"Simon Hawke - Time Wars 05 - The Nautilus Sanction" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hawke Simon)

Temporal Physics.”
July 14, 2430: Mensinger publishes “There Is No Future,” in which he redefines relativity, proving
that there is no such thing as the future, but an infinite number of potential future scenarios which are
absolute relative only to their present. He also announces the discovery of “non-specific time” or
temporal limbo, later known as “the dead zone.”
October 21, 2440: Wolfgang Mensinger dies. His son, Albrecht, perfects the chronoplate and
carries on the work, but loses control of the discovery to political interests.
June 15, 2460: Formation of the international Committee for Temporal Intelligence, with Albrecht
Mensinger as director. Specially trained and conditioned “agents” of the committee begin to travel back
through time in order to conduct research and field test the chronoplate apparatus. Many become lost in
transition, trapped in the limbo of nonspecific time known as “the dead zone.” Those who return from
successful temporal voyages often bring back startling information necessitating the revision of historical
records.
March 22, 2461: The Consorti Affair—Cardinal Lodovico Consorti is excommunicated from the
Roman Catholic Church for proposing that agents travel back through time to obtain empirical evidence
that Christ arose following His crucifixion. The Consorti Affair sparks extensive international negotiations
amidst a volatile climate of public opinion concerning the proper uses for the new technology. Temporal
excursions are severely curtailed. Concurrently, espionage operatives of several nations infiltrate the
Committee for Temporal Intelligence.
May 1, 2461: Dr. Albrecht Mensinger appears before a special international conference in Geneva,
composed of political leaders and members of the scientific community. He attempts to alleviate fears
about the possible misuses of time travel. He further refuses to cooperate with any attempts at militarizing
his father’s discovery.
February 3, 2485: The research facilities of the Committee for Temporal Intelligence are seized by
troops of the TransAtlantic Treaty Organization.
January 25, 2492: The Council of Nations meets in Buenos Aires, capital of the United Socialist
States of South America, to discuss increasing international tensions and economic instability. A proposal
for “an end to war in our time” is put forth by the chairman of the Nippon Conglomerate Empire. Dr.
Albrecht Mensinger, appearing before the body as nominal director of the Committee for Temporal
Intelligence, argues passionately against using temporal technology to resolve international conflicts, but
cannot present proof that the past can be affected by temporal voyagers. Prevailing scientific testimony
reinforces the conventional wisdom that the past is an immutable absolute.
December 24, 2492: Formation of the Referee Corps, brought into being by the Council of Nations
as an extranational arbitrating body with sole control over temporal technology and authority to stage
temporal conflicts as “limited warfare” to resolve international disputes.
April 21, 2493: On the recommendation of the Referee Corps, a subordinate body named the
Observer Corps is formed, taking over most of the functions of the Committee for Temporal Intelligence,
which is redesignated as the Temporal Intelligence Agency. Under the aegis of the Council of Nations
and the Referee Corps, the TIA absorbs the intelligence agencies of the world’s governments and is
made solely answerable to the Referee Corps. Dr. Mensinger resigns his post to found the Temporal
Preservation League, a group dedicated to the abolition of temporal conflict.
June, 2497– March, 2502: Referee Corps presides over initial temporal confrontation campaigns,
accepting “grievances” from disputing nations, selecting historical conflicts of the past as “staging
grounds” and supervising the infiltration of modern troops into the so-called “cannon fodder” ranks of
ancient warring armies. Initial numbers of temporal combatants are kept small, with infiltration facilitated
by cosmetic surgery and implant conditioning of soldiers. The results are calculated based upon
successful return rate and a complicated “point spread.” Soldiers are monitored via cerebral implants,
enabling Search & Retrieve teams to follow their movements and monitor mortality rate. The media dubs
temporal conflicts the “Time Wars.”
2500-2510: Extremely rapid growth of massive support industry catering to the exacting art and