PARADOX - Chapter 60

Chapter 60

May 16, 2012 – Arianni Base – Near Eclipse Island - Australia



They were separated into two groups. One time ship would carry Chester, Oddball, The Geek, John Carney, Cencio, and three Brotherhood mercenaries along with an Arianni crew. The second time ship would carry Dorbec, Lars, Claude, Khan, Auguste Dubenchiek (the man in the Giorgio Armani suit} and two Brotherhood mercenaries. Ariana and two Arianni would pilot the first craft.

Their cover story for this mission was simple. They were a delegation from the Far Eastern part of a backwoods country called Galatia. Chester and Dorbec, spoke passable Latin, Ariana and Cencio spoke excellent Latin, but Ariana and Doctor Dubenchiek also spoke Aramaic, the language of the region. The time ship crews would remain on board and the Brotherhood mercenaries would be common hired soldiers of the era.

Chester met Ariana in a narrow hall as soon as they boarded. “What date are we traveling back to?” Dorbec told Chester of his conversation with Ariana so Chester was expecting her to be forthcoming.

Ariana smiled and stood against the wall to let one of her co-pilots pass. “That was a hard decision to make. They finally settled on a date proposed by Doctor Dubenchiek.”

“Doctor Dubenchiek? Mr.Suit?”

“He’s considered one of the foremost historians on Ancient Rome,” Ariana replied. “His hypothesis on the best time to travel to, took months of debate and research.”

“And the magic date?”

Ariana glanced around a bend to make certain her co-pilots were engaged in their pre launch procedures.

“The life of Jesus is historically vague. According to known records, Jesus, or Jesua, was born somewhere between 17 and 4 B.C., but our best bet is 6 B.C., given that he was born while Herod the Great still ruled, and given that he was at least two years old when Herod died. According to the Gospel of Luke, he began his ministry when he was about 30 years of age and we know from the Gospel of John that he was preaching when he was less than 50 years of age. We also know that he started his ministry after being baptized by John the Baptist. Following so far?”

“Got it,” Chester replied.

“Using these figures, we can see that he started his ministry sometime between 23 and 26 A.D. (If Jesus was born in 6 B.C. he would have been 30 years old in 24 A.D.). This time period corresponds to the time when John the Baptist was preaching. Jesus was preaching right up until his death, and we know his death occurred while Caiphas was the high priest in Jerusalem, while Pontius Pilate was the Governor, but after John the Baptist was beheaded. Pontius Pilate, or Pontius Pilatus, was the Equestrian Procurator of the Roman province of Judaea from AD 26–36, typically referenced as the fifth Procurator of Judaea”

Ariana halted to make certain Chester was following her. “All these dates are known. For example, John the Baptist was beheaded on the day that Herod Antipas celebrated his birthday, after his half brother, Philip, had died and after Herod had married his half brother’s wife, Herodias.”

“We know that Philip died in 34 A.D., in the twentieth year of the reign of Tiberius. We know further that the defeat of Herod Antipas’ army in 36 A.D. was attributed to God’s punishment for his killing John the Baptist. John the Baptist, then, died in 35 or 36 A.D., and most scholars mark the date as August 29, 35 A.D.”

“If Christ began his ministry between 23 and 26 A.D., and was still preaching in 35 or 36 A.D., it means that his ministry lasted at least 9 years, and possibly as many as 13 years at the time of John the Baptist’s death.”

“Most scholars believe Jesus died within a year of John’s death, and in fact that seems to be true. From Josephus and other sources we know that both Caiaphas and Pilate were deposed in 36 A.D., and since both were in power when Jesus was crucified, it makes sense to date the crucifixion in the spring of the year 36.”

“Putting together Jesus’ birth (6 B.C.) and his death (36 A.D.) leads us to the conclusion that Jesus was 42 years of age when he died. If he began preaching about 30 years of age, his ministry lasted more than a decade, not a single year or even three years.”

“According to the gospel of Luke, John the Baptist started his ministry in the "15th year of Tiberius". This is one of the few events in the New Testament for which any clear indication of the year of occurrence is given. Accordingly, the earliest year either John or Jesus could have begun his own ministry would be, if Luke is accurate, the year 29 AD.”

“We back track to when he allegedly started his ministries and we get the years 25 or 26 A.D. Doctor Dubenchiek selected the date of May in the year 27 A.D. That should put us in the area when Pilate was settled in at Caesarea and near the date when Jesus started spreading his gospel.”

“I flunked history,” Chester smiled. “Well, not flunked, but I sure didn’t get down and dirty into all the nitty gritty details. “So, we’re going to be in Jerusalem in the year 27 A.D. and all we have to do is find Jesus.”

“Ceasarea,” Ariana corrected. “We must get approval from Pilate to conduct business in Judea and at the same time see what he knows about Jesus. The Procurator made his headquarters at Ceasarea.”

“He wouldn’t know much about some desert prophet, especially since there were hundreds of them floating around in that era, would he?”

“The Romans were very meticulous about what went on in the lands they occupied. Any hint of sedition and anyone spreading ideas of rebellion, were listened too very closely. The fact that Jesus, and other prophets, spoke of The Kingdom of God, was sure to bring them to the attention of the Procurator.”

“Are they determined to assassinate Jesus?”

Ariana did not answer but simply shrugged her shoulders. “I must go to the control room.”

Chester walked on down the hall to the first room on the left, the one his Team had entered. Cencio and the Brotherhood mercs had chosen the second room. As he entered, Oddball glanced up and raised his eyebrow.

“Just trying to get information.” Chester looked at the attire the men were wearing. They resembled something that could have crawled out of a movie set. They had baggy wool pants covered by knee length skirts. It was supposedly cold in their home of Galatia, located in present-day northeastern Turkey, and long pants were common. Turbans of Egyptian cotton were wrapped around their heads and each had been told not to shave or bathe. The rest of their attire was period items each man had selected at random, leather belts, harnesses, goatskin bags, sandals, and nick knacks. Each had been thoroughly searched for weapons and modern items.

“Figured out anything yet?” Carney asked ten minutes later. He was referring to a plan to stop the assassinations.

Chester did not reply but glanced up at the ceiling and around the room to give Carney the hint that they may be under observation. Carney shook his head and looked back down at the deck of the ship.

A sudden feeling of nausea overcame them. Previously, they had felt nothing. It was as if the ship was still sitting on the tarmac. The interesting thing about these Arianni air ships was they could be traveling thousands of miles per hour, make incredible sharp turns, and stop on a dime, but the passengers felt nothing. Chester knew for certain that their transition had just taken place. They never explained how they managed to achieve time travel, and probably couldn’t explain it to him if he asked.

Chester was yawning to make his ears pop. He had a sudden feeling of built up air pressure, although he knew that was impossible. The door slid open and the ugly face of Cencio looked in. We’re here. Get your men and gear off loaded as soon as possible.”

Chester did not like taking orders from the man, but the thugs behind him carrying hidden weapons were another matter. He signaled for the Team to load up and move out.

They landed in the desert on a dark, cold night. As soon as they left the ship they could see a vast array of stars covering the night sky. The air was cool but fresh and blowing gently. The smell of fragrant blossoms also filled the air. It took no more than fifteen minutes to unload the items they had brought with them. As soon as everything was offloaded, the ship took to flight. It would remain in a stationary orbit until word was sent to recover the expedition.

Among the items brought were several donkeys, rolls of silk, a plethora of other trade items, and a strong box full of gold. The Brotherhood mercs had also brought shields, spears, helmets, leather armor, and swords resembling the Roman gladius. Their roll was to act as guards to the wealthy merchants. They were also the assassination team and had a modern sniper rifle disassembled and hidden in the trade goods.

For protection, since so few soldiers were capable of protecting the merchants, each of the Brotherhood men and mercs carried a concealed pistol. Any wayward bandit tribe trying to rob the small caravan would be very surprised and very dead with no witnesses left to tell the tale.

Chester strolled over to where Dorbec and his men were off loading their equipment from the second ship. “Looks as if we’re still in one piece,” he remarked. “How do they know we’re back in the year 27 A.D.?”

Dorbec pointed to the sky. “Their computers analyze the stars and their position in the galaxy tells it the number of days, hours, even minutes, that we have traveled back. They log in what they need to get back to 27 A.D. If they figure they need sixty one billion minutes to get them back to the day Caesar farted, they punch that in and the computers do the rest, then verifies the results.”

Chester took a deep breath. “Figured something like that.”

They watched as Ariana strolled down the ramp after talking with the second flight crew. She had changed into period attire, a long dress, shawl, sandals, and had a dark scarf wrapped around her head. None of it could effectively hide her beauty and grace.

“You’re not going?” Dorbec blurted.

Ariana did not answer but walked past them to where Doctor Dubechiek stood. She addressed him in a singsong language, none of which Dorbec or Chester understood.

“That was Aramaic,’ Dubenchiek stated for all to hear. “From now on, speak no English. If you don’t speak Latin or Aramaic, keep your mouth shut. We may be Galatians to the locals, but the universal languages of this era are Latin or Aramaic. Traders are expected to know one or the other.”

“Move out!’ Arash Khan pointed in the direction his scouts were to go.

Claude, Oddball and the Geek were assigned to lead the three pack donkeys. Oddball threw Dorbec a nasty look when his donkey refused to budge.

“You have to talk sweet to him,” Dorbec smiled.

“Kiss my ass,” Oddball grinned back.

Chester rolled his eyes. It was going to be an interesting journey.