Simon Hawke - Argonaut Affair

"Sound familiar?" Andre said.

"Tell them to bring all our weapons here," said Delaney. "Do precisely as I say and we'll let you go unharmed. Otherwise-"

"I–I will tell them."

She directed the androids to return the weapons of the Argonauts and they silently moved to follow her orders.

"You think maybe she really doesn't know?" said Andre.

"I don't know," said Delaney. "It's possible. The truth now," he said to Hypsipyle. "There are no men here, are there?"

She shook her head.

"And no children? No old people?"

She shook her head again.

"Of course," said Delaney. "No one grows old here, do they?"

Hypsipyle burst into tears. "I was promised! I was promised that I, too, would never age! I was promised that if I took care of them I would be their queen and live forever!"

"She may be a terrific actress, Finn," said Andre, "but I believe her. Look at her. She's terrified."

Steiger looked at her closely and nodded. "She's coming down with the cold sweats, all right.''

"What are you saying? I do not understand you!"

Delaney switched back to Greek. "What happened to the women in the cellar?"

"They broke faith with the gods and their immortality was taken from them. They suffered for their lack of faith, as you too shall suffer!"

"Perhaps we shall," said Delaney. "Now listen carefully, your life depends upon it. I want you to tell them to pick up our weapons, and the Argonauts, and carry them all back to our ship. We'll be watching closely, so don't try any tricks. Tell them."

It was a strange procession through the woods to the shore of Lemnos, androids carrying weapons followed by others carrying the limp bodies of the Argonauts, with the temporal agents and Queen Hypsipyle bringing up the rear, Creed and Andre supporting a groggy, semi-conscious Hercules between them. They came out of the woods and saw the Argo riding gracefully at anchor just offshore. Delaney hailed the ship.

"Telamon! Argus!"

There was no response.

He called again. "Oileus! Idmon! Mopsus!"

Silence.

"What happened to them?" Delaney said, tightening his arm around Hypsipyle's throat. "Where are they?"

"Still aboard your ship," she said, weakly. Delaney could feel her trembling. "No doubt asleep by now. Wine was brought to them with a message from Jason, saying that you were all being feasted generously and promising to send men back to take their place so that they could come ashore and partake as well. Meanwhile, here was wine for them."

"Very clever. I hope you're telling the truth. Andre, go out to the ship and make ready to sail. And you, Your Highness, tell your subjects to take the weapons and the men and put them aboard our ship. Remember, at the first sign of trickery, I'll wring your neck."

Delaney and Steiger watched carefully as the androids carried the weapons and the unconscious Argonauts out to the ship and Andre helped lift them aboard.

"All right, Creed, go on out."

Steiger nodded. "I'll signal when we're ready to cast off. Watch yourself."

"You will die for this," said Hypsipyle. "You cannot defy the gods! You cannot escape their vengeance!"

"Shut up, Your Majesty."

She gasped for breath and coughed again as Delaney applied pressure to her throat and then released it. Steiger soon gave his signal from the ship and when the last android had waded back ashore, Delaney ordered Hypsipyle to send them back to the palace. After the last one was out of sight, he shoved her forward hard and she fell sprawling on the beach.

"Go back to your subjects," he said and turned to wade out to the ship.

Hypsipyle scrambled to her feet and started running toward the woods. "Come back!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. "Come back! Kill them! Kill them all!"

"Goddamn you-" Delaney started splashing out toward the ship as fast as the water would allow him. He was about halfway out when they came running out of the woods, sprinting down the beach.

"Cast off!" he shouted. "Cast off!"

He saw the anchor being hauled up and the sail being raised and he dived forward into the shallow water and started swimming furiously. The large sail luffed and then filled as Steiger turned the Argo into the wind. The ship began to move. Andre shouted at him to hurry and threw a rope over the side. He pulled himself aboard and glanced back. The androids were halfway out to the ship. On deck, the Argonauts all lay sprawled, unconscious. Hercules was snoring.

"It might get a bit sticky," Steiger called to them from the tiller.

Finn and Andre both grabbed swords from the pile of weapons. The wind was not strong and the ship moved slowly in the bay. With a spray of water, one of the androids leaped up out of the bay like a porpoise and grasped the side. Andre hit it in the face with the flat of her sword and the android fell back. Two more climbed up over the side and Delaney kicked one off and ran the other through. The ship was moving more quickly now, leaving the shallow water. Some of the androids were being left behind, but that still left others who had been in the forefront swimming beside the ship and trying to climb on board. Delaney grabbed one of the oars and swept several of them off deck while Andre was kept busy knocking them off with her sword. And then they were all falling behind as the ship outdistanced them, picking up speed and heading out to sea. From the shore, they could barely hear Hypsipyle screaming after them.

Delaney dropped the oar to the deck and took a deep breath. "Well, that was certainly stimulating."

"What, you tired?" Steiger shouted, from the steersman's post. "Who's going to trim the sail?"

Delaney shot him an obscene gesture.

"What do we tell these sleeping beauties when they wake up?" asked Andre, looking down at the senseless Greeks.

"Why don't we tell them what a great time we all had?" said Delaney.

Andre grimaced. "They're liable not to remember it."

"So? You think that'll be a problem?"

"Won't it?"

Delaney shook his head. "I doubt it. I've yet to meet a Greek who would admit he couldn't hold his liquor."

When the Argonauts awoke, aided by buckets of seawater poured over them, they were surprised to find that they were back aboard the ship. As their hangovers subsided, their departure hastened by the brisk sea air, the Argonauts spoke of the beautiful women of Lemnos and the wonderful adventure they had, each of them embellishing upon imaginary amorous exploits. Not one of them would admit to any lapse of memory, although a few of them did confess that drink had dulled their senses slightly.

They even "remembered" how they had staggered back to the ship and set sail, setting course for Thrace. That they had been able to accomplish this while drunk convinced them of their natural ability as sailors. Finn Delaney chose not to disabuse them of this notion. Ahead of them still lay the Sea of Marmora and the Euxine Sea, which would one day be known as the Black Sea. He felt they'd learn the true extent of their sailing abilities soon enough.

The winds were fair and Tiphys took the tiller while Orpheus led the Argonauts in an improvised song about themselves, the chorus of which was the refrain, "The Argonauts are we; men of the open sea."

"Pray for fair weather," Delaney said to Steiger.

"Storms are among the least of my worries," Steiger said as the Argonauts bellowed the chorus of their self-glorifying song. "I just wish Hypsipyle had given us some answers."

"I really don't think she could have," said Delaney. "Her terror seemed genuine. I don't believe she knew those women weren't human beings."

"It doesn't make any sense," said Steiger. "If the people from the future of this timeline wanted the Argonauts to fail in their quest, why not simply clock back a small submarine and sink the ship? There are any number of ways they could accomplish it with far less trouble. We all could have been killed while we were unconscious in that cell. Damn it, Finn, none of this adds up!"