Simon Hawke - Khyber Connection

Phoenix stared at him, slackjawed. "Are you serious"

"I’m very serious. It doesn’t solve the problem, admittedly, but it might keep it from getting worse. And it does have the added benefit of giving everyone a com-mon enemy. No more temporal conflicts between nations. Everyone will be too busy fighting against the other timeline. It could have considerable domestic advantages. Now we’ll really have a Time War on our hands."

"And just how long do we keep this up"" said Phoenix.

Darkness shrugged.

"Christ. I think I need another drink."

They were taken to a large chamber in the temple and locked inside. The massive wooden door was thick, bolted, and reinforced with iron. There were no windows in the chamber, but light filtered in from the top of a short flight of stairs. There were two large, thick pillars in the center of the room, supporting the ceiling. The walls were mortared stone. Learoyd, Ortheris, and Mulvaney had already been brought there, but they were still unconscious. Gunga Din climbed the flight of stairs, and a moment later they heard him call out. They followed him up the stairs.

The stairs ended on a parapet built out of the side of a mountain cliff. Below them was an abyss, a sheer drop to the bottom of the Khyber Pass.

"It’s a long way down," said Finn.

"Looks like we’re stuck," said Andre.

"Sahib Finn, how we come here" Who are these people" "

I don’t know how to tell you, Din," said Finn.

"Theyare demons!"

"No, Din, they’re not demons. Just … powerful fakirs."He shrugged. How else could he explain it"

"Theywill kill us, yes"" Din said.

"Idon’t know."

— Soldier sahibs dead."

"No, they’re not dead, Din. Drugged. They’ll be waking up before too long."

"Thisplace … Kali worship," Din said. "These men serve Kali. Thugee. Kill us all."

— We’re not dead yet. Go keep an eye on Mulvaney and the others. They should be coming ‘round soon. "

Shaking his head in despair, Din shuffled back down the stairs.

"Finn, look!" said Andre.

She pointed down into the pass. Far below them two men appeared out of the mist, rising up toward them rapidly on jet-paks. They entered the temple through another chamber cut into the side of the cliff below them.

"That’show they’re getting through, — said Finn. "Thebridge between the timelines must be down there. "

"Whatabout the British troops stationed in the pass"" said Andre."Whatabout the forts""

— Undoubtedly taken over," Finn said. "Someof those tribesmen we saw in the main chamber were wearing khakis and turbans with red swatches of cloth in them. Khyber Rifles. These people have taken advantage of the jehad to get all the tribesmen on their side. The Ghazis must think they’re gods or something."

— Finn, that’s it!" said Andre, grabbing him by the arm. -According to history, Sadullah promised the tribes they’d defeat the British on the Night of the Long Knives, when the gates of Paradise would open and a great heavenly host would come forth to help them drive out the infidels." She pointed down into the pass. "That’swhere they’ll be coming through. They’ll fight on the side of the Ghazis, and the British won’t stand a chance."

"It makes sense," said Finn. "While Blood was putting down the uprising in the Malakand, the Mad Mullah escaped and joined Sayyid Akbar in the Khyber Pass. They overran Landi Kotal and burned every fort in their path. Akbar demanded the withdrawal of all British forces. To stop him, the British sent the Tirah Expeditionary Force under General Sir William, Lockhart. Their objective was to defeat Akbar and then strike at the tribes in the Tirah Valley. That crushed the revolt. "

"Only with the soldiers from the other timeline fighting with the Ghazis, it won’t happen that way," Andre said. "That’s what he meant by a first strike. We thought Churchill was the focus of the disruption. It was never Churchill. It was the entire Tirah Expeditionary Force!-

"If they destroyed the expeditionary force," said Finn, "there’d be nothing stopping the Ghazis from sweeping down into Peshawar. The British control of

the frontier would be eliminated, leaving the way open for the Russians to come in. And the Russians have already been negotiating with Abdur Rahman in Kabul.

It would completely alter history in this part of the world."

"We’vegot to stop them somehow."

"I’m open to suggestions," Finn said. "We’ve had our warp discs taken from us, and even if we do figure out a way to escape, we have to make sure Mulvaney, Ortheris, and Learoyd get out with us. We can’t just leave them here."

"What if there’s no other choice""

Finn grimaced. "Right now we don’t have any choices. Unless we can learn to fly, I don’t know how we’re going to get out of here. And we’re running out of time. "

"We have to find the point of confluence, — said Darkness, pacing back and forth across his laboratory. "My instruments can only detect energy fluctuations in the timestream. They were never designed to pinpoint inertial surge. I might be able to find it if I’m on the scene. "

"Then get me back to Earth in Plus Time," Phoenix said. -Somebody has to let them know what’s going on. I can alert the TIA and the Referee Corps."

"No, you leave that to me," said Darkness. "The confluence must be located first. The best thing for you to do is concentrate on Drakov. "

"We have a problem there," said Phoenix. "There really was a tribal leader named Sayyid Akbar. Knowing Drakov as I do, he probably killed the real one and took his place. That means we need him. Sayyid Akbar was a key figure in the scenario. His revolt in the Khyber was what caused the British to launch the Tirah Expeditionary Force. Without him-"

"Wait,"said Darkness. "What about this expeditionary force""

"They put down Akbar’s revolt in the Khyber and then pursued a punitive campaign against the tribesmen in the Tirah Valley, — Phoenix said. "It ended the uprising and-wait a minute! If the Tirah Expeditionary Force had been defeated, it could have ended British control of the frontier. It would have given the Russians a foothold. Control of the frontier would give them ac-cess to India. It could lead to a war."

"Anda timestream split," said Darkness. "That’s the connection. The Khyber Pass."

"And Akbar-or Drakov-controls the Khyber Pass. "

"The confluence must be there," said Darkness. "It has to be, everything points to it. Our timing must be precise. We must allow Drakov and Sadullah to join forces and begin their Night of the Long Knives. We cannot act until the British have launched the Tirah expedition."

"Whatabout Drakov"" Phoenix said. "When he finds out I’ve escaped, he’ll know his cover’s blown."

"Then they’ll be prepared," said Darkness, "but they can’t stop now. Too much rides on their plan. They’re committed. "

"There’s still an adjustment team back there somewhere. "

"The last place they were was at the Malakand fort. I tried to home in on Priest’s symbiotracer, and as I said, only found his grave. The regiment had already departed for Chakdarra. I couldn’t manifest because there were several other soldiers present. They were on their way to Peshawar with dispatches."

"Noneof the dispatches from the Malakand have been getting through," said Phoenix. "Drakov’s tribesmen have been intercepting them."

"Theycould easily have teleported if they ran into trouble," Darkness said."Butwe’re overlooking something. Your agents are all unaccounted for, except for the two with you who were killed. I knew there was something I was forgetting! If all three of them were taken out, it suggests the possibility that our friends from the alternate timeline have a means of tracing warp discs. Probably by scanning for them in the same manner Search and Retrieve units conduct their sweeps."