Simon Hawke

The Cleopatra Crisis

Prologue

Rome, January 10, 49 B.C.

The house of Gaius Cassius Longinus was surrounded by awall, as were the homes of all wealthy Romans, for the city had been growing atan alarming rate. Every day. more and more refugees arrived from the provinces.It was no longer safe to travel alone at night. The streets were choked withthieves and cutthroats who wouldn’t hesitate to kill for a few measly denarii.The gatekeeper opened the heavy wooden door, admitting Marcus Brutus and hisslaves, whom he had brought along for protection. Each of them was armed with agladius, the Roman short sword, and Brutus himself wore a parazonium,the bottle-shaped, foot-long dagger that no Roman male went without these days.The times had grown perilous. He took off his cloak and handed it to thegatekeeper.

“See to it that my slaves are fed,” he told the gatekeeper. “Havethe others arrived yet?”

“They are dining in the peristylum, Master Brutus,” saidthe gatekeeper. “I was told to bid you join them as soon as you arrived.”

“Thank you,” Brutus said. He shivered in his toga, despiteseveral layers of tunics that he wore beneath it. Unlike Cassius, who neverseemed to feel the chill and tonic cold baths every day to inure himself to it.Brutus always felt the cold. Roman houses were never very warm in winter. Theyhad no fireplaces or chimneys. What little heat there was came from a system ofcentral heating called a hypocaust, which consisted of spaces underneath thefloors and in the walls where smoke and heat from a roaring fire stoked in thecellar could circulate. However, the courtyards of the houses were open to theelements and the cold always managed to get in. All Romans suffered in the winter,huddling at night beneath their bedclothes of tapestries and carpets, with opencharcoal braziers burning in their rooms, rendering the air smoky andoppressive.

In winter, they suffered from cold. In summer, there was thestench. Slops and sewage were simply thrown out into the streets, where theirstink mingled with the smells coming from the cook shops and the bakeries, manyof which kept hogs to eat their refuse and the hogs, of course, left their own.It all mingled to produce an atmosphere that choked the lungs and drove wealthyRomans out of the city, to their country estates. Winter was a time of chills;summer was a time of fevers. Brutus sometimes wondered why he bothered stayingin Rome. Being governor of a province would have seemed more preferable, butthen Rome was Rome and the provinces provided no society, no stimulation forthe intellect. Rome was the center of the world, and these days. the center ofthe world was turbulent.

Brutus strolled through the atrium, with its marble columns.exquisite mosaic floors, its curtains and elegant furnishings in ivory, bronze,and rare woods. Cassius had spared no expense in the construction of his house,and every year, he refurbished a part of it. There was always some kind of constructiongoing on in Rome. There was a shortage of housing and most of the tenementswere shoddily and hastily built. There was a constant danger now from fire, orfrom falling buildings. But Cassius was able to employ the finest architectsand builders. The atrium, a large courtyard surrounded by a series of rooms,was open to the air, with a large pool in the center that collected rainwaterand which, from time to time, Cassius had stocked with carp. There werebedrooms on the second floor, but Cassius lived primarily in the secondbuilding, the peristylum. It was built around another courtyard, ameticulously landscaped garden surrounded by columns, with fruit trees,flowering shrubs, and fish ponds. In the warm months, Cassius kept an aviary.He was particularly fond of peacocks, though Brutus couldn’t stand thestrutting birds. They were beautiful to look at, but their ceaseless, raucouscawing was annoying in the extreme. Now, however, all the birds had died, asthey did every winter, and the garden looked bleak, matching the disposition ofthe city.

Cassius and the others had already started their dinner.They were reclining on their stomachs or their sides on couches placed aroundthe table, attended to by the slaves of the household. The stove was puttingout some welcome heat and there were several braziers burning, as well as anumber of oil lamps, with wicks of flax that could provide up to forty hours oflight on a pint of oil. No candles were in sight. Candles were used only by thepoor, who could not afford the oil. They used them very sparingly, since thetallow was often eaten when times grew lean.

Cassius, though lean himself, had never known lean times. Hewas fond of surrounding himself with luxuries. The sideboards were adorned withgold and silver cups and dishes, silver spoons and knives-though most food waseaten with the fingers-and elaborately carved drinking horns covered with gemsand mounted in gold and silver. The money Cassius spent on murals, on tables ofrare woods, or chairs of carved ivory could have kept an average Roman familyfed for several years. And, as usual, he set an elegant table.

In the city, the staple food of the masses was wheat andcorn, which most people ate boiled, as a sort of porridge. Few could affordmeat. For most Romans, variety in diet was provided primarily by vegetables,sometimes fish or wild fowl. But Cassius dined like the aristocrat he was.Dinner began with salads, radishes and mushrooms. Eggs and oysters, washed downwith generous amounts of mulsum, a sweet brew of warm wine mixed with honey.The main course consisted of six or seven dishes-mackerel eels or prawns, boar,venison, wild goat, suckling pig, hare, stuffed dormice, geese, ostriches,pheasants, doves and peacocks, honey-sweetened cakes and fruit, all washed downwith copious amounts of Greek Chian wine that was heated and mixed with water,then served in horns and bowls so that bread could be dunked into it.

Frequently, Cassius’ guests would gorge themselves untilthey were so full, they couldn’t eat another bite. Then they would stickfeathers down their throats, vomit on the floor, and, while slaves cleaned upthe mess, eagerly reapply themselves to the feast spread out before them.Often, Cassius staged lavish entertainments during dinner. Musicians played whilehis guests ate, or perhaps some popular poet recited his latest works.Sometimes there were dancing girls-Cassius was especially fond of dancinggirls-and dwarf acrobats and conjurers. But there was no entertainment on thisnight. The mood of the diners was grim, conspiratorial.

“Ah. Brutus!” said Cassius. greeting him with a wave. “Comein, come in, we’ve been waiting for you.”

“It seems you have begun without me,” Brutus said.

“Here, take a place by me,” said Cassius, moving over on thecouch. “Don’t worry, there is plenty more. Here, have some wine. You look cold.”

“I am cold,” said Brutus, gratefully accepting the steamingcup.

You should immerse yourself in the frigidarium,” saidCassius. “I’ve told you time and time again, one must fight the cold with itsown weapons.”

“I prefer to fight it with steam, thank you,” Brutus said.

“You know everyone, of course.”

“Of course,” said Brutus, nodding to Casca, Cimber,Ligarius, and Labeo. They were all influential citizens of Rome. Powerful andambitious men. He sipped the wine and was gratified to feel its warmthspreading through him. A good night to get drunk, he thought.

“We were discussing Caesar” Cassius told him. He picked up aradish and popped it into his mouth, crunching on it noisily.

“What else?” said Brutus, allowing the heat of the wine cupto warm his hands. “All Rome is discussing Caesar. One hears of little else.”

“The man’s a dangerous rebel against the traditions of Rome,”said Ligarius, a portly, balding man who always spoke as if he were utteringgrave pronouncements. He was known as “the soporific of the Senate.”

“Caesar’s entire life has been a history of rebellion,”Brutus replied wryly.

“Yes, that is true enough,” said Cimber, a young man withdark, curly hair and deep-set eyes that gave him something of a haunted look. “Theystill talk about how, as a boy, after he was nominated to a priesthood at thetemple of Jupiter, he flouted convention by breaking his engagement so that hecould wed a young woman of more noble birth. And when Sulla ordered him to divorceand honor his original engagement. Caesar refused! Can you imagine refusingSulla?”

“I can well imagine Caesar doing it,” said Brutus with asmile.

“I recall that story,” Labeo said as He licked his fingersand wiped them on his tunic. “He was stripped of his priesthood, his wife’sdowry, and his own inheritance. Sulla was so angry with him that Caesar wasforced to go into hiding.”

“Yes, but Sulla pardoned him.” said Brutus.

“Only because Caesar had influential friends who intercededfor him.” said Casca with disgust. Casca had never been a man who troubled toconceal his feelings. Wiry, dark, and foxlike, his sharply chiseled featuresgave him a predatory look, tie was one of Caesar’s most vocal critics. Perhapstoo vocal. His friends frequently cautioned him, yet he paid them no mind.

“Caesar has always had influential friends,” said Brutus. “Hegoes to a great deal of trouble to secure them.”

“I hear he sometimes secures them in the bedchamber,” saidLabeo with a grimace of distaste. “Be careful, you oaf!” he shouted, hurling apiece of venison at the slave who had leaned over to refill his goblet. “Youalmost spilled that on me!”

“I had heard that, too.” said Cimber. adjusting his tunicand getting grease stains on it in the process. He wiped at them absently,spreading them still farther. “During his assignment as aide to the governor ofBithynia, weren’t there rumors of a homosexual relationship between Caesar andKing Nicomedes?”

“Malicious gossip.” Brutus said.

“Perhaps, but where there’s smoke, there’s fire,” Cassiussaid, giving them all a knowing look. “And there has always been such gossipabout Caesar. He swims in a veritable ocean of scandalous rumor. When therevolt broke out following Sulla’s death, did he not immediately hurry home,anxious to take opportunity of any chances to advance himself?”

“Are you speaking of the alleged conspiracy with Lepidus?”said Brutus, reaching across the table for some fruit. “The way I heard it. hechose to stay well out of it.”

“Only because he knew that Lepidus would fail,” said Casca. “Hewas afraid to take the chance of throwing in with him.”

“Afraid?” said Brutus. “Caesar?” He chuckled. “Theman is absolutely fearless.”

“Yes, that is true enough,” Cassius conceded. “He is courageousto the point of foolishness. Such as that time when he was captured by Cilicianpirates while en route to Rhodes. ‘They held him for ransom for over a month,during which time it’s said he often told his amused captors that he would paythem back by crucifying them. They doubtless found his youthful braggadocio vastlyentertaining. However, they were not quite so entertained after the ransommoney had been borrowed and Caesar was released. He raised a fleet to pursuethem, captured them, and did exactly as he’d promised. Then he seized theirbooty as his prize and used it to raise a force so he could join the campaignagainst King Mithridates, for which he was voted the rank of tribune on hisreturn to Rome. No. Brutus is right. If there is one thing you cannot say aboutCaesar. it is that he has ever been afraid of anything.”

“Have you heard the story of when he was sent to Spain, asquaestor?” Labeo asked. “Supposedly. he saw the statue of Alexander in theTemple of Hercules and became quite upset. The thought that by the timeAlexander was his age. he had already conquered the world while Caesar himselfhad done nothing nearly so significant caused him to quit his post and returnto Rome, from where, presumably, world-conquering could be more easily accomplished.”

“And there followed rumors of Caesar being involved in severalconspiracies for revolution, most notably with Crassus,” Cimber added. “Eventhen, he lusted after power.”

“I’ve heard those rumors, too,” said Brutus, “but nothingever came of such plots. lf, indeed, they ever existed.”

“Oh, they existed, you can be sure of that,” said Cassius,tearing off a piece of bread and dunking it into his wine. As he chewed on it,some wine dribbled down his chin and he wiped it away with the back of hishand.

“If nothing came of those plots, it was only because the momentwas not right or the other participants in the conspiracies were hesitant.”said Labeo with his mouth full. “But did that stop Caesar? No, he went onangling for higher office and making a reputation for himself as a prosecutor,one who was not above bribing witnesses to bring charges against his enemies.”

“He also shamelessly curried favor with the public bystaging elaborate entertainments,” Ligarius added between gulps of wine, “whichplaced him heavily in debt. Yet it paid off. Eventually, he managed to securethe office of Chief Priest. They say he bought the votes.”

“What about when Catiline was brought up before the Senateon charges of conspiracy?” asked Cimber. “The entire House was in favor of thedeath penalty. Caesar alone argued against it. Perhaps he was mindful of hisown aborted conspiracy with Crassus.”

“If that isn’t damning evidence, what is?” asked Cascasourly. “I heard he so incensed the Senate with his obstinacy that the houseguard went so far as to unsheath their swords. They would have killed him, too,if not for Ciecro’s intercession.”

Not that Cicero was ever fond of Caesar,” Cassius saiddryly. “He simply thought that killing someone in the Senate was bad form.”

Brutus chuckled. Cicero might have phrased it exactly thatway himself.

“You may laugh. Brutus. but it would have saved everyone alot of trouble if they’d done away with him right there and then.” said Casca. “Itell you, his luck is simply unbelievable.”

“What about when the House voted to suspend him?” Labeoasked. His white tunic was spattered with food stains. “The people clamored forhis reinstatement and the Senate buckled under. restoring him to office. Yet nosooner had they done so than his name was linked to the conspiracy of Catiline.”

“The man he had so ardently defended,” interjected Casca sarcastically.“Yet he not only managed to wriggle out of that one, but he also turned thetables on his accusers and had them sent to jail. Can you believe it?”

“He always was audacious,” Cassius agreed. “It was not longafter that, the Senate decided to send him off to Spain. Doubtless in the hopethat some obliging savage would stick a spear between his ribs. Naturally.Caesar immediately saw this as yet another opportunity to distinguish himself.However, he was worried that his creditors would seek his impeachment, so theycould keep him in Rome until he could pay off his debts. Which, of course. hecould not do. So what was his solution? He rushed off to Spain at once, withoutwaiting for his appointment to be officially confirmed or even for the House tovote him the necessary funds. After all, why should such small matters oflegality bother the great Caesar”

“But you must admit that he did bring things back under controlin Spain by the following summer,” Brutus pointed out He held out his cup to berefilled.

“True, but then he returned to Rome without waiting to beproperly relieved and demanded, demanded. to be awarded a triumph.” Cassiusreplied scornfully. “Not only that, but at the same time, he announced hisintention to run for a consulship. Now everyone knows that a commander whopetitions to enter the city in triumph is supposed to wait outside the cityuntil he receives his answer, whereas a man who wants to run for consul must bepresent in Rome to file his candidacy. Clearly Caesar could not legally doboth, but did that dissuade him? Not Caesar! He tried to get himself exemptedfrom the election regulations, so that his friends could file his candidacy forhim. Talk about audacity! The resulting protests in the Senate forced him toeither give up running for consul or forgo the triumph. He decided that beingelected consul was more important. so he gave up the triumph. entered Rome,filed his candidacy. and, running true to form, proceeded to bribe the voters.”

“The way I heard it, his enemies bribed the votersthemselves to cast their lot for Bibulus,” Brutus said.

“With the result that both men were elected,” Casca saidwith disgust. “The whole thing was a farce!”

“And after his election. Caesar embarked upon still moreintrigues,” said Cassius. “He somehow managed to work his charm on Pompey. whowas still angry with the Senate for the difficulties they had given him inpursuing the war against Mithridates. Caesar managed to patch things up betweenhim and his old fellow coconspirator. Crassus. who was still smarting overbeing eclipsed by Pompey in their defeat of that rebel gladiator, what was hisname? ‘The surly-looking bastard with the dimple in his chin.”

“Spartacus,” said Brutus, popping a stuffed dormouse in hismouth.

“Yes, that’s the one. Caesar brought Pompey and Crassus togetherand arranged for them to agree upon a pact. All three of them swore to opposeany actions of the Senate that any one of them might disapprove of.”

“If you ask me, that was the turning point for him.”Ligarius pronounced. “Crassus had the money. Pompey had influence and hissoldiers. After that. Caesar began to make his presence in the Senate felt witha vengeance.”

“Wasn’t his first act a rule that all daily proceedings ofthe Senate and the courts be published, insuring that the people would knowabout everything he said and did?” asked Cimber. He turned. “You! Yes, you.the ugly one! More wine!”

“Yes, and he quickly turned that to his advantage,” Cassiussaid. “When he proposed some agrarian reform and his old opponent. Bibulus,took a stand against it. Caesar actually had him driven from the Forum at swordpoint! The idea, one supposes, was to prove to all those who would read of theproceedings that the great Caesar would stop at nothing to champion any causethat would benefit the Roman people. “

“And at the same time, demonstrate to the members of the Senatewhat would happen to anyone who dared oppose him.” added Ligarius. He shiftedhis position on the couch and broke wind prodigiously.

“By the gods, Ligarius!” said Cimber with a grimace. “Youcould empty out the Circus with that one! Phew!”

“When was it that he married Calpurnia?” Labeo asked.

“About the same time Bibulus decided it was more prudent forhim to retire from public life.” said Cassius. He ate an olive and spat the pitout on the floor. A slave immediately picked it up. “Marrying Calpurnia gavehim access to her father’s money. At the same time. he broke his daughter’sengagement so she could many Pompey. thereby cementing his relationship withthe most famous general in Rome.”

“You tell me that was not ambition?” Casca asked angrily. “Norwas that enough for him! He then decided that being appointed provincialgovernor of Gaul would present him with the most opportunities to secure wealthand triumphs. so he used his influence to make sure that he got it

“Well, that’s not quite true,” said Brutus. The Senate wasonly too glad to give it to him. No sooner had he left his office than theybegan an inquiry into his conduct during his term as consul. The moment Caesarleft the city, his quaestor was charged with malfeasance, laying the groundworkfor charges against Caesar himself. But nothing ever came of it.”

“Only because Caesar had contributed generously to all ofthe chief magistrates and supported candidates for office who would look afterhis interests,” Cassius said. “He has always been a corrupt intriguer. I cannotunderstand why you defend him. Brutus.”

“It is not my intention to defend Caesar.” Brutus replied. “Nordoes he require my defense. Can you deny the good he did for Rome? In Gaul. heexpanded his army with legions raised at his own expense. He even went so faras to recruit and train an entire legion from the province. In the nine yearsof his military governorship, he subjugated all of Gaul to Roman authority. Hislegions took over eight hundred towns, conquered three hundred states, andkilled over a million enemy barbarians, taking as many prisoner. If you aregoing to point out the man’s faults, then do not neglect his virtues.”

“Virtues! What virtues?” Casca asked, raising hisvoice. “You speak as if Caesar gained nothing for himself! Gaul has made himrich! And he was lavish in his gifts of slaves to anyone who could be ofbenefit to him. Any man who looks at Caesar’s history with a clear eye can comeaway with but one conclusion! All Caesar ever wanted was power! Hisambition simply knows no bounds. I tell you, he intends to seize Rome itself!He plans to depose Pompey and make himself dictator!”

“I have seen no proof of that,” said Brutus.

“No? Then why did he refuse to be relieved?” counteredCasca. “The Gallic Wars are over! The province has been pacified. Why does herefuse to disband his legions? I’ll tell you why! Because he still facescharges of malfeasance during his term as consul! Because he still has debtsthat he does not wish to pay! Because he had made wild promises that he knowshe cannot keep! And most of all, because he has acquired a taste for power andhe does not wish to give it up. Even his old friend, Pompey. considers him athreat!”

“Perhaps,” Brutus replied, “but there are those, presentcompany included, who have gone to great lengths to make a breach between Pompeyand Caesar. And frankly. while Pompey may be a great general, as a statesman heleaves much to be desired.”

Your feelings about Pompey are well known.” said Casca,dismissing his comment with a wave of his hand. “He did execute your father,after all. Or was it really your father that he killed? Perhaps there isanother mason for your reluctance to condemn Caesar. It is well known that yourmother was once his mistress.”

Brutus gave Casca a long, hard look. “Caesar is not my father,”he said stiffly.

Then why does he bear so much affection for you?” Cascaasked.

“Was I invited here to be called a bastard and insulted?”Brutus shouted, throwing his wine cup to the floor. The slaves hastened to mopup the spill. Brutus started to rise. but Cassius took him by the arm.

“No, no, Brutus, stay, please! It was merely the winespeaking, wasn’t it, Casca? It is just that we are all inflamed with passionand concern about our future. We meant to share our feelings with you. We hadbelieved that you were with us, but it seems that you cannot forget your father’sfate at Pompey’s hands and therefore lean toward Caesar. Well, that isregrettable. but we love you none the less for it.”

“You judge me wrongly.” Brutus said. “I despise Pompey, thatis true, but neither do I favor Caesar. Politics must be dispassionate. Alesson some of us have yet to learn,” he added with a pointed glance at Casca. “Imay not share the vehemence of your feelings against Caesar but I do notbelieve that he is the man to govern Rome.”

“Then you are with us’?” asked Cassius.

“If it must come to a choice between Pompey and Caesar, thenfor the good of the republic, I must put aside my own feelings and stand forPompey,” Brutus replied. “Caesar has accomplished great things, but I believethat Cicero is right. His chief concern is for himself, not Rome.”

“Cicero is wise,” said Ligarius. nodding. He belched loudly.

“The gods have spoken,” Cimber said, raising his cup anddraining it.

“Then why have you not invited him tonight. so that youcould partake of his wisdom?” Brutus asked.

“Cicero is wise, but he is also old,” Cassius replied. “Itis for young men such as ourselves to plan the future.”

“To plan conspiracies. you mean,” said Brutus.

“Against whom do we conspire?” asked Cassius. raising hiseyebrows in surprise. “Against Caesar’? He is not the power in Rome, thank thegods, yet he is a threat not to be taken lightly. All here are loyal citizensof the republic, merely expressing their concerns about the future. Is thatconspiracy’?”

“Perhaps not,” said Brutus. “Yet it has the flavor of one.”

“Come now, Brutus,” Cassius said, putting his arm aroundhim, “you are among friends. Set aside your worries. There are many flavorshere to tempt you. Such as this excellent Greek wine, for instance.”

Cassius gestured for a slave to pour Brutus another cup. “Letus have no more talk about conspiracies.” He winked. “At least, not fortonight.”

Brutus drained the cup and held it out to be refilled. Thewine was filling him with pleasant warmth. A warmth that seemed to banish thechill of an uncertain future. Yes, indeed, he thought, it was a good night toget drunk.

Capt. Jonathan Travers of the United States Temporal ArmyObserver Corps, alias “Lucius Septimus,” personal secretary and aide to thecommander of the legions, stood outside his tent and gazed out at the troopscamped all around him. The legionaries were relaxing around their cook fires,but there was a tension of anticipation in the air. Each of them knew that inthe morning, they would take part in a historic event that had no precedent.The camp had been situated on the slope of a hill. The entrance gates were onthe downslope and the rear gates were at the crest. The legions had camped outin the open, away from wooded areas that could provide an enemy with an opportunityto make a sudden attack from concealment. The earthworks had been thrown uparound the camp, the soil taken from a twelve-foot-wide ditch dug around themto a depth of nine feet. The earthen wall itself was ten feet high and six feetwide, enough room for defenders to stand on top and hurl their javelins in theevent of an assault. Timber and brush had been used to reinforce the earthworksand the ramparts. When occasion demanded it, wooden towers could be placed atopthe wall, but this was only a temporary camp and there was no need for them.

The camp was laid out in a large rectangle, divided intothree roughly equal parts. These divisions were marked off by two broad “streets”that ran the width of the entire camp. The praetorium was theheadquarters section. where Travers had his tent. It occupied a wide space inthe exact center. Directly behind the praetorium and separated from itby the second of the two main streets, the via quintana, was the quaestorium.It was a similar space situated at the middle of the camp, where hostages,prisoners, booty, forage, and supplies were kept. The praetentura wasthe front section of the camp, separated from headquarters section by the firstof the two main streets, the via principalis. One fourth of the cohortswere encamped there, in tents facing the wall, on either side of the viapraetoria, which was the street leading from the center of the camp tothe front gates. Half the cavalry was camped there too, as well as the archersand the slingers, situated so that they could quickly move out the front gateto form an advance guard in the event of an attack.

The remainder of the cohorts and the cavalry were disposedon either side of the praetorium and in the rear of the camp. Runningaround the entire perimeter, just inside the wall, was a broad street onehundred and twenty feet wide, meant to allow movement for the troops defendingthe walls and to prevent hostile missiles coming over the wall from reachingthe tents. There were smaller streets running lengthwise and widthwisethroughout the camp, separating each cohort from the one beside it. Everythingwas laid out with practiced, logical precision. There was a specific allotmentof space for the tents, the pack animals. the servants, and the stacking ofweapons. The plan never varied from this basic layout. The soldiers were sowell drilled at setting up the camp that they had begun digging thefortifications at noon and the entire task had been completed shortly beforesunset. Each man had worked for one hour before he was relieved, while othertroops formed a protective front to cover the work while details of cavalryscouted the area to provide security. Everything was done with an efficiencyand a precision that an elite 27th-century military unit would have envied, butthen again, these were no ordinary troops. The Romans had fielded some of thefinest armies in all of history and these were the finest troops ever fieldedby Rome, led by the greatest general the republic had ever seen-Gaius JuliusCaesar.

As a career officer in the Observer Crops, Travers wouldspend most of his adult life stationed in this time period, in the 1st centurybefore the birth of Christ. Volunteers for Long Term Observer posts did notreceive antiagathic treatments to retard the aging process. (Had Travers comefrom a family that could have afforded buying those treatments for him at anearly age, he would not have qualified for L.T.O. posting. otherwise how couldhe explain remaining youthful while everyone around him aged normally?) Thehazardous nature of his assignment meant that he could easily lose his life atany time. Few people would have volunteered for such a post. but Travers wasone of a unique group of scholar adventurers who eagerly accepted such risksand hardships in return for the opportunity to spend their lives in intensive,close-up study of important historical figures-observing history as it wasbeing made and safeguarding it. as well.

Though he would be an old man when Travers returned to the27th century, he would not have traded this opportunity for anything. When heclocked back to Plus Time, assuming he survived to complete his tour of duty.Travers would receive his antiagathic treatments. (Though they would not thenbe as effective as they would have been had he received them as a younger man.)They would not return his lost youth, but they would nevertheless extend hislife beyond the normal span. He would be able to retire on a governmentpension, with all of its attendant perks, to either teach or write about hisexperiences. Travers hoped to produce the definitive life of Julius Caesar aswritten by a man who had witnessed most of it firsthand.

The preparations for his assignment had been exhaustive. Qualificationas an L.T.O. placed him among the elite of the Temporal Corps, second only tothe agents of Temporal Intelligence. Only those with the very best educationalbackgrounds were selected and they had to be in peak physical condition, aswell. (Once they graduated from the grueling training course, they were given implantconditioning, programmed through a biochip surgically implanted in the cerebralcortex with the knowledge and the behavior modification patterns that wouldenable them to blend in with the time period and the society within which theywould have to function.) Cosmetic surgery was performed when necessary. Theyhad to look the parts they were to play.

Travers had an outstanding classical education and a giftfor languages. He was fluent in Greek and Latin. but that was not enough. Hehad to be conditioned not only to speak, but to think in Latin and behave as aRoman would. Being well versed in history could also be a liability. It wouldhardly do for him to quote Cicero in casual conversation before Cicero had actuallysaid what he was quoting! The Time Wars had rendered the continuity of historyfragile enough without endangering it further, especially now that insurgentsfrom the parallel universe were seeking to disrupt the timestream. Not only didTravers have to pass as a Roman and survive long enough to complete hisdangerous assignment, he had to be on the alert for temporal anomalies. He alsohad to watch his step, to make sure he did not cause any himself.

It had been necessary for him to have become an expert onthe life and times of Julius Caesar. but even that was not enough. There was noescaping the Principle of Temporal Uncertainty. It was impossible to determine absolutelyany degree of deviation from the original historical scenario because of thelack of total historical documentation. “there was always room for error. Noone could possibly document any historical period down to the most minutedetail. In any given period of time, things had occurred that history had noknowledge of. It was also possible that the mere fact of Travers’ presencecould affect events in some way. Every moment Travers spent in Minus Time wasdangerous. Yet that was part of the intoxicating thrill. To Travers, the riskwas worth it. He already knew more about Julius Caesar than anyone living inhis own time period. With each moment he spent in Minus Time, he was learningmore.

He found Caesar to be brilliant, innovative, an extremelyversatile commander. He was completely fearless and his opponents found himtotally unpredictable. A skillful swordsman and horseman, he often led hislegions on foot, marching like an ordinary soldier rather than riding like ageneral. He lived life at a much faster pace than those around him. Histremendous powers of endurance allowed him to cover over a hundred miles a dayin light carriages, traveling over the worst of roads at twice the pace of theaverage traveler. He often dictated letters and reports to his secretaries enroute, sometimes as many as four or five simultaneously. He also composedscholarly works or poems while he traveled, or worked on his famous Commentaries.in which he dispassionately, even modestly, but clearly with a thought forhistory, chronicled his military campaigns in Gaul.

He possessed great personal charm and a wit that infuriatedhis rivals in Rome when he turned it against them. Yet, for all his gifts, helooked incredibly ordinary. He was tall and very fair, with a broad, scholar’sface and melancholy dark brown eyes. He was also very vain. He kept his face andhead carefully trimmed and often depilated his body hair with tweezers. He hadstarted balding at a very early age and was in the habit of trying to disguiseit by combing what little hair he had forward over his high forehead. Later,when the Senate voted him the privilege of wearing a laurel wreath on alloccasions. he was almost never seen without it. he was somewhat eccentric inhis dress. he had added fringed sleeves to his purple-striped senatorial tunic.an affectation that caused his enemies to refer to him as a woman behind hisback and added fuel to the numerous rumors of his alleged bisexuality. He sufferedfrom bouts of epilepsy, but sought to fight them off with exercise and moderatediet.

His legions loved him. A naturally gifted speaker who had studiedrhetoric in the school of Apollonius of Rhodes, he would often address them inthe field, and always on the eve of any action. speaking to them warmly andwith great emotion, man to men. He always saw to their welfare first and hadforged a unique and powerful bond with his troops. They would have followed himto hell.

In the morning, when they crossed the Rubicon, they wouldfollow Caesar where no commander had ever taken his troops before-to Romeitself. The Senate was alarmed at his successes, terrified of his legions. Theywere well aware of his immense popularity. He had staged gladiatorial shows forthe people and sponsored lavish public banquets. He distributed grain to histroops at the slightest excuse and gifted them with Gallic slaves. He sentslaves and presents to prominent aristocrats, made loans to people who foundthemselves in debt. collected vast amounts of tribute from conqueredterritories, and sought favor with kings and allied tribes by sending themprisoners or lending them troops, all without even bothering to seekauthorization from the Senate. He helped people with legal difficulties and sympathizedwith those he could not help. It had been reported that he told them, “What youneed is a civil war.”

Even his old ally, Pompey, had grown apprehensive about Caesar.The Ties between the two men had been weakened by the death of Caesar’sdaughter. Julia. who had been Pompey’s wife, and of Crassus, who was killed inParthia. As a newly elected consul, Pompey had become the most powerful man inRome. He saw Caesar as a threat. His legions seemed invincible, their loyaltyto him was absolute.

On his return to Rome. Caesar still faced charges ofirregular conduct from when he had served as consul. He had incurred tremendousdebts and made many promises that would be difficult, if not impossible. tokeep. In his time as governor-general of Gaul. he had acquired a taste forpower, and nobody believed that he would easily give it up. Consequently. as “amatter of public interest.” the Senate had decided that since the Gallic Warshad ended and peace had been restored. Caesar should be relieved of his postbefore his term expired. They had also directed him to disband his legions.Caesar’s response was to march on Rome.

Travers alone knew what would happen when Caesar crossed theRubicon. He would wage a bloody civil war, crush Pompey’s forces, and seizeabsolute power. bringing to an end the days of the republic. His name would becomesynonymous with the title that he would assume-imperator. But on thenight before he was to cross the Rubicon-a phrase that would go down in historyas signifying facing the greatest trial and passing the point of no return-Caesarwas keyed up and nervous.

He always looked for omens and was in the habit of consultingsoothsayers. Word had reached him of a local “oracle: with great spiritualpowers. who was said to have the ability to see into the Future. He had sentfor this oracle and was anxiously awaiting his arrival, he had grown impatientand sent a messenger to Travers. ordering him to have the oracle brought to himas soon as he arrived. And as Travers stood outside the entrance to the praetoriumand waited, he saw the detachment of men that Caesar had sent out approachingdown the via praetoria. With them was a tall and slender figure carryinga staff and dressed in a hooded black cloak.

Travers hurried to meet them. The centurion in charge gavehim a salute.

“You are the oracle?” Travers asked the hooded figure. Hecould not make out the man’s face.

“I am.”

“The general is expecting you. He is most anxious to hearyour prophecy.”

As, in fact, was Travers. He hoped that he would be allowedto stay and listen. He did not really expect to hear anything surprising.Oracles and soothsayers knew what was expected of them when they were broughtinto the presence of a famous general and found themselves surrounded by anarmy. Under such circumstances, it would not be wise to read “unfavorableportents.” The man would doubtless give a reassuring reading in the mostgeneral terms, promising success and power and the favor of the gods, pockethis “offering” and hurry home. However, Travers thought it might make for aninteresting scene in his book.

“You’ve searched him, of course?” Travers said to the centurion.

“Of course, Praetor. The man was carrying no weapons.”

“Good. Come with me.”

Travers led the way to Caesar’s tent, with the vexillum,the general’s standard, a white banner inscribed with red letters giving Caesar’sname and identifying his army. placed outside it. The tent was made of leather,with two upright poles and one ridge pole. When on the march. Caesar did notavail himself of any luxuries, which endeared him to his men. He lived as theydid, ate as they ate. He was pacing back and forth, nervously, attired simplyin his tunic and sandals. He looked up eagerly as they entered.

“Ah Septimus! You have brought the oracle?”

“This is the man. Caesar.”

Travers beckoned the hooded figure forward.

“Pull back your cowl,” he said.

The man pulled back his hood. He was completely bald, with aprominent, hooked nose and deep-set dark eyes that gave him a sepulchral look.His face was long, with a pointed chin and pronounced cheekbones.

“What is your name’?” asked Caesar.

“I am called Lucan, General,” the man said softly.

“You know who I am?”

A brief nod.

“They tell me that you can see into the future.”

“I have that gift.”

“I would have you look into my future and tell me what yousee.”

Lucan nodded. “Please. sit down.” he said.

They sat down at the table.

“Do you require an augury?” asked Caesar

“No. That is not the nature of my gift. Give me your righthand,” said Lucan.

Caesar held out his right hand, palm up. Lucan took it inhis own right hand and covered it with his left, then closed his eyes. Nothingterribly dramatic, so far. Travers thought. An oracle without much imagination.Caesar looked slightly disappointed.

“You are a man of great ambition.” Lucan said without openinghis eyes. “You have made many enemies. Some who were once your friends.”

A safe assumption to make about a famous general. thoughtTravers, though not the sort of flattering beginning that he had expected.

“That is true.” said Caesar.

“Please,” said bean. opening his eyes. “I do not wish tooffend. but I must ask you to remain silent until I have finished.”

Caesar nodded.

Lucan shut his eyes once more and remained silent for almostthirty seconds. He was frowning slightly.

“I see that you are about to embark upon undertaking a greatrisk. Old friends will become your bitter enemies. There shall be greatconflict, yet you shall succeed, though not without cost.”

Caesar smiled.

“But this undertaking … this war … will be only thebeginning for you. I see that you aspire to greatness and you shall achieve it.as did Alexander. whom you so much admire.”

Travers raised his eyebrows. The man must have been briefedby someone. Probably he had asked questions about Caesar from the men who hadbeen sent to fetch him. Caesar’s admiration of Alexander was hardly a secret.

“I see great power in your future,” the oracle continued,speaking softly. “Absolute power. And your fame shall last throughout the ages.You shall have many conquests. both martial and romantic. I see that you willfall in love with a wise and ambitious foreign woman who will smite you withher beauty. A young queen who shall bear you a son.”

Travers stared at the oracle intently. This was unusuallyspecific. And also uncannily true. He was talking about Cleopatra. No, hethought, don’t be ridiculous. How could he possibly know that? It was justflattery that happened to be coincidence. Caesar had several queens as mistressesat one time or another. It was not an unusual assumption to make about a famousRoman general and a provincial governor who had regular contact with localroyalty.

“I also see violent death in your future,” Lucan said. “Therewill be portents and warnings. You must not ignore them. For if you do. I seethe image of your body bleeding, pierced with many wounds. You will not fall inbattle, but at the hands of those you think your friends. Beware the Ides ofMarch, Caesar. Beware the names of Casca. Brutus, Cassius, Cimber …” His eyesfluttered open. “I am sorry. I can see no more.”

Caesar was frowning. Travers held his breath. He could scarcelybelieve what he had just heard. The oracle had just named Caesar’s assassins!

“This violent death you see upon the Ides of March.” said Caesar“ It will occur soon?”

In five years’ time.”

Travers almost gasped. He had pinpointed the time precisely!

“And is there nothing I can do to alter this fate’?” askedCaesar.

“Perhaps. To a man who takes his fate into his own hands,”said Lucan. “nothing is impossible.”

“What must I do, then, to avoid this violent death?”

“Give me your left hand,” said the oracle.

Caesar held it out and Lucan took it in both of his, as hehad done before. For a moment. he said nothing, concentrating. Then …

“There is a chance that you might be able to avoid the fateyour destiny has in store for you.” Lucan said. “But you must be mindful of theomens. One in particular. above all others. I have but a dim perception of it.You will know it when that which was concealed shall stand revealed.”

Lucan released Caesar’s hand. “I can tell you no more. Onlythat when you recognize that omen, you must hearken to its counsel.”

“And that is all that you can tell me?” Caesar asked.

“That is all. And now. General. I must beg leave to retire. ‘Thesight has wearied me.-

“My men shall escort you from the camp,” said Caesar. “Ithank you, Lucan, for your prophecy.” Caesar picked up several gold coins andgave them to the oracle. “Septimus, see to it that he is safely conducted fromthe camp.”

His mind in a turmoil. Travers went with the soldiers toescort Lucan through the gates. Outside, it was dark and the oracle looked ghostlyas he walked silently toward the gates with the hood over his head.

“How did you know those things?” asked Travers.

“I have the sight.”

“But you named names, you gave an exact date!

“It was what I saw.”

“But you told Caesar that it was possible for him to changehis fate.” said Travers. “How? How can any man alter his own destiny?”

“A man’s destiny is but the result of his actions in thepresent and the past,” said Lucan. “Those actions set his feet upon a path thatwill lead him to his destiny. When I look into a man’s future. my sight travelsalong the path that man has chosen by his actions. If that man were to choose adifferent path, it would lead him to a different destiny. however, it is myexperience that most men never change.”

There is no future. Travers thought. his mind racing. Thereis only an infinite number of possible futures. What Lucan had just told himwas an almost perfect paraphrase of the Principle of Temporal Inertia.

“Can you look into my future asked Travers.

“No,” said Lucan.

“Why not?”

“Because the sight has wearied me. I need time to recover.”

“Perhaps later. then’?”

“I fear not. I am leaving upon a long journey in themorning. And your general shall take you with him upon his.”

They had reached the gates.

“I doubt that we shall meet again. Praetor Septimus.” said Lucan.“But perhaps that is for the best. Believe me, most men are better off notknowing what their future holds in store for them. Good fortune to you.”

He passed through the gate.

The oracle is right,” said the centurion.-If it is my fateto die tomorrow, or soon thereafter. I would prefer not to know of it tonight.”He clasped the hilt of his sword. “And I would sooner trust my fate to thisthan to the prophecies of oracles and soothsayers. Good night to you, PraetorSeptimus.”

He turned and went hack toward the tents with his soldiers.

Travers turned to the guard at the gate. “I must Speakfurther with that man. Let me through.”

They passed him through the gates and Travers hurried afterLucan. but after running no more than a few steps. he stopped. The slope of thehill fell away from the camp, leading to a meadow. The open country was gentlyilluminated by the moonlight.

There was no sign of the oracle. It was as if he had simplydisappeared.

1

TAC-HO. Pendleton Base, California, June 13, A.D. 2627

The penthouse of the headquarters building of the TemporalArmy Command had originally been the personal quarters of the Pendleton Basecommander, but since General Moses Forrester had assumed that post, as well asthe directorship of the Temporal Intelligence Agency, it was hardly ever usedForrester. a bull of a man, completely bald with a face like a pugnaciousbulldog and a powerful, bodybuilder’s physique that belied his advanced age,lived on the floor immediately beneath it. where his offices were located. Theywere the same quarters he had resided in when he was the commander of the eliteFirst Division, better known as the Time Commandos.

Forrester had spent his entire life in the service, whichhad entailed, as life in the service always had, a great deal of moving around.Now that he had reached a point in his career where he didn’t have to move, hebloody well wasn’t going to. not even if it was just upstairs. He had grownaccustomed to his quarters. and even if they were not as spacious and luxuriousas the penthouse. they suited his needs. He merely had to step outside his doorto reach his suite of offices, the heart of TAC-HQ), and he had his secret roomthere, concealed behind a wall, a small private sanctum that only a few peopleknew about where he kept his prized and highly unauthorized mementos of thepast. Occasionally. he had used the penthouse to hold parties or house visitingdignitaries, but it was now a highly restricted area.

Aside from Forrester himself, only three people were authorizedaccess to it. Those three were Capt. Finn Delaney, Lt Andre Cross. and Col.Creed Steiger of the Temporal Intelligence Agency. And one other man, who hadno official authorization, because he did not need one. Dr. Robert Darkness,the man who was faster than light.

The sole tenant of the penthouse was the reason for the maximumsecurity. He was Col. Lucas Priest, whose name was listed on the Wall of Honorin the lobby of the building. along with the names of all the other members ofthe First Division. now merged with Temporal Intelligence, who had been killedin action in Minus Time. Lucas Priest was, with the possible exceptions of Lazarusand Christ. the only man in history to have come back from the dead.

He had died saving the life of Winston Churchill: but theenigmatic Dr. Darkness had interceded with his fate. The story was as complexas it was baffling. It pivoted around the mysterious, brilliant, and eccentricscientist and the nature of what he had become.

Darkness had once been an obscure research scientist workingin the field of temporal physics. In the course of his work, which was centeredon temporal translocation, he had invented the most devastating weapon everdevised by man-the warp grenade, a combination nuclear device and time machine.It was small enough to be carried in one hand and its built-in chronocircuitryallowed for pinpoint adjustment of its nuclear explosion. It could be “fine-tuned”to use all or any part of the tremendous energy that was released. The surplusenergy was then clocked through an Einstein-Rosen Bridge. a-wormhole in thefabric of space and time, to explode harmlessly in the farthest reaches of thecosmos. Or so it was believed.

No one knew exactly what had happened. The prevailing theorywas that such incredible amounts of energy clocked through Einstein-RosenBridges, perhaps combined with the strain already placed upon the timestream bythe actions of the Time Wars. had somehow shifted the chronophysical alignmentof the universe. The result was that a parallel timeline, a mirror-imageuniverse, had been brought into congruence with our own. Each time a warpgrenade was detonated, the parallel universe was nuked. Space colonies thatthey had established were utterly destroyed, with catastrophic loss of life.And now the two parallel timelines were at war.

It was a “limited-war, but it was still the most dangerouswar humanity had ever fought. Both sides refrained from the use of strategicweapons. because each of their time streams had become perilously unstable.Both timelines were “rippling, — intertwining like a double helix. The result wasthe “confluence phenomenon.” At various points in space and time, the twotimelines intersected and the parallel universes met. At those points, it waspossible to cross over from one universe into the other. The resultingpotential for the disruption of either timestream was staggering.

People simply disappeared. A man could be walking down thestreet. turn a corner, and suddenly find himself in another universe. And theseconfluence points did not necessarily correspond in space and time. That sameman might turn a corner and suddenly find himself not only in another universe,but in another country, in a different time period. If he kept his head abouthim and was able to retrace his steps exactly. there was a chance he could getback to his own time and universe, assuming he was lucky. Confluence pointswere invisible. Their focal points varied in size and they were incrediblyunstable. There was no telling how long they would last. The time streams wouldripple and a confluence point would come into existence, a ‘window” intoanother time and another universe. The ripple effect would move on and theconfluence point would disappear. It could last for hours. days. weeks, or onlyseconds. It could lead to a point in the middle of an ocean or a desert in theother universe, or even to deep space. in which case death was instantaneousand horrible.

In the face of such a threat, international conflicts hadbecome utterly meaningless. The Time Wars as they had once been fought hadceased, escalating into a far more frightening conflict. Each universe was nowthreatened by the very existence of the other. Each was now faced with threeprime necessities.

The first was to map as many confluence points as possible.If a confluence point could be located, it could be used to cross over from oneuniverse into another, to stage temporal disruptions in the opposite timeline.Ranger Pathfinder units whose job was to map confluences and the territory onthe other side had the most hazardous duty in the entire Temporal Corps. Theyhad no idea what they might find on the other end of the confluence and theycould never be sure that they would be able to get back. If the scouts did comeback, with detailed accounts of what they had encountered in the paralleluniverse. further action could be contemplated. If they did not return, theworst was assumed and no one else was sent through that confluence point. Ineither case, the confluence was secured for its duration, to make sure no oneblundered into it and that no one or nothing came through from the other side.In some cases, it was to no avail. Occasionally, something could come throughthat nobody could stop, as had happened at Tanguska. in Siberia. where a meteorcame through a confluence point and caused incredible destruction.

The second imperative both universes were confronted withwas the Time War that they waged between themselves. Each attempted to locatesafe confluence points that the other had not yet managed to discover, so they couldsend agents through to disrupt the continuity of the opposing timeline.

Apparently, temporal physicists in the parallel universe believedthat a temporal disruption of a magnitude sufficient to bring about atimestream split in the opposing universe would work to overwhelm theconfluence effect and separate the two timelines once and for all.Consequently, they were sending across agents and temporal strike teams fromtheir Special Operations Group to gather intelligence and stage temporaldisruptions in an attempt to split the timestream. There was a chance thattheir thinking was scientifically sound, however, temporal physics-or Zenphysics, as it was often called-was a nebulous and elusive area of science. Itwas where scientific logic merged with metaphysics. Temporal relativity wasnever absolute. There was also a chance that a timestream split in eitheruniverse, aside from the potentially devastating consequences in the universein which it would occur, could result in the creation of yet another timelinethat would compound the confluence effect and make it even worse, with threetimelines intersecting. Or, worse still, it could set off a chain reaction,with the creation of another timeline disrupting the temporal continuity of theother two, creating further timestream splits and the creation of still moretimelines. with no end in sight. It could end in ultimate entropy. No one knewfor sure. Yet both universes continued to wage their Time Wars, on theprinciple that the more the opposing universe was occupied in trying tocompensate for disruptions in its own timestream, the less time, energy, andmanpower it could expend in trying to disrupt the timestream of the other.

The third problem faced by each universe was safeguardingthe temporal continuity of their respective timelines. The confluencephenomenon dramatically increased the chances of temporal disruption. It wasnecessary to clock as many Observers as possible into the past. so that historycould be preserved. In order to facilitate this seemingly impossible task. themajority of the temporal forces of all nations had been converted to TemporalObserver status, with the best and brightest assigned as L.T.O.’s, to keepwatch on figures of historical significance. C.T.O.’s. or Chief TemporalObservers, functioned as field commanders. supervising the T.O. units in theirrespective sectors. Any sign of a disruption was immediately reported toTAC-HQ. so that a team of temporal Intelligence agents could be dispatched toMinus Time to deal with it. Yet, this task was akin to bailing a rapidlysinking rowboat with a thimble. No matter how many Observers were dispatchedinto the past-and thousands upon thousands were-they could not possibly coverall of human history. And the increased presence of people from the future inthe past served by itself to increase the odds of temporal disruption.

Waging the war with strategic weapons would have been toodangerous. for there was no way of telling if a nuke launched at the opposinguniverse would actually explode there, or if it might become caught in aconfluence and cause untold destruction, and possibly a timestream split, inthe universe that had launched it in the first place. So the war was foughtthrough the means of historical disruption. But there were more than just twosides.

The conflict was complicated further by the existence of the‘temporal Underground. a loosely organized confederation of deserters from thefuture who had fled into the past in order to escape the madness. No one wasquite certain what to do about them. Technically. they were criminals,fugitives. It was up to the Temporal Intelligence Agency to track them down andapprehend them, but the particularly the covert field section. had neverseriously considered them a priority. In fact, many of the old covert fieldagents had maintained contacts among the members of the Underground andsometimes called upon them for assistance in their missions. When Forrester hadassumed the directorship of the agency, he had put a stop to such practices. aswell as to the corruption in the T.I.A. he had discovered that many of thecovert field agents, as well as their section chiefs, had been running an extensivetrans-temporal black market operation to enrich themselves. The corruption wentall the way up to the previous director.

Their immensely profitable and highly illegal sideline was referredto as-the Network’ and it involved such things as using time travel tomanipulate the stock and commodities markets, smuggle rare coins from the pastto sell in future time periods, practice piracy on the Spanish Main and sellthe booty in the 19th and 20th centuries. The Network had hijacked gold andworks of an from the Nazis. They were involved in the East India Company. Theyused time travel to scam betting operations, and the list went on and on andon. They were the ultimate soldiers of fortune. less interested in their dutiesas temporal agents than in their

Crosstime financial ventures. Forrester had tried to put astop to their dangerous and illegal activities, but he had not been entirelysuccessful. He had disbanded the covert field section and put every agent hecould get his hands on, from the lowliest records clerk to section chiefs andsenior administrators, through a scanning procedure in an effort to ferret outthe ones who were involved in the Network. However, word got out and many ofthem simply disappeared, going underground in time and becoming a trans-temporal.Mafia, the ultimate organized crime family. They had put a price on Forrester’shead. There had already been several attempts on his life. He had no doubtthere would be more.

And what of the man who had started it all? As he walkeddown the corridor from his quarters to the lift tubes. Forrester thought thatperhaps it was unfair to blame it all on Robert Darkness. Darkness had notstarted the Time Wars. The Time Wars had come about when nations had decided touse time travel to settle their conflicts by having their troops do battle inthe past, in order to protect the present from the ravages of war. There was noreal evidence to support that it was the invention of the warp grenade. and notthe actions of the Time Wars, that had brought about the confluence phenomenon.Yet. Darkness himself seemed to accept responsibility for what had come about.

He was not on Earth when the confluence phenomenon came intobeing. he had disappeared mysteriously and no one had any idea what had becomeof him. Forrester later learned that Darkness had established a research laboratoryon some far-off, desolate planet and had gone there to perfect his process oftachyon conversion. Darkness had discovered a way to focus a tachyon beam andsend it through an Einstein-Rosen Bridge, which amounted to instantaneoustransmission. No time lag whatsoever. Going from Point A to Point B withouthaving to cover the distance in between. His next step was to start working ona process whereby the human body could become converted into tachyons, whichwould depart at six hundred times the speed of light along the direction of thetachyon beam, through an Einstein-Rosen Bridge. His main concern had been thattachyon conversion might violate the Law of Uncertainty. The beam was focusedby means of gravitational lenses, but there was no receiver, so in order toinsure that what would materialize at the other end would not be some kind of ablob, he had incorporated a timing mechanism into the conversion process. whichwould reassemble him in the proper order, at the proper time and place, basedon the temporal coordinates of transition. What he was seeking was the ultimateform of transportation, something that would surpass even the chronoplatedevised by Dr. Mensinger.

Unfortunately, when Darkness tried the process on himself.he had discovered that it was ultimately restrained by a little known law ofphysics called the Law of Baryon Conservation. When he had arrived at his pointof destination, he discovered that he could not move from the spot on which hestood. Something had happened to his subatomic structure. He took on theappearance of a hologram. He had become a ghost with substance. His body hadbeen permanently “tachyonized.” He had become faster than the speed of light.He could move from place to place. traveling through time and space at will,but only by translocating or, as he called it. “taching.” He could not walk somuch as one step. He could appear to “walk.” after a fashion, but it was only aseries of incredibly rapid translocations, having the multiple-image effect ofhigh-speed photography.

Quite possibly, thought Forrester. the tachyonization hadhad an effect upon his mind as well, although with Darkness, it was difficultto tell. The man was incredibly brilliant, light-years ahead of all his peers(both figuratively and literally). They could not even begin to understand hiswork. His personality was, to say the least. idiosyncratic. He was a man ofimmense wealth, holding the controlling interest in Amalgamated Techtronics anda number of other large multinational corporations. he felt himself accountableto no one. What he had done with Lucas Priest was a perfect example.

Lucas should have died. thought Forrester, despite the factthat Col. Priest was his closest friend. He should have died and he should havestayed dead. What Darkness had done was inexcusable. Ever since he’d done it.Forrester had spent many sleepless nights. worrying about the possibleconsequences. As had Lucas Priest himself, on whom the strain was obvious.

It had happened in the year 1897, while Priest. Cross, and Delaneywere clocked out on a mission to Afghanistan, during the Pathan revolt againstthe British. A strike team of the S.O.G.. from the parallel universe, had comethrough a confluence in the Khyber Pass and was working to change the course ofhistory. Priest and Cross had been standing on a bluff with the British commandstaff, watching the fighting that was taking place below them, between theGhazis and the Bengal Lancers. A lone Ghazi sniper who had concealed himself inthe rocks had drawn a bead on the battalion surgeon, mistaking him for theBritish general. Priest had spotted the sniper and, without thinking about thepossible consequences of his interference, had shouted out a warning. Thesurgeon, his instincts honed by combat, had immediately dropped to the ground,but by doing so, he had left the young Winston Churchill, who was present as awar correspondent, directly in the line of fire. Churchill was too slow torespond and Priest. in his cover as a missionary. had not been carrying aweapon. He had done the only thing that he could do-he flung himself atChurchill. knocked him out of the way, and took the bullet meant for him. Or,more accurately, meant for the surgeon with whose destiny Priest had interfered.

Lucas was killed instantly. They had even buried him. ButDr. Darkness changed all that in a manner that Forester still could notcompletely comprehend. During a prior mission, Darkness had implanted each ofthe three commandos, as well as temporal agent Steiger, with a particle-leveltracer device of his own design. one that bonded itself to their molecularstructure. It allowed him to find them no matter where they were in space andtime. What Darkness had not revealed to them was the fact that these tracerdevices were also prototypes of a new invention he was trying to perfect-a newgeneration warp disc. The original warp disc, the one now issued to all temporalpersonnel. functioned on the same principle as the warp grenade and had supersededthe more cumbersome, obsolete chronoplate of Dr. Mensinger. The new modelDarkness had designed was not worn on the person, but was integrated on theparticle level, actually bonding itself with the individual. Moreover, it wasthought-controlled, an idea that still scared the hell out of Forester.

The prototypes had all malfunctioned. The tracer functionsworked perfectly, but the bonding process had damaged the temporaltransponders. rendering them useless-all except Priest’s. Rather than lose hisonly working prototype. Darkness had elected to bring Lucas Priest back fromthe dead.

How he had done it was a Zen physics puzzle. The leader ofthe S.O.G. strike team from the opposing timeline had been Priest’s twin fromthe parallel universe. A man whose personal history was apparently somewhatdifferent from the Priest that Forester knew, but who was identical to him inevery other respect, right down to his genetic code. After Priest had died.Finn Delaney had killed the “twin Priest.” Darkness had tached through time andtaken the body of the twin Priest, then tached back and, moving faster than thespeed of light, had substituted it for their Lucas Priest, snatching him out ofthe bullet’s path at the last nanosecond, pulling him into his tachyon fieldand taking him back to his headquarters on that unknown planet. There, he hadactivated the dormant, tachyon-based, thought-controlled transponder Priest hadbeen implanted with. And now Priest had returned, to see his own name listed onthe Wall of Honor, among those killed in action. There still remained thequestion-what had actually become of him? And what had he become’?”

Darkness had gone back into the past and changed somethingthat had already happened. Or had he? Had he actually altered the past or hadhis actions in fact restored the past to the way it had originally happened? Itseemed to Forrester, and to Priest as well, that there had to exist a point intime, somewhere. a moment in which Lucas Priest had actually died. Logic wouldseem to dictate that for Darkness to have gone back and saved him from death,he would have had to have died in the first place. otherwise there would havebeen no necessity for Darkness to do what he had done. However, when it came to‘Zen physics, logic frequently broke down.

After the mission was completed, an S amp; R team wasclocked back to retrieve Lucas Priest’s remains. But had Search amp; Retrievebrought back his body. or that of his twin? Even if the remains had not beencremated, how would it have been possible to tell, since both were identical,right down to their DNA? Had Priest actually died, or had the corpse of histwin taken the bullet? Had Darkness merely caused a temporary “skip” in thetime stream’s continuity, or had what he had done in saving Priest become atemporal disruption that could have unforeseen consequences further down thetimestream? Those questions plagued not only Forester, but Lucas Priest, aswell. And there were still more problems that Priest had to contend with,beyond the metaphysical riddle of his own existence.

By experimenting on himself. Darkness had created an instabilityin his own subatomic structure, an instability that seemed to be increasingwith the passage of time. Darkness believed that, eventually, his tachyonizedstate would decay into discorporation and he would depart at multiples of lightspeed in all directions of the universe. Forester shuddered at the thought ashe stepped into the lift tube and punched out the restricted code for the penthouse.Knowing that something like that would inevitably happen to you had to have aneffect upon your mind.

He stepped in front of the scanner and a beam of lightplayed on his right eye, reading his retinal pattern. Then the tube started toascend. Priest could be facing the same thing. Although the process he had beenexposed to via the particle-level implant in his body was different from thatwhich had tachyonized Darkness, it was based on similar principles. Priest hadno idea whether or not it would eventually do the same thing to him. Moreover,he had to contend with the problem of having been turned into a living timemachine. It had become necessary for him to learn an entirely new level ofmental discipline, because now any stray thought could launch him on a tripthrough time. It had already happened on a number of occasions. The thought-controlledtemporal transponder was unable to differentiate between when he was awake andwhen he was asleep. Consequently, a dream could launch him on a trip throughtime as well. As Darkness had typically understated it. the device still “had afew bugs” in it.

The trouble was, since the transponder had become permanentlybonded to Lucas, fused with his atomic structure, there was no way to removeit. Priest would simply “have to adapt.” as Darkness had put it. Forresterwould have dearly loved to take a swing at Darkness and lay the bastard out,then throw his ass in jail, but how could you hit someone who was faster thanthe speed of light, much less hope to incarcerate him?

The tube arrived at the penthouse floor and revolved to letForrester out. Priest had called him the moment Darkness arrived. He “droppedin” from time to time to check on the progress of his living prototype.Forrester had asked Priest to prevail on Darkness to stay long enough to talkto him. but he had no idea if the man would still be there. Darkness did notwait on generals, or anybody else, for that matter. He could already have left,thought Forester, and arrived back where he had started from before he haddeparted.

However, when he entered the penthouse. he saw that Darknesswas still there. The scientist was standing behind the bar. helping himself toForrester’s twelve-year-old Scotch. Andre Cross was there, as well, along withFinn Delaney and Creed Steiger.

Delaney, a brawny, powerfully built man with a face like anoveraged delinquent’s, looked, as usual, as if he’d slept in his black basefatigues. His dark red hair was uncombed, his heard scruffy, and his bootsunshined. a stark contrast to Steiger, who always looked like a smartlyturned-out member of a S.W.A.T. team. Col. Steiger’s hair was dusty blond, hewas clean-shaven and his hooked nose and cruel mouth gave him a predatory look.Andre Cross sat beside Priest. Her long, ash-blond hair fell to her shouldersand her fatigues were neatly pressed. Her movements denoted a finely honed,athletic muscular control. Her sharp features were striking and attractive.Sitting next to her. Priest looked, as always, like a model military officer.Slim, dark-haired, and handsome, he would have made a perfect model for arecruiting poster. The very vision of an officer and a gentleman.

They had all been trying to spend as much time with Priestas possible. Priest needed the support of his friends just now. he was under agreat deal of strain. Forrester visited as often as he could, but the duties ofcommand left him with little spare time.

They all got to their feet as he entered.

“As you were.” he said.

Darkness glanced up at him from behind the bar. “You wantedto see me, Moses?”

He was tall and slender, a gaunt-looking man, with dark, unrulyhair, deep-set eyes. a sharp, prominent nose, and a neatly trimmed moustache.He was wearing a Norfolk tweed shooting jacket in dark brown herringbone, withrust-colored suede leather elbow patches and a matching, quilted shooter’s padon the right shoulder. He had on a dark brown vest with a gold watch chain, awhite Oxford shirt and maroon silk paisley ascot, dark brown tropical woolslacks and light brown calfskin jodphurs. He looked like the ghost of anEnglish country gentleman. Forrester could see the back of the bar rightthrough him.

“I have a few questions and I’d like some straight answers,Robert, if you don’t mind,” Forester said.

Everybody else called him “Doc” or “Doctor,” but Foresterand Darkness were on a first name basis, based upon a curious blend of mutualrespect and cordial dislike.

“Ask.” said Darkness, suddenly appearing about two feet infront of Forrester, holding a glass of whiskey. Instinctively, Forrester backedoff a step and grimaced, annoyed with himself for doing so. Darkness smiled.

“I’ll never get used to the way you pop around all over thedamn place.” Forester grumbled.

“You said you had some questions,” Darkness said. His voicesounded cultured. vaguely Continental. There was nothing about the way he spokethat was overtly arrogant or condescending, but that effect came across justthe same. He was, thought Forester, an irritating bastard.

“What’s the long-term prognosis on Priest’s condition?”

“We were just discussing that.” said Lucas.

“Yes,” said Darkness. “Unfortunately, it would appear thatthe long-term prognosis is not very favorable. There’s been a dramaticallymeasurable decay. It’s apparently irreversible.”

Forester glanced at Priest with alarm. “You mean-”

“He means his particle gizmo,” Lucas said. “not me.”

“Particle gizmo, indeed!” said Darkness, rolling his eyes.

“Well, whatever you want to call the damn thing,” Lucassaid. “It seems the good doctor hasn’t quite got it figured out yet. It’sfailing. Looks like it’s eventually going to stop working altogether.” Hegrinned. “Ain’t that a damn shame?”

“What does that mean in terms of his health?” askedForrester.

“His health?” said Darkness. “His health is excellent andwill undoubtedly continue to remain so. unless he manages to get himself in theway of another bullet. I cannot be held responsible for his propensity forfoolish heroics.”

“He means I’m going to be all right,” said Lucas, smiling.He looked better than he had in weeks, as if an enormous burden had been liftedfrom him. “But the doc’s going to have to go back to the drawing board. Lookslike his thought-controlled transponder is a long way from being perfected.

“You needn’t sound so damned smug about it,” Darkness saidirritably.

Forrester felt enormously relieved. “You mean there’s nochance of his experiencing discorporation

“None whatsoever.” Darkness replied. “There was very littlechance of that to begin with. I was reasonably certain that I had the problemsolved, but it seems that the transponder itself is still unstable. It simplywon’t hold up. I can’t imagine why.” He grimaced. “It’s really quite annoying.”

“So you mean to say he’s going to be the same way that hewas before?” asked Forester, his hopes rising. “Completely normal?”

“Yes, yes, yes,” said Darkness with a sigh of exasperation. “Giventhe rate of decay. I would say within a week or two, at most. Perhaps only in amatter of days. Then he can once more revel in being the same, depressingly ordinaryclod he always was.”

“Thanks,” said Lucas wryly.

“Don’t mention it.”

“That brings up my next question,” said Forrester. “With theexception of the people in this room, nobody knows that Priest is still alive.Or perhaps I should say, alive again. That presents us with a problem. Ishould have informed Director General Vargas of what you’ve done, only I’vedone as you asked and I haven’t. At least, not yet. I’m not at all sure I’vedone the right thing in not telling him at once, but I was more concerned aboutPriest’s health and emotional well-being. Now that that issue seems to havebeen settled, there are a few things I need to know. Is there any reason why Ishouldn’t tell Director Vargas about what’s happened?”

“I suppose not.” Darkness said. “although I really can’t seewhat purpose that would serve. They’d only bury you in official inquiries. Itwould cause them to start running about like chickens with their heads cut off,flying to figure out if there’s been a temporal disruption.”

“Has there been a temporal disruption?”

“I wouldn’t concern myself with that.”

“Perhaps you wouldn’t. but I’m afraid I have to.”Forrester replied.

“The world isn’t going to end merely because Priest issitting there, grinning like a Cheshire cat over the fact that my transponderis decaying,” Darkness said.

“How can you know that for certain?” Forrester asked.

“Take my word for it,” said Darkness.

“I’d like to. Robert, but how can you know that for sure?”Forester persisted. “Unless, of course, you’re from the future?”

The others stared at him.

“You are, aren’t you?” Forester said quietly.

Darkness regarded him with a steady gaze. “Very good. Moses.Very good, indeed. I see I’ve underestimated you.”

“Jesus Christ.” said Finn Delaney. “Now it all suddenlymakes sense!”

“When did you first suspect’?” asked Darkness.

“I’m not sure when the idea first occurred to me,” said Forrester.“I’m just amazed that it didn’t occur,to me sooner. I’ve been doing a lot ofdigging, trying to cheek you out. I didn’t get very far. Everything about yourbackground is classified. Even I can’t get to it. It’s restricted to anaccess code that no one seems to know.”

“I know you couldn’t have cracked the code,” said Darkness.

“No. I wasn’t able to,” Forrester admitted. “But I have afeeling that if I had, I would have discovered that the records had somehowbeen erased. Or something like that, right? There would have been some sort ofmalfunction that would have rendered them inaccessible, because past a certainpoint, your background would either be a forgery or it would simply stop. So,frustrated in that endeavor, I decided to do the next best thing. Find out whohad the clearance to access your file.”

“Only you could not discover that, either,” said Darkness.smiling.

“No. I couldn’t. However. I’m not the sort of man to give upon a problem. So I began to trace the authorization for the file’s beingclassified.”

“And you couldn’t find it.” Darkness said.

“That’s right.” said Forrester. “I couldn’t find it. Only Ishould have been able to find it. You see. that’s the trouble with coveringyour tracks. Robert. Sooner or later, it becomes obvious that they werecovered. And that’s when I knew. You were worried that someone might getcurious, find the authorization order, and clock back to the date that it wasissued to investigate. So you buried the order. If there even was an order tobegin with. The whole thing was a sham. But I wanted to be absolutely certain.so I put a research team from Archives Section on the project and had them doit the hard way. They clocked back as far as we could trace you and starteddigging. And the trail just ran out. Past a certain point, you simply ceased toexist. That’s why none of your peers in the scientific community can understandyour work. It’s why you’ve always been so far ahead of them. Because you were,quite literally, ahead of them. Years ahead.” He paused. “How many years,Robert?”

“As you people in Temporal Intelligence are so fond of saying,”Darkness replied laconically, “you have no need to know.”

“I think I do,” said Forrester. I think we all do.”

“What you think is really of no consequence.” Darkness replied.It is what you do that matters. And as you should know, better than anyoneelse, what you do must not be affected by your knowledge of what will be done.”

“Just tell me one thing. Robert. Are you a temporal agentfrom the future or are you doing whatever it is you’re doing on your own?”

“I think I’ve answered enough questions.” Darkness said. “Youalready know a great deal more than you should.”

‘The one thing I don’t understand is, why the warp grenade?”asked Forrester. “You had to know what it would do. Didn’t you? So why?”

“There is a reason for everything I’ve done. Moses,”Darkness said. “And everything that I will do. At the proper time. That isreally all that I can tell you.”

“God damn it. Robert, don’t you-”

Suddenly he simply wasn’t there anymore.

“Jesus Christ.” said Steiger.

“It’s a strange feeling, isn’t it?’ Delaney said. “We thinkof ourselves as being the ones who go back into the past to adjust things andhere we are, being adjusted ourselves. Sort of like the big fish eating thesmall fish eating the smaller fish.”

“It does explain a lot.” said Andre. “What do you think happenedwhere he came from? You think it all finally fell apart and now he’s trying tofix it?”

“We have, unfortunately, no way of knowing.” Forester said. “And,though I don’t like it. we may well be better off not knowing. However, we doknow at least one thing. What we’re doing, or what we will do, is significantenough from the standpoint of the future for Darkness to have taken as muchtime as he has to involve himself with us.”

‘“Swell.” said Lucas. “So not only is the past messed up,but something’s screwed up in the future. too. It figures. I knew it had to hitthe fan one of these days. Well, at least there’s a bright side to all of this.With that particle gizmo of his going on the fritz, pretty soon I won’t have toguard my thoughts so carefully. No more dreaming of ancient Rome and waking upthere.”

‘“Funny you should say that.” said Forester.

2

“We’ve received a report of what appears to be a temporalanomaly from one of our L.T.O.’s,” said Forrester.

“That sounds serious,” said Steiger. “L.T.O.’s don’tgenerally jump to conclusions.”

“No, they don’t.” said Forrester. “The man’s name isTravers. Capt. Jonathan Travers. I’ve had his file pulled. He’s one of our bestpeople. He’s assigned to Julius Caesar. “

Lucas exhaled heavily and shook his head. “A temporal anomalyinvolving Caesar could pose all sorts of problems. He didn’t exactly lead anuneventful life. When did Travers make his report?”

“This morning. He clocked in with it personally. leaving Caesar’scamp on the night before he crossed the Rubicon and started the civil war in Rome.”Forrester said. “He clocked back out so he’d arrive just after he left, so hewas only gone from Minus Time for a matter of minutes. Therefore, the risk wasminimal and he felt justified in taking it. Under the circumstances. I’minclined to agree. At first, he wasn’t sure that what he had on his hands wasan anomaly. Caesar, like other people of his time, was in the habit ofconsulting soothsayers and it seems that word had reached him of an oracle ofsome sort, a man named Lucan, who could see into the future. He had sent forthis oracle to give him a reading on the night before he crossed the Rubicon.There’s no historical record of any such event, but as we all know, that doesn’tnecessarily mean it didn’t happen. Still, Travers found it curious, since bothCaesar and his classical biographers had mentioned most of the occasions whenhe had received significant prophecies or omens. To receive a prophecy on thenight of one of the most important events in his life would certainly seemsignificant. yet it was possible that history might have overlooked it.

“In any event,” Forrester continued, “Travers didn’t thinkmuch of it at first He thought it might make for an interesting incident in hisbook. He plans to write a biography of Caesar when he returns to Plus Time. Hemanaged to be present during the reading. which turned out to be ratherunusual, to say the least. The oracle told Caesar that he would be successfulin his civil war, that his fame would live for generations. and that he wouldfall in love with a beautiful young queen. an apparent reference to Cleopatra.”

“Well, with all due respect. sir.” said Delaney. “thatsounds more like a generalized bit of fortune-telling than an anomaly. None ofthose so-called predictions would seem particularly farfetched for a Romangeneral with Caesar’s reputation. Roman military governors often becameinvolved with royalty. There were more kings and queens back then than youcould shake a stick at. And flattering a general by promising him victory andfame would only be good business sense for an enterprising soothsayer.”

“This soothsayer also told Caesar the exact date when hewould be assassinated and to beware of men named Cassius. Brutus, Cimber, andCasca.”

“oh.” said Delaney.

“Yeah, oh. What’s more, he told Caesar there was a chancethat he could change his fate if he paid attention to the omens, and one inparticular, which he cited rather cryptically. ‘That which was concealed shallstand revealed.’ After the oracle went out the gates of Caesar’s camp, Traverstried to follow him, only he had mysteriously disappeared.”

“This was at night, wasn’t it?” said Steiger. “Travers mighthave simply lost him in the darkness.”

“The moon was out,” said Forrester. “And the terrain aroundthe camp was an unbroken slope that stretched down to a meadow, affording anunobstructed view for several miles.

“He might have gone around the camp. hugging the wall.”

“Or he might have clocked out.” said Andre. “I think Traverswas right. It definitely sounds like a potential disruption. We can’t afford tooverlook it.

“That which was concealed shall stand revealed.’” saidLucas, frowning. “What does that mean?”

“I have no idea.” said Forester.-Travers is going to checkback in as soon as something breaks. In the meantime. I want you all to reportfor mission programming and stand by to clock out on a moment’s notice.”

“That could pose a small problem. sir,” asked Priest. “Officially,I’m still dead. If I report for mission programming, I’m liable give them onehell of a shock in Archives.”

“Steiger can take care of that.” said Forester. “The T.I.A.’salways maintained its own programming facility for covert field agents. He cangive you the coordinates and you can clock right in from here. I’ll have thefacility cleared. then Steiger can access the data from Archives and run thedownload himself.”

“What about what Darkness said?” Steiger asked.

“That stays in this room.” said Forrester. “I don’t knowwhat the hell he’s up to, but there’s little point in trying to second-guesshim. You can’t effect a temporal adjustment while you’re worrying aboutwhatever he might do. Or whether you’re doing the right thing from thestandpoint of the future. You can’t try to second-guess yourselves. either. It’llonly interfere with your mission. Just go in and do what you have to do. Forgetabout Darkness. There’s not really anything that we can do about him. anyway.-

“I’ll need a warp disc,” Lucas said. “With my transponder decaying.I don’t want to take a chance on not being able to clock out if I have to.”

“Good point,” said Forrester. I’ll see that you get one.”

“I wish we’d asked Darkness one more question.” saidSteiger.

“What’s that?”

“What happens if that decaying transponder starts malfunctioningand causes Priest to translocate without being able to control it?”

Priest glanced at him. “Oh. thanks a lot. Now youbring that up!”

“Maybe you shouldn’t go out on this one.” Steiger said.

“Forget it,” Lucas said firmly. “I need a mission. I’ve beengoing stir crazy cooped up in here. Besides. Darkness didn’t say anything aboutthe transponder’s chronocircuitry running out of control. he just said it wasdecaying.”

“As I recall, he also thought he had all the bugs ironed outof it in the first place,” Steiger said.

“Look, if it’s going to happen, it’ll happen whether I’mhere or on the mission,” Lucas replied. “Staying behind won’t change a thing.”

“Maybe not, but it would keep you from jeopardizing the missionby clocking out suddenly at the wrong moment.”

“I’m afraid he’s got a point, Lucas.” Forrester said.

Priest made a tight-lipped grimace. “All right, I’ll concedethat, but we still don’t know it’s going to happen. I think Darkness would’vesaid something if there was a chance of that.”

“But the point is that we still don’t know for sure.” saidSteiger. “It means taking a risk.”

“Like you’ve never taken risks?” Lucas countered.

“Give me a break. Creed. Everything we do entails risk. Andyou’ve certainly taken more than your share.” He turned to Forester. “Sir. ifyou order me to stay behind on this one. I’ll understand, but I’m asking younot to do that. I need this assignment. I’ll start climbing the walls if I haveto stay cooped up in here much longer.”

Forrester glanced at the others. “You’re the ones that’ll beout there,” he said. “It’s your call.”

“Lucas and I have taken our share of risks before.” Delaneysaid. “I’d rather go out with him than without him. I vote yes.”

Andre looked at Lucas and smiled. “So do I.”

Steiger shrugged. “Well, it looks like I’m outvoted.”

“If it’s a problem for you. Creed, you can request to be relieved,without prejudice.” said Forrester. “I don’t want you going out on this missionif you haven’t got complete confidence in every member of the team.”

Steiger glanced at Lucas. “Priest, you understand, it’snothing personal.”

“I understand.” said Lucas. suppose if our positions were reversed,I might feel exactly the same way.”

“But you’re still not going to withdraw?” said Steiger.

“No.”

“Well, in that case, I’d like to be relieved.”

For a moment, there was an uncomfortable silence.

“Very well,” said Forrester, breaking the tension. “Youthree report for mission programming in half an hour. Steiger, you want to setup that download for Priest?”

Steiger nodded. “I’ll get right on it.” He started to walkout with Forrester and paused at the door, looking back. “Priest?”

“Yeah?”

“Look.. this isn’t personal. No offense, huh?”

“None taken.”

Steiger nodded and turned to follow Forrester out the door.The old man was waiting for him at the lift tube

“This isn’t like you, Creed.” he said. “You’ve taken biggerrisks before and you’ve never yet turned down a mission.”

“That’s right, sir. And I’m not about to start now. Withyour permission. I’d like to go along on this one, only undercover.”

Forrester sighed and nodded. “Somehow I had a feeling that’swhat was on your mind.”

“It’s what I do best. sir.” Steiger said. “Those three havebeen working together for a long time. I’ve seen how they function in thefield. They trust each other. Each of them has an instinct for how the othersthink. I’m the odd man out. I just don’t fit in. I’ve always worked best on myown. It’s what 1 was trained for.”

“You’re saying you want to go back on covert status?”

“Yes, sir, I do. I think I’d have much more to contributethat way.” ‘“We’ve been over this before, Creed. My decision to shut down thecovert field section wasn’t arbitrary. you know.”

‘“Yes. sir, I realize that. I know you don’t approve of themethods we used in covert field section. And I know there were abuses, but thatstill-”

“Abuses is putting it mildly,” Forrester interrupted. “Thecovert field section was nothing but a bunch of thrill-seeking cowboys whoplayed fast and loose with regulations and had too much contact with theUnderground. Part of our job is to apprehend those people. Steiger, notemploy them as mission support. Or as functionaries in the Network.”

“I understand that, sir, but it was a matter of priorities.Look, you know I was never involved with the Network. And the Underground isjust as concerned as we are about temporal disruption. A disruption threatensthem. too. They might be criminals from the purely legal standpoint, but they’renot the real danger and they never have been. So when it came to a choicebetween busting some members of the Underground or enlisting them as sub rosaoperatives, or trading information with them, okay, we didn’t worry about theline points of the law. There was a lot more than that at stake. I know you don’tthink there’s a place for the way we used to do things. sir, but with all due respect,I think you’re wrong.”

The lift tube stopped at Forester’s floor, but he made nomove to get out. Steiger wondered if he’d gone too far.

“All right,” said Forrester. “Prove it.”

“Sir’? Does that mean you’re authorizing-”

“I’m authorizing nothing, Colonel. All it means is that you’rebeing placed on inactive status as soon as I can have the orders cut. You canconsider yourself officially relieved of duty as of now. You’ve earned someR amp;R. What you do with it is entirely up to you.”

“Thank you, sir. I promise you, you won’t regret this.”

“I hope not. Creed,” said Forrester. “And I hope you won’t regretit. either. Because if you fuck up. it’s your ass.”

Alexandria, the palace of the Ptolemys, 47 B.C.

“It is not the victory that I had hoped for,” Caesar said asthey rested in their apartments in the palace. And a poor, ignoble death for abrave and noble soldier.”

Travers thought that Caesar was being charitable, but he didnot say it. Pompey the Great might once have been a brave and noble soldier, butin the end, his leadership and courage had both failed him.

When news of Caesar’s crossing of the Rubicon reached Rome.the Senate was thrown into a panic. Caesar’s army moved with their usualdevastating efficiency and speed, immediately taking the town of Ariminum andmarching ahead without encountering any opposition whatsoever.

People from the outlying towns began flooding into Rome,fleeing front the advancing legions, not having any idea what to expect. Theircontagious fear began to spread throughout the city like a wildfire. Pompeydeclared Rome to be in a state of anarchy and, desperate to have enough time tomarshal his forces, he left the city and went east. giving orders for theentire Senate to follow him. Many did, but most senators remained behind inRome, concerned about their homes and their possessions. With so many refugeesstreaming into Rome. crime had increased dramatically and there was a lot oflooting.

As Caesar’s army approached the city, many of Pompey’stroops joined with Caesar’s forces and within sixty days of crossing theRubicon, Caesar had effectively seized power without any bloodshed. But therestill remained

Pompey and his loyal legions. and though he was in commandof the city, it was a threat that Caesar could not disregard.

He pursued Pompey to Brundisium, but us soon as he heardthat Caesar was approaching. Pompey escaped to sea. Lacking the vessels topursue him. Caesar then returned to Rome and appeared before the Senate. Withthe rank of praetor. Travis was entitled to attend and he sat in the Temple ofJupiter (the Curia. which would become the permanent home of the Senate, hadnot yet been built) and listened as Caesar addressed the House courteously. requestingthat they send word to Pompey so that negotiations could be started toward areasonable peace. However, the senators could not agree on what to do. Theirposition was precarious. To appear to give support to one general could provedisastrous if the other proved victorious. so the Senate did what politicianshave been doing ever since. They procrastinated to avoid taking any stand.

Caesar left the temple in disgust. He did not have thepatience to wait for their deliberations. His response to the Senate’s stallingwas to seize the public treasury. so that he could supply himself with thenecessary funds to finish what he’d started. Then he left for Spain, where heengaged the forces of Afranius and Varro, Pompey’s loyal generals, and afterdefeating them decisively, he returned once more to Rome, where the Senate,realizing the growing futility of Pompey’s position, voted Caesar the title ofdictator. In the event that Pompey still somehow managed to prevail, they couldalways claim that Caesar forced it on them. And with Caesar holding theposition of dictator, it absolved them of the responsibility of making anychoices.

Travers had remained at Caesar’s side throughout it all andhad observed firsthand that Caesar was not only a brilliant general. capable ofinspiring fanatical devotion in his men. but also a skillful diplomat. Hisfirst act was to call back all those Romans who had gone into exile. He gavethem back their rights as citizens and incurred the favor of many influentialaristocrats by relieving them of their debts. He then made himself look betterstill by resigning the dictatorship that the fearful members of the Senate hadconferred on him, having held the post for only eleven days, and declaringhimself consul. That done, he immediately left Rome once more, on the trail ofPompey. The two armies met at Pharsalia in the largest and bloodiest battleever fought between Romans. Caesar proved himself the better general and theman once hailed as Pompey the Great fled the scene of haute and retired to histent, totally demoralized. When Caesar’s troops had routed his army and startedstorming his camp. Pompey recovered his senses long enough to escape and fleeto Egypt. where his fate awaited him. he had hoped to find an ally in the youngKing Ptolemy, who had backed him in the civil war, but the Egyptians haddecided that they’d rather back a winner. As soon as he arrived, Pompey was putto death.

The war was over. More than six thousand of Pompey’s troopshad died. Gracious in victory, Caesar pardoned the prisoners and took them intohis own legions. Then he pursued Pompey to Egypt. only to discover that the Egyptianshad finished the job for him.

“At least now our men can rest awhile and recover,” Traverssaid, “even if the best Egypt can do for them is that unwholesome corn thatPothinus has seen fit to distribute.”

Caesar tightened his jaw muscles in anger. “He adds insultto injury by telling them to be content with it. Since they are fed at another’scost. They deserve far better. Septimus, and by the gods. I shall see that theyreceive it! No general could hope for a more brave and loyal army.”

“No army could hope for a better general than Caesar saidTravers, not intending it as mere flattery, but meaning every word of it.

“Thank you, my friend.” said Caesar. “Nor shall I forgetyou. either. You have served me well through all these many years. But our workis not yet done. Egypt is a ripe fruit ready for the plucking. Tell me. what doyou think of this oily eunuch, Pothinus? He seems to hold more influence withthe king than do any of his ministers.”

“Pothinus does seem to be the power behind the throne,” saidTravers. “The young king plainly defers to him. I have observed that theministers take pains to ingratiate themselves with him. Or at least to avoidhis displeasure.”

“Yes, that is my opinion, too,” said Caesar, frowning. “Itis Pothinus who rules here and not Ptolemy. who is little more than a child.And the ministers all fear him. I have been told that it was Pothinus himselfwho assassinated Pompey.”

“You have been told?” asked Travers, instantly on guard. Bywhom?”

Caesar smiled. “There are those here who are well disposedtoward Rome, if only because they are ill disposed toward Pothinus. That craftyeunuch sees us as a threat to the power he has managed to accumulate throughhis manipulation of the king. We must have a care. Septimus. not to sleep toosoundly so long as we remain here.”

“You think that Pothinus would try to have us murdered? Withour legions here?”

“He might well serve us as he did Pompey and then protesthis innocence,” Caesar said. “It would win him no small favor among our enemiesin Rome. Although perhaps I worry needlessly. It is not yet the Ides of March.”He smiled and Travers felt suddenly uneasy.

“Still,” Caesar continued, “our influence in Egypt is notwhat it once was. Pompey has mismanaged things. I must take steps to remedythat situation. We must make the power of Rome felt here once again. Tomorrow.I will begin by demanding the tribute that is due to Rome. so that we mightreward our army. And we must see to it that a more benign influence is setbehind the throne. What do you know of the king’s sister, the one who wasexiled when Pompey was in power?”

Travers replied evasively. “Cleopatra? I fear that I knowvery little of her. Caesar. It is said that she is young and very beautiful.Also ambitious, which is why Pompey had banished her.”

“I think perhaps we should recall her,” Caesar said. “Let usarrange. through certain of these ministers who have no love for Pothinus, tosend word to her to come and see me. I would like to speak with her myself andjudge what manner of woman she is. Perhaps we can help her see that she wouldbest serve her own interests by also serving Rome’s. But I think it would notbe wise to alert others of our plans before we have decided on a course of action.I will send word to her to come to me in secret.”

Caesar smiled. In the meantime. Septimus, my friend, weshall take full advantage of this grudging hospitality and send for wine. Itshall probably be sour, but no matter. We shall only pour it out. Let thembelieve that we dissolute Romans are drinking through the night. So long aslights burn in our chambers, stealthy assassins might hesitate to enter.* Heclapped his hand to his sword hilt. “And if they do, we shall be sober andprepared for them.”

Throughout the night, the palace servants brought them wine,which neither of them even tasted. ‘the hours stretched toward dawn. Caesar hadno need of Travers, to help him stay awake. His hyper personality kept himgoing. dictating letters and portions of his memoirs until Travers wasexhausted, and then Caesar. seeing he was tired, apologized for working him sohard and told him amusing anecdotes and stories of his childhood. which Traverswanted desperately to write down, but couldn’t both because his wrist was sorefrom taking dictation and it was all that he could do to keep his eyes open. Atsome point, he dropped off, and when he awoke, it was morning and Caesar wasstill up, showing no signs of being tired. He chided Travers gently for fallingasleep and when Travers apologized, assured him that it was perfectly allright, that he deserved his rest. If I don’t die on the battlefield. Traversthought. just trying to keep up with him will kill me.

The morning was spent with Caesar visiting his troops and seeingto their comfort. Then he presented his demands to Ptolemy for payment of thetribute. The boy king simply sat there, looking at them sullenly. whilePothinus stood at his side and spoke for him, he was. thought Travers, a decidedlyunpleasant man. He was large and fat and jowly. with a shaved head and amannered, effeminate voice. His pudgy hands had rings on every finger but thethumbs and they gestured languidly when he spoke. making Travers think of paleand bloated slugs.

“Your petition has been noted.” the eunuch repliedpompously. “It would seem now. Caesar. that your business here has been concluded.The man you came here seeking has been dealt with, your soldiers have been fedand rested We have done our best to be hospitable hosts. But the time has comewhen you should leave Egypt and go back to Rome. There are, no doubt, affairsof greater consequence you should attend to. You should not concern yourselfwith minor matters such as collecting tribute. It can be sent to you in Rome.”

Caesar stiffened and his cheeks flushed red. “I do notrequire Egyptians to be my counselors!” he snapped. “And Rome does not wait onEgypt’s pleasure. The tribute will be paid in due course, and speedily, else Ishall instruct my army to seize it for themselves in whatever manner they sochoose! It is I who have been patient, Pothinus. But my patience hasbeen sorely tried. I would advise you not to try it further.”

He turned on his heel and stalked out of the chamber. withTravers hurrying to catch up with him.

“I will rid Egypt of this insolent eunuch if it is the lastthing I ever do,” stormed Caesar as they headed back to their rooms.

Afterward, several of Ptolemy’s ministers came to speak withhim discreetly and Travers wondered which of them would send word to Cleopatra.He was excited at the thought of actually meeting her face-to-face, a woman whowas one of the most legendary beauties and seductresses in all of history.

Despite all the years he’d spent at Caesar’s side, therewere still times when he found himself looking at that handsome, scholarlyprofile and thinking, “My God, I’m actually sitting here with Julius Caesar!”At such times, it seemed almost like a dream. And at other times, the world hecame from seemed unreal.

He had been born in Dallas, Texas and had acquired aninterest in ancient history at a very early age, a result of a typical boyhoodfascination with the glamour of the Time Wars. Childhood play had led him tothe library, to look up certain historical details so that he could settlearguments among his playmates about what sort of armor was worn by medievalknights and how ancient Romans fought. He was able to point out historicalflaws in the design of the toy weapons that their parents purchased for themand was soon making his own from wood in his father’s workshop. He sold them tohis friends, who found that they held up to rough use far better than theflimsy plastic swords they bought in stores and made a far more satisfyingsound when they were stuck together.

He became the local “Armorer,” constructing wooden swordsand shields and daggers for his friends, and with practice, he became moreskillful at it.

Determined to be authentic at all costs, he did his researchcarefully and the more he read about ancient times, the more fascinated he becameand the more he wanted to know. His interest in research helped him to acquirebetter study habits and his grades in school improved dramatically. His father,pleased with this development, as well as with his growing skill incraftsmanship, encouraged him and bought him better tools and books. Whilestill in his early teens, Travers had graduated to working in metal. He startedsmall, with handmade knives, but soon moved on to larger blades. By the time hewas ready to enter college, he had made quite a bit of money selling replicasof Spanish swords, medieval maces. Viking blades and battle axes.Sinclair-hilted sabers, French rapiers and Scottish basket-billed claymores tocollectors and would-be Time Commandos who were happy to pay hundreds ofdollars for authentic, exquisitely crafted “souvenirs of campaigns in Minustime.”

Travers entered Harvard on a scholarship and it was therethat his area of interest narrowed to a specialization in classical times. Hestudied Greek and Latin and took graduate degrees in history, now certain ofhow he planned to spend his life. He intended to apply to the Observer Corpsand be commissioned as an L.T.O., with hopes of a long-term posting in ancientRome. His timing could not have been more perfect. He completed his Observertraining at the head of his class, just as the Temporal Crisis struck and thefocus of the Time Wars shifted from the settling of international disputes todealing with the new and greater threat from the parallel universe. Themajority of the world’s temporal forces were being converted to TemporalObserver status, to function under the senior officers of the Observer Corps,and there was a drastic need for personnel with the sort of qualificationsTravers had, especially as L.T.O.’s. They were as anxious to get Travers asTravers was to join them and he was able to write his own ticket. Without hesitation,he requested to be assigned to Gaius Julius Caesar. ‘Now, the future that hecame from seemed less real to him than the time in which he lived. He hadbecome a Roman in almost all respects. except for that certain distance that healways had to keep, to remind himself of who and what he really was and whathis task entailed. For over a decade, he had lived the dream. Caesar had becomehis friend and it was difficult for him to think that in a couple of years, hewould be murdered in the Senate, beneath the statue of the very man whom he haddriven out of Rome and to his death in Egypt.

He thought of Casca. striking the first blow, and Brutus,delivering the last. Travers felt the blade of the parazonium he wore athis side. Of Macedonian origin, it was the knife worn by almost every maleRoman and the secondary weapon of the soldier, a lethal, bottle-shaped bladewith a strong central rib, three inches wide at the hilt, narrowing slightly atthe midsection and then flaring out once more and tapering to a sharp point. Hehad seen the horrifying wounds the foot-long blade could make and he shudderedat the thought of having something like that plunged into his body. Caesarwould be stabbed a total of twenty-three times by the conspirators, from theneck down to the groin, and he would fall at the foot of Pompey’s statue, whichhe himself had ordered put back up after the mob had torn it down. His bloodwould splatter on the pedestal. causing all of Rome to talk for yearsthereafter about the supernatural influence at work in the assassination, as ifthe spirit of Pompey himself had presided over it in revenge. And part ofTravers’ job was to see that it happened exactly that way.

He had come to have a great deal of respect and affectionfor Caesar. not only as a scholar studying his subject. but as a man and as afriend. It was hard to think that he would have to stand by and watch him die,and in such an awful manner, without being able to do anything to prevent it.But that was precisely what he had to do. If necessary, he would even have toget involved himself to make sure that history wasn’t changed. As much as thatthought disturbed hint, the thought that forces from the parallel universecould be at work to change that disturbed him even more.

Over the next few days, Caesar grew more tense andirritable. He avoided Pothinus and the king as much as possible, which seemedto suit the two of them just fine. He took long walks in the gardens, alwaysarmed and always with Travers at his side and several soldiers close by. It wasin the gardens that several of Ptolemy’s ministers contrived to meet with him,or to send informers, to keep him advised of what Pothinus was doing. Thelonger they remained in Egypt, in the midst of palace intrigues, the more dangerthey were in. If Pothinus found out about Caesar’s plan to reinstate Cleopatra.he would waste no time in having them removed. Travers would have felt muchbetter staying with the army, but Caesar insisted upon staying in the palace,both to claim the treatment due Rome’s emissary and to keep an eye on things.

They were dining in their chambers one evening when one ofthe ministers arrived, along with a servant carrying a rolled-up carpet overhis shoulder.

“I have brought the additional bedclothing you requested. Caesar.”said the minister, shutting the door behind him as the servant carried it in.

“Bedclothing?” said Caesar with a frown. “I did not ask forbedclothing.”

“Perhaps Caesar does not recall.” said the minister with asmile. “Lay it down upon the floor, Apollodorus.”

Caesar got up from his chair. “What is this? I am quitecertain that I asked for no-”

Apollodorus unrolled the carpet and stood back. A youngwoman had been rolled up inside it. She was lying on her stomach. She pushedherself up slightly from the floor and bent one lovely leg, tossed her head,getting the hair back out of her eyes, and looked up at Caesar with a smile.

“You did ask that I come to you discreetly,” she said.

Caesar stood back with surprise.

“I am Cleopatra.”

She stood and faced them. Travers stared at her, stunned.She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her hair was jet-black, longand straight. Her striking features were sharp and graceful. There was a proudnobility to her bearing. Her eyes were a deep brown, with a smoldering.penetrating gaze; her complexion dark: her mouth full and sensuous. Her figurewas voluptuous, with large. Firm breasts that were clearly outlined in thesimple, thin, white linen shift she wore, her narrow waist and flaring hipsaccentuated by the gold girdle encircling it. Her legs were long and shapely,her small feet gracefully shod in thin. delicate sandals. She wore no jewelryexcept for an amulet around her neck. She was breathtakingly lovely.. Traversrecalled that at the time of meeting Caesar, this very meeting, she wastwenty-one years old.

“That which was concealed shall stand revealed.” Caesar murmured.Travers glanced at him sharply.

Cleopatra cocked her head, gazing at Caesar with puzzlement.

Caesar shook his head. “I was merely recalling somethingsomeone told me once,” he said. He glanced at the minister and servant. “Leaveus.”

They went out and shut the door behind them. Caesar gesturedtoward his chair. “Please. Be seated.” She chose the couch rather than thechair and reclined upon it gracefully.

Caesar watched her appreciatively. “Allow me to present myfriend, Praetor Lucius Septimus.”

She inclined her head slightly toward Travers. Travers stoodand gave her a slight bow. “I am honored, Queen Cleopatra.”

“I am not a queen now, Praetor Septimus, merely an exiledprincess. My brother is still king, she said.

‘“For the moment,” Caesar said. He smiled. “I must admitthat I had not expected your arrival in so bold a manner. It was very clever ofyou.”

“Our nights are cool,” she said. “A Roman could be expectedto feel the chill. No one would remark upon his asking for another coverlet.”

“Had I known they made such coverlets in Egypt. I would havesent for one much sooner,” Caesar replied with a smile. “I merely regret that Ihad to ask you to resort to stealth in order to arrive in your own palace.”

“I understood the need.” she said. “Pothinus would hardly welcomemy arrival. Since I was sent to live in exile. he has made a breach between myyounger brother and myself.”

“A breach can be repaired.” said Caesar. “It wants only acraftsman who knows what he’s about.”

Cleopatra smiled. “You do not have the look of a craftsman.”she said.

“Neither have I the look of a general,” Caesar replied, orat least so I am told. And yet I lead Rome’s finest legions. Legions that canassure your future as the queen of Egypt.”

“You plan to depose my brother?”

“Only if it should prove necessary.” Caesar replied. “I haveno wish to harm him. I would be satisfied to have him rule with you to guidehim.”

“I see,” she said. “Then it is Pothinus you wish to have removed.”

“Rome needs an ally, not a scheming, unctuous eunuch wholooks only after his own interests.”

“And you think that I will not look after my owninterests?” she asked coyly, arching a graceful eyebrow.

Caesar smiled. “It is in your interest to consider mine.”

“Not Rome’s’?”

“I am Rome.”

“So. And once I am queen, what would Rome have me do?”

“Merely be a friend to Rome,” said Caesar, gazing at her steadily.

She gave him a knowing smile. “Then I am at Rome’s pleasure.”

3

The outskirts of Rome, April 30, 44 B.C.

The transition coordinates Travers had selected clocked themin on a wooded hillside a few miles outside of Rome. It was dark when theyarrived, two-thirty in the morning by local temporal reckoning. though theRomans kept time in only an approximate manner. They based it on sunrise and sunset.They divided the day into twelve hours, with the first six hours being antemeridiem (before the middle of the day) and the second six post meridiem

(after the middle of the day), but they did not dividehours into minutes, and their water clocks and sundials were never accurate inany sense of the term, so no one in Rome was ever really certain of the time.

Travers was waiting for them at the transition point, alongwith four other men. Travers. who had spent most of his adult life in MinusTime, did not know anything about what had happened to Lucas, so he naturallyshowed no surprise on seeing him. All he really knew about them was that theywere an adjustment team from Temporal Intelligence. They. on the other hand,knew a great deal about Travers, having read his file, though the man who metthem hardly resembled the photo they had studied. Travers had aged since thatphoto had been taken. The hard life he had led had taken its toll. He was asmall man, well built, with dark hair that had started thinning. He was in hislate forties, deeply tanned and his face had lines in it that age alone was notresponsible for. He had a weather-beaten look about him. His forehead was high.his features looked Mediterranean (partly a result of cosmetic surgery), andhis eyes were dark and alert. He was wearing a simple tunic and sandals, with acloak thrown over his shoulders. A short distance behind him, they saw acovered carriage drawn by two horses. which would be their transportation toRome. There were three horses tied up by carnage and a small fire was burningin the clearing.

“You’ve studied the identities that I prepared for you?”asked Travers, after they had introduced themselves.

“My cover is Marcus Septimus.” said Lucas. “I’m your youngerbrother, from Cumae. Our parents are both dead and we have no other livingrelatives. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen each other, so now that you’vereturned from the wars. I’ve come to visit with you in Rome and I’ve brought mywife. Antonia. with me.” He nodded at Andre, then indicated Delaney. whosebeard had been shaved and whose hair had been dyed black for this mission. “Andthis is our friend. Fabius Quintullus, also from Cumae. We all grew up togetherand we’re very close.”

Travels nodded. “Good.” He introduced the four men who werewith him. “These are your slaves, whom you have brought with you from ourfamily estate. This is Capt. Castelli. C.T.O. in this sector.” Castelli. theChief Temporal Observer, stepped forward and greeted them. He was slim and veryfit, with dark brown hair and blue eyes. He looked to be in his mid-twenties,though he was actually far older. “My cover name is Demetrius,” he said. “I wasa Greek soldier, from Sparta. captured in the war.”

“And this is Lt. Corwin.” Travers said, indicating one ofthe other men. “His name here is Corac.”

“I’m a Gaul.” said Corwin. Ile was short and stocky. withfair skin and light brown hair. “One of the many prisoners captured in theGallic War and sent back to Rome to be sold on the block. You bought me from aslave merchant in Ostia.”

“Sgt. Andell.” said Travers, introducing the next man.

“Antoninus,” said Andell. giving his cover name, “also aGreek. from Athens. I’ve been your tutor since you were children.”

He was of average height and dark complected. with thick, curlyblack hair and a wiry, compact build. He looked older than the others, perhapsin his late forties, which meant that he was easily three times that age. aveteran soldier of the Temporal Corps. The fact that he was still only a sergeantsuggested that he must have been reduced in grade a number of times during hislong career. Delaney, whose own record for reductions in grade was unsurpassed.glanced at Andell with interest, he was either a maverick, a chronic screw up(which seemed unlikely, given his posting and the fact that he was stillalive), or somewhere along the line, he had pissed off the wrong person andmessed up his chances for promotion.

“And Cpl. Drummond.” Travers finished, introducing the lastMan.

“Drusus “ said Drummond, the youngest of the four. blond andslim, with a boyish face and green eyes. “I’m the son of slaves, born on yourfamily estate.”

He looked about seventeen or eighteen, which meant that hisactual age could be anywhere from late teens to early forties. The antiagathicsmade it impossible to tell with any accuracy. They were all regular T.O. Corps,which meant that unlike Travers, they had received the antiagathic treatmentsand were on short-term posting. A few years, at most, before they’d be turnedaround and transferred to another sector or another time period.

They sat down around the campfire. Lucas turned to Castelli.“What’s the strength of your T.O. unit in this sector?”

“A platoon,” Castelli said.

“That’s all’?”

“We’re spread kind of thin.” said Castelli. “but we can sendfor reinforcements if we run into trouble. It’ll be your call.”

“All right,” said Lucas. turning to Travers. “What’s thecurrent situation’?”

“Well. a great deal has happened since we left Egypt and Imade my last report.” said Travers. “The moment Caesar laid eyes on Cleopatra.he wanted her. And I certainly can’t blame him. She’s enough to take yourbreath away. After she came to visit him secretly in his apartment. they becamelovers and he kept her with him in the palace. That was too much for Pothinusand Ptolemy to bear It brought all the factions out into the open. Achillas. Ptolemy’sgeneral. raised a force against Caesar’s legions and Pothinus made plans toassassinate us. Caesar got wind of it and killed Pothinus, then set out todestroy the army of Achillas. He engaged them and wiped out the entire force.Ptolemy died in the battle and Caesar set Cleopatra on the throne. By the timewe left Egypt. she was pregnant with his son. Then Caesar marched againstPharnaces. son of Rome’s old enemy. King Mithridates, and drove him out ofPontus in only five days. His legions rolled right over them. It was theoccasion of his uttering the famous words. ‘I came. I saw. I conquered. Next,he led his legions into battle against the armies of Cato and Scipio. the lastof Pompey’s loyalists. He defeated them in North Africa and returned to Rome tocelebrate triumphs for his victories. But he wasn’t finished yet Pompey’s twoyoung sons. Cnaeus and Sextus. had raised an army in Spain. intending to avengetheir father. We immediately set off for Spain in order to engage them. We mettheir army at Munda. It was bloody. Over thirty thousand of the enemy werekilled. We lost a thousand men. I had several close calls. myself.

Pompey’s youngest son. Sextus. managed to escape. but Cnaeuswas killed and his head was brought to Caesar. That marked the end of the civilwar. It was also the last war that Caesar would engage in. At least, it was thelast war that he was supposed to engage in.”

“What do you mean by that’?” asked Lucas.

“I’m coming to that.” said Travers. “Caesar didn’t want to revivethe ancient Roman kingship, because the people equated that with tyranny. sothe title he chose for himself was dictator, like Sulla before him. This way,he could be periodically reappointed to the post. which at least gave thesemblance of senatorial control in a republican government. But recently, he’shad himself made dictator for life, with the title of Imperator. That wasalmost the same thing as naming himself king. A lot of people didn’t take itwell.

“Back when we first returned to Rome and he celebrated a triumphhonoring his victory over Pompey’s sons, it made him more than a few enemies.”continued Travers as they warmed themselves around the fire. It’s one thing tocelebrate victory over barbarians or foreign kings, but when you destroy thechildren of one of the greatest men of Rome and honor it with a triumph, you’regoing to upset a few people. He realized that and tried to make up for it byordering Pompey’s statues put back up after some of the pro-Caesar mobs, mostlycomprised of Caesar’s soldiers, tore them down. He held public feasts,distributed corn to the masses, and staged chariot races and gladiatorialcombats. His old bread and circuses routine, playing to the masses. It workedfor him before and it worked for him again. The only difference was, now hecould afford it.

“He established a number of new colonies, in Italy as wellas in Carthage and in Corinth. He settled thousands of the soldiers who’dserved with him during all those years. rewarding them with land in theirretirement, as well as many of the city’s unemployed. Which means that if heever has to raise an army quickly, all he needs to do is call on the colonies.Men who once had nothing but are now landowners, thanks to him, will remainunquestioningly loyal. He gave out consulships and praetorships left and rightand increased the Senate rolls from six hundred to nine hundred. installing hissupporters so now he virtually controls the Senate. He even pardoned some ofhis enemies. notably Brutus and Cassius. He gave them praetorships, despitetheir opposition to him in the civil war. He told me he did it so he could keepan eye on them. After all, the oracle told him to beware of them. The way hesaid it. I couldn’t tell if he was joking or if he was serious. He tendsto have mood swings and he can be hard to read sometimes. He’s also used someof the wealth he acquired from the wars to construct the Basilica Julia and theJulian Forum, as well as the Temple of Venus Genetrix. the goddess of hisfamily. And beside the statue of Venus. he’s set up a gilded bronze statue ofCleopatra. which has raised more than a few eyebrows. She’s in Rome now, withher son, Caesarian. He’s set her up in her own house, complete with slaves andall the luxuries. He visits her every day. He’s talking about divorcingCalpurnia and marrying her.”

“But I thought Caesar never married Cleopatra,” Andre said.

“No. he didn’t,” Travers replied. “But he’s mentioned it tome several times now and I think he’s serious. The people will overlook hiskeeping her as his mistress, but if he divorces a woman of a wealthy andinfluential Roman family in order to many a foreigner. they’ll turn againsthim. But Caesar doesn’t seem to care. Cleopatra exerts a powerful influence onhim. She’s the one who was behind a lot of the autocratic changes that he’smade and she caters to his ego, feeding it and his ambition. Why not surpass Alexander?Why not become a monarch, the ruler of the world? Busts of Caesar are beingdistributed all over Rome and throughout the provinces. He’s had coins struckwith his own image on them and the slogan. ‘DICT. PERPETUO’-perpetualdictator-the first time the portrait of a living Roman has ever appeared on thecoinage. And now he’s talking about raising legions once again to invadeParthia and avenge Crassus, then pressing on into the Orient. as Alexander did.”

“Only he was assassinated before he could accomplish allthat,” said Delaney.

“Yes,” Travers replied somberly, as if the thought disturbedhim. “He was. History says that he grew careless and disregarded all the signs.Some historians have even ventured the opinion that he actually wantedto die, because his health was failing and he couldn’t bear the thought ofgrowing old. But I’ve lived with him for years now and I know that man as wellas I know myself. he suffers periodic fits of epilepsy. but he’s lived withthat for years. He doesn’t want to die. He wants to be immortal. He’s fifty-sixyears old and he wants one last hurrah. The only reason he ignored the rumorsof conspiracies against his life was because his ego simply wouldn’t allow himto believe that anyone would seriously want to kill him. he had restored peaceand prosperity to Rome and introduced a stable government. Without him, he wasconvinced that it would all fall apart As he once said to Cleopatra, ‘I amRome.’ And so he didn’t take proper precautions. Only now, all that ischanging. And Cleopatra is responsible.”

“How?” asked Lucas.

“In about two weeks, it will be the Ides of March and Caesaris supposed to be assassinated,” Travers said. “According to history, asoothsayer was supposed to have warned him to ‘Beware the Ides of March,’ butCaesar never took him seriously. But now, all he talks about is Lucan’sprophecy. He’s well aware that the fateful day is drawing near. He toldCleopatra about what Lucan said to him. ‘That which was concealed shall standrevealed.’ He believes that statement referred to Cleopatra. She was concealedin a roll of carpet that they use for bedding when she was smuggled into hisapartment at the palace. and when her slave Apollodorus unrolled it, she stoodrevealed. Caesar told her that he knew she was his ‘guiding omen’ the moment hesaw her, and she’s done nothing to disabuse him of that notion. Not only hasshe been encouraging him in his plans for new conquests and greater glory, she’sprevailed upon him to employ a bodyguard, as well. An Egyptian bodyguard, madeup of soldiers she’s brought with her. because the oracle had told him that hewould die at the hands of those he thought his friends. Caesar had once employeda personal guard of Spaniards. but he dismissed them because he thought it wasn’tgood for appearances to have a bodyguard, much less one made up of foreigners.Now he’s got an Egyptian one. That’s an anomaly. They don’t belong in thisscenario. And there’s something very strange about those Egyptians.”

You think they might be agents from the parallel universe’?”asked Delaney.

Travers shook his head. ‘1 don’t know. Either they are, orshe is.”

“Cleopatra?” said Lucas.

“I think it’s possible.” said Travers, gazing at themseriously. “She has a tremendous amount of influence over Caesar. I’ve beengiving it a lot of thought. What if she’s my counterpart from the paralleluniverse? A sort of L.T.O., a mole infiltrated into this timeline with thespecific purpose of creating a temporal disruption. Her mission could have beento seduce Caesar and bear his son. Maybe Caesarian isn’t even his son. Shemight have been already impregnated with a male fetus when she met Caesar. Possiblyone that’s been genetically tailored. What would happen if Caesar didn’t die?What would happen if he added to Rome’s conquests and dramatically increasedits territories? What would happen if Cleopatra prevailed on him to nameCaesarian instead of Octavian as his heir? And Caesarian was someone the S.O.G.could control? It would completely change the course of history. Octavian wouldnever become Caesar Augustus. Tiberius would never become Emperor, nor wouldCaligula or Claudius or Nero. It could change the entire course of civilization!”

“o you have anything solid to base your suspicions on or isthis just a hunch?” asked Delaney.

Travers shook his head. “I tell you. I don’t know, but somethingis very definitely wrong. Those Egyptians simply don’t belong here. And theirpresence has not been taken well. Caesar even brings them into the Senate withhim. It’s increased the animosity toward him, which on one hand is all to thegood, I suppose, but on the other hand, he’s become more cautious, more aloof,and more determined than ever to do things his way, come hell or high water. “

“You’re concerned about him, aren’t you?” Andre said.

Travers glanced at her and grimaced. “Yes. I suppose I am.Funny, isn’t it?”

“You got too close,” said Delaney. “You allowed yourself toget involved.”

“Listen, you study a man for half your life and then livewith him, go through several wars with him. especially a charismatic man likeCaesar. and you try not to get involved,” said Travers. “The man’s become myfriend. You understand that? I’ve made him the subject of my life’s work and I’vegotten to know him as well as anybody knows him. It’s hard not to like a manlike Caesar Yes, he’s ambitious and he’s arrogant. but great men always are. He’salso capable of kindness, and loyalty, and devotion. It’s not for nothing thathis legions idolize him. He’s larger than life. Intelligent. incrediblycourageous, inspirational. One of the greatest men who ever lived-And I have tomake sure that he gets murdered.”

Travers took out his Roman dagger and stared at thefoot-long, lethal blade. “Can you imagine what it’s like to be stabbed withsomething like this? Twenty-three times. Twenty-three times, they’re going toplunge daggers like this into his body. And not only am I helpless to doanything about it. I’ve got to make certain it gets done.”

“No. Travers.” Lucas said. “We’ve got to make certainit gets done.”

“Evening. John.”

John Marshall froze as he entered the dark bedroom of hishouse near the east bank of the Tiber. The voice had spoken in English and itsounded vaguely familiar. He lifted the oil lamp he carried in his hand. He wasable to make out a dark figure sitting on his bed.

“Who are you?” he asked tensely, coming closer. Hedid not recognize the man.

“Someone who once saved your ass from the Spanish Inquisition.”

“My God. Steiger?”

“Long time no see, John. Sorry if I ruined your evening. Isent the girl away. Told her I was an old friend of yours and wanted tosurprise you. Little young for you, wasn’t she?”

“Jesus. What the hell are you doing here? I never would’verecognized you. You changed your face.”

Steiger’s hair was dark now and cosmetic surgery had dramaticallyaltered his appearance. Not even his own mother would have recognized him. “Yes.I got tired of the old one. Actually, the situation called for a differentlook.

“You’re on the lam? I don’t believe it. You tied up with theNetwork?”

“You know about the Network?”

“Of course I know about the Network. But I never thought you’dget yourself involved with them.”

“I didn’t. I’m still with the agency.”

“You’re on assignment? But I thought the covert fieldsection was disbanded.”

“For someone who’s several thousand years out-of-date, youmanage to keep up pretty well.”

“Come on. We’ve got our channels, you know that.”

“Yes. I know. That’s how I found you. You’ve done prettywell for yourself since I last saw you. Nice place you’ve got here.”

“What do you want. Steiger’? You here to bust me, is thatIt?”

“Now is that any way to talk after all the years we’ve knowneach other?”

“Yeah. but like you said, it’s been a long time and thingschange. Stop rattling my chain, Creed. What do you want?”

“I need your help, John. Just like old times. remember?”

“I’m out of it now, Creed. I turned my back on all that.

“You can never turn your back on it. John. You know that.

“Damn you. I’m just trying to live a quiet. peaceful life.”

“Peaceful? Staging gladiator fights, beast baiting, andchariot races in the arena? But I guess that doesn’t count. huh? What the hell,it’s only show business, right? I gather it pays well. Lets the noble Marcianbuy young teenage girls like the one I just sent out of here.”

“Where the hell do you get oil, judging me? Especially aftersome of the shit you’ve pulled.”

Steiger held up his hands. “Okay. Forget it. So my handsaren’t exactly clean, either. I guess I’m still sore about you going over tothe Underground. You were a damn good agent, John. We can’t afford to losepeople like you.”

“Yeah, and I can’t afford to die. either,” Marshall said,setting down the lamp on a small table and sitting down in a chair next to it. “Iwas getting pressure from the Network. Either you’re with us or against us. Andyou know what happened to people who tried to buck the Network.”

“I bucked ’em and I’m still around.”

“Yeah, well, you always were a cowboy. You and Carnehan. Thesuper spooks. Me. I got old and tired. I got slow. So I took early retirement.”

He pressed something on the table and a hidden drawer poppedout. Steiger instantly had a laser pistol in his hand.

“Hold it, John.”

“Take it easy, for God’s sake!”

“Whatever’s in there, take it out slowly.”

Marshall produced a pack of cigarettes. “Satisfied’?”

Steiger grinned and lowered the pistol.

“You want one?”

“Don’t mind if I do. What happens if one of your slavescomes in and catches us smoking?”

Marshall lit one up and tossed the pack to Creed. “My slavesknow what’s expected of them. They don’t come up here unless they’re told to. I’mstill a careful man. Creed.”

“Yeah, but you’re slipping. I got in here with no sweat.”

“How the hell did you get in’?”

“Came down from the roof.”

“You see? I told you I’m getting slow.”

He held out the lamp for Creed to light his cigarette.

“So. You going to tell me what you’re doing here?”

“I’m on a covert mission. We may have a potential temporaldisruption on our hands.”

“You part of an adjustment team?”

“No, but there’s been one clocked back here. Delaney.Priest, and Cross. You know them?”

“I’ve heard of them. I also heard that Priest bought it inAfghanistan.”

Not exactly,” Steiger said. “But that’s a long story.”

“So they sent in the first string, huh? Must be pretty big.Where do you fit in?”

“Sort of unofficial backup. Undercover.”

“Meaning they don’t know you’re here.” Marshall grinned. “Youhaven’t changed. Still the same old cowboy. What’s going down?”

“I’m not exactly sure. but it has to do with Caesar.”

Marshall exhaled heavily. That is big. What’ve you got?”

Steiger briefly told him what he knew. Marshall listenedsilently. not saying anything till he was finished.

“And this L.T.0.. Travis?”

“Travers.”

“Right. He thinks it’s going to center around Caesar’sassassination?”

“That’s my guess.”

“What do you mean, it’s your guess?”

“I mean I haven’t spoken to the man. All I’ve got is thefirst report he made of a possible anomaly involving Caesar.”

“You mean the oracle.

“That’s right. Travers sent up the balloon and the team wentout. but I’ve had no contact with him, so I don’t really know what the latestintelligence is. Caesar’s supposed to die in about two weeks. That’s got to bethe focus of the disruption.”

“You think the S.O.G. is going to try to prevent theassassination.”

“It would make for a hell of a disruption.” Steiger said. “Itwould probably bring about a timestream split. I think this is going to be arough one. The old man didn’t approve of contacts between the agency and theUnderground, but I’ve been trying to convince him he was wrong about that. We’regoing to need all the help we can get from now on.”

“What made Forrester change his mind?”

“He hasn’t. At least, not yet “

“So what are you telling me? Ile doesn’t know about what you’redoing here’?”

“Not officially. I’m supposed to be on R amp; R. He knows whatI’m doing, but no one else does.”

“I get it. You fall down on this one, your ass is wide openand his is covered.”

“Something like that.

“And you wonder why I decided to get out.”

What can you tell me about Caesar?”

“That you don’t already know? Probably nothing.”

“What do you mean, probably nothing?”

“Just what I said. What do you think. I’m on his dinnerinvitation list?”

“But you’re the local impresario around here,” Steiger said.“Hasn’t he been staging chariot races and fights?”

“Well, yeah, but you don’t think I deal with the mandirectly. do you? he’s the Emperor. for Christ’s sake.”

“Who do you deal with?”

“Lately, it’s been mostly Antony.”

“Marc Antony?”

“That’s right.” said Marshall. “It’s not always him inperson, though. Most of the time. I work through intermediaries. He’s animportant man.”

“Can you get me an introduction’?”

Marshall sighed. “I guess I could try. Damn it. I thought Iwas through with all of that. Why the hell couldn’t you leave me alone? You’regoing to get me killed, you know that?”

“I’ll try to keep you out of it as much as possible.” saidSteiger. “All I need is a connection. And a base of operations.”

“Here?”

“Partly. but I’d also like to arrange a safe house. Whatwould you recommend?”

“I own some apartments in a tenement block in the Argiletum.a shopping district near the Subura district. Not exactly your luxuryaccommodations, but I could set you up in one of those.”

“Oh. so you’re a slumlord, too?”

“Give me a break. Steiger. I’m trying to cooperate because Iowe you.”

“What, not for old tunes’ sake?”

“Well. maybe that. too And I’ve also got a life-style toprotect here. I don’t want a temporal disruption any more than you do.”

“Okay. An apartment will do fine.”

“You’ll need money, I suppose.”

“I’ve got some, but a little more can’t hurt.”

Marshall nodded. “All right. Anything you need, just say theword But there’s one condition. This is strictly between you and me. I don’twant that adjustment team involved. I don’t want them knowing about me.Otherwise, all bets are off.”

“That goes without saying. John.”

“Okay. I just wanted to make sure we understand each other.What about your cover?”

“What would make me interesting to Antony?”

“He likes chariot racing.”

“A betting man?”

“Obsessive.”

“Good. Why not say I’m a breeder of racing horses? And I’vetrained charioteers. You’ve bought strings from me in the past. Where should Ibe from’?”

Marshall thought a moment. “Ilerda. in Nearer Spain. Thatwould make you a provincial and no one would be likely to ask you any detailedquestions about where you’re from. You could always say you’ve never venturedvery far from your farm out in the country, by the Ebro.”

“So what brings me to Rome? A business deal?”

“Let’s say I’m contemplating purchasing your entireoperation, leaving you run it. of course. and I’ve invited you here in order todiscuss it.”

“That would work.” Steiger grinned. “Almost like old times,isn’t it?”

“Too much like old times, if you ask me.” Marshall repliedsourly.

“When’s the next race coming up’?”

“As a matter of fact. I’ve got several teams entered in onetomorrow.-

“Will Antony be there?”

“He never misses a race if he can help it.”

“Good. What are the chances of putting in a fix?”

“You want me to fix a chariot race?” said Marshall with disbelief.You realize I could get the death penalty for that’?”

“Only if you got caught,” said Steiger.

Marshall sighed. “Hell. I suppose it could be arranged.”

Steiger smiled. “You haven’t changed much, either, have you?”

“A man does what he can. You’re planning to take Antony?”

“For a bundle.” Steiger said. “What better way to get toknow a man than to have him owe you money?”

4

“I hadn’t expected it to look so beautiful,” said Andre asthey approached the city. Andell drove the coach, while Castelli rode ahead ofthem, with Corwin and Drummond mounted on their horses, bringing up the rear.Travers had clocked back to his villa in the city, to await their arrival

“It looks better from a distance. First time in Rome. eh?” Andellsaid.

“I’ve served a hitch in Rome before,” said Lucas, ‘but forFinn and Andre. I think it’s the first time. Still. Rome was very differentthen.”

“Oh. yeah? When did you pull a tour here?”

“Second Punic War.” said Lucas. “I was with Scipio in thewar against Hannibal.”

“No shit. really? The old arbitration wars. I was there.too.”

“You’re kidding,” Lucas said. “Which cohort?”

“Wrong army,” Andell said with a grin. “I was with Hannibal.”

Lucas frowned. You were with Hannibal? How can thatbe? The U.S. Temporal Corps contingent was infiltrated into Roman forces duringthat Time War.”

“I wasn’t with the U.S. Temporal Corps,” Andell said. “I wasfighting for the Nippon Conglomerate Empire back then. Freelance mercenary.”

“That explains it.” said Delaney. “I was wondering why someoneyour age was still a sergeant. “

“Yeah. Big black mark on my record.” Andell said. “Ex-mercenariesare scum of the earth, far as TAC-HQ is concerned.”

“But you’re American. aren’t you?” said Lucas. “So you hadto start out regular Corps before you went merc. What happened?”

“I caught a real bad tour that made me want out in a bigway,” said Andell. “I served a hitch in the War Between the States. I was withthe Union troops at Shiloh.”

Delaney whistled. “That must’ve been a rough one.”

“Tell me about it. It made the Punic Wars seem like a cakewalk.I got shot up pretty had and wound up just lying there on the damn battlefield,wondering if I was going to die or if the damn hogs were going to get to mefirst. There was a bunch of ’em rutting around the corpses. And some of themweren’t even corpses yet. Not too far off from me, this huge pig was chewing ona guy’s exposed intestines and he was still alive. I can still hear the poor bastardscreaming.

“My God.” said Andre.

“It gets worse,” Andell said. “Somehow, I. got the strengthup to crawl away and get into the woods. Packed my wounds with mud and thenstarted trying to limp back to our lines. Only a rebel patrol found me first. Iwound up in Andersonville.”

“Jesus.” said Delaney.

“Yeah Maybe the worst prison in American history. But therewas a Union doctor there and he managed to get me patched back up, sort of, andI eventually managed to escape with a small group of men. We made our way toSherman’s troops and then, boy. we sure got even. Eventually, S amp; R foundme and clocked me back. I spent some time in the hospital and then took mydischarge. I figured I’d had enough. Only a funny thing happened.”

You couldn’t hack civilian life,” said Lucas.

Andell nodded. “You know about it. huh?”

“Yeah. I quit once, too. But there was just no going back.It was either reenlist or go crazy.”

“Then you understand,” Andell said. “War does funny thingsto some people. I don’t know, maybe it’s that after you’ve danced on the edgeof the sword blade, you can just never go back to ordinary life. Lot of peopledo. but me. he shook his head. “I never would’ve figured it. I thought I’dnever want to go back in the military again, but civilian life just drove mearound the bend. I started drinking. Got into drugs. Got busted a few times.”

“That’s why you couldn’t reenlist,” said Delaney.

“Yeah, they don’t take convicted felons in the service. So Iwound up going merc. Ran into a corporate recruiter in Miami. Next thing Iknew, I was on a shuttle to Tokyo. They processed me, put me through detox,then clocked me out to Spain with a merc: unit they were using and we joined upwith Hannibal there.”

“So you were in on the crossing of the Alps?” said Lucas.

“That’s right. Not exactly your average day hike. But I’lltell you something … you’ll probably think I’m crazy, but I loved everyminute of it.”

“How’d you wind up with the Observers?” Andre asked.

“I re-upped after I completed my hitch for Nippon and got assignedto the T.O. Corps.”

“But what about your record?” Andre said, puzzled.

“They didn’t know I had a record.”

“I don’t understand,” said Andre, frowning.

“The Nippon Conglomerate gave him a new identity.” Delaneyexplained. “Some countries do that for mercs. It’s sort of a recruitinginducement. Do a good job for them. complete your tour without getting yourselfkilled, and they’ll give you a brand-new identity, fully documented. You get tostart off with a clean slate.”

“So Andell’s not your real name?” asked Andre.

It is now.”

“Aren’t you taking a chance on telling us all this?” sheasked.

“No, not really. Even if you turned me in, which I don’tthink you would, HQ wouldn’t really care. They’re kind of pressed for manpowerthese days. As long as my official record’s clean, they’re not going to careabout who or what I was before.”

“But they’re not going to promote you. either,” saidDelaney.

“No, that’s for sure. I’ll never make it past sergeant. Butthat’s okay. I never much liked officers, anyway.” He grinned. No offense.”

“None taken,” said Delaney. “I know exactly how you feel.”

“You’re talking to the man who actually holds the record forthe most reductions in grade in the entire Temporal Corps,” said Lucas,smiling.

“Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

“And you still made captain?” Andell shook his head. “Youmust be a real hotshot. Sir,”

“I just don’t understand it,” said Delaney. “I keep takingthe damn bars off and they keep slapping them back on

Andell grinned. They were entering the outskirts of thecity. “So, you want the orientation lecture or you just going to let theprogramming kick in?”

“No, go ahead” said Lucas. “We can always use the perspectiveof someone who’s been in the field for a while.”

“Well, like I said, the city looks better from a distance.Once you actually get in the city itself, as you’ll notice in a littlewhile, there are still a lot of truly beautiful buildings, especially the templesand the villas of some of the aristocrats, but the streets are choked with whatare essentially your basic slum tenements. This time of year. it’s not too bad,but in the summer, you wouldn’t believe the stink. They just throw theirgarbage out into the streets. Lot of people die from fever in the summer.

At this point, we’re actually entering the city,” hecontinued. “Passing through the gates of Rome has become sort of a misnomer.Rome has outgrown its walls and gates. The streets and houses are spread outwell beyond them

The citizens of the republic are so secure these days thatthey feel they have no need of protective walls. Except around the betterhouses in the city, to keep the riffraff out.”

“What road is this we’re on?” asked Lucas.

“The Via Flaminia,” said Andell. “You’ll notice that it’spaved, but it’s got two dirt roads running along on either side, like shoulders.The Roman method of building roads is to first excavate a ditch with slopingwalls, then fill it with layers of gravel, stone, and mortar. After the ditchis built up in this fashion, the top layer of stones is laid and the road iscrowned slightly so water runs off to the sides. The dirt roads running alongeither side are for the unimportant traffic, your farm carts, peasants, andslaves. The legions have the right of way over everybody else.

“The outlying areas of the city we just passed through areprimarily farms, olive orchards and vineyards, with several roadside inns alongthe way. Right now, we’re in the suburbs, which will get denser as we comecloser to the old city walls built in the 4th century B.C.

“Here comes your basic geography lesson. Rome itself isbuilt on seven hills: the Capitoline. the Palatine, the Caelian, the Esquiline.the Viminal, and the Quirinal. which ring a small valley that was probably oncea swamp. The seventh hill, the Aventine, is slightly to our south. The RiverTiber flows along the western borders of the city and beyond its opposite bankis a range of hills called the Janiculum.

“As for culture, the wars with Greece and the conquest ofSicily in the First Punic War brought Romans into contact with Greekarchitecture, which they’ve been copying ever since. The first statues in Romewere of Greek origin, brought to the city as spoils of war. Around the middleof the 2nd century B.C., the discovery of a new type of limestone calledtravertine allowed them to build larger and more solid buildings, as well astheir famous arches.”

He turned back toward Lucas. “You probably won’t recognizethe city from when you were here before. There’s been lots more constructionand they’re always building or repairing something. They use a type oflime-mortar that sets up so hard, it can easily be mistaken for modernconcrete. Over there is the first aqueduct to bring water to the city, theMarcian, constructed in 144 B.C’. And the first stone bridge across the Tiberwas built about two years later.”

“How do they build the arches?” Andre asked, consulting herprogrammed “submemory” and not coming up with an answer. ‘file missionprogramming was never totally complete. There were inevitable gaps.

“They’re constructed on wooden scaffolding frames that functionas forms on which the stones are laid and mortared,” Andell explained. “Thenwhen the mortar has set, the forms and scaffolding are taken down. Simple, buteffective. The roads and paths in the city itself were originally gravel, butthey’ve been relaid with stone and volcanic lava from the Alban Hills. The so-called‘Golden Age’ of Rome won’t really begin until the time of the Nerva and Trajan.around 96 A.D., when there’s going to be a tremendous boom in some reallyimpressive construction. However. Caesar’s already started a lot of new projects.some of which won’t be completed until the time of Augustus. He’s bought up allthe land on the north side of the Forum, which we’ll be passing shortly, andpulled down all the houses to start construction of a new square and market,which will be called the Forum Augusti when it’s completed. To the southwest,you’ll probably be able to smell it in a few minutes, is the forum boarium, thecattle market. Right next to it is the forum holitorium, the main market foroil, fruit, and vegetables. So you can get your produce in an atmospherescented with manure.”

“Is that the Forum?” asked Delaney, pointing.

“That’s it,” Andell said. “The Forum Romano, the most famouscity square in all of history. That black stone building over there is the tombof Romulus. And there’s the Sanctuary of Venus the Purifier. Across from theBasilica over there is the Temple of Castor and Pollux, the twin gods. And overthere, the Temple of Saturn. You can’t see it from here, but right next to itis the Golden Milestone, from which all miles on roads leading to Rome are measured.And there’s the Rostra, where they conduct trials and, on occasion, the Senatemeets there, as well, when it’s warm enough. Otherwise, until they build thepermanent Senate House, the Curia Julia, they usually meet in the Temple ofJupiter, which is just to the east of here. On a nice day. you can stand in theForum and hear someone like Cicero speak. lithe wind is right, you can alsosmell the fish market. So much for historical glamour.”

They passed the Forum and entered a residential area.

“A lot of the buildings are more run-down than I expected,”Andre said. “It’s a bit like towns and cities in medieval times.”

“Yeah. there’s a similarity.” said Andell. “Few Romansexcept wealthy aristocrats and merchants can afford to live in a townhouse or avilla. The majority of the city’s population lives in blocks of tenements likethis, no more than three or four stories high.”

“The streets are narrower than I expected, too,” said Andre.

“They won’t be widened until Nero’s time,” Andell replied. “Moststreets in the city, neighbors across the street from one another can reach outfrom their balconies and shake hands. When Augustus comes in, he’ll put aheight limit of seventy feet on houses because of the poor construction.Sometimes the tenements just collapse all of a sudden, so be careful when youwalk the streets. The average apartments are made up of small rooms overstreet-level shops, with shuttered windows looking out over the street or outinto an interior courtyard. Tenants can buy a room outright, so you’ve got youroriginal condos, but most people can’t afford it. so they rent. You can make agood income as a landlord. The rents in Rome are about four times higher thanin the country, anywhere from two thousand to thirty thousand sesterces. Forthat kind of money, you can buy a small house within sixty miles of Rome. Water’savailable from lead pipes coming from the aqueducts, but it’s a luxury only thewealthy can afford. They pay for it according to the size of their pipes. Mosttenants have no water pipes and they have to bring water from a public fountainor a bath. They also have to go to commercial bake and cook shops for theirfood, because most apartments don’t have kitchen facilities. So Romans tend toeat out a lot.”

“I don’t see many carts or wagons,” Lucas said.

“Just coaches and light carriages during the day.” Andellsaid. “That’s something new. By Caesar’s order, the heavy wheeled traffic isonly allowed in the city at night so nights in the city can get noisy, especiallyin the business districts. It’s like trying to get a good night’s sleep in NewYork, with sirens and shit going off all the time. Same thing. Carts and wagonsgoing by all night. drivers shouting, cracking whips, oxen bellowing … notthe best idea in the world. if you ask me, but it does cut down on trafficduring the day.”

The buildings look like a real fire hazard,” Andre said.

“That they are. Fires are real common, especially this timeof year. when people leave open braziers burning all night to keep warm. Theydon’t have anything like an organized fire department. at least they won’tuntil Augustus’ time, when he’ll form a sort of combination police and firebrigade called the Cohortes Vigilum. recruited from freedmen who’ll get fullcitizenship after six years’ service. But right now, a lot of people die infires. They usually just let the damn things burn, then knock down what’s leftand start all over. You get maps of the city in your programming?”

“Yes,” said Lucas.

“Good. You’ll need ’em. You’ll notice that there aren’t anystreet signs and the houses aren’t numbered. It can be hard to find your wayaround.”

They swung down another street. heading back toward the Tiber.”Travershas himself a villa by the river,” Andell said, “so you won’t be staying in oneof those rattraps. Being buddies with the imperator has its perks. It’sstill early, but in a few hours, things’ll really start picking up. They’reholding chariot races in the Circus today. Maybe some gladiator combat, too.Eventually, that’ll all move to the Colisseum, but it won’t be built for yearsyet. If you want to get a good feel for what’s going on, the place to go is thebaths. You can meet everyone from senators down to the tinker, the baker, andthe candlestick maker. One quadrans gets you in for the whole day, butdon’t look for soap. And most of the baths are for men only. I’m afraid,” hesaid, glancing at Andre.

“So I’ll stink,” she said.

“I don’t think you’ll have to do that,” Andell said with agrin. “Travers has a small bath at his villa. That’s a big-time status symbolthese days. Just make sure you don’t bathe yourself. Have the slaves do it,even if you don’t like the idea. It’s expected.”

“Male slaves or female slaves?” asked Andre.

Andell shrugged. “That’s up to you. I guess.”

She grinned. “This mission might not be so bad, after all.”

“How long have you been on this tour, Andell?” asked Delaney.

“About seven years now,” Andell replied.

“All in Rome?”

“First four in Rome, last three in Alexandria. We’re notliable to run into anyone who knows me or any of the others, if that’s what you’reconcerned about. Nobody pays much attention to slaves, for one thing, and we’veall kept a pretty low profile. Except for Travers, of course, but his case isdifferent. He moves in more interesting circles and he gets to live in a nicevilla, instead of the rattraps we’ve been living in.”

“But then you didn’t have to go to the Gallic Wars, either,”Andre said.

“I wouldn’t have minded that one bit. I reenlisted to be asoldier, not a damn Observer. I’m due for a transfer in another year and I’mlooking forward to it. I’m hoping I can pull a combat assignment. And I misswearing pants.”

“Watch they transfer you to Scotland,” said Delaney.

“If you spent three years in Alexandria, you know about Cleopatra,”Lucas said.

“We didn’t exactly do dinner and dancing, you know,” Andellsaid.

“L.T.O.’s are the ones who get to rub elbows with the richand famous. But I

know about her, yeah.”

“What do you think of Travers theory?”

“I don’t know. I think it’s possible. The S.O.G. might’vepulled a switch while she was in exile. And she didn’t have a great deal ofcontact with her brother. Ptolemy, after she came back. If there was any changein her, her becoming a queen could easily explain it. People in Egypt aren’texactly in the habit of questioning their monarchs. In any case. she’s in Romenow, where nobody knew her from before. If it was me and I was going to pull asubstitution. I would’ve done it while she was in exile, just before she met upwith Caesar. There’s only one thing about it I can’t understand.”

“What’s that?” asked Lucas.

“Caesar’s Egyptian guard. I mean, like that’s a real obviousanomaly. It’s a documental fact that Caesar made a point of refusing to have abodyguard around him at this time. It stands to reason that the S.O.G. wouldfigure we’d have Observers back here and that’s like running up a flag. Again.if it was me. I wouldn’t give my play away like that. That thought’s occurredto Travers, too. It really bothers him. He just can’t figure it.”

“Unless, in their universe. Caesar did have a bodyguard.”said Delaney.

“You think so?”

“It’s possible. We know their history is different from oursin some respects. That’s why the confluence phenomenon is so dangerous. Theyinfiltrated Archives Section and managed to learn a lot about our historythrough other means. but their knowledge could be spotty.”

“Maybe,” Andell agreed. “But Rome is a reasonablywell-documented period. They could have infiltrated agents into any futuretemporal scenario and picked up the works of Suetonius or Plutarch or Tacitusor any number of the more modern classical historians. It would be standardmission preparation and not that hard to do. Stands to reason, doesn’t it?”

“Yes, it does,” said Lucas, frowning. “It doesn’t seem tomake sense.”

“Not unless they figure there’s nothing we can do about it,”Andell said. “And there really isn’t, when it comes to that. I mean, what areyou going to do, walk up to Caesar and say. ‘Excuse me, you know you’re notsupposed to have a bodyguard? Better get rid of them or you might not getkilled?’ Now that they’re there. the only ones who can get rid of them areCaesar and Cleopatra.”

“It could also be a way of drawing attention to what they’redoing.” said Delaney.

“Why would they want to do that?”

“To smoke us out,” Delaney said.

Andell nodded. “That’s an idea. If you try to do anythingabout the Egyptians, you’re liable to give yourself away. And if you don’t doanything about them and they’re still with Caesar on the Ides of March, theconspirators may not have a chance to kill him. What happens then?”

“Then we may have to kill him.” Lucas said. “Even if itmeans getting killed ourselves.”

They drove the rest of the way to Travers’ villa in silence.

People had started arriving at the Circus Maximus beforedawn, so the tiered stands were almost completely filled by the time Steigerand Marshall arrived. However, unlike the plebeians. their places were assured.They sat in the front rows, which were reserved for senators, aristocrats, andVestal Virgins. Steiger decided that he didn’t quite fit into any of thosecategories.

The sight of the Circus itself was awe-inspiring. Shapedlike a long rectangle rounded off at one end in a semicircle, the CircusMaximus was six hundred yards long and two hundred yards wide, built to hold aquarter of a million spectators. Caesar had rebuilt it. making it even granderthan it was before. He had surrounded the arena with a moat, the better toseparate the animals from the spectators during shows that involved wildbeasts. Marshall explained that Pompey had used an iron fence, but the bars hadbuckled under the weight of elephants that had been pitted against some haplessprisoners and the spectators had been somewhat upset when the pachydermsdecided that they wanted out.

The spina. the built-up “spine” dividing the center of thearena between the turning posts (three on each end). had been adorned with giltbronze statues of the gods looking down upon the games. It also held the septemova, seven large wooden eggs that were moved to count the laps. Later,during the time of Augustus, seven bronze dolphins would be added to the eggsas lap counters. The triple-tiered stands facing each other across the arenawere monstrous. The lowest tiers were made of marble, the second tiers hadseats of wood, and the third offered standing room only. They were completelypacked and the crowd was still streaming in.

Outside, beggars, wine merchants, pastry cooks, astrologers,and prostitutes vied for the attention of the crowd. The courts had all beenclosed. Marshall explained that no business would be transacted in the citywhile the games were on. Indeed, it seemed to Steiger as if all of Rome hadpacked itself into the Circus. The spectators were a sea of white togas. Asthey approached their seats. Marshall pointed out a handsome. dark-haired manwith a high forehead, an aquiline nose, and a full beard.

“That’s Antony.” said Marshall.

“What’s with the sword?” asked Steiger.

“Antony always wears his sword whenever he appears in public,”Marshall replied. “It’s part of the image. His family claims to be descendedfrom Hercules. by his son. Anton. and Antony likes to play the part to thehilt. The big macho warrior. Come on, I’ll introduce you.”

“Ah. Martian!” Antony said boisterously as they approached. “Come!Sit with us! Who is your friend?”

“Greetings. Marc Antony.” said Marshall. “Allow me topresent Creon Sabinus, who has come to visit me from Ilerda. I’ve bought manyfine strings of horses from him over the years.”

“Indeed?” said Antony, turning to Steiger with interest. “Andwhat brings you to Rome from the provinces, Sabinus?”

“A little business and a little pleasure,” Steiger replied. “Marcianhas decided that I’ve been charging him too dearly for the horses that he buysfrom me. so he proposes to purchase my entire farm, so that he can sell themmore cheaply to himself.”

That sounds like our Marcian.” Antony laughed. “Alwayscounting his fortune and finding it wanting. Take care that you do not sell yourfarm to him too cheaply, Sabinus.”

“He needs no advice from you. Antony,” groused Marshall. “Theprice that he has named amounts to a king’s ransom.”

“Come now, Marcian. it is a fair price and you know it.”Steiger protested.

“Fair? You’ve been cheating me for years. you scoundrel. Asyou have doubtless cheated others.” He turned to Antony. “He knows that if Ibuy his farm. I must retain him on a salary as breeder, so it is all to hisadvantage. He has, I’m afraid, less need for my money than I have for his horses.I’ve brought him to the races in the hope that I can induce him to lose some ofit. Perhaps then he will become more reasonable.”

“What, you plan to bet against him?” Antony asked,surprised. “Marcian, I have never seen you wager so much as a denarius!”

“No, not I,” said Marshall. “I have already lost enoughmoney to this brigand through our business dealings. I will not risk losingmore. However. knowing you to be a shrewd judge of horseflesh and charioteers,I thought perhaps you would be good enough to fleece him for me. I wouldappreciate it if you would take as much of his money as possible. he’s beenmost insufferable.”

Antony threw back his head and laughed. “Did you hear myfriends? Marcian brings me a sacrifice of a provincial!”

They all laughed.

Steiger stiffened, as if with affront.

“No, no, do not look so, Sabinus,” said Flaminus, clappinghim on the shoulder. “I assure you, Antony meant it merely as a joke.”

“Yes, doubtless we provincials, being so backward and naive,provide you Romans with much amusement.” Steiger said.

“Come now, Sabinus. I meant no offense,” Antony said placatingly.“And to prove it, and as much to please my good friend. Marcian. I will offeryou a small. friendly wager, if you like. Not so much as you can’t afford tolose.”

“Indeed? And what makes you think that I will lose?” askedSteiger.

“Oho!” said Antony. “You hear Trebonius? It seems that wehave pricked his pride!”

“Have a care. Antony.” Trebonius said in mock warning. “Heis a breeder and must know his horses well.”

“Perhaps. but does he know his charioteers?” asked Antony. “Ittakes more than a good team to win a race.”

“That is true enough,” said Steiger. “But I have had an opportunityto watch them exercise and have formed a few opinions as to the skill of thevarious drivers. Perhaps they are not as educated as your own, Marc Antony. butI have observed enough to guide my wager.”

“Very well, then.” Antony said with a grin. “We shall see.Shall we make a wager on the first race?”

“If you like.”

“How much would you care to risk?”

“I do not know what is customary,” said Steiger. “Would tenthousand sesterces be appropriate?”

“Ten thousand sesterces!” Trebonius said.

“See here, Sabinus.” said Antony condescendingly, “pride canbe a costly thing. Despite what Marcian said. and I am certain he was onlyjoking. I have no wish to see you lose so much.”

“It is a sum that I could easily stand to lose,” saidSteiger. “However, if you could not. I would certainly understand.”

Antony raised his eyebrows. “I could stand to lose a greatdeal more than that. my friend,” he said with a smile. “Very well. then. Tenthousand it is.”

The sound of trumpets rang out through the arena and thecrowd cheered as the presiding consul entered in his chariot, followed by hislictors and attendants. After them in the procession came the legionaries andthe cavalry, followed by the teams of chariots. The drivers were all attired incolored tunics that denoted their teams. They had the reins wrapped aroundtheir chests, leaving one hand free to manipulate them and the other to use thewhip. Driving a chariot took great strength and dexterity, as well as skill.and by wrapping the reins around their chests, the charioteers were able to addtheir full body weight to the task. a, well as using it to balance the lightchariots. It made the driving very dangerous. because in the event of a spill.the charioteer had to draw a sharp dagger and quickly cut the reins, otherwisehe would be dragged along behind his horses. Even if he could cut himself loosein time, there was, still the danger of being trampled or crushed by the wheelsof the following chariots.

After the chariots came the singers. followed by the priestsand the incense-hearers. ‘Then came the images of the gods carried on biers.The crowd cheered and applauded as they made their circuit of the arena to thepounding of the drums and the blaring of the trumpets, then the cheering grewstill louder as the Emperor appeared in his box, just a short distance fromwhere Steiger and Marshall sat with Antony and his friends.

Steiger turned to look at Julius Caesar. He stood in theimperial box, wearing a laurel wreath and a purple-trimmed toga with fringes onthe sleeves, holding his arms out to the crowd.

“Is that your first sight of the Emperor?” asked Trebonius,raising his voice to he heard over the cheering of the crowd around them.

“Yes.” Steiger replied. “I must admit, he looks differentthan I had expected. More like a philosopher than a conquering general.”

“Do not be deceived by his appearance,” Antony said. “He isthe finest general that Rome has ever seen. And I am proud to have served withhim in the campaigns.

“A singular honor,” Steiger said.

Antony smiled. “Perhaps later, I will introduce you to him.To ease the pain of your loss.”

“It would indeed be a great privilege to meet the Emperor.”said Steiger. “But I have not lost yet.”

Antony grinned. “We shall see. That first rank of chariotswill compete in the first race. And the second rank will race after them, andso forth. As a breeder of fine horses, which team do you fancy?”

Steiger considered the teams as they rode by intheprocession. “Of the first rank, I think I like the greens,” he said. “The browntrigae.”

He pointed to the team of three dark brown horses drawing alight chariot driven by a man in a green tunic.

“A good choice,” said Antony, nodding. “You do knowyour horses. But I think the whites will take the first race.”

“Perhaps,” said Steiger. “However, I will stand by mychoice.”

“And be the poorer for it,” Antony replied with a grin. “Butwho knows, fortune may smile upon you.”

After the procession completed its circuit of the track, thechariots for the first race lined up at the far end of the arena. The horseswere restive. pawing at the ground. The charioteers held them back, easing theminto position. The presiding consul gave the signal for the trumpets to sound.He stood above the chariots, dressed in a scarlet tunic, an embroidered toga,and a heavy gold wreath. In one hand, he held out a white cloth. In his otherhand, he held aloft an ivory baton with a bronze eagle on it. the symbol of hisoffice.

The charioteers had previously drawn lots for theirpositions at the start of the race. The tails of the horses were bound tightly,their manes decorated with pearls and gems. their breastplates adorned withgold and silver and trimmed with jewels. Each horse wore a ribbon with thecolor of its team. The drivers stood in their chariots, some wearing leatherhelmets, others wearing metal ones, their thighs and calves beneath their brieftunics wrapped in leather leggings. Most of them were low born and some hadonce been slaves, but as charioteers, they could rise far above their stations.

Winning charioteers often received substantial gifts frommagistrates and aristocrats, sometimes even from the Emperor himself, and theywere paid generous salaries by the owners of their teams, as well. They werethe star athletes of Rome, often wined and dined by their rich patrons. andsome of them were able to become quite wealthy in their own right. A hush fellover the crowd as the consul waited to give the starting signal. Steiger’sbrown trigae had drawn a position third from the inside. Antony’s whiteswere on the pole. The consul dropped the white cloth and the crowd cheered asthe race began.

The blue team took an early lead as the horses thundereddown the straightaway, heading counterclockwise around the track, toward thefirst turn. The greens ran second. the whites a close third. The drivers lashedthe horses with their whips as they passed the stands where Steiger and Antonysat, coming up to the first turn.

“The first turn is always crucial.” Antony said loudly,speaking close to Steiger to be heard above the crowd. “And Tibulus, who racesfor the whites, always rides close upon the leader as they close for the turn.Watch now!”

The blue driver took the turn a little wide, anxious to givehimself plenty of room so as not to be caught between the posts and the pressof the other chariots closing in. Tibulus, the charioteer for the whites, hungclose on the heels of the blues, slightly to the inside. The greens were rightbehind him, swinging wider. The driver of the red team suddenly swung for theinside. trying to ace the greens out of position. but as they rounded the turn,the whites also swung sharply to the inside, toward the post, cutting off thereds. Having nowhere else to go, the red driver had to swing in closer stilland the wheels of his chariot caught the post as they went around.

The crowd gasped collectively as his chariot struck andbounced up into the air, teetering precariously on one wheel for an instant,and then crashing back down again, dislodging the driver. He drew his knife andslashed the reins, cutting himself free, then rolled wildly to avoid beingtrampled by the team behind him. He didn’t make it. The crowd roared as thehorses of the green team trampled him and the chariot jounced over his body. Assoon as the chariots had all passed, attendants ran out with a litter to pickup the fallen driver, who was writhing on the ground with pain.

Meanwhile, the whites had taken the lead on the inside ofthe turn. As they thundered down the opposite straightaway, they were all outof sight behind the spew, but in moments, they were coming around the far turnand Steiger saw that the whites had increased their lead, while the greens wereclose behind them. It remained that way for the first two laps as the chariotsgradually spread out along the track. By the third lap. the greens had closedthe distance. By the fourth, they were almost neck and neck with the whites,but Tibulus was clearly the better driver and he gained an increased lead oncemore going round the turn. By the fifth lap, the greens had once more closedthe distance, but the whites kept gaining on the turns. practically shaving theposts.

“Your greens arc putting up a game fight,” said Antony. “Demosdrives well, but he won’t catch Tibulus! Watch as he gives them full head onthe last turn!”

Indeed, Tibulus took the last turn at what seemed a very recklessspeed, his chariot sliding around almost completely sideways, but the maneuvergained him even more ground and as they raced for the finish, the whites camein well ahead of the greens.

“I fear that you have lost your wager. Sabinus,” said Antony.“I told you that the whites would win. You see, it takes more than a good eyefor horses to judge who will be the winner. A good charioteer makes all thedifference.”

“It would seem so.” Steiger agreed. “I congratulate you. Butyou must give me an opportunity to win back my money. Would you care to wageron the next race?”

Antony laughed. “Marcian, your friend seems determined togive away his money! It seems your plan was sound. Perhaps I should demand afee for helping you conclude your business with him!”

“You have already won ten thousand sesterces,” Marshallsaid. “Let that be your fee. Antony.”

“Done!” laughed Antony.

“Shall we say another ten thousand on the second race?”asked Steiger.

“If you think you can afford it.” Antony replied dubiously

“Marcian will vouchsafe my credit.-

“Sabinus may be unscrupulous in business,” Marshall said. “butyou may take him at his word.”

“I never questioned it.” said Antony magnanimously. “Anotherten thousand it is.”

Steiger lost the second race. too. And the third, as well.Trebonius won the fourth. with both Steiger and Antony losing. but Antonyrecouped his loses to Trebonius on the fifth race, which Steiger also lost.

“I think perhaps we should cease to wager now.” Antony toldSteiger after the fifth race. “You already owe me fifty thousand sesterces andI have no wish to ruin you completely.”

“You cannot keep winning all the time,” said Steiger.

“I rarely lose, my friend.”

“Then you will not give me one more chance to make good mylosses?”

Antony shook his head. “I have already won more than enoughfrom you, Sabinus,” he said. “You would be wise to stop now.”

“One hundred thousand sesterces on the final race.” saidSteiger.

“By the gods” said Flaminus.

“Marcian. I fear your friend is being dangerously reckless.”said Antony.

Is it your concern for me that causes you to hesitate ordoes the prospect of losing so much make you nervous?” Steiger asked.

“Creon, perhaps you’d better reconsider,” Marshall said.

“One hundred thousand is my wager,” Steiger repeated firmly,looking straight at Antony. “Do you dare accept it? Or are you afraid to loseto a backward provincial?”

Antony stared at him. “Your friend Marcian will have to buyyour farm from me.” he said. “Because after this last race, I fear that I willown it.”

“Then you accept?”

“Choose your team.”

“I’ll take the blues. The black stallions second from thepost.” There were four factions-the whites, the reds. The blues, and thegreens, but for this race, the teams were paired, so that there were twocharioteers driving for each faction, a total of eight teams of four horseseach.

“The blues?” said Antony. He chuckled. “Alas, you have madea poor choice. Sabinus. Young Cassinus drives that team. He has the leastexperience of any of the charioteers! He has never before driven a quadrigae!”

“Nevertheless. I choose the blues,” repeated Steiger. “Iwatched him exercise the other day. He seems to have a natural ability with thequadrigae. And the blacks he’s driving are fine horses. I am confidentof my choice.”

“I will not quarrel with the quality of the team,” saidAntony. “But are you so confident of your choice that you will risk your utterruin?”

“I am confident that you cannot continue to win all thetime.” Steiger countered stubbornly. “Do you accept the wager? Or is it toorich for your blood?”

“Creon …” Marshall said, taking Steiger’s arm.

“Stay out of it. Marcian.” snapped Steiger. shaking him off.“I await your answer, Antony.”

Antony sighed and shook his head sadly. “So be it. One hundredthousand sesterces on the bays driven by Clocillus, for the reds.”

“I will take thirty thousand of that wager. if you have notoverextended yourself, Sabinus,” said Trebonius.

“And I will venture twenty,” said Flaminus.

“Done,” said Steiger.

“Creon, are you mad?” asked Marshall.

“Antony is not the only one who can judge a charioteer,”Steiger replied. “Cassinus seemed most promising when I watched him practice.”

“You did not watch him against Clocillus,” Antony said witha smile. “Clocillus has no need of practice. He is the finest charioteer inRome.” The trumpet sounded once again.

“They are about to start!” Trebonius said.

The white cloth fluttered to the ground and the chariotswere off. Clocillus took an early lead going into the first turn. Cassinus wassixth, well behind him, but the crush of the first turn took out two of theother chariots, one white, one green. They crashed into each other as they wentaround the post. and though the drivers managed to retain control by reiningin, they slowed up two other chariots behind them and caused another to swingwide around them as they skidded toward the outside of the turn. Cassinus tookthe opportunity to get inside them and move up.

“A good move on his part.” Antony conceded. “But he wasmerely fortunate. Clocillus still holds a commanding lead.”

Going into the second lap. Cassinus was running third, butClocillus and one of the chariots driving for the greens were still well aheadof him. They maintained that distance for another lap, but as they swung aroundfor the third time. Cassinus slowly began to close the gap. By the fourth lap.the second green team was hard on his heels, with the second driver for theblues running just behind them. Clocillus was still in a comfortable lead. Onthe fifth lap, as they went around the post. the green team that was closing inon Cassinus took the turn too wide and Cassinus’ teammate cut sharply to theinside, getting ahead of the greens and cutting them off as they went down thestraightaway. Cassinus continued to close the distance between himself and thetwo leaders, while the green team that was just behind him couldn’t get aroundthe blue team that had passed it. They maintained that position going into thesixth lap when the team that was running second tried to cut in on the insideof Clocillus and ran out of room. The chariot overturned and they could see thedriver sawing frantically at the reins as the horses dragged him along behindthem. He managed to cut himself free just as they reached the outside of theturn and he rolled safely out of harm’s way. Cassinus was now running second.

On the last lap. Cassinus started closing the distancebetween himself and the red team driven by Clocillus, gaining rapidly. Thecrowd was on its feet, cheering the underdog. In moments, they were neck andneck.

“Come on. Clocillus!” shouted Antony. “Use your whip!”

Side by side, the two chariots careened toward the finish,but Cassinus started to edge ahead. Antony and his friends were shouting andshaking their fists. Clocillus started to close, but they crossed the finishline with Cassinus barely a nose ahead of him. The crowd went wild. “Well, deductingmy earlier losses to you,” Steiger said to Antony, “that makes fifty thousandsesterces that you owe me. Plus the thirty thousand from Trebonius, and twentyfrom Flaminus, that brings my winnings to a total of one hundred thousandsesterces. I have both made good my losses and turned a tidy profit.’ Hegrinned at Antony. “It seems that I am not exactly ruined.”

I cannot believe it!” said Trebonius. “Clocillus neverloses!”

“And I was tempted to wager thirty thousand, but I did notwish to take advantage of a reckless provincial,” Flaminus said, shaking hishead.

Your charity has saved you ten thousand sesterces,” Steigersaid.

“Now I’ll be forced to meet his price,” said Marshallgloomily. “Antony. what happened? You were supposed to win!”

“I would never have thought that Cassinus could beat Clocillus,”Antony said. “But … perhaps he is indeed more suited to the quadrigae.Whether by luck or by skill or a combination of the two, he did it. And you,Sabinus. are a wealthier man because of your sound judgment. I congratulateyou.’

“And I you. on your grace in losing,” Steiger said. You mustgrant me the honor of entertaining you and your friends.”

“What, with our own money?” Antony said. He chuckled andclapped Steiger on the back. “Very well. then. I accept.”

“Wait till Caesar hears that you have lost more in one daythan you have won in the entire year!” said Trebonius.

“I expect he will be much amused,” said Antony wryly. “Andhe will doubtless wish to meet the man who humbled me. Come, Sabinus. Would youlike to meet the Emperor?”

5

That last race was close,” Lucas said. “Almost a photofinish.” He smiled. “Or it might have been, if they had cameras in ancientRome.”

“It’s the first time I’ve ever seen Clocillus lose.” saidTravers. “The young driver who beat him just made his reputation. Clocillus isthe best charioteer in Rome.”

He also threw the race,” said Andre.

Travers glanced at her sharply. “What?”

“I said, he threw the race.” she repeated. “It was fixed.”

“Are you serious? How can you possibly tell?”

“If anyone can tell, she can.” said Delaney.

They were seated in the stands within less than a hundredfeet of where Steiger sat with Antony. though they had no idea he was there.With his new face, they wouldn’t have recognized him anyway. They spoke in lowvoices, holding their heads close so that no one could overhear them.

“Andre grew up in medieval England.” Lucas explained. “Formost of her life, she passed as a male and was a mercenary knight, what theycalled a ‘free companion.’ The first time we met. it was in the lists at thetournament of Ashby.”

“You mean you were temporally displaced?” asked ‘Travers,stunned.

“It’s a long story.” she said. “I inadvertently became partof a temporal disruption and wound up being taken into the future by a memberof the Underground.”

We first encountered Andre on a mission to 12th century England.”said Delaney. “so you can imagine our surprise when we saw her again in 17th-centuryFrance. It’s quite a story. She was instrumental in helping us effect atemporal adjustment and since she had already been displaced from her own time,we took her back to Plus Time with us so her case could be reviewed, to makesure it didn’t result in any temporal contamination. Once the Referees weresatisfied, she joined the First Division and we’ve been a team ever since?

“Incredible!” Travers said. “You must tell me the entirestory later, but right now, I’m curious as to how you knew the race was fixed.”

“I learned how to observe horsemanship from jousting tournaments,”she said. “In a situation where your life often depended on knowing youropponents. you learned to watch for the slightest indication of any weak points.After a while, you’d get to where you’d easily spot subtle things that mostpeople would miss. The charioteer for the red team held back slightly on thefinal stretch. As you said, he’s an outstanding driver. Even a keen observermight have missed it, but I was watching very closely. out of habit. I suppose,and I noticed that on the last two laps. he was taking his turns just a littlewider than he had on all the previous ones.”

“I never would have spotted that.” said Travers. “Clocillusalways takes the turns so tightly, he’s almost. right up against the post.-

“That’s why he got away with it,” she said. “He takes a muchtighter line through the turns than the other driven, so when he went just alittle wider, it still looked like he was taking them pretty close. But he wenta little wider every time coming out of the turns and he held back a littlegoing into the turns, allowing the blue team to catch up. Aside from that, whenthose two chariots collided in the first turn. It was done on purpose. I sawboth drivers brace themselves for the impact as they went into the turn. Theywere prepared for it. before they should have known that it was going tohappen. And the driver whose chariot overturned in the last lap? That waspurposely done, as well. He was standing a little lower in his chariot goinginto the turn because he had his knees flexed, ready to spring clear. He timedit just right, so that he’d be at the apex of the turn. where the inertia wouldcarry him to the outside of the track, well away front the chariots behind him,who knew that he was going down and were prepared. He was already reaching forhis dagger an instant before he went over. Not that it still wasn’t prettydangerous, but with everybody knowing what was going to happen, the risks wereconsiderably reduced.”

“But that would mean that every one of the charioteers werebribed!” exclaimed Travers with astonishment.

“That would seem to be the obvious explanation,” Andre replied.

“That’s an incredibly serious offense,” said Travers. “Theycould all lose their lives for that. You’re absolutely sure’? There’s no chanceyou could be mistaken’?”

“If Andre says that’s the way it happened. Travers, you cantake it to the bank,” Delaney said.

“Find out who was the big winner at the track today and you’llprobably find your fixer,” Andre said.

“There’s only one man I can think of, short of the Emperorhimself, who could have gotten all the charioteers to work together in order tothrow the race: said Travers

“And that would be Marcian. But I simply can’t imagine himdoing something like that.”

“Who’s Marcian’?” asked Lucas.

“He’s the aedile who oversees the administration ofthe games.” said Travers. “He’s also an extremely wealthy merchant who providesmost of the horses and wild beasts for the shows in the Circus. he also stagesgladiatorial combats, sort of a private entertainment contractor. But he neverbets on any of the races. For a man in his position. It wouldn’t look good.”

“Maybe somebody got to him.” Delaney said.

“That’s hard to believe.” said Travers. “Marcian is one ofthe richest men in Rome. I can’t imagine what anyone could offer him to makehim take such a risk.”

“Political power?” Lucas asked.

“Possible. I suppose. but unlikely. His post carries anominal senatorial rank. yet Marcian has always steered clear of politics. Hehas the reputation of being a very prudent man.”

“In any case. it probably doesn’t concern us,” Andre said. “Notunless It might have anything to do with Caesar Is Marcian a friend of his?”

“No. not really. but he is a friend of Marc Antony’s, who isCaesar’s right-hand man.”

“Maybe we should meet him.” Lucas said.

“That wouldn’t be difficult to arrange,” said Travers. “Youthink he might he involved somehow?”

“I don’t know.” said Lucas. “Is he a native Roman?”

“No, as a matter of fact, he isn’t. He arrived in Rome aboutnine years ago. I think from Baiae, but I’m not sure. In any case, he wasalready quite wealthy when he got here. which helped him make connectionsquickly. The post of aedile is an elective office and word is he boughtenough votes to put himself over. He built a palatial villa on the banks of theTiber near the Aventine and he’s prospered considerably since.”

“Interesting,” said Delaney. “You know him well’?”

“We’ve met on several occasions. but I can’t say I reallyknow him well.”

“Can we arrange to meet him socially?”

“Yes, I suppose so. I could hold a dinner party in my homeand invite him, but since we’re not exactly friends, it would help if I had aparticular reason.”

“Why not invite him so he can bring along some of the charioteerswho raced today’?” asked Andre.

“Yes. that wouldn’t be unusual. Aristocrats enjoy rubbing elbowswith the charioteers. It makes them feel adventurous.”

“Good,” said Lucas. “Set it up as soon as possible. We haven’tgot much time. There’s only two weeks until the Ides of March.”

“Yes, I know,” said Travers grimly. He glanced down at thearena. “The gladiators are starting to come in. If it’s all the same with you.I’d rather not stay around to watch this. I’ve seen quite enough of death.”

They left the Circus and went outside to their carriage.where their “slaves” were waiting for them.

“Can we take a look at Cleopatra’s house asked Lucas.

“Certainly.” said Travers. “It’s not very far from mine.”

The streets were practically deserted as they drove backtoward the Tiber.

“What did you make of Caesar’s Egyptian guard?” asked Andellas he drove their carriage.

“We couldn’t get a very good look at them,” Delaney said. “Icounted a dozen.”

Andell nodded. “They go everywhere with him. Quite impressive,aren’t they?”

“They looked very fit and capable.” said Lucas.

“What do you think?” asked Travers.

Lucas shook his head. 1 don’t know. I wish we had more to goon. Do they stay with him in the palace?”

“Yes,” said Travers. They have rooms in the same wing ashis:

“They’re going to present a problem.” Lucas said. “regardlessof whether they’re S.O.G. troops or actually what they seem to be. In eithercase, they’re an anomaly and we’re going to have to get rid of them somehow.The question is, how?”

“You’re close to Caesar,” said Delaney. “Couldn’t you convincehim that it’s bad P.R. to have them around?”

“It is, in fact,” said Travers. “There’s been talk aboutthem ever since Caesar took them on. He knows it and he doesn’t like it. Heused to have a bodyguard of Spaniards. a tough and surly-looking bunch, but hedismissed them for the sake of appearances. And those Egyptians haven’t exactlyimproved matters. He knows it makes him look as if he’s being protected by hismistress. I’m not really sure if he’s going along with it just to pleaseCleopatra or because he’s getting nervous now that the Ides is approaching. Ifhe is. he’ll never admit it. He’s far too proud.”

“Could you work on him without making your position difficult?”asked Delaney.

“I could try,” Travers replied. “We’ve gone through a greatdeal together. I could probably get away with more than most people could whenit comes to Caesar. But you can only press him so far. Plus I’d undoubtedlyalienate Cleopatra and she has a lot of influence with him.”

“More than a comrade in arms from the wars?” asked Andre.

Travers snorted. “You haven’t seen her.”

“How does Caesar’s wife react to his relationship with her’?”she asked.

“Calpurnia? She doesn’t say anything about it. And no onedares mention it in her presence. I don’t really know what she thinks about it.She doesn’t reveal her feelings much.”

“She can’t be very happy about it.”

“Maybe not, but this is ancient Rome. And Rome is very mucha man’s world. It is not uncommon for Roman men to keep mistresses. Most wivesaccept it, though it’s not as if they have a choice. And Caesar is no ordinaryRoman. Calpurnia seems very devoted to him, but then I’ve spent more time withCaesar than she has. If you’re thinking about using her to discourage Caesar inany way, I’d recommend that you forget about it. There’s only one woman whoever wielded any effective power in Rome and that was-or will be-Livia, thewife of Augustus. However, everything she did was done behind the scenes,through ruthless political manipulation and even murder. Compared to her,Caterina Sforza and Lucretia Borgia were Girl Scouts. Calpurnia is not the typeto go in for that sort of thing. She’s rather self-effacing and I doubt there’sa devious bone in her body.”

“Well, then perhaps we’d better consider people. Who are devious.”said Lucas.

“You mean the conspirators?” said Travers.

“yes? said Lucas. “If we’re going to make sure that Caesargets assassinated on schedule, it would behoove us to keep tabs on hisassassins. They might need some encouragement.”

“Not very much, I should think,” said Travers wryly.

“What can you tell us about them? Personally, I mean?”

“I’ve met most of the chief conspirators at one time oranother, since they’re all active in politics,” said Travers. “I can’t say itwas a very pleasurable experience, knowing what they’re going to do. Or perhapsI should say what we hope they’ll do.” He paused and shook his head. “Why do Ifeel like a traitor when I say that’?”

“Because you’re not a cold-blooded bastard, that’s why,”said Delaney. “We’ve all done things we wished we hadn’t had to do, things wehaven’t exactly been proud of. But they were things that had to be done,because so much depended on them being done.”

“In a sense, Travers, they were things that had already happened.”Lucas said. “I know it’s sometimes hard to realize it, especially for someonelike you, who’s spent so much of his life in Minus Time, but all of this hasalready happened. From our perspective, and yours too, it happened almost threethousand years ago. We’ve simply come back here to make sure that no one triesto change that.”

“I know,” said Travers. “Intellectually, I realize all that,of course, but emotionally, it’s still hard to accept. The man’s a friend ofmine. Perhaps the closest friend I’ve ever had. And he’s much more than that.He’s someone I spent much of my life studying and admiring. Meeting him waslike meeting a boyhood idol. After all the years we’ve spent together. foughttogether … hell, he’s even saved my life on several occasions …” His voicetrailed off.

“It must be very difficult for you,” said Andresympathetically.

“More than you could know,” Travers replied. “Until thatnight before we crossed the Rubicon together, Plus Time seemed almost like adream. Like another life, a life I’d left behind. Then I had to clock back andmake my report and reality was like a hard slap in the face. I’ve been speakingand even thinking like a Roman for so long that even now, English seems like aforeign language. Would you believe I’m a good ole boy from Dallas, Texas?Crazy, isn’t it?”

“No. it isn’t crazy,” Lucas said. “Believe me. I canunderstand exactly how you feel. But you were going to tell us about the conspirators.”

“Yes, I’m sorry, I got sidetracked for a minute there. Accordingto classical historians such as Suetonius and Plutarch, there were supposed tobe some sixty men involved in the conspiracy. but most of their names aren’tknown to history. Some were apparently soldiers who had fought with Pompey.Others were people who had private grievances against Caesar. still others,such as Brutus, were politically motivated, meaning that they believed theywere acting in the interests of the republic. The core group was composed ofGaius Cassius Longinus, known as Cassius: his brother-in-law, Marcus Brutus;Decimus Brutus Albinus, one of Caesar’s officers; Gaius Trebonius, a friend ofMarc Antony’s; Tillius Cimber: and the Casca brothers, Publius and Servilius.Cassius was the number one conspirator, the leader. Of them all, he is the mostdangerous. He’s shrewd and quick-witted, a calculating type. As Caesar himselfhas said, he has a ‘lean and hungry look.’ Not much gets past him and he’s akeen judge and observer of human nature. Trebonius seems much more shallow. Helikes to gamble a great deal and he’s useful to the conspiracy because he’sclose to Antony. I don’t know him very well, but he seems to be more of afollower than a leader. Albinus I know pretty well. He served with us in Gaul.”

Travers paused a moment, his jaw muscles tightening. “Ifound it difficult to get along with him,” he continued, “knowing what he wouldeventually do. Caesar was always good to him, as he was to most of hisofficers. He gave him a provincial command and later made him a consul. I haveno idea what made him join the conspiracy. Perhaps he really believed, likeBrutus, that it was for the good of Rome, an end to autocratic rule. Which isironic, when you consider the men who followed Caesar. The days of the republicarc finished, though the conspirators don’t know it. I always found Albinusvery hard to read. He’s not someone you’d want to turn your back on. Cimber Idon’t know very well at all. he seems ambitious, but other than that, I can’ttell you much about him. As a close friend of Caesar’s, I’m hardly someone they’dadmit into their inner circle. As for the Casca brothers. Servilius I know onlysuperficially and I don’t think he’s as deeply involved as his brother.Publius. who is someone to watch out for. There’s a real hard edge to him. He’sviolent and he’s got a mean temper. Next to Cassius, he’s probably the mostsignificant. Brutus is also part of the inner circle, or soon will be, and heis the most interesting. Also the most likable, strangely enough.”

“Why do you say that?” asked Delaney.

“Just that it’s strange for me to find one of Caesar’sassassins likable. Supposedly, he’s the one who agonized the most about it.There have been rumors that he’s the illegitimate son of Caesar, but there’snothing to support that. Except that according to Suetonius. when Brutus wasabout to strike his blow, Caesar said to him. ‘You. too, my child?’ But there’sno way of knowing in what sense he meant that. Or even if it ‘s exactly what hesaid. So I suppose the rumors could be true. It’s a fascinating possibility.because Caesar did once have an affair with Brutus’ mother, Servilia. Caesarpardoned Brutus for allying himself with Pompey in the civil war, but then healso pardoned Lamius and many others. It’s one of the few things I’ve neverbeen able to find out for certain. Brutus is sensitive on the subject andflatly denies it. Caesar simply won’t discuss it. The one time I broached thesubject with him, he became angry at me for listening to rumors and idle gossip.”

“So you think that Brutus would be the most approachable?”asked Lucas.

“Yes, he’d probably be the easiest to get to know, but ifyou’re planning to infiltrate the conspiracy. Cassius and Casca are the onesyou’ll need to convince. That won’t be easy. They don’t know you. You’re only avisitor in Rome and your cover identity as my brother will practicallyguarantee that he won’t trust you. Of course, we could still pass you off assomeone else.”

“No. you’ve already told Caesar about me and it could complicatethings if we changed our story. Besides. I wasn’t thinking of myself.” saidLucas. “I was thinking of Delaney. True, we all supposedly grew up together,but he hasn’t seen you in years and people grow apart. We could easily stage apublic confrontation of some sort between you, an argument about Caesar’sautocracy or something.”

“Yes. I suppose that could work.” said Travers.

“If possible. I’d also like to figure out some way to getAndre next to Cleopatra,” Lucas said. “What do you think the chances of thatare?”

Travers pursed his lips thoughtfully. “Probably much betterthan your chances of infiltrating the conspiracy. Cleopatra hasn’t exactly beenembraced by Roman society. She acts as if she doesn’t seem to care, but I’m notsure if I buy that. It’s not that anyone would actively speak out against her,because of Caesar. but she’s been widely blamed for Caesar’s autocratictendencies. She’s a daughter of the pharaohs. after all, and as such, she doesn’tshare the republican sensibilities of most Romans. She’s a Ptolemy and she can’tunderstand or appreciate the freedoms most Romans enjoy. Nor has she made anysecret of her opinions on the subject.”

“What’s she like?” asked Andre.

“Well, the most obvious thing about her is her beauty,”Travers said. Then he corrected himself. “No, that isn’t really true. The mostobvious thing about her is her sex appeal She practically radiates sexuality.She knows the effect she has on men and she certainly uses it to her bestadvantage. She lives in relative isolation in the house that Caesar gave her,along with her son, whom she claims is Caesar’s. She was married to youngPtolemy XIII when they ruled together, then after his death, she married hisbrother Ptolemy XIV. Hardly what I’d call a loving family. They all hated oneanother. Ptolemy XIV was supposedly poisoned on her orders.”

“Nice lady,” said Delaney wryly.

“Merely a product of her time, her culture, and herposition.” Travers said. “She’s a compelling woman. Sharp, intelligent, andvery willful. Which is only to be expected from the Queen of Egypt. That’s herhouse right there.”

They slowly passed an elegant, white-faced villa behind ahigh stone wall. There were Roman guards stationed outside it and severalEgyptians watched them carefully from just inside the gates as they drove by.

“The problem is how to arrange a meeting with her.’ Traverssaid. “I couldn’t exactly invite her over for dinner.”

“I’ll figure something out.-said Andre.

Be careful: Travers cautioned her.”Once inside those walls,you might as well be in Egypt. And though she seems very personable. Cleopatracould have you killed instantly, merely on a whim.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” said Andre.

“All right. then.” Lucas said, “for now, that’ll be our planof action. We’ll try to get Delaney in with the conspirators. Andre’sassignment will be Cleopatra. As your brother whom you haven’t seen in years. I’llbe introduced to Caesar and see if I can’t make myself fascinating enough forhim to want to socialize with me. How much have you told him about yourimaginary brother’?”

“Not very much, really.” Travers said.”I wanted to leaveroom for you to improvise. All I’ve told him is that we were always very closeand that you stayed behind to run the estate when I went off to the wars.”

“So I was never a soldier?”

“No. Why?”

“Just thinking. Did you write to me regularly’?”

“Yes, as part of my own cover and to give me an excuse formaking extensive notes on the campaigns. Castelli actually received the lettersand he’s been keeping them for me, for my use when I clock back to Plus Timeand start working on my book.”

“Good,” said Lucas.”I think I’ve just figured out how tomake myself interesting to Caesar.”

“What do you have in mind?”

“Let’s say that your brother. Marcus. always had a scholarlybent. An interest in philosophy and so forth. I’ll be an armchair strategist.Well say that I became so fascinated with your detailed letters about the warsthat I’ve decided to write a study of military strategy, using Caesar’scampaigns for my model.”

“But you’ve never read those letters.” Travers said. ‘I’vegot them at the villa now, but I doubt there’s enough time for you to gothrough all of them.”

“I won’t have to,” Lucas said with a smile. “I can skim themquickly, but I’ve been a student of military history for years. One of myfavorite books was Caesar’s Commentaries. I’ve read it several times and I tookan implant download on it before we left Plus Time, so I’ll be able to discussthe Gallic Wars with Caesar from his own observations.”

“My apologies.” said Travers. “I should have known you’dcome prepared.”

“One can never prepare too well for an adjustment mission.”Lucas said. “The only trouble is, more often than not, all the preparation inthe world simply isn’t enough. Those Egyptians worry me. If, as you suspect.they’re undercover S.O.G. commandos, we’re really going to have our hands full.And if they’re not, it still won’t be easy getting them out of the way. I hopeyou can convince Caesar to get rid of them.

“What if I can’t?”

“Then we may have no other choice but to get rid of them ourselves.In order for Caesar to be assassinated, we might just have to assassinate hisbodyguards.”

“All twelve of them?”

“All twelve. That means timing will be absolutely crucial.If we take them out too soon, it will give the conspiracy away and Caesar willprobably surround himself with legionaries. If we take them out too late …”He took a deep breath and exhaled heavily. “Either way, it’s going to be realtricky.”

“But if there are sixty conspirators,” said Andre, “couldn’tthey simply overwhelm the bodyguard?”

“One would think so,” Travers said, “except there weren’tsixty men involved in the assassination itself. Only a handful of them did theactual killing. Besides, it’s one thing to attack a single unarmed man, hut it’ssomething else entirely to go up against a dozen armed and well-trainedsoldiers. Even if the conspirators could get through them, the bodyguard wouldprobably slow them down long enough for the Senate House Guard to intervene.What made the assassination possible was the speed with which it was accomplished.In the confusion that followed, the assassins were able to escape, though theywere all condemned afterward and some took their own lives with the samedaggers they had used to murder Caesar.”

“Here’s a thought,” said Delaney. “What would happen ifthere was an attempt on Cleopatra’s life? Wouldn’t Caesar be concerned enoughto insist that she take the bodyguard for herself?”

“He might,” said Lucas. “On the other hand, he might simplyassign Roman legionaries to protect her.”

Wouldn’t it make more sense for her to be protected by herown people’?” Delaney persisted. “I don’t know, but from everything I’ve heardabout Caesar. it makes sense that he’d want her to take them back, to guard herin the house, and maybe assign additional troops to protect the grounds. Itwould seem that she’d want her own people around her, rather than a hunch ofRoman soldiers who wouldn’t know how to treat her properly.”

“Only what if Cleopatra isn’t really Cleopatra?” Traversasked.

“The way she reacts to an attempt on her life might tell uswhether she is or not,” Delaney said.

“You may have a point,” said Lucas. “It might be worth atry. Only if we’re dealing with the S.O.G.. that could tip our hand.”

“Maybe,” Delaney replied.”But it would also tell us what weneed to know, wouldn’t it?”

“That’s like standing up in the trench to find out if thesnipers on the other side are paying attention,” Lucas said.

“So? Since when were you afraid of snipers?”

Lucas gave him a sour look.

“Sorry. Bad joke.”

“Did I miss something?” Travers said.

“It’s another long story,” Lucas replied. “I’d tell you,except I still don’t know how it’s going to turn out.”

“I’m hoping for a happy ending,” Andre said.

“So am I,” said Lucas with a tight grimace. “So am I.”

Dinner in the Imperial Palace, Steiger thought. I’m movingup in the world. Caesar had been so amused at Antony losing a fortune to him atthe races that he had invited “Creon Sabinus” to dine with him that evening.Being an excellent rider, Caesar was also interested in talking abouthorsemanship. Fortunately. Steiger was qualified to discuss the subjectknowledgeably. Not only was he a member of the Pendleton Base Polo Club, butduring various assignments in Minus Time, he had also served with some of thefinest cavalry detachments in history, from the Mongol hordes of Genghis Khanto Jeb Stuart’s 1st. Virginia Cavalry. The only thing that gave him any troubleWas the Roman custom of eating in the prone position while lying on a couch. Hekept wanting to sit up.

“You should have been a soldier. Sabinus,” said Caesar. laughingas he watched him shift his position uncomfortably. “Like me, you havedifficulty keeping still. I can see that you are not one who is accustomed topampered luxury. A fit. strong man such as yourself, it is a pity that younever joined the legions. You understand a great deal about horses and you seemto have an instinctive grasp of cavalry maneuvers. I could have used a man likeyou in my campaigns.”

“I would have been proud to serve with Caesar,” Steigersaid. “But my father died young and it fell to me to manage the estate.Besides, I am undoubtedly more useful as a breeder of fine horses for Rome’slegions than I would have been as a ordinary soldier in the cavalry.”

“I do not believe that you would have been merely anordinary soldier.” Caesar said. “You have intelligence and wit, all the makingsof a fine officer.”

“I thank Caesar for the compliment. However, my destiny tooka different course. I could not change it now.”

“I have heard it said that a man could change his destiny.”said Caesar. smiling. “Now that Marcian is purchasing your estate perhaps youwill have the chance to alter yours. I will soon be embarking upon newcampaigns of conquest, adding to Rome’s territories. I will require able men.Why not come with me? I promise you that you would not be an ordinary soldier.For your knowledge and ability, I would make you a tribune with my cavalry.”

“I am indeed honored,” Steiger said. “When do you intend toleave on your next campaign?”

“I have an old debt to pay the Parthians, to avenge thedeath of my old friend, Crassus. I plan to depart from Rome on the eighteenthof the month. That should give you sufficient time to conclude your business withMarcian.”

“But I had planned to engage Sabinus to manage the estate,”Marshall protested.

“I am certain that Sabinus has slaves and freedmen overseerswho could manage it for you equally well. Marcian,” said Caesar. “And doubtlessyou could pay them less. I have greater need of able men than you. What sayyou, Sabinus? You have already increased your fortune at my friend Marc Antony’sexpense, and you shall increase it further when your business with Marcian isconcluded. Once that is done, you shall be relieved of your responsibilitiesand there will be nothing to prevent you from enlisting with my forces. Youcould arrange for your money to be invested wisely and when you return, youwill be a rich man. And you shall have your choice of properties from the landsthat we shall conquer. You may build a villa, start a farm and live there, oryou could live in Rome and hire a freedman to manage your property for you,along with the slaves you shall receive from among our prisoners. I treat mysoldiers well and reward them for their service. A man such as yourself coulddo well in the wars.”

“Such inducements would seem impossible to refuse,” saidSteiger. He smiled. “As it would be impossible to refuse Caesar.

“Splendid! Then let us drink a toast to your new destiny!”

Parthia?” said Steiger.

Caesar smiled and raised his goblet. “To Parthia!”

“What the hell was that all about?” asked Marshall. afterthe evening was concluded and they had left the palace.

There’s no need for you to join the legions. By the eighteenth.Caesar will be dead.”

“But what if he isn’t?” Steiger countered. “Suppose this anomalywith the Egyptians turns into a disruption and the conspirators fail to killhim? Then there will be nothing to prevent him from leaving on his new campaignagainst Parthia.”

“And you intend to be with him.” Marshall said. “So that thefirst chance you get …”

“You got it.”

Marshall snorted. “Just like old times. huh? Cloak-and-daggerwet work.”

“Yeah. A tribune’s cloak and a Roman dagger,” Steiger said.

“You’re actually hoping it’ll happen. aren’t you? Christ,you really want the conspiracy to fail, so that you can take Caesar outyourself.”

“I’ll do whatever I have to do.” said Steiger. “depending onhow things turn out. But it would be a hell of a thing, wouldn’t it?”

“Yes, I guess it would at that. You’d be the man who sanctionedJulius Caesar. Not even Mongoose ever pulled off anything that big.”

“It would convince Forrester that there’s a place for thecovert field section,” Steiger said.

“With you as senior section chief, no doubt.” said Marshall.

Steiger glanced at him.-Why not? I’d be the logical choice.And I’ll need good, experienced agents.”

“Forget about it,” Marshall said. “I told you. I’m allthrough with that. I’ve got a good thing going here. I’d like to keep it.” hegave Steiger a long look. “I am going to get to keep it, aren’t I?”

Steiger shrugged. “It’s your choice. John.”

“Is it?”

Steiger met his gaze. “What are you saying. John? You thinkI’d turn you in?”

“You’d only be doing your duty if you did,” said Marshallflatly. “It would be another feather in your cap, wouldn’t it? Busting arenegade agent and using him to nail all his Underground connections. Mighteven net you a promotion.”

“I don’t want to be general that badly,” Steiger said.

“So you say.”

They stared at each other for a long moment.

“Is that what it comes down to. John?” asked Steiger, histone emotionless. “We can’t trust each other anymore? Is that what being in theUnderground has done to you?”

“It’s made me very careful, Creed.” Marshall said evenly. “Maybewe’re both working toward the same end. but we’re really not on the same sideanymore, are we?”

“Aren’t we?”

Marshall shook his head. “No, Creed. You’re still on theinside. I’ve opted out. That makes me a criminal. You can drop the hammer on meanytime you feel like it. I’m not very comfortable with that idea.”

“I’m sorry you feel that way,” said Steiger. “But you couldalways leave Rome. Go deeper underground, in some other time period where Icouldn’t find you. Of course. you’d have to start all over, but that wouldn’tbe very hard for a resourceful man like you. If you really believe I’d turn youin, why take the chance of staying?”

“You don’t really understand, do you?” Marshall said. “I’vegot a good life here. A pleasant. simple. comfortable life. For the first time,I’ve found a sense of permanence. I don’t want to run, Creed. I don’t want tospend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder.”

“Then you shouldn’t have deserted.” Steiger said. “What doyou want me to say. John? That after all this is over, I’ll go back to PlusTime and forget all about you? Fine. You got it. Is that what you want to hear?”

“I wish it were that simple.”

“Yeah, so do I. but it isn’t, is it? Because you don’t trustme. If that’s the way you feel, then nothing I say will make any difference.You see, that’s what happens when you run, John. Sooner or later, you alwayswind up looking over your shoulder. If it’s not me back there, it could besomeone else. You’ll never really know for sure. So you can keep running. Oryou can stop and face the music.”

“I’m not going back, Creed. That part of my life isfinished. “

“Then I guess you’ll have to live with your decision,”Steiger said. “I’m sorry there’s nothing I can say or do to make that easierfor you. but that’s the way it is..

“I’m sorry, too.” said Marshall. Ile sighed. “Hell, let’s goget drunk.”

6

The dinner Travers had planned was a large one and he had invitedsome of the most influential citizens of Rome. Though he had not invitedCaesar. One did not simply invite the Emperor to dinner. even if one was aclose friend of his And there was a reason why they did not want to have Caesarpresent at this occasion. They wanted to be able to talk about him in a mannerthat his presence would not have, allowed. It was to be the occasion for Delaney,in his identity as “Fabius Quintullus,” to make his first move in trying toinsinuate himself into the conspiracy against Caesar.

Cassius and Marcus Brutus had been invited, as Travers knewthem and many of the others from the Senate. as well as Antony and a number ofhis friends, at least one of whom, Trebonius, was known to them to be involvedin the conspiracy. By this point, less than two weeks before the Ides of March.the conspirators would be well advanced in their plans. The thing to do was seeto it that nothing changed them.

It seemed difficult for Delaney to believe that a conspiracywith so many people in it could have been effectively kept a secret, but thensuch was the character of life in Rome among the powerful. Everyone seemed tohave two faces. The public face, which was worn from day to day, in the Senateand on social occasions, and the secret, private face, which was glimpsed onlyduring moments of clandestine intriguing. Rome had seen many conspiracies andwould see many more.

Travers had organized an entertaining party. His kitchenslaves had been at work throughout the day, preparing the many dishes that wereserved, and he had hired musicians to play throughout the evening, as well asdancers, wrestlers, acrobatic dwarves, and several magicians. It was mixedcompany, some of the men having brought their wives, others having broughttheir mistresses, and there were single women in attendance as well as a bevyof attractive slaves. It wasn’t quite the decadent “Roman orgy” of legend, butas the evening wore on, things loosened up considerably and people started todrift off together to explore the house or “walk’ in the gardens.

Marcian had come, as well, along with a number of the charioteerswho had raced the previous day. Clocillus seemed quite comfortable rubbingelbows with Rome’s upper crust. He knew that he was a celebrity. Some of theothers, particularly the young Cassinus. seemed a little awkward, thoughCassinus gradually grew more and more at ease as he was repeatedly complimentedupon his win over Clocillus, who took the attentions paid his rival with goodgrace and added his own supportive sentiments to those of the others.

There was another man who came with Marcian, not one of thecharioteers, whom Travers did not know. Marcian had introduced him as CreonSabinus, a horse breeder from Ilerda whose farm and estate he was attempting tobuy. Antony seemed to be friends with him, as well. They had dined with Caesarthe previous evening. It turned out that Antony, an inveterate gambler, hadlost a fortune at the races to Sabinus. who had been losing steadily until hehad placed a daring bet on Cassinus during the final race. That made Lucas andAndre pay particular attention to him. It turned out that Caesar had beenimpressed by Sabinus, as well. He had offered him a commission in his cavalryfor his campaign against Parthia. A campaign that, if history ran true tocourse. Caesar would not live to embark upon.

Talk of Caesar’s upcoming campaigns gave Delaney the openingthat he was looking for to turn the conversation toward politics.

“I had not heard that Caesar was leaving for the wars onceagain.” he said.

“All Rome speaks of little else,” said Trebonius. “He plansto set out first for Parthia, to avenge his old friend Crassus, and then topress on for the Orient, as his hero. Alexander. had once done. The army isalready gathering in the provinces.”

“Then he will be gone for a long time.” Delaney said. “Whowill govern Rome in his absence?”

“His aides and secretaries, Oppius and Balbus,” saidCassius, “if you can believe it. And they are not even senators. WE are to bedictated to by mere functionaries while our Emperor pursues his dreams of gloryin the East.”

“But it is for the glory of Rome that Caesar embarks onthese new campaigns.” protested Antony. “Think of the wealth the empire shallacquire.”

“I am thinking of the wealth that Caesar will acquire,”Cassius said dryly. “And I am thinking of the days when Rome was a republic,not an empire. governed by one man who appoints mere secretaries to carry outthe duties of his office while he goes adventuring abroad in an attempt torecapture the faded glory of his youth.”

“A sentiment one could expect from someone who supported Pompey,”Antony said derisively.

“Pompey never had himself proclaimed emperor.” said Cassius.“If a man wishes to be king. then it would seem that the least he could do wasstay and rule his kingdom as wisely as he can, not chase off to the far ends ofthe earth in a pointless quest to rival the exploits of a long dead general.”

“It is Rome’s destiny to rule the world.” said Antony.

“As it was Caesar’s to rule Rome?” said Cassius. “Well, Ithink it may be safely said that both those destinies have been realized. Romedoes rule the world and Caesar now rules Rome. What need have we of furtherterritories of dubious value? Rome prospers. I tell you, it is not for Rome’ssake that Caesar goes to war again, but for his own. His hunger for power isone that can never be appeased. Already. he is a king in all but name. Whatmore can he want?”

“To extend Rome’s glory.” Antony persisted.

More likely, to extend his own.” Cassius replied.

“You would not speak so if Caesar were here himself.” Antonysaid stiffly.

“Ah, but the Emperor does not mingle with us mere mortals,except to dictate to us from his throne in the Senate. Only queens are fitcompany for kings,” said Cassius with a smile, referring obviously toCleopatra.

“Are these secretaries to sit upon the throne in his place?”Delaney asked before Antony could reply. “It seems an incredible insult to theSenate.”

“It is an insult, Quintullus,” Cassius said. “Yet it is onethat we are all expected to suffer.”

“It is not Oppius and Balbus who will rule in Rome, but Caesar.”Antony replied. “They will merely act for him in his absence.”

“But why must they. Antony?” Brutus asked reasonably. “Isthe Senate not capable of governing Rome. as it did in the days of therepublic? Has Caesar not increased the House in order to enable it to betterbear the burden’? Or does he believe the House so incapable that it must beguided in its actions by his secretaries’?”

It would seem that he does not wish the House to govern inhis absence because he fears that they might make decisions of which he willnot approve,” Delaney said.

“I think Quintullus has struck upon it.” said Cassius. “Itis not Rome’s power that Caesar seeks to increase, but his own that he wishesto protect.”

“How can you speak this way?” asked Travers. “Look at all thegood Caesar has done for Rome! He has restored Rome to prosperity and peace.from which we have all benefitted.”

“Caesar most of all,” Delaney said.

“I’m surprised at you. Fabius.” said Travers.”You do notknow Caesar as I do. What you say is not only unfair. it is untrue.”

“Is it untrue that he has become an autocrat’?” Delaneyasked. “As Cassius has said, a king in all but name? Never has one man ruledall of Rome as dictator for life. How can Rome preserve her freedoms if allpower is vested in one man? It seems dangerous to me.”

“You can’t seriously believe that Caesar would deprive Romansof their freedom” Lucas said.

“I know this is a subject on which we do not agree. Marcus.”said Delaney. “but I also know that your perceptions have been colored by yourbrother’s correspondence over all these many years. You have studied Caesar’scampaigns and fought them over in your mind until you know every step thatevery soldier took. Caesar has become a hero to you. as to many others. I donot dispute that Caesar is a great man, perhaps even a good man, but he isstill a man and not a god. And men can be corrupted. Especially by power.”

“Quintullus speaks the truth,” said Brutus. “Power is seductive.”

“And we all know that Caesar is easily seduced,” added Cassiuswith a smile.

“You are merely envious.” said Antony.

“Of Caesar’s sharing Cleopatra’s bed?” asked Cassius. “Thereis no shortage of beautiful women in Rome. Antony. I have no need of foreigndiversions.”

“That is still another matter.” said Delaney. “I have heardit said that Cleopatra has great influence with Caesar. Is it right that aforeign queen should hold such influence in Rome? Especially a queen that holdsno respect for Rome’s traditions. Is Egypt Rome’s possession or is Rome Egypt’s?Why must Rome’s ruler be protected by an Egyptian bodyguard? Are there noRomans suited to the task?”

The bodyguard was a gift front Cleopatra.” Antony replied. “Caesarkeeps them merely to please her.”

“Or perhaps he does not trust his fellow Romans’?” said Delaney.

“You are speaking like a fool. Fabius!” said Lucas.

“I am only speaking as one who is concerned.” Delaney replied.“Concerned about so much power invested in one man. Concerned that autocracy isnot compatible with freedom. There is a danger here, Marcus. I sometimes fearfor Rome.”

“I think perhaps that what you fear is greatness,” Antonysaid. “Most men are not capable of greatness. They are little men and they donot understand it. What little men do not understand, they fear. I do not feargreatness, Quintullus. And I have no use for fearful little men. Good night to

“Spoken like a true lackey,” Cassius said wryly as Antony departed.“But it grows late and I am weary of the evening’s entertainment. I would beinterested to hear more of your views, Quintullus. We should continue this discussion.Will you be at the baths tomorrow?”

“Yes. I had planned to go sometime in the morning,” said Delaney.

“Good. Then perhaps we shall see each other there. Goodnight to you, Quintullus.”

“And to you.” Delaney said. Most of the guests had alreadyleft. He waited till Cassius had left with Brutus and then turned to Lucas andTravers. “I think the fish just bit.”

“Just be careful,” Travers said. “Don’t seem too eager.Cassius is nobody’s fool.”

“Neither am I,” Delaney said.

“What did you think of Marcian and Sabinus?” asked Andre.

“I didn’t get much chance to talk to them,” Delaney said.

“Marcian didn’t seem very interested in conversation,” Lucassaid. He disappeared somewhere with a couple of the women. And Sabinus spentmost of his time talking with the charioteers. Of course, him being a horsebreeder, that’s not really surprising?

“He was the big winner at the races the other day,” saidAndre. “He took Antony and his friends for over one hundred thousand sesterces.”She turned to Travers. “You said that Marcian was probably the only one whocould have fixed the race and Sabinus was with him.”

Travers nodded. “It’s possible that they were in collusion.Marcian said that he was trying to purchase Sabinus’ farm and estate. Maybe heset up the win to help his business deal. I can’t see where such a risk wouldhave been justified, but some men will do almost anything to win when it comesto business dealings. However, if that’s the case. I don’t see any connectionto our mission.”

“No. neither do I.” said Lucas. “They don’t seem like menwho are interested in politics. But I think we made good progress tonight withthe conspirators. Delaney can follow up on that and tomorrow, when you take meto meet Caesar. I’ll see what I can do to get into his confidence. That stillleaves Cleopatra.”

“I’ll figure something out.” said Andre. She frowned. “Still,there’s something about that Sabinus that bothers me. I can’t quite put myfinger on it, but I’d swear there’s something familiar about him.”

At night, the streets of Rome were often noisy. Produce andsupplies were brought into the city on heavy carts, fights broke out, thievesand cutthroats plied their trade. But some areas of the city were quiet.Marshall moved softly down the graveled paths of the gardens on the banks ofthe Tiber. It was about three o’clock in the morning and a cool breeze wasblowing. He came to a sitting area where a large sundial had been set up andstopped, waiting. A moment later, someone said his name.

“Simmons?”

Marshall turned to see a figure emerging from the shadows.As the man came closer, he could make him out more clearly. He was dressedincongruously for the time and any Roman seeing him would have puzzled over hisstrange clothing. The man was wearing a 20th-century three-piece charcoal-graybusiness suit, with a button-down white shirt and ‘a red silk foulard tie. Hishair was short, dark, and neatly styled. He had a closely trimmed beard thatran along his jawline and there was the faint bulge of a shoulder holsterbeneath his jacket on the right side.

“I hope this is important. Marshall.” he said.

“Steiger’s here,” Marshall replied.

“Creed Steiger? He’s in Rome? Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m sure. You think I’d have sent word to you ifI wasn’t certain?”

“Is he alone’?”

“Yes and no. There’s an adjustment team that’s been clockedback here and he’s technically working with them, but they don’t know about it.He’s undercover.”

“Undercover?” Simmons frowned. “You mean working on his own,independent of the team? That’s impossible. Forrester disbanded the old covertfield section.”

“Yes, that’s true. but Steiger’s trying to convince him toreinstate it. He’s running this one on his own, to prove his point that there’sa need for the covert field section. And that it can operate withoutcorruption,” he added wryly. “He even wanted me to come back in.”

“He still doesn’t know you’re in the Network?”

“No, he thinks I’ve simply skipped out to join theUnderground and get away from it all. He used some of our old contacts in theUnderground to track me down. He wanted me to help him on his mission.”

“That’s interesting. It could be very useful. What is the mission?”

“A temporal anomaly involving Caesar. There’s a chance hemay not be assassinated on schedule. They think the S.O.G. might be involved.”

“What do you think?”

“I think it’s very possible.”

“That could make things difficult We can’t afford any disruptions.”

“Tell me about it. But I also can’t afford being busted.”

“Is that what he intends to do?”

“He says no. but I don’t trust him. He’s still playingcowboy. like he always did. Him and his psychotic mentor, Carnehan. He’s notconvinced the adjustment team can insure that Caesar will get killed onschedule, SO he’s managed to buddy up to Caesar and get offered a tribuneshipwith the legions Caesar’s planning to take on a campaign to Parthia. That way,if Caesar doesn’t die when he’s supposed to. Steiger’s going to take him outhimself during the campaign, just to prove to Forrester that it couldn’t havebeen done without a covert wet work specialist on the scene. If he decided tobring me in. as well, it would be an added bonus for him. They’d interrogate meabout my contacts in the Underground and my involvement with the Network wouldbe exposed.”

“We can’t have that, can we? Where is he?”

“Not so fast. About the contract. It’s still on. isn’t it?”

“You think we’d cancel it after all that son of a bitch costus with his damned Internal Security Division? Not bloody likely. You take himout for us and you’ll get the money, any way you want it.”

“Not me,” said Marshall. “No way I’m going up againstSteiger by myself. Why do you think I called you?”

“You want to set him up for the hit, that’s fine. too.”

“I’ll still get the money?”

“You’ll still get the money. Provided Steiger’s dead.”

“That adjustment team might complicate things,” Marshallsaid.

“Who are they?”

“Priest. Delaney, and Cross,” said Marshall.

“That can’t be. Col. Priest is dead.”

“Well, he’s a pretty lively looking corpse, if you ask me.”

“You actually saw him?”

“Only several hours ago.”

“You’re certain it was Priest?”

“Well, that’s who Steiger said it was. I don’t know the man,myself, so I suppose it could be someone else. But why would he tell me it wasPriest?”

“I don’t know. Unless he suspects you and he’s planning something.”

“I’m sure he doesn’t suspect me,” Marshall said. “If he knewI was tied up with the Network, you think I’d be here talking to you?”

Simmons hesitated “I don’t know.” He glanced around cautiously,and his hand went toward his shoulder holster. “You’re certain you weren’tfollowed’?”

“I had his wine laced with a sleeping draught.” saidMarshall. “He’ll be out like a light till dawn. You think I’d take any chanceswith him around?”

“I just don’t understand why they’d try to pass someone elseoff as Col. Priest,” Simmons said. “It doesn’t make any sense. If he doesn’tsuspect you, then why would he lie to you?”

“Maybe Col. Priest didn’t really die,” said Marshall.

“They inscribed his name on the Wall of Honor. Why would theyfake his death? Unless ….”

“Unless what?”

“Unless Forrester or Steiger are running their own covertoperation.”

“Then why would they tell me it was Priest’? I mean, if theywanted to make it look like he was dead. It makes no sense.”

“You’re right, it doesn’t. At least, not yet. But they’reobviously up to something. You’re absolutely certain that they don’t suspectyou?”

Marshall hesitated. “If they did, why wouldn’t they havebrought me in already?”

“Perhaps to smoke us out.”

“Why would they need to? If they knew about me. they couldarrest me. clock me back to Plus Time, put me through the wringer, and find outeverything I know before the Network even realized that I’d been busted. Thenthey could simply pick up all my contacts one at a time.”

Simmons nodded. “Yes, that makes sense. But the rest of itdoesn’t. We’ll have to be very careful. There’s obviously something going onhere we don’t know about. We’ll have to bring some people in.”

“What do you want me to do?”

For the time being, play along. For your sake. Marshall, Ihope you’re right about their not suspecting you Because we can’t afford tohave you taken in.”

Marshall tensed. “You’re saying that if they arrest me. I’ma dead man? You’ll have me hit?”

“If they try to arrest you. you know what to do.”

“And if I don’t you’ll do it for me. Is that it’?”

You know how the game is played. Marshall.”

Marshall sighed. “Shit. So I’m stuck right in the fucking middle.”

“It’s your own fault for not covering your tracks better. IfSteiger knew about your old contacts in the Underground. you should have brokenoff with them. You have only yourself to blame for allowing him to find you.Incidentally. if you’re entertaining any thoughts about taking off again. Iwouldn’t advise it. Then you’d have both us and the T.I.A. looking foryou.”

“Hey, I’ve always done my part. haven’t I?” said Marshall. “IfI was thinking of going on the lam. would I have sent for you?”

“No. I suppose you wouldn’t have.”

“Damn right. You guys tried to take Steiger out in Plus Timeand you couldn’t do it. Well, I’m giving you a chance to hit him when: he won’texpect it and I intend to collect on that contract.”

“You do your part and I’ll see to it you get the money. Butbe careful, Marshall. Don’t tip him off.”

“Don’t worry. I know what’s at stake.”

“Where is Steiger now?”

“Asleep at my house. It would be the perfect time to do it.”

Simmons shook his head. “No, not with a potential temporaldisruption going down. We simply can’t take the chance.”

“So what the hell am I supposed to do’?”

“Hang tight and don’t lose your cool. I’ll bring some peoplein to cover you. In fact. I’ll take charge of this myself. I’d like to see thisso-called Col. Priest.”

“You know him?”

“We’ve met. We’ll move in close and keep an eye on things.Let Steiger and the adjustment team do what they have to do. Then once thetemporal threat is over with, we’ll take care of Steiger.”

“What about the adjustment team?”

“Do they know about you’!”

“I don’t think so. Steiger’s playing his own game, close tothe vest, as usual.”

“Then they may not be a problem. With any luck, we might beable to pull it off without them catching on. But if they get in the way, it’llbe just too bad for them.”

“So what you’re saying is that I’m supposed to hang out inthe breeze until Caesar’s been assassinated, one way or the other.”

“Or until they’ve neutralized the S.O.G.”

Marshall grimaced. “Terrific. So we’ve got Steiger, the adjustmentteam, the fucking S.O.G., and me right in the middle of it all, out in theopen. Damn it. I want some protection!”

“Take it easy. I said we’d cover you. If they don’t suspectyou, then all you’ve got to do is continue to cooperate with them. Long as youdon’t lose your nerve, you should be okay.”

Marshall moistened his lips and nodded. “All right. But ifthey make a move on me. someone had better be there.”

“Don’t worry. They will be. I’ll be in touch.”

Simmons clocked out and disappeared.

Marshall reached into the folds of his toga and took out apack of cigarettes. Normally. he never took the chance of taking them outsidehis room, where he could smoke with the door bolted and the wood braziermasking the smell, but his nerves were on edge and he really needed one. As helit up, carefully hiding the flame with his hand and holding the cigarette withhis palm cupped around it, he thought about the laser pistol he had hidden in asecret drawer in his room

The trouble with Roman clothing was that it wouldn’t hide itvery well. A tunic wouldn’t hide it at all, the bulge would be easilydetectable beneath the drape of his toga and he couldn’t very well walk aroundwearing a cloak all the time. He’d have to leave it where it was and count onhis dagger to protect him, which any Roman male could wear openly withoutarousing any suspicion. But the thought of going up against Steiger withnothing but a dagger made his stomach churn. He had no doubt what the outcomeof that would be. He wouldn’t stand a chance unless he took Steiger completelyby surprise. Get him while he’s asleep, thought Marshall, and drive the son ofa bitch up to the hilt into his kidney. Either that or cut his throat. Helooked out over the rippling, moonlit surface of the Tiber and exhaled heavily.He wished there was another way. but there simply wasn’t. Steiger had himbacked into a corner. Damn cowboy, he thought. This wouldn’t have happened ifhe’d just gone along with the others in the organization. Or if he’d simplykept his mouth shut. But no, he had to get up on his white horse and take onthe Network. Had to form the I.S.D. just to clean out all of the so-called “corruption.”As if there was any harm in people trying to make a little money on the side.

The agency expected you to risk your life and all you gotfor your trouble was a lousy government pension. So what was wrong with tryingto salt a little away for your retirement? All right, it was illegal, but sowhat? Everybody always looked the other way. Even the old director had been inon it. But then old man Forrester came in and got all tight-assed about it.Decided to put the Network out of business and bust everyone who was involved,right up to the old director. Jesus. It was his own fault the Network put acontract out on him. People were only trying to protect themselves.

Steiger should have stayed out of it, thought Marshall. Heshould have just kept his damn mouth shut and stayed out of it. It’s not myfault, thought Marshall. He’s left me no other choice. It was too had thatSteiger had to die, but there was just no way around it. And if it had tohappen, why not collect on the contract, so at least some good would come ofit? If not him, somebody else would get it. It might as well be him. You justdo the best you can and take what comes. thought Marshall. That’s how the gamewas played.

7

Drummond and Andell had both hated the idea, as had Travers.They thought it was much too dangerous, but Andre had overruled them, and totheir surprise. Priest and Delaney had hacked her up. The timing. they hadsaid, was too good to pass up. They thought it was a chance worth taking. AsDrummond and Andell were conducted into Cleopatra’s presence, each of themtried to keep his nervousness from showing. If this goes wrong. Andell thought.we could all be dead in the next few minutes. “Stop! What have you there?”

“A gift from Caesar,” said Andell, trying to keep his voicesteady. “For Queen Cleopatra.”

A tall, well-built man approached them. His head and facewere both shaved and he was dressed in Roman style. in an immaculate white togaworn over a gold-embroidered tunic. He was slim. but his muscular definitionspoke of a man who was given to sport and exercise rather than luxury. He had,thought Andell, the bearing of a soldier. He frowned as he met Andell’s gaze.Andell tried to keep his expression neutral. he lowered his eyes. as a slavewould be expected to do.

“Have you examined it?” the man asked the two guards who hadconducted them inside.

The guard hesitated. “No, Apollodorus. But if it is fromCaesar..”

“Fool!” Apollodorus said. “Set it down at once!”

Suddenly Andell heard a throaty. feminine laugh.

“Apollodorus. do you not recall what day this is?”

Andell glanced up and sucked in his breath sharply. It washis first close glimpse of Cleopatra. Her hair was jet-black, worn in theEgyptian style. long and straight down to her shoulder. on the back and sides,in bangs over her forehead. She was a small woman, delicately framed, with anarrow waist, full breasts, and long, shapely legs. The thin, silky white shiftshe wore was diaphanous and it clearly outlined the lush curves of her body. Herface was sharp-featured, with a graceful, Macedonian beauty and her eyes weredark and striking, outlined in kohl and heavily shadowed.

“He remembered,” she said with a smile.

“Caesar’?” said Apollodorus. frowning. “Remembered what?”

“Do you not recall, Apollodorus?” she said. “It was on thisvery day that you first brought me secretly into Caesar’s presence, concealedwithin a carpet. And now he sends me one, to commemorate the occasion of ourfirst meeting.”

It should still have been carefully examined.” said Apollodorus.still frowning. “We do not know it came from Caesar. You have many enemies inRome. my Queen. We cannot be too careful.”

“You worry too much. Apollodorus.” she replied. “Do you reallythink that some assassin would dare attempt to murder me here in this veryhouse, with all your guards’? And with Caesar’s soldiers outside? I am as safehere as I would be in my own palace.” She turned to Drummond and Andell. “Unrollit. Let me see.”

Andell bent down and untied the fastenings. then he andDrummond unrolled the carpet. The guards gasped and reached for their swords asAndre was revealed, rolled up inside the rug. Cleopatra stared in astonishment.

“What is the meaning of this?” said Apollodorus angrily.

Then Cleopatra laughed and clapped her hands. “Oh. it is wonderful!Do you not see? How witty of him! Caesar has sent me a slave girl as a gift!And he has presented her in the same manner in which I arrived to him!”

“I hope that you will not take offense, Your Highness,”Andre said, rising to her feet. “but I am not a gift from Caesar. Nor am I aslave.”

Cleopatra frowned. “I do not understand.”

“Who are you?” Apollodorus said. “Explain yourself this instant!”

“I am Antonia, wife to Marcus Septimus,” said Andre.

“Septimus?” said Cleopatra. “You mean Caesar’s friend?”

“That is Lucius Septimus,” said Andre. “My husband, Marcus,is his brother. These two men are his slaves. To be truthful, my husband knowsnothing of this. I fear that he would not approve. But I had heard so muchabout you and I wanted so very much to meet you! I had heard it said that youfirst came to Caesar in this manner when you met in Egypt and I struck upon itas a way to meet you. I thought that you might be amused. but I had no ideathat your first meeting with Caesar took place on this very day. I apologize ifmy little ruse had made you angry. Such was not my intent.”

“This is insufferable!” said Apollodorus. “You must leavethis house at once!”

“She shall do no such thing,” said Cleopatra.

“But. my Queen …”

Cleopatra smiled. “Do you not see. Apollodorus? It is anomen. Since I first came to Rome. I have had no one save yourself, my guards,and my female slaves for company. Except when Caesar comes, I am always lonely.And, unlike other Romans, who merely suffer my presence, this woman has soughtout to meet me. The manner in which she chose to do it shows cleverness andwit. No. Apollodorus, she shall stay and dine with me this evening.”

“But, my Queen,” protested Apollodorus, “we know nothing ofthis woman!” ‘“We know she is the wife of the brother of Caesar’s closestfriend.” said Cleopatra. “Septimus has always treated me with courtesy,deference, and kindness. Caesar’s regard for him speaks for his quality. Iwould expect no less from his brother.”

“But we do not know his brother.” Apollodorus persisted.

“Then we shall arrange to meet him,” Cleopatra said. Shesmiled mockingly. “Or do you believe that he has sent his wife to murder me Ido not know what has come over you, Apollodorus. You see conspiracieseverywhere. Come. Antonia. Pay no mind to my servant. He is merely overzealousin his duties.”

“Perhaps he would like to search me, to make certain that Ihave no weapons,” Andre said.

Cleopatra laughed. “Your wit appears to be a ready weapon.”she said. “Come, sit with me. Apollodorus, we shall have some wine.”

“As you wish. my Queen.” Apollodorus said, though he wasobviously displeased.

Cleopatra led Andre over to a couple of couches and a smalltable.

“I must admit,” said Cleopatra. “that I am disappointed thatCaesar did not choose to commemorate our meeting with this gesture, butdoubtless, he has much on his mind now that he is preparing to leave on newcampaigns. I fear he has forgotten. Still, I am pleased you came to see me inthis fashion. It has added spice to a most dreary day.”

“I was afraid that you might be angry at such an intrusion,”Andre said.

“I might have been,” said Cleopatra with a smile, “but Ihave too many other things to occupy my emotions these days.”

“What things’?”

“My son. Caesarian. who is growing up more Roman thanEgyptian; my servants and my guards, who bore me; Apollodorus, who stifles me;Romans. who despise me.. and Caesar, who maddens me when he is absent, butwhose presence fills my heart with lightness. But tell me about yourself.Antonia. What made you want to come and see me?”

“I was curious,” said Andre. “My husband says that it is myworst trait. I had heard that you were very beautiful and that your beauty hadmade Caesar your captive. Ever since I had arrived in Rome. I have heard oflittle else but you and I was seized with a compulsion to meet you.”

“You do not live in Rome, then?” Cleopatra asked.

“We live in Cumae,” Andre explained, reciting her cover. “Ihad never before visited Rome. Marcus came to visit Lucius. as they had notseen each other since Lucius left for the wars. We came with our friend FabiusQuintullus. Marcus, Lucius, and Fabius have been friends since childhood.Marcus is very interested in Caesar’s Gallic campaigns. He thinks that Caesaris a great general. Perhaps even greater than Alexander.”

Cleopatra smiled “Caesar would love to hear that.” she said.“only do not say ‘perhaps.’ Tell him that he has eclipsed the fame of Alexanderand you will make a friend for life.”

“What is he like?”

“Caesar? You have not met him?”

“Not yet. but Lucius had promised to introduce us. I do notknow what to expect.”

“You may expect to find him very charming,” Cleopatra said. “Heis not the handsomest of men, but there is much about him that is appealing.His wit, his strength of character, his self-possession, his intelligence …He is a most unusual man. When I was still in Egypt, before we had met. and Ireceived word that Caesar wished to see me, I was prepared to meet an arrogantRoman. I expected a man full of his own self-importance and disdainful of allothers. Yet Caesar was none of those things. He had an easy manner and aconfidence that required no boasts to support it. I was very taken with himright from the beginning. I know they say in Rome that I am some great seductresswho has used her wiles to ensnare the Emperor. but the truth is that I wasmyself seduced. Caesar is a most compelling man.”

“You must love him very much.” said Andre.

Cleopatra smiled a bit sadly. He is the first man I haveever truly loved. I left Egypt at his bidding to be in Rome with him, bothbecause I wanted to be with him and because it is here, in Rome and not inEgypt, that I can best serve the interests of my subjects. I have borne Caesar’sson, though I know that there are many here in Rome who denounce my claim asfalse, despite the fact that one can see his father’s features in his own. Yet,unlike you, Antonia, I may not marry the man I love. Caesar will not divorceCalpurnia and he cannot marry me. He is Emperor of Rome and I am Queen ofEgypt, by his own decree. Egypt is little more than Rome’s possession now. Andas Caesar is Rome, so I am Egypt. A mere possession.”

Perhaps it was her loneliness that had made her vulnerable,perhaps she had caught her at an unguarded moment. but Andre found Cleopatra tobe nothing like what she had expected. Instead of the cruel and imperiousdaughter of the pharaohs, the cold and calculating seductress that history hadpainted her as, here was a woman of warmth, candor. and perception. A woman whocared about her subjects, a woman of passion. As Andre sat listening to her, itseemed difficult for her to believe that this was a woman who had coldlyordered the murder of her own husband, who was also her brother, and yethistory had reported that as fact. Although there had been many times when Andrehad discovered that history had been in error. According to history. there hadnever been any love lost among the Ptolemy family. They intermarried, they quarreled.they fought and intrigued and killed each other, and yet Cleopatra was regardedby her subjects with affection. Though she was portrayed as one of the greatseductresses of history, there was never any evidence that she was eversexually involved with anyone but Caesar and Marc Antony. What Andre saw beforeher was not some Machiavellian female bent on manipulation. but a woman whoseemed earthy, lonely, and very much in love.

fear for him,” Cleopatra continued. “Between Caesar himselfand Apollodorus, as well as my slaves who run my errands for me. I hear much ofwhat goes on in Rome. Caesar has made many enemies. They say that it is I whohave fed his lust for power, but the truth is that I have only tried to feedhis caution, which has hut little appetite. He says that the republic can no longerfunction, that the nobles have grown decadent and cannot rule. Without him, hesays. the government would collapse and there would once more be civil war. Hecannot believe that Rome would wish that. Perhaps Rome does not. but I fearthat there are many Romans. men who seek influence and power, who do. Caesar isa great man. Antonia. and great men inspire jealousy in lesser men.”

“But Caesar is well protected. is he not?” asked Andre. “Doeshe not have the Egyptian guard that you presented to him?”

“Yes, he does.” said Cleopatra. “but he keeps them only becauseI begged him to take them for my sake. he begrudges their presence. He saysthat they make him look afraid, distrustful of his fellow Romans. He says thatno man can truly guard against assassins who are determined. Must one live inconstant fear. he says, trusting no one. afraid to eat without a taster. afraidto set foot outside his rooms without a dozen guards? I have changed my destiny,he says. I have set my feet upon a new path. I know not what he means when hesays such things. He believes that Rome cannot do without him and so there islittle risk to him. But I am happy that he keeps the guards, even if he does itjust to please me. It was Apollodorus who suggested it. He picked the men himself,knowing my concern for Caesar. He promises that they will keep him safe. but Ifear for him just the same. Even now, there are doubtless those who plotagainst him. Frightened, desperate men. I have learned.” she added with a lookof grave concern. “that desperate men do desperate things.”

The thermae or the Roman baths. had not yet reachedtheir zenith. In the 2nd century Roman baths were little more than small washhouses, reserved for men, but in time, they grew to tremendous size, becomingluxurious in their appointments, a place where Romans could spend the entireday bathing or taking steam or fortifying themselves against the cold withbrisk baths in the frigidarium. They were places where Romans could engage in impromptuwrestling bouts or be massaged by slaves or simply relax and gossip with theirfriends. For the price of one quadrans. the smallest Roman coin, acitizen could gain admission to the baths for the entire day. It was a placewhere one could get away from the cramped, noisy, and often smoky gold andexquisite tiled mosaics. The baths were not only a place to bathe, they werealso recreation center., equipped with gymnasia, gardens. libraries, andreading rooms. No expense was spared in making the baths a palatial andcomfortable community resource.

In the coming years, when the empire reached its zenith, thebaths would become architectural marvels. The Baths of Caracalla, which wouldbe constructed in A.D. 211. would have a height of over 100 feet and the main blockwould cover over 270.000 square feet, an area greater than the modern houses ofthe British Parliament. The Baths of Diocletian would be even larger, capableof accommodating over 3.000 bathers at one time. The first baths built on atruly palatial scale would be constructed during the time of Agrippa. in A.D.20. and they would be followed by the baths of Nero. Trajan. Trajanus Decius.and Constantine. But at the time of Caesar. the public baths in Rome were stillrelatively small and nowhere near as spacious and luxurious as they wouldbecome in the coming years.

Delaney paid his admission and entered the baths where hehad agreed to meet with Cassius and his friends, he entered the small anteroom,where he removed his tunic. toga, sandals, and loincloth and hung them up wherethey would be watched by a slave attendant. As the baths would grow larger inthe coming years, the theft of clothing would become more and more of aproblem, so that most Romans would wear only their oldest and most threadbaretogas and tunics to the baths in anticipation of losing them and having to gohome in thief’s clothing or of having to send a slave home to bring themsomething to wear.

Delaney went into the main room, which was far smaller thanthe larger baths that would eventually be built. It consisted mainly of a poolwith a tiled floor, considerably smaller than an Olympic-sized pool, the waterin it kept warm by the hot air circulating beneath the floor, from the firestoked in the basement. Off to one side was the smaller frigidarium.essentially a cold plunge. and through an arched doorway in the back was thecalidarium, a small room that was similar to modern Turkish baths, except thatthe steam came from heated water, not from pipes. he passed a small area whereseveral men lay naked upon tables, being scraped by slaves. There was no soapin Rome at this time and the bodily impurities released by perspiration werescraped off with a metal, bone, or wooden scraper called a strigilis.which had a curved blade, similar to the scrapers used on modern polo poniesafter they had lathered up.

Several of the men were being anointed with oils and perfumes,others were being carefully depilated. A few of them made little grunts astheir body hair was carefully pulled out with tweezers. On the opposite side ofthe pool was a lavatory, essentially a small, square-shaped room with benchesrunning around all four walls. The toilets were merely holes cut in the bencheswith the waste dropping down into running water underneath. Instead of toilet paper.Romans used sponges on short sticks, which could be rinsed off. It was not themost sanitary of arrangements, but the practice was much more hygienic thanwhat was known to most of the rest of the world at this time.

Cassius and the others were in the steam room, seated uponmarble benches. All of them were nude, of course, as was Delaney. Romans had ahealthy attitude about nudity, though mixed bathing was not practiced until thetime of Nero. Men worked out and wrestled in the nude, and athletic competitionson the Campus Martius were engaged in with only the bare minimum of clothing,often nothing more than a simple loincloth.

“Ah Quintullus!” said Cassius. “We were just talking aboutyou. Come, sit with us.”

Delaney joined them on the bench. They all stared at hisphysique. His muscular development was on a level that was virtually unknown inRome and it predictably took them by surprise.

By the gods!” said Trebonius. “Look at the size of him!”

“If I did not know better. Quintullus.” Brutus said admiringly,“I would swear that you had once been a gladiator. Truly, you possess thephysique of a Hercules!”

“I come from a family of large men.” said Delaney. “And lifein the country entails considerable physical labor.”

“But do you not have slaves for that? asked Albinus,frowning.

“My family is not as wealthy as that of Septimus,” Delaneysaid. “We do have slaves, but their number is far smaller than most of theestates around us. But, to tell the truth. I enjoy physical labor. It may beunfashionable. but I find that it keeps me strong and healthy.”

“A sound mind in a sound body,” Trebonius said.

“Truly, that is the Roman ideal. But you. Quintullus. havecarried it much further than any man that I have ever seen. Aside from labor,it is clear that you engage in sport. Am I correct in guessing that you are awrestler?”

“I do enjoy wrestling,” said Delaney with a smile. “I findthat it relaxes me.”

“I will wager that you do not often lose.” Trebonius saidwith a grin.

“That is true. 1 have not been bested since I was a boy.”

“My friends. I see an opportunity for us to make some moneyhere.” said Trebonius.

“We did not come here today to speak of making wagers.”Casca snapped. “We have matters of much more import to discuss.”

“Patience. Casca.” Cassius said. “Let us not rush intothings. Let us take a little time and get to know our new friend. FabiusQuintullus.” He turned to Delaney. “Casca is always fervent in his opinions,especially when it concerns politics.”

“Politics often make for fervent opinions,” said Delaney. “Myfriend Marcus and his brother, Lucius, both find mine a bit too fervent onoccasion.”

“I had that impression.” Cassius said with a smile. “Ourdiscussion at dinner last night became somewhat impassioned. I had the feelingthat they did not entirely approve of our opinions. But we were, after all,merely expressing our concerns about Rome’s welfare.”

“Do not mind Marcus Septimus.” Delaney said. “You must understandthat he has led a quiet, uneventful life in Cumae. His brother. Lucius. went offto the wars and it fell to Marcus to remain behind and manage the estate. Healways wished that he could go and experience some adventure for himself, winsome glory, share in the booty of war, hut that was not to be. So he had tocontent himself with the letters that Lucius sent home. Lucius painted such apicture that Marcus became enthralled with Caesar. He would read those lettersover and over again, playing out the battles in his mind, as if he were therehimself.”

“That is not uncommon,” Cassius said understandingly. “Thereare many Romans who followed Caesar’s campaigns in such a manner, wishing thatthey could have been there with him. But as one who has been to war himself. Ican tell you that the imagining is always much better than the actual experience.Much safer, too.”

“No doubt.” Delaney agreed. “For my part. I do not thinkthat Marcus would have made much of a soldier. He has too soft a disposition.But who is to say? Men who fear a battle have often proved themselves thebravest soldiers. while those who swagger and boast of fearlessness often turncoward in the thick of the fighting.”

“Yes, that’s very true.” said Casca.”I see you speak fromsome experience. Quintullus.”

“I have had my share.” said Delaney, “but Marcus has alwaysknown only the quiet life. And Lucius has always had a gift for writing. Weoften thought he should have been a poet. He described his experiences in Gaulso vividly that Marcus came to idolize Caesar from afar. To speak againstCaesar in his presence is like a personal affront. I can understand the way hefeels, but in certain ways. Marcus can be blind to what is happening aroundhim. In Cumae.

he is removed from the politics of Rome. They affect himonly slightly. Whereas I. who plan to settle down and live in Rome. haveconcerns that are considerably stronger.”

“We had started discussing some of your concerns last night,”said Cassius. “I would be curious to hear more of your thoughts on the matter.”

Delaney shrugged. “Like you. I have certain opinions when itcomes to Caesar.” He glanced around, as if with some discomfort. “But perhapsthey are opinions best kept to myself. I had a little too much wine last nightand spoke a bit too freely. In such troubled times, one should be careful whatone says in public.”

“Come now, Quintullus,” Casca said. “You are among friendshere. And from what you said last night. it would seem that your thoughts andyour concerns echo our own.”

“Indeed?” Delaney said warily.

“Casca speaks for us all,” said Cassius. “Men ofintelligence can see that there is danger in one man having absolute power torule in Rome. Especially a man like Caesar. In some ways, he is like anotherSulla. Only Sulla was never made dictator for life.”

“And he never took the title of Imperator.” saidTrebonius. “nor had so many honors and privileges been heaped upon him.”

“What is the difference between emperor and king?” askedCasca angrily. “They are but different names for the same thing.”

“It would seem so,” said Delaney.

“Rome was done with kings ages ago,” said Cassius. “Underthe republic, we enjoyed freedom and democracy, a life such as no nation in theworld had ever known. Through the Senate. the citizens of Rome all had a voicein how they were governed. Yet what have we now? A Senate that is little morethan Caesar’s tool. Look at the new men whom he has elevated. Are there anyCiceros among them? No. They are all merely acolytes to Caesar. bowing to hisevery whim. Hardly anyone in the Senate dares to dispute with him. His word islaw. His every action is unquestioned. And now he plans to leave on yet anothercampaign, to play at being Alexander, while we suffer his surrogates. meresecretaries, not even members of the House, to dictate to us in his absence! Isthis not a mark of the contempt in which he holds the Senate?”

“I cannot disagree.” Delaney said, nodding. “Since he becameEmperor. Caesar has become more and more the autocrat. It is not in thetradition of Rome’s institutions. Only what can anyone do’? He has the supportof the people.”

“Perhaps he has the support of the plebeians,” Brutus said, “whoknow only not to bite the hand that feeds them, but there are many men in Rome.men such as ourselves. who perceive the growing danger of his rule. Caesar hasalways catered to the masses, with his corn dole and his public feasts andentertainments, but in his ascent to power, he had made more than his share ofenemies.”

“Such as yourself. Brutus?” asked Delaney. “I have heardthat there are intimate bonds between yourself and Caesar.”

Brutus flashed him an angry look. “I am not his bastard. ifthat is what you imply!”

“I imply nothing.” said Delaney. “I only repeat what I haveheard. Did he not pardon you after you took Pompey’s side during the civil war?”

“He pardoned Cassius, too,” said Brutus. “And Casca and manyothers. It was all his way of showing himself to be magnanimous, the greatgeneral who was gracious in his victory. It was but another way to curry favorwith the mob. It was no different from when he ordered Pompey’s statues putback up after the mobs had torn them down. You think that he had any love forPompey? If so. then why did he pursue him into Egypt? Why did he destroy hissons? Did he make a great show of remorse for having done so, as if he had hadno other choice? No. He returned to Rome to celebrate a triumph. A triumphcelebrating the destruction of one of the greatest families of Rome! There wasyour true Caesar. not the one who gave out pardons and ordered Pompey’sstatues put back up!”

“That was nothing but a show: said Casca derisively. “Anotherentertainment. It was as if to say. ‘Let us have the statues put back up. tocelebrate the greatness of the man I have defeated. thereby proving I amgreater still.’ His ambition seems to know no bounds. For the good of Rome.that ambition must somehow be curtailed.”

“Strong words,” Delaney said. “but then what good are wordswithout acts to back them up?”

“We do not merely speak words. Quintullus,” said Casca intently.“We plan to act as well!”

“Indeed?” Delaney said, raising his eyebrows. “What is itthat you plan to do?”

“Peace. Casca.” Cassius said, laying a hand on his arm. “Perhapsnow is not the time.”

Delaney smiled. “Yes, I have heard such talk before.” hesaid wryly. “It is the wine-fueled courage of the dinner table, the whisperedconspiracy of the baths. Men talk boldly, but when it comes time to act, theyhesitate and say. ‘Now is not the time.’ And somehow, the right time nevercomes.”

“What if it were to come?” asked Cassius. “Where would youstand. Quintullus?”

“Where I have always stood, with the strength and purpose ofmy convictions.” said Delaney. “If there was something to be done and if therewas a way to do it. and if Rome stood to benefit from the act that I was contemplating.then I would stand for Rome, of course.” He shrugged. “But then, we speak onlyimpassioned words. Impassioned acts are what is needed. Yet, as you say. Cassius.there are no more Ciceros. Even Cicero himself has retired from public life. Noone opposes Caesar openly. There is nothing to be done.”

“Perhaps there is,” said Casca. “If, as you say. you areindeed a man who stands for the strength and purpose of his convictions. A manwho stands for Rome.”

Delaney gave him a steady stare. “So far. all I have heardis talk,” he said. “To oppose Caesar in the baths is one thing. To take a standagainst him publicly is quite another. As you say. Caesar controls the Senate.What can a few men do?”

“Perhaps we are not quite so few as you suspect,” saidBrutus. “There are many others who share our feelings and concerns.”

“I do not doubt that.” said Delaney, “but I repeat. Caesarcontrols the Senate. When the House belongs to Caesar. what can anyone do?”

“We could remove Caesar from the House.” said Casca.

There was a moment of tense silence.

“There is only one way to do that. You speak of murder. Casca,”said Delaney softly.

“Not murder,” Casca replied. “Tyrannicide! That is the onlyway to stop a man like Caesar! Or does the thought disturb you, Quintullus?”

“It is a disturbing thought,” Delaney said.

“What happened to the man who spoke of the strength of hisconvictions?” Casca asked snidely. “A moment ago. you spoke of the need foraction. Yet now, it is you who hesitates.”

They were all watching him carefully.

“To hesitate is not the same as to weigh a course of actioncarefully.” said Delaney. “It is one thing to huddle together in the baths andwhisper boldly. It is another to plan a course of action. Such things should beentered into with great care. There have been others in the past who actedrashly. They did not live long to regret their choice.”

“No one speaks of acting rashly,” Cassius said.

“Then you have a plan?”

“We have considered it,” said Brutus. “But we must becertain that those to whom we speak of it stand with us. You seem to be of a likemind with us. Quintullus. We spoke of that last night. The question is, haveyou the courage to stand with us?”

“Do I look to you like the sort of man who lacks the courageto stand for that which he believes in?” asked Delaney.

“No,” said Brutus. “you do not seem like such a man. Yetthat is not an answer.”

“Before I give you one.” Delaney said warily.” first tell mewhy you have chosen me, a stranger to you all, to reveal your thoughts to. Thatmeant taking a great risk. How do you know that I will not denounce you?”

“A fair question.” Cassius said. “And one deserving of an answer.First, we were favorably impressed with what you said last night. You spokeboldly and frankly, expressing thoughts similar to ours. A man such asyourself, strong, clear-thinking, forthright, did not seem to us like someonewho would be afraid to follow words with deeds.”

“There was a risk, of course, in sharing our thoughts withyou,” said Brutus, “but the risk was not so great as you imagine. You are, asyou have said, a stranger and a newcomer to Rome, whereas we are all men ofposition and influence. Them are no witnesses to testify to what has transpiredhere just now save for ourselves. If you were to inform on us-”

“Which would be rash, indeed.” interrupted Casca.

“If you were to inform on us.” continued Brutus. “it wouldbe merely your word against ours. And we are all in a position to make certainthat you could not pose a threat to us.”

“Make no mistake. Quintullus,” said Cassius, “we do not intendto threaten you. Brutus merely seeks to explain our reasoning.”

“Your reasoning seems sound, so far.” Delaney said.

“There is yet one more thing.” Cassius said. “Yourfriendship with Lucius Septimus, and the fact that you are staying in hishouse, means that you could be very useful to us. Septimus is close to Caesar,a frequent visitor to the palace. He has Caesar’s confidence. And you seem tohave his.”

“I see.” Delaney said. “And Trebonius is friends withAntony, who is also close to Caesar. I begin to understand your methods.”

“Yes, as you can see. Quintullus. we are careful men.” saidCassius. “We must see to it that not a thing is left to chance. There is muchat stake. The very fate of the republic, to say nothing of our lives.”

“Indeed.” Delaney said thoughtfully.

“So. What is your answer?” Cassius asked “Do you stand withus, or against us?”

“I stand for the republic.” said Delaney.

“Then you are with us?” Casca asked.

“If I am to be asked to risk my life.” Delaney said. “then Iwould be a fool to undertake that risk for nothing.”

Brutus frowned. “Is it payment that you seek?”

“I am not some assassin who works for hire. Brutus,” said Delaneywith an affronted tone. “I believe in the republic and I have come to Rome tobuild a life. But if I am to be instrumental in saving the republic, then Iwould like to have a hand in restoring it. as well.”

“And so you shall,” said Cassius. “We will need men ofability when the time comes. to prevent Rome from falling into chaos. Neverfear. Quintullus. you shall not fall by the wayside. At the very least, atribuneship could be arranged. What say you to that?”

“I think that I would like being a tribune.” Delaney saidwith a smile.

“Then it is settled.” said Cassius. “We shall meet again atmy home an hour before sunset. And we shall drink to the future of Rome!”

8

“This will do,” said Steiger, looking around at the smallapartment in the tenement block that Marshall owned.

“Are you sure about this. Creed?” Marshall asked. “You don’thave to stay here, you know. You’re perfectly welcome to remain at my place.”

“Am I?” Steiger said, giving him a hard look. His pale.blue-gray eyes were like cracked ice.

“Look. Creed, if it’s about last night-”

“Yeah that’s what it’s about,” said Steiger, an edge in hisvoice. “Why didn’t you kill me last night. John? What’s the matter. lose yournerve?”

Marshall hesitated only a fraction of a second. “What thehell are you talking about?”

“Come on, John, you think I can’t tell when I’ve beendrugged? You must’ve slipped me a Mickey in the wine. You had your chance. Whydidn’t you take it?”

Marshall looked as if he were going to protest again. butthen his shoulders sagged and he exhaled heavily. “All right. Look … I admitI thought about it. but when push came to shove, I–I simply couldn’t do it. Ijust couldn’t. You gotta understand. Creed, it wasn’t because I wantedto. it’s … I was just afraid.”

“I must be slowing down,” said Steiger flatly. “I suppose Ishould’ve seen it coming. I just never expected it from you.”

There was an awkward pause. Marshall felt fear knotting hisstomach. He wanted to run, but he was afraid that if he did, he’d never make itto the door. Sweat stood out on his forehead.

“What are you going to do’?” he asked anxiously.

“Nothing, John,” said Steiger, turning away from him. Hestood at the window, looking out into the street. He sounded suddenly weary. “Youcaught me with my guard down and you had me, but you didn’t do it. I guess thatcounts for something:

“Creed,!.. Hell, I wish …” His voice trailed off.”Isimply don’t know what to say.”

“There’s nothing to be said.” Steiger replied in the sameflat tone. He shook his head. “You’ve changed, John. You used to be one of thebest. Now you’ve become a frightened little man.”

“Creed … try to understand. I didn’t want to do it. Andwhen it came right down to it. I-”

“Spare me, John. all right? Look. I appreciate the help you’vegiven me, but I don’t really need you anymore. Go back to your house and yourteenaged female slaves. Go live your fantasy. Don’t worry. I won’t turn you in.I don’t really give a damn about the Underground. Besides, you’re just notworth the trouble.”

Marshall looked down at the floor. “Creed, look.. I wasjust scared, that’s all. I didn’t know if you were going to-”

“I don’t really want to hear it. John, all right’?”

Marshall sighed. “Okay. Look … you can stay here as longas you like. Do what you have to do, I won’t come around and bother you. But ifthere’s anything you need, money or-”

“Get out. John,” said Steiger, without looking at him. “Justgo away. I don’t want to see you anymore. The minute you walk out that door. I’mgoing to forget that you exist.”

Marshall moistened his lips nervously and nodded. “Allright.” He felt enormously relieved. “For whatever it’s worth, Creed, I’m Indysorry things had to turn out this way.”

“So am I. John. So am I.”

“We’re making good progress,” Travers said, coming into theroom. “That was a messenger from Caesar. We’ve been invited to dine with himand Cleopatra at her house tomorrow night.” He glanced at Andre and grinned. “Cleopatramust have told him about how you managed to gain entry to her house. He said tobe sure my brother brings his clever and audacious wife.”

“Great,” said Lucas. “I’ve been wanting to have a lookinside that house. Good work. Andre. You got us in.”

“The invitation did not include you. I’m afraid,” Traverstold Delaney.

“That’s just as well,” Delaney said. “I’m supposed to meetwith the conspirators again tomorrow night.

“So then you’re in?” asked Travers.

“For what it’s worth, I guess I am.” Delaney replied. “Butif I didn’t know that these guys actually pulled it off. I’d say they were apretty sorry bunch of assassins. They seem to be all talk and no action. Lessthan two weeks to go before the Ides of March and they still haven’t really gota plan.”

“Disorganized?” asked Lucas.

“You’d have to see it to believe it,” said Delaney with aderisive snort. “They’re like a damn sorority trying to decide what decorationsto put up for the dance. The leaders get together during the day, usually atthe baths, where they huddle in a corner in a little group and whisper, then atnight, they meet at Cassius’ house for a long, leisurely dinner and gallons ofmulsum. I don’t know how they stomach the damn stuff. They just sit arounddrinking and trying to psych one another up. They say they have a plan and they’rerefining it, but there isn’t any plan that I can see. It’s just a bunch of guystossing around wild ideas. And all during the night. other conspirators keepdrifting in and wandering out, as if they were dropping into some lodgemeeting. I can believe that there were about sixty people in on this thing. It’slike a damned convention. These people are rank amateurs. They haven’t got anysecurity to speak of. just a couple of guards at the door who pass people inand out. The way they’re going about it. if Caesar hasn’t heard about thisso-called conspiracy by now, he must be off in some other world.”

“Well, according to history, there were many rumors of conspiraciesagainst his life.” said Travers. but Caesar simply discounted them. There havealways been conspiracies in Rome of one sort or another, but few of them evercame to anything. Caesar was even involved in several aborted conspiracieshimself, such as the one with Crassus. He knows there’s opposition against him.but the people support him and he’s got the Senate cowed. If word has reachedhim about this conspiracy, maybe he feels the same way about it as you do. Thatthey’re all talk and no action.

“But would he just ignore them like that?” Andre asked withsurprise.

“If he were anybody else, he probably wouldn’t.” Travers replied.“But he’s Caesar. He’s survived more bloody wars than any other general inRome. The man simply has no fear. Maybe he really believes that he’sinvulnerable.”

“According to your report, he didn’t seem to believe it thenight he heard the oracle’s prophecy.” said Lucas.

“A lot’s happened since that night.” Travers replied. “TheCaesar who was about to cross the Rubicon was full of doubt and indecision. He’dalways bucked the odds before, but for the first time in his life, he reallywasn’t sure. No Roman general had ever marched on Rome before. Even for Caesar.it seemed like going much too far. But he pulled it off. And he hasn’t lookedback since. After he defeated the great Pompey, he didn’t think that there wasanything he couldn’t do.” Travers paused. “After his death. Caesar was deified,but in his own mind, he’s halfway there already.”

You mean he actually thinks of himself as a god?” asked Andre.

“No. I doubt that. I’m sure he doesn’t, not in the literalsense. But with all he’s managed to accomplish, it’s clearly gone to his head.You know the old saying. Absolute power corrupts. absolutely. Caesar hasn’treally been corrupted. at least not in the same sense as Tiberius. Caligula.and Nero were. but be really does believe that he’s infallible. Besides, hismind isn’t really on what’s happening in Rome. Being emperor doesn’t seem tointerest him anymore. He’s bored.”

“Bored’?” said Lucas, raising his eyebrows. he’s run out ofchallenges. Since he became emperor. Rome has been at peace. And peace is notCaesar’s milieu. he’s a soldier. He’s not really alive unless he’s in the fieldwith his troops. It’s what he does best. He can’t wait to leave on that campaign.The old war dog wants one last taste of battle. He’s not a young man anymore.This is his last chance to go down in history as the greatest general who everlived, the man who surpassed even Hannibal and Alexander. ‘There’s a world toconquer out there.” Travers shook his head. “He’s not going to concern himselfabout a few malcontented senators.”

“I wonder what would have happened if he wasn’t murdered.”Lucas said, musing out loud. You think there’s a chance he would have pulled itoff?”

“I don’t think there’s much chance he wouldn’t have.” saidTravers. “Jesus, wouldn’t that be something’? Rome’s empire would have extendedall the way from western Europe to the Far East. Caesar would have become themost powerful ruler who ever lived. History would have taken a very differentcourse. Who knows how things would have turned out!”

“Let’s hope we don’t have to find out.” Delaney said.

Travers glanced at him, as if suddenly remembering what theywere here to do. “Yes.” he said quietly. He sighed. “What’s our next move’?”

“Well, tomorrow we’ll have a good chance to take stock ofthe situation at Cleopatra’s house.” said Lucas “I’d like to look around andsee if there’, a good place I can drop in unexpected sometime.”

“Probably the gardens.” Andre said. It looked like therewere a few places where you could clock in unobserved. But I still can’tbelieve that Cleopatra could be a ringer. She just seems so … genuine. It’sApollodorus I have my doubts about.”

“You know how long he’s been with her?” asked Delaney.

“Since she was sent into exile,” Andre said. “She says he’sserved her loyally ever since. He was the one who smuggled her in to seeCaesar.” She looked at Travers. “You were there, you must remember him.”

“Yes. I do,” said Travers. “and I’ve seen him a number oftimes since then, but I’ve never really spoken with him.”

“What’s their relationship like?” asked Lucas.

“He seems to be a bit more than just a servant or a slave,”said Andre. “He defers to her, of course. but I noticed that he does try tomanipulate her, though that can’t be easy. He’s clearly in charge of thehousehold. Cleopatra said something that I found very interesting. She’sconcerned about Caesar’s safety, but she said it was Apollodorus who suggestedshe present him with a bodyguard. And he picked the men himself.”

“That is interesting,” said Lucas. “We’ll have to keep acareful watch on him.”

“We’ve got Castelli and Corwin watching Marcian and Sabinus.”Delaney said. “That leaves Andell and Drummond free. We could assign them towork shifts on Apollodorus. Watch the house while he’s inside, follow him whenhe leaves.”

“Hell. I almost forgot to tell you,” Travers said. “WhenCorwin relieved Castelli early this morning and Castelli came in to get somesleep, he reported that Sabinus has apparently moved out of Marcian’s house andinto a small apartment in the Argiletum.”

“Isn’t that sort of a working-class district?” Lucas asked,frowning.

“It’s not one of Rome’s best neighborhoods.” Traversreplied.

“Odd place to live for a man who just won a bundle at the races,”said Delaney.

“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” Lucas said.

“I can’t shake the feeling that there’s something veryfamiliar about Sabinus,” Andre said. “I don’t know what it is. I don’t forgetfaces and I’m sure I’ve never seen his before, but there’s still something ….I don’t know. It’s just a feeling.”

Lucas glanced at Delaney. “Finn?”

Delaney shook his head. “He rang no bells with me, but thenI didn’t get a chance to talk to him. I was concentrating on Cassius and theothers.”

Andre shrugged. “Maybe I’m wrong. I don’t know, it’s justsort of a hunch ….”

“I’ve learned to respect your hunches.” Lucas said. “We’llleave Corwin on Marcian and have Castelli stay on Sabinus. We’ll need to bringin some more people to relieve them.”

“I’ll go wake up Castelli,” Travers said.

“No, let him sleep.” said Lucas. “There’s time. When hewakes up. tell him we’ll need a couple more T.O.’s transferred in.”

“Just two?” asked Travers.

“For now,” Lucas replied. “I’d like to keep the numbers manageable.The more people we bring in, the more chances we’re taking of disrupting thetimestream. We’re taking enough chances as it is, interacting with the mostpivotal characters in this temporal scenario. Let’s walk softly, okay?”

Travers nodded. “That makes good sense to me.”

“All right.” said Lucas. “In the meantime, there are severalthings we’ll need to do. First, we need to set up safe transition points foreach of us somewhere in this house. Someplace where well be able to clock in orout, any time of day or night, without alarming any of the household slaves andwith no chance of two people clocking in at the same time.”

“I’ve already anticipated you,” said Travers. “I keep only afew slaves and they’ve all got strict instructions not to enter my privaterooms unless they’re told to.” He grimaced. “I would have liked to dispensewith slaves altogether, but I have to keep at least a few to maintainappearances. I’ve got a personal transition point with coordinates in mybedroom in case of emergency, and you can set up your transition points eitherin there or in the library. Those would probably be the best places.”

“Good. We’ll get those programmed in right away? said Lucas.“What about outside the house?”

You want to set up transition points outside the house?”asked Travers. puzzled. “Suppose we’ve got hostiles inside the house?” saidLucas. “We’ve got to consider worst case scenarios, such as if we blow ourcover to the S.O.G.”

Travers nodded. “Good point. What about the gardens down bythe riverbank? Or the roof?” use both,” said Lucas. “The other thing we’ll needis an arms cache. If we have to take on soldiers of the S.O.G., we’ll needlasers and disruptors. Where can we keep them safely?”

“I’ve got that taken care of, too,” said Travers. “I’ve gotsome concealed storage places underneath the floor in the library.”

“Excellent.” said Lucas. He glanced at the others. “Have Iforgotten anything’!”

“What about a safe house?” asked Delaney..

Lucas snapped his fingers. “Right. We’ll requite a house orapartment somewhere in the city where we can hole up in case this place iscompromised?

“I’ll see to it,” said Travers.

“Anything else?” asked Lucas.

Delaney shook his head. “I think we’ve got it covered.”

“I hope so.” Lucas said. he made a tight-lipped grimace. “Ihave a feeling this is going to be a tough one. God knows, we’ve had a lot moredangerous missions before, but I don’t think we’ve ever had one with so many variables.How the hell are we going to take out a dozen people who are constantly in thepublic eye without having anybody notice?”

“The answer to that one’s simple,” said Delaney. “We can’t.Unless we can figure out some way to separate Caesar from his bodyguards onMarch fifteenth, it’s going to get messy.”

“Maybe we’ll get lucky,” Andre said.

They simply stared at her.

“On the other hand,” she said wryly. “maybe not.”

Marshall jumped about a foot when Simmons suddenly materializedin his bedroom. He’d been sitting on his bed. with his door bolted, nervouslysmoking a cigarette, when the Network cell chief suddenly appeared before him.

“Christ. Simmons, you gave me a start!” said Marshall. exhalingheavily. “You should be more careful. What if I’d had a girl in here?”

“That would’ve been too bad for her.” said Simmons flatly,he was dressed in black commando fatigues and there was a laser pistol in atanker-style holster at his shoulder. “I’d suggest you curtail your sexualdiversions for the time being. You’ve got more important things to worry about.Did you know you’re being watched?”

“I’m being watched?” said Marshall. stunned.

“That’s right.” said Simmons. “I thought you said they didn’tsuspect you.”

“But.. I don’t see how they could!” Protested Marshall. “Ihaven’t done anything to alert them or give myself away! I swear!”

“You must have done something,” Simmons said. He looked atMarshall’s cigarette with distaste. “Those filthy things are going to kill you.”

“If I don’t die of a damn heart attack first, from youpopping in here like that,” Marshall said. “I need these. They’re my only remainingconnection with the world I came from. An Underground connection picks them upfor me. They help steady my nerves.”

“Well, you’d better lay in a good supply, then,” Simmonssaid. “You’ll need your nerves steady. I see Steiger’s left the house.”

“You’ve got-him under surveillance?”

“Of course. You think we’re playing games here? Snap out ofit. Marshall. for Christ’s sake. Start thinking straight. What happened? Whydid he leave?”

Marshall glanced down at the floor and took a nervous dragoff his unfiltered cigarette. “He wanted me to provide him with a separate safehouse.”

Simmons regarded him steadily. “That’s not all of it. Whataren’t you telling me?”

Marshall hesitated.

Simmons suddenly stepped forward and grabbed him by histunic, lifting him up off the bed. There was a sound of ripping cloth. “Don’tfuck with me, Marshall,” he said in a low voice, through clenched teeth. “Icould do this just as easily without you. Get my drift?”

“All right, all right! Let go of me!”

Simmons released him and stepped back. “Let’s hear it,” hesaid. “ All of it.”

“He found out I drugged him the other night.”

“How? I thought you said he wouldn’t suspect a thing?”

“I don’t know how!” Marshall said. He took a deepbreath and let it out slowly. “That stuff wasn’t supposed to have any aftereffectsand I know he couldn’t have tasted it in the wine. But he figured it outsomehow. He’s good. He always was.”

“So you gave yourself away,” said Simmons with contempt. “Howcome you’re still alive?”

Marshall shook his head. “When he confronted me with it, Iwas sure he was going to kill me. But he hasn’t put it all together. He thoughtI’d gotten paranoid and drugged him so that I could kill him while he was out,because I was afraid he’d turn me in. I let him think that and convinced him Icouldn’t go through with it. That I’d lost my nerve. Since I hadn’t gonethrough with it, I guess he felt he owed me something. So he said he’d stay inthe apartment and he wasn’t going to contact me again. As soon as I walked outthe door, he’d forget I existed.” Marshall sighed. “He said I didn’t have toworry about him coming after me. I wasn’t worth it.”

“That’s it?” asked Simmons skeptically.

“That’s it.”

“He must be getting soft.”

“That’s funny,” Marshall replied dryly. “That’s almost thesame thing he said.”

“You’re lucky. It looks as if no real damage was done. Allwe’ve got to do is keep him under surveillance and take him out at theappropriate time.”

“You’d better tell your people to be careful,” Marshallsaid. “I wouldn’t count on Steiger getting soft. He just let me slide for oldtimes’ sake. He’s still the best damn field agent the T.I.A. ever had. If theyget too close, he’ll spot them.”

“Don’t worry,” Simmons said. “I’m not about to underestimatehim. What concerns me now is that surveillance on you. They must have caught onto you somehow.”

“Unless Steiger told them about me. I can’t see how,” saidMarshall. “Even after what’s happened, I don’t believe he’d do that. He’d haveto break his cover to blow the whistle on me.”

“So what? I don’t see how it would jeopardize his mission ifhe revealed himself to the adjustment team.”

Marshall shook his head. “No. he wouldn’t do that. I knowSteiger. He’s never been a team player. His whole purpose in being here is toprove to Forrester that the agency still needs the covert field section. He won’tlet the adjustment team know he’s here unless it’s absolutely necessary. Youhave to understand what drives him. he wants to go back to covert field work.

Alone, in deep cover. Just the way his old mentor. Carnehan,always used to do it. The Mongoose and Steiger were cut from the same cloth.Both mavericks. Both in it for the thrill. Steiger’s going to do things his ownway. If the adjustment team stays in control of the situation, he’ll hold offand cover them. If they blow it, he’ll take Caesar out himself.”

“Well, if Steiger hasn’t told them about you. then obviouslysomething you’ve done has put them on to you.”

“I tell you. I haven’t done anything that would make them suspectI’m part of the Underground, much less the Network,” Marshall insisted.

“Maybe not,” said Simmons. “otherwise I can’t see any reasonwhy they wouldn’t simply move in and apprehend you. But you must have donesomething to arouse their suspicion. Think. What have you done recently thatmight have drawn their attention to you?”

Marshall shook his head. “I tell you. I can’t think ofanything!”

You had to have done something.”

Marshall shrugged helplessly.

“Have you done anything different lately? Anything that wasout of your ordinary pattern of existence? Anything at all?”

Marshall frowned. “The only thing I’ve done recently that I’venever done before was fix a chariot race.”

Simmons frowned. “When?”

“A couple of days ago. But I can’t see how they couldpossibly know about that.”

“Why did you do that’”

“It was Steiger’s idea. He knows I’ve had contact with MarcAntony and he wanted to use that contact to get next to Caesar. So he had mefix the race so he could take Antony for a bundle, which would give him thechance to play the gracious winner and entertain Antony and his friends on hiswinnings.”

“And you haven’t done anything else out of the ordinary?”

“Nothing.”

“Then that must have been it. Somehow they figured out therace was fixed and that you fixed it.” I don’t get it,” Marshall said. “Even ifthey found that out, and I don’t see how the hell they could have, why shouldthat make them suspect me of anything other than being a crook?”

“You’re not thinking. Marshall. They’re on the lookout forany pattern of events that could connect to Caesar. If you arranged for Steigerto win a conspicuous amount of money from Marc Antony and that led to Antonyintroducing him to Caesar, it was something that would obviously attract theirattention. Especially since Steiger came out of nowhere and suddenly he’sinteracting with key figures in this scenario.”

“So that’s what that invitation from Septimus was all about!”said Marshall with sudden realization. “that’s why they asked me to bring thecharioteers! They wanted to have a chance to look us over!”

“Who’s Septimus’?”

“He’s an L.T.O. named Travers, who’s been assigned to Caesar,”Marshall explained. “Steiger warned me about him at the party. He wanted tomake sure I kept my distance from him and the adjustment team.”

“Oh. that’s nice. Any other little details you convenientlyforgot to mention?” Simmons asked dryly.

“I’m sorry. I meant to tell you about him, but-”

“But you were too busy worrying about your own skin.”

“Okay, so I’ve been under a lot of pressure. You think it’sbeen easy for me? Anyway, that must explain it. Septimus.. that is, Travers.knows who I am. I don’t mean who I really am. I mean he knows whoMarcian is. If they somehow tumbled to the fact that the race was fixed.Travers probably figured out that I was the only one in a position to do it.That must be why they’re having me watched. They can’t really know anything;they’re just not taking any chances. They’d never recognize Steiger with hisnew face and they don’t realize he’s here undercover. backing them up.”

“Then it follows that they’d have him under surveillance,too,” said Simmons. “For all they know, he could be S.O.G. This is turning intoa regular Chinese fire drill. If he’s not careful, he’s only going to wind upinterfering with their mission.”

“We can’t allow that to happen.” Marshall said. “A temporaldisruption would affect us all.”

“You think I don’t know that?” Simmons snapped. “If he spotsthe surveillance they’ve put on him, he’s either going to figure out they’reworking at cross-purposes and break cover, or he’ll think it’s the S.O.G. andtake out whoever they’ve got watching him. Then they’ll be convinced that he’sthe opposition, and by the time they get everything straightened out, it couldbe too late.”

“So what are we going to do?” asked Marshall.

“I’m almost tempted to play them off against each other,”Simmons said. “It would really be something to make Steiger’s plan backfire onhim and have his own friends take him out for us. But with the S.O.G. around,that would be taking too much of a chance. We’re just going to have to getSteiger to break cover and start working with the others before he screwseverything up.”

“But then he won’t be on his own anymore,” said Marshall. “Hewon’t be as vulnerable. If you try to move against him then, he’ll have theadjustment team to back him up.”

“So we’ll simply wait until they’ve completed their adjustment.”Simmons said. “Then, if necessary, we’ll take them all out.”

“You must be crazy,” Marshall said. “Going up against Steiger’sbad enough, but I’m not about to try to take on a whole adjustment team!”

“No one’s asking you to.” said Simmons. “You let me worryabout that.”

“Yeah? And suppose you blow it? They’ll he coming after me!Unh-unh. There’s no way I’m going to take that kind of chance. I’m the one who’sgot the most to lose here. You want to take out Steiger. fine, but you stayaway from that adjustment team!”

“Or else what?” asked Simmons softly.

“You just stay away from them, that’s all. I’m not about torisk everything that I’ve built up here just because you want to be a cowboy,Simmons. Remember, I’m the one who called you in. I’m the one who gave youSteiger on a platter. And I’m going to be the one to call the shots.”

“I don’t think so.” Simmons said.

He drew his laser and shot Marshall in the chest.

9

It was one of the most fascinating evenings Lucas had everspent. It was an intimate party, himself and Andre. Travers, Caesar andCleopatra. The Queen of Egypt had provided a sumptuous repast, seven coursesserved with excellent Greek wines. A trio of musicians played softly andunobtrusively throughout the meal on cithara, lyre. and pan pipe. There were nojugglers or acrobats or midget wrestlers, merely silent and attentive slaveswho brought them food and kept their goblets filled, under the watchful eye ofApollodorus.

Caesar was relaxed and loquacious in Cleopatra’s presence.He was delighted to discover that “Marcus” was a student of his campaigns andthey spent long hours discussing his wars against the Helvetii and the Nervii,the invasion of Gaul by the German tribes, the campaigns against Vercingetorixand the Aedui and the civil war against Pompey. Lucas quickly realized whyTravers had such affection for the man and why Caesar’s soldiers had alwaysfelt such a fierce loyalty toward him. Caesar had an enormous amount ofcharisma. He was a man of strong personality. He was quick-witted, with a senseof humor, an unintimidating manner, and a way of knowing how to make peoplefeel comfortable around him. He was a fascinating and compellingconversationalist, but he also knew how to listen, an ability rarely found inmen with large egos. He conveyed a sense of tremendous forcefulness and drivethat was restrained. yet capable of being unleashed at any time. As Andre putit later. he was. quite simply. a very sexy man.

Lucas was constantly aware of Apollodorus throughout theevening. And of Caesar’s Egyptian bodyguard. Most of them were stationedoutside, but there were four of them present during the meal, two on eitherside of each entrance to the room. Their eyes never left the party at thetable. Several times, Lucas caught Apollodorus staring at him intently. Hesmiled at him, but got no response. Apollodorus remained impassive. Caesarnoticed Lucas glancing at the guards and gave Lucas and Travers the openingthat they’d been waiting for.

“A grim-looking bunch, are they not?” said Caesar. “I amsorry if they make you feel uncomfortable. Apollodorus. tell them to take theirposts outside. I very much doubt that I will be set upon in here.” Apollodorushesitated a fraction of a second, then moved to comply with Caesar’s order.

“Do they go with you everywhere?” asked Lucas.

“Everywhere.” said Caesar wearily. if I would let them. Ithink they would sleep at the foot of my bed. Cleopatra means to protect myimperial person from murderous shopkeepers and senators.”

“You joke.” said Cleopatra somberly. “but you have manyenemies. There are men in Rome who resent your power over them. You should nottreat such things so lightly.”

“Should I concern myself with a handful of malcontented senatorswhen all the rest of Rome supports me?” Caesar replied.

“It takes but one determined man armed with a sword or daggerto end a life.” said Cleopatra.

“I have survived many determined men armed with swords anddaggers.” Caesar replied. He turned to the others. “You see, we have had thisargument before. Cleopatra acts as if we are still in the palace of thePtolemys, where assassins lurk in every shadowed corner and intrigues abound.”

“There are intrigues in Rome, as well,” she said. “I onlywant to keep you safe.”

Caesar smiled. “I am as safe in Rome as I would be in themidst of my legions. The people love me.”

“The people are cattle.” Cleopatra replied scornfully. “Theyalways have been. Their affections can be bought, as you well know, since youhave spent so much to purchase them yourself. It is not the people you shouldfear, but those who stand to gain the most if you were to be removed frompower.”

“If I were to be removed from power, who is there who couldtake my place?” asked Caesar. “Antony? Perhaps, if he were to settle down andbe more serious. But he is one of my dearest and most trusted friends and hedoes not wish to become serious. He would require a guiding influence, mostprobably a woman, but there is no woman in Rome strong enough to hold him inhis traces. Save yourself, perhaps,” added Caesar with a smile. “Antony wouldbe no match for you. But I hardly think we need to worry about Antony. He is mystaunch supporter. Who else, then? Cicero? he is an old man and much moresuited to making speeches criticizing those who are in power than to rulehimself. And though Cicero might still cherish dreams of the republic, he hasno real ambition. Cassius. perhaps? An oracle once warned me to beware of mennamed Cassius, Casca. and Brutus. You remember. Lucius. you were there.”

“I remember that night well; said Travers, nodding. “Thenyou will remember the oracle also said that a man could change his destiny.”said Caesar. “I took his words to heart and I have taken firm control of mine.I know that Cassius and his friends bear me no love. I do not underestimatethem, but they would be incapable of ruling in my place. They would only fallto arguing amongst themselves. I have heard rumors that they plot against inc.but these are but the idle whisperings of malcontented men. They would be foolsto think the people would forgive them if they moved against me.”

“With your bodyguard around you,” Cleopatra said, “theywould never dare.”

“They would not dare in any case.” said Caesar. “But withyour Egyptians at my side, it makes my enemies believe I fear them and thatonly serves to bolster their opinion of their own importance.”

“Caesar has a point,” said Travers. “Though we know it isnot true, there are those in Rome who believe that Caesar has become distancedfrom the people. An Egyptian bodyguard cannot help but contribute to thatfeeling,”

There, you see?” said Caesar. “Have I not said the same myself?”

“My concern is only for your safety,” Cleopatra said. “Imerely wish to keep you out of danger.”

“Perhaps you overestimate the danger,” Lucas said. I, forone, find it difficult to believe that a general who was victorious in so manybattles and who defeated no less a commander than Pompey the Great need fearfor his safety in the streets of Rome.”

Cleopatra shot him an angry look. “In battle. Caesar was surroundedby his legions. In Rome, he is surrounded only by bitter, jealous, andambitious men. Is the Emperor not entitled to protection? Does he not have theright, the privilege, to maintain a bodyguard? Or would you have him travelabout the city without a retinue, like any common citizen?”

No one expects the Emperor to act like a common citizen.”said Travers placatingly. “but perhaps the common citizens would take it betterif the Emperor’s retinue was Roman, rather than Egyptian. Please understand, Imean no insult, but there has been talk that Egypt has far too much influencewith Caesar.”

“You mean to say that I have too much influence,” said Cleopatraangrily. “You disappoint me, Lucius. I should have thought that you, of allpeople, would be above listening to common gossip

“I am sorry. I did not intend to make you angry.” Traverssaid, “but the truth is that it is more than common gossip. You should knowthat I would be the last to speak ill of you in any way, but there are those inRome who do not know you as I do and who believe you have little respect forRoman freedoms and traditions. They see an Egyptian guard protecting Caesar andit makes them feel uneasy that their Emperor chooses to surround himself withthe soldiers of a foreign queen. It is a matter of appearances.”

“Why should Caesar care about appearances?” she replied hotly.“He is the Emperor! It is not for common men to question his decisions!”

“It is not for common men to question kings,” said Traversgently, “but Rome will not be governed by a king.”

“Enough.” said Caesar. who had been listening to their exchangewith a frown. “Let us not end this evening with an argument. I have alwaysvalued your opinion. Lucius, and I have had similar thoughts myself. But I amnot convinced most Romans feel this way. The people of Rome know that myconcern is only for their welfare. Still. I do not wish to give the appearancethat I am fearful for my safety.” He held up his hand, forestalling Cleopatra’sresponse. “I will give the matter careful thought. But we shall speak no moreof this tonight”

The streets were dark when they left Cleopatra’s house andstarted on their walk hack to Travers’ villa, a short distance away. Their waywas lit by two slaves bearing torches and another five slaves accompanied themas their armed retinue. The streets of Rome were dangerous at night. They spokein Greek, a language that would not be unusual for educated Romans to conversein and one which none of Travers’ household slaves would understand.

“What did you think of Cleopatra?” Andre asked.

“If she’s a fake, then she’s a good one.” Lucas replied. “I’minclined to believe she’s genuine. I think Apollodorus is definitely the one towatch.”

“Caesar’s guards all looked very capable to me,” Delaneysaid. “Alert, high level of fitness, taller than average … they could easilybe our men.”

“Caesar seemed very ambivalent about having them around,”said Lucas. “What do think. Travers?”

Travers sighed. “I think there’s a good chance he maydismiss them. unless Cleopatra manages to change his mind. The question is,what will we do if he doesn’t?”

“Well have to make sure he does,” said Lucas. “An attempt onCleopatra’s life would convince him that there are people in Rome who fear herinfluence on him and conspire to assassinate her. He’d believe the threat toher was greater than any threat to himself and assign his Egyptian guard toprotect her. That would get them out of our way.”

“It might work, but it would be dangerous.” said Travers.

“We knew that going in,” Delaney said. “But we’ve only got alittle over a week left. We can’t afford to waste any more time.”

They turned into a quiet side street.

“The best way to get inside would be through the gardens atthe back of the house,” said Lucas. We go in wearing masks and we knock out theguards. We don’t want to kill any of them, at least not until we’re sure aboutthem. The thing is. we want to get close. but not too close. We need to makeenough of a commotion to arouse the guards inside the house, so that-”

Travers suddenly cried out as a bright beam of laser lightpenetrated through his left shoulder. It all happened very fast. The two slavesahead of them dropped their torches and fell as laser beams stabbed throughthem. Two of their armed guard dropped before any of them had a chance toreact.

“It’s an ambush!” Delaney cried out, dropping to the groundas the street became a crisscross latticework of light. The three remainingslaves took off in fright. One of them, ran directly into a beam, screaming ashe fell. Lucas vanished as he translocated and a second later. Delaney alsodisappeared as he clocked out.

“Get back to the house!” Andre shouted to Travers as he fumbledfor the controls of his warp disc. Then. suddenly, it was all over. It had alltaken no more than twenty seconds. Travers vanished, clocking hack to thetransition coordinates inside his house about three quarters of a mile away.Andre stayed put, stretched out behind the body of one of the fallen slaves.She had pulled the laser pistol. which she had strapped to her lower thigh,beneath the loose, ankle-length. pleated tunic she wore. She lay very still,staring intently into the darkness. The street was deserted. A moment later,she heard Lucas.

“Andre, it’s me.”

“Are you all right’?”

“Get back to the house. Right now.” She reached for her warpdisc, which was disguised as a heavy bracelet, and punched in the preprogrammedtransition code for Travers’ house. Moments later, they were all together inthe library. Travers was in some pain, but fortunately, his wound wasn’t veryserious. The beam had penetrated the shoulder bone and gone straight through.cauterizing the wound.

“Well, it looks like the cards are on the table.” Andre saidas she examined his wound. “Did you see any of them?”

“Yeah.” said Lucas. frowning as he opened up the hidden weaponscache beneath the floor. “We found them.”

She paused and glanced up at him. “You found them?”

“They were dead.” Delaney said, taking a laser pistol from Lucasand checking its power pack. “We found six bodies. I recognized two of themfrom Cleopatra’s house. One of them served us dinner. They’d been shot with lasers.”

“What the hell’?” said Andre. But. who?”

“We don’t know,” Delaney said. “But whoever it was saved ourasses.”

“It was probably the Underground,” someone said from behindthem. They spun around to see Sabinus standing casually in the entrance to thelibrary. Only he had spoken to them in English. There was something veryfamiliar about his voice. Castelli suddenly came up behind him, putting a laserpistol to the back of his head.

“Don’t move,” he said.

Steiger froze.

“I’m sorry about what I said back at the penthouse. Priest.”he said evenly. “but as you can see. I had my reasons.”

“Steiger!”

“Jesus Christ.” said Andre. “I knew there was something familiarabout him!”

“It’s all right, Castelli.” Delaney said. ‘He’s one of us.Capt. Castelli. Col. Steiger.”

“I’ll be damned. Sorry about that. Colonel,” Castelli said,putting away his gun.

“That’s perfectly all right. Captain,” Steiger said. You didpretty good back there.”

“I should have guessed.” said Lucas. “That was you backthere.”

“No, actually, it wasn’t me,” Steiger said, coming into theroom with Castelli following him.

Delaney frowned. “But I thought you just said-”

Steiger sat down in an ornate, ivory-inlaid chair. “I wastalking about the hit they tried to put on Castelli, here. He handled himselfreal well.”

“ What said Lucas.

“I’m afraid I’m not following any of this.” said Travers asAndre sprayed a medicated sealant on his wound from a first-aid kit. “Who isthis person?”

“Col. Creed Steiger. Capt. Jonathan Travers,” Lucas said, introducingthem. “Col. Steiger’s T.I.A. He used to be the senior agent in the covert fieldsection. He’s also head of the Internal Security Division for the agency.”

“And he was also supposed to be back in Plus Time,” said Delaneywryly. “because he asked to be relieved of duty on this mission.”

“Up to your old tricks again. I see.” said Andre.

“I’m sorry about that,” Steiger said. “The idea was to backyou up, just in case your covers got blown. Which is apparently what’shappened.”

“Terrific,” Lucas said with a grimace. “We thought you mightbe the opposition. Damn it. Steiger. you could have screwed up this wholemission. Where the hell does Marcian fit in?”

“Marcian was really John Marshall, a former field agent whowent over to the Underground.” said Steiger.

“Was?” said Andre.

“Yeah. was. He’s dead. Looks like the S.O.G. got him. Likethey almost got Castelli and you. I came to warn you that this place is nolonger safe. I suggest we move elsewhere, quickly. “

“We’ve got a safe house set up,” Lucas said. “But we’d probablyhe safer here. This place is more easily defended.”

“Will someone please explain to me what’s going on?” askedTravers with a confused expression on his face.

“It’s pretty simple. actually: said Steiger. “I wasofficially relieved of duty in Plus Time so that I could clock back here undercoverand back up the team. They didn’t know I was here and they didn’t recognize mebecause I’d had cosmetic surgery.”

“Was this Forester’s decision?” Lucas asked.

“Yes and no? Steiger replied. “The truth is. I had my ownagenda. I wanted to demonstrate to him that there’s still a place for covertoperations. I’d been bugging him for a chance to prove my point, so he decidedto go along with it. only unofficially. Officially. I’m still on leave. Thatway. it’s just my ass that would be hanging in the wind if I screwed up.”

“You almost did just that. God damn it,” said Lucas. “Yourealize we wasted valuable time and manpower keeping you under surveillance?”

“Like I said. I’m sorry about that. But I had no idea I’ddone anything to give myself away. What put you on to me?”

“The chariot race,” said Delaney. “While we were watchingit. Andre figured out that it was fixed and that all the drivers were in on it.Travers said that the only one in a position to put in that kind of fix wasMarcian. SO we checked and found out that a man named Sabinus. Who came out ofnowhere, was the big winner that day and that he was connected to Marcian.”

“So you had someone watching Marshall. as well?”

“Lt. Donovan.” said Castelli. “He’s one of the new T.O.’s Ijust had brought in to help with the surveillance. Him and Sgt. Hall. Hall’sasleep upstairs. He was due to relieve Donovan in about an hour.”

“Well, you can tell him not to bother.” Steiger said.

“And you’d better check on Donovan, as well. They might’vegotten him. too.”

“Shit,” said Castelli. “I’d better clock over there rightnow.”

“Wake up Hall and Corwin and take them with you,” Lucassaid. “Make sure they’re both armed. Then go check on Andell. If Donovan andAndell are both all right, bring them back here and leave Hall and Corwin onsurveillance duty at Cleopatra’s house. But tell them to be very careful. They’reon to us.”

“I’ll get right on it.” said Castelli. hurrying out of theroom.

“What the hell happened. Creed?” asked Delaney.

“I’m not exactly sure.” said Steiger. “But we’ve all beenblown somehow. Like I said, your man Castelli was pretty good. I never spottedhim until tonight, but I had this prickly feeling at the back of my neck and Iknew something wasn’t right. so I started looking. I went out for a walk to seeif I could flush my tail, if there was one, and sure enough, after about fiveblocks, I spotted him. Just about the same time, they tried to hit him. Therewere three of them and by rights, they should’ve got him, but he was prettyfast. They missed their first shot at him and he clocked out right away. Didn’twaste a second. I didn’t know the players without a scorecard, so I didn’twaste any time doing the same thing. I clocked over to Marshall’s place.because I thought he might’ve had something to do with it. Only when I gotthere, he was already dead. Shot with a laser.”

“Why did you think Marshall was behind it?” Lucas asked.

“Because Marshall’s a deserter. and he was scared_ We wentback a long way together. He used to be in the covert field section. I guess itgot too much for him. He started slowing down and he decided to opt out. Hejust disappeared one day. But we’d both maintained contacts with theUnderground, so it wasn’t too hard to figure out what he’d done. Only I didn’tknow he was in Rome. When this mission came down. I started checking with myold contacts to find out if they had anyone back here and bingo, Marshall’sname came up.”

“Did I understand you correctly?” Travers asked with astonishment.“You maintain contacts in the Underground?”

“Occasionally. they can be very useful,”.Steiger said.

“But … but that’s against the law! Those people arecriminals!”

“Those criminals probably saved your life tonight,” saidSteiger.

“I still don’t understand,” said Travers.

“Marshall must’ve been holding out on me,” said Steiger. “There’sapparently a bunch of them back here. I didn’t know that, hut it’s the onlyexplanation that makes sense.”

“But you said you thought he was behind what happened tonight,”said Andre.

“That’s what I thought at first,” said Steiger. “until Ioverheard you just now, before I came in. Which reminds me. your securitystinks. Why haven’t you got guards posted?”

“Because we didn’t know that we’d been blown.” said Lucas. ‘andbecause we couldn’t spare the people, no thanks to you.” He glanced up asCastelli came back in with Donovan and Andell.

“I need a report fast.” he said.

“I didn’t see anything tonight. sir,” Donovan said.

“Me, neither.” said Andell. “Nobody left Cleopatra’s house afteryou’d gone.”

“They must have clocked out to set up the ambush.” Said Lucas.“We’ll fill you in later, but right now, we need some security around here incase they try again.”

“Right,” said Castelli. “Andell. you take the roof. Donovan.watch the back. I’ll take the front.”

They hurried to their posts.

“All right, get back to Marshall,” Lucas said to Steiger. “Hewasn’t thrilled when I suddenly popped in on him,” Steiger said. “He wasworried that I might turn him in when this was over. He should’ve known better,but he wasn’t the man he used to be. He caught me off guard and drugged me theother night. I guess he meant to kill me, but he lost his nerve. He said hecouldn’t bring himself to do it. But after what happened tonight. I thoughtmaybe he’d changed his mind. Only when I clocked back to his place, he’d beendead for hours. In his room, with the door bolted from the inside.”

“Suicide?” asked Andre.

Steiger shook his head. “No, his laser was still in itshiding place. He’d been murdered. My guess is the S.O.G. caught on to him somehowand took him out. His conscience must have bothered him, so he got his buddiesin the Underground to keep an eye on us. Maybe that’s what tipped theopposition. 1 don’t know, but it’s the only explanation I can think of for what’shappened tonight.”

“It would make sense,” said Lucas, nodding. “The Undergrounddoesn’t want a temporal disruption any more than we do. so they’re backing usup. only the paranoid bastards are staying out of sight so we won’t know whothey are.” He sighed. “Unfortunately, with Marshall dead, unless they contactus, there’s no way we can get in touch with them.”

“Sure looks that way,” said Steiger.

“Well, at least we know one thing,” said Delaney. “There’sno question anymore that our so-called Egyptians are really S.O.G. UnlessCleopatra issues lasers to her troops.”

“I’d just like to know what the hell gave us away,” saidAndre. “I can’t think of anything we’ve done that should have aroused theirsuspicions.”

“Maybe it wasn’t anything you did.” said Steiger. “Maybe itwas something I did, or something Marshall did. Or maybe they’ve already beenthrough this before.”

“What do you mean?” asked Travers.

It’s just an idea, of course,” said Steiger. “but maybe theysent in Observers of their own in advance of the mission, to document thescenario as thoroughly as possible. figure out who all the players were and soforth. Then they could have simply clocked in their Special Operations Groupback to the beginning, after they already knew as much as possible about theway things went down. If that’s the case, then we obviously would’ve stood outlike sore thumbs, because we weren’t around the first time.”

“Wait a minute.” Travers said with a frown. “That doesn’tmake any sense. It would be impossible.”

“Why?” asked Steiger, raising his eyebrows.

“Because it would violate temporal physics.” Travers said. “Thisscenario occupies a particular temporal location in the timestream. If theyclocked in Observers in advance. and then tried to clock in their S.O.G. teamback to the initial point of the scenario they were observing after theObservers had finished their task and made their report, then they would havealtered the very scenario they were attempting to observe in its unalteredstate.”

“ You want to give me that again?” said Steiger, looking puzzled.

“It violates the Principal of Temporal Uncertainty.”explained Travers. “Assume they clocked in their Observers first, say to thetemporal locus of the night before Caesar crossed the Rubicon. The Observershave strict instructions only to observe. to do absolutely nothing that wouldin any way interfere with the scenario. In effect, functioning as a TemporalPathfinder unit. We will leave aside for the moment the question of Heisenberg’sPrinciple and assume that they did not significantly alter the scenario bybeing here to observe it. So they complete their period of observation, say upto the time that Caesar is assassinated, go back through the confluence pointthey’re using. wherever the hell it may be, and make their detailed report. Sothen the S.O.G. team is clocked in to effect the disruption, going back towhatever optimum temporal locus point they have selected. Let’s say it’s thesame point, the night before Caesar crossed the Rubicon. Only their Observersare already there. And what they will wind up observing would no longerbe the original scenario, but the scenario as it’s affected by the presence ofthe S.O.G. team! It’s a temporal paradox.”

“Not necessarily.” said Steiger. “They would’ve had toreceive a report of the original unaltered scenario before they sent in theirS.O.G. team, so there would have to exist a space of time in which what theirObservers saw was an unaltered scenario.”

“No, you’re wrong. Creed.” said Delaney, who’d had much moretraining in the complexities of temporal physics. “Logic would seem to dictatethat you’re right, but logic breaks down when it comes to Zen physics. If we’reto assume that’s what they did, then the moment their Observers clocked back tothis scenario, they became a part of it, just as we are now. They altered it tothe extent of their presence here. And maybe what they first observed was thescenario as it had occurred before their S.O.G. team was clocked in. but themoment the S.O.G. team was brought in, then they became a part of the scenarioand-,changed whatever their Observers had originally observed. Travers isright. They would’ve created a temporal paradox. ‘They would’ve changed theirown past. That would have meant risking a timestream split.”

Only they would have risked it in our timeline.” Lucas saidwith a thoughtful expression upon his face.

It suddenly got very quiet.

“Ooops.” said Delaney.

For a moment, no one said anything. Then Steiger broke the silence.

“Of course, it was only an idea. We don’t know that’s what theydid.”

“Ah. but that’s exactly what they did do. my boy,” said anew voice.

Travers jerked around, startled, and found himself lookingat a tall, gaunt, dark-hired man with a neatly trimmed moustache, deep-set darkeyes, and a sharp. aquiline nose. he was dressed in a gray herringbone Harristweed sport coat shot through with fine threads of blue and peach: light grayflannel slacks: black kidskin loafers and gray silk socks: a button-down collarwhite shirt of raw silk, open at the neck, and a light blue silk ascot with agold paisley pattern. He was holding a blackthorn walking stick and there was agray. Irish tweed walking hat set at a jaunty angle on his head. Traversblinked. He could see the rolls of books right through him in their cubbyholeson the shelves.

“Oh. dear.” he said weakly. “I’m almost afraid to ask.”

“Capt. Travers. meet Dr. Robert Darkness.” Lucas said. “theman who’s faster than light. And who is. unless I miss my guess, about to makeour lives utterly miserable.”

Suddenly Darkness wasn’t there anymore. One moment, Traverswas staring at him and the next, he was simply gone. Only to reappear aninstant later standing directly in front of him.

“How do you do?” said Darkness, offering his hand.

Travers flinched. “Hello,” he said uncertainly, taking theman’s hand. It felt solid enough, but he could see his own palm through it asthey shook. The man seemed to flicker faintly. “I–I’ve heard of you.” saidTravers. “But I also heard that you were dead.”

“Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated, to quoteMark Twain,” said Darkness. “I’ve read your book on Caesar. An outstandingpiece of work. Highly illuminating.”

“But. I haven’t even written it yet!” said Travers,thoroughly confused.

“Ah. but you will.” said Darkness. “Assuming, of course,that things proceed on schedule.”

Travers stared at him as it finally sank in. “My God. You’refrom the future!”

“I am from a future, Mr. Travers. About which, for an entireplethora of reasons. the less said, the better.”

“Then if he wrote the book, the mission was … is goingto be. „successful,” Lucas said.

“That will be entirely up to you.” said Darkness. “I did notsay how the book ends, did I?”

Delaney exhaled heavily. “Jesus, this is it, isn’t it? Thekey point in time. The reason you came back. This is where it’s all going tohit the fan.”

“Only partially correct, Mr. Delaney,” Darkness said. “Thisis one of the key points in time. but it is, or it is about to be, ahighly significant one.”

“You’re saying we blew it the first time around?” asked Steiger.

“The first time’?” Darkness said. “There is no first time.As Delaney was just saying, quite correctly, there is only time. A nebulouscommodity that can be disturbingly fluid and unstable. This moment, right now,is in fact a temporal disruption. I am a temporal disruption. And if thetime-stream has become a sea of instability, we are about to enter into the eyeof the storm. What you are about to do, one way or another, will change thecourse of history. That you will effect a change is unavoidable. That you willeffect the right change is conjectural. But you will effect a change.”

They all remained very silent.

“I see I have your attention,” Darkness said with ‘a slightsmile. But it was a smile that had no amusement in it whatsoever. “In the past,”he said, “I have interfered, in one way or another, in each of your lives.Except, of course, for you, Mr. Travers, as we have never met before. Your rolein what is about to happen will be minimal. Whereas theirs”-he indicated theothers with a sweeping motion of his walking stick-“will be pivotal and crucial.You doubtless have questions that you’d like to ask, but I’m afraid that I haveneither the time nor the liberty to answer them right now. However,” hecontinued, addressing his comments to the others, “everything that I have doneup to this point has had a purpose.

“There is a great deal that I simply cannot tell you,” hewent on, “but I can tell you this-something has occurred in the time periodfrom which I came that has resulted from a series of pivotal events that tookplace in the past. Not all of those events involve you, but some of the mostsignificant ones do. And this one is, perhaps, the most significant.”

“Will it be the last?” asked Andre softly.

“That all depends, Miss Cross,” Darkness replied. “If wepass this test-and it is very much a test, for you as well as me-then therewill be at least one more challenge that we shall have to face together. But ifwe fail here and now, then it will all be moot, for I will have only one chanceto attempt to set things right. Because, as you were saying just a few momentsago, to risk attempting it a second time would create a temporal paradox and theconsequences of that would be dire, indeed. For we are already involved in one,you see. In a manner of speaking.”

“What do you mean, in a manner of speaking?” asked Delaney.

“I cannot tell you all the details of what is about tohappen,” Darkness said, “but Steiger has guessed correctly. The Special OperationsGroup from the parallel universe has indeed created a temporal paradox by theiractions in this scenario. Had they done so in their own timeline, they wouldhave risked bringing about a timestream split. But they have done it in our timeline.which changes the situation considerably.”

“I’m not sure I see how,” said Travers. “If they sent inObservers through the confluence point who then returned and made their report,then by sending through an S.O.G. team and having them clock back and interferewith temporal continuity during the same period their Observers had reportedon, then the minute their Observers return, they will have altered their ownpast.”

“Not necessarily,” said Darkness. “Not if the Observers donot return.”

“What?” said Lucas. “You’ve lost me. They would have had tohave returned in order to make their report, so the S.O.G. team could comethrough and act on it. Because if they didn’t return and make theirreport, then how could the S.O.G. team have received it in the first place? It’sthe Grandfather Paradox.”

“Precisely,” Darkness said. “So let us use that as anexample. Assume that you clock back into the past in an attempt to kill yourgrandfather before he ever met your grandmother and you succeed in doing so.Your grandfather has now died before he could sire your father, which wouldhave made it impossible for you to have been born. If you had not been born,then how could you possibly have gone back into the past to kill yourgrandfather? The most basic problem in temporal physics. Seemingly insoluble.Only Mensinger had solved it. His solution, of course, was the timestreamsplit. however. Mensinger had not anticipated a Grandfather Paradox that couldinvolve two separate universes. And this is precisely what we are confrontedwith.

“Let us now take our particular example of the Grandfather Paradoxand follow it through using the two separate timelines,” Darkness continued. “Stepone: the people in the parallel universe locate a confluence point and sendObservers through in order to research as thoroughly as possible the temporalscenario they wish to disrupt. Step two: the Observers complete their task, goback through the confluence point to their own timeline. and make their report.Step three: a team is assembled from your counterparts in the parallel universe,the Special Operations Group, and sent through the confluence back to thescenario the Observers had already reported on. Of course, since they are goingback into a past scenario into which they had already sent Observers, those Observersare still going to be here when they arrive, because they will not yet havefinished their task and made their report. And if at that point the S.O.G. teamdoes anything to disrupt the original scenario, then obviously that will affectthe scenario, changing it from what the Observers had originally reported on.You with me so far’?”

“Right,” said Lucas.

The others mumbled their assent or nodded.

“All tight, then.” Darkness said, we understand that the momentthe S.O.G. team arrives here, then the moment they do Anything that affectsthis scenario, they change the past. They change what their Observers hadoriginally seen. And at that point, they create a temporal paradox. So in orderto avoid that, they proceed immediately upon arrival to step four. They killtheir own Observers.”

“Wait a minute,” Travers said. frowning. That wouldn’t work.Then they’d still be faced with a paradox. Their Observers had to havemade their report in the first place in order for the S.O.G. to receive and acton it.”

“You’re absolutely right,” said Darkness. Now they’re facedwith the hypothetical dead grandfather. Only in this case, he’s been killed inanother timeline. So what they’ve done has not affected their timeline at all.”

But it would still affect them,” insisted Travers. “The oneswho did the killing. I mean. The paradox still exists.”

“You’re quite right,” Darkness replied. “And it centersaround them. Only they are no longer in their own timeline.”

“I can’t see what difference that makes.” said Travers.

“Can’t you? Follow it through. What has actually occurred intheir own timeline? They sent Observers through a confluence point. That doesn’tchange. Their Observers completed the task they were sent out to do and cameback to make their report.”

“That does change.” Travers said. “The team went back andkilled them, so now they never come back.”

“Correct,” said Darkness. “But let’s get back to theiroriginal scenario. After the Observers made their report. The team went throughthe confluence point to effect their disruption. So what do we have so far?Observers leave on their mission. They come back and report. The S.O.G. teamleaves on its assignment Only part of their assignment is to kill theObservers, so now they can’t come back. The grandfather has been killed. So nowthe grandson can’t possibly exist. Only he does exist. Not in his own timeline.but in ours, where he doesn’t really constitute a paradox. The temporal paradoxwould only come into play when he went home again, back to his own timeline.Because then we’d have an S.O.G. team that would be returning to a universewhere their actions in ours had changed the past in theirs. As a result of whatthey’d done. their Observers never returned. And since their Observers neverreturned. the S.O.G. team never would have left. So they can’t return.either.”

“I’ll be damned,” said Travers slowly. He moistened his lipsnervously and nodded. “It works. So long as they don’t go back, there’s notemporal paradox in their own timeline.” He shook his head with awe. “It’spositively brilliant. They came here on a suicide mission!”

“No, they didn’t.” Lucas said quietly.

Travers glanced at him. “But then, how …”

“They just came here on a one-way trip,” said Lucas.

“They can never go back. But they can go anywhere they wantto in our timeline.”

“A guerrilla disruption team,” Steiger said. “They can spendthe rest of their lives clocking through our timeline. disrupting our historyeverywhere they go. And since they can never go home again, they’ve got nothingleft to lose.”

“Which means that we not only have to stop them from preventingCaesar’s assassination,” added Delaney, “we’ve got to make sure we find everysingle one of them. And kill them all.”

“You’ll need to do much more than that,” said Darkness. “Keepin mind that they’re in a position to affect the lives of at least twopivotal figures in this scenario. Any well planned mission has both a primary anda secondary objective.”

“Cleopatra,” Andre said.

“Precisely. If they fail in their objective to preventCaesar’s murder, they can still affect the course of history by killing Cleopatra.Or Marc Antony. for that matter. Or even Octavian. who will become CaesarAugustus.”

“Hell. I knew I was going to hate this mission,” saidDelaney.

“We can have Antony and Octavian covered.” Lucas said, aworried look on his face, “but they’ve already got Cleopatra.”

“Which is why I’ll have to kidnap her.” said Darkness.

10

Capt. Zeke Hollister of the Special Operations Group sat ona couch in his room at Cleopatra’s house, scowling and smoking a cigar. He wasscowling at the men standing before him, dressed in white cotton tunics andsandals. They were all standing at attention, their eyes firmly fixed on apoint somewhere above his head.

“At ease “ said Hollister in a voice that was quiet, yetlaced with barely suppressed fury.

The men assumed a position of parade rest, their eyes stillfocused on a point somewhere above him. They did not look at all at ease.

Hollister looked up at his platoon sergeant. “All right,Maselli,” he said, around his cigar, “what the hell went wrong’?”

Sgt. Robert Maselli’s jaw muscles tightened for a moment beforehe replied. “We got hit, sir.”

“I know you got hit. God damn it, what I want to know ishow? And by whom?”

Maselli swallowed nervously. “We don’t know, sir.”

Hollister stared at him for a long moment. He took a deepbreath and let it out slowly in an effort to control his temper.”Tell me whathappened.”

“We took three squads.” Maselli said. “Petrone led thefirst. Morton the second. I took the third. I figured we had plenty of time toconduct the operation. I knew we had at least a couple of hours once they wentinto the bedroom and I figured half an hour at most would be enough, plenty oftime to get the A team back before Caesar was ready to leave.”

Their platoon was divided into three squads-A team. B team.and C team. The A team was Caesar’s bodyguard. with Sgt. Morton in charge. Bteam, under Cpl. Petrone, remained stationed at the house with Hollister. Cteam. under Maselli, was recon and surveillance.

“It was going to be a fast operation,” Maselli continued. “hitand run and get out quick. Petrone led the detachment from B team againstSeptimus and the others. They set up an ambush on a quiet side street a shortdistance from their baseops. Morton led the group from A team against thatSabinus character and I went in with four men from C team to get Marcian. Iknow the idea was to take him alive for interrogation. but he was already deadwhen we got there.”

“Dead how?”

“Shot through the heart with a laser.” said Maselli. “Andthere’s one more thing. A guy was watching his house.”

“What guy’?”

“I don’t know, sir. I never saw him before. He was takinggood cover and we almost didn’t spot him. We took a risk and clocked straightin from the coordinates I picked up when we were at that orgy Marcian had acouple of weeks back. We found him dead in his room, with the door locked fromthe inside.”

“Suicide?”

“No chance,” Maselli said. “Whoever killed him had to haveclocked out.”

Hollister frowned. It wasn’t making any sense. “Go on.”

“We decided not to do anything about the guy keeping Marcian’splace under surveillance. Apparently, he didn’t know Marcian was already dead.so I doubt he was involved. For all we know, maybe he was just a burglar.casing the damn place.”

“You should have taken him.” said Hollister.

“I’m sorry, sir. I guess I made the wrong decision. It’sjust that finding Marcian dead really threw me. It simply didn’t make sense andI didn’t want to take any unnecessary chances.”

“All right.” said Hollister. chewing on his cigar. “What thehell happened with the other two assault teams?”

“After we found Marcian dead, we clocked over to back up Petrone’steam,” said Maselli. “Only we were too late. They’d already been hit. Nosurvivors. I left Church behind to take their discs and clock the bodies outand the rest of us clocked over to check on Morton’s group. They’d been hit, aswell.”

“I don’t believe it,” said Hollister. All right, Morton. let’shear it.”

Sgt. Morton picked up where Maselli had left off. “We clockedover to the Argiletum, where Sabinus had just moved into a small apartment. Wefigured he was only one guy, we’d have no trouble. We could probably take himalive for interrogation. Only there was someone keeping him under surveillance.We held back and while I was trying to figure out what the hell that meant.Sabinus came out and started walking down the street.”

“Alone?”

“Alone. And this guy started tailing him. So we startedtailing them both. I didn’t know what the fuck was going on. But after a coupleof blocks. I was pretty sure that Sabinus or whoever the hell he really isspotted the guy who was tailing him so we decided to move in. Only before wecould, somebody opened up on our tail with lasers.”

Hollister frowned. “What the hell.

“That’s just what I thought, sir. And right about the sametime, we got hit. as well. I don’t know where the hell they were. I never evensaw them. Randall and Biers were down before we knew what hit us. Sabinus andthe guy tailing him both clocked out to who knows where. Then we got the hellout of there ourselves before we all got wasted. That’s all there is. sir.”

“Son of a bitch!” said Hollister. through grittedteeth.

“What the fuck is going on? how many sides are there to thisthing’?”

“The only explanation I can think of is that it’s their Underground.”said Macelli. “They must have an entire cell back here. They’ve caught on to usand started backing up the T.I.A. team to prevent a disruption on their hometurf.”

Hollister nodded. “That would fit,” he said. “They could becovering the T.I.A. people, but that doesn’t explain the hit on Marcian. We’repretty sure that he was either in their Underground or another L.T.O. In eithercase, why take him out’? It doesn’t make any goddamn sense!”

“There’s obviously something going on that our Observers weren’taware of,” said Maselli.

“We allowed for the possibility of a T.I.A. adjustment teambeing clocked in,” said Hollister, “but we didn’t count on members of theUnderground coming to their aid. We should have foreseen that possibility. Butit’s still not necessarily a problem.” He got up and started pacing back andforth. “Marcian’s murder bothers me. It simply doesn’t fit. Why would they wantto take out one of their own people?”

“Maybe he wasn’t one of their own people,” Morton suggested.“Maybe we were wrong about him. Maybe he was just an ordinary Roman whom theyused.”

“Then explain the cigarettes we found in his room,” said Maselli.“And the warp disc and the laser he had hidden away. No. Marcian or whoever hereally was had to be either T.I.A. or Underground. We know their TemporalIntelligence agents used contacts in the Underground from time to time. Hell,we’ve done the same thing. So either way, it doesn’t make any sense that theyshould kill him. There’s got to be a part of the picture we’re not seeing. In anycase, it probably doesn’t matter anymore. If they had any doubts about us before,they don’t after tonight. I think it’s time we considered aborting the mission.”

Hollister spun around to face him. “We’re not aborting anything,Maselli! We’ve come too far and we’re too close to give up now! Besides, we’restill holding all the cards. So long as we stick close to Caesar and Cleopatra.they can’t touch us. Not without risking a temporal disruption. They can bringin as many people as they want, an entire fucking army, and it still wouldn’tdo them any good. Caesar’s got to die on the fifteenth and he’s got to bemurdered by Brutus. Cassius. and the other conspirators. Anything they do tochange that would play right into our hands. Even if they figured out some wayto get the conspirators past A team and take out Caesar we’ve still gotCleopatra. And we can still shift our objective to Antony or Octavian. Theirhands are tied by their own temporal continuity. We don’t have to worry aboutthat. do we?”

“No. sir, I guess we don’t,” said Maselli.

“You’re damn right, we don’t. Just about anything we do herecan constitute a disruption, so we stick to the original objective. Morton, youget back to the rest of A team. If Caesar asks about the missing men, tell himthat you sent them out for wine or something and they were set upon and killed.That should make Caesar think twice about discounting the rumors of aconspiracy against him. Maselli. I want you to bring the rest of C team in.From now on, A team sticks to Caesar like glue. B and C teams remain right hereat baseops. If Cleopatra decides to go out, B team stays as close to her aspossible. She’s our insurance. In the meantime, we’ll double the guard here,just in case they’re crazy enough to try anything. And nobody, nobody, getsinside unless they’ve been cleared through me first. Got that?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Any questions?”

“No, sir. “

“Right. Dismissed.”

They all snapped to attention. Morton and Maselli bothclocked out and the others went back to take their posts. Hollister took hiscigar out of his mouth, spat out a soggy piece of tobacco, and crushed the buttout in a small dish he was using as an ashtray.

Merely a minor setback, Hollister told himself. So they’dlost a few people. They had expected that. They had all volunteered for thisassignment. this mission from which there would be no return, and they had allexpected to die, if not in this temporal scenario, then in some other one they’dclock to after they were finished in Rome. The plan was simple. Cross over andresearch one temporal scenario early in their history as thoroughly aspossible. create a disruption that would have maximum impact, then immediatelyclock ahead to another time period and try to pull off another one. Keep doingthat, building on the domino effect of temporal disruptions in their timelineuntil they were either all killed or until there was no possible chance of theT.I.A. being able to reverse their actions. Then, thought Hollister, their oneremaining chance for survival would be to find some time period that was stillrelatively safe. While the damage escalated of its own momentum elsewhere inthe timestream.

Until tonight, everything had gone off like clockwork. Theone part he hadn’t liked was killing their own Observers, but there was noavoiding it. It had to be done. The poor bastards hadn’t known what was coming,of course. They had thought that they were just sent through to scout atemporal location for a baseops that would serve as a jumping-off point fortemporal assault missions further down the enemy timestream. But at least theywere able to make it quick and painless.

The rest of it was easy. Killing the real Apollodorus andtaking his place had proved no problem. Hollister had been carefully selectedfor the mission so that his body type would correspond with that of Apollodorusand the rest had been accomplished by cosmetic surgery. Cleopatra had neversuspected a thing. The rest of it, getting the others into place, had all beeneasy once he had assumed the identity of Apollodorus. Cleopatra trusted him.Even now. she was sleeping soundly in her bedroom, having had her bones jumpedby the Emperor of Rome, never suspecting that anything was amiss in her household.So long as she was there, she was the perfect hostage. There were guards outsideher door and all around the building and the grounds. Even on the roof. Theystill had a firm lock on the situation.

Hollister poured himself some wine and walked over to thewindow. The shutters were open to let in the cool night breeze. He looked outat the dark surface of the Tiber, and along its banks, toward the house whereTravers lived.

“Come ahead, you bastards.” he said softly. “Take your bestshot.”

The scene inside the library of the handsome Roman villa ofLucius Septimus was highly incongruous, to say the least. It was three o’clockin the morning. The library door was bolted, just in case any of the householdslaves felt restless in the middle of the night, heard voices in the libraryand decided to investigate. Travers had given strict orders to his householdslaves and they knew that certain rooms in the house were off limits to them,especially the library, but had they glanced inside, what they would have seenwould have astonished them.

Reinforcements had arrived. Finn Delaney, Creed Steiger. AndreCross. and Lucas Priest had all doffed their Roman tunics and were now dressedin black combat fatigues, with lasers holstered at their sides. They had sparecharge packs attached to their belts and combat bowies strapped to theircalves, above their boots. They wore extremely lightweight, black nylon.Balaclava-type hoods over their heads, leaving only the area from the mouth tothe eyebrows exposed, and those parts of their faces had been blackened withcamo stick. There were two dozen other people in the room, all similarlydressed for night fighting. Some of them, in addition to their laser pistols.were armed with night-scoped laser rifles, others with the ugly, mean-lookingdisruptors designed by Dr. Darkness, which looked incredibly innocuous for whatthey were. They resembled a cross between a small riot gun and an antiqueblunderbuss. but they were considerably more sophisticated than either, capableof firing a pulsed neutron beam on either tight focus beam or wide spray. Theirinventor sat comfortably in a carved ivory chair, observing the proceedings.

Lucas and Finn stood over a couple of hastily drawn interiormaps of both Cleopatra’s house and the imperial palace. Seeing Lucas had been ashock for those who had arrived, because they had all believed him dead. But itwas a mark of their professionalism that, stunned as they were, they simplyaccepted his remark that there would be time for explanations later. They wereall bursting with questions. but those questions would have to wait. They had amission to perform.

“All right, let’s go over it again,” said Lucas. “Bryant,you’ll take your team into the palace. Where are the guards’ quarters’?”

“Right here,” said Major Bryant. He pointed to the drawingwith his bowie knife. “There will probably be at least a couple of them postedin the corridor. We’re going to have to get in fast, clocking directly to the transitionpoints that Capt. Travers has supplied, which will put us here, here, here, andhere.”

“Good,” said Lucas. “Now remember, we don’t want any accidents,so be sure that everyone clocks in no closer than three feet away from eachother, Check your final coordinates now.”

He waited while they did so.

“All right. Caesar’s chambers are right here.” He pointed tothe diagram. “He sleeps there with his wife. Be sure to take out the guards athis door right away. And you’ve got to do it without making any noise. Now,these areas marked off here, with stars, are where Roman legionaries areusually stationed. Stay the hell away from them, whatever you do.”

“What if something goes wrong and we accidentally alert anyof the Roman guards?” asked Bryant.

“Make sure you don’t,” Delaney said, staring at him hard. “Ifyou have to, knock them out, but under no circumstances are any of them to befired upon. We can’t afford to raise an alarm in the palace. You’ve got onething going for you. None of the S.O.G. people will be wearing Roman uniforms.As part of their cover, they’ll be dressed as Egyptian soldiers. Either that,or they’ll be in their quarters, asleep. I doubt they’d expect us to tryanything this desperate. So with any luck, you’ll get most of them in bed. Ihope.”

“Yeah, so do I,” said Bryant.

“Use disruptors on all the bodies,” Lucas said. “I want themall to disappear without a trace.”

“How are you going to explain that?” asked Sgt. Neilson, who’dworked with them before on a mission in 19th-century London.

“It’s not your job to worry about that, Scott,” Lucas said. “Leavethat part to me. I’ve got it covered.”

“Yes, sir. Sorry. sir.”

“No need to apologize. You just do your part, well take careof ours. You’ll have more than enough to worry about. You guys are going tohave to move fast and there won’t be any room for mistakes.”

“That’s what I’ve always liked about you. Lucas,” saidBryant with a smile. “You always give me the easy jobs.”

“You’ll have the Doc here for backup,” said Lucas. “in caseanything goes wrong. But don’t count on him for everything. He can’t beeverywhere at once, even though it sometimes seems that way.”

“Glad to have you along, Doctor.” Bryant said.

“Just try not to trip over one another and wake up the wholepalace.” Darkness said.

“We’ll take our shoes off and walk on tippy-toe,” Bryant replied,deadpan.

“Okay, Cooper. let’s go over your end of it,” Lucas said.

Col. Cooper was the commander of the Temporal Counter insurgencystrike force headquartered in Galveston. The T.C.I. troops were elite combatcommandos, specially formed by General Forrester to deal with S.O.G. infiltrations.They were on constant standby. in combat readiness, and for this operation,Cooper had clocked in with a dozen picked men.

“We’ll be going in with Delaney. Cross. and Steiger to hitCleopatra’s house.” Cooper said. “There are some Roman soldiers stationedoutside, here at the front gates.” He pointed to the second diagram. “We trankthem with stun darts. I have three men clock in here, here, and here. Thatshould give them a good shot at the guards. What about traffic in the street?”

“There isn’t any traffic on that street this time of night,so the the risk should be minimal.” said Lucas. “But if any pedestrians happen toget in the way, trank them, too.”

“Got it,” Cooper replied with a curt nod. “The rest of mypeople clock in here. here, and here. Three on the roof, three in the backgarden, three in the atrium.”

“Right.” Lucas said. “Now here’s where it gets unpleasant.Some of the people in there could be Egyptian slaves, or they could all beS.O.G. Unfortunately, we haven’t got any way of telling that for sure. Thatputs your people in a pretty tricky situation. Except for the legionaries atthe front gate, anyone stationed on guard duly will be S.O.G. for sure, so don’ttake any chances with them. Take them out right away. But the moment you getinside the house, you run the risk of killing innocent civilians, so use yourstunners. Unless you see someone carrying any weapon other than a dagger or asword. In that case, take ’em out. But we need to get at least one or two ofthem alive for interrogation, just to make sure we’ve got them all. Now there’sgoing to be a risk factor involved in doing it that way. Anyone you trank, yougot maybe a second or two before they go down, and if they’ve got a concealedweapon on them. they just might have enough time to get off a shot before thedrug takes effect, so watch yourselves. Stay in your teams of three. Two mencarrying stunners, the third ready with a laser or disruptor. Again, speed’sgoing to be critical, but remember that these people are all pros. All right,Finn. let’s go over your part.”

“Creed. Andre, and I are clocking in directly to the peristylum,right here.” Delaney said, pointing to the drawing. “Our objective is totry to take Apollodorus alive, if possible. As soon as the house has beensecured, we conduct a thorough search, remove anything that doesn’t belongthere, then get right back here.”

“Right,” Lucas said. lie looked around at them. “Any questions?”

Cooper shook his head. “No. My people are ready.”

“None here,” said Bryant.

“I guess we’re set,” Delaney said.

Lucas took a deep breath. “All right, then. Everyone standby. Doc, you want to go get our guest of honor?”

“I’d be delighted,” Darkness said. He disappeared.

Simmons listened on the headphones as he aimed the dish mikeat Travers’ house.

“What’s going on?” asked one of the Network men beside him.They were concealed behind a clump of bushes near the riverbank.

“They’ve clocked in reinforcements.” Simmons said. “From thesound of it. some of them are old First Division commandos and some are T.C.I.troops.”

“T.C.I.?” one of the others said. “Jesus. theybrought in the fucking strike force?”

“Yeah. Cooper’s in there. I can’t tell exactly how many ofhis people he’s brought with him, but I’d say at least a dozen, plus the T.I.A.assault team. Bryant’s in command, so it sounds like they brought in some ofthe old First Division people.”

“Shit. This just became a brand-new ballgame.”

“It’s still the same game, Rick. There’s just a few moreplayers, that’s all,” Simmons replied.

“The hell you say! Taking on First Division commandos is hadenough, but Cooper’s a stone-cold killer. Some of his strike force recruits don’teven survive the training. What the hell are they planning in there, a goddamnwar?”

“That’s about the size of it,” said Simmons. “They’re aboutto launch a simultaneous two-pronged assault against the S.O.G.. in the palaceand at Cleopatra’s house.”

“Fuck. They are crazy. No way do I want any part ofthis!”

“We came here to do a job, Warren.” said Simmons.

“Yeah, against Steiger and maybe the adjustment team. butnot a whole assault force. There’s only eight of us, for Christ’s sake!”

“We don’t have to take on the whole assault force,” Simmonssaid. “All we have to do is pick the right moment, take out Steiger in all theconfusion and we’re gone.”

“Forget it! I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m notabout to take my chances against those kind of odds. You want that bounty onSteiger so bad. Simmons, you’re welcome to it. I’m outta here.”

“Warren …” Simmons began. but Warren had already clockedout. “Warren? Son of a bitch!”

“Warren’s right,” one of the others said. “This whole thingjust became too hot to handle. Let’s get the hell out of here. It’s not worthit.”

“It’s worth it to me.” insisted Simmons. “That bastardbusted up some of our hest operations and he cost me my career. And he did thesame thing to every one of you.”

“So there’ll be other opportunities to square accounts,” theman named Rick said. “This one just went sour. It’s just too risky. I’m out.”

“So am I,” one of the others said.

“Me, too. I didn’t bargain for this.”

“Fine,” said Simmons coldly. “If you gutless wonders want totuck your tails between your legs and run, then go. I don’t need you. I’ll doit myself “

“Don’t be a fool. Why take the chance? There’ll be anothertime.”

“No,” said Simmons firmly. “It’s gonna be this time. Righthere. Right now.”

“Suit yourself.” said Rick. shaking his head. “It’s yourfuneral.”

“Oh, there’ll be a funeral, all right.” said Simmons. “Onlyit ain’t gonna be mine.”

There were two guards standing on either side of the doorwayto Cleopatra’s bedroom. Neither of them heard a thing as Darkness suddenlymaterialized beside the Queen of Egypt’s bed. He reached out and flung thebedclothes off her and as she jerked awake with a gasp. he pulled her into histachyon field and translocated. Before Cleopatra could even react to what washappening. she had reappeared with Darkness a nanosecond later in the libraryof Travers’ home. Corwin held her while Castelli fired a stun dart into herupper arm.

“Sorry about that, Your Highness,” said Castelli. “But it’llbe okay. you won’t remember a damn thing.”

She collapsed in Corwin’s arms with a small moan.

Lucas gave the order. “Okay, people. Move out!” Bryant’steam clocked out to the palace. Simultaneously. Cooper’s strike force unitclocked to Cleopatra’s house. “Okay.” Lucas said to Castelli and Corwin. “Youknow what to do. Move.”

Castelli and Corwin snapped a preprogrammed warp disc aroundCleopatra’s wrist and clocked out to the future.

“Andell. you ready?” Lucas said.

“Ready,” said Sgt. Andell.

“Okay, Finn, get going,” Lucas said.

“Good luck. Lucas.” said Delaney.

“You. too.”

“Travers. if we’re not back in ten minutes. get the hell outof here,” Delaney said.

“You’ll be back,” said Travers.

“Okay.” said Lucas. ‘Let’s go for broke.” They all clockedout together,!caving Travers alone in the library. He crossed his fingers.

There were two S.O.G. men standing guard outside the door ofCaesar’s chambers. Two more were stationed in front of the sleeping quarters ofthe guards. There was a sudden whoosh. followed by a loud thwaack! One of the guards at Caesar’s door crumpled unconscious to the ground. Theother guard jerked around, startled, but he didn’t see a thing except theunconscious form of his companion. Suddenly a disembodied hand appearedfloating in midair, about a foot and a half in front of him. It was holding ablackthorn walking stick. The guard’s jaw dropped as he stared at it with astonishment.Whoosh. thwaack! Two down.

Major Bryant materialized in front of the two fallen guards.holding his disruptor. He glanced down quickly at their unconscious forms, thenlooked up to see Dr. Darkness leaning back against the wall, blowing animaginary speck of dust from the head of his walking stick. Bryant tossed him acasual salute. Darkness touched his walking stick to the brim of his hat.

At the same time, the other commandos of Bryant’s teamclocked in to their transition points. They fired their disruptors and theguards were briefly wreathed in the blue glow of Cherenkov radiation as theneutron beams struck them, then they disintegrated. They never even had achance to scream. Bryant aimed his disruptor down at the unconscious guards andquickly disposed of them, then moved quickly and silently toward the sleepingquarters of the other S.O.G. men. Moving softly, the commandos fanned outthroughout the room, covering the sleeping guards. One of them, either feelingthe call of nature or reacting subconsciously to their presence. woke up. hehad only an instant in which to register the black-clad men spread out through-outthe room. he opened his mouth to shout out a warning. but at that preciseinstant, they all fired. The room became bathed in the bright blue glow of Cherenkovradiation as the S.O.G. men, their bedclothes, and their beds alldisintegrated. It was over in a matter of seconds.

As Bryant and his team coped with the guards. Lucas and Andellclocked directly into Caesar’s bedroom. Calpurnia was sound asleep, but Caesar,a light sleeper with instincts honed by year of battle, awoke as they startedto move toward his bed. He sat up suddenly as Lucas quickly raised his stunnerand fired a dart into his chest. Caesar jerked and fell back onto the bed. Atthe same time. Andell fired a dart into Calpurnia. She jerked slightly andmoaned, then lay perfectly motionless.

“A trifle late, there.” Darkness said as he appearedstanding against the wall, toying with his walking stick. “How are the othersdoing?” Lucas said as he and Andell quickly started strapping preprogrammedwarp discs around the wrists of Caesar and his wife.

“Surprisingly, they seem to have the situation well in hand,”said Darkness. “I’d better go check on that great clod, Delaney, and see if he’smanaged to do his part without shooting himself in the foot.”

He disappeared.

“If you ask me. that man’s a few cards short of a full deck.”Andell said.

“Maybe,” Lucas replied. “but what cards he does have are allmarked. You ready’?”

“Ready,” said Andell.

“Okay, check your time. I want them both clocked back hereexactly one minute from now. Ready?”

“Mark!” Andell said.

“Go!”

Andell activated the warp disc on Calpurnia’s wrist while Lucassimultaneously clocked out Caesar. They both vanished.

“All right. I’m on my way,” Andell said. “Good luck, Lucas.”

“You, too.”

Andell clocked out.

Now came the tough part. Lucas held his laser pistol in onehand and his stunner in the other. he stood back against the wall, out ofimmediate sight of anyone who might be coming through the doorway. but in aposition where he could clearly see them. Now all he had to do was keep theroom secure and wait for the longest minute in the world.

Cooper’s strike force troops started moving the second theyclocked in. Three of them took down the legionaries posted at the front gates.aiming carefully and firing their stun darts into the exposed flesh at theupper arms and thighs of the soldiers, where their breastplates could notdeflect them. Then they immediately started moving onto the grounds. Three moremen clocked in on the roof and that was where they sustained their firstcasualty.

One of the S.O.G. guards on the rooftop just happened tomove to the same spot where one of Cooper’s men was clocking in. Two objectscould not occupy the same time and space simultaneously. There was a brief,agonized scream, and then a hideous, misshapen mass of bloody, writhing fleshthat was barely recognizable as being human fell to the rooftop. For aninstant, the other rooftop guards were too shocked to move and in that instant.Cooper’s men fired their disruptors. The S.O.G. men were briefly wreathed in ablue aura, then they disappeared.

“Oh. God,” one of Cooper’s men said, staring at the horror lyingat his feet.

The other one fired his disruptor at it, disintegrating thesickening remains of two fused human bodies. come on, snap out of it! The wholehouse must’ve heard that scream!”

Indeed, the whole house had. In that moment, the element ofsurprise so necessary to the speedy conclusion of the raid was lost. Hollisterheard the scream and came awake instantly. rolling out of bed and lunging forhis weapon. He was already shouting out a warning at the top of his lungs ashis fingers closed around it and he went running out into the hall barefoot,dressed only in his tunic The guards outside Cleopatra’s bedroom immediatelyran inside to seize their hostage and were dismayed to see the bed empty. Theywasted valuable seconds looking for her around the room. By the time they heardthe sounds behind them, it was already too late. The stun darts struck them asthey turned and collapsed to the floor.

Outside on the grounds, laser beams crisscrossed in the darknessas the firelight erupted between the S.O.G. men on security duty and the men ofCooper’s unit. As Delaney. Steiger, and Andre clocked into the peristylum, they could already hear the sounds of shouting and running feet.

“God damn it!” said Delaney. “Come on. let’s move!”

They ran across the open space of the courtyard, heading towardthe servants’ quarters.

“Watch it!” Andre shouted.

She dove to the ground and rolled as a laser beam stabbedthrough the air above her and fired as she came up. One of the S.O.G. men fell.Delaney dropped another one and they kept going, moving as quickly as theycould, the adrenaline pounding through their systems.

Hollister spotted three men moving down the corridor andfired without hesitation. Two of Cooper’s men fell dead, one of them the manarmed with the disruptor. The third man brought up his stunner and fired, butHollister quickly ducked behind a column and fired. The third man went down.

Laser beams made a webwork of light in the atrium as the twoopposing forces met in the central hall. Cooper’s team had taken casualties,but the S.O.G. men in the grounds had all been dealt with and the fight nowmoved entirely indoors. Several of the household slaves ran screaming in terrordown the corridors and were dropped by stun darts, though a few ran directlyinto the path of laser and disruptor beams and ceased to exist. Others coweredfearfully in their quarters, convinced the world was coming to an end, while afew simply dropped down to their knees in supplication before the invadingdemons and were quickly tranked.

Outside. Simmons moved carefully across the grounds. crouchinglow and taking advantage of the darkness, holding his laser pistol ready. Hiswarp disc was already preprogrammed with his escape coordinates. Screw the others,he thought. Who needs them? This was the perfect opportunity. In all theconfusion, he could slip in and nail Steiger. then be gone before anybodyrealized what had happened. He bent over the body of one of Cooper’s men.Perfect. He quickly stripped off his own clothes and started putting on thecorpse’s T.C.I. fatigues. He slipped the black Balaclava hood over his head,then smiled as he picked up the disruptor. Hollister came bursting into Cleopatra’sroom, then stopped as he saw the unconscious bodies of his men lying on thefloor. There was no sign of Cleopatra. Somehow, incredibly, they had managed toget her out. He couldn’t believe it. He heard running footsteps coming down thehall. He quickly punched in a preprogrammed sequence of transition coordinatesand clocked out just as Delaney came diving through the doorway, firing hisstunner. The dart passed harmlessly through empty air.

Lucas waited tensely, glancing every couple of seconds atthe readout on his warp disc. The time was almost up. Andell had clocked toPlus Time with Caesar and Calpurnia, as had Castelli and Corwin. withCleopatra. It would take days for them to be properly conditioned by the psychteams at TAC-HQ, but then they would be clocked back to Minus Time so that onlyone minute would have passed since they’d been gone. They would reappear,sedated. safely in their own beds. They would wake up several, hours later.completely oblivious of what had happened to them.

As soon as the operation at Cleopatra’s house was concluded,assuming that it was concluded successfully, the survivors would be clocked toPlus Time and interrogated under drugs. The household slaves would then he separatedfrom any surviving S.O.G. infiltrators. Castelli would take charge of a teamthat would clock out to ancient Egypt. where they would purchase slaves thatwould replace the S.O.G. men. Once those slaves had been acquired from themarkets in Alexandria. they would then be tranked and clocked to Plus Time,when: they would be conditioned to believe that they had been in the Queen of Egypt’sservice all along. Cleopatra herself would be conditioned to believe that theyhad come to Rome with her. Then Castelli and his team would clock back in withthem, all before daybreak.

Cleopatra would remember nothing of what had happened toher. She would recall meeting Marcus Septimus and his wife, Antonia, though shewould believe that they had left Rome. Both Caesar and Calpurnia would recallhow he had dismissed his Egyptian bodyguard because he did not wish to give theappearance that he feared his enemies or that he was too much under theinfluence of a foreign queen.

In a matter of seconds. Lucas thought, if all goes well.Caesar and his wife would reappear in their bed and they would wake up in themorning as if nothing had ever happened. Cleopatra and her new slaves would beclocked back into her house.

They had put the plan together quickly. but it seemed toLucas as if they’d covered every contingency. At least, he hoped they had.Everything hinged on the assault against the S.O.G. unit at Cleopatra’s housebeing successful. Lucas checked the time again. Another few seconds. Heswallowed nervously. Had they covered everything? All right. he thought, comeon. What have we missed? What else can go wrong?

Hollister materialized inside the quarters assigned to hismen at the imperial palace. And froze. absolutely stunned. He recovered quicklyand glanced around, sweeping his weapon around the room, but Bryant and histeam had already left. He had missed encountering them by scant seconds, hemoved quickly to the door leading to the corridor and listened intently.Everything seemed quiet. For a moment, he simply stood there, not moving. Herisked a glance out into the corridor. There was no sign of his men. They wereall gone, every last one of them. Jesus, Hollister thought. they must have hitthe palace and the house at the same time! He was staggered by their audacity.They must have clocked into the palace, and while Caesar slept just a shortdistance down the hall, they had killed every one of his men and gotten outagain, a lightning operation, brilliantly executed and devastatingly efficient.He had never dreamed they would dare take such a risk. He had vastlyunderestimated them and it had cost him. It had cost him everything.

His mind reeled as he realized that his operation wastotally undone. All that work, all that preparation, wiped out in just onenight. It was beyond belief. How in hell had they managed to snatch Cleopatra?And how could they cover everything that they had done without risking atemporal disruption? He had to think. He had to put himself in their shoes andimagine what he might have done if he were in their place. And if he weredesperate enough to try something like this. Desperate. hell. he told himself,the bastards had actually pulled it off.

All right, he thought, if they snatched Cleopatra, theycould do a wash job on her brain. Program her and she’d come out believingwhatever they wanted her to believe. They’d have to do the same with Caesar.Make him believe that he’d dismissed the bodyguard. God damn it. it’ll work,thought Hollister, They’ve beaten us.

His heart sank with the realization. But it wasn’t over yet.He was still alive. And if any of his men got out, they’d clock to their escapecoordinates and rendezvous as planned. He wasn’t finished yet. Even if he wasthe only one left, he could still do some damage here.

Hollister. well trained in temporal terrorist tactics, hadquickly and professionally sized up the situation. He was not the sort of manto panic when things fell apart. He was a pro and he kept his mind on hismission. The parameters had changed drastically and he had to adapt to the newsituation without a moment’s hesitation. he realized that the success of theT.I.A.

strike was totally dependent on everything beingaccomplished during this one night. The activities of mission support teamsback at headquarters in Plus Time would have to be completely governed by thetimetable of the team in Rome. The timing would be close. If they’d taken Caesarwhen they killed his men, which would have been the only time when they coulddo it. they would have to return him by morning in order to minimize the dangerof a temporal disruption. Then, with their teams in place to monitor events,they would remain to make sure that Caesar was killed by the conspirators onschedule.

Only what if he died a week early, murdered along withhis wife in his own bedchamber?

There could then be no explanation for the sudden disappearanceof the Egyptian bodyguard. The blame for Caesar’s death would fall onCleopatra. instead of on Brutus, Cassius. and the other conspirators. She wouldbe arrested, tried, and executed. She would never live to join forces withAntony against Octavian. It would not be as great a disruption as they’doriginally planned, but it would be a disruption nonetheless. It might evenbring about a timestream split. Best of all, the T.I.A. wouldn’t be expectingit. When they discovered that they’d missed “Apollodorus,” they’d naturallyassume that he’d escaped to some other time period. It would have been thelogical thing for him to do. They’d never think he’d risk coming to the palace.It would be foolhardy. Almost as foolhardy as what they’d done tonight.Hollister smiled. Learn from your enemy, he thought. It was risky as hell, butit was worth a try.

Slowly, cautiously, holding his weapon ready, Hollistermoved out into the corridor, heading toward Caesar’s chambers.

11

They had counted on the element of surprise and they hadlost it almost immediately. The scream from the rooftop had galvanized theopposition into action and even though they hadn’t expected such a bold attack,they responded like the pros they were. They didn’t run: they chose to standand fight. In spite of the swiftness of their attack, Cooper lost almost halfhis men in the first three or four minutes of the assault. Three more werewounded, two of them seriously. As Andre ran across the atrium, a laser beamlanced out and burned a hole right through the left side of her shirt, missingher kidney by scant millimeters. Steiger, running right behind her, took outthe man who’d fired the shot, but another one they hadn’t seen until it wasalmost too late fired at him as he was bringing up his stunner. The beam struckSteiger’s forearm and burned a long furrow from his wrist up to his elbow. Hecried out, but managed to hold on to his weapon long enough to fire a dart intohis attacker, and Andre shot him with another one almost immediately. Hecrumpled to the floor.

“You all right?” asked Andre.

“I’m fine, go!” Steiger shifted his weapon to his left handand followed her as they moved quickly from room to room.

Cooper’s men had rappelled down from the rooftop and as soonas they secured the upper floor, they ran down the stairs to join the battle inthe main part of the house. Cooper heard the sounds of their booted feetcoining down the stairs and turned his head to shout a warning to them so theywouldn’t fire on their own men. In that instant, a laser beam burned its waythrough his left cheek and out the right. Cooper was so psyched, he didn’t evenfeel the pain. He spun around and fired, dropping his attacker, then kept righton going. If he hadn’t turned his head just at the right moment, the laserwould probably have killed him.

Delaney found himself pinned down behind a column in theatrium, under fire from three directions at once. Three laser beams bracketedhim, one passing to either side of the column, the third grazing the marble,inches from his head. He dropped down low and risked a glance around thecolumn. In that instant, he saw a sight that made his jaw drop.

Darkness suddenly appeared out of thin air and, movingfaster than the speed of light, plucked the weapon from the hand of one manwhile he knocked him senseless with his cane. Then he materialized behind thesecond gunman and clubbed him to the ground. before his afterimage had evenfaded from where he had first appeared. He repeated the same procedure with thethird S.O.G. man, but at the speed with which he moved, it all happened in thesame instant and Delaney actually saw three of him. He jumped about a foot whenDarkness appeared standing right beside him.

“Somehow I knew I’d find you in a situation like this,” Darknesssaid laconically.

“Jesus. Doc,” Delaney said, exhaling heavily, I wish youwouldn’t do that!”

“If I hadn’t done that, you lunkhead, you’d look like aSwiss cheese.”

“How’s Bryant doing at the palace?”

“Knocking them dead.” said Darkness. “You, on the otherhand, seem to be having a few problems. Excuse

Suddenly he simply wasn’t there anymore. Delaney heard asickening crunch behind him and spun around in time to see Darkness droppingthe limp form of an S.O.G. man whose head he’d smashed against a marble column.Then he jerked as he suddenly heard Darkness speaking beside him even as he sawhis image disappear again.

“I’d move somewhere else. if I were you:

“Thanks, Doc.”

“Don’t mention it.”

He vanished.

Delaney crossed the atrium and encountered Cooper and two ofhis men coming the other way. Andrew and Steiger came running up behind them.Several more strike force commandos came running into the atrium from theopposite side.

“Our wing’s secured. sir.”

“Second floor secured.”

“Grounds secured. sir.”

“How many did we lose?” asked Cooper. glancing around quickly.

“Kaufman bought it outside,” one of the men said.

“Hockett’s dead,” another man said. “He clocked in right ontop of one of the roof guards.”

“Poor bastard: said Delaney

“We lost Bishop and Grant.”

“Campbell’s wounded. We had to clock him out.”

“How bad?” asked Cooper.

“Pretty bad. I don’t know. He may not make it.”

“Connors. you hit?”

“I’ll make it.”

“Where’s Sharp?”

Silence.

“Damn it. Okay, you all know what to do. Find Sharp, see ifhe’s alive. Search the house and grounds. All bodies. tranked or dead, getclocked to TAC-HQ. Make sure there aren’t any weapons left lying around. Moveit!”

“Well done. Colonel.” said Delaney.

“You’re hit.”

“So are you.”

“Yeah, but I’ll be okay long as I don’t drink any beer,”said Cooper. “Did you get your man?”

“No. dammit.” said Delaney. “I had a shot. but I was just asecond too late. He clocked out on us.”

“Well, we might get lucky and track him down through one ofthe prisoners, but he’s probably long gone.” said Steiger.

“We’ll have some of Bryant’s people on Octavian and Antony.just in case.” said Andre.

“Where’s Darkness?”

Who the hell knows?” Delaney said. “He saved my ass backthere and then just popped off, like he always does. But he said things at thepalace were under control.”

“We’d better get back to the house and check on how it wentwith Lucas,” said Andre.

“Cooper, why don’t you clock out with your wounded and getyourself and them some medical attention?” Steiger said. “I’ll take over here.”

“Thanks. I appreciate it.”

“Okay, I’ll meet you all back at the house,” said Steiger. “Gotell Travers we pulled it off before he dies of an anxiety attack.”

Andre and Finn clocked out while Cooper hurried to check onhis wounded. Steiger stood alone in the atrium. He took a deep breath and letit out slowly. I’ll be damned, he thought. We did it.

“Steiger ….”

He turned around. One of Cooper’s men was standing by amarble column about twenty feet away, holding a disruptor.

“What is it, soldier?”

“It’s payback time, you bastard.”

“Simmons!”

As Simmons fired. Steiger made a flying dive to the left.The deadly blast from the disruptor barely missed him. He rolled and came upwith his laser in his hand. Both men fired at the same time.

“Now.” said Lucas, and Caesar and Calpurnia suddenly materializedbeside each other on their bed. Lucas heaved a deep sigh of relief. Andell wasright on schedule. He laid his weapons on the bed and bent to remove the warpdisc from Calpurnia’s wrist, then went around to the other side to get the onethat Caesar wore.

As he started to remove it, he heard a voice say. “Freeze.”

An invisible fist grabbed a handful of his insides andstarted squeezing. His laser and his stunner were both on the far side of thebed.

“Don’t try it.” Hollister said. “You’ll be dead before youget your hands on ’em. Just straighten up slowly and keep your hands at yoursides, where I can see them.”

Lucas knew his only chance was his thought-controlled transponder.All he had to do was concentrate and..

“Move away from the bed.”

Nothing! Lucas tried again, with the same result. It hadfinally decayed. He had hated the damn thing, but of all the times for it to goout ….

“What’s your name?” asked Hollister.

Lucas swallowed hard. “Priest. Col. Lucas Priest.”

“You in command?”

“That’s right,” said Lucas. His mind was racing. but therewas no way out. The weapon in the S.O.G. man’s hand was dead steady. And deadon target. And what do I call you. Apollodorus?”

“Name’s Hollister. Captain. That was some job your peoplepulled off tonight. Took a lot of fuckin’ balls. My compliments, Colonel.”

“Thank you. Captain.” Lucas said. “I’m just sorry theymissed you. Mind if I ask how it went?”

“First-class operation,” Hollister replied. “Your peopletook some losses, but I’m afraid we lost. However, the war’s not over yet.”

Lucas moistened his lips nervously. There was no chance torush him. He’d be dead before he got two steps.

“It’s funny,” Hollister said. “I came here to prevent Caesar’sassassination and instead. I’m going to be the one who kills him.”

“Of course.” said Lucas. “Caesar and his wife are murderedin their bed. the Egyptians turn up missing. and Cleopatra gets the blame. Verygood. Captain. That’ll change the whole scenario. For a piece of last-minuteimprovisation, that’s not had at all. I don’t suppose there’s any way that Icould talk you out of it.”

“I’m afraid not, Colonel. I’ve got my orders. Sorry.”

“Hollister, wait.” said Lucas quickly. “Listen to me. Youcan’t ever go back again.”

“I know that.”

“I give you my word of honor as an officer and a gentleman thatif you surrender to me. I’ll see you’re treated well. And I’ll guarantee thatthe men we’ve taken prisoner from your unit will get the best of treatment.”

Hollister smiled. You know something. Colonel? I believeyou. And because I believe you. I’ll make you a deal. I know you’d be willingto die to stop me. but you’d never make it, so why die for nothing? You give meyour word that you’ll see my people are well treated and I’ll let you live.Sorry. but that’s the best I can do.”

Lucas sighed. “Damn you.” he said softly. “All right. you’vegot my word.”

“Thank you. Colonel. Now, just to make sure you don’t attemptany last-minute heroics, would you be so good as to lie face down on the floor?”

Lucas hesitated.

“Now. Colonel,” Hollister said.-Unless you want me to burn ahole in your kneecap.”

If I dive across the bed, thought Lucas, he might not killme with his first shot and I may have a chance to-

Hollister fired and Lucas screamed with pain as his legbuckled underneath him. He fell to the floor, clutching his kneecap and moaningin agony.

If it’s any consolation to you. Colonel, you never would’vemade it,” Hollister said. “I’m a dead shot. Remember, sir, you gave your word.”

He raised his laser and aimed it at Caesar’s sleeping form.

Whoosh, thwaack!

Hollister cried out as the weapon was struck from his handand clattered to the floor. The blackthorn walking stick whistled through theair once more and Hollister crumpled to the floor, unconscious.

Lucas looked up, grimacing with pain, and saw Dr. Darknessstanding over him.

“Got yourself shot again, I see,” said Darkness. cheer up.At least you didn’t get killed this time.”

EPILOGUE

“Feel up to some visitors?” the nurse said, smiling. Lucaslooked up as Finn, Andre, and Travers walked into the room. Forrester came inbehind them and the nurse left to give them some privacy.

“How’s the knee?” asked Forester.

“They tell me it’ll be fine after I’ve had some therapy.”said Lucas. He grimaced. “First a bionic eye, now a nysteel kneecap. If I keepthis up, before too long I’ll be a cyborg. How’s Hollister?”

“He’s busted up a bit, but he’ll live,” said Forrester. “Darknessfractured his skull and broke his wrist. He asked about you too, by the way.”

Lucas smiled wryly. “He could easily have killed me.”

“Why didn’t he?” asked Andre.

“Because he was concerned about his men. He said he’d let melive if I gave my word as an officer and gentleman that they would be welltreated.”

“They will be.” Forester assured him.

“Hollister’s a good man,” said Lucas. “he just happens to beon the other side. In a way, I feel sorry for him. I trust the rest of themission went all right?”

“The mission was totally successful,” Forester replied.

“Capt. Travers tells me that there weren’t any problems withCleopatra’s reinsertion. Or with Caesar and Calpurnia. With the bodyguard outof the way, the conspirators were able to move against him and he died onschedule, in the Senate. Congratulations. You did a hell of a job.”

“Thanks,” said Lucas. He glanced at Travers. “How does itfeel to be back?”

“A little strange,” Travers replied. “It’s going to takesome getting used to, but I’ll have plenty of time. I’ve already started workingon my book. You’ve given me one hell of a final chapter. I’m going to dedicateit to Col. Steiger’s memory. and the other men who fell in battle.”

Lucas stared at him, stunned.

“Oh. hell,” Travers said with a stricken look. “You didn’tknow?”

Silence. After a moment, it was broken by Delaney.

“Creed didn’t make it, Lucas,” he said softly. “he caught itduring the assault.”

“Oh, shit,” said Lucas.

“Nobody saw it happen,” Andre said, “but we know who did it.Creed took out his own killer. It was a man named Simmons, a former field agentwho was involved with the Network. It’s possible that he was involved with theUnderground. as well, but if he was, the Underground probably didn’t know abouthis Network connection. They don’t knowingly cooperate with those people.”

“Damn,” said Lucas. “How did it happen?”

“We figure it had to be Marshall.” Delaney said. “He’s theonly one who could have alerted the Network to our presence in Rome. so he musthave been involved. Creed obviously never suspected that. He figured thatMarshall had just deserted to the Underground because he was burned out, but hemust have done it because he was afraid to be exposed. When Creed showed up. hemust have panicked.”

“So it was Network that intervened when the S.O.G. tried toambush us?”

“We think so,” Delaney said. “They couldn’t afford to have atimestream split go down any more than we could. The only one we found wasSimmons. so either the others got away or they pulled out when our reinforcementsarrived.”

“Simmons was a real hard case.” Forrester said. “AfterSteiger formed the I.S.D.. he busted up several Network operations. One of thebiggest ones he exposed was headed up by Simmons, only we never got him.”

“We never found Creed’s body,” Andre said. “but we foundSimmons. He’d been shot through the heart with a laser. ‘there was a disruptoron the floor beside him. The way we reconstruct it. Simmons got onto thegrounds when the assault was in progress. He was wearing Kaufman’s uniform, sohe must have taken it off Kaufman after he was killed, or maybe he killedKaufman himself in the confusion and took his disruptor. Then he waited for theright moment and made his move. They must have both fired at the same time.”

“So Steiger went down fighting,” Lucas said. He sighed “Iguess it’s the way he would have wanted it.”

“He was a good man.” said Forrester. “His name’s going to beadded to the Wall of Honor. At the same time as we take yours off. Officially,you’re back among the living.”

“What about Darkness?” Lucas asked.

“He disappeared again after the assault,” said Delaney. “Wehaven’t seen or heard from him since.”

“If it hadn’t been for him, Hollister would have beaten us,”said Lucas. “One more second and Caesar and his wife would have both been dead.”

“Maybe there was a time in which that happened,” said Delaney.“A scenario in which Hollister had won. If Darkness hadn’t changed your destinyback in Afghanistan, somebody else would’ve been in that room with Caesar. Thatcould have made all the difference. Maybe it would have been me or Andre, ormaybe Steiger. Perhaps his death was the price we had to pay to get historyback on the right track.”

“But is it?” Lucas asked. “What is the right track I wonderif we’ll ever know.”

“All we can ever know about for sure is our own past,” saidForrester. “To Darkness, his past is still our future. And for all we know,there may well be other people from the future in our present, and our past.trying to influence our actions in an attempt to compensate for whateverdisaster lies up ahead. Chances are we may not even live to see it.”

“I remember something a Roman centurion once told me. aboutthree thousand years ago,” said Travers with a smile. “It was on the nightbefore we crossed the Rubicon. when this whole thing started. He said, ‘If itis my fate to die tomorrow. I would prefer not to know of it tonight.’ And thenhe put his hand on his sword hilt and added, ‘I would sooner trust my fate tothis than to the prophecies of oracles and soothsayers.’ He was just a simplesoldier, but there was a lot of wisdom in his words.”

“Whatever happened to that oracle?” asked Lucas. “What washis name, Lucan?”

“Interesting that you should ask,” said Forester. “We foundhim.”

“You found him’?” said Delaney with surprise. “You nevermentioned that!”

“Because I’m still not certain what to make of it,” said Forester.he turned to Travers. “You remember how you said he seemed to simply disappearas soon as you passed him through the gate of Caesars camp?”

“Yes,” said Travers. “There was no sign of him. I figured heclocked out.”

“He did,” said Forester. “Or, more accurately, he wasclocked out. After we received your report, we went back a Search and Retrieveteam to apprehend him. They got him just as he was coming through the gates.”

“Then he disappeared because you clocked him out?” saidTravers with astonishment.

“That’s right.” said Forrester. “The temporal anomaly had alreadyoccurred with the prophecy itself. But for all we know, perhaps it wasn’t ananomaly. Because we interrogated all the prisoners extensively and none of themknew anything about the oracle. We also interrogated Lucan himself. As far as we’vebeen able to determine, he was absolutely genuine. He grew up in a village notfar from where Caesar made his camp that night.”

But … how is that possible?” asked Travers. “If he wasn’tfrom the Special Operations Group, how could he have known about Caesar’sassassination? He even knew the exact date, and the names of the assassins!”

“Apparently, he had precognitive powers since early childhood,”said Forrester.

“You mean he could really see into the future?” Lucasasked.

“It would appear so.” said Forrester. “It seems he reallyhad the gift of ‘second sight.’ if you can call it a gift. He seemed to thinkof it more as a curse.” He paused. “I suppose it must have been. I assigned anagent to keep him under surveillance after we clocked him hack to his own time.It was a very short-term mission.”

“Why?” asked Lucas. “What happened?”

“I suppose Lucan must have seen something again,” saidForrester gravely. “The morning after we clocked him hack to his own village.he committed suicide.”

“My God,” said Travers in a low voice. “He knew!”

“He knew what?” asked Forester, puzzled.

“Just before we passed him through the gates that night. Iasked him if he could look into my future,” Travers said. “He told me that hecouldn’t, because he needed time to recover …. And he was leaving on a longjourney in the morning.”

Content

Simon Hawke
The Cleopatra Crisis

Prologue

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