“French will do fine, Your Excellency. I am Field Agent Jack Crawford, in charge of this outpost.”
“And I am Apostolic Delegate Angelo Roncalli, until very recently Delegate to Turkey and Greece and soon to be Papal Nuncio to Paris. This is my assistant for this mission, Monsignor Fra Arnoldi, and this is my private secretary, Father Umberto Galliano. We were tasked by His Holiness the Pope to meet with a Miriam of Magdala, who is said to be part of your group in Warsaw.”
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“Miriam of Magdala is effectively here in this building, Your Excellency. Matters concerning her and her son David are however…delicate in terms of religious orthodoxy.
If this is some kind of heresy tribunal, then I am not going to give you access to her: she is a young and gentle woman who deserves to be left in peace.”
Roncalli nodded his head and smiled gently.
“Do not be afraid for her, Mister Crawford. We mean her no harm, on the contrary. In fact, if she is who we think she is, she is already an ordained saint of the Catholic Church. We are aware of the implications of this case and I can promise you that our mission will be extremely discreet and that the results of our inquiry will only be seen by His Holiness the Pope.”
“In that case, you are welcome to speak to her. Do you mind if I observe your conversation with Miriam?”
“If you must, then I don’t mind.”
“Then follow me!” Said Jack, getting up from behind the portable workstation he had been using. Before leaving the room, though, he switched the radio functions of the workstation to remote control mode, so that he could monitor communications using his helmet radio, then put his helmet on. Climbing the stairs to the next floor with the churchmen behind him, Jack went to the room occupied by Miriam and knocked on the door. The Galilean woman opened the door after a few seconds, her son David in her arms.
“Sorry to disturb you, Miriam, but there are three visitors from the Vatican for you.” Said Jack in Hebrew.
“The Vatican? What’s that?”
“The seat of the Catholic Church, which worships Yeshua as the Son of God.
They would like to ask you a few questions, probably about your life with Yeshua.”
Miriam glanced at the three churchmen, then whispered at Jack.
“Should I answer all their questions?”
“Tell the truth, Miriam. However, if they start bothering you, just say so and I will terminate the interview.”
Miriam nodded her head, then let Jack and the churchmen in. While Jack stayed up besides the door, Miriam offered her camp cot for the churchmen to sit in, taking herself the rocking chair in the corner of her small room. Roncalli used French again to speak to her.
“We can use French, Italian, Greek or Latin as you prefer, miss.”
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“French will do, sir. What may I do for you?”
“If you could answer a few questions, it would help us a lot in our task, miss. I am Apostolic Delegate Angelo Roncalli, sent by His Holiness the Pope to investigate about a few rumors that reached the Vatican a few days ago. May I ask first your full name, place and date of birth?”
“Of course, sir. My name is Miriam, daughter of Ephraim and Judith. I was born in the village of Magdala, in Galilee, in what would be your month of June, in the eight year of your calendar. I am now 25 years old.”
“How did you come to this time, Miriam?” Asked politely Roncalli, who was letting his secretary note down the conversation.
“Nancy Laplante brought me to the year 3385, after Yeshua asked her to take me under her protection.”
“And who was Yeshua?” Asked Roncalli, who actually knew the answer already.
“Yeshua of Nazareth is known to the Poles here as Jesus Christ. Yeshua was dying on the cross when he made his request to Nancy.”
“Why did he ask that of Miss Laplante? Did he know that she was from the future?”
“Yeshua knew that she was very special but Nancy was then known to all as Nava, a Sarmatian warrior woman who had come to Palestine to convert to Judaism. I believe that Yeshua didn’t know then about the true nature of Nancy. He however knew after his death, as he visited me in the year 3385, on the day of the birth of David.”
Roncalli, along with the two other churchmen, reacted with strong interest to her answer.
“Jesus visited you in 3385? How?”
“He appeared to us in the hospital where I gave birth to David and held our son for a short moment, touching his head while praying, then disappeared from where he stood.”
Roncalli swallowed hard while looking down at the cute little boy in Miriam’s arms.
“Jesus is the father of your son, miss?”
“He is. We were married in Cana, a year and a half before his death.”
Miriam then looked at Jack, but kept speaking in French, so Roncalli could understand.
“Jack, why not show them the documentary on Yeshua? It would answer most of their questions in much better detail.”
“I don’t know, Miriam. That documentary could create a storm of controversy. I will have to ask the permission of Nancy before showing it to them.”
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“Could you do that while I answer their questions, Jack?”
“Uh, sure. It shouldn’t take very long to get an answer.”
“Thanks,
Jack!”
As soon as Jack was gone, Miriam smiled to Roncalli.
“The documentary we were speaking about was produced by the Time Patrol to document the birth, life and death of Yeshua of Nazareth. Nancy Laplante spent years in the Palestine of my time, filming scenes from the life of Yeshua and following him around as one of his disciples. It is an extremely well produced documentary that deals strictly with the facts of the life of Yeshua. Nancy followed him closely but did as little as possible herself in order not to interfere with the events themselves. She helped Miriam of Nazareth give birth to him and was there at his crucifixion. I however understand that the facts exposed in that documentary do not support many preconceptions about Yeshua’s life that are found in your Bible. I myself read your Bible and found many inaccuracies in it, mostly due to distortion of facts by the chroniclers who wrote about Yeshua after his death.”
Roncalli, while hurt by Miriam’s words, stayed polite and friendly. While many would never accept that the Holy Bible could contain mistakes, Roncalli was too well educated not to understand that the Scriptures had been translated and sometimes reworded many times through the centuries. The Time Patrol had the enormous advantage in this case of having been able to gather facts on the spot and at the time of the events in question. If those facts could show that Jesus was what the Church said he was, then he could live with a few changes to the Scriptures. That was however something only the Pope could decide on.
“Tell me about Yeshua, miss. What kind of man was he?”
Miriam smiled and became dreamy as she remembered her lover and spiritual master.
“He was an extraordinary man, truly. He was incredibly gentle and kind, compassionate and tolerant. He was ready to accept anyone who would listen to his preaching, including sinners, women and people of low repute. He had the power to heal with his hands and did heal people all over Galilee and Judea. He also loved children and spent much time in their company.”
Miriam went on for many minutes, answering specific questions from Roncalli without any qualms or hesitations. The churchmen had priceless details about the life of Jesus by the time Jack Crawford came back, knocking briefly at the door before entering. He smiled at both Miriam and the churchmen.
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“Good news: Nancy authorized His Excellency to see the documentary on Yeshua. I have set up our holovision set next door to show it. It is ready when you want.”
“Excellent!” Said Roncalli, pleased. “It should prove a captivating film. Will you watch it with us, Miriam?”
“I will, sir. I also want David to watch it, so that he could see pictures of his father and keep a memory of him.”
“A most understandable need in a child. May I say that he is a beautiful boy?”
“You are too kind, sir.” Said Miriam, beaming with pride. As Roncalli got close to her to caress the head of the toddler, David saw the cross suspended from a chain around the churchman’s neck. His eyes sparkling, he extended a hand to hold it. He was still too far away to reach it but the cross flew towards his hand until its chain was pulled taut. After a moment of stunned surprise, Roncalli got closer, letting the child touch the cross. Little David looked up at him and grinned with happiness. At that exact moment, Roncalli felt a strong mental wave of human warmth that intensified when he smiled back at the child. The sensation of pure joy he felt from the boy made tears appear in his eyes, so marvelous the feeling was.
“He is such a lovely child! He is like a small angel.”
“Uh, you would not say that when trying to make him eat something he doesn’t like.” Replied Miriam playfully. “Let’s go see the documentary now.”
18:47 (Warsaw Time)
Time Patrol command post, Warsaw Ghetto
There was a long silence from the three churchmen when the documentary ended. While the authenticity of the recordings could not be denied without a lot of bad faith, what they had seen was enough to cause a revolution, or worse, in the Catholic Church. Reserving his judgment for a later time, when his thoughts would have quieted down, Roncalli looked at Jack Crawford, who had watched the documentary besides them, explaining a few technical details or backtracking the recording to review a few critical moments at the churchmen’s request.
“Mister Crawford, another aspect of our mission here was to do an inquiry about the miracle of mass healing said to have been performed by Miss Laplante here in the Ghetto.”
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“That miracle is much more than hearsay, Your Excellency. Thousands of people were direct witnesses to it and even more people will vouch that they were miraculously healed at that moment, all around Warsaw and the rest of Poland. Nancy performed a similar mass healing near London only a few minutes after the one in Warsaw and she did a third mass healing in the future, in 3386. She is now widely addressed to as ‘The Hand of God’ by everybody here in Warsaw, a title even an ex-atheist like me will not deny to her. She truly has amazing powers now, especially when it comes to healing. If the Catholic Church is thinking about calling her a saint, something which Nancy herself will deny, then you should know that the Church has already made one of her past personas, Joan of Arc, a saint.”
Now deeply shaken, Roncalli got up from his chair and shook hands with Jack.
“We will now go investigate around the Ghetto and the rest of Warsaw. Thank you for your cooperation in everything.”
Roncalli then knelt in front of Miriam and kissed her hand, then the one of David.
“It was a great joy for me to meet you and your son David, Saint Mary-Magdalene. May God smile on both of you.”
“And on you, Your Excellency. Shelamah!”
“Shelamah!” Repeated little David in his tiny voice. Roncalli grinned and waved at the boy before leaving.
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CHAPTER 21 – PEACE CONFERENCE
09:52 (Paris Time)
Friday, June 5, 1942 ‘B’
Council Room, Town hall
Paris, France
“Where is Laplante? She should be here by now.” Asked to nobody in particular a British reporter, who was occupying the visitors’ gallery of the Town hall’s Council Room with the other representatives of the Press Corps. Edward Murrow, the head of the CBS radio news European department, also kept asking himself the same question.
Nancy Laplante was officially listed as the chairperson of this peace conference, which was supposed to be inaugurated at ten O’clock. Such a conference would have been unthinkable two weeks ago, yet here they were in Paris, ready to discuss the future of post-war Europe, something they owed entirely to Laplante and her Time Patrol.
Murrow was very conscious of how crucial this conference would be and had been relieved to learn that Washington had seen the light and accepted to participate in it, even if it was only here in an observer status. Looking down from the visitors’ gallery at the rows of desks and seats facing the elevated bench to be occupied by the chairperson, Murrow could see representatives from all the countries of Europe, plus observers from other countries that had been concerned with the war in Europe, including the American Secretary of State, Cordell Hull, and his aides. At one end section of the rows of seats and desks sat representatives of Germany, Italy and of their former allies in the war, relegated to the role of observers at talks that would decide their future. General De Gaulle, co-host of the conference and also one of the participants, was looking nervously at his watch while pacing behind the bench.
Nancy Laplante finally showed up four minutes before ten, walking in the Council Room at a hurried pace. She was wearing her gray combat uniform and her body armor and was still fully armed. There was also blood splattered all over her, something that attracted a buzz of whispered comments and questions. Murrow was however only a little surprised by her appearance: Nancy Laplante was first and foremost a soldier and she still was fighting the Japanese in China. Taking place behind the elevated bench, 878
Laplante conversed briefly with De Gaulle, then put down her rifle and her sword out of sight. While she did that, De Gaulle used one of the microphones lined along the bench and addressed the participants and spectators in French. Murrow already had a headset earphone on that was connected to the English translator for the conference, so he had no trouble following the short speech.
“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Paris for this conference on peace in Europe. I am General Charles De Gaulle, head of the Provisional French Government and co-host of this conference. While war is still going on in the Pacific theatre, fighting in Europe has all but died down and it is high time that we start planning the huge task of rebuilding our countries and of taking care of the millions of people who suffered and are still suffering from the war. In this, I am in full agreement with Miss Laplante, the chairperson and co-host of this conference, that this is the time for reconciliation and atonement, not one for recriminations or for revenge. The true responsible ones for this war are already either dead or in jail, facing imminent judgment. This conference is planned to go on for six days, of which Sunday will be used for private meetings and discussions between the participants. You have all received a copy of the conference’s detailed schedule, so I won’t talk further on this. As you may have noticed already, there is some very high technology in use at this conference, thanks to the generous support of the Global Council, the society from the 34th century where the Time Patrol originates.
That technology includes the wide screen television sets distributed around this room and on which various presentations and maps will be shown. There is a lot more to say about this but I will let my co-host, Miss Nancy Laplante, speak and elaborate on this and other points. Miss Laplante…”
Respectful silence fell as Nancy Laplante switched on her microphone and adjusted it, then spoke in English.
“Good morning and welcome to this peace conference, ladies and gentlemen.
Please excuse my shabby appearance and late arrival, but the Japanese Army is still far from finished in China. I can however announce to you that Shanghai, like Nanking, is now firmly in the hands of the Time Patrol, and that all the Japanese counter-attacks to date have been defeated with very heavy losses to the Japanese. The battle for Beijing has now started and is quite ferocious, as you could judge from the state of my uniform.
More details on the China Campaign will be available to all at the press question period, at 17:00 hours. To elaborate on the equipment in use at this conference, here is some information for the benefit of the Press Corps. First, cameras are filming the 879
proceedings of this conference and the pictures and sound from them are being retransmitted live to the various capitals of the states involved in the conference, so that the respective governments can follow our progress and react quickly to developments here. Second, the Time Patrol will provide a taxi service for the diplomats present so that they could bring quickly documents and information to their respective governments for approval or discussion. Thirdly, in the Salon des Arcades, you will find a large number of individual communications booths to be used by both the Press Corps and by the delegates. These booths are linked via satellite retransmission to a network of communications booths dispersed around press and government agencies in various countries. This arrangement in particular is a late development, so we are still adding up to this network as the needs arise. Please do not expect that we will provide such booths to every press agency you represent. You will have to come to an arrangement to use them as a pool resource. The list of stations connected to the network is provided in each booth. This is for the technical arrangements. Now, concerning the logistical arrangements. You are of course welcome to have your meals in the various restaurants of Paris and enjoy the hospitality of the city, while boosting at the same time the local economy, for which General De Gaulle will certainly be grateful for.”
A round of laughter broke around the delegates and reporters at her last remark, while De Gaulle grinned.
“For those of you on either a low budget or a tight schedule, a permanent buffet will be operating from 06:00 hours to 22:00 hours in the Salon Bertrand and will be totally free. Being myself a war correspondent in my own time period, I am sure that some of you who work for a miserly editor will appreciate this service. While the catering company is from Paris, the foodstuff and supplies are compliment of the Global Council and the Time Patrol. You may thus find a few items on the menu that are not from this time period. The maids and waitresses are however definitely from this time period and are of the best vintage Paris can offer. Please do not indulge too much.”
The laughter then was general and genuine. Nancy then became serious again.
“You certainly all noticed the strict security measures and the searches on entering the town hall. While we came here to discuss peace, there however always will be a few individuals or groups ready to use violence to further their own agenda or simply to create anarchy. Another thing about security: we are here to discuss our mutual problems, not to fight over them. While the diplomatic status of the delegates will be respected, no weapons or bodyguards will be allowed inside the town hall during this 880
conference. Anyone who starts a fight will be ejected from the conference, diplomatic status or not. Be assure that my combat robots are totally impartial about who they have to manhandle. If need be, I am more than ready to personally boot out any senior delegate who does not behave like a diplomat.”
Nancy paused for a moment, so that her words could sink in. She then pointed to her left, at the section of desks and chairs where the representatives from the Axis powers sat.
“As you all certainly noted by now, I have invited representatives of Germany, Italy, Austria, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria, who will have the status of observers at this conference. While they may not participate directly in the debates unless invited to, I encourage the various delegates to hold talks with them on a bilateral or multilateral basis during this conference. I myself will now give the floor to the representative of Germany, Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, who asked me to address you briefly. Admiral Canaris, as you may all know, was the head of the German Army Intelligence. What many of you may not know is that Admiral Canaris was also part of a group of German officers and civilians secretly plotting the assassination of Adolf Hitler, something I will vouch for. Admiral Canaris…”
A buzz went around the delegates and reporters as the old admiral, wearing a dark blue civilian suit, walked to the lectern and microphone set in front and below the elevated bench occupied by Nancy. He put a few sheets of papers on the lectern, then looked around at the delegates facing him before starting to speak in English.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I decided to give this speech in English instead of in German because many of you understandably heard way too much German in your own streets during the war. I will not try to downplay the atrocities committed by German forces in Europe, which are too horrible in scope and nature to be denied. I will not try to find excuses for us starting this war, which was the sole product of the thirst for power of the Nazis. While not all Germans either wanted the war or profited from it, too many did, to our national shame. The German Government of National Salvation, which I represent, pledges to do its utmost to return promptly all the prisoners of war, forced laborers and internees still in Germany to their countries of origin, along with the artistic treasures and other valuable assets looted by the Nazis during their occupation of Europe. Those persons that will be returned will be compensated for their work and suffering by the German state. We will also, through the good offices of the Time Patrol, provide access to suspected war criminals hiding in Germany and make them available 881
for future prosecution. The profits they made from the war will be seized and will be used to compensate the poor souls who were exploited by the German war industry. To help in this, I will ask the cooperation of the Swiss delegation, in which country’s banks much of that money has been stashed.”
Many eyes turned towards the two Swiss diplomats participating as observers to the conference. The senior Swiss diplomat was about to protest that no such money existed in Swiss banks but had to sit down under the hard stare of Nancy, who spoke up briefly while keeping her eyes on the Swiss.
“The Time Patrol is ready to provide the account numbers and the bank addresses where Nazi war profits were deposited, so that the Swiss government can cooperate with the German government in retrieving those funds. This concerns in particular the gold coming from such sources as the gold teeth pulled out from the bodies of the Jews exterminated in Nazi concentration camps. You may continue, Admiral Canaris.”
The Swiss cringed as an indignant roar went through the council room. Edward Murrow enjoyed Nancy’s barb at the Swiss: she certainly knew how to drop verbal bombs. Even the Soviet foreign affairs minister, Molotov, a normally stone-faced man, grinned at that arrow shot at those ultimate capitalists hiding behind the much-vaunted secrecy of their bank accounts. Canaris continued once the room fell mostly silent.
“The present German government knows that simple excuses will not be enough to repair the wrongs done in this war. It however pledges the following: Germany will never again use its armed forces offensively outside of its borders. Thus, and under the control of the Time Patrol, all offensive weapons will from now on be banned from German inventories. These include submarines, warships larger than destroyers, bomber aircraft, artillery weapons other than mortars and anti-tank guns, ground-to-ground missiles, tanks and self-propelled artillery guns. The few such weapons still in German hands will be destroyed or disposed of under Time Patrol supervision. As for war reparation payments, Germany will do its honest best to pay for the damages it caused, but our only request is that the future of our children not be mortgaged by excessive repayments, one factor that directly led to the rise of the Nazis after the war of 1914-18. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your attention.”
There were a few scant, polite applauses as Canaris walked back to his seat. Nancy then took back the microphone.
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“Before other delegates who wish to speak do so, I would like to say a few things on behalf of the Time Patrol. First, I planned this conference so that the efforts of the Time Patrol in bringing this war to an end would result into a durable peace and not simply in some short-term break before more wars. Thus, while I truly hope that you will be able to resolve your differences by peaceful means from now on, the Time Patrol will not hesitate to act decisively in the future against anyone, and I say anyone, who will endanger peace again. Also, if a reasonable consensus cannot be reached by the end of this conference, we will be forced to propose our own solutions and then enforce them if there is still no consensus between yourselves. Many of you may consider this as a thinly veiled threat to enforce our will on you but believe me: we will not let peace be sabotaged by either thirst for power, hatred or a wish for revenge. Second, the reasons that caused this war should be well understood, so that the same mistakes will not be repeated in the future. Many will say that simple thirst for power by German leaders caused this war. That would be a most myopic and incomplete view of the problem. As Admiral Canaris mentioned earlier on, the Versailles Treaty that concluded the First World War was partly to blame for this war. While not wanting to diminish the responsibilities of Germany in that war, the very harsh and, in my mind, unrealistic terms of that treaty caused long-term public resentment in Germany. The refusal to embrace true democracy through much of Europe was also a big factor, with militaristic or dictatorial regimes refusing to share power or to hand it over when they were no longer wanted by their people.”
Edward Murrow couldn’t help notice that Nancy’s eyes went firmly on the Polish delegation, which was led by an army officer, as she said that last sentence. She was far from finished, though.
“One other big factor that should be firmly pointed at is racism and ethnic hatred.
Too often, when times got tough, the people and governments of Europe turned against specific ethnic groups or minorities in their countries, as if murdering, persecuting or deporting someone seen as different could make the true problems disappear. In this, hardly any of the governments represented here are blameless. Before anyone is tempted to protest that their government is innocent of such conduct, be sure that I have enough tales to shame most present here. But enough about the causes of war! Since many now probably wish me to shut up, I will now let the floor to a representative of another delegation present here as observer, that of the Global Council. Ladies and 883
gentlemen, please welcome Global Chief Administrator Tomi Kern, leader of the Solar System in the year 3386.”
Edward Murrow, as surprised as the others present, then got up and applauded as Tomi Kern entered the council room, dressed in a futuristic women’s suit that was certain to make the headlines of every fashion magazine in the world. Flashbulbs exploded continuously for many seconds as Kern went to the lectern and took place behind it.
Murrow was struck by how mixed her racial background appeared to be: it would be difficult to decide if she was either Oriental, Caucasian or African. She appeared comparatively young for the position she held, looking to be in her