John Schettler - Crescendo of Doom

Tovey raised an eyebrow at that. “The King’s business,” he said aloud. “So now I know what this is all about, and why Rodney was pulled from duty with Force H by the Admiralty. Are you saying their Lordships were aware of this key? They knew of its existence and significance?”

“I don’t think so,” said Elena. “Perhaps the curator of the British Museum might have had knowledge of it, but as for the Admiralty, no I think they just thought they were shipping valuables to safekeeping in Boston. That’s where Rodney is bound, is it not?”

“My dear woman, have you been listening in on Admiralty fleet signals traffic?”

“No Admiral, you forget that this is all history from my perspective. Strangely, in that history, Rodney was involved in a chase very similar to the one we now find ourselves on. It seems a coincidence, but I suspect it is something more. They say history does not repeat itself, but it rhymes. As we know the history, you and your Home Fleet were out after the Bismarck this month, and now here we are chasing that ship as well, and its bigger brother. That little twist could complicate things, particularly if this coincidence holds true. You see, Rodney was in the thick of the final action that sank the Bismarck. I’m sure you’ll be pleased to hear that, Admiral, but while the ruckus was going on, several pieces of the Elgin Marbles were knocked about, and one was slightly damaged—the Selene Horse—right at the base to reveal a place where the key was concealed. But the key itself was missing. It was never seen again after that engagement. When Rodney arrived in Boston, the artifacts were removed and stored. They were returned to England at a later time, and everything was accounted for—except that missing key.”

“Was it lost while those artifacts were still aboard the ship?”

“No one knows. All we know is that the damage to the artifact was discovered in Boston.”

“Then someone there was privy to the existence of that key?”

“Perhaps, but we aren’t certain who that was. Remember, there was no Watch at that time. It was not established until 1942. We only learned the significance of these keys later, and that this one had been aboard Rodney when it left for Boston. The ship was searched, of course, and the crew interviewed, very discretely. The Curators at the British Museum were behind that, probably by way of investigating the damage to the Selene Horse. They knew about the key, though whether they knew just what it was is not known. A suspicion remained that the key was still aboard Rodney , and when the ship was finally scrapped at Inverkeithing in 1946, the wreckage was gone over with a fine sieve. It was all handled by the Grey Friars, or so I was told, but nothing was found.”

“The Franciscans?” Tovey knew that order had been long known as the ‘Grey Friars’ because of the color of their robes.

“Yes,” said Elena. “Why they were charged with the task remains a bit of the mystery, but they were carting over bits and pieces of the ship, metal filings, nuts and rivets, and examining the whole lot in a quiet little room at Saint Peters Kirk, Inverkeithing.”

“Most irregular,” said Tovey. “The Grey Friars sifting through the bones of old Rodney to look for this key… Well, they certainly had to know something of what they were looking for. You say the Watch learned of these keys in those strange signals you received. If that is so, then how would anyone in 1941 know about that key, or attribute any significance to it, particularly the Franciscans!”

“Very good questions,” said Elena. “Yet this only remains perplexing when you assume that everyone alive in the here and now is native to this time. As you can see, you are presently sitting here with three people who were born long after your own death, Admiral.”

“Of course!” It was Fedorov speaking now, exclaiming his surprise in English. Then he spoke quickly, and Nikolin translated. “Other time travelers! We thought it was only our sad fate, the ship and crew of Kirov , but we all know that is not the case. Consider that stairway at the railway inn. I moved in time on that rift, as did Sergei Kirov, and another man, a name you will be familiar with Admiral—Ivan Volkov. But who knows who else may have used those stairs? If there are other sites, other rift zones as you call them, then it is not a stretch to imagine that others may have used those holes in time.”

“Well this is quite a fine mess,” said Tovey. “People coming and going, just as they please, and fiddling with history! I knew this world was something quite different after I learned the truth about you and your ship, Mister Fedorov, but now it seems we have others involved in this whole affair, in these rift zones you speak of, coming and going like servants in and out of the back door.”

“Correct,” said Elena. “The zones I knew about were all well hidden, and placed under lock and key.” She dangled the key on its chain again to make her point. “So they were open only to Keyholders. That took careful planning—planning that extended over long decades, because the sites I know of are both quite old, like Delphi. The sites had to be secured, protected, and then locked down to prevent anyone from using those passages through time. I wondered what I might find if I went there now to have a look at that site. Would I find the same passage and chamber I discovered in 2021? I was considering doing exactly that, flying in with my Argonauts to have another look, in case the Germans were about. Then this little foot race to Gibraltar started. As for that railway inn, that was a site we were entirely unaware of. That said, all this gets to my mission here, at least as I understand it now.”

“Your mission?” Tovey cocked his head to one side, waiting.

“Well Admiral, whether you remember it or not, it was you that determined I should go to Delphi, and now I think I may know why—HMS Rodney —that missing key. The signals we received in our time were very pointed. We were told the keys, and the sites they opened, were crucial. They must all be accounted for, and here, at this very moment, that missing key may be finally within our grasp. Believe me, we searched long and hard for it in the years after 1941, but it was never found. Yet here, at this moment, it is quite possibly within our grasp.”

“Suppose it is,” said Tovey, “sitting right there in the hold of Rodney , along with all the rest of the King’s business. What do you propose?”

“Why, to get my hands on the damn thing, what else! It will tell us where its corresponding rift zone is.”

“How so?”

“Because the keys were very carefully machined. If examined closely, with the right instruments, they reveal a set of numbers along the shaft, and these translate into geographic coordinates. That was how we determined where the other two rift zones were.”

“Oh? And may I ask where they are?”

“You may, but I do not think I should answer, for purposes of security. I’m sure you understand that these zones are very dangerous. The Keyholder for each zone was privy to its existence, and I learned a little more after being designated Keyholder Alpha. I suppose that means I’m to be the keeper of the keys, or that I hold the master key in all this. Well, one of my keys is still missing, and I think it would be wise to find it as soon as we possibly can.”

“Yes,” said Fedorov. “These zones are dangerous. We went so far as to attempt a demolition of the rift site in Ilanskiy. We sent our Marines in, and they got the job done. There was only one thing we did not count on—our ex-Captain Karpov. His appearance on the scene has complicated our effort to seal off access to that breach. Activity in that region leads me to suspect that Ivan Volkov may have also learned the significance of that place. Otherwise, why are the two still battling over control of Ilanskiy? We had word that another big engagement is underway there.”