‘I keep telling you – half of everything is yours. You left me everything in your will.’
We all make out wills. With our lifestyle, it’s compulsory. They’re all lodged with Dr Bairstow. In my world, I’d left everything to Leon and then when he died, I’d divided it between close friends: Markham, Peterson, and Kal. In addition, I’d made provision for putting a bit behind the bar as well. Without a doubt, back at my St Mary’s they were all having a world-class piss-up at this very moment. It’s always good to know you can be a disruptive influence even after death. A posthumous pain in the management arse.
‘So, who are they, Leon? And what do they want?’
‘They’re the Time Police.’
That meant nothing to me. I must have looked bewildered.
‘You didn’t have them in your world?’
‘No.’
‘Well – hope you never do.’
Silence. He made the tea.
‘All right. Here goes. A long time ago, I told my Max that Dr Bairstow and I were from the future.’
I nodded. ‘You told me you’d been sent back to protect St Mary’s. That we were – would be – under threat. ’
‘Well, it looks as if that time has come.’
‘Hold on. Wasn’t that Clive Ronan?’
‘Yes – in his own way. But the real threat to St Mary’s here is the Time Police. Sometime in the future – nothing to do with St Mary’s, thank God – several countries almost simultaneously discover how to travel in time. Suddenly, everyone wants it because everyone thinks they’ll be able to change their past and they all want to be first. An attempt is made to reach an international agreement that would allow limited and strictly controlled time-travel, while still protecting the timeline. It holds for a while. A very little while – but the temptation to go back and re-fight old wars, this time with hindsight, is too great.’
He looked at me. ‘You can imagine?’
I nodded. I could indeed.
I’ve never had a high opinion of the human race and I’m not wrong. Just look at us. We’ve been given this gift. This wonderful gift. Alone of every species on the planet, we’re able to see our own past. To build on our triumphs. To learn from our mistakes. To discover at first hand, exactly how we arrived where we are today. And instead of regarding it as the wonderful gift it is, we’d tried to use it for nothing more productive than rehashing old conflicts.
I personally think humans have got about as far as we can go. We’re wrecking the planet. We’re never short of good reasons to massacre each other. Wrong god. Wrong race. Wrong colour. Wrong sex. I’m actually quite surprised a thoroughly pissed-off History hasn’t waved a flaming sword and we’re all back in caves in the snow, chewing on half-cooked mammoth. And even that’s more than we deserve.
No wonder we still can’t get to Mars. I suspect the Universe is making damned sure we don’t get the chance to contaminate other planets with our stupidity. It’s keeping us on this one where the only thing we can damage is each other.
He sipped his tea and continued. ‘Imagine what could have happened, Max. Nations would flicker briefly – then disappear. People would live, then die, then live again. Events would happen. Then wouldn’t have happened. And then might happen again, but differently. Maybe some vital events wouldn’t have happened at all. History could be changed and re-written so many times that it could be completely overwhelmed. It could have been the end of everything.’
Even in the warm sunshine, I felt a cold shudder run through me.
‘But – that didn’t happen? Did it?’
‘No, it didn’t happen. With the threat of everything falling apart, the Time Police were formed. To get everything back on track. They were drawn from the military, the police, and a few from St Mary’s personnel. Their remit was far-reaching. Some say too far-reaching. They had just one aim. Whatever it took – by whatever means necessary – to sort out the timeline. And they do. They do an excellent job. But when I say they do whatever it takes to get the job done, you understand, don’t you?’
I did understand. Their job was to annihilate anything that could threaten the timeline. And I was, if not a threat, at the very least, an anomaly. And they knew I was here. They wouldn’t rest until they found me.