Vengeance of Orion

by Ben Bova

  I turned my gaze back toward the tents of the main Israelite camp. The men were forming up in ranks. They wore no uniforms, had precious little armor among them, but every man carried some sort of shield and either a sword or a spear. They were ready for battle.

  As the procession of priests rounded the curve of the wall, Joshua gave the order for his men to march. I estimated there were several thousand of them, from teenagers to graybeards. They marched in step with the priests, although their parallel circuit was much farther from the wall, out of bowshot range.

  The priests came within sight of the smoke issuing from the base of the wall and turned away, heading back toward the camp. The armed men turned toward the wall, as if expecting it to fall at their feet.

  And it did.

  As the army of the Israelites approached the wall, the smoke became even thicker and blacker. I could hear strange groaning sounds, as if some creature trapped beneath the earth were moaning for release. The people up on the parapets were pointing and gesticulating now. I heard screams of sudden terror.

  Then, with a great grinding, thundering groan, the whole section of the wall caved in, collapsed in on itself in a roar of falling bricks. Clouds of red-gray dust blotted out the smoke and rolled out across the plain toward us.

  A single trumpet note rang piercingly clear through the shuddering thunder and screaming shouts from the city. With a roar that shook the ground, the army of Israel charged across the field and swarmed across the pile of rubble and through the breach in Jericho's wall.

  Chapter 32

  I held Lukka and his men back for half the day, not wanting to risk them in the fighting. We had done our job, the battle belonged to the Israelites.

  But by the time the sun was overhead Jericho was in flames, and even the imperturbable Lukka was quivering to get in on the looting.

  I stood by the tent where our tunnel began and watched as clouds of ugly black smoke spread across the cloudless sky. Lukka's men sat or stood in what little shade they could find, casting questioning looks his way. Finally he turned to me.

  Before he could speak, I said, "Be back at our tents by nightfall."

  He gave me one of his rare grins and motioned for his men to follow him. They sprang up like eager wolf cubs, happy to be on the hunt.

  I went with them as far as the demolished section of the wall, to see for myself what our work had accomplished. The wall was more than nine meters thick, where it still stood. The pile of tumbled bricks and rubble on which I picked my way felt hot, even through the soles of my boots. The fire was not out, it still smoldered deep below. Thin gray smoke issued from the lower cross-timbers in the sections of the wall on the other side of our breach. The fire would burn away at them for hours more, perhaps for days, I realized. Other parts of the wall would fall.

  Inside the city, it was Troy all over again. The Israelites were like the Achaians in one way: they slaughtered and raped and pillaged and burned just as the barbarians of Argos and Ithaca and the other Achaian kingdoms did, on the plain of Ilios. The frenzy of bloodlust was in them, and no matter which god they worshiped or what name they gave him, they behaved like beasts rather than men.

  Perhaps Helen is right, I thought. Perhaps in Egypt we will find civilized human beings, order and peace.

  I clambered back over the hot rubble and made my way to my tent. To my surprise, Helen was holding court there, sitting outside the tent surrounded by more than two dozen of the Israelite women. I got close enough to hear a few of her words: "They will be filthy and bloody and filled with lust when they return. You should have scented water prepared to bathe them and soothe their raging blood."

  "Scented water?" asked one of the women.

  "In a tub?" another wondered.

  Helen replied, "Yes, and let your servants bathe your husband . . ."

  "Servants?" They all laughed.

  Helen seemed nonplussed.

  "But tell us," said one of the older women, "how do you use kohl to make your eyes seem larger?"

  "And what charms do you use to keep a man faithful to you?"

  I walked away, out of earshot, shaking my head in wonderment. While the men were following their savage instincts, murdering, burning, looting, the women were following their instincts, too, learning how to subdue and tame their men.

  For some time I walked aimlessly among the tents. The only men in the camp were children or grandfathers. The women clustered in little groups, like those with Helen, whispering among themselves and occasionally glancing at the burning city.

  "Orion," a strong voice hailed me.

  I turned and saw Joshua standing in the shade cast by the striped awning extended over the front of his big tent. A humid breeze bellied the awning slightly and made the woven wool fabric strain against its creaking ropes. I could smell moisture in the breeze, and the sweet fragrance of date palms. The fire from the city was sucking up air from the river valley.

  Several of the older priests reclined around Joshua on benches or the ground. They looked tired, spent, slightly ashamed.

  "You have Jericho," I said to Joshua.

  "Thanks to the Lord our God," he said, then added, "and to you."

  I bowed my head slightly.

  "You have performed a great service for the God of Israel and His people," said Joshua. "You will be rewarded amply."

  "I appreciate the gratitude of your people." Somehow I could not bring myself to say that I was happy to have helped them. "In a day or so my men and I will continue on our way . . . southward."

  He knew I meant Egypt. "You are certain that you want to go in that direction?"

  "Quite certain."

  "It is what she desires, isn't it?"

  "Yes."

  "Orion, why spend your life as a woman's slave? Stay with me! Be my strong right arm. There are other cities to consider. The Philistines on the coast are powerful enemies."

  I looked into his deep, glittering eyes and saw the same burning light that glowed in the eyes of the Golden One. Madness? Or greatness? Both, I thought. Perhaps the one cannot exist without the other.

  "I have no quarrel with the Philistines or anyone else," I said. "And I have my own reasons for going to Egypt."

  "You are tied to a woman's skirts," he taunted.

  I replied. "I seek a god in Egypt."

  "A false god," Joshua snapped. "There is only one true God . . ."

  "I know what you believe," I said, before he could go further, "and perhaps you are right. Perhaps the god I seek in Egypt is the same one that you worship."

  "Then why seek him in a land of slavery and tyranny?"

  "Egypt is a civilized land," I countered.

  Joshua spat at my feet. One of the old white-bearded priests who had been listening to us climbed arthritically to his feet and, leaning on a staff, pointed a bony finger at me.

  "Egypt civilized? A land where the king orders the murder of every Israelite baby girl, simply because his ministers have told him that our numbers are growing too fast? That is civilization?"

  His weak old voice trembled with anger. "A land where our whole nation was enslaved to build monuments to the tyrant who slaughtered our infants?"

  I blinked at him, not knowing how to answer.

  "We fled from Egypt," said Joshua, "with nothing but the clothes on our backs and what little goods we could carry. Their king sent his army to find us and bring us back. Only the miracle of our Lord God saved us and allowed us to escape. We spent years wandering in the wilderness of Sinai, willing to starve and go thirsty in the desert rather than return to slavery. No, Orion, do not think that Egypt is civilized."

  "But I must go there," I insisted.

  "To find the God who in truth resides among us? Stay with us, and God will bless you."

  "The god I seek is worshiped by many peoples, in many ways. To some he is the god of the sun . . ."

  "There is only one true God," the old priest intoned. "All other gods are false."

  "He told me
to seek him in Egypt," I blurted, nearing exasperation.

  The old priest staggered back from me. Joshua's face went white.

  "God spoke to you?"

  "This god did."

  "In a dream?"

  I raised my arm to point at the distant riverbank. "There, by the river, a few nights ago."

  "Blasphemy!" hissed the old priest, pulling at his long white beard.

  Joshua shook his head, an almost smugly understanding expression on his face. "It was not the God of Israel you saw, Orion. It was a man, or a false vision."

  By definition, as far as he was concerned. All very neat. I decided it was senseless to argue with them. If they knew that the god they worshiped was the one I had promised myself to kill, they would have torn me to pieces on the spot. Or tried to.

  "Perhaps," I conceded. "Nevertheless, I must go to Egypt."

  Joshua said, "That is a mistake, Orion. You will be better off staying with us."

  "I can't," I said.

  Joshua said nothing in reply. He merely spread his hands in a vaguely dismissive gesture. I took my leave of him and headed back toward my own tent, my insides churning with the realization that Joshua was not going to allow us to leave—willingly.

  As night spread its dark cloak over the ruin of Jericho, the men came tottering back to camp, stained with blood and carrying the riches of the oldest city in the world. In twos and threes they made their way back to their tents, where their women waited for them. The men were silent and grim, the memories of their atrocities just beginning to burn themselves into their consciences. The women were silent, too, knowing better than to ask any questions.

  Lukka brought his two dozen soldiers back in a group, each of them staggering under a load of silks, blankets, armor, weaponry, jewels, even precious carvings of ivory and jade.

  "We will enter Egypt as rich men," he said to me proudly, once the loot was arrayed at my feet by the light of our campfire.

  Softly, I said to him, "If we enter Egypt at all, it will be despite the efforts of Joshua and his people."

  Lukka stared at me, his dour face half hidden in the flickering shadows thrown by the fire.

  "Keep the men together, and be ready to move swiftly when I give the word," I told him.

  He nodded curtly and immediately started the men packing up the loot and storing it in our wagons.

  Helen was more impatient than ever to leave, and when I told her of my misgivings, she demanded, "Then we must flee now, this night, while they are drunk with their victory and sleeping without sentries posted."

  "And what about the next morning, when they find we've left? They could easily overtake us and force us to return."

  "Lukka and his soldiers could hold them off while we escaped," she said.

  "And die giving us a few hours' head start on our pursuers?" I shook my head. "We'll leave, but only when I've convinced Joshua to let us go."

  She grew angry, but realized there was no other way.

  That night I slept without dreams, without visiting the realm of the Creators. But in the morning I had formed a plan for dealing with Joshua. It was simple, perhaps even crude. I hoped it would work.

  All that day was given to ceremonies of thanksgiving and atonement, the priests singing hymns of praise to their god in melodies that sounded somehow mournful and melancholy. The people of Israel arrayed themselves in their finest garments, many of them taken from Jericho, and gathered in ranks, tribe by tribe, and joined in the singing. I saw that although the words of their hymns were directed at their invisible god, their eyes were directed toward Joshua when they sang words of praise. He stood before them, decked in a long robe of many colors, silently acknowledging their homage.

  By sunset the people had split up into their tribal and family units, each gathering around their own fires, and the singing was lighter, happier, songs of the home and the people themselves. Dancing started here and there, men and women in separate circles, laughing and weaving around their fires as they stamped their feet on the dusty ground.

  Ben-Jameen sent a boy to invite me to his family's tent, but I politely declined, since his invitation did not include Helen. Israelite men and women ate separately, of course, just as they danced.

  I was waiting for Joshua's summons, and sure enough, as we were finishing dinner, a young man in a newly acquired bronze cuirass approached our fire and told me that Joshua wished to have words with me.

  I told Helen and Lukka to be ready to leave, then followed the young Israelite to his leader's tent.

  Joshua's tent was crammed with the spoils of Jericho: beautiful cypress chests inlaid with bone and ivory and packed to the brim with fine clothing, piles of draperies and blankets, tables sagging under loads of gilded plates and goblets, intricately engraved daggers, swords and armor, enamelware, pottery and wine jugs, heaps of jewelry and carvings.

  I took it all in with one swift glance, then looked up to Joshua. He was sitting on a mound of pillows at the far end of the tent, dressed in splendid robes like an oriental potentate. With a wave of his hand, he dismissed the three serving girls, who ran past me on bare feet, leaving us alone in the tent.

  "Take your pick," said Joshua, gesturing grandly toward the loot. "Whatever you want is yours. And take some jewelry for your beautiful companion."

  I walked past the treasures, straight to him, and sat on the carpeting at his feet.

  "Joshua, I neither want nor need any of this. I want you to live up to your promise, and let us go in peace now that we have helped you conquer Jericho."

  There was no wine in sight. His hands were empty, his eyes clear. But he seemed almost drunk. Perhaps with victory. Perhaps with visions of future conquests.

  "God has placed you in my hand, Orion," he said. "It would displease Him if I let you go."

  "You speak for your god now?"

  His eyes narrowed angrily. But he replied mildly enough, "Our next objective will be the Amalekites. They threaten our flank, and must be destroyed utterly."

  "No," I said.

  "You and your Hittite warriors are too valuable to give up," Joshua said. "Not while there are so many enemies around us."

  "We must leave."

  He raised a placating hand. "When we have made this region peaceful. When the Children of Israel can live here safely, without being threatened by their neighbors. Then you can leave."

  "That could take years," I said.

  He shrugged. "It is in God's hands, not mine."

  I made myself smile at him. "Joshua, surely you of all men can understand the yearning of a man to be free. I have no desire to be a slave to you or your god."

  "A slave?" He pointed toward the loot again. "Is a slave rewarded so handsomely?"

  "A man who is not free to go where he wishes is a slave, no matter how many trinkets his master offers him."

  He ran his fingers through the curls of his beard. "Then I'm afraid you will be a slave for a while longer, Orion. You and your Hittite soldiers."

  "That cannot be," I insisted.

  "If you resist," Joshua warned, his voice as mild as if he were discussing the weather, "your men will pay for your stubbornness. And your beautiful woman."

  I had expected this so exactly that I was not even mildly surprised. Not even angry. I simply got to my feet and looked down at him.

  "Ben-Jameen tells me," I said, "that your god struck the Egyptians with many plagues before their king would allow you to leave the land. I can't promise you plagues, but you will be sorry that you force us to stay."

  Joshua's face turned deep red, whether from anger or shame I did not know. I left him sitting there and made my way back to my own tent.

  Lukka and Helen both asked me eagerly if we were leaving.

  "At dawn," I answered. "Now get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a hard day."

  Chapter 33

  Helen was right about the Israelites' laxness that night. Jericho's men were slaughtered; the city's women and children cowered in the black
ened remains of their burned and looted homes. There was no need for guards or sentries. The Israelites slept soundly after a day of ceremonies and celebration.

  I picked my way silently through the darkness toward Joshua's tent The only light came from the smoldering embers of campfires and the splendor of stars overhead. The hazy glow of the Milky Way split the heavens, and as I glanced upward I wondered once again which of those stars my love and I had been heading for when we died.

  No time for memories. No time for bitterness. I reached Joshua's tent and stepped over the bodies of the servants sleeping just outside its entrance.

  It was pitch-dark inside the tent. I felt my way toward Joshua, guided by the faint heat radiating from his body. Like a pit viper, I laughed to myself, although my heat-sensing abilities were mere vagaries compared to the refined sensitivities of a rattlesnake. Nonetheless, I sensed a faint emanation from the far end of the tent and groped toward it.

  I made out Joshua's sleeping form when I was a few feet from him. He lay on his side, his back to me, stretched out on the pillows where I had seen him a few hours earlier, still wearing his splendid robes.

  He slept alone. Good.

  I reached out and clamped my left hand over his mouth. He awoke instantly and started to thrash out with his arms and legs. I leaned my right forearm against his windpipe and whispered: "Do you want the angel of death to visit this tent?"

  His eyes went wide. He recognized me and became still.

  Without taking my hand from his mouth I pulled him to his feet and said, "You and I are taking a little journey."

  Then I concentrated on shifting to the realm of the Creators. I closed my eyes for a moment and felt that instant of piercing cold, then the warmth that glowed all around us. Joshua was still in my grasp, my left hand over his mouth, my right gripping his shoulder.

  We stood on a height overlooking a vast domed city. The entire landscape was bathed in golden radiance, and I realized that for the first time I could see details of this realm with some clarity. The city spread out below us was a wonderland of graceful towers and spires, all within the protective curve of a huge transparent dome.