Traveller Manifesto
43. England

England

“What do you mean, the Transporter has been activated at our British location?” demanded Professor Taylor.

Hurley and Zak looked uncomfortable at the academic’s incredulity. His experiences with the team of Byzantine Traveller had toughened him and he had lost much of his ‘absent minded Professor’ personality for which he was once lampooned.

“Our logs indicate that the Transporter has been activated without my team’s approval,” replied Zak. “As is our practice, the Transporter was reassembled in our English location for a full service and test when one of our team noted that the device had been activated.”

“So, what does that mean?” asked Professor Taylor.

“I fear we may have been infiltrated,” added Hurley.

“By whom? Why?” responded the academic. He looked fearful, his eyes red-rimmed with fury. The Ukrainian Traveller experience was still too fresh in all of their minds.

Zak shrugged. “We aren’t sure, but whoever did it was able to bypass our military security and deactivate our electronics. This wasn’t a bunch of Ukrainian Travellers, but someone else. Someone who, we suspect, had the authority and the ability.”

“Authority? You mean our military?” asked Professor Taylor. “But why?”

“They’ve been trying to take over the Transporter and the Traveller missions for some time, you know that,” replied Hurley.

“But what do they hope to achieve in this?” asked the academic. He looked lost and confused. “You mean, like their proposed camp? How can they establish the training camp without our cooperation?” he looked aghast. All thought the same thing. How would the camp work with the villagers of Giolgrave if Hunter was not present?

There was a moment of silence, as if neither of the other men was willing to speak.

“You know I warned him, I warned Hunter,” added Hurley quietly.

“Yes, but wasn’t that about him choosing to flee. Having to leave Giolgrave?” asked Professor Taylor.

“No. This isn’t about any camp,” continued Hurley wearily. He felt exhausted and uncharacteristically emotional.

“So, what’s this all about?” asked the academic. The man seemed overwhelmed with his uncertainty.

“They want to replace him,” responded Zak. He placed his face into his hands. “Dear God!”

“Find him?”

“Yes, replace him,” replied Hurley angrily. “We discussed this. It all works out, doesn’t it? Look at it from their perspective. They chase an AWOL soldier, they test ordinance that might be illegal or too sensitive in our modern world, they train an elite squad of Special Forces troops, they fine-tune their procedures in the clandestine use of the Transporter, and they do it all without anyone being the wiser. After all, that’s why they wanted the training camp in Giolgrave in the first place. It would have been the best place to train and test. Take that away and, well, if given lemons they make lemonade, don’t they?”

“What … what will they do with him? And what about Tatae? Oh my God! And little Genovefa? What will they do if they catch them … what about the baby?” asked Professor Taylor in almost panic.

“You’ll have to ask the Minister, I think,” suggested Zak quietly. “I think we have to play this carefully, because we don’t know what’s really going on. To ensure the success of Traveller missions we must use the military, so to attack the broader military or completely remove the Transporters from use might hurt those sympathetic to our cause.”

“Yes of course. This will not do, not do at all,” replied Professor Taylor. Instead of being devastated, he now looked determined and, despite the severity of the situation, Hurley could barely restrain a smile. Good on him! The old bastard would certainly set the cat amongst the pigeons in a way Zak and he could never do. All knew Professor Taylor controlled a multi-billion dollar empire that decided on the location of the next Traveller missions. Nations paid dearly for the privilege, or awaited their luck on the lottery where a nation could use the Transporter at no cost. Monies were siphoned to the United Nations for humanitarian projects, or to Transporter Corp officials, of whom Professor Taylor was the first amongst equals. Power, fame, and wealth were at risk and Professor Taylor was one who, it was known, would let none be lost without a titanic struggle.

Zak held up his hand to placate the Professor and continued, “That’s not the only thing we have to worry about.” He sighed and shook his head in frustration. This Hunter revelation seemed to have topped off a whole series of unfortunate events.

“Why?” asked Hurley. “What else is happening?”

Zak sighed and sat up. He took a sip of his tea then pulled a face, as it was now tepid. “We don’t know how, exactly, but we suspect that espionage directed at Transporter Corp, Woomera Technologies, and Helguard Security might have been fruitful enough to glean data that would help to create the, um, guilty party’s own ganglion. As you know, the component we call the ‘ganglion’ was the only component so mysterious in the original Transporter that it prevented our earlier duplication of the device. You also know how much research it took for us to make our second Transporter, but now it seems that, given the required level of technological sophistication, others might also have been able to make a copy.”

Professor Taylor swore in a most soldierly fashion, which had Hurley look across with amusement.

“Phil Walker also admits that his research for the US Government and DARPA could have supplied enough data to make a parallel copy conceivable,” continued Zak. “We suggest this parallel technology could be a consequence of hackers into both of our companies and even of other hackers. To be honest, we aren’t sure who managed to crack the technology first, but our team has found blueprints under the control of the Chinese, Russians, and the USA. We suspect the USA is the first to copy the design based on superior technical resources, both in people and in technology. That won’t last though.”

“So, the US Government has their own Transporter?” asked Professor Taylor.

“We suspect so,” continued Zak. “We’ve been able to develop a scanner that detects the unique radiation that the Transporter causes when it creates a bubble in Space-Time. Our scanner has discovered a strong radiation footprint in Israel, though there seems to be a … um … glimmer in China as well.”

“But, how?” asked Professor Taylor.

“Believe me, it meant a lot of flights using our company jets. The sensor is quite sizable at the moment, so one of the Helguard jets was fitted out and flown all over the place. We have the engineers to operate it and they found what we suspected.”

“God! I imagine you’re taking legal action?” asked Hurley, his eyebrows raised at the duplicity that surprised even him.

“Yeah, that’s a Peter Conti thing,” nodded Zak. “He has a battery of lawyers the likes of which you’ve never seen before. They’re putting together a case now.”

“Israel?” murmured Professor Taylor, mystified. He thought a moment, then frowned as he exclaimed, “Professor Cowen!”

Professor Cowen?” repeated Hurley. “Hasn’t he just returned from the Mississippi Traveller mission? Some of the lads had a hard time there, we heard.”

“Exactly!” exclaimed Professor Taylor furiously. “He’s a renowned expert in Middle Eastern history, especially those locations that are the target of Biblical studies. Naturally, he has quite a network of contacts in Jewish Universities, both in the USA and Israel. He is also Jewish, of course, but that means nothing.”

“Do you think he’s involved?” asked Hurley.

“The Quorum of Historical Research International, of which I am the President, met in England recently,” mused the academic. “Professor Cowen was there, of course, and he had only just returned from the mission to Mississippi Cahokia. We discussed my literary replaceings from Byzantine Constantinople, which, I might add, are simply stupendous.”

“So we’ve heard,” replied Hurley, stifling a smile as he a cast a glance to Zak. Typical to Professor Taylor, he never lost a moment to highlight his own achievements.

“He looked numb,” Professor Taylor continued.

“We’re not surprised,” replied Zak. “That team witnessed the sacrifice of a young girl. They had to leave or it was feared the soldiers in the team might have shot the priests involved.”

“I know, I know,” responded the academic sadly. “I saw the footage of course. To have been there would have been horrible.”

Hurley knew how the Professor had seen similar incidents of human cruelty on his own Traveller mission, so decided to move things along. “Would he be involved in Israel? Do you know if he’s there now?”

Professor Taylor frowned. “Yes, I believe he is,” he replied quietly. “He suggested something about an ongoing study, plus the need to escape to compile his Mississippi mission report and arrange his notes for academic papers he was to submit with Professor Hughes.”

“So, it’s not looking good, is it?” suggested Zak. “We already look like we are putting a convincing case together.”

Hurley merely shook his head. Professor Cowen seemed to be the finger on the trigger. All they had to do now was see if there was a smoking gun.

“What do we do?” asked Professor Taylor angrily. “The world has agreed to a format for the use of the Transporter in historical research. Your company and Helguard have obvious interests in any illegal use of a Transporter without your permission. After all, isn’t there a copyright, or patent, or something?” he added irritably.

“Okay, it looks like we have a couple of issues we need to address,” interrupted Hurley quietly. They were seated in Professor Taylor’s office at Oxford University and it was small. They had left their phones outside of the office and detached the Professor’s computer from the power, but they could never be sure. Unable to determine how much of their conversation could be overheard or audible through electronic surveillance, he spoke quietly. “We have two issues; the issue of Hunter, and the rogue Transporter in Israel.”

“I’ll look after the Hunter affair,” offered Professor Taylor. “I can set up a meeting with Minister Paddington and I’ll prepare a media release for my contacts in the BBC and the London Times. The Government would not be able to abide the embarrassment of any public exposure of them sending a secret, hi-tech hit squad to murder or capture an international hero and his wife and child.”

Zak nodded, “Okay. That should slow things down at least. Can we have a copy of your press release as well? We’ll get it to our own contacts.”

“Would they print it though?” asked Hurley, uncertain. He never fully trusted the media, even though they had been good to him. He never quite forgot the way they had crucified his wife, Helen, over her handling of the first Traveller mission. It wasn’t her fault that men under her command were injured. None had died, but it had been touch-and-go for a while.

Professor Taylor gave a feral grin and nodded. “Oh yes, they wouldn’t miss a story like that. They’ll print it alright. And the military and Government will cave in. Imagine how the public will react?”

Hurley was compelled to agree. Never a specialist on how the media worked, he conceded it was best to leave that to the experts.

“So what of the Israel thing?” asked Zak. “Going head-to-head with the governments of the USA and Israel while accusing them of intellectual property theft might not be the smartest strategy.”

“I think we might also have the media assist us there,” replied Professor Taylor. “If we let the story slip that we suspect a Traveller mission in Israel, using stolen plans for the Transporter, it might attract the attention of the various Universities and Governments involved.”

“Maybe if we back that up with a team to inspect the proposed location. Supported by the sensor data, we might be able to bluff our way in,” added Zak hopefully. “I don’t have to add that we’ll have the full resources of Woomera and Helguard on this one. The one thing everyone in our industry hates is an intellectual property thief. Selling out to the military is one thing, but having them steal it is another. Besides, every US military base globally uses Helguard gear. They won’t want any conflict with the companies that keep their secrets secure.”

“But why?” asked Professor Taylor. “Why would the US and Israel risk falling out with Transporter Corp by copying your intellectual property? What would they have to gain? Nothing really happened in 11th Century Palestine”

Zak gave a snort of humour. He had long ago ceased to wonder at the actions of any government. “We’ll get together a hell of a team to replace out,” he replied. “Hopefully their motivations will become clear.”