The tide of victory

big to react quickly.'

Like a stegosaurus, chimed in Aide, flashing an image of a bizarre giant reptile into Belisarius' brain. By the time the nerve impulse gets to the brain. True, that brain is Link's, not a stupid reptile's. But Link can't be everywhere. The monster has no magic powers. It's not clairvoyant. It relies on information provided by others.

Aide's words reminded Belisarius of a phrase the crystal had used occasionally, when Aide lapsed into the language of a future accustomed to artificial intelligence. The expression had never quite made sense to Belisarius, until this moment.

Again, he smiled. Garbage in, garbage out. GIGO.

Belisarius' good cheer was not entirely shared by Maurice. 'They'll recover from the surprise soon enough. Not quick enough, maybe, to keep us from taking the Sind up to Sukkur and the gorge. But that won't do us much good if we don't get a labor force to bring in the food. Not to mention maintaining the irrigation works. Not to mention keeping the towns and cities working.'

The gray-bearded chiliarch glared at the carpet of doabs which stretched to the horizon. The multitude of canals and riverlets winkled in the sun, holding the dry patches of land in place like lead holding stained glass. 'Picture soldiers doing that, will you? Even if most of them were peasants not too long ago. It'd take us half the army to keep the other half working.'

The telescope was back at Belisarius' eye. 'Unless I miss my guess, Maurice, those grasslands are practically crawling with peasants and their families. Laying low, out of sight. By now, the Malwa must have begun their butchery, and word travels fast.

'Besides,' he added, sweeping his telescope around to the north, 'they can't be too thrilled to see us coming, either.'

Maurice didn't argue the point. He knew from his own experience, both as a peasant and a cataphract, how astute a rural population could be when it came to keeping out of sight of a passing army. And knew, as well, that they usually had good reason to do so.

As it happened, they had little to fear from Belisarius' army. That army, in fact, was all that would save their lives. But Maurice knew perfectly well that the Romans had as much chance of 'convincing' the Indus peasantry of that as a cat would have convincing mice it was a vegetarian. Especially a peasantry which had been yoked by Malwa for half a century now. First they would have to force the peasantry out of hiding. Only then, as experience unfolded, could they hope to gain their allegiance. Or, at the least, their acquiescence in the new regime. And it would all have to be done fairly quickly, or the Roman army pouring into the Sind would begin starving.

He began to say something to that effect. But then, seeing the sudden tension in the way Belisarius pressed the telescope to his eye, Maurice fell silent. Something was happening.

'I think-' Belisarius muttered. 'I think-'

An instant later he removed the telescope and nodded his satisfaction. 'Sure of it. That's Abbu in the prow of that oncoming galley. And those oars are beating to double time.'

He folded up the telescope with a vigorous motion. The cleverly designed eyepiece collapsed with not much more than a slight clap. The superb workmanship involved reminded Maurice of John of Rhodes, who had built the thing, and a little wave of sadness rolled over him.

Just a little wave, however, and not for long. Maurice had been a soldier for decades. Men died in war; it was the nature of the beast. Often enough, as with John, from pure and simple bad luck.

'Finally!' exclaimed Belisarius. 'We'll get some real news. Abbu wouldn't be returning-not in a war galley beating double-time, for sure-unless he had something to report.'

Maurice grunted his own satisfaction. Like Belisarius-like any soldier worthy of the name-he hated being forced to maneuver blindly. And since the capture of Barbaricum, and a few initial clashes with Malwa detachments down in the delta, the Romans had lost contact with their enemy. Someone in Malwa command had moved quickly, so much was clear enough, and ordered a withdrawal.

But where had they withdrawn? How many? To what end? Those questions and a hundred others remained unanswered.

* * *

Abbu provided some of the answers as soon as he clambered aboard Belisarius' little 'flagship.' The old Arab was grinning, and practically danced across the deck.

'Khusrau hit them like a sledge!' he barked. Then, slapping one hand into the other: 'Broke the Malwa outside Sukkur when the fools sallied, thinking they faced only light cavalry-ha! Persian dehgans! They must have voided their bowels when they realized-and then-' The scout leader paused for dramatic effect and, again, slammed one hand into the other. 'Then he took the city itself!'

Belisarius and Maurice were frozen, for an instant.

'He took Sukkur?' demanded Belisarius. 'But-that city was supposed to be walled. I even got descriptions of the walls from two of my spies!'

'He had no siege guns,' protested Maurice.

Abbu grinned. 'It is a walled city, General. Very great walls, too-I have seen them myself.' The grin widened. 'Great enough to withstand even the great Malwa army which is now besieging it themselves.'

Maurice was still groping with the puzzle. Belisarius' quick mind leapt immediately to the only possible solution.

'The populace rebelled. The moment word arrived that Khusrau had broken the Malwa in the field, the populace rose up against the garrison.'

Abbu nodded vigorously. 'Butchered plenty of the bastards, too, before Khusrau arrived. Of course, they couldn't have subdued the garrison once it rallied. They would have been massacred. But they drove them off a section of the walls long enough to open the gates. And once the Persians were into the city, the Malwa were so much carrion.'

Belisarius' thoughts were still ranging far. His eyes were fixed on the northern horizon, as if by force of will he could study everything that was transpiring there. Then, slowly, he scanned the surrounding countryside.

'I was wrong,' he murmured. 'I saw only their fears.' His tone was half-bemused-and half-sad. 'I have been a soldier too long.'

Aide understood, if no one else did.

Malwa has terrorized them for two generations. And now the fabled Emperor of Persia arrives, in his splendor and his glory, thundering out of the desert and surrounded by the might of his iron dehgans. The thoughts came soft and warm. Even peasants in the Sind will have heard tales of Rustam and his great bull-headed mace. Dim legends, and those of another people to boot. But for all their scarred memories, they will want to believe those legends. Especially now, with Malwa sharpening the ax.

'Yes,' said Belisarius. 'Yes. It's become a war of liberation. In name as well as in deed. And with Khusrau here himself, there is an immediate pole around which confused and frightened-and angry- people can rally. Khusrau will bring a legitimacy to the thing, which a purely military invasion force could not. A foreign ruler, true enough-but so what? The Sind has been ruled by foreigners for centuries. Now, at least, they will have one who is splendid as well as mighty. Just, as well as fearsome.'

He turned to Maurice. 'Pass the word. Make sure everyone understands it. Brand it into their foreheads if you have to-or I will brand it into their corpses. Any Roman soldier who commits any crime in this valley will be summarily executed. Any crime, Maurice, be it so much as pilfering a goat.'

The general's brown eyes were glaring hot, something which was almost as rare as a solar eclipse. Maurice turned his own head and gazed at the three couriers who accompanied him at all times.

'You heard the general,' he said curtly. 'Do it. Now. Use as many men as you need to pass the word.'

His eyes fell on Leo. Antonina had insisted that Belisarius add Leo to his personal bodyguard, retaining only Matthew for herself. The ugliest and most savage-looking of Belisarius' small squad of bodyguards-and they were all enormous, savage-looking men-was standing well within earshot.

'You heard?' Leo nodded heavily.

'You understand?' Leo nodded heavily.

Maurice glanced at Belisarius. The general smiled crookedly. 'I shouldn't imagine I'll need Leo for a bit,' he