by Eric Flint
Holkar would have done it, if necessary. But the deed would have cut to his soul. The stablekeeper was no Malwa enemy. Just a man feeding his family, by caring for the horses and elephants of those richer than he.
But there was no need. It was obvious that the disguise had passed muster perfectly. True, it was odd for such a grandee to make his departure at night, rather than in daytime. But Holkar had explained the matter satisfactorily. Urgent news. His wife's father on his death-bed.
"Fool woman," he grumbled. "She insists on an immediate departure-in the middle of the night! — and then takes hours to prepare herself."
The stablekeeper, daringly, essayed a moment of shared camaraderie.
"What can you do, lord? Women are impossible!"
For a moment, Holkar glared at the man's presumption. But, after seeing the stablekeeper cringe properly, he relented. He had intimidated the man enough, he thought. A bit of kindness, now, would seal the disguise.
"I am most satisfied with you, stablekeeper," he announced, pompously. "The elephants have been well cared for, and the howdahs which you constructed are quite to my satisfaction."
The stablekeeper bowed and scraped effusively, but Holkar was amused to see that the man's eyes never left off from watching Holkar's hand. And when the stablekeeper saw that hand dip into the very large purse suspended from Holkar's waist, his eyes positively gleamed.
"As I promised you, there would be a bonus for good work."
Holkar, watching the man's face as he deposited a small pile of coins in the stablekeeper's outstretched hand, decided he had gauged the bonus correctly.
But, just to be sure, Holkar decided to unbend a bit.
"Yes, I am very satisfied. Might I make a request? Since my wife appears to be delayed, would you be so good as to feed my men? I have mentioned to them, from my previous visits, how excellent a cook your wife is."
He dipped his hand into the purse again.
"I will pay, of course."
Within seconds, the stablekeeper's household was flurrying into action.
Watching the perfect unfolding of their plan, the scribe Dadaji Holkar smiled. Warriors, he knew, were prone to dark misgivings about any and all plans. Holkar did not sneer at those misgivings. He had been a warrior himself, in his youth. But he concluded, as he had years before, that soldiers were a gloomy lot.
One soldier, at that very moment, was not gloomy at all.
He had come to India for a number of reasons, and with several goals in mind. Many-most-of those goals he had already achieved. He had used the voyage to forge an alliance between Rome and Ethiopia. He had freed the Empress of Andhra from captivity, and thus laid the basis for another alliance with she and Raghunath Rao. (He had even, to his delight, managed to use Malwa bribes to fund the future Deccan rebellion.) He had been able to learn much concerning the new Malwa gunpowder weapons, knowledge which-combined with Aide's help-would make possible the creation of a new Roman army capable of dealing with the Malwa juggernaut.
Mainly, however, Belisarius had come to India in order to know his enemy. He was a general, and he considered good intelligence to be the most useful of all military assets. Here, too, he had accomplished much. He had seen the Malwa army in action, as well as their Ye-tai, Rajput and Kushan auxiliaries. He had been able to study the workings of Malwa society at close hand. He had even been able, to some extent, to meet and gauge the Emperor himself and many of his top military and civilian advisers.
But the one thing he had not accomplished was to meet his ultimate enemy. Link. The-being? creature? — who was, in some way, the origin of the newly arisen menace threatening Rome and, he thought, all of mankind. Link.
He was not sure, yet. But, following Nanda Lal through the plushness of the royal barge, he thought he was on the verge of achieving that goal also.
Aide, certainly, thought he was.
Yes. Link is here. I am certain of it.
Belisarius remembered the glimpses Aide had given him once before of the strange thinking machines called computers. Huge things, some of them-rows and rows of steel cabinets. Others no bigger than a small chest. Metal and glass, glowing as if by magic.
Not those. The new gods have driven cybernetics far beyond such primitive devices.
The word "cybernetics" was meaningless to Belisarius. Other words which followed were equally so. Nanotechnology. Microminiaturization. Cybernetic organisms.
They were nearing the end of the long corridor which extended down the side of the barge. Ahead of him, Belisarius saw Nanda Lal step across a raised threshhold into what appeared to be a large room.
We are almost there, he said to Aide.
He sensed the agitation of the facets. Aide's next thought was curt:
Link will be a cyborg. A cybernetic organism. It will look like a human, but will not be. There will be no soul behind the eyes.
Then, with the cool shivering which was as close as crystalline consciousness could come to fear:
If I am present in your mind, it may discover me. In the chaos at the pavilion, when I asked you to look into the Emperor's eyes, I was certain I could disguise myself. Here-I am not certain. The facets can hide, but Aide may not be able to.
Belisarius was at the threshhold himself. He paused, as if gauging the height of the step necessary to cross the small barrier.
Dissolve yourself, then. Until you can safely reappear. You are our greatest asset. We must keep knowledge of you hidden from the enemy.
If Aide dissolves, the facets will not be able to help. This moment is very dangerous for you.
Belisarius strode across the threshhold.
My name is Belisarius. I am your general. Do as I command.
If there was any hesitation in Aide's reply, no human could have measured it.
Yes, Great One.
The salon into which Belisarius stepped was, in its own way, as phantasmagorical as the pavilion which Emperor Skandagupta had erected on a battlefield. Such incredible luxury, aboard a barge, verged on the ludicrous.
The room was large, especially for a boat, but could not be described as huge. It was perhaps thirty feet wide. Belisarius, quickly estimating the width of the barge itself, realized that the side walls of the salon were the actual hull of the barge. The planking of the hull, here on the interior, was almost completely covered-deck to ceiling-with exquisite silk tapestries. Most of the tapestries depicted scenes which were obviously mythological. Based on various tales which Dadaji had told him, he thought that one of the tapestries might be a depiction of Arjuna riding with Krishna at the battle of Kurukshetra. But he was not sure, and he did not waste time examining the tapestries carefully.
He was much more interested in the few areas of the walls which were not covered with tapestries. The salon was some forty feet in length. At three places along each wall, separated by a distance of approximately ten feet, were three-foot-square bamboo frames supporting silk mesh. The silk was dyed, in Malwa red and gold, but not otherwise decorated. Belisarius could not see through the mesh squares. But, from their slight billowing, he knew that they were the coverings for windows designed to let air into the salon.
After a moment's glance at the windows, he looked away. Ahead of him, at the far end of the salon, two women were seated on a dais which was elevated perhaps a foot above the level of the thickly carpeted deck. The chairs in which they sat could not be called thrones. They were not, quite, big enough. That aside, however, they were chairs which any emperor would be proud to call his own. The chairs were made of nothing but carved ivory, covered with a minimum of cushioning. Neither gold nor gems adorned those chairs. Such baubles would have simply degraded the intricate and marvelous carvings which embellished every square inch of their surface.
Both women were shrouded in rich saris, and both women's faces were obscured by veils. From a distance, Belisarius could discern little about them. But he thought, from the slight subtleties of their posture, that the one on his right was much older tha
n the other.
Directly in front of the dais, kneeling, was a line of six men. Eunuchs, Belisarius suspected, from what he had learned of Malwa customs with high-born women. The men were all wearing baggy trousers tied off at the ankles. They were barefoot and barechested.
Racially, the men were of a type unfamiliar to Belisarius. Oriental, clearly, but quite unlike any of the Asiatic peoples with which Belisarius was familiar. Their skin tone was yellowish, quite unlike the brown hues of the various Indian peoples. And while Belisarius had often seen that yellowish color on the skins of steppe nomads-Ye-tai, and especially Kushans, were often that tint, or close to it-these men had none of the lean, hard-featured characteristics of Asians from the steppes. Like Kushans-though not Ye-tai, who were often called "white" Huns-these men also had a slanted look to their eyes. If anything, their epicanthic folds were even more pronounced. But their features were soft-looking, without a trace of steppe starkness. And their faces were so round as to be almost moon-shaped.
Their most striking characteristic, however, was sheer size. All of them were enormous. Belisarius estimated their height at well over six feet-closer to seven-and he thought that none of them weighed less than three hundred pounds. Some of that size was fat, true. All six of the men had bellies which bulged forward noticeably. But Belisarius did not fail to note their huge arms and their great, sloping shoulders. The muscles there, coiled beneath the fat, were like so many pythons.
Nor, of course, did the general miss the bared tulwars which each man held across his knees. Those tulwars were the biggest swords Belisarius had ever seen in his life. None but giants such as these could have possibly wielded them.
Nanda Lal, standing a few feet ahead of him, bowed deeply to the two women. He then turned to Belisarius, and, with an apologetic grimace, whispered:
"I am afraid we must search you for weapons, general. As I told you, Great Lady Holi is extremely sensitive concerning her personal safety."
Belisarius stiffened. Nanda Lal's demand was discourteous in the extreme. As the spymaster well knew, Belisarius was already unarmed-had been, for days. As a matter of course, he did not carry weapons with him in the presence of Malwa royalty. He had left his arms behind in the mansion that morning, as he did every day he went to the Grand Palace. The act had come naturally to him. His own emperor, Justinian, would have been apoplectic if anyone other than his bodyguards carried weapons into the imperial presence.
But he saw no point in protest. If, as Aide suspected, he was truly in the presence of Link, the Malwa paranoia was understandable.
"Of course," he said. He spread his arms, inviting Nanda Lal to search his person. Then, hearing a slight cough behind him, turned around.
Four men were standing there. Belisarius had not heard a whisper of their coming. Despite the thick carpeting, he was impressed. Quickly, he gauged them. The men were clearly of the same race as the giant eunuchs, but, unlike them, were of average size. Nor were any of them bearing those huge tulwars. Instead, each of the four men was armed with nothing Belisarius could see beyond long knives scabbarded to their waists.
Their size did not mislead the general. Belisarius thought they were probably twice as dangerous as the giant eunuchs. And he was certain-from the silent manner of their arrival even more than their sure-footed stance-that all four were expert assassins.
Still with his arms raised, he allowed the foremost of those men to search him. The assassin's search was quick and expert. When the man was finished, he stepped back and said a few phrases in a language Belisarius did not know.
Nanda Lal frowned.
"He says you are carrying a small knife. In that pouch, on your belt."
Startled, Belisarius looked down at the pouch in question. He began to reach for it, but froze when he sensed the sudden stillness in the four assassins watching him.
Belisarius turned his head toward Nanda Lal.
"I did not even think of it, Nanda Lal. It is not a weapon. It's simply a little knife I carry with me to sharpen my ink quills."
With a wry smile:
"I imagine I could kill a chicken with it, after a desperate struggle." He shrugged. "You're quite welcome to take the thing, if it makes you nervous."
Nanda Lal stared at him for a moment. Then, without taking his eyes from the general, asked the assassin a question in that same unknown tongue.
The assassin spoke a few phrases. Nanda Lal smiled.
"Never mind, general. Great Lady Holi's chief bodyguard confirms your depiction of the-ah, device."
Now the image of cordiality, Nanda Lal took Belisarius by the arm and began leading him toward the women at the far end of the salon. The spymaster leaned over and whispered:
"The bodyguard says the chicken would win."
Belisarius smiled crookedly. "He underestimates my prowess. But I'm quite certain I would carry the scars to my grave."
Ten feet from the line of kneeling eunuchs, Nanda Lal brought himself and Belisarius to a halt. Nanda Lal-Belisarius following the spymaster's example-bowed deeply, but did not prostrate himself. Two servants appeared from a small door in the corner of the room behind the seated women. The servants carried cushions, which they set on the floor just in front of Belisarius and Nanda Lal. That done, each man stepped away. They did not leave, however, but remained standing, one on either side. As he squatted down on his cushion, Belisarius gave them both a quick, searching, sidelong scrutiny.
Servants, I think. Nothing more.
A feminine voice drew his attention forward. The voice had the timber of a young woman, and it came-just as he had surmised-from the woman seated to his left.
"We are very pleased to meet you at last, General Belisarius. We have heard so much about you."
Belisarius could discern nothing of the woman's face, because of her veil. But he did not miss the sharp intelligence in that voice, lurking beneath the platitudes. Nor the fact that the Greek in which it spoke was perfect. Without a trace of an accent.
He nodded his head in acknowledgment, but said nothing.
The young woman continued.
"My name is Sati. I have the honor of being one of Emperor Skandagupta's daughters. This-" a slight gesture of the hand to the woman seated next to her "-is the Great Lady Holi. The Emperor's aunt, as I imagine you have already been told."
The Great Lady Holi's head bobbed, minutely. Beyond that, the woman was as still as a statue. The veil completely disguised her face also.
Again, Belisarius nodded.
"My aunt asked to meet you because she has heard that you desire to give your allegiance to the destiny of Malwa. And she has heard that you have proposed the most ingenious plan to further our great cause."
Belisarius decided that this last remark required a reply.
"I thank you-and her-for your kind words. I would not go so far as to describe my plan as ingenious. Though it is, I think, shrewd. The Roman Emperor Justinian is planning to invade the western Mediterranean anyway. I simply intend to encourage him in the endeavour. In that manner, without drawing suspicion upon myself, I can keep Rome's armies from interfering with your coming conquest of Persia."
He stopped, hoping that would be enough. But the Lady Sati pressed him further.
"Are you not concerned that the reunification of the Roman Empire will pose a long-term danger to Malwa?"
Belisarius shook his head, very firmly.
"No, Lady Sati. Justinian's project is sheer folly."
"You are saying that the eastern Roman Empire cannot reconquer the west?"
There was a lurking danger in that question, Belisarius sensed, though he could not tell exactly where it lay. After a slight hesitation, he decided that truth was the best option.
"I did not say that. In my opinion, the conquest is possible. In fact-" Here, another pause, but this one for calculated effect "-if you will allow me the immodesty, I am convinced that it can be done. So long as Justinian gives me the command of the enterprise. But it will be a fruitles
s victory."
"Why so?"
He shrugged. "We can reconquer the west, but not easily. The wars will be long and difficult. At the end, Justinian will rule over a war-ravaged west. Which he will try to administer from a bankrupted east. Rome will be larger in size, and much smaller in strength."
"Ah." That was all Lady Sati said, but Belisarius instantly knew that he had passed some kind of test.
The knowledge brought a slight relief to the tension which tightened his neck. But, a moment later, the tension returned in full force.
For the first time, Great Lady Holi spoke.
"Come closer, young man. My eyes are old and poor. I wish to see your face better."
Her Greek was also perfect, and unaccented.
Belisarius did not hesitate, not, any least, any longer than necessary to gauge the proper distance to maintain. He arose from his cross-legged position on the cushion-he, too, had learned the "lotus"-and took two steps forward. Just before the line of tulwars, he knelt on one knee, bringing his eyes approximately level to those of the old woman seated a few feet away.
The Great Lady Holi leaned forward. A hand veined with age reached up and lifted her veil. Dark eyes gazed directly into the brown eyes of Belisarius.
Empty eyes. Dark, not from color, but from the absence of anything within.
"Is it true that you plan to betray Rome?"
There was something strange about those words, he sensed dimly. An odd, penetrating quality to their tone. He could feel the words racing down pathways in his body-nerves, arteries, veins, muscle tissue, ligaments.
"Do you plan to betray Rome?"
He was giving himself away, he realized. (Dimly, vaguely, at a distance.) The-intelligence? — behind those words was inhuman. It was reading his minute, involuntary reactions in a way no human could. No man alive could lie well enough to fool that-thing.
But it was the eyes, not the voice, which held him paralyzed. Not from fear, but horror. He knew, now, the true nature of hell. It was not fire, and damnation. It was simply-
