“He isnot an evil spirit, remember,” said Ishihara. “He is merely a misguided spirit who belongs with us. We will take him away from the court if someone will take us inside the palace grounds.”
“My mother’s cousin is a minor attendant to one of the princes in the court. He will come to the gate if I ask the guard to call him.”
“Can he let us in?” Ishihara asked.
“I believe so,” the other man said slowly. “I have never tried before.”
“Will we be stopped inside?” Ishihara asked. “We cannot disturb the palace routine.”
“That’s right,” said Jane. “We can’t afford to cause any trouble, remember?”
“My mother’s cousin has often said that the palace grounds are like a separate city within Khanbaliq. Thousands of bureaucrats, servants, and other workers do their daily duties inside the walls.”
“This is acceptable,” said Ishihara. “A few more people can get lost in the crowd during the day. Will you take us to the palace?”
“I am at your service.”
“Good.”
“Are we going?” Wayne asked in English again. “Can we get to MC 5?”
“Yes,” said Ishihara.
Steve stared at the towering walls around the palace grounds as he drew near behind Polo and Hunter. The grounds covered the equivalent of many city blocks, though Steve could not judge how many from this perspective. The walls rose up at least as high as the Great Wall. Sentries stood guard outside the closed gates. When they recognized Marco Polo, however, they bowed and opened the gates without comment.
Within the walls, the palace grounds were also laid out in the manner of a city. Broad walkways and large buildings lined up on a right -angle grid. Trees shaded the walks and the buildings. Marcia took his arm and pointed.
“See that long building with the statues by the entrance and the wooden threshold? By the architecture and the statues, I think that’s a temple of some kind.”
Steve nodded. “How about the other buildings?”
“I can’t be sure of most of them. These buildings did not last into our time. Too many are made of wood, and they were replaced one by one as the centuries went by.” Marcia looked to each side, then into the distance. She pointed to a huge edifice topped by a roof of vermilion, yellow, green, blue, and red, shimmering in the sunlight. “The largest building is the palace itself. In Marco Polo’s book, he says the palace is the greatest that ever existed. He wrote that the largest hall can hold six thousand people at dinner. The khan’s quarters are there, and those of his four wives.”
“Yeah?”
“And the other buildings must house various bureaucratic offices.”
“I wonder if there’s any chance we could see Kublai Khan himself.”
In front of them, Polo and his entourage came to a halt. Polo spoke briefly to a young man in a long, black robe who bowed deeply and hurried away. Then Polo turned to Hunter with an amused smile.
“I have been fortunate to enjoy the khan’s favor ever since we arrived here. Many of the attendants know me; that man recently passed the examinations necessary to enter government service. He will speak to the chief of the palace couriers, and bring MC 5 to us.”
“Thank you,” said Hunter.
“It’s going to be that easy?” Steve muttered to Marcia. “Hard to believe.”
“Dr. Nystrom sent us on a long detour to the Great Wall. I just hope Jane’s all right.”
“Of course she is, in Ishihara’s company.” Steve shrugged. “Well, MC 5 isn’t here yet. So our search hasn’t exactly succeeded.”
“Come,” Polo said to Hunter. “Now we will sit down and wait.” He gestured forward, and his servants led the small entourage again.
This time the group walked to a shaded garden with a lawn and a hedge of flowering shrubs. Carved stone chairs surrounded a round table of matching stone. The servants stood under a nearby tree, waiting patiently as the others sat around the table.
“If we must wait long, I shall send for tea,” said Polo. He leaned back in his chair. “What do you think of the palace grounds so far?”
“It is very impressive,” said Hunter. “Efficiently laid out and well tended.”
Polo laughed lightly. “You have an odd way of speaking, my friend. It is beautiful here, is it not?”
“Yes,” said Hunter.
“You know, in the spring-” Suddenly Polo stopped talking, his eyes on a small group of people approaching them. “The khan! Do as I do.” Polo leaped to his feet. He bowed very low from the waist and held the position. “Speak only if he bids you. Do not address him directly. Say, ‘the khan,’ or the ‘great khan,’ as though you are talking about someone not here.”
Hunter rose and imitated Polo precisely.
Steve, startled, also got up and bowed; next to him, Marcia did the same. Around them, the servants had reacted more Quickly and also stood motionless in their position. Steve sneaked a glance at the khan.
The man who stopped in front of Polo, frowning, had sharp, dark eyes and a ruddy complexion. His long, narrow mustache and wispy beard were gray. On his head, he wore a white cloth hat that angled down around his neck. His plain white robe was held by a tasseled belt of gold braid. Of medium height, he was stout but not flabby. Four grim-faced men in elaborate embroidered robes stood behind him.
“Marco, I did not know you were coming to the palace today. Why did you not have yourself announced to me?”
Polo did not move. “I did not wish to disturb the khan.”
“Rise, Marco. Your companions, as well.”
Polo straightened; his servants did so just a moment afterward.
Steve and Marcia also stood erect again.
“I am always pleased to see you, Marco,” said Kublai Khan. “You have business here today?”
“I seek a new courier working in the palace,” said Polo. “My friend, here, is also from Europe and wishes to speak with him.”
“Ah.” Kublai Khan glanced at Hunter without interest. “Come tomorrow, Marco. We will visit over tea at midday.” He walked away, followed by his retainers.
Polo bowed again. The others followed his example once more. When Polo straightened, he grinned at them.
“I am relieved that he is not angry because I failed to announce my presence. I did not expect to see him today.”
“Bowing is the acceptable response?” Hunter asked. “What about kneeling and touching one’s forehead to the floor? I heard this was the proper posture in the presence of the khan.”
“That is true if we are summoned to the throne room for a formal appearance,“ Polo said. “Here on the palace grounds, that is much too impractical.”
“I see.”
Marcia nudged Steve’s arm and whispered in Chinese, pointing surreptitiously. “That first guy Marco spoke to is coming through the crowd with somebody. Is that MC 5?”
Steve looked through the crowd. He recognized MC 5, whose appearance was identical to that of the other component robots. MC 5 had somehow acquired a plain black robe and black cloth shoes.
“Hunter,” he said quietly.
“I see him,” Hunter said, also in Chinese. “Remember, he does not know we are from his time or that we have come for him. We must not reveal ourselves before we can apprehend him, or he will flee.”
“What are we going to do, then?” Marcia asked. “We have too many witnesses here just to pounce and disappear with him-unless we want to wind up as a vanishing wonder in Polo’s memoirs!”