like a good idea.’
‘I was at Shelly’s Marina just a few weeks ago; it hasn’t changed, sir.’
‘I’d like to visit, on my return, but I don’t know when that’ll be. Besides, it’ll be full of bloody tourists.’
‘How goes the war, sir?’
‘We were close to ending the war when The Brotherhood arrived; it would have been over in a matter of weeks, and should be now. To accelerate things we used fuel-air explosives against German cities, a ... million dead.’
Lobster took a moment. ‘They must now surely surrender, sir.’
‘They’ve taken very heavy losses, so we’re hopeful that we can end it soon. We have bigger problems.’
‘Indeed, sir. And how many fighters have come through the portal?’
‘Enough to push back the German Army, so tens of thousands of them we think.’
‘And this parachute force?’
‘A couple of hundred at most, a few days till any relief arrives, two weeks before ground forces arrive.’
‘A most difficult challenge, sir.’
‘That parachute mission will have US Marines involved, but the Rifles will land first. Organise your men ready, we’re arranging suitable aircraft.’
‘The ones called Buffalo?’
‘Yes, they’re tough aircraft. As soon as you can, dispatch the paratroopers, we’ll send the coordinates. Make it a night drop. Oh, the area around the drop is on fire as we speak, so there’ll be plenty of smoke cover. Just tell the men not to land on a burning tree.’
‘And the objective, sir?
‘To find the portal’s event horizon and to jump through, taking control of it from their end. We’ve dispatched a group of technicians, and they’ll jump through when it’s secure - to take control of it.’
‘The welcoming committee may be put out ... at our arrival,’ Lobster noted.
‘Very ... put out. Do you have knock-out gas?’
‘We do, and masks.’
‘Use it when the men go in, we may get lucky. They won’t be expecting it.’
‘And what might we expect to find on the other side?’
‘A world overrun by The Brotherhood; could be millions of them near the portal. If there is, then blow it up – hopefully not leaving anyone behind.’
‘Hopefully,’ Lobster repeated.
‘With some luck, we’ll raise glasses in Shelly’s Marina when this is over.’
‘With luck, sir, yes.’
‘Take care.’ I ended the call.
Lobster handed back the data-pad. ‘Gentlemen, we have some detailed plans to make; an opposed parachute drop.’
‘My fellow Americans, I’m addressing you today from the city of Seattle, and discussing something of great importance to you all,’ the President began, now outside a civic building in the city, movie cameras rolling. He inched closer to a square microphone. ‘I have just met with Jimmy Silo and his team at Trophy Aircraft. Some of you will have heard previous radio broadcasts regarding Mister Silo, strange broadcasts claiming that Mister Silo and his team are travellers through time, men from the future.
‘People of America, I can now confirm to you that Mister Silo and his team are indeed travellers through time, and have come to us from the future. They came to assist us with the war against Japan and Germany, and have provided us advanced weapons and aircraft to assist in the war. You will all be familiar with the wondrous aircraft that Jimmy Silo builds, but he is also involved with munitions, with weapons, and in the training of our soldiers – using knowledge from the future. Using such advanced weapons, we hope to have the war concluded in just a few short weeks, and hope to do so with the minimum casualties to our brave soldiers.
‘In addition to the supply of advanced weapons, we are also in possession of advanced bombs, bombs that could destroy a city, and bombs that could destroy Tokyo in a single blast.’
I turned away from the radio set. ‘Was that wise? He’s trying to scare the Japs into surrendering now.’
Jimmy shrugged, making a face. ‘The Russians will now know about the atom bombs.’
The President continued, ‘Those bombs would only be used as a last resort, since the deaths amongst civilians would be great. I can also report today … that the British Royal Air Force made use of special bombs, and dropped those bombs onto German cities to hasten the end of the war. Those bombs are reported to have killed up to a million Germans, a great loss of life. We are hopeful that the Germans will now see sense, and surrender.
‘That surrender, both from Germany and Japan, will now be hastened with the arrival in Canada of soldiers from the future armed with advanced weapons, the first of which have flown to China to fight the Japanese. These soldiers have weapons that are far beyond those that we could build ourselves, and the objective of those soldiers is to bring the war to a close as quickly as possible. Fear not, my fellow Americans, these soldiers are US Marines, but from the future; they are our boys. That’s all for now. I’ll be flying back to Washington to discuss these extraordinary events with my staff, and will talk to you again very soon. Thank you.’
‘He kept to the script,’ I noted, Jimmy nodding.
Marines had been dispatched aboard our aircraft, now half-way to Nova Scotia, thereafter to fly directly on towards Britain and Germany.
An hour later, a report came in from the Brest Peninsular; the Germans were pulling back. Jimmy and I exchanged looks. Jimmy then sent a note to Timkins, asking that the RAF attack roads and rail links around Normandy, to stop the German units reaching either the Antwerp Pocket, or from returning to Germany. We had hardly sent the order when rumours arrived of the death of Hitler and his senior staff, a General now in charge.
‘No surrender offer yet,’ I noted.
Jimmy looked disappointed. ‘He’s going to pull back his units to the German border, then talk peace.’ He sighed. ‘But not if we can stop them.’
We contacted the Antwerp Pocket via London, the men on the ground reporting no contacts today, armour seen to be leaving the area. Jimmy sent Timkins a note: “Attack out from pocket, don’t let them get home, move tanks towards the border! Use RAF to bomb all road and rail links, all bridges, asap.”
‘Could we use the Marines?’ I asked.
Jimmy took a moment. ‘We can drop some in by parachute, but they’d need to operate in wooded areas or towns, they’re not kitted out to operate against tanks.’
In the hours that followed, we dispatched many thousands of the Marines by train to Nova Scotia, but they would take a week to get there. All available civilian aircraft were brought in, including planes from American Airlines and others, a call from Jimmy meeting with positive responses.
Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, Big Paul was still trying to explain time travel to the senior officers, and the Governor of the colony. The stock-piled weapons had been shipped out, now just about every British infantryman with his own AK47 and RPG, the communists all-out attacking the Japanese, who were running very low on supplies.
The prop fighters took off three times a day, and pounded any Japanese units they could find, but those sorties sometimes revealed no suitable targets, the distances covered being greater and greater.
Unknown to us, but somehow predictable, was Mao sending units towards the Nationalist Chinese in Beijing, hardened units armed with the AK47s and RPGs, battery grenades and mortars, something of a mismatch. The first Nationalist Division they encountered was wiped out to a man by just two hundred experienced communist fighters.
The RAF, embedded with Mao, had been asked to assist, but thought better of it and flew off to Hong Kong without saying goodbye. Once there, Big Paul agreed that they had done the right thing; attacking the Beijing Nationalists was not part of the plan.
By that evening we had real-time images of the fighting in Manchuria, images from the helmet-cams of Marines. Holding a data-pad, I could see a Marine zoom in on a Japanese soldier stood guard duty, the screen suggesting that the man was 1600 yards away. A red blip, and the man fell. His colleague ran over, soon cut down. The Marines were firing from a mile away, the Japanese enlisted men having no idea why their colleagues were just dropping dead.
‘Eighty-six,’ a voice announced. ‘Mick, let’s move forwards, next ridge.’
‘Roger that. Moving.’
I tapped the screen, and waited. ‘Yes, sir?’ came a voice.
‘This is Paul Holton in Canada. Can you talk?’
‘Yes, sir, just humping down a rise.’
‘You’ve killed eighty-six?’
‘Yes, sir, but the day ain’t over yet.’ The image wobbled as the Marine walked, images of trees, a farm with mud walls.
‘How’s it going ... in general?’
‘Fine, sir. Weather is OK, local food and water seems OK, and the Japs seem to be just conscripts; just stood around with a thumb up their ass. At this rate we’ll hit the fucking coast in a week.’
‘Good work. Out.’ I tapped the screen, muting the comms link.
‘My God,’ came a voice.
I turned to see a General from this era; he had been looking over my shoulder. ‘Technology, eh.’
‘Amazing. Soldiers with cameras on their helmets, officers watching what they’re doing.’
‘Good job he didn’t stop to take a piss,’ I said as I stood, handing over the data-pad, the images still live. Seeing one of Gilchrist’s men, I approached. ‘Where’s the Vice President?’
‘With the President from this world, off down to Washington,’ the man reported. ‘Tell me, you think trade is possible?’
‘Definitely. They have a strong need for technology, and the folks back home would love to visit this place. It would have to be tightly controlled, passports shown and carried, but I’m not worried about people trying to bet the stock markets. Given what’s happened ... there’s no way in hell that they would be predictable.
‘And as for companies like Boeing, we’ve already interfered a great deal, so no one can tell when they’ll expand or take-over another company. And as for the likes of Microsoft, it’ll never happen now. Someone might bet the races and get lucky, or try and manage the Beatles, but we can keep an eye on that.’
‘Off-world tourism had been considered,’ the man admitted. ‘But to somewhere isolated, an Earth that was very different.’
‘An Earth that was very different ... would be very dangerous and unpredictable, and the insurance premiums would be excessive,’ I pointed out, the man nodding. ‘Here, people could spend a week at our fishing lodge, have pie and coffee in a genuine diner, watch a few old movies and return – no danger. And they’d pay good money for it. That money helps our world’s economy, and this lot make a few bucks as well. Jimmy and I considered it before.’
‘We just need to deal with The Brotherhood first.’ He lifted a data-pad and called up an image; parallel lines of men, green headscarves clearly visible. ‘They’re coming out of the portal at a rate of six hundred and hour, day and night. We could bomb it.’ He waited.
