Destiny's shield

commander will have authority over the final implementation of the complete plan.'

Belisarius began to shrug, but stopped the gesture before it started. This matter could not be shrugged off. It had to be faced squarely.

'There is no other way, sahrdaran. In order for it to work, my plan requires complete security- especially the final part. You know as well as I do that Persian forces, by now, will have been penetrated by Malwa agents.'

'And yours haven't?' snapped Baresmanas.

'It is not likely. Not the troops who will be playing the key role, at least. Keep in mind that the Malwa spy network has been active in Persia longer than it was in Rome-and that we smashed the center of that network half a year ago.'

Baresmanas scowled. 'That's another thing I don't like! Your scheme presupposes treachery on the part of Aryans!'

Belisarius said nothing. He simply gave the sahrdaran his own fish-eyed look.

After a moment, Baresmanas sighed. He even chuckled.

'I admit, I think your assessment is accurate. Much as I hate to admit it.'

Belisarius chuckled himself. 'Don't be so downcast about it. Treachery is probably more of a Roman than an Aryan vice. It's not as if we didn't find our own highest circles riddled with traitors, after all. At least Emperor Khusrau still has his eyes, which is more than Justinian can say.'

'Very good eyes,' grunted Baresmanas. The sahrdaran straightened in his chair.

'The matter must be put before the Emperor himself, Belisarius. Only he can make this decision. I cannot possibly make it in his stead.'

'I do not expect you to,' came the immediate response. 'I know full well that only Khusrau Anushirvan has that authority. But he will ask you what you think. And the question boils down to this: Can we trust this man Belisarius?'

The two men in the tent stared at each other.

'I will give my oath, of course,' added Belisarius.

For the last time that day, Baresmanas waved the matter aside.

'An oath is only as good as the man who gives it. Your oath will not be necessary.'

Suddenly, Baresmanas laughed. 'It occurs to me that Valentinian will be most gratified! His job just got much easier!'

Belisarius' brows knit with puzzlement.

'But it's obvious! Khusrau will only agree if he decides that the man Belisarius can be trusted. He will certainly not put his trust in any Roman general.'

Still frowning. Again, the sahdaran laughed.

'So blind! It's so obvious! You will have to promise the Emperor that you will be alive-when the time comes to give the final order.'

Belisarius' eyes widened.

'Oh, yes,' murmured Baresmanas. 'Your days of leading cavalry charges are over, my friend. For quite some time.'

'I hadn't thought of that,' admitted the general.

Aide spoke in his mind:

I did. Then, with great satisfaction:

And Valentinian isn't the only one who will be most gratified. So will I.

So will I. Very much.

Upon his return to Peroz-Shapur, Belisarius sent couriers into the city, summoning his top commanders to a conference. It took several hours for all of those men to be tracked down. Many-most-were found in the obvious locales. Dens of iniquity, so to speak. Two or three were nabbed in more reputable spots. And one-the last to be found-in a very odd sort of place. For a man of his type.

'Sorry I'm late,' said Agathius, as he came into the command tent. Looking around, he winced a bit. He was the last one to enter.

'No matter, chiliarch,' said Belisarius pleasantly. 'I realize this meeting was called with no warning. Please- take a chair.'

As he waited for the commander of the Constantinople troopers to settle in, Belisarius found himself a bit puzzled by the man's behavior-and by those of his subordinates, for that matter. Agathius seemed distracted, as if his mind were elsewhere. That was quite unlike the man. Agathius was only twenty-eight years old, which was quite young for a soldier risen from the ranks to have become a hecatontarch, much less a chiliarch. Yet, despite the man's youth and his outward appearance as a muscular bruiser, Belisarius had found Agathius to be not only intelligent but possessed of an almost ferocious capacity for concentration.

Odd, that air of distraction, mused Belisarius. And why are his subordinates giving him such peculiar sidelong glances? You'd almost think they were smirking.

He pushed the matter out of his mind. To business.

In the three hours which followed, Belisarius presented his commanders with two matters for their consideration.

The first-which took up two of those hours-was an outline of the stratagem he was developing for using the Nehar Malka in their next campaign against the Malwa. Many aspects of his plans he left unspoken-partly, for security reasons, partly, because they were still half-formed. But he said enough to allow the commanders to join in a discussion of the allotment of Roman troops to the different tasks involved.

Interestingly enough, he noted, Agathius' distraction seemed to vanish during that discussion. Indeed, the Greek chiliarch played a leading role in it.

'It's essential that Abbu remain behind,' insisted Agathius, '-with most of his skirmishers-'

The Constantinople man beat down the protests coming from other commanders.

'Quit whining!' he snapped. 'The rest of us are just going on a march to Babylon, by way of Ctesiphon. Right in the heart of Persian territory, for the sake of God! We already crushed the only Malwa raiding force anybody knows of-so what do we need scouts for?'

He jabbed a thumb at Basil, then nodded toward the Syrian infantry leaders.

'Whereas these boys are going to be left alone up here. With two thousand Kushans to keep an eye on, and the desert not ten miles away. They'll be sitting ducks, if the Lakhmids come on them unawares.'

Belisarius sat back, more than satisfied to let the Greek handle the problem.

Having squelched that little protest, Agathius rolled over the next.

'And as for this crap about the Callinicum garrison'-here he glowered at his own Con-stantinople subordinates, who had been the most vocal in their protests-'I don't want to hear it! They did well enough- damn well, all things considered-in the fight at the villa. Sure, they're not up to the standards of the Syrian lads-not yet, anyway-but that's all the more reason not to leave them behind. The katyusha-men and the Syrians have got enough on their plate already, without having to train inexperienced men in the kind of heavy engineering work they'll be doing.'

Another glare. 'So they're coming with us, just as the general proposed. And there'll be no grousing about it.'

The other Greeks in the tent-who had been doing most of the grousing about 'Callinicum crybabies'-lowered their heads. It was all Belisarius could do to keep from grinning. He already knew that Agathius had the easy, relaxed confidence of his subordinates. Now, when needed, the man had shown that he could also break them to his will.

So much met with Belisarius' silent approval. The next, with his admiration.

Agathius' hard eyes left the Greeks, and settled on Celsus, the commander of the Callinicum garrison troops. Celsus was sitting, hunched, on a stool in a corner of the tent. He was a small man, rather elderly for a soldier, and diffident by nature. As usual during command conferences, he had been silent throughout the entire discussion. A silence which had grown purely abject as the qualities of his men had been subjected to the beratement of other, younger, more assertive, more confident-and certainly louder-officers.

Agathius gave the man a little nod, lingering over the gesture just long enough to make his approval clear to