“Yes. But being here right in the middle of it can change your perspectives a little,” he says. He sips his wine and then compliments the waiter. “You might call it the Revolutionary War, but from here it looks rather different. Sitting right in the action, it just doesn’t feel like a revolution. Not to me anyway.”
“What does it feel like?” I ask.
“Like what it is: just another proxy war between the British and the French. Been going on for centuries.”
“Interesting way of looking at it,” Gallie says.
“But it’s the way it is. Like you, I learned in school all about the uprising of the patriots to meet their destiny, but do you think the poor slobs down there in Leatown give a crap whether they’re being governed by King George or by a Continental Congress? Nah. It’s a handful of rich landowners who are the only real stakeholders, and they figure they’ll get a better deal if they align with the French. And lucky for them, the British are about to be consumed by another war in Europe so the French are in with a shot here.” Asmus sits back in his chair with the air of someone who’s about to grace us with his wisdom. “You see, when you’ve been to the places I’ve been, you see there’s a big, big distinction between the past and history. The past is just a collection of events that happened, that’s all. You’re both tackychemists so you get that. Whereas history is all about tales told by grayhairs–attempts to make stories out of the past, forcing the pieces together as if they have a plot and some kind of moral meaning. It’s history that’s the maker of heroes and villains, not the past.”
Gallie smiles. “Thank you for dinner,” she says and Bess smiles back.
“Yes, dinner with friends is no place for politics,” Asmus says. “Now, what would you say to hand-made ice cream?”
“Why are you murdering TMA security officers and imprisoning the rest?” I ask.
“Imprisoning?” Asmus says with indignation. “They’re free to stay or to leave any time. As are you.”
“They need to be free to go home.”
“Ah. Go home.” Asmus puts on a wide smile and sips more wine. “So tell me about your career with TMA Joad. Did you enjoy it? Was it fulfilling?”
“Was it? It’s still going on unless you know different.”
He turns to Gallie. “You see, Joad and I go way back. Old friends.” I stay quiet. “It may be hard to believe looking at us now, but I always considered Joad as a sort of mentor. He was a decade older than me and had his feet well under the TMA table.” His smile fades. “I was so proud to be part of TMA. We all were, right Joad?”
“It’s a privilege,” Gallie says.
“Yes, a privilege” Asmus agrees. “But it turns out that my love for TMA was unrequited.” He turns to Bess. “That hurts.”
“Maybe it was your personality,” I say, and Gallie squeezes my leg hard under the table.
“Well, yes, that’s a fair point,” Asmus says. “But none of us were the warm, fuzzy type were we? God knows you weren’t, Joad. You see, at least your contributions were admired, appreciated.” His smile has now vanished. “You know, I developed the theoretical basis for enhancement of the tachyon reflection coefficient by almost twenty percent?”
“Yes,” I reply but it’s a lie. I don’t remember much about anything Asmus did at TMA.
“Yes. Guess how much credit I got for that.” I shrugged. “I wanted to be in the big chair. You knew that. To one day be in the big chair.” He looks at Gallie. “You made it there. You know what that means to someone.” She looks back at him but says nothing. “I got nowhere in TMA. Nowhere. And the people who did ...” He looks into middle distance. “Maybe I was no Prasad, but I was next tier down. I was. Is that arrogant? But I was. And it took me nowhere!” For an instant his face contorts, but just as quickly he regains his composure. “But c’est la vie. I’ll call for ice cream.”
“I don’t want fucking ice cream Kasper. I want you to let us take the TMA team back.” He looks offended.
“No ice cream?”
“Why did you take the 2021 team?” Gallie asks calmly. “You were just starting out then.”
He nods. “Yes, good question Dr. Galois, I was just starting out. Yet, it had already set in. I knew I was going nowhere even then. Couldn’t understand it.” He looks at me. “It didn’t take long for me to be the reject. The guy without a future.” He takes another sip of wine. “So I decided one day, why not go back to the very beginning. That’s the TMA that set my career in the direction it was always going to go. It was their doing.”
“So you thought you’d just abduct them all and teach them a lesson?” I say. “And thought you might as well blow up the array while you were there. Remove some temporal protection, indulge in a little time vandalism.” Asmus raises his palm upwards as if to say will you listen to this guy?
“That makes me sound like a lunatic.” He grins. “And as you know, I didn’t get all of them.” I look behind me again and one of the guards looks back.
“So you and your goon came back to kill me just so you’d score the complete set.”
“Well, I wouldn’t put it that way. Besides, I knew you’d make trouble for me left to your own devices. And here you are, making trouble for me.”
“So this is where you kill me?” I ask.
“What?” he feigns shock. “Why would I do that now that you’re reunited with your friends?
