“So Mr. Secretary, people have been telling me that you’ve taken to strong drink,” Lincoln joked.
Wells laughed. “Mr. President, after I tell you my story you may want to indulge yourself as well.” Lincoln was intensely curious about the contents of the large suitcases, but he decided to let Wells tell the story in his own fashion.
“Mr. President,” said Wells, “I hate to ruin a good story by telling the ending first, but that’s exactly what I’m going to do. The people on the USS California, which we’ve been calling the Gray Ship, are of fine character and intelligence. Farragut and my aide Commander Roebling both agree. The officers and crew that I met makes one proud to have them in our Navy. During our tour of the vessel we saw or heard nothing that would even hint at prevarication of any sort.”
“My dear Gideon,” said Lincoln, “I thought you were getting to the end first.”
“Mr. President, the people on the USS California are convinced that they came here through some strange portal from another time, April 2013, to be exact, 152 years into the future.”
Lincoln said nothing. He sat down and stared out the window. He looked at Wells and massaged his tall forehead. He then scratched his beard and the back of his head. He folded his arms, unfolded them and stood up again. He then spread his arms to each side of his desk and stared at Wells.
Lincoln said, “Gideon, did you or Farragut or Roebling think that those people may be insane, suffering from delusional thoughts?”
“Sir,” said Wells, “if they are insane then I am too, and I know I speak for Farragut and Roebling as well. I am convinced, Mr. President, that the USS California and her entire crew have come here from the year 2013. They have travelled through time. Of that I am certain.”
From his days as a country lawyer and his many years as a politician, Lincoln always prided himself on staying ahead of the conversation. He had a skill for listening to a man and then thinking five sentences ahead. He could draw conclusions from what a man said, and then question the man on his conclusions, as well as those of the man speaking. But Abraham Lincoln did not feel he was ahead in this conversation. Lincoln was baffled, and he told Wells as much. “Please go on Mr. Secretary,” said Lincoln, “Please convince me that you, or I, have not lost our minds.”
He handed Lincoln a copy of the 35-page report that Campbell had prepared, one for Wells and one for Lincoln. “This report, Mr. President, has perfectly clear lettering as you can see. They prepared the report for us on a machine called a computer. A sailor sat before the instrument and tapped with his fingers on buttons. The letters appeared on the machine right in front of him. When he finished, he pressed another button and these pages that you see came out of yet a second machine called a printer.”
Wells told Lincoln in detail about every aspect of their tour, including the weapons and propulsion devices. He explained, as best he could, this amazing thing called nuclear energy. “They said they can sail for over ten years without refueling. The technology and science is amazing.” He told Lincoln about the guided missiles, the rocket propelled grenades, the fully automatic rifles, and the startling instrument called an IPad. “They communicate long distances without laying cable,” Wells said. “They call it wireless. May I demonstrate, Sir?”
“Please go ahead, Gideon.”
Wells picked a two-way radio out of the suitcase and told Lincoln he was going to call the California by her code name, Lima Juliette. Wells was giddy with excitement, his great white beard swinging in the air with his movements. He pressed a button and said: “Lima Juliette, Lima Juliette, this is Alpha Foxtrot, radio check over.” Within a couple of seconds a voice came out of the instrument. It said, “This is Lima Juliette, read you loud and clear Alpha Foxtrot.”
“Alpha Foxtrot?” Lincoln asked. Wells beamed. “Sir, that is my new radio code name.”
“Well,” said Lincoln, “I believe congratulations are in order Mr. Foxtrot, or may I call you Alpha?” Lincoln sat down again.
Wells then told Lincoln that for all of the marvels that they saw aboard the California, the most shocking part of the tour was a talk prepared by a Commander Richard Sampson, the ship’s chaplain and historian.
“Because they come from the future, Mr. President, they know the past, and their past is our future.” At that, Lincoln held up his right hand, palm out. He stared at the ceiling, making sure he understood what he just heard.
“Please continue, Gideon.”
Wells then told Lincoln about the casualty figures of the four years to come, summing them up with the most shocking number of alclass="underline" 620,000 casualties or more, a number that’s easy to write on a page, but almost impossible to hold in one’s mind. Lincoln stared at Wells. Wells stared at the floor.
“Dear God,” said Lincoln, “Dear God Almighty.”
“Gideon, please continue with your report.”
Wells opened one of the suitcases and withdrew folder after folder of crisp color photographs. The pictures were not just of the California but were a photographic montage of the United States Navy in the year 2013. He first showed Lincoln the California itself and her amazing machines. He then laid out pictures of some of the Navy’s other ships, including aircraft carriers and nuclear ballistic missile submarines. Lincoln stared at the picture of an aircraft carrier, a photo of the USS Ronald Reagan. One photo showed an F-14 Tomcat fighter jet being launched off the deck by catapult.
“How many of these flying machines did you say the California has?” Lincoln asked.
“Just three Mr. President. One is a machine called a helicopter. Here it is in this picture. It lands and flies straight up and down. They call this machine an Apache Attack Helicopter. It can remain in the air in one position while it fires rockets, bullets, and bombs at an enemy. They also have these strange things they call helicopter drones that are flown without men aboard using that wireless business I mentioned a few minutes ago. They can use the drones to spy on the enemy, to fire rockets, and also to take photographs.” Lincoln’s eyes fixed on the drones.
“These drones, Gideon,” said Lincoln, “can they take photographs while flying fast over an area?”
“Yes, Mr. President. The drones can take photographs or even a moving image that they call a video. The person on the ship who operates the drone can see the images in what they call ‘real time,’ as if you were looking at the object while it was being photographed. Until they went through that amazing Daylight Event, they used things they call satellites, metallic objects in the sky that actually circle the earth. They could somehow send a wireless message from the drone to the satellite or from the ship to the satellite and then to the drone. Until they lost the satellites they could operate a drone from, say, the State of Oregon while operating the machine here in Washington. They also used these satellites to navigate. They call it a Global Positioning System. Since they went through the time portal, they no longer have that ability. But the drones can still take photographs and send them back to the ship using radio waves, just as I did when I called the California on my radio.” Lincoln just massaged his temples. Wells understood the confusion Lincoln experienced, just as he had two days before.