THE BETTER PART OF VALOR. Morgan Mackinnon

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СКАЧАТЬ Now we’re going to need authorizations, ids, strings pulled…the secretary kind of stuff we aren’t paid enough to do.”

      Cresta put up the first slide, which basically outlined their problem, and that was a man born in 1840 had to sire a child to be born in 2003.

      She then sat while Sammy Chen stood up and reiterated his findings up to the year 2037 and then specifically the year 2037 when a smart, talented young politician had to become Secretary of State in order to prevent all-out nuclear war on a global scale.

      The Secretary was obviously cynical. “These documents you found. Have you ever considered the date is nothing but a typo?”

      Sammy caught the sarcasm and turned red. “Yes, sir, I did. A man born in nineteen forty could technically father a child in two-thousand two, but he’d be sixty-two. Possible, yes. But in twenty thirty-seven, that same man would be ninety-seven. I have here a photo of the father and son in question taken in twenty thirty-seven, and the father can’t be too much older than midsixties.”

      Rick Berstem took the photo and studied it. “You sure this is the right guy? The younger one?”

      “Yes, sir. The photo is labeled as new Secretary of State Thomas M. Keogh and his father, Myles W. Keogh. It’s dated January, twenty thirty-seven.”

      “All right, Doctor. Chen, how do you prove that all these archived documents are authentic? Accurate? They could be forgeries.”

      Chen put both his hands on the table, squared his shoulders, and decided to be assertive. “Because they were archived by me. Look at the stickers on the backs. Samuel Dillon Chen. That’s me, and that’s my handwriting.”

      Jim laughed. “Well, if that isn’t job security, I don’t know what is!”

      This much established, Cresta took the floor again.

      “Sammy knows a handwriting expert and asked him to authenticate his own handwriting, but I requested he go a step further. That expert also matched letters the father, Myles W. Keogh, had written home to his brother, Tom Keogh in Ireland circa eighteen sixties and also with documents signed by Myles Walter Keogh in two thousand two and beyond. Secretary, it’s a 100 percent match. This man we are seeking was born in eighteen forty. Finally, I asked Sammy to take the picture of the older man in the photo and do facial recognition to Myles Keogh of the past. Perfect match.”

      Rick Berstem sighed and surrendered his skepticism. His team was the best in the world and if they said they needed a man born in 1840, then they needed a man born in 1840. “You’re sure? Okay, then you’re telling me we have to deal with getting a fish out of water, so to speak. Are there options?”

      Cresta changed her slide. “There are some.”

      1 Bring Keogh Senior to 2002, convince him sex outside marriage is not a sin and then send him back when his mission is accomplished.

      2 Bring Keogh Senior to 2002 and let him stay in his future.

      3 Send potential mother to 1860-something to conceive with Keogh Senior and then bring her back to 2002.

      Cresta went through each option. In the first, Keogh Senior would remember his journey to the future, which could result in an extreme psychological event. In the second option, if Keogh Senior could handle the psychological issues of remaining in a time not of his origin, it would be a possibility. Third option would probably not work, and she proceeded to explain why.

      “Myles Walter Keogh is a Catholic. Not a staunch Catholic but what he himself described as a ‘lapsed Catholic.’ Nevertheless, there is documentation that while our subject loved the ladies, he was discreet with a nearly obsessive fervor. The profile I have built so far would indicate Mister Keogh would go to great lengths to prevent fathering a child out of wedlock just as he was apparently very choosy about the women he courted. They didn’t have one-night flings in those days except with prostitutes. Our subject probably did indulge, but if he did, it is not documented. Soldiers in the Civil War had to be very careful of venereal disease, what they called the French pox, because it could be fatal. I have copies of letters Mister Keogh wrote to his brother in Ireland, and he’s quite frank about this.”

      The Secretary of Internal Development leveled his gaze at Cresta. “What’s your recommendation, Doctor?”

      Cresta spoke slowly, partly so there would be no misunderstandings and partly because she was still thinking this one through in her head. “I believe we have to approach this from the objective of first convincing Mister Keogh we are real, convince him of our intentions, and then bring him forward to the future. We don’t have much time.”

      Jim Sanford interrupted. “Why not?”

      “I’ll show you. Here we go…”

      The next slide showed a picture of their subject, Myles Keogh. Of course, it was in black and white.

      “This photo is courtesy of the National Archives and shows our subject photographed in eighteen sixty-two. It’s the best photo in the file. He’d just been assigned Captain in the US Army.” She put up a second slide which showed Keogh in a formal suit, velvet collar jacket, white shirt, and black shirt stud. His sensuous lips were obvious, although the moustache could have been trimmed just a bit. He was posed looking over his left shoulder with what Vernita would have defined as bedroom eyes.

      Cresta then went through an abbreviated summary of the man’s life. Born March 25, 1840, Leighlinbridge, County Carlow, Ireland. Fought in the Papal Wars 1860-1861. Came to the United States in 1862 and was commissioned a Captain in the Union Army. Fought in every major campaign of the Civil War, serving on the staffs of Generals Shields, Stoneman, Buford and McClellan. Mustered out in eighteen sixty-six as a Lieutenant Colonel. Commissioned in the regular army as a cavalry Captain.

      Stacie timidly raised her hand. “We have a Lieutenant Colonel who is also a Captain?”

      “The Lieutenant Colonel was a brevet rank. That means during the Civil War, they had more chiefs than would be needed after the war was over. The regular army was much smaller, therefore, not as many high-ranking officers needed. While serving as a Captain, however, Keogh was entitled to wear the accoutrements of a Lieutenant Colonel when not on duty and to be addressed as the same. I’m not sure about the pay scale, but in one letter Keogh wrote home, he mentioned something like one hundred fifteen dollars per month compared to a trooper who earned fifteen dollars a month. As for the titles, Keogh was also in the Ordine de San Gregorio Magno, which is a knighthood from the Pope.”

      The secretary chimed in again, “But why don’t we have much time? Seems to me someone volunteers to go to eighteen something-or-other, find this Keogh, convince him to come to our time, and boom. We’re done.”

      Physicist Bob Maguire had been silent until now but shook his head.

      “We have to minimize just how much time we’re playing around with. Ideally, we give our team volunteer just enough time to convince the subject he or she is on the level and then do the transplacement. That way, we are changing a minimal amount of historic record.”

      Everyone looked at Cresta at the same time. “How long will you need?”

      “I would like about five months or so.” The others in the room gasped.

      “Five months? Cresta, we’re working here with experience of a week or so. No one has tested such distance and such time!”

      She СКАЧАТЬ