Anachron

Lost Souls

Now that we had returned to our correct time, we would have to figure out what to do with ourselves.  We were soldiers without a war, disenfranchised, homeless, lost.  Our mission was successful, in that we had created not only a better world, but a better galaxy.  Unfortunately, that new galaxy had no place for us in it.

With this in mind, Acting-Captain Breiner entered into negotiations with the Confederation of Civilized Planets.  He explained to CCP negotiators that our mission was to travel through time and change history to avoid a war that spanned decades with an unbelievable death toll.

I wasn't privy to the negotiations, as Breiner didn't completely trust me.  I couldn't really blame him.  I had, after all, killed the last captain that I had a disagreement with.  That didn't stop him from asking my advice when the negotiations were finished.

"I convinced them that it was in their best interest to accept us into their forces, anyone from the Anachron who would sign up.  They'll go through a re-orientation to bring them up to speed on the new history, and then reinstated at a similar rank to the ones they left behind."

"That's good news.  What about the knowledge of the alternate timeline?"

"We're military, and the military sees to it that we don't have enough information to get confused.  Present situation notwithstanding."

"Of course.  And you're probably right.  It's tradition in the military to keep the front-line troops uninformed so they can just focus on killing the enemy.  Are you going to take this deal?"

"Yes.  I might resign from front line duty and take an office position, but of course I intend to take the deal that I negotiated.  It would be a bad sign for the men if I didn't."

"It would, wouldn't it?  There's one thing unresolved, though."

"What's that?"

I didn't say.  Instead, I just looked around.  Breiner followed my eyes, then realized what I meant.

"The ship.  The CCP is the equivalent now to what our TSF was, so they'll take control of it.  The rest is not our problem."

I shook my head no.  "That's no good.  If we do that, then whoever gets a hold on it will have a huge blackmail tool.  Remember, this ship was built to travel into the past and destroy an entire planet."

He stood there, silently, while I continued.

"Imagine what would happen if space pirates were to get ahold of the Anachron.  Now, keep in mind we don't have any secondary weapons, so it could easily happen.  They could use this ship to extort ridiculous things from planetary governments.  And no defense could stop them, because they could just jump back to before the defenses are built."

Breiner stood there, not knowing what to say.

"You've already signed to join the CCP, haven't you?"

Breiner sighed.  He looked like he thought he had just made the biggest mistake of his life.  "Yes."

"And you told them that our mission was to travel through time.  That means that they know what's special about the Anachron."

"Of course."

"So they'll want it.  The reason you were able to negotiate such a great deal is because we're expected to hand over the ship."

Breiner started to turn very pale.  He didn't say anything, just stood there in a daze.

"This ship is too powerful to just hand it over."

He swallowed uncomfortably, still not speaking.

"We can't even trust the government with this.  Look what almost happened already."

A big sigh, then Breiner found his voice again.  "You're right.  Of course you're right.  But what can we do now?"

I didn't know what to do.  For a few moments, we both stood there, silently staring at each other.

Finally, I spoke up.  "I don't know what I'm going to do, but whatever it is, I'm sure it'll be serious.  Just when I though I was out of trouble."

"Will you at least keep me informed?"

"No.  It's better if you don't know."

"I'm not sure I like the sound of that, but you've been right before."

"Thanks."  My voice was sombre.  "I'm going to need some time to think about this.  Can you excuse me?"

"Sure."

And so, as the old saying goes, I was out of the frying pan and into the fire.  I had a lot to figure out, and not much time to do it.