“Merely a product of her time, her culture, and herposition.” Travers said. “She’s a compelling woman. Sharp, intelligent, andvery willful. Which is only to be expected from the Queen of Egypt. That’s herhouse right there.”
They slowly passed an elegant, white-faced villa behind ahigh stone wall. There were Roman guards stationed outside it and severalEgyptians watched them carefully from just inside the gates as they drove by.
“The problem is how to arrange a meeting with her.’ Traverssaid. “I couldn’t exactly invite her over for dinner.”
“I’ll figure something out.-said Andre.
Be careful: Travers cautioned her.”Once inside those walls,you might as well be in Egypt. And though she seems very personable. Cleopatracould have you killed instantly, merely on a whim.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” said Andre.
“All right. then.” Lucas said, “for now, that’ll be our planof action. We’ll try to get Delaney in with the conspirators. Andre’sassignment will be Cleopatra. As your brother whom you haven’t seen in years. I’llbe introduced to Caesar and see if I can’t make myself fascinating enough forhim to want to socialize with me. How much have you told him about yourimaginary brother’?”
“Not very much, really.” Travers said.”I wanted to leaveroom for you to improvise. All I’ve told him is that we were always very closeand that you stayed behind to run the estate when I went off to the wars.”
“So I was never a soldier?”
“No. Why?”
“Just thinking. Did you write to me regularly’?”
“Yes, as part of my own cover and to give me an excuse formaking extensive notes on the campaigns. Castelli actually received the lettersand he’s been keeping them for me, for my use when I clock back to Plus Timeand start working on my book.”
“Good,” said Lucas.”I think I’ve just figured out how tomake myself interesting to Caesar.”
“What do you have in mind?”
“Let’s say that your brother. Marcus. always had a scholarlybent. An interest in philosophy and so forth. I’ll be an armchair strategist.Well say that I became so fascinated with your detailed letters about the warsthat I’ve decided to write a study of military strategy, using Caesar’scampaigns for my model.”
“But you’ve never read those letters.” Travers said. ‘I’vegot them at the villa now, but I doubt there’s enough time for you to gothrough all of them.”
“I won’t have to,” Lucas said with a smile. “I can skim themquickly, but I’ve been a student of military history for years. One of myfavorite books was Caesar’s Commentaries. I’ve read it several times and I tookan implant download on it before we left Plus Time, so I’ll be able to discussthe Gallic Wars with Caesar from his own observations.”
“My apologies.” said Travers. “I should have known you’dcome prepared.”
“One can never prepare too well for an adjustment mission.”Lucas said. “The only trouble is, more often than not, all the preparation inthe world simply isn’t enough. Those Egyptians worry me. If, as you suspect.they’re undercover S.O.G. commandos, we’re really going to have our hands full.And if they’re not, it still won’t be easy getting them out of the way. I hopeyou can convince Caesar to get rid of them.
“What if I can’t?”
“Then we may have no other choice but to get rid of them ourselves.In order for Caesar to be assassinated, we might just have to assassinate hisbodyguards.”
“All twelve of them?”
“All twelve. That means timing will be absolutely crucial.If we take them out too soon, it will give the conspiracy away and Caesar willprobably surround himself with legionaries. If we take them out too late …”He took a deep breath and exhaled heavily. “Either way, it’s going to be realtricky.”
“But if there are sixty conspirators,” said Andre, “couldn’tthey simply overwhelm the bodyguard?”
“One would think so,” Travers said, “except there weren’tsixty men involved in the assassination itself. Only a handful of them did theactual killing. Besides, it’s one thing to attack a single unarmed man, hut it’ssomething else entirely to go up against a dozen armed and well-trainedsoldiers. Even if the conspirators could get through them, the bodyguard wouldprobably slow them down long enough for the Senate House Guard to intervene.What made the assassination possible was the speed with which it was accomplished.In the confusion that followed, the assassins were able to escape, though theywere all condemned afterward and some took their own lives with the samedaggers they had used to murder Caesar.”
“Here’s a thought,” said Delaney. “What would happen ifthere was an attempt on Cleopatra’s life? Wouldn’t Caesar be concerned enoughto insist that she take the bodyguard for herself?”
“He might,” said Lucas. “On the other hand, he might simplyassign Roman legionaries to protect her.”
Wouldn’t it make more sense for her to be protected by herown people’?” Delaney persisted. “I don’t know, but from everything I’ve heardabout Caesar. it makes sense that he’d want her to take them back, to guard herin the house, and maybe assign additional troops to protect the grounds. Itwould seem that she’d want her own people around her, rather than a hunch ofRoman soldiers who wouldn’t know how to treat her properly.”
“Only what if Cleopatra isn’t really Cleopatra?” Traversasked.
“The way she reacts to an attempt on her life might tell uswhether she is or not,” Delaney said.