by Simon Hawke
8
“This will do,” said Steiger, looking around at the smallapartment in the tenement block that Marshall owned.
“Are you sure about this. Creed?” Marshall asked. “You don’thave to stay here, you know. You’re perfectly welcome to remain at my place.”
“Am I?” Steiger said, giving him a hard look. His pale.blue-gray eyes were like cracked ice.
“Look. Creed, if it’s about last night-”
“Yeah that’s what it’s about,” said Steiger, an edge in hisvoice. “Why didn’t you kill me last night. John? What’s the matter. lose yournerve?”
Marshall hesitated only a fraction of a second. “What thehell are you talking about?”
“Come on, John, you think I can’t tell when I’ve beendrugged? You must’ve slipped me a Mickey in the wine. You had your chance. Whydidn’t you take it?”
Marshall looked as if he were going to protest again. butthen his shoulders sagged and he exhaled heavily. “All right. Look … I admitI thought about it. but when push came to shove, I–I simply couldn’t do it. Ijust couldn’t. You gotta understand. Creed, it wasn’t because I wantedto. it’s … I was just afraid.”
“I must be slowing down,” said Steiger flatly. “I suppose Ishould’ve seen it coming. I just never expected it from you.”
There was an awkward pause. Marshall felt fear knotting hisstomach. He wanted to run, but he was afraid that if he did, he’d never make itto the door. Sweat stood out on his forehead.
“What are you going to do’?” he asked anxiously.
“Nothing, John,” said Steiger, turning away from him. Hestood at the window, looking out into the street. He sounded suddenly weary. “Youcaught me with my guard down and you had me, but you didn’t do it. I guess thatcounts for something:
“Creed,!.. Hell, I wish …” His voice trailed off.”Isimply don’t know what to say.”
“There’s nothing to be said.” Steiger replied in the sameflat tone. He shook his head. “You’ve changed, John. You used to be one of thebest. Now you’ve become a frightened little man.”
“Creed … try to understand. I didn’t want to do it. Andwhen it came right down to it. I-”
“Spare me, John. all right? Look. I appreciate the help you’vegiven me, but I don’t really need you anymore. Go back to your house and yourteenaged female slaves. Go live your fantasy. Don’t worry. I won’t turn you in.I don’t really give a damn about the Underground. Besides, you’re just notworth the trouble.”
Marshall looked down at the floor. “Creed, look.. I wasjust scared, that’s all. I didn’t know if you were going to-”
“I don’t really want to hear it. John, all right’?”
Marshall sighed. “Okay. Look … you can stay here as longas you like. Do what you have to do, I won’t come around and bother you. But ifthere’s anything you need, money or-”
“Get out. John,” said Steiger, without looking at him. “Justgo away. I don’t want to see you anymore. The minute you walk out that door. I’mgoing to forget that you exist.”
Marshall moistened his lips nervously and nodded. “Allright.” He felt enormously relieved. “For whatever it’s worth, Creed, I’m Indysorry things had to turn out this way.”
“So am I. John. So am I.”
“We’re making good progress,” Travers said, coming into theroom. “That was a messenger from Caesar. We’ve been invited to dine with himand Cleopatra at her house tomorrow night.” He glanced at Andre and grinned. “Cleopatramust have told him about how you managed to gain entry to her house. He said tobe sure my brother brings his clever and audacious wife.”
“Great,” said Lucas. “I’ve been wanting to have a lookinside that house. Good work. Andre. You got us in.”
“The invitation did not include you. I’m afraid,” Traverstold Delaney.
“That’s just as well,” Delaney said. “I’m supposed to meetwith the conspirators again tomorrow night.
“So then you’re in?” asked Travers.
“For what it’s worth, I guess I am.” Delaney replied. “Butif I didn’t know that these guys actually pulled it off. I’d say they were apretty sorry bunch of assassins. They seem to be all talk and no action. Lessthan two weeks to go before the Ides of March and they still haven’t really gota plan.”
“Disorganized?” asked Lucas.
“You’d have to see it to believe it,” said Delaney with aderisive snort. “They’re like a damn sorority trying to decide what decorationsto put up for the dance. The leaders get together during the day, usually atthe baths, where they huddle in a corner in a little group and whisper, then atnight, they meet at Cassius’ house for a long, leisurely dinner and gallons ofmulsum. I don’t know how they stomach the damn stuff. They just sit arounddrinking and trying to psych one another up. They say they have a plan and they’rerefining it, but there isn’t any plan that I can see. It’s just a bunch of guystossing around wild ideas. And all during the night. other conspirators keepdrifting in and wandering out, as if they were dropping into some lodgemeeting. I can believe that there were about sixty people in on this thing. It’slike a damned convention. These people are rank amateurs. They haven’t got anysecurity to speak of. just a couple of guards at the door who pass people inand out. The way they’re going about it. if Caesar hasn’t heard about thisso-called conspiracy by now, he must be off in some other world.”
“Well, according to history, there were many rumors of conspiraciesagainst his life.” said Travers. but Caesar simply discounted them. There havealways been conspiracies in Rome of one sort or another, but few of them evercame to anything. Caesar was even involved in several aborted conspiracieshimself, such as the one with Crassus. He knows there’s opposition against him.but the people support him and he’s got the Senate cowed. If word has reachedhim about this conspiracy, maybe he feels the same way about it as you do. Thatthey’re all talk and no action.
“But would he just ignore them like that?” Andre asked withsurprise.
“If he were anybody else, he probably wouldn’t.” Travers replied.“But he’s Caesar. He’s survived more bloody wars than any other general inRome. The man simply has no fear. Maybe he really believes that he’sinvulnerable.”
“According to your report, he didn’t seem to believe it thenight he heard the oracle’s prophecy.” said Lucas.
“A lot’s happened since that night.” Travers replied. “TheCaesar who was about to cross the Rubicon was full of doubt and indecision. He’dalways bucked the odds before, but for the first time in his life, he reallywasn’t sure. No Roman general had ever marched on Rome before. Even for Caesar.it seemed like going much too far. But he pulled it off. And he hasn’t lookedback since. After he defeated the great Pompey, he didn’t think that there wasanything he couldn’t do.” Travers paused. “After his death. Caesar was deified,but in his own mind, he’s halfway there already.”
You mean he actually thinks of himself as a god?” asked Andre.
“No. I doubt that. I’m sure he doesn’t, not in the literalsense. But with all he’s managed to accomplish, it’s clearly gone to his head.You know the old saying. Absolute power corrupts. absolutely. Caesar hasn’treally been corrupted. at least not in the same sense as Tiberius. Caligula.and Nero were. but be really does believe that he’s infallible. Besides, hismind isn’t really on what’s happening in Rome. Being emperor doesn’t seem tointerest him anymore. He’s bored.”
“Bored’?” said Lucas, raising his eyebrows. he’s run out ofchallenges. Since he became emperor. Rome has been at peace. And peace is notCaesar’s milieu. he’s a soldier. He’s not really alive unless he’s in the fieldwith his troops. It’s what he does best. He can’t wait to leave on that campaign.The old war dog wants one last taste of battle. He’s not a young man anymore.This is his last chance to go down in history as the greatest general who everlived, the man who surpassed even Hannibal and Alexander. ‘There’s a world toconquer out there.” Travers shook his head. “He�
��s not going to concern himselfabout a few malcontented senators.”
“I wonder what would have happened if he wasn’t murdered.”Lucas said, musing out loud. You think there’s a chance he would have pulled itoff?”
“I don’t think there’s much chance he wouldn’t have.” saidTravers. “Jesus, wouldn’t that be something’? Rome’s empire would have extendedall the way from western Europe to the Far East. Caesar would have become themost powerful ruler who ever lived. History would have taken a very differentcourse. Who knows how things would have turned out!”
“Let’s hope we don’t have to find out.” Delaney said.
Travers glanced at him, as if suddenly remembering what theywere here to do. “Yes.” he said quietly. He sighed. “What’s our next move’?”
“Well, tomorrow we’ll have a good chance to take stock ofthe situation at Cleopatra’s house.” said Lucas “I’d like to look around andsee if there’, a good place I can drop in unexpected sometime.”
“Probably the gardens.” Andre said. It looked like therewere a few places where you could clock in unobserved. But I still can’tbelieve that Cleopatra could be a ringer. She just seems so … genuine. It’sApollodorus I have my doubts about.”
“You know how long he’s been with her?” asked Delaney.
“Since she was sent into exile,” Andre said. “She says he’sserved her loyally ever since. He was the one who smuggled her in to seeCaesar.” She looked at Travers. “You were there, you must remember him.”
“Yes. I do,” said Travers. “and I’ve seen him a number oftimes since then, but I’ve never really spoken with him.”
“What’s their relationship like?” asked Lucas.
“He seems to be a bit more than just a servant or a slave,”said Andre. “He defers to her, of course. but I noticed that he does try tomanipulate her, though that can’t be easy. He’s clearly in charge of thehousehold. Cleopatra said something that I found very interesting. She’sconcerned about Caesar’s safety, but she said it was Apollodorus who suggestedshe present him with a bodyguard. And he picked the men himself.”
“That is interesting,” said Lucas. “We’ll have to keep acareful watch on him.”
“We’ve got Castelli and Corwin watching Marcian and Sabinus.”Delaney said. “That leaves Andell and Drummond free. We could assign them towork shifts on Apollodorus. Watch the house while he’s inside, follow him whenhe leaves.”
“Hell. I almost forgot to tell you,” Travers said. “WhenCorwin relieved Castelli early this morning and Castelli came in to get somesleep, he reported that Sabinus has apparently moved out of Marcian’s house andinto a small apartment in the Argiletum.”
“Isn’t that sort of a working-class district?” Lucas asked,frowning.
“It’s not one of Rome’s best neighborhoods.” Traversreplied.
“Odd place to live for a man who just won a bundle at the races,”said Delaney.
“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” Lucas said.
“I can’t shake the feeling that there’s something veryfamiliar about Sabinus,” Andre said. “I don’t know what it is. I don’t forgetfaces and I’m sure I’ve never seen his before, but there’s still something ….I don’t know. It’s just a feeling.”
Lucas glanced at Delaney. “Finn?”
Delaney shook his head. “He rang no bells with me, but thenI didn’t get a chance to talk to him. I was concentrating on Cassius and theothers.”
Andre shrugged. “Maybe I’m wrong. I don’t know, it’s justsort of a hunch ….”
“I’ve learned to respect your hunches.” Lucas said. “We’llleave Corwin on Marcian and have Castelli stay on Sabinus. We’ll need to bringin some more people to relieve them.”
“I’ll go wake up Castelli,” Travers said.
“No, let him sleep.” said Lucas. “There’s time. When hewakes up. tell him we’ll need a couple more T.O.’s transferred in.”
“Just two?” asked Travers.
“For now,” Lucas replied. “I’d like to keep the numbers manageable.The more people we bring in, the more chances we’re taking of disrupting thetimestream. We’re taking enough chances as it is, interacting with the mostpivotal characters in this temporal scenario. Let’s walk softly, okay?”
Travers nodded. “That makes good sense to me.”
“All right.” said Lucas. “In the meantime, there are severalthings we’ll need to do. First, we need to set up safe transition points foreach of us somewhere in this house. Someplace where well be able to clock in orout, any time of day or night, without alarming any of the household slaves andwith no chance of two people clocking in at the same time.”
“I’ve already anticipated you,” said Travers. “I keep only afew slaves and they’ve all got strict instructions not to enter my privaterooms unless they’re told to.” He grimaced. “I would have liked to dispensewith slaves altogether, but I have to keep at least a few to maintainappearances. I’ve got a personal transition point with coordinates in mybedroom in case of emergency, and you can set up your transition points eitherin there or in the library. Those would probably be the best places.”
“Good. We’ll get those programmed in right away? said Lucas.“What about outside the house?”
You want to set up transition points outside the house?”asked Travers. puzzled. “Suppose we’ve got hostiles inside the house?” saidLucas. “We’ve got to consider worst case scenarios, such as if we blow ourcover to the S.O.G.”
Travers nodded. “Good point. What about the gardens down bythe riverbank? Or the roof?” use both,” said Lucas. “The other thing we’ll needis an arms cache. If we have to take on soldiers of the S.O.G., we’ll needlasers and disruptors. Where can we keep them safely?”
“I’ve got that taken care of, too,” said Travers. “I’ve gotsome concealed storage places underneath the floor in the library.”
“Excellent.” said Lucas. He glanced at the others. “Have Iforgotten anything’!”
“What about a safe house?” asked Delaney..
Lucas snapped his fingers. “Right. We’ll requite a house orapartment somewhere in the city where we can hole up in case this place iscompromised?
“I’ll see to it,” said Travers.
“Anything else?” asked Lucas.
Delaney shook his head. “I think we’ve got it covered.”
“I hope so.” Lucas said. he made a tight-lipped grimace. “Ihave a feeling this is going to be a tough one. God knows, we’ve had a lot moredangerous missions before, but I don’t think we’ve ever had one with so many variables.How the hell are we going to take out a dozen people who are constantly in thepublic eye without having anybody notice?”
“The answer to that one’s simple,” said Delaney. “We can’t.Unless we can figure out some way to separate Caesar from his bodyguards onMarch fifteenth, it’s going to get messy.”
“Maybe we’ll get lucky,” Andre said.
They simply stared at her.
“On the other hand,” she said wryly. “maybe not.”
Marshall jumped about a foot when Simmons suddenly materializedin his bedroom. He’d been sitting on his bed. with his door bolted, nervouslysmoking a cigarette, when the Network cell chief suddenly appeared before him.
“Christ. Simmons, you gave me a start!” said Marshall. exhalingheavily. “You should be more careful. What if I’d had a girl in here?”
“That would’ve been too bad for her.” said Simmons flatly,he was dressed in black commando fatigues and there was a laser pistol in atanker-style holster at his shoulder. “I’d suggest you curtail your sexualdiversions for the time being. You’ve got more important things to worry about.Did you know you’re being watched?”
“I’m being watched?” said Marshall. stunned.
“That’s right.” said Simmons. “I thought you said they didn’tsuspect you.”
“But.. I don’t see how they could!” Protested Marshall. “Ihaven’t done anything to alert them
or give myself away! I swear!”
“You must have done something,” Simmons said. He looked atMarshall’s cigarette with distaste. “Those filthy things are going to kill you.”
“If I don’t die of a damn heart attack first, from youpopping in here like that,” Marshall said. “I need these. They’re my only remainingconnection with the world I came from. An Underground connection picks them upfor me. They help steady my nerves.”
“Well, you’d better lay in a good supply, then,” Simmonssaid. “You’ll need your nerves steady. I see Steiger’s left the house.”
“You’ve got-him under surveillance?”
“Of course. You think we’re playing games here? Snap out ofit. Marshall. for Christ’s sake. Start thinking straight. What happened? Whydid he leave?”
Marshall glanced down at the floor and took a nervous dragoff his unfiltered cigarette. “He wanted me to provide him with a separate safehouse.”
Simmons regarded him steadily. “That’s not all of it. Whataren’t you telling me?”
Marshall hesitated.
Simmons suddenly stepped forward and grabbed him by histunic, lifting him up off the bed. There was a sound of ripping cloth. “Don’tfuck with me, Marshall,” he said in a low voice, through clenched teeth. “Icould do this just as easily without you. Get my drift?”
“All right, all right! Let go of me!”
Simmons released him and stepped back. “Let’s hear it,” hesaid. “ All of it.”
“He found out I drugged him the other night.”
“How? I thought you said he wouldn’t suspect a thing?”
“I don’t know how!” Marshall said. He took a deepbreath and let it out slowly. “That stuff wasn’t supposed to have any aftereffectsand I know he couldn’t have tasted it in the wine. But he figured it outsomehow. He’s good. He always was.”
“So you gave yourself away,” said Simmons with contempt. “Howcome you’re still alive?”
Marshall shook his head. “When he confronted me with it, Iwas sure he was going to kill me. But he hasn’t put it all together. He thoughtI’d gotten paranoid and drugged him so that I could kill him while he was out,because I was afraid he’d turn me in. I let him think that and convinced him Icouldn’t go through with it. That I’d lost my nerve. Since I hadn’t gonethrough with it, I guess he felt he owed me something. So he said he’d stay inthe apartment and he wasn’t going to contact me again. As soon as I walked outthe door, he’d forget I existed.” Marshall sighed. “He said I didn’t have toworry about him coming after me. I wasn’t worth it.”
