A Year to Forget (The Accidental Time Travellers Book 2) (6 page)

As he thought back to what he could remember of Faraday’s visit he felt guilty, guilt is the bloody last thing I need, he thought.  He wasn’t sure how he felt about the suicide attempt failing.  Was he happy or sad?  A bit of both perhaps. 

The door swung open and a doctor he didn’t recognise entered with a nurse he also didn’t recognise.

“Hello David, I’m Dr Gottleib.  I hear you’ve had a rough night?”

“Yes, I suppose I have.”

“How are you feeling?”

“Fine.”

The nurse gave a bemused look, the doctor pressed on.  “You feel fine?”

“Yeah I guess.”

“You don’t seem to be particularly concerned?”

“I’m not.”

“Well would you like to talk me through what happened?”

“It’s personal.”

“I wasn’t asking David.  I need to assess you to see if we need to keep you in hospital.”

“I’m a doctor, I’ll leave if I feel up to it.”

Dr Gottleib seemed slightly infuriated by David’s responses.  “I read in your file that you are a forensic pathologist?”

“That’s right.”

“Not exactly a study of the human mind.”

“Well I’ve dissected brains.”

“Yes I’ll bet you have.”  He chuckled.  “But it’s not quite the same thing.  Which hospital do you work at?”

“I don’t.  I used to work at Parkland in Dallas but I work for the government.”

“Very impressive.  So how do you enjoy your work David?”

“It’s okay I suppose.”

“Just okay?”

“Well yeah, who enjoys working?”

“No problems at work at all?”

“No.”

“How about outside of work, what do you enjoy doing in your spare time?”

David was stumped.  “Um, nothing really.”

“No hobbies?”

“Not anymore, no.”

“What did you used to enjoy doing?”

“Well I used to spend all of my spare time with my wife.  Whenever we both managed to get a day off work we would take trips.”

“Are you separated?”

“No, she passed.”

“I’m sorry to hear that David, truly I am.  How long has it been?”

“It’s been eight years, going on nine.  It’s strange, I hadn’t really thought it had been that long.”

“The memory will be fresh to you David, it’s quite natural.  You must miss her?”

“Of course, I’ll never stop missing her.”

“Do you have any children?”

Another sore spot.  “No we didn’t.”

“Do you feel lonely?”

“Well I have friends.”

“Yes I don’t mean are you alone.  When we’re feeling down we can feel lonely even if we have dozens of friends around us.  Would it be fair to say that you may be feeling lonely, even though you have a good support network around you?”

“I suppose it would.”

“Do you find that even when you are in company you are in your head a lot of the time?”

“How do you mean?”

“Well say for example when you are having a meal with your friends, how easy do you find it to remain concentrated on what is happening around you?”

“Quite difficult.”

“Why?”

“I have thoughts that won’t go away.”

“Thoughts about your wife?”

“Sometimes.”

“What else do you think about?”

“Mistakes I’ve made.  People I’ve hurt.”

“So you find yourself obsessing over the past?”

“Yes.”

“And how long would you say this has been going on?”

“Years.”

“Since your wife’s death?”

“Well I suppose it started then, but it’s gotten worse over time.”

“These things often do.  So when you were planning your suicide, what would you say you were thinking about?”

“Well I wouldn’t say I planned it.”

“So it was more of an impulse?”

“Yes.”

“And you’ve never done this before?”

“No.”

“No self harming?”

“No.”

“How do you sleep?”

“I don’t really.”

“How long has this been going on?”

“Years.”

“Since you wife’s death?”

“Exactly.”

“And if I was to send you home, what do you think you would do?”

“How do you mean?”

“What I’m trying to establish is whether or not you are a risk to yourself David.”

“I don’t know, I have no plans to do anything.”

“But you didn’t plan tonight?”

“No.”

“Okay, so listen here’s what I think.  I think that you are suffering from depression.  I think it began with the death of your wife.  I think you have held in your feelings for such long time, that they have snowballed into something that you are now finding very difficult to deal with.”  David felt tears forming in his eyes, this man was right.  “I know it is difficult for you to hear.  To be honest with you David, I don’t think I can send you home.  You said you have no plans to try and end your life and I believe you, but I’m afraid that you may act impulsively once again.  I think we need to keep you here.  For the time being I will commit you to the Psychiatric Ward for one week.  We shall see how you get on and review it if necessary.”

“Okay.”  David wasn’t sure how he felt, he liked the doctor, he seemed like a kind man.

Chapter 10

Bobby was sat in his office, in the White House opposite Wernher Von Braun, Howard Hughes had flown back to Las Vegas, Kennedy and Abaddon were preparing for a press conference at 11:00.  It was Boxing Day and Bobby was in the last place he wanted to be.  He had been looking forward to the break and spending Christmas with those nearest and dearest to him.  It didn’t help that he had no idea what he should be looking for.

“Wernher why don’t you just tell me what you think happened?”

“I already have, there were no technical problems with the rocket.  There were absolutely no problems whatsoever, the only way in which it could have exploded would be by an act of sabotage.”

“So you think it was a deliberate act?”

“There is no other solution.”

“Okay.  Then who did it?”

“I think that is your remit.”

“Who could have done it?”

“Well the only people that have access to the rocket would be NASA employees.”

“So could anyone working at NASA potentially have planted explosives?”

“No one at NASA would do that.”

“But could they?”

“No, only people with direct access.  I can get you a list of the people working on the Apollo Program.”

“What about the crew?”

“What about them?”

“Could they have potentially blown up the shuttle?”

Wernher looked disgusted at the thought.  “Why would they?”

“I don’t know, why would anyone?”

“The only people with any motive would be the Russians.”

Bobby considered this for a moment.  “What about the Nazis?”

Wernher looked on the verge of imploding.  “Excuse me?”

“You were a Nazi, were you not?”

“I am a German scientist.  I came to this country to get away from the Nazis.”

“But am I right in thinking you never defected until 1945?”

“That is correct.”

“So you were in Germany for almost the entire Nazi regime?”

“Yes.”

“It’s a little convenient that you then defected to the US whilst the Nazis were about to lose the war.  You can’t really claim to have been trying to escape from the Nazis.”

“Just what is it you are accusing me of?”

“I want to know if you are a war criminal.”

“Do you really think a war criminal would have direct access to the President of the United States?”

“I think if that war criminal could lead the country to victory in the Space Race, then perhaps he would.  From what Hoover tells me, there are quite a few Germans working in the Apollo program.  Would they not have a possible motive for killing US citizens?”

“We are scientists.  The war criminals were tried at Nuremburg.”

“Well the ones that the other countries had no use for.”

Wernher looked ready to kill Bobby.  His usual smart demeanour was shaken by the insults.  “You are being incredibly Xenophobic.”

“I don’t think you are in any position to criticize others for being discriminatory.”

“I am a scientist Mr Stinson.”  Wernher got to his feet and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.  Bobby wasn’t sure why he had just done that.  Could the Nazi defectors have caused the explosion intentionally?  It made more sense that the Soviets doing it, how could the Soviets have gained access the rocket?  He needed help, he knew there was only one person that could look into this efficiently.  He was about to lift the receiver of the telephone, when his door was opened once again.  This time it was Abaddon.

“I just saw Wernher, he looked upset.  What happened?”

“I was just asking him some questions.”

“About what?”  Abaddon came across like an angry school teacher.

“Apollo 8.”

“And that made him cry?”

“He was crying?”

“Yes.  So what were you asking him about?”

“Which people had access to the rocket.”

“And?”

“Maybe you should take a seat.”

“Just tell me.”

“Well there are a lot of German scientists working on the space program, doesn’t that bother you?”

“No.”

“But they must have been Nazis before they came here.”

“Does that matter?”

“Of course it does!  You know what they did.  How can you even say that it doesn’t matter?”

“Because they are the best in the world at what they do and we need them.”

“Surely American scientists could do as just as good a job.”

“Well are Faraday and Jane the only people that could work in your department?”

“That’s completely different, they aren’t war criminals.”

“We can discuss this later.  In fact no we can’t, you will drop that line of enquiry, understood?”

“Who else could have done it?”

“It must have been the Soviets.”

“How could they have done it Abaddon?  Why would they risk nuclear war just to blow up a rocket that wasn’t even landing on the Moon?”

“Well I highly doubt our scientists would blow it up.  Why would they?”

“Revenge for the war.”

“So the Nazis are defeated and a group of scientists move to America in order to kill three astronauts.”

Bobby suddenly felt quite stupid.  “So say it was the Russians, what can we do?”

“Well I would suggest war is the only option.”

“You can’t be serious?”

“We cannot allow these Russian aggressors to get away with this.”

“But we have no proof.  A war between the US and the Soviet Union could signify the end of the world.”

“Or it could signify the end of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War.”

“I can’t believe you are saying this.”

“It’s not really your jurisdiction.  Anyway you need to come to the Oval Office, we have just found out that a friend of yours is appearing on television.”

“Who?”

“Lee Harvey Oswald.”

Chapter 11

Faraday tightened his grip on Jane’s hand.  He wasn’t sure where to look, the silence in the room had been going on for almost ten minutes.  He couldn’t quite believe what Oswald had just said.  The recordings were damming and he couldn’t fathom how Kennedy could possibly remain President.  Worse than that was the proof that he had cheated on Ethel, she looked absolutely devastated.  She was sitting on the other couch with Nancy, whilst Faraday and Jane were sitting together.  Everyone else had left and the children were upstairs.