“Varus,” the man said, stepping forward to embrace Varus in a bear hug. “My friend. How good to see you. It has been awhile since I have seen you in the library.”
“Yes, well, my duties to your nephew have kept me fairly occupied these past few months.”
His nephew? This had to be Claudius. I couldn’t believe it. I had never, not once, read an account of the man that didn’t claim he was weak, feeble, and prone to stutters and twitches. He was a lame ugly duckling, not a stud quarter back! Who was this man?
He continued to smile. “And I see you have made a new friend. Please, no need to get up,” he said cheerily, even though I was already standing. “Any friend of Varus is a friend of mine. I am Caligula’s uncle, Claudius”
“He is no friend of mine,” rumbled Varus.
Claudius ignored him. “Besides, I know you are one of the strangers who came through Remus’ gateway. Now, that is reason enough to get to know you.”
His smile was beginning to irritate me. Unlike Santino’s, whose smile was always filled with good cheer and fun, annoyingly so, Claudius’ merely disturbed me. He also knew about Remus’ message, which only made me more suspicious, because it was quite well known back home that Claudius was one of those few people Varus mentioned who could read Etruscan as well.
I decided to play dumb. “Yes, I am one of the few who came through the gateway. It is a pleasure to meet you, sir.” I opened my arms in a mirror gesture of his own. “Is there anything we can do for you?”
“Oh, no. I just wanted to meet you. Your potential is limitless. I want you to know that you can come to me for anything, and ask that perhaps you may do some things for me, as your friends have done for my nephew?”
This was getting weirder by the second. The guy was coming off more sincere and heartwarming than even the most black hearted and malevolent of bad guys. They always start off all warm and fuzzy until they stick a shiv in your back, and you end up having to wait until the last ten minutes of the movie to save the day, only having already lost your family, girlfriend, best friend, and dog along the way.
I wasn’t about to let that happen.
“I’ll certainly keep that in mind,” I replied, trying to sound sincere. “My schedule is wide open.”
Claudius frowned for a brief moment before smiling again, finally understanding my joke.
“Humorous. Now, if you will excuse me. I have matters to attend to.”
As the man turned, his traveling cloak swirled behind him in that bad-guy kind of way. He was gone a few seconds later.
I snorted. “Quite the character, isn’t he?”
Varus smiled. “I’ve never liked him. He spends much of his time here reading history and spending many hours wasting my time. The man loves to listen to himself speak. It was through him that I learned the Senate had plans to utilize Remus’ orb, which is why I ended up there when you arrived. I can’t be sure, but it seemed as though he had something to do with it, and that his knowledge of the plot was not because he had simply overheard another’s conversation.”
Somehow, that didn’t surprise me, but I didn’t let my suspicion show. I couldn’t understand why the man wasn’t the sharp minded, but weak bodied man he was supposed to be. My mind kept wandering to the old BBC production of I, Claudius that I loved so much, and how well I thought the actor who played Claudius had done in mimicking his mannerisms.
Suddenly my suspicions started to grow. History, after all, was written by the victors, and it was none other than Claudius himself who succeeded Caligula after his assassination.
***
I spent the next few hours chatting with Varus, comparing notes on the situation, but I kept my theories to myself. By the time I left, Varus had learned little more about Remus’ message, but at least we had ended on good terms, and I found myself starting to like the little man. He was sharp and curious. He asked if I would teach him English, and in return, he would help me with my Latin. I told him I would enjoy that, and that I looked forward to the opportunity. When my escorts arrived to take me back home, I excused myself and left with them.
Arriving at the house, I tossed Gaius and Marcus a quick salute, which they respectfully returned before opening the door and gesturing for me to head inside where I found a full house.
The away team had returned.
The team was sitting on the floor in a circle with a spot left for me. Noticing my arrival, Santino threw his arms in the air in a childlike greeting. “The prodigal son arrives,” he squealed.
I looked at him squarely. “You realize the word, ‘prodigal,’ really only means that someone is bad with money, right?”
Everyone looked at Santino, smiles on their faces. He glanced at his squad mates, wearing an embarrassed expression of his own.
He looked at me. “I fucking hate you.”
I smiled. “Love you too, buddy.”
“If you two are done,” Vincent interrupted, trying not to grin, “we were just about to begin our after action report. Maybe you can fill us in on where you’ve been when we’re done.”
“I’d be delighted, sir,” I said, sitting between him and Bordeaux.
I noticed Helena sitting across from me, a downtrodden expression on her face. I made eye contact with her, and gave her a welcoming smile. Her expression brightened at my attention, but her face remained dour.
Shifting my attention, I started things off. “So, you guys are back early.”
Vincent nodded. “Our guide was very proficient. Thanks to his direction and the location of the camp residing well inland of where we expected it to be. We made much better time than planned. Upon arrival, we scouted the camp from a distance, identified the high value target and his tent, and located key points to lay our explosives. Early the following morning, we made our way to the camp, and rigged it to blow. Our goal was to create more confusion than casualties as well as direct their attention away from us. We had to eliminate two guards during our insertion, which we hid in a tent. When first light hit, we synchronized the assassination with the triggering of our explosives. At 0535, Lieutenant Strauss fired upon the HVT, the bullet penetrating the target’s cranium. Lieutenant Bordeaux simultaneously triggered the explosive charges set around the camp, programmed on a timed sequence to detonate at random intervals.” He paused, taking a sip of water from his CamelBak. “We lingered only long enough to confirm the HVT was down and that hysteria had erupted in camp. Satisfied, we left at 0545, encountered zero resistance, and made our way back.”
I nodded. A perfectly successful mission. The only bad thing I could think of was some random archaeologist in two thousand years, who discovers what looks like a manufactured rifle bullet, that was dated to have existed during the Roman Empire. I can only imagine the book he’ll write, trying to prove time travel exists by theorizing that modern soldiers were sent back in time to fight history’s wars for them.
I’m sure he’ll be considered a crack pot.
“So, Hunter,” Vincent continued, “did you discover an answer to our problem with Caligula’s man?”
I looked around the room again, meeting each of their gazes in turn. Each was expectant, hoping I had somehow learned how to get us home.
“Well,” I began, “I’m pretty sure I’ve confirmed my theory on how we got here.”
“Maybe, you should start at the beginning,” ordered Vincent.
So I started with Varus, and how he had contacted me to discuss our arrival in the city. I told them about the document, Remus, the she-wolf and Mars, how Varus and I were related, and how we were both descended from Remus. I ended with how my rubber band sphere theory still seemed the most likely cause of our arrival.
Santino quickly spoke up. Wait, wait, wait,” he said, rubbing his head in confusion. “So, if what you’re saying is true, you’re…part… she-wolf? Or are you part god? It’s so hard to keep up with your stories sometimes, Jacob.”