CHAPTER 3 – A NEW TEMPORAL AGENT
11: 18 (New Zealand Time)
Friday, February 24, 2988 B.C.E. (Before the Common Era)
Secret main base of the Time Patrol
Future site of the city of Auckland
New Zealand
Farah Tolkonen ‘A’, a thin, bald giant typical of the citizens of the civilization of the Global Council, which existed in the 34th Century of Timeline ‘A’, noticed at once the preoccupied expression of Mike Crawford ‘B’ as the tall and powerful American entered her office. Mike was followed closely by the no less tall and powerful Otto Skorzeni ‘B’ and by the head psychologist of the Time Patrol, Miri Goshenk ‘B’, a bald giant originating from the now erased Imperium ‘B’. The trio of visitors, at Farah’s invitation, took place in a sofa facing the easy chair occupied by the Chief Administrator of the Time Patrol.
‘’Now that we are all together,’’ said calmly Farah, ‘’let’s talk about our young and lively Nancy ‘B’. Otto, your final evaluation that you sent me yesterday said that she is in your opinion fully qualified to immediately become a Time Patrol field agent.’’
‘’That’s correct, Farah.’’ Said the ex-SS officer, who was now in charge of the assault teams of the Time Patrol. ‘’Nancy has passed with success all the qualification tests for a field agent, except of course for those grading her use of implants, since she still has no implants. She is a certified black belt in martial arts and is an expert with all known weapons, be they ancient or modern. She is a responsible, serious and disciplined girl and is dedicated to her work. With her I.Q. of 153, she is also of genius level, like Nancy ‘A’, and she assimilated in near record time all the materiel on the curriculum for field agent training. She has also passed with success two months ago the final examination for a bachelor of robotics engineering at the New Lake City University, even obtaining an honor mention. Right now, despite her young age, she would be considered an elite soldier in any army. The only point where she was not positively brilliant is that she is a competent pilot but not an exceptional one.’’
Farah nodded her head and then fixed her yellow eyes on Miri Goshenk ‘B’, the ex-First Lady of the Imperium ‘B’.
‘’Miri, what is your psychological evaluation of Nancy ‘B’?’’
The beautiful giant, even taller than Farah at 224 centimeters but much stronger and more athletic, like a typical citizen of the Imperium, weighed carefully her answer before speaking.
‘’Farah, let’s not forget that Nancy ‘B’ is the temporal twin of Nancy ‘A’ and thus possesses the same body and same mind that made Nancy ‘A’ such an exceptional woman in all respects. She also has access to her souvenirs of past incarnations, like all our people over eight years of age in the Time Patrol. Those souvenirs cover in her case a total of 92 lives spread over 9,000 years. She thus is much more mature than what one would expect from a girl of thirteen. She has also passed with success all the psychological tests administered to our apprentice agents. The only thing that I could say against her is that she is already quite fond of sex but, hey, that’s Nancy Laplante to you.’’
That remark brought knowing smiles around the room, as Nancy ‘A’ had been famous, or some in other places would say infamous, about her sexual appetite. Here, at the secret base of the Time Patrol, the social mores reflected the standards of the 34th Century rather than those of the 20th Century. Further, the fact that the young teens of the Time Patrol all remembered at least a few centuries of past lives as adults made them sexually active at an age that would have scandalized most people.
‘’What about her now being a Chosen of The One?’’ Asked Farah to no one in particular. ‘’We know that Nataï made her a Chosen and gave her some powers, but Nancy has been reluctant up to now to tell us what kind of powers she holds.’’
‘’Actually, I find that a positive point.’’ Replied Miri Goshenk. ‘’Most girls of her age that would get such powers would brag at least a bit about them. Not Nancy ‘B’. Even though she may actually be a person with immense powers, she has avoided talking about them and has not done any demonstrations of such powers, except for hints that she is at least a telepath and has telekinesis. I can thus say that those powers, whatever they may be, didn’t go to her head, denoting a truly disciplined and selfless mind.’’
As Farah reviewed mentally all the information she had just got, Mike Crawford ‘B’, the widowed husband of Nancy ‘A’ who had taken her place as chief of operations of the Time Patrol, spoke up.
‘’There is also another factor to consider in our discussion concerning the future of Nancy ‘B’, Farah. I am talking of the mysterious d’Orléans Social Foundation, this French charity and social help society established in Paris in 1848 by a young aristocrat named Jeanne d’Orléans. My wife used the services of that foundation quite a few times in Timeline ‘B’ after the end of World War Two, mostly to discreetly do social work that could have been controversial locally, like when she helped the black citizens of Montgomery, in Alabama, to fight off racism. She however stayed very discreet even with me about that organization, something that intrigued me. That finally decided me into doing a discreet inquiry through time, via robotic spy probes, about that d’Orléans Social Foundation and on that Jeanne d’Orléans. Let’s just say that what I learned deeply shook me.’’
Opening his laptop computer and pivoting it on his knees so that the others could see its screen, Mike opened a video file and started playing it.
‘’What you will see is a video taken of the said Jeanne d’Orléans in 1848, at her Paris residence. It is quite self-explanatory.’’
Farah, like Otto and Miri, fixed the screen with intense curiosity and opened wide her eyes when she saw a richly dressed young woman, a teenager actually, sitting in a lounge typical of 19th Century Paris.
‘’NANCY?’’
‘’And not any Nancy, Farah.’’ Said gravely Mike. ‘’According to her apparent age, this can only be Nancy ‘B’. Nancy ‘A’ was already 31 years old when she founded with you the Time Patrol. In 1848, the said Jeanne d’Orléans could not be more than twenty years old. In fact, my investigation in the past revealed that Jeanne d’Orléans was born in 1829 under the name of Jeanne Marie Céleste de Brissac. She is supposedly the daughter of a couple of ruined aristocrats of low lineage who were trying to rebuild their fortune in the Guadeloupe. Jeanne, according to official French documents of the time, married in 1846 in the Guadeloupe Knight Pierre Alphonse d’Orléans. This Pierre d’Orléans is said to have died of a tropical fever in 1847 and then eschewed all his possessions to his young widow, who then returned to France. Once in Paris, Jeanne d’Orléans managed to quickly fatten her fortune via a number of very successful financial speculations and founded a year later her social aid society. In 1953 ‘B’, the d’Orléans Social Foundation is an anonymous charity and social aid corporate entity that secretly controls a financial empire worth hundreds of millions of dollars. According to the files I found in Nancy ‘A’s office, she was discreetly approached in 1943 ‘B’ in Jerusalem by a mandated representative of the d’Orléans Foundation, who offered her financial support for her humanitarian projects. The details of that offer, made verbally, are however unknown to me.’’
Farah, like Miri and Otto, let out a sigh, shaken by the implications of all this.
‘’A time causality loop! Nancy ‘B’ has a destiny in the past, in the 19th Century, and she doesn’t even know about it. Damn, how are we going to tell her that?’’
‘’The fact is that we won’t have any choice but to tell her about this…and soon. According to past French registries, Jeanne de Brissac was officially seventeen when she married Pierre d’Orléans in the Guadeloupe. Nancy ‘B’ is now thirteen and would easily appear to be fifteen or even sixteen to people of the 19th Century.’’
‘’But, she doesn’t have implants yet and never served as a field agent in a single mission.’’ Objected Otto Skorzeni. ‘’To send her alone on such a crucial, long-term mission, without any prior field experience, would be totally irresponsible, if not to say criminal.’’
‘’Otto is right about that, Farah.’’ Said gravely Mike. ‘’We must right now think about not only accepting Nancy ‘B’ as a qualified field agent, but also about giving her occasions to gain field experience before sending her to become Jeanne d’Orléans.’’
‘’But, is Nancy even ready to become a field agent?’’ Replied hotly Farah. ‘’Even with all her training and qualifications, she is still only a child of thirteen. Do we even have the legal right to give such a risky mission to a child?’’
Miri Goshenk bent forward in her sofa, fixing her friend and superior with a sober expression.
‘’Farah, I believe that we are now touching a subject that we should have discussed a long time ago. Basically, can we still call a young teenager with thousands of years of memories from past incarnations a child? Through such souvenirs, a young teenager can recall the sexual lives, personal successes and failures and life lessons of men and women from a multitude of cultures and time periods. According to my experience as a psychologist with the Time Patrol, I am ready to say that such a teenager who has had access to his or her past souvenirs for at least four years and who has reached physical puberty should be considered as a responsible adult. You certainly did notice the fact that the children and young teenagers living on this base have shown a rather, uh, precocious sexuality, even by the very liberal standards of the Global Council or of the Imperium.’’
Mike rolled his eyes at that, while Otto smiled in amusement.
‘’Yes! I must say that I would have loved to have had that kind of freedom in my youth. However, my father would have probably given me a memorable spanking if he would have found me with a naked girl at the age of ten.’’
‘’In 1953 ‘B’, in the United States, the public would probably be scandalized to see what is going on in this base.’’ Added Mike. ‘’More to the point, we all know from past missions that people married at a much younger age in the past than in modern times, mostly due to the high mortality rate and the need to have children early. I believe that Miri is correct on this point, Farah. Let’s treat Nancy ‘B’ like an adult and let’s equip her with field agent implants. As for giving her some prior field experience, I could integrate her in Elizabeth Windsor’s incoming mission in 17th Century France.’’
Seeing Miri and Otto nodding their heads in approval at those words, Farah then took a decision.
‘’Very well! I will prepare a surgical intervention for tomorrow morning, to graft in Nancy ‘B’ a set of field agent implants. I will also reserve for her use Pegasus, the robotic horse used by Nancy ‘A’: it is already tuned to the mental waves frequency of Nancy and is accustomed to her behavior. Mike, I want you to go inform Nancy of our decision and to brief her about what you know about Jeanne d’Orléans and her social foundation. Do you want to inform Nancy’s parents or do you wish me to do it?’’
‘’I will take care of that, Farah. I will also advise Elizabeth that she will have a new partner for her mission in France.’’
‘’Excellent! Thank you all for coming. Let’s hope that this will mark the start of a long and brilliant career for our young Nancy ‘B’.’’
Leaving Farah’s office with Miri and Otto, Mike stopped for a moment near an elevator and activated his wrist videophone to call Nancy ‘B’. The teenager’s face appeared on the small screen after less than three seconds, smiling to him.
‘’Yes, Mike? What can I do for you?’’
‘’I would need to speak with you about something very important, Nancy. Where are you right now?’’
‘’I am presently swimming on the main beach of the inner bay.’’
‘’Very well! I will go join you there.’’
‘’You are welcome to join me in the water, you know: the water is nice.’’
Mike hesitated for a moment then. Nancy ‘B’s face, apart from her apparent youth, was the same as that of his late wife, whom he had loved passionately. On the other hand, Nancy ‘B’ had not hidden her attraction towards the powerful athlete that Mike was. There was however an age difference of 36 years between them, even if the standard longevity treatment of the Global Council made Mike appear to be only thirty years old.
‘’Uh, thanks for the offer but I must take care of quite a few things. We will talk further on the beach.’’
Closing the cover of his wrist videophone, Mike let out a sigh of regret as he called up a cabin: He was sorely missing Nancy ‘A’ since her tragic death three months ago, subjective time. He however knew that he would eventually have to go over her loss and resume his personal life with someone else. Farah Tolkonen ‘A’, with her sweetness and quiet feminity, came more and more often to his mind as a desirable partner.
Riding the elevator down to the ground level of the giant, 500 meter diameter prismatic sphere that constituted the Time Patrol main base, Mike finally walked out in the open and went towards the beach to the East of the base. The base itself could fly and jump space-time if need be in case it was attacked. The location of the base, apart from being on a land that would not be visited by other humans for another two millenniums, could also be described as a near paradise. The climate was nearly perfect yearlong, without extremes of temperatures, and the surrounding beaches allowed the occupants of the base to swim in clear waters, while the nature around was perfect to practice open air sports. After walking about 600 meters, Mike arrived at the main beach, situated on the shores of Auckland Bay, finding there a dozen members of the Time Patrol and family members either swimming or taking some sun. Mike had some difficulty not starring at the very beautiful Susanna Berghof, who was lying naked on her back on top of a beach towel and getting suntanned. His male libido was further put to the test when Nancy ‘B’, seeing him from a distance, came out of the water and walked towards him, a big smile on her face. As per her habit, she had been swimming naked and the curves of her body, while not yet as generous as those of her dead timeline twin, were already very tempting. Measuring 181 centimeters at the age of thirteen and having nearly attained her ultimate adult size, Nancy ‘B’ wore her silky black hair long and her green eyes sparkled with intelligence and life. She also had the body and the muscles of an Olympic-level athlete, which she was. Like Nancy ‘A’, she had taken the habit to closely shave her groin and armpits. Mike did his best not to stare at her fantastic body and stopped in the middle of the beach, greeting her with a smile.
‘’I have a good news for you, Nancy.’’
Sensing that he would say something truly important, the teenager stopped one pace away and looked soberly into his eyes.
‘’I’m listening, Mike.’’
‘’Me, Farah, Otto and Miri just discussed your request to be recognized as a qualified field agent. I am happy to tell you that you are thus accepted as of today.’’
Mike had to pause as Nancy shouted a scream of joy that made many heads turn around the beach.
‘’YEAH! AT LAST! And what about my special implants?’’
‘’Farah is scheduling a surgical procedure on you for tomorrow morning. You will then follow two weeks of specialized training in order to learn how to use your implants. That will prepare you in turn for your first mission, which will be done under the supervision of Elizabeth Windsor in 17th Century France.’’
‘’The France of King Louis XIV and of the musketeers: that should make an interesting first mission.’’ Said Nancy, a big smile on her face.
‘’There is however more, Nancy, much more.’’ Added soberly Mike. ‘’We found out that, due to a time causality loop we didn’t know about before, you have a predestined life in the 19th Century.’’
Mike then took a good four minutes to explain the situation to the teenager, who had become suddenly quite somber at the news of a predestined life. He told her how he had found out about Jeanne d’Orléans and her social foundation. Despite the shock that this caused her, Nancy didn’t seem to be discouraged or embittered about her destiny and finally gave him a resolute look.
‘’This Jeanne d’Orléans seems to spread goodness and compassion around her. There could be no better mission for a Chosen of The One, Mike. I will be happy to become Jeanne d’Orléans.’’
Mike was secretly relieved by that declaration, having worried that she would have refused to play such a role, something that would have been her absolute right to reject.
‘’Perfect! Consider your mission with Elizabeth as your ultimate training mission before you go become Jeanne d’Orléans. On that, I can show you the films and documentation I was able to get on her.’’
‘’Then let’s go back to the base! I am anxious to learn more about her.’’
Nancy then went to grab her beach towel and her sunglasses before joining back with Mike, who looked at her with some surprise.
‘’You didn’t bring a bathing suit with you to go swim?’’
‘’No! Why? I left the base in the same dress than I am in now. The Sun will have time to dry my body during our walk back. Let’s go!’’
‘’You little rascal!’’ Said Mike, smiling in amusement as he followed her. His response made her search for his left hand and then press it firmly.
‘’Who said that a Chosen of The One had to be prudish, Mike?’’
Mike glanced quickly at the magnificent body of the teenage version of his late wife and spoke to himself in a near whisper.
‘’And God created the woman.’’