Fallen Empire

chapter 14

XIV.

When Alice pressed the button to start the teleportation process, she almost expected to feel every atom in her body being torn apart, transported upstairs, and put back together. In reality, it was as if someone removed the computer room from around her and instantly replaced it with the landing platform. The scenery isn’t the only alteration; she feels more energetic and alive than if she’d gotten a good night’s sleep.

The Guardian opens the door and climbs the last few steps, “How do you feel?” He solicitously asks.

“Excellent!” Alice says brightly, “But I am not sure why I suddenly feel so refreshed.”

“Regenerating is a fresh start, a new birth. It can be addictive, which is why you must only teleport if you must.” The Guardian walks towards the ship on the far side of the platform. Alice follows, examining the flat expanse, the tower, and blue mists separating the claw-like support beams.

Upon reaching the ship, the Guardian presses a code on the numerical keypad mounted on the ship’s exterior. A ramp unfolds from the port side, providing an entrance to the belly of the ship.  As he walks up the ramp with Alice closely in tow the Guardian says, “Welcome aboard the Nomad, Dr. Faith.”

They walk inside a room with a large g*n-port against the back wall. In front of her is a large computer terminal with a stationary, swiveling chair with seat belts. To her left she could see another chair with controls in front of it.  She pauses to inhale the scenery but the Guardian continues to the forward cockpits, which hold two chairs, computer screens, switches, levers, missed-matched temporal circuitry and steering implements on a smooth instrument panel.

The Guardian sits down tapping switches labeled ‘Fuel’, ‘Lights’, ‘Manual- Steering’, and ‘Ignition’ to the ON position in preparation for takeoff. The port and starboard engines roar to life and the ship begins to rise off the platform. Alice sits in the co-pilot seat and straps herself in.

The Guardian flips a switch marked ‘Landing Gear Magnetization’ to off and ‘Force-Field’ to off. The blue mist surrounding the landing platform dissipates, providing a stunning view of infinite space. The Nomad boldly pushes away from the fortress and almost immediately enters a cloud of asteroids. The Guardian skillfully navigates around rocks many times bigger than the ship until they come out of the field.

Setting the ‘Manual Steering’ to ‘off’, he unbuckles the harness and walks back to the computer in the room they had previously entered through, “We’ll stay in orbit here until we can make the Time jump. That will put us close enough to make a descent without leaving a fire trail.” He pauses to punch a few buttons on the keyboard, “The Nomad is similar in theory to your own Time machine Dr, Faith, it can move through any point in Time but must stay in the same physical location.”

A flash of light out of the corner of her eye causes Alice to face the front; from here she is able to witness the Infinity-Tunnel surrounding them. Now she really could appreciate the beauty of the swirling colors much more from inside the safety of a vehicle. They arrive at the tear in time within heartbeats and with another bright flash of light, they exit the Infinity-Tunnels, they arrive orbiting the Earth at noon on March 15, 44. B.C.

The Guardian returns to the cockpit and maneuvers the Nomad down into the atmosphere and sets the autopilot to hover, using the clouds to cloak the ship from anyone on the ground. He makes sure the controls are set properly and returns to the computer.

“I’ll be controlling your jump from here. The timing must be perfect, an early or late arrival could be disastrous; you will only have one chance at this. Are you ready?”

Taking a deep breath, Alice says, “I’m ready”

The Guardian taps a key and energy field pulsates around her and she disappears.

The next coherent sight Alice has is the back of a man’s head. It is Daniel Phoenix and he is crouched in the center of the flat stone roof covering the Curia of Pompeii’s Theatre; one of his hands is lightly touching the ground for support and the other is holding a g*n. She takes a few steps closer and notices that he is looking through a three-foot-square hole neatly cut in the roof. There is a faint but unmistakable appearance of the missing stone blocks where he is projecting a one-sided hologram of stone concealing the hole from the people inside.

“Drop your weapon and turn around slowly,” Alice says, training the Decomposition-g*n on his back.

          Phoenix raises both hands, still holding his g*n, “What, did he call in the cavalry?” He turns around carefully, fixing his gaze first on the Decomposition-g*n and second on Alice’s face, “You hardly qualify as cavalry.”

“I will not let you kill Brutus,” Alice says sternly, ignoring the insult, “Drop your weapon!”

“Your hand trembles.” Phoenix takes a small step towards her, “You are uncomfortable with firearms and unhappy about being shoved into this situation. That so called ‘guardian’ takes unfair advantage of all who cross his path. I suppose you were kidn*pped and forced to play a role in this comedy?”

“He didn’t kidnap me,” Alice retorts, “And I haven’t been forced into anything. You altered Time and YOU are the one who must be stopped.”

“Now, now, let’s not be so judgmental.  After all, you’ve only heard one version of the story and I can’t imagine old Doom and Gloom being a very entertaining storyteller.” He steals another small step, “Give me the opportunity to tell my side then you may make an educated decision.”

Alice raises the Decomposition-g*n higher, “Stop moving!” Phoenix halts and lowers his hands. She continues, “I’ve heard your side from your own mouth.”

“Ah,” He says with understanding, “He must have taped our little chat in my laboratory. I wasn’t aware that I would be pleading my case at the time. Allow me to explain before you decide.”

“There’s nothing to decide.” Alice says, “Time must continue after us.”

“Your ‘Time Circle’ is a myth!” Daniel Phoenix says hotly, and then recovers his reasonable tone, “Why should we condemn ourselves and our descendants to mere animal survival when we could exist in an advanced, perfect society?”

“You are a scientist. You are sworn to seek the truth, not to bend the laws of nature to suit whims.”

He smiles reading her easily, “Scientists work to understand the building blocks of the universe. We would be remiss in our responsibility to mankind if we did not use that understanding to improve the quality of life.”

Alice shakes her head, “You are not improving life, you are creating it. Scientists who play like they are one of the gods are abusing their knowledge to direct the course of history to their own benefit.”

“But I wish no personal credit,” Phoenix pleads, “I only wish for my children and grandchildren to live in a world that has not been destroyed by war and plague; for the human race not to be buried alive by their own greed and stupidity. The world that I create is free of famine, crime, poverty, and despair. Everyone has a place in society and no one is overlooked.”

“Humans can’t live in a perfect world,” Alice says calmly, “We are born into adversity and without it we cannot grow.”

“Hardship only limits our development. If the human race were collected into a single, unified society, imagine what they could accomplish!” Phoenix says growing more excited.

“And you think the Roman Empire is a worthy enough society to take over the world?” Alice says incredulously, “The Romans aren’t more advanced than any other race. They are inclined to be greedy and their l**t for power that has driven them to create the Empire so far, but do you really think that they will continue to develop once there is nothing left to conquer?”

“Yes,” Phoenix insists, “They will concentrate on developing their MINDS and environment to perfection. They will produce philosophers and scientists who will accomplish things beyond our wildest dreams; nothing will quite literally be impossible.”

“Except immortality, and that is what you are trying to give the human race. I have seen the death of the world you are creating, when it dies all hope for generations after die with it.” Alice stares at her adversary without blinking.

“Just think of everything they will accomplish up to that end? Do not the means justify the end?” Phoenix says impatiently.

“You cannot alter history,” Alice says stubbornly.

Phoenix looks away from her to the Curia below, Alice follows his gaze to Julius Caesar entering the building with a flock of Senators trailing behind. Caesar seats himself in the ornate curule chair set near the giant statue of Pompey. The Senators gather around him closely.

Phoenix grins smugly, “In a few moments you will witness the dawning of a great new life for us all, whether you agree or not.”

“I will kill you if I must.” She brings her other hand up to steady her weapon.

In a swift, fluid movement, Phoenix brings his g*n up to aim at her head, “Will you now?” he says sharply, “Playtime is over, little girl. Now run along before you get hurt. I’ve come too far to let anyone stand in my way. You don’t know what I’ve seen and why the death of a few does not outweigh the preventing of the Apocalypse.”

He looks away from Alice once more drawn to the scene below and her eyes follow. The instant her eyes depart his, he pulls the trigger. The bullet hits her and the inertia behind it knocks her off the roof.

 •

          Seren and Ryland intensely watch the scene play out and degenerate into a face-off, “We have to do something!” Seren says quickly moving to the computer room. Ryland stays watching Alice and Phoenix on the rooftop. Suddenly the shot is fired and Alice is hit. Ryland jumps at the hologram swinging his spear so fiercely that Phoenix would have been ripped to shreds had he been physically present.  As he is not actually there the spear moves through the holographic image and Ryland lands heavily on the floor.

Seren runs into the holographic-chamber tossing a Temporal Gauntlet to the Scot, “Quick, put this on your wrist and I will send you to help Alice!”

Seren runs back to the computer to find the exact moment Alice is shot and sets the coordinates for a time-jump to the moment immediately preceding the trigger being pulled. Seren overrides the Gauntlet’s manual controls and activates it.

 An energy field is erected over Ryland and he is instantly taken to the roof of Pompeii’s theatre. His eyes blink to adjust to the lighting difference, as they come into focus he sees Phoenix ready to kill Alice. Ryland takes his spear and knocks the g*n out of Phoenix’s hand. Phoenix turns to see his former pawn just in time to see the g*n landing backwards in Ryland’s hand.

Unknowingly aiming at himself Ryland proudly says, “Now who has the upper hand?” 

Before he can pull the trigger another energy field envelops Ryland and he is abducted to the safety of the Nomad. “I’ll take that.” The Guardian says grabbing the g*n before Ryland can comprehend what just happened.

•

Phoenix, newly disarmed, now stands before Alice laughing slightly under his breath, “So he’s even recruited my bastard Prince.”

“I don’t want to kill you.” Alice reveals honestly, still aiming the Decomposition-g*n at Phoenix, “You could stop your scheming right now while you still can. If you love Rome so much you could live out your life here, in peace. No one has to die today.”

Phoenix lowers his head speaking softly yet cold, “You don’t know what is about to take place. Why would he bring someone here who didn’t know what was to happen, unless….” His eyes light up as it dawns on him, “YOU… are from Rome – MY ROME – You are from the world I am about to create and you’re trying to prevent it from coming into existence?”

Alice sighs heavily, “Yes… I am a scientist from the future Roman Empire. I discovered the Infinity-Tunnels and how to move through them and as a result, I found the hole that causes the unraveling of Time. I presented my conclusions to the Senate, and they ordered me to destroy my research and tried to have me killed.” She takes a deep breath, “Your Rome is advanced, both socially and technologically, but it is far from perfect. There are no wars or poverty, but there is an abundance of fear and greed. Rome is beautiful, truth even more so.”

“If truth is what you seek, I offer it to you.” Phoenix stands straighter and narrows his eyes, “You owe your very existence to my efforts and yet you wish to prevent me from creating YOU?!?” He moves closer to her “ALL of your discoveries and advances are due to me, you should be assisting me instead of hindering me. Ungrateful child! Do you not realize that by stopping me you will be destroying yourself and all you have done?”

“My death and yours is insignificant as long as the Time Circle is preserved.” Alice firmly believes.

“You have exhausted my patience.” Phoenix says lunging for the g*n. He reaches for the g*n and attempts to take it from her when She pulls the trigger.  As the trigger is pulled Time slows to an almost imperceptible speed. The Decomposition-g*n scans Phoenix and propels its bullet through the Infinity-Tunnels to his conception date removing him from existence. Alice continues to struggle with Phoenix as he starts to dissipate. His very being fading into nothingness, his hands vaporize into thin air, arms follow suit, his torso, legs until everything connected to Phoenix is gone including Alice’s memory of him.

Alice looks down through the hole in the roof, noticing that the hologram (that was hiding the hole) has dispersed. She expects to see the Senate meeting continuing un-interrupted. To her shock and horror, She sees Caesar is lying on the ground at the feet of Pompey, being stabbed repeatedly by a group of Senators with daggers. Brutus moves in close to the badly wounded dictator and Caesar’s face brightens as he looks up, clearly expecting to be saved from the mob. Brutus draws his own dagger, but instead of killing the rampant Senators, he turns it on his mentor, Alice could just hear Caesar cry,  “Et tu, Brute?”

She opens her mouth to scream falling to her knees, the scene vanishes around her and she is safely aboard the Nomad. Alice crumples to the floor in tears, “Brutus how could you?”

Ryland and the Guardian watch her for a moment. The Guardian slowly puts a hand under her arm and lifts her to her feet.

The Guardian tries to comfort her by explaining the situation to her, “Brutus did what he believed was best for Rome. True history records Caesar as a power-hungry tyrant whose death and the resulting civil war cleared the way for Augustus Caesar and the Golden Age of Rome.”

“But the man who created our democracy is dead. What does Brutus do that improves Rome as much as Caesar did?” Alice desperately searches for a grain of reason in the events of the day.

“Marc Antony, another pupil of Caesar, makes a speech at Caesar’s funeral that sways the common sympathies in his favor and the conspirators are forced to flee, igniting a civil war. Brutus takes his own life after being defeated by Antony’s armies.  His contemporaries recognize that Brutus acted in the best interests of Rome and he is called ‘the noblest Roman of them all’”

“Something is wrong” Alice says shaking her head slowly, “I remember watching Caesar’s death, but I can’t recall where I was or why I was there. Something terrible has happened, hasn’t it?” She looks up at Ryland.

 Ryland looks at her in concern and asks, “What’s wrong with her memory?” 

“The Decomposition-g*n can have this kind of effect.” The Guardian says, more for Alice’s benefit than Ryland’s, “If you think back carefully, you will recover your memory, for now, you need rest.”

Ryland helps her to a seat in the bay and discovers what seat belts are. She closes her eyes in exhaustion and drifts into a heavy slumber. The Guardian walks to the cockpit to take them back to Vaulkner. He switches back to manual controls as Ryland buckles himself in the copilot’s chair. The Nomad flies back to their entry point and enters the Infinity-tunnels. The Guardian exits the tunnels and navigates though the asteroid field to return home. They touch down on the landing platform and the force-field closes over the launch-bay. The Guardian descends the ramp followed by Ryland carrying an unconscious Alice. They take her down to the second level and into an empty bedroom.

Ryland lays her on the bed, and the Guardian covers her with a sheet. As they both turn to go she stirs slightly. The Guardian looks back at her says softly,

“Welcome to the new world, Alice.”