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Authors: Alex Scarrow
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somehow? Siphon the data?’
Becks studied her coolly.
‘No offence meant, Becks … but hacking open your skull and digging out your brain seems like the only way we’re going to find out what “the end” actually means.’
‘Tampering with my on-board computer would trigger the self-destruct mechanism. There is no viable way to bypass this protocol. The information will be revealed to you when certain conditions are met.’
‘But you don’t even know what those conditions are!’
‘I will know when it happens,’ she replied calmly. ‘Then you will know the contents of the message.’
Maddy shook her head with frustration. ‘Argghh … you’re so annoying!’
‘I apologize.’
She sighed. ‘Go and make yourself useful. Make some toast or something.’
‘Yes, Maddy.’ Becks turned obediently and headed towards their kitchen area. ‘And wash your hands first!’
Maddy settled back into her chair and watched the world outside through her bank of monitors – the subtly changed world that now no longer recognized the name Abraham Lincoln.
Secrets and freakin’ lies.
She resumed her little daydream of going home, seeing Mom, seeing herself and kissing all this insane nonsense goodbye.
CHAPTER 13
1831, New Orleans
The Jenkins & Proctor warehouse was quiet. Around them casks of wine and canvas sacks of cornmeal were piled high. Outside through the wooden slat walls they could hear voices of several dozen men, the bray of a pony, the smack of heavy oatmeal bags being dropped on the docks, the far-off hoot of a steamboat. The life of the day indulging in one last surge of activity before the sky lost its sun.
Sal sat on a pile of sacks, exhausted from hours on her feet, but exhilarated by the world she’d witnessed.
‘Information: three minutes until the twenty-four-hour window is due to open.’
Liam got to his feet and checked over the top of a stack of cargo to make sure, once again, that they were alone in the storehouse. ‘I do hope our friend Mr Lincoln has sobered up.’
They’d checked back where they’d left him earlier this morning. He was gone. Not that that was surprising. The docks were a busy place from dawn and more than likely he’d crawled away holding a sore head for somewhere quieter to nurse his hangover.
‘Ah well,’ said Liam, ‘we’ll soon know if all’s better when we get back.’
‘Maybe he isn’t so important to history after all,’ said Sal. ‘I mean it was only a little change we saw, wasn’t it? Maybe that’s all that’s going to happen.’
Bob retrieved data. ‘Historical accounts from the unaltered historical database indicate his strong leadership and the announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 were critical to the North winning the war.’
‘The whuh?’
Bob turned his gaze to Sal. ‘The Emancipation Proclamation was an executive order by President Lincoln that all slaves were to be given their liberty. It was an order enacted in the third year of the war and applied only to some of the –’
‘Shadd-yah!’ said Sal. ‘ Third year of the war?’
‘Affirmative.’
‘But are you saying for the first three years the North had slaves too?’
‘Affirmative. There were slaves in the Union States.’
‘But … I thought that war was all about slavery? Started because of slavery!’ said Sal. ‘The North – the blue soldiers – were fighting to end it, and the South – the grey ones – wanted to keep it.’
‘There are a number of listed reasons for the war. Slavery was considered a secondary or contributory issue at the beginning of the war, but became a primary issue towards the end.’
Liam sat down on a bag next to Sal. ‘I’ve been reading up on the civil war. I remember this … some historians said this Proclamation was a tactical decision to weaken the South. It was designed to cause unrest. But, more important than that, the British government was sort of thinking of coming to help the
Becks studied her coolly.
‘No offence meant, Becks … but hacking open your skull and digging out your brain seems like the only way we’re going to find out what “the end” actually means.’
‘Tampering with my on-board computer would trigger the self-destruct mechanism. There is no viable way to bypass this protocol. The information will be revealed to you when certain conditions are met.’
‘But you don’t even know what those conditions are!’
‘I will know when it happens,’ she replied calmly. ‘Then you will know the contents of the message.’
Maddy shook her head with frustration. ‘Argghh … you’re so annoying!’
‘I apologize.’
She sighed. ‘Go and make yourself useful. Make some toast or something.’
‘Yes, Maddy.’ Becks turned obediently and headed towards their kitchen area. ‘And wash your hands first!’
Maddy settled back into her chair and watched the world outside through her bank of monitors – the subtly changed world that now no longer recognized the name Abraham Lincoln.
Secrets and freakin’ lies.
She resumed her little daydream of going home, seeing Mom, seeing herself and kissing all this insane nonsense goodbye.
CHAPTER 13
1831, New Orleans
The Jenkins & Proctor warehouse was quiet. Around them casks of wine and canvas sacks of cornmeal were piled high. Outside through the wooden slat walls they could hear voices of several dozen men, the bray of a pony, the smack of heavy oatmeal bags being dropped on the docks, the far-off hoot of a steamboat. The life of the day indulging in one last surge of activity before the sky lost its sun.
Sal sat on a pile of sacks, exhausted from hours on her feet, but exhilarated by the world she’d witnessed.
‘Information: three minutes until the twenty-four-hour window is due to open.’
Liam got to his feet and checked over the top of a stack of cargo to make sure, once again, that they were alone in the storehouse. ‘I do hope our friend Mr Lincoln has sobered up.’
They’d checked back where they’d left him earlier this morning. He was gone. Not that that was surprising. The docks were a busy place from dawn and more than likely he’d crawled away holding a sore head for somewhere quieter to nurse his hangover.
‘Ah well,’ said Liam, ‘we’ll soon know if all’s better when we get back.’
‘Maybe he isn’t so important to history after all,’ said Sal. ‘I mean it was only a little change we saw, wasn’t it? Maybe that’s all that’s going to happen.’
Bob retrieved data. ‘Historical accounts from the unaltered historical database indicate his strong leadership and the announcement of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 were critical to the North winning the war.’
‘The whuh?’
Bob turned his gaze to Sal. ‘The Emancipation Proclamation was an executive order by President Lincoln that all slaves were to be given their liberty. It was an order enacted in the third year of the war and applied only to some of the –’
‘Shadd-yah!’ said Sal. ‘ Third year of the war?’
‘Affirmative.’
‘But are you saying for the first three years the North had slaves too?’
‘Affirmative. There were slaves in the Union States.’
‘But … I thought that war was all about slavery? Started because of slavery!’ said Sal. ‘The North – the blue soldiers – were fighting to end it, and the South – the grey ones – wanted to keep it.’
‘There are a number of listed reasons for the war. Slavery was considered a secondary or contributory issue at the beginning of the war, but became a primary issue towards the end.’
Liam sat down on a bag next to Sal. ‘I’ve been reading up on the civil war. I remember this … some historians said this Proclamation was a tactical decision to weaken the South. It was designed to cause unrest. But, more important than that, the British government was sort of thinking of coming to help the
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