Michael put down his pen. He managed an easy smile. “I will not deny, Master Tarquin, that your kingdom is possessed of great power. But it would interest me to know why this has not so far been announced to the whole world. I might also speak of what I heard in France—of how a Norman raid on your southern coast last year was not repelled for many days, and of how, whatever your capacity for attack, your people are not organised for their own defence. I am told that a city called Hastings preserved itself from total massacre only by acknowledging the Duke of Normandy as King of England. The Duke seems to have acquired some of your weapons, and enough understanding of their use to stand his ground.” He paused and waited for Tarquin to put this into English. The Prime Minister’s face set like stone, and there was a long silence. Michael ignored the urgent jabbing of his uncle’s knee and continued: “More importantly, however, since no meeting at this high level can be without an object, I will ask what you would have of us in return for your help.” Tarquin nodded and put this into English. The Prime Minister relaxed and allowed a greasy smile to spread over his face. He turned to a secretary, who gave him two sheets of paper. He looked at these, as if to compare them and passed one over to Tarquin, who pressed another button and called up a new map—this one again of the modern Empire, but with a pattern of blue dots drawn within it and within the territories of some of its neighbours.
Tarquin got up again and went over to the new map. “We offer to guarantee the present frontiers of the Empire against all its enemies,” he said briskly. “If you want help in securing the Holy Places of Bethlehem for Christian missionaries, do not expect us even to consider such a request.” He jabbed at the blue dots with a pointing stick. “In return for the strictly limited help we offer, you will give us control of Larnaca in Cyprus as a base for our navy. You will also give us control of these places along the southern shore of the Black Sea. These will all be recognised as territories under the sovereignty of our King, and you will give the administrators that we send out your full and unquestioning co-operation in all that they ask.” He pressed his button, and what looked like a city as it might appear to a bird came onto the screen. With a shock that drained his face of colour, Michael recognised the dome of the Great Church and the long oval of the Hippodrome. “These dockside areas of Constantinople,” Tarquin said, pointing here and there with his stick, “will be remodelled by our own engineers to accommodate our trading ships. Several quarters of the City will need to be evacuated and demolished for the expansion of your docks. You will provide labour and building materials as we direct, and you will manage the gangs of workers with all necessary discipline.”
Simeon got unsteadily to his feet and walked across to the picture. He looked at the Prime Minister, whose face carried an expression of cheerful triumph, and then at Tarquin. “What you are demanding,” he grated, “amounts to a protectorate over the Empire. Do you suppose any Emperor would consent to this kind of arrangement?”
Tarquin opened his mouth to answer, but smiled instead and began a rapid explanation to the Prime Minister, who made some effort to straighten his face. “My Lord tells me,” Tarquin eventually answered, “that you have no choice in the matter. What you will not give us we will simply take. The deal we offer at least preserves the territory of the Empire from conquest by the Turks. And, if the force available to us is absolutely unlimited, it really suits our interests better to take what we want by agreement rather than force.”
Michael caught the look on his uncle’s face, and stood up. They’d heard enough. It was now a question of arranging for their return to Constantinople. But the Prime Minister waved them back into their places. He spoke at some length in English, not bothering to pause for Tarquin to interpret. Tarquin’s response was a narrowing of his eyes and then a sharp reply that bordered on argument. The Prime Minister spoke sharply back. Tarquin tried again—now with great urgency of tone. It was to no effect. The Prime Minister scowled and tapped his fingers impatiently on the table.
“There are further conditions,” Tarquin said, not looking into either face. He paused to gather the necessary words. He looked at the Prime Minister’s expectant face, then pursed his lips and began again in a low and nervous tone. “We require that you should take swift and effective action to enable that half of all the children in every school supported by the Emperor should be girls. We further require that all barriers to the entry of women into all areas of the Imperial service should be removed, and that those women who may be suitably qualified should be speedily promoted to senior positions.” He paused and looked once more at the Prime Minister, who smiled eagerly and nodded. Tarquin sighed and looked up at the ceiling. “You must abolish all laws that constrain the freedom of men to lie with men, and you must allow them to enter into marriages before the appropriate civil authorities. You must emancipate your Jews and other religious and national minorities. Furthermore, you must take effective action to ensure that all domestic and commercial waste within the Empire is gathered, where possible for re-use. And you must sign a treaty with us in which you undertake to limit your production of any kind of air that may cause a change in the weather.”
Tarquin gave an embarrassed sniff and sat down. Simeon stared at Michael. Michael looked at his shorthand note, wondering how he could make even grammatical sense of some of these final demands. But it still wasn’t finished. The Prime Minister grinned and appeared to mention the names Sappho and Theopompus. Tarquin relaxed and nodded. He looked at Michael. “Our further condition,” he said more easily, “is that you should welcome a team of scholars under my personal direction into Constantinople, and that you should there give unconditional access to any library that I name. No book—no matter how old or precious—shall be withheld from our inspection.” He stopped and seemed likely to drift into a quiet reverie over what he might find in Constantinople. He didn’t bother interpreting the soft and smiling final words of the Prime Minister. Michael helped Simeon to his feet and bowed curtly. “Tell your master that we will make our report to the Emperor as soon as we can,” he said. “In the meantime, we shall go back to our lodgings to await our departure from this country.”
Tarquin answered for the Prime Minister. “Oh,” he said with an airy wave, “I think we can get you home in next to no time.” He’d spoken too soon. As he began packing his things away, the Prime Minister spoke in a low tone that sounded shifty even by his standards. Tarquin stiffened, then sighed. He looked at Michael. “You and I will be collected tomorrow morning,” he said, “and taken for a meeting with the Minister in charge of internal security. Don’t ask me why,” he added as they got up to leave.
Chapter Fifteen
“Are you watching this?” Michael asked. It was an irrelevant question. Since getting back to their lodgings, Simeon had done nothing but watch the moving picture machine. It was currently showing scenes of battle in several shades of grey. It might have counted as useful research to see this people’s mode of fighting wars—all explosions and firing of invisible projectiles—if Simeon hadn’t now become as addicted to watching the thing whenever it was on as an opium eater to his poppy cake. Michael picked up the little box and pressed the button that controlled the sound. This he turned up, until the room was filled with the sounds of machine-assisted bloodshed.
“I’ve been thinking,” he whispered into his uncle’s good ear. “Tarquin’s Greek, when we first met, was very good. Since then, it’s become almost a copy of your own. This afternoon, he even brought out your deliberate misquote to me of Polybius.” He stopped as the screen went silent. Then, as music began to swell louder: “Since these people are able to capture and reproduce sounds, I suspect we are being overheard in all we say.”