Alex Scarrow: Time Riders

‘Yes. It was in that Hitler fella’s second book.’

‘In the correct timeline Adolf Hitler wrote Mein Kampf in what? 1925? And he shot himself in 1945, so he never gotto write any more books.’

‘Yes,’ said Liam, ‘but in the past that we were sent to Hitler lived on andwrote this second book. And shortly after that he was kicked out of the job by this Kramerfella who became the new Fuhrer.’

‘OK, so in this second book…?’

‘There’s this chapter where he describes receiving inspiration from God in theform of an angel. Apparently it’s a well-known chapter. Hitler never actually mentionsKramer’s name specifically, but it’s assumed that when he refers to a“ guardian angel” and “divine inspiration” it’s Kramer he’stalking about.’

‘Go on.’

‘I learned a lot about this guy, Kramer, whilst I was in that prison camp. He was avery mysterious man who seemed to sort of pop up out of the woodwork from nowhere. No familyhistory, no details of a childhood. A real mystery man. He took credit for steering Hitleraway from launching an attack on Russia in 1941. He claimed to have personally invented mostof the modern weapons that helped them win the war, that allowed them to invade America andwipe out their armed forces within just a few weeks.

‘His people worshipped him almost like a god. And I think he encouraged the idea thathe was extraordinary in some way. Apparently, up until he launched his invasion on America, hewas the most written-about man of his time. Hundreds of books about him… all trying towork out who he was and where he’d come from.’

‘And you recall the when and where of Hitler’s first encounter with him?’

‘Yes,’ replied Liam. ‘There was a fella who told me, a man called Wallace.If he remembered it correctly that is… then, yes, I can tell you the time and theplace.’

Foster considered that in silence for a moment. ‘So, this Kramer is our target, then. We can only presume he’s some foolish technicianfrom the future who fancied the idea of going back in time and ruling the world. Somebody whodecided to step into the past at a crucial tipping point… and make his ownhistory.’

‘I suppose.’

‘Liam, you understand what you’re to do?’

‘Locate him and…?’

‘And kill him. Execute him.Before he meets Hitler… before he has a chance to change anything to affect history.’

‘Sure.’

‘All right then. Give me those details of time and place.’

2001, New York

Liam looked at the empty perspex cylinder. ‘There’s no water in there.It’s empty.’

‘We don’t have a water supply. You’ll have to go back dry thistime.’

‘So… do I still climb in the tube thing?’

Foster shook his head. ‘I’ll open the time window right here on the floor.It’ll mean a scoop of our lovely concrete floor will be going back with you… butI’m afraid that can’t be helped.’

‘But you told me nothing but ourselves can go back?’

‘That’s right. The less potential for contamination, the better. But, look, onthis occasion there’s not a lot we can do. There’s no tap water. Anyway…I’m not sure we’d have enough charge left to shift thirty gallons of water as wellas you two back into the past.’

Foster returned to the console. ‘I have the fifteenth of April 1941 set as thetime-stamp. The co-ordinates will place you in some woods near a road that leads up to whereHitler’s Obersalzberg retreat once stood. This is the only road in.’

He turned to face Liam and Bob. ‘It’s the only way in for this Kramer too. Now,I’m assuming he arrived as some sort of a special guest. Perhaps he managed to convincean influential general or a Nazi bigwig to arrange an audience for him with AdolfHitler.’

‘Would he not have opened a window right inside the building? Rightin front of the man?’

Foster shook his head. ‘If it were me, I wouldn’t. What if you appeared right infront of a guard? You’d be gunned down on sight. No,’ he said, stroking thegrey-white bristles of his week-old beard, ‘far safer to have appeared somewhere quiet.Then make an approach through some official channel — that’s how I would do it- an offer of untold wealth, or strategic knowledge of the enemy… something tobluff my way into the offices of some senior Nazi official.’

He turned back to the console. ‘You say Hitler wrote that his profound moment ofinspiration occurred at nine thirty p.m. on that night. I have set your time-stamp for eightthirty p.m., an hour earlier. If Kramer managed to arrange for an audience with Hitler, thenit’s a reasonable assumption he arranged to be punctual. His meeting might have been fornine thirty p.m., but he presumably would arrive a little earlier to ensure he was there ontime to go through whatever security procedures they carried out back then.’

‘If we miss him?’

‘If you fail to intercept Kramer,’ sighed Foster, ‘then we’ve missedour chance.’

‘What then?’

The old man shook his head. ‘It means it’s game over. History remains changed.God help us all.’

‘We’ll be stuck back in 1941, won’t we?’

‘Yes, Liam. And Maddy and I will be stuck here.’

They stared at each other in silence. Liam realized their fate would be worse than his.‘What about those creatures…?’

Foster waved his hand and smiled grimly. ‘Let’s forget about them for now, shallwe?’

Maddy stepped across the floor, over snaking cables. She graspedLiam’s arm and looked at him with red-rimmed eyes. ‘Just make sure you get him,OK?’

He nodded.

She looked up at the support unit. ‘I’ve downloaded all the historicalinformation we have on Obersalzberg and the surrounding area from the database on toBob’s hard drive.’

Bob stirred. ‘Affirmative.’

‘If… if… you’re successful, Liam,’said Foster, ‘and history realigns, we’ll have a power feed once more. We canbring you home. The initial return window will be nine thirty p.m. from the same co-ordinates.The first back-up will be ten thirty p.m. The second back-up will be twenty-four hours later.Is that clear?’

‘Yes, sir,’ said Liam.

‘If you fail,’ said Foster, stepping towards him, ‘if it doesn’t workout, lad, then don’t throw your life away on some foolish gamble, eh?’ He placed ahand on Liam’s shoulder. ‘Find a way to survive. You’ll have Bob to help youfor the first six months. Find a way to survive… and live your life as best youcan.’

‘What about you two?’

Foster reached out and squeezed Maddy’s hand. ‘Don’t worry about us, Liam.We’ve got something arranged.’

Maddy nodded and offered him a thin smile. ‘That’s right.’

The four of them stared at each other in silence for a moment, understanding the stakes,knowing this was their one and only chance to set things right.

She looked up at Bob, standing stiffly to attention in his blood-spattered SS uniform.‘Oh, that’s definitely you.’ She punched him softly on the chest.‘Look after Liam, you dumb ape.’

‘Affirmative.’

She grinned, a rim of moisture beginning to spill from her eyes.

‘And you, Liam, come back safe, OK?’

He nodded. ‘That’s the plan.’

1941, woods outside Obersalzberg

Falling again. Falling through a dark void.

Liam had just enough time to wonder whether he was ever going to get used to thestomach-lurching sensation before he found himself waist-deep in a drift of powder snow.

‘Oh, great!’

Liam looked around at the snow-covered pine trees, glowing almost a luminescent blue by thelight of the quicksilver moon. Thick branches of fir needles were weighed down beneath a heavyshroud of fresh-fallen snow.