Simon Hawke - The Cleopatra Crisis

“A good move on his part.” Antony conceded. “But he wasmerely fortunate. Clocillus still holds a commanding lead.”

Going into the second lap. Cassinus was running third, butClocillus and one of the chariots driving for the greens were still well aheadof him. They maintained that distance for another lap, but as they swung aroundfor the third time. Cassinus slowly began to close the gap. By the fourth lap.the second green team was hard on his heels, with the second driver for theblues running just behind them. Clocillus was still in a comfortable lead. Onthe fifth lap, as they went around the post. the green team that was closing inon Cassinus took the turn too wide and Cassinus’ teammate cut sharply to theinside, getting ahead of the greens and cutting them off as they went down thestraightaway. Cassinus continued to close the distance between himself and thetwo leaders, while the green team that was just behind him couldn’t get aroundthe blue team that had passed it. They maintained that position going into thesixth lap when the team that was running second tried to cut in on the insideof Clocillus and ran out of room. The chariot overturned and they could see thedriver sawing frantically at the reins as the horses dragged him along behindthem. He managed to cut himself free just as they reached the outside of theturn and he rolled safely out of harm’s way. Cassinus was now running second.

On the last lap. Cassinus started closing the distancebetween himself and the red team driven by Clocillus, gaining rapidly. Thecrowd was on its feet, cheering the underdog. In moments, they were neck andneck.

“Come on. Clocillus!” shouted Antony. “Use your whip!”

Side by side, the two chariots careened toward the finish,but Cassinus started to edge ahead. Antony and his friends were shouting andshaking their fists. Clocillus started to close, but they crossed the finishline with Cassinus barely a nose ahead of him. The crowd went wild. “Well, deductingmy earlier losses to you,” Steiger said to Antony, “that makes fifty thousandsesterces that you owe me. Plus the thirty thousand from Trebonius, and twentyfrom Flaminus, that brings my winnings to a total of one hundred thousandsesterces. I have both made good my losses and turned a tidy profit.’ Hegrinned at Antony. “It seems that I am not exactly ruined.”

I cannot believe it!” said Trebonius. “Clocillus never loses!”

“And I was tempted to wager thirty thousand, but I did notwish to take advantage of a reckless provincial,” Flaminus said, shaking hishead.

Your charity has saved you ten thousand sesterces,” Steigersaid.

“Now I’ll be forced to meet his price,” said Marshallgloomily. “Antony. what happened? You were supposed to win!”

“I would never have thought that Cassinus could beat Clocillus,”Antony said. “But … perhaps he is indeed more suited to the quadrigae.Whether by luck or by skill or a combination of the two, he did it. And you,Sabinus. are a wealthier man because of your sound judgment. I congratulateyou.’

“And I you. on your grace in losing,” Steiger said. You mustgrant me the honor of entertaining you and your friends.”

“What, with our own money?” Antony said. He chuckled andclapped Steiger on the back. “Very well. then. I accept.”

“Wait till Caesar hears that you have lost more in one daythan you have won in the entire year!” said Trebonius.

“I expect he will be much amused,” said Antony wryly. “Andhe will doubtless wish to meet the man who humbled me. Come, Sabinus. Would youlike to meet the Emperor?”

That last race was close,” Lucas said. “Almost a photofinish.” He smiled. “Or it might have been, if they had cameras in ancientRome.”

“It’s the first time I’ve ever seen Clocillus lose.” saidTravers. “The young driver who beat him just made his reputation. Clocillus isthe best charioteer in Rome.”

He also threw the race,” said Andre.

Travers glanced at her sharply. “What?”

“I said, he threw the race.” she repeated. “It was fixed.”

“Are you serious? How can you possibly tell?”

“If anyone can tell, she can.” said Delaney.

They were seated in the stands within less than a hundredfeet of where Steiger sat with Antony. though they had no idea he was there.With his new face, they wouldn’t have recognized him anyway. They spoke in lowvoices, holding their heads close so that no one could overhear them.

“Andre grew up in medieval England.” Lucas explained. “Formost of her life, she passed as a male and was a mercenary knight, what theycalled a ‘free companion.’ The first time we met. it was in the lists at thetournament of Ashby.”

“You mean you were temporally displaced?” asked ‘Travers,stunned.

“It’s a long story.” she said. “I inadvertently became partof a temporal disruption and wound up being taken into the future by a memberof the Underground.”

We first encountered Andre on a mission to 12th century England.”said Delaney. “so you can imagine our surprise when we saw her again in 17th-centuryFrance. It’s quite a story. She was instrumental in helping us effect atemporal adjustment and since she had already been displaced from her own time,we took her back to Plus Time with us so her case could be reviewed, to makesure it didn’t result in any temporal contamination. Once the Referees weresatisfied, she joined the First Division and we’ve been a team ever since?

“Incredible!” Travers said. “You must tell me the entirestory later, but right now, I’m curious as to how you knew the race was fixed.”

“I learned how to observe horsemanship from jousting tournaments,”she said. “In a situation where your life often depended on knowing youropponents. you learned to watch for the slightest indication of any weak points.After a while, you’d get to where you’d easily spot subtle things that mostpeople would miss. The charioteer for the red team held back slightly on thefinal stretch. As you said, he’s an outstanding driver. Even a keen observermight have missed it, but I was watching very closely. out of habit. I suppose,and I noticed that on the last two laps. he was taking his turns just a littlewider than he had on all the previous ones.”

“I never would have spotted that.” said Travers. “Clocillusalways takes the turns so tightly, he’s almost. right up against the post.-

“That’s why he got away with it,” she said. “He takes a muchtighter line through the turns than the other driven, so when he went just alittle wider, it still looked like he was taking them pretty close. But he wenta little wider every time coming out of the turns and he held back a littlegoing into the turns, allowing the blue team to catch up. Aside from that, whenthose two chariots collided in the first turn. It was done on purpose. I sawboth drivers brace themselves for the impact as they went into the turn. Theywere prepared for it. before they should have known that it was going tohappen. And the driver whose chariot overturned in the last lap? That waspurposely done, as well. He was standing a little lower in his chariot goinginto the turn because he had his knees flexed, ready to spring clear. He timedit just right, so that he’d be at the apex of the turn. where the inertia wouldcarry him to the outside of the track, well away front the chariots behind him,who knew that he was going down and were prepared. He was already reaching forhis dagger an instant before he went over. Not that it still wasn’t prettydangerous, but with everybody knowing what was going to happen, the risks wereconsiderably reduced.”

“But that would mean that every one of the charioteers werebribed!” exclaimed Travers with astonishment.