In the Heart of Darkness

'Exactly,' said Belisarius with satisfaction. 'If you watch carefully, and keep track, you'll eventually notice that the cannonfire is very erratic. Occasionally they shoot straight. But more often the ball will sail off at an angle-and the elevation's just as haphazard.'

'Why?' asked Menander.

'It's the clearance,' replied the general. 'What's called windage. In order for a cannon to shoot straight, the ball has to fit snugly in the bore. That requires two things-an even, precise bore all the way through the cannon barrel, and cannonballs that are sized to match.'

Anastasius puffed out his cheeks. 'That's a tall order, general. Even for Greek artisans.'

Belisarius nodded. 'Yes, it is. But the better the fit, the better the fire. The Malwa don't even make the attempt. Those cannonballs aren't much more than crude stones-they'd do better to use iron-and the cannon barrels are simply castings. They're not machined at all. Even the casting process, I suspect, is pretty crude.'

Valentinian scowled. 'How would you machine something that big in the first place?' he demanded. 'Especially metal.'

Belisarius smiled. 'I wouldn't even try, Valentinian. For cannons the size of these, sloppy accuracy isn't really that much of a problem. But let's examine the question from a different angle. How hard would it be to machine a very small cannon?'

'Very hard,' said Anastasius instantly. His father was a blacksmith, and had put his boy to work at an early age. 'Any kind of machining is difficult, even with wood. Almost nobody tries to do it with metal. But-yes, if it was small enough-'

'Hand cannons,' said Menander excitedly. 'That's what you'd have. Something small enough for a single man to fire-or maybe two.'

'One man,' pronounced Belisarius.

'I haven't seen any such weapons among the Malwa,' said Valentinian uncertainly. 'Maybe-' He fell silent, coughing. There was a soft wind blowing, and the cloud of gunsmoke emitted by the recent cannonblast had finally wafted over the Romans.

'God, that shit stinks,' he muttered.

'Better get used to it,' said Anastasius, rather unkindly. For a moment, the giant Thracian seemed on the verge of uttering one of his frequent philosophical homilies, but Valentinian's ferocious glare made him think better of it.

'You haven't seen any handcannons, Valentinian, because the Malwa don't have any.' Belisarius' voice was soft, but filled with confidence. 'They're not hiding them from us. I'm sure of that. They've kept us far from the battlefield, but not that far. If they had any handcannons, we'd have spotted them by now.'

He waited for the roar of another cannonblast to subside before continuing.

'And that's the wave of the future. Handcannons. If we can get back to Rome-if some of us can make it back to Rome, and get this information to John of Rhodes, then we've got a chance. We'll have better powder than the Malwa, and our artisans are more skilled than theirs, on balance. We can build an entirely new kind of army. An army that can defeat this colossus.'

For a moment, he considered adding some of the ideas he had been coming to, of late, concerning the structure and tactics of such a future army. But he decided against it. His ideas were still only half-formed and tentative. They would confuse the cataphracts more than anything else. Belisarius needed more time. More time to think. And, most of all, more time to learn from the strange mentality that rested, somehow, in the bizarre 'jewel' that he carried in the pouch suspended from his neck. The mentality which called itself Aide and said that it came from the far distant future.

His musings were interrupted by Valentinian.

'Careful,' muttered the cataphract. 'The Rajputs are coming.'

Belisarius glanced over, and saw that a small group of Rajputs had detached themselves from the main body of the elite horsemen and were trotting toward them. At their head rode the leader of the escort, one of the many petty kinglets who constituted the upper crust of the Malwa's Rajput vassals. This one belonged to the Chauhar clan, one of the most prominent of the Rajput dynasties. His name was Rana Sanga.

Watching Sanga approach, Belisarius was torn between two sentiments.

On the one hand, he was irritated by the interruption. The Rajputs-following orders, Belisarius had no doubt- never allowed the Romans to get very close to the action, and never for very long. Despite the limitation, Belisarius had been able to glean much from observing the siege of the rebel city of Ranapur. But he would have been able to learn much more had he been allowed closer, and if his observations were not always limited to a span of a few minutes.

On the other hand-

The fact was, he had developed a genuine respect for Rana Sanga. And even, in some strange way, the beginning of friendship, for all that the Rajput lord was his future enemy.

And a fearsome enemy at that, he thought.

Rana Sanga was, in every respect except one, the archetypical model of a Rajput. The man was very tall- taller, even, than Belisarius-and well built. The easy grace with which Sanga rode his mount bespoke not only his superb physical condition but also his expert horsemanship-a quality he shared with every Rajput Belisarius had so far met.

His dress and accouterments were those of a typical Rajput as well, if a little finer. Rajputs favored lighter gear and armor than either cataphracts or Persian lancers-mail tunics reaching to mid-thigh, but leaving the arms uncovered; open-faced helmets; tight trousers tucked into knee-high boots. For weapons, they carried lances, bows, and scimitars. Belisarius had never actually seen Sanga wield those weapons, but he had not the slightest doubt the man was expert in their use.

Yes, the ideal image of a Rajput in every sense, except-

Sanga was now within a few feet. Belisarius smiled at him, and found it impossible to keep the smile to a polite minimum.

Except for that marvelous, dry sense of humor.

'I am afraid I must ask you and your men to leave now, general Belisarius,' said the Rajput, as he drew his horse alongside. 'The battle will be heating up soon, I believe. As always, we must put the safety of our honored guests above all other concerns.'

At that very moment, as if cued by the Rajput's words, an object appeared above Ranapur. Belisarius watched the bomb-launched by a catapult hidden behind the walls of the city-as it arched its way toward the Malwa besiegers. Even from the great distance, he could spot the tiny sparks which marked the bomb's fuse.

'You see the peril,' announced Sanga.

The fuse, Belisarius saw, had been cut too short. The bomb exploded in the air, well before it struck its intended target, the front line of trenches encircling the city. Which were at least a mile away from the little knoll where they stood.

'The deadly peril,' elaborated Sanga.

'Indeed,' mused Belisarius. 'This is perhaps the most dangerous moment in my entire life. Or, perhaps not. Perhaps it takes second place to that terrifying episode, when I was eight years old, when my sister threatened me with a ladle.'

'Brutal creatures, sisters,' agreed Sanga instantly. 'I have three myself. Deadly with a ladle, each and every one, and cruel beyond belief. So I have no doubt that moment was slightly more dangerous than the present one. But I must still insist that you leave. The safety of our honored guests from Rome is the uppermost concern in our Emperor's mind. To allow Emperor Justinian's official envoys to suffer so much as a scratch would be an irreparable stain upon his honor.'

The Rajput's expression was solemn, but Belisarius suddenly broke into a grin. There was no point in arguing with Sanga. For all the Rajput's invariable courtesy, Belisarius had quickly learned that the man had a will of iron.

Belisarius reined his horse around and began moving away from the siege. His cataphracts followed immediately. The entire Rajput escort-all five hundred of them-quickly took their places. Most of the Rajputs rode a polite distance behind the Romans, but a considerable number took up positions as flankers, and a small group of twenty or so trotted ahead to serve as the advance guard for the little army moving through the milling swarm of Malwa soldiers and laborers.