by Tom Clancy
A little surprised, Leif got up, went to his room, and set up his computer-link couch. He lay back, closed his eyes, gave the command… and found himself in Latvinia. He was glad that the program usually integrated arriving role-players in neutral settings-walking down a palace hallway, for instance. It was a lot easier than opening his eyes to find himself on a horse-or fighting a duel.
This time Leif found himself at the writing desk in his apartment at the palace. He was biting the end of an old-fashioned dip-the-point-in-the-ink pen, looking over a letter covering the events at court-including a couple Leif personally hadn’t been present to see.
At a knock from the door, Leif put down his pen and went to answer. David stood in the doorway, wearing distinctly more European clothes than he usually wore as Prince Menelik.
“So, what’s up?” Leif asked.
Not exactly what you’d call old-fashioned eloquence, he thought critically. In fact, it’s almost babbling. Leif felt weird, linking in to Latvinia after giving Megan a hard time about her decision to visit the sim.
“Just follow me,” David said, wearing his most impenetrable poker face. “I thought we’d just take a stroll through the streets of Herzen.”
“Sure.” Leif hadn’t really had a chance to explore the capital. It might be interesting to check the city out.
Starting from the mansion district around the palace, they headed downhill to the city’s ritzy carriage-trade stores. Leif walked along, taking in the various architectural styles of the buildings-and looking at the occasional pretty chambermaid sashaying by. So far, Herzen reminded him of one of those historical theme parks-just not quite so shiny and pastel. There were touches of reality; for instance, horses relieved themselves in the street frequently enough to make you watch where you were stepping.
Leif recognized the street where they’d chugged up to the palace in their vintage Mercedes. The boulevard wasn’t as crowded as it had been during the impromptu parade. But there were plenty of citizens-busy burghers-moving around to shop or complete errands.
It’s like watching an old-time photograph come to life, Leif thought as a carriage clattered by. Or rather, one of the colored illustrations in an old book.
They were perhaps halfway down the street when he noticed one of the coachmen turning away, flicking his hand in an odd gesture. The forefinger and pinkie seemed to point at them for a second, the two fingers in between held down with the thumb.
As the boys proceeded along to the less prosperous section of the shopping street, down the street, Leif caught more and more of those quick, surreptitious hand-flicks.
David glanced at him. “Beginning to notice, huh?”
“What-” Leif began.
David cut him off. “Do me a favor,” he said. “Walk on ahead for a block or so.” He turned away, apparently fascinated by something on display in a shop window.
Leif walked on alone, glancing around, using windows as mirrors. None of those odd signs.
A couple of minutes later David rejoined him. They continued along. As the neighborhood got shabbier, more and more people shot them the hand gesture, some more overtly than others.
David stopped, thrusting out an arm. “The train station is over that way, along with the warehouse district-a perfect setup for dens of thieves, or headquarters for conspiracies.”
What Leif noticed however, was how passers-by avoided the pointing hand-even across the street.
Abruptly turning away, David led them in a different direction. “Over here, we have a case of urban decay-a neighborhood that would have been nicer once upon a time. They still have a park in the middle of this square.”
The houses had probably been minor mansions once upon a time, and were now cut up to provide homes for several families. The trees in the square could have done with pruning, and shoots of grass thrust their way through the thin gravel on the walks. But young mothers were taking advantage of the nice weather to take their babies for a walk. Often they were accompanied by older women in head-scarves-babushkas. No one seemed to meet their gaze-but almost everyone was shooting that odd sign. If they weren’t doing that, mothers and grandmothers were rearranging the kids’ clothing.
David took Leif once around the park. Wherever they went, happy chattering in the peasant dialect went silent. One little guy, maybe three years old, came running along, playing some game. When he spotted David, he stopped in his tracks, staring up at David. A mother swooped down on him, hustling him away. As she nearly dragged the kid off, Leif saw one hand set in the odd sign. The other held up a scrap of red ribbon pinned to little one’s collar.
“Two for two,” David muttered, heading away. Leif marched along in silence until they were halfway up the high street again.
“Okay,” he finally said. “What was that all about?”
“I began wondering, too, after I noticed it happening a lot,” David said pleasantly. “Had a heck of a time looking it up. It appears to be a genuine aversion sign, known in Italian as the corno-the horns. It’s supposed to keep away the nastier side of supernatural life, like a rabbit’s foot, or those little red ribbons you noticed on the kid. They neutralize the evil eye, or keep demons at bay.”
“Demons?” Leif repeated a little stupidly.
“You know.” David held out one hand and rubbed the back of it vigorously. “Doesn’t rub off.”
“Uh, well, uh-” Leif fumbled for a minute. “I suppose that’s pretty authentic. Nasty, but realistic. The farther down the road we went, the more peasants we saw. And peasants in the Balkan back in the 1900s would probably never have encountered a black person-”
“Oh, I figured all that out, thanks.” David’s voice was sharp. “And it would be an authentic West Texas reaction for P. J. to call me ‘boy,’ too.”
Leif stared. “P. J. would never-none of those people-I mean, they had to be nonrole-playing characters.” He finally gave up explaining what David knew all too well.
“Yeah.” David looked him straight in the eyes. “It would have to be part of the program. Maybe not as obvious as a lightning bolt or a sword in the face … just a subtle way to make sure I won’t feel welcome in Latvinia.”
They walked in silence back to the palace, Leif troubled, David just plain angry. When they came in view of the gates, one of the guards ran to intercept them.
“What now?” David muttered. “Do we have to go in by the back door?”
“S-sirs,” the breathless guard stammered. “Her Majesty and the prime minister request your presence.”
Megan and Graf von Esbach sat waiting for them in the same upstairs library/study where Roberta had been exiled. As Leif and David walked in, Megan looked up from the heavy oak table where she’d been resting her elbows. It was a beautifully carved piece of furniture, with shelves for books cut into either end. Sitting on the table, right between Megan’s arms, was a gold chain. It held a diamond pendant, the stone about as large as the last joint of Leif’s little finger.
“One of the crown jewels,” Megan told him. “About ten carats.”
Leif did the math with modern diamond prices and got a good-sized number in the six-figure range. “Nice.”
Megan picked up a small bronze statue and brought it down heavily on the gemstone. When she lifted it up, there was only powder on the table. “Paste,” she said conversationally. “Someone switched a fake for the real diamond.”
David glanced shrewdly over at the Graf von Esbach. “And I suppose you don’t need three guesses to pinpoint who’s behind this.”
The prime minister nodded. “I heard rumors that several disreputable types connected with Gray Piotr had been seen in the vicinity of the royal vault, and took it upon myself to investigate. Now I hear that one of Piotr’s henchmen has set off for Vienna. If he were to dispose of several gemstones like this one, the Master of Grauheim would have sufficient ready money to hire himself an army.”
“And stage his own coup d’etat,” Leif finished. He frowned. “Where can we f
ind this henchman now?”
“He is out of the country,” von Esbach said. “We have no legal way to detain him.”
“But if he’s in Vienna-” Fresh memories of Albrecht von Hengist called to Leif’s attention, memories of disreputable characters he’d dealt with in the past. “I have certain connections there. The fellow might be found- and thwarted.”
“Hold on,” David suddenly said. “Time for a reality check. System, would this simulation actually allow a role-player to go to Vienna?”
A soft voice responded. “Negative. This simulation would calculate the time allowance for players traveling outside Latvinia, and arrange for an appropriate return. Actions taken outside of Latvinia would be resolved on a probability matrix-”
“That’s enough, thanks,” David interrupted. He shook his head in disapproval. “Not very slick designing. If you really wanted to factor in a plot twist like this, it wouldn’t be that hard to program in the trip, condensing the time if necessary. I’ve done that myself for Mars voyages. It’s kind of clunky to do it this way, running things like an old-time Dungeon Master with too many dice.”
He frowned for a moment, then called on the system again. “Generate an estimate on how long players would have to be absent from Latvinia.”
“Minimum journey and stay, seven to ten days,” the computer replied.
David turned to Leif, one eyebrow raised, a lopsided smile on his lips.
What did he say? Leif thought. Not as obvious as a lightning bolt?
Still, Leif got the message.
“Well,” he finally said. “When is the earliest we could set off?”
Chapter 12
Megan felt her mouth drop open in a very un-princesslike gawk when she heard Leif’s suggestion. It only got worse when David announced that he was ready to leave at once.
“What are you talking about?” she demanded. “I only showed you the false gems so we could discuss what to do about them!”
“I fear you were too dramatic, ma’am,” Leif replied in his best turn-of-the-century style. “This is a development that should be investigated posthaste.”
“You can’t really be talking about leaving Latvinia!” Megan cried. “I won’t have it! I won’t allow it!”
“Won’t allow it?” Leif repeated, slipping into a more modern idiom. “I think that wearing that crown may have cut off the flow of blood to your brain… Miss O’Malley.“David nodded. “This is the inner circle, remember? It’s not a monarchy-just four people who happened to cross this border together. We’ll put it up to a vote-if you get a majority, we’ll stay.”
Leif could only shrug helplessly. “At a quick count I’d say the numbers aren’t on our side.”
“Don’t be ridiculous!” Megan cried. What was wrong with these people? “You can’t desert me now! Especially to run off after some bare … possibility!”
Leif shrugged. “You’re the one who showed us the fake gem. I think it needs to be followed up.”
“All right, then-if that’s how you feel, the Graf here or Colonel Vojak can pick somebody dependable to go to Vienna.”
Some nonrole-playing character, she thought. Or maybe-
“How about Sergei Chernevsky? We know he’s loyal.”
“You’d cheat him out of his chance to be a Hussar?” David asked with mock horror. “For shame!”
“Look,” Megan snapped. “I think this Vienna thing is just a wild-goose chase. The real action is here in Latvinia!”
She tried appealing to Leif. “You threw the fact that I’m not the real princess in my face. But what about her? We still have a rescue to stage.”
“So far, we haven’t gotten much closer to that,” Leif pointed out. He turned to von Esbach. “You and Colonel Vojak have had people out searching for some sign of Princess Gwenda. How much longer will it take to sweep the area of Grauheim?”
Von Esbach spread his hands. “It is very wild, desolate country-”
“What would you say? A week? Ten days?”
The prime minister nodded unhappily. “It could take as long as that.” He pulled out his pocket watch and consulted it. ‘The afternoon train for Vienna departs in an hour and a half. Otherwise you must put off your journey until tomorrow.”
Megan rounded on him. “You, too?”
“Their minds are made up, Your Majesty,” Esbach replied gently. “I will have a closed carriage-without the royal coat of arms-ready for you within the hour. Do you gentlemen need help in packing?
“No,” Leif replied. “I always keep a small portmanteau ready.”
Sure, Megan thought. Given the Baron von Hengist’s slightly shady past, he’d always have a bag ready to skip out on hotels or make other hasty departures.
“I, too, am prepared to travel light,” David spoke up.
“Do you wish to accompany them, ma’am?” von Esbach asked Megan.
“Yes,” she replied, “preferably without a brass band. Let’s try to be inconspicuous.”
I’ll still have the ride to the station to try to change their minds, Megan thought, hiding a frown.
Even though the carriage was large, it was fairly crowded inside. Besides Megan, Leif, and David, P. J. had insisted on coming along. And then there was the beefy young soldier in the ill-fitting suit-the bodyguard that von Esbach insisted should accompany her. “The assistant coachman will also accompany you on the station platform,” the prime minister told her.
Megan’s fingers twitched the long skirt of the black riding costume she wore. So much for inconspicuous. They’d still be a parade, even if the brass band was missing.
Whether it was the cramped quarters, the extra witness, or just her own annoyance, Megan’s attempts at persuading the boys to stay crashed and burned miserably.
David and Leif would barely discuss their decision, or any plans they might have on their fictitious trip. The more they evaded her attempts to talk, the more a nagging suspicion grew in her mind.
These guys know something they’re not telling me, Megan thought.
But she wasn’t going to get it out of them here and now, standing on the platform of the Herzen train station. There were two trains on the tracks, pointed in opposite directions. One had boxcars, several coaches, and a crowd bustling around it. That was the Vienna Limited. The other was a single coach with a locomotive.
Megan turned to her bodyguard, indicating the quieter train. “Where is that going?”
He replied with a shrug of his heavy shoulders. “Your Majesty, I do not know. It is someone’s private train.”
The equivalent of a personal jet, Megan thought, now noticing that the single car on the private train looked considerably more impressive than even the first-class coach on the Vienna Limited. Heavy velvet curtains hung in the windows, cutting off the view of an undoubtedly opulent interior.
I wonder if we royals have a train of our own? Megan wondered. Then she realized she’d probably seen it- the derailed wreck from which the real Princess Gwenda had been kidnapped.
With a little shudder, she gripped Leif and David’s hands. “Be careful,” she told them. A second later she felt like a fool. They weren’t traveling to far-off Vienna, after all. Most likely, they’d be synching out of Latvinia as soon as the train was out of the station.
“You fellas bring us something purty from Vienna,” P. J. said with a grin, shaking hands with David and Leif. Both boys bowed and kissed Megan’s hand, which only made her feel more conspicuous. They boarded the Vienna Limited, to appear a moment later in the one of the windows of the first-class coach. Steam wafted along the platform as the locomotive began chuffing, getting ready to leave. The conductor cried out the Latvinian equivalent of “All aboard!” The bustle around them intensified.
Megan raised a hand to wave at the smiling faces in the window, a strange feeling in her heart. They’d told her that they’d be gone for only a week, but this felt like a permanent goodbye.
Then the train lurched into motion. P. J., ever the boisterous
cowboy, ran along the platform, keeping beside the first-class carriage, waving. Megan crushed the lacy little handkerchief she’d intended to flutter in her hand.
She couldn’t tell if it came from the program or from the recesses of her own brain. But she had the strangest premonition that she’d never see her friends in Latvinia again.
Aboard the train, Leif waved his farewell to Princess Megan, then laughingly waved to P. J. until the train finally outpaced him. He turned to David, who was laughing and waving as well.
David’s expression became a little more serious as they sat down on plushly upholstered seats. But he still had the look of a little kid who’s unexpectedly gotten out of school.
“I wonder,” David said mischievously. “What do you think would happen if I came back here as a proxy and began preaching socialist revolution?”
“Going by Roberta’s track record, I expect you’d probably get run over by a garbage truck in the real world,” Leif retorted. “I don’t know if Latvinia is bad news, but it sure as heck feels like bad luck.”
“Speaking of which,” David glanced around the train carriage. “When do we blow this candy stand?”
Leif frowned. He’d sort of been wondering the same thing, himself. “I suppose we ought to stick around until we reach the border… just in case this turns out to be some sort of a plot development.”
He opened his traveling bag, slipping his hand inside to touch the purchase he’d made, sneaking down into Herzen before his departure. The butt of the automatic pistol felt nothing at all like the hilt of his sword. But Leif was taking no chances on being caught unarmed on this adventure.
Oblivious, David peered out the window as the city- scape turned into countryside. “We’re making more speed on the rails than we could have in the car on the local roads,” he said. “Not much farther to the border.”
He grinned. “So, exactly how do you intend to spend your newfound free time?”
Leif shrugged. “I’m sure I’ll find something interesting to do.”
