Ghosts of Time Read Online Free PDF Page B

But, to resume, as things turned out Inspector Da Cunha never had an opportunity to make contact with her.” Rutherford chuckled. “This was intensely frustrating for Dr. Dabney, who as an expert on the period knew of Ms. Bowser and would have given a great deal to meet her. He should get his chance this time, because our plan is for you to use the information Inspector Da Cunha obtained in order to establish contact with her.”
    “For what purpose?” Jason asked.
    “To persuade her to put you in touch with the shadowy organization of blacks of which Inspector Da Cunha had tenuous knowledge. You see, one other thing emerged in the course of her debriefing.” Rutherford paused, as though neither understanding nor liking the implications of what he was about to say. “You must understand, she had no hard evidence of this. But she could not avoid the impression that that organization was somehow aware of—and opposed to—the Transhumanists.”
    “But how . . . ?” Aiken began, and then trailed off.
    “How, indeed.” Rutherford let his listeners chew on that for a few seconds, then turned brisk. “Tomorrow, at the first full meeting of the expedition, Dr. Dabney will provide us with more detailed information on Ms. Bowser.”
    It was a very subdued and puzzled group that filed out. Jason was the last to leave. Just before he followed the others out the door, Rutherford caught his eye and smiled. “At least, Jason, since we know Pauline Da Cunha did not contact Mary Bowser, the plan should minimize the chances of you encountering her.”
    “Maybe,” said Jason without much conviction.
    “And, to reiterate, she said nothing in her debriefing about any inexplicable sightings of you, aside from the, ah . . . version of you that was—how to put it?—legitimately in that milieu in the course of your previous Special Operations incursion.”
    “I know. But while she may not have seen me in the new ‘version’, that doesn’t necessarily mean I won’t see her , knowing her fate and also knowing there’s not a damned thing I can do to change it.”
    Rutherford had no reply to make. Jason departed in silence.

CHAPTER FOUR

    “Director Rutherford is quite correct about female spies in the American Civil War,” declared Dabney. He was addressing a full meeting of the expedition, including Nesbit as well as himself, and he was settling happily into what Jason recognized from long experience of similar types as lecturing mode. “Not only was Mary Elizabeth Bowser a woman, but so was her ‘control,’ a certain Elizabeth Van Lew. The whole story is full of obscure and contradictory elements. This was, to a great extent, intentional; Bowser deliberately concealed and even falsified certain elements of her story—possibly even her real name, which may have been Mary Richards. Besides which, after the war the United States government destroyed the records of many of its Southern spies, to protect their lives from retaliation.”
    “Typical of the kind of paper trails left by clandestine espionage agents,” Mondrago commented.
    “Yes. I’m hoping to be able to clear up some of the mysteries. Although,” Dabney added hastily, catching sight of Jason’s expression, “I do realize that’s not our primary objective.”
    “Doctor,” said Logan slowly, “we’ve all gotten the basic orientation, through sleep-teaching and the other standard means, concerning the facts and figures and issues of the American Civil War era. But can you tell us the specifics concerning Mary Bowser?”
    “Certainly, to the extent that the story can be pieced together. She was born in Richmond in or about 1839 as a slave to one John Van Lew. After his death, his daughter Elizabeth, who had strong anti-slavery opinions, freed the family’s slaves. Mary remained with the family as a servant until Elizabeth, recognizing her exceptional intelligence, sent her to Philadelphia to be educated in the Quaker School for Negroes. It turned out