The Cleopatra Crisis tw-11 Page 7

  “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, who
se 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 suppose
d 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!”