They swung round, jumped from their horses and hit the ground running. Their knives were in their hands. Jeb Stuart Ho shook one of his own knives free from the sheath on his arm, and threw it underarm at one of the horsemen. It struck him just below the right eye. The handle stuck out through the eye hole of his helmet.
It was just one on one. The last horseman slashed at Jeb Stuart Ho with his heavy leaf-bladed knife. Ho parried and backed off a step. The horseman pressed home his attack. Ho continued to duck and parry. He thrust at the horseman but his blow was turned to the side. The horseman was good, but he had little chance against the long, two-handed sword. Ho made the point dance in a lightning triple manoeuvre, and the knife flew from the horseman’s hand. The rider stood still and resigned as Jeb Stuart Ho ran his sword into his chest.
Ho put his foot on the horseman’s body and wrenched out the sword. He looked round for the surviving attacker whose arm he had broken. It was rapidly getting dark. The man was some distance away, limping quickly towards the ziggurat. Jeb Stuart Ho wiped his sword and carefully put it away. He let his arms fall limply at his side and squatted down on his haunches. He allowed the tension of the fight to drain out of him. If nothing else, it had demonstrated where he would find A.A. Catto, even if it had cost six lives to do it. Ho sat and stared at the huge black building and pondered his next move.
***
‘Seven of you? He defeated seven of you? Single-handed?’
A.A. Catto looked as though she was going to burst. The single horseman who had escaped from the fight with Jeb Stuart Ho stood rigidly in front of what had once been the blessed Joachim’s throne. A.A. Catto now sat bolt upright amid the white cushions. The carpet at her feet was stained with blood. The horseman’s broken arm dangled useless at his side. His face was impassive.
‘You realize that this means the assassin is still loose. It means that I’m still in danger. This is intolerable.’
Nancy moved to A.A. Catto’s side.
‘He won’t be able to get at you here, surrounded by your own army.’
A.A. Catto’s jaw muscles clenched spasmodically.
‘He took out seven of them, didn’t he? And anyway, while he’s alive how can I relax? How can I find any sort of peace while he’s running around looking for ways to kill me?’
‘You could send out more men to get him.’
A.A. Catto shook her head.
‘That’s not good enough. He can fight the horsemen. I’ve got to find a way so I can be sure. He’s got to be killed.’
A.A. Catto slumped back into the cushions of the throne. She lay hunched up, preoccupied and deep in thought. Nancy nervously examined her fingernails. A.A. Catto looked as though she was building up for some sort of outburst. Ever since the taking of the ziggurat her bouts of hysterical temper had been getting more and more violent. Abruptly she sat up and gestured imperiously at her escort.
‘Fetch Billy Oblivion and his so-called friends.’
Nancy looked at her in surprise.
‘What do you want them for?’
‘They claimed they could help me when they were begging me to let them live. Now’s the time for them to prove it. If they can come up with a way to get the assassin they can live. If they can’t then I’ll have them killed.’
Three of the escort marched smartly out of the throne room. The survivor of the fight still stood stiffly in front of the throne. He had turned very pale, and was swaying slightly. Nancy touched A.A. Catto gently on the arm. She pointed to the injured man.
‘What are we going to do about him?’
‘What do you mean, do about him?’
‘Shouldn’t he have treatment or something?’
‘Don’t be ridiculous.’
‘But he’s obviously in pain.’
A.A. Catto looked at Nancy in surprise.
‘He’s no more use to me.’
She waved to the escort again.
‘Take him out and kill him.’
Nancy didn’t say anything as the wounded horseman walked stiffly away surrounded by three of the escort. She noted that ‘kill’ seemed to be A.A. Catto’s favourite word of the moment. Nancy didn’t want to take any chances. A.A. Catto sat tapping her fingernails until Billy, Reave, the Minstrel Boy and the Wanderer were brought in.
The Minstrel Boy looked round carefully as they were marched down the long throne room. The place was crowded with horsemen. They smelled strongly of sweat and leather. A lot of the fittings had been smashed, and most of the candles had been extinguished except for one set that threw light down on the throne. They reached the foot of the steps and halted. A.A. Catto stared at them for a long time without speaking. Billy began to think that, somehow, her eyes were becoming more and more like those of a poisonous snake. He shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other.
‘You sent for us?’
‘The assassin is still alive.’
Billy glanced round at the others. They all tried to avoid his eyes. He turned back to A.A. Catto.
‘What exactly are we supposed to do about it? He could take on all four of us with one hand.’
‘I want you to devise a foolproof method of getting rid of him. You told me how skilled and talented your little friends are. Now is the time to put it to the test.’
The Minstrel Boy moved up beside Billy.
‘What happens if we can’t come up with a scheme to kill him?’
A.A. Catto smiled sweetly at him.
‘Then you lied to me when you were pleading for your life. I shall have to have you killed, all of you.’
Billy’s jaw dropped.
‘All of us? Me and Reave as well?’
‘Of course. You vouched for these people.’
The Minstrel Boy laughed grimly.
‘Looks like we’re all in the same boat.’
‘What do we do about it?’
The Minstrel Boy shrugged.
‘Don’t ask me. Those hoods in Litz couldn’t stop him and neither could this bunch. I don’t honestly see what we can do.’
Reave scowled.
‘The only thing that could stop Ho would be a few more like him.’
The Minstrel Boy suddenly grinned. He looked as though the light had dawned.
‘That’s the answer.’
‘What is?’
‘Get some more like him, and let them take him out.’
Billy looked doubtful.
‘How the fuck do we get more like him? Send out to the brotherhood?’
The Minstrel Boy shot the Wanderer a sideways glance.
‘We could get them from Stuff Central.’
The Wanderer raised a bushy eyebrow.
‘You won’t find any brotherhood executives in the stuff catalogue. The best you can get from that would be a De Luxe All Purpose Trooper, and a squad of them would be just as useless as the horsemen.’
‘You could get a custom job.’
The Wanderer shook his head.
‘You’d need specifications.’
The Minstrel Boy grinned pointedly at him.
‘We could get them.’
‘Detailed specs?’
We could get them, couldn’t we, old man?’ The Wanderer held up his hand and quickly shook his head.
‘No. No way. I’m not going to do it.’
The Minstrel Boy stared hard at him.
‘You’re going to have to, otherwise the lady’s going to butcher the lot of us.’
‘I don’t like it.’
‘You don’t have to like it. You just have to do it’
Billy looked from one to the other in bewilderment.
‘What are you two talking about?’
‘Getting us some more like Ho to deal with him.’
‘How do you do that?’