Albert Besters Fiction

[albertbester]

PART 12. (Camp Hero)


Ducky & Jimmy loaded the body into their truck and set off on the long drive back to HQ. The crime seen had been photographed, sketched and thoroughly possessed. Gibbs & his team were all standing by their truck.

“What now boss?” asked McGee.

“What do you think we do now McGee?” Gibbs turned the question around and stared at McGee.

The famous Gibbs stare did its work and McGee’s brain started to work furiously “Well we have found nothing by way of evidence in the immediate area, so I guess we expand our search to include the whole of the camp?”

“You guess??” Gibbs tone was sarcastic.

“Yes boss, I mean no boss…. Umm we should get right on it boss.” McGee was about to rush off.

“Where are you going McGee?” Gibbs voice was a little softer now. He walked over to the truck, he opened the back doors and pulled out a laptop computer he opened it and started to type. The team gathered around, shocked to see Gibbs typing with such speed and expertise. A moment later the printer in the back of the truck hums and produces an aerial photograph of the area they are standing in. Directing everybody’s attention to the map.



“We are here. The body was found over here.” Using a marker pen he indicated these locations on the map. “McGee & Ziva check this area, DiNozzo check over here. I’ll take this area here.” He opened a drawer in the truck and pulled out four two-way radios, “We will need these. Cell phone reception out here sucks. It will be dark in a couple of hours so lets get to it people.” They all set off to search their allocated areas.

------

A couple of miles away two ghosts were sitting on top of a lighthouse. Drake was slowly catching on to the freedom of being a ghost. Kelly was a good teacher, she had already managed to teach Drake to walk through walls and they were now working on travelling.

“Mr. Drake if you wanted to be over there, how would you get there?” Kelly asked pointing to the beach about 50 yards away, looked at him and smiled.

“Well I’d walk though the wall and down the stairs..” he stopped when Kelly started to laugh.

“Oh you are silly.” She said as she walked off of the light-house and floated down toward the beach, looking over her shoulder she said, “Come on Mr. Drake follow me. Remember you’re as light as air and as solid as a dream.”

Drake took a deep breath, realised that this was a habit that he did not need to continue and stepped off of the lighthouse. He was less surprised than he thought he would be when he floated down towards Kelly who was now standing at the waters edge. He went and stood next to her and was surprised to see that she was crying.

“Hey Kelly, what’s up?” he asked trying to sound less like himself and more sympathetic.

“I used to love coming to the beach with my mommy and daddy, we would ride horses and we were happy all the time.” She looked at Drake. “I wish my daddy was happy again. I know me being around makes him feel better but he is always so sad. He misses my mommy.”

Drake had no idea what to say so he just placed his hand on Kelly’s shoulder and they stood and watched the waves for a while until Kelly looked up and said, “We should go and help daddy search. I like to help him with his work, its not as good as helping with the boat but it is better than nothing.” Kelly took Drake’s hand in hers and they faded into nothing, traveling to Gibbs at the speed of thought. Drake was learning to be a ghost.

[albertbester]

PART 13 (Beneath the surface)

Gibbs was standing motionless staring at the giant SAGE radar antenna. It had struck him that there was something wrong with this picture. Camp Hero had been officially closed in the 1980s yet the radar antenna had never been dismantled. He was no technology geek but he was sure that SAGE had been replaced years ago with more modern and efficient systems. Yet there were definitely new modern power cables leading into the radar building. The question was did this have anything to do with the case?

Drake & Kelly appeared beside Gibbs.


Without any prompting Kelly looked at Gibbs and said, “I’ll have a look inside.”

Drake smiled. “That’s a great little field agent you have there, I’ll go with her.”


They both vanished leaving Gibbs alone again. He started searching the surrounding buildings; there were signs of many teenaged beer parties and drunken vandalism but no clues that suggested a connection to a murder.


Gibbs’ radio crackled into life. “Gibbs… this is McGee, over.”

“Go ahead McGee, what have you got? Over.” Gibbs responded.


“We have found a military issue Colt automatic hand gun, but there is something very strange about this boss.”


“Well photograph it and bag it for Abby.” Gibbs said.

“Umm I can photograph it boss but I can’t bag it without a chain saw boss….” answered McGee sounding hesitant.


“Ok McGee what is your location?” Gibbs asked looking a little puzzled

“We are at Rough Riders Road at the beach end.” answered McGee.


“Ok I’ll be with you soon.” Gibbs put the radio in his pocket and was about to set off to find McGee and Ziva when Kelly appeared.


“Daddy there is something very strange under the radar building. There are tunnels and a big machine and a whole lot of skeletons.”


Gibbs looked startled. ”Where is Drake?”


“He decided to look around some more. He will be ok daddy. He’s like me. Nothing can happen to him and he cannot contaminate the crime scene.”


Gibbs smiled and reached out to stroke his daughter’s hair, stopping himself at the last moment. His eyes were full of sadness again. “Can you see if you can find me a way in sweetheart?”


“Yes Daddy, I’ll look right away,” answered Kelly. She smiled and vanished again. Gibbs set off to find McGee & Ziva.

-----

Tony was having a bad time; he had found a bunch of buildings and had searched them all carefully. The words filthy and disgusting were high on his list of descriptive terms. There were an awful lot of beer cans and the smell or second hand beer and vomit were making Tony feel ill. He had overheard the radio conversation between Gibbs & McGee and he decided that he would be of more use where the action was.

-----

McGee had photographed the gun from every conceivable angle, it was bothering him. There was just no way this could happen.
Ziva had managed to locate a few foot prints leading away from the tree but none approaching it, as she was following the trail she collided with Gibbs. Ziva pointed to the tree with the Colt automatic apparently growing out of the trunk.


“Well I don’t think that is the murder weapon.” said Gibbs, as he examined the gun closely.

The pistol was clean and oiled yet the wood seemed to have grown around it. Not a trace of rust.

“Dust it for prints McGee.” Gibbs said getting up off his knees. “DiNozzo! Help Ziva follow the tracks. They will lead to the crime scene.”

Tony came out of the undergrowth looking surprised and a little disheveled. “Yes boss.” he said as Gibbs stalked off back towards the radar station.

-----

Drake was lost; he had been wandering around in the tunnels under the old military base for almost an hour. He had descended three levels and there just seemed to be no end to them. Something was not right; everything was spotless, as clean as a new pin, no dust, nothing to suggest that the base had been abandoned. There were store rooms with crates containing every thing from ammunition and weapons to clothes and food. The lights were on, all that was missing was people.


Kelly appeared beside Drake and told him, “I have found a tunnel on the second level that leads to the beach on the north side of the island.”

“Oh? So has it anything to do with the body that was found up top?” Drake asked.

“No but Daddy wants a way in and that is the only one that has not been sealed. But it would be very hard to find from the beach so I need you to wait there whilst I tell Daddy where it is, then you can show him the way…. Ok Mr. Drake?” asked Kelly politely.


“No problem Kelly you show me where it is and I’ll wait for Gibbs there. Oh and call me John. Mr. Drake is a little formal under the circumstances,” Drake laughed as Kelly took his hand and they faded only to reappear at the entrance to a cave on the beach at the north side of the island moments later.

“Wait here Mr…. John. I’ll tell Daddy where to find you. There is something else I need to do.” Kelly smiled and faded into nothing.

Drake looked at the rocky beach. There was a time when he would have liked to fish here but now baiting a hook could be a problem.

[albertbester]

PART 14. (The Philadelphia experiment)

Gibbs found Kelly waiting for him at the radar building. She looked worried as he approached.

“I have found a way in…… But I really don’t think it’s a good idea, Daddy,” Kelly said.

Gibbs was taken aback; it was most unlike Kelly to give advice when it came to actions that Gibbs had decided to take. “Why sweetheart? What’s the matter?”

“This is a bad place…. Things have happened here, I just think you could get into a lot of trouble if you get involved,” She looked up at him, she looked sad and pensive.

“What do you know about this place? What have you found?” Gibbs felt apprehensive; this was way out of character for Kelly so he knew it had to be bad.

“Its just a bad place, things have happened here and are still happening. I don’t know how to explain it….” Kelly was obviously disturbed.

“Ok I’ll be careful, but I have to find out if there is any connection between Darrel Ritter and this base, and I’m sure that the answers are down there.” Gibbs looked into Kelly’s eyes and tried to reassure her.

Kelly smiled at him “I knew I would not be able to stop you, but I had t tell you what I felt.” She paused as if listening. “Drake is waiting for you on the beach at the north side of the island, he will show you the way. I have to go for a while…. I’ll be back soon, I love you, Daddy,” said Kelly as she faded and disappeared.

This worried Gibbs, Kelly was usually close by and it was unusual for her to leave without explanation. He set off toward the north beach; there was no road just a narrow and overgrown track.

-----

Dr Mallard was mystified. He had the body of a 19 year old male on his table. The cause of death was a single gunshot wound to the chest. He had removed the bullet and sent it to Abby along with fingerprints and other evidence needing her expert attention. The problem was that Abby had phoned down to him to say that the fingerprints were definitely those of Darrel Ritter, but this was impossible as Commander Ritter was, according to records, 90 years old.

“Mr Palmer, get onto Navy records and find out if there has been some sort of mix-up with the records, because our Mr. D. Ritter here is not 90 years old,” said Ducky as he continued to muse over his mystery guest.

-----

Abby was psyched; she had just spoken to McGee who had sent her the pictures of the gun in the tree trunk. She had heard of Montauk and Camp Here. This was an exciting conspiracy theory that she had read about, and now she was looking at evidence that the stories might be true.The computer beeped, Abby looked at the screen. “YES! YES! YES!” she bounced around the lab punching the air like she had just scored a field goal. The serial number of the colt automatic had come back as issued to Darrel Ritter in 1947.
Other searches of military records showed that Commander Ritter, although he had been paid a regular salary, had never been assigned to any ship or naval unit. He had joined the Navy in 1938 at the age of 21 years and disappeared, but still received regular promotions. Abby decided to probe a little deeper into this mystery, she was starting to have fun. She picked up the phone and called her friend that does not work for the CIA

“Hi Gale,” said Abby brightly, “I was wondering if you could do me a favour?” She explained about Darrel Ritter and how there was no record of him or his activities passed joining the Navy in 1938. Her friend promised to call her back as soon as she had any information.

-----

Gibbs radioed DiNozzo and told him to take the team into town and find a place to stay for the night.

“Boss?” said DiNozzo.

“Did I stutter DiNozzo? Find a hotel, book us rooms and I’ll call you later.” Gibbs said simply and turned off his radio.

“Yes boss” said DiNozzo.


“Um Tony what should we do about the gun?” asked McGee.

“Remove the clip, clear the chamber if you can and wrap the section of the tree in plastic. We can hire a chain saw in town and remove the evidence tomorrow,” answered Tony.

“You realise that this is a state park, and cutting down trees without a permit is an offence,” McGee stated.

“I’m sure Gibbs would be enthralled by your observation Timmy,” said Ziva chuckling.

Once the gun and tree section were wrapped in plastic, they set off for the truck and went off to a local hotel as the light faded into dusk.

-----

Gibbs found Drake sitting on the beach; the tide was out and it was almost dark.

“I didn’t think you were coming,” said Drake without turning round.

“You going to show me where the entrance is, or just sit on your butt watching the waves?” asked Gibbs, sounding more like his impatient self.

Drake rose and walked over to a gap in the rocks; it was not until Gibbs stood between the two large rocks that the cave mouth became apparent. It was pitch black.
Gibbs rummaged in his jacket pocket and produced a torch. Drake led the way, as he had found that he could now see in the dark as well as he could see in daylight.

“So where has Kelly disappeared to?” asked Drake.

“I have no idea,” answered Gibbs. He drew his weapon and pointed it forward as they moved further into the cave.

After about 60 feet, the cave became a tunnel with slightly rounded regular walls. After 40 feet more, there were a pair of steel doors. They were not locked, so Gibbs opened them and went through. On the other side of the door he put his torch away. The lights were on.

“So where is the machine that Kelly was telling me about?” asked Gibbs.

“This way, follow me” said Drake as he continued to lead the way.

[albertbester]

PART 15. (Players revealed)

“So where are we going Tony?” asked McGee; “your dad has a house around here, doesn’t he?”

Tony gave McGee a harsh look, and continued to drive the truck.

“I think you hit a nerve there Timmy,” said Ziva with a cheeky grin.

“We are going to the Radisson Hotel at 1730 N Ocean Ave.,” said Tony in a business-like tone of voice.

“I’m worried about Gibbs,” stated McGee absently. “He has been rather distracted, not his usual self at all…”

“Yeah, you’re right. I have not been Gibbs slapped for a couple of days. It is strange.”

They arrived at the hotel and went to their rooms. McGee phoned Abby for an update.

-------


“Hey McGee! Where are you? Our Darrel Ritter served on the USS Eldridge in 1943, and was still in the Navy after. Do you realise what that means McGee? Everybody else who served on the Eldridge on October 28th 1943, was given a medical discharge except Darrel Ritter, but there is no record of where he served. Not even the CIA could find anything… Oh and he was shot with a Colt Peace Maker; that’s an antique. You’re very quiet, McGee; haven’t you got anything to say?” Abby stopped talking and waited.

Once McGee was sure Abby was not going to start talking again he said, “How could I say anything? You have been talking a blue streak… Hang on a minute; how can he have been on the Eldridge in 1943? He could not have been more than 20 years old…” said McGee in disbelief.

“According to Ducky he was 19, I have checked, double, and triple checked his fingerprints, and our 19-year-old was definitely Darrel Ritter, which means that he was 90 years old and very well preserved – in fact he was two years younger than he was when he joined the Navy. Work that one out McGee,” answered Abby with an air of triumph.

“Abby, I’m tired and I need a shower. I can’t think straight at the moment. What about the gun? Any information on that?” asked McGee, sitting down on the edge of his bed and taking his shoes off.

“Oh. Yes! The Colt in the tree was issued to Darrel Ritter in 1947, but there is no record of where he was assigned at the time.” Abby said, sounding slightly down.

“What about the gun?” asked McGee.

“I just told you!” snapped Abby.

“No. I mean, can you trace the military issue records and find out where the gun was sent before it was issued?” McGee asked thinking it through as he talked.

“McGee! You are a freaking genius! I’ll get on it right away,” Abby said with real enthusiasm, and then she hung up.

McGee looked at the phone and shook his head. He stumbled off to the bathroom to take a shower. He figured he could fill Tony and Ziva in on the facts later.

------

Gibbs was getting the grand tour on the way to the lower level of what was apparently a massive complex of tunnels, storerooms, laboratories and offices. All was quiet; it was reminiscent of the Marie Celeste.

“It was the selection of clothing that surprised me,” said Drake, as he led the way through the seemingly endless corridors. “Every fashion and era you can possibly think of. I mean, anything from anywhere in the world.” Drake looked over his shoulder at Gibbs who was obviously lost in his own thoughts.

They reached the forth sub level and the humming sound of generators or other machinery could be heard.

“That was not happening when we were here before,” said Drake, clearly apprehensive.

“What are you worried about?” asked Gibbs. “You’re dead already.”

“Ha! It has always been my experience that no matter how bad the situation, even when you think it can’t get worse… It can,” Drake said dryly.

They rounded a corner and found a set of large steel doors closed.

“They were open last time I was down here,” said Drake.

Gibbs pulled the handle of the door and they slid apart.

There was one man standing in the middle of the room in front of the giant ring surrounded by outlandish looking technology. He wore the uniform of a navy Capitan and he held an old fashioned revolver in his left hand.

“Welcome Leroy Jethro Gibbs.” The Capitan smiled at Gibbs.

Gibbs levelled his Sig at the Capitan, “Put the weapon down!”

The Capitan looked down at the gun in his hand like he was surprised to see it, and dropped it to the ground immediately.

Gibbs moved toward the Capitan, kicked the revolver away and searched him.

“So who are you?” Gibbs asked.

“I am Capitan James Ritzmann. I am the commander of this base, and now your life will change forever. You and your ethereal friend here.” The captain looks straight at Drake.

“Gee whiz, can everybody see me all of a sudden?” asked Drake, looking shocked.

“Well, I would like to know what is going on here,” said Gibbs.

“I would be happy to tell you all about it, but I think we both could use some coffee. What do you think?”

“Well that is the best offer I have had all day,” said Gibbs. “So you can see what sort of day I have had.”

The Capitan led the way to an office, with Gibbs still pointing his Sig at him. In the office there was a pot of coffee waiting. Gibbs was hoping there would be an explanation too.

[albertbester]

PART 16. (Temptation)

Sitting at a large and impressive antique desk Capitan James Ritzmann smiled at Gibbs and sipped his coffee. "You want to know what we do here…. You also want to know if I had anything to do with the death of Commander Ritter." These were not questions; he stated the facts as he saw them with confidence.

Gibbs was not impressed. "Ok so you know what I want, so how about telling me?" He sniffed and sipped his coffee.

Ritzmann appeared to be thinking about talking but then the office door opened and two armed guards came in pointing automatic weapons at Gibbs. "You need to understand Jethro that what we do here is far more important than law enforcement or even government."

Gibbs was disarmed by one of the guards. Ritzmann motioned for the guards to leave the room.

"I am in a position to help you Jethro, but there is a risk." Ritzmann said and looked at Gibbs for some sign of reaction. All he saw in Gibbs eyes was anger slowly building. "You must understand Jethro that if you help we can offer you absolutely anything you want."

"Ha! So you're not in a position to help me…. You think I'm in a position to help you!" Gibbs voice was low and menacing. "Your going to have to tell me what is going on here, especially if you want to try to get my help."

"To put it simply Jethro, here we rewrite history…."

-------

Ziva and Tony were waiting for Tim in the restaurant of the hotel.

"So where is he?" Ziva asked

"We did say to meet here at 2100, didn't we?" said Tony looking at the menu. "I'm just about through with waiting for the Probie. Let's order."

"Hey guys, I'm sorry I'm late. I fell asleep." said Tim as he seated himself at the table.

The three of them ordered food and Tim filled them in on the information that Abby had shared with him on the phone earlier.

"So what is so special about the USS Eldridge?" asked Ziva.

"Well in 1943 the Eldridge was supposed to have been part of a US Navy experiment to try and make a ship invisible to radar. According to the myth the ship actually vanished totally. It was gone for several hours and reappeared outside of the Philadelphia Navy Yard. The incident has come to be known as the Philadelphia experiment." Tony stopped talking as he noticed Ziva and Tim staring at him with their mouths open.

"So did you see it in a movie?" asked Ziva.

Tim laughed, but stopped quickly when he saw the expression on Tony's face.

"Hey I don't get all my knowledge from movies; I do read books as well." said Tony defensively.

"So long as they have pictures." added Ziva with a grin.

"The Philadelphia experiment was actually part of a program called Project Rainbow which covered a lot more than just radar invisibility." continued Tony, deciding to ignore these slurs on his character.

Ziva & Tim looked at each other in surprise. Tony smiled and continued to eat.

"So not a movie then." said Ziva.

"Well it was a movie as well. Written by Wallace Bennett and Don Jacobi, produced by the great John Carpenter and directed by Stewart Raffill. It was released in 1984 and stared Nancy Allen and Michael Pare…" Tony stopped as he realised both Tim and Ziva were laughing at him.

-------

Gibbs was sitting with a look of total disbelief on his face.

"This facility is independent from all government organisations and is dedicated to ensuring the power and economic stability and power of the United States of America" Ritzmann stopped talking and looked at Gibbs "You're having trouble grasping this?" he asked.

"I actually think you are a few fries short of a happy meal." stated Gibbs with clear contempt in his voice. "You expect me to believe that you send people back in time to change events in history in order to affect the balance of power now…. It's ridiculous!"

"Jethro, I don't expect you to believe me. I know that you will believe me." said Ritzmann.

Drake appeared from nowhere. "There are about 30 skeletons at the end of the tunnel behind that machine," he stated.

Gibbs looked at Drake and then at Ritzmann. "So would you like to explain the bodies?"

"Time travel is hazardous and not an exact science. We have been doing it for 60 years and still things do not always work out just as we hope." Ritzmann said with a hint of regret in his voice.

"So what about the families of those people that you have left to rot at the end of your tunnel?!" shouted Gibbs.

"Well they are all citizens that have given their lives in the service of our country and their family history and families have been looked after." Ritzmann was obviously trying to turn Gibbs to his side. "Jethro, is there any thing that has happened in your life you would want to change?"

Gibbs' face drained of colour and his hand shook slightly. "Ba****d guy!" he said quietly. He knew what Ritzmann was doing and it both tempted him and made him as mad as hell.

[Deleted]

Uh, Albert, just so you know, the site automatically censors "b******" to "Nice guy." You might want to try the starred version on here.

[albertbester]

meg said:

Uh, Albert, just so you know, the site automatically censors "b******" to "Nice guy." You might want to try the starred version on here.

Thanks for that little tip. I checked my work so many times before I posted it I didn't even notice the "auto censors" work

I hope your still finding my work interesting cos there is more to come

[albertbester]

PART 17. (Reunion and mourning)

It was a little after 2300. Tony was worried; there had been no call from Gibbs.

"Perhaps he has decided to stay at the scene." offered Ziva.

"Maybe, but he did say he would call." said McGee. "It is just not like Gibbs not to do what he says he will do."

"I think we should go back out there." said Tony putting his cell phone away. "It keeps saying his phone is switched off, and we have to assume that he is not going to break rule # 3."

"So you think he is in trouble?" asked McGee.

"If the boss is not answering his phone you can bet someone is in trouble and if it's him, you can bet on it being big trouble." said Tony grabbing his jacket and calling the waiter so he could pay the bill.

"We should go via Sears." stated McGee.

Ziva looked confused. "Why? Have you been taking fashion tips from Gibbs?"

"No Ziva. Between here and Montauk there is a Sears Hardware store and we need a chain saw."

"Ah, ok good point." Ziva smiled and picked up her coat.

The three of them left the restaurant and went to their rooms to pick up the few personal items they had left there. Ten minutes later they were on their way to Sears for a chainsaw.

-------

Drake was sitting slightly in shock over what he was hearing. Never in all his life would he have believed that there was an organisation taking it upon themselves to alter history. He quietly wondered if Ritzmann was in fact telling them the truth or if in fact he was as mad as a barrel of monkeys. If he was telling the truth, what could be changed? He too was feeling the pull of temptation.

Gibbs looked at Ritzmann and shook his head. "This is a lot to take in. Is there somewhere I can be alone to think this through?"

Ritzmann smiled and pushed a button on his desk, the office door opened and the guards entered.

"Take Special Agent Gibbs to guest quarters; make sure he has everything he needs." said Ritzmann who then turned his attention to Drake.

"I don't know why you're looking at me." said Drake slightly defensively. "I don't see how I can possibly be of any help to you. I'm dead, remember?"

"John…. May I call you John? You must understand that we use many different types of time travel here. Not only physical."

Drake was thinking hard, he could not figure out how Ritzmann could know his name. He knew that Gibbs had not called him by name. The only possibility was that Ritzmann knew him before he was killed. This bothered Drake a lot. Suddenly the importance of what Ritzmann had just said hit him.

"What do you mean? Not physical?" Drake, against his better judgment, was becoming intrigued.

"Well there are many ways to travel through time, we all travel through time every day of our lives and it takes it toll on our physical well being. It is possible to travel forwards in time without the physical deterioration but that has limited useful ness. I am of course referring to stasis." Ritzmann looked at Drake for confirmation that he understood.

"You mean like being frozen and defrosted in the future?" He said to encourage Ritzmann to continue with his explanation.

"Yes, almost exactly correct. Now I mentioned before that time travel is risky and inexact. We here at Rainbow specialise in traveling back in time mainly because we at this time cannot bring people back to the present from the past. It is a one way trip in all cases." Ritzmann was careful to make this point clear.

"So can you give me any examples of things in history that you have changed?" asked Drake.

"Umm well that might be rather unwise. We have a strict policy of compartmentalisation to give you any information about our activities could compromise your effectiveness as a field agent…." Ritzmann looked at Drake and waited for this statement to hit home.

"So do I understand that it is your intention to recruit me as an operative in your organisation?" asked Drake with more than a little incredulity.

"Indeed you could be a valued operative." Ritzmann stated looking hard at Drake.

"Well I guess I should ask at this point. What's in it for me?" asked Drake knowing with certainty what Ritzmann was going to say.

"Well John you know already what I'm going to offer you. You will have your life and your wife back. You will be able to live out your days in happiness with the woman you love…" Ritzmann looked at Drake with a broad smile on his face. "Perhaps you need time to think it over? You seemed to find the beach relaxing. Come back when you have decided." Ritzmann pushed the button on his desk again, this time an intercom crackled into life.

"Yes sir?" enquired a disembodied voice.

"Mr. Drake is cleared for entry and exit of the facility. All operations set to condition green." said Ritzmann with authority.

"Yes sir." Responded the voice on the intercom

"Um, I don't mean to be picky but I'm a ghost. How would you stop me coming and going?" asked Drake.

"John, we send consciousness back in time to occupy the bodies of people in history. We can stop almost anything from going almost anywhere." answered Ritzmann mysteriously.

------

Gibbs was alone; he had been lost in thought for some time. He was almost sure that Ritzmann was mad, although he had been surprised by the level of activity in the underground tunnels. When they had arrived they seemed to be deserted but now there was a continual flow of people, some in civilian clothes some in uniform and he had seen a couple of people in historical costume. This was a very strange place.

"I could really use some advice right now." he said aloud hoping that Kelly would respond to this request.

"Hello Jethro. " said a familiar voice behind him.

Gibbs' heart leapt into his throat as he spun around coming face to face with Shannon . He was speechless and over come with emotion, he stepped forwards to embrace his wife, she stepped back.

"Jethro, you know I'm only here in spirit." she said sadly.

"Yes, I know, " he said softly. "I miss you so much."

"I know you do. I know you will be tempted by Ritzmann's offer." Shannon was calm but Gibbs could hear the sadness in her voice. "But you must not do what he wants."

"What? Why? Tell me what you know. It would be worth anything to me to get you back!" Gibbs was close to tears.

"I know Jethro. I'm sorry but you mustn't. You would never forgive your self. Also you have touched so many lives and done so much good since I have been gone. If you do what he wants all of that good work will be undone."

"No! There will be someone else to do what I have done." said Gibbs in anguish.

"No. There won't be. Jethro you are a good man. What you do, what you have done, is important." Shannon 's tone was comforting but also had an edge of menace.

"But if I do what he says and you don't….you live I mean you will not remember this so we could be happy." Gibbs said persuasively

Shannon smiled at him. "Oh now Jethro, I think you know better than that. You will know it is wrong. You will see what you have not changed and it will eat away at you. You won't be happy. It will destroy you. We will lose what we had." Shannon looked around. "I have to go they will know I'm here. Jethro, do what you know is right, remember I love you." With that Shannon faded away leaving Gibbs close to breaking down.

The door opened behind Gibbs and two guards entered the room. They looked around and one of them produced a small electronic device waved it around the room and looked at the readings on the small display.

"Who was here?" the guard asked.

"I have been here alone." stated Gibbs.

"Capitan Ritzmann wants to see you. This way please sir." The guard ushered Gibbs out of the room and down the corridor…

[albertbester]

PART 18. (History rewritten?)

Ritzmann was still sitting at his desk when Gibbs walked into his office.

“Ah, Jethro I hope you had time to think. I’m a little curious about who visited you though. You were supposed to be isolated,” Ritzmann said, watching Gibbs closely for any reaction.

“I was alone…” Gibbs looked defiant.

Ritzmann arched an eyebrow, “So who were you talking to?”

“Gee, I guess I must be getting old and senile. I must have been talking to myself.” The sarcasm in Gibbs’ voice was clear.

“Well, no matter. It is up to you Jethro… Do you want to have your wife and daughter back?”

“Of course I want them back… What do you want me to do?” Gibbs asked.

Ritzmann indicated for Gibbs to sit at the desk, and he produced some documents including schedules and maps. “In 1997 there was an assassination of one of our operatives. It will be up to you to stop it. All of the details are here. You will need to read and memorise all of the relevant information.”

Gibbs looked through the documents. “You need me to go to Ireland? Travelling will require recourses.”

Ritzmann smiled, “It is a common miss conception that time travel is purely a temporal thing and that geographical location remains the same. This is not so. In fact if you were to travel through time without changing your physical location it would almost definitely be fatal.”

“Oh?” inquired Gibbs.

“Well, if you think about it, the earth is travelling through space all the time. The earth orbits the sun; the sun is orbiting the centre of our galaxy along with everything else. So if you were to travel through time alone without changing your location in space, you are just as likely to appear in space or in the middle of a rock.” Ritzmann looked at Gibbs again to ensure that he was following his explanation.

Gibbs nodded. “So what degree of accuracy do you have with your geographical placement?”

Ritzmann seemed shocked by the question. “With modern GPS we can be accurate to within 10 feet.”

“And how good was GPS in 1997?” asked Gibbs, getting straight to the point.

“We will choose an unpopulated area to place you. You might have to put up with appearing 10 feet or so above the ground, but you should be ok,” Ritzmann said with a smile

“And how many days before I have to save your guy will I be arriving?” Gibbs continued.

“Between 10 days and a month. Remember, I did warn you that there was a margin for error,” Ritzmann said with a slight air of apology. ”There is an organic component to our control system. It is called The Montauk Chair. It allows us to directly use the power of the human mind to influence the control of our systems, giving us a greater degree of flexibility, but there is a slight degradation in our accuracy.”

“If you lose accuracy why do you use it?” asked Gibbs.

“We find that the human connection has a beneficial influence on the sanity of our travellers. Our first subjects were sent without the human connection, and they arrived at their temporal and physical destination totally insane,” stated Ritzmann with an air of regret.

Gibbs took this information on board without comment. “And once the task is accomplished, what then?” Gibbs looked at Ritzmann, waiting to see the lie in his eyes.

“Once you have completed your mission you can go about your own business and save the life of your wife and daughter. Having done so you will…. How can I put this? You will cease to exist.”

“What?” Gibbs asked sharply.

“Once you have saved the lives of your wife and daughter you will not join NCIS and having not joined NCIS you will subsequently not be called to investigate the demise of Commander Ritter so you will not be sent back in time,” stated Ritzmann with confidence.

“Isn’t that what would be called a paradox?” Gibbs asked. “If I do not go back in time, who will save your operative?”

“You will have to trust me on the intricacies of our operation. He only needs to be saved once.” Ritzmann was again studying Gibbs reactions.

-----

At 2345 in the evening the Sears Hardware store was quiet, so it was the work of but a few moments for McGee to locate and purchase a chain saw. Within a few moments, they were on their way again and would be back at Camp Hero within the hour.

-----

Drake was sitting on the beach when Kelly appeared beside him. “You must not trust Ritzmann,” she stated simply.

“Ok, so how do you know so much?” Drake asked in anger and confusion.

Kelly smiled kindly, “Once you have been dead for a little while a certain amount of arcane knowledge becomes available to you. You must have noticed something by now?” she asked.

Drake thought about it for a moment. “The only arcane knowledge that I can think of at the moment is that all of the works of Emily Dickinson can be sung to the tune of The Yellow Rose of Texas, and Capers are in fact buds of the nestersion flower that have been pickled. Other than those two facts, I don’t know anything now that I did not know before.”

Kelly laughed, “Well you have been dead for only a short time, we should not expect miracles,” she became serious and sat beside Drake. “My mother and I have a plan. We must stop Ritzmann from sending my daddy back in time, and we must change the time he sends you back to.”

Drake looked stunned, “And how are we to achieve this?”

“We need the team; McGee, DiNozzo & Ziva are all about to arrive back at the base. We need to talk to them and fill them in on our plan,” said Kelly. She went on to explain the plan to Drake.

After the concise explanation, Drake was forced to bring up one small problem. “But Kelly, none of the team can see or hear us… How can we fill them in on the plan?”

“John, I’m sure you will think of something. I have to go. I’ll see you in the Time Transport Room in 90 minutes.” And with that, Kelly was gone again.

“Damn!” said Drake. He knew what he had to do, but he also knew that getting it to work in 90 minutes was going to be difficult. “Oh well, time to wake up a dotty old lady,” he said, and with that Drake vanished.

[albertbester]

PART 19. (Mrs Mallard to the rescue)

Tony’s cell phone rang. He looked at the number; it was not familiar.

“DiNozzo.” He visibly winced as he recognised the voice on the other end of the line. “Mrs Mallard. It is nice to hear from you but…..” he stopped talking and listened for a moment, the expression on his face becoming more and more puzzled.

“What’s up Tony?” Ziva asked. He motioned for her to be quiet.

“You have been talking to John Drake….. “ Tony was trying to sound understanding. “He told you that there is an underground base here at Camp Hero. Wait, how did you know we are at Camp Hero?…. Oh yes you said you have been talking to Drake…” Tony stopped the truck.

“Tony what is going on ?” McGee asked, and was shushed into silence by a confused and irritated DiNozzo.

“Now hold on a minute…..Oh……But…….Ok so……… Ok……..yes I understand………… yes?………….ok………..Yes Mrs Mallard……. Umm Vanessa…. Thank you goodbye.”

“So? What was all that about Tony” asked Ziva.

“Well, it seems that the ghost of the late John Drake has been communicating with Mrs Mallard,” said Tony in puzzled and slightly irritated tones.

Drake appeared in the back of the truck and listened to the conversation.

“Ducky’s mother?” McGee butted in.

“Yes Probie, Ducky’s mother, may I go on?” asked Tony irritably.

“You usually do until some one slaps you,” stated Ziva quietly.

Giving Ziva a sharp look, Tony continued. ”Well it seems that Drake has told her that Gibbs is in the underground base and he is in trouble. We have to get him out and put a stop to the operations that are underway there.”

“And you believe this?” asked Ziva, incredulous.

“No Ziva. As it happens I think she is …. A little senile, but it is odd how she knew where we are.”

“Perhaps Ducky mentioned it?” offered McGee.

“Yeah that must be it. She is not playing with all her marbles and she has an over active imagination,.” said Tony, sounding only half convinced.

Drake vanished.

Tony’s cell phone rang again.

“DiNozzo!…. Ah, Mrs Mallard, sorry Vanessa…. No I didn’t mean…..Yes I understand….. Yes I did say that but……. Yes Mrs Mallard err sorry Vanessa. No I’ll do what you say….. Errrmm there will be no need for that I assure you.” Tony closed his cell phone.

“So what now?” asked Ziva. She was intrigued by the expression on Tony’s face.

“She has told me what we have to do. Apparently Drake is with us and is reporting back to her what we are doing,” said Tony.

“You mean we are being haunted?” asked McGee with the hint of a grin.

Ziva looked around with mock fear ”So is he with us now?” she asked.

Tony just looked irritable and shrugged his shoulders.

“So what did she threaten to do to you Tony,” asked Ziva with a grin.

“She threatened to put me over her knee and spank me,” he said, looking embarrassed.

Ziva and McGee both laughed.

-------

Gibbs was checking his gear, and Ritzmann was watching him closely.

“So won’t these things contaminate the time line?” asked Gibbs, managing to surprise Ritzmann yet again.

“No Jethro, we have enormous stores of equipment, all of which has been carefully catalogued. We ensure that equipment we send is only sent if it has been out of circulation and in our possession since before our operative’s arrival time,” said Ritzmann.

“Oh so, for example, you have had this hand gun here in storage since before 1997?” asked Gibbs feeling the weight of the berretta in his hand.

“Yes Jethro, and you will be given the ammunition just before you leave,” Ritzman said as if he was reading Gibbs mind.

Gibbs continued to pack and prepare his gear.

“So do you feel like telling me about Darrel Ritter?” asked Gibbs, watching Ritzmann for any reaction.

“He is…. was radar & communications officer on board our ship and here at Rainbow,” said Ritzmann.

“So why did he have to die?” asked Gibbs.

“Unfortunately he was involved in an accident here, and it affected his mind. There was no choice but to shoot him. Unfortunately, there were hikers around and they found his body before we could recover it,” Ritzmann said, choosing his words with care.

“All this time travel equipment and you could not stop a body being discovered at your own back door?” Gibbs asked with a hint of irony.

“I’ll leave you to your preparations Jethro. I have other things to attend to.”

------

Ritzmann entered the room where the Montauk chair was located. An elderly man was sitting in it. He wore the uniform of a navy commander, and he was apparently asleep.

“Commander. Wake up!” Ritzmann barked at the old man, who opened his eyes and struggled to focus.

“Ritzmann. So you have come to see you old friend.” His hands griped the arm rests of the chair, he seemed to have hardly any strength at all. “You will soon need to find another brain to control the time portal. It is almost over for me. I have been here too long.” The old man sagged in the chair and started to slip back into unconsciousness.

“You just need to complete two more tasks, and then we can get you out of there.” Ritzmann paused and looked at the old man. “You will be ok to do your job, won’t you Darrel?”

The old man opened his eyes and nodded, “Yes, I’ll do my job.”

Ritzmann nodded and left the room.

Shannon appeared beside the old man who was sitting in the chair and asked him “Do you trust me Darrel Ritter?”

The old man nodded and said, “I knew that angels existed. I will do what ever you tell me.”

[albertbester]

PART 20. (Into the dark)

Gibbs knew that Shannon had been right in what she said; in his heart he knew that to change anything would be wrong……a disaster. But he was tempted.

He would give anything to not be close to the possibility of changing the past but he knew that Ritzmann would not just let him walk out and he had no real opportunity to do anything useful.

Too many armed guards, not enough information about what is going on here. He knew that if he was going to stand any chance of getting this place closed down then he would need to know who the operations were helping, who was really in charge.

He still did not know what he would do if he had to go through the time portal….

He knew what he needed was back-up, he would be quite happy to see the dead Brit and he knew that to be a clear indication he was in trouble.

----

Drake had given Mrs. Mallard detailed instructions as to how to find the entrance to the base. He had relayed the plan that Shannon had shared with him and Mrs. Mallard had told Tony what he needed to do. So long as nothing went wrong things should work out ok; well that is what Drake kept telling himself.

----

Tony, McGee & Ziva were searching the rocks to find the entrance that Tony only half believed would be there.

"There is a cave entrance here." called Ziva in a hushed tone.

Tony & McGee joined her and peered into the blackness.

"We have to go in there?" asked McGee.

"No we have to collect moss samples from the entrance…. Of course we have to go in Probie!" Tony half shouted at McGee. His voice echoed in the darkness.

"Ok Tony. Take it easy." said McGee, shocked by Tony's out burst.

They each checked their gear and turned on their flashlights before entering the cave in single file.

It was dark and damp but there was a definite airflow.

Tony bent down and examined a set of footprints in the sandy floor. He pointed them out to Ziva who nodded.

"Those are Gibbs' foot prints, he definitely came this way," said Ziva quietly.

Tony looked around and then looked up and said, "He didn't come back this way."

After moving quietly down the tunnel a little further they found a set of steel doors. They were unlocked and opened easily.

The other side of the doors were well lit, dry, man-made tunnels. The three of them stepped into the light and put away their flashlights and drew their weapons.

"Well what do you know the dotty old bird was right…." said Tony, looking around in amazement.

"Dotty old bird?" enquired Ziva.

"He means Mrs. Mallard," informed McGee.

"Ah… I see," said Ziva, obviously still puzzled.

They approached the end of the section of tunnel they were in and were faced with the choice of turning left or right.

Tony signaled that they should turn right. At intervals of 20 feet were sets of double doors, Tony stopped at the second set and tried the door. It opened and the three of them entered. The room was lined with ammunition boxes. Ziva opened one of the boxes and muttered something under her breath. They collected a few of the packs of explosives and placed them in the empty backpack that McGee was carrying.

"You are sure that these are safe?" McGee asked.

"It is quite stable unless it has a detonator cap inserted into it." said Ziva. She turned and looked at Tony. "You are sure that we are doing the right thing?"

"I'm not sure of anything at the moment Ziva. But Mrs. Mallard has been spot on with her intel so far and once we find Gibbs we can ask him what he thinks." said Tony, trying to sound confident

"We can only ask Gibbs if….." Ziva started to say but was cut off.

"Shut up Ziva! We will find Gibbs, end of conversation." said Tony not wanting any negative influence on what they were here to do.

"I was only going to say…." Ziva tried to go on.

"Well don't!" snapped Tony and he went to a stack of boxes in the corner of the room. Opening one of the smaller boxes he withdrew a handful of detonator caps and placed them into his jacket pocket with care.

Ziva located a box of timing devices and placed several of them into the backpack with the explosives.

McGee was looking increasingly uncomfortable. "So are we actually going to blow this place up?" he asked.

Ziva looked at Tony, who gave his best Gibbs stare as a response.

Tony opened the door to the storeroom door and peered around it. The tunnel was empty. After creeping along what seemed to be miles of tunnel passing numerous doors just like the one they had passed through to acquire the explosives the found the stair well. "We need to go down 4 levels," said Tony. "We need to be on our guard, there will be people down there."

-----

Drake appeared in Ritzmann's office.

"So where do you want to send me, or should I say when?" asked Drake.

"So John, you have decided to join us?" Ritzmann asked, there was suspicion in his voice.

"Well I think it is my best shot to actually be involved in some real ongoing operations," said Drake lying convincingly.

Ritzmann looked at Drake. "Ok, be in the portal room in 15 minutes."

5 minutes later all the lights went out. The whole base was in darkness and alarms started to go off.

[albertbester]

PART 21. (The team reunited)

The lights went out after McGee had made a few adjustments to the generator.

"Good work Probie," whispered Tony.

Then the alarms started to go off.

McGee was annoyed. "Sorry Tony, I thought I had disabled the alarm."

"Don't worry about it Probie, so long as the back up generators don't start up we will have time to do what we have to," said Tony.

McGee managed a smile. "It'll take a good engineer about an hour to get the backup generators started," he said.

"Shhhh! Guards coming," said Ziva quietly.

Four guards rounded the corner; they wore Army uniforms and carried automatic weapons. They entered the generator room and failed to notice the three NCIS agents hiding on either side of the door.

Ziva, with frightening swiftness, incapacitated two of the guards from behind. They fell to the ground. The remaining two turned, one was knocked unconscious by Tony who used the butt of his hand gun, the second fell to the ground as McGee griped his neck with his right hand.

Tony looked at McGee with surprise. "Neat trick," he said, failing to totally hide his admiration. "You'll have to show me how you did that."

McGee smiled shyly. "Pressure points. I have been taking lessons." He looked at Ziva who smiled at him.

They started stripping the uniforms off of the guards and putting them on then McGee & Ziva tied and gagged the guards whilst Tony kept look out at the door.

-----

Gibbs sat in the ready room adjacent to the portal room. As soon as the lights went out he moved swiftly and incapacitated one of the two guards watching over him the second drew his weapon and pointed it at Gibbs.

Shannon appeared beside the guard and appeared to whisper something into the guard's ear; he looked surprised and fell to the ground.

There was no hesitation, Gibbs armed himself. He thanked his wife for her help; she smiled and vanished again.

-----

The emergency lighting came on it the portal room. Ritzmann was visibly surprised to see Drake still standing in front of him.

"So what's happening?" asked Drake.

"I don't know," answered Ritzmann, rushing to a communications panel. He pushed a button "Security unit 4 report…" There was no reply.

Suddenly the emergency lighting dimmed and the huge electromagnets around the time portal hummed. The air seemed to shimmer within the giant ring. Ritzmann looked mystified.

"Where is the portal drawing its energy from?" he asked a technician.

The technician obviously close to panic checked his control panel and shook his head. "I have no idea sir. This is impossible."

Kelly appeared in front of the portal, she turned to Drake and smiled then walking forward, she vanished into time.

"Where was the portal linked to?" Ritzmann directed the question to another frantic technician

"I don't know sir, all of my controls are blank. According to my panel the portal is inactive…"

Ritzmann was confused and angry; turning to Drake he asked, "Who was the little girl?"

"Awww, now you're shaking my faith in you. I thought you knew everything." Drake was waiting for a signal.

"What has she gone to do?!" Ritzmann shouted.

The lighting brightened and the portal stopped humming. Drake smiled at Ritzmann and walked over to the ring. The lights dimmed again and again the portal hummed and Drake walked through and vanished.

Ritzmann knew that his only chance of finding out where the two activations went lay in the chair room. He picked up he antique revolver and rushed off to interrogate Darrel Ritter.

-----

Gibbs looked into the portal room, technicians rushed around trying to locate the cause or the power source for the two portal activations that had just occurred. He watched as Ritzmann rushed out of the room.

Two guards stood at the exit of the portal room. Gibbs walked out of the ready room and headed for the door. The guards looked and barred his way.

"Stand down." Gibbs commanded. The guards looked confused.

"Sorry sir you have no authority to give orders." the guard said, trying to sound like he was sure.

Gibbs smiled. "Capitan Ritzmann has a situation and he needs my help. Do you two think he will be very forgiving if you hold me here?"

"But sir…." The guard began.

"Stand down now!!" shouted Gibbs in his best gunnery sergeant voice. The guard stepped back in shock and allowed Gibbs to pass.

Gibbs stood and thought for a moment, then headed off towards the stairwell. As he rounded the corner at the junction of three corridors he saw three guards. He approached silently; all three of them had their backs to him and appeared to be deep in conversation. He put his weapon to the head of the guard closest to him.

"Gibbs!" exclaimed McGee, smiling broadly.

"Hey Boss…" said Tony looking at the gun at his temple. "You're not planning on shooting me are you?"

It was at this point that Gibbs saw the collection of explosive charges that his team was in the process of arming. "It's good to see you all…. I think," he said, smiling at them and lowering his pistol. "What do you plan to do with those?" he asked pointing at the charges.

"Well we… ummm I was told that we would receive further instructions once we had armed them," said Tony.

"Oh? And who told you that DiNozzo?" Gibbs asked.

Tony hesitated and smiled sheepishly. "Mrs. Mallard…."

"What!?" said Gibbs in surprise.

"She said that Drake had told her what to tell us…." said Tony expecting Gibbs to explode at him.

"Oh…Ok… So who was to give you further instruction?" He asked.

"Well I was hopping it was going to be you boss." answered Tony, surprised at Gibbs reaction

"Well I'm making this up as I go along…" said Gibbs. "But I would guess that we should put a stop to the operation here."

"What do they do here boss?" McGee asked.

"Tim, if I told you I don't think you would believe me…. I'm not sure I believe it." answered Gibbs.

Shannon appeared beside Gibbs and much to his surprise they all reacted to her. They could all see her.

[albertbester]

*** Spoiler alert {Kill Ari (pt. 2)}***

PART 22. ( To right a wrong)

John Drake walked into the NCIS office. It was dimly lit and it appeared that no one was there. He was about to disappear to visit Gibbs' home when he saw that Gibbs was actually sleeping at his desk.

"Gibbs!" Drake shouted. "Damn it, wake up!"

Gibbs stirred; lifting his head from his desk he looked around and saw Drake. "Who the hell are you?"

"Gibbs, there is something I need to tell you." Drake hardly knew where to start. "Firstly I'm not really here, well I mean, I am here but I'm sort of a ghost."

"You don't look like a ghost…" Gibbs looked at him and then he stood up and walked over to Drake. He held out his hand and tried to touch Drakes shoulder. His hand passed straight through.

Drake smiled. "Yeah it still freaks me out too." He waited for a moment to allow Gibbs to get up to speed. "You have just lost a good friend and you wish to kill the man responsible."

"You got that right and there is no point in anybody, dead or alive trying to change my mind." Gibbs was emphatic.

"I have reasons to want him dead too, but that is not exactly why I'm here." Drake paused and hoped that he could persuade Gibbs to believe the version of history that he knew and then motivate him to change it for the better. "There is something that I need you to understand but you might find it difficult."

"Well you have persuaded me that you are a ghost, how much harder could it be to believe?" Gibbs asked, looking worried.

"Well, be honest Gibbs, you know about ghosts. Kelly keeps you company after all." Drake waited for a reaction.

Gibbs looked at Drake and smiled. "So what unbelievable facts do you have for me?"

"Ok I'm from the future, I know what is going to happen over the next few days and I'm here to help you change it." Again Drake waited.

Gibbs walked round to his chair and sat down. "So tell me, what is going to happen?"

"I'll tell you first what you need to change. You are about to get a new team member. Her name is Ziva David." Drake checked Gibbs for reaction again, seeing none he continued, "She is an agent for Mossad and you need to trust her."

Gibbs did react this time. "Well that's not going to happen!"

"If you don't trust her Ari will escape and kill again." Drake looked at Gibbs "If it is any help you do trust Ziva in the future, but you left it too long and he got away."

"So how do we get the nice guy? What do I have to do?" Gibbs asked. He listened to Drake with great care and was careful to remember every detail.

------

Five of them were in the Abby's lab; Director Shepard was trying to convince Gibbs that Ari should not be a target as he was still believed to be working undercover for Mossad. Gibbs was clearly unconvinced even though Abby & Tony were clearly in favour of playing it safe and assuming that Ari did not kill Kate.

Gibbs knew better. "Give me a minute alone with Ms. David, please."

Once they had a little privacy Gibbs said, "You found out about my first wife and my daughter."

Ziva responded, "Yes. I'm sorry."

"Then we know why Ari is shooting at women then, don't we?" he said trying to make his point clear.

Still unconvinced Ziva answered, "If he wanted you to know he is the sniper, why didn't he use your rifle? An M40?"

Without betraying the emotion that he felt Gibbs looked at Ziva and said, "The Bravo 51 he fired is called a 'Kate'."

After a moment of hesitation Ziva answered, "I still don't believe Ari is the sniper." Thinking further she added, "What you have said should be investigated."

Obviously not satisfied with this answer Gibbs goes on, "Well, when the media gets wind of this, it's going to create a furor."

Irritated Ziva asks, "Are you threatening to go to the media?"

With a slight smile Gibbs says. "No, not me. This can stay between Mossad and NCIS."

Ziva is now curious. "In exchange for what? Setting up Ari for you to kill?"

Gibbs, still smiling, shakes his head slightly. "No. Setting me up for Ari. And if I'm wrong about this, he won't show up."

Ziva is by now almost convinced to go along with Gibbs on this if only to prove him wrong. "And if you're right?"

"Then I'm counting on you to back me up." Gibbs answered looking Ziva in the eye.

------

Some time later in Gibbs' basement there is a confrontation between Gibbs and Ari, with Ari pointing Gibbs' own M40 at him. A shot rings out and Ari falls to the ground. He has been shot in the head.

Ziva appears at the top of the stairs and walks down obviously upset, she begins to pray over Ari's body and through tears of remorse and sadness she explains to Gibbs that Ari was her half brother.

It was then that Gibbs knew that Drake was right and Ziva could be trusted

Drake was standing in the corner of the basement and as soon as the heart of Ari Haswari beat its last, he began to fade and disappear. Ari was dead so Drake no longer existed as a ghost.

[albertbester]

PART 23. (The plan)

Shannon was explaining what the plan was, why they could all see her and what exactly had been happening at Camp Hero at the Eastern end of Long Island. The whole team was in shock; pretty much everything that they believed had been brought into question by the existence of this facility.

“So you’re telling us that this all started with an experiment in 1943 onboard the USS Eldridge, but now it goes back as far as recorded history?” McGee was having a lot of trouble fitting this new view of reality into his logical and ordered view of the world.

Shannon smiled at McGee kindly, “Yes, Tim, that is exactly what I’m telling you. But there is more to it than even that.” She looked at each of them in turn. “Because of the nature of the work they do here, the whole base is excluded from normal time. That is why you can all see me. Most people can see spirits here because outside of the normal flow of time, reality is changed.”

Gibbs shook his head. All of this was a little too much for him to accept. “So what else do they do here?” he almost did not want to know.

“The people in charge of this base have been working at controlling the evolution of the abilities of the human race. For the most part they have succeeded,” Shannon answered, watching as the truth of this settled in.

“But what can we do about it? I mean, won’t they just use their time machine to go and stop us?” asked Tony as he tried to come to terms with all that he had been told in the past 10 minutes.

“There are parts of the mechanism for the time portal that exist outside of time. They are irreplaceable, and if we can destroy them the whole of the operation of this place will cease,” Shannon informed all of them.

“But if we do, then won’t history change?” Ziva asked with a sceptical tone in her voice. “Don’t we run the risk of disappearing and ceasing to exist?”

“When you leave the area of this base then the changes in history will affect both you and your perception of the world. You might remember all that has happened here, but it will be as a dream to you. Your consciousness will, to an extent, be rewritten,” Shannon said.

“I really don’t like the sound of that,” said McGee.

“It is, to a certain extent, too late to worry about it Tim,” answered Shannon. “Two events in history have already been changed that will affect your lives.”

Gibbs looked up into his beloved wife’s eyes. She looked back at him and with sadness she shook her head, “No Jethro, not that. I’m sorry.”

He understood instantly and sadness took the place of hope. Ziva placed her hand on his shoulder. “Come on boss, we have work to do,” she said. She knew what he was hoping for, and felt sadness at his hurt.

“Ok, we have eight 2lb high explosive charges,” Tony said, looking at the ghost of Gibbs’ wife “What do we need to do with them?”

“Six of the eight charges need to be placed on this level, two need to go at the main power conduits in the portal room, and two more must go in the chair room. This is vital as it is through the use of the chair all of their flesh and blood operatives can be kept effective as they travel,” Shannon paused as Gibbs snorted and stifled a cynical laugh.

“You mean, it is the person in the chair that keeps them sane,” he said with a note of bitterness.

“Yes Jethro, the chair operative is Darrel Ritter, and he is prepared to give his life to help us…” Shannon said.
Gibbs was shocked, “But we found Darrel Ritter dead when we arrived at the base. How can he be here?”

Shannon smiled. “Only time will tell,” she said cryptically.

“What about the guards and technicians that work here?” asked McGee.

“I’m afraid that they will be casualties. Some will die, and others will just cease to exist. But none of them can be allowed to leave here, as they have all been outside of the normal flow of time for too long and they will pose a threat to others if they try to join the rest of the world,” said Shannon.

McGee looked horrified “How many people work here?”

“About a hundred, but only ten or fifteen of those are from our time. The rest have been recruited over the years, and would die as soon as they left anyway,” answered Shannon, seeing the worry in Tim’s eyes.

“But how can they have been recruited? I was told that time travel could only be one way. Ritzmann said that it was only possible to travel back not forwards,” Gibbs voice was harsh and edged with distrust.

“Yes Jethro, and the whole of this base was shifted back in time when it was first commissioned. People have been recruited by force for over hundreds of years,” Shannon sounded angry as she passed on this information.

McGee was starting to understand, “So we cannot send them back to their time, because they would change history because of what they know and have experienced.”

“That’s right Tim. Most of them have been alive for several hundred years, and what ever happens they will die.” Shannon was obviously upset by the actions carried out in this place.

“So where do the two other charges on this level go?” asked Ziva, getting back to the plan.

“There is a sealed room down that corridor,” Shannon pointed. “Inside that room is a device that provides a special kind of energy. The device is called a Zero Point Module and it must be destroyed. This is vital, as it is a major component of the time portal.”

“So where do the last two charges go?” Tony asked.

“The final charges must be placed in the secondary control room on the second sublevel. This room provides the link to the outside for the area isolated from normal time, and as such must only be destroyed after you leave the base, or there is the risk of you becoming cut off from time its self.” Shannon made it clear that this was important.

“I take it that being cut off from time would be bad,” stated McGee.

“Very bad,” said Shannon. “All of the casualties from the Eldridge were victims of being cut off from time. Best case is you will end up totally and irreversibly insane. The worst case is very, very unpleasant…..”

Gibbs drew a deep breath he gathered his thoughts. “Tony, Ziva you go to the Zero Point Module. McGee you go with Shannon to the chair room. I’ll take the portal room.”

“Umm are you going to need any help boss?” asked Tony.

“No. I already have an understanding with the guards in there. I don’t think they will give me any trouble…”

The team checked their gear one last time and went to work.

[albertbester]

PART 24. (Flash Back Revisited)

Drake had spent the day with an Israeli agent exchanging information. Something about the meeting didn’t feel right.


He had learned to trust his instincts. This time his controller had told him in no uncertain terms to “ignore what you think and do your job”.


The job was done, contact made and information had been exchanged. But still…he couldn’t put his finger on it.


He got out of his car and walked over to his flat. The light was on, so he knew that Samantha was home. He was about to walk in the door when a young girl appeared beside him.

“Hello, who are you?” he asked surprised.

“My name is Kelly and I’m here to warn you, John Drake,” she said. Her voice was sad and soft.

“Warn me about what? And how do you know my name?” He was disturbed by this girl and the way she spoke to him.

“How I know you is difficult to explain; there is no time… You and your wife are in danger.” She looked at him and the truth of her words seemed to make the air grow cold.

Drake tried to shrug off the feeling of fear that mingled with the bad feeling he had all day working with the Israeli. “Who put you up to this?” his tone was clipped and harsh.

“When you see me again you must react swiftly, because the one you do not trust will be about to strike, and death will follow,” Kelly’s voice echoed, and before his eyes she faded and disappeared.


Drake stood motionless and tried to work out what he had just seen. “Where did you go? What are you playing at?” he asked the empty space before him…. “This is some sort of crazy trick,” he told himself, and totally failed to convince himself.

He opened the door and walked into the flat, trying to shake off the feeling of doom that was growing in him.


“Hello sweetheart, had a good day?” Samantha asked.


“The usual; paper work and filing,” he lied, and he hated lying to Sam. But he was told that as far as friends and family were concerned, he was a civil servant. Every time he had to lie he felt his gut churn.


She told him she loved him; she made him feel good. She was the most honest, clean and true thing in his life, and he loved her more than he could ever hope to put into words, and now he was in fear of losing her.


“I love you too, my angel, my life.”


She laughed and smacked him on the butt, and told him to get ready.


They were going out for a meal with friends. Drake didn’t want to, but arrangements had been made and he knew how much Sam was looking forward to it.


The restaurant was busy and they were early.


“A drink in the bar?” he asked.


“Love to babe. I’ll have a Baileys.”


“Jack Daniels and a Baileys,” Drake said to the bartender, who busied himself with glasses and bottles.


“Ice?” was the only question that the bartender asked. “No, thanks,” replied Drake.


He took the glasses over to a small table where Sam was waiting. Moments later, Mark and Wanda arrived and a social evening commenced.


Later. They were leaving the restaurant. Mark and Wanda had left moments earlier. Drake and Sam were crossing the road to their Volvo.


Kelly appeared in the road in front of Drake and said, “Now John, it’s going to happen now.”

A car pulled up just in front of them. “Drake!” called the driver. “John Drake!”


Drake looked and saw it was the agent he had spent the day with. He was pointing a handgun.


Drake turned and shoved his wife to the ground.


A shot rang out Drake was hit in the shoulder and the car sped away, wheels screeching. As he fell, he turned and saw his beloved wife crumpling behind him. The bullet had passed through him and was lost in the street in front of him. As he was collapsing he heard Samantha scream his name; blackness surrounded him, and he fell unconscious.


An unknown length of time later, he awoke in a bright, clean hospital room and found his wife sitting beside him.

“Hello sweetheart,” she said with a smile. “You’re going to be fine, but you lost a lot of blood. You have to rest so don’t try to move.”


She looked tired, but she was alive. John drake was happy and near unconscious again. Then he noticed the young girl standing by his bedside. She smiled and said, “It is all now as it should be. Rest, John Drake; we may yet meet again,” and with that she vanished.