Constantine looked as if he wanted to speak but could not find the words, and his features were beginning to darken with anger.
Ma'el went on quickly, 'In the past that is distant beyond the memory of memories or the writings of our earliest ancestors, when the world was young and savage beasts ruled the earth, the ability would have been used to warn the fighting men of dangers that would threaten the unborn young and the future of their tribe. But in these times of civilization and culture and the rule of law, there is less danger and the ability has fallen into disuse and been lost.
'But occasionally, when dire events impend, the ability is awakened and future events are seen, perhaps imperfectly, in the form of visions or dreams. An instance could have been the warning dream of Calpurnia before the assassination of Julius Caesar, her husband, which caused a great upheaval in the Empire. Another might have been the…'
'Enough,' said Constantine, an angry edge in his voice, 'of your metaphysical babblings. It might be amusing to debate this strange theory with you if matters of state left me time for amusement. Your idea is ridiculous. You are saying that men, who in the past have carved empires out of the wilderness and raised great cities and temples that are eternal works of art, live only because of their womenfolk and are blind to their future. Magician, this is demonstrable nonsense.'
'With respect, Imperator,' said Ma'el gently, 'your men are the builders and defenders and fathers of their people, but the women are the lifegivers and preservers. I wish to help them to warn and preserve your people from the many grave dangers that are to come.'
The Emperor was silent for a long moment while Declan joined Sinead and Brian in holding their breath. When Constantine spoke again his tone was still angry, but judicial.
'Ma'el,' he said, 'I find no evidence of criminal intent in your activities, and you furnish the proof yet again that an intelligent man can be a fool and misguided in the thinking of which he is capable. Your contention that women are equal if not superior to men is untenable. Women are both a necessity and a pleasure for the continuance of life, just as is the grain and the cattle we eat to sustain us and the beasts of burden that work for us or carry us into battle. Like those beasts we feed and treat them with fairness and consideration or, if the circumstances warrant it, by applying the whip. Often, like beautiful and docile beasts, we come to love some of them deeply. But they are not and never will be the equals of men.'
He fixed his gaze sternly on Ma'el and went on, 'My verdict and decision is that you are fool rather than a criminal, and that you have been preaching a harmless sedition that has already caused embarrassment to a few of your converts who tried to set themselves up as soothsayers while the others, plainly not wanting to be held up to similar ridicule, maintain a sensible silence. The harm you have done is minor as will be the punishment.
'You have two days,' he continued, 'in which to employ, at your own expense, artisans who will collapse the entry tunnel and seal off your secret chamber so that it can never be used again. By the end of the third day I will expect to hear that the magician, Ma'el, and his Hibernian slaves will have left Rome never to return.'
'You have my permission to leave,' he ended. 'Do so at once.'
As they returned through the audience antechamber, watched curiously by the richly garbed and obviously powerful persons who were waiting there and asking each other loudly why these four should have had the ear of the Emperor before themselves, they neither looked aside nor spoke. But it was plain from the heightened color of Sinead's face that she had angry words that were waiting to burst forth. But it was not until Declan's weapons had been returned to him and they were clear of the palace and its listening ears that she was able to speak.
'A beast of burden,' she said in a tone of quiet fury. 'A necessity for the continuance of mankind, of man kind, and an object for their pleasure. Constantine is said to be a cultured and liberal Emperor, but personally I do not think that he deserves the title Great.'
CHAPTER TWENTY
Ma'el Report. Day 112,887…
I decided to omit the visit to Athens and have proceeded without delay to Alexandria for two reasons. One is that in Greece my work among the young women would be hampered as it was in Rome, while in Egypt 1 would have more freedom of action due to the respect gained during a previous visit of three centuries ago when my physical similarity to one of their deities was used to good effect. The second is that I am increasingly troubled by a sense of personal urgency, the cause of which I am no longer able to foresee and cannot, with the information available to me at the present time, explain.
'For a Taelon who is virtually indestructible on this world and with half of a very long lifetime stretching ahead, I should not be subject to a feeling of urgency about anything. I can only conclude that my diminishing precognitive faculty is the reason and that my psychological difficulties shall remain until I again find a means of seeing into the future, even if it has to be through the sensorium of an Earth person that I trust.
'But the young woman Sinead still shows no indications of acquiring the timesight faculty. The possibility exists that she is genetically as well as emotionally flawed.
'Brian ordered Captain Nolan to take us to Alexandria because, he openly admits, he still wishes to acquire my magical knowledge. If I was to give it to him, fully and with complete truth, it would frighten his primitive Earthly mind into complete dysfunction. Instead I asked him to arrange and supervise the outfitting of Sinead and Declan with garments and equipment suitable for our onward journey into India and Cathay because, unlike the Taelon, this species has no natural environmental protection other than a few wisps of body hair. But the purse I offered Brian to defray the cost was graciously refused with a hint that he would prefer to have my knowledge rather than my gold. He is a most persistent man.
'With covert assistance from my Taelon technology, the voyage to Alexandria was made without interference from marauding sea raiders. On the way to our berth in the west quay, the ship passed under the famed lighthouse on the island of Pharos, a structure that is generally acclaimed to be one of the seven wonders of this world, except by the native Alexandrians who scarcely look at it…'
–
It was a city of great interest and beauty in spite of being a bustling seaport and with an atmosphere entirely different from Rome because, Brian told them as he sniffed the air delicately, of the preponderance of camels that were being used as beasts of burden. He pointed out the Temples of Serapis and Poseidon and the Soma, the mausoleum that contained the remains of the great Alexander who had given his name to the city, as well as the museums that he would visit later because they were said to contain a few of the half million books, some of them scrolls measuring thirty paces in length, that had been rescued from the great Alexandria Library before it had burned down.
Whenever they came to a street of merchants containing displays of goods such as brightly woven carpets, costly and exotic viands or, on one occasion, a platform and enclosure for the sale of slaves that was attracting a large crowd of onlookers, he warned them to keep a tight hold on their valuables. The pickpockets here were reputed to be among the most light-fingered in the world because those who proved themselves inept suffered the summary amputation of a hand.
At all times Brian was entertaining and gracious, particularly to Sinead, and he treated them as equals rather than servants, but in a roundabout fashion he was always asking questions about Ma'el. The only information they could give him was that their master planned to continue the journey by land as soon as possible, but it was plain that that knowledge disappointed him.
'This is a good place,' Brian said suddenly. 'I remember it from my last visit.'
He had stopped them at the entrance to a merchant's establishment that was flanked by displays of clothing and attractively displayed materials, and looked so familiar to Declan that he half expected Padraig of Cashel to emerge smiling with his measuring cords. Without realizing it he must have been thinking aloud.
'In Cashel old Padraig asks a fair price,' said Brian, laughing, 'and he is such a gentle old man that you would feel ashamed if you paid him less. Here it is a little different. Let me warn you
…' his voice became apologetic, '… that you are about to see the nasty side of my nature…'
The clothing they needed was produced and fitted quickly inside curtained alcoves by smiling slaves, servants, or perhaps they were members of the proprietor's family. By the time Declan's long woolen cloak and
