"Do you want so much to die?"
"Yes, kill me here, Gabya. Hundreds of people know I'm here. Hundreds are waiting to hear what I tell them. Your whole plan stands revealed, and none of it will work. Because you were so stupid that you had to brag."
Elemak's words were all bluff, of course, but Gaballufix believed him. At least enough to make him pause. To make him wonder. Then Gabya smiled. "Elya, my brother, I'm proud of you."
Elemak recognized surrender when he heard it. He said nothing in reply.
"You are my brother after all-the blood of Volemak didn't weaken you after all. It may even have made you stronger."
"Do you really think I'll swallow your flattery w ow?"
"Of course not," said Gaballufix. "Of course you'll disregard it-but that doesnt stop me from admiring you, does it? It just stops you from believing in my admiration! The loss is yours, dear Elya."
"I came for the Index, Gaballufix," said Elemak. "A simple thing. Give it to me, and I'm gone. Wetchik and his family will never bother you again, and you can play your little games until somebody puts a knife in your back just to stop that squealing noise you make whenever you think you've been especially clever."
Gaballufix cocked his head to one side.
He's going to give it to me, thought Elemak, triumphantly.
"No," said Gaballufix. "I'd like to, but I can't. The disappearance of the Index-that would be hard to explain to the clan council. A lot of trouble, that's what it would cause, and why should I put myself to all that trouble just to get rid of Wetchik? After all, I'm already rid of him."
Now, at last, Elemak was where he wanted to be: bargaining like a merchant. "What else would it take to make it worth your while?" asked Elemak.
"Make me an offer. Enough money that ifll make up for all the extra effort I have to go through."
"Give me the Index, and Father will release funds to you. Whatever you want."
"I'm supposed to wait for the funds? Wait for Wetchik to pay me later for an Index I give you now? Oh-I get it-I see what's happening!" Gaballufix laughed in derision. "You can't give me money now because you don't have any. Wetchik still hasn't released any of his fortune to you! He sent you on this errand and he didn't even give you access to his money!"
It was humiliating. Father should have realized that in dealing with Gaballufix it would eventually come down to money; he should have given him password that would have let him access the Wetchik family funds. Rashgailivak, the steward, had more control over the Wetchik fortune than Elemak did. He was filled with fury and resentment against his father for putting him in such a position of weakness. The stupid short-sighted old man, always tripping over his own feet when it came to business!
"Tell me, Elya," said Gaballufix, interrupting his own laughter. "If your own father doesn't trust you with his money, why should I trust you with the Index?"
With that, Gaballufix reached under his table and apparently triggered some kind of switch, for three doors opened at once and identical-looking soldiers burst into the room. They took hold of Elemak and roughly thrust him out into the hall, then out the front door.
Nor was that enough. They quick-marched him to the nearest gate, which happened to be the Back Gate-right past his mother's house-and threw him into the dirt in front of the guards.
"This one's leaving the city!" shouted one of "the soldiers.
"And never coming back!" cried another.
The guards, however, did not seem terribly impressed. "Are you a citizen?" asked one.
"Yes," said Elemak, dusting himself off.
"Thumb please." They presented the thumbscreen, and Elemak held his thumb over it. "Citizen Eiemak son of Hosni by the Wetchik. It is an honor to serve you." Whereupon the guards all stood at attention and saluted him.
It completely stunned him. Never, in all his passages into and out of the city of Basilica, had anyone done more than raise an eyebrow when the city computer reported his prestigious parentage. And now a salute!
Then Gaballufix's soldiers jeered again, boasting about what they'd do to him if he ever returned, and Elemak understood. The official city guards were letting him and everyone else near the gate see that they were not part of Gaballufix's little army. Furthermore, the very fact that the son of Wetchik was clearly the enemy of Gaballufix made city guards want to salute him. If Elemak could only figure out how to use this situation, he might very well be able to turn it to his advantage. What if I returned to the city as the deliverer, leading the guard and the militia in crushing Gabya and his hated army of costume clones. The city would then gladly give me all that Gabya is trying to win through trickery, intimidation, and murder. I'd have all the power Gaballufix ever imagined-and the city would love me for it.
TWELVE - FORTUNE
It was a miserable day in the desert, even allowing for the fact that except for about an hour and a half at noon, the canyon was in deep shade, with a steady breeze funneling through it. No place is comfortable, thought Nafai, when you're waiting for someone else to do a job you think of as your own. Worse than the heat, than the sweat dripping into his eyes, than the grit that got into his clothing and between his teeth, was the sick dread Nafai felt whenever he thought of Elemak being the one entrusted with the Oversoul's errand.
Nafai knew that Elemak had rigged the casting of lots, of course. He wasn't such a fool as to think Elemak would actually leave such a thing to chance. Even as he admired the deftness with which Elya handled it, Nafai was angry at him. Was he even attempting to get the Index? Or was he going into the city and meeting with Gaballufix in order to plan some farther betrayal of Father and of the city and, finally, of the Oversoul's guardianship of humanity?
Would he even return?
Then, at last, in mid-afternoon, there came the clatter and rattle of stones tumbling, and Elemak clambered noisily down into their hiding place. His hands were empty, but his eyes were bright. We have been betrayed, thought Nafai.
"He said no, of course," said Elemak. "This Index is more important than Father told us. Gaballufix doesn't want to give it up-at least not for nothing."
"For what, then?" asked Issib.
"He didn't say. But he has a price. He made it clear that he's willing to hear an offer. The trouble is-we have to go back to Father and get access to his finances."
Nafai didn't like this at all. How did they know what Elemak and Gaballufix had promised each other?
"All the way back, empty-handed," said Mebbekew. "Tell you what, Elya. You go back, and the rest of us will wait here till you come back with the password to Father's accounts."
"Right," said Issib. "I'm not going to spend the night out here in the desert, when I can go into the city and use my floats."
"How stupid are you, really?" said Elemak. "Don't you realize that things are different now? You can't go wandering anonymously through the city anymore. Gab-ya's troops are all over it. And Gaballufix is not Father's friend. Therefore he's not our friend, either."
"He's your brother," said Mebbekew.
"He's nobody's brother," said Elemak. "He's got both the morals and the surface properties of slime. I know him better than any of you, and I can promise you that he'd just as soon kill any of us as look at us."
Nafai was amazed to hear Elemak talking this way. "I thought you wanted him to lead Basilica."
"I thought his plan was the best hope for Basilica in the coming wars," said Elemak. "But I never thought Gaballufix was out to get anything except his own advantage. His soldiers are all over the city-wearing some kind of holographic costume that covers their whole bodies, so all his soldiers look absolutely identical."