Time Raiders: The Seeker

by Lindsay McKenna

  “We all know,” General Ashton was saying, sending Delia a look across the table, “the reason Captain Tyler is on this mission is because he’s able to mind read. Athena is going to jump you both to February 20, 44 B.C. We don’t know where Servilia, Julius Caesar’s mistress, is, exactly, but we know she is in Rome at this time. Argenta’s journal cites Servilia as owning a piece of the Karanovo disc. Once you arrive, Captain Sebastian, you are officer in charge of this mission.”

  “Good,” Delia said, giving Jake a glance that spoke volumes. She could see his flat brows tightening over that order.

  “We will need Captain Tyler’s ability,” Athena agreed. “Being able to mind read isn’t straightforward, unfortunately, but requires sifting through a lot of mental garbage. Sometimes it’s impossible, due to whatever else is going on at the time. That’s where you come in,” she said, turning to Delia. “Captain Tyler will need uninterrupted time to focus and try to search another person’s mind. You will aid and abet him in this, Delia. He can’t talk and mind read at the same time. You’ll act as guide and guardian, giving him the space to do his job.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Delia murmured.

  “We know that a lot of things will be happening,” the general interjected. “Getting close to Servilia is prime—she is your target of opportunity. The more time you can spend with her, the easier it will be for Captain Tyler to dredge through the contents of her mind.”

  “And his ability to read minds has limits,” Athena told Delia. “He has to be close to his subject, no more than twenty feet away, for optimum brain-wave stimulation. Our brains have a great capacity for electrical activity, but there, too, one has limits.”

  “Okay, I can handle that,” Delia assured them. Once Servilia saw how drop-dead handsome Tyler was, Delia was sure she’d keep him close to her.

  “My intent when I send you back is to make you a brother-and-sister mercenary team from Greece,” Athena said. “This takes advantage of your heritage, Delia. You were born on the island of Delos, which the Romans believe is where their sun god, Apollo, was born. And you know I will send with you the ability to speak the dialects of Greece and the Latin of Rome. Your ability to see auras surrounding people will help, as well.”

  Relief flooded Delia. Brother and sister. Not lovers. Good. She’d dodged that bullet. Frowning, she said, “Athena, do you think that Romans of that time will accept a woman warrior, a mercenary?”

  “We learned from the time jumps you made to Pompeii to retrieve Argenta’s journal that women were depicted in frescoes fighting one another in the Circus Maximus. Granted, they were probably prisoners of war, but they were gladiator-trained women warriors. General Ashton and I feel that having you a freeborn woman from Delos and a warrior will intrigue Servilia, and not necessarily raise questions.”

  “We hope,” the general said. “There’s little history on Julius Caesar’s longtime mistress. Servilia hung around him through several marriages, including the last one, to Calpurnia.”

  “To make things even messier,” Athena warned them, “Queen Cleopatra from Egypt had Julius Caesar’s son, Ptolemy Caesarion, a year earlier. She lives at the house of Marius, where Julius Caesar has residence. We can only guess how Servilia, who stuck with Caesar through thick and thin, might feel about this.”

  “Probably pretty unhappy,” Delia mused.

  “Jealous?” Jake suggested. “Angry enough to see him assassinated on the Ides of March?”

  Shrugging, Athena said, “No one knows. But you two are being put into a period of tumult, conspiracy and secret machinations. You know that Marcus Brutus, son of Servilia, was part of a plot to assassinate Caesar, on March 15. As you get close to Servilia, you will automatically be putting yourselves on the firing line regarding this conspiracy, which will obviously be in play.”

  “That means you have to stay alert,” Ashton warned them in a heavy tone. “Since Servilia’s son, Brutus, is a part of this plot, then is she? If so, you must remain aloof, yet somehow find the fragment of the seal that is in her possession.”

  “A dicey proposition,” Delia murmured. “Talk about landing in the eye of a tornado…”

  “General Brutus,” Jake said, “was the number-two man to Julius Caesar for nearly twenty years. He was with Caesar as he conquered Europe and then Britain. I think we have to realize that Servilia’s genes helped make Brutus the great general and warrior he was.” Opening his hands, Jake conjectured, “Knowing Brutus was part of the plot, I think we ought to assume Servilia’s in on it, too. She must be hurt that Caesar had a love affair with a twenty-one-year-old Egyptian queen, had a son by her, and even brought her to Rome. Servilia has to be angry.”

  “Enough to kill the man she loves?” Delia wondered aloud.

  “The passions of people in power aren’t necessarily controlled by morals,” Athena warned. “Remember, Servilia likely enjoyed high status because of her relationship with Caesar. She may have been dethroned when Cleopatra bore his only son. Is this aristocratic woman capable of murder? No one knows. But that’s something you should assume.”

  “Also,” General Ashton said, “how does Caesar feel about Servilia now? Is it possible he wants her dead? Would he arrange somehow to get rid of her, the old mistress? And what about Cleopatra? Would she send someone into Servilia’s villa in Rome to murder her? To get a possible rival out of the way?” The general shook her head. “History tells us that Servilia survived her son, General Marcus Brutus. And after Caesar’s assassination, Cleopatra fled Rome with Caesarion to protect him from the anarchy that erupted shortly after. Octavian, who eventually took over and became the emperor Augustus, had Cleopatra’s son murdered in Egypt. Cleopatra, of course, committed suicide by having a poisonous asp bite her on the breast.

  “Brutus met his end in the Battle of Philippi, years later. And Servilia outlived them all. This woman is a schemer of the finest order, and you two should not underestimate her. She’s clearly a power to be reckoned with, a politician in her own right. After all, it is believed that she actually helped Julius Caesar with the strategy that brought him victory during his Gallic campaign. He gave her a priceless black pearl as thanks for her insight. She’s not to be trifled with.”

  “The power behind the throne?” Delia murmured.

  “Assume it,” Ashton growled.

  “We’re going to time-jump in an hour,” the professor announced. “My intent is to dress you as mercenaries, on horseback—Delia and Philip of Greece. You’ll show up in that time with the correct clothing and weapons. And of course you will have full awareness of then and memory of the present day. You both have had ample experience living in two worlds at once because of the other missions you’ve accomplished.”

  Athena awarded them with a smile. “Just to go over some important fail-safe points…” She pulled out an armband from her lab coat pocket and handed it to Jake. “You can wear this on your arm or wrist, it doesn’t matter which. What does matter is that as soon as you locate the target fragment and have it in your possession, you must press the quartz crystal. That sends a signal back to me. I’ll be made aware of the transmission and come into the lab, don the headband and bring you home.”

  “These bracelets also protect us from possible injury,” Delia said. She’d done the most time travel, and knew that from experience. “If one of us gets hurt and needs immediate first aid, we can press the crystal and be brought back.”

  “Absolutely,” Ashton agreed. “Or if one of you loses an armband, you can hold on to one another, press the crystal of the remaining one, and both of you will return. But do not lose your armband. We can’t afford to leave either of them in another time.”

  Delia took hers from her lab coat pocket. She could see the faint lavender light emanating from the oval crystal embedded in it. “Our lifeline to the present and to getting help,” she murmured grimly.

  “Never lose it or set it aside,” the general warned. “Anyone getting ahold of that armband could press or tou
ch the crystal, deliberately or by mistake, and they would be coming back to us.”

  Shaking her head, Delia muttered, “Can you imagine that? Some poor person from another time ending up in this lab?” She almost chuckled, though it wasn’t funny.

  “Not something we’ll do,” Jake said tensely. He ran his fingers across the smooth surface of the band. “I usually leave mine on my upper arm, covered by the clothes I’m wearing. It keeps curious people at bay. I almost had a woman touch it one day when I was back in Egypt in the time of Ramses, and had it on my wrist. Scared the hell out of me. If I hadn’t jerked away, she’d have pressed that crystal and I would have disappeared right before her eyes.”

  Athena nodded. “Yes, the armbands garner a lot of attention. Hiding them is smart. I shudder to think of someone stealing the cuff, or you taking it off and someone toying with it. I don’t want someone from the past showing up here.” She gestured toward the room where the time jumps were initiated.

  “We’ll hide them well,” Delia assured the worried professor.

  Ashton stood. “All right, any questions?”

  Jake shook his head. He saw Delia do the same. As he stood to shake hands with the general, he slid a glance down the table, to where Delia stood chatting with the professor. How beautiful she looked in that pink sweater outlining her curvy body. Her black wool slacks only accentuated those long, delicious thighs he’d explored so many times. Every inch of her was burned into his brain and body. Even now, despite the stress and pressure of this mission, all he wanted to do was pull her into his arms and go to bed with her. Sex with Delia was mind-blowing. He had never forgotten it or her.

  Jake savored this unexpected opportunity that had thrown them together again. Maybe he could convince her to pick up their relationship once more….

  Chapter 3

  “C aptain Tyler?” Delia said as he walked down the hall toward the time jump lab. “I want a word with you.”

  Her heart pounded erratically as he turned, surprise written on his features. Why did he have to be so damn handsome? Tightening her mouth, Delia approached.

  “Oh, it’s ‘Captain’ now?” he teased, a grin creasing his face. He was still in the U.S. Army, on loan to General Ashton. She looked focused, her golden eyes narrowed on him as if he were her chosen prey.

  “Cut the crap,” she snapped as she halted in front of him. Jabbing him in the chest with her index finger, she rasped, “This isn’t some fun play date we’re going on. And that brings me to why I’m having this conversation with you, Captain.” Her nostrils flared. “You are second in command. I’m the OIC—officer in charge. I’ve never worked in a team situation on a jump before, and neither has anyone else. You’d damn well better keep your eye on the prize and not start being a jerk like you were over in Afghanistan. Do you hear me?”

  Jake felt the heat of her words. Still, his flesh riffled pleasantly from all that energy she was aiming at him, gruff though she was. “We’re not enemies, Delia.”

  “The hell we aren’t. I saw the smirk on your face in there during the mission briefing. You’re looking at this like some kind of lark, and I’m damned if you will. My life will be on the line out there. If you want to screw things up because of your arrogance and overconfident ways, that’s fine. But not on my watch, and not with me. Got it?”

  The blazing gold of her eyes mesmerized Jake, as it always did. Memories, hot and evocative, came bubbling to the surface as he recalled their wild lovemaking in Afghanistan. There wasn’t a moment he’d spent with this fiery, feisty woman warrior that he couldn’t recall in detail. “Got it? Sure, babe, no problem.”

  Delia clenched her teeth, repressing the urge to slap his face. Jake was the ultimate cocky male, times ten. Nothing shook his masculine cool, not even her anger. “Cut the ‘babe,’ too. It has no place where we’re going.”

  Shrugging, he managed a thin smile. “Hey, Del, I’ll be a good boy. We’ll get along fine on this mission. You just get me some space where I can try and read those Romans’ minds. That’s all I need from you.”

  Well, that was a lie, but Jake saw she meant business.

  He needed her. His body ached to have her again. And even though Delia was no longer in the Marine Corps and had gone back to civilian life before being called up for the Time Raiders missions, she was still a military officer in bearing and stature. She had earned his respect in that regard from the moment he’d met her.

  Backing off, Delia searched his glittering, sky-blue eyes. She felt anger right alongside passion. It had been two years since their split, but it seemed like yesterday. Unconsciously rubbing the area of her heart, she muttered, “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you get mind-reading openings.”

  Jake grinned a little more widely. “Hey, I’m looking forward to this mission with you, Del.”

  “Well, I’m not! I fought it! I fought the fact it was you they’d chosen! You’re the last man I’d ever want to time-jump with!”

  “Ouch,” he murmured, still smiling. “And you’re the first woman I’d choose to be on a deserted island with. We’re opposites, Del. But opposites attract.”

  “Damn you, Tyler!”

  Chuckling, he wanted to reach out and touch her soft brown curls. Jake squelched the urge, seeing real anger in her eyes and hearing the desperation in her tone. “You hurt my feelings, Del.”

  “You are incorrigible, Tyler!” Delia planted her hands on her hips. “Your love for yourself, your total narcissism, is going to be your downfall someday. But not with me and not on this mission. All I care about is keeping my record clean and finding this fragment. And it had better be your focus, too.”

  Wiping the smile off his face, Jake realized he’d backed Del into a corner. He had no wish to make this time jump with her so upset. Holding up his hands, he murmured, “Okay, okay, time-out, boss. We’ll make this work.”

  Not mollified, but seeing that he was struggling to toe the line, Delia said, “You’ve got the biggest swelled head I’ve ever seen, Tyler. And the moment you disobey my orders or think you are better than I am, I’m punching that cuff you’re wearing and you’re going home. I’ll complete the mission on my own.”

  Jake frowned. “You wouldn’t do that, would you?”

  “In a heartbeat, Tyler.” Again she waved her finger in his face. “Trust me when I say that I’d much rather perform this mission without you than with you. You step out of line one inch and you’re gone.”

  Jake knew that Professor Carswell could send him back to that time once more, but he suspected Delia had already talked to her. And if he did return to the present midmission, they’d expect a very good explanation. More than anything, Jake realized, he wanted to keep Delia safe and alive on this very dangerous venture. “Listen to me, will you? You’re famous for not listening and always interrupting when I talk, but hear me now.” He leaned forward and pinned his gaze on her. “We’re a team, Del. You and me. I’m not going to jeopardize either of our lives.”

  “Yeah, right,” Delia muttered angrily. She didn’t want her voice carrying down the hall for the others to hear. “Your need for controlling a situation and everyone involved had better remain underground. You never could work as a team, which is why I couldn’t believe it when Ashton and Carswell chose you. Everything in your psychological profile shows you can’t share power, and there’s no way I’ll believe that you’ve suddenly changed for this mission. I’ll be watching you like a hawk. One screwup and you’re gone.”

  Jake saw something different in Delia’s eyes. Her words were cutting and sharp, but the hunger for him in her eyes was just as real. Reaching out before she had a chance to back off, Jake curled his hands around her shoulders and pulled her forward against him. He saw surprise flare in her eyes. Not one to be bossed around by an angry woman, Jake lowered his head. His lips sought and found hers.

  Delia’s anger exploded and dissolved as Jake’s persuasive mouth fell upon her lips. Instantly, she tried to pull away from him. No good! Jake�
��s hands were firm. He held her close. Oh, how she remembered his body and the way it curved and complemented her own! His mouth moved commandingly across hers. For just a moment Delia wanted to forget the hurt of their past and give in to the hunger that had always existed between them.

  When Jake felt Delia stop fighting him, he smiled against her lips. It wasn’t a victory. He wanted a win-win situation for them, as it used to be, as it could be again. Her lips were full and soft. As he grazed them gently they parted. A groan rose in him as he felt her arms coming up across his shoulders. Yes, this was more like it. This is what they’d shared so hotly between them two years ago.

  Moving one hand through her silky strands of hair, he tilted her head slightly and Delia leaned fully against him. The trust she gave him was incredible. Once more, she was vulnerable. It made kissing her, exploring her, even more wonderful. Jake knew if they were caught kissing, all hell would break loose. Reluctantly, he left her wet, gleaming mouth. As he did, he opened his eyes and drowned in the fire of hers.

  “Like old times,” he said, his voice rough with desire.

  Delia wanted to fight back, but she couldn’t. She did want to trust Jake once more. If only he would let her in, allow her a more intimate connection with him in other ways. That is what drove them apart. The wall he’d set up between them had never been dissolved. They were great in bed together, but that was all it was. Delia had craved the intimacy, but Jake had never been able to give it to her. Ultimately, it had driven Delia away from him.

  “Damn you, Tyler.”

  He smiled a little as he released her. “It was good, Del. Just like before.”

  Pulling nervously at her sweater, she muttered, “I know….” How would she make this work with him? How could she continue to resist his dancing eyes that told her he wanted her—physically if not emotionally. She wanted him, too. Somehow, Delia knew she had to suppress her personal urges and get on with this mission.

  “Relax,” Jake murmured. “We have each other’s backs on this mission.”