Pem knew when the timeline changed; a most unpleasant twisting of his gut that made him desperately nauseous heralded it. What had happened? Oh, God, had Nelson meddled? Pem had done his best to convince that dratted admiral to leave well enough alone the second time… What the hell was it with admirals, that they couldn't keep their fingers out of every pie? And just when everything was going smoothly, just when he had integrated himself into the new hierarchy, had managed to fly under the radar, had even ingratiated himself with this new Admiral Harriman Crane, who hadn't even existed before…
He sagged against the wall, struggling with the nausea, noticing several others who were in the same situation. It would be worse for them, he supposed. Pem had wrought the change, so his memories were intact. But their memories would be clawing through their brains, fighting for some semblance of order, gnawing away until they finally realigned. He'd felt it all before… And sure enough, here it came again. He grasped his head and slid down the wall, feeling his thoughts reforming… Admiral Harriman Crane didn't fade into the aether… Something that someone had done had allowed that change to continue… But his memories of Admiral John Nelson Morton were reconstituting… There was the embarrassing time slip Pem had caused that had first alerted that blasted man to his existence, and here… Here was the first time he'd been up before the Time Board on charges… Morton had thrown the book at him, then… Damn it, it was all coming back, all of it, popping back into existence… Nelson had meddled somehow, and it wasn't right… Everything had been perfect…
But now, as his memories settled down again, his worst nightmare swept around the corner and headed straight for him. A compact bundle of energy with frosty blue-gray eyes and a glare that could freeze blood; Admiral John Nelson Morton, the youngest four-star admiral in the whole history of the US Navy, and the only President the Time Board had ever had. He didn't wait for Pem to say anything, but then, he rarely did. He just got right down to business. "Mr. Pem, I can't even begin to enumerate the charges against you this time."
Oh, that was a lie… Morton carried everything in his head. He would be able to lay the charges flat out, and undoubtedly had the evidence to back them up, too. Damn, it had to have been Admiral Nelson who had meddled! But why?
"But I suppose the most serious ones are murder and eradication." The man's face was completely impassive, but that glare turned Pem green. This man was a cold fish, but Pem was sure that he was taking very great pleasure in the charges, somewhere behind that mask. Because both charges were deadly serious, and Pem was well aware that he was guilty of both. The only thing that might save him was that he had only been indirectly involved; the plan was his, but he hadn't actually carried it out.
He offered a weak smile. "I'm sure you must be mistaken, sir…"
The glare intensified, choking off anything else Pem could think of to say, but the voice held not one hint of anger. That was the worst thing about Admiral Morton; he was completely unreadable. "I'm not mistaken, Mr. Pem. You are ordered to appear before the Time Board at twenty hundred hours this evening. You needn't worry about getting an impartial hearing. I'm recusing myself." He smiled the smile an adder might give its terrified prey. "After all, it was my ancestor you murdered, in order to eradicate me."
Pem felt the nausea stir in his stomach again, but this time it had nothing to do with timeline changes. He was busted, and somehow he didn't think he could wriggle out of this. "Sir, I have the utmost respect for you…"
Morton wasn't buying it; they'd butted heads too many times. The admiral held out one slim elegant hand. "I'm well aware of exactly how much you respect me, Mr. Pem. I've been authorized by Admiral Crane to confiscate your time travel device. Admiral Crane will be presiding over your hearing this evening."
Pem moaned, as his new memories of Admiral Crane came into play. He wasn't nearly as bad as Morton, but he was characterized by the same attention to detail. Once Morton had been eradicated, however briefly, Crane had popped into existence and become President of the Time Board. His personality was more open, his disposition sunnier. Pem had ingratiated himself, laid low, and stayed under the radar. It had been working well for him…
But now that Morton existed again… Now, it turned out that he and Crane were the best of friends. They'd been at the Academy together and served together in the Fleet. Morton had made Admiral first, but Crane hadn't been far behind. They'd even married sisters… If Crane were presiding, he would nail Pem to the wall. The least he could hope for was twenty years in the Lunar Penal Colony, where time travel was absolutely prohibited, and all time devices rendered inactive. But if Morton was authorized to confiscate his timepiece, that probably meant they were looking at prison time and the revocation of his time travel privileges… And it simply wasn't fair! "Sir, I swear I wouldn't do anything to cause you to be eradicated…"
Fair brows lifted in skeptical amusement. "Of course not, Mr. Pem. Your device, please."
It was an order, no doubt of that; gods how he hated Morton. Pem dug his pocket watch out and looked at it forlornly. He'd built it himself, hoping he could escape the notice of the Time Board, but the first time he'd used it, they'd descended on him and forced him into compliance with their rules and regulations. He'd been fighting them ever since… Mournfully, he lowered the pocket watch into Morton's palm. This was all Nelson's fault…
Nelson's fault… But Pem had built one timepiece, and he could build another. Maybe this time he could figure out how to shield it temporally, so that the Time Board wouldn't know what he was doing… And then, everyone who had stood in his way, or meddled with his plans would pay.
Morton's hand closed around the pocket watch. "Twenty hundred hours, Mr. Pem." He walked away.
Someday, Pem really was going to eradicate the bastard… One way or another…