TimeTravel Adventures of The 1800 Club [Book 12] Read online

  Time Travel Adventures of The 1800 Club: Book 12

  Robert P. McAuley

  Copyright 2015 by Robert P. McAuley

  Published by Robert P McAuley and Smashwords

  Edited by J. D. McKinnon

  All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which has been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return it to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.

  The Premise

  The 1800 Club is a 21st century haven for people seeking to escape New York City’s frantic pace. Dressed in clothes their ancestors might have worn during the 1800s, members enjoy foods of the period and read periodicals featuring news of a particular date in the 1800s. However, the 1800 Club also has an astounding secret -- time travel. Members travel back in time nudging famous persons and key events just enough to ensure history unfolds as it should. Guardians-of-the-past, living in the future, send robotic probes back through the ages and discover that, at critical time-junctures, pivotal figures stray from vital tasks and actions. These Time Watchers of the past can’t go back and fix the glitch in the timeline because the atmosphere of their time has been cleaned up over the years and the polluted air of the past is almost un-breathable for them. Then an 1800 Club member from the twenty-first century is sent back to guarantee that events get back on track. The 1800 Club’s members aid Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Bat Masterson, Mark Twain and many others. Without subtle interventions by these unknown agents, the famous might have been only footnotes, rather than giants of history.

  Dear reader, I once read a time travel book where the main character went back over one hundred years in the past to retrieve an object from a house. He entered the house, picked up the object and brought it back to his time. To me it was upsetting that he took us back in time and never once said anything about the house! Never described anything! He might as well have just gone back to a park where things never change. That is why I try to bring the reader along with me as I travel through time. RPM

  A peek into Story One

  The British lookout saw a sail coming over the horizon and shouted down to the Royal Marine drummer who waited on deck for just such a call, “Sail Ho!” The drummer turned towards the helm and beat out a special drum call: Beat to Quarters! Within minutes the guns of the HMS Victory and every other ship of the British Fleet were manned by crews shouting and singing as they prepared for battle.

  A peek into story two

  Most of the city was demolished and wounded Confederate soldiers were laying on the streets waiting for help. The small number of doctors and nurses as well as good-hearted citizens of Atlanta was caring for many. At one corner they came across a wounded Confederate soldier who begged for water. Dave got off his horse as Bill held the reins. The time traveler took his canteen and allowed the man to drink deeply. He took the empty canteen and started to get up when an unexploded cannon ball exploded.

  The British Fleet Loses The Battle of Trafalgar

  DATELINE: JUNE 1, 2070 PLACE: HISTORY TRACKING CENTER, NEW YORK CITY

  Ten minutes before he was to go on duty, History Time Tracker Joseph Sergi opened the door of the Time Tracker’s conference room. Seeing Jerry Sullivan sitting at the long mahogany table as he gazed at the group’s computer, made him try to shrink his six-foot, six-inch body as he tried to walk stealthy past his co-worker without disturbing him.

  Reluctantly Jerry burst into laughter as he exclaimed, “Joey, a guy your size can’t walk tippy-toe past someone. It just does not work, my friend.”

  Joseph grinned and said as he placed a 12-inch long, aluminum-foil wrapped sandwich down on the table, “I didn’t want to disturb you, but this sandwich is too hot to hold if I waited outside the door.” He opened the aluminum foil and a small cloud of steam came up from his Italian meatball hero. Joseph rolled his eyes as he patted his stomach, “Mmm, this looks good.”

  Jerry patted his wide stomach and quipped, “My doctor wants me to lose 20 pounds so I have a dish of veggies waiting for me at home.”

  Joseph cringed and said, “Veggies? Naw, I’d rather be a chubby guy.” He sat and added, “Hey, Jerry, why don’t you leave now? I’m here.”

  The time tracker had just inserted a new hologram into the small machine next to his computer and said with a nod, “I’ll take you up on that. I just dropped in a hologram so why not come over and take this seat.”

  Joseph picked up his sandwich and came around to his co-worker’s side just as the hologram came to life. Both men watched as the scene depicted a deep blue expanse of water. The information that played out at the bottom right hand corner of the hologram stated that the drone that captured the scene was at three thousand five hundred feet, 21 miles Northwest of Cape Trafalgar on October 21, 1805.

  “Hey Jerry,” said Joseph, “It’s the Battle of Trafalgar. Want to watch it? It’s Nelson’s last battle and he crushed his opponents.”

  Pulling another chair closer to the scene, Jerry said, “Sure. He whopped them good.”

  “And got killed. Right?”

  “Yeah,” said Jerry with a nod. “Sharpshooter up in the rigging of a French ship. Shot him as he walked the deck.”

  Jerry had seen the battle before as it was such a vital event that periodically the Time Tracking computers sent a drone back to check on it. It was something that the group was grateful for because, as they found out over the years, you can never really tell when an event might go wrong even though it had been checked recently.

  The view expanded until it filled the table.

  “Quiet, isn’t it?” asked Joseph.

  Jerry shrugged his shoulders and for no reason said in a whisper: “No engines to make noise. Just the wind in the sails powering the ships.” Jerry looked at Joseph and asked, “Have you ever seen this battle?”

  “No. I know that Nelson wins but I’ve never seen a hologram of the battle before.”

  Jerry nodded, “Let me brief you so that you’ll see what a great leader Admiral Nelson was. The normal and accepted way of sea battles of the early 1800s was that when the enemy was sighted, they both maneuvered to end up in two lines of ships sailing next to each other. This way both sides fired broadsides into each other and tried to kill all the sailors aboard the enemy ship and knock down their masts so that their means of propulsion was destroyed, thus making them a sitting target.

  Nelson headed straight towards the enemy ships and the French and Spanish, knowing that Nelson had less ships than they, accepted the battle and was firing at the two lines of British ships heading towards the middle of their line. All the while the British ships could not bring their gun
s to bear and had to take it until they could swing up next to the enemy and go side-by-side with them.”

  Jerry suddenly held up his index finger and exclaimed, “However, at Trafalgar Nelson broke all the rules of sea warfare. Instead of battling it out side-by-side, he had his ships sail right through the French and Spanish line cutting off many of their ships before the front of the enemy line could turn back and help. The 41 French and Spanish ships sailed in a slightly ragged line while heading right towards the middle of their line were 31 British ships in two lines. The British had no forward firing cannons and the French and Spanish were firing their broadsides at them. It was just about noon when the British sailed through their enemy’s line of ships and were finally able to fire their own broadsides into the French and Spanish ships with hardly any return fire. The British raked the decks with their guns as each gun came to bear on the rear of one ship and the bow of another. The tactic worked as it broke up the French and Spanish line, exposed its center and rear to overwhelming force, bringing a crushing victory in which nineteen ships were captured. It also brought an end to Napoleon’s plan to concentrate an overwhelming fleet in the English Channel to cover his invasion of Britain.”

  Now both men could hear the sound of cannons being fired at the British ships and Jerry pointed to the battle as the French and Spanish warships fired broadside after broadside at the approaching British ships.

  Two lines of British ships head towards the French and Spanish middle. While their enemy could shoot at them, the British could not shoot back until they pierced their line.

  “It’s getting close to the time that Nelson’s ships cut through their enemy’s lines. Right about noon.”

  The smoke from the cannons threatened to envelope the scene and as the block of information at the bottom right hand side of the hologram showed, it was a few minutes before twelve noon.

  “Watch,” said Jerry as he pointed at the British ships, “They’re going to cut the line right here . . . “

  Suddenly the British line of ships turned to port and in a few moments they were aligned next to the French and Spanish warships. As they could now bring their cannons to bear, both sides began firing broadsides into each other.

  “Hey!” said Joseph, “I thought the British ships cut through the French and Spanish line? This looks like a normal sea battle.”

  Speechless, Jerry nodded as Nelson’s ship HMS Victory lost its main mast. The large sail fell and covered most of the fighting area and before the men could clear it, a large contingent of French Marines boarded the British flagship. As she lost her sail she also lost forward motion and out of the gun smoke came the next British warship, the Temeraire, and as it was too late to avoid a collision, she rammed Victory’s aft end. Now she was slowed to a crawl and two enemy ships fired broadsides into her, clearing the deck of fighting men. Almost immediately more French Marines leaped onto the Victory and used her as a bridge to board HMS Temeraire.

  Now the larger number of French and Spanish warships over the British started to show as more than once the British found themselves fighting on both sides of their ship as their enemy flanked them.

  “I don’t get it,” whispered Jerry as they watched the defeat of the British fleet.

  “What time did Nelson get shot?” asked Joseph.

  “About 1:15 p.m. and he died at 4:30 p.m.”

  “Then,” said Joseph, “that means he’s still alive when the French boarded. I wonder why he changed his plan of attack?”

  Jerry nodded then went to the door and opened it. “Ted,” he said to the young man on duty for occasions such as this, “Would you please call the group together?”

  “Right away, Mr. Sullivan,” he said as he walked quickly down the corridor towards the door at its end.

  Jerry went back inside and sat took his seat. Five minutes later Maryellen Muldey came in and seeing the troubled look on Jerry and Joseph’s faces just nodded and took a chair facing them from across the table. Less than a minute later John Hyder and Alexis Shuntly entered.

  “What’s up guys?” asked Maryellen as she ran her fingers through her short, white hair.

  Seeing that the entire Time Tracking group was present Jerry half rose and asked, “Has everyone here seen a hologram on the Battle of Trafalgar?”

  All nodded yes.

  “Well, the ending seems to be changing. It looks like the combined fleets of the French and Spanish win this battle.” Their silence prompted him to say, “I entered the new history into the main computer and it’s crunching the info now.”

  “In fact,” added Joseph, “It’s taking longer than usual to spit out some scenarios.”

  “Who was on duty when this popped up?” asked John as he tugged on his blond and gray fluffy sideburns.

  “Actually it was Jerry. I walked in early and we both saw it,” said Joseph.

  “So,” asked Alexis squinting her green eyes through her thick glasses, “who is running this session?”

  “I guess I am,” added Joseph.

  “No,” quipped Jerry as he shook his head. “I can’t let you run this one, Joseph, I’m much more familiar with the battle than you.”

  “But you will need some rest. After all you just finished a tour.”

  “I can grab the couch or if there’s enough time, go to my room.”

  “Then it’s agreed that Jerry Sullivan has the lead on this, correct?” asked John as he typed the minutes into his laptop.

  Jerry nodded, “Yep! Now, let’s watch the hologram.”

  The scene ended with ships on both sides sliding beneath the waves on the conference table while long plumes of smoke emanated from others, as they seemed to sail in circles or just drift aimlessly. The roar of fighting men and the boom of cannon fire came from the otherwise quiet scene.

  When it ended there were nine French, five Spanish and two British ships that were under sail. The rest were burning hulks or large pieces of driftwood. As the surviving ships limped away the sounds of men cheering were in French and Spanish.

  “We must get a drone out to the battle,” said Jerry standing with his hands deep in his pant’s pockets. “I’d like to have a drone over Nelson’s ship as it headed towards the line of French and Spanish ships. I want to see why he changed his mind and lost the advantage.”

  He opened the door again and summoned Ted, the young man on yeoman duty sitting outside of the conference room.

  “Yes, Mr. Sullivan,” he said as he entered the room.

  “Ted, we need a drone to scoot back to the Battle of Trafalgar. Have it zoom in tight on Admiral Nelson. Get some videos as well as audios of his conversation. Do you need the coordinates?”

  “No, sir,” said Ted as he shook his head, “It’s a mission that we fly periodically.”

  “Jerry,” called out Alexis. “Can I ask that we have a drone go to Trafalgar Square and see if Nelson’s Column is still there? Oh,” she added, “and can we set the date for a week or two ago?”

  Before Jerry could ask Ted, the young man said, “Got it. No problem. Should be ready in about five hours depending on how long it takes to gather all of the information.” He left the room and Jerry closed the door just as the history computer in the corner of the room printed out a sheet of paper. Maryellen took and passed it to him. He sat and read it. He then looked up and said to the group as he blew through clenched teeth, “If the British are defeated at Trafalgar the French have an eighty-nine percent chance of crossing the Channel unopposed and land an army on England. Ships ferrying artillery, cavalry, and supplies would quickly follow it. The cannons of the French fleet would act as floating artillery until all of their cannon are off-loaded. The outcome weighs heavily in favor of Napoleon’s troops winning. They would most probably strike a deal with Scotland thus keeping them out of the war and denying the British from using Scotland as a regrouping haven. In a short time Britain would become a French territory, as would all British possessions worldwide. No matter who wins the battle of Britain, bot
h nations lose hundreds of thousands of young men which stops future doctors, artists, politicians and the every day man from ever existing.”

  Jerry put the paper down and the look on the faces of the group said it all: This hiccup in history must be fixed. “Well, gang, nothing that we can do until we get the latest information from the drone that Ted sends. Let’s reconvene in five hours.” He looked at his watch and added, “That’s one o’clock. Should we order lunch in?”

  All agreed and Jerry sat back as they left the room.

  Ted went down to his office and entered the large room. The next room he entered had all types of robots, or bots as his group called them, sitting on floor to ceiling bookshelves. There were crawlers, ceiling huggers, swimmers and earth burrowers but it was the flying bots that he went to for this mission. He picked up a fast flying Albatross and popped open its inspection hatch. He flicked on a small switch and two green lights came on. Okay, he thought seeing the green lights. Infrared camera is loaded and ready as is the audio. Ted closed the hatch and looked at the tag attached by a string to the bot’s leg. Camera and audio inspected 6-9-70. Fuel nine C61 pellets, he read and removed the tag. Next he picked up a Frigate bird bot and did the same check. Getting all green lights he programmed them for their flights then tucked them under his arms and left the room. He went to the Time Transfer Room and greeted the elderly gray haired man who kept tabs on all who time traveled by going out the door behind his desk.

  “Hi, Fred, how are you doing?”

  The man’s gray eyes twinkled as he smiled and said, “Just fine, Ted. How about you?”

  “I’m good.”

  “Two bots, huh? What dates?”

  “Oct. 20, 1805 and May 31, 2070. May 31, 2070 first.”