The Rock

TIME

"Five minutes." Batson muttered. Looking at the glowing face of his watch. The gray in the eastern horizon was now an ever-brightening reddish tinge, heralding the coming of the sun. Fran could now make out the outline of the eastern rim of the crater hundreds of feet above her head.

"Why were you sent back so many years before now?" Fran asked.

Pencak had been fading and coming back into focus every thirty seconds or so, for the past ten minutes. The old woman wearily looked at the younger one. "I was the one who had to help set up the whole scenario here in the United States."

"That's why you wrote all those articles about nuclear explosions forming the craters," Don observed. "And why you made your living here."

Pencak nodded. "But I had much more to do than that." She paused, faded, and then came back. Her voice was shaky as she tried to explain. "I had to monitor events and people. I have watched all of you at various times, as did my comrades. We had the facts laid out in our books and computers, but we wanted to know about the people themselves-would they be up to the tasks set before them."

"Were you the only one?" Don asked.

Pencak sighed. "No. My husband went back when I did. Except he went to Russia and he went earlier in 1943."

"Felix Zigorski!" Fran exclaimed.

"Yes. We got to see each other only every few years and then he died in 1990. But he had done his job well enough by then that the plan could go forward without him."

"You've sacrificed much to change things," Fran said.

Pencak looked at the younger woman for a long moment. "Our sacrifices will be for nothing if you do not make your own from here on out."

The antiaircraft systems surrounding Tunguska didn't even have a chance to fire as the skimmer hit the portal at over two hundred miles an hour. Hawkins flinched in the front seat as the front display showed nothing but trees just below until, at the last second, the craft skipped over the lip of the excavation and dived straight into the black Wall.

He was out on the other side before he had a chance to fully comprehend what had happened. By itself the skimmer threaded its way through the underground complex to the elevator door. The door slid open and Hawkins landed the skimmer. He rolled the bomb down the ramp and settled it on its side. He glanced up as three figures dressed in robes appeared and seemed to glide forward toward him.

Hawkins ignored them for the moment. He leaned both Tuskin's and his plasma projectors against the bomb casing, then straightened and stared at the figures. "I've recovered the second bomb. Colonel Tuskin died getting it."

"Yes, we can see that you have the bomb, Major Hawkins." The sound seemed to come from the center figure. "There are only a few minutes remaining." The Speaker slid his hood down, revealing his misshapen features. "My name is Raynor. I am human like you and come from your future."

Hawkins didn't even blink. During the ride back to the portal he'd put many of the pieces together. He stared at Raynor. "You're trying to change history."

"We have changed history, now that we have that bomb here. It was scheduled to go off in two minutes and twenty-three seconds. When it doesn't, this complex and my comrades and I will no longer exist. This future will no longer exist."

Hawkins shrugged wearily. "It doesn't look like a future I would want."

"It isn't." Raynor stepped forward. "You don't care about your own future, do you?"

Hawkins shook his head. "No. Here's as good a place as any to die."

"But it's not your time," Raynor replied. "It's our time." A black portal appeared on the side wall. "You must go back."

"What about the others?" Hawkins asked.

"Fran Volkers and Don Batson have already gone back. Debra is staying here."

"Is that her choice?" Hawkins asked.

"Yes. It is her choice." The three figures faded to the point of almost disappearing, then reappeared. "We may not be able to keep the portal open much longer. Go!"

Hawkins unfastened the protective suit and threw it on top of the bomb. He walked to the portal and stepped through without a backward glance. The portal flashed and he was gone.

"One minute," Batson announced.

"What will happen now?" Fran suddenly asked. "What did your projections show as the most probable course of events if the bomb is stopped and the governments cooperate?"

Pencak smiled. "That, my dear, is for you to live." The old woman's smile dissolved and faded, along with the rest of her, and Fran and Don were left alone at the bottom of the crater.

"It worked," Don whispered.

Fran looked up where the first rays of the sun were lancing over the rim of the crater and tickling the far side with their warmth. "It worked so far. But now it's up to us to make sure things stay on track." She reached out and took Don's hand. "It's a long walk to the top. I think we ought to get going." Together they walked across the crater bottom toward the closest side, where a winding trail led to the rim.

The wall disappeared, leaving bare rock in its place. The Russian general turned and looked at Lamb. "The twenty-four hours are up."

Lamb nodded. "They've closed it off."

"They've been doing that at Tunguska on and off over the past day," the general commented. He reached a hand up and pressed an earplug tighter in as he strained to listen.

"Tunguska has closed again. My men also report that the strange craft went back through just three minutes ago." The general pulled the earplug out and regarded Lamb solemnly. "What do you think the Coalition's decision was?"

Lamb felt something give way inside himself and suddenly he felt lighter and freer than he had in years. He put an arm on the Russian's shoulder. "We may never know. We can only hope it was to extend the perimeter. If not-well, either way we must join together and prepare either for eventual acceptance into the Coalition or to fight the Swarm. But we no longer have to wonder what path to choose-it's been chosen for us."