VIII. A New reatthat must be operated from afar; its time travel works by having some sort <strong>of</strong> areference point in our particular universe, and hence it itself cannot be transportedacross time. But still, it seems very luy that New <strong>Avalon</strong> managed to end upanywhere near Earth…”“Do you doubt my skills with the device? I have made the jump across yearsdozens <strong>of</strong> times, mostly to study the ange <strong>of</strong> times and manners, trying to judgeif Arthur's service is needed once again. I had perfected the astronomical calculationsnecessary for ea jump, especially in the laer times when I could spy thestrange mathematics needed for even more precise planetary calculations.”“Where were you in World Wars?” Dr. Colbert asked. “In the laer <strong>of</strong> those,there was yet another Saxon invader, threatening Britain…”Merlin seemed grim and even apologetic, as if he had been expecting thatquestion. “We came here in , decided we were not needed, and our next stopended up being the year , where we were no longer needed. We completelymissed these tumultuous events. It seemed to us that the wars and grimness wasstarting to be behind, so we were leaping forward with bigger strides, so unfortunately,we learned <strong>of</strong> these great wars too late. e device seems to be only ableto jump ahead <strong>of</strong> time, not baward. Perhaps if we could decipher more <strong>of</strong> itsalien functions, we could go ba in time to right that wrong.”“Fascinating. How about the Martian Rise <strong>of</strong> the Reds, in ?”“at planetary revolt? We unfortunately skipped through most <strong>of</strong> the ndcentury. We were here in , if I remember right, and we returned in .”“Did you learn anything from these leaps?” Dr. Colbert seemed angry. “Perhapsthat the history needed a lile bit more examination than periodic peeks?Great events just slipped past, and you didn't manage to do anything about them.”“I—” Merlin began.“What, pray tell, did you do to actually assess the situation on ea leap? Youcould see what had happened in the past, but how do you predict the future? Didyou carefully monitor the situation and see when strange things were afoot?”Merlin was strangely silent. “All right. I guess I can't argue you there. Wenever really had any greater plan. I hate to admit it, but this was a clear mistake.”“So now you are here”, Dr. Colbert said. With your maine knights, and youhave actually managed to land in middle <strong>of</strong> a war — a war, whi, as you correctlydeciphered, could mean something significant. You're a luy man, Merlin."“One could say so”, Merlin said. “I don't know what I can do to show you I dohave some regrets for not thinking this quite through.”“ank you for at least trying, though, Merlin”, Daleworth said. “It is thethought that counts. e most important thing you can do is that you just keepthe knights doing what they do best.”
VIII A New reatFebruary 18, 2632, 07:58 UTC, !” Daleworth said, looking surprisingly eerfulfor someone who was halfway lying down, side <strong>of</strong> the head firmly“Gplanted on the surface <strong>of</strong> the c<strong>of</strong>fee table, in a slightly disheveledstate whi probably still fell within the leer <strong>of</strong> the Space Marine Corps regulations.“Why, good morning, lieutenant!” Dr. Grovepath said. “I got your note.”Daleworth had sent a brief message to Dr. Grovepath. “Come have a c<strong>of</strong>feewith me. Want to talk. Starboard Officer Cafeteria, De C, Room #. :UTC. Lt. Daleworth.”“And welcome, dear doctor, to the famous Starboard Cafe, where the uppereelons <strong>of</strong> the famed starship Mannerheim turn from ugly cranky bastards whojust woke up to fit and alert <strong>of</strong>ficers who are ready to face anything and everything.I'll get you the best damn c<strong>of</strong>fee this… vending maine can get. e cafeis supposed to open at noon in even-numbered days.”“at's… friendly <strong>of</strong> you, Lieutenant. And I don't think you look too ugly orcranky, if you don't mind me saying”, Dr. Grovepath said and uled a bit.“I don't mind you being friendly with me, doctor”, Daleworth said. “I thinkyou're a good guy. I'm sure I could just hang out with you… if you wanted.”“Uh, I think I would like that. So… is this your idea <strong>of</strong> a… date?” Dr. Grovepathasked. “Hope you don't mind me calling it that. I don't think we have manyactual… scientific maers to discuss. I'm fine if you just want to have a c<strong>of</strong>fee,though. Or hang out. Or talk.”“Date? Well, kind <strong>of</strong>”, Daleworth said as the second cup <strong>of</strong> very, very blac<strong>of</strong>fee slowly poured out <strong>of</strong> the maine. She handed it to the doctor. “I justwant to talk, doctor, but I don't mind geing to know you beer. You seem like asensible guy.” Daleworth grimaced as she sat down and flumped lying on the tableagain. “It's just that I'm really not in a condition to have a real date today. I'm nota big date person. I just meet people. Not sure if I should tell you my silly theories,but hell, why not…” She sipped some <strong>of</strong> the c<strong>of</strong>fee she had before her and sighed,closing her eyes. “I'm the kind <strong>of</strong> a gal who has sex on the first date, and since Isure as hell don't want to do it with you today, this just doesn't qualify as a date”,Daleworth said. She looked exhausted and she definitely looked like she coulduse the road-paving material that the vending maine called ‘c<strong>of</strong>fee’. “Shit, thatdidn't sound right. It's… well, I just wanted to talk with a friendly non-militarytype who has his ear on the ground. So here we are.”Dr. Grovepath wasn't sure if lauging was really appropriate, but he did it anyway.“Wasn't going to suggest anything <strong>of</strong> sort, Lieutenant. ough I… have to
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NaNoWriMo 2010 WinnerUrpo LankinenN
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Prologue
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wouldn't really want to discuss the
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Part IWe Held the Line
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I. F H“Now that just sus”, Tan
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III. A E Sscientist with thi glasse
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EpilogueNovember 25, 2632, 19:35 UT
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ContentsContentsI We Held the Line
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