Simon Hawke - Argonaut Affair

"You see," Drakov continued, "there never was an historical voyage of Jason and the Argonauts in this timeline. I made it all happen. The real Jason died along with his father, Aeson, murdered by cutthroats in the employ of Pelias, who now believes that his assassins bungled the job with the boy."

"The real Jason?" Delaney said, looking at Jason, who stood alongside Idmon and Medea, watching them with a bewildered expression on his face as they conversed in English.

"Yes, Mr. Delaney. It was necessary to create several hominoids to complete the mythical cast of this fascinating voyage. Jason is one, Hercules is the other. Neither of them realizes what he is of course. They were created in a laboratory and clocked back to this time period as children to be given into Chiron's care. And the centaur had precise instructions as to how to raise them. In that sense, the experiment has been wonderfully successful. We can create hominoids, place them in a temporal scenario, and have their development supervised by other hominoids, even in the midst of humans. All I need do is check on them from time to time, if you will pardon the pun. The others are all genuine, historical figures who would have followed slightly different paths had I not interfered. Theseus, for example, would never have made the voyage, but would have remained in Athens. Meleager would have found other challenges elsewhere. Argus would have built other vessels. I merely created a detour in their lives."

"So the voyage itself is the disruption," said Delaney. "If we had sabotaged the quest, we would have sabotaged our own mission."

"Which he suckered us into," Steiger added.

"On the other hand," said Drakov, "if you help Jason fulfill his quest, you will not only succeed in dethroning Pelias and altering the history of this timeline, you will contribute to the fame of all the others, many of whom will go on to become significant historical figures in this time period. Hercules is already an excellent example. Reversing the effects of this voyage will be a monumental task for the Special Operations Group, if they can accomplish it. And chances are excellent that they have already begun. I have taken great pains to keep this operation secret, but due to the extent of it, it is doubtful that it has escaped the attention of their temporal observers. They will realize, of course, that Hercules never actually existed in this timeline, but they won't be able to attack the ship without endangering Theseus and the others, whose deaths could be significantly disruptive. And, needless to say, they will wish to capture you alive, if possible. I'll be interested to see how they will try it."

"So that's what you needed us for," said Andre, "to help your Jason hominoid complete the quest and make sure the Special Operations Group doesn't interfere with it."

"Precisely," Drakov said. "Isn't it amusing, Miss Cross? For once, we have a common goal. And your presence in this scenario diverts attention from me. Who knows, perhaps there is a way I can arrange for the Special Operations Group to help me do the same in your timeline. I feel rather like the hunter who has happened upon two stags battling for supremacy. While they are busy ramming at each other, the hunter bags two kills."

Simon Hawke

Argonaut Affair

He touched the warp disc on his wrist and suddenly he wasn't there anymore.

"A god!" said Jason, in a low and reverent voice. "I have seen and spoken with a god!"

"What tongue was that you spoke?" Medea asked. "And which god was it? What did he say to you?" She swallowed hard and dropped her voice. "Have we incurred their vengeance? Am I to be punished for what I have done?"

Delaney improvised. "The god spoke to us in the language of our people. And he did not give his name. He spoke to us because you angered him, Jason, but he wishes you well upon your quest. Yet the gods are divided in their desires. Some of them wish for us to succeed and return to Iolchos with the golden fleece. Others wish for us to fail. In pleasing some, we shall anger others and there is nothing to be done."

"That is because gods are capricious," Jason said. "Chiron taught me so. The only way to please all the gods together is to prevail over whatever obstacles they may set before us, so that they will deem us worthy."

"It may not be wise to defy the gods," said Medea. "Some are more powerful than others."

"And what of my throne?" said Jason.

"One throne is as good as any other," said Medea. "You have a force of warriors behind you. We could seize some other kingdom, maybe just a small one in the beginning until we can increase our army, or perhaps we could join with my sister and march upon my father. Then we could seize the throne of Aea and-"

"No!" said Jason. "I am not some freebooter who takes that which is not his by right. I want only what is mine! Pelias will surrender the throne of Iolchos to me or I shall have his life. That is what I have sworn and that is what I shall do! I will hear no more talk of seizing kingdoms. I have told you what I shall do. Now it is for you to decide. I will go to Iolchos with the fleece. You may come and share my fate or you can stay and face your father and Kovalos. Make your choice now, but do not come to me later with regrets."

"I will go with you," Medea said softly, "if you will have me."

"Done," said Jason. "We have wasted enough time. It will be dawn soon. We must hurry to join the others."

"The boy learns slowly," Idmon said, "but he does learn. Who knows, perhaps he may yet slay this second dragon. Yet I fear that we are not yet done with gods."

"What do you mean?" Delaney asked.

The soothsayer sighed. "We still have a long journey home to make and much can happen in that time." He nodded. "Yes, much can happen, and I have a strong feeling that much will."

They left the Sacred Grove of Ares by the trail leading from the opposite side of the clearing. It took them on a winding course down to the bottom of the ravine and curled around to follow the river that ran down from the mountains to the sea. It was a narrow path that necessitated their traveling single file along the riverbank, making it difficult for Jason and Delaney to carry the golden fleece. It was too heavy for one man to carry any distance by himself and between Jason, Steiger and Delaney, they spelled each other. Idmon walked ahead of them with Medea leading as they picked their way among the rocks and shrubs. The trail was old and clearly little used. In many places, it took them over flat rock surfaces slick with the water spray from the rapids. Even without the weighty burden of the golden fleece, making fast time would have been difficult. The sky was already growing gray by the time they left the trail along the riverbank and circled round roughly parallel to the coastline on a path which led down to the shore.

"From here on, you must lead," Medea said to Jason, "as I do not know where you have hidden your ship." She pointed.

"The main road to the city lies just north and to the east of here."

"Then we must go north and to the west," said Jason. "We must keep to the shelter of the trees as much as possible, in case we should encounter any of Aietes' soldiers." He looked up at the sky. "The sun will rise soon. I had hoped to be underway by now. Theseus and the others should already be at the ship, unless something has gone amiss." He glanced at Idmon. "What do you see, soothsayer? Shall we put safely out to sea?"

Idmon was frowning. "I do not know. But I have a strong sense of death nearby."

"Whose death?" Medea said, frightened.

Idmon shook his head. "I cannot tell," he said. "I only feel death's presence. Death itself, waiting in the shadows, hidden. Death armed and waiting to do battle."

They walked along the shoreline, staying out of the open and away from the beach, which slowed them down still more. The sun was rising and starting to dispel the early morning mists by the time they neared the place where they had hidden the Argo.