The Argonaut Affair

by Simon Hawke

  "All right," said Delaney, "now you tell them to head back to the main chamber and we'll follow. If any of them makes a move against us, I'll start breaking things in this lovely body." She did as she was told and the androids filed past Delaney. They all went into the main chamber, where the party had almost completely broken up. The music had stopped and there was no more revelry and dancing. About half the Argonauts were passed out on the floor, the others were slumping in a stupor, on the verge of unconsciousness. Steiger ran over to Hercules, who sat with his back against a wall, shaking his head slowly and trying to focus his gaze.

  "Hercules! Hercules, come on, wake up!" He slapped the strongman several times, then checked his eyes. "They've all been drugged!"

  The androids in the room all stared at Hypsipyle, as if awaiting instructions. None of them spoke.

  "What have you done to them?" said Delaney, squeezing her throat.

  She coughed and gasped for breath. "If you harm me, none of you will leave here alive."

  "Perhaps," said Delaney. "And perhaps with you dead, none of them will know what to do. It's not as if they're living, reasoning beings, is it?"

  "I-I do not understand."

  "I think you do. Now answer my question."

  "There-there was a potent sleeping draught mixed into their wine," she said.

  "Why?"

  She did not answer and he squeezed harder, blocking off the flow of blood to her brain just long enough to bring her to the brink of unconsciousness.

  "Why?"

  She gasped and coughed. "I do not know. I swear it! I merely did as I was told."

  "Told? By whom?"

  "By-by Hermes."

  "Hermes?" said Steiger.

  "The messenger of the gods. He who hides his face so that mortals may not look upon it."

  "Sound familiar?" Andre said.

  "Tell them to bring all our weapons here," said Delaney. "Do precisely as I say and we'll let you go unharmed. Otherwise-"

  "I-I will tell them."

  She directed the androids to return the weapons of the Argonauts and they silently moved to follow her orders.

  "You think maybe she really doesn't know?" said Andre.

  "I don't know," said Delaney. "It's possible. The truth now," he said to Hypsipyle. "There are no men here, are there?"

  She shook her head.

  "And no children? No old people?"

  She shook her head again.

  "Of course," said Delaney. "No one grows old here, do they?"

  Hypsipyle burst into tears. "I was promised! I was promised that I, too, would never age! I was promised that if I took care of them I would be their queen and live forever!"

  "She may be a terrific actress, Finn," said Andre, "but I believe her. Look at her. She's terrified."

  Steiger looked at her closely and nodded. "She's coming down with the cold sweats, all right.''

  "What are you saying? I do not understand you!"

  Delaney switched back to Greek. "What happened to the women in the cellar?"

  "They broke faith with the gods and their immortality was taken from them. They suffered for their lack of faith, as you too shall suffer!"

  "Perhaps we shall," said Delaney. "Now listen carefully, your life depends upon it. I want you to tell them to pick up our weapons, and the Argonauts, and carry them all back to our ship. We'll be watching closely, so don't try any tricks. Tell them."

  It was a strange procession through the woods to the shore of Lemnos, androids carrying weapons followed by others carrying the limp bodies of the Argonauts, with the temporal agents and Queen Hypsipyle bringing up the rear, Creed and Andre supporting a groggy, semi-conscious Hercules between them. They came out of the woods and saw the Argo riding gracefully at anchor just offshore. Delaney hailed the ship.

  "Telamon! Argus!"

  There was no response.

  He called again. "Oileus! Idmon! Mopsus!"

  Silence.

  "What happened to them?" Delaney said, tightening his arm around Hypsipyle's throat. "Where are they?"

  "Still aboard your ship," she said, weakly. Delaney could feel her trembling. "No doubt asleep by now. Wine was brought to them with a message from Jason, saying that you were all being feasted generously and promising to send men back to take their place so that they could come ashore and partake as well. Meanwhile, here was wine for them."

  "Very clever. I hope you're telling the truth. Andre, go out to the ship and make ready to sail. And you, Your Highness, tell your subjects to take the weapons and the men and put them aboard our ship. Remember, at the first sign of trickery, I'll wring your neck."

  Delaney and Steiger watched carefully as the androids carried the weapons and the unconscious Argonauts out to the ship and Andre helped lift them aboard.

  "All right, Creed, go on out."

  Steiger nodded. "I'll signal when we're ready to cast off. Watch yourself."

  "You will die for this," said Hypsipyle. "You cannot defy the gods! You cannot escape their vengeance!"

  "Shut up, Your Majesty."

  She gasped for breath and coughed again as Delaney applied pressure to her throat and then released it. Steiger soon gave his signal from the ship and when the last android had waded back ashore, Delaney ordered Hypsipyle to send them back to the palace. After the last one was out of sight, he shoved her forward hard and she fell sprawling on the beach.

  "Go back to your subjects," he said and turned to wade out to the ship.

  Hypsipyle scrambled to her feet and started running toward the woods. "Come back!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. "Come back! Kill them! Kill them all!"

  "Goddamn you-" Delaney started splashing out toward the ship as fast as the water would allow him. He was about halfway out when they came running out of the woods, sprinting down the beach.

  "Cast off!" he shouted. "Cast off!"

  He saw the anchor being hauled up and the sail being raised and he dived forward into the shallow water and started swimming furiously. The large sail luffed and then filled as Steiger turned the Argo into the wind. The ship began to move. Andre shouted at him to hurry and threw a rope over the side. He pulled himself aboard and glanced back. The androids were halfway out to the ship. On deck, the Argonauts all lay sprawled, unconscious. Hercules was snoring.

  "It might get a bit sticky," Steiger called to them from the tiller.

  Finn and Andre both grabbed swords from the pile of weapons. The wind was not strong and the ship moved slowly in the bay. With a spray of water, one of the androids leaped up out of the bay like a porpoise and grasped the side. Andre hit it in the face with the flat of her sword and the android fell back. Two more climbed up over the side and Delaney kicked one off and ran the other through. The ship was moving more quickly now, leaving the shallow water. Some of the androids were being left behind, but that still left others who had been in the forefront swimming beside the ship and trying to climb on board. Delaney grabbed one of the oars and swept several of them off deck while Andre was kept busy knocking them off with her sword. And then they were all falling behind as the ship outdistanced them, picking up speed and heading out to sea. From the shore, they could barely hear Hypsipyle screaming after them.

  Delaney dropped the oar to the deck and took a deep breath. "Well, that was certainly stimulating."

  "What, you tired?" Steiger shouted, from the steersman's post. "Who's going to trim the sail?"

  Delaney shot him an obscene gesture.

  "What do we tell these sleeping beauties when they wake up?" asked Andre, looking down at the senseless Greeks.

  "Why don't we tell them what a great time we all had?" said Delaney.

  Andre grimaced. "They're liable not to remember it."

  "So? You think that'll be a problem?"

  "Won't it?"

  Delaney shook his head. "I doubt it. I've yet to meet a Greek who would admit he couldn't hold his liquor."

  6

  When the Argonauts awoke, aided by b
uckets of seawater poured over them, they were surprised to find that they were back aboard the ship. As their hangovers subsided, their departure hastened by the brisk sea air, the Argonauts spoke of the beautiful women of Lemnos and the wonderful adventure they had, each of them embellishing upon imaginary amorous exploits. Not one of them would admit to any lapse of memory, although a few of them did confess that drink had dulled their senses slightly.

  They even "remembered" how they had staggered back to the ship and set sail, setting course for Thrace. That they had been able to accomplish this while drunk convinced them of their natural ability as sailors. Finn Delaney chose not to disabuse them of this notion. Ahead of them still lay the Sea of Marmora and the Euxine Sea, which would one day be known as the Black Sea. He felt they'd learn the true extent of their sailing abilities soon enough.

  The winds were fair and Tiphys took the tiller while Orpheus led the Argonauts in an improvised song about themselves, the chorus of which was the refrain, "The Argonauts are we; men of the open sea."

  "Pray for fair weather," Delaney said to Steiger.

  "Storms are among the least of my worries," Steiger said as the Argonauts bellowed the chorus of their self-glorifying song. "I just wish Hypsipyle had given us some answers."

  "I really don't think she could have," said Delaney. "Her terror seemed genuine. I don't believe she knew those women weren't human beings."

  "It doesn't make any sense," said Steiger. "If the people from the future of this timeline wanted the Argonauts to fail in their quest, why not simply clock back a small submarine and sink the ship? There are any number of ways they could accomplish it with far less trouble. We all could have been killed while we were unconscious in that cell. Damn it, Finn, none of this adds up!"

  "It has to add up somehow," said Delaney. "On one hand, the events-or the orchestration of events-are following those of our myth very closely. On the other hand, they seem to be aiming for a totally different result. And they're taking a lot of risks to do it. I can't understand it, either. How do we know what to do? Or what not to do?"

  "I don't know," said Steiger. "They have to know about us, yet they haven't made any serious effort to knock us out of the picture. It's as if they want us with the Argonauts."

  "If your theory is right that we've stumbled into one of their temporal adjustments, then there has to be a key moment in the scenario that's crucial. Maybe that's what they're saving us for."

  Steiger nodded. "Maybe. But we're still only guessing."

  "I keep thinking about those androids," said Delaney. "By the standards of our artificial intelligence technology, they were relatively unsophisticated. That doesn't fit in with the centaur. If the centaur was an android too, then it's so advanced that none of our tests revealed it for what it was. And if it was genetically engineered, then that indicates a level of technology that should have enabled them to build better androids. If they were capable of such sophisticated technology, why didn't they follow through with it on Lemnos?"

  Steiger swore through clenched teeth. "There has to be something we're overlooking. I've never been in a temporal scenario that was so damned inconsistent."

  "You've never been in another universe, either," said Delaney.

  "So what are you saying, that this universe isn't logical? I don't buy that. There has to be a logical framework to all of this. It's got to be there. We're just not seeing it."

  The wind picked up and the Argonauts shipped their oars as the lateen sail filled and the Argo began making good headway in the blow. They sailed past Samothrace through the Hellespont and into the Sea of Marmora, the spray soaking them all thoroughly as the bow of the ship rose and fell crashing into the waves. Not a few of the "men of the open sea" wound up hanging over the side, contributing to the volume of the water. By the end of the day, the winds died down and they were rowing along the Mysian coast.

  They had failed to properly provision the ship at Lemnos and stores were running dangerously low. As they dropped anchor and waded ashore, a large group of people came running down to greet them. It was a friendly reception by the Dalions, ruled by King Cyzicus, and the Argonauts were invited to the palace by emissaries of the king. When they arrived, they found a feast being prepared in their honor. King Cyzicus greeted them warmly, offering to provision their ship with food, water and wine as well as clothing to replace their worn and soiled garments.

  It was clear that the Dalions were not a wealthy people, but they spared nothing in making the Argonauts feel welcome. During the feast, musicians played and a wrestling exhibition was staged. Young women came out to dance for them and children brought them garlands of flowers.

  "We are grateful for this kind reception," Jason told the king. "When we return, we shall sing the praises of Dalion hospitality and of the goodness of King Cyzicus. Would that we could somehow repay your kindness."

  Cyzicus suddenly looked tired. "In truth, I had hoped you would respond in such a manner, as I could see from the beginning that all of you were warriors. We have but few soldiers of our own and my people are sorely beset by a fearsome enemy who plunders us at will."

  "Fear not, Cyzicus," said Theseus. "If you have enemies who prey upon you, you have but to name them and they are vanquished."

  "This is one enemy that will not be vanquished easily," said Cyzicus, "if, indeed, they can be vanquished at all."

  "What manner of men are these fearsome foes?" asked Jason.

  "These are not men, but giants," Cyzicus said. "Each of them possesses not two arms, but six. And in the hand of each arm is held a heavy wooden club that with one blow can crush a skull or break all of a man's ribs. They descend upon us from the hills and seize our harvests and our livestock. There is nothing we can do to stop them. Our bravest men have fallen to them and our fairest women have been carried off."

  "Be they men with two arms or giants with six," said Jason, "I was not taught to refuse help to those in need of it, nor is it in my blood to flee from danger. You have welcomed us and treated us as honored guests. You have acted honorably and we can do no less. What say you men? Shall we give these six-armed titans a foe worthy of doing battle with them?"

  "Just how big are these giants, anyway?" Delaney said, but his question was lost in the cheer given by the others.

  The Argonauts gathered up their weapons and followed Cyzicus outside, where they were joined by a group of soldiers who led them to the stables. Within a short time, they were mounted and riding toward the hills. The three temporal agents hung back at the rear so they could talk without being overheard.

  "Six-armed giants?" Andre said.

  "I know what you're thinking," said Delaney. "I'm thinking the same thing."

  "First Amazons, now six-armed giants?" Steiger said. "What in God's name is going on here? What are these people doing, clocking androids back here by the dozens?"

  "Why would androids carry off their women?" said Delaney.

  "It almost seems as if they studied the events and creatures of our Greek mythology and are trying to duplicate them," Andre said.

  Steiger stared at her. "That's a hell of an idea," he said.

  "Let's run with it for a minute," said Delaney. "The Argonautica of Apollonius is supposedly based on actual historical events which became mythologized over the years. The situation here seems .similar. Let's assume we're confronted with an attempt to recreate those mythical events and make them real. Why?"

  "Is it possible they could be trying to redirect the flow of their own history for some specific purpose?" Andre said.

  "That would amount to creating a split in their own time-line," said Delaney. "Why would they want to jeopardize their own temporal stability?"

  "We keep coming back to square one," said Steiger. "No matter what kind of explanation we come up with, nothing about this scenario seems to fit together. We're not getting anywhere."

  "We're getting closer to Colchis," Andre said. "If events continue to progress according to the myth, then that
has to be the focal point of this scenario."

  "Then why use androids to try to stop the Argonauts at Lemnos?" asked Delaney.

  "It leads nowhere again," said Steiger. "Every hypothetical scenario we put together falls apart from inconsistencies."

  "Maybe that's where we're going wrong," said Andre. "We keep trying to come up with rational explanations."

  "Meaning there's an irrational one?" said Steiger. "We're back to the supernatural again? It's going to take a lot of convincing to get me to buy that."

  "If the answer keeps coming out incorrect, something has to be wrong with the equation," Andre said.

  "So let's take another look at the equation," said Delaney. "Let's go back to the beginning and take it one step at a time. A number of factors seem to indicate that the people from the future of this timeline are attempting to construct a temporal scenario based upon the voyage of the Argonauts. We have the centaur and the incident at Delphi, plus the hooded man who keeps turning up everywhere. He may be with us on the voyage, posing as one of the Argonauts or there may be other explanations for his sudden appearances and disappearances, as well as for the centaur and what we saw at Delphi, but the androids at Lemnos can't be explained away. We're assuming our cover has been blown. We can't get rid of our warp discs. Our only alternative is to abort the mission and run if they close in. Only they haven't closed in. Why? Because they've made that choice or because they haven't had an opportunity?"

  "They've had plenty of opportunities," said Steiger. '"Have they? I'm not so sure. Maybe we're making some incorrect assumptions. Let's take the centaur first. What are the odds of a creature like that having evolved naturally?"

  "I should think it would require a radically different evolutionary process in this universe," said Steiger, "involving significantly different life forms. Nothing we've seen so far supports that. If the centaur didn't evolve naturally, then that leaves us with either magic or some sort of genetic engineering, including the possibility of android technology advanced beyond our level. The think-tank boys in Archives Section considered the possibility of magic based on prior intelligence that certain physical laws in this universe may be different from ours. But we've seen no real evidence of that. Until we do, I'm going to look for rational explanations. So the only rational explanation possible is that the centaur is an artificially created being. The hooded man is linked with both the centaur and the androids, which supports that theory. The centaur is considerably more sophisticated than the android women, so it's either a more advanced model or a genetically engineered creature."