jewelry free, the runner broke the emperor’s arm over his knee. The wrinkled brown-gray hand came off at the wrist. The runner tossed the rest away and was in the process of shoving what remained palm down in his pocket, when the pyramid began to fall apart.
Viewed from atop Kufu’s blood-drenched tower, where the king was licking his wounds in the wake of the disastrous battle with Tepho, the now-grounded pyramid was a sight to see as beams of bright light shot up into the sky, all four of the triangle-shaped sides collapsed onto the ground, clouds of dust and sand exploded into the air, and a globular burial chamber was revealed. Then, before anyone could properly assess what was taking place, the globe split into six segments, they fell away from each other, and a pair of badly shaken tomb raiders were revealed. The rest of the fl?oating pyramids, seemingly unaware of what had occurred, continued on their way.
Kufu was so shocked that he simply sat and stared for a moment before bringing a powerful monocular up to his eye and peering out into the quickly gathering twilight. Once he saw the two fi?gures, and realized who they were, a quick fl?urry of orders followed. “Send the wings! Send the chariots! Bring the man and woman to me!”
Meanwhile, deep within the subterranean city of Kahoun, the AI known as One-Two felt the ground shake, wondered what was taking place, and processed a sense of anticipation. Something, the computer didn’t know what, was going to happen.
The sun was little more than an orange-red smear along the western horizon by the time Shaz made his way across the body-strewn battlefi?eld and back to the relative safety of the much-enhanced “blue sector,” where Tepho sat triumphant within the comfort of his huge tent. The chairman of the Techno Society had changed during the last eight hours, something that was apparent to the combat variant the moment he was shown into the shelter and saw the way the technologist sat slouched next his raptor. It had been hot within the machine’s cockpit, very hot, and the sweat marks were still visible on Tepho’s clothes. Not only that, but, judging from the way that the entire right side of the raptor had been scorched, both man and machine had been through close combat. Been through it and survived, which was why there was something new in the technologist’s eyes. A confi?dence and pride that Shaz had never seen there before. “Congratulations on your victory,” the combat variant said evenly. “I had to cross the battlefi?eld in order to get here. Your enemies are still collecting their dead.”
Tepho searched his subordinate’s face for the slightest sign of insincerity, was unable to fi?nd any, and felt an unexpected sense of warmth suffuse his crippled body. Because if Shaz respected what he’d been able to accomplish, then it was real and couldn’t be taken away from him. So, even though the technologist would normally be furious regarding the combat variant’s apparent failure to retrieve Logos, Tepho found himself in a forgiving mood. “Thank you, Shaz. . . . We taught them a lesson they won’t forget! Kufu was successful in one regard, however . . . Did you see the emperor’s tomb? The bastard brought it down! We took a lot of territory but couldn’t capture it. Still, the initial reports from our wings seem to suggest that there wasn’t anything valuable inside. Not unless you like mummies that is!”
The joke was a poor one but a sure sign of what kind of mood the administrator was in. The combat variant’s laugh had a harsh, barking quality. “No, I didn’t see the pyramid, but that would explain the lights I saw to the south. Kufu and his people must be very disappointed.”
“I certainly hope so!” Tepho said cheerfully. “But enough of that. . . . You were on an adventure of your own. How did that go?”
Tepho clearly believed that the mission had been a failure, but being in a good mood, was prepared to accept a negative report. But Shaz had a surprise for him, a rather pleasant surprise, which made the moment all the more enjoyable. Slowly, so that the other man could appreciate the implications of what he was doing, the variant worked his way out of the now bloodstained jacket. Though slightly damaged, the raptor was on-line, which meant that servos whined and energy weapons tracked Shaz as he took six paces forward and laid the garment across Tepho’s lap. “I’m happy to report that the mission was a success. Chairman Tepho—I give you Logos.”
Even though the technologist knew that the fabled AI was housed in a mutable piece of clothing, his expectations had been low, and it wasn’t until the combat variant began to remove the nondescript jacket, that the truth suddenly became clear. Slowly, and with some diffi?culty, the technologist stood. Then, having slipped his arms into the computer’s sleeves, he allowed the fabric to settle over his misshapen body. The jacket was too big at fi?rst, but that changed as Logos made some adjustments. “My God,” Tepho said breathlessly, “it’s real!”
“Of course I’m real,” the AI responded waspishly. “And so is Socket. I suggest that we leave immediately.”
Tepho decided that the voice, which seemed to originate from behind his neck, would take some getting used to. As would the AI’s rather acerbic personality. “We’ll leave when I’m ready,” Tepho said fi?rmly. “Besides, what’s the hurry?
Socket has been on hold for more than a thousand years. A few more days won’t make any difference.”
Logos wanted to say that a few more days could make a difference, especially if Rebo and Norr managed to get their hands on One-Two, but didn’t want his new biologicals to learn the truth about Sogol. Because once they knew about the other AI, they would inevitably want to possess her as well, a possibility that wasn’t likely to help Logos obtain what he wanted. “Yes, well, what you say is true,” the AI allowed carefully. “But the sooner the better.”
“Of course,” Tepho replied soothingly, as he glanced at the raptor. “But we’ll need to be ready for anything . . . which means I have some packing to do.”
That was when Shaz realized that if Tepho had been reliant on the raptor before, he was even more so now, having bonded with the machine during combat. Which meant the raptor would have to be disassembled and rebuilt each time they made a jump. Not that it mattered because the technologist was correct. Socket had been waiting for a thousand years. A few days, a week, even a month wouldn’t make much difference now.
The combat variant was about to leave when Tepho stopped him. “Shaz . . .”
“Yes?”
“You did a good job. Thank you.”
The variant delivered an abbreviated bow, shimmered, and disappeared.
A crack of blue-pink light ran the length of the eastern horizon as Norr bent to light the bottom of the funeral pyre. The sensitive was rewarded with a loud crackling sound as fl?ames found their way up through the dry fuel. The pile of wood had been stacked on top of a dune, about half a mile east of Kufu’s encampment, and constituted but one of more than fi?ve hundred such fi?res that presently dotted the desert. Urgent fi?res, that were required to cleanse the battlefi?eld before the sun could rise and turn the entire area into a sea of corruption.
But this fi?re was special because it was Bo Hoggles who lay on top of the pyre, his huge war hammer at his side. Rebo stepped forward to place a comforting arm around Norr’s shoulders, only to discover that the sensitive
