‘Yes, Professor?’
‘If it does all go horribly wrong, you must promise me one thing.’
‘What’s that?’
‘You must promise me first refusal.’
I loved this man.
‘Eddie, if it all goes horribly wrong, I promise I’ll be all over you like a rash.’
He patted my hand.
‘I don’t think yours will ever be a conventional life, Max. And I think you will find your happiness in an unconventional way. Ah – here’s Teddy.’
Teddy Bairstow?
‘And my car.’
I stood. ‘I’ll say goodbye now, Eddie. Take care of yourself.’
He kissed my cheek and murmured, ‘Don’t forget – if it doesn’t work, my bedroom door is always open!’
Chapter Five
And on to Troy. Our next assignment.
This was my favourite moment – everything stretching out in front of us, gleaming with promise and excitement and we hadn’t yet had a chance to screw it up.
They were all there, except for the Boss, absent on a punitive visit to Thirsk. Which would keep them both quiet for a while.
I gazed at the sea of expectant faces in front of me. The history department had seated themselves down one side of the Hall. The security and technical sections were spread across the other, with small pockets of R&D staff scattered around. Their people, wise in the ways of their leaders, had carefully arranged for Professor Rapson and Doctor Dowson to be as far away from each other as possible while still actually being in the same room.
Mrs Enderby and her team from Wardrobe were chatting excitedly to Mrs Mack and the kitchen staff nearby. The medical crew sat at the back, possibly estimating potential casualties, but more likely playing Battleships.
Everyone had scratchpads, blank data cubes, sticks, files, and even old-fashioned scribblepads laid out in front of them. We were all ready to go. I took my usual deep breath and plunged straight in.
‘Good morning, everyone. Thank you for coming. As anyone who isn’t actually dead must know by now, our next assignment is Troy. The purpose of this briefing is to get a broad outline of the mission, allocate responsibilities, and discuss the proposed schedule.’
Using the big screen, I brought up such maps as we had been able to find. Plus a few artists’ impressions, just to give everyone an idea.
‘This is our objective – the city of Troy and its surrounding areas. Situated on the coast of north-west Turkey and flanked by the two rivers Simoeis and Scamander, Troy’s position on the major east/west trade routes and guarding the entrance to the Black Sea has ensured it has become the most important and richest city in this part of the world. Troy has accumulated massive wealth by collecting tributes and tolls and generally skimming everyone’s profits.
‘The ruling family is headed by King Priam. He has a large family, mostly sons, nineteen of whom are legitimate. His official wife is Queen Hecuba and the most notable of their offspring are Hector, Paris, Deiphobos, Helenus, and Kassandra. Hector is Priam’s heir, favourite son and hero of Troy. His wife is Andromache and their infant son is known as Astyanax, Lord of the City. So that’s Team Troy.
‘Shortly to be ranged against them – Agamemnon, high king of Mycenae, leader of the Greeks. His brother is Menelaus, king of Sparta and husband of the supposed cause of all the trouble, Helen. Then there’s a whole host of followers to be identified – that cunning bugger Odysseus, Big and Little Ajax, the tedious Nestor – and Achilles, of course. Forget the tall, blond hero – he’s a cross-dressing psychopath. Achilles is the first warrior to wage total war. Not the traditional, familiar, ritualistic fighting of the time, but all-out-slaughter-everything-in-sight-in-a-berserker-rage war. Not that anyone ever complains – either because they’re happy to be on the winning side, or because they’re too dead.
‘I shall refer to the attacking force as Greeks, even though this is long before Greece actually existed as such. Homer gives them many names – you’ll find them referred to as Hellenes (nothing to do with Helen) or Achaeans or Argives. The Trojan forces also consist of Thracians, Phrygians, Lydians, Carians, Lycians, and many more. For simplicity, we will be calling them Greeks and Trojans.
‘Any questions so far?
Nope.
‘Right. This is the last great Bronze Age struggle. A struggle between east and west. But, whatever the cause – and we’ll be identifying that – Troy will fall. And we’ll be there to see it.