Excerpt 1

Panic did no good; that point had been vividly driven home to her by harsh experience over the course of her ten yearsunofficiallywith the Guild of History and Time Observation. Before long, the time fluctuations would manifest and the true timeher time or her presentlikely would be inextricably altered. Right now, there was still some infinitesimal window of opportunity to try for correction and containment.

Find me the date of the first time fluctuation in the timeline and pinpoint the locale on the main screen. Jala took refuge in decisiveness. Daryl nodded and did so swiftly....

Old-world France? Jala questioned, and Daryl nodded as the woman came close to the screen.

France in 1641, eight hundred and seventy-three years ago, to be exact, Daryl enlightened his companions. Jala punched a button and another section of the screen leaped to life. United States of America, 2060. Those dates were linked. Linked very closely....

At the same moment, Keith and Jala lifted their heads and an understanding look flashed between them. Something or someone from 1640 or 1641 was thrust forward to the year 2060, they said together.


Excerpt 2

Jala let her jaw go slack. She twirled the chair and dashed for the time chamber. Lets go, gentlemen, to just before the time disturbance in 1641. Weve got some musketeers to find before everything we know ceases to exist....No more time to debate alternatives.

The three dashedonly sparing a moment to grab one final parcelinto the chamber, and Jala twirled several knobs and pressed a sequence of buttons. The trio vanished. They might never have existedjust as the control room no longer existed and never would unless they set time right. Time may have been and was resilient, but even the main timeline could not stand up to such massive tinkering as this Konrad had launched.


Excerpt 3

We are not from your time. We are from very far in your futuremore than eight hundred, closer to nine hundred years to be more precise.

Already the musketeers were trading looks that plainly told them they thought Keith was lying through his teeth or fit for the madhouse. There has been a big disturbance in the time continuum that sent a man we know as Herzog Konrad into the twenty-first century, where he wreaked so much havoc that the entire timeline was drastically changed. We came back here to obtain your help to find the man and stop him from destroying the future of this entire world. Keith ran out of words to say.


Excerpt 4

A mysterious hum undercut the chirping of the spring crickets, only for an instant, and then was gone, to be replaced with an even briefer flash of gold and blue light. As the haze disappeared, a figure took several steps and glanced around. Several locks of sandy-blond hair were whipped into his face by the wind.

The bearded man paid it no mind. Nothing here mattered anymoreexcept...well, except the goal of his mission. He fingered the minuscule, pen-shaped unit by his side. Executioner was still there. A second later he remembered to place the handheld linkup inside his pouch. He took a deep breath and smelled the air. Yes! He was on French soil and, more importantly, he was back! Back in 1641.


Excerpt 5

Cynthias eyes traveled briefly over six gentlemen and two women all rigged out in loose fitting, almost white, tunics and variants of buff breeches, or were those culottes? Of course, the most ludicrous touches were the soft leather boots and basket hilt, highly polished swords that hung at the sides of five members of the mismatched group. Frankly, the misfits would have been more at place on a stage getting ready to do a shipwreck scene for a seventeenth-century film, especially the large one with a goatee and the gaudy sash tied around his waist.

At that moment Keith stepped forward from the group into the light, and Cynthia recognized the man as the leader of the Guild of History and Time Observation. We need your help. The field has mutated. Keith minced no words, using the language of his own time.

Excerpt 6

And what have you done to earn such ire from such a young woman? Tonie appeared mildly amused by the man.

I tried to force her to marry me. I shot one of her oldest and dearest friends down in cold blood and killed him. He didnt even pause for breath as he listed his catalog of worthy accomplishments.

I betrayed my own brother. And I shot her lover in front of her eyes. A pity Frederick William wouldnt give up on the man or he would have died. As it was it took him months to recover. I guess you could say the woman has a personal vendetta against me. Will there be anything else, madame? he concluded with a practiced politeness.


Excerpt 7

Athos abrupt voice cut through the conversation, putting an end to all other conversation. Despite the centuries, he had not lost his touch; he was still a man who commanded respect, allegiance, and inspired people to follow him. That, he gestured, is who were looking for. That is Konrad. I suggest we get to this Washington, D.C., before Konrad leaves.


Excerpt 8

You are mine and I yours, chrie, he said and then just held her closely to him for a long time as if he were trying to reassure them both, trying to capture the moment, knowing that more than likely theyd soon be at odds again. At odds over what was said, what was done, not done...what had been left unsaid. And worst of all, neither of them would know how they had slipped back into that hostility, nor even really why.