CODENAME: ATHENA (2025 Edition) by Michel Poulin - HTML preview

CHAPTER 38 – COLLECTING FRIENDS

22:51 (GMT)

Tuesday, July 1, 1941 ‘B’

24 St James Place, London

England

Mike Crawford closed and locked the door of his apartment behind him, then sat

heavily on the sofa of his lounge, feeling dreadful: he had no idea if Nancy had been

able to deliver that scientist from the future or if she was now safe. The ring of his

telephone, sounding loud in his dark apartment, made him jump nervously. Trying to

steady his voice, he grabbed the receiver and answered.

“Yes?”

“Hello, Mike. Would you mind coming to my apartment to help me pack?”

“Nancy? My God! Are you okay?”

“I am. I will explain everything to you in a few minutes. Please come quickly: we

have a lot to do and little time to do it.”

“I’m on my way!”

Less than a minute later, he was knocking on the door of apartment eleven. Nancy

opened immediately and, grabbing him, pulled him inside before closing the door and

kissing him in a passionate embrace. Only when they parted did Mike detail her. Nancy

wore a tight-fitting dark gray uniform with numerous large pockets, a pair of black leather

boots and a mate black helmet which covered her cheeks and neck. Her gun belt with

her Glock 17L pistol was around her waist and also supported a sort of small box with

recessed buttons and dials on its top side. He had tears in his eyes when he looked at

her.

“God, I thought that I had lost you again. What happened to you after you went

inside the M.I.5 headquarters?”

“It is a long story, Mike, one I will tell you later. Would you accept to follow me to

the future and abandon this time, for good?”

Mike did not hesitate one second before answering her.

“Wherever you go, I go, Nancy. Let’s pack up!”

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Nancy kissed him again, then showed him a kind of big aluminum crate on small wheels

sitting in the middle of her lounge. The top of the crate was open, showing Nancy’s

television set and DVD unit inside.

“This is a transit crate: it can jump spacetime between prearranged coordinates

or marked locations. We need to put my things in it.”

“Got that!”

It took only fifteen minutes for them to collect Nancy’s personal belongings, pack them

and put them in the transit crate. Mike then looked around him for anything they could

have forgotten.

“You look about set to go. What do we do next?”

“Pack your own things. Do not forget your razor: there are none where we are

going.”

“No razors? Are they civilized or not?”

“They are, Mike. They just happen to have no body hair whatsoever. Go to your

apartment. I will join you there with the crate.”

“Why not roll it right now to my apartment?”

Nancy patiently shook her head.

“Someone could see me. I can’t risk that now. I will jump spacetime with the

crate from here to your apartment. See you there.”

After saying those words, Nancy disappeared in a flash of white light, making Mike

nearly jump out of his skin. The crate was next to disappear.

“Hell! Talk about a spooky trick.”

Leaving the apartment and carefully locking the door behind him, Mike went to his own

apartment, only to find Nancy and the crate waiting for him in the middle of his lounge.

She gave him a disarming smile.

“You better get used to it, Mike: you will soon be doing the same all the time.”

“Gee, that could make life interesting.”

“Indeed! Let’s pack quickly. After that, we will drive my Mitsubishi Outlander

away and pick up my computer equipment at my old office.”

“But… that office must be the most closely guarded one in England. How will you

get inside without being seen?”

“The same way I entered your apartment, of course.”

“Of course! Silly me!”

Something then came back to Mike’s mind.

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“We are going to break Ingrid out of the Tower of London, I hope?”

“She’s in my program for the night, Mike. I love that girl too much to leave her

behind like this. Come on, we have a lot to do.”

00:18 (GMT)

Wednesday, July 2, 1941 ‘B’

Second floor cells, Beauchamp Tower

Tower of London, England

Ingrid Weiss woke up abruptly when a hand covered her mouth. Thinking that a

British soldier wanted to rape her, the young German tried to pull the hand away but

without success. The dark shape hovering over her in the dark cell then bent down and

whispered.

“Calm down, Ingrid. It’s me, Nancy.”

For a moment, Ingrid didn’t move or speak, stunned at hearing a voice she had

despaired of ever hearing again. Nancy then hugged her, with Ingrid returning her

embrace.

“Thank God, Nancy! I thought that I had lost you for good. How did you get

here?”

“It’s a long story. The British don’t know that I am here either. In fact, I am now a

traitor to them.”

“A traitor? Are they dumb or crazy? They owe you most of their victories in this

war!”

“I know, but politics can be dirty business. In what shape are you?”

“Apart from smelling from not washing for four days, I am in fair shape. How are

we getting out of here?”

“By jumping space-time, the same way I was brought here from the future. Ingrid,

what I am going to say is very important. I am ready to bring you to the far future with

Mike, but you will have to forget this time period, maybe for good. Once in the future,

there is no turning back. Also, a friend from the future is hoping to create with me an

agency charged with regulating and controlling time travel. I am looking for good people

to help me in that job if that idea materializes. Interested?”

“Hell, you bet I am!” replied Ingrid enthusiastically. Her smile faded when she

thought about her comrades. “Er, what about my friends? Susanna, Frida and Johanna

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are in other cells on this floor, serving two weeks of solitary confinement for helping me

resist Hanna’s arrest.”

Her eyes were now accustomed enough to the cell’s darkness to see a smile appear on

Nancy’s face.

“I know about them. I plan to ask them if they are interested as well to go to the

future.”

“You are? Nancy, you are so sweet.”

“Thanks! Get up and hug me: we will go see them now.”

‘’But, how?’’

“Don’t worry: we are going to jump space-time directly to the other cells. Hold on

to me.”

Ingrid obeyed her and tightly hugged Nancy, passing her arms around her. Then, a

flash of white light briefly enveloped them. When Ingrid could clearly see again, she

found herself standing with Nancy near the bars of Susanna Berghof’s cell. She then

realized that they were inside the cell, not outside.

“Wow! This is fantastic.”

“Tell me about it later, Ingrid. Now, I need you to keep an eye and ear out for

British guards while I speak to Susanna.”

“You can count on me, Nancy.”

Going to the cell’s door, Ingrid glued herself to the bars, looking and listening. Hearing

nothing, she tried to see Frida Winterer, who was in the cell opposite and to the left of

Susanna’s cell. Moving to the left front corner of the cell, Ingrid managed to see Frida’s

feet, with the rest of her body hidden by the stone partition wall. The young blonde was

asleep on her cot, which lay in a far corner of her cell. Hoping to wake her up, Ingrid

called to her in a low voice.

“Frida! Hey, Frida!”

Her friend simply turned on her cot, still asleep. Swearing to herself with impatience,

Ingrid called again, a bit louder.

“Frida! Frida, wake up!”

Before she could call again, a hand covered firmly her mouth from behind. She was

then turned around to face a clearly displeased Nancy.

“Do you really want to attract a guard here? Keep it down!” whispered Nancy

before taking her hand off Ingrid’s mouth. The girl reddened with embarrassment at her

foolishness.

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“Sorry, Nancy. I only wanted to get Frida ready to leave.”

The sound of footsteps coming from the staircase of the tower then made Nancy swear

quietly.

‘’Damn! Someone is coming. Go hide under Susanna’s bunk, quickly!’’

Ingrid did so, while Susanna Berghof pretended to go back to sleep. They nearly

shouted in surprise when Nancy disappeared from the cell in a brief flash but managed

to stay quiet and lay still as a young British soldier emerged from the staircase, looking

sharply around and with his rifle at the ready. The soldier pointed a lit flashlight at

Susanna, then around the other cells on the floor, trying to find a possible intruder. A

dark shape suddenly creeped silently behind the British, delivering a sharp blow to his

neck which sent the soldier sprawling on the floor. Taking out of one of her cargo

pockets a roll of duct tape, Nancy quickly tied the hands and feet of the British, finishing

by covering his mouth as well. Grabbing the keys hanging from the soldier’s belt, Nancy

quickly unlocked the cell’s door, then went to Frida’s and Johanna’s cells, unlocking

them as well and waking up the two young German girls. Both, like Susanna and Ingrid,

took only a minute before agreeing to join Nancy in the future. That made Nancy smile

with satisfaction.

“Excellent! We will now go discreetly to Gaoler’s House to pick up your things

and the other girls. Those who won’t be interested to come live in the future will be

dropped back in Berlin.”

“But the British will consider you a traitor for that.” said Susanna, shocked.

Nancy nodded her head slowly.

“I know and I don’t care. The British already tried to kill me, sacrificing hundreds

of their own men and thousands of German civilians by bombing Colditz Castle to a pile

of burning rubble, all that simply to prevent me from disclosing my secrets to the

Germans. Then, they took prisoner a scientist from the future who came to return me to

my time. I am through with these British.”

She then handed to each of the four Germans a small cylindrical object.

“Hang on tight to these and don’t drop them: these are transit probes which will

transport you on short distances through time and space. They are remotely controlled

from a ship presently above London and will bring you to Gaoler’s House. Beware: you

will reappear a few inches above the floor, so that you don’t run the risk of having your

feet meld with it. Be ready to absorb the short fall. Once in Gaoler’s House, keep quiet

and go pack your things quickly.”

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“Could we have a quick shower and change?” asked timidly Johanna Fink. “We

stink!”

“Go ahead, but make it real quick. I don’t want to have to start a fight with the

British here because we were discovered. Get ready and hold your transit probe against

your chest.”

Nancy then spoke apparently to herself.

“Mona, four to transport to the ground level hall of Gaoler’s House, now!”

“Who is that Mo…”

Before Ingrid could finish, she disappeared in a flash of white light. Her three friends

followed in quick succession. Nancy activated her own time distorter, which was hooked

to her belt, and joined them in Gaoler’s House. The four Germans were understandably

excited by their short trip and had to be reminded to keep quiet.

“Remember what I told you. Make it quick. If you change, make sure to pack

your Luftwaffe uniforms: we may need them in the future so that you could help save a

few more Germans. Now, go!”

As the four young women went to their rooms, Nancy started waking up one by one the

occupants of Gaoler’s House, quickly explaining to them what was happening and telling

them to dress and pack. Only the ones she felt suitable were offered a chance to go to

the future. The ones deemed by her to be too sympathetic to the Nazi cause were told

only that they would go to Berlin.

Thirty minutes later, she had 22 German women with their bags facing her in the

ground level hall.

“Alright, ladies, those I will name will assemble to my right, to be transported to

the future. Ingrid Weiss! Susanna Berghof! Frida Winterer! Johanna Fink! Hanna

Reitsch! Anna Hauser! Bertha Reinholdt! Martha Pfalz! Helena Groth! Eva Dittmar!

Gertrud Schwarz! Anabel Kleinburger and Ruth Brandhauer! The ones I didn’t name

will be transported to Berlin.”

Führerin Greta Manheim looked with dismay and growing anger at the thirteen Germans

now lined up besides Nancy.

“What do you think you are doing? You are abandoning your fatherland in its

time of greatest need, so that you could have some fancy new life in the future?”

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“Keep it up and I will leave you here by yourself, Führerin Manheim.” snapped

back Nancy. “Those girls are going to be much more useful to humanity as a whole

working for me in the future than fighting a lost war.”

“Who said that Germany has lost the war?” replied Manheim. “History said it, twice! In my timeline, Germany lost the war in 1945. In this

timeline, it will lose even faster. Even more, the Nazi cause is not only a lost cause: it is

the wrong cause. Now, those of you going to Berlin, grab your kit bags and hold them

close against your belly.”

Still staring hard at Manheim, who was now picking up her kit bag, Nancy spoke

apparently to herself.

“Mona, start sending back the group for Berlin.”

A few seconds later, a small object appeared in front of Greta Manheim and glued itself

to her belly. Before she could react to it, she floated off the floor, then disappeared in a

flash of white light. The other nine German women slated to go to Berlin disappeared in

a similar fashion within a minute, leaving their comrades to gawk in disbelief.

“Are they really in Berlin now?” asked Martha Pfalz, getting a nod from Nancy. “They are actually at the Luftwaffe Headquarters in Berlin. Those objects were

transit probes, able to transport a person anywhere in the World and over 400 years to

the past or future. This time, the trips were strictly spatial, like the ones you will take to

join our ship over London. I will ask you to grab your bags and put it the transit crate

which will appear behind you.”

As she said that, a large metallic crate appeared in the hall. She then let the

overwhelmed Germans load their bags in the crate. Once that was done, she called up

Mona Zirel again to tell her to start ferrying the Germans remaining in Gaoler’s House up

to the ship. Nancy waited until she was left alone, then jumped space-time to a storage

room of the Luftwaffe headquarters in Berlin, appearing there in order to speak to the

nine German women who were still under the shock of experiencing their first space-

time trip.

‘’This is where we have to say goodbye, ladies. I sincerely hope that you will be

able to survive this war and the harsh peace that will follow it. Gruppenführerin

Hartmann, tell your superiors once I’m gone that the girls who followed me to the future

will be alright and that I am now neutral in this conflict.’’

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‘’I will pass your words, Brigadier. Thank you for your kindness and for your

compassion. Adopting Ingrid was a marvelous gesture on your part. May you live

happily with her in the future.’’

Nancy simply smiled, then activated her time distorter, jumping to the time ship still

hovering above London. She smiled at seeing Ingrid hugging happily Mike Crawford.

As for the other Germans, they were gawking at the giant Mona Zirel, who was sitting at

the control station installed in the small cargo bay of the time ship, which was now quite

crowded. Nancy clapped her hands repeatedly to attract everybody’s attention.

“Ladies, I would like now to present to you two good men whom I went to save

first, since they were in danger of being executed.”

Two young men, one dressed in a battered gray suit and another wearing a hospital

pajama, got up from their jump seats. They bowed their heads in turn as Nancy

presented them.

“This is Heinrik Braun and Klaus Manheim, ladies. Both are from the Abwehr.”

The thirteen German women and two German men eyed each other in silence for a few

seconds, then exchanged handshakes and greetings. Frida Winterer kept close to

Heinrik Braun, attracted to the fit, handsome man. Heinrik noticed that and smiled to her

after the exchange of greetings.

“Your name is Frida, if I remember well.”

“Correct! You have a good memory…Heinrik. So, what kind of trouble were you

in when Nancy picked you up?”

Braun made a wry smile.

“Big trouble! The Gestapo had arrested me on charges of negligence and

complicity after a woman from the future detained in Berlin escaped from my custody. I

was about to be executed.”

“A woman from the future? In Berlin?”

“Yes. Her name is Doctor Farah Tolkonen. She came to 1941, trying to return

Nancy to her proper time, but was captured and briefly held. Doctor Tolkonen then

escaped to England thanks to a device of hers and I got the blame for her escape.

Nancy thought that I didn’t deserve my fate.”

Frida digested that for a few seconds, then pointed at the other man, who was

conversing with Ingrid Weiss and Susanna Berghof.

“What about him?”

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“Klaus? Actually, I knew him from before the war: we were in the same Abwehr

class for new agents. He was sent in September of last year in London, to assassinate

Nancy. He lost a gunfight against her and ended up in hospital, awaiting execution at

the hands of the British.”

“Then, why the hell did Nancy save him?”

Manheim heard her and looked down somberly at Frida.

“Because I was secretly in love with her, which was one of the reasons I failed to

kill her: I hesitated when time came to shoot her. She saw that and tried to spare me the

death penalty. When the British refused to show mercy, she came one night to my

hospital room and brought me on this ship.”

“Wow! Nancy will never stop amazing me.”

Something then occurred to Frida.

“Wait! You said that you were in hospital, yet you look perfectly healthy.”

“Now, yes. An hour ago, I sported a big cast, along with a large hole in my right

shoulder. Nancy healed me.”

“She healed you? I don’t understand.”

“That is understandable: I myself couldn’t believe my eyes when she healed me

in seconds just by touching me with her hands.”

All the German women who heard that, including Ingrid Weiss, then snapped their heads

towards Nancy, who shrugged.

“Sorry, but I had no time to tell you about that.”

“Can’t I know what my own mother is now?” objected Ingrid. Nancy looked gently

at her.

“You will soon know everything about me. I will just say that, a few days ago, a

superior spiritual being healed the crippling wounds I sustained from the tortures the

Gestapo inflicted on me. He also gave me a few powers, like that of touch healing. The

same being opened the memories of our past incarnations to you and me, Ingrid.”

“Are you talking about the same concept that the Hindus believe into?” asked

Susanna Berghof.

“The same. I now can remember my past lives for the last nine thousand years,

both as a man and as a woman. Well, now that we have you, let’s jump to the future.

Mona, tell Maran that he can jump now.”

‘’Got it!’’

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A short moment later, a flash of white light suddenly bathed briefly the cabin, making

them look up in confusion.

“What was that?” asked nervously Johanna Fink. Susanna Berghof answered

her calmly.

“I think that we just traveled through time. There was the same kind of light flash

when Nancy sent the others to Berlin and when the baggage crate appeared.”

“Good thinking, Susanna.” said Eva Dittmar, meaning it. Susanna shrugged it off. “Hey, I am a blonde but I’m not dumb.”

That exchange made Nancy laugh briefly. She then raised her voice to get the attention

of the others in the cargo bay.

‘’Ladies and gentlemen, there are still a few things I need to do in this year, then

we will all jump to the year 3384, where you will start brand new lives. If the project me

and Doctor Farah Tolkonen are pushing for is approved by the authorities of the Global

Council, the World government in the 34th Century, then you will be eligible to volunteer

for it and thus work under me. If not, you will still be able to start new lives in a peaceful,

highly advanced society. Please, take place in the jump seats along the walls and make

yourselves comfortable while me, Mona and Maran do our things. Thank you!’’

10:03 (Berlin Time)

Abwehr headquarters

Berlin, Germany

Admiral Canaris was still looking at the report about the Luftwaffe helferinen who

had appeared early this morning in Berlin when his telephone rang. The old

Kriegsmarine officer took his time to answer, grabbing the receiver after the third ring.

“Admiral Canaris.”

“Canaris,” nearly shouted a furious voice at the other end of the line, “this time

you will hang for this!”

“Now, now, my dear Heidrich, on which flimsy pretext do you want my head

now?”

“Pretext? You broke your damn agent out of my jail!”

“You mean agent Heinrik Braun, your scapegoat for Doctor Tolkonen’s escape

from Tempelhof?”

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“He was no scapegoat, Canaris. By his incompetence, he let a priceless prisoner

escape. He deserved his death sentence. Where have you sent him?”

“You better ask that question to Die Wolfin, Heidrich, not to me.”

“What do you mean?” said the SS man, his voice toning down somewhat. “What I mean is that Brigadier Laplante is no longer simply Brigadier Laplante:

she is now some kind of supernatural being with incredible powers. Furthermore, she

escaped by stealing an aircraft last night and I suspect that she went to England from

here.”

“What is this hogwash? How could Laplante escape Colditz and then steal an

aircraft?”

“First, she didn’t escape from Colditz: she was transferred to Berlin yesterday

afternoon with the approval of the Fuhrer himself, so that her healing powers could be

used to treat our own wounded. Weren’t you informed?”

Canaris enjoyed asking that last question, which made Heidrich look like an incompetent

and a fool. He should have known about all this, what with all the intelligence and

security services at his disposal. The fact was that the handsome SS officer spent too

much of his time chasing women instead of doing his work. That actually had been the

reason he had been sacked from the Kriegsmarine years ago. Heidrich’s voice lowered

even further, contained anger clear in it.

“What does that have to do with your escaped agent?”

“A lot, since she has started traveling through time again. She broke free our

Luftwaffe helferinen held in the Tower of London early this morning, then sent part of

them to the Luftwaffe headquarters in Berlin, using some kind of time travel technique.

The rest of our helferinen followed Laplante to the future. She probably snatched my

agent to bring him as well to the future. She obviously can come and go as she wishes

now, which should be of special concern to you.”

“How so?” said Heidrich, sounding less than reassured.

“Because I believe that she hates your guts. With her time travel abilities, what

can stop her now from appearing in your room one night to slice your throat open, my

dear Heidrich?”

The receiver at the other end of the line was then slammed down hard. Canaris laughed

hard at the effect of his joke: he sincerely hoped that this SS monster would spend many

sleepless nights from now on. His laughter strangled abruptly when a female voice

came from behind his chair.

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“An excellent idea, Admiral. I will consider it seriously.”

Canaris swiveled his chair around and found himself facing a Nancy Laplante grinning

like a demon while leaning casually against the wall, wearing a sort of dark gray uniform

and a black helmet. She had weapons at her belt but had not drawn any of them,

instead crossing her arms as she smiled down at him.

“Sorry to scare you like this, my dear Admiral. By the way, you have nothing to

fear from me: you did save my life and that of my friend Farah after all.”

“Then, why are you here, Brigadier?”

“Call me simply Nancy, Admiral: I do not work for the British anymore. The

reason I am here is simply to recuperate my Glock 26 pistol which was left behind in

Berlin over five days ago. I gather that you have it.”

“I do, but not in this office. I can call and have it brought in, though.”

“That would be much appreciated, Admiral.”

Cautiously grabbing his telephone again, Canaris dialed the number of the Abwehr’s

weapons section.

“Hello, Kurtz? This is Admiral Canaris. I will need you to bring me immediately

that small pistol which belonged to Brigadier Laplante, along with its gun belt… Yes, I

am in my office… Thank you, Kurtz.”

Looking back at Nancy as he put down his telephone, Canaris eyed quickly her uniform

and helmet.

“It seems that you have found a new employer, Miss Laplante, or do you prefer to

use Misses Crawford as a name?”

“Miss Laplante will do. My husband is not sticky about that and women routinely

use their maiden names in Quebec in my time. As for my new employer, the Global

Council of 3384 is definitely an equal opportunity society. Talking of employers, yours

could decide to do away with you if you are not careful, Admiral. Political intrigues will

bring you nothing but death, believe me. In my timeline, your counterpart ended up at

the end of a rope.”

Canaris then grew somber indeed: he knew perfectly well what Nancy was alluding to.

He, along with a number of other high-ranking officers, had been secretly plotting for the

downfall of Adolf Hitler and of his Nazis, to stop this crazy war before Germany was

totally destroyed.

“In view of your historical hindsight, would you have some advice to give to me,

then?”

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Nancy looked down at him with what seemed like genuine concern.

“I do! Stop all your political activities and concentrate on doing your present job

as honestly and competently as you can while hoping for the best in the future. Tell your

friends to do the same, unless they want to end up the same way I was when you found

me in that Gestapo center. You and them will be needed to rebuild Germany after this

war. Promise me that you will do that, please.”

Shaken by her conviction and concern, Canaris replied softly while bowing his head.

“I promise, miss. Thanks for caring about an old man like me. About that

Gestapo center…”

Canaris then rose from his chair and went to a nearby filing cabinet. Opening the lower

drawer, he took out with some effort five big rolls of films in their round steel boxes and

gave them to Nancy, who looked at them blankly.

“What are those?”

“The films taken by the Gestapo during your interrogations. They are yours to do

as you wish with them. By the way, I reviewed them, even though they made me sick to

the stomach. You are one very brave woman, Miss Laplante.”

Nancy, her face pale now, could only look at Canaris while tears appeared in her eyes.

“Do you know how hard I have been trying to forget that episode of my life,

hoping that some Nazi official was not actually enjoying viewing those damn films?”

“Nobody else saw those, miss. I can swear to that.”

Nancy then stepped forward and kissed the old admiral on the forehead.

“Thank you, Admiral. That means a lot to me. May I ask you something else?”

“Go ahead, miss.”

“Who betrayed my presence in England so quickly in 1940, Admiral?”

Canaris tensed up but kept a straight face. Sean Brady was his most valuable agent in

England right now and he was not about to give away his identity, even to an apparent

angel.

“You know that I can’t answer that question, miss.”

She smiled down to him and nodded her head.

“I know, but I had to try. That person caused me no end of grief.”

Someone then knocked on the door of the office. Nancy glanced quickly at the door,

then back at Canaris.

“That must be your man, bringing my pistol. I will be back shortly.”

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She then disappeared with the rolls of films. Canaris was stunned speechless for a

moment before calling to his visitor.

“Enter!”

A clerk from the weapons section then entered, a gun belt in his hands. After saluting

Canaris, he walked to the Admiral’s desk and put the belt down on it. Canaris looked

briefly at the pistol and spare magazines hanging from the belt, then dismissed the clerk

with a thank you. Nancy reappeared mere seconds after the door of the office closed,

this time in front of the desk. The rolls of films were not in her arms anymore. She

flashed a big smile to Canaris as she picked up the gun belt.

“Thank you very much, Admiral. You were very helpful.”

“Miss, could I ask why you came to Berlin just for a simple pistol? This sounds a

bit trivial as a reason for your visit.”

“It is not that trivial to me, Admiral.” she explained calmly. “While the money

value of my pistol is not important to me, it is still a registered firearm. Explaining to the

Canadian police in 2012 how I lost it could have been embarrassing.”

“So, you are going back to live in the year 2012, miss?”

“There and in the 34th century. Let’s say that I intend to live a dual life from now

on.”

Canaris nodded in comprehension, then looked up with pleading eyes.

“Before you go, miss, please tell me: did you see God when you were

transformed?”

Nancy’s face sobered up as she reminisced about her experience.

“All I can say is that I met the creator of all the human spirits which ever existed.

It is a being of infinite wisdom and vast power, but it is not human, nor is it God, as it did

not create the universe. In fact, it is not even a material being, although part or all of it

could take any shape it wishes. Above all, it is a being of tolerance and kindness.

Those who kill or persecute others in the name of religion displease The One greatly. It

transformed me so that I could act in its name, promote its wishes and help the ones in

need.”

“Then, you could help end this war?” said Canaris, hopeful. Nancy shook her

head sadly.

“The One is wise, but it is also realistic. War has been a constant of humanity for

all of History, a fact that is not about to change quickly. I can only help in small ways,

while humanity slowly improves itself over the millennia. If I ever stop this war, it will be

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as a leader of the Time Patrol, not as The Hand of The One. Do not despair, though,

Admiral: even nightmares have an end. Nearly everything has an end.”

On those words, she disappeared in a flash of light, leaving Canaris to ponder their

meaning.

11:17 (GMT)

Prime Minister’s office

Home Office building, London

England

Winston Churchill, sitting behind his work desk, looked up from the report handed

to him by General Menzies, clearly displeased by what he had just read. Standing in

front of his desk with Menzies were General Ismay and Commander Stilwell.

“What was Brigadier Harker thinking, holding and interrogating a person from the

future like this for two days without me being even aware that this person was in London?

In fact, what were you thinking, General? Why wasn’t I warned earlier?”

Menzies shifted uncomfortably on his feet. He himself had been embarrassed and

angered by the rather late admissions from Harker.

“Harker wanted to secure her time machine first, sir. He told me about all this

only late on the second day, just before I called you about this.”

“And since when does Brigadier Harker has the authority to arrest such important

people without telling anyone else about it?”

“I would agree that he showed poor judgment in this case, sir, but the fact is that

Laplante still shot Harker without hesitation and attacked two M.I.5 agents to help that

giant woman escape.”

“Mister Prime Minister,” cut in Peter Stilwell, “Nancy Laplante must have had a

good reason to act like she did. In view of what she recently endured at the hands of the

Gestapo, I suspect that the M.I.5 was brutalizing, maybe even torturing that giant, the

way they had done with the German test pilot, Hanna Reitsch. Seeing others suffer

would have been enough of a provocation for her.”

“That is not a justification for attacking British agents.” heatedly replied Menzies.

“Added to the fact that she made those German women escape from the Tower of

London, this confirms in my eyes that Brigadier Laplante is a traitor. Look at the way

she emptied the Athena Section of its computer equipment last night. Maybe she wasn’t

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even tortured by the Gestapo after all. How else would you explain the fact that she

looked perfectly healthy and fit when she broke that giant out of M.I.5 headquarters?”

“We don’t know what future technology can do, General. She may have spent

months recovering in some future century before coming back in time to 1941. As for

attacking British agents, why are you so upset about that? You are the one who pushed

for that bomber raid which destroyed Colditz, so that Nancy Laplante would be killed.

Killing her didn’t bother you, sir.”

“Gentlemen!” intervened Churchill. “This is no time to squabble between

ourselves. Grave and significant events occurred in the last few days and we

unfortunately have very few hard facts to go by. We have a number of important

questions to answer, starting with the security of the ULTRA program. Was it

compromised or not by Brigadier Laplante?”

“I would answer yes to that, sir.” said Menzies. Stilwell was about to reply to that

when his eyes popped open as he stared past the Prime Minister. Menzies and Ismay

also stared in disbelief as Churchill swiveled his chair around, finding himself facing

Nancy Laplante. The Canadian, wearing a complicated helmet and a sort of gray

uniform, looked bitter and angry.

“How the hell could any of you think of me as a traitor, after all I did for you in this

war? You disappoint me, gentlemen.”

Menzies reached for his holstered service revolver, panic on his face, but Nancy easily

beat him to the draw, taking out her stun pistol and shooting him squarely in the chest.

The thin beam of yellow light, accompanied only by a faint buzzing noise, made Menzies

jerk backward before he collapsed on the carpet, unconscious. Nancy looked with

contempt at him as Ismay kneeled down to check him out.

“Don’t worry about him, General: he is only knocked out for about an hour and

my weapon leaves no residual effect, apart from a temporary headache. As I was

saying, I am disappointed…and pissed! After all I did for England, you tried to kill me,

then brutalized my friends. Now, you are ready to brand me a traitor on the strength of a

few innuendoes.”

“Attacking British agents and breaking free German prisoners are more than just

innuendoes, Nancy.” said severely Churchill. “Now, be reasonable and give me your

weapon and I promise you that you will be treated fairly and will be able to defend your

name.”

Nancy shook her head, clearly unrepentant.

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“No, Mister Prime Minister! I came here to say goodbye and to tell you that I am

from now on strictly neutral in this war. I also wanted to return this to you.”

Nancy took from a large pocket her British military medals, which included her Victoria

Cross with bar, and threw them on Churchill’s desk. As the British were staring at them,

a box appeared over the desk before falling down the few inches to the desk top.

“You can tell General Menzies that, if he doubts the fact that I was tortured, he

can review the films in this box. The Gestapo took them during my interrogations.

Maybe he will get his rocks off by watching me naked while they flog and brand me.”

She then looked with fondness at Peter Stilwell.

“Tell the guys and Jennifer at the Athena Section that I love them very much. It

was a pleasure to work with them. Good luck to you in this war, Peter.”

“Nancy…” started to say Stilwell. However, the Canadian disappeared before he

could go on. The British stared for a long time at the spot where she had been before

Churchill shook himself back to reality.

“Damn! What a waste.”

“What shall we do now, Mister Prime Minister?” asked Ismay, bringing a grimace

on Churchill’s face.

“There are too many sensitive things involved in this affair. The morale of our

troops would also suffer greatly if this story was to break out. General, Brigadier

Laplante is to be officially declared dead, killed by the Germans. I want all the witnesses

to her appearances in England in the last two days to be sworn to secrecy. For the

record, Brigadier Laplante died a hero.”

“What about that giant who was held by M.I.5, sir?”

“She never existed. Anyone who will break the silence on all this will be

prosecuted for divulging Most Secret-level information. Make sure that everybody

understands that, General.”

Looking at the box on his desk, Churchill got up from his chair and took a round film

container out of the box. A sticker with German words and a set of times written on it

was glued to the side of the container.

“General Ismay, when General Menzies wakes up, have him review those films

with you. Look at all the films in their totality, then report to me. If Laplante was indeed

tortured, I want it to be established as an official fact, along with whether she gave up

information or not. It may also be a good therapy for General Menzies, to cure him from

his distrust of her.”

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“Yes, sir!” replied weakly Ismay, already feeling sick at the idea of what those

films would show him.

09:51 (Western Europe Time)

Friday, August 14, 3384 ‘A’

High Council Chamber, Global Council government complex

Zurich, Western Europe Region

The High Council Chamber impressed Nancy by its sobriety and by its eminently

practical arrangements. A large, ‘O’-shaped round table open at one end to let staffers

circulate in the middle was used by the global administrators when in session, while a

straight table sat near the larger table’s opening to accommodate visiting witnesses and

experts. The whole space was in turn enclosed inside a transparent, sound-proof shell

itself surrounded by multiple rows of padded seats for members of the public who

wished to view the sessions. While the public could easily follow the debates inside the

shell via loudspeakers and giant viewing screens, the sound-proof shell in turn

prevented would-be agitators from disrupting the sessions. The working session was in

turn retransmitted worldwide via the various news agencies of the planet and even

beamed out to the human colonies around the Solar System. Nancy told herself that it

would be difficult indeed to imagine a more open political processus than this. On their

arrival in the complex, an assistant of Boran Kern had guided Farah and Nancy to a

small waiting lounge adjacent to the chamber, where a large wall viewing screen allowed

them to follow the High Council’s debates in comfort while waiting their turn to appear

before the global administrators. Some politicians, special interests’ representatives and

expert witnesses where already waiting in the lounge for their turn to come when the two

women walked in. All eyes immediately concentrated on Nancy, who was wearing one

of her new holographic silk dresses. That prompted her to whisper to Farah as they

went to an empty sofa.

‘’Imagine that you would get this kind of reaction in the past, then think that, in

most time periods, different often equated to suspicious or possibly hostile.’’

‘’I see what you mean, Nancy. Fortunately, here in the society of the Global

Council, violence and aggression are rare.’’

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As Farah sat, Nancy saw a table supporting an assortment of drinks and a cold buffet.

She went to pour herself a glass of apple juice, then returned to sit with Farah, watching

the discussions via the wall viewing screen.

The same young political assistant came back to them forty minutes later, bowing

politely to them.

‘’If you may follow me, ladies, the discussion about the creation of a time agency

will start in a few minutes.’’

The two women got up from their sofa and followed the assistant out of the waiting

lounge and into the High Council Chamber proper. They did their best to hide their

nervosity as they sat behind the table reserved for witnesses. Facing them now were

twelve members of the High Council, including Boran Kern, who were physically present.

Added to that were ten more members whose holographic images occupied seats at the

round table. Those images were actually so realistic that Nancy thought at first that they

were real persons. In turn, it seemed that these members participating via holographic

link could see and hear as if they were in the chamber, thanks to batteries of cameras

and microphones. All the 22 members of the High Council, save for Boran Kern, were

now looking with intense curiosity at Nancy, as did the spectators and reporters present

around the transparent dome covering the chamber. However, two members of the High

Council also looked at Nancy with suspicion. Boran Kern then banged three times his

gavel on the table.

‘’The High Council will now review the subjects under ‘New Business’. The first

item of new business is a proposal for the creation of a new government agency charged

with controlling and regulating time travel and also with effecting on the spot research in

the past in order to rebuild our historical archives and collect specimens of now extinct

animal and plant life. As the members of the High Council can see by the presence here

today of Miss Nancy Laplante, the concept of time travel has now become a reality.

Doctor Farah Tolkonen, the author of the proposition we are to discuss, will now give us

a short presentation on the subject. Doctor Tolkonen…’’

Having previously put a data chip in the computer reader in front of her, Farah got up

and bowed politely to the High Council members, then pushed a button on her computer.

The giant viewing screen behind and above her lit up, showing the pictures of two men

of the Global Council.

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‘’Ladies and gentlemen of the High Council, good morning. Ten months ago, two

high-level physicists, Pran Osef and Telvi Ran, disappeared from their laboratory on the

campus of New Lake City University. Shortly afterwards, our universe was shaken by a

series of space-time distortion waves. After being put in charge of finding the cause of

these distortion waves by the Global Science Administrator, I found out that Ran and

Osef had been conducting illegal research on time travel and had managed to build a

small time ship, in which they disappeared. Unfortunately, they had brought with them

the detailed plans of their ship and of its key components, including what I call a time

distorter. Reinventing and then building such a time distorter took me months, time

during which it became evident to me that a catastrophic event in our past was

responsible for the space-time distortion waves. Those distortions grew until the

continuum itself was ripped in two, creating a new timeline, named by me ‘Timeline ‘B’’,

parallel to our own original Timeline ‘A’. Visions of this parallel universe during the worst

distortions showed me a modified copy of our own civilization, including a double of

myself, which I saw for a few seconds. My double also saw me, which demonstrates

that some interactions between our two timelines are possible. That parallel timeline is

however quite different from ours, if I could judge from my visions. For one thing, it

seemed to be a militaristic world, where weapons are common. Armed with this

information and with a few scientific clues, I built with the help of two young assistants a

series of automated reconnaissance probes able to travel through space-time. With

those probes, I was finally able to find the exact cause of those space-time distortion

waves: an illegal travel to the past by Telvi Ran and Pran Osef. The major factor in

causing so much damage to the space-time continuum was the fact that our two

scientists had kidnapped a person from the 21st Century against her will, to then

abandon her in the middle of a terrible war in 1940. That person was Nancy Laplante,

who is now sitting to my right. Nancy?’’

Nancy got up as Farah sat down and made a map of Great Britain appear on the

giant screen behind them, with a red dot superimposed on Northolt. She saluted the

members of the High Council with a short bow, then spoke in a strong but calm voice.

‘’Ladies and gentlemen of the High Council, I come from the year 2012 and lived

in the area of Montreal, in Canada. Then, I had two professional occupations: one as a

reporter specializing in the coverage and analysis of armed conflicts; the other as a part-

time reserve officer in the Canadian Armed Forces. In my time, nearly all the states and

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nations on Earth possessed armed forces and wars were unfortunately too common. On

its part, Canada was a democratic country with a liberal tradition and it often used its

armed forces in peacekeeping missions meant to circumvent or limit wars. Without

really knowing the true motives for my kidnapping, I believe that my expertise in military

affairs, including military history, designated me to the attention of your two scientists,

Ran and Osef. Using a time ship, they knocked me unconscious as I was arriving at my

lakeside cottage near Montreal for a period of vacation. I had at that time my personal

vehicle and all my reporting equipment, along with much of my military kit. Your

scientists then transported me in my car to a location near London, Great Britain, in the

year 1940. When I regained consciousness, I was disoriented at first and didn’t know

where I was. I then certainly didn’t know yet that I had traveled to the past. When I

realized that I was in 1940 England, I was at first unsure what to do. England was at the

time at war and its situation was quite desperate, being left alone to fend the attacks of

the mighty German military machine. I understood easily enough that helping the British

in that war could change history, but I also faced the possibilities of either being accused

by the British of being a German spy, in which case I would have been executed, or of

being thrown for the rest of my life in a mental asylum, as a presumed insane person. In

both cases, the British would then have had full access to my equipment and historical

data. I finally decided to help the British, with the goal of shortening that war as much as

possible and thus saving millions of lives. Know that, in conventional history, the

Second World War, which was fought from 1939 to 1945, cost the lives of over 55 million

people, the large majority of them being innocent civilians.’’

Horrified exclamations went around the High Council table, while the crowd of spectators,

which Nancy could not hear, appeared shocked by her last sentence. One of the

members of the High Council, a thin man with a severe expression, stared coldly at her.

‘’And you willingly participated in such a butchery, Miss Laplante?’’

Nancy stared back at him, making him lower his eyes after a second.

‘’Mister, know that playing the lamb when you are surrounded by wolves will bring

you only one thing: you end up being eaten alive. I chose the option that would help

save the most lives and did my best to convince the British to avoid hitting innocent

civilians. I will not hide the fact that I killed during that war, many times in fact, but I was

a soldier and only killed other soldiers who were also armed and trying to kill me in turn.’’

‘’And how many persons did you kill in this war, miss?’’

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‘’Directly, I killed or gravely wounded over 120 enemy soldiers in battle. Indirectly,

my information helped kill a few thousands more.’’

As most of the High Council members and spectators reacted with revulsion, Farah

whispered in Nancy’s ear.

‘’The man you are talking with is the Global Administrator for Security, Golen

Bartok. You could say that he is the chief policeman in the Solar System.’’

‘’I see! Thanks, Farah.’’

The said Bartok pushed a button on his computer keyboard, replacing the map of Great

Britain on the giant screen with a scene familiar to Nancy. Bartok then froze the

recording immediately and spoke to the other members of the High Council.

‘’Fellow members of the High Council, I would like to show you what the numbers

quoted by Miss Laplante truly mean. I must warn you that what you will see is extremely

graphic and violent.’’

Bartok then played the recording taken by one of Farah’s probes during the desperate

battle in the Hamburg submarine yard between Nancy’s unit and a regiment of SS troops.

The camera was centered on Nancy and showed her as she fought furiously with both

bayonet and pistol, killing dozens of Waffen-SS soldiers while sustaining a number of

wounds herself. She was finally shown at the end of battle, on her knees, wounded and

surrounded by dozens of bodies. Most of the members of the High Council now looked

at Nancy as if she was a monster, while two members seemed ready to run away from

her. Farah swore to herself while throwing a furious look at Daran Mien: she had no

doubt about who had provided that recording to Golen Bartok. Rising from her seat, she

addressed Boran Kern, who himself seemed shaken.

‘’Grand Administrator Kern, I must protest the totally out of context use of this

piece of recording. My friend did not hide the fact that she was a soldier and that she

killed during that war. That battle we just saw was fought strictly between armed

soldiers and, as you could see, Nancy and her soldiers were severely outnumbered by

their enemies. I agree that war is a horrible thing, but that battle doesn’t make a criminal

of my friend, far from it. Nancy Laplante showed many times her kindness and

compassion during that war, even adopting secretly a German teenage girl orphaned by

the war. Painting her simply as a mass killer would be profoundly unjust.’’

‘’Doctor Tolkonen, be assured that we will reserve our judgment until all the facts

have been presented. Miss Laplante, you may continue your presentation.’’

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‘’Thank you, Grand Administrator Kern.’’ said Nancy, who was still standing.

‘’Ladies and gentlemen of the High Council, to continue at the point where Mister Bartok

interrupted me, I helped during nearly a year the British to counter the invasion projects

of the Germans, who were trying to complete their takeover of Europe. I also

participated directly in a number of raids and battles, including a raid during which I

captured a young German auxiliary named Ingrid Weiss. I then brought her and six of

her comrades to an old fortress in London where they were interned as prisoners of war.

I became the morale officer for these young women and protected their rights, visiting

them often. That is where I learned to love Ingrid, who was a war orphan. I eventually

adopted secretly Ingrid with the help of my husband, an American officer who I married a

month before and who was still neutral in that war.’’

‘’Excuse me, Miss Laplante,’’ interrupted an old man with wrinkled skin and a

dignified look, ‘’but why did you adopt her in secret? Such an act appears to me to be

both honorable and laudable.’’

‘’Because, for me, adopting a German during that war would have been

considered by the British as an act of fraternization with the enemy, a crime punishable

by death at the time. I was in fact risking death by adopting Ingrid, but I never regretted

doing it.’’

The old man nodded slowly his head.

‘’I see. My name is Sten Vargas and I am the Global Administrator for Justice.

As such, and with many decades of experience, I can say that I am a good judge of

characters, Miss Laplante. Know that I believe you to be a good person, despite what

was said or shown about you. Please continue your story.’’

‘’Thank you very much, Administrator Vargas.’’ said Nancy, smiling to the old

man. ‘’Not long after adopting secretly Ingrid, something happened to me, something

which changed my life drastically. Basically, I started remembering my past incarnations.

For those of you not familiar with the concept of reincarnation, it implies that each human

hosts a spirit inside during his or her life, a spirit that leaves the body at death to go

inhabit a newborn and start anew the cycle of life. We normally do not remember the

past lives of our individual spirit, because the connection between the spirit and the brain

is incomplete. However, in my case and that of Ingrid, something completed that

connection and we started remembering our past lives simultaneously during the same

night. After two months or so, I was able to remember all of my 92 previous lives,

spread over a period of 9,000 years, with my first life ever on Earth being that of a

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Neolithic woman named Nataï, who lived in the ancient city of Jericho around 7,000

B.C... Furthermore, my souvenirs include the ancient languages I spoke and the skills I

practiced. On her part, Ingrid now remembers her 73 past lives, spread over 7,000

years. I know that many of you will think that I am making this up in order to make

myself more interesting, but there is more, much more. A few weeks after the battle that

Mister Bartok showed you, I was captured by the Germans following the accidental

crash of the plane I was traveling into. I was then brought to Berlin, the German capital,

and was horribly tortured for two days. That was when Doctor Tolkonen appeared in my

cell at night, trying to save me and bring me back to my time. Unfortunately, she was

captured by the Germans and then tortured with me, until a moderate faction of

Germans was able to find us and free us. By then I was in atrocious physical condition,

while I was mentally close to going mad from the pain. We were brought to a German

hospital, where Doctor Tolkonen did her best with her portable medical kit to heal me.

Despite her best efforts, I was still a cripple when I was sent to a military prison in Colditz,

to be interned for the duration of the war. During my first night in Colditz, while I lay in

bed, helpless, someone spoke directly into my mind. That someone was the being who

had made me recall my past incarnations, a spiritual being of incredible power whom I

call ‘The One’ and who many would call ‘God’. In only minutes, I was completely healed

by The One, apart from gaining a number of supernatural powers, powers that I am still

exploring today. In exchange, I became a Chosen of The One, tasked with being his

intermediary and promoting tolerance, compassion and justice in the World. Again,

many of you will think that I am making this up, but I can prove it, and I will.’’

Nancy then concentrated her eyes on a pitcher of water sitting on the larger table, over

twelve meters away from her. Surprised exclamations went around the table when the

pitcher rose in the air, then floated sideways to a hover above the empty space at the

center of the circle of tables. Still floating, the pitcher soon let out vapors, then the water

in it started boiling, causing more exclamations around the table. After a few seconds,

the water calmed down, then started freezing. When Nancy finally let go her mental grip

on the pitcher, it fell to the ground and broke into pieces, leaving on the floor a big chunk

of ice. As the members of the High Council looked at her with disbelief, Nancy rose

slowly in the air, levitating to a height of two meters before sending a powerful telepathic

message to all around her while keeping her mouth firmly shut.

‘’You saw some of the things I could do. Know that I am capable of much more.

Despite my powers, you have nothing to fear from me, as I have vowed to use them

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strictly to promote tolerance, compassion and justice, values that are dear to The One.

Use me for the good of Humanity and to relearn history, so that you do not repeat its

mistakes. Thank you for having listened to me, ladies and gentlemen.’’

Nancy then slowly floated down to the ground and sat back. There was a long, ominous

silence before a woman of the High Council spoke to her, still appearing shaken.

‘’Those powers, do anybody else possess them, Miss Laplante?’’

‘’No! I am unique in that respect, to the best of my knowledge. My adopted

daughter remembers her incarnations but is not a Chosen. Before someone asks, those

powers were also unheard of in the past. As for The One, he has no wish to be

worshiped in any way and I have no intentions to play the prophet for him. The best way

to please The One is to show tolerance, compassion and kindness towards others.’’

‘’Such conduct would certainly meet with my approval, Miss Laplante.’’ said softly

Sten Vargas. ‘’Is there something else you would like to say?’’

‘’Definitely! I will now speak out of my experience as a war correspondent and

military historian. You may be a pacifist society and abhor weapons but, if you refuse to

look at reality and insist on letting time travel unregulated and uncontrolled, you will

eventually pay a high price for it and may even see your civilization disappear altogether,

rewritten out of history by someone wishing to rebuild the World according to his own

personal vision. To effectuate such control of time travel, you will need brave men and

women equipped with the best technology available, including weapons, both portable

and shipborne. We do not know what the future of that alternate timeline will be like, but

chances are that it will not be as pacifist as your civilization. I am not advocating for you

to rearm, far from it. However, if you decide to create a time regulation agency, then you

must provide it with the tools it will need to do its job and defend itself if faced with armed,

hostile time travelers. Anything less would be a copout and a recipe for potential

disaster.’’

‘’But we have no weapons.’’ objected a High Council member. Nancy nodded

slowly her head in understanding.

‘’I realize that, miss. However, there is an abundance of weapons available to

us…in the past.’’

‘’And what tells us that, once you have with you a bunch of ancestors with

weapons, that you will not then take control of our civilization?’’ asked harshly Golen

Bartok, attracting a dark look from Nancy.

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‘’Always ready to paint ancestors as power-hungry, bloodthirsty barbarians,

Minister Bartok? In my time, your attitude would be considered as quite racist. Know

that, by myself, I could easily take over your civilization. Would I do such a thing? Of

course not! Why would I do that anyway? To have more power or money? The only

thing I wish for is to live happily with my husband and my daughter and to help others as

much as possible. The Global Council has however to face a few truths. Two of your

scientists kidnapped me and marooned me in 1940 and your civilization then made

possible the creation of an alternate, parallel timeline. Your civilization will now have to

face its responsibilities and take the actions needed to regain control of this mess and to

prevent an even bigger mess in the future. That is all I had to say for the moment.

Thank you for listening to me, ladies and gentlemen of the High Council.’’

There was again a long silence around the High Council table, as the members looked

at each other, quite shaken by Nancy’s forceful presentation. Boran Kern finally banged

his gavel on the table.

‘’If no one has an objection, I propose that we now vote on the formation of an

armed time travel regulatory agency to be called the Time Patrol and that will be directed

by Doctor Tolkonen and Miss Laplante… No objections? Then let’s vote!’’

As Farah and Nancy watched on nervously, the 22 members of the High Council

voted one by one, with Boran Kern voting last. Both women sighed in relief when the

final result was twelve ‘yes’ against ten ‘no’. Boran Kern then declared the proposition

officially accepted and looked at the Global Administrator of Finances, Pedro Salmash,

and at the Global Administrator for Industries, Rina Kappel, who was also Vice-Grand

Administrator.

‘’Now that the formation of the Time Patrol is approved, I will request that

Administrator Salmash free initial funds totally one billion solars for the construction or

modification of ships and vehicles and for the recruitment, equipping and training of

members for the said Time Patrol. I will also ask Administrator Kappel to lend her

assistance to Doctor Tolkonen and to consult with her concerning her precise needs in

equipment and infrastructures. Doctor Tolkonen, have you chosen a location for the

operating base of your Time Patrol?’’

‘’Yes, Grand Administrator! I would like to continue operating from New Lake

City, where the time travel project originated from.’’

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‘’Very well! In this case, I will let you and Miss Laplante free to start organizing

your new agency and to recruit suitable members for it.’’

‘’Thank you, Grand Administrator.’’ said simply Farah, rising from her chair with

Nancy and bowing to the High Council. The two women then left the chamber, returning

to the waiting lounge. There, Farah and Nancy were finally able to express their joy,

exchanging triumphal hugs and kisses.

‘’I can’t wait to tell our people that they will finally be able to start working with us,

Farah.’’

‘’Hey, they probably are already celebrating, Nancy. Don’t forget that this

meeting of the High Council was broadcasted all over the planet.’’

‘’Then, counting ourselves, we already have twenty volunteers for our agency

here in this century. What we need now is to recruit more members, design or choose

our equipment and build our ships. I will also need to find weapons for us in the past, a

risky job by itself.’’

‘’I am sure that you will be able to handle that part quite well, Nancy. First,

though, let’s go back to New Lake City, so that we can celebrate with our people.’’

‘’I won’t say no to that, Farah. This is possibly one of the most important days of

my life…and of the lives of our volunteers.’’

08:41 (GMT)

Friday, July 4, 1941 ‘B’

Athena Section, Home Office building

London, England

Anger and bitterness filled Peter Stilwell as he read the morning edition of the

Daily Telegraph. The object of his ire was a front-page article with a big, bold title.

“Nancy Laplante killed by the Gestapo. Yeah, sure! What a nice bunch of

hypocrites we make.”

“Relax, Peter.” said George Townsend, sitting at his desk in the Athena Section.

“You know as well as me that we will not be allowed to publicly tell the truth about this

sordid affair.”

“Sordid is the word, indeed.” added Douglas Wilson, standing behind Peter and

reading the newspaper over his shoulder. “But what makes me really puke is that

picture.”

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Peter nodded as he eyed the picture in question. It was one of the pictures taken by the

American embassy official in Berlin, showing Nancy Laplante in a bed, her body covered

with hideous torture marks and her face swollen and bruised. For someone who didn’t

know the real story, that picture could easily be interpreted as showing Nancy’s dead

body, photographed after she had been tortured to death. In fact, that was exactly what

the article, the gist of which had been provided by officials from the War Office, was

saying. No mentions were made of the bombing of Colditz Castle, or of Nancy’s

appearance in London to free her giant friend and the German women in the Tower of

London. The whole article had been written to provoke the maximum outrage and to

inflame British public anger towards their enemies. Peter had to recognize grudgingly

that the article was likely to be a success in that aspect. Throwing the paper away, he

got up from his chair and stomped towards his office. With or without Nancy, they still

had a war to win.

08:45 (GMT)

Sean Brady’s pub, Northolt

England

Sean Brady put down the morning newspaper, which he had been reading in the

kitchen of his pub, and started crying.

“Forgive me, Nancy. This was all my fault.”

“I know, Sean.”

Sean, completely taken by surprise, turned around in his chair to face Nancy Laplante,

who had sneaked close to him from behind. She was wearing a dark gray uniform and a

black helmet. She also had an impressive sword in her right hand. Sean looked briefly

at the long, massive blade, then stared into Nancy’s eyes, tears still rolling on his cheeks.

“You have every right to kill me, Nancy. I let my love of Ireland and my desire to

see it free from British tyranny blind me into supporting those Nazis. I… I didn’t want

you dead, but I still betrayed you. Do as you wish with me.”

Nancy, her sword firmly held at the ready, looked at him in silence for long seconds.

The blade then went down, slowly. Nancy extended her left hand towards Sean and

smiled gently.

“Sean, I forgive you, on one condition: that you follow me to a better life in the

future, to work for me.”

660

Sean got up slowly from his chair and hugged Nancy while sobbing.

“I will follow you in Hell if you ask me, Nancy.”

17:49 (Paris Time)

Monday, July 7, 1941 ‘B’

French Resistance hideout

Farm, 14 miles south of Paris, France

Jacques Bigot, discouragement and disgust visible on his face, threw down on

the kitchen table the four newspapers he had just bought in the nearby village. His wife

Mariette and Pierre Soulange, who was officially his farm hand, looked up in alarm from

their bowls of clear cabbage soup.

“What’s wrong, Jacques?” asked Mariette, a bit of fear showing in her voice. The

head of the local resistance cell shook his head in answer.

“Nothing to do with us, dear. Just read the front page of the Paris-Soir

newspaper.”

Mariette took the folded newspaper and put it flat on the table in front of her. The picture

of a famous woman, along with the title under it in bold letters, immediately attracted her

attention.

“The She-wolf betrayed and killed by the British. How could they say that? The

British radio news said on Friday that Brigadier Laplante was killed by the Gestapo.”

“Well, either the BBC or these newspapers are lying. Unfortunately, the Paris-

Soir’s facts seem to be quite solid. Read the article and tell me what you think of it.”

Mariette started reading, suspicious at first: most French newspapers these days were

either collaborating openly with the Germans or had to print the articles submitted by the

German propaganda machine. The article of concern to her was however supported by

numerous good quality pictures showing Nancy Laplante with the German staff of

Colditz Castle, plus the castle itself, both before and after what appeared to have been a

bombing raid of devastating power. Mariette read aloud a part of the article that was

quite damning.

“Not content with stabbing France in the back in Mers el-Kebir one year ago, the

British did not hesitate this time in deliberately murdering hundreds of their own captive

soldiers, along with thousands of innocent German civilians, with the sole goal of killing

Brigadier Nancy Laplante, apparently to prevent her from ever divulging her precious

661

military secrets to Germany. Being pulverized by British bombs was thus the ultimate

reward the Canadian time traveler got for helping so much the British with their war effort.

Who will be able to trust the British after this latest act of treachery?”

Another picture at the bottom of the page did upset Mariette. It showed two badly

burned bodies lying in the ruins of the town of Colditz. One was that of an adult, the

other that of a baby. The fact that the baby was German did nothing to make that

picture less repulsive to Mariette. Whoever had written that article had produced a very

convincing, powerful piece of news. Just then, Mary Coleman came in through the back

door of the kitchen, having just returned from using the outhouse. The young British

clandestine radio operator stopped in her track as the three French stared at her in a

most uncomfortable way.

“What? Is there something wrong?” She said in her usual timid voice. “You tell us, Mary.” replied calmly Jacques Bigot. “Have a look at the latest copy

of the Paris-Soir.”

Mary, codenamed Hélène by the British Special Operations Executive, hesitantly took

the newspaper from the table and read its front page slowly, going over it twice. Her

face was pale and her hands were shaking when she looked up at Jacques.

“That is…impossible, unthinkable.”

“Unthinkable, yes! Impossible? No! The BBC never mentioned anything about

Laplante being taken to Colditz.”

Mary, suddenly feeling a tremendous weight on her shoulders, sat heavily in a chair, a

haunted look in her eyes.

“They could never do that. She was a heroine to me and to the British people.”

“And she was tortured to death by the Gestapo, without saying a thing, if the BBC

is to be believed.” replied Jacques. “A fitting end for a heroine. One thing is sure in my

mind, though: the Germans certainly didn’t destroy Colditz, so the British had to do it. I

also know that allied prisoners were held in there until at least very recently: my sister

got a letter from her husband, held in Colditz, which was dated back from two weeks ago.

At the very least, that makes the British guilty of killing hundreds of allied prisoners of

war. Why would they ever do that, unless they had to get rid of someone who could

cause them a lot of damage? Someone like Nancy Laplante, who knew everything

about that war, including everybody’s dirty little secrets. That woman was our best hope

for a quick end to this damn war. Now, she’s gone.”

662

Jacques’ last statement, made in a bitter tone, was too much for Mary Coleman. Unsure

what to think now, she closed her eyes and started crying quietly.