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“KEVIN BAILEY, WHY HAVE you summoned the League of Guardians?” Chairman Samuel Garret asked.
“Gentlemen, I seek an Assignment of Correction.”
There was silence among the two men standing next to the human-sized glass tube with several dials and switches connected to it. The Time Travel Chamber was in the basement of my old Victorian house, which was damp and dusty with cobwebs stretched across the ceiling.
“This is dangerous talk, you know. Your grandfather, Steven Bailey, is loyal to the United American Empire,” the chairman said.
“My grandfather has had a change of heart.”
“Why isn’t he here?”
“Under the laws of the United American Empire, he knows merely talking to you would result in a public execution.”
“In other words, he’s not willing to take the risk, but you are.”
“That is correct. He’s not willing to take the risk.”
“Now, Kevin, what do you wish for an Assignment of Correction?”
“Gentlemen, I intend to go back to World War II. I wish to end this Nuclear Empire.”
Rumblings came from the two men of the League of Guardians. They conferred with each other as their eyes darted back and forth from me to each other.
The chairman spoke up. “Now Kevin, we’ve been over this before. In an Assignment of Correction, we can only send one person back in time and hold them there for five minutes and no more.”
“I can do it,” I said with confidence.
The chairman looked at me with skepticism. “Kevin, you know it’s not that simple. The Nazis are the ones who invented the Time Travel Chamber. They traveled back in time and delayed the D-Day landing in 1942.”
I responded, “Yes, my grandfather told me there were plans for a D-Day invasion in 1942.”
The chairman continued, “They also delayed the D-Day landing in 1943.”
“Yes, the Allies did promise and make plans for a landing in 1943 as well.”
“The D-Day landings happened on June 6, 1944. They only delayed it for two years. It is also estimated that if the landings happened in 1942, the war would have been over sooner, and Germany would not have been as devastated as it was. The atomic bomb might not have been completed, and thus, Berlin would not have been bombed.”
“I can see your point. A person might go back in time and change an event or two in a war, but they can’t stop the political will to fight.”
“Exactly,” the chairman responded. “Kevin, we at the League of Guardians in the past have gone on Assignments of Correction and have prevented the Nuclear Civil War of 1973. Huston, New York, Chicago, Atlanta ... these cities are still here today because we went back in time and corrected it. They are here because of the efforts of the League of Guardians.”
The chairman unrolled his sleeve and showed me a burn mark on his arm. “I personally have also gone back in time and corrected the Doomsday device initiated in 1984. I received this radiation burn in the other timeline.” He rolled down his sleeve. “However, regarding World War II, we have run a series of calculations and scenarios. In a few of the scenarios we ran, the Nazis get the bomb first and win the war. We have come to the conclusion that United American Empire is a better situation than a Nazi monopoly on nuclear weapons. That is why we are not sending anyone back to World War II.”
“I know where to go,” I said. “My grandfather worked on the Manhattan Project ... the project to produce the first atomic bomb.” I held up a picture of my grandfather and his friend, Joe, from World War II. “I looked just like him at that age. We need to end this Nuclear Empire.”
The chairman grabbed the photo, held it up to my face, and carefully examined it. “Yes,” he said with confidence. “Yes, you do look exactly like your grandfather at that age. You could infiltrate the Manhattan Project and pass for your grandfather.” He put down the photo. “But why? Why do you want to do this? Why now? What has changed?”
“Let me tell you my story ...”
***
“THE OTHER DAY, I HEARD a ding, ding, ding. The grandfather clock chimed in this large, Victorian mansion I call home. I sat down at the table and opened my history book. Then, my grandfather walked in the front door. He picked up a new picture of my girlfriend Laura and me. It was next to the official portrait of the emperor of the United American Empire. As you know, all citizens of the Empire are required to have the emperor’s portrait in their homes.
“Hey, Kevin, how’s that girl of yours?’ my grandfather asked me.
“Good.”
“Any plans for the future?” he further enquired.
“Not at the moment, but we were looking at rings the other day.”
“Have you found a good ring yet?” he asked me a little curiously.
“No, not yet.”
“My grandfather reached into his pocket and pulled out his keys. On his key chain was a small leather sack. He pulled out an engagement ring with a huge diamond on it.
“That’s a five-carat diamond,” he said.
“It’s gorgeous,” I told him.
“Your great-grandfather was a jeweler. He personally made this for a friend of mine. Joe wanted to propose to his girl. He was a security guard at the Manhattan Project back in World War II.” He gave a slight sigh. ‘However, I never had the chance to show it to him, and he never had the chance to propose.”
“What happened?”
“He was shipped overseas. They said he was on the beach at Normandy. Some friends of his said he stood up to look out in front of him and got a bullet through the head.”
“Grandpa, I’m sorry to hear that,” I said to him.
“Then he told me, ‘I didn’t have the heart to propose to your grandmother with it, but now that you are getting serious with Laura, I want you to have it. Propose to your girl with it.”
“Thanks, Grandpa.”
“I think your young lady will be impressed.”
“Then I asked him, ‘Grandpa, what’s the rad count today?”
“My grandfather put down the picture and turned on the Geiger counter attached to the front door. That ripping sound was just a little bit louder than usual. He said to me, ‘Ten roentgens. The radiation today is a little high, but you won’t get sick until it hits one hundred roentgens. Your mother once received a high dose, which is why she never had any children after you were born. We’ll just have to wait for the wind to blow it away. It’s only going to go up. There was another demonstration today.”
“Grandpa, another demonstration? What city?” I asked him.
“Beijing.”
“How big?”
“A twenty-megaton.”
“Oh, God!’ I cried out.
“Kevin, don’t speak those words. You know religion is banned in the United American Empire. You could be arrested just for saying that. You’re twenty-five years old. You should know this by now.”
“But Grandpa, it was an entire city,” I told him.
“Look, it’s the year 2020. We offer the world peace and order, and this is how we’re repaid. We cannot allow these rebellions to continue. The rest of the world has to learn to serve the empire. You are privileged more than most, and if you don’t want to lose what you have, you’ll need to adjust your attitude,” Grandpa said as he went into the kitchen.
“The United States of America once had its own revolution for independence,” I said to him.
“He argued his point, saying, ‘Yes, but the United American Empire has eliminated war. Eliminated war! Sometimes we have to remind the rest of the world every now and then with a nuclear demonstration or two.”
“My grandfather came out of the kitchen with a coffee pot and two coffee cups. I could see at that point it was hopeless to argue, but I persisted.
“But Grandpa, an entire city has been wiped out.”
“He placed the coffee on the table. ‘I worked on the Manhattan Project. I remember in April of 1945 when the atomic bomb was dropped on Berlin. The Nazis surrendered after that. Would you have rather lived under Nazi rule?”
“Grandpa, the bomb was dropped on Berlin when one hundred thousand Soviet soldiers were invading it. They were all wiped out as well. That started the Soviet Allied Resistance against the UAE,” I responded.
“Listen, the American Empire is outnumbered twenty to one compared to the rest of the world’s population. Without nuclear weapons, we wouldn’t stand a chance. I can see this is bothering you, Kevin. What happened during your compulsory service?”
“Grandpa,” I responded.
“He pressed on, asking me, ‘What happened during your compulsory military service?”
“I had to let out a breath. ‘Seven years ago, my platoon was part of the occupying force in a suburb just outside of Moscow. We were looking for a secret rebel nuclear reactor. The Soviets were trying again to rebuild the nuclear weapons program.”
“And?” he asked me.
“They found the reactor.”
“How did you deal with it?”
“My sergeant called it in. We were wearing F.A.R.S.”
“F.A.R.S.?” he asked.
“Full Armored Radiation Suits. We went to this playground, a large, open, flat concrete area. Little children were running around, laughing and playing. A little girl accidentally bounced a ball off of my faceplate armor. She looked at me, terrified. After all, we were the occupying force.”
“What did you do?”
“I picked up the ball and handed it to her and said, “It’s okay, sweetheart.” The little girl took the ball and went back to playing.”
“Then what happened?”
“Over the radio, my sergeant received orders from his commanding officer. He then shouted out, “Spike the concrete! Spike the concrete!”’
“What does that mean?”
“The F.A.R.S. have a spike hinged at each wrist.” I pointed to my wrist and showed my grandfather. ‘The spikes run along the forearm to the elbow.” I pointed to my elbow as well. ‘When unhinged, they extend perpendicular to the wrist. We were ordered to lay facedown toward the center of the city.”
“And then?”
“We were ordered, “Oscillate spikes! Oscillate spikes!” When they oscillate the spikes, it is like a jackhammer protruding into the concrete like warm butter. So there we were, my entire platoon, in our armored suits pinned like a bug collection to the concrete ...’ My words drifted off.
“What happened after that?”
“The sergeant ordered, “Facedown! Facedown!” Suddenly there was a huge flash of light reflected off the concrete. A second later, there was a loud boom. Ten seconds after that, we were whipping in the wind like a flag in a hurricane held only by our forearm spikes. Slowly, things settled down. My sergeant ordered, “Retract spikes and stand! Retract spikes and stand!” As ordered, I retracted the spikes and stood up. Then I saw the mushroom cloud over Moscow.”
“My grandfather then said with great concern, ‘Kevin, I sense there was something else.”
“I told him, ‘After the blast, I saw the shadow of the little girl and her ball. A flash mark outlined her image in the concrete.”
“My grandfather began speaking in a more serious tone. ‘Look, Kevin, do you want that to happen to you? Would you like to see your hometown blasted away? We cannot allow any other nation to obtain nuclear weapons. That’s why the United American Empire was formed.”
“I could still see it was useless to argue with him. I said angrily, ‘Grandpa! A few minutes earlier, little children were running around laughing and playing. Then it was rubble and radioactive dust. Children were burnt into the concrete.”
“Grandpa poured another cup of coffee and gave it to me. ‘You live in this empire. Get used to it. Now, let me quiz you on your history ... get your mind off things.”
“Fine,” I said. I put the radiation probe in the coffee cup and told my grandfather, ‘There is cesium-137, strontium-90, and americium with traces of plutonium in the coffee. It’s nuclear fallout.”
“My grandfather said to me, ‘Damn those South Americans, paying their United American Empire tribute with contaminated coffee.”
“The United American Empire did a nuclear demonstra-tion on Bogota, Columbia.”
“Disgustedly, Grandpa pushed the cups to the center of the table. ‘Very well. Let me quiz you on your UAE history.” He continued, ‘What year did President Franklin Delano Roosevelt approve the use of the atom bomb on Berlin? Soviet forces are present in the outer regions of Berlin and are not informed of the use. This causes a severe rift between the allied forces. The Soviet, British, and American alliance is broken up. All German forces surrender only to the Americans.”
“April 1945,” I said.
“The Soviet nuclear test fails. Joseph Stalin is overthrown. Fearing a Soviet civil war and a grab for power, the Soviet nuclear program is dismantled so that no side can use it on one other.”
“August 1949.”
“Having no country to oppose their use, General Douglas MacArthur declares war on China during the Korean conflict. For the first time since World War II, atomic weapons are used.”
“October 1950.”
“Communist sympathizers assassinate President Douglas MacArthur. New president Joseph McCarthy outlaws communism and declares all communists enemies of the state.”
“September 1954.”
“The Soviet Union declares war on the United States. President Curtis LeMay uses new thermal nuclear weapons in the megaton range.”
“October 1962.”
“President Curtis LeMay orders a full nuclear strike on the nation of North Vietnam, and quotes, “We’ll bomb them back to the stone age.” This creates a backlash of anti-war protest.”
“August 1966.”
“President J. Edgar Hoover starts massive arrest of hippie subversives.”
“February 1968.”
“President Alexander Haig, in a grab for power, establishes the United American Empire.”
“August 1974.”
“Look, Kevin, you know your history,” my grandfather told me.
“Just then, my mother walked into the house, took the picture of Laura and me out of the frame, and tore it in half. She tore it in half again, and then again.
“Mom, what are you doing? That’s Laura and me!’ I yelled at my mother.
“Kevin, you never saw her. You have no idea who she is.”
“Mom! Mom! What happened?”
“She was caught attending an underground church.”
“I have to go see her!’ I headed for the front door.
“My mother stopped me. ‘Kevin, she was arrested under the Joseph McCarthy rule. She was lined up in front of a firing squad. No trial.”
“Then my grandfather said, ‘Kevin, the United American Empire outlawed religion years ago. There’s nothing you could do for her.”
“My mother lit a match and burned our picture in the fireplace. ‘It’s too late. Just remember, you never saw her. You have no idea who she is.’”
“Kevin.” My grandfather handed me a note.
Manhattan Project
Los Alamos Laboratory,
Building C, file room,
Drafting drawer A
May 1944
4:00 a.m.
“Give this to that secret society you are working with.”
“You knew I was working with the League of Guardians ... and you never told anyone?”
“He stood and said to me, ‘Kevin, the ring. I kept it with me at all times.”
“Grandpa?” I asked. This was not like him. Something finally changed his mind.
“He responded, ‘There’s an incinerator door at the back of the file room. My security badge and some of my old clothes are in the old wardrobe downstairs. Contact the League of Guardians. Now go!’”
***
“SO THAT IS WHY I AM here with you today,” I told the two men of the League of Guardians. I gave them my grandfather’s handwritten note.
The chairman’s assistant commented, “You were at Moscow when it was bombed.”
“Yes.”
He said, “My mother was on a diplomatic mission to Moscow at the time.”
“What happened?” I asked.
“She wasn’t informed to leave.”
The two men gathered and conferred with each other. Finally, the chairman said to me, “We are making an exception in your case.”
“An exception in my case? Why?”
“You look exactly like your grandfather at that age. You have his security badge and the old clothes he wore. In addition, you have the location of the documents. Should you interface with someone who your grandfather knew, they would simply think it was him.”
I stood there silently for a second. “What has changed? Why are you now willing to take that risk?”
“Tell him,” the chairman’s assistant stated.
“Tell me what?”
“Kevin, the nuclear bombing of Beijing was only the beginning. The United American Emperor has plans for the genocide of the Chinese people. He wants a complete atomic bombing of all China, just as President Curtis LeMay nuclear bombed all of North Vietnam. The emperor has set aside 1,500 megatons worth of nuclear bombs for the campaign.”
“Surely, his advisors told him that’s insane?”
“His advisors told him the Earth couldn’t handle that much more radiation.”
“What did the emperor say?”
“The United American Emperor had all his advisors executed. That is why we are now willing to risk sending you back to World War II. Now that your grandfather is somewhat cooperating, I believe we can begin. However, we need a time anchor.”
“A what?”
“A time anchor is an object that was there at the place you want to travel to in time. You place the object in the Time Travel Chamber, then you set the time you wish to go to. The machine will take you to where that particular object was at the time. Without it, you can’t go back. Do you have anything?”
I opened the wardrobe and said, “I have his security badge, shoes, clothes, and uniforms.”
“No, no, they are changed every day. Security badges are upgraded.”
“What about a belt or a watch?” I said.
“We can’t be sure he had it with him at that specific time. Does he have a wallet or keys, maybe?”
I searched around the wardrobe and said, “No, none of that is in the wardrobe ... just old clothes, photos, souvenirs, and mementos.”
The chairman stated firmly, “It has to be something he would have had with him at the time.”
“Something he would have had with him at the time ...” I said aloud. I pulled out the ring from my pocket. “My grandfather said he kept this with him always. He had it made for a friend but never gave it to him. He knew about the Time Travel Chamber the whole time.”
“Perfect,” the chairman said.
I grabbed some of Grandfather’s old clothes, his security badge, and the old watch. I wound my grandfather’s watch. “Five minutes,” I said aloud. I stepped into the large glass tube in the middle of the basement.
The chairman said to me, “Give us a complete report when you get back. Our memories might change.”
The chairman called out, “Initiate Time Travel Chamber.”
While adjusting some dials, the chairman’s assistant said in German, “Einleiten ziet reise Kammer.”
Then the chairmen said, “Kevin, place the ring on the glass shelf.”
There was a small shelf protruding from the glass. I placed the ring on it.
“Time anchor follow and locked,” he said.
“Ziet anker folgen und gespert,” his assistant said in German before flipping some switches.
“Date, the fifth of May. Time, four a.m.,” the chairman continued.
“Datum, der fünfte Mai. Ziet, 4:00 Uhr.” He flipped some more switches.
“Year, 1944.”
“Jahr, neunzehnhundertvierundvierzig.”
“Execute time jump.”
“Ausführen ziet springen,” he continued in German and flipped the final switch.
“Damn this nuclear empire!” I said, then flash!
I was projected. It worked! It actually worked! I was back in May 1944, Manhattan Project, Los Alamos Laboratory, building C, file room. The ring was on the floor. I put it in my pocket. No one saw the time travel portal open.
I checked my grandfather’s watch. Four minutes, thirty seconds. That was all the time I had to destroy a few documents.
I opened the drafting table drawer A and found a complete set of blueprints titled “Fat Man” and “Little Boy,” along with some files marked “Fission Process Calculations.” Quickly, I opened the small steel door on the back wall and shoved some papers down the incinerator chute.
“Hold it right there.”
I turned around and saw the army security guard pointing a forty-five automatic at me.
“Steve!”
“Hey, Joe. How’s it going?”
“Steve, if you were anyone else, I would have shot you.”
It’s great to look like my grandfather, I thought to myself.
“You’re not supposed to be here,” Joe told me.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I was just catching up on some work. What are you doing here this time of night?” I asked him.
“Escorting some bigwig.” Joe nodded over his shoulder to a guy.
“They won’t be incinerating until tomorrow. You dropped this, sir.” A funny short man with little round glasses handed me one of the blueprints titled “Little Boy.” He held his hand out. “Have we met?”
I wasn’t sure what was the best BS line to use. I threw the file into the incinerator and, remembering to use my grandfather’s name, said, “I think we may have. I’m Steven Bailey.” I shook his hand.
“Klaus.”
Joe said to me, “You know, Steve, I need to report you.”
He’s going to report me. I needed to think fast. I pulled the time anchor out of my pocket. “Oh, by the way, here’s the ring you wanted. It’s ready.”
Joe took the ring. “Wow, that’s a beauty. Martha will be impressed.”
I looked at my watch. One minute left. I need to get out of here. I said, “Tell you what, Joe. I’ll go now. I don’t want you to get in trouble.”
He responded, “No, stay here until eight a.m. when the building opens. They will think you just came in early. Don’t tell anyone I told you.”
“Hey, thanks, Joe. By the way, I heard you’re being shipped out soon. Keep your head down.”
“Yeah, I’ll do that,” he responded. He then looked over his shoulder and said, “Dr. Fuchs, we have to go.”
“It was nice to meet you,” the little man said and stared intently at the incinerator door before he left.
I checked my grandfather’s watch. Thirty seconds left.
The two of them stepped out of the room and flash!
I was back in my damp, cobweb-strewn basement. The League of Guardians men were gone along with the Time Travel Chamber, but nothing else has changed. Did they leave and simply take the chamber with them? The time anchor was gone. I failed. I must have failed, I thought. The old musty wardrobe was still in the corner of the basement. Nothing else has changed?
As I went upstairs, I heard the chime from the grandfather clock. Ding, ding, ding. “Same clock,” I said. I opened the door.
It was the same Victorian mansion with the same old furniture, but there was no picture of the UAE Emperor. There was no Geiger counter on the door, and a number of other odds and ends were different.
“Something’s not right,” I said aloud.
My grandpa was standing at the door in a business suit. Standing next to him was an elderly woman in a very formal dress.
My grandfather said, “Well, there’s the man of the hour. Hey, I want you to meet an old friend of mine. She’s here for this special day.”
The elderly lady came up to me, grabbed the side of my head, and kissed me on the cheek. On her left hand was the ring, the time anchor.
“Such a handsome young man. Oh, she’s a lucky girl,” she commented.
I said to her, “You’re Martha ... Joe’s wife.”
She told me, “Joe died in 2001. You would have been so young. How would you know that?”
Died in 2001, I thought to myself. He survived the war and married Martha.
Then my grandfather spoke up. “Kevin, we have been looking all over for you. Where have you been?”
“Grandpa, what’s the rad count?” I asked.
“The what count? What are you talking about?”
Suddenly, a little twelve-year-old girl, also wearing a very formal dress, walked in the room, holding some sort of writing pad. She tapped on the pad. “Rad count, also known as roentgens, is the old unit of radiation now called sieverts since 1976.”
My grandfather told her, “Tammy, I told you not to play with Kevin’s computer pad.”
“I said I’d put it back when I was done. I’m looking up a few things for my class.”
She found some sort of information on that computer thing she was holding. A computer. Is it possible to have a computer that small?
“Now, Kevin, don’t be mad at your little sister.”
“Little sister?” I said aloud. Then I thought to myself, I altered the timeline. I have a little sister now. I did it! I actually did it, my God. Yet, still, there is a parallel.
“I’ll put it back,” my little sister said.
I picked up the little girl and held her in my arms. “Tammy, I’m sorry if, in the past, I was not the nicest of big brothers. Tell you what. Today, I want to make a new start. From this day forward, I will be the best big brother you could ever want. To prove that I am serious, I want you to keep the computer pad. It’s yours now.”
“Really? I can have it?”
“I just want you to help me look up a few things.”
“Okay, fine. What do you need to know?”
My little sister helped me go over some of the history. In April 1945, Franklin Delano Roosevelt died. On May 7, 1945, Germany surrendered. In August 1945, President Truman dropped bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
I only delayed it. It was dropped on Japan, I thought to myself.
In 1949, the Soviet nuclear test was successful. A Cold War had started. In 1951, Douglas MacArthur was fired during the Korean conflict.
We found a newspaper headline.
“Fired MacArthur to avert general war,” President Truman says in bid for Korean Peace.
Joseph McCarthy never became president ... hardly a historical footnote for his stance on communism.
In October 1962, there was a nuclear standoff when nuclear missiles were placed on the island of Cuba. President John F. Kennedy blockaded the island. Soviet General Secretary Nikita Khrushchev agreed to remove the missiles.
“War is averted,” I said.
In 1991, the Soviet Union was dissolved. For the most part, the Cold War ended. No United American Empire was ever formed. America had no monopoly on nuclear weapons. You could never use a nuclear weapon. There would be an instant nuclear retaliation, and the world would be destroyed.
They actually coined a word for it, “MAD”, Mutually Assured Destruction. No nuclear weapons were used since the bombing of Japan.
“One more thing to look up,” I requested. We found a headline from Oct. 18, 1945.
Red Spy Steals U.S. Atom Bomb Secrets
In 1945, Dr. Klaus Fuchs passed U.S. atomic bomb secrets to the Soviet Union for the first time. Between 1945 and 1947, working with a courier code-named Raymond, Fuchs delivered high-level information to Moscow about the atomic bomb, then later, the hydrogen bomb.
That’s why he stared at the incinerator door. No one saw me put the files in there. He simply retrieved them later.
The world is not perfect. Certainly, the world has not ended war. However, there are no nuclear demonstrations on any city.
“Kevin!” my mother suddenly screamed out. She threw a tuxedo at me. It was still on a hanger covered in plastic from the dry cleaner. “Put your sister down and get dressed. Laura is waiting for you at the church.”
“Laura! Wait, Laura is here?” I asked.
My mother responded, “Kevin, pull yourself together. You’re getting married today.”