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THE MANSFIELD DOCTRINE

by DAVID AGNEW

Chapter 1:

The White House: National Security Council Briefing

Date: 14th June 2023

Time: 10:59 hours

Everyone in the White House briefing room stood up as the Commander-in-chief walked into the room. President James Lincoln Mansfield sat down and, as he composed himself, looked around the room at each of the ten officials seated at the large oval table. He put on the reading glasses that he had only recently took to wearing and began to speak, "Gentleman, thank you for coming to the meeting at such short notice. What I am about to talk with you about is top secret and should not be discussed with anyone outside this room. The United States is still a young country. The founding fathers only put pen to paper on our constitution in the 1780's. Since then, for good or bad, we have witnessed key moments in history where national security and individual freedoms have been attacked: the assassination of five Presidents from Abraham Lincoln in 1865 to President Howard in 2014. We have seen our homeland attacked at Pearl Harbour in 1941, the twin-towers destroyed on September 11th 2001 and the recent terrorist carnage in California. On each and every occasion the reaction was the same, shock followed by revulsion followed by action. Despite attacks on the Office of President we remain a democracy. Despite attacks on our territory we remain the land of the free. We have responded to threats against America with policies such as the Monroe Doctrine through to the Truman Doctrine. We have always responded to our enemies by defeating them."

President Mansfield paused for a moment knowing the magnitude of the next few sentences.

"Gentlemen, I believe that the defensive policies of the USA throughout our history have - with few exceptions - always been justifiable and sought to deal with threats so that those threats are removed. However, there is always one problem with any of the responses, namely that they are just that - responses. What if we could have had dozens of aircraft and naval destroyers ready at Pearl Harbour on the 8th December 1941? What if we could have had FBI men waiting on the 6th floor of the Texas Book Depository? What if our air-marshals had been able to eliminate the hi-jackers before they boarded a plane on September 11th?"

The President's rhetoric was nothing new to the military men in the room - how many armed forces officers have not looked back on a failed mission and wondered how they could have done things better? But Mansfield went on to offer an answer.

"Gentlemen. Following years of intensive - and top secret - research, I can reveal a covert branch of NASA - the Time and Space Research Programme. They have been working on a project that will change the way in which the United States of America will defend itself in the years to come: Time Travel."

As the words came out of the President's mouth there was a sharp intake of breath as the government officials looked at each other, scarcely believing what they were hearing. They all had a series of questions for the President but they had to wait as he continued. "The project began seven years ago and last week the most stringent tests were passed to confirm that USA now has the power to send a man into the future. Clearly, this gives us a vital advantage over our opponents and enemies. You should note that we are able to send a man into the future only. This power will allow us to formulate our national defence and foreign policy on what we know will happen in the future. This is the beginning of a new doctrine – the Mansfield Doctrine"

“Let me give you an example. Imagine if we had held such technological power in 1939. We could have sent a man forward to 1942 and his information would have allowed us to have had those defences in place to avert the attack on Pearl harbour. We would not be changing history - because it had not yet happened - but we would have been in a position to change outcomes”.

Conscious that he was the first voice to interrupt such an historic meeting, General Robert Williams began almost apologetically. "Mr President. If I may interject? Surely, if a man travels forward to 1942 to process information that will change the past then what did happen - in this case Pearl Harbour -will not have taken place. In effect, you cannot change history because there can only be one ‘history’."

The President smiled at General Williams, knowing that it was good to see that the time travel theory was already stretching their incredulity.

"An excellent point", replied the President, "and one that we imagined would come up. I am no expert in quantum physics but I believe that this film may help your understanding". With a nod of the head to another military man at the back of the room the lights went out and the film began to play...

The images on the screen were immediately familiar to all in the room: The Pentagon. The film was rather amateurishly shot and began with a man walking in front of the camera holding a copy of 'America Today' which clearly showed headlines from 11th June 2023, just three days ago, concerning the decision of the USA Federal Bank to keep interests rates at the same level. The film then showed another man some 100 metres in front of the camera, holding a pistol. The room was absolutely silent. Some people in the room already knew the location very well. Then on the screen appeared the clearly recognisable figure of General Williams. He walked towards the area where the camera was, though oblivious to its presence. At this point the man with the gun walked calmly up to Williams and fired two shots into his body and as he lay on the ground another two shots into the head. The room at this point went crazy as everyone jumped to their feet, unable to fully comprehend what they were viewing. Only two people stayed seated. Mansfield - who knew there was more to see - and Williams - who felt that rumours of his death were exaggerated.

Mansfield used his Presidential aura to restore calm without having to open his mouth and the room gradually went quiet again. A second film began. It started out the same with the front view of the Pentagon and the same front page of the paper. This time as the assassin moved towards General Williams a group of four men in combats intercepted him before he could fire off any rounds and Williams continued on his way, oblivious to the commotion. The film ended. The President ushered for the lights to go back on and addressed his audience once more. "I think that this answers your query General Williams. What you have just witnessed was a full-blown trial of the time travel programme. We had tried many smaller scale versions but we knew that if we were to convince you somewhat cynical military men, then we had to show the full options of the programme. We did not change the past. We changed the future. The team behind the first ‘successful’ assassination and then behind the second ‘failed’ assassination spoiled were all members of the elite special forces until assigned to the project. They clearly know the possible alternate future that they prevented. However, everyone else is in line to experience the second version of history as we believe it to be. Hence, General Williams joins us today."

"But what if the assassination had gone wrong and he had been killed a second time?" asked Commander Fulton from the US Navy. "That was not an option", came the reply, though not from the President but from a voice at the back of the room. The group of officials in the room turned to see a well-built man stride to the front of the room in a move obviously choreographed by the President, who spoke again.

"Gentlemen. Let me introduce Colonel William H. Myers III, the officer in charge of the Time and Space Research Programme. He has headed the project for the past seven years and it is his foresight, intellect and courage - not to mention ability to organize careful planned demonstrations like you one you have just watched - that has allowed the Time and Space Research Programme to get to the point where it is today. He has some words for you."

Colonel Myers stood at the front of the room and composed himself before he began.

Myers had addressed senior figures before but in recent months, due to the nature of his work, he was not used to speaking to more than five people at a time. Though he had married Susan as a young captain, and had two young sons, the fact that he was frequently away from home for long periods had seen the marriage collapse. Though Myers was able to justify that on the grounds that his country came first, his wife and particularly his eldest son felt let down by him. The military was all that he had now. "Mr. President", he began formally. "Gentlemen. What we have seen today is the final completion of a project that has the capacity to nullify any possible future attacks on the United States of America. It is that simple. The President has explained the points that make this system such a potent force for maintaining American security in the modern world. He who controls the future will secure and control the present. Following in the tradition of the Monroe Doctirne and the Turman Doctrine, the Time and Space Research Programme has been shortened to a simple title: 'The Mansfield Doctrine'. The USA now has the ability to go forward in time and review the past to see where attacks, enemies, assassins and unrest have originated from. By doing so we can return to the present with the appropriate detail to nullify that threat. Thus, the USA – and its people - will move forward, led by successive governments who are secure in the knowledge that any attacks will not occur."

The military men nodded in agreement. Of course, there was much more to discuss but the basic concept of defending America through this Mansfield Doctrine was already an appealing prospect. General Williams, had kept his silence, despite just witnessing a version of his own death. Now he had one final question. "Colonel Myers. Do you believe that there was any chance that my death may have become part of real history?"

"I hope not", replied the Colonel, "because I was the one that fired the shots into your head..."

Chapter 2:

After a series of meetings amongst the USA military chief of staffs, a decision was taken on the first official - that is, overtly political - use of the Mansfield Doctrine. The chief of staffs decided that internal security within the USA must take priority and homeland defence must be protected before all else. The decision was made to send the six man elite team five years into the future to allow them to review the period 2023 - 2028 and respond to any major attacks on America during that period. The elite squad referred to this a 'hindsighting' and there would be much to review by 2028. The squad itself was made up of the best America military could offer. They were not only the best in terms of physical and mental stamina, they had all agreed to uphold a simple set of rules that had been drawn up by the President and his advisers to avert any moral issues: the squad referred to these as the Mansfield Doctrines.

1. No member of the squad was to review information on his own family. If a cousin was due to die in a road accident in the future then they were not to know or act on it.

2. No member of the squad was to use their knowledge of the future to aid financial investments, real-estate property acquisitions or gambling on sporting events. All the members of the elite were being handsomely paid.

3. The elite squad was to be apolitical. There aim was the defence and the protection of American interests above all else, including partisan and political interests. As ever, Colonel Myers led his team into the future from the base in the Nevada dessert. They had the ability to travel into the future but were limited by the location being the same. This was not a problem in the initial trials when a helicopter could be placed in a secure area for them to use as they travelled up to seven days into the future, but as soon as the time period was extended to over a year there would be problems with maintenance. For the Williams assassination they had travelled to within operational distance of the Pentagon using a helicopter piloted by one of the elite team, but they could not rely on a helicopter being in full working order after a gap of five years. Thus, for this project with longer travel into the future, it was decided that road transport would be concealed and used for 2028.

The aim was very simple. The group would travel forward to 2028, extract and use the vehicle concealed for them near the Nevada site and travel to the nearest major urban settlement to review the key political and military data from the past five years. Each member of the team was given a year to examine, with Colonel Myers overseeing the extraction of information, deciding what material was relevant and what needed to be returned to the USA government of 2023.

The first mission into the future went very well, with no major attacks to report on USA soil between 2023 and 2028 of the scale of September 11th. There was a failed assassination attempt on President Mansfield just before the Presidential elections of 2024 but nothing was done to stop the attack as it was agreed that it would benefit the Presidential campaign - which it did. There were some minor figures that would be disruptive within the USA in the 2023 - 2028 period and the elite team noted their names and locations. On their return the debrief went well and the US government followed up successfully on the information gleamed from 2028. The Mansfield Doctrine was up and running.

The next task for the elite team was logical enough: they would travel forward ten years into the future to 2033. This visit would prove to be much more successful in hindsighting major attacks, with an attack on September 11th 2031 - thirty years to the day since the attack on the twin towers - against the Statue of Liberty. This attack blew up the monument and saw 27 terrorists and over 200 hostages killed in the explosion. With the reports on the attacks all available by 2033, Myers and his team were able to re-trace the movements of the terrorists before they arrived in the USA and then detail their exact activity once in New York. Thus, they reported back to the military of 2023 who once again were able to ‘nullify’ the threat. The Statue of Liberty would not be attacked in 2031. The Mansfield Doctrine was working and not one civilian knew about it. "A shame", mused the President as he went about his electioneering. The elite squad continued their sorties into the future and has essentially covered all the potential hazards up to 2048. Myers knew that America would be as safer place in the future - because he had been there. By March 2024, with the elite team having travelled forward five times to the years 2028, 2033, 2038, 2043 and 2048, the USA military chiefs of staff were confident that the USA was safe and secure and the President was able to grant the blessing of liberty on to the people - even if the people did not know about it. That month, the President called Colonel Myers to the White House to discuss the project. They both agreed that it was working well with no problems and the elite team following the key requirements asked of them. Then the President turned to Myers.

"William, I want you to travel to the year 2063 on your own". Myers was somewhat taken about by this as it was taken as Standard Operational Procedure of the elite team to travel in a group of six. Enough to cover each other, without attracting too much attention as they negotiated the more intricate technologies of the future. "Mr. President. Can I ask you why you would want me to make that particular trip. I mean, the elite group will visit 2053 and then 2058 in the next few months, so 2063 is not that far from out sights."

“My economic team have explored the financial peaks and troughs that occur every decade. If we can identify international economic movements and threats from 2063 that are not yet apparant we can pre-empt them and guarantee America’s economic security as well as its political and military safety.” Though moving outside the original concept of the Mansfield Doctrine, Myers did not feel obliged to question his commander-in-chief.

Chapter 3:

As Myers appeared at the rendez-vous point in the Nevada desert in the year 2063 he was on his own. The Standard Operational Procedure was for the time-travel squad to move quickly from the Nevada military base to the nearest urban settlement, access computer information (usually via an internet café or the university site) and review key events via the e-net. He called into a cafe aiming to pick up any key information but while he was in the cafe he was to see something that led him straight to the heart of the American domestic policy in 2063. As he sat down in the cafe, Myers was interrupted by a US military vehicle driving down the street, with a Public Address Broadcast, pumped out through the PA.

"American citizens, please remain in your houses or place of work. The US military are currently engaged in a sweep in this neighbourhood. Please remain calm. God bless America."

The message was broadcast again and again as the vehicle drove through the streets. Myers knew he had to follow this lead if he was to see what was going on with the 2063 government. He knew he had not much time for if the military were asking people to stay indoors, he would surely stand out if he remained outside. He decided his best bet was to get close to the military and covertly hitch a ride. An opportunity presented itself with a stationary military vehicle that appeared to be a medical vehicle. Myers swiftly crept alongside the vehicle and managed to manoeuvre himself below the rear bumper and attach himself to the undercarriage. This would not be the most comfortable journey he had ever undertaken but it would be the most revealing. The medical vehicle began moving and Myers estimated that it was in a convey with about six other vehicles. They drove to another part of the city and stopped outside a row of houses. The PA again began to ring out from the lead vehicle.

"This is the US military. We know that your terrorist cell is in these buildings please come out with your hands above your head." The order was repeated again. After a final warning the front door of one of the buildings opened. From two of the adjacent houses, a line of about eleven males and one female emerged from the houses. From what Mrs. Pearson had said, he expected them to be foreign but they were all - without exception - white.

By this time all the US military were in position to view the people coming out of the house. As soon as they had them in their vision, there were a series of yelled commands from the Americans, urging the people from the house to keep their hands in the air and not to make any sudden movements. The group obeyed. The US soldiers moved slowly towards the group, still barking orders at them to remain passive. Then, suddenly, one of the group of eleven prisoners moved his hands from the top of his head. Within an instance, and with no warning one of the US soldiers opened fire, hitting the civilian in the torso with a short burst of fire. The civilian dropped to the ground dead. At this moment, confusion reigned. The natural reaction of the other prisoners was to move towards the body of their colleague but as soon as they took their hands of their heads the US military opened fire on them. Within seconds, five more of the civilians lay dead of the streets of Nevada. The five males and one female that remained were instructed to remove all their clothing. They did so without hesitation. Once the US soldiers were convinced that none of them were a threat they were quickly dressed into orange jump-suits and ushered into the back of two of the US military vehicles. The remaining dead bodies were placed in the back of the vehicle in front of Myers.

Myers could not believe what he had witnessed. Essentially, the US military operated a shoot-to-kill policy with no police authorities within sight. As he looked on he could see the US officer in charge giving instructions to the various drivers and the vehicles drove off in two different directions. The vehicle with the corpses on board turned and headed back to where it had come from while the other vehicles - including Myers - drove away from the scene towards the edge of town. Myers assumed the prisoners were being taken to a holding centre. However, the vehicles did not stop in the city. Instead they travelled for some 25 minutes beyond the city limits to a woodland area. The vehicles came to a halt in a forested area. They were not alone for there were already a number of other military vehicles in this area. Myers, by this time very uncomfortable both in terms of his position and what he was witnessing, strained to see what was happening. He could not see much as his view was obscured by the other vehicles but he could hear clear commands being given about 100 meters away. Myers decided that it would be best if he could get as close to proceedings as possible and chose to leave the relative safety of the vehicle cover. He dropped down off the vehicle and quietly clambered into the bushes. Myers slowly made his ways towards the main sound of voices. He was fortunate that he was well positioned at the top of a ridge looking down over the events below. He could see the military without anyone seeing him.

Below him was a gruesome sight of about 200 civilians - including some that he recognised from the raid about 30 minutes earlier - who were being given instructions. All the civilians were dressed in the orange jumpsuits and each was given a spade. They were being made to dig holes. After about five minutes, when they had created shallow holes in the ground all the civilians were instructed to remove their jumpsuits. Myers knew what was going to happen and wanted to intervene but that was not part of his remit and he figured that there was no use him getting killed as well. Instead he resigned himself to watching this barbarity.

Most of the civilians removed their clothes without reaction. Suddenly from the far side of the area, one man began to run away from the soldiers, only to be brought down in a hail of bullets. He was not killed instantly but while he lay on the ground in agony, one of the US army officers - a very senior one at that - calmly walked over to him and fired a final round into his head. Following this most of the civilians were instructed to line up in front of the graves they had dug for themselves and the US soldiers opened fire on them with a machine -gun. They fell like dominoes mostly into the graves they had just dug. Those civilians that were not killed were instructed to move any bodies that had not fallen into a grave into one. They were then shot dead. Finally, the officer-in-charge walked round the dead bodies looking for any signs of life. If he saw any he would point it out to one of his two corporals who would finish the job off. Myers was witnessing an American genocide. Myers waited for about half an hour after the military left to be very sure that they were gone. He had a key decision to make. Should he head back to the city to find out more information on the US regime or should he recce this area to see how many more shallow graves there were. He decided on the former option reckoning that the dead could bury the dead. Besides the massacre of two-hundred civilians was evidence enough of the mentality of the US government.

Knowing that a heightened state of military awareness would follow the massacres, he carefully made his way back to the city, though travelling at a half-jog / speed walk pace, it still took him over three hours. Back in the city, everything was back to normal. Or at least back to normal for 2063. The general public walked to where they had to go with a sense of urgency while a number of Military Police were to be seen on the streets. No-one stopped Myers and he was able to move around the city. The time-team were always taught that the city university was a strong option to sound out e-net facilities, as student campuses tended to attract a wide range of people and thus it was easier to blend in. Myers also reckoned that universities also traditionally had the most anti-government sentiment within a society. That is not to say he thought the university would be openly hostile to the military but he might be able to speak to someone within the university or at least see information on the walls advertising campaigns or demonstrations against the governments actions.

Chapter 4:

Myers finally arrived at the university and used his false identity to access the library. He was also able to observe enough students at work on the e-net computers to 'borrow' a register name and password. Thanks to the continued evolution of the e-net, masses of information was available to individuals in seconds from around the world and Myers looked to examine local American media sources first before going on to explore international publications that could be relied on such as the English Times or Le Monde. Myers expected to find a range of information from the American sources but he was sadly disappointed. In the same way that the TV channels only offered a government and a military view, so the papers available did not extend beyond Government information sheets and other that were clearly pro-government. Even so it was a starting point to explore the recent history of the USA in more detail. It apeared the international situation had been deteriorating through each decade of the 21st century. The e-net included details on the events of both September 11th 2001 and September 11th 2031. Myers could not understand any reference to the attack and destruction of the Statue of Liberty. Myers could not understand why this had happening. The events he knew he had cancelled out had occurred anyway. He needed to know more about what happened after 2031.

In the 2030’s, there were a series of attacks across the United States on both individuals, with suicide bombings killing politicians, military personnel and civilians alike. There was one terrible attack that killed a whole school bus of children. Myers was livid. These were the sort of crimes that he should have removed from the page of history yet here they were right in his face, showing that the Mansfield Doctrine had failed. Why? Reading on, Myers found that the key turning point began with the assassination of ‘President Cooper’ in 2053 and the military coup that followed. The coup saw the arrival of ‘President Jones’ but he was merely a puppet. The power behind the throne lay with the military and their key advisers. There aim was very simple. Rid America of its enemies and restore order at any cost. Key laws were introduced in the 2050's to make sure America was unbreachable. The Congress was dissolved and the President - well, his 'advisers' - reconvened the Senate filled with their supporters. American people feared the external threat - they did not want to get blown up in a public building - plus they didn't want to go against the US military in case they were seen as unpatriotic. Secondly, - and this allowed the government to remain in power - most true Americans were happy to see the military confront the enemy directly. This allowed the provisional government to introduce the Enabling Laws."

Myers shuddered when he heard those words. While his first love was science, he knew his history and he knew the exploits of the Nazi regime in 1930's Germany. The Enabling laws equalled persecution and totalitarian rule. In 2063 America, no-one was allowed to travel anywhere in the USA without their identity papers. American citizenship was only guaranteed to those who can provide evidence of at least three out of four grandparents as ‘native’ Americans. Immigration ceased in 2054 and forced repatriation of 'undesirables' was introduced in 2055. Myers was confused. Surely the US Supreme Court, as guardians of the Constitution must have a ruled such actions illegal. As he read on he found that the Supreme Court was converted into nothing more than a military court to rubber-stamp the Presidential decrees. President Jones and his advisers managed to unpack it via a series of sudden resignations and then get their own men in. Key amendments - including freedom of speech, press freedoms and the right to practice religion - were either qualified or overturned completely. USA in 2063 was just like Nazi Germany.

All these new laws, edicts and decrees were enfoced by the USSP - the United States Secret Police. The government is prepared to use all available means to counteract threats and the US population sopon fell into line. Myers discovered that the pivotal moment came following the Presidential election of 2052 and the victory of President Cooper. He had been elected on a promise of overt action against the enemy. However, within thee months of his inauguration, six attacks had been mounted on American soil resulting in over one thousand deaths of American civilians. Key targets - both political and historic - were hit, included Mount Rushmore, the Lincoln Statue in Washington DC and the Pentagon. In each case, suicide bombers were utilised to maximum effect. Copper was politically damaged by the carnage but refused to resign. He did introduce further clamp-downs against the enemy but his opponents claimed this was too little, too late. His support and ratings plummeted and he was becoming a lame-duck President in the first year of his first term. Any attempt to fight his way out of this quagmire was removed when Cooper was assassinated on the 8th December 2053. The government journal did not say who carried out the killing - a snipers shot from 1000 metres away - nor was anyone ever arrested for it. However, the assassination allowed the US military to step in and by-pass the amendment which stated that a Vice-president should take over. Instead, President Jones was put in place following the military intervention and 'support' of Congress. His policies were simple and straight-forward: to take the fight to America's enemy: a policy Myers had seen in action earlier that day. Myers searched around on other official USA sites to try and find deeper information on the make-up of the US government so as to target the key players as they stood in 2063, but there was a distinct lack of detail and Myers found himself getting more and more frustrated at references to 'a US government spokesman' or 'a military official'. He decided that he need to review the international journals to gain a more balanced view of this America.

In the first instance he found that the e-net forbid entry into any sites that were not authorised by the US government but Myers had enough computing skills to access some British papers and explore their archives. They confirmed they coup of 2053 but added key speculation about the assassination of President Cooper, namely that it widely assumed that he was killed on the orders of the US military machine - a coup against heir own commander-in-chief. As he explored further, Myers hoped to find out more information about the military regime behind the facade of President Jones.

Myers accessed the British Guardian newspaper, noted for its detailed archive and unbiased reporting. It was still up and running in 2063 - suggesting , thought Myers, the United Kingdom has not yet succumb to any military coup – and it did provide him with the key information that he needed on the military command in the US government. It turned out that President Jones was backed by six key political and military advisers who essentially decided domestic and foreign policy within the Whitehouse. There were four military Generals and two previously unelected advisers. The name did not appear familiar to Myers as he examined them from his 2023 point of view - and why should they. Who could have predicted that forty years after Roosevelt steered the USA towards victory in the second world war, the actor Ronald Reagan would occupy the Whitehouse. Even so it was important that Myers recorded all their details so that he could report back to President Mansfield.

The key advisers to President Jones in 2063 were named as Colin Beggs (a civilian chief- of-staff), Martin Buchanan (another civilian, in charge of internal affairs), General Nigel Davidson (in charge of military affairs), General Don Jackson (secretary of state for international relations), General Jason Watson (in charge of internal security) and finally, General Bryan Love (in charge of legislative and judicial matters). In the context of America's desire for separation of powers, it seemed ironic that a soldier was in charge of legislative issues. Still, Myers had the key names and the key background to the regime of 2063. All the personnel he had identified looked to be aged around 45 - 60 years old so they should all show up on the records of 2023 as youths or young men. The next step was to get back to President Mansfield in 2023 to appraise the situation and consider what to do next.

Chapter 5:

Mansfield studied the information slowly but with intense concentration. His mind was racing as he considered all the key facts at his disposal about the future. He knew there were many key decisions to be made that would affect the future of millions and the continued existence of the USA as a democracy. Yet it was not a decision that he could bring to cabinet of Congress or the public. The need for secrecy lay at the heart of theMansfield Doctrine and now he had to make a massive decision. The first option was to abandon the project, let the attacks of the future take place and then wait for an American military government remove both the enemy threat and democracy at the same time. The second option was to have faith in the Mansfield Doctrine and use the information from 2063 to identify the key players of the future regime and eliminate them. This would remove the eventual plotters against President Cooper in 2053 and ensure democracy continued in the USA. The Mansfield time-team squad would be free to continue and would look to use their future knowledge and hindsighting skills to remove the enemy threat. Afterall both the history of 2063 somehow displaced their achievements, the squad had stopped the key attack of 2031 and other attacks at the heart of America.

For Mansfield there was the only one decision - remove the key players of the future from the present. A key dilemma was the fact that they were only aged between five and twenty year sold. "Even so", thought Mansfield, "that must not blind one to the fact that they would later ruin American democracy"

"Afterall", he reasoned, "if you had the opportunity to kill Hitler as a child would it not be morally right to do so and save the lives of millions in the future?"

Having made the decision there were two more areas to confirm. The correct identities of the 2063 government advisers must be confirmed so that the correct individuals are eliminated. It is bad enough having to kill young Americans because of something they are going to do in the future, so Mansfield's government had better get the right people. The CIA agents attached to the Mansfield Programme were given the task of working back on the 2063 information and identifying correctly the regime advisers as they existed in 2023. This was a meticulous task and after four days Myers knew that five out of the six advisers had been correctly identified. The sixth figure - General Jason Watson - had proved rather more difficult to identify. When he was finally identified, President Mansfield realised he had to have another conversation with Colonel Myers. Later that day, President Mansfield solemnly called Myers into the office an invited him to sit down. He got straight to the point. "Colonel Myers...William. At the outset of the Mansfield Programme, we discussed the inevitable deaths that would have to occur if America was to be kept safe from whatever threat was thrown at it. The reasoning was that if foreign nationals have to die to protect America then so be it. We never imagined that Americans would be targeted. However, your findings from 2063 and my decision in response to those findings dictated thatAmericans citizens - and young ones at that - will have to be eliminated to provide a platform for continued long-term democracy in America. Myers understood what the President was saying and wondered whether he was going to have second thoughts about the assassination of the 2063 regime individuals. Afterall the President had previously suggested that they might be young enough to be re-educated. But Myers had scuppered that idea - having witnessed the brutal executions of the future - and pushed for the eliminations to go ahead. He was prepared to reiterate that argument again. Instead the President went over some old ground in terms of how the elimination of the 2063 regime would be carried. They had agreed that a CIA team would be used to kill the youths with each death to appear like an accident and minimal police follow up. Again, Myers agreed with this policy. However, the President had one new fact to tell Myers.

President Mansfield spoke softly. "William, we have finally identified 100% who General Jason Watson is. The difficulty was that he does not go by that name on 2023. His first name proper is Jason..."

At this point Myers heart began to race and though he would hear the words that were to follow he could not comprehend the magnitude of them. "He was christened William...Jason...Myers." It was Myers eldest son. "How do you know?" asked Myers. "Well, using the information from 2023, we could not be 100% sure, so we authorised another mission to the future without you. To 2048, just before the military coup when Jason Watson was becoming more of a well-known figure."

"You authorized a future visit without me?" asked Myers. "We had to William. Just to confirm the facts". Mansfield continued. "It turns out that following your divorce, Susan remarried in 2025 to a Steven Watson who formally adopted your boys, hence the surname. He ignored his given first name and took to using his middle name. Hence, William Myers IV became Jason Watson and will become the US government official in charge of internal security in 2063 and all that entails. Myers examined the literature in front of him that confirmed these facts. He knew that the information was correct. He knew what would have to come next. Mansfield took up the discussion. 'We discussed the strategy to use when the regime figures of 2063 were largely anonymous to us. We decided that they should be eliminated. I see no reason why that decision should change." Myers had no defence. He was happy to acquiesce to the elimination of other youths who would become the government executioners of the future, why should he change his stance now? He nodded meekly to the President. The president had one last issue. "William, in line with procedure a CIA team has been lined up to eliminate Jason Watson tomorrow evening. It will appear that he shot himself by accident after discovering a fire-arm in the household. Because the firearm belongs to the step-father he knows the security code to use it."

Again, Myers nodded meekly. Then, suddenly words did come from him. "Mr. President. I must be the one to eliminate him. I created him. I must be the one to remove him." The President was astonished, as this was the not the response he expected. "William, you can't mean this. I mean, killing your own son. It's not possible." "Mr. President. I must be the one to do it. If the Mansfield Doctrine is to have any credibility then it must allow for me to eliminate my own son."

The President did not speak for a number of seconds. "William, this is your decision. If that is what you want to, then so be it."

Chapter 6: 2026 AD

Colonel Myers was left outside the Watson family home by the CIA team. The ten year old William Jason Myers IV played innocently on the lawn. His mother and younger brother were at a neighbours, and with the CIA watching their every move, Myers knewhe had about five minutes to complete his task. He headed to the enclosed garage area, where he knew Steven Watson kept a his firearm. Myers had been given the code to access and arm the gun. When the weapon was made ready he called to his son. Though shocked to hear his fathers voice, William Jason Myers IV ventured into the garage. "Dad. What are you doing here? Mum will kill me if she finds out that you’ve come at an unauthorised time.”

"Bill. I know that I shouldn't be here but I have a duty." Myers senior wanted to say so much to the boy to see if he could work out why he was going to turn out so bad but he was unable to. Seconds passed but they felt like hours to Myers. He wanted to discuss why he had not been there for his sons. He wanted to speak about school and college. He wanted to explain the rights and responsibilities all men must have. But in the end Myers knew that for the sake of the greater good, he must complete his mission. Outside in the car, the CIA team was mic'ed up to Myers in the garage and they heard one shot go off. Job done.

Epilogue: Nevada: 25 minutes outside the main town: 2063 AD

The 200 or so civilian captives were lined up by the US military. All the prisoners were in their orange jump-suits. Unusually for such a minor series of execution, one of the regimes most senior officers was on hand to watch the military's removal of the undesirables and un-americans. Just as the final graves were being dug one of the captives made a run for it. He was brought down in a hail of bullets but was not killed outright. At that point the officer in charge walked calmly over and shot two round through the prisoners skull, killing him immediately.

"Jees," whispered one of the US military privates, "General Watson certainly leads by example. It looks as though he'd be happy to execute every last one of them."

"Yeah," agreed a second private."They say his head was messed up by seeing his own father kill himself right before his very eyes..."

THE END

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