"Yes. A known villain. Reasonably competent. Independent. Very quiet the pastsix months, apparently. Till this. He was identified by the prisoner, who alsotold us where he lived. A search turned up a cache of antique gold and nothingelse. There was nothing useful on the body. The prisoner knows nothing else.
He was hired for the one job."
Aaron glanced at the prisoner. The man was numb, sitting there waiting to beexecuted.
"We'll deal with him later. So these child-stealers are very careful aboutgiving anything away, are well paid, and were known criminals before becominginvolved. Except Rose, who does not fit the pattern. He's been our agent forfive years and the Dartar testimony would suggest he was an occasional visitorto the place in Char Street we now believe to have housed General Hanno bel- Karba and his chief of staff, Colonel Sisu bel-Sidek. We seem to haveconflicting possibilities if we look for a connection between the Living andthe crimes. Mr. Habid, would you tell us your story?"
Aaron jumped. The inevitable had come and still he was not ready. He sat therelike a lump, tongue-tied.
Laella took it for some benighted, romantic, patriotic refusal to betrayQushmarrah and the Living. "Aaron! You tell them what they want to know! Youdon't owe the Living anything!" She glanced at her mother.
He did so, wondering how he could have acted so positively and violently justa few hours ago, when he'd never committed such a violence in his life, andnow he could not open his mouth.
He forced himself to croak, "I owe Herod. And so do you."
"Damn what happened six years ago! This is about tonight! This is about ourson! The Herodians will pay for their crimes when they walk through theFlame."
He opened his mouth.
"And you tell all of it. Hear?"
The slight sneer on Naszifs face galvanized him.
He started clear back at the Seven Towers. Each time his story touched uponNaszif he spoke with the utmost contempt. Once he invoked a Dartar proverb,
"Beware the man who betrays your enemy unto you, for he will betray you untoyour enemy," but the bolt missed its mark entirely and fell among scowlingDartars. He went on through Colonel Bruda's arrival in his home.
Laella beamed at him, sort of.
General Cado frowned. "That's an interesting story. As an oral journal. But itsheds very little light on our problem." He was pensive for a moment. "ColonelBruda will read you a list of names. Interrupt if you recognize any of them.
You and your wife, too, Colonel bel-Abek. Colonel Bruda?"
Bruda read a long list.
Only Reyha interrupted. She mistook one of the women's names for someone sheknew who had the same name.
"I was afraid of that," General Cado said. "Let me ask you this, Mr. Habid. Doyou personally know anyone besides Colonel bel-Abek who has lost a child?"
Aaron shook his head.
"Do you, Colonel bel-Abek?"
"Only Mr. Habid, sir."
"I thought so. So. We have no obvious common denominator." He spoke directlyto Aaron. "Those were the names of parents who have lost children over thepast three months. There is nothing to tie them together. They come from avariety of classes and trades. They live all over the city. None have everserved the Herodian name. Only two have ever been suspected of dealing withthe Living. None were at the Seven Towers though most bore arms during theconflict. Our man Rose is the only male Qushmarrahan I know who claims hedidn't, which makes me doubt his veracity. You and your wife, and Colonel bel- Abek and his wife, are the only parents we can find with ties of any kind, however strained. That would seem to argue that the children themselves areindeed what the thing is all about. But we can't see that they have anythingin common, either."
Aaron felt General Cado was looking at him as though he expected him to havethe answer. All he could do was shrug.
A silence set in. Laella finally broke it. "They were born the same day."
"What?" General Cado asked.
"Arif and Zouki. They were born the same day. They have that in common."
Laella did not look up at the Herodian. "That's reaching for it. But ... Whenwere they born?" "The last day of the fighting. The seventh day of the Moon ofRipening. Malach in the calendar of the Old Gods. I don't know what yourpeople call it."
"We use a different calendar. What do you think, Colonel Bruda?"
Bruda was leafing through his documents. "I only have two dates of birth. Theydidn't seem much use at the time. But. One is down as seventh Malach, theother as the seventh day of the Moon of Ripening. Both children six years old.
I only have four children on the list who aren't six. Those are all older.
Ransom was demanded and paid. No ransom demands were made in any of the othercases though several of the children have been found and restored to theirparents."
Colonel Bruda looked at General Cado. General Cado looked at Colonel Bruda.
Everyone else looked at them. Cado said, "Get the dates of birth checkedtomorrow. For now we'll assume they're the critical connection. But that justsets up a whole new puzzle. Why does being bom that day make them importantenough to round up?"
Naszif had been translating everything for Sullo's benefit. Sullo's witch hadlistened but with apparent scant attention.
She rattled a sudden question in Herodian.
General Cado said, "She wants to know what state the restored children werein. Colonel Bruda doesn't know."
Aaron recalled what Billygoat had told him. "I heard about a couple who werefound wandering along Goat Creek. They had lost their memories of almosteverything."
Fa'tad, in Qushmarrahan dialect, said, "My men found several such children this week. They were as the veydeen says, blank stretches of sand."
Aaron watched the witch as Naszif translated. She became increasinglyagitated. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead. She asked a question whenNaszif finished.
"She wants to know who died that day," Fa'tad said. "What great man."
Most everyone knew but no one spoke till Aaron, puzzled, said, "Ala-eh-dinBeyh and Nakar the Abomination."
The witch moaned. For a moment it looked like she would faint. Then she pulledherself together and began rattling away in shaky Herodian.
Bel-Sidek had laid himself down certain he was too tense to sleep, butinvidious slumber had slipped up and taken him unawares. The touch of a handawakened him. He jerked up, flailing around after a weapon.
"Easy. It's Meryel."
He relaxed, searched her face in the wan light of the lone candle she hadbrought into the room. "Bad news?"
"It isn't good. The Herodians are rushing around everywhere. Colonel Bruda'smen. They've been through your place on Char Street. They raided Hadribel'shouse. He got out a step ahead. They tore apart a place in Rhatiq Lane thatwas used by a criminal named Ishabal bel-Shaduk. They hit a hostel operated bya man named Muma and arrested everyone there, but Muma and his family hadfled. They're still very busy in the Shu, rounding up suspected members of themovement."
"The traitor didn't stay in line. My fault. I shouldn't have pressed his wifeso hard."
"They've arrested him, too. And everyone involved in the fight in Char Street.
A child was stolen."
"I know."
"There's something big going on at Government House. Cado brought in Sullo andFa'tad."
Bel-Sidek thought a moment. "It has to be the traitor. He's given themsomething to make them think they can break us. We'll have to fight back. Idon't want to start a bloodbath but we can't stand still and take it." Zenobel would launch the counterattack. His men were the best prepared and his quarterheld the greatest number of sympathizers ready to spring to arms.
That was the traditional plan. Let Zenobel begin, draw the Herodians, thenloose Carza. While those two were embattled the men of the weaker quarterswould massacre all Herodians, soldier or civilian, and sympathizers in theirquarters before adding their weight to the forces of Zenobel and Carza.