London 2010
‘First of all,’ said India, ’You have to realise, that the time period we are talking about covers thousands of years, and, for much of that time, nothing is documented. All we can go on are the stories handed down through the ages, until they were written down around the times of Homer in Greek history.
‘So everything you tell me could be rubbish,’ said Brandon bluntly.
‘Well, not rubbish, exactly, as many different historians wrote similar accounts. It is just that sometimes the details contradict each other. For instance, though the Roman and Grecian pantheons were based on the same gods….’
‘Pantheon?’ interrupted Brandon.
‘Sorry,’ said India, ‘I forgot I was dealing with a heathen. A pantheon is the collective name for a group of gods, and, though they were based on the same ones, their names were different. Zeus was Jupiter, Poseidon was Neptune, and Aphrodite was Venus etc. Many of the legends were the same though details were different.’
‘Coincidence?’ asked Brandon.
‘Possibly,’ said India, ‘But some of the detail is so fantastic it has to share the same source.’
‘Such as?’
‘Okay, I’ll give you an example. In Greek history Athena was born from her father’s forehead, Zeus, while in Roman history, Jupiter, the Roman king of the gods, gave birth to Minerva in the same fashion.’
‘Who came first?’ asked Brandon, ‘Romans or Greeks.’
‘Greeks,’ said India.
‘So perhaps the Romans just copied the Greeks?’
‘That is possible,’ said India, ‘But it proves my point. The only written history we can rely on is from those two eras and there is often a grey area where they overlap. If you speak to a dozen different historians, you’ll get a dozen different points of view. What we have to do, is see through the maze of detail and identify the common references.’
‘And you are the person who can do this, I assume?’
‘It’s my passion,’ said India. ‘I have no interest in establishing the absolute accuracy of detail as I believe we will never know the exact truth. All I am interested in is establishing the provenance of the cult of the great mother. However, to do this I am forced to read every fact and fable, no matter how fantastic, and, by default, I have become a bit of an expert.’
‘Okay,’ said Brandon, ‘I’m convinced. You are hereby designated official historian. Now, what can you tell me about Samothrace?’
‘Like I’ve already explained,’ said India, ‘The cult of Isis was spreading westward throughout the Mediterranean, and, over the course of time, became absorbed into local history in many different guises. In Crete she became Athena, In Greece Artemis, and In Rome, Vesta. I could go on, but suffice to say, there are countless goddesses linked to the great mother, and, as the cult of Isis spread through the Aegean, it was inevitable that many of the thousands of islands were populated, and, due to their isolation, the memories remained relatively undiluted. It seems that over time, the last stronghold of her memory was the island of Samothrace.’
‘Is there any evidence?’ asked Brandon.
‘Well, if you accept that Athena and Isis actually refer to the same deity, then yes.
‘How.’
‘It is a bit complicated due to the countless versions available.’
‘Give me the streamlined one.’
‘Okay, but don’t forget, that no matter how fantastic it may sound, the historians of the time passionately believed in the accuracy of the stories. In most versions, Athena was the daughter of Zeus and lived with the Gods on Mount Olympus. She and her Sister, Pallas were play fighting one day when Zeus intervened to avoid injury.’
‘Health and Safety?’ sneered Brandon sarcastically. India ignored him
‘Anyway, it backfired. Pallus was distracted and Athena dealt her a fatal blow. She was devastated, and created an idol in her honour, a wooden statue, three cubits high.
‘Cubits?’ interrupted Brandon.
‘About four feet,’ sighed India. ‘The statue was of Pallus, and Athena set it up as a shrine in her honour. Obviously Zeus was devastated at losing a daughter and for Millennia, mourns the death of Pallus.’
‘Is this relevant?’ asked Brandon.
‘If you want the whole picture, you need to know the background,’ snapped India.
‘Okay, calm down.’ said Brandon.
India glared at him,
‘Legend has it that Zeus seduces Electra, one of seven Sisters known as the Pleiades and she falls pregnant, but when she pays tribute at the shrine of Pallas, Zeus is enraged that the statue has been soiled by the hands of an un-pure woman.’
‘Un-pure,’ said Brandon, ‘How?’
‘She was pregnant,’ said India, ‘Virginity was highly prized by the ancients.’
‘Seems to be a recurring theme,’ said Brandon.
‘Zeus cast the idol from Olympus,’ continued India, ‘And Electra returned to her birthplace on Samothrace, to build a new Temple, placing the statue of Pallas at its heart. Eventually Elektra gives birth to a son, Dardanus, and a few years later has another son, Iasion, again fathered by Zeus. The stories say that Zeus favours Iasion and teaches him the great mysteries of the pantheon, and Iasion starts a cult dedicated to the gods. People travel from all over the known world to this little known island to join the cult. The initiation rights became known as the Samothrace mysteries.
‘Is that where Phillip comes in?’ asked Brandon.
‘Oh no, he came thousands of years later,’ said India. ‘Anyway, when Iasion falls under the hooves of his horses during a chariot race and is killed, his brother, Dardanus is overcome with grief and leaves Samothrace, taking the statue of Pallus with him. He forms a new kingdom called Dardania, at the foot of Mount Ida in modern day turkey.’
‘Hence the name Dardanelles, I suppose,’ said Brandon.
‘You’re learning fast,’ said India. ‘His city thrived for three generations, until eventually, on his death bed, he summons his grandson, Illius. He told him to form a new city on the lower plains of Dardania and to place at its heart the statue of Pallus. He said that Zeus had visited him in a dream and had told him that the city would become the greatest ever seen, and, as long as the statue stayed at its heart, it would never fall to any enemy.’
‘And did he?’
‘He did, and the vision from Zeus was correct. It became one of the most famous cities of all time.’
‘What was it called?’
‘He named it after himself, and called it Illium.’
‘Never heard of it,’ said Brandon.
‘Perhaps you know it by the name of his father,’ said India, ‘His name was Tros.’
‘Troy,’ said Brandon immediately, ‘The city was called Troy.’
A call came over the tannoy, calling them to the plane.
‘We’ll continue this on board,’ said Brandon and they made their way to the gate. The conversation didn’t resume as they found themselves sharing a row of seats with a particularly friendly old lady, who insisted on talking to India for most of the flight. Finally they arrived in Rome and after they had cleared customs, they went out to find a taxi.
‘There they are,’ said India, and started to make her way over to the rank of white cabs.
‘Wait,’ said Brandon, ‘It’s all sorted.’ He walked towards the bus stop, and a battered old fiat pulled up before him.
‘Come on,’ he said, ‘This is our ride.’
She paused before getting in the back of the car and looked at the typical dark haired Italian behind the wheel.
‘Did you get my message?’ asked Brandon from the passenger seat as soon as they pulled off.
‘I did,’ said the driver, in a welsh accent, causing India to stare at him in amazement, ‘The package is in the glove compartment.’
Brandon retrieved a padded envelope, and took out a pistol and a thick bundle of fifty euro notes.
‘Any news on transport,’ asked Brandon.
‘Early morning flight to Athens,’ he said, ‘There’ll be a boat waiting for you the other end. Got you a safe house for tonight. The address is on the envelope.’
‘Great,’ said Brandon, putting the gun into his jacket pocket. ‘How’s business?’
‘Good,’ said the driver, ‘I’ll be sorry to leave.’
‘Always said you had all the easy jobs,’ said Brandon.
‘The summit ends in a couple of days,’ said the driver, ‘I’ve been told my next posting is out in the sticks.’
‘Good,’ said Brandon, ‘About bloody time you earned your rations’. He peered out of the window. ‘Could you drop us off here Jonesy?’ he asked suddenly.
‘Why here?’
‘The lady needs some bikinis.’ he said and the driver smiled at India in the rear view mirror. India threw him a sarcastic smile as he pulled over to the pavement.
‘I’ll take your bags to the house,’ said Jonesy, ‘Make sure you’re at the port by ten tomorrow morning. There’ll be a boat waiting.’
‘Will do,’ said Brandon, ‘See you soon.’
‘Take it easy,’ said the driver and drove off leaving them outside a shopping precinct.
Brandon peeled off twenty notes from the bundle and gave them to India.
‘I’ll be in that cafe,’ he said, ‘You go and get yourself some clothes.’
‘Do you need anything?’ she asked.
‘You could get me some shreddies,’ he said.
‘Shreddies?’ she asked with a sigh of impatience.
‘You know, underwear.’
‘Right. What about clothes?’
‘Already sorted,’ said Brandon, ‘The mob will have had some sent over already.’
‘The mob?’
‘India,’ said Brandon, ‘Stop asking questions and go and spend some money. I’ll have a dozen pairs of Calvins, the rest is yours, now, go and have fun. I’ll see you back here in two hours.’
‘Okay, keep your hair on,’ she said, ‘I was only asking. You secret squirrels can be so touchy.’ She turned around and stomped into the nearest shop doorway.
Brandon waited for a moment and watched in amusement as she pulled fruitlessly on the locked door handle. She took a deep breath and turned around to walk past him without making eye contact.
‘Don’t say a word,’ she snarled as she passed.
The following morning they returned to the airport and boarded a small plane to Athens. A few hours later they were stood on the quayside of the docks. India was reading a timetable on a chalkboard, written in Italian, Greek and English.
‘Next ferry is at one,’ she said. ‘Seems like we’ve got a bit of a wait.’
‘No we haven’t,’ said Brandon, ‘There’s our boat.’
She looked across and groaned as a battered fishing boat chugged alongside the harbour wall.
‘Don’t you guys ever travel in style?’ she asked.
‘Told you,’ he said, ‘Grey man.’
‘Yeah, yeah,’ she sighed, ‘Whatever!’ She lifted her holdall and walked down to the jetty, closely followed by Brandon with his rucksack.
‘It stinks,’ said India as she stepped off the boarding plank. ‘Why can’t we take one of those?’ She pointed at one of the several cruise liners moored in the dock, preparing to disgorge their tourists into the city.
‘This will do fine,’ he answered and passed the bags to the boat’s captain. As soon as they were in, the boat chugged out of the harbour and into the blue waters of the Aegean Sea. India and Brandon sat at the rear of the boat in the shade of a makeshift tarpaulin shelter.
The Captain came back towards them with a couple of cans of coke.
‘Make yourself comfortable,’ he said in broken English, ‘The journey will take about three hours. Stay out of the sun.’ He turned and returned to the cabin.
They made small talk for an hour or so until the subject returned to Samothrace.
‘So, what do you expect to find on this island?’ asked India.
‘Don’t know,’ said Brandon, ‘But all the clues we have, point there. Sometimes the best way to get relevant information is to visit the scene itself. You saw that for yourself in Victoria.’
‘I suppose so,’ she said.
‘So, tell me about Troy,’ said Brandon, ‘If it was invincible, why doesn’t it exist today?’
‘Well,’ said India, warming to her favourite subject, ‘It was built about two and a half thousand BC and lasted until Greece sacked the city about twelve hundred BC.’
‘This, I know about,’ said Brandon. ‘The Greeks built a giant wooden horse and left it outside the gates of Troy. But inside, it contained armed Greek warriors, correct?’
‘That’s right,’ she said, ‘They waited until the city was asleep, and, after dropping from the wooden horse, opened the gates of the city from the inside, letting the Greek army in. What few people realise, is that several days earlier, Diomedes, a Greek warrior, crept into the city and stole the palladium. Don’t forget, the legend was, that as long as the Palladium was in the city, then it could not fall. With the theft of the Palladium, the city was vulnerable.’
‘Just because of a wooden statue?’
‘They believed in these things,’ said India. ‘Anyway, whatever the reason, the city fell a few days later and almost everyone was slaughtered. Some escaped but to all intents and purposes the city was wiped out. After a ten year siege, it was a great victory for the Greeks.’
‘Ten years? It wasn’t that long in the film!’
‘Don’t take the piss Brandon,’ she said, ‘These were real people and real events. Not a vehicle for Brad Pitt’s career, gorgeous as he is.’
‘Sorry,’ he said, ‘Anyway, that’s all very interesting. What about Samothrace?’
‘The records are a bit hazy there,’ she said, ‘It seems the cult of the great mother on Samothrace continued to grow from strength to strength. Over the centuries it became a great place of worship and many famous people visited there to become initiated, and that’s where Phillip the Second of Macedonia met his bride to be in 356BC.’
‘Hence the link,’ said Brandon.
‘Hence the link,’ confirmed India. ‘Not much, I know, but a historical fact linking Samothrace with our murderer.’
‘Well,’ said Brandon, ‘We’ll be there soon enough, I’m going to get some kip.’ He lay down on the deck and tilted his sun hat over his eyes. Let me know when we arrive.’
‘Yes, sir,’ murmured India sarcastically and dipped into her bag to pull out the tourist guide to Samothrace she had picked up in Athens. Two and a half hours later she shook Brandon’s shoulders.
‘Brandon, wake up,’ she said, ‘You have got to see this.’
Brandon got up and sat on the bench alongside India, gazing at the amazing sight of the island rising majestically out of the blue Aegean sea. The volcanic shape dominated the horizon and even from this distance they could see it was lush with green vegetation. Halfway up, it carved through a white halo of mist, formed by its own microclimate and the whole place screamed mystery across the water.
‘Truly a place of the god’s,’ whispered India in awe.
‘More like Jurassic fucking park,’ answered Brandon and ducked to avoid the half hearted slap from his colleague.