The Precipice: Part 1

Tara couldn't put her finger on the exact moment when she began to wonder if she had made a mistake. Nagging doubts had surrounded her involvement in the time travel project from the beginning. She had chosen to ignore them.

Ultimately, the cause had seemed just. Her job had been clear-cut. She helped rid the world of tyrants and terrorists who sought to impose their own will upon the world. She was well trained and good at what she did. Better still, at first, what she did seemed to make a difference. Now she was no longer certain that was the case.

She had reasoned that she really wasn't doing anything wrong. History had labeled these men and women as evil. Their actions had proven the labels to be true. So what was so wrong about going back and eliminating that evil before it took full root?

Still, if she really believed that, Tara wondered why she never shared her job with her husband Chris. After all, he had been a military man who believed in defending his country. He of all people should have understood. Yet, somehow she had known he would not. That should have been her first clue that something was wrong.

It had taken a long time for science to perfect time travel. It had taken even longer for it to figure out how to deal with the possible paradoxes it might cause. However, that in itself was a paradox because it wasn't possible to deal with all the potential outcomes.

The changes had been subtle in the beginning. Even the elimination of Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City Bomber, had opened more positive doors than negative ones. Or perhaps she just chosen to tell herself that.

Kyle had been only been two years old when Tara went back to rid the world of McVeigh. She did it because she wanted to create a better world for him to live in; one where heroes like his father wouldn't die in useless wars. But the truth was so far that hadn't really been the case. Her husband remained dead, no matter how many wrongs she tried to undo.

A lot of her missions simply unmasked terrorist actions before they could occur. Some worked and some did not. The loss of the World Trade Center had not been prevented in time because of inaccurate information. History had made some critical errors with regard to the event.

Others had been covered up or completely falsified, making it impossible to change the outcome. It was; however, the facts that had been altered on purpose that made Tara think and eventually gave way to the fertile soil now feeding her seeds of doubt.

She knew something large was currently in the planning stages. However, as usual, the agents involved wouldn't be informed of their missions until the last minute. Then they would have less than a few hours to put their affairs in order in the event something went wrong.

Tara was aware that the impending mission was large-scale. Several new agents were being fast tracked. That worried her. The untested made critical errors, which more often than not led to a paradox or even failure. She worried what might be so crucial that the government was willing to take that kind of risk.

As she watched her five-year-old son play with his friends on the trampoline, Tara wondered if she had made the right decision never remarrying. Each time she went off to a mission she knew she might not return, leaving Kyle without any parent.

She shook her mass of dark curls as if to dust off any regret. Her twin sister, Tammy, was excellent with Kyle. She had always been an intricate part of his life. He loved her almost as much as he loved his own mother.

As she finally relaxed and tilted her beautiful face back to enjoy the warmth of the sun, Tara's phone went off. She absent mindedly glanced down at it, automatically tensing when she noted the code "26". That meant something was about to go down. The text simply read, 3:00 p.m. She already knew the location.

Pulling Kyle away from his friends she hustled him into their SUV while calling her next door neighbor who was always available for emergency babysitting. By the time she got home, she had less than 30 minutes to get ready.

Settling her son in front of "The Wiggles", she ran to the safe to double check all of her paperwork. She did it before every mission, for fear something might be left undone. As usual, everything was in place; her will, guardianship paperwork awarding custody of Kyle to Tammy, her son's trust fund paperwork, bank account information, insurance policies, etc.

Dressing quickly in her standard black uniform, Tara grabbed her workbag and answered the front door with five minutes to spare. "I shouldn't be gone long, Mrs. Jones," she told her neighbor. But you know where all of my contact information is if you need it for some reason.

The pleasantly plump older woman smiled at her and nodded. "You go along dear. Kyle and I will be just fine."

Tara rushed to Kyle and explained she had to go out for awhile. Then she hugged him and reminded him that he was the love of her life. Luckily he was still young enough that he bothered hugging back.

"Hey, mom, can we have pizza for dinner?" She laughed and agreed to the treat without any hesitation. Then, with a final longing look at the door, she was gone.

Following the road she had traveled a million times, Tara couldn't help but wonder what the mission was going to be. Her slim hands tightened on the steering wheel as she realized that she was not feeling good about it and she didn't even know what it was.

By the time she reached the cave and made her way into the time fortress, she was a complete bundle of nerves. That worried her. It was completely out of character.

As usual, with only minutes to spare, she stepped onto the time portal and was handed a brown envelope with her instructions. She noticed her hands were shaking uncontrollably.

"Everything all right down there, Tara?" The voice came from the control room above her.

"Everything's fine, Daniel," she lied. "I'm just a little harried today I'm afraid."

"As usual, your instructions will tell you where to meet the other agents. You are in control of this mission but do not read the final instructions until everyone is in place as directed. Are we clear?"

"Of course, sir," Tara nodded. "I understand, sir."

Closing her eyes, she waited for the final count down and then the rush and floating sensation that indicated she was on her way through time. All of a sudden, she wished she could reverse the whole process. Suddenly, more than anything in the world, she wanted to go back home to her son.

When she finally dropped at her designated destination, she was inside an old warehouse building. Rolling to the ground, she immediately took cover. Then she opened the outer instruction envelope.

"Agents will be strategically placed throughout the crowd. There is to be no contact with any of them. Each knows their individual job and will carry them out."

She then opened the inner envelope. "Your role is make certain that Lee Harvey Oswald takes the fall."

As Tara read the instructions meant only for her, she couldn't believe her eyes. They in no way eluded to any plan to stop the famed president's assassination. The last line on the page chilled her to the bone.

"You are not to attempt to stop the events that are about to occur. Your role is to stop anyone who tries to get in the way."