ALL THE BLOOD DRAINED from Unquill's face when he heard the words "161 Williamsport Turtle" mentioned. As a journeyman, he had always been ready for strange, unexpected and life-threatening situations. He had never thought, however, that such a situation would occur within the golden century. He had faced down large groups of barbarians wearing animal furs and brandishing bronze weapons. He had even encountered a group of forest people who wanted to sacrifice him to their god, who happened to be a rather disagreeable person. Unquill had never once thought that he would get to sit inside the army's most powerful machine, no matter how long he lived.
Such things simply did not happen. Members of the Temporal Constabulary primarily dealt with learning about events in the time stream. Once all history- past and present- had been learned, they then considered deeper questions regarding temporal mechanics. Even if a member of the Constabulary applied for a position in the army, the best that person could hope for would be a maintenance job. No one who had ever worked at the Constabulary first had gone past the rank of Yellow. Nor had anyone who first began a career in the army went high enough in the ranks of the Constabulary to be trusted enough to walk into a different era.
As a result, very few people ever bothered changing careers this way, even if they expected to live past the average life expectancy of six hundred years. He thought that Indigo Pavun might have understood this. Certainly, a man of his vast experience ought to have some notion that people from Constabulary weren't ever trained as soldiers, much less trained how operate a Turtle. He ought to have known that Unquill was better suited for jobs that required careful consideration, usually in front of a computer screen somewhere.
Thus it came as a surprise to Unquill when Pavun declined his request to be excluded from the mission. Pavun would not say why he felt Unquill had to go, nor did Unquill ask.
Instead, he washed his face in the bathroom, then pulled a comb from his pocket. The army had given him a small black comb as big as his thumb. He leaned his head to one side, letting his long hair fall down. He passed a comb through it once, wincing as he encountered knots and rat's nests. Long strands of black hair came away, caught between short black tongs. Even though he'd been sanitized at Hensen's base, sleeping overnight in the wilderness had brought back all the bad habits his hair fell into whenever exposed to the elements for very long.
The people of the island, he was told, did not have such problems. Even those few citizens living on the ground who emulated those living in the sky never had such tangles as Unquill had. Going among them looking as though he was a man of the sky fallen to earth would only earn him suspicion for his trouble. That lesson he had learned while a journeyman: in order to fool the local population, he had to appear as one of them. He had to look like a man of the earth pining for the sky.
Once he finished combing his hair and straightening his clothes, he exited the restroom to find a soldier waiting for him. Unquill let himself be guided by the man walking in front of him to the briefing room where Pavun Kiro and the two most significant citizens from the time stream awaited, together with a man Unquill did not know.
Pavun introduced everyone to each other. The stranger's name was Wikal Grean. He held the rank of Red in the United Solar Army, the second-lowest level ahead of Black. Wikal, taller than Unquill yet shorter than Pavun, had a muscular body that the civilian clothes could not entirely hide. His pectoral muscles stood out underneath a plain, skin-tight blue shirt. He, like Unquill, had combed his hair so that unlike the dark mass he'd had previously, he now had straight, shining black hair.
Wikal did not appear comfortable in the room. Unquill observed that the man could not keep his hands still. Wikal interlocked his fingers, then put his hands on his knees. Then he grabbed one wrist with the opposite hand. His hands always moved. He didn't seem aware of the movement, or if he was aware, he didn't mind.
Wikal couldn't meet Unquill's gaze, or anyone's gaze for that matter. The man's eyes shied away from every person he met. Wikal ended up looking at the floor. He gave off the appearance of someone who had never had much contact with people prior to joining the army. Unquill wondered if that was true. For while he saw in Wikal an intelligent enough bearing, the man's nervousness detracted any impression he may left, good or ill.
Indigo Pavun Kiro wore a scowl that Unquill hadn't seen in their meeting. Where the man had been all business the first time around, now he radiated frustration. He hadn't liked Unquill's request to be left out of the mission. As he stood over a map covered with odd-looking toy soldiers, Pavun's entire body tensed. He then let out a single, long breath which to Unquill seemed to contain everything he wanted to say but did not.
Instead, Pavun said, "You'll start by taking a hovercraft on the open side of the barrier- the bridge side." He pointed to a point of sea near the encampment and the bridge entrance. "You'll go here and circle around the island. Once you reach the tank's location, here, you will have to steal it. I can provide you with stun weapons, but you will be on your own regarding the method you choose to employ. Time is of the essence during the mission. If all goes well on your trip there, which is by no means certain, you will have thirty minutes to steal the Turtle and begin your attack upon the infantry unit. One bombardment should be enough to throw their troops into enough confusion so the Estonite shipment can pass by safely. After that, you will either return to the base here, or, if you are unable to return, you will have to destroy the Turtle so that the rebels can no longer use it.
He surveyed the four people selected for the mission, then said, "The operation commences in ten minutes. Do you have any questions?"
Savannah, who after combing her own hair, was occupied tying it into a single braid, asked, "If can't complete the mission on time, what happens then?"
Pavun put his hands behind his back. He said, "If you try to steal their Turtle and fail, you will be either dead, or wish you were. I warn you in advance that I can commit no rescue force, at least not today. We don't have the ability to run off the rebels right outside the base, and I have not received a reply from Jungle Command since I requested reinforcements half an hour ago. I can't wait for them to arrive. The Estonite is too important."
With that statement, Unquill knew he had to go, no matter what he might choose. Both Kenneth and Savannah appeared resolved to see the mission, even if to Unquill, the entire plan seemed to be the worst kind of foolishness he had ever encountered. He could only produce a small shrug for the futility of it all. He didn't think pulling the mission off successfully would cause the council to rescind its declaration about him. Quite the opposite- he felt sure the stealing a 161 Williamsport Turtle would only give the leaders of the continent-city another item to add to his list of crimes.
THOUGH THE MACHINE was called a hovercraft, Kenneth thought it looked nothing like the few hovercrafts he'd seen in the movies. The hovercrafts he'd seen had been oval-shaped, unwieldy machines, just as liable to veer off to the side for no real reason as to go the direction their driver intended. The hovercraft sitting on the edge of the beach looked nothing like anything had seen before. It was a rectangular machine smooth, sloping edges. It floated above the ground in silence as it kicked tufts of sand away through a process Kenneth did not understand. The vehicle's rear hatch opened, much as the skycraft's side door had opened. The hatch came to rest upon the beach, stirring up yet more sand. Red Wikal stepped upon first, his heavy steps echoing out in every direction.
As Kenneth entered the hovercraft, he once again was made aware of his diminutive size in a world where everyone was very tall. The ceiling of the hovercraft was so high that if Kenneth could have sat upon Wikal's shoulders, still he could not have reached it. With his eye level at Wikal's thighs, he could imagine the reason the roof had been put at fifteen feet high.
Two large tan pilot's seats sat at the front of the ship, in front of a control panel full of buttons. The hovercraft, unlike the two other vehicles Kenneth had ridden in, had a wide glass window that looked out the flowing sea and the enormous black bridge crossing it. On each side of the hovercraft, behind the pilot's seats, cargo nets hung against each wall. The deck beneath Kenneth's feet hummed. He felt a calming, steady vibration in his toes.
He clung to a black cargo net while Wikal sat down in the left pilot's seat. Unquill, following Kenneth into the craft, sat down in the other seat. While the top of Wikal's head crested of the top of the seat so that Kenneth could see the man's light brown hair. Unquill's body disappeared into the seat. Kenneth did not see any part of him save his hands, which rested on the control panel.
Savannah entered last, gaping at the size of the craft. She held her hands against her chest, looking around, taking everything in. She gulped when she saw Kenneth standing in place, not caring that he gave off the impression that he did not belong. Kenneth did not, at that moment, care that his calf muscle itched or that he had worn the same shirt continuous for five days straight. He felt a desire to protect Savannah, for to Kenneth, she looked like a leaf blown by the wind, one which might be trampled underfoot at any moment.
With Savannah inside, the rear hatch swung slowly back into place. It latched shut with a loud collision that shook the ship. Then, without any warning, Wikal set the hovercraft in the motion. The craft moved much faster than Kenneth expected. The craft gained speed as it flew across the water. Before long, they moved so quickly that scenery in the front windshield came and went in short order.
Wikal turned the craft, making a curving arc alongside the green, humming force field nearby. For as fast the hovercraft moved, Kenneth felt no change in the ship. The same vibration he'd felt when he first entered the ship continued. Savannah, who at first had clung to the cargo nets along the wall as though she expected to be thrown backward against the hatch, now sat down with her legs spread out before her and her palms planted behind her on the deck.
Kenneth could not quite bring himself to sit down, not after the last two trips he'd in the 73rd century had not gone as planned. He feared some mischance on their journey. He envisioned a whirlpool opening up in the sea, one which would drag the hovercraft in, no matter how fast it flew. He thought about a ship descending from the skies, looking for the Yesterday yet finding him. Did the Black Brigade have the authority to interrupt an official mission given by a high-ranking officer in the army? He didn't know the answer to that question.
The hovercraft kept close to the coastline until, when wilderness appeared everywhere. The ruins of villages flashed by. Wooden houses with their roofs caved in and stone houses with crumbling walls kept watch over the sea. From the little Kenneth could make out through the windshield, he saw no one in any of the villages. Tall grass and trees grew up around places where men, woman and- if Kenneth had understood Unquill correctly- people of a third gender had once lived.
The hovercraft took a sharp turn, headed inland. The ship handled so well that Kenneth swayed slightly to one side where he expected to lurch at an awkward angle. Crossing a rocky beach onto tall grass, the hovercraft maintained the same speed it had before. The ship flew through bright green undergrowth. Branches raked against the ship's hull, making soft scratching noises. A startled ape leaped out of the hovercraft's path, shouting incoherently as it did so.
Speaking for the first time since starting their trip, Red Wikal said, "We'll be arriving at the designated coordinates in twenty minutes. If any of you has any idea how to steal a Turtle, now would be the time to speak up."
Kenneth hadn't actually given the matter a great deal of though. For him, he thought the pulsing blue device on his palm would be enough. He would just shoot anyone around the tank, then deal with the consequences later. That method had always worked for Rambo. He said, "Just shoot them."
Unquill's voice filled the cabin as he said, "I agree. We don't have time for an elaborate ruse. We'll have to rush them from whatever side we find and hope for the best. If we can't take them by surprise, we'll have to retreat."
Savannah yawned, covering her mouth with one cupped hand. She pushed her single braid over her shoulder and said, "Can they follow us out to sea?"
Red Wikal, staring at the scenery passing before them, replied, "If we get as far as that, no they won't be able to engage us in a chase. However, if we can't steal the Turtle, they can use that against us."
Kenneth let go of the cargo nets behind him. He stepped forward and said, "Then, could we make them chase us to the base, so the Turtle gets in range of the cannons?"
Wikal laughed, nervously. He said, "That's a halfway between genius and madness. If the tank doesn't shoot us by the time we reach the base, the Indigo might catch on to what we intend. We don't have a way of communicating with him, not so long as the shield's up. The radio signal won't make it through the barrier. We'd have to trust in him to figure it out before we crash smack-dab against the force field."
Unquill asked, "Then, we're agreed? We blitz them to try and steal the Turtle. Failing that, we run back to the base and into the path of the rebel's cannons."
Kenneth's apprehension about the mission increased. For a moment, he wished that he had allowed history to take its course. He wanted to be in an air-conditioned council room, relaxing in a chair before a committee. Instead, he had changed the course of the future. Now, he realized with a pit in his stomach, he would have to live with those changes.