Macharius looked at Drake. ‘We all know there is a problem,’ he said sardonically. ‘The question is, what are we going to do about it?’
‘No,’ said Drake. ‘The question is, what are you going to do about it? You are our leader.’
Macharius appeared to consider this. ‘We have come too far,’ he said. ‘Our most experienced troops are old and tired. Our new recruits are untested and lack the zeal our veterans once had. Their officers are disillusioned by the venality of their superiors. It’s no wonder things are falling apart.’
‘Again, what are you going to do about it?’
‘I will speak directly to the troops. I will explain our plans. I will rally them back to the cause of the crusade.’
‘It will take more than words,’ said Drake.
‘Then I will give them more than words. I will lead them forward to crush Richter and his lackeys and after that we shall gather even these Halo Worlds into the Imperium’s embrace.’
I wondered at that. I wondered at how distant he now seemed from reality. He made it sound so simple. He would do this and the result would inevitably follow. It was the way he had always spoken and I had always believed him. Maybe the change was in me. Maybe I no longer had the faith I once did. Or maybe the magic of Macharius’s charisma had become stretched too thin over too long a time. Maybe it had always been a trick and only recently had I been able to see through it.
I pushed my doubts down into the dark cellars of my mind, but they kept trying to rise up again.
Chapter Twenty
‘You say he has a plan?’ Konstantin asked. We were once again in the Red Lantern, seemingly met by chance, and in a private room. This time hookahs full of dream smoke had been produced to give a cover story for the lack of girls being summoned. Mikhail got them lit and even sucked away at the mouthpiece for a bit. I shook my head when offered one and stuck with the vodka.
‘So he says,’ I said.
‘And what would that plan be?’ Mikhail spoke now, ever the gadfly, ever mocking, ever seeking to provoke a response.
‘He declined to tell me,’ I said. ‘I could ask if you like. I’ll tell him you are interested and would really like to know.’
‘I am sure Leo is doing his best,’ Konstantin said. I noted the fact that I was Leo now. We were old friends, Konstantin and I. At least that was the implication. And Konstantin was on my side, or so he would have me believe.
‘Does Leo have even the faintest idea what the plan might be?’ Mikhail seemed to be mocking Konstantin now. I wondered if there was real needling there or whether it was just a very good act. It might have been a little of both.
‘No, but he seems convinced it will work. He plans to address the troops in three days. Perhaps all will be revealed then.’
‘That gives us three days,’ said Konstantin, dropping out of character.
‘And you didn’t see fit to mention this first,’ Mikhail said. He was glaring at me.
‘I was going to, but I thought I would enjoy a few more of your sneers first,’ I said. ‘They are always entertaining.’
‘Where will this address be given?’
‘In the Grand Plaza.’
The two of them exchanged looks. ‘He might be able to rally the troops to his side.’
I saw it then in the dismay their glances contained, and heard it in the awed quiet in their voices. They still feared Macharius. They still thought he had it in him to rally even the loyal followers of the conspiring generals to his side, if only he could speak to them. Having heard Macharius on numerous occasions I could understand their fears.
‘We’d best get word back to the general,’ said Konstantin. ‘He’ll want to do something about this.’
He turned and stared at me, all pretence of us being old friends and comrades gone. ‘Hold yourself ready. We’ll be in touch. This is where you earn your baubles.’
There was the same obvious undercurrent of contempt in his voice that Mikhail usually showed. I kept my face bland. I was about to find out exactly why they were hiring me.
‘They said the general,’ Drake said. His face was a mask but I had known him long enough to detect the unmistakable tone of interest in his voice.
I nodded. ‘A small slip,’ he said, ‘but perhaps an important one.’
‘They think that if Macharius has a chance to address the troops, he might be able to rally the crusade.’
‘They said that or is that what you think?’
‘It’s what I think, but I was there and you were not.’
Drake tilted his head to one side and studied me, an owl contemplating a particularly tasty-looking mouse. His mask remained in place, though. ‘I will trust your judgement on this.’
‘They might be right to fear it,’ I said.
Drake shrugged. ‘Once, perhaps. Now… I do not know.’ His shoulders had slumped and just for a moment I thought I caught a glimpse of a tired and desperate man. I wondered then at how old Drake really was. He did not look any older than me, but he too had access to juvenat.
‘They told me to stand ready, that they would be in touch. If they are going to ask me to betray Macharius, it will be now.’
‘They will not ask you,’ said Drake. ‘They will order you. They think you are in too deep to back out.’
I felt a faint twinge of unease. ‘You think they will ask me to kill him.’
‘No. They cannot trust you enough for that or know whether you will do it. You will be involved and implicated,’ Drake said.
It came to me then that only he would know I was not. I could be executed as a traitor and no one would ever know differently unless he said something.
‘They might try to assassinate him while he speaks to the army.’
‘In full view of all the troops. That would make Macharius a martyr and anyone implicated in his death the worst sort of traitor.’ He sounded thoughtful as he said it and I wondered what was going on in the cold clockwork of his mind.
Looking back I can see that it was perhaps then that he got the seed of his last and most terrible idea.
‘You’ve brought the security codes and passwords?’ Mikhail asked. I looked around the now familiar chamber at the Red Lantern, taking my time just to annoy him, and then I nodded.
‘Good.’
‘And you will personally ensure that the lock is opened. We do not trust anyone else to do it.’ I had a sudden vision of me opening the great service hatch door and being shot down for my pains. I kept it to myself.
‘Of course,’ I said.
‘Once our men are inside, leave them and go your own way. It will soon be over.’
‘Very good,’ I said.
‘If things go well you’ll soon be a very wealthy man.’
Or I’ll soon be a very dead man, more likely, I thought.
‘Midnight tonight and everything changes,’ Konstantin said. He sounded elated, like a man on the verge of realising a long-held dream. Or perhaps a man about to wake up from one.
Midnight found me at the great armoured door on the upper level of the palace. I had dismissed the sentries and stood waiting with the shotgun on my back, wondering for the thousandth time what in the name of the Emperor I was doing. I had the same fluttering feeling in my stomach I have had many times before in the lead-up to a battle. My mouth felt dry and my heart thumped against my ribs. I held up my hands and they were steady. I checked the chrono on my wrist and the smallest hand ticked down towards the stroke of midnight. There were still a couple of minutes to go.