Book 9 Read online

  Jerry Sullivan looked down at his notes and said as they watched the chase unfolding across the mahogany table, “It’s the German U-Boat: U-29. The Dreadnought rams and sinks her.”

  “Why ram? Why don’t they shoot it?” asked Joseph Sergi.

  Jerry answered as he looked at his co-worker, “It’s hard to shoot at such a low target when they’re so close. Don’t forget they didn’t have radar or infrared back then. They were relying on lookouts that were being bounced about on the deck with all the spray and wind in their faces. No, easier to ram it.”

  “Doesn’t ramming it hurt the British warship?” asked John Hyder.

  “No. The battleship was designed with a thick belt of armor around the waterline and after ramming it would just have to be repainted.”

  The five Time Watchers watched as the scene from over one hundred and fifty years ago unfolded before them.

  “He’s closing, he’s closing,” said Jerry excitedly.

  “Yep! He’s swinging slightly to the right to cut in and . . .” Maryellen Muldey stopped as she thought she saw some space open up between the two ships. “Hey! Is the U-Boat faster than the battleship?”

  Jerry shook his head, no, as he answered, “No. The U-Boat on the surface can do 18 plus knots while the Dreadnought can get up to 21 plus knots. He’ll get him.”

  But they all watched as the nimble submarine started to pull away from the big ship.

  “Hey!” shouted Joseph as he stood and with his large hands flat on the table, went on, “Is this supposed to happen, Jerry? That sub is definitely getting away.”

  Jerry was speechless as the sub suddenly went beneath the dark waters and the large ship passed over it, missing its conning tower by inches.

  As if it were his fault, the group turned and looked at Jerry who just watched as the Dreadnought started to make a turn that, at her speed would take at least one mile to make. “T-This can’t be. The Dreadnought was not only the faster of the two but rammed the U-29 that night!”

  A boom followed a sudden flash on the table and then another as the HMS Dreadnought was torpedoed and her ammunition magazine exploded. Debris flew through the air and landed for thousands of yards around the whirlpool that was created by the sinking ship. Slowly the U-29 surfaced and at slow speed entered the area looking for survivors . . . there was none.

  The viewers were stunned into silence as the hologram came to a halt. A stunned Alexis shut it off and spoke in a murmur, “That’s what happened to Winston Churchill.” She looked around the table and said; “I think we need to send somebody back to keep him off that ship.”

  There were nods all around as she started to jot down some notes for the mission to begin. After a few minutes, she reached for the buzzer that would summon Ted when Jerry stood. “Wait, Alexis.” He shook his head and his longish curly brown hair matched his head’s swing as he said, “Something is wrong here. The HMS Dreadnought was not supposed to sink.”

  “And Churchill was supposed to be Prime Minister during WWII,” quipped Maryellen, adding, “But as we all know there are times that history trips up and for some reason things that were supposed to happen, don’t.” She ran her fingers through her pure white hair and continued in a lower tone of voice, “And that’s the reason for our group to even be here.”

  Jerry nodded and said, “Yes, I know. However, what I mean is that keeping Churchill off the HMS Dreadnought won’t stop the ship from being sunk and she has other duties to perform before she was scrapped in 1921. Plus there are 700 men that lived through that war that we need to save.”

  “What are you suggesting we do, Jerry?” asked Alexis.

  He shrugged. “I’m not sure. I just wonder why she couldn’t catch the sub. I mean . . . wait! You said there were ships taking on coal at Scapa Flow?”

  At her nod, he started to pace as he mumbled . . . “Coal, mmmm,” he looked up at the ceiling then returned to his laptop and punched in some information as the group watched. Jerry looked up and said, “Can you, please run the hologram that showed the destroyers taking on coal?”

  Alexis played the hologram and they all watched again as a line of sailors carried bags of coal over their shoulders from a coaler to their ship.

  Jerry stood and circled the table watching the hologram from every angle, then sat and said, “There are no oil barges.”

  “Oil barge?” asked Joseph, “What’s an oil barge?”

  Back at his laptop once again, Jerry said as he pumped in new information, “Sort of like a floating dock that carried oil to resupply the ship’s oil bunkers. A ship would tie up at one of them and take on oil from it.”

  “Ahhhh, I’m not sure where this is going, Jerry,” said John Hyder.

  Jerry grinned as he pointed at his laptop and said, “Charles Algernon Parsons.”

  “Jerry,” said Alexis as she rubbed her forehead, “please don’t leave us in suspense. If you have a lead, please share it with the group.”

  “The missing link: Charles Algernon Parsons. Mister Parsons invented the steam turbine engine. I wondered why the HMS Dreadnought couldn’t catch the U-Boat and not seeing any oil barges in Scapa Flow set me to thinking: What type of propulsion system did the big ship have?” He walked slowly around the table as he spoke, as much to himself as to his group. “You see the Parsons steam turbine engine used a system of coal that was sprayed with oil for maximum performance. I’ll bet anything that the Dreadnought we just witnessed getting sunk used the older and slower, triple expansion steam engine that just used coal.”

  “And in a nutshell?” asked Alexis as she made notes.

  “In a nutshell,” he answered, “knowing that the British Navy totally embraced the Parsons steam turbine engines and had them placed in the Dreadnought, what happened to make them use the older type engine?”

  “So,” said Maryellen putting down her empty coffee mug, “because the Dreadnought had the older engine, she was slower than the submarine that eventually sunk her. Correct?”

  “Yes,” said Jerry sitting down, “and I believe we have to see what happened to Mister Charles Algernon Parsons as it was his steam engine that powered the battleship.”

  “He does seem to be the key,” said Alexis as she looked at the group. “I believe we need to send back a probe to find him.”

  “I’ll do some research on where he lived, worked and played,” said Jerry. “Why don’t you all take an hour break and when you come back I’ll have some information that we can act on.”

  “I agree,” said Alexis waving the rest out. Before the door closed Jerry was making notes and running a few programs on the Time Watchers computer system.

  Less than one hour later the group all sat in the conference room as Jerry sat back and rubbed his eyes.

  “Did you get some good information, Jerry?” asked Alexis as she stirred her cup of tea.

  He answered as he tilted his head towards his laptop, “Yep! It seems that Parsons was an inventive person in more ways than one. He not only invented the steam turbine that revolutionized the British Navy, but built his own ship, the Turbinia, which he powered with his steam turbine engine. On June 26, 1897 the British Navy passed in review at Spithead, Portsmouth for Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. And, it says here: ‘The line of warships was led by the H.M.S. Renown and all were decked out in bunting with signal flags flapping in the stiff breeze made possible by their top speed of 18 knots.’” Jerry looked up and added, “There were many privately owned yachts and boats of all sizes trying to keep up with the parade of warships and Parsons decided to show them the results of his steam turbine engine. He powered up the Turbinia and embarrassed the Navy by easily sailing circles around the slower navy warships. It was soon after that they decided to use his revolutionary propulsion system.”

  Alexis nodded, “So we know that he shows up on that date. Correct?”

  “Yep!”

  “Then I propose that we send back a probe to watch him in action and then try to find out why the Brit
ish Navy didn’t switch over to his system.” She looked at the group as she said, “All agree?”

  Jerry Sullivan stood and said: “Alexis, would you also have Ted send a probe back the day before the review as that was when he took his boat out on a high-speed test run and opened her up?”

  Seeing agreeing nods from the others, she jotted down some notes for the drone operator as Jerry walked over and handed her a slip of notebook paper saying, “Parsons rented a slip for the Turbinia at Cowes about one half mile from where the fleet passes the review area off Spithead. Here’s his home address and the dock’s coordinates for the drone.”

  “Thank you very much, Jerry. Maybe we can get to the bottom of Churchill’s disappearance fast.” She buzzed and Ted entered the room.

  “Ted, will you please send a drone back to these dates and record the entire review from beginning to end? Also program it to look for this fellow as he should be at these coordinates.” She passed him a black and white photo that Jerry had printed out of Parsons along with his notes.

  “This could take a few hours, Miss Shuntly.”

  “Fine, we will see you then, Ted.” The door closed behind the young man and Alexis stood and said as she looked at her watch, “This meeting will reconvene in two hours, gang. I’m staying here and going through the life of our Mister Parsons.”

  Two hours later the group sat around the conference table as Alexis loaded one of the two holograms Ted had given her. She decided to play the one marked ‘Review’ first. It was dated June 26, 1897, the date of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee Naval Review.

  “Fingers crossed, gang,” she said as she activated the hologram.

  The scene was from one thousand feet above Spithead on a bright, almost cloudless day. The water below had a slight chop to it as a six-knot breeze blowing in from the ocean topped each wave with white foam. There were hundreds of seabirds darting and wheeling above the many fishing and sailing boats that dotted the area close to the shore where crowds of people stood looking out to sea. A line of ships could be seen steaming in a single line in the deeper waters between Fort Monkton on the north, and Ryde on the south. They were heading towards the anchored Royal Yacht, ‘Victoria and Albert II.’ Onboard the yacht, a military band played martial music as an honor guard stood at attention along both sides of the deck. The Royal Yacht was decorated with hundreds of British flags and colorful bunting and as the 21 British battleships and 56 other warships passed her in review, the Prince of Wales was to salute each one.

  “Boy,” said Joseph Sergi to himself as he shook his head in amazement, “they don’t do things like this anymore.”

  “No,” answered Jerry as they all looked at the impressive setting taking place and almost covering the entire table, “They sure don’t. It was Queen Victoria’s sixtieth anniversary as Queen of England and the navy came out to be reviewed by her. Unfortunately, she was too weak to do any more than watch from the Isle of Wight as the Prince of Wales stood in for her.”

  Jerry watched as the lead battleship almost reached the yacht. “After passing the Royal Yacht,” he explained excitedly, “they make a turn and steam back the way they came. There were also ships from many other countries there as well.”

  “American too?” asked John Hyder?

  “Yep. The cruiser, Brooklyn, was present,” Jerry answered as he nodded towards the hologram. “We should see Parsons’ Turbinia any minute now.”

  At an average speed of eighteen knots, the many warships passed by the anchored Royal Yacht quickly, leaving the Time Watchers still looking for the history-making Turbinia to scoot past them all in high speed. But after turning around, the entire procession of British warships passed the Royal Yacht again and the Turbinia never put in an appearance.

  Once again the group looked at Jerry as though he had somehow misled them.

  “Jerry,” asked Alexis, “are you sure this was when Parsons was supposed to speed by?”

  He clasped his hands into a ball as he stared at the departing fleet and stammered to his workmates, “Y-Yes! He powered up his high-speed boat and got all of their attention by passing what was thought of as the fastest ships in the world!” The hologram went still as he went on in a lower tone of voice, “I-I don’t understand.”

  “Simple!” They turned to Joseph Sergi who sat his tall frame down and continued. “Parsons didn’t show up because he was gone before the review. I suggest we send back a few more drones and see . . . “

  “Wait,” said Alexis holding up another hologram cube, “Ted gave me two cubes and I played the one that had the naval review on it. It was taken later than this one so before we go any further let’s play the earlier one out. It was taken the day before the review. ” All sat and watched as Alexis removed the first cube and dropped in the second.

  The scene opened over a group of attached row houses with a common stonewall running the length of the street. The red door of number 17 Amber Street opened and out stepped a slim, middle-aged man wearing blue slacks, white jacket, blue turtleneck sweater and canvas deck shoes. On his head he wore a white captain’s sailing hat and the early morning sun glinted off the shiny, black visor as he closed the door behind him. After closing the small wooden gate set in the stonewall, he stepped out onto the cobblestoned street and walked briskly south towards the dock where his small, powerful boat was tied up. From an altitude of one hundred feet, the seagull drone glided along on the cool fresh air coming off the water front less than one half mile away. Matching the image loaded into its computer by Ted to the man walking beneath it, the drone followed while making a hologram of its assignment, Charles Algernon Parsons.

  Halfway between his house and the dock was a small shop, The Wee Tea House, and Parsons entered as the seagull landed on the porch roof. Ten minutes later it lifted off as Parsons exited the establishment and continued his walk to the dock. It didn’t bother the mechanical bird that the man he watched was now walking slower and a bit unsteady as he headed towards the dock.

  Once at the dock the drone started to fly in a circular pattern electronically recording the scene below. Every slip of the long dock had a private boat of one type or another as the many weekend sailors came from all over the British Isles for the special event that would take place the next day. They were tending to their boats, cleaning and making sure everything was shipshape and Parsons slowly weaved between the large groups to get to his boat, the Turbinia. He had to step gingerly around coiled ropes, cans of paint and grease to approach his boat. She was tied up between two of the largest sailboats at the dock and both had a crowd of friends, families and workers getting the two sailboats ready. He stopped and looked at his small boat bobbing slightly because of the ripple of waves caused by ships going by. Parsons suddenly seemed to just fall forward off the dock and into the water. A few of the crowd shouted and all stood watching for him to surface . . . but he never did.

  Jerry Sullivan said what they were all thinking: “He drowned!”

  Alexis cradled her chin in her hands as she said, “We must not let this happen. All in favor of sending someone back to save him “ The nods and muffled ayes gave her the green light and she reached for the buzzer to have Ted deliver the hologram to the 1800 Club, but stopped short and said, “You know what, gang, This is so hot that I’m going to make the hologram and deliver it to the 1800 Club myself.

  DATELINE: OCTOBER 6, 2013, PLACE: THE 1800 CLUB, NEW YORK CITY

  Bill Scott sat in his den next to the coffee table. On top of the mid-eighteen hundreds table was a square, 12-inch cloth and on the cloth were eight sparkplugs. He was checking their settings when Matt knocked on the door before entering carrying a tray of hot chocolate in a Donald Duck mug.

  “Sir, I felt you might be in need of a hot chocolate.”

  “Ahhh, perfect timing, Matt.”

  Matt placed the mug next to the plugs and asked, “Will you be stepping back to 1958, sir?”

  Bill took a sip of the hot chocolate and nodded before saying
, “Yep! The Ford needs new plugs and I just finished setting the required gap measurement.”

  With raised eyebrows Matt asked, “Pardon me, sir, but would it not be better to simply purchase a new vehicle rather than work on this-this, well this rather ancient automobile?”

  Bill grinned as he tried once again to explain his love affair with his 1950 Ford, two door coupe, “Matt, the 1950 Ford was the same type that my dad had when he was a teenager. And for years I was captivated by the pictures he had of it. So once when I was back in 1958 I saw one for sale and grabbed it. And now, as you know, every chance I get I go back and take a spin in her.”

  “Or fix her,” quipped Matt as he looked up at the ceiling.

  Bill grinned, “Want to come back and take a ride with me?”

  “Ahhh, sorry, sir, but I have a particularly tough stain I wish to remove from the tablecloth. Perhaps another time?”

  Still grinning Bill said, “I’m going to bring Samson with me and maybe get him a burger from Nelly Bligh’s’ drive in. Want me to bring something back for you?”

  “Well, sir,” Matt answered, suddenly interested, “I do enjoy hamburgers from that particular establishment so, yes, I would enjoy a burger with onions and pickles.”

  “You got it, Matt.”

  Bill quickly changed into jeans, boots, and a black, short sleeve pullover shirt. He went into his bathroom and applied a generous amount of hair cream and combed his dark hair straight back in the style of the mid-1950s. Lastly, he grabbed his dark glasses and put them on. Samson, his beagle, sat content on the leather couch watching his master until Bill grabbed his leash. In a moment the dog was sitting next to Bill, his tail beating the floor like a drummer. Bill slipped the leash on him, scooped up the eight sparkplugs and walked towards the door of his den. Taking the Time Frequency Modulator out of his pocket he punched in 8/2/58, 10:00 a.m. and opened the door that allowed him to travel in time as he thought, I don’t know how the group from the future turned this door into a time portal but it is fantastic and I reap the benefits.