“Where have they all gone, I wonder,” had said Lyssa.
“Probably south to join the Mahdists,” Arik had replied.
And they had ridden on.
The course of the Nile had gradually turned northerly, swinging from west to west-northwest, and now due northwest they rode.
“Devil’s teeth, but I’ll be glad to get off of this horse,” said Ky.
Trendel nodded. “I’ll take a mint julep and a good deck-chair on a riverboat anytime.”
“Why, suh,” drawled Rith, “I thought you’d be at the tables.”
Trendle’s eyes widened in revelation. “I say, that isn’t a bad idea. Given my talent, I could earn us enough money at a gentlemen’s club to easily pay for an expedition north. I wonder why we haven’t thought of this before.”
Arik grunted and said, “The same thought occurred to me.”
Trendel frowned. “You wondered why I didn’t use my talent to gamble? Not that it would be gambling at all.”
“No,” said Arik. “That’s not what I meant. Instead, I wondered why we didn’t use our talents back at Necropolis when the Mahdists attacked us.”
“I think we really didn’t appreciate our talents until just recently,” said Kane.
“But it seems I’ve always known about them,” said Ky.
“On Itheria, I think,” said Arik. “But on Malagar, in spite of the fact that we’ve always seemed to have had them, I think we must have come late to our gifts, just like here on Earth. Else we would have used them before now.”
“Then what the hell is going on?” asked Kane.
“Arda, eh? Well, He’s another mystery,” said Trendel.
Suddenly, Arik threw up a hand—“Whoa”—and halted his horse as they topped a rise.
The others reined to a stop, for just now seen in the distance ahead were hundreds of campfires lighting up the night.
They dismounted and fed each of the horses a handful of grain. Then led the animals down to the river and let them drink. And they refilled their canteens and water bags, for they knew not what they might shortly face.
Finally, Lyssa returned.
“Mahdists,” spat Kane.
“Now we know where the men of the villages went,” said Rith. “They came here to block our way.”
“What?” asked Ky.
“Actually,” said Rith, “I think they’re probably forming up to conquer Egypt.”
“That means taking Cairo,” said Trendel.
Arik nodded and looked at Lyssa. “How many?”
“And how far to the east and west do they spread?” asked Arik.
“Probably some big fat leader of theirs,” said Trendel. “Maybe Mahdi Muhammad Ahmad himself.”
“It would be nice to kill the bastard,” said Kane.
Arik frowned and said, “Yes, it would be. But I think there are too many for us to take on.” He looked at Lyssa and asked, “Is there ought else?”
Trendel frowned, as if trying to recall something, but it slipped away.
Arik said, “The six of us can move faster than an army of a thousand. Let us circle wide to the west and pass them by. We’ll alert the first British contingent we come to, or the Egyptian Army for that matter.”
Arik glanced at the others, and they nodded in agreement.
And so, west they rode, out into the sands of the desert, to circle in a long arc and ’round the Mahdist army. They varied their pace to conserve the horses, and stopped often to water and feed them. And the night passed and dawn came and Lyssa vanished, but the five tomb raiders rode on.
Finally, in the noontide they fared into a grove down by the river, where they unsaddled and curried the animals and fell into an uneasy sleep.
In the midst of the second watch, Trendel awakened Arik, saying, “Hsst, a force of Arabs.” He pointed, and galloping past on the slope high above, perhaps two-hundred camels raced by. Trendel went on to waken Rith and Kane and Ky, and they all lay low as the Arabs rode on to vanish beyond the next rise.
“Going to join the army, I imagine,” said Arik.
“Do we ride on?” asked Rith.
“I think we and the horses could do with more rest,” said Kane.
Arik pulled out his pocket watch and clicked it open, then snapped it shut and said, “At five we will have been here five hours and resting for just over four. I think that would be a good time to saddle up and leave.”
They lay down once more in the shade of the grove, all but the one on watch, but none whatsoever got any sleep.
Finally, at about four-thirty, they gave up and made ready to leave.
As they fastened on their supplies of grain to the last packhorse, Trendel said, “Oh, Victoria’s dead Albert.” He pointed back in the direction of the army and said, “Here come Mahdists.”
Perhaps a half mile away, Arabs on camels topped the far crest, and more came in their wake, and some seemed headed for the grove.
“Dretch!” cursed Kane.
“I think it’s the vanguard of the army,” said Arik. “Let’s ride.”
They passed through the grove for as far as it reached, but broke into the clear at last, and moments later from arear came distant shouts of discovery.
They spurred their horses into a gallop, and rode up the slope to where the ground was firmer, and across the hard sand they hammered.
Behind them came faint cries of “Yallah! Yallah!” as the Mahdists urged their camels on.
Sporadic gunfire sounded, but the distance was too far for accuracy, especially when shooting from the lurching back of a camel.
The tomb raiders ran at a gallop for no more than five minutes, and then slowed to a canter to spare the steeds, and the camels behind began to gain.
“We may be able to outrun them for a short while,” said Arik, looking back over his shoulder, “but their camels will outlast our horses. They will catch us sooner or later.”
“But Luba’s teats, Arik,” said Trendel, using an Itherian oath, “we need somehow to lose them. But look about: there’s nothing but open desert to the left, and the wide Nile to swim to the right.”
“Ah, but ahead,” shouted Ky in the lead, just as they rode over a crest, “I see a British fort!”
In the near distance and on the ridge sat a wooden palisaded structure. A thin tendril of smoke rose up from within. And a tattered Union Jack hung lank. A road led down to a dock on the river, but no gunboat did they see.
Toward this refuge they pounded, running at a gallop again, the camels now falling behind.
On they rode and past the ruins of a mud-brick wall. What it might have protected, they could not see.
They sped onward and past a tall stele, and just before they reached the outpost, scattered here and there on the sand lay dead camels and slain Arabs.
And Arik’s heart sank at this sight.
Into the open gate of the stockade they hammered, Kane shouting, “’Ware the fort! Mahdists coming!”
But inside the grounds lay dead Brits and Arabs, and all the redcoats were mutilated, and some were beheaded. Wisps of smoke rose from the smoldering remains of a barrac
ks.
Arik haled his mount to a halt, the horse’s haunches squatting, dirt flying. “Rith, Ky, to the ramparts!” he shouted. “Kane, Trendel, bar the gate.”
And he pulled his Winchester from his saddle scabbard, and he took up the saddlebags carrying his .44 ammunition.
Ky and Rith did the same.
Leaving their blowing horses behind, they scrambled up a ladder to the parapet. The wall itself was crenellated—a repeating pattern of five tall pales, followed by five shorter ones all the way about the fort. And through the shorter gaps they could see the advanced force of the army, perhaps a hundred Mahdists in all, galloping toward the stockade.
And some three miles beyond them, the army appeared, just then coming into view.
Winchesters in hand, saddlebags over shoulders, Kane and Trendel scurried up to the battlement, and Kane said, “Well, they’re shut out.”
Arik sighed and said, “Yes, but by the same token, we’re shut in.”
44
Courthouse
(Adkins)
As Mark Perry sat down, Melissa French approached the witness box and asked, “You said something about—what was the term? Ah, yes—mutable logic. Could you explain what that is?”
Mark Perry jumped to his feet. “Your honor, we agreed before this hearing began that no proprietary information would be publicly revealed, and mutable logic is proprietary, and the key to the Coburn Industries AI slash VR zero one. To reveal its working would be to divulge a closely held trade secret.”
“We agree,” said Melissa, “but we do not intend to disclose anything that isn’t already public knowledge. It would take an expert—or in this case, three experts—to go into depth concerning the design of mutable logic, and Ms. Adkins is not one of the three. Instead, she is a layman in this area, and I ask her to explain mutable logic from a layman’s point of view, specifically as part of the foundation of our case.”
Judge Marshall looked at Mark Perry and said, “I’ll hear what Ms. Adkins has to say.”
As Mark sat back down, Melissa turned again to Toni. “Mutable logic: what is it and how did it come about?”
Toni said, “The three experts you alluded to are: Timothy Rendell, computer whiz kid, especially in programming; Henry Stein, neurosurgeon, and perhaps the foremost authority on the human brain; and Drew Meyer, physicist, specializing in quantum mechanics. Under the direction of Arthur Coburn, they collaboratively headed the teams that together devised mutable logic. I think you could safely say that they are the progenitors of Avery, for their work made him possible.
“In a nutshell, mutable logic is a combination of software and hardware that duplicates what the human brain does. And to do this, it uses spin-state logic, connective shuttle programming, and neuro-simulation.
“That’s about as much as I know concerning the actual makeup of mutable logic. But Arthur Coburn told me that an AI depends on many, many things, but among all of them, he considered four to be absolutely critical:
“First, the discovery that the visual cortex contains multiple maps of any given image, and the subsequent discovery that each of the other senses holds multiple maps as well. These many maps are programmed into Avery.
“Second, the establishment that consciousness, awareness, is a shuttle which plies among these multiple maps to make sense of what we see, hear, smell, taste, feel, or kinesthetically sense. And the more complex the brain, the more complex the shuttle has to be, until it represents intelligence itself. Timothy Rendell and his team designed the shuttle program.
“Third, the discovery of the specific mechanisms which drive neurons to establish new interconnections. Under Henry Stein’s guidance and Drew Meyer’s spin-state expertise and Timothy’s programming skills, they figured out how to simulate this mechanism.
“And, fourth, their development of mutable logic, a combination of software and hardware, which, in effect, duplicates this neurological evolution.”
As Toni fell silent, Melissa said, “And so, as far as you are concerned, the workings of Avery are much like that of the human brain. True?”
“Yes. Avery has the means to see, hear, smell, taste, and feel. But since he is—”
Mark Perry said, “The next thing we know, Coburn Industries AI slash VR zero one will come walking into this chamber.”
His words brought a chuckle from the audience and a scowl from Judge Marshall.
“Not really,” said Toni. “But through his simulations, he can run, walk, or lie comfortably, smell roses, taste a roast beef sandwich or corn on the cob, feel the caress of a lover, or anything else you or I can do with our memories.
“I know I can remember just how good ice water tastes on a hot summer day, and what a wonderful fragrance lilacs have, and how delightful and stimulating a soft kiss is. And, Mr. Perry, I believe that you yourself can recall a lover’s kiss or caress, or perhaps even hot, lusty sex, if not in your waking life, then in your dreams.”
As the courtroom filled with titters, svelte Melissa turned to Mark and provocatively thrust out a hip and smiled and said, “In your dreams, Mark.”
The courtroom erupted in laughter, and even stern Judge Marshall smiled.
Outside the courthouse, Steve turned his holocam onto Frankie Roberts, but the picture was quaking from his guffaws, which not even the stablecam could deal with, and Frankie could not control her giggles, and so Steve shut the camera down and waited.
Finally, both sobered and they tried again, and Frankie said, “Well, there you have it—” but she broke into laughter once more, as did Steve.
Between whoops she tried to say, “Shut it off, Steve. We’ll do it later,” but all she managed was bursts of unintelligible gabble.
45
Egypt
(Tomb Raiders)
With the Mahdist army approaching from the south, in ominous silence the forerunning vanguard formed a cupping arc at a distance from the stockade, its apex on the desert side.
“What’s our plan, Arik?” asked Trendel.
Before Arik could answer, from the arc one of the riders charged his camel a short run toward the palisade before stopping and shouting something. Then he turned and fled back toward the others.
“What did he say?” asked Arik.
“‘You will all die, infidels,’” replied Trendel.
“Not very friendly, are they?” said Ky.
“Rith,” said Arik, “I think they all need an abrupt dismount.”
“Right,” she replied. She strode to the central point along the western palisaded wall and spoke a word and then emitted a long scream, sweeping from the left end of the enemy line to the right.
And camels reared, and most of the riders were unceremoniously dumped to the sand, and their mounts took to flight. Mahdists scrambled to their feet, and one of them shouted orders. Several chased after the free-running panicked beasts, while the others took up defensive positions.
“Good,” said Arik. “Now I know the leader of this bunch.” He leveled his Winchester, and took a deep breath and let out half and aimed and squeezed off a round.
The Mahdist who had shouted the orders pitched backwards, slain.
“Duck,” said Trendel, and they all stepped sideways to the protection of the merlons.
Rifle fire answered Arik’s shot, most of the bullets to thunk into wood, the remainder to whine overhead. After a moment someone shouted a command and the shooting stopped.
As Trendel kept an eye upon the Mahdists, Ky said, “Well, Arik, you killed that one, but it seems another has just taken his place.
“Yes, but it’ll give them pause,” replied Arik.
Kane said, “We’re still going to need a plan. I mean, with the army nearing and those out there penning us in here until the others arrive, well, it seems like now is a good time to figure out what to do.”
“Maybe we ought to make another run for it,” suggested Ky.
“Even though I can dismount some of them,” said Rith, “I can’t handle an enti
re army, especially if we’re in flight.”
Arik shook his head. “As I said before, camels outlast horses, and eventually they’ll catch up; and even if Rith dismounts some of them, we cannot outrun them all.” Arik glanced at the westering sun, lowering toward the horizon. He flipped open his pocket watch and said, “Just over an hour till sunset; two hours till full dark.” Arik looked at the others and then at the army. “How soon do you think they’ll arrive?”
“What are they, two, three miles away?” asked Kane.
“More or less,” said Trendel.
“Then I judge that if they keep up a typical pace, it’ll be a bit before sunset when they arrive,” said Kane.
“I agree,” said Arik. He took a deep breath and added, “We’ll need to hold them off until night, and then, just as we ran the blockade on Malagar, we’ll slip past them in Ky’s shadow and Rith’s silence, with Lyssa clearing the way.”
“Wait a minute,” said Ky. “Won’t they just take up the chase again?”
“I’m thinking,” said Arik, “that if we slip by, they’ll have to wait until daylight to track us, and that’ll give us a ten-hour lead.”
“So, we need to keep them at bay for—what?—ninety minutes or so?” asked Rith.
“Thereabout,” said Arik.
“It won’t be easy,” said Rith, “five against a thousand.”
“Yes, but they’ll think twice if I keep killing their leaders,” said Arik, “assuming we can identify them.”
“Leave that up to me,” said Trendel. “I’m a seer, you know.”
Arik turned to Ky. “Can you cover us with darkness so they won’t have clear targets?”
“Only for brief moments as long as the sun is in the sky. If I hold it for any length, I’ll faint.”
“Ah, right. I seem to remember once upon a time that happening back on Itheria; it was after we found that Gnoman, and you pulled shadows out from a cave.”
“Now you see what I mean,” said Ky.
Shadowprey: A Black Foxes Adventure Page 21