Svalbard by Frank Sonderborg

Willem Barentsz Spitsbergen twisted the knob on the Cronos machine. He was traveling back in time to right a wrong. Back to Paris 1920. Back to kill a man who had put a signature on a treaty that had, at one swipe, taken away his birthright. His wife had pleaded with him not to do this heinous act. Killing a man was against Gods will. And using a machine devised by the devil was further proof that it was wrong. But Willem could not be derailed from his task. He would travel back to Paris, to the year 1920 and he would assassinate Baron Wedel Jarlsberg. The man whose signature on that Svalbard treaty, would confirm Norway’s sovereignty over the territory.

Willem Barentsz Spitsbergen had been working at CERN when they stumbled across Time-Travel in 2034. He had then been attached to the CRONOS project. A machine built to send back Chrononauts, to fix problems on the ever changing timeline. But as they discovered, it just made things worse. The effort to stop the spread of nuclear warfare had triggered a nuclear war. And within the panic Willem saw a way, at the same time, to right an injustice. He drafted his plan and presented it to the CERN Cronos board. Who oversaw each journey into our timeline.

At first, they could not grasp his concept of time delay. Willem explained, this move would trigger other events. There would be no Global Seed Vault. That critical global backup storage facility for crop seeds, safeguarding genetic diversity in case of global crises.

 One of the justifications for global nuclear war, was our backup Seed Vault in Svalbard. If Russia controlled this area, it would never happen. They were desperate for any solution to stop the Earth burning. So, they jumped at his plan.

His wife Agatha knew better. It was a revenge trip. Willem Barentsz Spitsbergen had been brought up by a bitter father. Who brainwashed him about the injustice of that treaty signed in Paris in 1920. The original treaty was titled the Treaty recognising the sovereignty of Norway over the Archipelago of Spitsbergen. The only name in common usage since 1596. In 1925 the Norwegian authorities proceeded to officially rename the islands "Svalbard.”

"They stole our birthright," Willem Senior had said, over and over to his son. Their Dutch ancestor and famous navigator Willem Barentsz, gave Spitsbergen its name when he discovered it in 1596. Then this Norwegian blue blood Baron Wedel Jarlsberg, had taken it away from him. “Oh, if only I could go back and wipe the smile of that blue blood’s face. And replace it with red blood.” Revenge, it had been the only cold inheritance handed down, from Spitsbergen Father to son.

Willem would travel back and kill the Baron. The treaty would be delayed. Nothing would change. Svalbard would be Svalbard. Except a family promise would've been carried out. He would not return in the Chronos machine. If he survived, he would stay and live out his life in 1920.

Agatha knew Willem was never coming back. And she knew why he had done it. It was an act of Spite-bergen.