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inertia to substitute another Blakeney for the real one.
At some point thereafter, temporal inertia was overcome and
the split occurred. In order to negate that, they had to go back
and cause yet another disruption. However, in this case, the
people who would have to adjust that second disruption would
come from the alternate timeline, since it was now their history
that was disrupted. We thought that we were adjusting a
disruption, which we were, but while we were doing that, we
were being a disruption ourselves. All things considered, he
said to Mongoose,  you were putting one hell of a strain on
temporal inertia.
 They had no choice, considering what was at stake, said
Forrester.
 The real game began when Finn stepped into the role of
Percy Blakeney, Mongoose said.  Since we had no way of
knowing what event had caused the split, Fitzroy and I had to
make certain that events proceeded according to our history.
We couldn t clock back to see what had caused the split because
we didn t know when that happened. We might have
clocked back beyond the point at which it happened and disappeared
just like the others. So we had to replay the whole
The Pimpernel Plot
scenario with a different cast of characters and make sure that
we controlled the plot. The moment Cobra showed up, we
knew he was the agent from the alternate timeline, sent back
to make certain that the split occurred.
 How did you know? said Andre.
 We knew because Cobra, our Cobra, couldn t possibly have
clocked back to join us. I had been removed from active temporal
field duty for a time while Cobra stayed on as a field
agent. During that time, he was sent on a mission from which
he never returned. He was killed by Indians in the American
Revolutionary War and his death was witnessed. Unless he
had somehow come back from the dead, this Cobra had to be
from an alternate timeline in which events had proceeded almost
exactly parallel to ours. Who knows, perhaps in the alternate
timeline, I was the one who was killed instead of Cobra.
He certainly knew  me well enough.
 But if you knew he was from the other timeline, why couldn t
you move against him? Andre said.  Why couldn t you tell
us?
 Because we were meant to be the Judas goats, said Finn,
grimly.
 That s part of it, said Mongoose.  The other part is the fact
that I couldn t do anything against him because he was the
only one I knew about. I had no idea how many other people
from that timeline came back with him. At least I knew who
Cobra was. At first, I was so paranoid that I began to think that
there was a possibility that he could have pulled a substitution
of his own and brought in an alternate Finn Delaney. However,
Finn disproved that for me most emphatically. He smiled
and felt his left side, where Delaney s sword had grazed him.
 It was necessary for you to think that it was nothing more
than an ordinary temporal adjustment mission. Knowing the
truth about Cobra would certainly have affected your performance.
256 Time Wars #3
 But he had plenty of opportunities to move against us, said
Andre.  Why didn t he?
Mongoose glanced at Finn.
 Because he couldn t, Finn said.  He didn t dare to act until
the actual split point. His timeline came about as a result of
the first adjustment team s interaction with an historical event.
That s why Mongoose had to snatch all the aristocrats away
from us. He didn t know when the actual split point was and
he had to protect the historical events of our timeline.
 Exactly, Mongoose said.  Fortunately, the Cobra from the
other timeline didn t know that our Cobra had died prior to
this mission. However, he figured that out quickly enough. It
took a lot of nerve to play it the way he did. He had to improvise
like crazy, but he really had you going. We might have
been stalemated if I hadn t doubled Fitzroy. That s the one thing
he didn t anticipate. Just the same, it was pretty close right
there at the end.
 I had a feeling something strange was going on when I.
walked through the door of the Chat Gris, said Finn.  Talk
about your Mexican standoffs. Everybody in that place with
the exception of Chauvelin, Brogard, and Lady Blakeney was
from another time. And from two different timelines.
Mongoose grinned.  You should have seen your face when
they all pulled out their weapons.
Finn shook his head.  I imagine it was something like
Brogard s expression when he came up from the cellar to find [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]