John Schettler - Crescendo of Doom

At first she hesitated to say anything at all about her role—the secret office, the Red Phone, the Watch, the mission that she had been sent on as they were harried from the Black Sea on the eve of war. Then she knew that Gordon would inevitably be at the center of anything that happened, and to be effective, he would need to know more. But how to reveal the truth, the life changing truth that the world they were living in was something quite different than any of them ever imagined? How to explain it, that this moment was never lost on its endless movement forward in time? It was connected, always, to every other moment of the past, and every moment yet to unfold from an unknown future.

But why here, she thought. Clearly that device I retrieved from Delphi had but one purpose, and that was to somehow move this ship to this point in time. She had long known that such displacement in time was possible. She was one of the very few that knew this, a burden that seemed almost impossible to carry at times. Information had come to them long ago—information from the future. It had first served to persuade them as to its authenticity, quoting events that were yet to happen, chapter and verse. And then it had become a warning, of a ship, the very ship the Watch itself had been determined to wait for, and find— Geronimo .

Now it was here, steaming a thousand meters off their port quarter. But why was she here? What was she supposed to accomplish in this time? Was Argos Fire merely called to arms in this hour of need. Was she sent here to try and somehow save this strangely altered world she now found herself in? To find that they had moved, slipping from one of those cross-stitched moments in time to another, was amazing enough. But why this moment? And what about that note she had found, signed by Admiral Tovey himself?

I’ve gone from Keyholder Alpha to Watchstander G1, she thought. Yet I haven’t really any idea of what my responsibilities are for either role. It was clear now that the Keyholders were meant to be moved in time. How many were there? Were they all out there on similar missions? Where were they going with the keys that had hung about their neck? What would they open? Were there other places, hidden vaults, mysterious boxes and devices seeded in the world by people from our own future? What was the intent of all of this? Why this time, right in the middle of WWII?

I thought I would finally get my answer when I took this to Admiral Tovey, but he seemed completely in the dark. He had no recollection of ever writing the note I found in that device, and how could he? This John Tovey was living a full year before he had ever even founded his secret group, the Watch.

It became even stranger for her when Tovey had confided that information about the reports, documents, and photographs in the archive at Bletchley Park. An anomaly… She had been told such things might happen. They had told us it was possible, those unseen voices from the future. Things sometimes slip, they become unhinged, they pass through cracks and holes, and turn up in most unexpected places. That was all she had learned about it, and all she knew. Yet her curiosity would not let it go.

For years she had taken in all this incredible information, never seeing the entire picture, but always being asked to hold a brush. Now she was doing much more than simply standing her watch. Yes, now she had that brush in hand, and she was being asked to paint on the canvass of this history. She knew that her very presence here was an offense. The Argos Fire did not belong here, nor did Geronimo , Kirov , the ship… Yet here they were, actively intervening in the events that were unfolding, as if they were at war with destiny. Were they sent here to merely hold the line? What was their real purpose? The Russians tell me that this was all an accident, but clearly my presence here was very well planned…

We’ve turned back the tide for a while, she thought. Yet now we sail west for Gibraltar. I wonder how long this has been planned? Is this my mission now, to simply serve here in the midst of this war? How long will we have to stand this watch?

She remembered telling Gordon all this, and expressing her curiosity about Delphi… “ That box we found at Delphi… It’s been nagging at me,” she had told him…. “It’s a nice little mystery, isn’t it? So there are other keys out there, Gordon, and yes, they may open other hidden doors, or even other little boxes like the one we found at Delphi. And they may lead to some very unexpected places. This is all we know.”

“Interesting,” said MacRae.

“Yes, and now that I’ve got your curiosity up with my own, I was wondering something—whether that chamber under Delphi is still there.”

“You mean you don’t know when it was built?”

“Not at all. In fact, I’m not even sure it exists in this go round—in this world where we find ourselves now. But this damn key of mine exists, and for every key there’s a locked door out there somewhere. I wonder…”

“Well you could satisfy yourself,” MacRae told her. “Delphi isn’t very far away.”

Yes, she could get up there with the X-3s again and have a look. What would she find? Was that hidden chamber there, buried beneath the shrine? Something told her now that she would be disappointed if she tried that. What would she possibly find there, the box that she already had in her possession at that very moment? No, that would be impossible. Then she remembered the question Gordon had asked her that day.

“What about the other key? What was it to be used for?”

Yes! The other key! She could hear her own voice to Gordon in reply. “The key that was found in the Elgin Marbles? We never discovered that, because it was lost, in May of 1941, the 27th of May, to be precise.”

It was aboard HMS Rodney , bound for Boston to have those dodgy boiler tubes replaced. It was there when the ship sailed, but missing when it finally reached Boston. Somewhere on that journey, and through the fire of that engagement with Bismarck , that key was lost.

That thought struck her like a hammer. 27 May, 1941. Why, here she was in that very same month! Yes! I told Gordon we knew the exact day that other key was lost, because it was aboard HMS Rodney , meant to be shipped secretly to Boston, along with all that gold bullion hidden in the battleship’s belly. That was right in the middle of the hunt for the Bismarck . The Admiralty was pulling every ship they could get their hands on into that action, but things are very different now. In that history the Bismarck was trying to run the Denmark Strait off Iceland, yet now it is right here… in the Med… running west for Gibraltar with a very big friend in the Hindenburg , and by god, yes, that’s where Argos Fire is too!

Could this be the reason we were sent here? Does it have something to do with that last remaining key? It suddenly occurred to her that the key could be out there at this very moment. It was in the Selene Horse! The custodians at the British Museum always knew that the key existed. It had been a mystery for some time, though it was known only to a very few. Yet it was thought to be an oddity, and never explained, until we started receiving those messages from the future, years later…. The keys were very important, they were essential, critical , and they must all be found and accounted for…

One thought tumbled on another in her mind now. This is my mission! This is what I’m here for. HMS Rodney is out there somewhere, and if anything in this topsy-turvy world holds true to the history I know, then her hold is bloated with gold bullion, and the Elgin Marbles are there. The key is right there with them, in the base of the Selene Horse.