Paradox Hour by John Schettler Page B

to that conclusion. I was about to tell you one other thing she revealed sir. She said that she had been designated as Keyholder Alpha, the keeper of the keys, as she described it. She was very keen on the fact that these keys are crucial, as they all seem to be related to another rift in time that has been carefully secured. One was obviously there at the Shrine of Delphi, and she said there were others, just as you have confirmed. Each key has information machined on the shaft that can reveal the locations of these time rifts, and they must all be found. She was very insistent about that. In fact, that’s what I came to discuss with you. We are out chasing after Admiral Lütjens on the Hindenburg , but Miss Fairchild has interjected something that may have a big impact on our mission.”
    “Indeed? What is that, Mister Fedorov?”
    “One of the other known keys was found embedded in the base of the Selene Horse—an artifact that was part of the Elgin Marbles. It was being shipped to Boston for safekeeping aboard the battleship Rodney , and that ship is at sea, with that cargo in her hold, at this very moment!”
    “Yes, that is very interesting,” said Kamenski. “Here it is, May of 1941, the very month that key went missing.”
    That struck Fedorov again, and he gave the Director a perplexed look. “Then you knew about this sir? You knew the key was aboard Rodney , and that it disappeared during her engagement with the Bismarck?”
    Kamenski took a long puff on his pipe, exhaling as he thought for a moment. “The short answer is yes. I knew the British had possession of another key, and that it went missing. We eventually narrowed it down to this incident with Bismarck . Others knew about it as well, and it has been sought, very ardently, for decades, but never found.”
    “Well it’s right here, sir! Admiral Tovey is going to arrange a meeting with HMS Rodney at sea. We can go and inspect that cargo ourselves—or perhaps Miss Fairchild will. I suppose this is more her business than mine, though I’m very curious about all of this.”
    “Stay curious, Fedorov. That’s what I like about you. Never be afraid to ask the big questions. I could see you had a keen mind for this time displacement business long ago. That is why I teased you with that bit about the assassination date of Sergei Kirov changing. Did you ever give that further thought?”
    Fedorov remembered that now. One telling of those events held the date was December 1st, and yet others swore it was on the 30th of that month. It all came tumbling back in his mind now, an avalanche of realization. He could hear Kamenski’s voice in his recollection, when the man had first challenged him with this oddity. “It may interest you to know that he was assassinated on December 1st, and not on the 30th. That was the way it happened the first time. Then things changed….
    “Just a moment, Director.” Fedorov could hear his own voice raising an obvious objection. “It’s clear to me that we caused the Americans to enter the war early, yet I would have told anyone that Kirov was assassinated on the 30th even before we left Severomorsk.”
    Admiral Volsky had remembered that same date, and the two of them had just stared at Kamenski, waiting.
    “Yes, and many others will have that date in their heads,” Kamenski had said. “But this old head remembers it on the 1st of December. A few of the Party elite would celebrate it quietly, behind closed doors. I have drunk many a toast to Sergei Kirov on that day. But the people I can raise a glass with are now few and far between.”
    Fedorov remembered the astounding conclusion that provoked. “But that would mean … Well that would mean something happened to change the history even before Kirov left Severomorsk!”
    “You are very astute, my young man. Yes. That is exactly what it would mean. There may be only a small handful of people who know what you have just concluded—and know it to be a fact and not