Time Travel Chronicles Part I

Chapter 5

Back on the X-901, Angie immediately contacted George. “What’s our status?” 

“We still haven’t stopped the changes, and I think it’s still connected with World War II.” 

"Maybe this is another Hitler manipulation," Marty suggested. 

"There was an attempt to assassinate Hitler on July 20, 1944," Karl said. "Maybe it succeeded in this timeline." 

"We'll have to go back to the Boston library and check it out again." 

“We’ve been there often enough to get library cards,” Marty quipped. 

“Very funny, dear.” 

Back to the past. 

Again. 

"Yep," Marty said with a smug smile. "It says here that Hitler was killed by a bomb at Wolf's Lair in East Prussia. The German army took over and ended the war." 

"That makes sense," Karl said. "A premature end to the war would have shut down advanced weapon development in Germany as well as in the US and the UK. A lot of technology came out of that work." 

"Okay, Hitler didn't escape being assassinated," Marty said. "But, how?" 

"Easy," Karl said. "Someone moved the briefcase containing the bomb away from the table leg." 

"Thus removing the shield that saved Hitler in our time-line," Marty added. "How are we going to get into a high level conference and move the briefcase?" 

"I can stop time long enough for us to accomplish the fix," Angie said. 

"Why can't we just stop the alien from causing the change in the first place?" 

"We will never see him, dear. That's the result of the temporal paradox. He can only change one timeline at a time. We're in a different timeline. Actually, we shouldn't even be in existence." 

"Oh." 

"Okay, we're going back to July 20, 1944," Angie, said. 

Angie, Marty and Karl appeared in a small clump of trees. 

"It's 12:35 p.m. seven minutes before the bomb goes off," Angie said. 

"Is this Wolf's Lair?" Marty asked, gesturing to a massive thick-walled structure. "It looks like a medieval fortress." 

"That was the idea," Karl said. "Hitler was concerned that the allies would bomb it. However, the conference room is that building over there." He pointed. 

"Are we going into the conference room?" Marty asked. "It doesn't look all that secure or invulnerable." 

"We'll wait until after 12:37, dear. That's when Colonel von Stauffenberg allegedly pushed the briefcase containing the bomb under the table and then left to return to Berlin." 

"There he goes now," Karl said, pointing. “He’s done his deed.” 

Angie waved her hand and everything stopped: no sound of birds, no rustling of leaves, just absolute silence. 

Angie led her group into the conference room. The attendees sat frozen in poses like figures in a wax museum. Hitler, his stenographer Heinrich Berger, Major-General Rudolf Schmundt, Colonel Heinz Brandt, and General Gunther Korten were supposed to be killed by the bomb. 

"There it is," Karl said, pointing to a leather briefcase. "It should have been shoved under the table on the right side of this massive leg." He pointed to a man sitting at the center of the table. "This is Hitler now in the direct line of the explosion." 

"Push it under the table to the right of the leg," Angie ordered. 

Marty obeyed. "Is that far enough?" 

"It should be," Karl said. “According to the accounts the table leg absorbed the blast meant for Hitler." 

"Okay, let's get out of here and see what happens," Angie said. 

Time started back up. The explosion caused birds to take flight and people to shout and cry out. Smoke and flames attested to the explosion's violence. Many SS men and soldiers rushed to help. Soon the dead and wounded were extracted from the heavily damaged room, including a disheveled and bloodied but still living Adolf Hitler. 

"That worked," Angie said. 

Back to the future.