Timeshadow 02

"How the hell do you know this!" Kimmel shouted.

"It's in all the history books, Admiral, even the ones at Annapolis," Sandusky said dryly.

"But you said you graduated in '28, didn't you, Lieutenant?"

"Yessir. 2028."

"Piffle!"

"Admiral," Short said, exasperated, "I've seen their aircraft. There's no way these characters are lying. Even their IDs corroborate. I'm convinced they're telling the truth, and furthermore, I'm convinced that with their help we can turn back the attack."

"What? With a couple of aircraft?"

"Admiral," Courville said, "I have four bombs on my B-2. Each bomb could simply erase Tokyo from the face of the earth. One bomb, detonated 5,000 above the Japanese fleet, would make that fleet disappear. There would be no survivors. These are 200 megaton hydrogen warheads, sir, each containing the equivalent power of 200 million tons of TNT."

Kimmel looked at Courville, saw the earnest truth in the man's eyes, then he turned to Sandusky. "What about your aircraft, son. What can it do?"

"Sir, my squadron's intact. That's four F-35 Lightning II aircraft. We're each carrying four cruise missiles, two air-to-air missiles, as well as two anti-radiation missiles, which target radar transmitters. The cruise missiles can be fired at targets over two hundreds away, and they don't miss, sir. The warhead on just one of those missiles would completely destroy one of those carriers, sir."

"What about the Jap subs you mentioned, Colonel. Could we sortie the fleet tonight, under cover of darkness, and get past them?"

"Admiral," Sandusky replied, "if you sortie your destroyers now, prosecute every contact out there, then send the fleet out behind them, losses would be light. They're tiny subs, very small crews with only one torpedo each."

"Anything on your aircraft that could deal with them?"

"No, sir," both Courville and Sandusky said.

"Alright. I want to go over to Hickam and look over these aircraft of yours. Ed," Kimmel said, looking at his wristwatch, then at Layton, "get off a signal to MacArthur, tell him we're at war with Japan as of right now, expect an air attack at dawn. Warn the Brits, too. Joe, send out the destroyers, and tell 'em what to look for, then signal all the battleship and cruiser squadrons to light off their boilers and make ready for sea."

"What would you like us to do, Admiral," Courville said.

"Do? Captain? Can your aircraft, the four of you, take care of that fleet?"

"No problem, Admiral."

"What about fuel?"

"We have enough remaining on the tanker for several hours of operations," Courville said. "After that, we're out of business until someone can figure out how to make jet fuel."

"Jet fuel? Oh well. What kind of range does your aircraft have, Colonel?"

"With refueling, Admiral, our range is limited by human endurance. We've flown from Missouri to Afghanistan on a routine basis for decades."

Kimmel's eyes narrowed. "So, with your tanker, you could fly to Japan?"

"Easily. It's only about 3800 miles. A little over six hours, give or take. We could take off from here at six in the morning and be back in time for dinner. With tanker support, Captain Sandusky's squadron could fly there and back in a little over five hours."

Kimmel shook his head. "I need to talk to the president. What is this bomb of yours, this hydrogen bomb."

"They're already at work on it, Admiral. The president refers to it as the uranium bomb..."

"That's Top Secret. How the hell do you...oh, well, never mind. Colonel, what do you think would be the best way to deploy your assets?"

"Depends on what your objective is, Admiral. Japan is the immediate threat, Germany is too. In the postwar years, the Soviet Union will emerge as an even greater threat. From the year 2020 on, China will become the dominant threat to global security."

"You have four bombs? That's four targets."

"Sir?"

"Well, come on, let's go look at this aircraft of yours. You ride with me. I wanna talk."

When they arrived at the ramp, Kimmel got out of his staff car and walked over to the B-2. "What's with the shape?" was the Admiral's first question.

"Invisible to radar, Admiral, but so are Sandusky's aircraft."

"Alright. Captain Sandusky, you'll make ready to take off at 0400 hrs. Your orders are to locate the Japanese aircraft carriers and sink them. If any Japanese aircraft threaten these islands, take them out. Colonel Courville. If for any reason Sandusky's mission fails, you'll standby to take out their fleet. Captain Anderson?"

"Aye, sir."

"What's with all the children?"

"Refugees, sir. From the airliner."

"What?" the admiral said. "From Australia? Why?"

"Climate change," Sandusky said. "Temperatures in the northern territories are now above 150F. Most of Australia, aside from the southern coast, has relocated to northern Canada."

"Climate change," Kimmel said. "From what?"

"Fossil fuels, mostly, though some still argue it's just natural variability."

"So, I don't have a clear picture here," Kimmel said, looking perplexed. "What does all this mean? For the future of humanity?"

Courville shuffled his feet. "Admiral, projections are these climate changes could lead to an extinction level event."

"What?"

"The end of life on the planet, sir. I think that's the reason, that's why we're here."

"Explain."

"Someone or something wants us to change history. Your history, Admiral. My guess is they, whoever they are, think that by making these changes, we might help prevent such an outcome."

"How so?"

"Well sir, after the war the world economy underwent a wild expansion, and carbon based energy fueled that expansion. Automobiles, aircraft, coal fired factories, and by last year, I mean 2035, the global population stood at almost eight billion people, every one of those people wanting more and more. The real problem now, well, it's that there's no way to sustain such growth, but in 2025 the climate began changing radically, and by that I mean it began changing much faster than scientists predicted it could."

"I'm sorry, Colonel, but that doesn't add up."

"Sir?"

"If we stop this attack," Kimmel said, "what changes? Hardly anything. You might delay some aspects of this change, but hardly in the way you imply needs be done."

"Yessir."

"You're missing something. Something important. The only way to prevent the changes you've described would be to completely stop current technological practice. You could do this by introducing an entirely new technology to fuel growth, or by..."

"Sir?"

"Well, by taking humanity back to the Stone Age," Kimmel said, as he looked at Courville's B-2.

+++++

Patricia Hahnemann stared at the man, and he stared at her. They had been locked in a contest of Will for hours, perhaps days. She had no way of knowing where she was, no reference to time; all she knew was that this man was, somehow, probing her mind. She felt him, felt him in her mind. He was looking for something...no...someone.

Images came to her swiftly, suddenly, like the man had found the key and he was talking to her through images. The sensation was overwhelming -- like she had lost complete control of her mind's ability to filter incoming information...and images of astonishing clarity flooded inward at impossible speed...

Too much -- she forced herself to think. Too fast. Slow down.

The images dilated and receded, then slowed, and...

Then she saw a new image, bright and clear. Todd Parks. Sara, standing with Todd Parks, and Parks knows about them, doesn't he? Their ship? Does Parks know about their ship?

She saw the ship now. The image was as clear and vibrant as any picture she had ever seen, and she felt the man's question. She remembered Todd talking about his 'Death Star' -- and how it had orbited the sun, taking plasma directly from the corona...

And then she was standing on a vast, fertile plain, a cool breeze blowing through her hair, the sun directly overhead. This isn't an image, she told herself as she smelled the crisp air, then she watched as the man's head tilted toward the sky, as his eyes went to the sun and as he pointed at the star, then he looked at Patricia Hahnemann and smiled.

(C)2016 Adrian LeverKuhn | ABW