Abdikadir tried to explain about the radio signals picked up by the Soyuz. This was predictably baffling, until Ruddy and Josh hit on happy metaphors. Like the sound of inaudible trumpets, Ruddy said. Or the flash of invisible mirrors
Abdikadir said, And the only signal we have found came from here. He pointed to Babylon. There is surely our best chance of determining what has happened to us, and to the world. All this was transmitted to Alexander.
Babylon struck chords with the Macedonians too. There had been no news from Macedon or anywhere else beyond the Indus valley for many days nowand nor had the British received any messages from their own time. There was the question of where they should settle, if no news was forthcoming. Alexander had always planned to make Babylon a capital of an empire that might have stretched from the Mediterranean to India, united by sea and river routes. Perhaps even now that dream might be achievable, even with the resources the King had at hand, even if the rest of the world he had known had vanished.
For all these reasons the best path seemed clear. As the consensus emerged Ruddy was thrilled. Babylon! By Godwhere will this adventure not take us?
The meeting quickly got down to detailed questions of timetables and logistics. The light beyond the tent grew dimmer, circulating servants brought more wine and the assembly slowly grew more raucous.
When they could get away from the Macedonians, Josh, Abdikadir, Ruddy and Bisesa gathered.
Bisesa said, Well have to leave something for Sable and Kolya, in case they ever make it here. They discussed markers such as big stone arrows on the ground, cairns with messages, even leaving radios for the stranded cosmonauts.
And are you happy, said Abdikadir, that we are throwing in our lot with Alexander and his crew?
Yes, said Ruddy immediately. Aristotle taught these fellows openness of mind and heart, and a curiosity about the world. Alexanders journey was as much an exploration as an expedition of conquest
Captain Cook with a fifty-thousand-man army, Abdikadir mused.
And surely, Ruddy said, it was this very openness that enabled them to accept the customs of unfamiliar peoplesand so to weld an empire that, if not for the untimely death of Alexander, might have endured for centuries, and advanced civilization by a thousand years.
But here , Josh said, Alexander isnt dead
Bisesa was aware that Alexander was watching them. He leaned back and murmured something to the eunuch, and she wondered if he had heard what they said.
Ruddy finished, I can think of no finer legacy than to have established a British Empire in Asia and Europe two thousand years or more before its time!
But Alexanders empire, Josh said, had nothing to do with democracy or Greek values. He committed atrocitieshe burned Persepolis, for instance. He paid for each section of his endless campaign with the loot from the last. And he spent lives like matchesperhaps three quarters of a million, by some estimates.
He was a man of his time, said Ruddy, stern and cynical as if he were twice his age. What can you expect? In his world, order derived only from empire. Within the empires borders you had culture, order, a chance at civilization. Outside there were only barbarians and chaos. There was no other way to run things! And his achievement endured, even if his empire did not. He spread the Greek language from Alexandria to Syria like jam over toast. When the Romans pushed east they found, not barbarians, but Greek-speakers. If not for that Greek legacy, Christianity would have had a hard time spreading out of Judea.
Perhaps, Abdikadir said, grinning. But, KiplingIm not a Christian!
Captain Grove joined them. I suspect our business is done, he said quietly. Im jolly pleased we came to such a quick agreement, and its remarkable how much we hold in common. I suppose nothing fundamental has changed in two thousand years when it comes to carting an army around the place But look here: I think the gathering is starting to degenerate a bit. Ive heard about Alexander and his debaucheries, he said with a rueful grin, and much as Id rather give it a miss I fear it would be politic of me to stick around, and do a little getting-to-know-you with these chaps. Dont worry; I can handle my wine! My lads will stay on toobut if you want to slip away
Bisesa accepted the excuse. Ruddy and Josh agreed to leave too, though Ruddy looked back with envy at the shimmering interior of the royal tent, where a curvaceous young woman dressed only in a floor-length veil was starting to dance.
Outside the tent Bisesa found Philip, Alexanders Greek doctor, waiting for her. Bisesa hastily summoned de Morgan. The factor was half-drunk already, but able to translate.
Philip said, The King knows you spoke of his death.
Ah. Im sorry.
And he wants you to tell him how he will die.
Bisesa hesitated. We have a legend. A tale of what happened to him
He will die soon, Philip breathed.
Yes. He would have.
Where?
She hesitated again. Babylon.
Then he will die young, like Achilles, his hero. Thats just like Alexander! Philip glanced back at the Kings tent, where, judging from the noise, the debauch was gathering steam. He looked troubled, but resigned. Well, its no surprise. He drinks as he fights, enough for ten men. And he was nearly killed by an arrow in his lung. I fear he will not allow himself time to recover, but
He wont listen to his doctor.
Philip smiled. Some things never change.
Bisesa made a quick decision. She dug into her survival pack, under her jumpsuit, and pulled out a plastic sheet of malaria tablets. She showed Philip how to pop the pills out of their bubbles. Have your King take these, she said. Nobody knows for sure how it happened. The truth was obscured, by rumor, conflict and false history. But some believe it will be of the sickness these tablets will prevent.
Philip frowned. Why do you give me these?
Because I think your King is going to be important for all our futures. If he dies, at least it wont be this way.
Philip closed his hand over the sheet of tablets, and smiled. Thank you, lady. But tell me
Yes?
Will they remember him, in the future?
Again, the strange dilemma of too much knowledgecompounded for Bisesa by long sessions with her phone as she had researched Alexanders story. Yes. They even remember his horse! Bucephalus had died in a battle on the river Jhelum. More than a thousand years from now, in the land beyond the Oxus, the rulers will claim that their horses once all had horns on their heads, and were descended from Bucephalus, when Alexander passed there.
Philip was enchanted. Alexander had a headdress with golden horns made for Bucephalus in battle. Ladyif the King is ever close to death
Tell him then.
When he had gone, she turned on de Morgan. And you keep that to yourself.
He spread his hands. Of course. We must keep Alexander aliveif we are stuck here, he may indeed be our best hope of salvaging something of our future. But by all the gods, Bisesa! Why not sell those pills to him? Alexander is a thousand times richer than any other man of his time! What a waste
Laughing, she walked away.
24. The Hunt
At last the battue was ready.
An enormous area of the steppe had been designated for the hunt, which was run as a military exercise. Army units were deployed in a great cordon, each with a full general in command. The beaters closed in toward the center, moving as if on maneuvers, with scouts in advance of the main body of troops, and flanking sections to either side. Trumpets and flags were used to communicate around this mass of troops, and once it was closed the circle was maintained with great precision.