“Who is high Kur in the Cave?” asked Desmond.
“Lucius,” said several of the men, without hesitation.
“How many of you have heard of the Kur, Agamemnon?” asked Desmond.
“He was a leader, faraway,” said a fellow.
“The Cave is said to be the Cave of Agamemnon,” said a fellow.
“Theocrat of the World, Eleventh Face of the Nameless One,” added another.
“That is nonsense,” said a man.
“Not to Kurii,” said Desmond, soberly.
“I have heard remarks,” said a man. “There was a far world, a war, and this Agamemnon perished in that war.”
“Perhaps,” said Desmond, “Agamemnon is still alive. Perhaps only one or another of his bodies perished. Perhaps he is here, alive.”
“This is madness,” said a man.
“How many of you have seen the small metal chest, sometimes on display, that tended so carefully by two golden-chain Kurii, Timarchos and Lysymachos?”
“I have seen it,” said a fellow.
“I, too,” said another.
“As it is guarded,” said another, “it must contain riches.”
“Diamonds,” speculated another.
“If we are to flee,” said a fellow, “perhaps we could steal it, and take it with us.”
“We might all be rich,” said a fellow.
Interest coursed amongst the men.
“What has this treasure chest to do with Agamemnon?” asked a man.
“I think it is Agamemnon, or contains Agamemnon,” said Desmond of Harfax.
“I think you are mad,” said Kleomenes.
“I have gathered certain things, some rather obliquely, not openly stated, from my source,” said Desmond.
“Which is to remain confidential?” said Kleomenes, skeptically.
“I will now,” said Desmond of Harfax, “command an unlikely speaker to address you, the barbarian kajira, Allison, whose thigh some of you may have marked.”
There was some laughter.
“Master?” I said.
“Do not insult us with noises from the mouth of a slave,” said a fellow.
“Slaves know nothing,” said a man.
“She is a barbarian,” said another.
“If she is to speak, let instruments of torture be brought,” said another.
“How else could one believe the words of a slave?” asked another.
“A meeting was held,” said Desmond of Harfax, “at which none of us, and no free man, was present, but some kajirae were present. The meeting was held in Kur, without translators, but the kajirae, of course, could witness what occurred. I have learned that Allison, whom I have had in my keeping-”
There was laughter at this point, which annoyed me, for they doubtless supposed that Desmond of Harfax had reaped much pleasure from the rich and frequent use of the slender, barbarian brunette in question, whereas the slender, barbarian brunette in question had been scarcely touched, and had been, so to speak, muchly deprived. How often she had longed for his touch, even wept for it, and had been denied!
“-was present.”
I was not sure how Master Desmond knew I had been at the meeting in question, but it seemed likely he had obtained this information, and some sense of the nature of the meeting, from one of the other kajirae who had been present. Of the four kajirae in the room I was the only one who had been at the meeting.
“Allison,” said Desmond of Harfax.
I kept my head down, frightened.
“She fears to speak before free men,” he said.
“If she is to speak,” said a fellow, “then let her fear not to speak.”
“Do not be afraid, Allison,” said Desmond of Harfax.
I looked up at him, him to whom I wished to belong. How could he not know that?
“We have mentioned a box, a case, a chest, a container, of some sort, which is usually found in the company of two golden-chain Kurii, Timarchos and Lysymachos, a container which it seems they guard zealously. Are you familiar with that object?”
“Yes, Master,” I said. “I have seen it.”
“What do you think it contains?” he asked.
“I do not know, Master,” I said. “A treasure perhaps, surely something very precious.”
“Did you see this container at the meeting in question, that at which there were no free men present, that conducted entirely in Kur?”
“No, Master,” I said.
“But you did see Timarchos and Lysymachos?”
“Yes, Master.”
“Without the container,” he said.
“Seemingly so,” I said.
“Tell us about the meeting,” he said.
“It was in Kur,” I said.
“Tell us a little about it, what you can,” he said.
“Only Kurii and some kajirae were present,” she said, “I suppose grooming slaves.”
“Are you such a slave?” he asked.
“No,” I said. “But I have groomed.”
“You were brought by Grendel,” he said.
“Yes, Master.”
“Why?”
“I do not know,” I said. “I think it was that he would appear to have a personal grooming slave, which would seem to enhance his prestige, and suggest importance. Few of the Kurii, on this world, have such slaves.”
“Continue,” said Master Desmond.
“I understood little of what was occurring,” I said. “Grendel, near whom I knelt, was prominently placed, before a dais at the front of the room. Timarchos and Lysymachos emerged from behind a curtain at the back of the dais, which curtain they then drew aside. Shortly thereafter, frighteningly, apparently emerging from a deep recess behind the dais, taking its place on the dais, was a large machine, behaving as though it were alive. It had jointed metal legs, and a metal torso, but no obvious head, unless the head and torso were one. It had things like eyes, four of them, two of which were on metal stalks. These eyes could turn about. The device was very large, and doubtless heavy. It was crab-like, a large, metallic crab-like thing. Attached to it, or part of it, were two metallic arms, each terminating in heavy, pincer-like objects.”
“Let her be lashed for lying,” said a fellow.
“Who dares to subject us to the ravings of a mad slave?” asked another.
“Put her out of the Cave, naked and bound,” said a man.
“Master?” I said, frightened.
“Continue, Allison,” said Desmond of Harfax.
“There were chantings,” I said, “and, later, what appeared to be a number of utterances, all of which received the identical response from the assembly. Then commenced what seemed to be a dialogue between Timarchos and Lysymachos, and the machine.”
“The machine spoke?” asked a man.
“It seemed so, Master,” I said.
“Bring a whip, that a lying slave may be suitably chastised,” said a man.
“Continue,” said Master Desmond.
