March To The Stars

cross fires. That's what lower-level functionaries are for.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

The large meeting room was near the highest point of the entire High Temple complex, with a single broad balcony at one end that looked down and out over the city. A marginal amount of illumination came from there, but not much. The city was still shrouded in the darkness and ash from the ongoing, low-level eruption. The room was long and low (by Mardukan standards), stretching back in a series of low arches into absolute blackness, punctuated by dim lamps that barely penetrated the gloom.

The prince had forgone his helmet in the interests of diplomacy, and his hair—unbound due to the formal nature of the meeting—spilled down his back in a golden wave. In deference to his image, and the fact that the meeting, however formal, had been arranged suddenly and with no specific agenda, he wore his bead pistol and had his sword slung over his back. Formal was all well and good, but on Marduk, paranoia was a survival trait.

Roger's eyes had benefitted from as much genetic tinkering as the rest of him and managed to compensate for the dimness of the illumination as he entered the meeting chamber. He could pick out the guards, arrayed in two groups along the walls, almost as well as his Marine bodyguards with their helmet low-light systems. And he could also see the High Priest, standing and waiting to greet him at the far end, shrouded in shadow and flanked by Sor Teb. It seemed a fitting situation: dark places, inhabited by dark souls.

Roger stopped a measured ten paces from the priest and bowed. It had been determined that a certain amount of kowtowing was permissible, but the dose had to be properly balanced. Yes, he was a prince of a star- spanning empire. But the High Priest—they hoped—knew him only as 'Baron Chang.' And there was also the minor fact that he was fundamentally lacking in heavy backup.

The prelate, an extremely elderly Mardukan, certainly looked frail enough to justify the rumors of his impending demise. He beckoned his visitors forward, and Roger took a few more steps, followed by his own guards.

Ever since Marshad, whose ruler had taken advantage of a relatively small guard force to take the prince 'captive,' the rule of thumb had been that Roger never went anywhere 'threatening' with less than a dozen guards.

As the humans had become fewer and fewer in number, with more and more missions to perform, the native Mardukans had assumed a steadily growing degree of responsibility for guarding his safety. Thus, more than half the guard force detailed for this meeting consisted of Mardukan cavalry and infantry. The block of guards following the prince was a mixture of bead rifle-toting humans, breechloader-toting Diasprans, revolver-toting Vashin, the sumei –swathed Pedi, and the still mostly naked Cord and his immense spear. It made for a motley but dangerous crew.

Roger stopped and bowed again, making a two-armed gesture that corresponded more or less to the local one for respectful greeting.

'I am pleased to meet you, Your Voice. I am Seran Chang, Baron of Washinghome, of the Empire of Man, at your service.'

'I greet you, Baron Chang,' the priest responded in an age-quavery voice. 'May the God favor you. I speak as His Voice. It is time to speak of many things that have been long avoided.' The Mardukan stepped backward, with Sor Teb supporting him, and settled onto a low stool. 'Many things.'

'Such matters are generally discussed at a lower level, first,' Roger observed with a frown. 'Unless you refer to our petition to travel upriver?'

'Travel is for others to discuss,' the High Priest said with a cough. 'I speak of the needs of the God. The God is angry. He sends His Darkness upon us. He has spoken, and must be answered. Too long have the humans avoided Service to the Fire Lord. It is of this we must speak. I speak as His Voice.'

Roger tilted his head to the side and frowned again.

'Am I to understand that you are requiring a 'Servant of God' from among the humans of our party before we will be permitted to leave?'

'That is not our requirement,' Sor Teb answered for the High Priest with what, in a human, would have been an oily smile. 'It is the God's.'

'Pardon me,' Roger said, then turned to the side. 'Huddle time, people.'

His senior advisers closed in, and he looked at the cloth-swathed Pedi Karuse, who was practically jumping up and down.

'In a minute, Pedi. I know you don't think this is a good idea. Eleanora?'

'We don't know the parameters of being a Servant of God,' she said simply. 'I've tried to get some idea of the duties, but the locals are very reticent about it, and talking to Pedi has been circular. The duties are 'to Serve the God.' I don't know if that means as a glorified altar boy, as a drudge scrubbing stone floors, or what. You don't see any of the Servants in public at all, so I have no idea where they all go, much less what they all do.'

'So you're saying that we might actually go for this?' Kosutic hissed. 'I don't think that's a good idea. Not at all.'

'Look,' O'Casey said sharply, 'if being a servant means participating in some harmless rituals, and the alternative is trying to fight our way out of the city, which would you rather do?'

Kosutic glanced over at Pedi and shook her head.

'People don't fight like wildcats to avoid some 'harmless rituals.' So far, she hasn't said anything about cleaning. And I don't like any religion that doesn't perform its rituals out in the open. Call me old-fashioned, but the only decent place for a ritual is the open air. Anything else smacks of—'

'—Christianity?' O'Casey asked with an arched eyebrow. 'We can probably get some concessions on the nature of their duties. Then, after we retake the spaceport, we'll come back and negotiate some more. With some real firepower behind us.'

Despite the tension of the moment, Roger almost smiled. His chief of staff might not have become quite as bloodthirsty as Despreaux thought he was becoming, but she certainly had become a convert to the notion of peace through superior firepower.

'You're saying that whether or not we should agree depends on the duties, then?' he asked her after a moment, and cocked an eyebrow of his own at Kosutic.

'Okay, okay,' the sergeant major said. 'If they're treated well, we could leave a volunteer behind. Somebody will be willing.'

'I will,' Despreaux said. 'If it's ringing some bells and pouring some water versus fighting our way out of the city, well, just hand me the goddamned bells!'

'You're not under consideration,' Roger said crisply.

'Why not?' Despreaux asked angrily. 'Because I'm a guuuurl?'

'No.' Roger's tone was curt. 'Because you're my fiancee. And because everybody knows you are, and that puts you in a special category. Get over it.'

'He's right,' Kosutic said before Despreaux could swell with outrage. 'And you do need to get over it, Sergeant Despreaux. Technically, we should be guarding you. If we were back on Earth, you'd have a ring around you twenty-four/seven. Since we don't have the manpower, you don't. But you are not'just another troop' anymore.' The sergeant major shook her head. 'Probably me or Gunny Lai would be the best choice—both 'guuuurls,' you might note.'

Roger chuckled at Despreaux's expression, then again, harder, as he looked at the group around him. Of the humans, better than half of his guards and advisers were females.

'I hadn't noticed until just now, but this does seem to be an episode of Warrior Amazons of Marduk.'

'Smile when you say that, Your Highness,' Despreaux said. But at least she smiled when she said it.

'I am smiling,' Roger replied, making a face. 'Okay, if the duties aren't too