Thursday
March 21st, 2357
Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico
Living inside what was, in essence, a temporal bubble had its drawbacks. The scientists, researchers, maintenance techs and support staff and their families living under the domes weren't affected by changes to the timelines. They could remember each timeline as it changed or as it was altered, so they alone were the true recorders of the planet's history.
Temporal theories, temporal laws, temporal discrepancies, temporal anomalies – and the temporal physicists were still just beginning to understand how the time/space/history continuum actually worked. There was a rule: do not interfere with human history. Changing one thing in the past could be devastating to anything in the future. However, if someone else 'changed' the past, then the Temporal Administrative Council was duty-bound to correct it. That was the extent of their 'changes' to the timeline. Usually.
It seemed like a simple premise. A discrepancy would be detected. The source would be researched. The various timelines would be categorized and cataloged. Then, if it was possible, the exact moment in time that was changed would be reset to its original parameters.
One such moment was the not-meant-to-happen death of Doctor Stuart Power on June 14th in 2132, 225 years earlier.
Professor Jillian Barrett watched the wave converter as the timelines coalesced into a single wave, but it wasn't right. The wave was still erratic, not pulsing calmly in a steady tempo.
Immediately, her communicator dinged for her attention. The identification system showed that it was her partner at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She switched on the communicator to answer. "Delphi? Are you getting this? I'm still reading an anomaly. Please tell me it worked. Did everything get reset?"
There was a pause. "No. We've got problems. The wave splittered. And it looks like we hit more than the target date." Aderholdt's voice sounded very under-caffeinated.
"How many cups of coffee have you had, Delphi?"
"I'm making another pot as we speak."
"That won't be enough, not for you," Jillian sighed. Making the target date had been a long shot to begin with. 2132 was further in the past than they had ever tried to reach. Moving something safely through time? Still experimental. The science was still in its infancy, so exact, easy accuracy was still some time away. "How close were we?"
Again, another pause. Finally, her partner answered, "We're getting the first indications of the temporal changes. Like I said, the wave splittered into two. On one wave fractal, we think we were able to get Doctor Power out of Volcania just before it blew up."
"Wait, a wave fractal shouldn't have been strong enough to move someone," Jillian argued. "He should have deconvoluted."
"Should have but didn't," Delphi continued. "We think a certain blast distorted our time wave connection. We have no idea where he may have been transferred to yet. We're waiting for changes in the time line to reach us to try to figure out when he got sent."
Blast distortion? Splittered beam? Oh, that was not good news. "Did our secondary experiment have anything to do with this?"
"It couldn't. It wasn't anywhere near the target date when we sent the beam back," Delphi assured her.
"How far off the original time track might we be?"
"For Power? Days? Years? Who knows. He could have been sent back to the age of the dinosaurs for all we know or he's sitting in Paris talking to Benjamin Franklin or maybe talking to Leonardo Da Vinci. Scite it, he may have ended up in Provence and told Nostradamus what to write in his quatrains."
The sound of the coffee pot sputtering out the last of the water indicated that the pot had finished brewing. Jillian understood her partner's need for coffee. She had a feeling she'd be ingesting a few pots of the liquid energy herself before this problem was fixed. "You said the beam splittered in two?"
"That's not the worst part," Delphi took a sip of coffee. Jillian could hear her utter an expletive - she must have drained the cup quickly and then there was the unmistakable sound of her partner pouring another cup. "The second wave fractal followed the same trackers and anchored to the Power Base. December. 2147."
Jillian Barrett was many things, and a war history enthusiast was one of them. "December of 2147? The destruction of Blastarr and the Power Base? Corporal Jennifer Chase destroyed them? That's the place where the second wave fractal ended up?"
"From what we've been able to trace, yes," Delphi explained. "That's the blast we think flowed through the fractals and gave them the strength enough to move two people instead of just deconvoluting them."
"How could that have happened? We checked every bit of information before we started this experiment," she complained. "Did the Cyclotron fail in any way?"
"Jillian, prepare to get angry. We're waiting on the equipment status reports, but there's no evidence yet it was the Cyclotron. Looks like it was the Brophy Theorem. We proved it."
The Brophy Theorem? Two similar events looking the same from another point in time… "The Power Base explosion was the secondary event?"
"It was. After the timeline changed when Stuart Power was killed, one of the events that was different was the last moments of Corporal Chase's life. In the altered timeline, Captain Power was speaking to her over a vid-link at that moment and Major Masterson was listening as well. Since we used Power and Masterson as a means of temporal trackers –"
"Yeah, got it. Same people, similar events, the time beam pretty much splittered because it didn't know which one to hit." Jillian Barrett could sense her friend's frustration. She felt it too. "Where did we move her to?"
"Looks like Chase was transferred to one of JPL's test sites some time in 2148. The algorithm's showing our time signature but not the geographic location. We're trying to pinpoint her now. I'm hoping that we'll locate Stuart Power before we get any information on her. If we can correct his timeline after removing him in 2132, then that could correct the Chase anomaly created by the splittered time wave. The actual timeline might correct itself automatically, and it'd be as if nothing different happened to Chase. She'd die in the explosion at the Power Base like she was supposed to."
Jillian had known Delphi for years. She also knew that brainstorming and speculating out loud was a way she would work through problems. Jillian was beginning to think that Delphi had more than a few ideas already. "Where do you think Power could have ended up?"
"Almost anywhere or anywhen," Delphi answered
"Delphi, come on, this is me. I know you. Don't dodge. What's your gut telling you?"
"Something scary. I haven't even talked to Elias about it but he may be thinking the same thing. It came to me just as I was calling you. We know that the two wave fractals were a split of a single temporal beam. We preprogrammed the temporal beam to return Power to a particular set of temporal coordinates the day following the Volcania explosion. Since we know that both wave fractals would have the same preprogramming, that they were split from a single beam, then the relocation point should be the same. Only it wasn't. He didn't show up 24 hours later. That much we know. Jennifer Chase was sent somewhere in 2148, not 2132. If the energy powering the relocation was strong enough, then maybe Power was sent to that year as well, just maybe not to the same geographic location. Until the time line stabilizes and the changes are recorded, we won't know where or when he is."
Power sent to a 2148 test site like Chase had been? Jillian mentally processed the data. What shouldn't have happened did. "We've got hundreds of test sites geographically, but none of them coincide temporally with 2148. We haven't done any time tests back to that year before now."
"We haven't, no, but who knows what temporal scientists have done in the future. Maybe there's some sort of backlash down the time stream from this mangled experiment that makes 2148 a year a time test was performed in by our successors?"
Jillian just shook her head. The many ways the future could go were too much for one lone scientist to contemplate. "Can we use another time beam to try to locate them?"
"Not at this time. Disturbance is too bad right now."
"What kind of disturbances are you reading?"
"Spatial and temporal interference has affected the time/wave generator's ability to reach into the past and remain locked on a specific point."
Jillian took a deep breath. That was science-speak for 'we don't know how to fix what went wrong yet because we have no direct knowledge of where the specific targets are so all we can do is wait around and twiddle our thumbs.'
Both scientists hated twiddling their thumbs.
"If Power was transferred to 2148, is that too far after the appearance of Dread to do us any good? Without Stuart Power to run the Power Base, then the entire dynamic of the Power Team changes! This is not good news."
"No, it isn't," her partner told her. "But there's nothing we can do about it as yet."
Jillian considered the news. "Okay, we're stalled on Power. What about Chase? Historians agree that her death is what turned the tide of the war substantially against Dread and the Machine Empire. If she survived –"
"It's believed that she was fatally wounded at the end of that battle. Even though her physical and temporal location was moved forward, she shouldn't survive long if she truly was injured. Maybe fifteen minutes at best, but she'd be unconscious after just a few minutes if our information about her injuries is in any way correct."
Again, Jillian considered the history of the subject. "On the original timeline, no one knows for certain what happened to her during that battle. Not us now, not them then. It's pure speculation that she fought Blastarr and was wounded in a vain attempt to protect the Power Base. There was no contact between her and the rest of the Power Team. They didn't even know the base had blown up until they got the download of Mentor's personality matrix and he told them about the infiltration. We don't know if Blastarr killed her long before the explosion or if she was captured. It's one of the greatest mysteries of the Badderdays and everyone thinks they know what happened. It's a story about a hero's last stand. But if she was alive and well..."
"Then we changed history for the worst because she would be alive when she was moved through time," Delphi sighed. "I know, Jillian. I've been kicking myself ever since this happened."
Jillian shook her head. "It wasn't your fault, Delphi. No one has ever been able to prove the Brophy Theorem. It was a completely unexpected event." She began to gear up all her remaining computers to track any and all anomalies. "Okay, we can't do anything until the timeline stabilizes and we know where everyone is. I'll help keep an eye on things as well. Maybe between you, me and Elias, we can figure out what to do next."
"I've already started writing up my part of the preliminary report. I'll send it to you if you want to add anything before we send it on to the Council. I'll also send a copy to the Cyclotron Lab so they can run more checks on their equipment."
Right, a report. The Administrative Council would want to know everything even if it was preliminary. "Send it to me. I'll take a look. And Delphi?"
"Yeah?"
"Get another pot of coffee brewing. You're going to need it."
~0~0~0~0~
Thursday
March 21st, 2357
Cyclotron Laboratories
At first, William Custer didn't bother reading the entire report. He just skimmed through the summary.
The 'rescue' time beam went to 2132, splittered in mid-transmission. One fractal went to 2132 and took Stuart Power, but he was missing in time. The other fractal went to 2147 and took Corporal Jennifer Chase from the Power Base, and she was somewhere in 2148. A possible power surge from the Power Base explosion may have strengthened the fractals. Accurate readings were not possible until the timeline disturbance calmed down. Both were still lost.
Custer was the first at his lab to see the report. It was part of his job to disseminate such information pertaining to the working of the Cyclotron to the proper personnel. He read through the actual report, dismissing the summary. The main detail had worked out as he'd planned but so much had happened that he hadn't accounted for. Chase? A nuisance, but not an insurmountable problem. Others could deal with that. He needed to determine a way to find Stuart Power before anyone else did. One thing he couldn't do was alter the report. There were too many copies circulating through the other laboratories. Any difference would be noticed.
Custer delivered the preliminary report of the 'event' to his superiors' offices, his anger kept secret. He briefed them, as was his job. He pointed out the key areas to read in the report, again, as per his job. His bosses nodded and thanked him and then dismissed him.
When the timeline changed to his satisfaction, no one would ever dismiss him again.
He turned his detailed mind to the plan. It had been a simple plan! Make certain Stuart Power died in 2132. That was easy enough. Now, according to the preliminary report, Aderholdt and Barrett were working the problem as thought they believed he was alive? Just lost in time? Could he be alive? Did their 'rescue' time wave get to Power before Custer's time wave reached back in time to kill him? All the reports indicated that Power was moved, but could they have moved a corpse? They were hoping that was what Chase was when she reached her landing time.
But how did a fractal wave actually move him through time? It should have been too weak even with a power boost from the Power base explosion. And where was Power? When was he?
So far, Custer's colleagues were blaming the problems on the Brophy Theorem. That was good. It was just as he planned. No one even suspected that he was the reason Stuart Power was in danger in the first place. If he could just eliminate Power from time itself after the explosion, then his plan could continue. What was that old saying? Everything else was just gravy? He'd have to literally move him with a time wave, but that would have to wait until they were allowed to power up the Cyclotron again in order to mask his personal agenda. He would be able to hide his experiments among the official searches and hide all evidence of what he was doing in the paperwork and reports. No one would know what he was doing. So all he had to do first was find Stuart Power and have his time wave program ready to run when the other labs decided to power up the Cyclotron in an effort to rescue him again once they found him. His time wave could piggyback on theirs and Custer would make certain that it reached Power first and killed him. He'd make sure of that.
Still, he had to behave like everyone else. Concerned, tense, worried, scared - he mimicked everyone else's behavior and drew no attention to himself. Obscure, as usual, but not for much longer.
He walked into the break room and poured himself a cup of coffee. The general hubbub and conversation concerned the same topic. He nodded hello to some of his co-workers, looked over some maintenance paperwork a few other cyclotechs asked his opinion about, informed them that all the maintenance records were within specs, found some snacks -
"Doctor Custer?"
William turned toward one of his associates as he walked over to join him. "Doctor Bareilles, what can I do for you?"
"Nothing, nothing, I was just wondering if any new information about the situation has come from JPL or Los Alamos in the last few minutes." There was a sudden cessation of conversation around them.
Ah, the situation. No one was calling it what it was - a clusterdreck. Custer cleared his voice. "No, I haven't heard of any new developments beyond the preliminary report sent by Aderholdt and Barrett. Right now, current information holds that Doctor Stuart Power was in danger and was moved through time but there was a Brophy Theorem anomaly that took place. I understand Aderholdt and Barrett are working the problem and are keeping us apprised of the situation as it develops."
Bareilles nodded his head. "Good. If they can't repair the problem, I'd hate to think of the ramifications. Imagine... without Stuart Power, Dread wouldn't have been stopped."
"The Taggarts would have been the ruling family for generations as the only prominent family of their time," Custer added.
"Dread would have at least, and what a nightmare that would have been," Bareilles commented. "Are the other labs asking any help from us?"
"Cursory," Custer answered quickly. "I've run every diagnostic available on the equipment. That includes all the specific ones I could think of as well as any indicated through the JPL and Los Alamos' preliminary report before we even received it. My monitoring team is continuing with diagnostics on systems that have nothing to do with the temporal experiments in case a program may have been hidden in a non-essential file."
"Proactive, running the diagnostics before even being asked. Good idea," Bareilles praised him.
"I didn't want to leave anything to chance with an experiment of this importance," Custer continued. "The Cyclotron's performance was flawless. Everything was in spec. Nothing out of sync. Once the first run diagnostics are completed, I'll have my team re-run all the tests just in case something was missed, but we'll add the first run essential diagnostic results to the preliminary report that will be forwarded to the Temporal Administrative Council as well as JPL and Los Alamos. It is possible that the problem may have been merely the Brophy Theorem without any cause on anyone's end."
Bareilles ran his hand through his hair. "If that's the case, then we could be in real trouble. Have they asked for any other assistance?"
"None at the moment," Custer explained. "I'm assuming that until a correction is determined by the Council, we won't be hearing anything more from either JPL or Los Alamos."
And that would be fine with him. If he could somehow find Stuart Power first through the timeline changes, then his family would be dominant once again and then all his troubles would be over.
He didn't care if the world's troubles were beginning.
~o~ This Domino Won't Fall ~o~
Saturday
July 6th, 2148
Resistance Base Hospital
Early Morning
Rumors were like weeds. They grew like wildfire. The news that Corporal Jennifer Chase was alive and well and at a Resistance hospital had been circulated to practically every Resistance group in the area in less than two days. It wouldn't take long for the story to filter around to other groups. The story of how she had fought Blastarr until the end, how she had given up her own life to stop him and keep the Resistance a going concern was known to everyone. It had become one of the heroic stories being told around campfires time and again. It wasn't just the defeat of a biodread and the sacrifice of a brave soldier. It was an ages-old story of how one stood against many, how one single soldier could hold off an armada. There were some heroes out there - Resistance soldiers like the Power Team - who risked everything daily to stop an overwhelming evil, but for one soldier to do what Jennifer Chase did? It let people know that bravery didn't just lie with the teams or the groups. Bravery still lived in the heart and soul of a single individual, and one person could make a profound difference.
That kind of belief had been slowly dwindling as Dread's machines menaced the world, as people saw their hopes of survival destroyed bit by bit every day.
The moment people heard that Jennifer Chase was found alive, the speculations began. The wild stories and assumptions and theories about what had really happened to her started spreading faster than the rumors that she was back. She'd been captured, she'd been digitized, she had escaped but was lost in the wastelands after the explosion - each story growing more fantastic than the previous one. No one could learn the truth.
Doctor Kirkland used her authority at the hospital to keep Jennifer safe from prying eyes, and no one other than the Power Team was allowed in the area where Jennifer Chase was. Besides, four very worried soldiers sitting vigil in the hallway? Camping out in that small section waiting for the merest word of her condition? They weren't in the mood to deal with rumormongers. Doctor Kirkland placed guards around the area but out of the team's way to help keep the area clear. People could only pass by to try to get some new tidbit of information.
All anyone could do was wait.
She looked at her chrono. She needed to check on Jennifer again. She gathered up Jennifer's file and was about to walk toward her hospital room when she was stopped.
"So we hear you've got some good rumors floating around," a voice said lowly from behind her.
Kirkland turned to see some old friends approaching her. Dennis T led Elzer Pulaski and Cypher toward her. "Well, well, Dennis T. You're a long way from your base although there's not much left in Idaho to go sight-seeing for," she teased him as she hugged him hello. She had known Dennis T for a lot of years. They'd been good friends before he joined the Idaho Resistance and still maintained a friendly relationship. They'd been through a lot of battles and aftermaths together until he moved to his Idaho base. She didn't get to see him often, so it was a rare treat when he came to the Montana base.
"Me and Cypher were here scrounging for some supplies when we ran into Elzer. He told us about meeting the jumpship when it landed and that they had their pilot with them. We've been waiting around for some news."
"Does Jon know you're here?" Kirkland asked them.
"We've passed by a few times since she was brought in," Cypher explained. "I have, anyway. I think Dennis T only made one walk by the corridor."
"How's Jennifer doing?" Elzer asked her.
Kirkland nodded, still amused that Elzer was one of the few outside the Power Team that would call Jennifer by her first name. In fact, he would get a wistful look in his eyes when he talked about her. Maybe that idea Kirkland had that Elzer had a crush on Jennifer was true? She would find out someday. She pointed down the hallway. From their standpoint, they could see Power, Hawk, Tank, and Scout sitting in chairs in the hallway outside a single room. "Well guarded, still alive and there's a good prognosis."
Cypher crossed his arms as he gazed at the team as if to brace himself if the news wasn't good. "How is she alive? From what we heard -"
"No idea," Kirkland readily agreed. "They're still trying to figure that out."
Dennis T shook his head. "Five strong again. That'll give Lyman problems. That team was always stronger with the five of them."
Elzer took a glance at his friend. "Lyman? You call Dread by his first name?"
Dennis T gave a little smirk. "I always did. Why stop now?" he asked, a mysterious look to him.
Kirkland knew that Dennis T was always a mystery to most people because there was something obscure about him. He didn't talk about his personal life before the wars. What was known about him was that he was a Resistance cell leader, fairly successful at the job, but he was almost famous for being able to avoid Dread's soldiers in a way that made people think he was psychic because he could almost guess at what Dread was going to do. Being obscure and mysterious had given him an edge most other Resistance leaders didn't have. She never saw the need to tell anyone any information she knew about him. If he wanted to keep his secrets secret, then she wouldn't say a word.
"Hope this doesn't stop Jon from destroying Lyman," Dennis T muttered. "It was losing the pilot that tipped the scales in our favor some months ago."
"You noticed that, huh?" Cypher inquired. "It was always pretty obvious that there was something between them if you ever saw them together."
"Didn't notice it personally," Dennis T explained quickly. "I've never met her. I've only heard a few rumors and saw the results. I knew Jon when he was a boy, haven't seen too much of him these last fifteen years. But just losing a single teammate wouldn't have affected him like that unless there was something more there."
Cypher nodded. "You're right. It wasn't just any team member. It was her."
~0~0~0~0~
Doctor Kirkland walked quietly toward Jennifer's room. She watched the team as she moved closer to them. Scout and Hawk were sitting against the wall finally getting a little sleep, but they were dozing fitfully. Probably just a catnap, huh, guys? Tank was sitting in a chair opposite the hospital room. His eyes were closed but Kirkland had no doubt that he was completely alert even if he wasn't wide awake. Jon was studying some information about the recent storms in the southwest on Scout's reader. Doctor Kirkland had no idea what he was looking for, but even she knew the storms were behaving strangely. The stray thought that it was a new weapon Dread wielded crossed her mind. The last thing she wanted to hear was that Dread had control of the weather. If he did, then that would mean the end of the human race. Dread would be able to create droughts, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, anything that could wreak mass destruction. He could literally level the continent.
Jon glanced up at her as she walked past, and she gave him a quick placating wave of her hand before she went into Jennifer's room. She needed to examine her patient before she talked to the rest of the team.
The room was mostly dark with only the lights from the monitors illuminating the area. Kirkland checked the monitors... yes, everything was looking good. Jennifer's numbers were improving. Sedation... seemed to be wearing off. She'd keep Jennifer on a light dose of painkillers for a day or two more. Everything should be all right if luck was with them.
Luck brought her back, so maybe it'd hang around just a little longer and give her back to them hale and hearty.
"How is she?" a whisper sounded behind her.
Kirkland turned around and saw four curious faces crowding the doorway. "Much better," that was a truthful answer. "She's improving."
The team walked into the room, all four looking at their fallen teammate.
"I've got to tell you that news of her return is spreading. Dennis T, Cypher and Elzer Pulaski were here a few minutes ago asking about her," she told them.
"Dennis T?" Scout asked.
Jon moved around the bed and sat down in the chair. "Yeah, last time we worked with him was before you and Tank joined the team. He leads the Resistance cell in Idaho. He knew Dread years ago and knows how he operates better than anyone else in the Resistance."
"So we've never worked with him," Tank said. "I don't remember ever hearing of him."
"No, you probably wouldn't have," Hawk answered quickly. "Dennis T belonged to a once prominent family, but they had different politics. He took his money out of the banks, withdrew his support from a lot of their causes, spoke out against them, basically distanced himself as far as he could when they sided with the Machines. He still feels guilty about what he didn't do to stop Dread years ago, and he thinks if he had acted, then maybe Dread wouldn't be here and a lot of people would still be alive. He keeps a low profile, but he has one of the best records in the Resistance."
"Sounds like you know him pretty well," Scout observed.
"A little, years ago. I met him a few times back when Dread and Stuart were partners, before the big linkup with Overmind. Now, he just likes to do his job in relative obscurity."
There was a silence as the men gazed at their fallen teammate.
"Will she wake up soon?" Scout asked.
Kirkland shrugged. "That's up to her. Given her numbers, it shouldn't be too long. Still, she's been through a lot. Sleep's the best thing for her." The team had frowns, even in the face of good news. They were worried. Maybe she could do something for them. "Guys, there's really nothing any of you can do right now but worry. Tell you what, how about I get some beds for all of you so you can get some real sleep?"
"No thanks, doc," Hawk said. "We'd rather worry, but we appreciate the offer."
She didn't expect anything else from them. Yet one look at the four very tired men told her that they wouldn't be awake much longer. "Okay, then we'll make a deal. Three of you can get some sleep and one of you can sit in here with her. But only one. I don't want a crowd. You guys can take turns. How's that?"
Luckily, she didn't get an argument.
~o~ This Domino Won't Fall ~o~
Thursday
March 21st, 2357
Temporal Administration Headquarters
PRELIMINARY STATUS REPORT SUMMARY
To: Temporal Administrative Council
Administrator Eileen Collier
Professor Edward Reichardt
Doctor Diane Stabler
Councilor Arthur Reutiman
Councilor Ernest Bryan
Professor Sonja Edgars
Councilor Arthur Fowler
From: Doctor Philadelphia Aderholdt, JPL;
Doctor Elias Pitcairn, JPL;
Professor Jillian Barrett, Los Alamos
Status: Ongoing
Regarding: Attempted temporal correction of altered timeline.
Focus: Doctor Stuart Power, circa June 14th, 2132
Research in response to the sudden change in the timeline originating on June 14, 2132.
Indicators state that Doctor Stuart Power was terminated in the explosion occurring at Volcania at the above stated temporal coordinates. The correct timeline holds that Doctor Stuart Power survived and led the Power Team from the Power Base after his escape on that date.
In an effort to correct the timeline, a temporal beam was sent to the specified temporal coordinates to remove Doctor Power and place him at another location on June 15, 2132. The temporal/spatial coordinates of Doctor Power's location were determined by triangulating the tracker locations of Doctor Stuart Power, his son Jonathan Power and Major Matt Masterson along with the known event of the Volcania explosion. Due to the unforeseen occurrence of the Brophy Theorem, a similar event occurred on the changed timeline (see addendum: Power Base explosion, circa 2147). With similar events and the same tracker units used, the time wave splittered. Each wave fractal focused on a particular event. Current theory is that the Power Base explosion traveled through the time wave, giving the fractals enough power to move the targets temporally instead of deconvoluting them. Doctor Stuart Power was removed from Volcania and transported to an unknown location, site yet to be determined. Corporal Jennifer Chase was removed from the Power Base prior to the explosion on December 25th, 2147, and moved to the year 2148 to an as yet undetermined JPL temporal test site. Search is ongoing to verify location and status of both individuals.
Cyclotron Diagnostic reports performed by Doctor William Custer attached. All reports indicate proper equipment functions.
"And that, ladies and gentlemen, is where we stand at the moment," Administrator Eileen Collier said after reading the preliminary report to her associates on the Council.
"The Cyclotron Laboratories' report states that the equipment was working well within set parameters without any energy spikes. Without evidence to the contrary, it looks like they proved the Brophy Theorem," Councilor Bryan said, his voice indicating his disbelief. "Definitely not a serendipitous moment. Didn't they check the altered timeline to see if an identical set of trackers events existed prior to sending the time wave back?"
Professor Edgars shook her head. "Don't go there, Ernie. You know Delphi Aderholdt and Jillian Barrett as well as the rest of us. They don't do half-scited work. And let's face it, Pitcairn may be a bit of a scientific rebel at times - that's the only way he could get along with someone as hyper and innovative as Delphi - but he wouldn't sneeze if the numbers weren't right. They checked and rechecked their data before sending back that time beam. Diagnostics were run on the Cyclotron before the experiment even began and everything was in perfect working order. Whatever happened was a complete surprise to them. Maybe something kept them from discovering that there was a secondary event."
Councilor Fowler had to agree. "They're too good at their jobs. This was something completely unexpected. However, unexpected or not, it does present a problem. Jennifer Chase is alive as far as we know. We may have to deal with that. If she lives, we cease to exist as a civilization."
"That's all carts before horses," Collier stated. "Until we know exactly what's going on, I don't want to jump to conclusions. I do want all of you thinking about best-case and worst-case scenarios. We may have to make some decisions if things go bad."
"It's sad," Edgars agreed. "History tells us that Corporal Chase was a very good, unique individual who deserved a much better life than she got. Some of the stories say that risked her life time and again to save civilians."
Reutiman yawned. "It's all fairy tales, Sonja. Unfortunately, not everyone can have a happy ending. Some people have to go without for the betterment of the rest of the world. Her life, while short, was productive and memorable but it was her death that allowed all of us to exist in a free society. I'm not willing to give that up, are you?"
Diane Stabler said in a low voice, "Who would have thought that one of the good guys being alive would be a bad thing."