In which Nate discovers he has a mysterious helper and Commander DeBlanc declines to change course as the Uchronie sets off in pursuit of the Hindenburg.
At the fourth hour of Mars on Tuesday, as the sun set over the lake at Bechtsgaden, I sat in my shadowy cell wondering what was going to become of me.
In the aftermath of Wayne’s self absorbed escape I feared that I was now doomed to spend the rest of my life in the past. Eleven years before my rightful time.
When the black uniformed soldiers witnessed Wayne disappearing from inside his cell in that flash of blinding, rainbow, light, they had run away in a blind terror. They had never seen anything like it in their lives and none of them could even begin to explain what they had just seen.
When the practical Captain of the Guard came to find out what all the commotion was, he refused to believe their story that Wayne had, somehow, vanished into thin air.
‘Such a thing is not possible.’ he had said, loudly and confidently, to reassure his bewildered militia. ‘Now go and search the lakeside and bring him to me.’
When they had all gone on their fruitless search he had come inside to question me.
‘So… airman. What ship did you fly with?’ he asked, still uncertain about my loyalty. ‘I’ve never seen a uniform like yours before and you seem rather young to be a fully fledged airman.’
I knew that I couldn’t tell him that I’d flown on the Hindenburg because, in 1926, the Hindenburg didn’t exist. I wracked my brains, trying to remember the history of early German airships.
‘I was aboard the LZ126.’ I said.
This wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t strictly true either. I had been aboard the LZ126... once, on the ground, in America, when I was a teenage air force cadet.
‘When was that?’ snapped the Captain of the Guard, taking notes.
‘I flew her across the Atlantic in 1924.’ I lied, ‘When she was surrendered to America as part of the reparations for the First World War.’
‘Hmm.’ said the Captain, studying my face. ‘Did you stay with the LZ126 in America?’
‘No.’ I said, making up a story as I went along. ‘I returned to Europe after the Americans changed her lifting gas to helium. I prefer the faster hydrogen airships.’
‘You are certainly a fast thinker.’ said the Captain of the Guard, with a glint in his eye. ‘Who was your last commander?’
‘Commander T. DeBlanc.’ I said, quickly. I couldn’t think of any other commander’s name.
‘Double Duke Tirant DeDeBlanc!’ scoffed the Captain. ‘Oh ho! I have heard of him. Dippy Duke DeBlanc… the crazy commander. He was taken off to the asylum. He was telling everyone he was going to be in charge of some crazy, steam powered airship that was as big as the city of Berlin.’
‘Yes. He is a tad eccentric.’ I said, weakly.
‘He is… a lunatic.’ said the Captain of the Guard, standing up and snapping his notebook shut. ‘And now I’m going to find out what you are. I shall phone Berlin and check your story with the Luftwaffe records office. Then we’ll find out which side you are actually on.’
‘I’ll look forward to getting out of here then.’ I said, feigning over confidence, as I sat back on my hard wooden bed.
‘We shall see.’ he said, locking my cell door as he left. ‘We shall see.’
As I watched him walk away across the walled courtyard I knew that I would be in even more trouble when he returned. There would be no trace of a Nate Drywood flying German airships in 1926.
I sat and dozed in the gathering darkness until I thought I had begun to hear voices again.
Then I realised that someone was speaking to me through the grill beneath my cell window.
‘Air - man - Dry - wood.’ whispered the voice. ‘You - need - to - get - out - of - here.’
‘How do you know my name?’ I whispered into the darkness.
‘I - know - all - about - Nate - Dry - wood.’ said the tinny voice, resonating in the metal grill. ‘You - need - to - retrieve - your - bag - and - a - mech - anical - hand.’
‘How am I supposed to do that?’ I hissed. ‘I’m locked in here!’
‘The - guards - are - gone.’ said the voice. ‘They - are - also - search - ing - for - the - gun - that - was - fired - at - their - leader.’
‘Who are you?’ I asked. ‘And how do you know so much about what’s going on?’
‘Your - Commander - has - sent - me - here.’ said the buzzing voice. ‘You - have - to retrieve - your - Wave - gun.’
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, high above and eleven years in the future, Commander DeBlanc was talking about Nate as the Uchronie followed the HIndenburg out across the Atlantic.
‘Nate will have to pull himself up by his bootstraps.’ he said, watching Doctor Mentor tend to the comatose Ginger. ‘The Hindenburg has already sailed for America and our prime objective is to follow her and ensure that the main timeline of history goes back on track.’
‘You can’t just leave Nate in 1926.’ gasped Lolly. ‘You said he had been very useful back there, once you sorted out your timelines and realized what had actually happened.’
‘Well… we CAN just leave him there.’ said DeBlanc, eyebrows bristling. ‘But, you’re right; we probably shouldn’t… because, as you say, he has been rather useful to us.’
‘We should collect him before he reveals any secrets about the Uchronie.’ said Doctor Mentor. ‘And what about his Wave gun?’
‘That’s exactly why Nate was so useful to us.’ said DeBlanc, haughtily. ‘As I said before, I previously detected a Wave signal in 1926 and sent Ginger to investigate. It’s just as well he didn’t find it because firing Nate’s pistol at Hitler has changed everything.’
‘It were me wot used it.’ said Wayne, pulling at his Burberry baseball cap. ‘But it didn’t fire.’
‘I now, but you did well.’ said DeBlanc. ‘Very well. Considering it wasn’t your pistol.’
‘But it didn’t do nuffink.’ complained Wayne. ‘I wanted to pop ‘im, an’ I botched it.’
‘Ah! That’s where you’re wrong.’ said DeBlanc. ‘The very fact that you fired at Hitler, and he survived, has added to the Fuehrer’s belief in his own invincibility and fuelled his conviction that he is on a righteous mission to clean up Europe. This megalomania will cause him to make irrational choices. So... your shot from the Wave pistol will eventually make him lose the war.’
‘We can’t leave that gun lying around in Bechtsgaden.’ said Doctor Mentor. ‘Anyone that finds it will have access to our advanced vapor technology and may turn history in yet another direction.’
‘Icon easy get fix on gun, n‘that.’ said Biffo, from the shadows. ‘S’easy… but.’
‘We should send someone to 1926 to collect it, provided we don’t cause another paradox.’ said Doctor Mentor, holding his damaged arm.. ‘And I would quite like my hand back as well... I’d grown rather attached to it.’
‘Very well then.’ said DeBlanc. ‘Now we have three very good reasons to return to Bechtsgaden in 1926 but, unfortunately, I have already laid in a course for Lakehurst aerodrome, New Jersey in 1937.’
‘We could still send someone to 1926 through the Wells Tippler cylinder.’ offered Corporal Price. ‘We’re not that far away from Bechtsgaden.’
‘We are already a hundred miles away.’ said DeBlanc, checking his hand held tachyscreen. ‘Besides, we can’t risk losing another One Time Pad …Wayne nearly lost one already.’
‘I brung it back.’ protested Wayne.
‘Yes you did.’ yawned DeBlanc, stretching his arms wide. ‘But we are on a mission and I don’t have any crew to spare. Is Ginger’s triplane repaired?’
‘Sir! Yes, sir.’ said Corporal Price. ‘The steamchavs started putting it back together on Sunday or erm… well… whenever it was. The plane is fully repaired.’
‘Good.’ said DeBlanc. ‘Get Ginger’s triplane ready to launch and fit her with a long range fuel tank. We shall send it back to 1926 while we continue to shadow the Hindenburg in 1937.’
‘Who is going to fly it, daddy?’ asked Lolly, stroking the comatose Ginger‘s brow.
‘We shall send it by remote control.’ said DeBlanc, blinking so rapidly that his gold monocle fell out. ‘The plane knows the way. It’s been there and back once already.’
Biffo appeared from the shadows grinning broadly.
‘I thought you‘d relish the prospect.’ said DeBlanc. ‘You’ll be able to try out your reconstructed robot.’
‘Osky, n‘that.’ said Biffo. ‘Brit’s broke, but...’
‘Biffo has assembled a new, man sized, robot from the remains of Osky and Brit.’ said Commander DeBlanc. ‘What did you call it, Biff?’
‘Asim.’ said Biffo.
‘Biffo assures me that Asim can be programmed to fly Ginger’s triplane.’ said DeBlanc.
‘Wonder, ‘ow long it’ll last this time.’ muttered Wayne.
‘Asim will last long enough.’ said DeBlanc, giving Wayne a reproachful look. ‘Nate can fly the plane back… after collecting his Wave gun, Doctor Mentor’s hand and anything else that needs cleared up in 1926. There, we’ve killed three birds with one stone and made Biffo‘s day.’
‘But Nate is locked in a prison cell.’ said Lolly.
‘I‘m well aware of that.’ said Commander DeBlanc. ‘Don’t worry, my dear, I will deal with that.’
‘You’ll have to be careful you don’t cause another temporal paradox.’ said Doctor Mentor. ‘We’ve caused enough ripples in the time stream recently.’
‘The ripples are all smoothing out.’ said DeBlanc, confidently. ‘And you should calm yourself as well Doctor! My plan will return the status quo.’
‘You’ll cause a further inconsistency.’ snapped Doctor Mentor. ‘A paradox.’
‘Dr Mentor forgets that a paradox is not a physical obstacle to be overcome.’ said Commander DeBlanc, addressing everyone in the room loudly. ‘It is merely a sign that we are attempting something that is rather unfeasible.’
‘We all have an imperfect understanding of how time actually works.’ blustered Doctor Mentor.
‘Speak for yourself.’ snapped DeBlanc. ‘Your notions of causality may be based on the erroneous notion that time only moves in one direction, but, sometimes, effect precedes cause. Every choice we make, every action we take and every word we write creates an alternate universe with different rules.’
‘It’s the little things that have the potential to cause chaos.’ said Doctor Mentor. ‘Predicting the time stream is like predicting the weather. Tiny variations in temperature or wind direction will drastically alter the outcomes.’
‘Butterfly Effect, innit.’ said Wayne.
‘Yes.’ said DeBlanc. ‘But Nate may not be the butterfly of doom we first thought he was. When we tried to find out what caused the changes in the time stream we were originally led to his adventure aboard the Hindenburg.’
‘It’s nearly impossible to make long term predictions.’ said Doctor Mentor. ‘Long term weather forecasting is considered a joke… even by meteorologists.'
‘The beat of a butterfly’s wing could, theoretically, trigger tropical storms or blizzards.’ said DeBlanc. ’But it is equally likely to calm the weather. We need to remember that there are other options besides the apocalyptic Doomsday scenario. We need to put Nate back where we found him. Give me five minutes I’ll get it all sorted out.’
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Coincidentally, sitting in his jail cell in 1926, Nate heard almost exactly the same words from his tinny voiced visitor.
‘You - need - to - get - back - to - where - you - came - from.’ said the mechanical voice. ‘Meet - outside - in - five - minutes - and - I’ll - get - it - all - sorted.’
‘Who are you?’ I asked again.
‘Asim.’ said Asim, sliding a key through the tiny grill. ‘Take - this.’
I didn’t know who Asim was but I didn’t need to be told what to do with the key.
I unlocked my cell door, collected Dr Mentor’s hand and put it in my leather backpack. Then I slipped outside and found Asim crouched among the bushes beneath my cell window. Even in the gathering darkness I recognised him as one of Biffo’s robots.
‘Here -you - will - need - this - as - well.’ he said, handing me my Wave gun.
‘How did you find that?’ I gasped.
‘No - time - to - explain.’ said Asim, turning away. ‘Time - to - go.’
‘How do we get out of here?’ I asked.
‘You - go. I - will - not - be - coming - with - you.’ said Asim. ‘Battery - failing.’
‘But I can’t just leave you behind!’ I said.
‘Go.’ said Asim. ‘I - take - your - place. I - am - your - dummy.’
Before I could stop him, or say another word, he left and took my place inside the cell.
In the darkness I slid from tree to tree down to the lakeside until I was beside the short pier where Asim had moored Ginger’s triplane.
There was a single guard sitting, half asleep, inside the boathouse.
Crawling on all fours, I sneaked past him and untied the plane but the heavy rope slipped out of my hand and splashed into the water.
The noise woke the guard; he saw me and immediately picked up his rifle.
I ran and jumped from the end of the pier landing on the plane with a thud that took my breath away.
As I pulled open the door I could see the soldier loading his rifle.
But the engine started first time and, as a single bullet whizzed over my head, I taxied the plane out on to the dark lake.
His single shot alerted the other soldiers on the lakeside and, amidst a hail of bullets; I revved the engine and sped across the water.
Once I had taken off, I knew that I was safe.
What I didn’t know was that the long range tank beneath me had been hit and was leaking fuel on to the red hot exhaust.
Unaware of this danger I climbed steadily and headed out into the mists gathering over the Atlantic.
Next Episode: All’s Well That Ends Well?