Battle for Atlantis

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

“It is like a great fishhook,” Meade said, as he looked at the map of the terrain his senior engineer had just finished sketching.

Meade had arrived at Gettysburg in the dark, around 3:30 A.M., and had immediately been briefed by the senior generals who had fought the previous day’s battle. He had already decided on the trip up to hold in place, regardless of terrain. At the very least he was between Lee and Washington, and he planned on keeping it that way. He’d issued orders from the saddle, directing every unit under his command to converge on Gettysburg with all possible haste.

Then, as it began to grow light, he’d ridden the length of the Union line with his generals and senior engineer, getting a feel for the land. At the very south. Beyond the Union left flank were a pair of hills, Little and Big Round Top. Both were currently unoccupied by either Union or Rebel troops. They would be the eye of the large fishhook. Then Cemetery Ridge extended for two miles north, the shank, Cemetery Hill was the curve in the hook and Culp’s Hill on the Union right was the barb. The actual town of Gettysburg lay just to the north and west and was currently occupied by the Confederates.

Meade felt a thrill of excitement from the morning ride. It was a good place to defend. He had the high ground with good fields of fire toward the Rebels. He also had short lines of communication given that his flanks curved back. That meant he could resupply his army with relative ease and also move reinforcements quickly.

Meade took the pencil from his engineer as soon as the man was done. The commanding general quickly delineated corps responsibilities on the paper along with specific orders. “Copies to each corps commander,” he told his adjutant.

Throughout the morning, Meade had never even considered attacking. Lincoln’s admonition still stayed with him. And he thought the commander-in-chief’s advice to be quite sound. Meade would let lee come to him.

Lee was also looking at the terrain and issuing orders from his position on Seminary Ridge. He also saw what Meade in his excitement had not paid enough attention to — that the Union line extended south only to the end of Cemetery Ridge, but did not encompass the two Round Tops.

“General Longstreet,” lee called out.

His senior corps commander was drinking some coffee from a battered tin cup. He carne over, large hands cradled around the warm metal. “Sir.”

“Wait a moment,” lee said as a junior officer he’d sent off at first light to conduct a reconnaissance appeared.

The officer rode up and saluted. “General.”

“Your report, captain?”

“The two hills are unoccupied, sir. The nearest Union · forces are about a half mile away and digging in, showing no indication of moving.”

“Very good.” As the captain left, Lee turned to Longstreet. “Take your divisions south and then attack northeast and seize those hills. Once you have them, I will coordinate for Hill’s corps to attack on the Union center while you force his flank. Ewell will hold our left; and then once the enemy begins to break, I will send him against Culp’s Hill.”

“Yes, sir.”

Lee put a hand on Longstreet’s arm. “You must make your preparations and movement undetected. I do not want the Union to know your objective.”

Longstreet frowned as he looked to the south. “It’s pretty open land there. I’d have to swing wide, behind this ridge. That will take some time.”

“Take the time,” Lee said. “The Federals have interior lines. If they know your objective, they can get there first.”

“Sir.”

Lee looked tired in the early morning light, his face tight and drawn. “Yes?”

“Let me go straight for the hills,’ Longstreet suggested. “By the time the Federals react, I’U have them. With two divisions, I could hold them against three Union corps.”

“Please do as I’ve ordered, general,” Lee said.

Longstreet realized the discussion was over. He saluted and headed for his horse.

The corps that Meade had given the left flank to was General Sickles’s. He, unlike the other generals, was not impressed with Cemetery Ridge, especially as the southern end was the lowest. He felt the slight incline was vulnerable and looking to his front saw an elevation on which there was a peach orchard, which he felt would provide his corps with a better defensive position.

Seizing the initiative, Sickles ordered his corps forward to occupy the peach orchard before the Confederates could take what he now considered very important terrain. So the Union left flank began to march to a position a half mile in front of the rest of their forces.

The next corps commander up the line was shocked to see his own flank becoming exposed as Sickles’s men moved forward. He sent a messenger to Meade to inform him of this potentially disastrous turn of events. By the time Meade rode down to straighten things out, literally, it was too late. Sickles’s corps was already occupying the peach orchard and was in contact with the Confederates.

Meade demanded of Sickles why he had moved forward, beyond the positions, which Meade had personally drawn on the map that morning.

Sickles’s response was Straightforward. “Sir, this is favorable high ground.”

Meade had slept less than an hour in the past several days and had little patience. “General, this is indeed higher than the ground you were on. But” — Meade pointed to the west — “there is higher ground yet in front of you and if you keep advancing you will find constantly higher ground all the way to the mountains!”

Meade could feel the excitement he’d experienced earlier in the morning as he’d reviewed his positions start to slip away as the sound of firing began to rise from the peach orchard. Sickles’s foolish move had apparently cast away the advantage.

In reality, Sickles’s foolish move turned out, in the freakish way of combat, to save the day for the Union forces as Longstreet’s corps ran right into a Union force in the peach orchard where they had expected nothing but a clear road on their circuitous route to assault the Round · Tops.

Like Meade, Longstreet cursed as he heard the firing at the front of his columns. To follow Lee’s orders, he’d been forced to turn his corps around and march back up the Chambersburg Pike to the northwest to get out of sight of the Federals. Then he’d turned his troops south. This had taken him the better part of the day and it was now afternoon as his men ran into the unexpected Union presence.

His lead division commander, General Hood, realized the situation immediately. He saw the undefended gap between the Union forces in the peach orchard and the main line and the two Round Tops still unoccupied. He sent a runner back to Longstreet, requesting that he be allowed to change directions and attack through the gap, straight for the hills, even as his forces become more and more embroiled with Sickles’s corps.

The answer was no.

Hood sent a second runner.

The answer was no. Longstreet was determined to follow Lee’s orders to the letter.

Hood sent a third runner with a note, officially protesting the order, something he had never done in two years of heavy combat.

The answer again was no.

Hood decided to ignore his orders and do what his military common sense told him, but he had already lost valuable hours requesting permission.

Amelia Earhart came out of the eight-foot-high black circle, floating less than six inches above the ground. She was in a forest Alone. She unsealed the Valkyrie suit and carefully stepped out onto the ground. Behind her, the gate that had opened slowly shrunk to a small dot and disappeared. She had to hope that the Ones Before would open it back up again when she needed to leave.

She cocked her head. there was thunder in the distance.

She looked about as she removed the plastic case from the Valkyrie’s pack. She needed a place to hide the suit. She decided the easiest thing to do would be to put it where people didn’t ordinarily look — up. First she hid the plastic case with the skulls between some boulders, piling leaves on top of it.

Then, climbing a tree, she pulled the suit up on a short tether and secured it Ii~ in a lee, pretty much out of sight from the ground. She paused high in the branches, remembering how as a child she used to climb trees all the time in her first attempts at getting up in the sky. She’d always enjoyed being above the ground. She was close to the summit of the hill and through the adjoining trees she could see some of the land around her, She was just below the crest of the bill, on the southern side. To the south was another hill, slightly higher. Earhart cocked her head. The thunder was persistent and she finally realized it wasn’t thunder. It was cannon fire.

Then she knew exactly where she was. Little Round Top.

Jeb Stuart was finally back. There was firing all along the front as Stuart arrived, exhausted from five straight nights of marching. Lee’s staff fell silent as the dust-covered · cavalry commander rode up. the stare with which Lee greeted Stuart was as cold as any had ever seen their commander give.

“General Stuart, Where have you been?” He didn’t give Stuart a chance to immediately respond. “I have not heard a word from you in days, and you are the eyes and ears of my army.”

Stuart stiffened. “I have brought you one hundred and twenty-five wagons and their teams, General.”

“Yes, General, but they are an impediment to me now.”

Stuart’s head dropped and all in earshot turned away, pretending not to bear. As if sensing the profound effect his harshness had had, and that the battle was far from over, Lee stepped forward and put a tender hand on his cavalry commander’s shoulder. “Let me ask your help now. We will not discuss this any further. Help me defeat these people.”

The lead units in Hood’s division were two regiments from Alabama. They made a beeline for Big Round Top, and except for a handful of Union snipers that they quickly ran off, found the hill undefended. They charge up the hill and took it in a few minutes.

The commander of the Fifteenth Alabama looked over to the next hill, little Round Top, and saw no activity on it. it. His men were tired from charging up the hill, so he gave the order for a short period of rest before they would resume the attack and seize Little Round Top.

There were some Union soldiers on Little Round top, not far from where Amelia Earhart was hiding her Valkyrie suit. Meade had not completely ignored his left flank and sent his chief engineer, General Warren, there to ascertain the terrain and the possibilities for defense.

Warren was astounded to find only a handful of signalmen on the hill, and these were preparing to leave hastily as they had seen the gray wave sweep up Big Round Top and knew they were next. Warren ordered the signalmen to stay in position and sent runners off, one to Meade and the other to Sickles, recommending that troops be sent immediately to hold Little Round Top.

Once more luck and good leadership played a role as · one of the runners passed by Colonel Vincent’s Third Brigade. Vincent had the runner show him the message he carried and recognized the importance. Disregarding the orders he had received earlier, Vincent ordered his thirteen hundred men toward Little Round Top, at double time, with Colonel Joshua Chamberlain’s twentieth Maine in the lead.

From her vantage point, Earhart saw it all unfold and with what she had studied on the flight from San Diego to the Devil’s Sea Gate, she knew the history of what she was witnessing.

A wave of blue came rushing in from the east and raced up the hill and then partly down the western and southern sides, halting in a thin defensive line. Directly below Earhart was the Twentieth Maine, now the southern-most end of the Union line, facing to the south 1D a curving line.

Fewer than five minutes after Chamberlain’s troops arrived in position, the Confederates from Big Round Top arrived at the base of the hill and began charging up the steep incline, weaving their way through the trees, undergrowth and boulders.

The men from Alabama ran right into the men of Maine. At stake was the entire fate of the Union Army, because if the Confederates could turn the Twentieth Maine, they would turn the flank of the Union Army and accomplish What Lee had set out in the morning to do.

Earhart watched as the Confederates charged, to be met with close-range volley fire from the Union lines. The effete of the 50-caliber minie balls fired from the muzzle-loading rifles was devastating. Even a hit on an appendage caused so much trauma that many men died from such wounds. The screams of the wounded and dying mixed in with the rattle of musketry. Earhart felt as if she were in some strange, dream world as the air around her filled around him and gave his orders quickly, trying to take advantage of the brief lull before they were attacked again. The shocked looks on the company commanders reflected the audacity of Chamberlain’s plan. Despite their surprise and misgivings, the officers went back to their men and relayed the orders.

Sunlight glinted off steel and the Maine fixed bayonets. With a yell, and Chamberlain in the lead, the left branch of the V, began to charge downhill. In less than ten seconds they were into the startled Confederates who were hiding behind trees and rocks, gathering their strength and courage for the next charge.

Men finally broke. The Confederates had charged uphill, again and again, over the bodies of their comrades, into a withering fire, and they could take no more. The Rebel line broke and ran, the Twentieth Maine sweeping down among them.

Earhart watched as I Confederate officer offered his sword to Chamberlain in surrender even as be pointed a pistol at the Union officer’s bead and pulled the trigger. The gun was empty and Chamberlain knocked it from his hand, sending him back with the detail that was gathering the prisoners.

Little Round Top was clear of Confederates and the Union left flank was secure.

Earhart stayed hidden in her tree and hoped that when nightfall came she could climb down and reclaim the skulls. This brutal fighting had to have charged them, of that she had little doubt.

She wanted no more of this fighting.

The news coming from Pennsylvania was spotty at best. Lincoln sorted through telegrams, but could not get a feel for what was happening, as many of them were contradictory. The South was attacking in some. The North in others. Meade was retreating. No, Lee was retreating. Stuart was reported riding on Washington.

“Tomorrow,” Mary said.

“More death?”

“Yes,” Mary confirmed. “But also hope.”

Wrong. Ahana remembered Amelia Earhart’s last words to her before they parted; that she had to be going to a better place than Gettysburg. And she now knew those words were dead wrong.

Ahana came out of the gate into night, but there was enough moon light to see that she was surrounded by thousands of Zulu warriors. Cries of alarm were sounded at the sudden apparition of the white creature coming out of the black circle, floating a few inches above the ground.

Within seconds she was encircled by a ring of warriors brandishing short, wide bladed spears. One jabbed it forward, the point bouncing off the Valkyrie suit armor. The blow slowly spun Ahana about and as she turned she could see that she was in a valley and the ground was literally covered with warriors, thousands and thousands of them.

She brought the suit under control and raised her arms in the universal signal of surrender, but that didn’t stop a half dozen warriors from trying to skewer her. Their efforts were to no avail, as the blades didn’t even scratch the hard white shell she was encased in.

After several minutes the warriors moved back, leaving a ten-foot-wide empty. Circle around her. Ahana wasn’t certain what to do. The strange stalemate continued for thirty minutes before the circle parted and two people stepped forward. One was an old man, obviously someone of great importance given the deference the warriors showed him; the other was an old woman, wearing a long cloak and with a crystal amulet around her neck.

The two had a rapid discussion with much waving of arms, before the old man barked out some orders. The circle around Ahana widened to fifty feet as the warriors pulled back, the old man going with them. The old woman remained and she mimicked Ahana’s gesture, raising her empty hands above her shoulders.

With no other option, Ahana unsealed her suit and exited.

If she was surprised to see a woman, an Asian woman at that, come out of the sui~ the old woman showed no surprise. She smiled and pointed at herself.

“Shakan.”

Ahana imitated the gesture. “Ahana.”

The woman indicated she should follow. Ahana tethered her suit and the case attached to its back. She followed Shakan out of the valley, the warriors parting in front of them with many curious glances.

Ahana had no idea where she was. Although between the warriors and the terrain she suspected somewhere in southern Africa. Given the weaponry the warriors bad, she also guessed she was sometime in the past.

They came up out of the valley and Ahana could see they were now on a large east-west escarpment. There was a rocky hill to the right several miles away on which she could see the glow of campfires. There also seemed to be some activity, as torches ran to and fro. Shakan led her to the left, toward a conical hill.

As they moved across the plain toward the hill, Ahana noticed that the eastern s~ was beginning to lighten, bringing a new day.

With Chelmsford gone, the camp at Isandlwana was under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Pulleine. If things had been bad under Chelmsford, they were worse now as Pulleine had never seen combat. He also had the problem of guarding a camp that was much larger than the force that remained in it, as he still had the tents for the men who had marched off with Chelmsford.

The camp sprawled over nine hundred yards long, along the front face of Isandlwana. Besides the tents, Pulleine was also saddled with over one hundred wagons and the animals that pulled them. He had five companies of the Twenty-fourth Infantry and nine companies of the Native Natal Contingent along with assorted other elements left to him.

Pulleine wasn’t completely incompetent. He put out a screen of mounted troops to the north and east, along with a closer line of infantry pickets. As the sun rose, he spread his remaining troops along the line he had to hold. One of his company commanders pointed out that the line was spread too thin to offer an effective defense using volley fire — the forte of the British Army — but Pulleine pointed out that he had no other choice, short of leaving part of the camp uncovered.

Shortly before 8:00 A.M., one of the mounted soldiers rode in from the· northeast reporting a large Zulu force moving across the Nqutu Plateau. Pulleine immediately sent a runner after Chelmsford and pulled in his infantry pickets, leaving the mounted men still out. He ordered stand to.

Then came confusion as Colonel Durnsford finally arrived from Rorke’s Drift with his column. Given that Durnsford outranked Pulleine, there was some issue over who was in command. Worse, while Chelmsford had ordered Pulleine to hold his position, Durnsford did not feel those orders applied to him. Given that Durnsford not only · outranked him but was a more experienced officer, Pulleine was more than willing to hand over command to Durnsford. Durnsford dogged the issue by telling Pulleine that he and his command would not be staying in the camp. All could see small scattered parties of Zulu on the plains · to the east, and Dumsford was determined to ride out and clear the ground of the enemy.

A more experienced and aggressive officer would have pointed out to Dumsford!hat he had been ordered forward to Isandlwana by Chelmsford, and the orders from the commander for the force at Isandlwana was to hold the defensive, but Pulleine said nothing. The two sat down for lunch, indicating that they did not take any threat very seriously at the moment.

Even when a patrol came in with two Zulus they had captured, and the two said that the entire Zulu army was close by the camp and preparing to attack, the two British officers were not alarmed. Pulleine sent another messenger after Chelmsford while Durnsford got his command ready to move. He asked Pulleine for two companies of infantry for support. Already stretched thin, Pulleine initially demurred but finally gave in, further depleting his force. However, Pulleine’s adjutant protested so forcefully that Pulleine reversed his decision just before Durnsford left.

At noon, Durnsford rode off to pursue the Zulus on the plain even though he had just been told by the prisoners that the Zulus were coming to the British.

Pulleine ordered his mounted pickets to be more vigilant and move farther out. Thus putting in action a series of events trying to protect his command that would lead to its destruction.

Standing on the top of the conical hill, Ahana could see the movement of every player in the game except the massive army she had left in the darkness, which was still bidden in the valley to the north.

Using hand signals, Shakan indicated to Ahana that battle would not be joined until the sun had set and risen once more — the next day, which did little to calm Ahana. She could see parties of Zulus moving here and there, along with various British columns. She had a good idea of when and where she was, although she did not know if this were her own timeline or another one. She had vague recollections that a major battle had been fought by the British against the Zulu nation but she could not recall the outcome. Shakan was little help as they did not speak a common tongue and the Zulu woman could not predict the future, although she did · know a great battle was coming.

Ahana wasn’t certain what all this had to do with finding a back door into the Shadow’s timeline. While Shakan watched, she opened the pack of equipment she had brought and began trying to determine if there was anything out of the norm in the area that she could pick up with her sensors, particularly focusing on scanning for muons, the telltale of a gate and Shadow activity.

She immediately picked up muonic trace activity to the west in the vicinity of Isandlwana. Not enough to indicate a gate, but enough to indicate the Shadow was either coming or had left. Ahana had no doubt it was the former.

Cetewayo had agreed with Shakan that the attack be on the following day, but it did not sit well with his impatient warriors. Keeping twenty thousand men crammed into the narrow valley was proving to be a chore. He was forced to send small foraging parties out to gather water and food for the main force. One of those parties, driving some cattie before them, were spotted by a mounted patrol from Isandlwana, which gave chase.

Cetewayo was almost grateful when the mounted patrol came chasing the foraging party over the edge of the ravine and saw the valley crammed with Zulu warriors. It · was hard to say who was more surprised.

Cetewayo did not hesitate though as he gave the order to attack. He knew he had lost the element of surprise and waiting would only allow the various British columns to consolidate.

Twenty thousand Zulu warriors surged out of the ravine toward the south. As they moved, the force separated into three columns, the two horns taking form on the flanks and the massive center-moving straight toward Isandlwana five miles away. As they moved, they were engaged by the mounted patrols to their front, which were forced to pull back against the overwhelming force bearing down on them. The front of the center force of the Zulu army was over a mile wide as it advanced toward Isandlwana.

Pulleine did not greet the reports of the incoming Zulu army with particular alarm although he was concerned. He felt confident that his British regulars would bear up well against force from the savages that came against it. The twenty-fourth Infantry were veteran soldiers, tough and well disciplined. They came from rough backgrounds and made a home in the army. They were part of an army that was world renowned for being able to stand fast on the battlefield and fire precise. Controlled volleys into enemy lines, blowing huge gaps in them. They were · armed with breech loading Martini-Henry rifles, which · gave them a fivefold increase in rate of fire over their predecessors who’d had muzzleloaders.

Even as he prepared his defense, a rider carne from Chelmsford with an order for him to strike camp and follow after the commander. Seconds later a breathless rider came in from the north, stammering about a horde of Zulus coming. The man’! descriptions of the size and numbers of the force he claimed to have seen made no sense to Pulleine who could not conceptualize such a large force.

On the plain, Durnsford was the first British commander to actually see the Zulu army coming. The left horn was cresting a ridge directly in front of his column and he estimated its Dumber to be roughly five thousand and he estimated its number to be roughly five thousand direction and head back toward Isandlwana.

The conical hill that Ahana and Shakan were on was like an island amid a storm, as the left horn of the Zulu army swarmed around, splitting at the base and passing by on either side.

Ahana turned to Shakan with a questioning glance. The Zulu had said the battle would not be until the following day. Ahana’s instruments were spread out on the ground and so far had picked up nothing other than the muonic trace activity. She hurriedly began to gather them up but Shakan put on hand on her arm and indicated for her to wait.

Dark clouds were moving in overhead. Indicating a storm was corning.

Pulleine could now hear heavy firing to the north where his mounted troops were, but still could not see anything in that direction. To the east he could clearly see Durnsford’s column retreating under pressure from a large body of Zulus. This put Pulleine in another dilemma as he was torn between positioning his force to face what sounded like a large threat to the north and supporting Dumsford’s retreat to keep it from becoming a rout.

Pulleine hedged. He ordered one of his company of regulars to swing to the east and stretch their line toward Durnsford. Then he had the companies facing north extend their lines even farther to cover the new gap.

There were two major problems with his new alignment though. One was that his line was stretched to a point where volley fire would not be as effective as it normally was. The second was that his lines were now almost a thousand yards away from their ammunition wagons.

As the main Zulu army came onto the plain, even the veterans among Pulleine’s troops were shocked. The front was now several miles wide and twelve men deep. It came toward Isandlwana like an unstoppable tidal wave.

Pulleine’s artillery began engaging the Zulu center at maximum range. Many warriors fell to the shot, but it did not slow the advance.

Durnsford’s column reached the company that Pulleine had extended. The British front now extended from just below the crest of Isandlwana, arcing right in a quarter circle to the east. Against the twelve-deep front coming toward them, the British companies were formed two deep, with the front rank kneeling. Also there were large gaps between the companies.

Still, when the Zulu center came within rifle range, the British volleys were devastating to the front ranks. Hundreds of Zulus went down. The advance wavered, halted, then resumed. The volleys of lead poured into the Zulu line and the attackers wavered once more, then dove to the ground en masse, less than three hundred yards from the British lines. The British gave no mercy, firing at the prone figures, killing many more.

At the very rear of the Zulu lines, some of the warriors even began to change direction. But this movement was checked immediately by Zulu commanders who had the first to turn slain in their tracks. The few Zulus armed with rifles returned the British fire, but their aim was poor and most rounds passed harmlessly overhead.

On the right flank, Durnsford’s men managed to halt the left horn, also with well-disciplined fire. Of the right horn, there was no sign and in the heat of battle none of the British could spare the time to be concerned about the missing part of the Zulu army.

It looked as if the day would be won for the British as they continued to pour hot lead into the halted Zulu army prostrate before them.

Except for the slight problem of ammunition.

Runners were sent back from the line companies, scampering back to the wagons where the quartermasters had the rest of the regiment’s bullets. But a quartermaster is a man trained to be responsible for the supplies he has signed for. In the long run back to where the wagons were and in the confusion of battle, runners didn’t have time to seek out their specific unit’s quartermasters. Too far away from the front line to realize the pending danger, the majority of the quartermasters refused to issue bullets to men not from their own unit, who could not rightfully sign for such.

Instead of the usual nails, screws had been used on this particular lot of ammunition cases and there was a distinct lack of screwdrivers among the wagon train. Also, the bullets were stored in heavy wooden containers designed to sustain damage, thus making them difficult to break open. So even when desperate troopers shoved aside the furious quartermasters, they had a difficult time getting the cases open.

Ahana and Shakan could see the halted Zulu line like a thick black snake frozen to the ground. And they could hear the volleys being fired every few seconds and see the gunpowder smoke floating over the thin red line of British troops.

How long could the Zulu army just lie there and allow themselves to be slaughtered? Ahana wondered.

The change was ever so slight, but to those being shot at, very noticeable, The volleys were not as swift and there were less firers. Something was wrong in the British lines.

Zulu war leaders sprang to their feet and urged their warriors forward. As the Zulu center rose to their feet, the right horn appeared to the British rear, having run all the way around Isandlwana and cut the road leading to Rorke’s Drift and then turning toward the British camp.

The battle, which the British had appeared to have under control just a minute earlier, immediately changed character.

With Zulus to his rear, and out of ammunition because none of the Twenty-fourth Infantry quartermasters would issue bullets to his men, Durnsford’s command fell apart. His officers were running about the camp desperately searching for ammunition while the men gave up their positions, reasoning!hat if they were not able to fire, they might as well flee.

Sensing his line unraveling, Pulleine told his bugler to signal retire, hoping to reform his lines closer to the camp and the wagon train. It was a decision made a minute too late. As the British lines tried to disengage the front ranks, the Zulu center struck Brutal hand-to-hand fighting broke out.

The British regulars tried to fight with bayonets in their squares. And they took their toll on the attacking Zulus, but one by one, the small islands of red were swarmed over.

Finally, seeing the inevitable, Pulleine ordered the adjutant to carry the regimentals to safety. The adjutant rode off with another lieutenant who was wounded. They were both run down by Zulus and killed as they attempted to get to the Buffalo River and safety.

There were no more figures in red standing. That was clear from as far away as the conical hill on which Shakan and Ahana stood.

With shaking hands, Ahana checked her instruments.

The muonic indicator was beginning to show an increase in activity.

At her side, Shakan stood perfectly still. Eyes looking beyond the battlefield, head cocked as if she were listening. There was a loud peel of thunder. Shakan grabbed Ahana’s shoulder and pointed.

At the very top of Isandlwana there was an unnatural dark cloud that seemed to have lightning inside of it.

Ahana glanced at her instruments. The muonic reading was off the chart.

Chelmsford did not believe the reports that came to him. The camp overrun? Everyone dead? Zulus pillaging among the dead?

Impossible. He’d left almost two thousand men in the camp.

Chelmsford finally turned his column toward Isandlwana. He came close to the bulk of Isandlwana just before and halted his column just short of it. He forbid his men to enter and led a contingent of officers forward to ascertain what had happened. The silence foretold bad news, but what their eyes beheld under the moon and star light shocked them.

Most of the bodies were stripped naked. Their bellies were sliced open, which was actually a sign of respect by the Zulu, as they believed it allowed the spirit to escape and go to the afterlife. At one place in their camp a circle had been made of a dozen men’s heads, all peering at each other with lifeless eyes. Every living thing, including oxen, horses, even an officer’s dog, had been slain.

Where were the Zulus?

Looking up he could see the strange dark cloud atop the peak.

Chelmsford ordered his men back away from the mountain.

Shakan tapped Ahana on the shoulder and pointed to the southwest.

“What?” Ahana asked, even as she uttered the word knowing the other woman couldn’t understand. She was still focused on the top of Isandlwana.

Shakan pointed once more to the southwest. “Rorke’s Drift,” Shakan said, words that meant nothing to Ahana.

The Japanese scientist did notice though, that a small red light was flickering on one of her monitors. There was just the slightest trace of more muonic activity somewhere Dot too far away from Isandlwana. Ahana picked up the detector and slowly swung it back and forth until she had the direction from which the signal was coming — the southwest.

Shakan nodded. “Rorke’s Drift.”

The diamond lattice field deep underneath Isandlwana was now one hundred percent connected. The power of desperation from the last stand of the British force on the slopes of the bill flowed into the planet, much deeper than their blood had. It gave the necessary power for the field to become a self-sustaining crystal, one that now generated its own power.

Power that flowed upward to the gate on the top of the mountain that directed the power into a portal that led directly to Timeline I.

Colonel Chamberlain N remembered traveling down to New York City while he was attending West Point for many fun-filled weekends. Now he was circling above what remained of what had once been the greatest city on earth.

He could see the top one hundred feet of the towers for the George Washington Bridge — which had once linked New York and New Jersey — poking above the waves as his MK-90 swung down low along the course of what had been the Hudson River but was now part of the Atlantic Ocean.

To his right, some of the towers of Manhattan that were tall enough to reach above the water dotted the skyline. To his left, the top of the Palisades, the cliffs that had once lined the Hudson on the Jersey side, were still above water. There was no sign of Manhattan south of what had once been the Central Park area — no skyscrapers poking above the water. Chamberlain remembered watching images of what happened to the southern tip of New York City during the end of the Shadow War. A large sphere had floated above the city and pulverized the tip of Manhattan repeatedly, blasting a hole into the ground that afterward was measured to be almost six miles deep. It had immediately filled with water and historians and scientists had speculated to no avail why the Shadow had done this strange version of overkill.

The plane banked toward the Palisades as the wings rotated up. to provide lift as it decelerated. They touched down and Chamberlain walked off the back ramp as his visor snapped down into place.

Why here? He wondered.