Traveller Manifesto

Israel

Professor Taylor sighed as he met with the rest of the team in the all-too-familiar boardroom at the American Colony Hotel.

The Israeli project was over and, regrettably, despite their efforts to investigate the presence of any rogue Transporter, they had found nothing.

Osborne had explained that the attack by the jets was most likely the Israeli Defence Force’s failsafe in case of untoward events such as the return of hostiles or, he suspected, even seismic activity. Neither the Israeli Government nor the US Military really believed that Alan Nguyen’s theory of cavitating Space-Time had been valid. After all, he had a vested interest in the intellectual property of the Transporter, so to create a theory as to the danger of using the Transporter seemed too convenient. Besides, nobody really understood what Space-Time was anyway.

But, like any good military operation, a contingency plan was set aside should the worst happen.

The quake, which the team believed was caused by the Transporters, had been costly. The waves of force badly damaged many of the air-force base buildings as well as cracked runways and caused aircraft to collapse off their landing gear. As soon as the inspection team was detected near the destroyed hanger, they had been arrested and then ordered to leave by an exasperated General Goren who sported a nasty cut that transversed his forehead. He spoke little, but simply had a detachment of guards escort them from the base. The hardened military man looked shocked and pale. He would have lost personnel to the event and he had much to do.

Osborne and Hurley were convinced there was a Transporter in the hanger, that the Transporter had been the target for the aircraft. After all, they had seen the remains of the usual quarantine screens. Had the Traveller mission really been conducted? The cavalier, secretive exercise might have worked if they had included the expertise of Traveller Corp. Clandestine operations might be worth the risk, but the dead personnel were a shocking price to pay. Not surprisingly, they had received was no news on how many had died.

Most significantly, nothing had been heard of Professor Cowen. If there was any backup data dump, surely it would be sent to scholars. But to whom?

Without any further answers and with the understanding that to remain in Israel might not be the best for their health, they left the country without delay or interference.

***

Peter Conti cursed as Zak described the events that led to his departure from Israel. “You’re lucky you didn’t get killed,” he exclaimed angrily. “The Israelis are writing the quake off as an act of God, but Professor Taylor wants to link the quakes to Allen’s theories and make the whole thing public.”

Zak frowned and looked to Mel, who had let their toddler son make his unsteady way to the window wall. There young Sam pushed his button-nose to the glass and licked the surface as he fearlessly stared out at the view. As he pushed away, he left imprints of hands, nostrils and tongue on the otherwise pristine surface and then fell to his well-padded bottom with a grunt. Scattered toys littered the floor of the opulent office, for his great uncle spoiled him shamelessly.

“Perhaps not the best idea at this stage,” commented Mel. “You mentioned the legal case. How’s that progressing?”

Conti shrugged and raised his eyebrows in his classic Italian expression of frustration. “Who can say? Our legal team suggests the US and Israeli governments will pay up, and quickly, on the condition that we say no more on the matter. The accusation that they stole the Transporter technology is one thing, but to suggest that their interference created the quake that destroyed their base, well that’s quite another. One of my sources in the military suggests that both militaries lost quite a few personnel, with some suspected to have been marooned in the past.”

“Dear God,” exclaimed Mel, her hand to her mouth.

“Yes, Allen seems to think that the cavitation could have been set off by the use of up to four Transporters, all within a short time of each other,” Conti continued.

“Four! Whew! So, we’re looking at circa 2000BC?” replied Zak.

“Exactly,” nodded Conti.

“According to Professor Taylor, this mission looks to have been more about the ratification of Jewish control of Israel and Palestine rather than the pure discovery of the past,” suggested Mel.

“We think so,” agreed Conti reluctantly. “Naturally the US and Israeli Governments and militaries are saying nothing, but if our sources are to be believed, heads are already rolling. A few generals in the US and Israel have been retired, while there are prominent US Senators who have suddenly seen fit to call it a day.”

“Senator Benton?” added Mel.

Conti gave a wry grin and nodded, “Yes, my dear friend Senator Ruth Benton must be one. It seems just too convenient that she resigned immediately after the disaster in Israel. I’ve heard that she was pushed. In the UK the same kind of resignations happened after the story broke that they sent troops after Michael Hunter.”

“But why would they do that?” asked Mel, aghast. “I don’t understand this. He was a hero. And what do you think will happen to Tatae and their baby? To little Genovefa?”

“Look, I can’t say as I don’t know,” replied Conti. “I suspect it was what they call a USAP – an Unacknowledged Special Access Project. The US Government has used USAP’s to control sensitive information and keep one arm of Government and Military from knowing what the other was doing. You know the story. I can’t speak for the Brits, but the United States has a history of government agencies existing in secret for years.” He huffed in frustration. “Here’s a few examples. The NSA was founded in 1952, but its existence was hidden until the mid-1960’s. Then there’s the National Reconnaissance Office, which was founded in 1960 but remained secret for 30 years. The Israel Traveller programme is the same; they simply don’t exist publicly. They’re ‘deep black’ programs and are described as so sensitive that they’re exempt from standard reporting requirements to Congress.”

“That would have pissed off a few,” added Mel.

“I’m sure you know more than you’re saying,” replied Zak with a small smile. “Where does that leave us?

Conti gave a cheeky smile of reply. “If we overlook the latest indiscretion and forget about the publicly humiliating legal action, some arms of the US Government have already rushed to make amends. I have been promised a billion dollars as payment from the US and Israeli Governments each and a guaranteed order for security assets for both militaries.

“Wow, if that isn’t an admission of guilt, I don’t know what is,” exclaimed Mel as she scooped to pick up Sam. It was nappy change time, so she reached for her baby-bag of supplies. “Okay, when is that slated to happen, and what assets?” asked Mel, immediately aware of the financial issues surrounding the affair. She rolled Sam onto his back, but he struggled to get back to his stomach, resulting in a good-natured tussle.

Conti smiled broadly. “Every base and major intelligence installation is to have their security upgraded in line with our latest tech developments.”

“Every one?” repeated Mel in surprise. “That will be a major investment.”

“About a billion for the US alone,” agreed Conti. “And on top of that we will also secure the Israeli military as clients.”

“So, we have a win!” confirmed Zak with a gasp of exasperation. “We drop the court case, get paid off by taxpayer monies and the guilty get off scot-free?”

Conti gave an understanding nod. “Yes, I know, though it isn’t really scot-free, is it? In the end, I had to consider our options. Do we take the money and run or make an ethical stand? There wasn’t much more that they could do, was there? So yes. In response to us keeping our mouths shut, our major client has added another major client to our list and each nation has, on top of that, paid their Traveller fee. We’ve had a win.”

Zak nodded. It was a win, but not what he would have preferred.