a crack in it,” said Elena, “more than one, and now any big explosive event seems to cause additional damage. Remnants of a strange element found near Tunguska also seem to have this same effect, opening time, creating one of those whirlpools you spoke of. I don’t know what metaphor best describes it now. It’s very confusing. British intelligence first thought this was something the Russians were experimenting with. We even managed to obtain a few samples of a material we thought was from Tunguska, and now we’ve learned that it can be catalyzed by nuclear detonations as well. Then we learned the Russians were using it in the control rods of the nuclear reactors aboard that battlecruiser—Kirov. It took a good long time for us to discover that, but we eventually learned about it. And that box we found at Delphi contains a Tunguska fragment. It was activated when I used my key.”
“I see,” said Paul. “Are there other boxes associated with keys like the one you possess?”
“Not that I know of. In fact, I didn’t even know how this one would work, though I was aware that other keys existed, other passages securing rifts in time. The Watch learned of that, but it seems much of this has been embedded in British history for a good long while. Frankly, Mister Dorland, I have come to believe this history has been tampered with many times in the past. Yes, we’ve found evidence of keys associated with hidden passages, and always they were places under British control at some point. Delphi was a bit of an oddity, however. We never held Greece, though we’ve fought there. In any case, we’ve kept them very secret, known to very few living souls. So when I received my key, I had some inkling of where it might eventually take me. In fact, I thought our little foray to Delphi was going to be a farewell journey through one of those fissures in time, but all I found was that box.”
“So that your ship could move here,” said Paul, leaping ahead. “I see… the box must have amplified the effect, extending the shift radius, almost like that control rod did aboard Kirov, as you’ve explained it.”
“So it seems,” said Elena, “yet I could not fathom why, unless I was meant to join forces with Admiral Tovey here and fight the good fight with Argos Fire.”
“And that you have,” said Tovey.
“Thank you, Admiral, but the military assistance I can offer you has some hard limits.”
“Aye,” said MacRae, “We’re down to just seven missiles remaining after that last little foray, at least for the ship killers. Our air defense systems are a wee bit stronger, but as Miss Fairchild has it, we’ll eventually run out of those as well.”
“Well not just yet,” said Mack Morgan. “One of those ships in the flock we’re shepherding now is a fleet replenishment vessel. I’ve kibitzed with her Master, and they have a nice little snake pit over there, several cases of Aster-15s and a few more Aster-30s. No GB-7s, as that was a private special order for this ship, but they do have Harpoons, and we might easily adapt our firing systems to utilize that missile.”
“You’ve just won yourself a new feather for that cap. The job is yours Mack. See to it.”
“Aye, Mum, I’ll take care of everything with the ship’s engineers.”
“Well that’s encouraging,” said Tovey. “The Russians had a good deal to do with our holding off the Hindenburg and other bad company. Now that they’re gone, I’m realizing how crucial their contribution was to our effort here.”
“All this is very interesting,” said Paul, taking these revelations in now. “As to those keys… You said there was nothing machined on the shaft of yours?”
“No, I said the was no clue as to location there, at least a spatial location. My key was apparently designed to work anywhere in tandem with that box I retrieved from Delphi. Yet there was a series of numbers on the note we found in that box. They were temporal coordinates, a date, which is why I knew we might end up in 1941. I thought it was just a means of saving a chosen few, the Keyholders, and I was grateful my ship and crew could come along. When I first went to Delphi I thought it might only allow me to take a small contingent through that passage. Then I found there was no rift or passage there at all.”