The Doomsday Code

instructions.’

Adam quickly inserted the missing letters. They fitted the gaps perfectly. He looked at her and grinned. ‘Outstanding.’

Maddy continued chewing on the end of her pen. ‘But nothing’s changed out there. Or maybe it has and we can’t see it yet cos it’s dark. Thing is, that sure isn’t New York out there still.’ Stating the obvious of course, but she didn’t care. ‘Things still aren’tright.’

› Maddy.

‘What is it, Bob?’

› Some of the data on my system has changed.

‘What? How’s that possible? The preservation field’s on, isn’t it?’

› Affirmative. However, the time ripple was significant enough to cause a temporary voltage dip. The preservation field was down for several seconds.

Sal looked at Maddy. ‘Shadd-yah! Does that mean it has affected us?’

‘I dunno.’ She looked Sal up and down. ‘You don’t look any different. What about me?’

She flickered a smile. ‘You still look like a geeky geek.’

‘Thanks.’ She turned to Adam. ‘You OK, Adam?’

But he was staring at her wide-eyed. His mouth hung open.

‘Adam?’

‘Good God!’ he slowly gasped. ‘Whoareyou people?Where … am … I? ’

Maddy turned to Sal, wondering what kind of a mess they were in now, when Adam finally cracked a wide grin. ‘Just kidding.’

She cursed under her breath and shot him pistol eyes. ‘That’s not even close to being funny, you moron!’

Computer-Bob’s cursor skittered across the screen.

› 17 of the 37 history-book pages you scanned have changed file size.

Adam looked down at the library books they’d stolen a little earlier, stacked on the end of the desk. ‘If their contents changed, the page layouts may be changed and it would affect the size of the digital files a little.’

Maddy nodded. ‘Bob, what about the summing-up document you put together? The potted history?’

› That has also changed.

‘Put it up on screen. Lemme see it.’

The document appeared beside his dialogue box.

› Identifying text sequences that have changed.

Bob began highlighting all the parts of the text that had been altered. Which was to say, most of it.

Adam began to read snippets of it aloud. ‘… 1194, King Richard returns from the Third Crusade … reclaims his kingdom from his younger brother, John … the siege of Nottingham, John surrenders and begs for King Richard’s mercy. King Richard executes his brother for high treason … has him hung, drawn and quartered … ’

Adam shook his head. ‘That’s still wrong. The correct version is that Richard forgives him, lets him live.’

‘You sure?’ asked Maddy.

‘Of course I’m sure! You never heard of King John?’

She shrugged. ‘I guess I saw a Disney cartoon once with a King John in it. But then he was, like, a fox or a lion or something, so I didn’t take it too seriously.’

Sal had been reading ahead. ‘There’s no mention of this peasant rebellion of the north any more.’

The other two read on.

‘Liam said he’d stopped the rebellion in his message,’ she added. ‘But … if you look what it says there, England’s still going to end up disappearing.’

Adam resumed skimming the document. ‘… 1195, King Richard announces the Fourth Crusade.’ He looked at the girls. ‘Well, there was certainly no fourth crusade. That’s new.’ He resumed. ‘The Fourth Crusade is championed by King Richard, his goal again to retake Jerusalem. This time round there is little support for it, despite a Papal Bull being issued.’

‘What’s one of those?’ asked Sal.

‘The Pope basically announcing God says it’s a cool idea.’

‘King Richard raises ruinous taxes, and incurs crippling debts to fund the crusade and, in 1196, leaves England for the last time … 1197, King Richard and eleven thousand knights and men-at-arms are massacred by Saladin’s army at the Battle of Al Karak. With no successor in England, and the country bankrupt, anarchy ensues … 1199, King Philip II of France invades … and so on.’ Adam shook his head. ‘Same result still.’

‘England gets gobbled up by France,’ said Sal.

‘This fourth crusade didn’t happen, you say?’

‘No. In normal history, when Richard failed to take Jerusalem during the Third Crusade, that was pretty much the end of the wars in the Holy Land. All the Christian kingdoms just sort of lost the appetite to fight for it. None of them could afford another crusade anyway. Fact is, in normal history, when Richard returned home he turned his attention to rebuilding his kingdom, reclaiming territories he’d lost to the French in Normandy. That became his sole focus for the last six years of his life, getting back the lands he’d lost while he’d been on his holy war.’

Maddy pursed her lips. ‘Hmmm … something’s changed his focus.’

‘Focus?’ Adam shook his head. ‘More like obsession. I mean, what’s going on there? He ruins his country, he bankrupts himself and he launches what looks like a suicidal last crusade. Why?’

‘He went mad?’ said Sal.

‘Some historians say he was already a bit loopy.’

‘Something new, then,’ said Maddy. ‘Maybe something that Liam’s caused? Maybe something to do with the Voynich Manuscript?’ She took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes. ‘If there’s some other time traveller back there … then perhaps something they’ve done?’

The others looked at her silently. There were no answers. Only questions.

‘OK … all right, here’s what we do. We send back another data package of this new version of history and ask Liam if they’ve got any ideas at all what’s suddenly eating Richard that he wants to go back to Jerusalem again.’ She put her glasses back on. ‘Meantime, we’ve still got the scheduled six-month return window if they want to use that, or, if they want to come back any earlier, they’ll need to send us a time-stamp.’

CHAPTER 48

1194, Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire

‘So … the pig says back to the farmer, “If ye sees what I seen yer wife’s up to, ye’d ’ave a curly tail too!”’ Eddie’s ruddy face crumpled like an old rug on a smooth polished floor. The other soldiers behind him, those within earshot, cackled along with him like a bunch of fishwives, their voices echoing off into the forest either side of the track.

Liam looked at the captain of his escort. ‘Sorry, Eddie, I’m not sure I get it.’

‘Well, sire … See, the pig’s been watchin’ the farmer’s — ’

Behind Eddie, one of the soldiers suddenly lurched forward. He dropped his shield and started clawing with both hands at his throat.

‘What’s …? Whuh?’

Then Liam saw a bright spurt of crimson gushing from the young man’s flapping mouth, and for the first time noticed the stub of a crossbow bolt protruding from the front of his throat.

Eddie responded far more quickly. ‘FORM UP!’ His parade-ground voice filled the forest trail just as another dozen projectiles whistled through the air towards them. Two arrows thudded into the horse’s flank either side of Liam’s right thigh. The horse reared up and he rolled backwards over the beast’s rump to land heavily on the hard mud track. The horse bolted, leaving a wake of dust behind it.