Zeum was only fifty yards away. The hoplites with him appeared to be armed only with spears, but it was hardly the moment to take chances. Reave drew one of his pistols.
'I think it's time to put the brakes on this.'
He held up a hand and called out to Zeum. 'That's quite far enough.'
Zeum ignored him. Reave drew his pistol, took quick aim, and sprayed the road surface a few paces in front of the general. Zeum and his men stopped dead.
Reave yelled again. 'Do you hear me, General Zeum?'
'I hear you.'
'If you have something you want to discuss with us, you'll have to come up here on your own.'
Zeum turned for a hurried discussion with his aides. Then he started walking alone toward the plaza in front of the pyramid. Even in the face of what had to be considerable stress, he still maintained his confident military stride.
Billy shook his head in wonder. 'Is he terminally stupid, or what?'
The general started up the steps to the plaza. Reave stopped him halfway up with a gesture of his pistol.
'You can say your piece from there.'
'You must be aware of the current situation.'
Reave nodded. 'We heard Baptiste's ultimatum.'
'All rules of toleration are suspended. We have to ask you to surrender the metaphysicians to our custody.'
'Baptiste will never keep his word.'
'We intend to preserve the city by any means open to us.'
The Minstrel Boy stepped into the conversation. 'It seems to me that you're between a rock and a hard place, General Zeum. Don't get me wrong, though. I'm not saying that we're the hard place. Although we're not about to hand over the metaphysicians, it's hardly up to us. They sealed themselves in the pyramid, and they don't show any sign of coming out.'
For the very first time Zeum's confidence deserted him. He had lived all his life and spent all his career operating according to a tailored fantasy. He had no patterns or guidelines with which to handle brutal, ragged reality. 'What can we do? Baptiste intends to destroy the city.'
Reave regarded the general with open contempt. 'There's nothing you can do. It's too late. About the only thing you could try would be to ask Baptiste for more time.'
Zeum looked at him with an almost childlike hope that someone would make it all right, after all. 'You think he might allow that?'
Reave closed his eyes. He could not stand looking at that idiot any longer. 'I don't think you've got a prayer.'
Zeum's temper suddenly exploded. Once again it was an infantile regression, a temper tantrum. 'I'll get weapons from Baptiste. First I'll deal with you, and then I'll get those damned metaphysicians out of there, even if I have to burn them out.'
Reave's patience was at an end. 'Yeah, sure. Do what you like.'
Zeum squared his shoulders and marched away.
Reave turned and stared at the blank surface of the pyramid with its black scar from the air attack. 'I don't know if you can hear us, Showcross Gee, but you better let us in there pretty goddamn soon. It's going to start coining unglued out here in a matter of minutes.'
Billy was looking in the opposite direction, across the city and beyond the gates, where Baptiste and his men were waiting out the ultimatum.
'There's something I'd really like to have explained to me,' he said.
'What's that?'
'What exactly does Baptiste have against the metaphysicians? I mean, how did all this get started?'
Reave looked at him in surprise. 'You mean you don't know?'
'How the hell should I know? I was never one of his boys.'
Reave shrugged. 'It's easy. He was one of them.'
'He was what?'
'He was one of them. He was a metaphysician once upon a time.'
Billy blinked. 'That lunatic?'
'They cut him off, drummed him out of the order.'
'Because he was crazy?'
'It was more specific than that. He was doing this series of experiments that involved tapping directly into the brain patterns of live humans. Rumors started going around about massive death tolls and how Baptiste was having hundreds of duplicates beamed in from Stuff Central. The College of Metaphysicians investigated, and they found that he had hundreds of human duplicates wired up to these kind of storage devices. He was literally draining off their life forces like some kind of high-tech vampire. The college outlawed the practice and expelled Baptiste in disgrace. He was lucky to escape with his life. It was only the fact that the College of Metaphysicians had never granted itself capital powers over its members that saved him from execution. Needless to say, Baptiste didn't see it that way. He swore that he'd get his revenge, and he's been doing exactly that ever since. I imagine he sees this as his crowning moment.'
Billy sighed. 'And we're right in the middle of it.'
Reave nodded. 'Ain't that the story of our lives?'
'Ain't it just.'
Baptiste's deadline came and went, and to everyone's surprise, absolutely nothing happened. The Minstrel Boy was deeply suspicious.
'You don't think Baptiste gave them more time, do you?'
'It hardly seems possible.'
'Some kind of deal's been done.'
Reave turned to Billy and nodded at the multiplex. 'How much juice you got left in that thing?'
Billy pulled a wry face. 'Running on dry. Two smartbombs, half a clip of spreaders; after that it's down to particle and focused heat until the power base runs down. Why? Are you thinking of making a fight of it?'
'I'm still hoping that pyramid will open up and let us in.'
'It ain't done it yet.'
The Minstrel Boy noticed something at the other end of the boulevard. 'Now, what in hell is this?'
A single rider had come out from one of the gate towers and was racing hell for leather for the pyramid.
'That's Zeum's horse.'
'That'sRenatta.'
'Huh?'
'I guess we'll find out.'
Renatta did not slacken her pace as she reached the steps that: led up to the plaza, and the charger almost stumbled. At the top of the steps she swung down from the saddle, gasping for breath.
'You know what. . those assholes. . have done?'
The Minstrel Boy grabbed her and hugged her with open admiration. 'You stole Zeum's fucking horse!'
'Never mind that. The beloved Master just gave the city to Baptiste.'
'He really doesn't have any choice.'
Renatta shook her head. 'No, no, you don't understand He's about to open the gates, and he wants the whole city to pledge loyalty to Baptiste. They're running on high-test panic, trying to save their skins at any price. The beloved Master is going to make an announcement. The raiders will come in unopposed and take the metaphysicians out of the pyramid. I came to warn you. We have to get inside the pyramid right now and hope that Showcross Gee has this mysterious escape route on-line.'
Reave gestured to the sealed entrance. 'There's a slight problem about that.'
Renatta's face fell. 'Oh, shit.'
There was a loud electronic crackle from speakers all over the city. Renatta gripped the Minstrel Boy's arm. 'Listen, listen, the little bastard is going to make the announcement.'
