Felix Taylor once stopped a devastating plague, but now he must save his world from humankind itself.
It’s been a year since Felix Taylor travelled back to ancient Rome and saved his world from a lethal plague. Again his knowledge of Latin seems useless now that life in the 23rd century has returned to normal. But is it really?
A stranger has discovered the time machine and used it to project back into the past. It becomes clear his purpose is to reverse Felix’s success, to bring back the plague and doom future generations to death. To make matters worse, this stranger is very close to Felix.
With help from his friend Carolyn, Felix must return to the world of Julius Caesar, as well as a later era divided by religion, to stop the re-emergence of the plague. If he fails to do so, his world will turn to dust like ancient Rome.
Felix Taylor once stopped a devastating plague, but now he must save his world from humankind itself.
It’s been a year since Felix Taylor travelled back to ancient Rome and saved his world from a lethal plague. Again his knowledge of Latin seems useless now that life in the 23rd century has returned to normal. But is it really?
A stranger has discovered the time machine and used it to project back into the past. It becomes clear his purpose is to reverse Felix’s success, to bring back the plague and doom future generations to death. To make matters worse, this stranger is very close to Felix.
With help from his friend Carolyn, Felix must return to the world of Julius Caesar, as well as a later era divided by religion, to stop the re-emergence of the plague. If he fails to do so, his world will turn to dust like ancient Rome.
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Overview
Felix Taylor once stopped a devastating plague, but now he must save his world from humankind itself.
It’s been a year since Felix Taylor travelled back to ancient Rome and saved his world from a lethal plague. Again his knowledge of Latin seems useless now that life in the 23rd century has returned to normal. But is it really?
A stranger has discovered the time machine and used it to project back into the past. It becomes clear his purpose is to reverse Felix’s success, to bring back the plague and doom future generations to death. To make matters worse, this stranger is very close to Felix.
With help from his friend Carolyn, Felix must return to the world of Julius Caesar, as well as a later era divided by religion, to stop the re-emergence of the plague. If he fails to do so, his world will turn to dust like ancient Rome.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781459705630 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Dundurn Press |
| Publication date: | 08/03/2013 |
| Series: | A Felix Taylor Adventure , #2 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 252 |
| File size: | 690 KB |
| Age Range: | 12 - 15 Years |
About the Author
Nicholas Maes is a high school history teacher and teaches classics at the University of Waterloo. His previous novels for young people are Crescent Star, Locksmith, and Transmigration. Maes' first Felix Taylor Adventure was Laughing Wolf, which was nominated for the Snow Willow Award. He lives in Toronto.
Table of Contents
FORTUNA OUTLINE
CHAPTER 1
It is one year to the day that the plague struck home. Felix is riding on a transport (en route to meet Carolyn) and is reading about the period, to mark this anniversary – perhaps a text about Julius Caesar. He is also thinking how little has changed: the world is back to normal and people have forgotten their brush with death. He talks to Stephen Gowan who mocks him for his interest in antiquity.
CHAPTER 2
Felix and Carolyn are playing a game of ‘halo’ ball. He almost manages to beat her – she hasn’t been feeling well and can’t deploy her usual skills. We learn that she did study some Latin with Felix, but ended these lessons because she couldn’t see the point. There is tension between them because she feels it’s best to forget their visit to the past. The future is what matters.
CHAPTER 3
Felix has a lesson with his father, in their patio garden. In response to Felix’s comment that perhaps it’s best to focus on the future, Mr. Castorman speaks bitterly of modern times. Yes, there is no poverty, no famine, no disease, no war, but likewise there is no virtue, no emotion, no feeling. He suggests that the Romans were better off them themselves, that they were fuller human beings etc. Felix considers that his father isn’t the same since his illness, but has become more somber and pessimistic.
There is a discussion with his mother about her impending assignment.
CHAPTER 4
The following day. Felix and Mentor chat. The computer tests him on advanced aspects of Clavius’ time travel theory – Felix is interested in this subject. He’s also interested in Clavius himself – part of his biography is mentioned. They discuss the notion of a butterfly effect: if someone were injured or killed in the past, the effects of his death would be immediate on future populations. On the other hand, it would be possible to ‘freeze’ the past by removing this person from his time frame and keeping him alive. Felix asks Mentor of his opinion of the past. Mentor speaks of the memory on his hard-drive but otherwise (like everyone else) directs his attention to future circumstances. *** Felix and his parents are flying in a CosmoComm pod to an orbiting transport. Mrs. Castorman is embarking on another off-world project. She will be gone six months. Everyone is feeling down. As Felix and his father return to earth, again Mr. Castorman speaks of the ugliness of modern times.
CHAPTER 5
Early morning the next day. Felix is awakened by a flashing light. Enforcement Drones have burst into the house. Mentor has been neutralized and Mr. Castorman is lying in a heap on the floor – he has been struck with a BISDM. Two EDs lift him into a stretcher. When Felix protests, he too is hit with a BISDM. *** Felix awakens in the space facility with the TPM. General Manes is standing over him. The general is furious: he accuses Felix of breaking his oath. As Felix protests, General Manes reveals that someone has been dispatched into the past. The TPM has been programmed with three separate dates and locations (the first is the day and place when/where Felix and Carolyn ran from the gladiatorial munus described in Laughing Wolf; the second is December 10, 2130, Stockholm, and the third… is encrypted (it will turn out to be October 15, 48 BCE, Alexandria). Clearly the mysterious time traveler intends to visit these three dates in close succession.
Various pieces of evidence suggest two solid facts: this stranger intends to do serious harm, and Felix’s father is behind this lethal plot (evidence is listed: a note written in pencil; the CosmoComm pod whose log shows it was used to travel to the space station; and Dr. Chen (who was knocked out) identifies Mr. Castorman as the culprit). While Felix might be uninvolved, the only way his dad could have sent someone back was if Felix had disclosed the TPM’s existence. Hence his arrest. Felix is locked in a cell. He is not allowed to talk to his father.
CHAPTER 6
Carolyn visits Felix. She asks how he could break his oath. He swears he didn’t. They discuss his father’s guilt. While Felix denies his dad is involved in this plot, he maintains that, even if the accusations are true, his dad might have deduced the TPM’s existence from certain facts (which he proceeds to list – one of these is the 2000 year-old dirt that Mentor detected back in Laughing Wolf).
But that doesn’t matter, Felix insists. They have to stop this mysterious person who has jumped into the past. Felix suspects that he can’t be up to any good - because of the first date programmed into the TPM and the contents of his father’s note. In fact, he thinks this person is going to assassinate Aceticus. If the historian dies, he can’t write his history, and Felix won’t be able to rescue the world from the plague. He persuades Carolyn to help him out (behind the General’s back). *** Carolyn returns with the professor in tow. She injects Felix with antibiotics etc. The professor has in the meantime arranged Roman dress and other accoutrements. Both Felix and Carolyn ingest a chemical that will enter their blood and act as a ‘key’ to any TPM portal. As was true of their previous journey, she has created a portal in every known temple in the Greco-Roman world. To his surprise and gratitude, she’s tagging along.
CHAPTER 7
They return to Mercury’s Temple, just by the Circus Maximus. They have arrived minutes after their escape (described in Laughing Wolf) and their pursuers have returned empty-handed to the gladiatorial match. Felix and Carolyn mingle in the crowd, watching Aceticus from a distance. Carolyn sees a hooded figure approach him and closes in to save him. Her actions drive the stranger off, but Pompey arrests her and Felix, even though Felix is unwounded and both of them look older. They come up with a tale to explain their presence (Carolyn can speak a broken Latin now), and Pompey decides to take them along (together with Aceticus).
CHAPTER 8
Rome continued. At one point they go over to Julius Caesar’s house to dine (Rome is dangerous at night and they require an armed escort – Carolyn is sure they are being watched). Caesar is young and is Pompey’s subordinate. Both men are on very friendly terms, and both have seen recent military service in Spain. Over a meal a discussion ensues in which Pompey and Caesar (and Crassus who is also a guest) discuss politics. Although these three men won’t broker their Triumvirate for another eleven years, Felix is interested to see that the foundations are being laid. Perhaps he is asked about the governmental system that he lives under (back in Britain). He describes a democracy – one in which everyone can vote – and is practically laughed at.
At one stage Caesar will ask if Felix can tell them anything about Britain or Gaul – this is a means of establishing their identity. Felix will mischievously cite the opening lines from Caesar’s Gallic Wars. (When he tells Carolyn that Caesar and Pompey will have a terrible falling out, she asks if that will happen to them. He squeezes her hand in reassurance.)
CHAPTER 9
The next day. They visit the baths. The assassin strikes again. Carolyn intervenes. It turns out this figure is the exact double of Carolyn. She has been cloned over the intervening weeks, without even knowing it (hence her weakness in recent days). Some of her memories have been taken as well – hence this assassin’s ability to speak some Latin and to recognize Rome and Aceticus. She and Felix wonder who could have cloned her without her knowledge (this technology is illegal in 2213) – clearly Mr. Castorman (if he is responsible) must have assistance. Carolyn’s fight with her clone is neck and neck. It is only with Felix’s help that she’s able to beat the attacker off (it escapes).
Unfortunately Aceticus has been gravely wounded gravely. He will unquestionably die and, if this is the case, his death will affect Felix’s ability to track the Lupus Ridens down. Therefore he must be kept alive and this means getting him modern medical treatment. Based on his understanding of Clavius’ theories, Felix believes they can transport him to 2213, so long as he doesn’t die and they manage to keep the time tunnel open (by leaving a trail of their own blood behind). If he doesn’t survive the operation back home, the consequences will prove devastating. They feed him some of their blood (with the time tracer in it) and return to their present, after determining that he doesn’t weigh more than 70 kilograms (the absolute weight of time travel).
CHAPTER 10
Aceticus is operated on. The molecular stability of everything around them is jeopardized when his life hangs in the balance. The population is despairing. Carolyn and her father have a sharp exchange but she persuades him Felix is on their side. Aceticus survives. He is taken on a tour of the modern world. His memories are then altered. Before this, he laments the death of ancient Rome and the fact that his own world has been utterly forgotten – with the exception of people like Felix. He is dispatched back (the blood they left behind serves as a marker).
CHAPTER 11
At the same time Dr. Chen reports that the assassin’s time trail has vanished – a sign that she has moved from Aceticus’ time to her second destination, December 10, 2130, Stockholm. They investigate and discover that on this date Johann Clavius received a Nobel Prize for his early work in physics. One week later he moved off planet, never to return again (this repeats information we learned back in CHAPTER 4). Felix deduces the assassin is after him: if she can neutralize him – before he has published his theories on time travel, which he did only later on in his life – then she will prevent time travel from being achieved and again thwart Felix’s future efforts to stop the plague. Clearly Felix and Carolyn have to return to this period – the professor will prepare appropriate garb for them.
Carolyn says that at least they’ll be travelling in modern times. Felix tells her she clearly hasn’t studied her history.
CHAPTER 12
Adventures in Stockholm. The city has been blasted to pieces, as have most world capitals at this stage. 2130 was when the religious wars were at their very worst. Felix and Carolyn have to work their way past a security team into the Stockholm Concert Hall (like all public buildings, it is in a damaged state). Present are several scientists whom Carolyn recognizes, including one responsible for the groundwork that will lead to ERR. Future President Sajit Gupta is present too – his father is receiving a prize that day as well. They approach Clavius (who is very young). When reassured that Carolyn and Felix are with the ‘good guys’, he says there’s no such thing.
CHAPTER 13
Adventures in Sweden, 2130 continued. Eventually the assassin will strike. Despite Felix and Carolyn’s efforts to stop her, she will prove successful: Clavius will receive a mortal wound – the clone will prevent them from taking him back to 2213 this time (as was the case with Aceticus). Even as the trio stand over him, Clavius will reveal (with his dying breath) that he has already written his work on time travel. He didn’t trust people to use his idea wisely and therefore locked his paper in a trust account that was only to be opened in 2165. He knew straightway who they were. “Will the future be any better than this pig sty?” he will ask, before breathing his last. Because nothing has changed with his death, the assassin will flee to her third destination (with Carolyn and Felix in hot pursuit). She will evade them.
Carolyn and Felix still need to track the assassin’s third date and destination down – unlike the first two, it is encrypted. Carolyn realizes (as she glances down at a blood trail that her clone has left behind) that they can do so by reading the tracer in her blood and that should tell them what they want to know.
CHAPTER 14
Back in the future. After subjecting the blood to analysis, they determine the assassin’s last date and location is Alexandria, October 15, 48 BCE. Felix realizes this is just before the library of Alexandria perishes through a fire (set by Julius Caesar). He then figures out/remembers that there was only one manuscript for Aceticus’ Historiae, and this wound up in the Library. It also happened to survive the fire (together with other manuscripts) and eventually wound up in a European monastery where it was copied and (later) printed – hence Felix’s edition. The assassin is trying to destroy this manuscript so that Felix won’t read it (in 2213) and so stop the plague.
Before departing for Alexandria, Felix is allowed to speak to his father. Mr. Castorman is reading. Felix asks him why he did it. Before answering, his father asks to borrow a pencil (the guard has confiscated these old-fashioned relics when Mr. Castorman was arrested). Felix obliges, impatiently. With this in hand, Mr. Castorman writes something in his book, then tells his son that it’s clear from his question he is firmly convinced his father is guilty. “In that case,” he concludes, “There is only one option. Do you remember what Brutus and Cassius had in common…?” Here, Mr. Castorman stabs himself in the neck with his pencil.
Felix fetches help but it is too late. He looks at what his father has written. “I am innocent, fili mi. And this is the only way I can prove as much – by falling on my sword, only in my case it’s a pencil.”
CHAPTER 15
Adventures in Alexandria. They encounter Julius Caesar who is much older than when they saw him last. He has defeated his former mentor Pompey at the battle of Pharsalus and followed him to Alexandria where Pompey sought refuge (only to be dispatched on the orders of Ptolemy XIII). Now Ptolemy is besieging Caesar who is attended by Brutus, his future assassin. Felix explains he has to get into the library (although he and Carolyn are suspected at first). There is also a conversation in which Caesar discusses friendship – it is the only constant in an otherwise turbulent world. The breakdown of his friendship with Pompey, and the death of his former friend, have broken his heart.
CHAPTER 16
More adventures in Alexandria. They are caught between the Roman and Egyptian troops. Felix and Carolyn make their way into the Library. Carolyn has to restrain him from reading any of the manuscripts (to prevent possible butterfly effects). Eventually they track Aceticus’ Historiae down. That’s when the assassin appears.
CHAPTER 17
The battle against the assassin. At one point, Carolyn and the clone address each other. “You can’t alter the past. It’s set in stone,” Carolyn argues. “What about our mother?” the clone asks. She then suggests that the mother could be revisited and saved – she died in an accident. When Carolyn says the clone knows nothing about her mother, the assassin sings a nursery rhyme that the mother used to sing to her child. Carolyn is distracted, and the clone attacks. The pair struggle, but Carolyn prevails and kills her clone. She is traumatized.
All hell is breaking loose, meanwhile. Caesar is under attack and must launch his ships to distract Achillas (Ptolemy’s general). He will deliver a speech to his troops. The library catches fire. Felix manages to escort Carolyn to a nearby temple and so return to his present. *** Before returning to the exact present, Felix times his arrival for an earlier point – this allows him to prevent any pencil from being given to his father.
CHAPTER 18
Back in the present, Felix visits his father and tells him that he knows he’s not guilty and can prove as much. He then confronts the professor – in the presence of General Manes and others. He mentions various facts (that he has picked up over the course of his travels and pieced together in such a way that they incriminate the professor. From the beginning Dr. Chen was involved as well – he injected himself with a chemical and made it seem as if Mr. Castorman had been responsible. He lost a child years earlier and the professor promised to reverse this loss. He also told Chen that he was researching the past and nothing more.) The professor pulls an old-fashioned gun out. He gives a speech, to the effect that humans are no longer human and therefore no longer deserve to survive. And he himself will bring an end to the race. He approaches the TPM. Felix asks how much he weighs. The professor ignores him, climbs into the TPM (he sets the console for a 71 BCE, with a view to attacking Aceticus again) and activates the device (he throws his gun out at the very last instant). Because he is just over 70 kilograms, he fails to make his destination. Instead, he is projected into time itself.
CHAPTER 19
Epilogue. Perhaps some relic from Caesar has been preserved – something consistent with the theme of friendship.