Free TimeRiders 05 - Gates of Rome by Alex Scarrow Page B

in time than we actually planned.’
    ‘And lost over a hundred of our people!’ Rashim turnedtowards the voice. ‘Someone messed this up badly!’ Vice-president Stilson glared like an Old Testament preacher.
    ‘Well now, look, Mr Stilson … this really isn’t a precise science. And quite honestly, with all the last-minute data changes coming in, and no time to recalibrate the EDT’s transmission program … Actually, I’m rather amazed that
any
of us survived!’
    Stilson shook his head angrily. ‘OK, I’ve heard enough. Look, I’m assuming authority from here on in. This is a damned mess already and we need to turn this around right now!’
    ‘What?!’ Rashim’s voice skipped up a notch. It was almost a yelp. ‘No! Look see, uh … Dr Yatsushita actually put me in charge of Exodus. He said that –’
    ‘I’m afraid we don’t have time for this, Dr Anwar … isn’t it?’
    Rashim nodded.
    ‘Right, well, I’m the senior government representative of the North American Federation here. Which gives me executive authority. Like it or not, that puts me in charge.’
    ‘Dr Anwar …’ A woman. Civilian. He recognized her as one of the Project Exodus support staff. Not one of the candidates.
    ‘Yes?’ Rashim answered her quickly before Stilson could go on any more. ‘What is it?’
    ‘Do you know how far we’ve overshot the receiver markers?’
    Rashim nodded forcefully and tried his most authoritative face. Here was a question he most certainly had an answer for. ‘Yes. I was able to successfully record the decay rate of the tachyon field. It’s quite simple really. Tachyon particles decay at a constant rate, a very similar principle actually to something like carbon dating where …’
    Keep it simple
.
    ‘Well, basically, to cut a very long and boring technical explanation short, ladies and gents, we went back about seventeenyears earlier than planned.’ He scratched his chin and offered them a wan smile. ‘Which, actually, I think is quite impressive really.’ He ran a hand through his hair. ‘Given the last-minute metrics I had to guess at.’ He shrugged and smiled. ‘It could have been a lot worse than that really.’
    ‘Seventeen years out … over half our people lost and most of our equipment gone!’ Stilson stepped forward. ‘Good God, man! This is already a damned mess! I know what the precise plans were for colonizing the past … that’s ancient history now. We’re going to have to take stock and –’
    ‘Uh, well now, Mr Vice-president, yes … of course we may have to play out the “deployment phase” slightly differently.’
    ‘You can say that again, Anwar. Looks like we’ll be improvising the plan from now on.’
    The group were silent. Few of them had been briefed on the details of Project Exodus.
    ‘All right, listen up, everyone!’ barked Stilson. ‘Gather round closer! I’m going to bring you folks up to speed on what you need to know. What I’m about to tell you has been classified for top-level eyes only. Outside of the Exodus technical team, the only other eyes on this have been those of the President, myself and the joint Chiefs of Staff.’
    Rashim noticed how easily Stilson could rally everyone round.
    ‘This project has been in development for over five years, funded by what remained of our defence procurement budget, for what it was. Exodus was … and still
is
… our plan to transplant
our
values,
our
knowledge,
our
wisdom on to the infrastructure of an existing, well-established and robust civilization. The Roman Empire.’
    Rashim heard the vice-president’s audience stir.
    ‘A panel of historical experts identified a specific moment intime in which to deploy Exodus. We were
meant
to arrive towards the tail end of the reign of a weak emperor. A guy called Claudius. A weak emperor struggling to maintain his position in power. Now … the plan was quite simple. To offer our services, our technology, to this guy Claudius in exchange for executive