Adam of Albion (8 page)

“But
how can we tell which symbols stand for which note?” Artemis whispered tensely.
“There’s no time to figure it out.”

Adam
was staring at the symbols with the same sense of recognition as he’d felt last
night, only stronger. Then, without knowing what he was doing or even that he
was going to do it, he reached carefully into the cavity with his forefinger
and started touching them, one by one. Each time he did, the emerald glow
suddenly brightened and began to blink—and a tone in the chord went silent. A
few seconds later, the sound was entirely gone.

So
he
was
keyed to the mechanism in the same mysterious way as Artemis! But
he barely had time even to realize it.

“That’s
it!” Orpheus whispered excitedly. “That opened my access to the time-space
matrix. Give me just a second to plot the coordinates.” His eyes went out of
focus.

In
the stillness, they could hear the woman’s approaching footsteps, faint
rustling sounds as she stepped through the grass. She had to be almost to the
door! Pallas let out another low growl, then bolted off into the shadows.

“Oh,
do hurry, Orpheus,” Artemis breathed.

His
gaze clicked back in again. “We’re set! When I open the gateway, dive in—and
brace yourselves, because this is going to get
dramatic.
”

The
stable door hinges started to creak.

Abruptly,
the wall in front of their eyes seemed to explode into a whirling black vortex,
like a funnel stretching ahead into infinite distance.

Adam
wasn’t sure whether he grabbed Artemis’s hand or the other way around, but they
clutched each other for dear life and plunged headfirst into it. Everything was
spinning insanely, dizzying his mind and vibrating his body so hard it felt
like he was being shaken apart.

Then
the whole world went totally black.

When
Adam unclenched his eyes again, he was lying on his back. He wasn’t sure if
he’d actually been unconscious or just shaken loose of his senses, but it took
him a couple of seconds to remember what had happened.

Had
it really happened?

He
was in a different place now, that was for sure—it was warm and filled with
light, the walls were made of mud bricks instead of stone, and there was a
thatched roof above with gaps that let in glimpses of the brightest sun and
bluest sky he’d ever seen. But it had the same kinds of stable smells, and from
somewhere nearby came the sounds of big animals snuffling and moving around. He
guessed that this was a room for storing feed—there were several bins piled
high with grain that looked like barley.

It
wasn’t exactly a luxury landing.

But
it was sheltered, and most important, they were alone—it wasn’t like they’d
suddenly appeared in the middle of a street. Maybe Orpheus had planned it that
way, or maybe it was just luck.

He
sat up, patting his chest and legs to make sure that he was still the same—what
if there’d been a fly or something in the mix, like in that old movie, and he
was part bug now? But everything seemed to still be there, and working more or
less okay.

Artemis
was lying beside him with her eyelids fluttering. Her hair was standing
straight out from her head like she’d stuck her finger in a high voltage
socket, fanned out in a radius the size of a tractor wheel. It struck him that
with her oval face and outspread arms with the shawl flaring out at the wrists,
she had the same ankh shape as Eurydice.

Orpheus
was resting on the straw-covered ground between the two of them, looking
pleased with himself.

“Brought
us in right on target,” he murmured. “Welcome to the Holy Land, July 20, 1192
A.D.”

Whoa!
Adam thought. Orpheus deserved to feel cocky about this.

As
Artemis began to stir, Adam helped her sit up. “You okay?” he whispered.

“As
near as I can tell.” She started wrestling with her hair, trying to calm it
down into manageable shape. “Did we really do it?”

“Orph
says so—let’s look.” By now, Adam had recovered enough so that excitement was
rushing through him. He felt like hugging everybody, but Artemis still looked
dazed and Orpheus wasn’t really huggable. Instead, he scooped up Orpheus with
one hand and pulled Artemis to her feet with the other, and they climbed up on
a grain bin to peer out through the loosely thatched roof.

What
they saw seemed like a spectacular movie set. They were up on a hilltop, with a
clear view in all directions. The first sight that caught their gaze was a city
a few miles away, with an almost magical sense about it, like the Emerald City of
Oz. It was surrounded by high stone walls with great gates, towers, and
fortifications—and inside them, dominating everything else, rose a huge dome
that shone brilliantly in the sunlight.

“It’s
Jerusalem,” Artemis breathed. “That’s the Dome of the Rock.”

“It’s
lovely, but we’re not here as tourists,” Orpheus pointed out. “Sorry to be a
wet blanket, but you’d better get yourselves oriented so you’ll know your way
around.”

They
were in a sort of compound of buildings, at the top of a village that spread
down the hillside below them. Narrow winding streets lined with low mud-brick
houses led to a marketplace of shops and stalls and crowded with people, not to
mention goats, sheep, and donkeys pulling carts—and camels. In fact, there were
several of them right next door, in a crude corral—huge, gawky, weird-looking
beasts placidly chewing cuds or wandering around. Those were the animals he’d
heard, Adam realized, not horses or cattle.

Most
of the surrounding countryside was desert-like, with rocky hills and gullies
sparsely covered with scrubby vegetation. They could glimpse other villages and
a couple of big stone structures that looked like fortresses. Far away to the
west, the horizon blended into a deeper azure color that must be the
Mediterranean Sea.

It
all seemed peaceful and picturesque—except for one other sight that dominated
the panorama, a grim reminder that a bloody war was going on.

“The
Crusader camp,” Orpheus said, as they stared at it silently. “Richard the
Lionheart and his army.”

The camp,
situated on another range of hills about a mile away, had the look of a huge
slum. There were no actual buildings or streets, but acre after acre of tents
and crude shelters thrown up in a haphazard sprawl, which wouldn’t be much
protection from the intense heat, or from the hot steady wind that blew swirls
of dust around

This
was the opposite end of the spectrum from the civilized promise of
Jerusalem—just a place for war-hardened soldiers to throw their bedrolls on the
ground and rest in between one battle and the next.

There
were plenty of those men moving around, carrying weapons and many riding big
warhorses. With a frightened thrill, Adam recognized the legendary red cross on
the white tunics that some of them wore—the emblem of the Knights Templar.

It
was a serious wake-up call, and Artemis didn’t waste any more time getting down
to business.

“Fill
us in, Orpheus—what’s important for us to know?” she asked.

“It’s
a very complex situation—here’s just a bare bones version,” he said, and even
he, for once, didn’t seem inclined to wander off into storyland. “Saladin holds
Jerusalem and Richard came here to attack it. But both armies are weakened by
years of fighting, disease, and internal strife. It’s a stalemate—the Crusaders
can’t take the city but Saladin can’t drive them away.

“They
just went through a siege at Acre that lasted a year and a half—nobody wants to
do that again. Richard himself is also badly sick with fever. And on top of it
all, his brother John, back in England, is plotting to oust him and take over
the throne. He’s weary of this, he’s not going to gain anything more, and he
has to get back home and take care of business. So he and Saladin have started
truce talks. There’s going to be a meeting very soon, out there on the plains
between the camp and the city walls.

“And
that is where it happened,” he finished, with a tremor of excitement in his
voice. “A fight broke out, Eurydice was torn away from me—and I’ve never seen
her since.”

“We
have
to be there, then!” Artemis said.

Orpheus
nodded himself resolutely. “Let’s talk tactics.” They hopped back down and the
kids sat crosslegged on the straw-covered dirt floor.

“First
and foremost, I do not have any special powers to whisk you out of danger—if
you get in a tough spot, you’ll have to take care of yourselves,” he warned.
“Our best option is to grab Eurydice if at all possible. Next best is to find
out what happened to her, where she went and who with. But I can’t keep us here
indefinitely—my energy meter is running. Call it three days, max. We have to be
physically back together by then, to time travel home. Otherwise, you’re stuck
here for the rest of your lives—and in this situation, that probably wouldn’t
be very long.

“In
order to survive, you’ll have to stay under the radar. There’ll be a good-sized
crowd at this meeting, so that will help. But your clothes are impossible—and
Artemis, your hair. This is not exactly the land of the platinum blond—you’ll
stand out like a lightning flash. If the locals get one look at that mane,
you’ll be whisked off to an auction block and sold into some sheik’s harem.”

Her
mouth opened in dismay, and for the first time, she actually looked a little
scared—still determined, but it was clear that she was starting to realize this
was a lot more complicated, and dangerous, than the exciting, romantic
adventure she’d imagined. Adam had been nervous all along, he had no problem
admitting that, and now it took another jump. He’d tried to imagine the dangers
of battle, but being sold into a harem? Nothing like that had even occurred to
him. Talk about strangers in a strange land, he thought. If they’d had any idea
this was going to happen, at least they could have been better prepared.

“I
can use this as a head scarf, at least,” she said, pulling off her black shawl.
Then she added anxiously, “But there’s another problem I never even thought of.
We don’t speak the language—we won’t understand a word anyone says.”

“That,
I’ve got covered,” Orpheus said. “My creator, Vantorix, thought we might run
into the same problem, so he set up a translating mechanism.”

A
small panel in his throat slid open—just like the other niches, but this was
under his chin. A tray came sliding out, divided into compartments like a
toolbox made for somebody six inches tall. One of those popped open and a
slender stem jackknifed up, with what looked like a tiny barb at its tip.

“Artemis,
pull your hair away from one side of your head,” Orpheus commanded. “Adam, hold
me up next to her ear.” The kids glanced nervously at each other again, but obeyed.
“A little closer—there, that’s good.” As Adam steadied him, the tiny barb
suddenly darted forward, tapping the slight hollow of her temple. There was a
tiny
pttt
sound, and the stem bounced back.

He’d
just given her a shot
,
Adam realized, like a doctor with one of those
fancy guns. What was
that
all about?

But
Orpheus was already saying, “
Next
—come on, let’s move it.” Adam handed
Orph to Artemis and braced himself, but when the
pttt
came, he barely
felt the barb—it was like getting bumped by a gnat.

The
stem snapped back into its compartment and the tray disappeared seamlessly into
Orpheus’s throat.

“Okay,
you’re GTG on that count,” he said. “Those are like implanted microchips,
except much more advanced. They create an energy field that alters sonic
frequencies—so the language anyone speaks to you will enter your brain as
English, and whatever you say back will get changed to their language. It’s
instantaneous, so you’ll barely notice it. But—the process has to be routed
through me, and the range is limited—a couple of miles, depending on the
terrain. Another good reason for us to stay close together.”

That
was a big help, for sure, although there were still plenty of other problems
and questions—starting with how they were going to get to the meeting place
unnoticed.

“I’ll
sneak a look around,”Adam said, trying to sound braver than he felt. There must
be a place nearby where gear for the camels was stored—maybe there’d be some
burlap or pack cloths they could wrap around themselves.

He
was just starting toward the crude wooden door when it swung open.

A
boy about the same age as Artemis and Adam, with sun-darkened skin and curly
black hair, was staring back at them with huge eyes that mirrored their own
shock.

The
boy jumped back, turning like he was going to flee.

“Wait—we’re
friends!” Artemis called out. “We won’t hurt you—please, come talk to us.”

He
hesitated—still poised to run, but now he seemed entranced.

And
it wasn’t because of Orpheus, Adam realized—his gaze was locked on Artemis. Her
hair was still uncovered while she’d been folding the shawl into a scarf, and
apparently, the sight of that wild blond mane was much more fascinating than
the extra head perched on Adam’s shoulder.

Artemis
was quick to realize it, too—and to put it to use. She gave him a radiant
smile, and gracefully stood up. Then she ran her hands through her hair,
fluffing it out to its maximum end-to-end extension, as wide as she was tall.

The
boy gasped in awe, sinking to his knees and clasping his hands together.

“Oh,
lady,” he whispered. “Are you a jinni?”

“Not
exactly—but we come from a faraway time and place, and we
are
magical.
Look!” She pointed at Orpheus. “This is the miraculous talking head of legend,
that can perform many marvels.”

Orpheus
jumped on the cue like a hungry trout hitting a caddis fly—first, by changing
color from the ambient earth tones around them to a brilliant rainbow spectrum
that moved subtly around his face.

“Arise,
O brave son of the Prophet, and tell us your name,” he said, in a rich, formal
voice.

Adam
was noticing that while he understood all the talking perfectly well, the words
had an odd feel, like they were hitting his brain differently than usual—that
must be the implanted chip altering the sonic frequencies.

The
boy stood up shakily, his eyes still huge. “I am called Mustafa, O marvelous
head that shines like a rainbow and speaks like a mage.”

Adam
felt Orpheus stretch himself a little taller, preening.

“I
am Orpheus. This young man is Adam, and the lady is Artemis.”

Mustafa’s
lips moved as he repeated her name under his breath.

“Will
you help us, Mustafa?” she asked. “I swear to you, we won’t harm anyone—we only
have a task to accomplish. And we’ll reward you handsomely.”

He
lowered his face shyly. “If I may serve the lady with the moonlight hair, I ask
no other reward.”

Adam
closed his eyes with relief. They still had a long way to go, but this was a
big step.

“The
great Sultan Saladin, and the Frankish King Richard, will soon hold a meeting
to discuss terms, is it not?” Orpheus asked.

Mustafa
nodded. “The Sultan’s emissaries are riding out from the city even now.”

“We
need to be present there—but we have to stay secret, and look like everyone
else. Can you find clothing for Artemis and Adam?”

Mustafa’s
face turned miserable with shame. “It would be easily bought—but I am a poor
groom and have no money.”

Damn!
Adam thought—that was another thing that had never crossed his mind. He had a
couple of Euros in his wallet, but they weren’t going to cut it here.

“What
about these?” Artemis said, holding up her many-ringed hands. “They’re pure
silver.”

Mustafa’s
face brightened again. “Oh, yes! Two or three of those will buy everything you
need. My uncle has a shop in the bazaar—he’ll cheat me on the bargain, but he
won’t ask where I got them.”

“Here,
take some extra, just in case,” she said, quickly tugging several of the rings
off her fingers. “And this—” she held up one that was particularly lovely— “is
the best of them, and it’s for
you.
Don’t let your uncle even see it.”

She
stepped forward and took Mustafa’s hand, pressing the rings into it. At her
touch, he looked stunned with ecstasy.

“I’ll
be back very soon,” he said. “You’ll be safe—no one else comes here but me, to
feed the camels.” Then, looking worried, he added, “But when you leave, the
lady Artemis must be very, very careful to keep herself covered. The Grand
Vizier has spies everywhere. He’s a treacherous man with a spiderweb of
plots—it’s whispered that he seeks to overthrow the Sultan and seize the
kingdom. If he hears word of her and sees her in her glory, as I have seen her,
he will take it as an omen either for his success or his failure. The first
will mean his harem—the second, his dungeon.”

As
Mustafa hurried out the door, Orpheus muttered, “Far be it from me to say, ‘I told
you so.’”

“But
how very lucky we found him,” Artemis said. “I do think we can trust him, don’t
you?”

“I
don’t know,” Orpheus said ominously. “He just might decide to pocket the
cash—or even that he can make a lot more of it if he turns us in.” But when he
saw her look turn dismayed, he grinned. “I’m kidding—just trying to lighten the
mood. Yes, I think we can trust him. I’ve gotten to be a pretty good judge of
character, what with knocking around the world for umpteen thousand years.”

It
was a real stroke of luck to find a helper, especially because they might have
met someone not nearly so friendly. But a lot of it was due to Artemis, Adam
realized. She’d stepped right in where luck left off. Mustafa was obviously
smitten with her, and she knew exactly how to keep it going.

Adam
wasn’t sure whether that stuff came naturally to girls or they learned it, but
he was starting to suspect that they held all the real power.

They
climbed back up on the grain bin and watched Mustafa scurry like a rabbit through
the village streets, darting in and out of the crowd of people and animals
toward the bazaar.

“What
he said about the Grand Vizier is right on the money,” Orpheus said with a
scowl. “He’s pure evil—and he’s the one who really started all the trouble that
lost Eurydice. Saladin knows he’s up to no good, of course—he’s way too smart
not to. But he has a lot of other problems on his mind, and the Vizier is still
useful to him, so he’s just watching and waiting for the right moment to settle
the score.” Orpheus’s eyes narrowed dramatically. “There’s more treachery
lurking out there than the wine that flowed at Nero’s orgies, more secret
agendas than crocs in the Nile.” It was another of his over-the-top
descriptions, but there was definitely one secret agenda—theirs.

“You
said the Vizier’s the one who started all this trouble,” Artemis reminded him.

He
nodded himself grimly. “Life was going along fine. I was living with an
astrologer in Egypt, a very sweet guy, trying to teach him the basics of real
astronomy—convince him that the earth revolved around the sun and not the other
way around, that sort of thing.

“But
the Vizier heard about me, and had me stolen and brought to him. He thought I
was magic and if he could master me, he could rule the world. Well, I’d run
into his type plenty of times before, and I just went into my dumb rock act. He
tried to make me talk, of course—which was something he was usually very good
at—but he couldn’t use his standard tactics because he was afraid he’d damage
me.

“It
drove him crazy that he couldn’t crack me—he was obsessed, and so paranoid
about losing me, he kept me with him every second. That’s why I was inside the
pommel of his saddle—he’d rigged it to hide me there. So that’s where I was—or
am—at this meeting, stuck inside a leather knob where I can’t see a thing.”

“We
need a way to distinguish the two of you—you, the Orpheus who’s here now, and
that Orpheus back then, who’s inside the pommel,” Artemis pointed out. “Let’s
keep calling you Orpheus, and him OrpheusToo, all right? OToo for short.”

“OToo,”
Orpheus said thoughtfully. “Sure, I like that—it’s catchy.”

Adam
couldn’t help a slight grin—OToo sounded like the name of a rap musician, or a
robot from one of the old Star Wars movies.

“What
happened next, Orpheus—at the meeting, I mean,” Adam said.

“It
started off with the usual formalities and posturing—both sides verbally
thumping their chests. Then, out of nowhere, there was this sudden
commotion—yelling, horses rearing up—and I figured a fight was breaking out.
What I didn’t figure was that it might have something to do with me—that never
even crossed my mind.

“But
next thing I knew, I was flying through the air. I felt somebody manhandling
me, just for a couple of seconds. Then—Eurydice was gone.

“All
I remember about those next few minutes is that I got bounced around more—I was
so shaken up I hardly knew what was happening. When things settled down, the
Templars had me, and before long, I was on one of their ships, sailing across
the Mediterranean to Europe.”

Adam
tried to sort through the options—which did not look good. No way were they
going to be able to grab Orph while he was in the saddle pommel, with the
Vizier sitting practically on top of him. And trying to intercept him in the
middle of a brawl, with a bunch of big horses and armed warriors stomping
around?

“Look—here
comes Mustafa!” Artemis said—pointing down to the bazaar, where his slender,
wiry figure was scampering back up the hill toward them, with a woven sack over
his shoulder.

Adam
started to tingle with adrenaline. This was coming down to the wire.