Another Time, Another Place

by Jodi Taylor

  I picked up my pack and looked over her shoulder for the others, but she was alone. We’d never seen any trouble on the streets, but this was still not a wise move on her part. Why would she take such a risk?

  I stared at her. She had that professionally blank expression that always means something bad either has happened or is about to happen. I felt the skin at the back of my neck tighten. Such is my lifestyle that my instincts don’t usually bother getting out of bed for anything less than an apocalypse, but at this precise moment not only were they out of bed, but they were bolting down the stairs and throwing on their clothes as they went.

  Trying to remain calm, I said, ‘Is there a problem?’

  She seemed to brace herself. ‘There’s been an incident.’

  ‘Where? Why didn’t you call me? What happened?’

  ‘The Temple of Marduk.’

  ‘Esagila.’

  ‘Yeah.’

  ‘What about the Temple of Marduk?’

  She stared over my shoulder. For God’s sake, was she standing at attention? ‘We were in some sort of courtyard . . .’

  ‘You were inside the temple compound?’

  ‘Well, yes.’

  ‘Clerk gave you permission to go inside?’

  ‘He wasn’t there. I made a decision.’

  ‘To go inside.’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Did you remember to remove your sandals? Or wash your face and hands?’

  The answer was written all over her face.

  I sighed. ‘Great. Did they throw you out?’

  ‘Actually . . . there was a kind of inner room.’

  It was a hundred and fifty degrees in the shade today and I went cold.

  ‘You mean the little building at the centre of the courtyard.’

  She nodded. ‘It didn’t look very important. It was tiny compared to the other stuff . . .’

  ‘You’re talking about the inner sanctum.’

  ‘Scarfe had heard them – Clerk and Prentiss – talking about it and it was unguarded – no one in sight – so he thought it would be an excellent opportunity to . . .’

  ‘Enter the inner sanctum. The place where the gods live. The holiest place in the city. And commit blasphemy.’

  ‘Well, obviously the gods don’t live there so . . .’

  Shit. Shit, shit, shit.

  This was exactly the sort of thing I had been afraid of. I snapped at her. ‘Your opinion as to the location of the gods is irrele­vant. The people here believe they do and that’s what matters!’

  Face tight, she nodded.

  ‘Scarfe went inside?’

  ‘It was easy. There wasn’t even a door. Just a curtain.’

  ‘And you let him do this?’

  ‘He thought he could nip in and out with a recorder and no one would notice what he was doing.’

  This casual assumption that people living a long time ago weren’t as intelligent as modern people pisses me off no end. That the Babylonians wouldn’t notice a little casual blasphemy and even if they did, they wouldn’t mind. Because it was just one of their funny old gods and not important. Well, it bloody well is important. The gods of Ancient Egypt have been around a bloody sight longer than this new-fangled Christianity. And if you take a good look around contemporary time, those who lived a long time ago were a bloody sight more intelligent than us. By a long way.

  I bit back what I’d been going to say. And I stored away the fact that a member of Security had a recorder for future thinking about.

  ‘Well, let’s take a guess, shall we – they did notice.’

  Hyssop nodded. ‘One minute the place was deserted and the next – priests and guards everywhere.’

  I sighed. ‘Well, lucky for you, Clerk and Prentiss have finished there. Tomorrow you can escort them to . . .’

  Evans blasted around the corner. ‘Max. A word.’

  Hyssop stiffened. ‘Not necessary, Evans. I’m dealing with it.’

  ‘No, you’re not. Max . . .’

  ‘I am attempting to . . .’

  ‘Both of you – shut up.’ I turned to Evans. ‘Talk to me.’

  ‘Clerk and Prentiss have been arrested.’

  It was vitally important to remain calm. I turned to Hyssop. ‘And you would have told me . . . when?’

  ‘I was telling you.’

  ‘When did this happen?’

  ‘A couple of hours ago.’

  ‘A couple of hours?’

  ‘About noon.’

  ‘What the hell have you been doing all this time?’

  ‘We’ve been looking for them.’

  ‘Without telling me?’

  ‘There wasn’t time. Standing instructions are to search the area immediately. Which we did.’

  ‘They wouldn’t have kept them there, you clown. It’s a temple. They’ll have been taken away to God knows where. Have you any idea of what could be happening to them right now? Especially Prentiss.’

  ‘Which bears out Commander Treadwell’s theory that . . .’

  ‘Shut up,’ I said, unable to listen to her any longer.

  ‘Yeah,’ said Evans. ‘I’d really shut up if I were you, Hyssop.’ Which was quite a reproof from mild-mannered Evans. ‘Sorry, Max. I’ve only just found out you hadn’t been informed.’

  ‘Watch your mouth, Evans.’ Hyssop turned back to me. ‘We’ve been looking for them,’ she said defensively. ‘When we couldn’t locate them at the temple, I pulled Evans and his team off their mapping duties and set up a proper search grid and we’ve been working from street to street.’

  It was only the fact that I had some really good stuff on my recorder that stopped me throwing it against the wall. Or better still, throwing her useless self against the wall. And her useless team with her.

  ‘Have you been calling them?’

  ‘Yes. Every thirty seconds. As is laid down in . . .’

  ‘Mr Evans, get everyone back to Number Five. It’s the closest. Everyone drops what they’re doing. We’ll do a head count and then attempt to ascertain from these useless fuckers exactly what happened, where and when.’

  ‘On it,’ he said and disappeared before Hyssop could stop him.

  The temptation to run through the streets shouting their names is strong. To cover as much ground in as little time as possible because anything could be happening to them and all the time your brain is shouting at you to find them, find them, find them.

  The right thing to do is to take a moment or two to stop and think. Where would they be taken? Is there a public gaol? Is there more than one? Is there a public execution site? Will they be split up? What is the law? What is the punishment? Will it be the same for Prentiss as for Clerk? You have to force yourself to stop and answer these questions as best you can because lives depend upon it.

  We got our maps out. Evans pulled up the uncompleted survey and he, Sands and I pored over everything, trying to identify anything that looked as if it might be a public gaol. The truth was that there were probably no holding facilities in the temple complex and the temple guards would have had them out of there at the speed of light. Something an experienced ­Security Section would have known. Markham would have called for assistance, stationed people appropriately and intercepted prisoners and guards in a quiet spot somewhere. We’d have had to run like hell afterwards, but we’re used to that. In fact, if Hyssop and her people had conspired to be in the wrong place at the wrong time doing the wrong thing for the wrong reasons, they couldn’t have made a better job of it.

  And not a peep from either Clerk or Prentiss. No cry for help. Not even the swift tap to the ear we give when we can’t talk. They were almost certainly unconscious. Or dead. I could hear Keller calling them every thirty seconds or so. On and on. Respond. Respond. Respond.

  There was nothing. Not ev
en static.

  I was nearly frantic but that wouldn’t help. Clerk and Prentiss were tagged – we all were – and we had tag readers, but they could be anywhere in the city and it was a big place. Worse – they might not even be in the city at all by now.

  Scarfe started to say something. I don’t know what it was. I only know I was furious that he should even be talking at all.

  I spoke very quietly because if I didn’t my rage would consume them all.

  ‘I am certain that Captain Hyssop is punctilious in her treatment of even dickheads like you, Scarfe. I, however, am an historian and the rules don’t apply to me. I couldn’t give a flying duck about hurting your feelings. My first instinct is to send you back to St Mary’s while you are still able to walk and to confine you to the Security Section for your own protection. However, you will be included in this search because I need the manpower. You will do exactly as you are told when you are told. You will take very good care not to irritate me in even the smallest way, otherwise I will write you off as natural wastage and leave you here for whatever remains of your sad little existence.’

  ‘That was uncalled for,’ said Hyssop, quietly.

  ‘It was that or end his life on the spot. I’m quite happy to go with that option.’

  ‘No, I meant he is a member of my team. If you have any complaints you should address them to . . .’

  ‘And Clerk and Prentiss are members of mine. And they’re still missing. And I have more complaints about you and your team than you can even begin to imagine. And very soon, when we’ve resolved this mess of your making, you and I will be discussing exactly why a member of your team took it upon himself to attempt to perform a task far beyond both his remit and his abilities and the consequences thereof.’

  ‘Nevertheless . . .’

  Something broke inside me. Weeks of pent-up tension exploded before I could do anything about it. For one dizzying moment it was as if I was crushed beneath the weight of . . . well . . . everything. I grabbed a mug and flung it at the wall. It shattered into hundreds of satisfying little pieces. Everyone jumped.

  ‘You still don’t get it, do you? You’re here to protect historians. If you’re not going to do that, then there’s no point in bringing you at all. In fact, we’d do better without you. Jesus Christ, Markham would never have allowed this to happen.’

  That stung her. ‘Well, he’s not bloody here, is he?’

  ‘No, but unfortunately for us, you and your people are. For God’s sake, there are more fucking Security personnel than historians on this assignment and you still couldn’t get it right, could you?’

  Evans put a colossal paw on my arm. ‘Max . . .’

  ‘Yes, I know.’ I breathed again. ‘I know.’

  I took a very deep breath and turned to Hyssop. ‘I should have asked before – what did the tag readers say? Have you had any indication at all as to their whereabouts? In fact, that should have been the first—’

  I stopped. That should have been the first thing she did. And she hadn’t.

  No one was looking at me.

  I swallowed, and already guessing the answer, said very quietly, ‘You did bring tag readers . . .’

  Still no one was looking at me.

  Oddly enough, by now I was quite calm. Probably the rational part of my brain had decided there were no words for this, so why bother.

  Eventually she said, ‘We didn’t bring . . .’

  I held up my hand because I just couldn’t bear to hear her say it.

  Sands was folding the maps. ‘Max, one of us will have to go back and get them.’

  Damn. We’d be down to one historian.

  ‘I can drive a pod,’ said Evans.

  I blinked. ‘Can you?’

  ‘Course I can. Do you think I’ve been with you all these years and never picked it up? It can’t be that difficult if histor­ians can do it.’

  I wasn’t going to argue. And as a member of Security he’d know best what equipment to bring back. I nodded. ‘All right. Harper, grab the maps. We’ll get started on the search. Mr Evans, bring trackers, proximity alerts, everything you can think of. Mr Lindstrom will do the return coordinates for you so don’t worry about that. Just grab whatever and whoever you can. Call me on your return. Try not to let Commander Treadwell involve himself too closely.’

  Hyssop was very pale. ‘I’m in charge of the Security aspects of this mission . . .’

  ‘Oh, really. How’s that worked out for us so far?’

  ‘We should—’

  ‘I’m in charge here,’ I said between gritted teeth. ‘This is my assignment. Which is not something I should have to keep reminding you of. And if you’d confined yourselves to mapping the city as I requested, then we wouldn’t be having this conversation. I wanted to ease your team in slowly. You were the one on an ego trip. This was your team’s first assignment and they have failed. Dismally. Clerk and Prentiss are both popular and respected members of St Mary’s. You and your team are neither. I’d shut up if I were you. Go, please, Mr Evans.’

  He nodded. Harper grabbed the maps and we exited the pod to stand around the corner. The pod blinked out of existence with no problems at all, although I don’t know what I thought Evans was going to do to it.

  The dust slowly settled and I surveyed my resources. Sands, Hyssop, Keller, a very silent Glass, Scarfe and Harper. And me.

  ‘Be aware – we are now officially in harm’s way. Our other pod is on the other side of the city. Too far away should we encounter any problems in this vicinity. Be aware that if anything goes wrong, your priority is to find a hiding place and when it is safe to get yourselves back to the other pod.’ I looked at Hyssop. ‘You know where it is?’

  She nodded, tight-lipped.

  ‘Mr Sands, you take Glass. Mr Keller will go with Harper. And Scarfe.’

  Sadly, that left me with Hyssop, but this way there would be one experienced person on every team. There would be time for revenge and retribution later. Always deal with the now. With luck she’d fall into the Euphrates and a bloody hippo would eat her. And if they didn’t have hippos in the Euphrates then I’d bloody well go off and find one.

  I took a deep breath. ‘There are too few of us for a thorough search so we’ll confine ourselves to the area around the Esagila. When reinforcements arrive, at least we’ll be able to say we’ve eliminated that part of the city. Keep your coms open at all times. Mr Keller – continue to call Clerk and Prentiss at thirty-second intervals.’

  I didn’t say that the chances of them calling us or even hearing us were not good. If they were in a position to communicate then they would have done so by now. I swallowed down the panic engendered by thinking about what could be happening to them right at this moment. That wouldn’t help. The best thing I could do for them was not waste another second. ‘Let’s go.’

  Sands passed me some water. ‘Drink.’

  We all drank. And then we set off.

  We trudged the streets for two hours. It was useless. There were so many people about we couldn’t see more than ten feet in front of us, let alone to the end of the street. They could have been twenty feet away and we’d miss them.

  No one had heard anything on their com.

  ‘We should shout,’ said Keller, when we met on a street corner. ‘They might not be able to answer their coms but they could easily be behind a wall somewhere or on a roof. Shout.’

  It went against the grain to draw attention to ourselves like that, but we did. We shouted. We shouted ‘St Mary’s’ – listened, moved on, shouted, listened, moved on. Nothing. Except a lot of very strange looks but I’d passed caring. I just wanted to find my people. I’d worked with Clerk and Prentiss for years. They’d both been at St Mary’s nearly as long as I had. Clerk had often covered for me when I went on leave. I realised I was thinking about them in the past tense.

 
I was under no illusions. When people go missing the first few hours are the most critical and Hyssop had wasted them. She was applying military criteria to non-military circumstances. Right from the word go she’d seemed unable to get her head around the fact that we do things differently at St Mary’s. We have to. And we’d been doing things this way for years because it worked. And then, in swept Wonder Woman with her I’m young and bright and modern and I’ll soon get this place working properly attitude and everything had turned to shit.

  There were minor compensations. Babylon was not a barbaric city. Contrary to the Bible – a not unbiased primary source – the Babylonians had many laws and they were strictly enforced. However – and unfortunately for Clerk and Prentiss – I was unsure what they’d be charged with – trespass at best, blasphemy at worst – the penalty for which would almost certainly be either death or enslavement.

  If death, they might well be already dead. Enslavement was a different matter. We could get them back. And slavery in Babylon was not quite the same as slavery elsewhere. Many slaves were of Babylonian origin and descent. There were four types – those that were bought and sold along with the parcels of land they worked or the premises where they were employed; foreign slaves from subjugated lands; temple slaves; and private slaves who usually worked for a family and had a trade and, believe it or not, rights. A master could not maim, injure or kill a slave without just cause. If a man injured another man’s slave, he had to pay compensation – not to the slave, obviously, but it was still a kind of protection. Slaves could be witnesses in court. Unlike their Roman counterparts, they weren’t subject to compulsory torture to verify their evidence. And, interestingly, the law required a family to be kept together. A married slave could bring his wife and children with him. A mother could not be separated from her child. No doubt this was subject to abuse just like every other law, but it was a little bit comforting all the same. I told myself we’d find them long before it came to that.

  We didn’t.

  Evans returned a few hours later with Sykes, Roberts and Van Owen, together with Cox, Gallacio and Lingoss.