TW07 The Argonaut Affair NEW (14 page)

"It leads nowhere again," said Steiger. "Every hypothetical scenario we put together falls apart from inconsistencies."

"Maybe that's where we're going wrong," said Andre. "We keep trying to come up with rational explanations."

"Meaning there's an irrational one?" said Steiger. "We're back to the supernatural again? It's going to take a lot of convincing to get me to buy that."

"If the answer keeps coming out incorrect, something has to be wrong with the equation," Andre said.

"So let's take another look at the equation," said Delaney. "Let's go back to the beginning and take it one step at a time. A number of factors seem to indicate that the people from the future of this timeline are attempting to construct a temporal scenario based upon the voyage of the Argonauts. We have the centaur and the incident at Delphi, plus the hooded man who keeps turning up everywhere. He may be with us on the voyage, posing as one of the Argonauts or there may be other explanations for his sudden appearances and disappearances, as well as for the centaur and what we saw at Delphi, but the androids at Lemnos can't be explained away. We're assuming our cover has been blown. We can't get rid of our warp discs. Our only alternative is to abort the mission and run if they close in. Only they haven't closed in. Why? Because they've made that choice or because they haven't had an opportunity?"

"They've had plenty of opportunities," said Steiger. '"Have they? I'm not so sure. Maybe we're making some incorrect assumptions. Let's take the centaur first. What are the odds of a creature like that having evolved naturally?"

"I should think it would require a radically different evolutionary process in this universe," said Steiger,

"involving significantly different life forms. Nothing we've seen so far supports that. If the centaur didn't evolve naturally, then that leaves us with either magic or some sort of genetic engineering, including the possibility of android technology advanced beyond our level. The think-tank boys in Archives Section considered the possibility of magic based on prior intelligence that certain physical laws in this universe may be different from ours. But we've seen no real evidence of that. Until we do, I'm going to look for
rational
explanations. So the only rational explanation possible is that the centaur is an artificially created being. The hooded man is linked with both the centaur and the androids, which supports that theory. The centaur is considerably more sophisticated than the android women, so it's either a more advanced model or a genetically engineered creature."

"But that still leaves us with several elements that don't seem to fit together," said Andre. "If the centaur was sent through the confluence to draw us in, then for what purpose? So they could capture us and wring us dry? They could have done that before we ever got to Iolchos or at any time during the construction of the
Argo.
Did they intend to use us as part of their scenario? Again, why? Why not use their own people? Why risk our disrupting their timeline? And if they wanted us alive to use us, why did Hypsipyle order the androids to kill us? And why would they be careless enough to let us discover that the Lemnos women were androids in the first place?"

"I think our original assumption was correct," Delaney said. "The centaur came through the confluence by accident. As a result, we crossed over and stumbled into a temporal adjustment scenario of some sort. If we assume the opposition never detected us, then there was no reason for them to expect anyone from our timeline on the scene because they didn't know about the confluence."

He looked at Steiger. "Remember when you followed the hooded man in Iolchos and someone jumped you? If there was no reason for anyone to suspect we were anything but what we appeared to be, the logical assumption for them to make was that you were following the hooded man to find out who Jason's secret benefactors were. It never occurred to them that you might be a temporal agent from another timeline, so it never occurred to them to check you for a warp disc. If we work from that assumption, then that means our cover was still safe at that point. It would explain why they never moved against us while we were unconscious in the cell at Lemnos. They didn't know who we really were. The only other time when our cover might have been blown occurred when the hooded man saw you fight those two androids. I'm sure that even in this universe, ancient Greeks never used combat karate. But could that have tipped him off? You said he pulled a fast disappearing act. Could he have put it all together so quickly? He saw you using modern fighting techniques, but it's still a long jump to make from realizing that to concluding you were from another timeline."

Steiger nodded. "He could have checked with someone and reported what he saw, asked if anyone knew what the hell was going on. They may have problems of their own we know nothing about."

"And meanwhile," said Delaney, "we were getting the hell put of there and in the process, I didn't exactly treat Hypsipyle in a very queenly manner. If she wasn't part of their adjustment team, but just a local they were using, then she obviously wouldn't have been fully briefed. So she lost her temper and ordered the androids to kill us on her own. It's possible they never meant to kill the Argonauts."

Steiger expelled a heavy breath. "So that means I'm the one who blew our cover. Great. Some pro I turned out to be."

"You couldn't have known the hooded man would be there," said Delaney. "What's more, you weren't exactly in a position to make lots of choices."

"There's still a chance we haven't been found out," Andre said. "At least, not all the way. If the hooded man is one of the Argonauts, he knows the three of us are together, but he may not have had enough time to make his report."

"It's possible," said Steiger, "but he could have clocked ahead, made his report, then clocked back."

"Maybe not," said Andre. "You said he got out of there in one hell of a hurry. He would have had to make several rather tricky temporal transitions. He had to cut it pretty close. All the Argonauts were accounted for when we got back to the main room of the palace."

"It could explain why no one's made a move against us up 'til now," Delaney said. "But we're still left with some big problems. Until we know what their scenario is, we can't work against it effectively. The scope of it means they have to have a sizable team running this operation and we have no way of knowing who
they
are."

"Well, at least we managed to come up with a rational explanation that accounts for all the inconsistencies," said Steiger. "I think we can put the Archives boys and their cockamamie theories about magic right where they belong. We've finally got a logical sequence of events to work with."

"Now all we have to do is figure out what they mean," said Andre. "Why are they recreating the myth of Jason and the Argonauts down to the last detail?'' "Maybe it's a dress rehearsal," said Delaney.
"What?"

said Steiger.

"What if all this is just. .. some sort of war game? What if they're on maneuvers?"

"Maneuvers?"
Steiger said. "What are you talking about?"

"Andre just gave me a really wild idea-recreating the story of Jason and the Argonauts down to the last detail. Why would they want to take a myth based on a historical incident and run an operation that would turn the historical incident in to the myth itself?"

"Whoa," said Steiger. "You've lost me." His horse came to a halt. "Not
you,"
said Steiger, giving the horse a kick. "All right, now run this by me again?"

"Considering what our situation is," Delaney said, "we have to examine every possibility, no matter how off-the-wall it may sound. I admit this one sounds pretty farfetched, but think about it. Maybe it won't seem quite so crazy. Remember what happened on our last mission in the Khyber. They discovered a confluence point and crossed over with a mission team to set up an operation. They mobilized the Pathan tribes and took advantage of an uprising to bring troops in. They had a good plan, but much of it depended on a great deal of improvisation in a timeline they were unfamiliar with. Remember how they controlled the Pathans?"

"They played on their superstitions," Andre replied. "They posed as gods."

"And the hooded man seems to be doing the same thing," Steiger said.

"Exactly," said Delaney. "You said if they wanted to sabotage the voyage of the Argonauts, there were easier ways to do it. But suppose that
isn't
what they want? Suppose what they're actually doing is making sure their temporal continuity isn't disturbed while they conduct what is essentially a trial operation, maybe even two operations-a practice temporal adjustment under controlled conditions and a dress rehearsal for massive temporal disruption in our timeline?"

"You're right," said Steiger. "It does sound crazy. It would mean risking temporal disruptions in their own timeline."

"True," said Andre, "but would the interference be significant enough to endanger their temporal continuity? They've dropped the androids on a relatively remote island, where they remain. The Dalions, too, are isolated in a tiny kingdom, surrounded by high country. The centaur is on Mount Pelion, living in a cave-all relatively isolated locations in which they can control the variable factors. If they wanted to test their temporal adjustment capabilities under controlled conditions, they couldn't have made better choices. In our timeline, there's hardly any documentation of this period at all. Travel was severely limited and what communication there was took place on the most primitive levels. It would be a very simple matter for them to keep one step ahead of the Argonauts and clean up any problems after they've moved on. How great could the potential risks be?"

"There would still be risks," Delaney said, "but if they're not as experienced with temporal adjustments as we are, it would be worthwhile taking them. We're at war and they need to develop strategy and train the troops."

"And by using androids," Steiger said, "they'd be minimizing the danger to their personnel. They could also be testing out the feasibility of using androids in offensive operations directed against our timeline.

Finn, maybe your idea's not so crazy, after all. Androids make great cannon fodder. They don't retreat and they fight 'til they drop. They could be experimenting with different types of androids-the women on Lemnos, the giants here, if that's what they are-"

With a scream, a body landed upon Steiger, knocking him from his horse. It was a body twice as big as he was, with an unusually long torso from which sprouted six muscular arms. The creature was matted with hair so that it almost seemed covered with fur. It looked like a human spider with four of its arms wrapped around Steiger, pinning him to the ground, while the two remaining arms pummeled him with blows. Andre unsheathed her sword and brought it down hard upon the creature's neck, decapitating it with one stroke. Warm blood spurted from its neck and splattered Steiger.

The things were leaping down upon the Argonauts from the rocks above, screaming as they fell, knocking the riders from their horses. Andre wheeled her horse and avoided one, then managed to shake loose another that had landed on her horse behind her. Delaney was brought down, but he broke the creature's grip and slashed his sword across its face. It did not even cry out. A second blow with the sword split its skull and it fell.

Several of the king's soldiers died in the initial assault, but none of the Argonauts had fallen. While they were at best barely adequate as sailors, in hand to hand combat, each was in his element. The few who were not warriors, such as Mopsus, Idmon and young Hylas, had stayed behind at the palace. Jason and Theseus stood back to back, laying about them with their swords. Hercules caught one of the giants on the fly, then dropped the creature on his knee, breaking its back. He unslung his bow, which no one but he could pull, and started to let loose his long war arrows. Each one found a mark.

Only a killing blow would stop the giants. They didn't seem to feel lesser wounds at all. If one arm was cut off, the others would continue fighting. The battle raged as the sky darkened and visibility grew poorer. Hercules ran out of arrows and drew his sword, striking such powerful strokes that his opponents were cut cleanly in half. A club struck Andre's sword arm and it went numb from her hand up to her shoulder. As the giant struck again, she rolled, avoiding the blow, and came up with her sword held in her left hand, but a sword point ripped through the giant's chest as Orpheus ran it through from behind and the creature fell.

The battle seemed to last for hours, but at the end, the Argonauts emerged victorious. When it was over, the ground was littered with the bodies of dead giants, as well as those of soldiers and several of the Argonauts. They had lost Euphemus, as well as Admetus, Pirithous, Menoetius, Zetes and Calais. Most of the surviving Argonauts were covered with blood, if not their own, then that of the giants. Tiphys had sustained the most severe injuries. Meleager had been knocked unconscious and King Cyzicus was dead, transfixed by an arrow shot by Hercules. It had struck its target with such force that it passed completely through the giant and penetrated the ruler of the Dalions.

"Some maneuvers," Steiger said to Delaney as they stared down at the dead king. "If these are war games, friend, they're playing them for keeps."

"I checked one of the bodies to see if the giants had any run numbers tattooed on them, like the Lemnos women did," said Andre.

"And?"

"I couldn't find any."

"That doesn't prove they weren't androids," Steiger said.

"True," said Andre. "But it also doesn't prove they were."

They accompanied a party of Dalions into the hills the next day and returned to the scene of the battle.

The Dalions surmised that the surviving giants had carried off their dead, because there were no corpses to be found. Shortly before nightfall, they found the caves where the giants had been living. There was no sign of the six-armed creatures, but there was evidence that the caves had been abandoned in a hurry.