Cleopatra

In the far future, Jirō Tani, Hal Witcher, and Maria Fellow uncover the Pasateli's plan to conquer Earth by seducing and destroying Earth's leaders. They decide to use a time machine to infiltrate Cleopatra's court and learn the nature of the threat. Their goal is to intervene before the plan can unfold in history and endanger the present.

The trio's minds are projected into members of Cleopatra's entourage: Maria becomes Libya, Hal inhabits the priestess' pet leopard Rupa, and Jirō occupies Ionius, a Greek enslaved by Romans. They quickly realize they are in a perilous era of conquest and court intrigue. Their new bodies let them observe events from inside Cleopatra's circle while plotting how to stop the Cleopatra Plan.

As Romans uncover the Egyptian rebellion, they attack Cleopatra's faction. Cleopatra flees with her handmaidens Libya and Apollodoria, seeking sanctuary with an ancient priestess. The priestess then magically grants Cleopatra an irresistibly seductive body to aid her mission.

The time travelers reveal themselves and join Cleopatra's efforts, with Maria as Libya, Hal as Rupa the leopard, and Jirō as Ionius. They accompany Cleopatra to meet Julius Caesar and observe how power and charm influence political fate. The trio aims to gather intelligence that could foil the Cleopatra Plan.

Cleopatra's beauty captivates Caesar, who proclaims her queen of Egypt and seals Roman influence over the Nile kingdom. Cleopatra's position strengthens, but it also tightens the web of Roman politics around her. The trio watches the power dynamic from within their borrowed bodies, seeking opportunities to derail the plan.

Caesar recaptures Ionius and presses him into gladiatorial combat to win public favor. He even provides Ionius with a modern handgun to ensure victory on the arena floor. Ionius's popularity alarms Caesar's senators, who begin to plot against both him and Cleopatra's new ally.

Libya and Apollodoria urge Cleopatra to murder Caesar, but she delays the act in favor of postponing violence and pursuing romance. The tension between political necessity and desire strains Cleopatra's leadership and the mission. The trio witnesses how personal loyalties complicate the Cleopatra Plan.

Caesar is assassinated by his own senators, ending his reign and dramatically shifting the balance of power in Rome. Cleopatra's hopes to influence the political landscape become more urgent, while Octavian rises to power in Caesar's wake. The travelers gather intelligence on how to maximize their impact without provoking further instability.

Octavian takes command, and Cleopatra discovers she cannot charm him due to his sexual orientation. Meanwhile Marcus Antonius (Anthony) falls in love with Cleopatra, deepening the romantic and political entanglements around the throne. Ionius becomes a focal point for public sympathy, complicating the rulers' plans.

In the Battle of Actium, Octavian's forces defeat Antony's Egyptian fleet, and Antony dies by his own hand. Cleopatra is captured by the Romans, ending her attempt to control the legacy of Caesar's reign. The time travelers observe the collapse of the Cleopatra Plan as the timeline pivots toward imperial Rome.

Octavian confronts Cleopatra, who remains distraught after Antony's death. She surrenders but chooses to die rather than be paraded as a trophy of war, using an asp's venom. The tragedy marks the end of Cleopatra's era and reshapes the future in unexpected ways.

The travelers return to the future and reveal that the Cleopatra Plan was a Pasateli scheme to assume the forms of beautiful human women in order to seduce Earth's male leaders and destroy them. The Pasateli have already begun to take human forms and are poised to strike when this information arrives. Earth mobilizes to root them out and prevent invasion in time.

With the revelation, the Pasateli begin their attempt to blend into human society, taking human disguises to reach Earth's most powerful male leaders. Earth agencies scramble to identify the alien infiltrators before they can strike. The race to root out the threat becomes a global priority.

Nations coordinate to purge the remaining Pasateli from human society and prevent their scheme from succeeding. The time travelers witness Earth overcoming the hidden threat and preserving history as known. The mission concludes with a warning about the fragility of the timeline and the ethics of time intervention.