The Nautilus Sanction

10

Lafitte seemed to have completely forgotten the morning’s episode with Vincent Gambi by midday, when he announced he would be going into New Orleans to see his brother. He insisted Drakov come along, so they could dine together in the French Quarter. Together with Jules Verne and Dominique Youx, they left in the early afternoon. Land chose to remain behind, which surprised them, but his reasons became clear later on, when he was seen walking hand in hand with Marie toward the back end of the island. Grigori, anxious to be away from “the peasants,” as he called Lafitte’s men, went aboard the Valkyrie to make things ready for their departure, leaving Lucas, Finn and Andre alone with Martingale and Lafitte’s servants in the house.

Before he left, Drakov took them aside and thanked them for saving Martingale’s life. “His death would have been a great loss to me,” Drakov said. “He’s the best of my mercenaries. I have invested a great deal of time in training him. His adaptability to unusual situations is impressive. However, I must admit to being curious about why you interfered.”

“It had less to do with Martingale and the odds against him than it did with the Valkyrie,” said Lucas. “We’ve got enough to worry about with stopping you without having a time ship fall into the hands of a pirate like Gambi.”

“As practical as ever, Mr. Priest,” said Drakov, smiling.”You still believe you can prevail. I admire that.”

“I could do without your admiration,” Lucas said.

“Pity,” Drakov said. “I rather like you. You are a man of principles, a rarity in any time. Of all the men I’ve ever met, I respect you the most. Which is why I want to make certain we understand one another. You three are unquestionably the First Division’s finest, which is why it would be fitting for my father to receive the news of his defeat from you. Tomorrow morning, we shall be leaving Barataria for my base. I fully expect you to attempt something. I would be disappointed in you if you did not. However, I will remind you that I am at war and that you three are prisoners of war. The battle for you is over. I will take special precautions to insure that you do not have any opportunity to cause trouble. When we arrive at my base, you will find yourself even more helpless than you have been up to now. If you find that idea intolerable, Mr. Priest, then I urge you to escape now, while you can. It will not be easy, but no one will pursue you and you may be able to make contact with someone in the Underground eventually. If not, there are worse times in which to be marooned. But I hope you will remain. If you do, you will become a part of history. I leave the choice to you.”

After the others had left, they found Martingale on the veranda, being attended by two young women Lafitte assigned to him while he recovered from his injuries. He sat in a cane chair while the girls fanned him, poured him rum and fed him bits of sweetmeats with their fingers.

“You look like a dissolute Roman emperor,” said Lucas. Martingale grinned and sent the girls inside to bring more glasses and more rum.

“You seem to be bearing up remarkably well,” said Andre. “Try not to strain yourself.”

“The trouble with Lafitte is that he likes ‘em too damn young,” said Martingale. “What the hell have I got to say to a couple of sixteen- or seventeen-year-olds, fresh from the Gold Coast? They’re babies. They don’t know anything. Now you, on the other hand, you and I could probably find a thing or two to talk about.”

“Right now I’ll settle for talking about what we’re going to do about this mess,” said Andre.

“Have a seat,” said Martingale. The slaves brought out the rum and glasses, then he sent them away while they talked.

“Lafitte certainly has a hard life,” said Finn. “He’s come a long way since he was a filthy little street urchin in Paris.”

“He’ll be on the way back down again before too long,” said Martingale. “He’s too visible, too famous. The secret of success is to keep your head down.”

“You consider yourself successful, do you?” Andre said.

“I’m doing exactly what I want to do,” said Martingale. “That’s all being successful is. It’s not about money or anything else. I say I’m in it for the money because that’s something Drakov understands. He’s got lots of it. People who have lots of money understand real well what it’s about when someone comes to them wanting some of it. They can deal with it because they know the rules of that game. Drakov could never understand you like I do. He doesn’t even understand the rules you operate under.”

“What makes you think you do?” said Finn. “You opted out of the game, as you put it.”

Martingale shook his head. “No, 1 didn’t. 1 just changed the rules around a little, so they would suit me more. The game is still the same, in many respects. Not to get overly philosophical, but life’s just a joke. You’re born, you struggle, you learn, you grow, you accomplish, then you die. No matter what you manage to pull off, death is still the final reward. So it’s a joke. No matter who you are or what you do, everyone gets paid off the same.”

“That sounds pretty cynical to me,” said Lucas.

“It happens to be true,” said Martingale, “but it’s a trap only if you accept it at face value. It’s not the payoff that matters. That’s where people go wrong. It’s the work. I deserted the Temporal Corps and became a mercenary not because I wasn’t happy with what I was doing, but because I wanted more control over it. The only real difference between us is that you have to serve the missions Forrester picks out for you. I get to pick my own. I can say no, and I do, frequently. I only fight the good fight.”

“I see,” said Finn. “Martingale only fights on the side of the angels, is that it?”

“You think that sounds corny?” Martingale said. He shook his head. “It only sounds that way because people think idealism is corny. I’ll tell you something, if six billion morons got together and decided that blue was purple, that’s what the world would accept. But it wouldn’t change the color, chum. Only the name. I’ll tell you what’s corny. We’re sitting here in a sunlit veranda on an island in the Gulf of Mexico, waited on by slave girls, for God’s sake, while out there somewhere is a nukie sub with enough death on board to wipe out half the globe. The guy who’s got his finger on the button is in New Orleans, having dinner with a pirate chieftain and a science fiction writer while we’re sitting here sipping rum punch. Now you tell me life’s not a joke.”

“Yes, but what’s the punchline?” Finn said.

Martingale took a long drink. “You’ve got me there. Drakov won’t tell anybody anything. He’s all twisted up inside, but he’s sure as hell organized. He has a knack for picking people and a knack for leading them, as well. He’s recruited men from all different periods of history, all soldiers, all top professionals in their own way. He keeps them well in line and he’s always got our buddy, Santos, to fall back on. One session with Benedetto and you’re a good little soldier again, programmed for following orders unquestioningly.”

“You don’t have any idea at all what he’s going to do?” said Andre.

“I assume it’s going to be nuclear blackmail,” said Martingale. “The same sort of thing the Timekeepers tried to do, only on a larger scale. But he’s been set up to do that ever since we stole the sub. He’s got something more complicated planned-”

“Wait a minute,” said Lucas. “1 knew there was something bothering me about all this. If the Referee Corps asked Dr. Darkness to help them with this, and you’re working for him, how could you have been involved before the sub was stolen?”

“It had nothing to do with the sub, initially,” said Martingale. “Darkness knew about the theft of the warp discs before your people did.”

Finn frowned. “How?”

“Who do you think owns Amalgamated Techtronics?” “Darkness?”

“You think a scientist can be bothered with manufacturing?” said Martingale. “He needs someone to turn out the gizmos he invents. You’d be surprised at what he controls.”

“But Amalgamated Techtronics! That’s one of the biggest corporations in the whole-”

“So? What do you think, he gave the Temporal Corps the warp grenade for nothing? When they found out about the stolen shipment, they didn’t dare report it until they’d had a chance to tell the Doctor. They couldn’t exactly call him. No one knows where he is. He just sort of… appears from time to time. Fortunately, he was due in to check on a shipment of weapons prototypes they were building for him. It’s a lucky thing Drakov didn’t steal those.”

“What sort of prototypes?” said Lucas.

“Disruptors,” Martingale said. “The Temporal Corps doesn’t even know about them yet. You’d better hope they work, because they’re probably what we’ll be using against Drakov’s base when the time comes.”

“What’s a disruptor?” Finn said. “Or shouldn’t I ask?”

“I haven’t seen one yet,” said Martingale, “but they sound impressive. It’s a sort of warp gun. Its transponder taps into the energy field of a neutron star by means of an Einstein-Rosen Generator link. A limitless supply of ammunition in the form of energy, leeched from a star through a time warp. Sounds like a lovely little sidearm, doesn’t it? You squeeze the trigger and you get a stream of neutrons.”

“You’re kidding,” Finn said.

“Just the thing for plinking, eh?” said Martingale, with a grin. “Bad analogy. There wouldn’t be a ‘plink.’ The target would be atomically disrupted. Disintegrated.”

“Jesus,” Finn said. “How the hell do you control a stream of neutrons?”

“Very carefully, I should think,” said Martingale. “I sure hope it works, otherwise we’re liable to have a very interesting experience.” He chuckled. “Sort of makes you want to think about gun control, doesn’t it? ‘If warp guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have warp guns.’ Make a great T-shirt.”

“What about radiation?” Lucas said.

“Most of it is supposed to be warped elsewhere, like with the grenades,” said Martingale. “At least that’s what the Doctor said. They haven’t been tested fully yet.”

“And we’re going to field-test them against Drakov’s base?” said Andre.

“I’d say that’s the least of our problems,” Martingale said. “Drakov has set up an impressive organization. He used time fugues to do it. Before your people even learned he’d hijacked a Soviet sub, he’d done something like ten years worth of organizational work. He learned a lot from the Timekeepers. He has everyone divided into subgroups. There are the Russian sailors on the sub. Then there are the crew of the Valkyrie.”

“Aren’t they part of the base personnel?” said Lucas.

“Is that what Drakov told you? Don’t you believe it. The Valkyrie hardly spends any time at the base. The crew has their own agenda, but I have no idea what it is. There’s also the fact that the base is rarely at full strength. A lot of them are always clocked out somewhere, doing God knows what in some other time period. I don’t know where. On top of that, there are the slaves Drakov got from Lafitte. They’re used as labor and a sort of ‘hostile native’ security force. Very showy. He has them dress up in loincloths and feathers and war paint, playing cannibals. They do a good job of keeping the curious away. Drakov is a real stickler for security. He hasn’t forgotten that the TIA managed to infiltrate the Timekeepers. No one is allowed to talk to anyone else about what they’re supposed to be doing. I have no idea how much von Kampf knows. I’ve tried to pump him, but he won’t talk. Santos doesn’t know all the details or at least he pretends not to. He genuinely doesn’t seem to care. He’s a burnout. Maybe Shiro knows the whole story, because Drakov has practically adopted him, only Shiro can’t talk and he’s about as easy to approach as a king cobra.”

“You said Drakov recruited people from different times,” said Lucas. “How many? What kind of people?”

Martingale shrugged. “I don’t know how many, exactly. At least several hundred. He’s got Celts, Huns, Romans, Spartans, Indians, Afghanis, Samurai, a regular melting pot of human savagery, all working together as a unit.”

“That’s bad,” said Finn.

“Not if the warp guns work out okay,” said Martingale.

“That’s not what I meant,” said Finn. “Drakov is smart.

He’s set it up so that we not only have to neutralize him and his submarine, but we have to take out the Valkyrie, as well, plus the base and all his personnel. And if what you say is accurate, then none of them are ever all there at the same time. If that doesn’t cheer you up, he’s got a force of temporally displaced persons. You want to talk about what the odds are of their removal from their natural times not affecting history? The cumulative effect, at least, would be bound to show up somewhere in the timestream.”

“That’s probably why he did it that way,” Lucas said. “Even if we can stop him from changing history, we’re liable to change history ourselves by changing the history of the people whose history he’s already changed.”

“You want to run that by me again?” said Martingale.

“Better not,” said Finn. “It sounded confusing enough the first time. Martingale’s right. The whole thing is a joke. No wonder Drakov isn’t worried about us. We might as well just kick back and get drunk.”

“How did you manage to get on the inside?” Lucas said.

“The Underground has something similar to a Code Red,” said Martingale. “We’ve all been on the watch for the surviving Timekeepers ever since we heard their leaders got away. Some of us almost got Falcon one time, but she slipped away. Well, now that she’s dead, that leaves only two of the original group. Drakov and Benedetto. Santos is harmless by himself, but Drakov is another story. We always figured it would be Falcon who would start it up again. We got hold of their dossiers and circulated them through our network of contacts. We’re not as well organized as the TIA, but we got the word out. We didn’t want the Timekeepers starting up again any more than you did. They were scary enough the first time.”

“So you had the entire Underground on the watch for them?” Andre said.

Martingale nodded. “When Drakov started recruiting his mercenaries, one person got in and put the word out. We had no idea where he’d be recruiting or in what time periods, so everybody kept their ears open. I got a lead from a soldier who managed to get in and I clocked over to sign up, as well. We thought we ‘d try to get as many of our people on the inside as possible, find out what the story was, then contact the Temporal Corps. But we had some bad luck. First off, we were only able to get five people in. Drakov moved very fast. Of the network people, that is, the ones who have the homing grafts the Doctor can trace, I was the only one who got recruited. Stroke of luck there. But we failed to take an important thing into consideration. One of the people who got in was recruited in ancient Rome. Another in the 14th century, another in the 16th and so on. Drakov put most of the primitives through reeducation, so they would be able to accept 27th-century science. We should have thought about that. Can you imagine trying to explain time travel to a Thuggee?”

“So you lost your people when they went through the conditioning process,” Lucas said.

Martingale nodded. “They’re now part of Drakov’s loyal crew. I was the only one who didn’t get brainwashed. I was put through Benedetto’s little head game, too, but it didn’t take for some reason. I had a real bad moment there.”

“It doesn’t always work on everyone,” said Finn. “Geniuses are supposed to be difficult to condition. So are hardcore sociopaths. But when it doesn’t take, it usually results in a complete mindwipe.”

“I heard that,” Martingale said. “The Doctor said the reason I survived it had something to do with my brain waves being altered somehow by the homing graft. He said he anticipated that when he designed it.”

“I can’t wait to meet this guy,” said Finn.

“You will. He’s already overdue. He could pop in at any moment.”

“Why haven’t you been able to get the word out about the location of the base?” said Lucas.

“Because for a long time, I didn’t even know where it was,” said Martingale. “You’ll understand what I mean when you see it. Besides, I had no way of getting in touch with anybody. See, all of Drakov’s people were issued warp discs, but nobody knows how to use them. I’m okay with a chronoplate, but there was no way I could take one with me. Too damn bulky. If I brought along a remote unit, it would have been turned up in a search. Drakov wants to be able to control his people’s transitions.”

“You mean the destination coordinates are pre-set for them?” said Lucas.

“That’s right. Take the submarine crew, for example. Should anything happen to the sub, their discs are pre-set to clock them back to the base. That way, at least, Drakov won’t lose any personnel. That’s if they react quickly enough. Ditto the crew of the Valkyrie. Anytime he sends people anywhere, they have to report to get their discs set for destination and return. They know how to activate them, but that’s it. He provides the coordinates. He programs the discs. I never even saw a manual on these things. I never even heard of warp discs until Drakov gave me one. They’re too damn new.”

“Couldn’t Darkness have shown you how to program them?” said Andre.

“Sure, if there was enough time,” said Martingale. “Remember, he didn’t invent them. He’d need time to scope one out first. It wouldn’t have taken him long, since they work on principles he developed, but he couldn’t be bothered with that. It was up to me, as the guy on the inside, to find out where the base was and tell him when he checked in with me. Then he could notify your people. Meanwhile, he’s been trying to track down Drakov’s other movements, in other time periods. And working on the warp guns.”

“So you can’t go anywhere Drakov doesn’t want you to go,” said Lucas.

“Not only that, but it took me a long time to work my way up in his organization,” Martingale said. “And he still doesn’t trust me all the way. I thought I’d died and gone to heaven when you three came aboard the sub, but I couldn’t talk to you because I knew Drakov had your dosimeters bugged. He was worried you might try to sabotage the sub.”

“Well, at least we can fix one problem right away,” said Lucas. “We can show you how to program the warp disc. There should be enough time.”

“You know, back when I was still in the Temporal Corps, I was just a grunt,” said Martingale. “I don’t know anything about temporal adjustments. You people are supposed to be the experts. What do you think of our chances?”

Lucas took a deep breath. “You sure you want to know?”

“That bad, huh?”

“Well, if we can get word to Plus Time about the location of the base and if the First Division can be mobilized quickly enough, then they’re going to have to attack at exactly the right time. They’ll have to hit hard and fast. How well defended is the base?”

“It’s not a fortress, if that’s what you mean,” said Martingale. “The personnel are armed, but Drakov isn’t set up to repel a large attack force. First off, he won’t be expecting it and second, why fight when you can clock out?”

“So you’re saying small arms, basically?”

“The sub would be the biggest threat,” said Martingale. “The missiles will be my worry. There’s a gray steel box in the control room which opens the firing circuits and arms the warheads. It’s opened by two little silver keys. Drakov has one, on a chain around his neck. Shiro has the other one.”

“If we can prevent his firing the missiles and neutralize the sub, we may have a chance of getting out of this without serious damage to the timestream,” Lucas said. “What about the base personnel? You said Drakov never taught them to program the warp discs. If they’re already at the base, are their warp discs set for any other destination?”

Martingale smiled. “No. Drakov was very careful about that. Anytime someone’s disc is programmed to clock out, it’s preset for a round trip. Once they’ve returned to the base, the discs would have to be reprogrammed before they could clock anywhere else. Hot damn! His own paranoia about control is going to beat him. If the First Division hits the base hard and fast, there won’t be any time to reprogram all the discs. They won’t be able to escape. They’ll be forced to stay and try to fight it out. If they see the odds are against them, most of them will probably surrender. Then, with the base secured, your people can just wait around and pick up the others as they clock back in. That hadn’t occurred to me. But they’d have to come in real fast for it to work. And they’d be liable to sustain heavy casualties.”

“What’s the layout of the base?” said Lucas.

“Remember I said once you’d seen it, you’d know how I didn’t know where I was even when I was there? It’s inside an extinct volcano. Unless you clock in, there are only two access points. Through the opening of the volcano or by way of an underground canal. I’d never been outside and I had no reference point for telling where I was.”

“How’d you finally figure it out?” said Finn.

Martingale grinned. “Quite literally, by the oldest method in the book. Drakov has books on sailing and navigation in the library. I learned how to take a sighting with a sextant.”

“A sextant,” Finn said, shaking his head with admiration. “I never would have thought of that. Not bad. That’s what I call initiative.”

“You say the slaves he bought from Lafitte are kept on the outside, like a local tribe of cannibals?” said Lucas.

“That’s right.”

“We don’t want to have any of them killed,” said Lucas. “What would be the chances of getting the attacking force clocked directly inside?”

“Very risky,” Martingale said. “I can’t supply any coordinates. There are several locations inside the base which are used for clocking people in. That’s how I went there and back. But they’re inside buildings. You can get the program for the one I’ve got preset in my own disc, but you can’t use it to clock in a large body of men. A squad, maybe two, at most.”

“At least that will get a squad or two on the inside,” said Lucas. “The main force will have to come in through the opening.”

“Airborne with floater-paks?” said Finn.

Lucas nodded. “That’s what I was thinking. Unfortunately, that will give the people inside a point on which to concentrate their fire.”

“It’s a fairly large opening,” said Martingale.

“Still, it’ll leave the attacking force exposed unless they have an opportunity to attack at night. Timing is going to be critical. We have to catch the sub inside the base and keep it from clocking out.”

“And the Valkyrie, as well,” said Finn, “though she’s nowhere near as important as the sub.”

“I wish to hell I knew what Drakov’s plan was,” Lucas said, chewing on his knuckle. “I’m really bothered by those people he has clocking out to other time periods. What could they be doing?”

“If we can pass the location of the base on to the Doctor,” Martingale said, “he could tach to Plus Time and let your people know. They could attack the base and try to get the information out of the people there. Then, by the time we arrive with the sub-”

“It might work, but it’s too risky,” said Lucas. “The submarine has to be the first priority. We only have two options there. Either we find a way to destroy it while we’re on board, or we wait until we get to the base and catch the sub inside the base. Specifically, we’ve got to catch Drakov outside the sub. That’s when the attack has to occur. So long as he’s not aboard, he can’t clock the sub out and he can’t fire any missiles.”

“Good point,” said Martingale.

“What worries me the most,” said Lucas, “is that once we get back aboard the sub, Drakov is going to have us watched constantly. He plans to send us back to Forrester with his ultimatum and that will leave only you at the base. We need for the attack to happen while we’re still there.”

“Don’t forget Ned Land and Jules Verne,” said Andre.

Lucas rubbed his temples. “Damn. I’m getting a killer headache. No matter how well we try to plan it, it will still result in temporal disruption. The only question is, how severe?”

“At least our chances now are better than they were before,” said Finn. “Martingale here has done a good deal of the job.”

“No, I’ve just done a small part,” Martingale said. “The big part’s coming up and that’s going to be, you’ll pardon the expression,” he said, looking at Lucas, “your headache.”

“Can you draw a layout of the base for us?” said Lucas.

“Come on inside. I’ll get some paper and a quill.”

“All right,” said Martingale, using the quill to point out various points on the rough map he had drawn. “This part here at the bottom is a lake. It’s deep and the underwater canal feeds into it at about this point, I think, I can’t say exactly. Around here you have a sort of beach, maybe five hundred yards of it. The buildings on this side, on the lower slope, are quarters for the personnel. You’ll note they’re constructed on several levels. Walkways have been cut or built into the sides of the volcano here, here, here and here. You’ve got two Bailey bridges running across the lake to the other side, here and here, and cable span bridges going across, close to the side here. The buildings on this other side are larger, used for gatherings, storage, mess hall and kitchen, recreation and so forth. Drakov’s quarters are this separate building over here, higher up and to the side of the cable span. It’s built on a ledge, giving him a view over the entire base.”

“It’s pretty spread out,” said Finn. “You know, I’m thinking the smartest thing for our guys to do would be to lob a warp grenade or two in once they’ve made sure the sub was there. From the outside, it would look like one hell of a volcanic explosion, I suppose. From the inside, well, I don’t think we’d get much of a chance to see anything.”

“I really hate to agree with you,” said Martingale, “but that would be the best thing.” He shrugged. “Who knows, there might be a chance for us to get out before the whole damn mountain gets nuked. What the hell, if I was Forrester, that’s probably just what I’d do. Order a warp grenade strike.”

“No,” said Lucas. “That’s the last thing he’d do. Even if the attacking force sustains heavy casualties, it’s better than a warp grenade strike. We’ve got to try and take as many of Drakov’s people alive as possible, so they can be conditioned to forget what happened and returned to their own times. Each one of them constitutes a potential disruption in the timestream.”

“I don’t see how you can avoid killing a lot of them,” said Martingale. “Stunners don’t have the same range as lasers do and they’ll be shooting at your people. You’re going to have to take a good number of them out, any way you look at it.”

“I know,” said Lucas. “We can only hope the show of force will intimidate most of them into surrendering. All we can do is hope that temporal inertia compensates.”

“If their having been taken from their own time periods hasn’t caused any disruptions, then killing them all might-”

“We don’t know that,” Lucas said. “A surgical strike would be nice and clean, even if it did take all of us with it, but it would be taking too much of a chance. Forrester will know he doesn’t have that option. For all we know, their having been taken from their own time periods has caused disruptions. Maybe not, if we’re very lucky. There have already been disruptions, thanks to Drakov’s actions. Temporal inertia will only compensate for so much. It might be irreversible already. All we can do is hope.”

“You’ll lose a lot of people,” Martingale said.

“It can’t be helped,” said Finn.

“You’ll have to clock out to signal the attack at the proper time,” said Lucas.

Martingale frowned. “Why me?”

“Because Drakov will be expecting us to try something like that,” said Lucas. “You’ll have the best chance of getting out without being missed.”

“I wouldn’t count on that,” said Martingale.

“We’ll try to work that out,” said Lucas. “I can show you how to program a fugue sequence on your disc. That way you’ll be able to clock out and clock back in almost at the same time.”

“But if Drakov is going to send you back to Forrester with his demands anyway, why not let him? He won’t know you have the location of the base and you’ll be able to clock back in-”

“No, I told you, the attack has to occur while we’re still there,” said Lucas. “For one thing, I don’t trust him. For another, even if we could do that, it would leave only you behind at the base. We have to make absolutely certain Drakov doesn’t have a chance to fire the missiles or escape on the sub. And someone has to protect Verne and Land, as well.”

“Okay, I see your point.”

“We’re going to have to-”

“Lucas-” Andre said, squeezing his arm suddenly.

He glanced at her, then quickly looked in the direction she was staring. Martingale turned and looked as well, then relaxed and expelled his breath audibly. “It’s about damn time,” he said.

A man was standing by the fireplace. He was tall and slender, with dark, unruly hair and a neatly trimmed moustache. He was gaunt-looking, with deeply set, piercing eyes and a sharp, prominent nose. He was dressed, incongruously, in tweeds-a Norfolk jacket and stovepipe trousers with a matching vest, a button-down white shirt and a necktie with a regimental stripe. He wore a watch chain and a tweed driving cap pulled low over his eyes. In his right hand, he held a heavy, knobbed walking stick carved out of dark wood. For a moment, he appeared to be transparent, then he abruptly solidified, though not completely. Various portions of his body seemed to become substantial, then ghostly once again. When he spoke, his voice was rich and vaguely Continental.

“I am Robert Darkness,” he said. “I perceive we are alone. Do we have time to talk or are we likely to be interrupted at any moment?”

“We should have some time,” said Martingale. “If any of the servants should come in-”

“Yes, yes, I know,” said Darkness, impatiently. “We mustn’t frighten the help. Let’s get on with it. Have you managed to learn anything of significance?”

“I’ve figured out the location of the base,” said Martingale. “It’s-”

“I already know where the base is,” Darkness said. Martingale looked both surprised and disappointed. “How did you find out?”

“Really, Martingale, if I had to count on you for everything, this affair would have dragged on endlessly. When you told me it was inside an extinct volcano, that narrowed it down considerably. The underground canal meant it had to be an island, the blacks being used as ersatz cannibals to scare off possible landing parties also gave me a clue and it meant it couldn’t have been a very modern period or a pre-exploratory one. It was a simple matter of elimination. It merely took some time.”

“Have you notified the Temporal Corps?” said Finn.

“No, I’ve kept it to myself,” said Darkness. “Of course I’ve notified them. I’ll be happy to get this out of the way finally. I have a great deal of work to do and these constant distractions are annoying.”

“You call Drakov and his group a distraction?” Finn said.

“Everything that happens on this silly planet is a distraction,” Darkness said. “That’s why I moved. I find people to be generally bothersome. The more I deal with people, the better I like dogs. Unfortunately, it becomes necessary to deal with people from time to time.”“I wonder how you stand it,” Finn said.

“I do my best to allow for their stupidity,” said Darkness. “Playing deus ex machina for you is mildly amusing, but it does tend to rob one of time.”

“Well, I’m glad you could spare a minute from your busy schedule,” said Finn.

“Delaney, I wouldn’t push it,” Martingale said softly. “Doesn’t the potential of a timestream split disturb you?” Andre said.

Darkness gave her an annoyed look. “Very little disturbs me,” he said. “I think a timestream split would be quite interesting. It would make a good opportunity for study. However, I’m in no great hurry to conduct that sort of research at the moment. I’m still working on perfecting my teleportation process. Oh, and speaking of perfecting things, I think I’ve finally ironed out the bugs in the disruptors.”

“You think?” said Finn.

Darkness fixed him with a baleful glare. “You are starting to irritate me, young man. If you were better at doing your job, I wouldn’t have to waste my valuable time with this nonsense. Come here.”

“Don’t get too close,” Martingale whispered.

“Are you serious?” said Finn. “This guy looks about as dangerous as my Aunt Martha.”

He approached Darkness, who stood motionless by the fireplace. The moment he was within reach, Darkness swung his walking stick and it connected with the side of Finn’s head with a sharp crack.

“That’s for your impertinence,” he said.

“You son of a-” Finn swung a hard right at his jaw and almost lost his balance when his fist passed right through him. “What the…?”

“I warned you,” Martingale said.

“Here, take this,” said Darkness, disregarding the attempted punch. He handed Finn a weapon. Gingerly, Delaney reached out and took it. It was solid. He looked totally confused.

The weapon looked like a small flamethrower without a fuel pack attached. It had a knurled metal pistol grip and a peculiar-looking barrel.

“Its method of operation should be simple enough even for a mind like yours to grasp,” said Darkness. “The rest of you come here and watch; I’m not going to repeat this.”

They gathered around and Darkness pointed out the features of the disruptor.

“It’s activated by this control,” he said, pointing. “Activating the disruptor allows a small portion of a very powerful magnetic field tapped through an ERG to enter the weapon. The magnetic field forms a sort of invisible cone around the muzzle of the disruptor, shaping the energy flow. It allows you to fire either a stream of neutrons on a tight beam or a spray of neutrons on a wide sweep. It’s really quite uncomplicated. You turn the field adjuster, here, to select the firing mode. Turn it to the left and you get a tight beam about one inch in diameter. Turn it to the right and you have a spray. There isn’t any recoil, naturally. It’s just like holding a water hose, only there isn’t any sensation of pressure. Try it out.”

“On what?” said Finn, still dazed.

“God in heaven, man, you needed a weapon, I designed you a weapon. Now you want me to tell you what to shoot with it? What in hell do I care? Try it on yourself, that ought to be amusing.”

Finn walked over to an open window and sighted at a palm tree. He turned the magnetic field adjuster to spray and carefully squeezed the trigger. There was a brief flash of barely discernible blue mist, Cerenkov Radiation, and the palm tree disappeared as if it had never been there in the first place.

“Shit,” said Finn.

“Such eloquence,” said Darkness. “Now give it back, please.”

Finn carefully handed the warp gun back to him.

“You think you can remember how it works?” said Darkness, dryly.

“I’ll manage,” Finn said.

“Good. They will be delivered to you at the proper time.”

“When?”

Darkness sighed. “When the signal for attack is given. All the soldiers of the First Division have been recalled and they are on standby alert, awaiting your signal. Try not to screw it up. Now, are there any more foolish questions? No? Fine. Good-bye.”

Suddenly, he simply wasn’t there anymore.

“How does he do that?” Andre said. “He was solid one second and then when Finn tried to hit him…”

“Tachyons,” said Lucas. “Amazing. He’s faster than the speed of light. Or can be when he wants to.”

“Is he always like that?” Andre said.

“No,” said Martingale. “Sometimes he can be pretty abrasive.”

“If he ever perfects that process,” Finn said, “the warp disc will be as obsolete as an electric train.”

“That’s if he ever gives it to anyone,” said Martingale.

“Why wouldn’t he?” said Lucas.

Martingale shrugged. “Why should he? He’s got an ego bigger than the whole damn planet and he really doesn’t care all that much about what happens here. He lives somewhere on the other side of the galaxy and only drops in when he feels like it or when he needs something. He’s a very hard man to figure out. If I were you, I wouldn’t even bother trying.”