Blood on the Water

by Mark Hildebrandt

  He walked into the garden at exactly eight and found Cassandra and Irena sipping on a glass of wine and laughing. As he approached he noticed Cassandra lean over and say something to Irena that initiated laughter from both. All he heard was something about late and trained. It wasn’t too hard to figure out the rest. He decided it was best to say nothing, no point going defensive with these two this early in the evening.

  He asked the servant to bring him a fresh cocktail as he walked past the bar, and then turned to greet Cassandra, who had already jumped up, and threw her arms around his neck. “Oh, Marcus it is so nice to see you. How are you?”

  “I’m fine, and it is nice to see you as well. You know this house only feels complete when you are home. Did you get a chance to see the children?”

  With a big smile she said, “Yes. I saw them just before they went to bed. Marcus, they have grown so much in the last few months. I can’t believe how much I missed them.”

  “You know when this project is completed, you could bring your freshly honed supervisory skills back to Rome, and work at the ministry. That way you could see the children every day, and I could get some much-needed help.”

  When she had left for Britain, the move precipitated a family battle about being so far from home but having her at the research center did turn out to be a blessing. She was ready and able to step in and manage the Trans-Dimensional project at just the right moment. Soon the project would no longer be needed, and he hoped to convince her to return.

  She shook her head slowly, “Marcus we are not going there. For the time being, I like where I am, now let’s not spoil a nice evening.” She then turned to Irena, “You know I visited your sister Julia this afternoon. She sends her best.”

  “I know she sent me a note and told me. She said the gentleman, who accompanied you, seemed very nice.”

  “Oh … yes. He is very nice. He is a history professor, and believe it or not, we had a very interesting conversation during the ride from London.”

  The two women began talking about Torino, and Irena’s sister, and Marcus found his mind drifting back to the meeting with Kukulcan. Fortunately, his cocktail arrived and broke the spell. He quickly took a swallow to reinforce the drink he had finished while getting dressed. He reasoned it might help. He needed to get these Senate problems out of his head, so he could enjoy this infrequent visit from Cassandra. As he felt the warmth from the drink spread from his core to his extremities, he realized, what the two women were talking about, and interrupted, “Cassandra, do you mean to say, you and the man you are bringing for the exam, visited Irena’s sister? Do you think that was wise?”

  “His name is James, and there was no reason I shouldn’t. He is fascinating.”

  Irena gave Marcus a worried look, “What’s the problem, Marcus? According to Julia, he was very polite, and one other thing, - ah - what was it, oh yeah very handsome.” She said winking to Cassandra.

  Marcus rubbed his chin. “I just don’t think it is such a good idea; that’s all. You didn’t tell anyone where he was from, did you?”

  “Marcus, I have only told people what they need to know. He comes from the Mississippian Province, and he is a history professor.”

  The conversation was interrupted when dinner was announced, and the three adjoined to the triclinium.

  “What have you arranged for dinner this evening, my love?” Marcus asked as he helped Irena with her chair.

  “Since it is so special to have Cassandra visit, I thought we would have something a little different. I arranged to have one of the Chinese chefs prepare the meal this evening. I believe he has made Peking Duck. I hope you both like it.”

  “Excellent,” Cassandra said. “I love duck. I will be a very nice change. The food in London always seems so boring.”

  “Where is your history professor now?” Marcus asked, not following the discussion about the cuisine.

  “He is in your clinic, just like you wanted. Quintus set him up in one of the Senatorial rooms. He seemed quite comfortable, except I don’t think he likes hospitals much. He almost didn’t let me leave, but he’ll be all right for the night.”

  Several servants entered the room and placed small plates of steamed meat dumplings and several dipping sauces on the table. A third produced a bottle of wine and served each a glass.

  “I don’t know what kind of wine they serve with dinner in China, so I selected a very light Pinot Grigio. I know you are not fond of Pinot Grigio Marcus, but it is so light it shouldn’t clash with the delicate flavor of the duck.”

  Cassandra was just finishing one of the pot stickers, “Hm, this is very good, Irena, but don’t worry about him. If I know my brother, he would have been happy with bangers and mash and beer. But just so you know, I think this is a wonderful treat. Thanks.”

  Marcus sat quietly, enjoyed the dumplings and listened to the women talk. Irena so loved to entertain, but with this war heating up, it may be wise to curtail the number of visitors to the villa for a while. Keep it to family and trusted advisors, just to be safe.

  Marcus’ thoughts were interrupted when the servants returned and served a very delicate shark fin soup. “Irena, I don’t care if my dear sister insults me, but this is delicious, and I have always applauded your dinner selections.”

  “Thank you, Marcus, but since I know what you like, you better like my selections.” She said smiling seductively.

  Before Marcus could respond, the chef wheeled in a cart with three crispy ducks, several other items, and began serving. The crispy skin was gently shaved away and placed on a very thin pancake, which was rolled up with green onions and sweet noodle sauce. The remainder of the duck was carved on the plate and served with steamed rice and Chinese vegetables. He instructed them to use their fingers to eat the pancakes, bowed and left.

  “Oh, Irena. This is excellent.” Cassandra said after taking a bite of the pancake. “What a great idea.”

  Marcus nodded agreement and continued eating. For the next few minutes the only sound in the triclinium was munching, as the duck, rice and wine were eagerly consumed.

  Between bites Irena asked about Cassandra’s job. “What is it like to oversee a group of physicists, most of them PhDs? It must be very challenging.”

  Cassandra was savoring the last bite of her pancake rolled duck, “It is not that big of a deal. They know what needs to be done and do it besides there are only ten of them. I should think it would be much harder managing this villa. How big is your staff? It must be one hundred fifty people. Now that is a big task.”

  “Oh, maybe you are right, but even so my staff knows what to do as well, and they don’t require much supervision.”

  The attentive servers cleared the remaining dishes and the three were served coffee.

  “Cassandra, it is not the same, I have more people, but you are looking for new important scientific discoveries. It must be exciting and rewarding at the same time.”

  Cassandra smiled, “Yes that part is exciting, but team members get to do most of the fun work. My job is to ride herd over them, and make sure they get the boring institute work done as well. Things like monthly reports and project reviews. Occasionally one of them will ask me for help on a project, and helping is fun, but for the most part my job is feeding the Ministry bureaucracy with the appropriate reports and budgets on time.” Cassandra sat back and sipped her coffee.

  Marcus noticed Irena had become silent and was staring into her coffee. When he turned and looked at Cassandra, he saw she was staring intently at him. Finally, she broke the silence. “Tell me Marcus, what is going on with all this political turmoil. I saw some of that Senate hearing today. It didn’t look much like the typical skirmish.”

  The change in subject caught Marcus completely off guard. Was his little sister Cassandra, and she was asking about politics? Her whole life she has been passionate about politics. She passionately hated them and would never even talk about them. For a few moments Marcus just looked at her, not quite knowin
g what to say.

  “Is this war between the Emperor and Senate as bad as I have heard?” She continued.

  Without answering, Marcus slowly got up and walked over to Irena. He bent down and gently kissed her, “Irena, I think it would be best if you let me and Cassandra have a few minutes to discuss this in private.”

  Irena started to protest, but Marcus continued. “It’s Vespus family business, please, I will be along in a few minutes.”

  Marcus and a puzzled Cassandra watched as Irena quietly left the triclinium with no further protest. When she was out of ear shot, Marcus turned to Cassandra, “You little sister have never given one damn about politics. Why now? What precipitated this sudden change of heart?”

  “And you have never been outright rude to Irena.”

  “I was not rude, I’ll make it up to her later, but if this it to be our first ever political discussion then it is just going to be the two of us. Now, is your curiosity the result of something Julia said at lunch?”

  “No. You know that family. They are all about conspiracy, and intrigue, most of it things they made up. I am amazed how good you and Irena are considering her pedigree. No. It was not Julia.”

  Well what then? Marcus persisted. He was as curious about what had awakened her new political interest, and why. “Come on Cassandra, why the question?”

  She stared for a moment apparently into space and said, “It was something James said after we left Torino.”

  “James? Who the hell is James?” Marcus was suddenly confused, but then it dawned on him, her experiment. “Cassandra, you have got to be kidding. Are you telling me a man from a different universe has brought on this new-found interest in politics? A man who has only been in this world for only a day, yet he is already giving advice on politics,” Marcus laughed, not a heartfelt belly laugh, one simply for effect.

  Cassandra glared at him until his forced laughter subsided. “Look,” she said. “James may be new to this world, but he is not stupid. During lunch, Julia and I talked, and James watched your performance at the Senate hearing. Later after we left Julia’s, he told me that as part of his studies, he has watched dozens of Senate hearings. They were very similar to ours. Then he told me, watching you, it appeared the Senators were clearly circling for the kill, something about blood on the water. Was he right? Are the Senators circling for the kill?

  Marcus found himself looking at the floor. He nodded and lifted his gazed to his sister. “Perhaps.” He continued to stare at her, and was trying to think of what to say, but the Imperial and Senatorial threats were spinning around in his head and made concentration difficult.

  “Marcus, what is going on?” She asked. Her voice steeped in concern.

  It was the tone of her voice that revived him. The concern was like a slap in the face. She was part of his family, and she was worried. He wondered if the concern could be shaped to fit the family needs, and he needed to see if this newfound interest in politics was genuine. He took a deep breath and quickly regained his composure. “Are they circling for the kill? I don’t know. Have they made threats? Yes. Senator Kukulcan said I must ally with the Senate against the Emperor.”

  “But that’s ridiculous,” She blurted out. “The Emperor, Vespus alliance is two thousand years old. It cannot be easily broken.”

  “That is true, but this Senator Kukulcan is incredibly audacious. He told me as soon as Emperor Claudius becomes ill with the virus, the Senate will move to coronate his son Flavious. Flavious is apparently already in the Senators pocket. If I stand aside, delay work on the virus, and allow him to carry out his plan, I will be rewarded, but if I interfere, it will not bode well for me and my family.”

  “Family! He threatened the family, the children.”

  Marcus slowly nodded, “Yes the family, and he specifically mentioned the children by name.” Marcus covered his face with his hands and rubbed his eyes.

  “That bastard.” Cassandra said, her voice several decibels louder than normal. “Those two are the future legacy of this family. How can he possibly be so bold as to threaten the family of an Imperial Minister? It is absolutely beyond belief.” Her voice was a combination of anger, hurt and disbelief.

  Still rubbing his eyes, Marcus realized he had never seen so much passion in his little sister. Now, he reasoned, it was simply a matter of directing it. “As I said this Senator has become powerful, and he got that way by being cunning and ruthless. He has been emboldened by the polls reflecting anger toward the Emperor and the Ministry over the lack of progress with the virus and used it to rally the Senate and initiate open warfare. There have already been causalities, agencies that have fallen victim, and been swallowed by Senate control. Now it is clear, his sights are set on the Ministry. Our only advantage is that the Senate is a bureaucratic mess, and for the time being Kukulcan is dependent on the Senate for his power. That dependency is what gives us the advantage, because the time it takes to develop Senate support for his plans, is time we can use to plan a counter attack.”

  Cassandra was nodding slowly, “I am just now beginning to appreciate the ineffectiveness of a bureaucracy, and your assessment sounds reasonable. But, Marcus, if they mean to do harm to my family, you, Irena and those two beautiful children then I want you to know I will fight next to you with all my being. I think it is time to take my place as a Vespus.”

  Marcus smiled. Finally, Cassandra was ready to begin her real training. Not the silly textbook training given in school, but the training necessary to be a powerful Minister in the Imperial branch and fulfill the Vespus tradition. He wasn’t sure this day would ever come. Her open rebellion as a youth, refusing to study medicine, and her distain for Roman society. It had all been very troubling. Now she says she is ready, good. Marcus momentarily thought of telling her it was the Emperor who threatened the children but decided one threat for this evening was enough. One threat had done more for the Vespus family than anything he had ever concocted.

  He stood and hugged his sister. “I accept your offer.”

  “What do you want me to do?” She asked when the embrace was broken.

  “For now, just keep an eye on the man from the other universe. We’ll talk more later.”

  Now, I think it best I tend to Irena. I don’t want to alienate my best ally. We’ll have breakfast at six and head to the clinic. Good night.” Marcus kissed her on the forehead and left for the bedroom.

  Chapter 11

  - Look but Don’t Touch -

  Marcus was enjoying a bowl of strawberries and blueberries with his double espresso and watching the morning news, when Cassandra appeared at six ten. He looked up from the program and smiled, “Good morning sister. It is a wonderful change to have company for breakfast. Did you sleep well?”

  “Not really.” She said shaking her head, “As nice as it is to be home, I never seem to sleep well when in Rome. Of course, last night’s discussion didn’t help.” She then motioned for the servant and asked for coffee and a sticky bun.

  “Is that your typical breakfast?” Marcus grimaced. “Perhaps you should try the berries. They were flown in overnight.”

  “Nah … Nothing like a breakfast of caffeine and sugar. All the goodness a body needs first thing in the morning.” She smiled and turned to the view screen reporting the local weather. “What are you going to do to James today?”

  “Oh, just basically a physical.”

  “I hope you are not planning to keep him overnight again. I’m certain he hates hospitals. You may need to sedate him if he is to stay.”

  “No. We will be done with him this afternoon, but I don’t want him going anywhere until all the data is analyzed. You know just in case we need to repeat something. If you like, I will put him up at one of the local hotels for a few days. That way you can go back to London and check on your equipment.” In a hotel with a guard, Marcus thought. He didn’t want the experiment to wander too far away, not yet anyhow.

  Cassandra was shaking her head, “No I promised to keep an
eye on him. I’ll show him around a bit. Perhaps we can go to the beach for a couple of days, or even the vineyards in Tuscany. How long do you want to keep him near the clinic?”

  “That’s difficult to say. It depends on the test results.” Marcus wondered if her interest in this man was the result of his request last night to keep an eye on him. “If you want to stay with him that is fine, but it is not necessary. I’m sure Josephus can see to your exp … eh … James.”

  “But, Marcus, I would like to stay. I haven’t had a vacation for a long time. I left someone I trust in charge back in London. There are things I want to learn about his universe, and even more important, I feel responsible for him. It was after all, my work that brought him here. Besides I gave him my personnel promise that I would send him home when the dimensions line up.”

  Marcus decided she would not be easily dissuaded and hoped her interest was in fact professional. He slowly took another sip of espresso, and said, “Very well, just remember Dr. Woodman is essentially a patient, and he will be leaving soon. Had you been trained as a physician, you would have learned how to keep patients at arm’s length.”

  She glared at him. It was an expression of contempt he remembered from childhood. “Oh, stop it Marcus. I may not be a physician, but I am a scientist. I can differentiate between scientific investigation and personnel curiosity.”

  “I certainly hope so. Come on. Let’s go. The car is out front.”

  ◆◆◆

  The ride to the clinic, a routine for Marcus, was quiet and uneventful. They arrived just before seven. Exiting the vehicle Marcus said to Cassandra, “I have a few mundane tasks to deal with first thing this morning; perhaps you would like to visit with Dr. Woodman while I tend to them. I’ll meet you in his room in about an hour.”