Caliphate

It grew deep and belly splitting. It had to grow, for it held twenty or more years of hate in it.

'I love it here,' Petra said. 'Here by the lake, I mean, not up there in the castle. I wish it never had to end, that I could turn into one of the rocks, a tall one so I could see out, and just see the seasons pass, watch the birds and the bees fly, and never, ever, have to feel anything again. Thank you for taking me.' She put her head down, shyly.

Hamilton wasn't sure quite what he felt at that moment. There was still some shame from being a boor earlier, surely. And he felt a great pity for the girl, too. But there was something else he hadn't felt in a very long time, something he absolutely didn't want to put to words or even admit to feeling.

Later, he thought. Later on, I'll take that out and examine it. For now, there's a job to do. Several, actually. And for God's sake don't give this girl a hope you won't be able to deliver on.

'It's getting late,' he said, 'and it's a longish walk. Let's head back to the castle.'

'You mean you're not going to . . .' She didn't sound disappointed so much as surprised. Then again, it was a romantic setting and she was sure he'd want to. In fact, she'd been sure he'd taken her to the lake only to fuck her.

'No,' he smiled. 'Not here and maybe not there either. We need to have a long talk first. And I need to have a talk with my . . . ummm . . . servant.'

Honsvang, Province of Baya, 10 Muharran,

1538 AH (21 October, 2113

'You're out of your fucking mind,' Bongo said. 'No way. No effing way! Not gonna happen.'

Bongo and Hamilton were walking not far from where Petra and he had had their picnic earlier in the day. He'd walked her home, seen her to her room, kissed her chastely, picked up his deposit and gone immediately back to town to the hotel room. From there he and Bongo had left for the lake because, as Bongo had said, 'I can sweep this room for bugs; I can't sweep it for ears.'

'Let's let that go, for now,' Hamilton suggested. 'What have you found out?'

Reluctantly, despite the security of the open field by the lake, Bongo continued, 'I did a recon of the castle—the one we're interested in—last night. It's pretty tightly sewn up. There's never less than forty guards on duty, on a one-in-three watch schedule. They're all well armed and apparently well disciplined. They're in layers, too. Some more high tech security also, sensors, lasers, CCTV . . . the kind of shit the Caliphate produces little of. They've got dogs . . . one of the furry bastards got my scent, too. I had a helluva time getting away unseen. Those guys will alert on anything. We're not getting in on the sly.'

'I know,' Hamilton agreed, 'which is why—'

'Like I said, no fucking way. We are not taking into our confidence a fucking janissary for Christ's Holy Sake! Better to kill the bastard.'

Hamilton looked up, intending to continue the argument, when he spotted a black-uniformed man leading a woman shrouded in a burka by the hand. The woman was not Petra; that much he could see by her walk. So he assumed . . .

'Why don't you kill him now?' Hamilton asked conversationally. 'Me, personally, I think he looks kind of tough. You're on your own.'

'Ibn Minden, Hans, Odabasi, Corps of Janissaries,' Hans introduced himself, with a polite bow of his head. 'And I understand I owe you a serious apology . . . which you have.'

Hans inclined that head toward Ling. 'She's told me everything—'

'Everything I know,' Ling corrected. 'Which may not be everything.'

Don't be a bitch, said the little voice.

In response, Ling nodded her head vigorously, half a dozen times.

Stop that!

For the first time since Hamilton had known him, Bongo laughed uproariously. Everyone, Ling included, looked at him strangely. That only made him laugh harder.

'I'm a chippie, too,' Bongo finally explained. 'She was punishing her control . . . weren't you, dear?'

'You never told me,' Hamilton said.

''Need to know,'' Bongo quoted. 'I needed to have the chip put in to control some of my voluntary and involuntary muscles after I was medically discharged. It's not pleasant to have.'

'I know your mission,' Hans said. 'And I will help. But I have conditions. You will be thinking of killing me now,' he added. 'This will not only be harder to do than you suspect, but my disappearance will alert the local forces. This you cannot afford.'

Bongo began to tense, as if for a killing fight, then just as suddenly relaxed. 'What conditions?' he asked.

'First, the children slaves in the lower castle must be freed and delivered to a safe place. You can do this.'

'We've no way to get them across Lake Constance,' Bongo objected.

'That is merely a detail to be worked out,' Hans said. 'Second, you must free my sister and get her out as well.'

'Done,' said Hamilton, drawing an angry look from Bongo.

'Third,' continued Hans, 'you must get Ling —'

'—I'm not allowed to leave, Hans,' Ling interjected.

'We'll talk about that later,' he insisted. 'For now I want these gentlemen to agree in principle.'

'I can agree in principle to anything,' Bongo said. 'Doesn't mean I can follow through.'

'Ling?' Hans asked.

She shut her eyes for a moment, then answered, in a voice that was not quite her own, 'His name is Bernard Matheson. Bronx, New York, American Empire. He is a veteran of the Imperial Army's Special Forces. He holds their Distinguished Service Cross for gallantry above and beyond the call of duty in the Fourth Colombian Pacification Campaign. Married three times. No current wife. No children. Entered Imperial Intelligence after being invalided out of— no, medically retired from—the Army as a result of wounds received in the action for which he received the Distinguished Service Cross. Terminal rank: Lieutenant Colonel. He's been working the Boer Republic for the last—'

'That's about enough!' said Bongo.

'Bongo, Caruthers never told me—' Hamilton began.

'Need to know,' Bongo repeated. 'Besides, did I never mention how fucking much I hate the nickname Bongo? Just because my friends call me that doesn't mean I like it.'

'I think you can follow through,' said Hans, which drew from Bongo a shrug.

Beside them, Ling shuddered, gasped and said, 'I hate being teleoperated.'

'I sympathize,' answered Bongo. 'Now give me a minute while I consult with higher.' He turned away and walked closer to the lake.

While Bongo was consulting, Hamilton asked Ling, 'How did your people know about him? I mean, me I can understand. I assumed my file was downloaded to you just as I was briefed on you. But him?'

If you answer, you will be punished.

She just shook her head. Hans, instead, answered, 'It should be pretty obvious they keep close tabs on you people. As obvious as that you are infiltrated.'

'I suppose. And it must be easier for them, with Chinese unremarkably common in our Empire, while whites in theirs are pretty rare.' Hamilton laughed. 'I wonder who isn't infiltrated.'

Ling said, 'The Swiss.'

'Yesss,' Hamilton agreed, slowly. 'The Swiss.'

'Ahhh,' said Hans. 'Indeed. The Swiss.'

All three looked generally southwestward, and said, almost together, 'The Swiss.'

'We agree,' Bongo said. 'But, there are a couple of things you should know. One is that the Empire will not provide any external assistance. They have asked the Swiss to allow the temporary basing of a single battalion of Rangers and that has been denied. They've asked for permission to base a single airship. That, too, has been denied. For reasons I'll explain later, we're not going to get any air support. No nuclear strike unless we fail . . . in which case the strike will be general in the hope of utterly destroying any trace of the virus or, failing that, to so disorganize the Caliphate that it cannot deliver the virus to our shores, allies, or possessions.'

'But I thought . . . I mean Caruthers said . . . '

'Baas,' and this time Bongo did let the contempt he felt for the title show through, 'the President has changed his mind. Rather, it seems the secretaries of Defense, State and Intelligence have gotten together and browbeaten him into changing his mind. To paraphrase, 'fuck the

Christians in the Caliphate and fuck England, too; we have to watch out for our own.''

'Oh, and folks . . . one other thing: The President said if we haven't solved his problem in two weeks he's launching anyway. The subs are already moving into position.'

'Holy shit,' said Hamilton.

'Nothing holy about it.'