Traveller Manifesto
46. Judaea

Judaea

Their base at the end of the dusty wadi was organised along similar lines to the successful Mississippi Traveller format. Large, camo tents were surrounded by a portable palisade where Tower Hawk guard towers stood imposingly. Though each of the Travellers knew their chip made them safe, the fear of being gunned down in the dusty, coverless approach was all too real. An incorrectly programmed system had allegedly fired upon friendly marines in a live-test of the system upgrades months before and, despite manufacturer assurances, the troops still treated the towers with suspicion.

The location had been selected because of the challenging parameters that made this mission unique. Naturally it had to be remote, which made the choice of the Negev a logical one. Then it had to be in a location that the Israeli Defence Forces could control, for security was a priority. Situated toward the eastern border of the 21st Century’s Nevatim Air Force Base, the wadi was ideal in that it could be conveniently serviced and defended.

Of priority was the security of the location for whatever Time the Transporters could place them. In the 21st Century there were a few Bedouins of course. They had been settled in Shaqib al-Salam, founded in 1979 as part of a government project to place nomadic Bedouin into permanent settlements. Negev Bedouins could be a problem for the project, for they were a semi-nomadic society that had been through a process of forced settlement since Ottoman rule. Most researches agreed that Bedouins arrived to the Negev around 1800 AD, but there was evidence of earlier migrations as well.

But what of the 11th Century?

Or the 1st Century?

Anderson found the academics had been consumed by the complexities of correct placement. If they were too close to settled areas, there was a chance that the Transporter might drop the automated reconnaissance camera into a camp. Too far away and it would leave them deep in the wilderness, where the only effective research could be conducted through the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. That would not do, especially when one took into account the breathtaking successes of Byzantium Traveller.

As head of the Historical Research component, Professor Cowen was determined to eclipse any Traveller Missions that had gone before them, especially Byzantium Traveller. From their conversations, it now seemed that his chief motivation was not only for knowledge but for bold initiatives that would shake the world, both in religious and academic circles as well as public appeal. Saxon Traveller had done that, as had Byzantium Traveller. Mississippi Traveller had been shocking, but from what Anderson has seen so far, the fickle public considered the revealed events of the mission to be not as absorbing. When it came to being spectacular, some even believed it to be a disappointment. Academics seemed to be drawn into a frivolous world of ratings and Social Media, where success was not merely measured by the academic value, but also how the public became immersed into the target culture. Saxon Traveller had seen an explosion of interest, from fashion to toys to medicine, a trend also imitated by Byzantium Traveller. Yet Mississippi Traveller, though academically earthshaking, had seen barely a ripple of public interest. Perhaps that could be blamed on the censorship of any mention of the death of the young women from their data and video feeds.

Yes, thought Anderson cynically, the brutal murder of a semi naked, beautiful young woman would be a television ratings winner.

But he had to admit that Israel Traveller had the boldness that made Traveller Missions so appealing. The academic community and the public would learn about the mission only when their replaceings were released. There would, of course, be a rumbling in the courts as Helguard and Woomera sounded their indignation, but they would no doubt be bought off.

After all, once the mission was made public, what could the corporations do? Cowen had enough sponsors from other major business interests to make the mission worthwhile.

He looked to Professor Cowen who waited in the command tent. The academic looked exhausted and haggard. That shouldn’t be a surprise. What he had experienced in the Mississippi mission was beyond his training and expectations. There had been some justified criticism of untrained academics left to roam the past while the military was to act as little more than contracted babysitters. Anderson, as one of the original Travellers, preferred the rationale to return to past mission styles, that it was easier to train Special Forces troops to be historical researchers than it was to have academics step into the unknown past. Naturally, there was contention on that point, but Professor Cowen had finally conceded the argument. The soldiers in Mississippi Traveller were professional and Leishman kept control, of course, but the academics had been dealt an overwhelming emotional blow that would probably take years for them to recover. No matter how the organisers of the Traveller missions tried, the 21st Century sensitivities of the troops and academics involved were constantly challenged by the peoples who lived only a millennium earlier. Mississippi Traveller was to have been the safest, best-armed, and most aggressive mission ever seen, yet the team had been forced to helplessly watch as a girl was murdered in a most hideous manner.

Anderson sighed. Yes, Travelling back in time was emotionally trying at best. He had discussed the question of control of the Israel mission with Cowen and the academic had finally conceded that it was wisest to have the military control these missions.

Let the professionals do what they did best.

Perhaps the academic was becoming weary at the adventurous journeys into the dim past. Professor Cowen didn’t seem to be showing any particular overwhelming excitement at being sent to the early 1st Century Judaea. As the one academic who had been sent back in time further than any other, Anderson thought there might have been more celebration.

***

Professor Cowen felt weary. Why wasn’t he more jubilant about this? When Professor Taylor had laid bare his replaceings from the library of the Emperor in Constantinople, he was forced to admit that his research would take some eclipsing. But now, he felt he could better empathise with his fellow academic Travellers, especially Professor Chow of the New Zealand mission. That poor, poor girl! She was but a pretty, young child who doubtlessly had her own hopes for the future. But at least their team had not been attacked. Imagine if it had been like Professor Chow. To be subjected to such violence and then witness the deaths of two of his New Zealand Traveller team. How did the man cope?

It was well-known that PTSD skulked like a hunting wolf after academics attached to Traveller missions. Professor Hughes made no secret that he was having a difficult time of it. He had eventually begged off for a few weeks of time-out so he could get his thoughts together. For some academics, even viewing the footage was enough. It was well known that some of the Turkish PhD students attached to Byzantium Traveller had quit because of the gruesome aggression they had witnessed. He knew that even the footage Professor Taylor had revealed at the Historical Research International board meeting had been heavily edited. Professor Cowen sighed. Until their meeting in Oxford, he had refused to witness the Varangian attack. He just wasn’t prepared for such horror.

Anderson approached and was accompanied by the Israeli commander for the project, Colonel Sergey Lieberman, so Professor Cowen looked up and forced a smile in greeting. He was fortunate to have two decent men on the team. Both were brave, having eagerly volunteered to journey through one, then two Transporters to be placed into the period that most scholars described as the Early Christian Era. So far they had not, of course, witnessed any evidence of Jesus Christ. It was just too early. After all, if he existed, he would only be a teenager. Legend dictated that he might be in Egypt or even, as some suggested, in Nepal receiving the teachings of the Buddha.

“Major Anderson, Colonel Lieberman,” nodded Cowen wearily. “Have we had any negative consequences after your contact with the Roman patrol?”

“Not yet,” confirmed Anderson. “They were a tough bunch, though.”

“Yes, I agree,” conceded the academic. “The Roman legionnaires have been described by one researcher as short, wiry men with uncouth habits. I don’t think you’ll have cowed them as easily as you might have hoped.”

“No, Perhaps not,” agreed Anderson with a grim smile. “But they would be wise to stay away, don’t you think?”

The academic gave a grunt of amusement. He was inclined to feel more relaxed with such capable soldiers by his side. He then sighed. “Incredible isn’t it? We travel back a thousand years to a shitty heap of nothing, build a hidden base and then travel back another thousand years and what do we see? Romans legionnaires! For the love of God! How can we beat that?” he chuckled. “Well, we then assemble another Transporter,” and he gestured to a sheltered corner of the command tent where the packing crates of Transporter sections had been carefully placed, ready for assembly.

Anderson and Colonel Lieberman looked at the crated technology that had accompanied Professor Cowen through the Area of Convergence. “Very cool,” nodded Colonel Lieberman. “It may take some time, but when we finally decide to do something, we really jump to it.”

Professor Cowen gave a small chuckle. Yes, he was definitely beginning to feel better. The delays and politics of this mission had driven any who were attached to it a little crazy. “It has been quite a ride,” he conceded. “What changed the rules was when DARPA scientists finally duplicated the ganglion that was at the heart of the Transporter. It was only a matter of time before we owned not only one, but a number of operational Transporters.” He looked across at the soldiers and then to the dry, sunlit landscape behind them. “As you both know, to travel one thousand years back in time in Israel is of no real consequence. What was in the area? Little more than a few dusty villages inhabited by Jews, Arabs, or other peoples long gone. But now, with another Transporter, shipped back in time to the First Century, we send Travellers back two-thousand years. It’s not a time where we can study anything about the life of Jesus Christ, but the history of the time is certainly a lot more fascinating.” He shook his head again, the full realisation finally striking home. “My God, Romans! Major Anderson, you have actually spoken to live Romans on patrol. I only saw the footage, but to hear real Romans speak, to see how they dressed and behaved … yes, that is truly incredible.”

“At the time, I failed to fully appreciate the wonder of the occasion,” admitted Anderson with a smile that was more like a grimace. “And now, with a third Transporter?” he asked as he gestured to the technology that awaited the engineers.

“Yes! To travel back to almost 1000BC. This is, as we know, the most vital part of our mission as it will be the time of biblical King David himself,” exclaimed the academic with his usual enthusiasm. “Our objective is, of course, to replace proof of King David or other Biblical figures. Or no proof.” He paused thoughtfully. What would that do to conversations on religious faith? All historians knew that to visit the golden age of the peoples of old Israel would have outstanding ramifications for Jewish and Christian communities alike.

But that was not all, for the team of American and Israeli researchers possessed four Transporters.

He sighed. An additional Transporter. They had suffered no ill effects from stepping through two Areas of Convergence. There had been no more consequences than there had been in stepping through one. Four Transporters would convey Travellers into the era around 2000BC, a time before any of the more famous major civilizations of ancient history. They would step into a world before Rome, a world before the Classical Greeks, a time when palaces were built by the mysterious Minoans who thrived on the Mediterranean’s ancient Crete, a time when the Pharaohs of the Egyptians were a major force in the region, a time before iron, in the Bronze Age. There, empires of Babylon, Illyria, Akkad, Assyria and the mysterious Sea Peoples awaited discovery.

To see these civilizations, to collect works of art, to hear them speak, to inspect the local flora and fauna and to experience the world that would be Israel at a time around the time of the Biblical Prophet Abraham himself, was almost beyond imagining.

Yes, confirmed Professor Cowen as he experienced the familiar rising tide of excitement, this would be a Traveller mission to end all missions.

Anderson intruded on his thoughts. “I might add,” continued the veteran Traveller, “a hearty congratulations on being the first academic to have Travelled back two thousand years.”

The academic nodded and then laughed as he shook the proffered hands.

They had much to discuss.

The next hours passed quickly as they planned the assembly of the third Transporter and the movement of personnel and ordinance that would become Camp 3. Not having been outside of the confines of their camp, Professor Cowen paused to look out past the guard towers that defined their site in Roman Judaea. The tents billowed slightly with a dry wind, though the proliferation of vegetation implied that this wilderness was not as dry as that in the 21st Century. “What’s it like Major Anderson?” he asked as he gestured out to the real world of the 1st Century. “Is it any different than what we know?”

Anderson sighed. The UAV teams chatted over coffee while technicians gathered for a briefing. The vision provided by the UAV’s had been stunning. Travelling on their own aerial missions that ranged further and further afield, they were about to map and photograph the dusty shacks and alleys of ancient Jerusalem, just over 100 kilometres away. That was expected to be significant for many reasons.

“Different? Well not the landscape,” offered Anderson. “We think there’s been some erosion in the wadi of course and the climate seems to offer more in terms of water and vegetation, but our patrols could be in modern Israel. That’s the opinion of the Israeli troops anyway.” He paused a moment in thought before he gave a small chuckle, “That is until you see Romans. That’s when the whole Traveller thing strikes home.”

The academic nodded and imagined what it would be like. He would never be like Major Anderson and, honestly, barely understood how the man functioned. His life was a mystery and he had become a legend among the other troops. There had been whispers that he had been involved in much more than the projects under the umbrella of Traveller. Professor Cowen knew he could never undertake the training regimen experienced by Professor Taylor. His colleague had changed. That much was apparent, but nothing Professor Cowen ever experienced, and no training, could have him as even a shadow of the troops that were now there to protect him and the rest of the academic team.

Transporter! It was always about the Transporter.

DARPA engineers had made improvements to make the device more robust, ensuring it would be more durable to withstanding shipping, Transportation, and even adverse weather conditions. He sighed and took a sip of his coffee. Other tents in the camp housed the twenty Special Forces soldiers who were responsible for their safety and patrols of the immediate area. Following the contact with the Roman patrol, it was suggested that the UAV teams prioritise a detailed inspection of nearby Beersheba and the Roman camp.

The swarm of drones, large to tiny, had been remarkably effective in gathering images or in exploring where human contact might be considered too dangerous.

Professor Cowen suddenly felt brighter and he smiled. “How do you feel about stepping through two more Transporters, if all goes to plan?” There it was. He would beat Professor Taylor at his own game. None could take that away from him. The Special Forces major grunted. Anderson was a hard man and had changed significantly over the years since he had first stepped into the past with Saxon Traveller. He had lost much of his levity and wicked sense of humour, it seemed.

The academic changed tack. “I know this is a minor objective, Major, but can I remind that your patrols also look for botanical samples, especially seeds. While your briefings might have assisted your team to recognise plants normally found in the area, we are still trying to identify the herb, Silphium.”

Anderson nodded, “Yeah, some of the Israelis have been keeping their eyes open for anything they might not have seen before. As a precaution, a couple in each patrol have been designated as botanical researchers.”

Professor Cowen nodded in appreciation. “I know, it’s a crazy request, but the Romans used the highly valued aromatic herb as a contraceptive. We have corporate sponsors who have specifically requested that we keep watch.” He shrugged in apology. “There are a number of scholarly papers on the plant. It was so popular with ancient civilisations it was rendered extinct.”

They sipped on coffee and watched amiably as the cooks prepared chow. The location of the camp suited the needs of the missions. Because of the number of Transporter jumps, it was wiser that the camps be more self-sustaining. Frequent Transporter activation meant that troops and materials were sent between the 11th Century base and theirs in 1st century Judaea. The military had become surprisingly efficient at establishing headquarters in the distant past.

The academic knew the military design and strict procedures made for a solid concept. He looked around him and felt truly safe. There was little that could go wrong.

So the alarm took everyone by surprise.