Germany
After Japan signed the treaty with the United States, Hitler declared war on America in January 1942. Germany had been secretly working on an atomic bomb. The United States had abandoned its Manhattan Project after signing the treaty with Japan. In May, 1945, a German battleship off the United States East Coast fired a V2 rocket bomb with a nuclear warhead. It was targeted to hit Washington D.C., but, because it had a rudimentary guidance system, the rocket missed its target and landed in a rural area of Pennsylvania. The officer in charge of the operation, Luftwaffe Colonel Kurt Schweightkopf, was a history buff. He had always been fascinated by the stories about the Gray Ships in the American Civil War, and how the use of swift and violent force could bring about peace. As a result of Germany’s action, all neutral nations declared war on Germany, including Switzerland, Belgium, Ireland and Japan. In December 1945, Hitler was assassinated by one of his own body guards. The Third Reich was disbanded, and the new German government sued for peace.
“But there was no surrender at Appomattox,” Father Rick said to Jack. “I wonder how Great Grandpa Sampson made it to Iowa. If he didn’t, how am I here?”
“We’re all amateurs when it comes to time travel, Father. Maybe there is such a thing as a parallel universe. We left 2013 and returned seven hours later local time. But even though the calendar says 2013, it’s not the same one we left.”
Chapter 100
Any time an unforeseen major event involves a ship of the United States Navy, a Naval Board of Inquiry is convened to sort out the facts. Typical events that would result in a Naval Board of Inquiry would be a grounding, a fire, a sinking, or a collision. When a ship goes missing for over seven hours, that event more than qualifies for the appointment of a Board.
The Naval Board of Inquiry into the Disappearance of the USS California convened on April 24, two weeks after the California came back to 2013. The Secretary of the Navy appointed Retired Rear Admiral Floyd “Hoss” Miller, the first Commanding Officer of the California, to chair the Board. Eight other admirals served on the panel.
Ashley had met Admiral Miller once, at a Change of Command ceremony. She admired and respected him. At a dinner with him and his wife Kay, and Miller regaled her with stories about the early days of the California. Retired admirals can sometimes be stuffy, even pompous. That wasn’t Hoss Miller. He is the kind of person you think of as an old friend after meeting him once.
The Board convened behind closed doors in a conference room at the Navy Department in Washington. A team of investigators fanned out to interview each sailor on the ship. Because there were over 600 stories to be told, if each crew member testified it would go on for months. They would call witnesses as they deemed necessary.
The first witness was Captain Ashley Patterson, as she expected. She didn’t feel nervous at all. Maybe these guys can help figure out what happened, because she sure as hell can’t.
According to procedure, a lawyer from the Judge Advocate General’s office was appointed to sit next to Ashley and advise her. His name was William Braden, and he held the rank of Commander. He immediately got on her nerves when he whispered in her ear. Do these guys feel important by whispering in people’s ears, she thought. But she realized that it was his job to look out for her legal rights. If he’d only stop whispering.
Promptly, at 0915, Ashley began her testimony. She told THE STORY.
As the hours went by, she was interrupted several times by questions. Everyone was impressed by her simple, direct answers.
Ashley didn’t hold back. She told everything. Well, she did edit out a few scenes with Jack Thurber. Ashley was at the microphone for seven hours, including a one-hour lunch break.
When they returned from lunch, Admiral Miller thought he would break the tension with some humor.
“Do you have your flux capacitor with you, Captain?” asked Miller.
“Yes Sir, I do,” said Ashley without missing a beat, “but it’s on the blink. I’ll have to get it to a flux capacitor repair shop.”
The room broke out in laughter.
“To summarize Gentlemen,” Ashley said, “at 0309 on the morning of April 10, 2013, the California slipped through a time porthole, a wormhole, and found itself in the year 1861. We spent just shy of four months in 1861, going through all of the experiences I’ve discussed today. Then, at 1400 hours on April 10, 2013, we came back.”
“Captain,” said Admiral William Ferguson, “there is one thing that concerns me, well, one of many. You engaged in combat operations. You fired nine Tomahawks and dozens of Harpoons and Hellfires. But Captain, you had no orders of engagement. You had no authorization.” Braden, her appointed lawyer, leaned over to whisper in Ashley’s ear. Would it be inappropriate if I broke this jerk’s nose, Ashley thought.
“I’ll be happy to answer that Admiral,” said Ashley, interrupting Braden’s whispers. “I acted on direct orders from the President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln.”
“Captain, if I may,” said Admiral Dwight Bushley, “I’ve read your personnel record, and I’ve been listening to you all day. You are one remarkable officer. But you’ve been telling us that you met with Abraham Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, and Robert E. Lee, engaged in wartime naval combat operations, and you did this all within seven hours, local time. Captain, I’m having a very hard time believing this story.”
“You’re not alone, Admiral. I have a hard time believing it too. Sometimes I expect that I’ll wake up from a dream like Dorothy in Kansas. But it did happen, and it wasn’t a dream.”
Admiral Miller called the day’s meeting to a close.
Chapter 101
The Naval Board of Inquiry reconvened the next day, April 25 at 0900 hours. The Board would continue its investigation for a month, until May 22. They heard from 175 crew members, both officers and enlisted. The only ones they didn’t call were those who had no operational contact with the events in question.
They focused on the testimony of Lt. John Thurber, and admitted his book, Living History — Stories of Time Travel Through the Age, into evidence. Jack described his research for the book and his own experiences with time travel.
Jack was followed by Father Rick, who stunned the Board.
“Great to see you again, Padre,” said Admiral Bushley. The chaplain had served under Bushley on the USS Independence, and they became friends. “A straight shooter if there ever was one,” Bushley whispered to Admiral Miller.
Father Rick held up two books, The Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson and the one volume set of Bruce Catton’s The Civil War.
“Have any of you gentlemen ever heard of either of these books?” asked Father Rick. Everyone at the table shook their heads.
“I can’t believe anybody could write an entire book on the Civil War. It was such a small part of our history,” said Admiral Ferguson.
“I suppose you could say that, Sir, because your understanding is that the war lasted only three months and total casualties were only 942 on both sides,” said Father Rick. “I had these books with me on the morning of April 10, 1861 and 2013. In the 2013 that we left, both of these men were famous as were their books, and the authors earned fortunes from the book sales. The history of the Civil War was different before we hit the wormhole. It lasted for four years and there were over 620,000 casualties on both sides. Just after the end of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. You never heard of these books because they were never published, post wormhole, in the 2013 in which we find ourselves. These books are relics from a different time, a different 2013.”