Time Travelers Never Die - Jack McDevitt [130]
Thank God Shel had shown no interest in the Little Bighorn.
HE found him on the road to Thermopylae. It was rough country, all cliffs and valleys, with scattered trees and occasional grass and lots of bare ground.
Shel looked good. Much better than Dave had expected. He was tanned. Fit. Almost a man on vacation.
“Shel,” Dave said. “How you doing?”
“Dave.” His voice was gentle, sober. East of them, armed soldiers were surveying the landscape. “Is that really you? What are you doing here?”
“Looking for you.”
“Why?”
“I wanted to make sure you were all right. When are you going to come home?”
He shook his head. Looked toward the soldiers. “They’re the Thespians,” he said. “They’ll die alongside the Spartans.”
“Shel—”
“Dave, I’m okay. But I’m not going back.”
“All right.”
“There’s nothing for you to worry about. I’m not going to do anything crazy.” The appearance of an overall well-being faded. A haunted look came into his eyes.
“Helen would want me to say hello.”
“Yeah,” he said. “I guess she would. How is she?”
“She’s all right.”
“She find anybody yet?”
Dave looked at him a long moment. “It’s only been a couple weeks. I think she’ll need more time.”
“You haven’t told her?”
“No. I brought her to the house the day you were there. When I thought you were there.”
“Oh.”
“I was going to let you explain it.”
“Dave, let it go, okay? Just let it go.”
“Shel, it’s not going to happen. You aren’t going to wind up in that grave. You know that as well as I do.”
“I don’t know it.” He took a deep breath. “Look, let’s just not talk about it, okay? I know you want to help, but the best thing you can do is leave me alone.”
“Shel, she misses you. If you can’t bring yourself to go back after her, you don’t deserve her.”
That brought a long silence. The wind blew. Soldiers, walking past, not really marching, but simply strolling, looked their way curiously.
“I’m trying to live my life,” Shel said. “Do you know how long it’s been for me since I watched the funeral? My funeral? Two years. Two years I’ve had to deal with this. Two years of wondering how it’s going to happen. I don’t even know for sure whether I can go back. There might really be some sort of cardiac principle. If I show up back in Philly, your Philly, I can’t be sure I won’t get hit by a lightning bolt. And I know how crazy it all sounds. But . . .” He couldn’t go on.
Cheering broke out from the Thespians. New squadrons had appeared and were filing into the pass, their armor dusty. The Thespians got louder, yelling and clashing swords against shields. The newcomers responded in kind.
“It’s the Spartans, I think,” said Shel.
“Okay.” Dave didn’t much care. “I just wanted to be sure you were all right.”
“I’m fine.”
“They don’t look like guys you’d want to pick a fight with,” said Dave.
“I wouldn’t think so.”
“All right.” He threw up his hands. “I don’t particularly want to hang around here for the bloodletting.” He turned away as if he were going to travel out.
“Don’t,” Shel said. “Dave, try to understand. I’m scared of this.” His eyes were bleak.
“I know.”
“Eventually, somehow, I’m going to wind up in that house. In that grave.”
DAVE towered over the Spartans. Even Shel was bigger than most. They shook hands with a few. Wished them well.
“By the way,” Dave asked him, “how did you land in the dungeon?”
Shel frowned, not seeming to understand. “What dungeon?”
Dave needed a moment. Then he realized that Shel was younger here than he had been in Rome. For him, the Vatican incident had not yet happened. “Never mind,” he said. “You’ll find out soon enough.”
“Well. I’m pleased to know that when it happens, whatever it is, you’ll be there to rescue me.” His expression changed as a thought struck him. “You did rescue me, right?”
PEOPLE accustomed to modern security precautions would be amazed at how easy it was to approach Leonidas. He accepted the good wishes of his visitors and observed that, considering how big they were, especially Dave, they would both have made excellent soldiers. “Although”—he smiled at Dave—“I’m afraid you’d