scenarios that arise from this. If necessary, we can make subsequent interventions in time to optimise the results. These interventions may also be used to ensure that we can keep the Revisionist team untouched.” He smiled, knowingly. “Obviously there are some things in the present we want to keep… ring-fenced, if you like.”
Angus finally finished his breakfast. “So what?”
“So what, Angus?” Pendelshape continued, a note of frustration in his voice. “So we can make measurements of our scenarios. We can evaluate changes we make in terms of their impact on economic wealth, political stability, health and a whole range of other things, including, believe it or not, an index of human happiness.”
This was too much for Angus. “You’ve got to be kidding, Sir. You’re saying that you can kind of use that computer to say what would happen to the world if you assassinated Hitler and measure how happy everyone would be as a result?”
“Indeed. It sounds strange, I know, but every scenario has up sides and down sides; winners and losers. What we are seeking to do is to find the best overall scenario which optimises human well-being in the long term — and for that matter the well-being of the planet, and, yes, we can’t really do the comparison unless we can measure the scenarios. Happiness is one of those measures. All the measures together are called the Utility Index — the UI.”
“So you’re saying that you’ve managed to develop the software to a point where you can really run ‘what ifs’ and measure the impact.”
“Yes, Jack, exactly.”
Jack lowered his voice. “But Dad didn’t agree with your plans, did he?”
Pendelshape sighed, “We had a disagreement with your father. We were keen to use our Taurus with the new Timeline Simulator, but your father refused until he was sure that you were safely removed from VIGIL’s control. Their control over you and your father’s fear of what they might do to you, should we act, were the main reasons we didn’t do anything with the new system. But he also wanted you to join us — he has always wanted you to follow in his footsteps. We became impatient, the arguments became more heated, and eventually…”
“Eventually what?”
“The team and I decided to remove him as leader of the Revisionists. He left of his own accord, however, and we knew he might do something reckless. There was a risk that he would contact VIGIL and tell them of our plans, to avoid them thinking he was still in charge and that this was all his idea. He was worried about you… and your mother. Your presence here confirms that he did indeed warn VIGIL — although why on earth VIGIL decided to send you and Angus back on a mission as important as this, I have no idea.”
“It hasn’t quite gone according to plan,” Angus said sheepishly.
“But you still haven’t explained the ‘intervention’ you plan to make — why you have decided to come back to this point — and what Whitsun and Gift were doing in Cambridge,” said Jack.
Pendelshape gazed out of the window, which was starting to mist up from the warmth in the room. He seemed to be weighing something up in his mind — something important. “I suppose it makes no difference now,” he said, turning back to the screen. “Let me show you.”
He punched the keyboard again and leaned back. “Here. You can see.”
The year counter was reset to 1587 and again the days, months and years ticked forward. This time, something strange happened on the map. The yellow, denoting the extent of Spain’s geographical and political power did not decline as before. Instead, first England turned yellow and then gradually the whole of South America, North America and Western Europe. As the years on the counter ticked through the nineteenth century some other colours — blue, black, red — did appear on the screen, but they failed to grow. They seemed to be quickly snuffed out by the yellow shading which continued its onward march until, as the year approached 1894, it engulfed almost the entire world.
Jack stared in wonder at the screen. “Spain rules the entire world? Is that what it means?”
“Not quite. Spain conquers England, of course, and in time that gives rise to what becomes an Anglo-Spanish hegemony — the power base eventually moves to the Americas and that becomes a basis for global domination. What we see here starts with Spain, if you like, but over time it morphs into something different and new.”
“And that’s a good thing?”
“You miss the point. It’s a
“But doesn’t that go against — I don’t know — things like people being free to choose who governs them — democracy and all that stuff?”
“There is a place for democracy, in time, and a democratic global state does emerge from this. Eventually. The point is that there are no countries as such. All artificial boundaries are destroyed as the super state develops. At points, of course, as in any historical process, there is brutality and special interests have to be crushed. But you can only achieve stability through strong leadership and control. In the long term, though, what emerges is much better — certainly better than having hundreds of different countries that can’t agree on anything and keep fighting each other.”
As Jack stared at the map of the world in front of him, entirely shaded in yellow, it dawned on him that the ambition of the Revisionists and of Pendelshape was utterly astonishing. They planned to use the Taurus to rip apart the fabric of history and start again. It was mindblowing. Jack could see that this ability to play God would be hugely seductive — particularly for someone like Pendelshape.
“How will you do it?” he asked.
“To begin with it’s very simple. First Spain must defeat England. The new nation that forms from this must then be guided at certain points through the subsequent centuries, with an occasional hand on the tiller from us. The scenario is also modelled to ensure that the Revisionist team and our Taurus are protected. Ring-fenced, if you will.”
“How is England defeated?” Angus asked.
“Ideally, we need to make two interventions. Elizabeth must die. This will result in a power vacuum and internal strife in England — civil war, in fact. This first step is desirable, but not completely essential. Secondly, and more importantly, we need the Armada to succeed. The battle of Gravelines during the Armada was a key English victory. If that can be reversed, then the Armada will succeed, laying the way for a successful Spanish invasion. And with a successful Spanish invasion, order will be restored and we can start the next stage of our work.”
“So this plot that we stumbled across with Marlowe… I guess that has something to do with part one of your plan — the death of Elizabeth?” Jack commented.
“Indeed. We researched the period to identify a suitable opportunity. We considered the Babington Plot and using Mary, Queen of Scots, but we dismissed the idea. Our plan now is to avoid an obvious successor to maximise a period of internal strife in England before the arrival of the Spanish. Of course this period is rife with espionage. Your Spanish friends from yesterday have a well- developed plan and Whitsun, Gift and myself are here to make sure it goes smoothly, hence their presence in Cambridge. When they discovered that you were in Cambridge too, they had to act quickly to remove you, so you would do nothing to inadvertently…”
“Alter your plans?”
“Yes. But Whitsun and Gift failed, of course, and now your actions in the torture chamber have put everything back. The Spanish assassination cell will shortly discover that three of their colleagues have mysteriously disappeared and they will very likely abandon the plot.”
Jack tried to follow Pendelshape’s logic. “So now that this has all happened, your next step must be to infiltrate the assassination cell to make sure that the plot still goes ahead. Right?”
“Correct. With Elizabeth dead, stage one is complete.”
“How do you, er… they plan to kill her?”
Pendelshape refilled the coffee cups in front of them. “That, my dear boy, would be a little too much information. But it is all set out in the letter that Marlowe gave you. That is why it was important to prevent it reaching Walsingham. Without it, and with Marlowe safely in the hands of the Spanish, Walsingham and the crown are none the wiser…” Pendelshape patted his sides absent-mindedly. “In fact, where did I put the letter?” Jack and Angus looked at each other. “No matter — I will find it in a minute… Anyway, we know all the details of the Spanish plot and it will not take much to get it back on track. Everything is in position.”
Jack’s head was spinning as he tried to assimilate Pendelshape’s words. There was one question that their old teacher had not answered.
“Why are you telling us all this?”
Pendelshape paused before he spoke. “We need to make some decisions. Or to be more precise —
