said it that made a lizard crawl slowly and coldly down his spine.
The Gen looked down at the report, then picked up a sheaf of paper.
“There are things about our lives here that only I am aware of, Doctor. We are
the only true Americans left, you know—”
“I can think of some native tribes—remnants of whom survive—who would argue that
point,” Doc interrupted. Then he added with a gracious gesture, “But I am
interrupting you. Pray continue.”
Wallace suppressed his anger and forced a smile before continuing. “In this base
we have managed to keep the traditions of the U.S. Army flying high like the
Stars and Stripes. We have maintained the American way against the scum
outsiders. We were entrusted by our forefathers to keep the research pure, and
to maintain the mechanism that this base was created for. Thanks to the great
plan, we still have access to many pre-sky-dark records.”
“I am surprised that you use such terms, as cut off as you are,” Doc
interpolated.
“We sometimes have contact with some outsider scum in an attempt to keep our
gene pool healthy, and thus we have a tendency to pick up some of their slack
speech habits. It’s regrettable, but inevitable. And please refrain from
interrupting me,” Wallace added with a warning glare that shot an electric jolt
down Doc’s spine. There was barely disguised psychosis behind the man’s gaze.
“My apologies,” Doc muttered.
“Very well. As I was about to say, we have records of before the great war
between the Reds and the democrats. It is unfortunate that, as time progresses,
we find ourselves moving further and further away from the technology of the
preskydark era. The good book says recycle, but sometimes there aren’t things to
recycle with. We improvise, but that is all.”
Doc wondered idly if there was a point to all of this. Then Wallace’s words
brought him up short.
“Some of the old comps still work, however, and through them we can access the
records of the Totality Concept as a whole, and not just our own role as weapons
R&D. And so it was of some interest to me to find out that you were Dr.
Theophilus Tanner. The name seemed to me to be familiar. My father, the Gen
before me, had an old family tale about my ancestor who was involved with
another branch of Totality, a thing called Operation Chronos. Is that familiar,
Doctor?”
Doc reasoned that it was pointless to lie or bluff. “Of course it is,” he said
as calmly as he could, but already the memories were beginning to flood back,
the horror and pain dragging him to the brink of insanity. “You know about the
madness that lay at the root of it, the way in which I was dragged away from my
beloved Emily and my children and how I was flung forward into the chaos and
evil that stalks the Deathlands.”
Wallace studied the papers in front of him in an offhanded manner, seeming not
to notice the hysterical pitch creeping into Doc’s voice.
“As a matter of fact, the last reference to you just states that you were
projected into the future.” He looked at Doc curiously over the top of the
paper. “Did you know that you were the only success? Quite remarkable.”
“There are other words for it.”
“I’m not really interested in your opinions. Only your survival. It just so
happens that a vital component in one of our machines has broken down for the
last time. There are no repairs that can be made to it, so we need a replacement
part. You can be of some use to us.”
“I? How can I be of use?” Doc scoffed. “An old man out of time, prone to fits of
melancholy and madness? What do I know of machines?”
“Perhaps more than you know,” Wallace said softly. “As soon as you and your
companions arrived, I knew you would be of some use. Your great age brings the
necessary wisdom. The fact that you are who you are is an unexpected bonus. For
that reason you will live. If you agree to help, then your companions will also