Read Online Fate (Wilton's Gold #3) by Craig W. Turner - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Craig W. Turner
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the question with Jeff the night before: can you change history and then fix it? Or would you cause more problems? According to Jeff, he’d done it, but it had nearly been a disaster. No one at the USTP, Dexter included, was willing to stick their neck out on that one. The best anyone could come up with was to put stricter protocols and stronger precautions in place so that nothing like it happened again.
With Jeff back, though, and with his fantastical story about his mission to Russia, it would spur some new thinking. It already had in Dexter’s mind. If Jeff had been able to undo something as dramatic as a world history-altering miscue, they should be able to handle a rogue businessman and his self-serving focus.
The door behind Dexter opened and someone joined him in the restroom. He could feel them coming up behind him and settling into the urinal next to him. He looked over to see a wall of dark green in his peripheral vision.
It was the General Carr, of course – the last person he wanted to see. General Nelson Carr had been brought into the Time Program at a high level during its infancy, which had been a red flag for Jeff at the time. It was undeniable that the government saw military applications for Jeff’s technology, so the two of them never saw eye-to-eye. Carr had been a commanding officer in Kuwait during the Gulf War and was brought in for his leadership and sense of urgency. Dexter would admit that the USTP would not have been established so quickly without him, but he probably would’ve preferred working with someone a little more knowledgeable on the topic. Especially after Jeff was gone, and there was a leadership void on the scientific side.
Carr unzipped and went about his business. Dexter, who’d been standing there, started to put himself back together and head for the sink, but the general spoke, stopping him. “Murphy, I understand Dr. Jacobs is your friend and you have an allegiance to him,” he said, his eyes pinned on the wall in front of him. “I hope that you’ll be able to look past that and do what’s right.”
“Are you insinuating that I’m not? Or I wouldn’t?”
“He had to have told you something about where he was going.”
“If he had, I would’ve stopped him.”
Now the general turned his head. “Would you have? What about the mission to Russia? Did he mention that to you?”
Dexter shook his head as he zipped up. Did he know something? “No, but it doesn’t matter. Whatever changes he made on that mission altered history, so the present he returned to was different from the one he’d left. Dr. Jacobs – this Dr. Jacobs, the one here with us today – told me that I took him to the airport for the Russia mission. Never happened. The other Dr. Jacobs must’ve known that the history before he returned was irrelevant, so he never said anything about it.”
“It’s not irrelevant from a scientific standpoint.”
“General, sir, did you come into the bathroom to talk to me about time travel science?” Dexter asked. They both headed over to the sink, which made him feel less like he was being interrogated. “Look, I agree with you. It’s not irrelevant. But we can’t tell him that because he’s gone.”
Carr sighed. “Well, at least we fixed the security so that it will take two people to game the system. Instead of just one.”
Dexter glanced at him in the mirror. “It’s never too hard to recruit one person,” he said.
The general exchanged looks with him in the mirror for a moment, then smiled. “You believe all of this?” he asked.
“Believe what?”
“That Jeff Jacobs out there and the guy that ran a year-and-a-half ago are two different people with two different memories?”
Dexter finished rinsing his hands and pulled them away from the sensor. The water stopped. He held his hands under the hand dryer for a moment while the general did the same on the machine next to his. When the noise subsided, he said, “Accepting the concept
With Jeff back, though, and with his fantastical story about his mission to Russia, it would spur some new thinking. It already had in Dexter’s mind. If Jeff had been able to undo something as dramatic as a world history-altering miscue, they should be able to handle a rogue businessman and his self-serving focus.
The door behind Dexter opened and someone joined him in the restroom. He could feel them coming up behind him and settling into the urinal next to him. He looked over to see a wall of dark green in his peripheral vision.
It was the General Carr, of course – the last person he wanted to see. General Nelson Carr had been brought into the Time Program at a high level during its infancy, which had been a red flag for Jeff at the time. It was undeniable that the government saw military applications for Jeff’s technology, so the two of them never saw eye-to-eye. Carr had been a commanding officer in Kuwait during the Gulf War and was brought in for his leadership and sense of urgency. Dexter would admit that the USTP would not have been established so quickly without him, but he probably would’ve preferred working with someone a little more knowledgeable on the topic. Especially after Jeff was gone, and there was a leadership void on the scientific side.
Carr unzipped and went about his business. Dexter, who’d been standing there, started to put himself back together and head for the sink, but the general spoke, stopping him. “Murphy, I understand Dr. Jacobs is your friend and you have an allegiance to him,” he said, his eyes pinned on the wall in front of him. “I hope that you’ll be able to look past that and do what’s right.”
“Are you insinuating that I’m not? Or I wouldn’t?”
“He had to have told you something about where he was going.”
“If he had, I would’ve stopped him.”
Now the general turned his head. “Would you have? What about the mission to Russia? Did he mention that to you?”
Dexter shook his head as he zipped up. Did he know something? “No, but it doesn’t matter. Whatever changes he made on that mission altered history, so the present he returned to was different from the one he’d left. Dr. Jacobs – this Dr. Jacobs, the one here with us today – told me that I took him to the airport for the Russia mission. Never happened. The other Dr. Jacobs must’ve known that the history before he returned was irrelevant, so he never said anything about it.”
“It’s not irrelevant from a scientific standpoint.”
“General, sir, did you come into the bathroom to talk to me about time travel science?” Dexter asked. They both headed over to the sink, which made him feel less like he was being interrogated. “Look, I agree with you. It’s not irrelevant. But we can’t tell him that because he’s gone.”
Carr sighed. “Well, at least we fixed the security so that it will take two people to game the system. Instead of just one.”
Dexter glanced at him in the mirror. “It’s never too hard to recruit one person,” he said.
The general exchanged looks with him in the mirror for a moment, then smiled. “You believe all of this?” he asked.
“Believe what?”
“That Jeff Jacobs out there and the guy that ran a year-and-a-half ago are two different people with two different memories?”
Dexter finished rinsing his hands and pulled them away from the sensor. The water stopped. He held his hands under the hand dryer for a moment while the general did the same on the machine next to his. When the noise subsided, he said, “Accepting the concept
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