Richard's Crown

By Riley Cogan

In 1813 in the peninsula wars the largest single transfer of wealth in human history occurred. History says the wealth was looted by the victorious allied armies led but the Duke of Wellington. Much was destroyed in the wanton rampage. The rest spent on rum and women. Some may have went to a more righteous cause, to save a new america. Not the America of 1813 but the America of 2027.

2027, America as you know it is gone. Replaced with smaller states struggling for liberty and survival. Gold and wealth can help. Time travel can get gold and wealth, where to get the gold and wealth without changing history?

Steal it from those who stole it from the ones who stole it from others first.

Not all love liberty, many love power.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Riley Cogan
• Release date: May 27, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301455065

Riley Cogan

just a thinker who likes words

Book preview

Richard’s Crown

R.T.Cogan

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2013 by R.T. Cogan

All Rights Reserved.

All characters in this book are fictitious and from my imagination only. Any resemblance to any person living or dead is purely coincidental.

Thanks to my many friends that helped me in the writing of this book. They proved invaluable in the technical, conceptual and/or historical arena. Some even helped me in just learning how to write a book with a computer. I am not that computer savvy. Thank the Lord Almighty I didn’t have to use a Quill and parchment. Many if not most of the names of my friends are found in the characters names of this story. The links in some versions are an idea that may help writers make money, and allow them to offer their work for free to the readers.

Cover Illumination by Aaron Haber

Enjoy.

The old nations were collapsing, while new nations rose in their decaying, decadent and selfish ruins. Security and prosperity are not rights and must be purchased in one of two ways. Sacrifice is one, and wealth is the other. Freedom loving people will often sacrifice. But when large amounts of wealth are needed in a world of declining commerce, desperate measures are called for.

What would you do if you could go anywhere and any WHEN you wanted?

Chapter 1

Richard’s Crown

Spain 1813

With the transfer complete, the free fall in the dark began. He pushed away from the cargo containers getting separation from the equipment and the other men. With the sound of the wind increasing in his ears and a moment of disorientation, Richard checked his flexpad’s read out. He checked for altitude. He had not hit the ground yet, and his chute had not automatically opened, so checking the screen just made him feel better and gave his mind something to calculate. Separation was achieved, but in the total dark it was hard to tell by how much. The glow from the other men’s electronics helped.

Other apps on the flexpad started their searches as well. One reported distance from other free falling objects and people. REQUIRED SEPARATION ACHIEVED the app reported on the flexpads screen. Another app tried to calculate where they were besides 6280 ft. above sea level and approaching terminal velocity. The wind battered his face and body through the jumpsuit and equipment. His sword hilt slapped against his chest. The flexpad scanned the ground below. With no geo-synced satellites, topography and the stars would be the only information available to verify their exact location, in case the transfer point was not precise. In previous tests, time jumps had been near perfect in latitude and longitude. There had been some substantial variations in altitude, justifying time transfer into free fall.

Richard knew when they were, 1:00am local time June 20th 1813, free- falling over northern Spain. In 2027 it was the free homeland of the Basques. Known as (Euskal Herria). Now it was occupied Spain, occupied by the French armies of Napoleon Bonaparte, but not for much longer. The British were coming.

The plan was to land near the eastern side of a medium size town called Vitoria. In two days the single largest transfer of wealth in human history would occur on the ground below. Single largest if you exclude the welfare programs of the twentieth century. Richard’s team was here to take a piece of the action. The money was desperately needed to fund a new and growing nation in a world of chaos, war and uncertainty. 1000 ft. above the ground, 3460 ft. above sea level, the chutes opened. His flexpad’s outline turned green giving him his near exact latitude and longitude. From here out it would be the inertia apps that would help track their location. The more they traveled the less accurate those apps would be.

Tomorrow afternoon, June 21st 1813, Marshal Jourdan of his majesty Napoleon Bonaparte’s armies of Spain and Napoleon’s brother Joseph, would learn a lesson in battlefield tactics by the yet undefeated Sir Arthur Wellesley, currently known as ‘The 1st Marquees of Wellington.’ Sir Arthur would eventually become the Duke of Wellington. Tomorrow’s battle would help to propel him to that high honor.

The French army not only consisted of 30,000 soldiers, 20,000 camp followers, hundreds of field guns and supply wagons, it also contained all the wealth of Spain and Portugal. Napoleon’s Marshals had occupied Spain and Portugal for years and had stripped them of everything of value, from the wealthy Catholic churches to the Crown Jewels of Spain.

Tomorrow afternoon the French command would be left little choice but to abandon the wealth to the victorious and pursuing British red coats.

The scum of the earth, Wellesley had called them, as well as The best trained fighters in the world. They were led by arguably the greatest battlefield commander since Alexander. Wellesley would leave the French only one route for escape. One they did not choose. One less capable to handle all the canon, cavalry, infantry, camp followers, whores, wagons of war and the wealth of nations to escape on. It was a recipe for disaster. The redcoats would descend on the baggage train, and loot it for all they could carry.

The British model for paying soldiers was battlefield spoils. As a reward for fighting through the maelstrom of cannon, cavalry and musketry, soldiers were allowed to, and could hardly be prevented from, looting the dead and dying. Wellington was unaware of the vast treasure held behind the French battle lines. Therefore he did not plan for capturing it. His plan reasoned the French could not take wagons loaded with supplies like cannon shot and powder up the road he’d leave them, and therefore would be left behind. The Allied armies would use and take what they liked. That left the sweet spoils of the treasure yet unknown and therefore planned for and unguarded by the British command would be left to the rank and file’s indiscriminate savagery. But British, Portuguese and Spanish soldiers could not carry it all, and many priceless things were destroyed in the rampage. Paintings, tapestries, even the royal crown of Spain was never seen again, at least in one piece or recognizable. The wagons full of the raped wealth of nations was Richard Keefe’s target

Richard and his chosen few planned on retrieving some of the bounty before the British descended on it. Richard’s goal was to have as little interaction between his people and the people of this time as possible. Bring treasure home to fund his country’s growing power in the new world. Richard’s team we're here to get rich. Or help their new country get much needed cash. They were primarily after the lost art. Priceless and forever lost. Art weighs less than gold and could be worth more. They had this opportunity to recover masterpieces not seen in two hundred years.

Richard counted the chutes, satisfied all his men and cargo was with him, he loosed the line to his drop bag. His rucksack that was strapped to his leg hit the ground. Flare out and land light as a feather. Richard did not need to give orders, all the men knew their jobs, and were doing them already.

The new country he and his men were from, The Republic of North America or RNA was well advanced in technologically. Most of the world was spinning back to the dark ages. The large nations of the world were dying and breaking up. The demographics of the wealthy countries, a result of their own success had in turn ruined them. The super wealthy had banded into groups and had their own private military states. In most cases these corporate nations were a calming force in the new world. The RNA and a few others were still in the running for viability as a nation state.

Small wars of land and resource grabbing were occurring almost everywhere on the planet. Taiwan and South Korea didn’t last a month after the USA removed its umbrella of protection. The Koreas were now one nation, less free than the south had been before. Far more free than the north had been in eighty years. The humanitarian disaster would have been unprecedented in the 20th but couldn’t hold a candle to what happened in Africa or south Asia. Some estimates said two billion people had died in the mid-2020s. Many countries had nukes and few wanted to use them. Some had, in most cases to their own destruction. Like Iran. War lords, private armies, spies and espionage were the rule of the day.

The argument of disrupting timeline had not been settled. Richard’s nation was the only one with the technology as far as he knew. They had only used it a few times for testing. This was the first real mission. The customer for the retrieved art was one of the super-rich individuals creating their own nation that was located inside the borders of the RNA. Richard’s team was functioning not as patriots but as patriot mercenaries.

Boise Idaho Spring 2026

Time transfers were accurate in time but no so much in space. That’s why the time/space transfer was calculated at 10,000 ft. above ground level in the target area. It only took a couple of screwed up tests to build in this safety protocol.

The first few tests had been successful transporting inanimate objects a day or week into the past. The most interesting thing was the moment you decided on what, where and when something was to be transferred; it appeared at that instant and place. The first was a six foot replica of the Statue of Liberty. It was also when they learned about the altitude problem. The instant everyone agreed on the particulars of the experiment with the statue sitting on the time pod and Dr. Hewitt about to push the button, the same statue fell from the sky to crash into the Fort Boise military cemetery, a day earlier and five miles away. It was not very respectful of the honored dead. Hindsight is always 20/20. Calculations revealed it fell about a thousand feet. The next test would have a telemetry package.

By the time they got around to test Pogo the dog, the only remaining questions was, the same thing occupying the same space at the same time. So Pogo landed a hundred miles away where a group waited for him five minutes before the test.

Here he comes. His chute is deployed and he does not look happy. Steve Hewitt said.

Pogo was a German Shepherd Shar-Pei mix.

Thank the retrieval team for me son and congratulations. Dr. Hewitt said as he patted Pogo on the head while closing the door to the time pod. Don’t worry Pogo it will be alright you’re going to see Stevie. Pogo wagged his tail and shook in fear. The backpack containing the parachute and telemetry package was bugging him. Not to worry they already knew it worked they just needed to complete the steps.

Bringing power levels up Doctor.

Thank you Adam. Dr. Hewitt said. The lab was glowing with the orange and blue lights created by the time transfer phenomenon.

All lights green. Bye Pogo see you soon. Dr. Hewitt said as a loud crack echoed in the gym sized lab and Pogo was gone.

Paul Hogan and Richard Keefe sat with Dr. Hewitt asking questions about the concept of time travel. Dr. Hewitt was a funny little man with a bald plate but still sporting a grey ponytail. He fidgeted a bit and couldn’t look a man long in the eyes. His world was math and physics. When he talked there was always a little snickering laughter in between words and sentences, like he had just un-wrapped a long awaited and perfect Christmas gift.

Imagine time is like a coffee cup. Time is in the cup. Flowing like it was not a cup but a pipe upwards, always upwards. For whatever reason time travels up in mathematical equations, always up, but back to the cup analogy. Time travel is like the handle on the cup. It loops back. It may be due to an unusually large ripple in the Higgs field I discovered when I was in Switzerland. The pipe runs for ever with twists and turns of its own. But there are many handles. When we make a time transfer we are utilizing one of the handles or perhaps we are creating one by increasing the wave cycle in the Higgs field ripple, applying what we learned in physicist Lena Hau’s light stopping experiment. But some of it we just don’t know. Hehe, we don’t know. That part is still unclear to us. Dr. Hewitt said, talking to them like children, but still chuckling, enjoying the discovery through younger eyes.

But what about the paradox thing Doc? Paul asked.

Well Dr. Seth Lloyd collated many ideas and theories about time and hypothesized there are two strong possibilities. The first is that you go back in time and you interact with maybe yourself or someone important to you and change things. You create a new time line like in the movie series ‘Back to the Future’. The other is that you can’t change the history timeline. If you try to interfere with something that would alter your time line, a quantum mechanics fluctuation would interfere with it. If you tried to shoot your grandfather the bullet would always miss. We’re going with that one. The physics doctor said.

We now think that positrons are just electrons traveling back in time. The Physicist continued flying way over the heads of his current students. Richard shook his head in confusion. He didn’t understand what one statement had to do with the next but had to ask.

What are you saying here I don’t get it? Richard asked.

Well Richard with the experiments we’ve ran we are going with you can’t mess up the timeline even if you try. HOWEVER we don’t want you to experiment with that when you get there. We want you to not fuck with anything you don’t have to. Don’t kill anybody you don’t have to. Paul and I have had some discussions regarding your sometimes inability to control yourself in that arena. I say to you now, if you see important people don’t kill them. Is that clear enough? In fact try not to kill anybody. Are we clear on that? Deutch’s time line curve says you might not be able to interfere with the timeline, but please try not to. We don’t want to prove Deutch incorrect do we? Dr. Hewitt finished his admonishment with a twittering chuckle.

Richard held his angry and defensive response and just replied I don’t understand half of what you are saying and the other half I am just faking it. But I will do my best not to kill or interfere with people of the time line we are going to. I mean it’s just a simple snatch and grab right? Richard had his heart set on the mission and he did not want this egg head screwing the possibilities of the biggest heist in human history.

Vitoria Spain 1813

The two cargo containers were opened. One for carrying the equipment packs and weapons and the second for the return time transfer home. The second was the time pod. It looked like a large vegetable steamer, just big enough for his people and the eagerly awaited loot. The time pod would transfer them back to whence they came, and then would completely self-destruct via a thermite inferno, leaving only scorched earth in its place. There was a change of uniforms, after landing. They stripped off the free fall gear, revealing the dress of French infantry officers. The uniforms would hopefully give enough freedom to move in the French army’s backfield. Later they would change into the uniform of American colonial Spanish army if necessary.

The plan was to repack the chutes then make their way to the small secondary road that leads from Vitoria to Pamplona and wait tomorrow’s disaster. The long wait was incase drop zone was miscalculated giving them a longer walk. It was thankfully unnecessary. So they must wait.

When the disaster starts the men would move onto the muddy field and search the wagons for a list of items believed destroyed on this day. Retrieve those items and head for the hills and transfer back home. If successful, plans were on the table for the Lusitanian and the Titanic amongst others. The burning of Alexandria was so far back in time it might not be impossible to calculate the space. Or exact time.

The farther back in time the bigger the bubble in space was needed for safety. It had something to do with the variable wobbles in the earth’s rotation and orbit around the sun, and the exact date of the event. Time transfers of this magnitude were best calculated to be on the same date. Or so the smart guys said. Doc, Kimo, prep the time pod run diagnostics get our hot spot antenna up and update me when you’ve finished. Richard redundantly urged. Everyone knew what they were doing.

Richard Keefe was a warrior and a bit of a historian in his older age. A bit over average height for a north American at 6ft 1in. and by far the oldest on this mission at 45. A few scars from fights and battles, with one big one on his left cheek that gave him a cynical look when he smiled. He’d always been a scrapper and was a 9/11 marine. Raised in San Diego, his dad was a mixed martial arts teacher and athletic coach. But after his mom and dad divorced he ended up in a rougher school and had to prove he could hold his own. That led to few bad years in and out of trouble. But all that changed after 9/11 and on 9/13 he found himself at a marine corps recruiting office. A few years as a sniper in Iraq he learned the ways of survival and fighting as a front line operator. After his stint in the corps he bounced around until his late twenties when a mentor took him under his wing. He taught him the rewards of a straight and narrow path and of grace. That at least kept him out of trouble.

Then the world started to fall apart. Some say it started in Ireland. People refusing to work to pay back the loans to the World Bank after the bailouts of 2010, 11 and 12. With the wages and pensions being cut by half and the home values dropping by 60% left them little choice. They elected a government that told the World Bank no more money. Spain and Portugal followed. Italy and the Greeks continued the landslide. Germany got left holding the bag in Europe and the USA for the rest of the economic powers of the world. So the USA kept printing money. The value of the dollar versus almost every other currency plummeted. Iran said it would no longer accept dollars in exchange for oil. The Russians seeing the chance to destroy their long time enemy encouraged the other Gulf States to agree. Game over. International trade grounded to a screeching halt. No one shipped goods because no one knew the value of what they would get in return. There is just not enough gold on the planet to run a 50 trillion dollar would economy.

Before the collapse Richard worked as a smoke jumping fire fighter and that trade took him to lower Idaho where he fell in with militant militias. Not those racist creeps up north but the American constitution lover types. Thirteen years after the towers fell he met his second mentor, Paul Hogan. Hogan gave him an education in history and the ability to form a solid world view with unwavering ethics and loyalty to those who earned it.

His men on this trip were eight. Richard handpicked them all. They had been his friends and fellow warriors for the last few years. His right hand man, his chief lieutenant and second in command Ryan Archer was a good friend. Clever and witty, who, when needed, was a killer. Ryan was also Richard’s mental rock. Almost like a service dog for returning vets. Archer was a man that almost always smiled. He possessed the classic look of an Irishman. If Ryan Archer was not smiling when he was looking at you it would probably be your bad day. Broad shoulders and tall at 6ft 4in. made him the biggest man on the mission. His now long curly brown hair and grand French style mustache camouflaged the seasoned warrior within.

Next were Jon Lafarge and René Soult, needed here for their language skills. Both Frenchmen caught in North America during the summer of 2020, the year of the end, or the new beginning. Some now call it year zero. They all had learned Spanish. They were, if needed, Spanish soldiers from American Florida if everything went to shit. Both Jon Lafarge and René Soult were former members of the French (COE) 1st regiment parachutist marines, Special Forces doing training at the USMC mountain warfare training center in the California Sierra Nevada Mountains at the beginning of the collapse of the US. Like most Special Forces types René and Jon were not large men. Both men stood at 5ft 8in tall, lean and hard as nails. Jon had the sandy blond hair as a descendant of the northern Italians with light blue eyes. René had the swarthy look, almost olive skin with dark hair and eyes. Like the others dressed in French uniforms they sported large mustaches and long hair. René e wore his in the traditional pig tails.

In late 2017 The U.S. dollar collapsed when OPEC nations announced the purchasing of oil would no longer be done in dollars.

The Opec Ministers proclaimed. America has printed 20 trillion dollars over the last five years to buy their own debt. The dollar is worthless we will sell oil in gold or the Renminbi. The Chinese currency may eventually be the world’s currency. But nations and monies come and go. Nations dumped U.S. treasury notes on the market.

To function, the federal government had to offer higher interest rates. Inflation jumped to 12% overnight. It would reach 25% in months. The stock market lost 50% in value in three days, more later. Retirement savings were wiped out. Social security checks couldn’t cover food let alone rent. Old people were in the streets now. Senior citizens robbed banks, followed shortly by the veterans of the war on terror. The young instead of supporting families complained. Why should we pay for your retirement it was your policies. The people you voted for made this mess. As always in a time of crises a leader arose dividing the young from the old and the rich from the poor.

The rich pulled up stakes and fled to the few states that started to openly rebuke the federal government that was turning even farther to the socialist side, then a dictatorship. The populace gave up freedom for security as they always have. A militant and hate full socialists nation rose in what was left of the USA. Public education had finally ended the capitalistic and liberty loving United States of America. In late 2019 the first to secede was Alaska, followed immediately by Texas and Montana.

Parts of California turned to chaos. Tens of thousands from the bay area marched in the capital Sacramento trapping the Governor and state legislators in state offices in the spring of 2020. Some state bureaucrats had been beaten by mobs. Much of the California National Guard did not answer the call. They were on one side or the other of the un-span-able rift in America. It seemed the hate of the 1930’s was back out of the bottle. Old people were murdered. [i]It will save money. Or they are no longer useful to society[i]. Were notes found with more than a few of the corpses, signed George Barnard Shaw as often as not. At least some of the killers new history.

The federal government in violation of the constitution called on the military to respond inside the remaining borders of the U.S.A. Some did. At the U.S.M.C’s mountain warfare training facility orders were halfheartedly given to deploy to Sacrament to put down the riots. A small group rebelled and took off north with some trucks and equipment and had to fight their way out for what they heard was a liberty loving secessionist movement in the north. Idaho, Montana, The Dakotas, Wyoming had declared themselves a new nation. The RNA, the Republic of North America. Going north sounded better than shooting old people in the streets.

The two French Special Forces men joined them. Kimo Reynante, Anthony Doc Kerslake and Frankie Huarte had all come from that rebellious group too. Doc and Kimo were ex ranger and longtime friends. Doc was a field medic and Kimo was rarely far away when it came to field medicine, they did everything together. Everyone said it was a bromance. Frankie was something else altogether. The seven warriors accompanying Richard on this mission did not resent Steve Hewitt a member of the team for never having served in the military. In the early days Steve had humbled himself before these men, quoting Samuel Johnson. They had taken him in and trained him and now worked with him willingly. He and his dad had invented time travel so he was on this mission having earned the right.

Seven men would move out soon leaving two men at the time pod. Their gear and weapons looked about an authentic to the local times as reasonably possible. One of things the RNA did well was manufacture weapons. Before the social and economic collapse, companies in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming specialized in weapon manufacturing among other things useful to a new nation. The side arms were caseless 9mm that looked like really cool flintlock pistols, large but very cool. Other equipment included night vision enhancement, tactical glasses, tasers and other toys. One of those toys was the flexpads that each man wore on his wrist. It was a small computer and communication device. The color screen was five by three inches, having video capability and information sharing. Not exactly T.O & E for 19 century French troops. The squad also carried flash bangs and teargas grenades. There was a high priority on trying not to shoot anybody and to be noticed by as few as possible. It was for this reason that at the last minute Richard decided not to bring the muskets along. Only Frank and Jimmy brought there‘s, leaving the other seven back in 2027. And swords. Most of the men on the mission were dressed as officers of the time and officers carried swords.

We are going there to recover lost or destroyed art not to get in a war. There will be twenty thousand French men. If we get into a shooting match we will lose eventually. Besides we are dressed like officers and officers carry swords and pistols. Richard reasoned.

I am not dressed as an officer so I am bringing mine, you guys can bring knives to a gunfight if you want to but I want to be able to reach out and touch someone if I have to. Frank argued. Jimmy as usual said nothing just held on to his musket.

So the only two long arms were the muskets that Frank and Jimmy carried. The muskets only looked like The French Charleville musket. The French Charleville had many variations. It was the weapon of the French military since the early seventeen hundreds. It had seen many modifications and by now was a weapon of wood, iron and bronze sixty inches long. It shot a sixty caliber lead ball that was inaccurate at 50 paces. Compared to modern day weapons it weighed a ton or so it seemed. Not this variant.

These muskets fired semi-laser guided caseless 556 mm rounds with forty-five round capacity housed in the stock. The wood stock was not wood but a composite material made to resemble the real thing. The multi-function laser was housed in the lock and pan mechanism. On the top of the weapon there was a discreet quick mount telescopic scope clip.

The pistols, 9mm semi-laser guided caseless round firing side arms. The rounds could slightly alter their course in midflight. By as much as five feet over a hundred yards if programmed to do so. It was an option. The craftsman when given a chance to show off after understanding the mission went all out on these. If successful and if the RNA survived these weapons would be the in RNA’s version of the Smithsonian forever.

The side arms were a modified copy of and 1816 smooth bore French musket it didn’t really matter because no one in 1813 would inspect them closely so the craftsmen got a little crazy. They replicated the type I Garde du Corps Du Roi. The King’s Body Guard. The side arm was a smooth bore .69 caliber with an 8 inch barrel. It had a walnut stock, spring retained double-type barrel band in bronze around the end of the blued barrel where the push rod hung, with an added front sight. Because two is one and one is none. A blued raised S shaped side plate with two side bolts. The breach held a fine lined inspectors mark in gold. Also in gold on the top stamped was Gardes du Corps du Rio" It was a copy of a weapon made by the Maubeuge arsenal of which less than a thousand were ever produced. Sporting bronze gilding on the trigger guard. The handle was curved like the pistols of this time with the butt of the handle flaring out. The bronze butt cap was embossed with the Royal Coat of Arms. With an acanthus leaf wreath border and a central embossed oval shield with three raised Fleur d’lilies. A beautiful weapon, the pan, lock and hammer were not purely camouflage the pan’s front encased the lens of a multi-function laser sight. A fifteen caseless round magazine slid inside the walnut stock from the bottom. Caseless magazines are shaped different then the magazines back in the twentieth. Rounds sat vertical in the magazines and were loaded horizontal. Caseless means firing the weapon consumes the round completely. No shell.

Chapter 2

The time travelers carried period looking packs even though French officers rarely carried a pack. The packs were tan to resemble the durable leather packs carried by the French infantry. These were a bit larger and lighter with other advantage over the 19th century counterparts. Dressed as French officers they were required to carry a sword. Officers and gentlemen’s status was noted in this time by carrying a sword. So If they had to carry one they may as well be trained to use it.

The team had spent the last several months in saber and fencing lessons. I think we should be able to use every weapon of the time don’t you guys? I mean we aren’t going until next June so let’s learn sword fighting We need to know musket loading and firing techniques, hell lets even learn how to shoot a cannon. Archer argued. All that training had exposed aspects of the mission previously un-broached and helped in the planning.

The practice swords were cheap and sometimes even made of wood for safety purposes. The swords issued for the mission were also a thing of beauty if just in the simplicity. Resembling the XIII Cuirassiers’ heavy cavalry sword with a Versailles hilt. The heavy butcher’s blade of ae weapon had a single bronze bar along the knuckles splitting by the ring finger into three elegant curving sweeps covering the back of the hand connecting to the cross hand guard. Manufactured by Dark sword armory in what used to be western Canada. They had moved west from their original home near Quebec. The bronze plating only covered the high carbon steel on the hilt. The blade 37 ½ inches also made of high carbon steel was wickedly sharp. The sword makers for their own personal entertainment made the blades resemble the Klingenthal blade. Complete with acceptance stamps of Bock, Bisch and Marion above the Klingenthal mark of June 1811. In training it had sliced halfway down an aluminum trash can with little effort. During the free fall the swords were strapped to their chests lest the men get separated from their equipment somehow.

Let’s get going, Huarte take point René you’re with him. Doc, Kimo see you in two nights will keep in touch on channel 4 as agreed. Kash I want you to get out ahead of us on our Right, there’ll be a point where this little ridge dumps out onto the plain that holds Vitoria. There is a small rise out there across a little valley. I need to know if the French have men on the road there. Jon you‘re with Kash." The other men waited about a half an hour and followed.

Kimo and Doc erected a twenty foot tall antenna up it a tree. The antenna delivered any information containing a one terabyte hard drive and provided a hot spot for all coms and flexpad computers they all wore on their forearms. One terabyte had way more data space than needed but it was uploaded with images of every possible piece of art that may be found during the upcoming party.

Frankie and René moved off. Frank was a slight man, many of the great Special Forces guys are. Light, agile, fast and hard as concrete, almost Richard’s age. Frank Huarte was also Basque. The Basque men typically are of dark eyes and hair and a lot hair, everywhere. His built in sweater he sometimes commented. There is a large Basque community in and around Boise the capital of the RNA. They had moved there in the late 19th and early 20th century as sheep herders and had retained their culture and more importantly their language which Frank spoke very well. It was Frank’s Idea to head to Boise his home, after the mutiny at the USMC training facility back in 2020. Now the Basque language would come in handy for though they were in Spain this was Basque country. And no other language was like Basque, the only non-indo European language on the continent since the Gauls. René was just behind him in case Frank ran into a sentry and needed French instead of just eliminating the threat. René Soult was in a Major’s uniform and there was a Marshal Soult in Neapolitan’s army. Who knows, couldn’t hurt.

The French uniforms they chose to copy were that of the Voltigeur of the 96th Regiment. These seemed in the research to be the least flamboyant and most versatile uniforms available from the time. The 96th had dark blue coat with tails like in a tuxedo, yellow epaulets extending over the shoulder in a feather like pattern, with a high yellow collar with black piping down the center opening. Brass buttons down the front and a badge over the left breast denoting rank. The front of the coat stopped just above the waist sloping down and around to the tail, and a black belt with an eagle on the buckle. The Eagle was one of Napoleon standards. There was matching dark blue trousers that tucked into the thigh high black boots. Customarily officers this late in the peninsula wars wore bicorn hats. Paul and Richard had decided on Shakos. They had modified them a bit giving them a larger visor. The black shako hat had yellow embroidery on the visor with a white and red cockade high in the center of the hat just below a short tapered dark green pompom with a yellow tip. Shako hats were worn by both sides so later if necessary the guys could just change the color of the cockade and badges. They felt stupid but at least they did not have to wear the huge bearskin hats of the Grenadier or Carabinier officers. The badge in the center was also the perfect place to mount the night vision pick up. It would send its images on command to the inside of the tactical glasses. Only visible to the wearer in both lenses or either at the wearer‘s discretion.

All the men had grown great mustaches and long sideburns as was the style of the time. A few wore their hair in the pig tail fashion of the French elite. Except of Jimmy Kash Kash and Frank. Jimmy being near one hundred percent north American Indian he only sported the slightest of mustache. It was fine because it resembled the mustaches of the partisan fighters. As did the rest of Jimmy’s garb.

One of the problems will be with René’s and Jon’s French language skills is that over two hundred years the French language has changed somewhat. But René and Jon would try the same ruse as the rest of the group with a twist; they were third generation American Frenchmen. There had been lots of different peoples in the Americas’ for a few generations in this time period. It could work but probably would not be necessary if everything went to plan. Military planners knew no matter how good the plan it rarely survives first contact with the enemy. The advantage here was the enemy didn’t know he was one.

The plan had been worked out after the first few tests of time travel proved it possible. Going so far back in time to steel gold wasn’t terribly original. It had been written about in many sci-fi books. Gold weighed a lot and more value was needed. That’s when Richard conceived of the idea of art. Art may be more valuable per pound than gold if there was a buyer.

George Soaros's Enclave. 2026

I am glad we came to an agreement gentlemen, Franco will show you to your rooms so you can dress for dinner and we will celebrate what may be the greatest crime in history and no one will know it happened. George said excusing his guest for the time being. Paul Hogan and Richard Keefe were escorted from Mr. Soaros’s large library and taken up the grand curving staircase that seemed to be the centerpiece in this wing of the Soaros’s mansion. After the door closed to the Library, George opened the top drawer of his desk and pressed one of many buttons arrayed before him. A panel of book shelves next to a large mirror opened like a swinging gate without a sound. From behind the mirror stepped Cameron Burke, Soaros' head of intelligence and security.

Cameron Burke learned his trade of security and intelligence in the U.S. Army’s CID. He parlayed that experience into corporate security overseas in the final years before the world wide meltdown. That is where George Soaros found him and recruited him. Burke was a squat man like a bear keg. Mid 40s with short cropped grey hair, green eyes and a nose that had been broken more than once. Cameron Burke sat on the plush leather couch on the far side of the room.

What do you make of their proposal Cameron? George knew Cameron preferred to be addressed as Burke but when you are worth more than most of the still standing countries in the world then you can call anybody anything you want. So far they just took it and liked it.

It sounds interesting. You may recover artwork that has long been thought destroyed. I don’t know what value it will have in this world but you're not risking much either, just some tactical equipment and logistical help. But otherwise you have nothing to lose. Burke dutifully replied.

Exactly Cameron but there is another aspect I think we can have fun with. Soaros said in an eerie way.

The George Soaros' enclave was high in the western slopes of Mt Elbert near what used to be known as Aspen Colorado. It was now mostly an independent state inside the borders of the Republic of North America. It is as it was the part time home to the super wealthy. Despite the worldwide economic and political calamity the super wealthy still had power, money and now private armies. Several of the new nation states and a few of the old ones were completely controlled by an oligarchy of the elite class. George Soaros Jr. was the illegitimate son of the man many say helped to destroy the old way. Even George Soaros Sr. said once. The collapsing of the dollar was the culmination of my life’s work. George Jr. changed his name when George senior had tapped him to be the controller of his wealth at his death. George Sr. saw in his bastard son the ruthlessness he so admired and had the vision this young man would someday stand astride the whole world. George Jr. agreed with that vision and planned on making it happen.

Burke listened inventively while George Soaros laid out his plan. It’s not that George needed more money. It was perhaps a way to keep himself entertained and to subvert the RNA while maybe grabbing a little more power in the process. Cameron Burke did see and opportunity to become rich and maybe get out from under