Emperor

14

Steve enjoyed the view as they rode down the slope into the narrow pass. As they descended, the wall loomed larger and higher than ever, a magnificent edifice that seemed to be part of the mountain ridge on which it had been built. As they drew closer they could see that the individual stones in the wall were very large. When Steve remembered the wall had been built entirely by human and animal labor, with no modem machinery or robots at all, it seemed even more impressive. Dusk had arrived by the time they reached the town just before the gate.

On the watchtower over the gate, and along the top of the wall, soldiers were silhouetted against the sky, all of them looking away to the north.

Steve could see that the gate was standing open. Four uniformed soldiers stood guard inside the gateway, leaning casually on their spears and looking attentively at something beyond his sight on the far side of the gate. At the sound of hoofbeats as Steve and Marcia drew near, the guards glanced idly back over their shoulders, then resumed looking through the gateway.

“What are they looking at?” Steve asked. He could hear the shouts of men and the thunder of many hooves in the distance. “Sounds like a lot of riders. Whatever it is, the sentries don’t seem to be alarmed by it.”

“I have no idea.”

“Let’s go see.”

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea.” Marcia shook her head vigorously. “No.”

“Come on, why not? You’ve been here before, but I haven’t. I want to see the wall up close. Do you think we can go up in one of the towers?”

“No!”

“What’s wrong?”

“Look, it’s a tourist attraction only inour time,” Marcia said anxiously. “I wouldn’t ask these soldiers just to show us around.”

“Why not?”

“To use a modern phrase, this is a functioning military installation, even if it’s not as important now as it used to be.” Marcia lapsed into her lecturing tone again. “And we aren’t Mongols; they see the Chinese as a conquered people. Asking to go up in the tower could raise the suspicion that we might attempt sabotage or espionage in some form.”

“Even an ordinary couple like us?”

“As soon as we ask to tour the watchtower, we won’t be ordinary anymore. We’ll look very odd. Like I said, this is not a place for tourists in this time.”

“Well…I see.”

“Good.”

“But we can still go find out what they’re looking at. I mean, the gate’s standing wide open.”

“I don’t think we should.”

“Well, look, we have to ask someone about the Polos anyway. They should know. Come on.” Steve kicked his mount and rode up to the gate.

“Well,be careful.” Shaking her head, Marcia followed him reluctantly.

“Should we speak Mongol to them?”

“No. Judging by their armor and their weapons, they’re Chinese.”

“They are?”

“Even under the khan, the Mongol armies and the Chinese armies are distinct.”

“Why don’t they have just the Mongol army now, if the khan is worried about the Chinese rebelling?”

“The Mongol army alone isn’t big enough to garrison the whole Chinese empire. The khan needs the Chinese army for that. The Chinese army is controlled by generals put in place by the khan, as Emperor of China.”

“Oh. Well, okay. I get the idea.” Steve felt that if he was polite and careful, he could at least see what had caught the attention of the sentries. Besides, if the Polos had passed through the gate, the sentries were the ones to ask.

As he reined in at the gate, the sentries turned to look up at him. All four were stocky, muscular young men. They seemed more resigned than wary.

“What is your business here?” One sentry, marginally taller than the others, straightened up.

“I have heard that the Polo family took this road in the last day or so,” said Steve. “Marco Polo and his father and uncle. I seek them.”

The other three guards also drew themselves up, suddenly interested. The Polo name obviously carried some importance. However, all four sentries looked at each other and shook their heads.

“They have not come this way recently,” said the first sentry politely. “We know their name, because they are favored by the Emperor. We have seen them on this road in past years, but not recently.”

Steve was startled, but he nodded courteously. He suddenly realized that Xiao Li’s story had been a falsehood from beginning to end. As soon as he could report to Hunter without local witnesses, he would.

Behind him, Marcia sighed audibly.

Steve pointed through the open gateway. Several large groups of men were riding in the distance, across patches of rugged, steeply sloped steppe surrounded by forest. “Who are they? What are they doing?”

The sentry frowned. “A local Mongol battalion has camped just outside the wall. They are practicing maneuvers, no more. After all, we are many miles from the borders of the Emperor’s empire here.”

“Really?” Apparently more comfortable now, Marcia rode up closer to Steve and looked out, too.

Steve could see hundreds of riders moving together in one group, their banners flying on upright lances. In the distance behind them, a separate group was wheeling about, riding through a sharp turn. A third group of riders stood on a far hill, unmoving.

“That looks like fun,” said Steve.

“Don’t you dare,” Marcia whispered loudly.

“Calm down.” He grinned. “I’m not going out there. But I used to ride out in the Mojave Desert. My favorite horse was a half-quarter horse, half-Arabian mare.”

“These are Mongol horses.”

“I know. Arabians have more delicate features and more high-strung temperaments. But both are small, hardy desert breeds.”

“You still have your horse?” She looked at him with a new curiosity.

“No. I don’t have any of them now. But I miss that one the most.” He nodded to the sentries and reined his mount around. “Come on.”

Steve rode a short distance away from the sentries and all the small buildings in the little settlement. Marcia followed him. When he was out of the hearing of everyone else, he leaned close to Marcia.

“We’ll pretend we’re talking to each other, since people can see us. I’m calling Hunter.”

“All right.”

“Hunter, Steve here.”

For once, Hunter did not answer.

“Hunter, you there?”

Marcia’s eyes widened as she looked at Steve.

“Hunter?”

Only static hissed quietly from the lapel pin.

“Maybe my transmitter’s broken,” said Steve. “Try calling him on yours.”

Marcia switched on her pin. “Hunter? Marcia calling. Steve and I have reached the Great Wall.”

She, too, received only static and shut it off. “What do you think happened?”

Steve turned to look back the way they had come. “Maybe nothing. He was about a half day’s ride behind us, and we’ve come through some very rugged country, much rougher than the ground we covered yesterday. The mountains block radio signals. He’s probably still coming.”

“Then why could we communicate last night?”

“It depends on the configuration of the mountains and passes. The signal can bounce, too. It’s impossible to predict exactly where it will go.”

“Then you think he’s still coming?”

“Yeah.”

“So what are we going to do?”

Steve looked at the sky. The sun had gone behind the mountains, and the sky was reddening with sunset. The air had abruptly chilled even in the brief time since they had arrived at the gate.

Marcia waited, looking back up the road as though she hoped to see Hunter.

“Well, I guess we wasted a lot of time coming here,” said Steve.

“You think the Polos turned off the road somewhere along the way?”

“No,” said Steve. “If you remember, we haven’t passed any forks today.”

“I saw some paths. Hunting trails, most likely. These mountains provide game for the emperors.”

“I don’t think the Polos came this way at all. Xiao Li must have pulled a fast one from the very start. I should have figured that out last night, but so much was going on, I never thought it all through.”

“None of us did, with Jane and Hunter being carried off,” said Marcia. “But, as I asked you a moment ago, what are we going to do?”

“I guess we can take a room-two if you prefer-for the night. Hunter should arrive sometime later. Tomorrow, we can go back to Khanbaliq.”

“Oh, no. Some of the same people must be here in one of the inns.-the people who kidnapped Hunter and Jane.”

“Well…that’s true.” Steve looked around. The little town had three inns with stables, some small houses, and seven taverns. “This is a strange place.”

“Yes, it’s just a road stop, really. Travelers would account for the number of inns, of course. But only the garrison of guards on the Great Wall could support that many taverns in a settlement this size.”

“Do they live in the houses?”

“No. They’re garrisoned in the towers along the wall. The houses must be owned by some well-to-do tavern owners or innkeepers who can live separately from their businesses.” She shrugged. “Hard to tell, really.”

“Look, that group of travelers stayed together all day. At least, every time I saw them, they were still together. If they’ve taken rooms in the same inn, then we have two others where we can stay.”

“But they might have split up. Besides, how are we going to know where they are?”

“Come on.”

Steve reined his horse back around and rode to the nearest inn, where he stopped with Marcia outside the stable. Most of the horses were out of sight, but the hostler was grooming one. Steve had been hoping to recognize the horses belonging to the other group, but he had not taken any special notice of them yesterday.

“I’m going to look inside the inn,” said Steve. “Stay on your horse, all right?”

“All right.”

Steve dismounted and quietly walked up onto the front porch of the small wooden building. He opened the door and leaned inside, looking around. It was much like the inn in which they had stayed the night before, with a large room full of tables in front of a big fireplace. The furniture was more finely finished, carved and deeply polished, suggesting greater prosperity. Long, vertical landscape paintings hung on the walls.

“Welcome, friend.” A big, burly innkeeper hurried forward, smiling.

Past him, Steve recognized a couple of merchants from the group he wanted to avoid.

“Sorry,” Steve muttered quickly. He pulled out of the doorway and closed the door quickly behind him. From what he could tell, no one except the innkeeper had seen him.

“What happened?” Marcia asked.

“They’re in there,” said Steve, as he swung into the saddle. “That’s good, because now we know where they are. I don’t think anyone saw me.”

“Then we can stay at another inn.”

“I’ll do the same thing again, in case that group had to split up to get rooms.”

They rode to another inn. Again, Marcia waited outside. Steve looked inside this one and did not recognize any of the visitors who had sat down to dinner. He stepped inside, still looking around cautiously.

This time a slender, white-haired man approached him and bowed. “Good evening, stranger. Are you in need of lodging?”

“I may be,” said Steve. “I, uh, had an argument yesterday with other travelers along this road. I would like to avoid them if I can.”

“I see. Well, I have some soldiers here on their way south to Khanbaliq.”

“The ones I’m talking about are going north. some merchants and students, as well as soldiers.”

“I have no group like that.”

Steve grinned with relief. “Good. Uh, I have a companion. We’ll take two rooms. And two dinners.”

“Very well. I ask six coppers for each room.”

“Fine. I’ll take our horses to the stable.”

“Of course.”

As Steve hurried out, he realized that he had forgotten to bargain. It was too late now; he had revealed to the innkeeper that he had reason to avoid the other inns, which had ruined his bargaining position. He decided not to worry about it. In this case, a safe place to wait for Hunter was more important than exactly how much they spent.

The hostler was a tall, gaunt man with graying hair who walked stiffly with age. With a weary, uninterested nod, he took the reins from Steve and Marcia. Steve untied the cloth bag with their changes of clothes from the back of the saddle. As they started toward the inn, hoofbeats came through the gate and they turned to look.

A group of Mongol riders rode through the gate. Grinning, they arrogantly ignored the Chinese sentries who glared sullenly at them, and split up. Small knots of riders trotted toward different taverns and inns. Four young riders, dressed in furs with breastplates, backplates, and pointed steel caps, came toward Steve and Marcia.

“I guess the battalion was dismissed,” said Steve.

“Let’s get inside,” said Marcia. “I’m scared.”

“All right.”

They turned away.

“Ho! You there!” One of the soldiers called out in accented Chinese.

“Ignore him,” Marcia whispered. “Let’s just get inside.”

“I better not,” said Steve. “We don’t want to make them mad.” He turned and looked up at the riders. “Good evening,” he said in Mongol.

The lead rider raised his eyebrows in surprise. “You speak our language?”

“Yes, friend. And I see you have fine horses. We saw you ride a few minutes ago, beyond the wall.’ Steve figured a compliment would always be wise.

“The best in Mongolia.” The rider grinned, seeming to mock his own boasting. “You know horses?”

“A little,” Steve said modestly. He was certain that boasting himself would be a mistake. “I had a very fine one of a different desert breed once. She was the kind ridden by the Arabs.”

“Ah! My uncle rode against the Arabs in the west. He fought in Persia.”

“Then he must have seen the same breed.”

“He must have.” The Mongol shrugged. “Is this inn crowded? We seek Chinese wine. I prefer it to our koumiss.”

“Uh, no, it’s not crowded.”

“Good.” He swung out of the saddle, and his companions did likewise. Without even looking at the hostler, he gestured for the old man to take their horses. He turned to Steve. “You will come and drink with us as my guest.”

“Well, I have ordered dinner for my friend and me,” said Steve uncertainly.

“Do what he says,” Marcia muttered quickly in English. “Keep him happy. But they know a decent woman won’t drink with them, so I’m going up to my room. Bring me something to eat when you can, okay?” She took the cloth bag from him.

“All right,” said Steve. He didn’t know what else to do. “But what’s koumiss?”

“Fermented mare’s milk.” Marcia hurried into the inn ahead of them.

Steve grimaced at the idea of that, then turned to the Mongol leader, speaking in Mongol again. “Thank you. I will be honored to join you.”

The Mongol clapped him on the shoulder. “Wine and food for all of us,” he called to the innkeeper in his accented Chinese. “Your best.”

The innkeeper bowed deeply and rushed away.

The Mongol leader led the group to the table closest to the fireplace and gestured for them all to sit down.