“Judging by what you’ve said, the date those prisoners gave you must’ve been a ruse as it appears they’re already here. I’d say they’ve been here for some time: Kurt Reuters has been a well-known figure in the German military right through the last half of the Thirties”
“As I said, we only had a day to get moving so we didn’t really have as much latitude in grilling the transports crews as we’d have liked, and it does definitely look like gave us incorrect dates to throw us off the track. We got two units out of each aircraft we captured — one main unit and one secondary — and we used those in the four aircraft you see here today. As a preparation to yesterday’s arrival, we dropped Nick Alpert into mid-1939 by parachute prior to the bulk of us arriving yesterday. He’s been here since before the start of the war and was sent back first to try and get this particular airfield prepared the way we required. Fortunately enough, he succeeded — aircraft like the one we’re in need long, hardened runways for landing and, more importantly, for take off.
“I was sent next with the F-35 in case Nick failed and I was required to make initial contact. That would’ve made things extremely difficult but we probably would’ve been able to get the Extender and Galaxy onto the ground somewhere in an emergency. I doubt either would’ve then been in any condition to fly again though, or at least take off anywhere until we’d had a couple of miles of runway built. We weren’t expecting to find these kind of facilities easily without preparation and we only obtained that through some serious ‘wheeling and dealing’ with the appropriate advisers in the Chamberlain and Churchill cabinets. That’s one of the reasons it was ‘requested’ that I come to your aid yesterday evening…”
“My father’s connections with Churchill…” Trumbull deduced the link immediately, and the reasons behind the orders he’d received from HQ the preceding day to stand down suddenly became clear. Trumbull’s father was a high-ranking MP on good terms with Chamberlain and also, quite conveniently, a personal friend of Winston Churchill.
“Got it in one, squadron leader,” Thorne grinned. “Your brother was also happy to provide us with a personal video for your father, Richard, but one of the requirements for that assistance was that we have you removed from front-line combat and transferred to active duty within our unit. Of course, the final decision’s yours, but after viewing your service record and abilities I had no problem with agreeing to that…”
As Trumbull deflected the compliment with a sideways nod of the head and humble half-smile, Thorne continued. “Nick’s been able to get a few things organised already, but if we want to do something important for this world, we’re gonna need all the help we can get. What happened at Dunkirk has left Britain practically defenceless and with the inside information Reuters will give Hitler and the High Command, they’ll be certain to invade England now: the only real question is when. Because we’ve now arrived after the New Eagles, the plan has changed somewhat and we now need to somehow find out exactly when they did arrive in the past.
“We know they arrived in the past somewhere over the forests of Tunguska in Siberia, as the TDUs only permit travel in time, not in space, but the amount of change to history Nick’s observed already in the last year is a real concern. We know now that they’ve been here for years, but we need to know exactly when they arrived to be able to intercept them. Until we’re able to get hold of that information, we’ll try our damnedest to help the Allies recoup the technological lag they’re going to inevitably face. If they give us enough time, we may just save England yet.”
“I don’t suppose you fellows brought along any of those ‘atomic bombs’?” Trumbull asked hopefully, and there was a moment’s silence as Thorne considered his answer carefully.
“That was a question that we argued over long and hard in the twelve months we had to prepare, prior to coming come here ourselves. Ultimately it was thought that if the United Kingdom could threaten Germany with nuclear retaliation, it might ultimately be the only way to prevent an invasion. To that end we have brought with us three free-fall thermonuclear devices — atomic bombs.”
“Well that’s all right then, isn’t it?” Trumbull asked hopefully. “If these bombs can each destroy an entire city, then surely Hitler will reconsider an invasion. We could threaten Berlin!”
“Yes, we could threaten Berlin,” Thorne agreed, however the tone indicated there was a ‘but’ coming. “Bomber Command has set aside a special Halifax bomber for just that task should the need arise. With in-flight refuelling from the Extender I could even hit Berlin myself in the F-35 and probably make it back without any trouble at all, although I’d rather not risk the aircraft on that kind of deep strike unless absolutely necessary…” he paused and gave a grimace. “But this is where we get back to what I said about the will of the enemy. We’ve got these bomb and they’re extremely powerful — far more powerful than those that obliterated Hiroshima and Nagasaki — but we only have three. Also, this isn’t just a matter of stopping an invasion of Great Britain, as nuclear weapons are a strategic weapon rather than a tactical one. The Germans couldn’t just back down from an invasion and then continue on with the rest of the war with ‘business as usual’ — it’d mean a requirement to end the war altogether, because any aggressive action on their part from then on might be enough to elicit a nuclear response from the UK, if you see what I mean…” Trumbull thought about what he’d just said, taking time to assimilate the information before nodding, thinking he did indeed understand.
“We’d have to use at least one of the weapons to prove that we could back up any threat — Hitler would be certain to call our bluff — and that’d leave us just two devices. Say we do hit Berlin…perhaps Hitler is killed and perhaps he isn’t — we take that risk either way. If the attack strengthens their resolve rather than weakens it, what then? Use the second and third weapons to try and further dissuade the enemy, or save them for use in the case of an actual invasion? Just one of those bombs could devastate an invasion force — possibly to the point of halting it altogether — but again, if that fails…what then? We do possess nuclear weapons for use as a last resort against the Germans, but exactly where and when isn’t as simple an issue as it seems on the surface. Either way, we still have to be prepared to evacuate to somewhere safer should an invasion come: even if we can’t stop an invasion of the UK, we’re sure as hell going to make sure they’ve have a bloody hard fight on their hands.” Thorne paused once more, giving the pilot more time to absorb what he’d said and deciding it was time to change the subject. “What I’ve just said is about as ‘Top Secret’ as it gets by the way, so I’d appreciate it if the information wasn’t mentioned to anyone. Is that clear…?”