Traveller Manifesto
52. Chicago

Chicago

Hurley had never seen an office that reeked of so much wealth. He and Murdoch had, of course, enjoyed their own prosperity, but had never relished the fame that came with their roles in Saxon Traveller. Though the later Traveller missions had seen their fair share of media and marketing attention, none had seized the interest of the world as much as Hurley’s first daring exploration of England a millennium into the past.

Hunter was the one to become even more famous of course, but no matter what anyone else achieved when it came to Traveller, Hurley had been the first.

At least Peter Conti, the CEO of Helguard Corporation, had some taste. Hurley had seen television programmes where the wealthy resorted to tasteless gold-leaf ostentation on every available surface. Here, the most outstanding ornamentation was the stunning view. This was his first time here, in the office of one of the owners of the Transporter that made the Traveller missions possible. The other owners were there too, the famous faces of Phil Walker, Mel Chandler and Allen Nguyen of the original research team that had discovered the truly amazing device. There was also Zak Chandler, CEO of Woomera Technologies, one of the most innovative tech companies the world had seen. They were geniuses, the lot of them, as was Professor Adrian Taylor, the one who had pushed for the Transporter to be used in the study of History, launching a series of bold missions that had literally changed the modern world.

It seemed as if nothing had been untouched by the Traveller missions. Food, fashion, religion, medicine, entertainment, the sciences, and definitely the political and military scene had all been irrefutably altered. Meanwhile, he and other good soldiers like him had charged off into the dim past and found they could survive or, like Hunter, even prosper.

While some made millions, others died. His fellow Travellers had come close to joining the fatalities at that historic Battle of Giolgrave, where they had fought against a small army of marauding Vikings. Hurley had to suppress a slight chuckle and shook his head in disbelief.

What a rush!

So, what the hell was he doing here?

Allen wound up his explanation to an angry silence. Hurley had met the Australian tech wonder-boy only once, just after he had returned from old Aengland. As CEO of his own prominent company, Hurley knew that Nguyen had shunned the limelight of publicity because his interests lay in talents best not disclosed to the general public.

So, these eggheads discovered that a rogue Transporter was in Israel, which would undoubtedly mean US involvement. The two nations seemed joined at the hip in most military and intelligence matters. He had visited Israel on a number of occasions when on the job, but only once as a civilian. They knew who he was, of course, but his impression was of a plethora of American Jews and one of the most heavily armed paramilitary forces he had ever seen.

“So, what do we do about this?” asked Professor Taylor. The academic had changed for the better, that much was apparent. Not only was he fitter, he had become more decisive. Like most in the select meeting, they shared an eagle’s view of Chicago as they quietly seethed at what was a theft of intellectual property upon which their wealth and professional pre-eminence relied.

Conti took a deep breath. For a man who had the most to lose, he responded well, which meant he had known for some time. “We need to approach this carefully, which is why you’ve each been invited here today. There will, I believe, be a two-pronged approach. One, which is legal, of course. Our litigation team will target the US and Israeli Governments in the courts of law. Naturally, this will be a costly and protracted affair. We have been doing our legal homework ever since Dr Nguyen approached us with this news a few months ago.”

“The second approach will be more direct,” continued Zak Chandler. Years as a business professional had sharpened what was once a pasty, uncertain lad when he had first addressed the Travellers in the old tunnels of Welbeck. Now he looked confident and capable. “We send a delegation to Israel to inspect the area from where we’ve detected the Transporter signal.”

Hurley snorted, “As if. They won’t let you near the bloody place.”

“Maybe, maybe not,” conceded Professor Phil Walker, the other famous face in the room. Of them all, Phil Walker had the highest media profile. While Hurley’s fame had thankfully faded, Walker continued to cultivate an assertive public image. “We’ve already made some progress in this. Allen has submitted an academic paper on the ability to detect signals emitted by the Transporter. That paper is now available to academia globally, while we’ve made it clear through the military networks with which we closely associate that there appears to have been some IP theft. That might seem impetuous, until you understand what such news can mean to nations engrossed in having their own nation included as the next Traveller mission.”

“Correct,” chuckled Zak. “How has that been received, Professor?”

Professor Taylor looked smug. “The Chinese didn’t receive their news well. We advised that we’ve now changed our selection, that they’ll not be the next Traveller project as promised, but that we have allocated that honour to Japan. They naturally had a conniption. That was until they were shown our proof of their involvement with the IP theft and how we’ve also detected their own efforts to create a counterfeit Transporter. When faced with the chance of a public shaming, the threat of any cataclysmic loss of face was too great.”

Allen chuckled. “The Chinese ambassador to the United Nations was compelled to apologise to me, a Vietnamese-Australian of all people. It was in a private meeting, of course, but it wasn’t pretty.”

“So, do you honestly think that an inspection team will be permitted by Israel on the threat of disclosure?” asked Hurley. “So, why am I here?” Alas, he already suspected the answer.

“In discussion with the owners of the Transporter, we’ve decided that any inspection team should consist of Traveller faces that are well known, both to the military and the public of both the USA and Israel,” explained Professor Taylor. “As the first Traveller, we ask, Sergeant Hurley, if you would accompany us.”

“But I’ve resigned from the military,” Hurley replied without a thought. He knew already how this discussion would end. Helen would kill him.

“But not from the Traveller project as a whole,” replied Zak. “You and Helen are to be involved in a few pending Traveller projects. We understand your advice on the preparation of Traveller mission submissions is a viable business for you.”

Hurley just raised his eyebrows in assent. “Who else?” he asked. “Not Helen! You know she’s pregnant. I’ll not have her or our daughter put at risk.”

“Yes, we know. Congratulations of course and no, Helen will not be suggested as a participant,” continued Professor Taylor smoothly. “But we plan to create a team who will be the who’s who of the Traveller world.” He looked around to each of the faces in the room. “I will lead the delegation, but we’ll also have Zak here, who will represent the owners. Because of Mr Conti and Professor Walker’s exposure to the potentially contentious US side of things, they’ll concentrate on the legal approach.”

“Which will also include media,” added Mel. “I have my hands full with a family as well, so I’ll be involved with how to best approach this via our media contacts. Naturally, full disclosure will be a last resort, the ‘stick’ in our ‘carrot and stick’ routine.”

“And, what’s our carrot?” asked Hurley. He knew the Americans and Israelis would not respond well to threats.

“Forgiveness,” smiled Professor Taylor. “We receive and control all data, make it look like it was our idea all along and they hand their units over to Transporter Corp.”

Allen laughed out loud. “Oh God. That will piss them off, but what else can they do? Who’s the academic involved? I imagine it’s someone from Historical Research International?”

Professor Taylor nodded reluctantly. “Yes and who it is should be no surprise. Professor Cowen has already Travelled to Mississippi America. For some reason, he seems obsessed with Travelling back into Israel’s past. Yet the confusing issue is that the era of around 1000AD in Israel is not bound to offer anything of significance. Why he would be engaged in such an enterprise is beyond me. I mean, he risks expulsion from the quorum of Historical Research International. And rightly so. Yet why? I’m replaceing the rationale confusing.” Professor Taylor shook his head in obvious bewilderment.

“Can I suggest that I get a few of the original Travellers to join us?” added Hurley. “It might pad out the team. Besides, I think a few of the lads would like something to do.”

“Great idea!” nodded Conti with approval. “The more star-power we have in this, the better. By attracting attention it will make the governments involved reluctant to brush the inquiry aside and will add to our media presence.”

“Yeah. Great idea!” added Mel. “Who do you have in mind?”