Infinity Ring 05 - Cave of Wonders (8 page)

“You think Tusi is SQ?” Dak asked.

“I do,” Abi said. “I cannot think of another reason why a scholar such as he would refuse to help save the House of Wisdom.”

“I think I agree with Abi,” Riq said.

“Well, I don’t.” Sera folded her arms. “I can’t believe that a man like Tusi would be SQ.”

“Why not?” Dak asked. “You saw how rude that guy was.”

“He may be rude,” Sera said. “But he’s also a mathematician and a scientist. I’ve learned about him. He is not SQ.”

“The SQ has plenty of scientists,” Riq said. “Tusi wouldn’t be the first.”

Sera appeared unconvinced.

“Either way, he’s not on our side,” Riq said. “Where does that leave us?”

“Well, we have to assume Tusi is SQ,” Dak said. “And we
know
the caliph is an idiot. So I guess that means we have to go to Hulagu ourselves. Right?”

Riq thought about their options. His experience during the Viking siege of Paris, trapped within the city once the attack had begun, left him convinced that Dak’s suggestion was the best idea left to them. “Right.”

“This will be very dangerous,” Abi said. “You will be venturing into the Mongol war camp.”

Riq looked down at the robe he was wearing. He didn’t want to walk into the Mongol camp while in Baghdad clothing. But then he remembered that Mongolia and China were next-door neighbors. “We might want to change back into our Chinese clothing so we don’t look too out of place.”

“That’s true,” Abi said. “And the Mongols have drawn soldiers from every nation and race they’ve conquered. You may be able to blend in. Let’s hope that’s enough to keep you safe.”

They waited until nightfall, and Abi led them through the city streets, back through the Perfume Market, the stores all closed up and shuttered, then under the grand archway that stood before the mosque they had passed the day before. On the other side of the arch, they turned to the right and followed a wide street.

There were still a few people out, hurrying along. The windows and wooden screens above them to either side pulsed with the yellow flicker of candlelight and lamplight, and Riq heard the sounds of music, singing, and laughter coming from inside the houses and apartments. These people had no idea the Mongols were going to begin their siege the following day.

“The caliph has made them all feel safe when they’re not,” Riq said.

“That is true,” Abi said.

The Hystorian kept them to the sides of the streets, in the shadows, and when he saw the city guards, patrolling with torches and lamps, he ducked the three time travelers into hiding places, down alleyways or behind street vendor stalls.

They came to a large intersection and turned left onto a new market street. The buildings here were larger and richer, almost like miniature palaces. Some distance on, Riq saw the city wall with a gate like the one they had first entered through the day before. But the gate was closed.

“How will we get out?” Riq asked Abi.

“We bribe the guards,” Abi said. “Not the most elegant solution, but effective.”

As they approached the gate, two guards stepped toward them and blocked their way.

“Greetings,” Abi said.

“What business brings you to the Halbah Gate at this time of night?” one of the guards asked.

“Business with you,” Abi said. “If you are interested in a transaction.”

“What kind of transaction?”

“The simple kind,” Abi said. “Money for a service.”

“How much money?”

“A dinar between you,” Abi said.

The guards paused. They looked at each other. “What’s the service?”

Abi pointed ahead. “Open the gate and let my young friends pass.”

The guards stared at them. Then one of them held out his open palm.

Abi reached into his robes and pulled out a coin. He placed it in the hand of the guard, who snatched it away. Riq flinched, hoping they would make good on their part of the bargain.

“The service?” Abi said.

The guard with the coin laughed through his nose. Then they both turned back to the gate, motioning for them to follow. They each pulled out a key, and unlocked a smaller door next to the larger city gate. The guards ushered them through, into an enclosed courtyard within the thick wall, to a second door.

“You’re in the safest place you could be, right now,” one of the guards said. “Why would you want to go out there? The Mongols are out there.”

“We know,” Riq said.

They shrugged and opened the door.

Abi looked at each of them. “Hulagu’s war camp is due east. You won’t be able to miss it. Good luck to you.”

They said good-bye to him and stepped outside the city walls. The door shut behind them, and Riq heard the sound of the lock turning. The stars and moon overhead lit the desert around them with a cold, pale light. Riq could almost imagine the landscape was made of snow instead of sand.

“So, we just start walking?” Dak asked.

“Guess so,” Sera said.

Riq noticed the flicker of campfires on the horizon, like someone had stretched out a string of carnival lights. “I think that’s the war camp. Let’s get going.”

They set off across the sand, the chill of night around them.

“How far away do you think that is?” Dak asked.

“It’s pretty close to the edge of our horizon,” Sera said. “Which, given our height, would make it two to three miles away.”

Riq picked up their pace. They had to get there as fast as they could. The siege would begin tomorrow.

Dak spouted facts about the Mongols on the way, and Riq just gritted his teeth and let the kid go. He explained that they were one of the most successful conquering empires in the history of the world, more or less undefeated in most of their battles. Often, they didn’t even have to fight. Their enemies heard the Mongols were coming, and they just gave up. Some even believed that when the Mongols came, they were a divine punishment, so it was pointless to fight. Every single Mongol man was a warrior, and families traveled together on their military campaigns.

“That’s why I don’t understand what the caliph is doing,” Dak said. “That vizier gave him the worst possible advice.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Riq said. “What’s done is done. We just have to stop Tusi.”

“It’s
not
Tusi,” Sera said.

Riq just shook his head.

A few steps later, Dak piped up. “Did you know the Mongols tended to get hit by lightning a lot? There weren’t any trees where they came from. Thunder terrified them.”

Riq rolled his eyes. “Give it a rest, both of you.”

They walked in silence after that, except for the scuff of their feet through the sand and the hiss of the wind. The emptiness of the desert left Riq time and room to think. And he didn’t actually want to think right now. Any time he had a chance to think, his thoughts went to the future. Or his lack of future.

There was really only one thing Riq had thought of to do when the time came to return to the future. He couldn’t risk traveling to an era where he’d be a complete anomaly. So he’d have to stay behind somewhere in the past, while Sera and Dak went back to the future to get their new SQuare. Then they could come back and pick him up to finish the remaining Great Breaks. He didn’t know when he should tell them his plan, or how to convince them, but he’d have to do it soon.

“The desert is a little creepy,” Dak said. “Like there’s no one else in the world. It’s like what the world would be after the Cataclysm.”

“Don’t talk about that.” Sera’s voice came out sounding sharp, almost angry.

Dak kept going. “I’m just saying —”

Sera stopped walking. “I said not to talk about it!”

“Geez, dude,” Dak said, turning back to her. “Why don’t you just tell us what’s bothering you, already?”

“Nothing is bothering me,” Sera said.

“Right,” Dak said. “Just like nothing is bothering Riq.”

Riq didn’t say anything. He just kept walking.

“It’s something to do with the Cataclysm,” Dak said. “Obviously. So what is it?”

Sera resumed walking again, and Dak trotted to catch up.

“Well?” he said.

“It’s . . .” Sera said.

Dak waited a minute. “It’s what?”

Sera wiped at something in her eye.

“Are you crying?” Dak asked.

“I GOT SAND IN MY EYE!” Sera said. She’d obviously been pushed too far.

Dak’s voice softened. “Sera, I didn’t mean —”

“Leave it alone, Dak,” Riq said. “She’ll tell you when she’s ready.”

“Has she told
you
?” Dak asked.

Riq looked at Sera. They’d talked a bit about their Remnants back during the Viking siege of Paris. And here they were again. What was it about battles that brought this stuff up? Sera shook her head at Riq, telling him not to say anything.

Well, he sure didn’t like being put in the middle of this.

“Dak, she’ll tell
us
when she’s ready.” Which was the truth.

“You know what? I don’t like secrets!” Dak said. “I need to know what’s going on! It’s like we’re falling apart here, when we need to come together and be a team.”

Riq had to admit the kid had a point. But he still wasn’t ready to say anything about his own problems yet, and apparently Sera wasn’t either.

“Let’s just keep moving, Dak,” Sera said. “Please?”

Dak folded his arms.

Sera touched his arm. “Please, Dak.”

Dak relaxed his frown. “Fine. Okay. Let’s go.”

Riq was glad the two of them had worked it out, at least for now. They picked up their march again, the lights of the Mongol war camp pretty close now. Riq could see shadows moving in front of the campfires, silhouettes he couldn’t quite make out. He heard dogs barking and horses neighing, and the clamor and ring of metal.

Once they reached the first few tents, Riq realized their plan was going to be a lot harder than he’d thought. The Mongol war camp was less like a camp and more like a mobile city. It was huge. And warriors stood armed and ready at every turn.

“I
T’S ENORMOUS
,”
Sera whispered. There were so many of the round tents, all arranged in a very orderly way. But what amazed Sera were the horses. They were everywhere. Lots of them. More than she could count. It seemed like the horses outnumbered the people five to one. Some of the horses had stuffed dummies mounted on them, as if the Mongols were trying to give the impression of more riders than they actually had.

“Let’s look for Hulagu’s tent,” Dak said. “It will definitely stand out from the rest.”

They snuck in between the tents, through the shadows, moving deeper and deeper into the Mongol territory. With each step, Sera had the feeling that this was the wrong way to go about saving the library. She didn’t think there was any way they would be able to convince Hulagu Khan to do anything. It was ridiculous. She thought they should instead try to find Tusi. She believed they could convince him somehow to help them. He was an amazing scientist, and he simply could not be SQ.

But no one had listened to her, even though she’d been right about a lot of things before.

The men in the Mongol army all wore the same uniform: a long wool coat that crossed in the front, buttoned under the right armpit, and was secured at the waist by a thin hide belt and wide sash. Leather armor was over that, to which scales and rings and other bits of metal had been attached. The women wore clothes pretty similar to the men, except without the armor, and some wore beaded, colored headdresses. They even wore pants like the men, which seemed practical for people who rode horses every day, and it made Sera smile.