A new voice surprised the men. “The bridge was destroyed yesterday in a storm.” Cyra took several steps forward.
“How do you know that?” Idas demanded.
“I saw it in a vision,” she replied.
Jamsheed laughed. “Are you an oracle also?”
“I am the daughter of the Delphic Oracle,” Cyra said. “I have the gift of sight beyond what my eyes can see.”
“The inner eye,” Jamsheed nodded. “My king has someone like you.”
“Pandora.”
Cyra’s mention of that name brought a start of surprise from the Persian. “How do you know your vision of the bridge being destroyed was a true one?” he asked, as he looked at the woman anew.
“It was true,” Cyra said. “But do not fear, Pandora has already helped your king with a new plan to bridge the strait.” She turned to Leonidas. “Xerxes’ army will be across the Hellesponte in four days.”
Leonidas knew the distances involved. The Persians still had a long way to march even when they were across the strait. And an army as large as his would move slower than a smaller, more disciplined force. “What do you want to say to me?” he asked Jamsheed, tired of the politics, his mind already on the coming battles.
As if sensing his disinterest, Jamsheed was to the point. “I am here — and he—” he added, indicating Idas, “because my king does not wish to wait while your two cities play local games. The great and generous King Xerxes will spare both your cities if you agree not to raise arms against him. Both Athens and Sparta must agree and they will be spared destruction.”
“And the other cities?” Leonidas already knew the answer but he asked anyway.
“They are my King’s to do as he will.”
“And if one of us agrees, but the other doesn’t?” Leonidas asked.
“Unacceptable. With all due respect, my King does not wish to be deceived or double-crossed. Both cities will be neutral or both will be destroyed.”
Leonidas didn’t believe the Persian. He saw no reason why Xerxes would be willing to let Sparta — the leading ground power in Greece, and Athens, the leading naval power — remain intact. He saw this as a ploy to get both cities to remain neutral while he dispatched the rest of Greece with ease, then turn his full might against Athens and Sparta when they could gather no allies.
“Then I determine the fate not only of Sparta, but Athens also?” Leonidas mused. Then he saw the real reason for this ploy — to drive a wedge between the two cities. Idas would not be here with the Persian if the elders of Athens were not seriously considering agreeing to Xerxes’ truce. And knowing that Sparta would never agree to such a thing, Xerxes was making enemies of the two leading powers in Greece. It was a shrewd maneuver that cost the Persian nothing and could destroy any hope of a consolidated Greek front against him.
Leonidas turned to Idas. “You know Xerxes lies, don’t you?”
“Perhaps we should talk privately,” the Athenian suggested.
“No. I will soon have Persian blood on my sword so I do not care what he hears or thinks. Sparta will never accept this proposal. So this meeting is over.”
Idas’s face grew red and he began to say something but he was interrupted by Cyra. “The east versus the west.” She looked from Leonidas to Jamsheed as she spoke. “The entire future of the world lies in balance. In more ways than any of you can imagine.” She walked up to the Persian and put her hands on his shoulders, peering deep into his dark eyes. “Go back to your King. Tell him to weigh carefully the words of Pandora. Very carefully. Tell him she does not speak for Persia, or for Greece. He must try to find out where her true allegiance lies.”
Leonidas was already in the saddle. He leaned over close to the Persian as he passed. “The next time we meet, I won’t be so friendly. Tell your King that he will not conquer Greece unless he does so over the body of every single Spartan.”
“So be it,” Jamsheed said.
Leonidas rode off. He heard a horse behind him and glanced over his shoulder. Cyra was there. And he noted Eusibius and Idas hurrying to catch up. There was no sign of the Persian. Leonidas was surprised that the Athenian had left the emissary and he slowed his horse.
“My lord,” Idas was breathing hard.
“Yes?”
“It is more than just losing Ionia and Thessalia,” Idas said.
Leonidas rode in silence, waiting.
“There is a threat from the rear,” Idas said.
“Antirhon,” Leonidas said. It was a city on the western end of the Gulf of Corinth, commanding the narrow entrance to the inner sea.
Idas was surprised. “Yes, my Lord.”
Leonidas gave a short laugh. “They have been looking for an opportunity to cross the Gulf and take Rhion.” The latter was a city across the Gulf from Antirhon and an ally of Sparta. The two cities had been enemies as long as anyone could remember, engaged in a stand-off across the narrow strait. As long as Sparta was allied with Rhion, there was little that Antirhon could do.
“If Rhion falls to the Antirhonians,” Idas continued, “then the Gulf will be open to the Persian fleet.”
Leonidas resented the Athenian telling him something even a twelve-year old Spartan knew. Holding Thermopylae to the north would be worthless if Xerxes could swing around and attack from the west.
“Will your city send its fleet to stop the Antirhonians?” Leonidas asked, although he knew what answer to expect.
“If we do that, we would be open to the sea from the East,” Idas said.
“So once more Sparta must take the lead,” Leonidas said.
“Unless we negotiate with the Persians,” Idas said.
“You have had my answer on that.” Leonidas spurred his horse and galloped away, leaving the Athenian in a cloud of dust as Cyra and Eusibius hurried to keep up with him.
CHAPTER 5
“We’re not ready to go into the space-between via the Devil’s Sea gate,” Dane said. “We’d be stumbling around without a clue where to go or what to do if we do figure out where to go.”
“We don’t have much time,” Foreman argued. The two were sitting at the conference table in the control center. The navy had wanted to pull the FLIP back away from the gate given the recent attack but Foreman had overridden them.
“We’re ignoring too many things,” Dane said.
“Like what?” Foreman demanded. He was looking at new pictures just down-linked from a KH-14 spy satellite of the Nazca plain.
“The crystal skulls that Ariana collected. They’re still in Antarctica with her gear. And there’s Sin Fen’s skull in the Bermuda Triangle gate on top of the pyramid, along with the Naga staff. The skulls channel power and the staff is the most effective weapon we have against the Valkyries given that our modern weapons won’t work in the space-between.”
Dane pointed at the imagery of the power being drawn to the Nazca Plain. “And I think we need to figure out what that’s about before we go forward. We can’t tell from the imagery if there is a gate there — Nagoya thinks there is and that it’s underground. But if I were on the ground, I could feel a gate.”
“The Shadow is taking action and we need to cover our rear before we try going forward. We have a couple of days before the situation goes critical. I think a day or two of preparation is better than going into the Devil’s Sea gate half-ass.” He had a thermal image and was impressed with the sharply defined lines, as if the heat were contained. Then his eyes noted something. He passed the image to Foreman, tapping a small red dot with his finger. “There’s someone on the plain. Right in the middle of all the activity.”