Piers Anthony: Steppe

He tested the new sword and found it identical to the original. It was not a defective weapon in any way that he could tell.

Interesting. He marked it with another Uigur-script identification so that he could differentiate it from the first. He would keep this little riddle in mind—and watch his weapons more carefully hereafter.

At night—ten o'clock in the new hour scale, the month of December in the Christian calendar—Uga summoned Alp to a private conference. That meant another person-to-person meeting, not a picture-screen interview. That also made it easier for Alp to relate, for he did not fully trust these magical communicators.

Uga was alone. "Are the facilities satisfactory?" he inquired.

Obviously he knew. Why had he taken Alp's sword? "Yes."

"Are you aware that I am not in special favor with the Khagan?"

"What intelligent Uigur is ?"

"A clever rejoinder," Uga said dryly. "But simple answers suffice. Because I am out of favor, I am assigned few worthy players from above. I must raid recruits instead. That is a disadvantage, for there can be resentment."

Alp nodded.

"The Khagan himself is not in special favor with the T'ang emperor of China, despite all the Chinese protestations to the contrary. It is in my mind that there may be significant changes soon, and I should prefer to place myself advantageously, if you understand."

Alp merely nodded again.

"Does your ability to foresee history cover this aspect?"

"In part," Alp said. "When the Khagan dies your position in the Uigur hierarchy will be enhanced. But the Uigur empire will then be no more than a kingdom."

"All very well," Uga said. "But that will be a decade in the proving. I require more immediate information."

"I shall answer all questions as directly as I can."

"I don't want shamans' riddles!"

"Who does?" Alp answered, and that was so like the way of the shaman that they both had to laugh.

"Let's try just a Day or two ahead. I have a number of nobles in my service. Can you predict how each will act?"

This was difficult, for Alp had had little direct association with Uga's group in life and did not know all his nobles. Also, the news desired was eight to ten years old: a stiff test of memory, when so much had happened since. Finally, he had no assurance that the actions of minor characters in the Game would be identical to those of history; the Game was only a Machine-governed reconstruction, subject to many minor distortions.

"I am not sure. Some I should know."

"Intriguing limits to your powers," Uga remarked, not intrigued.

"I am better on general events. There are so many people."

"Consider Qutli."

Alp shook his head. This was just like the Game Machine's interrogation! "I know no noble of that name."

"Bilgo."

"Him I recognize. He was executed in—why, you killed him!"

"By no means," Uga said. "He is alive and well, a most important member of my retinue."

"Not for long! He plots against you, unsuccessfully. Perhaps you have not yet discovered this—but you will."

"You charge him with treason?"

Alp considered how to put it. "You asked me what I knew about certain men. The first you named is a blank, but if this Bilgo is the same one I remember—"

"Try Pei-li."

Alp pondered. "Him too I recognize. A formidable and loyal warrior and scholar. He will give you excellent service for many years."

"Now me."

"You?" Alp was surprised. "I do know your future, to a certain extent. But how could you believe—?"

"Where do you see me next year?"

Alp thought, putting together the events of the past, when he was a growing lad. Where had the real Uga been? "You will travel to China in 842 and not return for a year. The Khagan sends you on a mission to call on the T'ang emperor, who does not receive you kindly. There is some fighting, and after that you hate the Chinese implacably."

"I do not hate the Chinese," Uga objected.

"You will, two Days from now. I think the Khagan conspired with the Emperor to betray you, making it seem an accident. But I am not sure. Politics are devious."

Uga sat silent for several minutes—a very long time, in terms of the Game. His eyes focused absently on Alp's sheathed sword. That sword...

"I have told you the truth as I know it," Alp said at last, fearing that he had in some way offended the man. "The truth is seldom kind."

"Kinder than lies," Uga said. "Now I shall tell you some truth. There is no Qutli; I made up that name to trap you. Had you given a fortune for him I would have deemed you a charlatan. Bilgo is indeed plotting treason; I learned of it recently but have allowed him to continue until I am able to determine all his accomplices. I shall surely execute him soon—and I have told no one of my intent. Not even Bilgo knows that I know—and if you were with him, you would not have exposed him as you have. Pei-li I trust implicitly; he and I were boys together in life, and he has saved my life in past parts in the Game. He keeps my records, as he is literate. As for my journey to China—I have no orders yet. We shall wait upon it. And you are either a very shrewd guesser, or—"

"It's memory, not guessing," Alp said. "But memory is still imperfect, and I can make mistakes."

"Yes. So when the Khagan sends me to China, you will accompany me."

A sensible precaution! "As you wish. But you should know: even if my memory is accurate, my information may not conform precisely to the actions of the Game."

"Because your smuggled history text may differ from the program of the Game," Uga said. "That I well understand. My interest is merely in verifying that you are in fact a scholar of Steppe history, and not a spy from the Khagan's court."

Apt suspicion, and plausible enough so that Uga would not need to search further for the truth. "I could be both," Alp pointed out.

"Or neither. But there will come opportunities to separate your motives and your knowledge from those of the Khagan—whom, naturally, I serve loyally until his demise ten Days hence. Meanwhile we shall take you on faith. Limited faith, but it can grow."

"Fair enough," Alp agreed.

Dismissed, he left Uga's ger . Alp had now been in the Game several Hours, and nature had further call upon him. He walked out onto the sand, seeking a suitable spot—but a guard challenged him.

Among true Uigurs there never would have been any confusion. But Alp realized suddenly that these imitation nomads would not understand. They were not accustomed to using the sand, his new memory said. They had facilities within their tents.

All right. He turned back.

He found the place in his tent. It was a kind of chair with a hole in the top. He had heard of this type of thing; the Chinese and others used similar devices on occasion. There would be a bucket that had to be emptied periodically...

He looked. There was no bucket. Instead there was the shimmer of running water.

Running water! Alp recoiled in shock. It was forbidden to urinate into running water! No man fouled the precious fluid that all men had to drink!

Yet it was so: these Galactics were less than men, and this was the proof. They never buried their dung decently in sand but made a point of dropping it obscenely into this channel of running water. It was then carried down into a grinding unit that prepared the substance for "recycling"...

Alp left his tent hurriedly, circumvented the guard, and upheld the standard of personal hygiene he had been raised with. There were, after all, limits.

Chapter 7

MISSION

At two a.m.—February, 842—the Khagan's directive came. Within minutes Uga's small party of warriors took off for the arduous journey to China. Women, servants and tents were left behind; this was business. The blast of the jets melted long furrows in the winter snow as the horses galloped into the sky. The tiny camp was lost to sight at once, and in a moment the entire planet disappeared. These were light-speed steeds! Uga went, and Alp, and Pei-li, and a picked body of fifteen hard riders. Uga's mission was to negotiate with the Emperor for the hand of a T'ang princess in marriage—to the Khagan. It was dubious business, as the Chinese were extremely jealous of their princesses, especially where nomads were concerned... More especially when Uigur power was fading. In fact, historically the mission had been unsuccessful—as Alp had informed Uga.