She obviously enjoyed the attention.

  Three months ago, Vaul had taken her to bed. They made love, and that had secured her loyalty to him beyond what he’d expected. In truth, it was a more urgent coupling than Vaul wanted. He was already married, and this was work. If this was what work demanded, however, Vaul would do it.

  A month ago, with her help, he had installed a secret security system in the Chief Marshal’s office. They had been spying on him since then.

  As Vaul walked up to her desk, she said quietly, “You should see this.”

  He raised an eyebrow.

  “It’s critical,” she said, handing him a small screen.

  Vaul witnessed what had happened to Chief Marshal Assur, the seizure.

  Earlier, the secretary heard some of the screams, but she did not help for precisely this reason. She loved Vaul and she had been urging him to get rid of his first wife. He needed to make her his wife. She demanded it, in fact, more insistently each week.

  “Now,” she said, “can you see now why you must marry me?”

  Vaul looked at her, calculating with his serpent-like mind. “I do want to get rid of the hag.” He meant his wife. “But if I divorce her… She knows too much and could harm me.”

  “Then do more than divorce her,” the secretary said urgently. “Remove her from the board.”

  Vaul arched an eyebrow. He actually loved his wife, or believed he did. This woman had become increasingly too demanding. Now she wanted him to commit murder for her?

  Vaul smiled and nodded in his slow way. “Of course, my dear.” But inside, Vaul decided, I must kill you. Before he did that, he had to use this to his advantage.

  “What’s the old man doing now?” Vaul asked.

  The secretary sneered. “He’s trying to make himself presentable. He’ll try to pretend nothing happened to him.”

  Vaul believed the secretary tried to take on his persona. She had become cunning and devious, but it didn’t suit her in the least.

  A moment of worry hit him. Was this a trap, a trick?

  For a moment, Vaul considered breaking her neck right then, barging into the office, and eliminating Chief Marshal Assur as well.

  At the last moment, Vaul decided that would be foolish. He did not have the standing to sway anyone. Yes, many feared him, but at this juncture, the Elder Board would take control.

  Vaul had listened to Naram Sin’s proclamation. It was a bold and canny move. Vaul was sure he knew how Assur would want to deal with this. How then should he deal with Assur, given the old man’s weakness?

  “You have done marvelously, my dear,” Vaul said, coming around the desk. He put a hand under her chin, lifted her face to his, and kissed her.

  “I love you,” she whispered urgently, clutching him.

  “I love you more,” he said, meaning not a word of it as he pried himself free. “Now, announce me to the Chief Marshal, if you could, my dear.”

  “Can we not first…?” Her gaze darted to a small side room.

  “That’s too risky,” Vaul said. “Later, I assure you.”

  “Yes, my love, yes.” Straightening, pausing a moment as she no doubt collected herself, she pressed the intercom button. In a professional tone, she said, “Chief Marshal Vaul to see you, sir.”

  “Tell him to come in at once,” came the strained reply.

  She clicked off the intercom, looked at Vaul, and he headed toward the door.

  -27-

  Assur had regained some control of his body. Unfortunately, the drugs that had partly driven him to murder his mother and Acolyte Damkina now heightened his paranoia. He was certain that his secretary had spoken in an odd way over the intercom. When Assur looked up as the door opened, he thought he saw something different flicker behind Vaul’s blue eyes.

  No, no, Assur told himself. It’s the drugs making you paranoid. He nodded and saw Vaul arch an eyebrow. Perhaps the Spymaster was trying to figure out what the nod meant.

  Was there a flicker of fear on Vaul’s face? Was it time to eliminate Vaul as he’d eliminated other security chiefs in the past?

  Vaul closed the door behind him, the sound bringing Assur out of his funk.

  “May I sit, Excellency?” Vaul asked.

  “Yes,” Assur said hoarsely.

  Vaul approached the chair he normally took and sat in it, crossing his legs.

  Assur was breathing more heavily. Certainly, his face must look drawn. There were probably streaks of dried sweat on his skin. He smiled in an ingratiating way to try to offset all that.

  Judging by the blank look on Vaul’s face, it did nothing to reassure the Security Chief.

  That clicked the paranoia that had jump-started in Assur’s mind, shifting it into high gear. Something was definitely off with Vaul. Assur did not know how he knew this. Perhaps the pills gave him heightened awareness. Perhaps he had been a fool to stop taking them. Maybe that’s why he had the stomach pains. His gut was telling him he had made a terrible mistake and he must go back to using the pills, keeping his mind razor-sharp so he could see into the motives of others.

  Assur shook his head and tried to collect his thoughts. Instead of talking about Naram Sin, he said, “What happened to your agent on Nergal’s Watch?”

  “Eury shot and killed him,” Vaul whispered.

  “What?” Assur said, his voice rising. “Are you sure of this?”

  “Quite sure,” Vaul said.

  “Then we have two emergencies on our hands.”

  “No,” Vaul said. “Eury shot my agent, but the act must have unhinged her. She used a work shuttle, taking it down to one of the harvesting balloons. The shuttle never made it there, but plunged into the denser atmosphere. Saturn crushed the shuttle, wiping Eury and no doubt the copy out of existence.”

  “Did you double-check this?” Assur asked, breathing more easily.

  “I have, Excellency,” Vaul lied. “Eury is no longer a worry to us.”

  “That’s something at least. We shouldn’t have to deal with more than one dire emergency at a time. Have you heard the so-called Chess Master making his pronouncement?”

  “I have, Excellency.”

  “What do you suggest we do about it?”

  Vaul took his time answering, but that was normal, his way. Was he gauging the Chief Marshal? That too was his way. “If we kill Naram Sin outright, that takes him off the board, as it were. But it might also start a rebellion.”

  “I agree,” Assur said. “I’ve been mulling this over. I’ve even considered historical times, how back then they dealt with such situations.” Assur paused and abruptly decided on a grand gesture, hoping it would help curb his paranoia. “I have a confession to make.”

  Vaul nodded.

  Assur thought the man also stiffened, though the reaction was subtle. Only someone of his intellect and perception would have noticed. Vaul was on edge. Why would that be?

  “Yes, Excellency,” Vaul said, with the slightest of squeaks.

  “I’m sick,” Assur said, deciding this was his paranoia at work. “Not fatally, but I’m definitely ill. I’m also tired. That means I am loath to destroy the brainpower of the Titan colony at a time like this.”

  “Oh?” Vaul said.

  It seemed to Assur that Vaul was pretending surprise, not genuinely surprised at the revelation of his sickness.

  Did Vaul understand he wasn’t being convincing or genuine? Perhaps in compensation, the Security Chief leaned forward. “This is terrible news, Excellency. What can I do to help?”

  Assur almost pulled open the drawer, almost reached for the shredder to kill the traitor. He could feel untruth in Vaul. But Assur didn’t trust his instincts right now. He didn’t trust his stomach to not spasm at just the wrong moment. He wasn’t going to rely on his body to make key decisions, but on his logical brain.

  Something was off, and it seemed to include his secretary. What did that mean, though? Assur wasn’t sure. If it was time to implement secondary procedures to deal with an untrustworthy security chief, he first needed to divert Vaul.

  “Here is what we will do,” Assur said, trying to project strength. “Gather your most trusted security people. We’re going to deal with this at the main plaza outside the terminal. I want everybody to see me confront the Chess Master. Tell your agents to be on high alert, ready to kill at my order.”

  “That is a risky and bold move, Chief Marshal. Is it the wisest thing to do at this critical moment?”

  Assur probably should have censured Vaul for daring to question him on such a critical move. Instead, Assur dissembled. “That’s wise counsel. I believe we are on the brink of a power struggle. I’m certain this is the correct way. Gather your men and meet me at the plaza… in an hour and a half. By then, the Chess Master and his chief people will have started coming through.”

  “As you wish, Excellency.” Vaul stood, pivoted and headed for the door.

  Did the Security Chief’s shoulders twitch as he walked away? Had Vaul’s eyes betrayed unease?

  Perhaps both men felt they knew the other. Which of them, though, was right? Perhaps the next few hours would tell.

  -28-

  Sub-Engineer Eury waited in the fuel drone as it approached the low-Titan-orbit space yards. She had been in her spacesuit all this time, switching out air tanks. The air was getting ranker, but it was bearable considering the alternative.

  Fifteen minutes later, as the drone docked with a storage tank, Eury prepared her move. She had hacked into one of the drone’s outer cameras, and saw a mass of repair bots, work drones, and space workers busy readying the ships of the fleet for its voyage against Earth. In one area, massive robot arms welded and fitted pieces onto structures. Sparks flew there, illuminating the darkness with bursts of light.

  Eury opened the hatch and activated her thruster pack. She jumped out of the drone and maneuvered to avoid detection.

  She glided past enormous fuel tanks and docking clamps, keeping in the shadows cast by the larger equipment. If anyone saw her, she hoped he would figure her for just another space worker.

  The Enkidu loomed ahead. She could tell by the giant lettering naming the vessel. Parts of its hull gleamed under artificial lights. This was her target now, as it was the nearest. She slowed, moving along the great, curving hull.

  Eury approached one of the maintenance access points. She slowed more and finally stopped, using the magnetic boots to lock her in place. Then, using the tools she had brought, she worked for ten minutes to remove a panel. The entire time, her chest squeezed painfully, as she feared discovery.

  Afterward, she slipped into the huge vessel, pulling the panel back into place and using magnets to hold it for now. Then she floated, moving into a large duct, using it to work deeper into the warship.

  After opening and shutting an air-cycler, her monitors told her she was in regular atmosphere again, the ship’s interior atmosphere. She opened her visor as she closed the valve to her air tank. The air had a strange stench, with a hint of electrical odor. The narrow corridor was lined with cables and conduits that snaked along the walls like metal vines.

  Eury began to grin so hard it hurt her cheeks. She had made it.

  Still floating, she maneuvered through narrow maintenance ducts, avoiding the main corridors where crewmembers and security patrols would be. The ducts were cramped, filled with the hum of the ship’s systems, and occasionally, she had to stop and hold her breath as clanks told of those nearby. Her small size and agility worked to her advantage as she squeezed through tight spaces and crawled through ventilation shafts.

  After what felt like hours of moving through the ducts—her sense of time must be off—Eury reached a storage area. She took off the spacesuit, having laid aside the thruster pack some time ago. Wearing regular clothes, she lifted the grate and dropped down into the dimly lit chamber. Crates and supplies were stacked high.

  The storage area was filled with the faint scent of preserved food and the sterile tang of metal. Eury opened one of the crates and began stocking food and water packets. She carried the supplies to the duct opening and shoved them through. She would transfer everything to a nook she’d found in the maintenance area. She might have to stay hidden for an extended period, so she made sure to take enough supplies to last.

  Afterward, Eury went through the duct opening and transferred her supplies to her hidden location. After returning from the main duct and sealing the grate in place, she settled into her hiding spot, making it as comfortable as possible. The only sounds here were the distant hum of the ship’s systems. Occasionally, she could hear faint mechanical clinking.

  For now, she was safe from Chief Marshal Assur.

  Still, her mind raced with thoughts of the future. The voyage against Earth was imminent. What would happen then?

  As Eury drifted into a light sleep, memories of her brother surfaced. He had been a brave and principled man. She vowed to honor his memory by doing everything she could to show the solar system the truth about ancient humanity.

  For now, she was a ghost in the machine, a silent watcher hidden in the shadows, ready to act when the time was right.

  -29-

  Chief Marshal Assur was just about ready to leave with his bodyguards, having come down the turbo lift.

  “Just a minute,” he said. His stomach suddenly troubled him. While he didn’t want to become hooked on those pills, he needed one to calm himself.

  “Wait here,” Assur said. “I’m going to be quick. I left something in my office.”

  The bodyguards watched him reenter the turbo life.

  Assur rode it up, hurried through the corridors, and entered the outer office. He hurried to his door and found it locked.

  Damn it, the key was with his chief bodyguard. Assur didn’t want to go back down and then up again. That would take too much time. That meant—

  Wait! Didn’t his secretary have a key in her desk? Assur thought she did.

  He went to it and began to open drawers, rummaging around, looking for the extra key. In a bottom drawer was a false bottom.

  I bet it’s in there.

  Assur pried up the false bottom. Incredibly, he spotted a photo of Security Chief Vaul holding his secretary in an intimate embrace.

  Assur picked up the photo and discovered more underneath. He shuffled through them. This was crazy. Some were explicit shots of them together.

  Assur sat with a thud. This was unbelievable. Vaul had been seeing his secretary, and the man had said nothing about it?

  Pain creased Assur’s face as his stomach rumbled. He needed those pills.

  He put the photos back, although he was tempted to keep one to hold it over the two. But he figured, what was the point of that? He searched more and found the key.

  He got up, unlocked the door, and went into his office. He found the pills and decided, my stomach’s already bothering me. He needed to stay as sharp as possible. The slightest incorrect move could wreck everything or change all of history.

  Assur grabbed a water bottle and popped the pills, washing them down. He felt better immediately, but that was probably psychological.

  He decided to take two more for insurance, slipping them into his pocket. Then he closed the cabinet, exited his office, locking it, and went back to the secretary’s desk to put the key away. As he did, his hand must have inadvertently tripped something, because he heard a click and relays running.

  That was odd. He knew he’d been here too long, and the bodyguards were waiting. Perhaps the Chess Master and his men had reached the terminal. Nonetheless, he rummaged a bit more and found a handheld unit with a screen.

  He clicked it on. The screen showed his office. Was that weird? Wait, he noticed the cabinet was open. This unit showed the office as it was right now.

  She has a camera in my office. She’s been spying on me.

  Assur’s brows knit. If his secretary had been spying on him, and if she and Vaul were intimate—oh no, Vaul was a traitor.

  Assur nodded. Vaul must have seduced his secretary. The Spymaster had done so to gain access to Assur’s office.

  Was there a rewind button on this thing?

  Assur found and pressed rewind until he came upon the scenes of agony in his office. Assur stopped on the scene where he was screaming for help. Could his secretary have heard his screams and done nothing to help?

  Now the paranoia surfaced hard. Vaul and my secretary are disloyal. They both must die.

  Assur looked up, realizing he needed to go. He put everything back, found the switch that turned off the camera in his office, and tried to arrange everything exactly as it was in the desk. Then he headed for the turbo lift, thinking hard.

  He needed to decide how he was going to deal with Vaul, Naram Sin, and their men. This was a catastrophe. Two bad things were happening at once.

  “Guile,” Assur said aloud in the turbo lift. “I must use my cunning to weave my way to victory.”

  He needed a gun because if shooting started, he wanted to kill at least one of his tormentors.

  The turbo lift stopped, and the door opened as he rejoined his men.

  “I’m ready,” Assur said.

  They walked briskly across the dome paths. It was time to meet the Chess Master. The elders would be there. Many people would be there.

  Assur glanced at his five bodyguards. This was like old times. Although his body was weak, he’d fortified it with the pills. He was the father of the Valiants. To go down in history as such, he needed to retain command a little longer. This was going to require some cunning indeed.

  -30-

  Several shuttles left the Enkidu, heading down toward Titan. Beside Naram Sin sat Tiglath, who was in charge of his security.

  Naram Sin turned to Tiglath. “I wonder, my friend, are you ready to shoot Chief Marshal Assur if the need arises?”

  Tiglath stared at him, thunderstruck. “You can’t mean that. The Chief Marshal is our leader. An’Kar blesses him.”

  “Yes, true,” Naram Sin said. “And yet, what if Assur is doing evil? What if he orders others to imprison or shoot me? What if he has tricked the elders into consenting to such things?”