An EMP knocks out all the power in North America. As people are scrambling to get generators (or anything else) running, they begin to hear rumors. Nuclear war. Chaos. What about the President? Is she alive or did she die in the disaster?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mary Orsen discovers that her ability to travel through time was not affected by the EMP. She has the power and the ability to go back in time and prevent the war. But she also knows that she\u2019ll only make things worse if she doesn\u2019t go back and change what really started it. Was it the EMP, or had it actually begun before that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mary consults with men who have traveled through time before: Bat Garrett and Garison Fitch. They are old now and can, however, only give advice. If the world is going to be saved, there can only be one TimeKeeper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And Mary\u2019s pretty sure she\u2019s not it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Available now on Kindle<\/a> and in paperback<\/a>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n To read how the TimeKeeperS<\/em> got started, make sure you read \u201cTimeKeeperS<\/em>\u201d (as well as the Garison Fitch & Bat Garrett books!) and the conclusion in TimeKeeperS:Restoration<\/em>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n …<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sample Chapter<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThank you, sir,\u201d Marianne said as she handed the uniform to Captain Remmick. \u201cIt was an honor to wear them, especially since I haven\u2019t earned them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou may before this is over.\u201d Remmick sat the uniform aside and looked at the attractive woman before him in her \u201cW\u201d T-shirt and cargo pants and thought that if he were thirty years younger\u2014and then made himself focus on the business at hand. In a low voice, he asked, \u201cWhat\u2019s it like when you zap to other places with that device of yours?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHonestly, sir, it\u2019s nothing. I mean, it\u2019s a weird sensation to suddenly be somewhere else, but the actual travel is so quick the brain can\u2019t comprehend it. You\u2019re just here, and then, you\u2019re there. It was a little disorienting at first, but now I\u2019m used to it.\u201d She laughed and added, \u201cExcept for jumping into what seemed to this west Texas gal like a monsoon and being grabbed by a Captain so I wouldn\u2019t fall overboard. That one was kind of wild.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHow is it,\u201d he hesitated, trying to work out his words, then said, \u201cYou jumped into the middle of a spray of salt water, right? Does all that salt water get absorbed into your body? What if you zapped to a place where there was a bird, or a cat or something?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s part of why I send out the sensors,\u201d Marianne explained. \u201cTrying to avoid all that as much as possible. But, in reality, it\u2019s not like I\u2019m beaming somewhere like on \u2018Star Trek.\u2019 My atoms aren\u2019t being disassembled or anything. I am moving through space. So I would actually bump the cat out of the way. Actually startled a raccoon once.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat if it were something like a desk\u2014or a wall?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She lifted her pant leg and showed him a bruise on her right shin, saying, \u201cThat\u2019s from a coffee table in Amarillo, Texas. Glad it had room to move when I bumped it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnother land-lubber?\u201d Captain Remmick asked, actually smiling slightly and not as belligerent as Marianne had worried he might be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cUm, yessir,\u201d Marianne replied. \u201cThis is Sean Fitch, he\u2019s\u2014\u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOne of the greatest minds of our time,\u201d Remmick completed, extending his hand towards Sean. \u201cI have read your papers on astronomy and, I must say, I\u2019m a huge fan. I originally wanted to be an astronaut, but, well, I wound up here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPleased to meet you, sir,\u201d Sean replied. \u201cThank you for allowing me aboard.\u201d He put on his round glasses, which made him look more academic and even less like his father, though Marianne knew he was quite athletic, bicycling several times a week through the mountains with his wife, Elaine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marianne tried to take control of the situation, though she was astounded by Captain Remmick\u2019s suddenly deferential attitude, by saying, \u201cSean contacted me that he had seen something in the Kerrigan reports that he wanted me to see. I thought you and the admiral would like to see it as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEver been on a carrier, Mister Fitch?\u201d Admiral Pike asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo, ma\u2019am. I was in the Air Force for three years but they barely even let me out of Nevada. Don\u2019t think I even saw a sailor the whole time.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSo sad for you,\u201d Pike chided.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat do you have for us?\u201d Marianne asked, afraid they were going to drift away again. Although, she said to herself, we\u2019re going to change history anyway, so what\u2019s a little lost time?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sean plugged his Screen\u00ae into a large table that doubled as a video screen and brought up a map of the world much like the one the meteorologists had displayed previously and said, \u201cThere are several places in the world that the fallout hasn\u2019t touched, yet. I decided to overlay what data we had from the Kerrigans with what we\u2019ve found out about the weather patterns to see if there were any places that had corresponding fallout clearance and extra-dimensional activity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWere there?\u201d Pike asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sean, adjusting the screen, replied, \u201cWe don\u2019t have a lot of Kerrigan data, but we do have this.\u201d He changed the display to a depiction of the Americas and the Pacific and directed, \u201cSo far, we have only detected two time incursions. There\u2019s the one Marianne found in the Pacific, and this one in Brazil\u2014\u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBrazil?\u201d the two officers asked in unison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sean adjusted his glasses and continued, \u201cFrom what I can tell from my maps, it\u2019s an area that would normally be considered the back side of nowhere. In their state of Amazonas.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen was it?\u201d Marianne asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs near as I can figure, it was within moments of the nuclear attack. I think it might have been after but we haven\u2019t had a really close pass with a Kerrigan, yet.\u201d Sean brought up another map of South America and said, \u201cNow, check this out. I searched the area by satellite\u2014\u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHow?\u201d Pike asked, not accusatory but curious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe President gave me access to what was left of the satellite network. And my father figured out how to\u2014ahem\u2014establish a connection.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWow,\u201d Remmick mumbled, to receive an appreciative nod from the admiral. He snapped his fingers and commented, \u201cYour father\u2019s Garison Fitch, right? Nobel Prize winner and science advisor to the President.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes. Anyway,\u201d Sean said, \u201cLook at this: there\u2019s a giant bulge in the land that\u2019s roughly the size of one of our battle cruisers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTheories?\u201d Pike asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was Marianne who guessed, \u201cYou think maybe it was going to take too much power to send whatever ship they used to launch the nukes to the future so they buried it in the Amazon jungle?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSort of, though I wasn\u2019t thinking of the power angle. That might actually be part of the thinking\u2014could be all of it\u2014but, like I was saying, this is one of the areas that has remained completely free of fallout. What if whoever did this knows\u2014from future knowledge\u2014that this spot will stay nuke free so they stuck their ship there in hopes of retrieving it whenever they need it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOr use it as a base,\u201d Marianne injected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHmm?\u201d Sean asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe may be making wild guesses here, but what if what you say is true and this is someone from the future who is trying to destabilize the past in their favor? Aren\u2019t they going to want some sort of base from which to operate? To stay in this time period and either monitor or even change things?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhy aren\u2019t they doing anything, then?\u201d Pike asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe don\u2019t know that they aren\u2019t, ma\u2019am,\u201d Marianne told her. \u201cThey might be manipulating something, or just monitoring things. Maybe they\u2019re just focused on building a society or a foothold in the Amazon while the rest of the world goes to hell.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOr,\u201d Sean interrupted, \u201cThey just dumped the ship there because it\u2019s an out of the way place and they didn\u2019t think anyone would notice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Captain Remmick snapped his fingers and, looking at Marianne, said excitedly, \u201cThe reason the bump shows up in the earth is because the dirt had to go somewhere right? Like what you were saying about shoving the cat out of the way: they could bury the ship but it\u2019s going to push the dirt somewhere.\u201d Marianne nodded in agreement, which made the Captain feel inordinately proud of himself (and embarrassed by the fact).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sean offered, \u201cIf they just hid the ship, that might be good news for us. Or, even if they\u2019re using it as a base, that might portend well for us.\u201d Seeing he had their attention, he explained, \u201cThey put the ship\u2014if that\u2019s what it is\u2014under the ground assuming it wouldn\u2019t be seen. And, under normal circumstances, it wouldn\u2019t have been. You could be building a couple football fields in the Amazon without anyone noticing under normal circumstances. But we noticed because of the Kerrigans. That may indicate that whoever we\u2019re dealing with doesn\u2019t know we have the Kerrigans\u2014\u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWait a minute,\u201d Remmick objected, \u201cHow is that possible. They\u2019re from the future. Don\u2019t they know everything we\u2019re doing because it\u2019s history to them?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sean looked at Marianne, who answered, \u201cNot if they\u2019re from pretty far away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marianne answered, \u201cNone of what I have done with Edie\u2014or what Mister Garrett did\u2014were government sanctioned and, therefore, may never be written into the history books. We don\u2019t know how much they might know about us. You haven\u2019t been writing down what I\u2019ve done, have you?\u201d The captain and the admiral both shook their heads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf this were someone from, say, ten years in the future, you might be right. Our movements might be known. Maybe even a hundred years from now, unless we were to take specific actions to cover our tracks. But what if they\u2019re from thousands of years in the future? Marcus, he was a man I knew who had, um, seen the future\u2014and I believe him. He said there had been more than one war that poisoned the planet. We could be dealing with someone from, say, a thousand years in the future who only know the most basic details of our world\u2014\u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sean snapped his fingers again and said, excitedly, \u201cAnd they don\u2019t know as much as they thought they did!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat?\u201d several voices asked at once.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThink about it: if these are people from a different future, who changed the past, they might know about the Kerrigans but they might not know their full capabilities because almost no one did. We didn\u2019t. Jason Kerrigan drew up the plans but, as far as anyone knows, never built one. We only built them because you\u2014and a me from another time line\u2014built the ones we have, but almost no one seems to know what they do. We don\u2019t know how the Egyptians built the pyramids and whoever it is from the future that\u2019s causing these problems may not know how the Kerrigans work\u2014or even that we have them. And no one has been traveling through time with Edie since the last time you did\u2014what?\u2014six years ago?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAlmost seven.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRight. And if they hadn\u2019t interfered, you might not have ever traveled through time again. This technology could very well have died with you and me. And I don\u2019t mean that generally, I mean with Marianne and I. The history they have of our day might be fairly detailed, with names of all our leaders and even records of where our naval ships were. But they might not know \u2026 \u201c He was smiling as he paced intently, \u201cWe know Roman history, right? We know who was Caesar when and where their troops were placed, right? But we don\u2019t know about Joe Greek over here who did experiments on cattle because he never told anyone. Maybe he invented a cure for hoof in mouth, but his kid ran off to Athens and the knowledge died with Joe. Whoever did this, they may not have had any idea that one fairly obscure astrophysicist and a private eye from Arizona\u2014\u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWho\u2019s even more obscure,\u201d Marianne chuckled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYeah, they have no idea that we would have any way of tracking them. Seriously, they had an almost perfect plan. Start a world war, have everyone at the time blame everyone else, then pick up the pieces\u2014a hundred years later, a thousand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhy would they think they would be there?\u201d Remmick asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHuh?\u201d asked Marianne and the admiral in unison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThese people from the future are the descendents of someone alive today, right? Whether it\u2019s the people of Mexico or Canada or just some town in Kansas. How would they know that this nuclear war wasn\u2019t going to wipe out their progenitor?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sean, after several moments of silence, offered, \u201cMaybe they have a map of the \u2018pockets\u2019 as Marianne calls them and they know that the seed of their civilization sprung up in one of those pockets. Maybe they even sprung from some Amazonian tribe and the ship is there now to look after their ancestors.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was Pike who said, \u201cWhat you\u2019re saying makes sense\u2014of a sort. I\u2019m finding it hard to give one hundred percent credibility to a theory that involves time travel, but that\u2019s neither here nor there. Even if this theory makes some logical sense, it\u2019s still an awful lot of conjecture.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThen let me go to the Amazon and investigate,\u201d Marianne requested. \u201cIt\u2019s what I do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAlone?\u201d Sean asked, hoping to go along.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo offense, Sean, but I was thinking that if I took anyone with me I\u2019d like for it to be someone who speaks the language.\u201d She smirked slightly as she added, looking at the admiral, \u201cAnd I sure wouldn\u2019t turn down a U.S. Marine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBowstring, this is First Sergeant Amelee Fitzwater\u2014\u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCall me Fitz,\u201d the stout, fair-haired woman said cordially if not in a friendly manner as she shook Marianne\u2019s hand. She looked to be of Nordic descent and Marianne could see her being one of those tough women who skied all day with a machine gun on their backs as they patrolled some far northern slope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Admiral Pike continued, \u201cAnd this is Gunnery Sergeant Darrin Hollis.\u201d He was a dark-skinned man of medium height but more than average muscles. Marianne guessed that some of his ancestors might have come from the Caribbean. As he shook Marianne\u2019s hand, the Admiral explained, \u201cThe gunny here speaks Spanish and Portuguese and can generally make his wishes known in any South American country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat\u2019s impressive,\u201d Marianne complimented. \u201cStudy a lot or just a natural gift for languages?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSome of both, ma\u2019am.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCall me Bowstring,\u201d she instructed with a smile. Marianne hadn\u2019t told the admiral\u2014or anyone except Bat and Jody\u2014that she didn\u2019t need a translator, ever. When she had been sent to the future, Marcus had given her the gift of being able to understand and speak any language she would ever encounter. She had thought the gift might only be for the future, but in her years back in the twenty-first century it had never gone away. It was a skill that had served her well as an investigator, especially as so few people knew she had it. It suddenly dawned on her that, with Bat and Jody gone, no one knew she had the ability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBowstring?\u201d he asked with a smile. \u201cWhat is that? French?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOui,\u201d Marianne responded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd this is Lance Corporal Hector Ives, who is also fluent in Portugese,\u201d Admiral Pike said as she introduced a strikingly handsome young man with somewhat dark skin and a shaved head. He shook Marianne\u2019s hand and flashed a winning smile but Marianne got the impression it was more of just his natural personality than any attempt to win her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIves?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGrandfather was Scottish,\u201d he replied. \u201cMarried a woman from Portugal and moved to South Carolina,\u201d he told her with just a hint of a southern accent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rear Admiral Pike said, \u201cNow, if you\u2019ll be seated, we\u2019ll brief you on the mission. Please be aware that everything you hear in this meeting is top secret.\u201d She added sardonically, \u201cAnd some if it is going to sound insane.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She brought up the map of South America Sean had created and said, \u201cYou\u2019re going here. It\u2019s a very remote area with very little population, mostly involved in mining or woodcutting. You\u2019re going to be assisting Bowstring in the investigation of this mound here, which we have reason to believe may be tied to the nuclear launches that started the recent conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cPardon me, ma\u2019am,\u201d interrupted Fitz, \u201cIs it related to theEMPas well?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat remains to be seen, Fitz. That\u2019s one of the things we hope you will find out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She then went into a semi-technical description of what the Kerrigans had revealed and the basic principles of extra-dimensional integration. As Pike described Edie and what it did, Marianne couldn\u2019t help but cast sideways glances at her new compatriots. She stifled a chuckle as she saw that all three of them wore expressions mixed of equal parts awe and fear that their commanding officer had slipped a gear. She wondered how they would react if they were told the Edie units could also move through time. When Pike had finished her part, she offered, \u201cBowstring?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n While Marianne knew far more about Edie than the admiral, it had been decided that news of such a fantastic nature could be more easily swallowed if coming from a fleet-level officer. Now, she doubted whether it had really helped, if the expressions on their faces were any indication. As everyone looked to her, Marianne began, \u201cAs Admiral Pike has said, you may call me Bowstring. So far, our satellite recon of the area has shown no human presence. Whether that is because there is none or because the humans are underground we don\u2019t know, yet. These are some of the questions we are going to ask\u2014and hopefully answer. It is our goal to do this as stealthily as possible, which is part of why you three were chosen. However,\u201d Marianne said uncomfortably, \u201cIf there are people there and they are the ones who instigated a global nuclear war \u2026 well, I wanted people who would not be averse to fighting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cExcuse me, ma\u2019am,\u201d Fitz interrupted again, \u201cBut what is the chain of command on this mission?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBowstring is the lead,\u201d Pike replied without hesitation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCIA?\u201d Ives asked casually.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNo,\u201d Marianne replied, not sure what explanation to give.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Admiral Pike answered, \u201cLet\u2019s just say that Bowstring here is on special assignment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAye-aye,\u201d said all three Marines, though not exactly in unison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMarines, let me say one more thing,\u201d the Admiral began. \u201cI want to remind you that this mission and everything you have heard in this room are top secret. Should you return, any mention of anything you have heard today to anyone other than one of the five of us in the room right now will be grounds for summary court martial and possibly execution. Do you understand?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n All three looked surprised, but each nodded and replied, \u201cYes ma\u2019am,\u201d in turn as the admiral caught their eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat you see on this excursion and what you experience, those things, too, must be guarded with the utmost secrecy. For reasons that I cannot get into, you will be debriefed verbally by me after the mission and no record of it will ever\u2014and I do mean ever\u2014be written down. Is that understood?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYes ma\u2019am,\u201d they all agreed again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThen may you be granted godspeed and may you all return safely.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n All three had been told what gear to bring when summoned, which had set in the corner during the briefing. At that point, the admiral told them to use the head attached to the briefing room if they needed\u2014each availed themselves of the opportunity\u2014and then were bidden to gear up. As they did so, it was Hollis who asked, \u201cHow will we be inserted, Admiral? Osprey?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEdie,\u201d Admiral Pike replied, a barely-disguised wink shot Marianne\u2019s way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The three Marines looked up in surprise, but none of them said anything. As they finished with their gear and she slung her bow over her shoulder, Marianne told them, \u201cWe\u2019re going to be \u2018landing\u2019 about a quarter mile from the mound in a little clearing just to the north. We\u2019ll do some recon on foot from there. Oh, and let me warn you: your first zap\u2014as we call it\u2014can be a bit disorienting. You won\u2019t feel a thing, but one moment you\u2019ll see this room and the next you\u2019ll see the Amazon basin and there will be nothing in between. Like changing the channel on a TV.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSeriously?\u201d Ives asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marianne nodded, then asked, \u201cEveryone ready?\u201d She took Edie in her left hand, held out her right and said, \u201cPut an ungloved hand in. We\u2019ve got to be touching skin.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou\u2019re kidding,\u201d Fitz responded, holding her hand back, having been in the process of taking the glove off as it dawned on her what had been stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOddly, no,\u201d Marianne told her. When all the hands were in, she looked to the admiral and said, \u201cI guess we\u2019ll see you in a few, Admiral. I\u2019ll ping you as soon as we\u2019re there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGo with God,\u201d Admiral Pike told them with a nod.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And suddenly the four of them were standing in a small clearing in the Amazon jungle. To Marianne, it was nothing, but the others gasped words of astonishment that were better left unprinted. Marianne knelt down, motioned for them to do the same, then whispered, \u201cHere\u2019s where the stealth comes in. Everybody got their breath?\u201d When the Marines nodded, Marianne pointed and said, \u201cThe mound\u2019s over that way. Watch for people and let\u2019s see if we can find a way inside.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhy not just zap in?\u201d Ives asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe probably will,\u201d Marianne told him. \u201cBut I\u2019d like to have as much information as we can before we do that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cUnderstood,\u201d said three voices, or variations of the word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The jungle was light and airy, not like Marianne had pictured it in her mind (owing mostly to movies), though there were as many bugs as she had imagined. All four of them were heavily clothed and had applied bug repellent to their exposed flesh, but there were still plenty of bugs around, many who didn\u2019t seem to have received the memo about being repelled by that concoction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They reached a small rise and crept quietly to its crest before peeking over. What they saw was a tree-covered mound that didn\u2019t look out of the ordinary at first glance. As they all studied the terrain, Fitz and Ives with no-glare binoculars that\u2014in theory\u2014wouldn\u2019t reflect light on anyone who might happen to look their way\u2014they could see signs that the ground had been pushed up: a revealed root here, a fresh-looking crack in the ground there. Atop the hill, the cracking in the ground was more pronounced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cStill,\u201d Marianne whispered, \u201cIf I didn\u2019t know what to look for I could have walked right past this and, if anything, just thought it was a natural occurrence.\u201d The Marines nodded in agreement. \u201cRecommendations?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fitz pointed, \u201cOver there, I\u2019d say about two klicks from our positions, there\u2019s a rise similar to this one. I say we split into pairs and rendezvous over there in about\u2014how long do you think it would take us, Gunny?\u201d she asked Hollis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHard to say. Flat territory, we could be there in fifteen minutes. But we want to take some time, look things over, and this canopy could be hiding ravines and who knows what else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSay two hours?\u201d Fitz asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marianne nodded and replied, \u201cSounds good. No communication unless we haven\u2019t heard anything in two and a half or if there\u2019s an emergency.\u201d She looked at the Marines and asked, \u201cThat work for you?\u201d She knew the wisdom about leaders making decisions and not seeking the approval of underlings, but Marianne knew she was the outsider in this group and\u2014in their minds, anyway\u2014not a military person, anyway. Would they believe her if she told them that, at the age of eighteen, she had led a military force of over ten thousand people? She doubted it and the irony of the thought made her smile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They all nodded, so Marianne said, \u201cFitz, you know everyone\u2019s capabilities better than I do, so how do you suggest we pair up?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYou and Gunny, me and Ives?\u201d Fitz replied, shrugging to indicate that it didn\u2019t really matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSounds good. See you in two,\u201d she whispered. Even having been around military people before, she was amazed at how quickly and quietly Fitz and Ives disappeared into the underbrush.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As she and Hollis set out, he asked, \u201cHave you ever been in the military, Bowstring?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She hesitated, then replied, \u201cYes. But, like so much lately, I can\u2019t talk about it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Are you really any good with that bow?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marianne hesitated again, then replied, \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sheriff Avilla pounded on the door of the large house that still stood, remarkably close to where the airliner had gone down. \u201cGo away!\u201d came a gruff reply from inside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis is Sheriff Avilla,\u201d she called from the front step. \u201cI need to talk to Mister Kiko Abrams.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n There was no sound for a moment, and then the sound of a chain being removed and a bolt thrown. The front door swung open and a shotgun blast caught Julie Avilla full in the chest, knocking her back and off the porch. A second shot was fired in the direction of Deputy Harold Grimes, catching him mostly on the arm. As he screamed and fell away, Deputy Terry Killian used his service piece to fire several shots through the door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From inside the house, screams could be heard. Killian rushed to drag Sheriff Avilla out of the way, even while calling on his mic, \u201cOfficers down at 323 Reynosa. Repeat: officers down at 323 Reynosa. Shots fired.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He was about to repeat his call again when the muzzle of a gun could be seen coming from the shadow of the doorway. Deputy Killian lifted his service piece and fired twice, gratified to see the gun\u2014a rifle\u2014dropped to the tile floor of the house\u2019s entry way. And then all went black as something hit him on the back of the head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat happened?\u201d Judge Hanson asked as he struggled through the crowd to get to Dr. Whitcomb\u2019s side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr. Whitcomb, however, was busy and soon disappeared into the O.R. Judge Hanson looked like he was about to follow the doctor into surgery, but saw a deputy\u2014Killian, he thought the man\u2019s name was\u2014sitting to the side and holding a bloody towel to his forehead. He lunged at the deputy and demanded, \u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe went to serve that warrant on Kiko Abrams you gave us,\u201d the deputy grumbled in reply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd then?\u201d Hanson wanted to know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWell, they responded by shooting Sheriff Avilla and deputy Grimes. Me, I got away with just a knock to the head.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Suddenly, Hanson was being slammed against the wall by Oscar Melendez, late of the Arizona Highway Patrol and now working for the Flagstaff Police Department. \u201cYou son of a b\u2014h! You issue a warrant and then call the perps to let them know cops are coming!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI didn\u2019t\u2014\u201c Hanson tried to object, only to receive a punch in the belly from Melendez that doubled the judge up in pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It was Deputy Killian who pulled Melendez off the judge, saying, \u201cWhat are you talking about, Oscar?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSomeone had to have tipped off Abrams and his crew. Why else would they have been prepared like that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBecause they were thugs and knew we were getting close to them for hanging the Talifero brothers,\u201d Killian replied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOr maybe he told them,\u201d Officer Melendez retorted, lunging for the judge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hanson backed up a step, then said, \u201cPlease, tell me what happened!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Melendez, still being restrained by an aching Terry Killian, said, \u201cI was a block away when I heard the call, so I came running. I see Jimmy Abrams, Kiko\u2019s boy, club Deputy Killian in the back with a baseball bat\u2014\u201c<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI wondered why I hurt there, too,\u201d Killian injected, trying to add a bit of levity in an attempt to defuse the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI yelled out, \u2018Jimmy! Drop the bat!\u2019 He does, then he lunges for a rifle that\u2019s on the stoop. I told him to drop that, too, but he starts to bring it up. That\u2019s when I shot him. He crumpled and I ran up to the porch to find Sheriff Avilla bleeding from buckshot to the neck and face and Deputy Grimes is quickly going into shock. Gloria Dios we got that one ambulance running or they might have both bled out.\u201d He spat at the judge, \u201cEven if no one tipped them off, you don\u2019t go after a man like Kiko Abrams with just three officers. You call us all in!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI wrote the search warrant but I trusted in the Sheriff to know how many people to take,\u201d Judge Hanson defended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Melendez swore lowly as he shrugged out of Killian\u2019s hold. \u201cYou better sit back down, man,\u201d he told the deputy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWho was inside the house?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI looked and I found Kiko and his boy, Danny, both shot and dead in the front foyer. Looked to me like it had been Danny that fired off the shotgun, then Kiko came up with the rifle.\u201d Changing his tone of belligerence, he added, \u201cYou oughta give this deputy a medal, Judge. He did in one afternoon what your courts haven\u2019t been able to do in twenty years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n They were slumped against the wall when Dr. Whitcomb came out more than an hour later and told them, \u201cSheriff Avilla should make it. Her vest took most of the blast, but there was on pellet that came this close,\u201d he held his thumb and forefinger an eighth of an inch apart, \u201cFrom severing her jugular. Still, it\u2019s going to be a few days before she can return to duty, maybe a couple weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnd Grimes?\u201d Killian asked anxiously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cHe may lose the arm. Doctors Stanislauv and Andrews are working with him and, if we\u2019re lucky, we can keep him alive long enough for the arm to heal\u2014one way or another.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Killian crossed himself at the news and Melendez muttered a brief prayer. Killian asked, \u201cWhen can we see them?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI can take you back there now, but just for a couple minutes,\u201d Caleb replied. \u201cBoth are out of it right now, but I\u2019m a firm believer that patients can hear people who care even when they\u2019re out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThanks, Doc,\u201d Officer Melendez said as they rose and followed him into post-op.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Caleb looked over his shoulder to see Hanson still slumped against the wall, a vacant expression on his face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAnything?\u201d Marianne asked, though she had an idea she knew what the answer was going to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNothing. Nobody, no door, nothing,\u201d Fitz replied. \u201cI take it, it was the same for you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marianne nodded, as did the Gunny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ives injected, \u201cWe even used the infra-red scanner. Thought there might be an air shaft letting off vapors or something, but we didn\u2019t see anything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSo,\u201d Fitz asked, \u201cWe zap in?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marianne nodded, but pulled off her backpack so she could get into it and pulled out a small, remote-controlled car with a video camera attached. \u201cPlay time?\u201d the Gunny asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marianne shot him a dirty look, then smiled and said, \u201cFriend of mine came up with this.\u201d She loaded one of her sensors into the little car and explained, \u201cWe can send this car in first. Remote control\u2019s good up to half a mile. We let this little thing look around for us, first.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She tapped some buttons on Edie, and the little car disappeared. Handing a Screen\u00ae to Fitz and a remote control to the Gunny, she said, \u201cThis should give us an idea what we\u2019re going in to. The car even has little headlights, but I can\u2019t guarantee how effective they are.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNeed a night vision camera on that car,\u201d Ives suggested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cVersion 2.0,\u201d Marianne quipped as they all watched the Screen\u00ae. They watched as the picture came up to show what looked like the interior of a naval ship with the lights on low. As Gunny moved the car around, they were able to see more of the room the car had landed in but, as the room had a hatch for a doorway, the little car couldn\u2019t go out into the hallway. Marianne mumbled, \u201cOK, so version 3.0 will be a camera attached to one of those little helicopters.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She checked the reading from the sensor in the car on her Kerrigan and said, \u201cWell, looks like we can go at least as far as that room. Sensor says there\u2019s air. Everybody game?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBeats standing out here,\u201d the Gunny pronounced, the other two Marines nodding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOK,\u201d Marianne said, \u201cHands in.\u201d A moment later, they were in what looked like a billeting room of a metal, naval ship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gunny stepped over to the door and peeked out into the hallway, then announced, \u201cAll clear.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWait,\u201d Fitz commanded. \u201cListen. Anybody hear anything?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n They all stopped what they were doing, but could hear only a low rumble\u2014as machinery\u2014from somewhere far off. \u201cSomething\u2019s working down here,\u201d Ives commented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fitz replied, \u201cSounds like a generator. Maybe it\u2019s running the lights. There\u2019s air in here, too. But what I\u2019m not hearing are any footsteps.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEither it\u2019s empty,\u201d Gunny offered, \u201cOr they know we\u2019re here and they\u2019re running silent.\u201d Everyone nodded in agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marianne picked up the little car, set it in her backpack, and said, \u201cWell, let\u2019s find out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n They walked carefully down the hallway until they came to a junction. As the Gunny poked his head around the corner and pronounced the way clear, Ives was looking at lettering on the bulkhead and saying, \u201cI don\u2019t recognize this language. I don\u2019t even recognize the alphabet.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marianne glanced at his reference point and almost told him what it said, before deciding to keep her mouth shut. She wasn\u2019t sure why she was keeping it a secret that she could read any language she needed to, but as one accustomed to covers she hated to blow hers over a sign that said, \u201cC Deck. Billeting.\u201d She merely shrugged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They came, eventually, to a flight of stairs\u2014like U.S. Navy stairs, they were closely akin to a ladder\u2014and ascended. On the next level, B Deck, Marianne found signs for the infirmary, the galley, the laundry, and various other, common, rooms. All showed signs of recent use, but no sign of current occupation. As they came to another set of stairs, she stopped them and asked, \u201cAt a guess, how old would any of you say this ship is? I\u2019m no expert, but it doesn\u2019t look brand new to me. It\u2019s also doesn\u2019t look real old to me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEquipment\u2019s fairly current,\u201d the Gunny answered. \u201cSome of it\u2019s unfamiliar to me, though.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fitz nodded and agreed, \u201cI\u2019m thinking it\u2019s about a \u2026 twenty year old ship. Just a feel I get. I can tell some places have been sanded and repainted\u2014like after years of salt water corrosion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ives merely shrugged and replied, \u201cI\u2019ll defer to them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marianne nodded and started up the stairs. Peeking over the top, she saw no sign of anyone but she did see a sign indicating the way to the bridge. Instructing Fitz and Ives to explore this deck then catch up with them, she motioned for the Gunny to follow her. They made their way to the bridge and both uttered words of amazement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The bridge looked like the working bridge of a destroyer, except that the windows looked out on solid rock. The lights from the consoles were still working, and dials were still lit up. And a man in an unidentified uniform sat in a chair, slumped over a console. \u201cFitz,\u201d Marianne said into her communicator, \u201cYou and Ives go ahead and come up topside to see this. Just follow the arrows on the walls.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Soon, Fitz and Ives were stepping onto the bridge with exclamations similar to those uttered earlier. Walking over to where Gunny and Marianne were looking at the slumped figure, Fitz asked, \u201cWho\u2019s this gentleman?\u201d He had a dark complexion, much like the Gunny\u2019s, and he was young and fit\u2014or had been in life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ives, looking around, said, \u201cWe saw launch tubes below decks, Bowstring. Like the kind you\u2019d use to launch ICBMs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marianne looked at the controls and said, \u201cSo, this ship zaps to the Pacific, starts a world war, then zaps here. Maybe their system is different from ours and someone had to remain behind to send the others off and this guy drew the short straw.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSo he takes cyanide or something?\u201d Fitz asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSomething,\u201d Marianne shrugged. She sniffed, then, and asked, \u201cBut why doesn\u2019t he smell?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She was on the far side of the bridge, walking around and studying some schematics that appeared to be of an Edie-like device which were on a screen, and mumbling, \u201cIf this guy\u2019s been dead for close to three weeks, shouldn\u2019t this whole room smell to high heaven?\u201d A phrase in the schematics registered on Marianne and she started to snap her fingers in recognition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMaybe he hasn\u2019t been dead that long,\u201d Ives commented. He reached over to feel of the man\u2019s skin and said, \u201cGuys, he\u2019s still warm!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fitz barely had time to say, \u201cDon\u2019t move him!\u201d before the console the man had been slumped against exploded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Marianne felt herself slammed against the wall. A moment later, she was trying to raise herself up to find that her left arm was broken, and maybe her left leg as well. She raised her head and could see that Ives was dead. At least, his head was, as it was no longer attached to the rest of him. She could make out the remains of both the Gunny and Fitz. And then she heard a low rumble. It took her brain a moment to figure out what she was hearing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe ship is being scuttled,\u201d she mumbled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With her right hand, she pulled out Edie. Struggling out of her backpack, quiver and bow she pressed the sequence for a pre-programmed trip. She disappeared just before the ship exploded in a fiery, underground inferno.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Three years before the conflagration in the Amazon, almost two years and eleven months before the EMP, a young woman with broken bones, torn clothing and burns was found outside the emergency room of the Rapid City Regional Hospital on a cool September morning. Finding no ID on her\u2014just her clothes and a watch\u2014they began treating her immediately under the name Jane Doe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" An EMP knocks out all the power in North America. As people are scrambling to get generators (or anything else) running, they begin to hear rumors. Nuclear war. Chaos. What about the President? Is she alive or did she die in the disaster?<\/p>\n Mary Orsen discovers that her ability to travel through time was not affected by the EMP. She has the power and the ability to go back in time and prevent the war. But she also knows that she\u2019ll only make things worse if she doesn\u2019t go back and change what really started it. Was it the EMP, or had it actually begun before that?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3749,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1983,1984,2006],"tags":[1564,1075,2009,1277,1058,1565,1563],"class_list":["post-3748","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fantasy","category-futuristic","category-time-travel","tag-fantasy","tag-fiction","tag-marianneoverstreet","tag-mystery","tag-samuelbenwhite-2","tag-timekeepers","tag-timetravel"],"yoast_head":"\n