Wielding a Red Sword (20 page)

The boy reacted automatically. He stopped, raised his rifle, sighted, and fired.

Whether his bullet scored was doubtful; good marksmanship was unlikely in such circumstance. But his action alerted the other boys of this region. They stopped, raised their rifles, and fired. Several bullets tore into the man, and he screamed and fell.

The boys charged up, saw the man’s face, and exclaimed with amazement. They had seen that face before; it had been on posters used for hate training. They cried the name.

A Persian officer spied the commotion and chanced his hide by coming to investigate. He, too, recognized the casualty. He gave orders, and the boys took hold of the corpse and dragged it back up the hill. The body was heavy, but there were many hands; few were slow to realize that this detail was taking them away from the worst danger. The battle, such as it was, dissolved.

Mym watched from his steed, invisibly. He saw them get the body into a bunker. He saw the boy he had occupied identified as the soldier who had killed this horrendous enemy. The boy was an instant hero, given a commendation and sent to the rear to report to higher authorities. He would be safe—and neither he nor his mother would suffer further privation.

Persia had said, publicly and often, that it would carry on the war until this enemy leader was deposed. Suddenly the man was dead. The stated reason for the war had been eliminated. The attack was called off, and a
de facto
truce developed.

No more children would die for a while. Perhaps the
war would now be allowed to end, and the recovery could begin.

Mym wasn’t sure what the final judgment might be on his method of stopping this war, but he was satisfied. He had not only accomplished his objective, he had learned another way to make his position effective.

 
10
 
THANATOS

Concerned by what Fate had told him of Satan’s designs, Mym tried to talk to Rapture about it that night. “I think you would be better off with Luna in the mortal realm,” he sang. “Since you can still readily spend the nights with me, here, the separation is really not that onerous.”

“With the cousin of the woman you loved before me?” she inquired bittersweetly.

Ouch! “Who informed you of that?”

“Lila, of course.”

“Lila—the creature of Satan.”

“She’s an interesting woman. She will make you an excellent concubine.”

“I’m not so sure I want a demoness for a concubine. She surely serves the interests of Satan before mine.”

“You don’t like the notion of any woman serving any interest before yours?”

This was not the type of question Rapture had asked before this. Mym wasn’t sure he liked the change. “I don’t like the notion of being that close to a creature provided by the Incarnation of Evil.”

“Oh, pooh!” she said. “Lila isn’t evil! She’s an educated woman.”

“What is she doing in Hell, then?”

“She says it was a bum rap.”

“A what?”

“A bum rap. A false charge. A misunderstanding. Before she realized, she was in Hell and couldn’t get out. So she makes the best of it.”

“It still sounds suspicious to me. She’s a demoness.”

“Oh, don’t be such a fuddy-duddy!”

“A what?”

“An old-fashioned bore.”

“It sounds like reduplicating echoism to me. This occidental slang does not become you, Rapture. Don’t forget you are a princess.”

“
Was
a princess. Now I’m a woman. And so is Lila. Oh, the things I am learning from her!”

“Like what, apart from gossip and slang?”

“Like this,” she said, and kissed him in a fashion that made his skin heat.

“You’re coming on like a concubine!” he protested.

“I’m coming on like a woman who is learning what it’s all about.”

“A princess does not need to know what it’s all about!”

“But a woman does. Lila is certainly right about that.”

“I really think you would be better off with Luna Kaftan.”

“Luna is a fine woman, and I like her—but now that I know how similar she is to your former love, I prefer to keep my distance from her—and your distance too. It’s enough trouble adapting to this new lifestyle without having to worry about what’s going on in your mind.”

He found that concern singularly difficult to address. He felt no romantic attraction for Luna, but it was true that his new knowledge of her relation to Orb worked a subtle effect on him. Where was Orb now? How had she fared, after he had deserted her? Had the ring enabled her to cope adequately? She had been a western woman, and he had loved her; now Rapture was assuming some western attributes, and he did not find them appealing in her. Perhaps there was justice in her disinclination to remain with Luna.

“Well, perhaps you could stay with another mortal woman,” he suggested.

“Why? I like it here. The food is good, the grounds are beautiful, and Lila is a fine companion. Soon she is going to take me to visit Hell.”

“To visit Hell!” he exclaimed in singsong, almost choking. “I don’t want you going near that place!”

“You prefer that I sit in the castle all day, sewing handkerchiefs?”

He sighed. It was true that there was not a lot for her to do here in Purgatory. “Perhaps you could find something to do in the mortal realm to keep you busy. I’m sure Luna would—”

“Her, again. She seems much on your mind.”

Unfortunately true, after the dialogue with Fate. He had never expected to be thrown into the company of Orb’s close relatives. But because he had known Orb well, he trusted those relatives. And he wanted to get Rapture away from the insidious influence of Satan. “I just feel that Satan means to do you some mischief, and it would devastate me to have that happen.”

She softened. “That’s an unprincely thing to say. Why don’t you just order me to do what you wish?”

“Because I love you.”

“You know that’s a decadent Western concept.” But she could not suppress her pleasure. “I will seek some mortal employment.”

“That pleases me.”

Then they made love, and all was good.

The next situation requiring the personal attention of Mars was in Latin America. Conquest, Slaughter, Famine and Pestilence were eager to get to work, but Mym lacked proper enthusiasm. Increasingly he was wondering whether he was the proper man for this office. He had been trained for command and for war, but he took no special joy in it, especially not in pointless bloodshed. He would prefer to abolish war. But there was the conflict of interest, because, if he succeeded, he would lose the office—and where would he be then? Locked into this alien Afterlife, his mortal life completed. What chance at the ultimate relief of nirvana would he have then?

He had learned that new Incarnations had a period of
apprenticeship or trial, after which they could voluntarily give up the offices. Perhaps it would be best for him to do that—to step down when that chance came. Would that return him to mortal status? He suspected so. But what offered then? Would he have to resume his position as Heir-Prince to Gujarat, displacing the man he had established in his place and marrying the Princess of Rajasthan? That would be horrible!

Suppose he could step into the mortal world in some other capacity? Become a new person in the occidental world? That had its appeal. But what would he do? He was trained to be a prince, and that was not a preferred employment in the west. Also, he was a stutterer. He had made it on singsong well enough, but that was in large part because he had held positions of extreme power, both as Prince and as the Incarnation of War. Others did not laugh at the powerful; they accommodated their idiosyncrasies. But if he tried to assume an
un
powerful position—

No, he would have to make do with the situation he had, try to be the best Mars he could be and, if he succeeded in abolishing war, to retire to whatever the Afterlife offered. This was not a bad existence, really. He could emulate Musashi, author of
Five Rings
, learning to prevail through humility and hard work.

That book spelled out the Way to learn the author’s strategy very simply and directly, in the section on the Ground: to think honestly; to train, to learn every art and know the Ways of all professions; to distinguish between gain and loss, develop intuitive judgment, perceiving what could not be seen; to pay attention even to trifles, and to do nothing that was of no use; in sum, to be honest and perceptive and purposeful throughout life. So easy to read and to agree with, but sometimes so hard to honor! How would Musashi have handled the situation with Rapture?

Mym sighed. As far as he could tell, the great Japanese Samurai had never married or formed any significant relation with a woman. Perhaps he had been most practical of all in that!

They arrived at the site. It was a jungle. Lush tropical growth spread all about. “What’s the situation?” Mym asked.

“Muddled,” Conquest replied. “This is a guerrilla war, festering for a number of years. I was surprised when it died down at the time of your ascension, because the underlying causes had not changed.”

“Satan had a hand in that,” Mym sang. “He didn’t like my predecessor.”

“True. But Satan’s grudges are legion.”

“So we don’t really know how things are faring, here, because guerrilla warfare is not open and measurable,” Mym said. “We only know that there will be bloodshed, much of it by innocents.”

“Yeah!” Slaughter said raptly.

“But there is a strong indication that something of extreme significance is about to occur at this site,” Conquest said. “That’s why this action requires our personal supervision.”

“I should have known there would be more to it than mere routine destruction and killing,” Mym sang sourly. “Just what kind of development is this?”

“We don’t know,” Pestilence said. “But I feel it in my flesh, so it must relate to me.”

Mym looked at him. The figure’s flesh writhed with maggots and mold and leggy things; and when he moved, flies buzzed up. If a man was known by the company he kept, Mym thought, he would have preferred other company.

Again he thought of the Book of the Ground, in
Five Rings
. Pestilence was like a rotting segment of ground! But this was an erroneous association, for Musashi did not talk of decay, but of the importance of basic organization and proper timing in all things, the groundwork for success, and of ascertaining the reality, so as to have one thing but to know ten thousand things. Knowledge—there was a prime key. The warrior who knew all things did not waste his effort on what was of no use.

Information! That was the first requirement here—to perceive that which could not presently be seen.

“I will investigate,” Mym decided. He dismounted and looked about. What should he look for? He didn’t want to identify with another eleven-year-old boy!

“There is a government outpost there,” Conquest said, pointing.

“That will do.” Mym strode toward the building. As he came near, four men emerged. They were rough-looking types, wearing unkempt uniforms, carrying sidearms and knives. Mym paced himself to overlap the evident leader and phased in.

Again he suffered disorientation, but he was getting the hang of this and soon he was using the soldier’s perceptions. This man was reasonably well fed and healthy, but dirty and dissatisfied. He had little formal education and owed his position of limited leadership to his muscle and general insensitivity to the plight of others. Mym did not like him at all, but stayed with him because it would have been too much of an investment in time and energy to phase in to another body. This overlapping was not pleasant for him, but it seemed to be the best way to get a real feel for the situation. If a person wanted to know how to deal with worms, there was nothing like being a worm for a while!