by Simon Hawke
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 score
card, 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 lo
okingat 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.
