Blood on the Water

by Mark Hildebrandt

  James was flat on the ground and pulling on Cassandra’s sleeve when the jungle between them and the beach erupted with gunfire. Fortunately, the vegetation was so dense the projectiles did not penetrate very far, but for the first time the Militia, reinforced by two more patrols, began advancing into the woods. “Shit,” Optio spat. “Stay low and start moving back, away from the beach.”

  “What about the boat?” Cassandra protested.

  “We would be killed before we could get within ten yards of the beach. The boat will have to wait, Militia is pouring into this area. We got to get back and try something different.”

  Cassandra didn’t feel the urge to argue, the sound of gunfire was defining, and it was all coming from the direction of the beach where the sub was supposed to surface. Optio was right; the sub would have to wait. The three slowly moved back deeper into the forest, all the while Optio was monitoring the position of his three teams, and the sound of gunfire kept intensifying.

  Then it stopped. Optio stopped crawling sat up and stared intently into his helmet monitor. “What the hell?” he muttered.

  James had also stopped and sat up, “What is it Optio?”

  “I’ll be dipped.” Optio muttered once again. “They appear to be withdrawing. Why?” he asked himself, “I count two hundred fifty. They would have overrun us in the next twenty minutes. Why the hell are they leaving?” Optio’s private interrogative session was interrupted by the beep of his communicator. He flipped open the device and a miniature Josephus appeared hovering about two inches above Optio’s hand.

  “Optio, is everyone all right?”

  “Yes sir. I have no idea why, but the Militia seems to be withdrawing.”

  “Very good. They should be, they were given orders to pull back. The sub will surface in,” Josephus paused, turned and looked in the opposite direction, “fifty minutes. Give the Militia time to clear out and get down to the beach. I want you on that ship, one o’clock local time. Got it?”

  “Yes sir.” Optio answered smartly, “but can you tell me what is going on?”

  “I don’t know the details yet. But Dr. Vespus and Kukulcan seem to have come to an agreement. Now get moving. Josephus out.” And the image vanished.

  ◆◆◆

  As soon as they were aboard, Cassandra and James were escorted to the ship’s bridge. “Good morning Dr. Vespus. Welcome aboard.”

  “Thank you Praefectus. What is our destination?”

  “A course has been plotted to the Imperial Naval facility on Cuba.” The Praefectus said standing erect and in a very professional tone.

  Cassandra tipped her head to the Praefectus and looked around the bridge. It was far from spacious. She had never been on a submarine, and thought it resembled a space ship more than a boat. She looked back at the Praefectus and asked, “How long will it take us to get there?”

  “Our estimated transit time is eight hours. I have arranged guest quarters for you and Dr. Woodman on level four; the ship’s Optio will show you the way. You will find, what I believe to be adequate bathing facilities on that level, I have also taken the liberty to locate and provide you with fresh clothing. The members of your Decum are on level two in the crew quarters if you need them. And there is a galley at the far end of the passageway on level four if you are hungry. I will be here on the bridge should you need anything else.” He clicked his heals, bowed his head slightly, and turned to face one of the bridge view screens. The action served to demonstrate he was finished, and they were dismissed. Cassandra began to feel a familiar irritation at his gesture, and was ready to snap back, but James grabbed her arm and the two followed the ship’s Optio off the bridge, and down several stairs.

  The guest quarters were comfortable and considering the close feeling everywhere else on the ship, remarkably spacious. There was only one guest compartment, so they shared. However, as with all true Roman bathing facilities, there were male and female baths. Cassandra told James she planned to enjoy a long hot uninterrupted soak and left him in the guest compartment.

  The military fatigues she had worn for the last two days were amazingly efficient at removing perspiration, insuring none of the local insects could reach the skin to bite, and none of the thorny trees could poke holes in her. They were also impregnated with some chemical compound that absorbed all body odors. She was pretty sure that was an excellent feature, because although the Maya chasing them did not have any fancy sensors, they did have noses.

  After a full hour soak, she returned to the compartment, and found James, cleaned, dressed, and sound asleep on the top bunk. She, however, was feeling kind of tingly after the long hot bath, and was not ready for sleep, so she sat down at the workstation and began some personnel research. She decided it was time to learn what she could about this Kukulcan, and began searching the public records, news accounts and even some private databases maintained by different Imperial agencies. The more she read and watched holo-clips, the more disturbed she became. This man was a true miscreant; his tactics were diabolical, and it was obvious from her research, his goal was to control the entire empire. She feared left unchecked; he just might be successful. Then she realized there was only one person standing in his way. It wasn’t the Emperor, he clearly was uninvolved, and would be easy prey for the hungry Senator. No, the only man in his way was Marcus.

  The thought sent a shiver through her still tingling body. Marcus was a physician, not a politician. She believed he was a good man, and worried he was far too naïve to deal with the evil she had been reading about. Then again, it was Marcus, who got them off the island. Had he not intervened, Optio said they would have been overrun and killed. Perhaps Marcus was not quite as naive as she thought.

  She pondered the idea for a while when a rustling from James bunk distracted her from the view screen, and her private thoughts. When she turned to look, she saw James sitting up in the bed smiling. “What a great nap.” He announced. “You look busy. Did you get any sleep?”

  “No, I have been conducting a little research on our adversary. He is a pretty scary man.”

  James tried to discreetly cover his mouth as he yawned and attempted to shake the sleep from his head. “As I recall, the Captain, I mean Praefectus, said there was a galley on this deck. What would you say to some food? You can tell me about what you found while we eat.”

  Cassandra sat and stared at James for a moment. A little tuft of hair was sticking straight up, apparently a remnant of his nap. It kind of gave him a disheveled teenager look. She smiled and part of her wished she could share his easygoing demeanor. He didn’t get riled. He seemed to know who to trust and when to trust them; at lease it seemed he did with Optio.

  Her smile was reflected in his shining eyes, as he hopped from the bunk, “What is it?” He said moving to the mirror. “Oh, that’s cute,” wetting his hand and smoothing the cowlick. I think I’ll get a haircut like Optio’s when we get to Cuba.” Then turning back to her, “Well do you want to get something to eat?”

  “Yes, I’ve been waiting for you sleepy head.”

  “Excellent. Let’s go.”

  Several crewmembers were scattered around the galley’s dining area. Cassandra had no idea what time it was, and really couldn’t guess from looking at the food the others were eating. Some were eating breakfast, while others were eating either lunch or dinner. Since all they had eaten for the last two days were field rations, the choice seemed arbitrary. They chose breakfast. An empty table in a corner of the mess hall turned out to be an excellent place to eat and talk.

  The information she had gleaned from her research was both exciting and terrifying, and she was anxious to share it with James. She remembered him saying, since he didn’t know anything about this world, he might be able to see things she had missed. “James, this Kukulcan is a pretty frightening individual. He has been steadily gaining more and more power. He came to Rome as a backwater provincial Senator ten years ago. Since then he has become, next to the Emperor, arguably the most powerf
ul man in the world. My short research has convinced me his strategy is to rule the world, but the frightening part is that his tactics are very unsavory. And what I can’t figure out, regardless how nasty the battle, for some reason he is never deemed culpable. Even more surprising no one seems to notice the tremendous amount of power and influence he has amassed. All of it discreetly transferred to his puppet Senate sub committees.

  James paused between bites and said, “That sounds like the behavior you would expect from any talented politician. The better the politician, the less likely he will be implicated in any seedy activities, especially the ones he personally orchestrates. Only the clumsy ones get caught and are forced from public life. I’m pretty sure just because they don’t get caught, doesn’t mean they aren’t cutthroats and despicable characters. I find it hard to believe that in your government, which has stood for two thousand years, there are not countless examples of men, just like Kukulcan, who have tried to take over the Empire.” James said while reaching for a sticky bun covered with cinnamon and sugar icing.

  “There have been many politicians that have become drunk with power over the last two millennia.” She answered, “But with our division of powers, Senators were Senators, and Emperors were Emperors. It was impossible to cross the line. Powerful Senators could give the Emperor a hard time, by not approving his budgets and such, but there was no way a powerful Senator could ever be anything else. So, they relished their power, and died rich, or were assassinated and died rich. There are no instances of attempted coups, and that is exactly what it appears Kukulcan is up to.” Cassandra paused picked up her fork and began eating her breakfast. After a few bites she added, “I think I am becoming obsessed with this Senator. He is a frightening opponent, and I’m worried for my brother. Marcus is a scientist, I just don’t believe he is in the same league. Someone is going to get hurt.”

  James had finished his sticky bun and motioned for the mess orderly to refill his coffee. “What has this guy done that is so unsettling? You have media coverage, which as I understand is controlled by the Emperor, so how could he get away with anything and not have news of it blurted on every news program?”

  That’s a good point she thought. She recalled seeing several attacks made on Kukulcan by the press in her research, but he had managed to elude all of them. How did he do that, she wondered, and while contemplating the thought continued eating.

  As she slowly ate, deep in thought, James asked again, “I don’t understand how does he get away with it? In my world the press loves to taunt one of the political parties, and we are supposed to have a free press. I can only imagine what a press controlled by the Emperor could do.”

  She finally looked up at James, “It seems to me there are two reasons. Do you remember what I said, after you watched the news your first day, and claimed you could see the ‘spin’? I told you it doesn’t make any difference because no one watches it. After all these centuries of extremely biased coverage, people just don’t pay any attention to the news nets. They know it is more political commentary than news. But there is something else, Kukulcan has become very popular, and not just with the Mayans. He has become popular with almost every ethnic group, except Romans of course. In all the battles, it is difficult to prove his direct evolvement, he is always at the periphery, but not in the midst, and as a result nothing ever sticks to him.” She then motioned for the steward to refill her coffee as well. “I have been able to see his fingerprints all over various political skirmishes, all of them designed to chip away at the Imperial branch. There are no frontal attacks, just small conflicts at the periphery, and always waged behind Senate committees. The Senate gives him the legal authority, and legitimacy to carry out the attacks.”

  She paused not only to continue processing information, which seemed to fit into more convincing arguments the more she thought, but also to finish the last few bites on her plate. James had long since finished was sipping coffee, and asked, “What kind of skirmish are you talking about, and what makes you say you can see Kukulcan’s fingerprints on them?”

  “When you look at the events in total, a clear pattern emerges. Typically, a bureaucrat, working for one of the Imperial branches becomes embattled with a Senate subcommittee Always one chaired by Kukulcan or one of his puppets. Inevitably it is discovered the bureaucrat has done something illegal in his official position, and is dismissed in disgrace, or even sent to prison. The agency is transferred to a Senate oversight committee. Senate oversight teams have become so entangled in the Imperial branch, it is amazing things haven’t ground to a halt.” James was staring at her with a puzzled expression. “What is it?” She asked.

  “I don’t understand. I thought you said there was separation of the two branches, how then, can the Senate get entangled in the Imperial branch?”

  She smiled, his interest and acceptance of her theories was comforting. If someone completely unfamiliar with this world could follow her logic, perhaps it was indeed possible. She continued, “There is an ancient and little know law that says, in effect, if corruption is found in either branch of government, the untainted branch will be given legal authority to assume the administrative responsibilities of the corrupted office, while the illicit activity is rectified.

  “That is one strange law,” James interjected. “I can’t imagine any government that is not full of corruption. Seems to me both sides would try to use something like that. But if it is ancient, why now, why Kukulcan?”

  Cassandra yawned, “I think my lack of sleep is starting to take a toll. I’m not telling this very well.”

  James smiled, “you are doing fine” and he reached across the table and took her hands. At first, she started to pull away, but the warm human touch seemed to melt all resistance. The tone of his voice and warmth of his touch was energizing. Her thoughts soon began to drift and were replaced with a desire for even more physical contact. But his words broke the spell, “Come on finish. Why Kukulcan?”

  She squeezed his hands, “The law was never quite interpreted as I just described. It was in a section of the charter, not often sighted, and that passage was thought by many legal scholars to have a different meaning. But a charismatic Senator convinced the legal community the law had been misinterpreted. I have no idea why the new interpretation was upheld in the Imperial courts, I suspect money, a lot of money or black mail, either way it was confirmed and has been used by the Senate to battle the Emperor. Of course, you can guess the name of the young charismatic Senator?”

  “Kukulcan.”

  “Very good.” She smiled. “He has been using it against Claudius ever since. If you are done let’s go back to the cabin. I would like to resurrect the bullet list we started on the plane.”

  ◆◆◆

  Cassandra retrieved the bullet list they made on the plane three days ago and projected it on the display screen. She sat and stared for a few moments trying to reconstruct the thought process leading to the points. But other than a feeling that somehow, Marcus’s cure was the root of Kukulcan’s attack, nothing else was obvious. “I don’t remember what each of those bullet items referred to?” Cassandra said staring at the screens.

  “How did you do that?” James asked looking at the screen. “I thought we left the data thing we used to generate this back at the compound.”

  “Oh silly. That data pad, just like this one, is only a directing device. Everything I do is kept in the Vespus Family Network.” James shook his head and frowned during her explanation. “What’s the matter? Why the frown?”

  “Doesn’t it bother you everything is stored in the family computer?”

  “No. Why should it? Everything I have ever done is stored there. It’s all protected. There is plenty of security, no one can break in.”

  “Really. Well computer security may be better here than in my world, but didn’t you say your brother’s assistant was a spy? I’ll bet he could have found a way into your computer.” James paused, and now it was Cassandra’s turn to frown befo
re he continued. “I bet the assistant wasn’t the only spy. On top of that Kukulcan is head of the Senate Intelligence committee. Don’t you think they might have some pretty covert methods of extracting ‘secure’ computer information?”

  Nodding her head, she said, “I have never thought about it. Now that I have, I think I agree with you. Certainly, Kukulcan can get any information stored in our network, but James, look at that list. How could it possibly help him?”

  “As I look at that list, it is clear to me, there is only one person who knows what it means, and that is your brother. I bet Kukulcan doesn’t know. But, if he does or doesn’t the last thing we want to do is help him figure it out.” She nodded understanding and James continued, “And regardless of what we discover, Kukulcan already believes we are an important element in Marcus’s cure.”

  Her nodding quickly changed to shaking, “No James. I know you think the two are related, but they can’t be. My work is completely unrelated to Marcus’s. We can’t be involved.” She said as she stood and moved next to the display.

  “Really? Well how come Kukulcan is chasing you?”

  Cassandra had stopped shaking her head and turned to look back at James, “He is only after me to hurt the family.”

  James slowly walked over next to Cassandra gently turned her head and looked into her eyes. “You said Kukulcan always went after dirt or illicit activity, has he ever gone after family members?”