Shannon was explaining what the plan was, why they could all see her and what exactly had been happening at Camp Hero at the Eastern end of Long Island. The whole team was in shock; pretty much everything that they believed had been brought into question by the existence of this facility.
"So you're telling us that this all started with an experiment in 1943 onboard the USS Eldridge, but now it goes back as far as recorded history?" McGee was having a lot of trouble fitting this new view of reality into his logical and ordered view of the world.
Shannon smiled at McGee kindly, "Yes, Tim, that is exactly what I'm telling you. But there is more to it than even that." She looked at each of them in turn. "Because of the nature of the work they do here, the whole base is excluded from normal time. That is why you can all see me. Most people can see spirits here because outside of the normal flow of time, reality is changed."
Gibbs shook his head. All of this was a little too much for him to accept. "So what else do they do here?" he almost did not want to know.
"The people in charge of this base have been working at controlling the evolution of the abilities of the human race. For the most part they have succeeded," Shannon answered, watching as the truth of this settled in.
"But what can we do about it? I mean, won't they just use their time machine to go and stop us?" asked Tony as he tried to come to terms with all that he had been told in the past 10 minutes.
"There are parts of the mechanism for the time portal that exist outside of time. They are irreplaceable, and if we can destroy them the whole of the operation of this place will cease," Shannon informed all of them.
"But if we do, then won't history change?" Ziva asked with a sceptical tone in her voice. "Don't we run the risk of disappearing and ceasing to exist?"
"When you leave the area of this base then the changes in history will affect both you and your perception of the world. You might remember all that has happened here, but it will be as a dream to you. Your consciousness will, to an extent, be rewritten," Shannon said.
"I really don't like the sound of that," said McGee.
"It is, to a certain extent, too late to worry about it Tim," answered Shannon. "Two events in history have already been changed that will affect your lives."
Gibbs looked up into his beloved wife's eyes. She looked back at him and with sadness she shook her head, "No Jethro, not that. I'm sorry."
He understood instantly and sadness took the place of hope. Ziva placed her hand on his shoulder. "Come on boss, we have work to do," she said. She knew what he was hoping for, and felt sadness at his hurt.
"Ok, we have eight 2lb high explosive charges," Tony said, looking at the ghost of Gibbs' wife "What do we need to do with them?"
"Six of the eight charges need to be placed on this level, two need to go at the main power conduits in the portal room, and two more must go in the chair room. This is vital as it is through the use of the chair all of their flesh and blood operatives can be kept effective as they travel," Shannon paused as Gibbs snorted and stifled a cynical laugh.
"You mean, it is the person in the chair that keeps them sane," he said with a note of bitterness.
"Yes Jethro, the chair operative is Darrel Ritter, and he is prepared to give his life to help us…" Shannon said.
Gibbs was shocked, "But we found Darrel Ritter dead when we arrived at the base. How can he be here?"
Shannon smiled. "Only time will tell," she said cryptically.
"What about the guards and technicians that work here?" asked McGee.
"I'm afraid that they will be casualties. Some will die, and others will just cease to exist. But none of them can be allowed to leave here, as they have all been outside of the normal flow of time for too long and they will pose a threat to others if they try to join the rest of the world," said Shannon.
McGee looked horrified "How many people work here?"
"About a hundred, but only ten or fifteen of those are from our time. The rest have been recruited over the years, and would die as soon as they left anyway," answered Shannon, seeing the worry in Tim's eyes.
"But how can they have been recruited? I was told that time travel could only be one way. Ritzmann said that it was only possible to travel back not forwards," Gibbs voice was harsh and edged with distrust.
"Yes Jethro, and the whole of this base was shifted back in time when it was first commissioned. People have been recruited by force for over hundreds of years," Shannon sounded angry as she passed on this information.
McGee was starting to understand, "So we cannot send them back to their time, because they would change history because of what they know and have experienced."
"That's right Tim. Most of them have been alive for several hundred years, and what ever happens they will die." Shannon was obviously upset by the actions carried out in this place.
"So where do the two other charges on this level go?" asked Ziva, getting back to the plan.
"There is a sealed room down that corridor," Shannon pointed. "Inside that room is a device that provides a special kind of energy. The device is called a Zero Point Module and it must be destroyed. This is vital, as it is a major component of the time portal."
"So where do the last two charges go?" Tony asked.
"The final charges must be placed in the secondary control room on the second sublevel. This room provides the link to the outside for the area isolated from normal time, and as such must only be destroyed after you leave the base, or there is the risk of you becoming cut off from time its self." Shannon made it clear that this was important.
"I take it that being cut off from time would be bad," stated McGee.
"Very bad," said Shannon. "All of the casualties from the Eldridge were victims of being cut off from time. Best case is you will end up totally and irreversibly insane. The worst case is very, very unpleasant….."
Gibbs drew a deep breath he gathered his thoughts. "Tony, Ziva you go to the Zero Point Module. McGee you go with Shannon to the chair room. I'll take the portal room."
"Umm are you going to need any help boss?" asked Tony.
"No. I already have an understanding with the guards in there. I don't think they will give me any trouble…"
The team checked their gear one last time and went to work.
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