Destiny's shield

And say my glory was I had such friends.'

'Yes,' whispered Belisarius. 'Yes.'

It's from a poet whose name will be Yeats. Many centuries from now.

Belisarius took a deep breath.

Let us give mankind those centuries, then. And all the millions of centuries which will come after.

Chapter 36

In its pavilion, at the very moment when Belisarius made that silent vow, the thing from the future which called itself Link made its catastrophic mistake.

It had calculated the possibilities. Analyzed the odds. Gauged the options. Most of all, it had assessed the capabilities of the enemy commander so accurately, and so correctly, and in so many ways, that Belisarius would have been stunned had he ever known how well he had been measured.

Measured, however, only as a general-for that was all that Link understood. The being from the future, with its superhuman intelligence, had burrowed to the depths of the crooked mind of Belisarius. Down to the very tips of the roots.

And had missed the man completely.

'Ormazd has agreed, then?'

Link's top subordinates, four officers squatting on cushions before the chair which held the shape of an old woman, nodded in unison.

'Yes, Great Lady Holi,' said one. 'He will pull his troops out of position three hours after sundown.'

Link pondered, gauged, calculated, analyzed.

Assessed the crooked, cunning brain of the great General Belisarius.

From long experience, the four officers sat silently throughout. It never occurred to them to offer any advice. The advice would not have been welcome. And, if Link had none of the explosive temper of the late Lord Jivita, the being was utterly merciless. The officers weren't especially afraid of the huge tulwar-bearing men who squatted between them and Great Lady Holi. Those were simply guards. But they had only to turn their heads to see the line of silent assassins who waited, as motionless as statues, in the rear of the pavilion. Link-Great Lady Holi-had used those assassins three times since the expedition began. To punish failure, twice. But there had also been an officer who couldn't learn to restrain his counsel.

Finally, Link spoke.

'There is a possibility. It is not likely. Were the enemy led by any other commander I would dismiss it out of hand. But I cannot. Not with Belisarius.'

Silence followed again, for well over a minute. The Malwa officers did not ask for an explanation of those cryptic words. None would have been given if they had.

Gauged, analyzed, assessed. Made its decision.

'Send the Kushans first. All of them. On foot.'

The officers were visibly startled, now. After a moment, one of them ventured to ask:

'On foot?'

Silence. The officer cleared his throat.

'But-Great Lady Holi, it is essential that the maneuver be made with great speed. Belisarius will realize what we are doing by sunrise at the latest. Quite possibly earlier. It is almost impossible-even with the harshest orders- to keep such a large body of men from making some noise. And we have no control over the Persians, in any event.'

Another interjected, 'We must get the flanking column upriver as fast as possible. So that they can ford the Euphrates before Belisarius can block their way. That requires cavalry, Great Lady Holi.'

'Be silent. I understand your argument. But there is a possibility, if Belisarius is cunning enough. I cannot take the chance. The Ye-tai, after they cross, can race upriver to seize a bridgehead. The regular cavalry, following, can bring the Kushans' horses with them. They should still be able to reach the Ye-tai in time to hold the crossing.'

The officers submitted, of course. But one of them, bolder than the rest, made a last protest:

'It will take the Kushans so much time, if they cross the river on foot.'

'That is precisely the point.'

'Now, do as I command.'

All opposition fled. The officers hastened from the pavilion, spreading the command throughout the great army encamped below the dam.

Alone in its pavilion, Link continued to calculate. Gauge. Analyze.

Its thoughts were confident. Link was guided not simply by its own incredible intellect, but also by intelligence-in the military sense of the term. Roman prisoners had been taken, here and there, in the days of fighting. Interrogated. Those of them with personal knowledge of Belisarius had been questioned under torture, until Link was satisfied that it had squeezed every last item necessary to fully assess the capabilities of its enemy.

It would have done better, had it been in Link's power, to have interrogated a Persian survivor of the battle of Mindouos. The man named Baresmanas.

But, perhaps not. Link would not have asked the right questions. And Baresmanas would certainly not have volunteered the information, not even under the knife.

But he could have. He could have. He could have warned the Malwa superbeing that mercy can have its own sharp point. Keener than any lance or blade; and even deadlier to the foe.

Chapter 37

'Finally,' hissed Belisarius.

The general was practically dancing with impatience, waiting for his horse to be brought up to the artillery tower where he had made his headquarters for the past week.

He was already in full armor. He had begun donning the gear the moment he heard the first katyusha volleys. As he had predicted, the Malwa were attempting to cross the Nehar Malka on a pontoon bridge. He was convinced that the maneuver was a feint, but, like all well-executed diversions, it carried real substance behind it. Thousands of Malwa troops were involved in the crossing, supported by most of their rocket troughs. By now, an hour into the battle, the scene to the east was a flashing cacophony. Katyusha rockets crossed trails with Malwa missiles. The Syrian soldiers on the rockpile added their own volleys of fire-arrows, aimed at the boats on the canal. The Nehar Malka was lit up by those flaming ships.

In the darkness ahead, he could make out the looming shape of his horse. Maurice, he realized, was the man holding it.

'How long ago?' were his first words.

He could barely make out Maurice's shrug.

'Who's to know? The Persians are being damned quiet. Much quieter than I would have expected, from a lot of headstrong dehgans. But Abbu's scouts report that they've already moved out at least half of their forces. Due west, into the desert.'

Sourly: 'Just as you predicted.'

Belisarius nodded. 'We've some time, then. Is Abbu-'

Maurice snorted. 'Be serious! Of course he's in pos-ition. The old Arab goat's even twitchier than you are.'

As Anastasius heaved him into the saddle, Belisarius grunted. 'I am not twitchy.