“Why do you say that?” asked Delaney.
“Just that it’s strange for me to find one of Caesar’sassassins likable. Supposedly, he’s the one who agonized the most about it.There have been rumors that he’s the illegitimate son of Caesar, but there’snothing to support that. Except that according to Suetonius. when Brutus wasabout to strike his blow, Caesar said to him. ‘You. too, my child?’ But there’sno way of knowing in what sense he meant that. Or even if it ‘s exactly what hesaid. So I suppose the rumors could be true. It’s a fascinating possibility.because Caesar did once have an affair with Brutus’ mother, Servilia. Caesarpardoned Brutus for allying himself with Pompey in the civil war, but then healso pardoned Lamius and many others. It’s one of the few things I’ve neverbeen able to find out for certain. Brutus is sensitive on the subject andflatly denies it. Caesar simply won’t discuss it. The one time I broached thesubject with him, he became angry at me for listening to rumors and idle gossip.”
“So you think that Brutus would be the most approachable?”asked Lucas.
“Yes, he’d probably be the easiest to get to know, but ifyou’re planning to infiltrate the conspiracy. Cassius and Casca are the onesyou’ll need to convince. That won’t be easy. They don’t know you. You’re only avisitor in Rome and your cover identity as my brother will practicallyguarantee that he won’t trust you. Of course, we could still pass you off assomeone else.”
“No. you’ve already told Caesar about me and it could complicatethings if we changed our story. Besides. I wasn’t thinking of myself.” saidLucas. “I was thinking of Delaney. True, we all supposedly grew up together,but he hasn’t seen you in years and people grow apart. We could easily stage apublic confrontation of some sort between you, an argument about Caesar’sautocracy or something.”
“Yes. I suppose that could work.” said Travers.
“If possible. I’d also like to figure out some way to getAndre next to Cleopatra,” Lucas said. “What do you think the chances of thatare?”
Travers pursed his lips thoughtfully. “Probably much betterthan your chances of infiltrating the conspiracy. Cleopatra hasn’t exactly beenembraced by Roman society. She acts as if she doesn’t seem to care, but I’m notsure if I buy that. It’s not that anyone would actively speak out against her,because of Caesar. but she’s been widely blamed for Caesar’s autocratictendencies. She’s a daughter of the pharaohs. after all, and as such, she doesn’tshare the republican sensibilities of most Romans. She’s a Ptolemy and she can’tunderstand or appreciate the freedoms most Romans enjoy. Nor has she made anysecret of her opinions on the subject.”
“What’s she like?” asked Andre.
“Well, the most obvious thing about her is her beauty,”Travers said. Then he corrected himself. “No, that isn’t really true. The mostobvious thing about her is her sex appeal She practically radiates sexuality.She knows the effect she has on men and she certainly uses it to her bestadvantage. She lives in relative isolation in the house that Caesar gave her,along with her son, whom she claims is Caesar’s. She was married to youngPtolemy XIII when they ruled together, then after his death, she married hisbrother Ptolemy XIV. Hardly what I’d call a loving family. They all hated oneanother. Ptolemy XIV was supposedly poisoned on her orders.”
“Nice lady,” said Delaney wryly.
“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 carefuclass="underline" 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.”