Life, Liberty, & Pursuit of Justice

"Yep."

"I want to create a mission for our home operations sequencer. It'll take me an hour to write it. Then let's have a late snack in P6 and sack out for the night. It's been a big day, hard to believe I was buying groceries 12 hours ago. Tomorrow morning, return to interface mode for a few milliseconds, and I'll burst-mode transmit the program before I speak to Mr. Ata again. It'll only save us a minute or two of Earth time, but I don't want to waste a second...."

Day 100

Kathy teleported into the room just as the counter clicked 100. Mr. Ata had been standing in an extreme corner of the room, trying to see where Kathy would enter, so Kathy jumped in ten feet above his head and just stayed there.

"Hello, Mr. Ata. I've returned to offer you the choice again."

The man jumped and ran to the center of the floor, looking back up at Kathy. "Why don't you fall?"

"I won't answer that. Do you choose to go home?"

"You stupid, unclean female dog! A hundred days have gone by! Allah be praised! You have missed your chance! All the codes will have changed by now. As soon as my disappearance was noticed, within a day, all the codes would have changed! I've won! The codes are useless to you!"

"Then tell me all the useless codes and you can go within the hour. I promise. You have my word."

"No!" The man turned and grabbed a chair to throw at Kathy, but she had already jumped by the time he turned back.

Day 300

The man was in the center of room, staring at the spot Kathy had appeared previously. Kathy jumped in about 10 feet behind his back.

"Hello, Mr. Ata. I've returned to offer you the choice again."

Mr. Ata turned and glued his eyes on Kathy. "How did you get in here?"

"I won't tell you that. What is your choice, Mr. Ata?"

Mr. Ata sneered at Kathy. "I think you're unclean, and you think I'm evil, don't you?"

Kathy paused. "I won't stay for conversation, but I will answer that question." Kathy looked downward in thought for a moment, and then looked up into the intense hatred in Mr. Ata's eyes. "A great poet once said, all spirits are enslaved who serve things evil."

"So you do think I'm evil!"

"I think the cause you serve is evil. Look at you, a slave to your hatred, chained to believing your own lies, trapped by your own pain... I offer you the opportunity to renounce your hatred, Mr. Ata. Let go of your pain! You can renounce your caliph and your caliph's lies and let truth set you free. That is your choice, Mr. Ata."

With his eyes remaining glued on Kathy, Mr. Ata raised a chair over his head, and began walking toward her. Kathy sighed and jumped before his eyes.

Day 700

"Hello, Mr. Ata. I've returned to offer you the choice again."

"Stay a while," said Mr. Ata with a smile. "I won't attack."

"I don't trust your word, Mr. Ata. I won't stay for conversation. What is your choice?"

"I think I'll tell you. I've been here almost two years. The codes will be worthless to you. Tell me first, though, the one picture in this room. I can't smash it. How is that possible?"

"I won't tell you. What is your choice?"

"At least tell me who they are!"

"...All right. Their names are Carly and Emily. This picture was taken three days after your attack in Porto. I thought you should see the beauty that survived. Consider their innocent faces, and how they are too young to hate you for killing both their mothers."

The man shrieked, and lunged for Kathy. Kathy jumped.

Day 1500

"Hello, Mr. Ata. I've returned to offer you the choice again."

"I hollered for you for the last two years. I would have told you everything. You never came!"

"The choice will only be offered during my visits. Decide yes now, or wait for the next 1600 days for the next opportunity."

"Go to Hell!" he shrieked. The man was then astonished by the look of sorrow and compassion in Kathy's eyes.

"That path, Mr. Ata, must surely be yours." A tear rolled down her cheek, and she jumped to Matt's side by temporal controls.

"Ready for Day 3100?" asked Matt.

"Not quite. Give me a few moments to collect myself." Kathy sat down in a chair next to Matt. After a few minutes, Matt reached over and held her hand. Kathy smiled at Matt in gratitude.

"He made an interesting comment," said Matt. "Do you think he would have told us before? We talked before we set this up, of putting a panic button in the cell. Letting him be able to call us as soon as he wants to tell us the codes..."

"No, Matt. Giving him the power to have me at his beckon call would be a mistake. It would hand him a huge victory in our contest of wills. Our current setup is the correct one."

"...This current setup is still boggling my mind. Earth time, less than 9 seconds have elapsed since I disposed of the last of the bodies into the black hole, but it's been 1600 days for Mr. Ata, and a night's sleep and part of a morning for us. Logically, I can do the math. It's easy. But my gut reaction is still that what we were doing is unbelievable."

Kathy stood up and gave Matt an affectionate kiss, and then Matt reached for a control and began to reduce the extreme time contraction of pocket room M0.

Day 3100

"Hello, Mr. Ata. I've returned to offer you the choice again."

"Don't go away. Whatever you do, don't go away."

"I won't stay for conversation. What is your choice?"

"Can I have some more books?"

"You threw everything but the Quran in the disposal four years ago."

"I know. It was just a few months after your last visit. I was in a rage. It was a stupid, stupid mistake. Please? It's so lonely here..."

"Are you sure your choice is no?"

"Please, just the books."

"... What kind would you like?"

"Newspapers! I know the caliph does not yet rule all. I am still here. But in what parts of the world does he reign? At least tell me the Zionists have been driven out of Palestine! Surely they are all dead by now!"

"I'm sorry. Nothing about current news."

"It's just that I'm so lonely..."

"I know..." said Kathy, "I know." Kathy walked to stand before him, reached up and in pure compassion put her hand on his shoulder. It was his first human contact in over eight years. The man appeared to reach for Kathy's hand in gratitude, and then launched a vicious backhand knuckle strike at her face. Kathy jumped before it hit. The man howled.

The next morning, the man awoke and was astonished to find a huge pile of books near the reading chair, more than enough to fill the shelves. He also stared at a polished wooden box, that when opened revealed a beautiful flute. Among the books were numerous instructions books on how to play it. The man spent hours trying to grasp the meaning. Very surprising to him, the gift was stirring memories of his childhood, and he couldn't figure out why. Usually, the only childhood memories he had were of school, he and his classmates being led in rousing chants of "Kill the Jews! Kill the Jews!" by his Hamas teachers. But the gift of the flute reminded him of his mother, and he couldn't figure out why. She had been shot dead when he was 4 years old, during a resistance gun battle with Israeli troops. He was told she had been killed by Israeli bullets. He never doubted it.

Day 6300

"Hello, Mr. Ata. I've returned to offer you the choice again."

"My choice is yes! Here! I've written everything you've asked for." Mr. Ata pointed to a set of papers on his desk. He stepped aside so Kathy had clear access to walk to it. Kathy just jumped instead. Mr. Ata cleared his throat. "I've been here for more than 17 years."

"Yes, I know" said Kathy, looking at the papers.

"You've promised to let me go!"

"Within the hour, if these are correct."

"It's been 17 years! All the people will have moved! You'll never be able to verify anything in an hour."

"You have no idea of my abilities, Mr. Ata. If all this is correct, you will be home within an hour. If not, I will give you the choice again in 6400 days, 17.5 years in the future. Do you wish to change any information here?"

"Perhaps my memory has failed me. It's been so long. What can I do?"

"Accept responsibility for the choices you have made, even if they result in your dying here.... I'm glad you liked the flute. Your play has become quite good. Very precise."

"You have heard me play? Why did you give it to me?"

"Because you are Allah's child, Mr. Ata, and thus deserving of compassion." Ata looked at her with a complete lack of understanding. "Are you sure, Mr. Ata? Sure you don't want to change anything here? Very well. You'll be home within an hour if this is correct. Goodbye."

Day 12700

"Hello, Mr. Ata. I've returned to offer you the choice again."

"You! You haven't aged a bit! I've become an old man, and you haven't aged a bit! Are you Shaitan?"

"Satan?... I won't answer that. What is your choice?"

"You must be Shaitan. I pledged a life oath to my caliph, Shaitan. No, wait! But... All of this is impossible! I'm I already dead?"

"In mercy, I will answer that. No, you are not dead. What is your choice, Mr. Ata?"

"Can I touch you?"

"Yes" said Kathy after a moment's thought, and she walked up and offered her hand. Mr. Ata took it gently, and then held it to his face.

"I'm 65 years old now. I won't live another 35 years. This is my last chance, isn't it?"

"I won't answer that."

"I can't betray my caliph. You must be Shaitan, but I dream of you as my mother. It's very strange.... You knew that the papers from last time were fakes?"

"Of course."

"Disappear when you will, Shaitan. Until then, I hold my mother's hand to my face." Kathy felt his tears wetting her hand. She let him finished his sobbing before she jumped to Matt's side.

"Katherine, I have a dim understanding of how hard this must be for you. Is there anything I can do?"

Kathy was silent for a long moment, and then said "Just hold me... It might help... It might not..."

Matt held Kathy for a while. It did help, just a bit. They broke for a light lunch.

"It's been almost 35 years for him now, and still only about one minute of Earth time" said Matt. "Is he right, about this being the last time? Our next temporal jump will be 66 Earth seconds, just over another 35 years for him... Will he live to be a 100? We might have lost..."

"He'll live. I told him he couldn't count on medical care, but I never said he wouldn't get it. I won't stretch his life beyond 100. That would be torture. But it's possible for a normal human to reach 100, and I'm going to help him get there."

"Over this last Earth minute, your program from the home tesseract completed. I got a burst status report at the end of our last touch of interface mode. Wow, Kathy! What you're doing will change the foundations of three religions! I see your point about monumental!"

"I wrote my message on the Wailing Wall, across the mosque dome at the Haram-esh-Sarif, what the Jews call the Temple Mount, and on all four sides of the Ka'ba in Mecca. Carved it deep into the stone, right through the mosque dome at the Temple Mount. Big bold letters, the messages filling the sizes of the monuments, both in Hebrew and Arabic. I don't care that I'm defacing history. The message must be heard!"

"Kathy, can I make a suggestion? I've been developing a number of programs for my Mars terraforming project, and I'd love to test them out on Earth. I've been thinking of the Sea of Galilee. The Israelis have abused it, overworked it. It's filled with brackish water, polluted mud flats, salts and waste, it's a mess... The water level is more than 10 meters lower than where it should be. We've got the power here to turn it into a garden lake, clean up the mess, make the bottom sparkling clean sand, add two cubic km of cold pure water, even more if we deepen the sea, eliminate the salts, make the water drinkable, it would be really nice. Landscape the entire perimeter with deep groves of fruit trees and picnic areas. Here, take a look at some of these projections from the pocket sequencer... "

An hour later...

"Gee, Matt, some of these options for restarting the aquatic ecosystem are fascinating..."

DAY 25500

Kathy was petting Mr. Ata's head as he slept on his bed. He opened his eyes and smiled.

"Are you really here? Or is this another dream?"

"Oh, I'm here, Mr. Ata." Kathy said, as she continued to pet his head. She was also differential teleporting, calmly floating on thin air by the side of his bed, her legs curled in a lotus position. Mr. Ata turned his head and gazed at the folds of her robe hanging loosely beneath her legs.

"My life is almost over, isn't it?"

"Yes, almost over. At least this part of it. I still think of you as Allah's child. I do not judge what will come next."

"Here," said Mr. Ata, as he reached into a shirt pocket and pulled out a slip of paper. "I wrote this last night. There are seven decryption codes here. It would have unlocked all the information on an old laptop I used to have. I know this is symbolic, just keys, not the actual information you asked for. But I can't remember all the details. I do renounce my caliph though. I don't want to die filled with hate."

Kathy took the paper, and she started to sob.

"Can I ask you a question, angel?"

"Angel? I'll answer your question."

"The two infants in the picture, they must be almost 70 years old now. Are they both still alive?"

"Yes, they're both still alive."

"And do they hate me now, for killing both their mothers?"

"No, they don't hate you now. They have never hated you, and I hope they never will. The cycle of hate must end."

"Shaitan would never say such a thing. You're an angel, aren't you? Are you the angel of my mother? Tell me, was it an Israeli bullet that killed you?"

"Oh, I can imagine the scene! Resistance fighters moving and firing among the civilians, Israeli troops engaging with militant targets... Mr. Ata, neither side wanted to kill your mother. Both sides were thinking that the importance of the land justified the violence. I don't know which bullet killed your mother, and I don't care."

"Do you forgive me for all the children I killed in Barcelona and Porto?"

"Mr. Ata, I don't want to deceive you. I'll be your mother's angel only as much as you want me to be. As much as it's my right to forgive you, I do forgive you. But it's Allah's forgiveness you should ask for."

"Angel, will you accept my paper for letting me go?"

"Yes."

"Will you take me to Mecca then? There's nothing at that house for me, where we first met. I'd like to ask for Allah's forgiveness in Mecca."

"The Masjid al-Haram mosque? Yes, I promise. I'll be back very shortly, in less than an hour." Kathy kissed his forehead, and then jumped directly to temporal controls.

Chapter 6.

Kathy's very first act out of P2 was to modify the temporal controls and push the pocket into balance mode. She reduced the time contraction in M0 and P6, allowing her to push P2 from maximum contraction to maximum dilation. P2 was now running 4,096 times more slowly than Earth, and M0 and P6 running 4,096 times faster than Earth. Kathy and Matt spent the next three days working furiously on the data from Mr. Ata's laptop. At the end of their analysis and program setup, a total of 195 seconds of Earth time had elapsed since Kathy had teleported the Accountant away from Earth.

"Well," said Matt, "it's set to go. All that's left is to switch M0 to interface mode, and engage the programs."

"Who did you finally decide would steal cell 16's money, the Spanish team in charge of isotope procurement?"

"The cell running the safe houses in France. This plan is so brilliant, Kathy! With the accountant's complete records, we have a fiscal map of everything. I don't think even the caliph knew what a stickler for details that guy was. The caliph would be horrified to know the entire fiscal layout of Eternal Jihad was being carried around in one laptop! Who would have guessed they have over $3B of liquid assets? And once I push this button, with our knowledge from the laptop and the tesseract's technology, the following will happen: Within two seconds, the $3B will disappear. Gone. Totally, permanently gone. The money withdrawn into bit-bucket oblivion. For that brief period of time, we'll have total interbank control. And we'll spoof the withdrawal addresses of all the control agents! Each cell will think the some other cell has stolen its money! With the incredible news of the monument writing coming out of the Middle East, each cell will think that the other cells have panicked, and are trying to run off with the money. Hell hath no fury as a terrorist who's been ripped off. When the smoke clears, I wonder if anyone in Eternal Jihad will be left alive?"

Kathy flipped the master M0 temporal switch, and a second later engaged programs FISCAL-0 and GALILEE-0. "I've started the terraforming project too. You were so correct to design it. Our God is a God of abundance. I'm very happy to give the world back the Sea of Galilee the way is was before people spoiled it... I must say, Matthew, I did have a few second thoughts about FISCAL-0 over the last three days. Deceiving your enemies into killing themselves, is this a Christian response to terrorism? My heart is a peace with this now, but it took some thinking to get there... What did you finally do with the caliph's personal assets?"

"There's a Pashtun tribe on the Afghani border he's hanging out with, bankrolling them big-time. The caliph and the entire tribe are bankrupt now. They'll find irrefutable bank wire evidence that the tribe's money was transferred by the caliph himself to another rival tribe, one that's been trying to curry his favor as his protector. I wouldn't want to be the caliph when he wakes up this morning."

Four days later...

"Well, it wasn't as if we didn't try..." said Matthew quietly. "At least Eternal Jihad is history. News of the caliph's death is spreading around the world, and his cells are so actively killing each other, they're becoming quite visible to the police. The sequencer projections of 80% of the organization killed or in custody within the first week appears right on schedule..."

"It's ironic, Matthew. Eternal Jihad had been in existence for 12 years, just the same amount of time from 1933 to 1945, the existence of the thousand-year Reich." Kathy's face broke into a smile. "And why the sad face on our other efforts? The Sea of Galilee is pristine, surrounded by beautiful parks filled with orchards. And I would guess from the demonstrations that almost all the Israelis want reconciliation... Well, not their government, and not the settlers... It's interesting how the settlers have concentrated in Jerusalem, desperate to see that the Pals don't get any of it... How stubborn can you get?"

"In the Middle East, Kathy, the word stubborn takes on a definition all its own..."

"But the Pals! This is really encouraging, Matt! Their peace rally led by their intellectuals was huge! Hamas is furious!"

"And Hamas has the guns! And the Israeli government has the guns! All the decision makers are against what we're trying to do. And the government of the Kingdom is sand-blasting your message off the Ka'ba."

"Matthew, Matthew, think big! We didn't come this far just to let the idiots of hate and religious superiority run the show! We've got the technology for terraforming. Take a look at program PORTAL-0. Those guys in Mecca and Jerusalem have got to understand that they just can't mess around with me on this. The cycle of hate will end, I swear it! Even if I have to take these cities down to their bedrock!"

"My God, My God!" said Matt a few minutes later, as he studied the program. "Kathy, are you serious?!"

One day later...

The process started as a single portal. Entering the Earth's atmosphere, it began to bifurcate rapidly, swelling in number to well over ten million in less than a minute. Every man, woman, and child in Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank found themselves standing in the parks by the banks of Galilee, the adults naked, the children in clothes. And then the vacant city of Jerusalem disappeared, old and new, pizza shops and discos, quarters and neighborhoods, gates, walls, cathedrals, minarets, temples, basilicas, and mosques; over four thousand years of human history destroyed as the city was taken down to its bedrock, and then rebuilt as a garden...