[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]deepest, hairiest ancestors did the Firstborn recognise as human?
That s the prize I want to dangle before Alexander . . .
It s a fine ambition, Bisesa said. Privately, though, she doubted
if Alexander would be sold on it. It was Alexander s worldview that
was going to shape the near future and that was a dream of heroes,
gods and myths, not a quest for resolving scientific questions. I
have a feeling you will find a place wherever you go, Abdi.
He smiled. I have always inclined to the Sufi tradition, I think.
The inner exploration of faith: where I am doesn t matter.
I wish I felt the same, she said earnestly.
Casey said, As for me I don t want to live out my life in a
James Watt theme park. I m trying to kick-start other industries
electricity, even electronics maybe . . .
What he means, Abdikadir said dryly, is that he s becoming
a schoolteacher.
Casey squirmed a little, but he tapped his broad cranium. Just
want to make sure that what s up here doesn t die when I do, so
generations of poor saps have to rediscover it all.
Bisesa squeezed his arm. It s okay, Case. I think you ll be a
good teacher. I always did think of you as a surrogate father.
Casey s swearing, in English, Greek and even Mongolian, was
impressive.
Bisesa stood. Guys I hate to say it, but I think I should get
some sleep.
With one instinct, they pulled together, and wrapped their
arms around each other, heads together, huddling like players in a
football game.
Casey said, You need a Blue Bomber?
I have one . . . One more thing, Bisesa whispered. Let the
man-apes go. If I can break out of the cage, so should they.
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T I M E S E Y E " 3 1 9
Casey said, I promise . . . No good-byes, Bis.
No. No good-byes.
Abdikadir said, Why is life given / To be thus wrested from us?. . .
Casey grunted. Milton. Paradise Lost, right? Satan s challenge
to God.
Bisesa said, You never cease to amaze me, Case. The Firstborn
are no gods. She grinned coldly. But I always admired Satan.
Fuck that, said Casey. The Firstborn have to be stopped.
After a final, long moment, she pulled away, and left them with
their wine.
Bisesa sought out Eumenes, and asked permission to leave the
banquet.
Eumenes was upright, contained and apparently sober. He said
in his stilted, heavily accented English, Very well. But, madam,
only on condition I am allowed to accompany you for a while.
With a few guards, they walked up Babylon s ceremonial way.
They called at the town house commandeered by Captain Grove.
Grove embraced her and wished her luck, in his clipped Noel
Coward accent. Bisesa and Eumenes walked on, out of the city
walls through the Ishtar Gate, and into the tent city of the army
beyond.
The night was clear and cold, with the unfamiliar stars and a
bony crescent Moon showing through high, yellowish clouds. When
Bisesa was recognized she was greeted with cries and waves. The
troops and their followers had been given gifts of wine and meat by
the King in Bisesa s honor. The whole camp seemed to be awake: the
tents glowed from lamps lit inside, and music and laughter rose up
like smoke.
They are all sorry to see you go, Eumenes murmured.
I just gave them an excuse for a party.
You should not um, underestimate your contribution. We
were all pitched together into this fractured new world. There
was great suspicion, even incomprehension, between our various
parties and the three of you from the twenty-first century were
the fewest and most isolated of all. But without you to help us,
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3 2 0 " C L A R K E & B A X T E R
even Alexander s wiles might not have prevailed against the
Mongols. We have become an unlikely family.
Yes, we have, haven t we? I suppose that says something about
enduring qualities of the human spirit.
Yes. He stopped and faced her, and his expression showed the
grim anger she had seen in him before. And where you are going,
as you face an enemy even Alexander could not challenge, you must
call on those same qualities again. On behalf of us all.
A nursing mother, the wife of a soldier, sat on a low stool out-
side one of the tents, her baby at her breast. The baby s face was a
pale disc, like the Moon. The mother saw Bisesa watching, and
smiled.
Eumenes said, The Babylonian astronomers have decided that
the Discontinuity should be considered the start of a new calendar,
a new year indeed, the start of one of their mighty cycles, their
Great Years. Everything began afresh that day. And the first babies
to be conceived on Mir have already been born. They did not exist
in whatever world we came from they could not have, for some of
their parents came from different eras but their past is not frac-
tured like ours; they only exist here. I wonder what they will do
when they grow up?
She studied his face, its tanned plains shadowed in the uncer-
tain light. You understand so much, she said.
He grinned, disarmingly. As Casey says, like all ancient Greeks
I m smart as a tack, and smug with it. What do you expect? . . .
They embraced, stiffly. Then they walked back to the city.
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43: The Eye of
Marduk
When Bisesa arrived in the Temple of Marduk the following
morning, Abdikadir was waiting, and Casey was already working,
checking out sensor equipment. They were here for her; she was
touched by their faith in her, and reassured by their competence.
The Eye floated impassively, as it always did.
Josh was here. While Bisesa was wearing her flight suit, much
patched, Josh wore a rumpled flannel suit and shirt, and, absurdly
enough, a tie. But, she thought, they had no idea what they would
face today; why not look your best?
But his face was white, and there were deep shadows under his
eyes. Into infinity with a sore head! at least I can t be made to
feel any worse, whatever happens.
Bisesa felt oddly impatient, irritable. Let s get on with it, she
said. Here. She held out a small backpack.
He looked at it dubiously. What s in it?
Water. Dried rations. Some medical supplies.
You think we will need this? Bisesa, we are entering the Eye
of Marduk, not hiking across the desert.
But she s right, Abdikadir snapped. Why not anticipate
what we can? He took the bag and thrust it at Josh. Take it.
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]zanotowane.pldoc.pisz.plpdf.pisz.plkajaszek.htw.pl
