EXCERPT:
His real name was Ultar Ebert Kyler, an American born
product of an Irish mother and German father. Ultar-Irish for 'Ruler of the
armies,' Ebert-German for 'Strong as a Boar,' sometimes referred to as 'that
stinking pig' by his employers, but not within his hearing, and Kyler-German
for 'Little Warrior.' Warrior most assuredly, but not at all little. At six
foot seven and two hundred sixty pounds, he looked down on most men. The few
that he couldn't look down on, he could soon have them so broken that looking
down on them was easy.
An Annapolis graduate and former SEAL team leader, he
could operate almost every weapons system in the US arsenal, from the first
generation Abrams Tank to an Apache Attack helicopter to hand held stinger
missiles and any firearm. Almost all one and two man weapons systems from other
armies of the world were also in his repertoire.
He was hired by a cartel of rich men from the year
2145 to keep an eye on Roland Hines, one of the inventors of the time machine
who had developed an agenda of his own. The Cartel had funded the research that
led to the invention of the time machine and felt that they, the Cartel, not
Hines, should determine how the machine was to be used. Hines wanted to use the
machine to go back in time and save lives and prevent disasters, like the twin
towers on 9/11 and the sinking of the Titanic. The Cartel wanted to use the
machine to affect the market so that they could make even more money. Kyler was
to be the Cartel's insurance policy, to force Hines to do their bidding.
Unfortunately for the Cartel, Tar Kyler liked the old
man and they soon became good friends. Hines managed to convince Kyler that the
Cartel shouldn't be in control of the power of the time machine because they
wanted to use it for the wrong reasons. In the few months that they had
together, he trained Tar on how to operate the time machine, and between them
they manipulated Tar's age so that he was always thirty-two years old, a time
chosen by Tar because he was at his peak physical condition at that age.
One of the things they discovered was that there were
three laws covering time travel. Law number one, if you traveled to another
time and then came back to the exact time that you left, things were exactly
like when you left. If traveling to another time to make a change, you had to
be gone at least two seconds. Going to a market for supplies and returning to
the exact time you left means you came home with an empty sack. But setting the
clock so you would return two seconds after you left meant that whatever you
went after came home with you.
Law number two they discovered after they figured out
law number one. You only got one shot at making a change. You better get it
right the first time because there was no second chance.
Law number three was that sometimes no matter what
you did, you couldn't change everything. Fate determined what took place, and
if fate decided that an event was going to happen, it happened no matter what
you did. You may change a few minor details, but the main purpose of the trip
never got changed.
They gathered pictures and newspaper accounts of the
sinking of the Titanic, including accounts from the captain of the Carpathia.
With these in hand, they went to Captain Edward Smith on the Titanic and
regaled him with tales of the sinking and the great loss of life. Captain Smith
listened intensely and then agreed to change course a few degrees to the south
to miss the icebergs. Feeling smug with themselves, they returned home and read
history. The Titanic sank, just like before. For the longest time they couldn't
understand why.
They tried to avert many of the major disasters in
American history, and failed each time. After failing at the Johnstown,
Pennsylvania flood and the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, it was more than they
could understand. They had the pictures and eyewitness accounts and even had
the officials convinced, or so they claimed, that disasters were coming to
their towns. But later, checking back, Hines found that nothing had been done
and that thousands of people had died, needlessly. Law number one had bit them.
After figuring out law number one, they attempted to
go back and try again. Again nothing worked. It took several attempts before
they discovered that there was a law number two. Time travel repairs were a one
shot deal.
They never really figured out what to do with law
number three. They just did the best they could and if fate permitted, they
made changes. If not, well, on to the next project.
Other attempts to save lives fell on deaf ears, or
stubborn ones. Officials in Boston and New York refused to believe that an
airplane could topple the World Trade Center, even with pictures to prove it
had happened. Doctored photos was the response, and they were ushered out the
door followed by threats of imprisonment if they persisted.
Shortly after Tar came to work with him, Roland got
sick. Several trips to the doctor determined that pancreatic cancer was the
culprit. Roland put Tar through a rush advanced course in time travel machine
operation and between them they made plans for the future; Tar's future. After
the old man died, the Cartel came to confiscate the time machine—finding it,
and Tar, missing. From then on, the Cartel had to deal with Tar Kyler. He would
take the time travel trips on their behalf and carry out their wishes, most of
the time.
Sometimes the wishes of the Cartel and those of Tar
Kyler were at odds. And in those cases, the wishes of the Cartel came in
second. If they had any other choice, they would take it, but Kyler had the
time machine hidden, and he was the best they could hope to find.
He was now a time traveler and warrior for hire, but
he was mostly his own boss. They controlled the money, but the time machine was
his—and sometimes money wasn't enough. He had no problem with the Cartel
members getting richer and no compulsion against killing, he was good at it,
but he was not a bloodthirsty savage. Women and children and a few other
innocents were off limits.
His employers hated him and wanted him dead. The few
that tried to have him killed met with an undesirable end, so that idea was
abandoned. Besides, sometimes he came in handy. As for now, they would keep
using him, and when he went against their wishes, they just got over it. It was
a lot better to bite the bullet than have the bullet bite them.
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