‘Sal!’ cried Maddy. ‘I was getting worried about you.’
Sal stepped in smartly and lowered the shutter. ‘It’s all… different…out there,’ she said, gasping for breath. ‘I… ran… back… all theway. I was frightened… My phone wasn’t working.’
Foster turned to Maddy. ‘Yes, of course. In this new history maybe they don’thave things such as telecommunications satellites in orbit.’
‘Or mobile-phone masts,’ she added. ‘If this is, like, some Nazi-styledgovernment, maybe they’re not so keen on letting people communicate with each other soeasily.’
‘That’s true,’ he replied, hands clasped thoughtfully.
‘And this,’ said Maddy, gesturing at the screen, ‘this looks like some kindof online government-approved news site.’
He made a face. ‘Which means we can’t entirely trust it as a source ofinformation.’
‘But it’s all we’ve got,’ Maddy pointed out.
He nodded. ‘This is true.’
Liam beckoned Sal over. ‘Come and sit down,’ he said, patting an empty seatbeside the old man. ‘Let me get you a drink of water or something.’
‘Thank you,’ she panted.
He reached out and touched her lightly on the shoulder. ‘You all right there,Sal?’
She nodded. ‘I was so… Jahulla! It was so frightening. It’s like anotherworld.’
He headed towards the kitchen alcove and ran a glass of water from the tap.
‘Is there an archive section on this page?’ asked Foster.
Maddy moved a cursor across the screen. ‘Yeah.’ She clicked a button on an infotab.
[HISTORY/GESCHICHTE]
The screen paused and flickered before presenting them with a surprisingly limited menu.
‘Not a lot of info listed here,’ sneered Maddy derisively.
Foster studied the meagre list of menu items. ‘There, click on Timeline… Zeitlinie.’
She did so and a moment later they were presented with the graphic of a time bar with thesignificant events of the last fifty years laid out along it.
‘My God… look,’ she said, pointing at the screen, ‘1997: end of warwith China. 1989: the Fuhrer’s hundredth birthday. 1979: the first man inspace…’
‘But look at the beginning of the timeline,’ said Foster.
Maddy frowned. ‘It starts in 1956. Why nothing before?’
‘I don’t know.’
She clicked on a button beside the beginning year and was answered with a red warningdialogue box:
Fruhgeschichtenfrugen erfordern Korrekte Ermachtigung.
Access To Earlier History Requires Authorization.
Maddy shook her head. ‘It seems history before that date isout of bounds for everyone. It all starts with 1956.’ She checked the historical markerfor that particular year. ‘1956: America celebrates joining the GreaterReich.’
Maddy clicked on the tab and a small article appeared. A grainy black and white photo showedsome city street lined with cheering people and a motorcade of vehicles proceeding down it.She read the words aloud.
‘September, 1956: Vice-president Truman reluctantly concedes defeat and signs the termsfor an unconditional surrender in the presence of the Fuhrer’s highest rankingfield officer, Reichsmarschall Haas. The American nation is now a part of the Greater Reich.The Fuhrer is greeted on the streets of Washington by hundreds of thousands ofenthusiastic supporters heartened by his promise to rescue their nation from years of povertyand hardship.’ She shook her head. ‘I can’t believe that! I can’tbelieve the American people would roll over and welcome AdolfHitler in as their ruler. That’s just crazy!’
Foster nodded. ‘Well, I agree it’s odd. But whether they did or theydidn’t, history has gone off track… wildly off track.’
He turned to Liam. ‘I’m sorry, lad. I feel like I’m throwing you in at thedeep end. We need to send someone back to check things out.’
‘Uh… all right,’ replied Liam unhappily.
‘This time, though,’ said Foster, ‘I’m afraid, this time, Ican’t go.’
Liam swallowed anxiously. ‘I’m… I’m going back alone?’
‘No, Bob will go along with you.’
‘I… er, I’m not sure I — ’
‘I’m sorry, lad, but there are no choices here. You have to go back and find outwhat’s going on.’
‘But why aren’t you coming?’
Foster’s eyes met Maddy’s briefly. ‘It’s too farback in time for me.’
‘But, but did you not go back to 1912 to get me?’
‘Yes… yes, I did, but this time… I’m sorry, I’m going to haveto sit this one out.’
‘Oh.’
‘We haven’t another moment to lose.’ He turned to Sal. ‘Revive Bobfrom his birthing tube.’
She nodded and headed off to the back room.
‘Madelaine?’
‘Yes?’
‘We need to prepare a data download for Bob. He needs all of this alternative historydownloaded into his brain. Also, he needs to have a complete understanding of the Germanlanguage and I’d download, from our on-site files, everything we have on Hitler, theNazi high command, the Second World War. I guess that should do it for now.’
‘What about me?’ asked Liam.
Foster shrugged. ‘Sorry, Liam… It’s come sooner than I expected. I’dhoped to take you through a couple more training trips, but it looks like we’ve run outof time.’
‘Oh boy,’ whispered Liam.
Foster pointed towards the cylinder. ‘You’d better start filling up the tube withwater.’
CHAPTER 34
2001, New York
Liam clung desperately to the side of the perspex tube with both hands, unhappilykicking at the warm liquid beneath him. Bob floated beside him, calmly treading water.
‘OK, Liam, you’re going to be there for two hours exactly. We’ve set theco-ordinates for the first of September 1956. We’re sending you to the grounds of theWhite House — the president’s Washington office. All you and Bob are going to dois observe, OK? Just observe. Do you understand?’
Liam nodded. ‘Y-yes.’
Foster patted his hand. ‘Relax, Liam. You’ll do just fine.’ He looked atthe support unit treading water. ‘And you must trust Bob. In that silicon brain of hisis everything you’ll need for this quick trip. He’s going to be your walkingencyclopedia… aren’t you, Bob?’
‘Ja. Ich habe alle benotigten Daten, HerrFoster.’
‘English for now please, Bob.’
Bob nodded sternly. ‘I have all the required data, Mr Foster.’
‘Good.’
Liam looked up at the old man. ‘I… I’ve got to admit I’m a littlescared.’
‘I know,’ he replied softly. ‘First time alone is always a bitdaunting.’ He smiled. ‘I’ve been there before myself. You’ll befine.’
With a little effort Liam managed a cavalier grin.
‘Just go there, lad, look around, see what you can see… and come back to the samespot a couple of hours later.’
‘What if we’re late?’
‘If you miss that window, we’ll open the window again exactly an hour later, forjust a few minutes. If you miss that, then we open it exactly twenty-four hours later.That’s the standard missed-rendezvous procedure. Don’t worry, Bob knows all aboutthat and will keep you on schedule.’
‘But if we miss all the windows?’
‘Just make sure you don’t.’
Liam swallowed anxiously. ‘But… but if we do miss every one of themwindows… is there not a way to arrange another one?’
‘If it comes to that, there is a way for us to talk to you, but it’s one-wayonly. You’ll not be able to talk to us.’ He patted Liam on the arm. ‘Justmake sure you stick to the schedule.’
‘I… I’ll try me best, Mr Foster, so I will.’
‘I know you will, lad.’
Foster got to his feet and took the steps down the side of the cylinder on to the concretefloor of the arch. ‘OK, Madelaine, begin the launch procedure.’
‘Launching in one minute.’
The displacement machinery attached to the water tube began to hum deeply.
Sal stepped forward, staring at their foggy outlines inside the tube. ‘Good luck,Liam!’ she called out. ‘Be careful!’