The Cleopatra Crisis tw-11 Read online

  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 hi
m,” 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.”