The Cleopatra Crisis

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.