Simon Hawke - The Six Gun Solution

“So when you finally broke free and crossed over, you saw those same events replayed an instant later, in our timeline,” said Forrester.

“That’s right.” said Lucas, “In the other timeline. Jenny came running up to Scott and called out his name, because she was afraid he was going to get shot. Both Scott and Wyatt turned around and, in that instant, the shooting started There were three shots. I’m not sure who fired them-”

“Doc Holliday fired first,” said Scott, still standing by the window. He had a faraway look in his eyes. “Virgil didn’t want a fight, but Doc wanted it all along. And so did Morgan. There was a lot of bad blood between the two parties and Doc was still angry over the attempt to frame him for that stagecoach robbery and King’s escape from jail. Morgan was as hot-blooded as Holliday and they were both close friends. They wanted to finish it right then and there. A lot of people thought that when Virgil yelled out. ‘Hold on. I don’t mean that!’ he was shouting at Billy Clanton and Frank McLaury, who supposedly went for their guns. Only he was really calling out to Doc and Morgan, because be heard them both cocking their weapons. Maybe Tom McLaury opening his coat to show he was unarmed was what set it off. Maybe Doc just had enough and felt like finishing it. Either way. Doc fired first, shooting Frank McLaury in the stomach, and Morgan fired a split second later, at Billy Clanton. But there were only two shots right at the beginning, not three.”

“In the other universe, there were three,” said Lucas. “There was somebody firing from cover on the porch between Fly’s Boarding House and the Photo Studio. It could have been Johnny Behan. But when Jenny called out, Wyatt and the Montana

Kid both turned around. Somebody fired first, maybe Holliday, and then the next two bullets got Wyatt and Scott. So, in the other universe, both Wyatt and the Kid died in the shoot-out.”

“Drakov was trying to match the events in our universe to what happened in the parallel timeline,” Andre said. “As Darkness explained it to us later, the temporal confluence at that point was so strong that it could have gone one way or the other. The instability had reached the breaking point. If the exact same thing happened in each timeline at the exact same space and time, with the powerful confluence effect focused on that specific point, both timelines would have come together and the force of the temporal inertia in both timelines would have created a massive timewave that would have traveled down the timestream, building in intensity, disrupting history all the way down the line, until..”

“Until what?” asked Forrester.

“Who knows?” said Lucas, with a shrug. “Darkness wouldn’t tell us. A massive timestream split? A chain reaction? Ultimate entropy’?” He sighed. “Frankly. I’m not even sure I want to know.”

“So then Jenny Reilly was the key,” said Forester.

“In a way, she was,” said Lucas, but in another way, it was Scott. If she hadn’t fallen in love with him… but then, that was probably what she’d been programmed to do by Drakov, who kept manipulating her, keeping her off-balance and never letting her know what her real purpose was. He needed her emotions to be in turmoil, so she’d be driven to do what he meant for her to do. After she pulled a gun on Wyatt Earn and rescued Scott. Wyatt had to figure Scott had crossed over the line and had chosen to become an outlaw. When, in our, timeline. Jenny saw Scott moving toward the scene of the gunfight, she was going to call out his name, just as the other Jenny had in the parallel universe. Wyatt would have heard it and, maybe thinking Scott was about to shoot him, he would have turned around just as Doc and Morgan fired and then Billy Clanton would have shot him in the back.”

“And that would have been the third shot,” said Forrester.

“No.” said Lucas. “The third shot would have been Drakov’s. When he shot Finn, to keep him from killing Jenny before she could call out Scott’s name.”

“Why didn’t he just shoot Wyatt Earp?” asked Forrester.

“And lose the chance to kill at least one of us before he ceased to exist?” Delaney said. He shook his head. “He couldn’t pass up that opportunity. He knew Billy Clanton was quick with a gun and a good shot. The only reason Wyatt wasn’t hit was because he shot Billy in the wrist as he was drawing, a second after Morgan shot him in the chest. And after he shot Delaney. Drakov would still have had the time to make sure of Wyatt with his second shot and Scott with his third, in the event the others missed them.”

“Darkness knew about the temporal instability and the surge in temporal inertia that was going to take place right at that point and he wasn’t sure if his unstable subatomic structure would maintain its integrity or not.” said Andre. “He didn’t want to warn us specifically about what was going to happen because he wasn’t sure if that would influence our actions and affect the outcome. It all had to be done at the last minute and he had just one shot at it. Even then, it was a gamble. He didn’t know if he’d survive it. If he’d been caught in the same temporal vortex as me and Lucas, he may have discorporated.”

He also knew that everything depended on my immediate response.” said Delaney, “because he’d essentially have to be in two places at the same time, and even at faster-than-light speed, that’s quite a trick. He knew he had a chance to tell me to shoot the girl, to keep her from distracting Wyatt at the last possible instant, and he knew that if I reacted immediately, he could stop Drakov from firing more than one shpt. But he didn’t know if he could stop him from firing that first shot. He was gambling that on seeing me, Drakov would immediately try to shoot me first, instead of Wyatt. He wasn’t sure if he’d have a chance to save my life by taching to where Drakov was and deflecting his shot at the last possible second. Even traveling at faster-than-light speed, he had to play it close, so that the temporal inertia in both timestreams would be at its strongest surge and then, when the events in both timelines did not match up, the strength of that surge forced them apart, once and for all. Without him, it never would have happened. But thanks to him, the Temporal Crisis is over. Darkness changed the past and saved the future.”

“Only Jenny had to die,” said Scott.

Delaney looked at him with pain written on his features. “I’m sorry, Scott. I had no other choice.”

Neilson nodded. “I understand. And I’m not blaming you. But that still doesn’t make her death any easier to bear. I loved her.”

“Yeah, kid,” said Delaney, softly. “I know.”

“So Drakov had it all planned out in advance,” said Forrester.

“That’s right.” said Lucas. “He knew about it because he had done the one thing no one else had ever done before. Not even the Network, because it was so risky. He clocked ahead to the future. He clocked ahead far enough to study the history of the Temporal Crisis and he found out about what happened in the Tombstone scenario. Then he clocked back there, located the crossover points, established the scenario in each timeline and set out to try and make them match exactly, so that the temporal currents would flow together instead of being forced apart. And, apparently, from the standpoint of the future Darkness came from, he succeeded. Darkness had to come back and try to stop him.”

“Amazing,” Forrester said.

“The one thing Darkness never did explain was how he knew that Drakov would cease to exist if he succeeded.” Andre said. “Apparently, somehow, the result of what he did would affect your life, sir.”

Forrester nodded. “Indeed, it would have,” he said. He got up and went to the secret panel that led into his private sanctum. He opened it, went in, and came out a moment later, carrying a framed photograph in his hand.