Borrowed Time by Jack Campbell Read Free Book Online

hadn't taken into account the war and the fears for his safety it would generate. Nor could I fault that attitude with Harry and his friends lurking about.
    I hung around the President for several long frustrating days and nights without any chances developing to get his ear in a waking or dreaming state. From what I'd seen of the here-and-now White House, I could cool my heels for months waiting for an actual appointment, and I couldn't afford to waste that much time. Lincoln had to hear from me before he heard Ericsson's proposal.
    While strolling down Pennsylvania Avenue past all the brick and wood-frame buildings, dodging pedestrians, carriages and piles of horse manure as I tried to come up with another angle, I noticed I was being followed. The two individuals trailing me weren't very good, which told me they were locals and not some of Harry's co-workers. That kind of tradecraft has come a long way in the intervening centuries. It seemed like a good idea to find out what they wanted, despite the physical risk. "Jeannie, I need an alley with a way out the back."
    The maps from this period aren't very reliable, Michael. Too much temporary construction .
    I took a moment to wish I’d been able to reload my finger stun charge. "That's okay. Do your best."
    Two more blocks, hang a right, half a block down .
    "Thanks." I followed Jeannie's directions, and found myself fronting a pile of garbage blocking a narrow lane. In a pinch, I could climb over it as long as I didn’t think about what was under me. Turning, I saw my two friends standing at the entrance to the alley. One was big and wide, like a gorilla. He looked powerful but slow, so he'd be easy to outrun. The other reminded me of a ferret on two legs, thin, quick and dangerous. They came halfway down the alley and stopped, facing me with bland expressions. "May I help you gentlemen?"
    "Maybe," the ferret drawled. "You seem pretty interested in President Lincoln."
    "He's the President."
    "That's right," the ferret agreed, "and we want him to stay that way." A slim hand dipped into one pocket and surfaced with a shiny metal badge. "Pinkerton Protective Services."
    "I see." During the American Civil War , Jeannie informed me, Pinkerton acted as both the forerunner of the Secret Service and as Military Intelligence. Here I'd been busting my gut to get the President's ear, and a direct line to him had just walked into my lap.
    The gorilla leaned toward me, rubbing one fist into the other palm. "Just answer our questions. No funny stuff."
    "Why are you in town?” the ferret pressed. “Why are you following the President?"
    I licked my lips, trying to project nervous sincerity. "The truth is, there's something I wanted to tell the President. Something very important."
    The gorilla snorted in derision while the ferret looked skeptical. "Lots of people think they got important stuff to tell Mister Lincoln. You tell us, and we'll decide."
    "Okay. But this really is important. I got a friend down in Virginia, you see..." So I spilled my guts about the scheme Harry's group had cooked up, leaving out the Temporal Intervention parts, of course.
    As I talked, the gorilla furrowed his brow while he tried to think, but the ferret whipped out a notebook and writing implement and started making manual notes like mad. When I finished, he fixed me with a searching stare. "This on the level?"
    "Of course. Why would I lie to you?"
    "You tell me."
    "You must have people down in Norfolk. Check it out for yourselves." Once these Pinkertons confirmed my story and handed it to Lincoln, he’d be very receptive to the proposal Ericsson would be making in the near future. Receptive enough to over-rule any objections from the ship-building establishment. As someone once suggested, letting people act in their own best interests was the best way to get results.
    The notebook flipped shut and slid into a pocket as the ferret nodded. "We’ll check on it. Thanks. If this is true, President Lincoln