They reluctantly glanced at each other, their previous excited state now wiped away.

Jimmy finally said, ‘I found a world where Europe, America and Japan had all been destroyed, just a nuclear waste ground left behind, a nuclear winter taking hold, The Brotherhood thriving in the Middle East and Africa, the communists thriving in China – as far as they could with a slight shift in weather patterns. And you ... you were all dead, not a living soul or field mouse left alive on this island.’ He stood. ‘I can’t guarantee that I can prevent the war, but I will try.’ Facing Big Paul, he said, ‘The reason that these gentlemen are being so civilised and accommodating, instead of trying to make use of the opportunity that I afford, is that they all expected to be dead within a year anyway, possibly at the hands of their own people.’

The three hosts stood, cold stares adopted. ‘We ... will arrange a hotel for you,’ the Chancellor offered, no energy in his voice, the man suddenly appearing very tired, if not afraid. ‘And we will contact the American Ambassador shortly.’

‘Mention my name; the US President has been made aware of just who I am.’

Back in the limo, they were driven around to a hotel near Hyde Park, a well-guarded hotel, a few military officers in uniform coming and going. The receptionist was Czech, so no changes there, the rooms nice enough, but Jimmy had not brought any luggage. Calling down to reception, he asked that they send someone out to buy fresh shirts, a variety of sizes given.

Sat in the hotel’s bar, ten minutes later, Jimmy and the guards opened the menus for bar food.

‘Seems about the same,’ Big Paul noted. ‘A few foreign dishes.’

‘I’ve been puzzling the airliners,’ Jimmy said as he studied the men. ‘And on this world they wouldn’t have developed a tourist industry, so why would they need to push aircraft development. I mean, the military aircraft are probably on-par, but the civil airliners are lacking development.’

‘No fucking holidays to the Caribbean for this lot,’ Big Paul commented.

‘And no manned space programme, although they have ballistic missiles,’ Jimmy added.

‘No fucking German scientists going to work for the Yanks after the war, that’s why!’

‘And no pressing need to explore space. I’d also assume that the US economy is much smaller than in our time; no trade with Europe or Japan, or China, or ... anywhere outside of South America. And their president, I think he’s the son of JFK, maybe the son of Robert Kennedy.’

‘They didn’t shoot him then.’

‘On this world, there would have been no Cuban missile crisis.’

They ordered burgers and German lager, sat reading newspapers, most of the stories about the fighting in France and Eastern Europe, or relations with America and Japan. And it all seemed to have been censored, the tone set by the leadership.

‘No boobs,’ Big Paul mentioned.

‘A controlled media,’ Jimmy responded. ‘Not such a bad thing, considering some of our old newspapers.’

‘Reckon our old flat is still here?’

Jimmy gave it some thought. ‘Probably. But I seriously doubt that our favourite Indian restaurant is around the corner.’

An hour later a man came and found them in the bar, the German minders discreetly tucked away in a corner. ‘Sir, we have cars waiting, the American Ambassador expecting your visit.’

Beers were quickly downed, the gang standing and stretching, soon in the limos again and being whisked around to the modest US Embassy, not the large building it had been in Jimmy’s day. It was heavily guarded, barbed wire fences, US Marines on the other side of the wire. The gang moved through a gate in single file, the German minders left behind, and were met by the Ambassador in the porch of the embassy. The man looked puzzled, if not a little confused.

‘Mister Silo?’ they shook. ‘Please, come in.’ He led them down a long corridor, a polished stone floor, and to a meeting room, a highly-polished wooden table dominating the room. ‘Drinks?’

‘Tea, five of them,’ Jimmy requested. As per the meeting with the Chancellor, the three guards waited outside.

The Ambassador sat with an assistant, looking a little lost. ‘We ... er ... understand you seek passage to America?’

‘Today.’

‘Today?’

‘Can you arrange that?’

‘Uh ... well there is a plane due, a diplomatic aircraft.’

‘That’ll do, just the five of us, not much luggage.’

‘I’ll ... try and arrange it.’

‘Don’t try, make it happen. You know who I am?’

‘Only that you’re to be afforded every courtesy and VIP status, little beyond that.’

‘Then kindly get us on that flight, and alert your President about our impending arrival. But, in the meantime, I have a few ... questions. Could you give me a candid appraisal ... of how you see America reacting to the final demise of Greater Germany?’

‘I ... wouldn’t like to comment,’ the Ambassador delicately mentioned.

‘Then perhaps you could contact your President, and tell him that I request that you be made to answer my questions, which I’m sure that they will agree to, given who I am.’

‘Perhaps if I knew a little more about ... who you are.’

‘I’m sure, Mister Ambassador, that you’re security briefed both on your own country’s efforts to create a time machine, and those of the Germans.’

The Ambassador stiffened. ‘How do you know about either?’ he asked with an unfriendly stare.

Jimmy shrugged. ‘You opened the door, I came through.’ The Ambassador’s eyes widened. ‘Big Paul, laser pistol.’

Big Paul took out the pistol, not checked on entrance, and cut a chair in half, the two pieces clattering to the floor and smoking.

‘So, Mister Ambassador, a candid appraisal ... of your country’s reaction to their demise...’

An hour later, Jimmy and the gang were in the limos again, heading to Heathrow through thick traffic. En route, they noticed a fire being tackled, soldiers stood around, the convoy again passing a few armoured personnel carriers as they progressed, their own escort now greater.

At Terminal One, heavily policed, Jimmy and the gang were shown straight through customs, no passports carried nor checked, and into a departures lounge that held American diplomatic staff, curious looks adopted by their fellow travellers. The Germans were not allowed to go any further, the Ambassador’s assistant explaining the odd group to the US airline staff, and it took a little explaining. Jimmy and the gang settled down for a one-hour wait, which became three hours. It seemed to the gang that air travel was a pain in the backside on any world.

Inside the aircraft, heads ducked, they found seats, but little leg room, the aircraft again reminding Jimmy of a 707. The remainder of the diplomats boarded, curious looks given to Jimmy and the gang, and settled themselves, briefcases placed in overhead racks. Settled in, the seatbelt sign on, the aircraft was pushed back, the engines started with a whine.

Taxiing out, Big Paul twisted his head to a diplomat. ‘Here, mate, what’s the safety record like on these planes of yours?’

‘Safety record?’

‘Yeah, how often do they crash?’

‘Not often, this airline has a very good safety record,’ the man boasted.

Jimmy faced the diplomat. ‘He’s a nervous flyer.’

‘I used to be like that,’ the man offered. ‘Till it became a chore. Now I fly two or three times a week. Are you ... English?’

‘Originally, yes.’

‘Originally?’

‘Long story. We’re just popping over to see the nice man in the White House. How long is this flight?’

‘Eight hours to New York,’ the man said with a curious expression. ‘You ... not flown before either?’

‘Oh, I’ve flown a few times, just not familiar with these aircraft. Anyway, do you mind if I ask a few questions?’

‘Questions?’ the man repeated, seeming guarded.

‘On a socio-economic level, how has your relationship with the Australasian Federation developed, both prior to the rise of communist China, and since?

The diplomat smiled, it was an area he knew a great deal about, Big Paul giving Jimmy a dirty look at the topic being discussed. Big Paul and the guards switched off, trying to close their eyes. Two hours later, and Jimmy had moved seats, a three way debate going on about the development of post-war world politics and trade, the merits of interfering in the German war against The Brotherhood, the threat from China or the trade potential, Japan’s struggling economy, the role of India as a bridge between two continents.

Jimmy had changed seats many times, and by time the seatbelt sign came on he had spoken to most of the diplomats onboard. Landing in the dark, Jimmy could see many flashing blue lights, the other diplomats more curious than concerned as their aircraft eased to a final halt, a cordon of police cars around it. With the walkway attached, men in suits stepped aboard.

‘Mister Jimmy Silo?’

Three of the diplomats skipped a heartbeat, recognising the name from security briefings.

Jimmy stood with the gang, turning and waving casually at the diplomats as he placed on his suit jacket. Led out under heavy escort, the long procession stopped in a side room, President Kennedy and his senior staff waiting with three stony-faced Generals, and a dozen attentive bodyguards stood in corners. Kennedy appeared to be little more than forty, youthful alongside the grey-haired generals.

‘Didn’t interrupt your busy schedule to come and meet little old me, did you?’ Jimmy toyed. They shook.

‘I was supposed to fly from here to Los Angeles, but delayed it. This meeting is ... kinda important.’ He gestured Jimmy to a seat, Big Paul and the guards holding back. The area they occupied appeared to be a private waiting area for passengers, rows of uniform seats all facing a window that revealed the apron.

‘Bodyguards?’ the President asked, a nod towards Big Paul.

‘Yes, and oddly enough, no one has bothered to try and disarm them.’

The President appeared momentarily concerned, but just for a second. ‘I don’t think you came all the way here to cause us any harm.’

‘That’s what the Chancellor said.’

‘We’ve just been learning about your arrival in London from our agents over there. Where exactly have you come from?’

‘The German time machine was captured by The Brotherhood -’

‘We heard it had been blown up.’

‘No, a General Hest kept at it till the last moment, and it was fortunate that he did. The Brotherhood held the technicians captive, keen to send fighters into what they thought was the past. They seem to have organised themselves well enough, and made a big effort to get it to work, although I understand that all that was needed was a little more power and a good kick. Of course, the German technicians were tortured in front of each other, bits cut off and eaten, so motivation was not a factor for them.’

The President nodded. ‘And they opened it to a world where you were, we were informed by this ... Colonel Nbeki.’

Jimmy nodded. ‘I had just spent the previous twenty years building-up the military of Britain and America to defeat the Germans and Japanese.’ The President and his Generals all sat up. ‘The war was won when the Arab fighters started to appear. Fighting is still going on over there, but just a few stragglers holding out. The US Marines have surrounded Berlin – but not their US Marines.’

‘Their ... Marines?’

‘When the Arab fighters appeared I called for back-up, since they were not supposed to have appeared in that timeline. The Marines are from the year 2047, something of a mismatch – to be fighting Germans from 1938.’

The President glanced over his shoulder at his Generals, now sat in the row behind like waiting passengers, and eased back. ‘Mind if I ask ... who exactly you work for where you come from, which nation?’

‘I don’t work for nations, I work for myself.’ They puzzled that, Jimmy adding. ‘Where I come from I hold no office, or remit, or particular allegiance.’

‘Then who controls the very expensive time machine?’ the President nudged.

‘On the world where it’s 2047 – where the Marines come from, there are two principal time portals and a few portal ones, one in Canada operated by the American military, one in Africa operated by a consortium of countries, although both machines are subject to scrutiny by a consortium of countries.’

‘A consortium?’

‘Mister President, on that world, Japanese, German, American, Russian and Chinese scientists all work together to build spacecraft. There are no wars.’

The President took a moment. ‘It sounds like mankind finally gets its act together over there.’

‘They did so ... with a little help.’

‘Your help.’

‘Yes, my help. I arrived on that world in 1982, and spent sixty years fixing things.’

‘Then if you’re not from that particular world, where the heck are you from?’

‘My original world ... suffered a nuclear war. What was left of the US Military was based largely in Canada, their scientists taking twelve years to build a time machine, although they had the idea much earlier. When it was completed, I was the Commissioner for European Refugees, but selected to go back through time.’

‘Why did they select you, and not -’

‘Not who? A pilot, a diplomat, an American?

‘Well, yes.’

‘Because I could be trusted, Mister President, trusted not to simply build-up America to the point where it dominated the world. You see, Mister President, across most of the worlds I’ve been to, American Presidents and the American military are not widely trusted, not even by their own people.’

The President glanced at his Generals, and lowered his head for a moment.

Jimmy added, glancing at taxiing aircraft, ‘I ... made sure that good old fashioned British fair-play was employed, and that all nations of the world benefitted and cooperated. The evidence ... speaks for itself, Mister President, a safe and wonderful world, a world of cooperation, not warfare.’

‘You said you spent sixty years on a world,’ the President noted. ‘You obviously don’t seem old enough, so is that down to drugs?’

‘Yes, and I’m heading towards three hundred years old.’

‘Three hundred!’ the President let out. ‘Jesus. Drugs can do that?’

‘They can, and those are the drugs that are already in your possession. If you and your Generals here were to be injected, you’d live to be very old, and in perfect health. But, oddly enough, those drugs were first developed to combat the lingering radiation of my original world.’

‘How many worlds have you been to?’

‘This world makes it number eight, but this is the first world I’ve been to where the Germans and Japanese won the Second World War. On most worlds ... they lost.’

‘They lost the war on the other worlds?’

Jimmy nodded. ‘I interfered with pre-war human development on the world I’ve just came from ... to try and ease the suffering of a long war, as well as the small matter of thirty million dead.’

‘This consortium of countries ... it sends you around to various worlds to help fix the past?’

‘No, I decide where I go, and they tolerate it – or the people of that world would string them up. After all, I saved that world from your fate.’

‘Our fate?’

Jimmy lowered his head, and took in the taxiing aircraft. ‘Before I came here, I had a sneak peak at your future, the year 1986. All I found was a nuclear wasteland,’ Jimmy lied. The President and his Generals stiffened. ‘Somehow, The Brotherhood get hold of German nuclear weapons -’

‘God damn it!’ a General let out. At the President, he barked, ‘I told you that could happen!’

‘It won’t happen now,’ Jimmy cut in with, the President glaring at his General, ‘because The Brotherhood will be defeated in Europe. And, within a matter of weeks, I will have installed anti-ballistic missile defences here.’

The President tried to compose himself, clearly angered at his own Generals. ‘You ... you’ll assist us that way?’

‘I will, but I will also be busy trying to negotiate with the Germans, the Japanese, even the Russians and Chinese communists.’

‘Negotiating ... what?’

‘Peace,’ Jimmy carefully mouthed. ‘Since it is something - I would hope - that you all desire. Well, the communists desire world domination, so too The Brotherhood, but I’ll squeeze their balls with a few high-tech weapons, and see if I can’t make them see sense.’

‘And these soldiers in Africa?’

‘Will destroy The Brotherhood in Africa, and then work outwards,’ Jimmy explained. ‘I’ve also dispatched doctors and reconstruction staff, to rebuild the wasteland that The Brotherhood has – no doubt - created in Africa. I also have German medics from the future operating around Berlin.’

‘You seem to think you can bring a negotiated peace to this world,’ the President floated. ‘Not ... an easy task, even if you are three hundred years old. Why the heck would the Japanese cooperate? Let alone the communists.’

‘I’ve already sent the Japanese a gift.’

‘A gift?’

‘Yes, the technology to very cheaply convert coal to oil.’

‘You what?’ the President loudly asked. ‘That could boost their economy.’ Jimmy waited. ‘You meant to boost their economy?’

‘And...’

The President stared back. ‘They’d not need imported oil.’

‘Nor a desire to go and take that oil by force. I’ll also give them electric cars that run for five hundred miles on a ten dollar charge-up. Do you think ... they’ll sit down and talk with me, possibly about an arms reduction treaty?’

‘Well ... if they’re receiving technology like that.’

‘Their military would also benefit from such a boost,’ a General complained.

Jimmy slowly slid his gaze across to the General. ‘I can hand you a device which, once fired, would neutralise every piece of electrical equipment in Japan, including all their missiles and subs.’

The Generals now stared back, wide-eyed.

‘You’ll hand us that technology?’ the President asked.

‘Quid pro quo, Mister President. There’ll be a few things I’ll want from you in return.’

‘Such as?’

‘To start with: a conference of nations, including representatives of the Russian communists and Chinese communists – if you can get them here. I intend to negotiate a peace, whilst offering candy with one hand, and large baseball bat with the other. The various nations can have the sweets -’

‘Or a cracked skull,’ the President finished off.

‘I’ve already secured a provisional deal with the Germans.’

‘What deal?’

‘I’ll hand them back the original German land, plus Austria and the Czech Republic, and they’ll think about free and fair elections within a year for the smaller European countries.’

‘Are you crazy?’ the President let out in a whisper. ‘They’ll never stick to an agreement. As soon as they have Europe back they’ll claim it as their victory!’

‘Of course.’

‘You expected that? Then why the hell agree to a hollow deal?’

Jimmy slid his gaze across to the General who had barked at the President. ‘Why do you think?’

‘Because right now those fanatics have their finger on the button, and they’d rather fire off their nukes than finally succumb to the Arabs.’

Jimmy offered the man a mock-clapping gesture.

‘You’ll ease them back from the brink,’ the President realised. ‘Their finger off the trigger, and a pause for reflection.’

‘And time for their own people to consider that their leaders, and their system, might not be working for them,’ Jimmy put in. ‘With a little nudge from me.’

‘Internal dissent,’ a General noted.

‘The only way to take their fingers off the trigger ... would be for someone else on their side - a more reasonable person, to have his own finger on the trigger,’ Jimmy suggested. ‘Then, a gradual negotiated peace, which will be easier when they find out about your missile defence shield. The people will also get to know who I am, and what goodies I can offer. That ... will undermine their rigid system.’

‘And the communists?’ Kennedy asked.

‘I have a great deal of experience of dealing with them. On the world where the Marines come from, the communists sat and stared at you Americans for sixty years before their own people threw them out of office. Leave them to me.’

‘You’re asking us to trust you with a great deal,’ a General floated.

Jimmy twisted to face him. ‘You don’t have to take my advice. I could leave.’ He held his stare on the General.

‘We’ll be happy to have your advice and assistance,’ the President cut in with, shooting a look at the General. ‘What’s first?’

‘First, I want you to launch a large scale airborne raid.’

‘You ... what? Where?’

‘On the west coast of Africa, in Angola. I’d then want you to tell the Germans that I persuaded you to open a second front against The Brotherhood.’

‘Making you look good in their eyes,’ the President noted. Jimmy waited. ‘Strengthening your influence with them.’

‘It’s not like you ... could be seen to be negotiating with them, now is it. I’d also want your navy to send ships across, and a sizeable force. In a few weeks my forces will join up with them, and you can finally do what the voters really want, which is less isolationism – nice large ocean or not – and to destroy The Brotherhood. I’ll even make it appear as if your forces in Africa did all the hard work, achieving sweeping gains. Oh, and Mister President, I’ll then put an X on the map where you can find a great deal of oil in West Africa.’

‘How much oil?’ a General asked.

‘More than you could consume. You could even sell it to the South Americans. Have a few off-shore rigs put-by ready.’

‘You know where the oil is,’ Kennedy realised.

‘And ore, and gold, and ... well, everything.’

‘Would you fly back down to Washington with us?’

‘Sure, we can make some plans.’ Jimmy beckoned Big Paul over. ‘Pistol.’

The Generals were interested as Big Paul handed over the weapon. Jimmy altered its settings, and cut a hat stand in half, handing it to the Generals after selecting SAFETY.

‘You’ll supply us with weapons like these?’ the Generals asked.

‘Quid pro quo, gentlemen. I don’t put-out on the first date.’

Air Force One was, predictably, a converted airliner, again reminiscent of a dated 707, but comfortable nonetheless. Food was offered, Kennedy asking many questions about other worlds en route to Washington.

‘How far have you got with your own time machine?’ Jimmy asked him.

‘It was started a hell of a long time ago, a year before I was born I think, and a huge waste of taxpayer’s money. Well, we thought so.’

‘Did your CIA get to hear about the German one?’

‘Yes, we even got hold of a copy of that book with your name on it, and then they started again – after many years of thinking it a trick to waste our time. They built a machine based on the new design, but then mothballed it.’

‘Why?’

‘Why? Because every damn scientist agreed that if they had completed it - and the damn thing worked, that they’d have seen someone pop out of thin air before now.’

Jimmy laughed. ‘A paradox in itself. Why ask a girl out when you know that you’re destined to marry.’

‘It was reactivated a few days ago, with some urgency.’

‘Halt its use, today. Besides, the instructions you have are for a one-trick pony, a machine that will only connect you to the world where I’ve just won the war for Britain and America.’

‘Why ... halt its development?’

‘First, because it is a trick; the Germans were sent the instructions on how to build that machine to travel to that particular world – to attract may attention to this world.’

‘Attract your attention?’

‘Yes, to come here and fix this world. And no, I don’t know who sent the instruction book, not yet anyway, or why they wanted me to come here. It’s a ... work in progress. And, you should halt its use, because if you go to that world you’ll undo what I’ve achieved there, and America may not win the war. You’ll also cause a paradox that may kill me.’

‘Kill you?’

‘Yes, kill me, or at least this version of me.’

‘Version of you? There are more?’

‘In a manner of speaking. If the people in 2047 suddenly lost contact with me, they would wind back time to where they knew I was, and undo things. They’d then find out what caused my death, and ... be right unhappy about it. They’d go back to an earlier time and stop you, by making sure that the CIA never got access to the German book. Or they may just cut your balls off. You can’t kill a time traveller so long as his original world knows where he is; they could just wind back the clock.’

‘And do it all over again,’ the President realised. ‘It’s a powerful weapon.’

‘Put that idea firmly out of your mind, Mister President,’ Jimmy told Kennedy. ‘Start messing with time ... and billions of lives will be at stake. One wrong word ... and you could alter the timeline. You could go back and help your predecessors to win the war, only to find that the Russians develop nuclear weapons – and that you fight a nuclear war later on, or that the Chinese communists develop a virus that destroys mankind.’ Jimmy took a moment. ‘On the world that I fixed, I made six attempts to get it right.’

‘Six? You went back and forth?’

‘I did, and it took me over two hundred years to get every element right; political, military, the economy, a very detailed and intricate plan. And on the worlds where I didn’t get it right – they all ended up fighting a nuclear war, The Arabs taking over afterwards. Each time ... the Russians, Chinese and Americans developed nuclear weapons, and each time a different event triggered a war. When you have three nuclear-armed countries, all paranoid, war is almost inevitable. And, in the years ahead, a few real nasty plagues are due to break out – hundreds of millions killed, a few substantial earthquakes – including here in the States.’

‘Jesus...’

‘So you see, Mister President, timelines are fickle things, difficult to correct unless you really know what you’re doing - and if you’ve had some considerable practice at it. If you send someone back to another world, then that person could win you the war, but lose you everything later.’ Jimmy changed tack. ‘And Mister President, if your CIA got the time machine working, they could send someone back to your youth to discredit you – if they desired that someone other than you held office.’

Kennedy eased back, deep in thought.

Jimmy continued, ‘In the instant that a group with personal objectives took control of your machine, they could go back and make themselves very rich, and make sure that no one else built a time machine. Once the machine is started, whoever has their finger on the controls will rule America – and this and many other worlds.

‘The Germans managed to open a portal for three seconds, many years ago, and a junior technician made good use of the opportunity to fling himself through. That man could have become the world’s richest man in 1936, altered history, and completely screwed things up. Fortunately, he wasn’t very good, and simply gave the Germans coal-oil technology. When you finally perfect your machine, a technician could jump through before you had a chance to stop him, and you’d all disappear in the blink of an eye, that man living the highlife in 1900 as the world’s richest man, playing the stock markets, drilling oil. Quite a ... temptation, for any man.’

‘But not for you, obviously.’

Jimmy glanced out of the cabin window. ‘I witnessed a nuclear war, and its aftermath, and not just once.’ Facing Kennedy, he said, ‘That’s enough to make anyone want a better life for the people of the world, all ... of the people of the world. And during each attempt that I made to fix things, your CIA were curious as to who I might be, then desperate to get hold of me for their own reasons. I even had a few CIA officers try and force me to tell them what the stock markets would do.’

‘Do you know what our stock markets will do?’ Kennedy asked.

‘No, though I could find out easily enough. But I do know where the oil is, and someone with my knowledge could tip-off an oil company and take a huge kickback - a hell of a temptation for most people. Hell of a temptation for a poorly paid Air Force Sergeant working on a time machine.’

Jimmy could see Kennedy’s grey matter firing up.

‘I think I have an oversight committee to chat to tomorrow,’ Kennedy mentioned. ‘A few rules to tighten up.’

‘In the wrong hands, a time machine could do more damage than a thousand atom bombs. That’s why, on the world I fixed, they have an international consortium controlling it, checks and balances.’ Jimmy rolled his eyes. ‘Unfortunately, on the world where it’s 1938, there are now thousands of soldiers with knowledge of the future. I’ll need to make sure that they all go home. Still, none will have knowledge of the stock markets in 1938, and my people are there to look for any sudden millionaires.’

‘Where you never tempted yourself?’ Kennedy asked with a hint of a grin.

‘Making as much money as I could - by using the stock markets, was the whole idea, and the start point of each trip I made. That money allowed me to buy land, to drill for oil, and make even more money, then to use that money to shape the future. Hell, I even bribed a bunch of US Senators and Congressmen. I created a health insurance company here in the States, and used its investment money to trade the markets, then made sure that health premiums were lower for millions of Americans. I even traded your military’s pension fund money with the knowledge of the president at the time, a cost saving for him. I used money as a tool and as a weapon, to alter things, especially here in America. And I used the money to remove key individuals that I knew would harm the future, including a few presidential candidates.’

‘You removed candidates?’

‘I knew what they would do when in office. I’ll give you an example: back on our world, the States borrowed a great deal of money from China -’

‘China!’

‘On that world China is a super-power, one with a huge manufacturing base. Your presidents borrowed the money to keep the economy afloat, then one day a particular president had the idea that starting a war with China would mean that you wouldn’t need to pay them back. That war turned nuclear, and we lost the planet. So, on the following trip I made back through time, that individual met with an accident.’

‘You could have just told someone what the future held.’

‘Like ... who?’ Jimmy toyed.

‘The President of the day.’

‘Who would be terrified to interfere, or seen to be interfering with a candidate from another party. That could have been seen as party politics, not about the future.’

‘Yeah, I can see that it could have been an issue. They really borrowed money from the Chinese?’

‘That wasn’t the biggest problem, the petrol-dollar was.’

‘Petrol-dollar?’ Kennedy repeated.

‘On that world, all oil was traded in dollars. As the world economy grew, your Fed just printed dollars to pay for external oil. In the thirty years up to 1968 the number of dollars in circulation doubled, but during the thirty years that followed it increased twelve fold -’

‘Twelve fold? That’s impossible – it would cause hyper-inflation here.’

‘The dollars all sat overseas, used by the various nations to buy their national oil; it never came back, not till an oil-producing consortium decided to stop using dollars as the currency for oil. Hyper-inflation hit overnight, and a year later the people elected a hard-line president, who went on to start a global war.’

‘Jeez. You’ve seen it all before, haven’t you; be great to have you as a White House aide.’

‘I don’t know your particular future, not that it matters; I aim to alter it. Question is ... how you see yourself, because you’ll be the man in the hot seat when everything changes, and when world peace becomes a possibility. Perhaps you should consider what that statue of you will say underneath.’

‘Statue of me? They don’t raise statues to US Presidents.’

‘They do to the great ones. So, what do you think it will say?’

Kennedy gave it some thought, glancing out of the window. ‘I’ve been in office for little more than a year and, judging by the latest opinion polls, that statue would say The asshole got in because of who his father was.’

‘Is that true?’ Jimmy pressed.

Kennedy made a face. ‘Partly.’

‘It’s the intent that matters, as well as the end result. How will you reveal me to the voters that you represent?’

Kennedy tipped his head and made a face. ‘Still trying to figure that one out; I started that speech a few times recently, and threw it away. Still, there were many leaks in the 70’s about the time machine, so they have an idea at least that we were trying to perfect it.’

‘Just as soon as you’re ready I’ll make a speech, something I’ve done many times before. Just leave it to me, and trust me.’

‘Might just do that,’ Kennedy said with a smile. ‘If it goes wrong I can blame you.’

Jimmy hid a grin. ‘That’s been said before by an incumbent.’

At the White House, Jimmy was afforded honoured status and given a room, Big Paul and the guards bunking with the Secret Service.

In the morning, Kennedy held an emergency meeting with his team, dragging on for an hour and half before Jimmy was eventually called in.

Jimmy entered the familiar Oval Office, meeting again Kennedy – the President now with a loosened tie and looking a little harassed. Lined up were the Vice President, the Chief of Staff, six military officers, the National Security Advisor and the head of the CIA. Each was introduced, several already known to Jimmy, at least their historical and parallel alter-egos. The men’s reaction to him ranged from warm, to lukewarm and polite, to reserved, the room now warm and stuffy.

Settled, Kennedy began with, ‘We’re making plans for a second front against The Brotherhood, but it will take time.’

‘An airborne unit could find a deserted strip of land, and make a landing,’ Jimmy pointed out. ‘That token gesture ... would be a token gesture, but none the less a valuable piece on the chessboard of politics.’

Kennedy faced his military advisors. ‘Opinions, gentlemen?’

‘It’s doable, if it’s a remote strip,’ the Air Force General agreed.

‘Then I suggest that you do it,’ Jimmy pressed. ‘Because if you want to get hold of the advanced weapons I have in mind for you we’ll need an air-bridge to Africa. Those weapons ... will arrive on this world in Africa.’ He faced the Air Force General. ‘So why don’t you pull your thumb out.’

The Air Force General stared back for several seconds before turning to the President.

‘Make it your top priority,’ the President ordered the man, hiding a grin.

Jimmy added, ‘The oil - that you’ll need to repair and to boost your flagging economy, will come from West Africa, and the military will need to protect those future oil facilities. How long you take ... will affect your economy.’

‘How much oil is there?’ the Vice President asked.

‘As much as Arabia, but I guess that on this world you don’t really know how much that is. So, in simple terms, there’s a shit load of oil there.’

‘Might I ask,’ the National Security Advisor began, ‘why you’re keen that we don’t work on our own time machine?’

‘I thought I had explained that already,’ Jimmy said directly towards the President.

‘Some still feel that ... having command of our own machine, and understanding the technology, would benefit us,’ Kennedy lamely explained.

Jimmy controlled his disappointment. ‘Gentlemen, if you were a German or Japanese leader, and you considered that America had a time machine – a credible and working time machine, how would you react? How would you react ... knowing that America could send soldiers back to 1937 with tactical nukes, and destroy Japan? After all, there is no defence against a time machine. If I was a twitchy Japanese or German leader, and I believed that the Americans were about to perfect a time machine, I might fire all of my missiles now, because I would certainly face my own destruction if I didn’t.’ He let them think about it.

‘They already know that we’ve been working on one,’ Kennedy pointed out.

‘One which their own people consider fruitless, one that you’ve been tinkering with without success for forty years, one that the Germans wasted a great deal of time and money with. But what’s changed? What’s different now, today?’

‘The arrival of your people,’ they realised.

‘Your arrival,’ Kennedy began, ‘has put their fingers on the trigger.’

‘Not just their fingers on the trigger,’ Jimmy enigmatically stated. ‘Besides, your facility thirty miles southwest of Vegas is hardened to withstand nuclear strikes.’

‘How do you know where it is?’ a General asked.

‘I’m a time traveller from the future, General, so please ... don’t make yourself look silly in class.’

The man cocked an eyebrow.

‘Whose finger is on the trigger?’ Kennedy pressed.

‘Who has the most to lose from you opening a portal to another world?’ They glanced at each other. Jimmy continued, ‘If you succeeded in opening a portal to another world, that world may be one that I’ve previously visited, and there were a few. And, if you did the wrong thing, the very delicate path that I took through time could be interfered with, meaning that I would never have ended up on a certain peaceful world ... where it’s now 2047.’

‘The people from that world would be a threat to us?’ Kennedy puzzled.

‘Of course they would, because you’re risking all of their lives,’ Jimmy explained. ‘If you go to another world you could upset their timeline, and they’ll all be killed, all twelve billion of them; men, women, and children - everything they’ve achieved being lost. Just think what you might do if you knew the Germans were about to send tactical nukes back to 1937 on this world. Would you just sit around and wait to be destroyed, or would you act first?’

‘We’d act first,’ Kennedy agreed, nodding reluctantly.

‘So you can see the danger,’ Jimmy said. ‘And, because I’m here to help, I’ll help with a little demonstration.’ He lifted his phone. ‘Abrascus.’

‘What will that do?’ Kennedy asked.

‘All of the electronics at your facility near Vegas just shut down. Try calling them.’

‘You knocked out the facility?’ Kennedy asked as a General attended a phone.

‘Electronics can be repaired,’ Jimmy pointed out. ‘But if you get close to opening a portal – well, the others may not like it, they may bury that facility. So I did you a favour.’

‘Can’t reach the facility, Mister President,’ a General reported.

‘It’ll take months to repair,’ Jimmy mentioned. ‘But please, don’t hurry. If you do you’ll attract attention from ... others.’

‘How did you do that?’ Kennedy asked, without seeming annoyed.

‘Radar invisible drones, EMP pulses; I’ll be providing you with that technology soon.’

‘Radar invisible technology?’ the Air Force General asked. ‘For our aircraft?’

‘Yes, and EMP counter-measures, enough to knock down a missile fifty miles away or more. We can make your ships radar invisible as well.’

‘Right now there are radar invisible drones in our skies and we can’t detect them,’ a General pointed out, making it seem a complaint, which it was.

‘General, those are toys,’ Jimmy told him. ‘We could turn the lights out for an entire city.’

‘That’s ... dangerous technology,’ the General floated.

‘It wouldn’t be if it was in your hands, it’s only dangerous because it’s not in your hands – is what you meant to say.’

The General shifted in his seat, on the spot. ‘We’re responsible for our own airspace and our security -’

Jimmy held his hands wide, ‘We can’t un-invent technology, General, nor would we wish to be disadvantaged in our fight with The Brotherhood, or in how we’ll defend you from missile attack. It is what it is, I’m afraid, a bit like nuclear weapons; we can’t un-invent them.’

They seemed to accept that, albeit reluctantly, with few options or arguments left to employ.

Kennedy said, ‘Could you, for the benefit of those here, explain your ... aims and desires again.’

‘My desire ... is that you all live to a ripe old age, your grandchildren playing in the yard, burgers on the barbecue, no threats or wars. My aim ... is to make that happen, but not just for your benefit, but for the benefit of those yet to be born, who might want to be born into a world where there are no wars, no threats, and where all of the children play nicely together.

‘Unfortunately, human nature being what it is, there will always be those who think that their way is best, and will be willing to fight to back it up. There are communists here, who obviously think their way is best, and then there are more dangerous people ... like the people sat in this room today.’ They exchanged puzzled looks. ‘Your job ... is to do what’s best for America, to not just defend its shores, but to develop the economy – for the people who voted you into office.

‘But someday, in the future, you may find that your economy is suffering, maybe from high oil prices, a scarcity of metal ore, or simply because other countries catch up to you and make better cars. Then, when you are struggling, your job is to serve the American people, not the people who make better cars, and that may lead to a few hard decisions being made, decisions that force those who make better cars into their own recession.

‘That, in turn, leads to those who used to make better cars suffering, and turning to terrorism. And then, one fine summer’s day, a group from those who used to make better cars gets a tactical nuke, sneaks it into America, and shoves it right up your backside - just before they detonate it. You may lose say ... New York, your economy screwed for decades.

‘You see, gentlemen, it’s a small round planet, and one thing affects another. And if the biggest kid in the canoe stands up and steps out, the rest of the kids in the canoe fall out, or get wet. Being the biggest kid in the canoe comes with a little responsibility, and a recognition that you’re all in a canoe together.

‘On other worlds, your government ignored problems, and it ignored small countries that were unhappy about being small and poor. And bombs went off as a result, students developed EMP devices and took out part of New York, a virus was developed and released which killed millions of Americans.

‘Defending your shores against a ship attacking you is easy, so easy you’ll probably never have to do it. Defending against disaffected students is very hard, and defending against small countries you ignore is also very hard. But, fortunately for you, I’ve seen it all before on six worlds, many times over, and one of my main aims is to protect you from yourselves, because there will be times when you consider that dropping bombs on a small country is the right thing to do, especially to appease the voters around election time. Unfortunately, ten years later that small country will come right back around and sting you on the arse, at a time when the President who ordered the war is off building his library, the incumbent saddled with the problem.

‘You’re in a good position, gentlemen, a very good position, in that I can assist you in many ways. Unfortunately, I seriously doubt you’ll pay attention and follow my advice. I could have advised you to dismantle your time machine, since it’s in your own best interests, but I didn’t want to take the chance you’d make the wrong choice – and suffer for it. In the future you’ll make poor choices, ignoring my advice, but I’ll have measures in place to stop you. You can bang your heads against the wall, or you can simply sit down with a beer and ask me a question – I’m very approachable.’

‘How do you see this world in ten years?’ the Vice President asked.

‘In an ideal world, I would see Europe as a group of independent nations – all trading with you, Germany then democratic. I’d see Russia as a trading partner with Europe, though ignoring you lot. I’d see China trying to hang onto communist values, whilst largely being ignored by the world. I’d see Africa developed, ore extracted, oil flowing, and with a significant American presence on the continent. I’d see The Brotherhood bottled up in The Middle East, and a pain for some decades to come. I’d see Japan, Germany and yourselves reducing your nuclear arsenals in the years ahead, as well as your conventional forces, whilst reaping the economic benefits of a peace dividend. I’d see Japan and Germany without nuclear weapons inside of five years.’

‘Without weapons?’ a General asked.

‘Without,’ Jimmy repeated. ‘If they were not willing to give them up, I’d take their weapons away using advanced technology.’

‘You’d attack them directly?’ Kennedy pressed.

‘I didn’t come here to fail, or to have someone fire off a nuke in anger. So if diplomacy doesn’t work, I’ll try another approach, the direct approach – as I’m now employing with The Brotherhood. I’ll fight when I have to, gentlemen.’

‘What’s the first step?’ Kennedy asked.

Jimmy lifted his phone and selected a number. After a few seconds, he said, ‘Chancellor, Jimmy Silo. Did I wake you? No, good. Listen, I’ve struck a deal with the Americans, and they’ll open a second front against The Brotherhood, a landing on the coast on West Africa. It will help to take the pressure off Europe and draw down fighters. I just thought I would let you know. Goodbye.’ He cut the call, and put the phone away. ‘I hope you gentlemen are not about to make a liar of me.’

‘Whose side does he think you’re on?’ the CIA Director asked.

‘He thinks ... only as far as the foot coming off his neck, and no further. He thinks ... as far as getting back to Germany, then hoping I’ll fly away and not come back. But, during these next few months, he’ll be distracted from wanting to fire his nukes at you, or to shoot me. The strategy gives me time. Now, I’d like you to furnish me with a complete breakdown of his forces, and those of the Japanese. It’ll save me time, since I’ll prepare a contingency plan – just in case.’

‘Just in case?’ Kennedy repeated.

‘Just in case ... something goes wrong, and a missile is fired. If I have drones in place I can act quickly, and knock down missiles. I can also arrange for German and Jap missiles to ... suffer mechanical failures a little more often.’

‘You can do that?’ a General asked.

‘I can make a Japanese sub lose power and ... sink, whilst no one would blame you guys.’

‘Jesus,’ a General let out.

‘Oh, would you like to send a team to another world to have a look around?’

They collectively sat upright. ‘Have a look around?’ Kennedy queried.

‘Yes, get to meet Americans from other worlds. Maybe your generals would like to see advanced weapons demonstrated on our world, or pop back to 1938 for a little nostalgia, fly in some old wartime fighters.’

‘I’ll put a team together,’ a General offered, glancing at Kennedy, who then keenly nodded. ‘Would they have to go to Africa?’

‘Yes, unless you can persuade the German Chancellor as to the merits of you being allowed to use his portal,’ Jimmy teased.

‘Africa then,’ Kennedy wistfully stated. ‘But when you say his portal?’

‘It’s in my hands, and will never go back to being in the hands of the Germans. If necessary, we’ll blow it up. Besides, it only connects to 1938, on a world where Germany is as much of a ruin as on this world, if not worse!’

‘Fine.’

‘I’ll arrange a trip to 1938 first, you can have a look at the war there, Germany and Japan defeated. And if you put a military team together you can fly into Kenya and meet our soldiers, review their weapons and tactics, talk to medics from the future.’

Kennedy faced the Air Force General. ‘Straight away, please. And secure an airstrip in Africa, or however many we’ll need.’

‘In the meantime, I’d like you to organise a meeting with representatives of the various world leaders,’ Jimmy began. ‘To start with, I’d like to meet with the Japanese Ambassador as soon as possible.’

‘And ... might we know what you’ll discuss?’ Kennedy asked.

‘I make it up as I go along,’ Jimmy said with a straight face. ‘Not even I know what I’ll discuss.’

‘We’ll ... arrange that meeting for today,’ Kennedy agreed after Jimmy just sat staring back.

With Kennedy needing to attend matters of state, Jimmy ate a meal with the gang, Big Paul and the guys having demonstrated and described the laser pistols at length, one handed over. Fresh shirts and shorts were handed over to the gang, fresh socks, the old ones thrown away.

Sat eating, Jimmy took out a small device and knocked it on, making sure that no bugs would work in the room.

Big Paul observed that move as he ate, but did not react. ‘How’s it going with the Yanks?’

‘Fine, so far. They’ll start a second front against The Brotherhood, a landing in Angola. It’ll make the German Chancellor happy.’ He sipped his coffee. ‘I’ve worked out how the various groups here interact, what the problems are, and I think I can fix it. In fact, I’d say that this place is easier to fix that your world was. Here, it’s a military problem, not a problem of delicately balanced economies.’

‘What’s oil like here?’

‘The Americans have oil in the Gulf and in Texas, and I’ll hand them West African fields, more than enough for them considering the size of their economy at the moment. Germans have North Sea oil, which I gather is just about tapped-out, and oil from Russia – which is being blown-up on a regular basis. The odd thing is, I can’t figure why I was supposed to come here.’

‘To fix it,’ Big Paul stated, getting a look from Jimmy.

‘Duh, yeah,’ Jimmy mocked. ‘But there are thousands of worlds with problems. Why this one, and why now? And why link it to that other world?’

Big Paul shrugged. ‘What’s special about this world?’

‘Nothing I can see so far; Dr Singh opened a portal to a world just like this one. Hell, it could have even been this one. On many worlds the Germans won the war, so this place is not unique, and I can’t figure why someone wanted me here.’

‘The Brotherhood would have used that German portal to invade the world we were on.’

‘They did so after someone threw a manual on time travel at their heads, someone from the future. It’s almost a paradox in itself.’

‘So what would have happened here if they didn’t get a nudge?’ Big Paul wondered.

‘The Brotherhood would have defeated the Germans and – most likely – gotten hold of German nukes and used them. Nuclear war, nuclear winter, the communists then rising up, but fighting The Brotherhood.’

‘Sounds like this place ends up as a real fun spot,’ Big Paul quipped.

Jimmy nodded. ‘Without our intervention it would have been a disaster zone. But why ... would that make it any more deserving of my time?’

‘Ease the suffering.’

‘As I said, thousands of worlds are suffering.’ Jimmy eased back, deep in thought. ‘Why ... did they attract my attention, and in 1938 on that world? Why not ... wait till I had fixed that world, then nudge me this way? Why 1938?’

‘Height of the war.’

‘Start and end of the war,’ Jimmy countered.

‘Arabs arriving as they did ... would have destroyed the Germans in 1938,’ Big Paul noted. ‘What would have happened if they did, and we hadn’t been there?’

‘The British and Americans could have still won the war, against a weakened Germany – probably, then gone straight on to fight the Arabs. But again, the Germans may have done well on that world without the Arab fighters arriving.’

‘So they gave the Germans on this world the book of words to help that world, but failed to factor in The Brotherhood winning here.’

Jimmy puzzled that. ‘They ... may well have, but then The Brotherhood here would have a portal, and someday may have got it working properly, a threat to many worlds. Whoever sent the manual here took a hell of a risk, something could have gone wrong. Probably bloody Paul or Baldy.’

‘Baldy?’

‘There’s another Paul from another world back in 1938, in Canada, you haven’t men him yet. He made himself bald for disguise.’

‘Maybe another you sent the manual.’

‘I’d hope I don’t get that reckless in my old age.’ He sighed. ‘No, I’m not seeing it so far. Not seeing the connection or the relevance. Best I can figure ... is that someone on this world eventually gets a portal to work with varying destinations, and does some damage somewhere, hence the need to fix this place. That seems like the most likely option, but ... but their own time experiments would have probably got them nowhere.’

‘What’ll you do?’ Big Paul asked with a shrug.

‘Proceed as I would have done.’

At 2pm, a convoy of vans took Jimmy and the guards around to the heavily-guarded Japanese Embassy, but this time the Japanese guards wished weapons handed in, frisks given. They puzzled the odd weapons, before letting Jimmy and Big Paul in, the others asked to wait outside.

Inside, a short man with a fast pace led them to a side room. ‘Please to wait.’ He scampered off without another word.

Jimmy and Big Paul sat in a room decorated in a traditional Japanese style, roughly hewn bamboo framing several pictures, a large watercolour of Mount Fuji dominating the wall they faced. Ten minutes later they were led out, and to the Ambassador’s office, soon sat in front of the Ambassador after a bow was given and reciprocated by Jimmy. Two uniformed Japanese guards stood in corners, less movement displayed than the many statues in the room.

‘Welcome to the Embassy of Imperial Japan, Mister Silo,’ the Ambassador offered with a heavy accent, the short man now dressed in a formal grey morning suit.

‘I thank you for the time taken to see me,’ Jimmy offered. ‘Has your government completely updated you on just who – and what – I am?’

‘They have, and did so using our most secure codes; one-time pads to throw away afterwards.’

‘Security is never a bad thing. Do you mind...’ Jimmy took out a device and placed it on the desk. ‘It will prevent the Americans listening in, should your security have been compromised – which I’m sure it hasn’t.’

‘As you see fit, Mister Silo. And my government extends its gratitude for the technical knowledge passed to it.’

‘A second drone aircraft will land shortly, with the designs for very efficient electric cars.’

‘You are a ... most kind benefactor.’

‘Not really, since the technology is the property of the Japanese nation in the future, but on my world.’

‘Your ... world?’ the Ambassador struggled with.

‘Since you’ve probably not been briefed, I will give you a quick lesson. This world is one of thousands of very similar worlds, all sat next to each other in parallel dimensions. It’s possible not only to travel back in time, but to another world. Some worlds are very similar, some very different, Ambassador. On most of the worlds that I’ve visited, American defeated Japan in 1945 with the use of atomic bombs.’

The Ambassador straightened.

‘This world is different,’ Jimmy continued. ‘On the world that we just travelled from, it is the year 1938, and we have recently assisted the Americans and British to defeat Germany and Japan with advanced weapons.’

The Ambassador took a moment. ‘And is that your intention here also? For people from the future to assist the Americans?’

‘No, Mister Ambassador, it’s not our intention on this world, which is why I’m helping you with your energy needs. I’m here now, not in 1938 or earlier. The war here was fought, and is now a part of this world’s history. I will start from this day forwards, and try and help all nations to find peace. That peace will see your country continue without direct interference from me, and I will even help you fight the Chinese communists if necessary – through negotiation.’

‘Negotiation?’

‘Yes, Mister Ambassador. On the world that I came from, Japan lost the Second World War, yet went on to develop a peaceful society and the world’s second largest economy next to America. Once the war was out of the way, Japan was peaceful and prosperous thereafter.’ Jimmy lifted his data-pad, and pointed it towards a wall. ‘Computer, display images of Hiroshima after American nuclear strike.’

The Ambassador stared at the black and white images for a full minute, the statue-like guards seen to be moving eyes towards the image.

‘Computer, display Tokyo, 2025.’

The image changed to a sharp colour video of Tokyo, its massive skyscrapers, bustling streets, giggling girls in school uniforms, the busy airport, the Ambassador marvelling at the prosperous city. Catching the Ambassador’s expression, Jimmy figured that current day Tokyo was not doing so well.

‘Computer, display images of international space station, Japanese crew.’

Images of the station came to life, slowly drifting high above the earth, and finally changed to an internal view of weightless astronauts, one wearing a Japanese flag on his arm. He said a few words in Japanese, waving at the camera.

‘What is ... can change, and what can be ... can be fantastic,’ Jimmy told the Ambassador. ‘Now, to business. As you may be aware from talking with the Germans, the Germans perfected their time machine.’

‘They completed it?’

‘I guess you didn’t get the memo. They completed it, and opened a portal to a world that I was on, attracting my attention to this world. Unfortunately, the portal was opened by The Brotherhood.’

The Ambassador was on his feet, not a great difference in height. ‘The Brotherhood have captured it?’

‘They did, and they sent fighters through, to the year 1938 on another world. So, we killed them all, and seized the portal, and now my soldiers are removing The Brotherhood from Germany.’

‘What ... soldiers?’

‘Soldiers from the future, from the year 2047. Very capable soldiers, armed with sophisticated weapons.’

The Ambassador eased down into his seat. ‘And the purpose of these ... soldiers?’

‘To destroy The Brotherhood. In addition to the soldiers fighting in Germany, we also have tens of thousands of soldiers arriving in Africa, to attack The Brotherhood there.’

‘What ... what nation sends these soldiers here?’

‘They are black Africa soldiers, under my guidance.’

‘African?’

‘In the future, Africa is peaceful and prosperous, Mister Ambassador.’

‘The Brotherhood are spread far, small groups, terrorists who set off bombs. Conventional soldiers do not fare well against them, as we have learnt from observing the Germans.’

‘And why, might I ask, did you not fight alongside your German brothers?’ Jimmy posed.

The Ambassador seemed guarded, taking a moment. ‘My country is a long way from Europe, difficult supply lines.’

‘Of course,’ Jimmy mockingly agreed.

‘And we have our own problems to deal with.’

‘Of course,’ Jimmy repeated. ‘But you’ll find that my soldiers are not conventional, and so far they have lost few men, perhaps a hundred thousand Arab fighters killed. We aim to clear northern Europe of fighters in four weeks.’

‘And ... then?’

‘And then we’ll hand the original country of Germany back to its rightful owners. A deal has been struck.’

‘A deal? What ... deal, might I ask?’

‘We’ll help the Germans to re-take Europe, and in return the German Chancellor will arrange free and fair elections in several smaller European nations within a year.’

‘We were not aware of that detail. Thank you for ... bringing it to our attention.’

‘I hope I haven’t said too much,’ Jimmy said with a false smile.

‘Not at all, we have good relations with Europe.’

‘As I was led to believe,’ Jimmy said with false civility.

‘And your soldiers in Africa?’

‘Will remove The Brotherhood, and then attack into the Middle East and North Africa.’

‘A ... very ambitious task,’ the Ambassador delicately mentioned.

‘Not for us.’

‘And when the fighting is over?’

‘Then I will control and run Africa as my private domain, till such time as free and fair elections can be held. And, you may not yet have heard, but the Americans will open a second front in Africa within days.’

‘The Americans will commit to the fight the Arabs? They have sworn publicly never to do such a thing.’

‘I’ve made them aware of substantial oil deposits in Africa.’

The Ambassador eased back in his chair, slowly nodding to himself. ‘I see.’

‘Those deposits are on the west coast of Africa. There’s also oil on the east coast, which I could help you with.’

‘And in return for that oil?’

‘I might like you to give up a few islands, and return to your original borders over say ... the next ten years. I’d also supply you with metal ore, and I would expect your government to sit down and negotiate with myself and the Americans. Peace negotiations.’

‘We are at war with Communist China, Mister Silo. Such a move back from islands, or any reduction in our military budget, would not be on the table.’

‘I could deal with the communists for you. Would those items then be back on the table?’

‘How would you ... deal with the communists?’

‘Advanced weapons from the future. Do they have aircraft that can reach Japan?’

The Ambassador nodded, just once.

‘Then I could provide you with advanced defences. Once installed, no aircraft would reach your shores. I can also disable all of their aircraft on the ground, and any missiles. Would that ... be of interest to your leaders?’

‘I am sure that it would ... be of interest, once demonstrated and proven.’

Big Paul laughed, but then controlled it. Jimmy faced him, ‘Our Japanese friends are rightfully sceptical. So, we’ll arrange a ... demonstration or two.’ He faced the Ambassador. ‘I aim to bring peace to this world, Mister Ambassador, but there are obviously those on this world who will resist, those military leaders that have grown used to their uniforms and the war games, and will not wish to see an end to things as they are. There are also those who wish to see peace, but their kind of peace, and there are those that simply wish to live, that life currently in jeopardy. Never forget, Mister Ambassador, that I wish peace, not a world where one nation dominates all others. Do you follow me, Ambassador?’

‘I believe so.’

‘Then, as a sign of good will, I shall start attacking communist air bases within days, and I shall prevent any Chinese aircraft from reaching your shores. I will, however, stop your aircraft from reaching their shores as well. Is that not ... fair, Ambassador?’

‘I will have to consult with my government.’

‘Please do so, we can meet again soon, and I will be organising a peace conference here in a few days. Kindly ask your government to send a high-level negotiating team as soon as possible.’

At forty thousand feet above the White House, a drone dropped what might appear to be a small toy aircraft. It nosed down, small control surfaces employed, and picked up speed. Forty minutes later it sat in a tree at the edge of the White House grounds, its laser microphone targeting twelve windows at once, conversations recorded, microwave bursts sent to its lofty colleague at regular intervals.

1938, London

Jimmy had been gone a day, and I would be coordinating things from London for a few days. British paratroopers had landed en masse west of Berlin, little resistance met, a few shot and killed on landing by die-hard fanatics, a few injured from the mechanics of the landing itself. Those British paratroopers had then been joined just before dawn by a hurriedly assembled group of American paratroopers, some of those soldiers learning the use of chute only after it had opened. Gliders landed just after dawn, regular American infantry soon to be seen in the pleasant German countryside as September appeared on the wall calendars.

Meanwhile, the US Marines had jammed all radio signals in Germany, both civil broadcasts and those few remaining military broadcasts. A British officer, who spoke perfect German, was then press-ganged, and now began to broadcast the news, our version of the news, claiming that Berlin had been taken, that British forces had crossed the border with France – which they had just about, and that further British units had entered Germany from Denmark – the accuracy of that move stretched by a few miles.

British ships had, however, docked in Northern Germany overnight and British soldiers were occupying several port areas, moving outwards. That fact was reported, along with news of the American Brigade creeping along the German/Swiss border. The suggestion that former SS officers were being rounded up probably did nothing other than to warn-off those officers still at large, making them disappear into the German populace.

All that day, advancing units - as well as the Kenyan Rifles in the Alps, reported white flags in the windows of German houses, the civil population keen to avoid being shot at. It was all over bar the signing, but there was no one willing to put their heads above the parapet and admit that they were in charge. Or particularly wished to be held accountable.

Churchill made a speech and claimed victory, and for all intents and purposes he was probably correct. Knowing what Jimmy had in mind regarding post-war politics, I rounded up as many transports as I could and flew US troops into Germany in the broad daylight, the majority towards Berlin.

That evening, as I arrived at No.10 for a meeting, reports were coming in about a Japanese offer to surrender, with terms, but still not unconditionally. Churchill claimed a second victory, the church bells sounding out around Britain that evening.

‘So, it’s all over, yeah?’ I said as I met Churchill and his command staff in a smoke-filled room on street level. A dozen officers stood about, their smiles a contrast to earlier meetings, the relief evident.

‘All over, Mister Holton, all over, and a new chapter in the annals of this great nation’s fighting history.’

‘Yeah, well don’t forget that you had a little help,’ I teased.

‘Never, Mister Holton, never!’

‘Do you have enough troops to occupy Germany?’ I asked.

‘We’re even sending the cooks - and the band,’ Churchill remarked with a grin.

‘Perhaps you could say a few words towards the French forces, and those still fighting over there. Ask them to all stop fighting, unless fired upon.’

‘I shall, since we shall need many a sturdy German to rebuild the country.’

‘Yeah, we did damage a few cities. You have a plan? A reconstruction plan?’

‘I could not admit to possessing that plan as yet.’

‘Then I’ll help, since the quicker you can rebuild Germany, the quicker you can improve the economies of Europe – and your own position within Europe. Perhaps, you could upset generations of Germans across time and space by suggesting a commercial and political union amongst European nations, as a way to avoid future conflicts.’

‘A union of nations?’ Churchill puzzled.

‘It’s inevitable, but will be suggested by the Germans and French in fifteen years or so. As an industrial block, you’d go some way to rivalling America. It even ends up with a common currency, although Britain never gives up the pound.’

‘A common currency by God,’ Churchill let out.

‘It’ll help to counter-balance any future threat from Russia as well. It’s odd really, but on our world the Russians fought in the war, and occupied the east of Germany at the end of the war. Because they wouldn’t leave, it led to tensions for sixty years.’

‘Then we shall consider ourselves fortunate not to be in such a position.’

‘Did you get the money?’

‘Indeed yes, and we are in your debt, literally. We shall repay it as soon as is practical.’

‘No hurry,’ I assured our wartime leader. My phone went, and I listened to Ngomo Junior for a minute. ‘If Lobster wants more men, then fine – send them. Everyone else can be sent to Africa in 1984 or rotated out. I don’t want any modern-era African Rifles wandering around this world, just US Marines. Oh, the Kenyan and Congolese Rifles from this era, bring them back to Africa as soon as possible. Thanks.’

Rejoining Churchill and his team, he noted, ‘There are now a great many of these futuristic American soldiers around Berlin. What do you see ... as their role?’

‘As soon as is practical, I see them going home. But first, I might fly them all here, for a thank-you parade.’

‘A parade?’

‘Yes, so that the people can thank those brave American boys.’ I held my fixed stare on him.

‘Indeed, yes,’ he said after a moment. ‘We would not wish history to think us ungrateful hosts and allies.’

‘No, you wouldn’t. And to help you to rebuild Germany I’ll be bringing in medics from the future, especially to treat burns victims.’

Churchill lit a cigar, blowing out a fragrant pall. ‘And what do you see as ... the interaction and participation ... of people from the future in our historical development?’

‘I see us watching you very carefully, and guiding you every step of the way, just in case history is repeated and mistakes are made. Some leaders, less capable than yourself, may allow themselves to be ... caught up in the moment, and may forget what really happened. Such leaders would be moved aside and retired off, just in case they make a poor decision about future development.

‘You see, Mister Churchill, it’s about saving lives, the lives of the next generation. It’s not about anyone’s ego, or their right to govern.’ I moved closer, almost whispering. ‘And if you knew what challenges the world faced in the next eighty years, you’d never sleep soundly again.’

He nodded slowly to himself. ‘But don’t deny us a pleasant few weeks of celebration, even if we do get ahead of ourselves. The people deserve that.’

I smiled in agreement. ‘That they do. Then we’ll talk about Africa, post-war politics, and significantly boosting the British economy.’

‘And the empire?’ he delicately broached.

‘Will change from stripes to spots, but still be a zebra.’

‘I hear that these fine soldiers from Nepal are returning home from Hong Kong.’

I nodded. ‘They are. They’ll all be dismissed with a year’s pay, and those wishing to can re-enlist after three months, but to a smaller unit.’

‘And the Canadian Rifles?’

‘Will go on, but as a smaller unit. And they’ll be needed in the years ahead, trust me.’

‘And your fine Africa Rifles?’

‘Will grow in size, and be used to run our empire in Africa, to police the streets and the borders, and to make Africa as safe as Hyde Park. Don’t forget what Jimmy told you: you’ve won the military war, now win the economic war.’

‘And what of this world where it is, apparently, 1984?’ Churchill enquired.

‘Be good for you to visit, to see what your future might have been like.’

‘How so?’

‘On that world, Germany and Japan won the war, and they’re all nuclear armed, sat poised to use their bombs. The Arab fighters seem to have sacked most of Europe, and the communists took China and Russia, intent on dominating that world.’

Churchill blew out a pall, tipping his head back. ‘And what does Jimmy hope to achieve in the midst of such chaos?’

‘He hopes to sort them out. And if anyone can do it, he can.’

‘But he will return to us?’

I nodded. ‘He’s planning on going back and forth, but you’ll have the benefit of my charm and wit for a few years to come.’

‘I would not be without your candour,’ Churchill boomed. ‘If only the wretched members of the house here spoke with such honesty.’

‘Don’t worry, not even in 2047 do the politicians tell the truth.’

Churchill laughed. ‘It’s nice to know that some things never change.’

‘It’s a universal constant. No one should be allowed to be a politician if they apply for the job, on the grounds of a lack of qualification – and sense.’

1984

Lobster sat in a tent with two other officers, just outside the buildings housing the German portal, west of Berlin. A sergeant with headgear and visual displays now controlled an aerial drone, the small aircraft now approaching Holy Loch Submarine Yard, Western Scotland, as darkness fell.

Lobster and the other officers scanned the thermal images of the dockyards, focusing on a submarine enclosed by a metal housing, dozens of men now attending it, their thermal outlines fuzzy. Bursts of light caught their attention.

‘Welding,’ Lobster noted. ‘And a missile ready to be loaded.’ He zoomed in on the sub being worked on, the drone now positioned two miles away, its altimeter showing two thousand feet. ‘There. Sergeant, target that gas cylinder with the EM Sparker, narrow beam, and fire when ready.’

‘Sir, that won’t work,’ an officer called. ‘Look, there are two cylinders, so one is oxygen, one gas to burn.’

Lobster stared at the images. ‘Sergeant, we want the oxygen cylinder, so target them in turn and see what happens.’

‘Yes, sir. Target acquired, locked into the fire controls, waiting for the drone to stabilise, stand by ... stand by ... firing.’

After two seconds a bright flash filled the screen.

‘It was fifty-fifty, so no bonus for you, Sergeant.’

‘Slave driver,’ came back, casing a chuckle.

‘There’s a small fire, looks like cables on fire,’ an officer noted. ‘Look, they’re evacuating.’

‘Good, give them a minute or two, we want the fire reported,’ Lobster suggested.

Two minutes later, Lobster said, ‘Sergeant, you see the missile they were loading, the thing that looks like a giant vibrator?’ They chuckled like teenagers.

‘Yes, sir.’

‘Try and hit the fuel tanks with a cutting laser. Fire when ready.’

‘Targeting, target acquired, locked into the computer, mid-section ... stabilising the drone, firing.’ They waited. ‘Re-targeting.’

‘Sergeant, you’re pants!’ an officer whispered.

‘Firing again.’

The flash filled their screens, everyone zooming out to get a view of the dockyard.

‘That’s a big fire.’

‘They’ll need a new shed.’

‘Will the sub be damaged?’

‘They say, that if a warhead cooks for a few minutes, there’s a chance it’ll go off,’ Lobster commented. ‘So, let it cook for three minutes – hard boiled. Sergeant, max power, get the drone to six thousand feet, three miles out, and over the water – just in case.’

‘Hard boiled submarine,’ someone commented.

‘Sir, there’s radio traffic, they’re ... reporting the fire to London.’

‘Excellent,’ Lobster approved. Two minutes later, he said, ‘Sergeant, target the top of the missile with the EM Sparker. We may get lucky.’

‘We’re at maximum range, sir.’

‘There’s no-one left there to notice if you miss!’ Lobster firmly pointed out. ‘So take your best shot.’

‘Targeting, target acquired and locked, selecting Sparker, charging ready ... fully charged, firing.’

They waited. Four seconds later their screens went blank.

‘Contact lost with drone, sir.’

‘Boom,’ Lobster slowly let out. ‘We just set off a nuke, gentlemen.’ Lobster straightened. ‘Population within ten miles?’

‘Less than three thousand, sir,’ the sergeant reported. ‘Just a thousand houses picked up on thermal as the drone circled the area, maybe ... three people per house.’

‘It was an isolated valley,’ someone commented.

‘Drone is issuing a burst recall message,’ the sergeant reported. ‘It’s coming home to papa on auto-pilot.’

Jimmy lower his phone, then walked down stairs. ‘I need to see the President and the Joint Chiefs immediately,’ he told the team leader of the Secret Service assigned to him.

Fifteen minutes later the men gathered in the Oval Office, three Generals arriving so far. Jimmy reported, ‘Mister President, ten minutes ago my people picked up the EM signature of a nuclear blast, the blast originating in Western Scotland.’

The Generals were on the phone immediately, confirming the detail with their satellites.

The Air Force General reported, ‘Radio intercepts say that a fire was reported aboard a sub on the surface being worked on, a missile caught fire.’

‘They say,’ Jimmy began, ‘that if a missile burns in its tube for five minutes that they can detonate.’

‘Most of our studies say that’s impossible,’ a General commented. ‘But if it was faulty...’

‘It’s their principle submarine yard in Britain,’ Kennedy noted, now dressed casually. ‘Their other two bases are in Norway. They had one in Germany and another in Denmark, but they were blown-up before they were lost to Arabs.’

‘How many subs were at the base at the time?’ Jimmy asked.

‘We believe that four were there, four at sea,’ an Admiral put in.

Jimmy faced Kennedy. ‘Perhaps you should call them and ... make gentle enquiries.’

Kennedy sat at his desk, the conversation listened in to by Jimmy and the Joint Chiefs. When finished, Kennedy lowered the phone and faced Jimmy. ‘They admit to a fire on the sub and an accident. Hell, hard to cover up something like that.’

‘Twenty bucks says that the Chancellor labels it as sabotage,’ Jimmy offered.

‘They label all accidents as sabotage,’ Kennedy responded.

Jimmy faced the General. ‘Wasn’t one of your agents, was it?’ he teased.

‘We wouldn’t take the risk,’ a General said defensively. ‘It could be seen as an act of war.’

‘We’d not want the blame for starting World War Three,’ Kennedy dryly quipped.

Jimmy stared out of focus at the carpet. ‘No, you wouldn’t want the blame. History would not remember you well.’ He stood. ‘We’ll chat again tomorrow no doubt, since this incident seems to be nothing more than an accident. Goodnight.’

In his room, Jimmy checked the anti-bug device and called Lobster. ‘Lobster, send word back: speed up the anti-ballistic missile defences and drones, I’ll want a hundred of them. Have them sent to Mawlini and launched immediately; get more operators. And those drones we have here, make sure that they’re all up, split between Western Europe and Canada, get me a report of coverage. Maximum effort, please, Colonel.’

‘Do you think the natives are getting twitchy, sir?’

‘I think I may know why someone wanted me to come here.’

‘To stop a nuclear conflict, sir?’

‘No, to take the blame for starting one. Silo, out.’ Jimmy went and found Big Paul, placing the anti-bugging device on the arm of a sofa, the other guards fascinated by the dated TV programmes. ‘I think ... I think I have a bad feeling as to why I was nudged towards coming here.’

‘What’s that, boss?’ Big Paul asked, a can of Bud in his hand.

‘If I was killed off-world, I’m sure that the Africans would go back in time and rescue me, easy enough to do. So if someone - someone in the future, wanted me gone, then the best way to do that might be to discredit me, to ... lower my influence.’

Big Paul frowned his lack of understanding. ‘Why discredit you?’

‘Why discredit anyone? To lower their influence, and therefore to stop them from interfering.’

‘Who though?’

‘Someone in the future, someone who probably wants to do something ... something that I would try and block.’

‘That guy Gilchrist?’

‘He’s a candidate, but he’d never get access to a portal. Unless ... he somehow got access to that portal on my old world. That has a group of international scientists operating it, but as far as I know it was shut down, no need for it.’

‘People would never stop listening to you, Boss, not even if this place went up in smoke. You came here to help, and they’ve all got their fingers on the trigger.’ He shrugged. ‘Don’t see how a war here is your pigging fault.’

‘If something I did – a definite interference or policy – caused a war, then there are those who would write a book about it with a little spin, and that would discredit me in some circles.’

‘They started nuclear wars on them other worlds you went to,’ Big Paul pointed out.

‘Not from anything I did, or anything I influenced, they started wars ... because of a stupid Cold War mentality, and for circumstances I could not have predicted.’

‘Like here.’

Jimmy considered that. ‘I don’t know the future here, but I am influencing direction. So, I’ll have to give this some thought, since whoever expects me to fail expects me to follow a particular path. They expect me to behave like me, and my thoughts are all in the books I wrote.’

‘Have to think outside the box then.’

‘I could put you in charge of policy; that would confuse anyone watching.’

‘No need to be that radical, boss,’ Big Paul said with a grin.

‘You did well in Hong Kong,’ Jimmy commended. ‘So, what’ll start a war?’

‘Around here, most pigging everything might start a war.’

‘I’ve promised the Americans missile defence technology...’

‘When they have it, they might be tempted to destroy the others,’ Big Paul cautioned.

‘I don’t think Kennedy would, he’s not that stupid. He generals might, but not him.’

‘Germans got no reason, not now that you’re helping. What about the Japs?’

‘They’re suffering in all areas, focused on the communists.’ Jimmy raised a finger. ‘The Russians. They must have an eye on developing their own bombs.’

‘And would fire them at Germany!’

‘They would up until today, when America announced a second front against The Brotherhood, the first aggressive move by the States in that direction. So, the Russians may believe that America will now involve itself with the rest of the world, after many decades of isolationism. And this lot have fought many small wars against communists in Central and Southern America; Russians here must hate America as much as they do on other worlds. No, that don’t make sense, they’ve never tested a long range missile according to this lot. Besides, they’re bottled up and contained in Siberia.’

‘If someone opened a portal to here and sent a book, maybe they sent someone to infiltrate something, start a war,’ Big Paul suggested.

‘If they have access to a portal they could have sent a whole army of people.’ Jimmy stared out of focus. ‘They could have sent a young German technician.’

‘That guy who jumped through to our world? He’d want to stay here, wouldn’t he?’ Big Paul puzzled.

‘Maybe we’re looking at a war on the wrong world. After all, this place is already a tinder-box.’

‘But not back in 1938,’ Big Paul realised. ‘All stable as fuck now.’

‘A shining example of my work,’ Jimmy said with a false smile.

‘So what could that guy do in 1938?’

‘He was helping the Germans with coal-oil, which ... makes no sense at all if he wants to start a war.’ Jimmy lifted his phone. ‘Lobster, make every effort to trace the family and friends of the technician who jumped through the portal. Fast as you can, thanks.’

Lobster returned to the portal control room, walking and chatting with his senior officers. Inside, he headed for the canteen, finding a dozen technicians enjoying the food that the Rifles had brought through the portal. He sat with the senior scientist. ‘The man who jumped through the portal when it first opened, what was his name, please?’

‘Peder, Peder Hassel.’

‘Do you have a file on this man?’

‘Yes, in the office.’ The scientist stood after Lobster waited. ‘Come.’

In the office, all files were in alphabetical order, just the one missing, that of Peder. ‘It was here a few days ago, I know. The Arabs, they used the files to round up our families, those still here.’

‘So you know where his family live?’

‘In Berlin, but I don’t know the street.’

‘This is important. Send someone into the city to talk to your officials there, try and find the address and any known family. Now, do you have any other information on this man than these files?’

‘There will be copies in London of course.’

‘Oh.’ Lobster took a moment. ‘Do you have any old group photographs?’

‘I believe so. Come.’ In a lounge, posters from The Brotherhood still adorning the walls, the chief scientist opened a cabinet and rifled through, eventually finding a colour photograph, a group shot taken on a sunny day.

‘Which one is he?’

The man pointed out Peder. ‘Second from the right.’

‘Thank you. And please send someone to the city first thing in the morning.’

‘Is there a problem?’

‘We think this man to be ... an American spy,’ Lobster made up on the spot.

‘Peder, a spy. My god.’

‘Can you send information to London, and ask them for details about him.’

‘I will, yes.’

Lobster stepped through to 1938 ten minutes later, finding the Marines command tent. To a comms officer, he said, ‘Scan this photograph, cut out the man second from the right, and enhance it please.’

The officer got to work, soon a face on a data-pad, the software cleaning it up till a crisp image was presented.

‘OK, send that to everyone here in Germany, we want to find the man, a Peder Hassel.’ Lobster spelt the name. ‘Offer rewards to local people.’

‘Who is this guy?’

‘He’s from 1984, and he came though the portal before The Brotherhood, trying to help the Germans win the war. Mister Silo thinks he will interfere.’

‘The guy’s dead meat.’

1938

In London, I looked at the face, and it seemed vaguely familiar. I sent a copy on to Baldy before calling Ngomo Junior in Kenya. ‘Colonel?’

‘Yes, sir.’

‘I just sent you and file and an image. Make paper copies of this guy’s face, and then ask your father to send a team down to South Africa, to see what this guy has been up to. Thanks.’

Baldy called me, ‘Paul, that face, I recognise him from somewhere?’

‘Did you ever get close to him, pass in a cafe?’

‘I don’t think so, but it’s possible.’

‘I seem to recognise him as well.’

‘How could you know him, unless you sat next to him on a plane and didn’t know about it? He’s not been to the States or Canada as far as I know, but he used your aircraft down to South Africa and back a lot.’

‘I never flew down to South Africa, so maybe he was on flight from London down to Kenya.’

‘Maybe. Does Jimmy still think that this guy will interfere? The war’s over!

‘He’s from 1984, so he may know how a few things go.’

‘He can’t know the stock markets, completely different circumstances.’

‘Yeah. But he may know about oil and gold somewhere.’

‘On his world they never touched Africa.’

‘True, but he’s still got forty years on this lot. So if someone suddenly invents the Sony Walkman, we’ll know it’s him!’

‘And skateboards and Space Invaders!’

‘Shirts with wide collars! Disco pants and Afros’

‘Some things are definitely left in the past.’

‘Definitely.’

1984

Jimmy answered his phone to Lobster. ‘Sir, we have an image of that man, people looking for him in 1938 Berlin. But sir, his file was missing, and only his.’

‘Who’s had access to that area?

‘The other technicians, my command staff.’

‘Any US Marines?’

‘Yes, sir, they bring equipment in, and supplies. Is there ... a problem?’

‘Keep this all to yourself for now, but I think that guy’s not from 1984, I think he’s a traveller.’

‘And not on our side,’ Lobster realised. ‘I’ll track down his family as fast as I can, sir.’

Lowering his phone, Lobster heard a call. ‘We’re ready, sir.’

‘Ready for what? Lunch?’

‘Ready to attack the Russians, sir.’

‘Then make that your report, sergeant, I’m not a mind reader.’ Lobster followed the man to a tent, and sat with two captains.

‘Three drones over the front lines, sir,’ a man reported. ‘Just east and south of Moscow, some fighting in the city.’ He handed over a data-pad. ‘Those are the lines, a large Russian concentration visible. They’re massing for an attack, armoured personnel carriers and a few tanks, about three thousand infantry.’

‘Commence,’ Lobster ordered.

‘Drone now fed with ground shadowing limit, thermal movement parameters ... set, battery status ... check. Opening fire now.’ Lobster peered at his data-pad, zooming-in on a particular grid, what looked like an open field. Hundreds of thermal signatures were displayed as a body of men moved forwards.

‘One hundred ... two hundred ... four hundred,’ the operator read out. ‘Five hundred targets engaged.’

Lobster put two fingers on the data-pad, an inch apart, and drew them further apart, the image enlarged. The thermal images were now mostly stationary, men lying prone, others attending them.

‘One thousand discharges ... fifteen hundred ... two thousand, rate of fire diminishing, sir. Mopping up now, sir.’

‘Attack along the entire Moscow front all night, then pause,’ Lobster ordered as he stood. ‘Good work.’

Having asked for a meeting with the President and his security advisors, Jimmy announced, ‘I’ve launched an attack against Russian forces around Moscow, to ... thin them out a bit.’

‘What kind of attack?’ Kennedy asked.

‘Aerial drones, lasers fired down from them, perhaps ... three thousand Russian soldiers killed.’ He raised his phone and dialled as Kennedy glanced at his staff. ‘Chancellor, how are you? Sorry to hear about your ... accident last night. Anyway, some good news for you. I’ve used my soldiers to attack Russian lines east of Moscow, you should be getting the reports today. Anyway, you’ll find the area clear, but might I ask that you hold off attacking for a few days, at least till after the meeting tomorrow. You’re welcome, as they say over here. Bye.’

Lowering his phone, Jimmy faced an expectant Kennedy. ‘It keeps his finger off the trigger, a small victory to shout about, his populace a little brighter. And, my people will reach the northern coast of Germany today, so the Chancellor can land his troops and claim another victory. Shame about his submarine base, but otherwise he should be feeling better about things.’

Kennedy exchanged a look with his Generals. ‘And your aims, as for Russia?’

‘To have the Germans pull back to the border of Belorussia, but done so through negotiation. First, the Chancellor needs to be back in Berlin.’

‘And then?’ Kennedy pressed.

‘And then ... free and fair elections in Belorussia and the Ukraine at some point, the Russians kept to their borders through force.’

‘You think you can squeeze the German genie back into the small bottle that was their original border?’ the National Security Advisor sarcastically asked.

‘Well, let’s think about it, shall we. They’ve lost two thirds of their military to fighting The Brotherhood, they’re embroiled in a fight with the Russians, their economy is screwed, so they have only so much juice left. I saw burnt out buildings in London, and they weren’t down to The Brotherhood, they were down to disaffected citizens.

‘The dear Chancellor would love to be back in Berlin, and once there he only has enough juice to protect one area, and it will cost him greatly to rebuild Germany. He’ll ... have a few choices to make, a few ... sacrifices to make. He can try and struggle to hold parts of Russia, he can try and hold onto a rebellious Britain, he can try and hold onto a disaffected Europe, or he can concentrate his efforts in one place, hoping to buy time.

‘He knows he can’t defend Europe, or Russia, and before my removal of the Arabs he was facing his own death, probably at the hands of his own Generals. It’s not so much a case of ... will he accept being bottled up in Germany, more a case of his only option left.’

Kennedy smiled. ‘You gave him an open door, knowing it would destroy the Greater German Union if he took it.’

‘On my world, the German people had had enough of fighting after six years. Here, they’ll be glad to be home, no designs on conquest for a generation or two.’

‘The Japanese are sending a top delegation here,’ Kennedy mentioned. ‘Be here tomorrow. And your good buddy the Chancellor is sending a team.’

‘Do you have channels to the communists?’

‘There’s a Russian Mission here, we -’

‘Used to support their efforts against the Germans,’ Jimmy finished off. ‘And a Chinese Mission?’

‘Yes, and we supported them as well.’

‘The enemy of my enemy ... will resent the help you gave them in the decades to come,’ Jimmy stated. ‘As well as trying to bite you on the arse.’

‘We no longer involve ourselves with the Chinese communists,’ Kennedy explained. ‘Some material assistance to the Russians. But, as you said, they know why we’re doing it.’

‘Then I would like to talk to the Russians today, followed by the Chinese.’

‘Do you want interpreters than you can trust?’

‘No, I’m fluent in both languages.’

‘You are?’

‘I’m three hundred years old, remember. I’ve had some considerable practice.’

‘They ... don’t know about you, or time travel,’ Kennedy posed. He waited.

‘They will, very soon, notice me knocking down their aircraft, scrambling their communications ... and killing their soldiers, will they not?’

‘As far as the Chinese go, what’s your aim?’ Kennedy asked.

‘To stop them from invading surrounding countries and spreading communism. What’s ... your aim?’

Kennedy hesitated. ‘Well, that as well.’

‘Your aim ... is more of a hope, since many of your Congressmen still proclaim the virtues of isolationism. My aim ... is more of a practical reality, since I don’t answer to Congressmen.’

An hour later, Jimmy entered the Chinese Mission in Washington carrying a bag, modest security displayed for the small and run-down building. Big Paul followed Jimmy in, the other three guards waiting outside.

An interpreter stood waiting at the top of a flight of steps. ‘Welcome to the People’s Mission.’

‘I speak perfect Chinese,’ Jimmy informed the man in Mandarin. ‘You will not be needed.’

The man hesitated, but led Jimmy on and to the mission’s senior man, the individual not labelled as an ambassador, but a People’s Representative.

‘Thank you for your time in seeing me,’ Jimmy offered the man.

The startled official stared back. ‘You ... speak like you were born in Beijing?’

‘Maybe I was.’ They sat.

‘The American White House asked us to entertain you for this meeting, without an explanation as to the purpose of the meeting.’

‘The purpose ... is for you to discover who I am, what I’m doing, and how it affects you. We would then negotiate.’

‘And ... who are you?’

‘I was British, originally, a very long time ago. I may not look it, but I’m three hundred years old.’ He lifted a data-pad as the man simply stared back. ‘What the Americans haven’t told you, and what you have failed to learn about, is that both the Americans and the Germans have been working on time machines for many years – in secret of course.

‘Time machine?’

‘Yes, a machine to send people backwards in time, the hope being that advanced soldiers could go back and attack America’s enemies at a time when they were using just bows and arrows.’

‘I have heard of such machines, in the newspapers here. And if such a machine worked, there would be historical references in the history books.’

‘True. Fact is, they didn’t work till they had a hand from a traveller like me. Then the German machine worked, but it didn’t send someone back through time, it sent them to another world.’

‘Another world?’

‘Computer. Display images of Shanghai, 2025.’

A wall came to life, a six foot image of the glistening city. Aircraft could be seen landing, traffic queuing, pedestrians rushing about, the People’s Representative startled. The man studied the images for two minutes, his mouth open, and finally turned back to Jimmy.

‘Computer, display communist Chinese soldiers from 1950.’

Images flashed up, black and white newsreel of soldiers with bolt-action rifles and bayonets.

‘1970.’

The images changed to that of colour, the soldiers in green uniforms, regimented rows marching along, tanks glimpsed behind.

‘2010.’

The images were not that different, save fighter jets flying past in formation, Tianamen Square clearly recognisable in each.

‘Computer, display images of Chinese Space Station, 2030.’

The space station could be seen drifting serenely over the earth, soon images of Chinese astronauts waving at a camera, words spoken to family back on Earth.

‘Computer, display images of Jimmy Silo with Chinese leaders in Tianamen Square.’

Jimmy could be seen on the podium making a speech.

‘End images.’ Jimmy faced his host. ‘Those images are not from this world, but they could be. Your scientists - those you’ve not yet rounded up and shot, could have told you about a theory, a theory that there are parallel dimensions in space, and many worlds all very similar. Perhaps you could find a few scientists in your prisons and ask them. Anyway, the Germans opened a door, and that attracted my attention, so now I’m here. And now that I am here things will change, because I brought with me tens of thousands of soldiers from the future, all armed with sophisticated weapons.’

Jimmy checked his watch. ‘Contact your government after this meeting, just to confirm that all electrical equipment in Shanghai has stopped working – as of now.’

‘Stopped working?’

‘My doing. A sample of what I could do, a lesson to be learnt, a tap on the shoulder, a … demonstration of what technology from the future can do.’

The man stared back.

‘Now, let’s get down to what I want, and what you want. On the world that I came from, Chinese communists took control in 1947, and spent decades trying to find their true centre, the nature of communism. They fought in many small wars, and supplied weapons to many other communist groups in other countries, as you’ve done in Central America. They then decided to sell goods abroad, and did very well at it, eventually becoming the world’s largest economy, and its richest nation. Peace and prosperity was secured for its people, it just ... took a while. Tomorrow, there’ll be a meeting of the nations of this world, and you are invited to come along to negotiate on behalf of your people.’

‘Negotiate?’

‘Negotiate the future, peace or war, conflict or growth, prosperity or darkness. As an opener, you may inform your government that those of your aircraft lost approaching Japan in the last twelve hours were not lost due to Japanese aircraft, or Japanese missiles, or mechanical faults. They were lost because of sophisticated technology. From this moment on, none of your aircraft will reach Japan and, no one in Shanghai will get ice-cream today. Or tomorrow for that matter.

‘Mister People’s Representative, I aim to interfere directly, to bring peace to this world. Cooperate and I’ll help your people with advanced medicines and technology. Fail to cooperate … and you’ll be contained and isolated. Kindly figure a few responses and comments for tomorrow’s meeting, where you will be allowed a voice.’ Jimmy handed over two phones. ‘Press the green button and you will get through to me. Send one back to China so that your leaders can talk to me.’ He stood. ‘Thank you for your time today.’

They left a People’s Representative looking like he needed the People’s hospital. A few well-trained doctors would have been nice to go with the hospital, but most of those were now tilling the fields, guarded by the People’s loyal soldiers.

After lunch, Jimmy and the gang were driven around to the Russian Mission, the building again modest, tucked away in a side street, yet protected with high metal fences. They were expected, and allowed in, no effort made to search them. Again, Big Paul accompanied Jimmy inside, finding another interpreter.

‘You’ll not be needed,’ Jimmy told the man in Russian, soon sat with three representatives of the Russian People’s Union, not yet the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. They would need to conquer a few republics first.

‘How may we help you?’ the lead man asked in Russian, now sat a desk that had seen better days, he and his colleagues in dark suits that had seen better days as well.

‘My name is Jimmy Silo.’

‘We understand that ... you are a scientist working for the Germans, on their efforts with time travel,’ the lead man said, appearing as if he had smugly just revealed a great secret.

‘No, I’m British.’

‘A British scientist.’

‘No, a British time traveller.’

‘Ah, you hope to make use of this German machine, should it ever work.’

‘Last night, many thousands of your soldiers – those advancing on Moscow – were mysteriously killed.’ That woke them up. ‘Each was hit with a laser blast from an aircraft, those aircraft operated by my people. You will find that your soldiers have small holes and burns marks, burn marks on uniforms, and that their insides were burnt. Big Paul, laser pistol, please.’ Big Paul stood, drew his weapon, and cut a chair in half.

The three hosts were horrified. ‘This ... this is some new German weapon?’

‘No, it’s a weapon from the future.’ Jimmy lifted the data-pad. ‘Computer, display images of Moscow business district, year 2030.’

A wall burst into life, a large image of the business district, dozens of tall glass-fronted buildings, busy traffic below, signs visible on buildings in Cyrillic writing.

‘Computer, display images of Russian astronauts aboard earth space station, 2030.’

The images again changed, holding the attention of the three Russians for a minute.

‘I’m from the future, gentlemen, and I came with tens of thousands of soldiers, all armed with advanced weapons. You may be aware of the fighting around Germany, The Brotherhood being massacred by my people. My soldiers have also landed in Africa, in Kenya. After a little research by yourselves, you may confirm that. And, by the end of today, the Germans will have landed soldiers on the north German coast, with my assistance. They will re-take Germany.’

‘You ... you came here to fight us?’

‘No, I came here to save you, and to end the fighting.’ Jimmy eased forwards. ‘You are hereby ordered to disengage the German soldiers along the front that you’re fighting until such time as we negotiate.’

‘Negotiate? Negotiate what?’

‘Everything, and anything. You may not realise it yet, but I’m here to help you, starting with destroying The Brotherhood, people who would have turned their attentions to you after Germany, and you know that.’ He paused. ‘I can offer you advanced medicines for your wounded, drugs that will heal burns, and I can offer you advanced technology to make your lives easier. I don’t believe for a minute that you wish to make the lives of your own citizens easier, but the offer is there anyway.

‘There will be a meeting here tomorrow of the world’s principal nations - and warring parties, you are invited to come along. If you don’t we’ll just work around you. And gentlemen, it is my intention to pressure the Germans to leave Russia, Belorussia and the Ukraine, to return to their original borders. Russia will then be yours. I will be asking that the Japanese leave Vladivostok. All of the land from St. Petersburg to the east coast will be yours, provided that you are willing to negotiate with me. But don’t tell the Germans that yet, they think I’m on their side.’

‘If you wish us our lands back, why do you attack our soldiers!’

‘The Germans needed to move out of Britain and back into Germany; that’s the first step towards peace. And once the Germans are back home, their empire will crumble through dissent – as you must already believe.’ He waited.

‘You speak as if you were born in Moscow.’

‘Maybe I was.’ He stood. ‘Don’t forget to attend the meeting, it may be the most important meeting in your country’s development.’

Back in the White House, Kennedy and his team were waiting. ‘How did it go?’

‘Why, were you not bugging the meetings?’ Jimmy teased.

‘Of course not,’ Kennedy mock protested. ‘We don’t spy on dangerous rival nations.’ He took a moment. ‘Would I be right in assuming that you have some clever technology to stop such eavesdropping?’

‘You would be right,’ Jimmy confirmed.

‘Do you think they’ll play ball?’

‘I knocked out every piece of electrical equipment in Shanghai, and shot down twelve of their aircraft, so I think the Chinese will sit up and take notice. And the Russians now know that it was my aircraft that killed their troops.’

‘We’ve landed soldiers in Angola, more on the way, and the Navy,’ Kennedy reported. ‘We’ll create an air-bridge as you suggested.’

‘You could fly to northern Kenya, but we don’t have any av-gas there. I’ll arrange some, but I don’t think there’s a suitable runway. You can then send a team to meet my people.’

‘The military are keen to do so,’ Kennedy acknowledged.

‘How are the boys on the hill reacting to the landing in Angola?’ Jimmy enquired.

‘There are ten Congressmen and six senators on the Time Travel Committee, a Republican majority, so they’re all now in the loop and onboard. We told them that time travellers from the future are bringing us advanced weapons - and they smiled like idiots. They’ll cooperate.’

‘The public will notice a change of step, and it’ll leak in a heartbeat,’ Jimmy cautioned.

‘Fortunately, there’ve been hundreds of claims about a time machine over the years, and the voters don’t believe it anymore. Those that might believe it don’t care, and public commentators point to the fact that there’s no historical record of people appearing from thin air. They’d rather watch the ballgame than another show about time travel.’

‘I’ll be going public within weeks,’ Jimmy announced. ‘I need to address the public in Europe to break up the German Union, and I need the people to believe that I’m really a traveller.’

Kennedy took a moment. ‘Is there ... another way?’

‘Sure, but it will take longer. The news will leak eventually, so maybe better that you plan for it now and control it, save it being leaked by some Air Force Captain looking to make a few dollars. And the voters will notice a sudden absence of The Brotherhood.’

‘You really think you can sit down and talk with Russians and Chinese?’ the Chief of staff asked.

‘I’ve done it before, many times. Besides, I like the carrot and stick approach. The carrot is advanced technology and medicines, the stick being that I turn out all of the lights in their cities – not so much as a car will start. And, after the tenth time that they’ve replaced all of their electrical equipment – at very great time and expense, they may just get weary and come and talk.’

Berlin

Lobster pulled up in a commandeered car, one of three in convoy, and looked up at a partly damaged house, the road strewn with litter. A German technician was along for the ride, as well as to act as interpreter. They approached the house and knocked on the door, the technician shouting through that all was OK, and that there was no danger.

An old woman eventually opened the door, looking the visitors over through tired eyes.

‘We are looking for the Hassel family,’ the technician explained. ‘We have food for them,’ he lied.

The old lady walked inside, leaving the door ajar. Sitting opposite the lady as she slouched down, they waited.

‘They are dead,’ she finally said, staring at the dying embers of a fire in the grate.

‘Which are their rooms?’ the technician asked.

‘All of these, I was a lodger after my house was destroyed.’

‘We’ll need to ... look around.’

The old lady offered no comment. Lobster opened a tin of meat, and placed it in her hand before he joined in the search.

After half an hour, the technician met Lobster on the landing. ‘There are many family photographs, but none of Peder.’

Lobster nodded. ‘A spy.’ They walked down bare stairs, clanking as they went. Sitting opposite the old lady, who was enjoying the meat, Lobster said, ‘Tell us about Peder.’

The technician translated.

After struggling to down the meat, the old lady said. ‘He came in 1969 as a student lodger. When he wanted a job, he needed a respectable family to look like his own, which were originally Jews. He paid them money, I know it, Maria Hassel confessed it to me.’

‘A back-stop cover story,’ Lobster stated.

The technician nodded. ‘No-one Jewish is allowed to work, and there are only a few hundred remaining. Some people with one Jewish parent sometimes, but not many.’

‘We will discover nothing more here,’ Lobster suggested as he stood.

‘He had a girlfriend,’ the old lady volunteered. ‘Sad, but she died, the child alive.’

‘Child?’ Lobster queried. ‘Who has this child?’

Half an hour later, a reluctant adoptive parent allowed the child to give a blood sample. With that done, the adoptive parents were escorted back to the portal, and given the shock of their lives. Lobster stepped through with them, handing over the blood sample to be analysed, the details then transmitted to Mawlini in secret, onwards to 2047, where everyone’s DNA was on record, everyone from that world.

Jimmy lowered his phone an hour later.

Big Paul noticed Jimmy’s look. ‘Problem, boss?’

‘We ran a secret DNA check on the technician who jumped through the portal, in case he was from 2047 on our world, and they found a match. We know who his father is.’

‘Yeah, who’s his father?’

‘I am.’

Part 10A