“We’ll make it thirty miles and you can take us in on the motor launch,” Dwayne said.
“That means I go with you? Back with you?” Boats said.
“I don’t see another way,” Lee said.
“I’m not waiting with the fucking boat,” Boats said. His usual smile was gone.
“No. You’ll be on mission with us. You up for that?” Dwayne said.
“Shit, yeah!” Boats said, the grin returning.
“That will make us five,” Chaz said.
“Four,” Lee said.
“How do you figure that?” Dwayne said.
“Because you’re not going,” Lee said and looked at Dwayne flatly. The others shut down to let those two sort it out.
“Bullshit,” Dwayne said.
“Caroline will be having the baby between now and mission start. She needs you there. And we would need all of your head in the game, but your head will be with her and the baby. And there’s another reason,” Lee said.
“Can I ask what that is?” Dwayne’s face was dark.
“If Boats goes back to The Then with us, we’ll need someone on this side who can go tactical if the shit hits the fan. That will be you.” Lee said.
“Makes sense, D,” Jimbo said.
“Yeah. It does,” Dwayne said. “That’s the way it has to be.”
But it hurt.
The meet went on for another hour or so with Morris giving his usual warnings about maintaining temporal integrity and the Rangers pushing back with the needs for objective priorities.
“You can’t be polluting the past with current technology,” Morris urged. “You’ll be entering an age closer to our own and possibly be encountering literate inhabitants. Any anachronistic technology you expose them to could be recorded. Dwayne and my sister had a few close calls on their last outing. All risks have to be minimized.”
“We tried it your way once, Doc. We got our asses kicked,” Chaz said, referring to their first trip to the past when they went with eco-friendly weaponry that failed against an army of man-eating proto-humans.
“The more gear we carry, the more chance of success and the least exposure time. The best way to go is to go hard and fast and get the hell out,” Lee said.
“Trust us, Mo. We’ll take every precaution,” Dwayne said, putting a hand to Morris’s shoulder.
“Every precaution that doesn’t add to our personal risk,” Lee added.
13
A New Member of the Club
A week into mission prep, the Raj had moved into an anchorage off of Limassol on Cyprus. It was a nothing-special port of call with the usual half-moon of blockish white condos and hotels standing along the shoreline. The container ship sat at anchor in the azure water away from the approach lanes of the big cruise ships that crawled in and out of port daily.
Even though they were not seeking a berth in the harbor, there was business to attend to. Boats paid a premium to have a tanker come out to them to top their reserves off with diesel. Customs came aboard and the ex-SEAL sent them away with a few cartons of Marlboros, a case of Ron Rico, and some folding money.
Since the skipper was occupied, Lee Hammond went ashore on the motor launch with a couple of his crewmen to restock their food and freshwater stores. Dwayne Roenbach tagged along to catch a shuttle to Athens and then continue to Berne to join Caroline.
Lee returned in the late afternoon with Parviz and Quebat and their luggage. There was another passenger aboard. Lee was at the gangway with a bag under each arm as Bathsheba Jaffe climbed the ladder to the sally port. The crew lined the rails to watch the raven-haired beauty in tank top and cargo shorts come aboard.
“Who’s this?” Jimbo said.
“Our Hebrew teacher, bro.” Chaz grinned.
“We figure our Arabic will get us by for the most part,” Lee said to the Rangers and the SEAL as they shared beers in the captain’s quarters with the AC on full. “But some Hebrew would come in helpful. Just a few dozen phrases we can memorize. Directions. Trading. Greetings. Just general tourist stuff.”
“I can do that,” Bat said. “But you guys don’t exactly look like you’re in the tribe. And a little of the old language does not go a long way. When things get tight, you need to let me do the talking.”
“Wait, what?” Lee said.
“I think the lady thinks she’s going with us,” Chaz said.
“No. Fucking. Way. Ain’t gonna happen,” Lee said.
“Hold on now. She knows everything?” Jimbo said.
“You mean all about your Wayback machine?” Bat said. “Uh-huh. Your boy here likes to talk after sex.”
“Shit, Hammond!” Chaz slammed his bottle of Luxor on the table, creating a geyser of beer.
“She’s all right! I vouch for her!” Lee shouted back, a rare display for him.
“You thought I was going to come out here and hold shul for you guys and not ask any questions?” Bat laughed.
“That didn’t include an invite to the mission,” Chaz said.
“I’m going. You need someone fluent. If you run into serious trouble then ‘where is the nearest bathroom’ is not going to be much help,” Bat said.
“It’s not all talk, baby. We’re there to run and gun. Can you hack all that?” Chaz said.
“I’ve got seven years with the IDF. I’m a trained sniper with a Galil and an M14. I’ve been in combat, and I know the country we’ll be crossing better than any of you.”
“Combat? So you’ve heard some hostile fire. You have any kills?” Chaz said, locking eyes with her.
“Three confirmed. Lebanon.” She met his eyes unblinking and with no resentment. They had a right to know her bona fides.
“And if we don’t take you along?” Jimbo said.
“What? I’ll tell the world about a bunch of vets traveling through time making trouble in the past? Try to turn you in to the time cops? And
