‘There is a stuff receiver in the ziggurat. It would be very simple to order transport and stasis generators for us.’
As the Wanderer spoke, the entire room became noticeably agitated. Joachim made weak nervous gestures.
‘No! No! Thethe thingth do not egthitht.’
The Wanderer began to get angry.
‘Don’t be ridiculous. Of course they do. There’s got to be a giant system of generators keeping the whole of Quahal stable.’
Joachim’s voice rose to a high-pitched shriek.
‘Thith ith hewethy.’
The Wanderer shrugged.
‘Suit yourself. You’ve still got to make up your mind what to do with us.’
‘You will go back to your quarterth. I will conphider the pwoblem.’
The Minstrel Boy pushed back his coat, and planted his hands on his hips. His belt of knives was in full view of the blessed Joachim.
‘Don’t take too long about it, will you?’
***
Before they moved out for the attack on the valley, A.A. Catto insisted on reviewing her troops like a warrior queen in an ancient movie. It was an uncomfortable performance as far as Billy, Reave and Nancy were concerned. By the late morning, the mountain mist had turned to a heavy drizzle and the ground around the village was rapidly being churned to mud under the horses’ hooves. Billy sat uncomfortably on a large black horse. He had never ridden a horse before, and the experience unnerved him. The damp was slowly soaking into the heavy fur poncho that was wrapped around him. Under it he still wore the pimp suit from Litz. He could have changed into the same garb as the horsemen wore, but he was reluctant to go that native. He felt it identified him too strongly as A.A. Catto’s subject and property.
Reave had had no such reservations. He sat beside Billy arrayed exactly like any of the horsemen, except that he didn’t carry one of the long slender spears. Nancy had also changed to the native garb. A.A. Catto had given her second pick on the ex-queen’s wardrobe.
The three of them sat on their mounts facing a line of fifty or more horsemen. In the space between, A.A. Catto trotted her horse up and down, haranguing her army in what Billy supposed she thought was a suitably regal and inspiring manner.
The horsemen sat very still, gripping their spears, in a perfect line. Billy wondered what they thought about the changes that A.A. Catto had made in their lives. Billy looked down the line. Their impassive faces were almost totally hidden, as well hidden as their minds. Billy had had a number of theories about the horsemen. The first had been that they were chronically stupid. But their physical coordination and prowess with weapons and horses seemed to negate that idea. Billy had wondered, from the way they rarely spoke, and used gestures to convey quite complex ideas, if they might be low level telepaths. Currently Billy entertained the idea that they could be highly intelligent, but with that intelligence totally strait jacketed by conditioning and genetic tailoring. It was the best theory so far, but he was by no means certain about it.
A.A. Catto at long last completed her address to her loyal troops. Billy had managed to avoid hearing most of the monologue. As the horsemen formed themselves into a column of two, Billy wondered idly if she had managed to work in anything about her having the body of a frail and feeble woman, but the heart and stomach of a man. He knew it wasn’t beyond her.
The column started out of the village and down the mountainside. Four horsemen preceded it, then came A.A. Catto and Nancy riding side by side. Behind them rode Billy and Reave, followed by the remainder of the force. Billy had no clue how the horsemen found their way in the thick fog, but the column seemed to wind down the slope in such a positive manner that he didn’t doubt they were going in the right direction.
Despite the foul weather A.A. Catto and Nancy chattered together all through the ride. Billy and Reave, on the other hand, rode in damp sullen silence. The situation seemed to have escalated to such a point that there was nothing left for them to say.
They finally broke out of the mist into the sunshine at the base of the slope. The ziggurat was in front of them in the valley. The column halted. A.A. Catto raised her hand and the ranks divided, each horseman peeling off neatly in turn until they formed a single line abreast. They sat silently for a while. Billy gazed down at the ziggurat. He could see tiny figures moving backwards and forwards on the various levels of the building and working in the fields. It was hard to believe that within the next few minutes they were to be slaughtered.
A.A. Catto leaned across and muttered something to the horseman next to her. He made a series of signals with his left hand. Except for Nancy, Billy, Reave, A.A. Catto and three horsemen on either side of them, the whole line began to move forward at a slow even walk. After about a hundred metres, another signal was given, and the line of horsemen accelerated to a trot. When they’d covered the same distance again, they broke into a controlled canter. They lowered their spears.
When the line was a matter of some two hundred metres from the ziggurat, a wild cry went up and they broke into a gallop. They thundered towards the huge black structure. Some of the blue-robed priests saw them, and began to run for the safety of the building.
The line split in two. Half the force wheeled round and swept across the fields, riding down the workers as they went. The remainder raced towards the ziggurat. When they were only a few metres from the walls, they abruptly lowered their spears and dug the tips into the ground. Their forward momentum jerked the horsemen from their saddles. Almost as one they soared into the air, holding their spears like pole vaulters. They landed lightly on the first tier of the ziggurat, dropped their spears and pulled out their knives. They moved forward in a rush and fell on Joachim’s followers, hacking and slaying like machines. Billy glanced round at Reave.
‘Did you see that manoeuvre?’
Reave nodded.
‘I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it myself.’
A.A. Catto turned to the others.
‘It’s time we moved down there.’
Billy scowled.
‘Don’t want to miss being in for the kill?’
A.A. Catto ignored him, kicked her horse and went down the slope at a swift canter. Nancy and the horsemen kept pace with her, while Billy and Reave trailed behind.
By the time they reached the ziggurat, the workers in the fields had either been killed or chased inside the building. The majority of horsemen had also moved inside, although a few still stalked Joachim’s men on the outside upper levels. A.A. Catto halted in front of the building and looked round, surveying the carnage. She dismounted and walked towards the nearest set of steps. Billy quickly rode up beside her.
‘Are you really going to kill everyone?
She looked up at him in surprise.
‘Of course. That was the point of the whole operation.’
‘Couldn’t you call it off and let the survivors go? They can’t cause you any trouble. They aren’t even offering your horsemen any resistance.’
A.A. Catto stared at Billy with contempt.
‘Don’t be ridiculous. They have to be exterminated.’
‘Why?’
A.A. Catto didn’t bother to answer him. She began to climb the steps to the first level. Billy yelled after her.
‘You’re insane! You hear me? You’re crazy!’
A.A. Catto continued to walk up the stairs. She pretended not to hear him. Reave reined in beside Billy.
‘You won’t achieve anything by yelling at her.’
‘There’s got to be some way to get her to stop this whole thing.’
Reave shook his head with an air of finality.
‘There’s no way.’
‘What makes you so sure?’
‘I lived with her for all that time, didn’t I? She sees herself as some kind of female Attila and nothing we can do will change it. It’ll probably get worse before she finds a new game.’