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  The look on Claire’s face brightened as she silently mouthed the words “At last.”

  Agent Hessman gave her a direct look. “Miss Hill, you may want to pay close attention. I’ve a hunch I may want to hear your input as well.”

  And so the discussion began, with Professor Stein speaking first and Claire paying particular attention to what she suspected the future of her world might depend upon.

  30

  Discussion

  Agent Hessman walked a few yards farther into the alley, then leaned his back against a wall, one foot braced against it.

  “In the old movies I suppose this is where I’d light up a cigarette while some woman tries to convince me she’s innocent,” he remarked. “Well, I don’t smoke, but now’s the time to convince me one way or the other. Question: Is what the Germans or Japanese are trying to do back here really for the good of the world? Miss Hill, you’re in a unique position to play jury here. Just put aside all the unbelievable things you’re about to hear and give an honest appraisal of the facts.”

  “I . . . I’ll try,” she promised.

  She wasn’t sure why, but for perhaps the first time in her life she felt nervous and uncertain. Instinctively she reached out for the nearest hand to hold on to for support as she focused keenly on what was about to transpire. The hand happened to belong to Professor Stein.

  Outside the alley, daytime crowds were beginning to transition to the evening crowd, and streetlights flickered on. Police whistles sounded in the distance as the officers rounded up the last of the street gang that had tried to attack city hall. The group in the nondescript alley in New York, however, was oblivious to all except the important discussion about to take place. Agent Harris pulled the two bodies deeper into the alley, laying them side by side for potential examination, then positioned herself in the shadows of the mouth of the alley, while the others formed a loose semicircle around Agent Hessman as the debate began.

  “Begin by listing off what we know,” Agent Hessman said. “Both the Germans and the Japanese have told us that what they’re doing is for the good of the world.”

  “And it is,” Ernst stated. “At least for our part; I don’t know about the Japanese plans.”

  “They plan on killing off Tojo, while you guys are aiming for Congressman Lodge and old Gustav,” Agent Hessman summarized tersely. “Ben, what might happen if a team is allowed to follow up on either of these events?”

  The professor pursed his lips and paced as he thought; he got only a step, however, before he realized that he was towing Claire along beside him. Gently working his hand loose with a brief smile for the reporter, he tried again, leaving in his wake a very attentive reporter as he thought out loud.

  “Congressman Lodge led the opposition against the League of Nations. The absence of US involvement in the league is the reason why it was too weak to stand and fell apart by World War II. It is possible, of course, if the US had entered the league, then it could have been strong enough to prevent the Second World War, the Holocaust, Hitler’s Nazi Germany, and so forth. Without Congressman Lodge’s voice leading the opposition, that is exactly what might have happened.”

  “Which is why we were trying to kill him,” Ernst remarked. “Without Henry Cabot Lodge to protest, the United States might have joined the League of Nations and thus prevented what is to come.”

  Now Dr. Weiss joined in the discussion. “Or his assassination might have sparked conspiracy theories and further protests in his name, leading to the withdrawal of the US from the league anyway. As I have said before, history may be self-correcting, at least to a degree.”

  “Which is why we had our backup plan,” Ernst continued. “Gustav Noske led the Freikorps and was the first stepping-stone to help Adolph Hitler achieve power. Remove that stepping-stone, and Hitler fails to rise to power. No one will mourn Noske or protest in his honor if he is killed. Even without a strong league, his death is our insurance against the coming war.”

  Agent Hessman said nothing but simply observed. Professor Stein paced again as he ran the argument through his mind. That, and he also had an eye on Claire. As overwhelmed as she obviously was by the nature of what she was hearing, he could tell that her keen reporter’s mind was still absorbing and processing every word.

  “The war would still happen,” Professor Stein said after a moment’s thought. “The economy of Germany was in shatters; it was just a matter of time before someone would have realized that war was the only way out. Yes, if someone else besides Hitler were to come to power to lead that war, someone without his hatred of the Jewish people, then the Holocaust probably wouldn’t have happened.”

  “A significant gain even with the war,” Ernst suggested hopefully.

  “But do you want to know why Germany lost the Second World War?” the professor continued. “It was in part because of Hitler’s ego. Toward the end he listened less to his generals and more to his personal fortune tellers; he put mysticism before tactics. Put someone in his place without those limitations and their alliance with Russia might have held. Or lacking the atrocities and tyrannical rule he visited upon his own people, a more unified front within Germany would have backed their leader. The war could end with England defeated and the US capitulating to a Nazi-Communist world ruling bloc. Considering the atrocities we know from Communist rulership, even when countered by a strong United States, would that be much better than Hitler’s Germany?”

  He stopped his pacing and faced the others. He could see no sign of a reaction on Agent Hessman’s face, just studied attention. He didn’t have the nerve to glance over to see how Claire might be reacting.

  “At the risk of playing devil’s advocate,” Captain Beck interjected, “our Japanese prisoner said that they had singled out General Tojo as the focal point of their involvement in the Second World War. Without him, Japan doesn’t enter the war.”

  “Or maybe Japan enters,” Professor Stein countered, “but minus the atrocities of Tojo. Maybe Japan doesn’t attack Pearl Harbor, which keeps the United States out of the war, leaving Japan free to run across the Pacific until it’s too late. And I should also add that Pearl Harbor, as terrible as that attack was, forced the US to build a whole new modern fleet to replace the aging one and to do so in record time. Without the Pearl Harbor attack, the United States couldn’t have stopped Japan. Japan would have their own Pacific Island empire that would include major portions of China.”

  “And thus prevent a Communist-controlled China?” Captain Beck countered. “How bad would that be in the long run?”

  “I dunno,” Professor Stein said after a moment’s pause. “There are too many variables at this point. But at the risk of giving fair balance to our German friend’s point of view, Japan never would have gone to war without Germany as an ally. Eliminate Hitler, and the Axis might never have happened. Or maybe it would have, but it would have been stronger than before.”

  For a moment no one spoke as everyone struggled to process the multitude of possibilities. But then the reporter in their midst spoke up with an uncharacteristically timid-sounding voice.

  “Uh, a question if I may?”

  “Anytime, Miss Hill,” Agent Hessman replied.

  “Well . . .” She coughed once, wet her lips, then continued, “Putting aside for the moment how you guys can talk of some war that hasn’t happened like it’s already history, but . . . how many people die in this great war of yours? They say that the war we just finished was responsible for some fifteen million or so casualties.”

  All heads turned now to their history expert for the answer. Professor Stein thought for a moment before replying, but made a point of not looking directly at Claire as he did so.

  “Between fifty and eighty million people dead. But, there is also the factor of millions dead between the two wars due to colonialism that caused a multitude of smaller conflicts. A strong League of Nations mig
ht have prevented those clashes. A strong league might save many more lives than just the ones lost to the Second World War.”

  “But would it really?” Dr. Weiss wondered. “We currently have a United Nations with the involvement and backing of the United States, but how many wars has it prevented? How much have special interests twisted the original mission statement? Would the same thing have happened to the League of Nations? And if not initially, then how soon until it would have become just as corrupted? We might only be delaying the war by ten to fifteen years. How will the world really change, and is it worth it? Speaking as a physicist, I’m not sure if we can really steer time to a particular result. There might be a certain amount of temporal inertia working against us.”

  “Or maybe we end up with a League of Nations strong enough to prevent war and able to help Germany back into postwar prosperity,” Ernst countered. “Before special interests can get a hold into it.”

  The group was silent for a moment as they considered each side, and then Claire spoke up once again. “I don’t know anything about this other war, but I do know that the one we just came out of was horrible beyond belief, and if what these German and Japanese teams are up to can prevent anything more like that, it sounds like they both have the world’s interests in mind. As well as their own, of course, but everyone benefits.”

  “That,” Professor Stein countered, “may actually be a more complicated answer than you realize. There is a theory that, even if a person could, you would not be able to change history in such significant ways. If not Hitler, then somebody else. If President Kennedy hadn’t been assassinated on that day, then it would have been a different day, a different place. Or there would be unintended consequences. Our world is a mess, but it could get even worse.”

  He turned now to address Agent Hessman, while Claire resumed her role as observer. “How about this angle: Do you know how many medical advances came about as a result of having to care for wounded men in the field? Penicillin, burn treatments, malaria medicines, and a ton of surgical techniques. Or the advances in aviation? The development of computer technology was spurred along by the need for ever better code-breaking and encryption technology, as well as calculation of missile trajectories. Radar was developed for the war. The atomic bomb was a terrible weapon, but from that we gained nuclear power, and from there the road to the moon and beyond.”

  Claire was hearing all kinds of ideas that had her spellbound and in shock, but she realized also that she was being permitted to hear this discussion for a reason. So shaking herself out of her stupor, she tried her best to do as Lou had told her and focus on the facts set before her and not the wonders being suggested.

  “So suppose we could prevent that war,” Professor Stein continued. “At what cost would that victory come? We might lose the few good things we gained as a result. Ernst,” he said, now addressing the German, “even if your plan succeeds in every way foreseeable, there is absolutely no guarantee that it would not result in something far worse. Give up the Holocaust in exchange for . . . what?”

  “Better the devil we know than the one we don’t,” Captain Beck summed up.

  For a long moment no one said a thing. Their silence was punctuated only by the distant intrusion of the passing evening crowd. Claire’s world was spinning from all she had heard, enough for the need to brace herself with a hand to the brick wall. Finally the German spoke, his head nodding in supplication. “I am afraid that I must concede the point.” He sighed. “We ran numerous computer simulations, but I am afraid that even the best of simulations cannot deal with the unknowable. I . . . will help you to stop the remainder of my team, as well as the rogue Major Greber.”

  “Lou, it’s up to you now,” Dr. Weiss added. “I think we’re all pretty much agreed, but you’re mission leader.”

  Agent Hessman maintained his stance for a moment or two longer, then stepped away from the wall to pace slowly over to the reporter in their midst. “I would like to first hear from Miss Hill on the matter. Claire, I know you must be overwhelmed by what you’ve been hearing, but I would value your input.”

  “Overwhelmed,” she said after a moment. “That’s a word and a half right now. You speak of things yet to come, of some horror that makes the Great War look like a scouting expedition. I would avoid all of that if I could, but you also speak of such amazing effects that could result from it. Lou mentioned medical advances, and I heard the moon is involved. So many incredible things that . . . it is not for me to pass judgment on what may or may not happen.”

  Lou replied with a nod and backed away to face the others.

  “Nor is it for me,” he decided. “The only thing we can do, the only thing we should do, is to stop the other two teams.”

  “Agreed,” Captain Beck said.

  “But something Ben said has me thinking,” Agent Hessman said as he knelt down next to the Japanese man’s body. “That if the death of a single congressman, or any single person, might not be enough to stop what was to come, then it would have to be a series of escalating events.”

  Agent Hessman searched the body, while Professor Stein replied in an uncertain tone, “Well, yes, I agree. But to try to change so many events, we would have detected a number of TDWs. What could any single team do back here that would cause such an expansive ripple effect?”

  Agent Hessman said nothing but began pulling out small wrapped packages that he found tied around the Japanese man’s waist. “Sue,” he called out.

  She jogged over from her position at the edge of the alley. Agent Hessman handed her the packages. After only a moment’s examination, she determined what she was looking at. “Plastique,” she stated.

  “Well then,” he said, “would a bomb killing a lot of people be enough to get history to change the way one given group might want?”

  Professor Stein thought for only a moment before reluctantly giving his answer. “It might be, if it’s the right people. For instance, say, a meeting of other congressional heads or even the death of a certain Japanese general. Maybe another random bomb blamed on communist anarchists or some other group. That would probably give President Wilson enough reason to get the US into the league and from there possibly into a fight against Communist Russia well before World War II and any preparations the Soviets might be able to make. From there I would not dare to make any predictions. The United States would be in the League of Nations, General Tojo would be dead, and Japan would continue with the prosperous democracy they had at the time, but after that . . . Japan could blame the US, get bogged down in a ground war against Russia, or any number of things.”

  “Lou,” Captain Beck stated, “we’ve got to stop them all‍—the Germans, the Japanese, all of them‍—and immediately.”

  Agent Hessman took the bricks of explosives back from Agent Harris and piled them carefully on the chest of the Japanese body. He then started searching the body for something else, while Agent Harris took that as a cue to begin a similar search of the German corpse.

  “Ernst,” Agent Hessman asked as he bent to his work, “how many originally on your team?”

  “Six,” came the reply, “including myself and Major Greber.”

  “This is the second corpse from the German team,” Agent Harris said, pulling a large pendant out from the jacket of the German body, “so unless someone was killed in that last firefight that we don’t know about, there’s you, Greber, and two others left.”

  Agent Hessman pulled out a pendant from the Japanese body similar to what they’d found once before, and laid it on top of the corpse’s chest. Following a nod to Agent Harris, they each activated the respective beacons, then quickly backed away.

  “Miss Hill,” he advised, “don’t blink.”

  If she had thought any of what she had heard thus far was a fantasy made up to lead her astray, all doubts were removed by what she now saw. Twin cocoons of light enveloped the bodies, while sp
arks like shooting fireflies swarmed around and through them until only man-shaped, glowing outlines remained. These remnants then pulled back in upon themselves until only the two beacons remained, and a moment later these, too, vanished from sight.

  Claire’s jaw hung open.

  “And on that note,” Agent Hessman said, “Sue, show me where on that roof our sniper was positioned. Time to look for more clues.”

  He led the way out of the alley. Claire couldn’t even move without a light prodding from Professor Stein.

  31

  Explanation

  When they returned to the building where Agent Harris had climbed the fire escape, it was full night, and the square had resumed some semblance of normalcy, though still with the increased security. Agent Harris showed her team the fire escape she had taken and was directed to the building lobby by Agent Hessman. “We’ll take the regular stairs up to the roof,” he told them.

  “Do we all have to go?” Dr. Weiss asked. “I’m probably not up to climbing all those stairs, and Robert here has his wounded arm.”

  “You really need to join a gym,” the captain remarked.

  “Only Sue and I need to go,” Agent Hessman replied. “The rest of you‍—‍”

  “The rest of you,” Claire corrected, “are not going anywhere until I get some answers. What is it I just saw, what are those devices you have, and who are you people? Really, somehow I don’t think‍—‍” Her words ended in a short fit of coughing, accompanied by a brief shudder running through her body.