PARADOX - Chapter 68

Chapter 68

June 10, 27 CE – Jerusalem – Judaea Province





As soon as they entered the ‘Gate of the Fountain’ on the southern side of the city they ran into pandemonium. The narrow cobbled streets were crowded with soldiers searching the belongings of everyone who entered. Goods were scattered everywhere, donkeys baying, camels spitting, and angry merchants arguing or pleading with the soldiers.

Szekler and Wilhelm approached a Roman officer, a junior Centurion by his dress, and asked what was going on. The weary Centurion was evidently satisfied by their looks and glanced at the remainder of the waiting team.

“Replacements are more than welcome.” He grinned at Monday and Henri, more officers to share the watch with.

Szekler motioned at the activity around them. “This is not normal is it? I am new from Rome but I have never seen such a display of activity.”

“I can tell you’re from the Province of Germania also,” the Centurion smiled. “Your accent gives you away. I recently served there with the XVI Gallica. It was Elysium compared to this dry stinking rat hole of a province. We have orders to check everyone and everything coming in or going out.”

Szekler looked at him and stood taller, almost defying the officer to search him.

“Not Romans,” the Centurion quickly added, uncertain of Szekler’s importance. The fact that Szekler had an escort of several officers, all the way from Rome, meant he had to be a man with significant connections. “You and your guard are more than welcome. Centurion Ausonius is in charge of this Province until the Governor of Syria can send a more senior officer. He’s taking no risks since the death of the Prefect.”

“Death of the Prefect? I haven’t heard anything about that,” Szekler questioned.

The Centurion looked at him in surprise. “You have been out of contact,” he stated. “The Prefect, Pontius Pilateus, was assassinated by magicians a month ago. Some of them escaped. The entire province has been in an uproar.”

“I see.” Szekler mumbled a reply. He and Wilhelm returned to the group.

“Pilate assassinated,” Szekler whispered, scanning the crowd around them. “The officer mentioned wizards or magicians, depending on how you translate it. I think we’ve found The Brotherhood’s Team. No doubt someone made a big mistake and they managed to escape from Caesarea, but where would they go?”

“Galilee,” Dom answered. “Their target spent a lot of time in and around the Sea of Galilee. If they are still considering completing their mission, I think that would be the place they would go.”

Szekler thought about his answer for a moment. “There’s no need to stay in Jerusalem then. We must go to Galilee right away. According to the officer, it has been a month since the assassination. They could have completed their mission already and we would not know about it.”

“With the Roman Army after them, I think they would lay low for a while,” Monday commented. “Perhaps find some small out of the way village and wait for things to calm down.”

“How far is it to Galilee?” Henri asked.

“It will take us several days by foot,” Dom answered.

“We will go into the wilderness for several miles and contact the Fliegenkämpfer,” Wilhelm stated. “We can be there in a few hours.”

Szekler nodded his head then walked over to the Centurion. “I have decided that I am most needed in Caesaria,” he told the officer. “With the death of the Prefect my services may be vital.”

The Centurion nodded in agreement and waved at the rest of the Team. “Keep a close eye out for these magicians. I am told there is a considerable reward for their capture.”

As they made their way out of the city and up the Mount of Olives, Monday held back to talk with Dom. “My guess is that The Brotherhood mercenaries are the ones who were killed. Chester and his team would not have been armed.”

“I agree.” Dom concentrated on the heel of Lofton in front of him. “Most likely one of the mercenaries flew off the handle and opened fire before their leader could intervene and defuse the situation. Dorbec and Chester would have quickly taken advantage of the situation and dispersed into the crowd.”

“That would mean they are separated from the survivors of the slaughter, if there were any survivors. They might even be stranded in time, unable to contact their time ship.”

“A distinct possibility,” Dom muttered. “If I am any judge of character, I think they would go to the one place where they could hope to be rescued, and that would be wherever Jesus happened to be.”

“Galilee.” Monday looked back over his shoulder to see a Roman cavalry patrol approaching. He yelled for the others to clear the road so they could pass.

As soon as the patrol was past, throwing up a cloud of powdery dust, Doctor Szekler ambled back to join them. He nodded at Monday then addressed Dom. “In your best estimate, what part of Galilee would Jesus most likely be in?’

Dom thought carefully before answering. “If The Brotherhood expedition wanted to assassinate Jesus before he started spreading his gospel, and if they found the correct time frame, Jesus will probably be either near the Sea of Galilee or close to Nazareth or Cana. Much of his youth was spent in Nazareth and his first two miracles occurred in Cana.”

Szekler nodded in agreement. “I will have the Fliegenkämpfer land us near Mount Tabor, that will place us within short walking distance of Cana and Nazareth.”

Szekler increased his pace to catch up with Wilhelm who had taken the lead. Monday noticed as Wilhelm turned around and sent him a wicked grin.

“You do know that this is a one way mission for us?” he advised Dom. “Either they will strand us here, back in time, or kill us once they have neutralized The Brotherhood mission.”

“Their commandos have assault rifles hanging beneath their tunics,” Dom sarcastically replied. “How do you propose to prevent them from doing exactly what they want?”

Monday shook his head. “I’m working on it.”

The Fliegenkämpfer picked them up several hours later and transported them to a deserted spot on the road running from Tiberias to Nazareth and ending at Ptolemais on the Mediterranean. Their location was ideal because it was approximately halfway between Nazareth and Cana.

As soon as they debarked from the ship, Wilhelm gave the order to move off the road and set up camp for the evening. It was too late to travel and they were all exhausted from the day’s events.

Dressed as a small Roman patrol, they weren’t worried about bandits or the local population. They made a fire from what little wood was available, ate rations brought by the time ship and made hot coffee and tea over the fire. Leutnant Beck posted sentries, more so to keep an eye on Monday and his Team than to ward off unwelcome visitors. He had his men field strip and clean their assault rifles to get rid of the dry powdery sand, and to maintain routine. The Nazi soldiers were efficient and well disciplined. No opportunity presented itself for Monday or his Team to make any escape attempt.

Early the next morning, Wilhelm decided that Nazareth would be the best place to go, because his limited knowledge of Christianity placed Nazareth as a focal point for Jesus.

Wilhelm led the group from the front with six Nazi commandos and Leutnant Beck brought up the rear with the remaining six commandos. Szekler and Fleischer evidently got along well because they seemed to enjoy each other’s company. Monday and his Team were kept in the center of the column where they could be guarded.

An hour later they rounded a sharp bend in the road and discovered that a donkey cart had turned over, scattering a load of melons across the road. The owners, a farmer and his wife, were trying to lift the cart to replace the wheel that had come off. There were still a number of melons left in the cart so the weight was evidently too much for them to lift.

Wilhelm signaled for the column to halt and stood starring at the man and woman. He removed his canteen and took a long drink of water, then got down from his stallion and walked towards the broken cart. He motioned for two of his commandos to help the family lift the cart so the wheel could be replaced.

As soon as he turned around to head back to his horse, the farmer grabbed him around the neck and jerked Wilhelm’s pistol from a pocket hidden in his officer’s cape.

“Don’t move!” the man yelled, pointing at he rocks overlooking the road. Half a dozen men stood from their hiding places. They were holding what appeared to be assault rifles. Dozens of other men joined them holding spears or swords.

The man placed the barrel of the pistol against Wilhelm’s temple. “Drop your weapons or I will blow his brains out!”

Leutnant Beck started to move, but Wilhelm quickly signaled for him and his men to drop their weapons.

“Pick up the damn weapons, Monday!” the man yelled, unwinding the scarf that covered his face.

Shocked, Monday signaled for his Team to grab the Nazi weapons. The men behind the rocks made their way down to the road and threw their weapons to the ground. They were sticks carved to resemble assault rifles.

“Once again, le Legion Etrangere, to the rescue,” Dorbec grinned as he removed the rest of the dirty scarf from his head. “Are you not happy to see me, Mon ami?”

Monday could not get over the sudden and overwhelming surprise. “Dorbec, you dirty old frog, how in hell…”

He turned as Chester strode up and removed a dirty hood covering his grizzly face. He and his Team had forgone shaving the past month in order to blend in more closely with the locals. They clasped each other in a bear hug, then Monday hugged the remainder of his team, Oddball and The Geek.

“This is Navy Corpsman John Carney,” Chester grabbed a man by the tunic. “Keeping an eye on our Nazi friends is Dorbec’s two men, Lars and Claude. I believe you met them in Argentina.”

Monday nodded his head.

“Our Brotherhood escort, Doctor Dubenchiek and the mercenaries wound up as Roman pin cushions. Unfortunately Cencio and Khan escaped.”

Monday spotted Ariana standing next to Dorbec. Despite her disheveled look and ragged clothing he could tell she was a beautiful young woman. “Who is the young lady, Dorbec?”

“I have the honor to present to you, Ariana.” Dorbec raised an eyebrow to emphasize the name. “She is the commander of the Arianni people, and she is in deep trouble because she joined our side.”

Monday bowed from the waist and gently shook her hand. He then turned to Chester. “How did you know that we would be on this road at this time?”

Chester shrugged. “We didn’t actually. We’ve been hiding in Nazareth with the local resistance for a month. Ariana tried to contact her time ships several weeks ago, but for some reason, they haven’t answered. We’ve been sending scouts into Cana and along the roads searching for Khan and Cencio. Last night we hit pay dirt. Oddball was with one of the scouting parties and came upon your campsite. The smell of coffee, and gun cleaning oil was overwhelming. Anyone with any brains at all would realize that ancient Romans did not drink coffee or use gun oil.”

“That Borkum Riff pipe tobacco the fat dude smokes smelled like home too,” Oddball cut in. “Man, I used to smoke that with a little weed now and then.”

“It didn’t take much to arrange this little surprise,” Chester continued. “In fact, Dorbec thought of it all by his little old self.”

Dorbec bowed from the waste, pretending to remove a hat he did not have on, then stood and walked over to Wilhelm von Liegntz. He threw Wilhelm’s knife into the dirt at his feet, then removed his own sharp blade.

“You and I are going to dance.” Dorbec’s face was cast in stone. “As the American’s say, it’s pay back time.”