Wolf’s Empire: Gladiator (37 page)

My private chambers were large and comfortable, the bed big enough to house an elephant, but I couldn't afford to relax. I waited for Julia to come, and when my frustration reached its limit, I took Orbis and started throwing him, tearing the fine curtains to shreds. As I reduced the chairs and tables to splinters, I noted that they were made from actual wood. They must have cost a fortune.

“Gods, what happened in here?” Julia asked when she entered.

“Where in the name of Hades have you been? I've been waiting for hours.”

She held a cautionary finger to her lips, placed her privacy cube on the table and activated it.

“There, now you can speak freely, and by the way, it's only been one hour.”

“I want to know what in the name of Pluto is going on. Why did Aquilinus reveal the existence of the ambrosia? Where is my uncle? I need to speak to him now.”

“He can't just waltz in here,” she said. “Not with the whole empire watching. What do you think I've been doing the last hour? I've set up an encrypted signal.”

Then my uncle was there, projected into the room from Julia's armilla. She unhitched his image from the device and Uncle Quintus walked right over to me.

“First, tell me how you are, dear niece. How does the consumption of ambrosia sit with you? Have they given you any today? Based on Julia's report, it seems it might have some addictive properties. Do you cope well when you're denied it?”

“I'm fine,” I said irritably. “It gives more than it takes.”

“And overall you're well? Ready for the games tomorrow?”

“All my priorities are fine,” I snapped. “I'm in this for my brother, but you, I don't know about you. I've been turning it over and over in my mind this last week, and I think you gave me up to the Sertorians as a guinea pig, to see what they'd do to me. Well, what do you think?” I demanded, performing a pirouette. “I'm a living commercial! I'm selling the empire on everything that's great about glorious fucking House Sertorian!” I slammed my fist down on the table beside the screen. The table splintered at once and groaned at the power of my strike. “What's more, I don't think you give a shit about Aulus. You care only about finding the ambrosia before Aquilinus.”

“You're all over the place—calm down, Accala. Stop talking now,” he said sternly. “I can't believe you would say such things. This is the effect of the drug on you. Remember, whatever they do to you, I'm family, you must trust me.”

I took a deep breath. He was right. I'd lost control, but it was the first time in a month that I could afford any kind of emotional outburst and I supposed I was overdue.

“I do trust you, Uncle,” I said, “and I'm sorry, it's been a long four weeks.”

“I'm sure. Our preliminary analysis suggests that the effects of the ambrosia abate with use. The more you use it, the more you need each time to get the same performance enhancement.”

Now that he mentioned it, I did feel tired. Had the presentation on the stage taken all my energy? I wondered if that meant the amount of ambrosia in a person's body was exhausted by emotional as well as physical exertion? If that was the case, I had to guard my emotions carefully, become more calculating in how I managed my relationships.

“You're too close to see things clearly, dear niece. Listen. I believe I have some news that will refire your engines and remind you that I'm on your side; but first, tell me, what did you think of the proconsul's news—revealing his secret weapon so publicly. An astonishing, bold move, yes?”

“It makes me feel like I've sacrificed much for little in return.”

“Oh no, no. That's not it at all. We weren't able to synthesize and make an exact copy of the ambrosia, but our analysis of the sample you supplied to Julia Silana gave us a starting point to create new stimulants more powerful than anything we've ever had before. It's only three-quarters as strong as the ambrosia, but it'll give our boys a fighting chance.”

I was pleased to hear it. Machinarii (robot enhancements) and advanced arms were forbidden in the Ludi Romani, but everything else, including stimulants and genetic streamlining, was permitted.

“Aquilinus might have made a bold move, but also a desperate one. We're certain that he never planned to reveal the existence of the ambrosia until after the tournament. He was so certain the Blood Hawks would win, but now the word is out that the Caninines have their own product to rival the ambrosia. Suddenly the Sertorian proconsul isn't so confident. He's had to move early to start promoting the ambrosia, to stake his claim so to speak. Aquilinus is terrified the emperor will discover that the ambrosia isn't some product made in a Sertorian laboratory, that he will look down from the Rota Fortuna and see that the bulk of the ambrosia is still undiscovered and on this world.”

“The emperor knows?” I asked.

“No, but he suspects much. All this talk of redirecting the course—throwing the teams into the areas Aquilinus is least keen on us visiting, into the heart of the Hyperborean uprising, where the Sertorian mining interests lie. The emperor is no fool—he's stirring the hornets' nest and waiting to see what happens.”

“What I don't understand is how Aquilinus is going to supply everyone with ambrosia. Even if he had every drop on this world it still wouldn't be enough to satisfy the empire.”

“You're very astute, dear niece. It's a confidence trick. He doesn't need to supply the ambrosia, he just needs everyone to think he can. How do you increase the value of a thing? You create a demand and then you release it in limited supply. Aquilinus is playing a long game. First he gets the right people addicted to the ambrosia, and aboard the Rota Fortuna there's plenty of prime candidates. Combined with a victory in the Ludi Romani, having demonstrated what his Hawks can do, the plebs will clamber en masse to Aquilinus' service while they await their promised share. Ideally, he seeks a nonviolent rebellion, ascension to power without lifting a finger.”

He gave me a moment to let the news sink in.

“You're talking about Aquilinus overthrowing the emperor,” I said. “Making a play for the imperial throne.”

“And once he's got it he won't stop at simply ruling, he'll destroy the whole imperial system, remake it from the top down. That's why we can't fail.”

Aquilinus and his offer, all that crap about the precepts and abolishing the gods, was part of a strategy designed to abolish the system of noble houses, clearing the boards to make way for a new simple regime—Proconsul Aquilinus and the Sertorians at the top and all other Romans beneath him. Every citizen of the empire knew that nothing was free. Everything had a price, and Aquilinus had made his perfectly clear: submission to his precepts, his vision.

“This ups the stakes,” I said. “A game not just for the civil war but for the empire itself.”

“Yes. Aquilinus is a shrewd opponent, but his weakness is that he's a gambler. He plays for high stakes and takes big risks. His plan has many weaknesses. Even with the promise of ambrosia, he must decisively win the Ludi Romani if he wants to get the empire on side. The games aren't just an opportunity for him to show off the Blood Hawks' new power: The mob will see victory in the arena as a sign to run with Aquilinus; it will grant the Sertorians legitimacy. If they lose the tournament, they lose the mob, and everything becomes more difficult. The very next problem he'll face is delivering on the promises he's made to his allied houses. After today's public announcement, they'll be pressuring him, demanding their share in exchange for continued support.”

“And the process my mother talked of? Her spanner in the works?”

“I don't have any new information except that whatever she did to disrupt the ambrosia mining process seems to be working. My agents report a sharp decline in ambrosia shipments leaving this world prior to the Rota Fortuna's arrival. And now we have this alien uprising—all the major hives are located near the Sertorian mining bases. Nothing's going right for Aquilinus. He needs an ocean of ambrosia and he can't get a drop out of this world. He's running short on supply. So what do you make of that, Accala? What's your analysis?”

“That he's vulnerable,” I said.

“Right. He's got his back foot against the edge of the cliff and you, dear niece, are the one who is going to help me push him and his whole gods-be-damned house over the edge. You must stay focused, Accala, now more than ever. Keep going. The moment you find Aulus, you need only speak the code word
troia
to Tribune Carbo and he will rally the Golden Wolves to your aid. You and Aulus together will finish what your mother started and cut Aquilinus off from the ambrosia for good. Then you shall rip those Sertorian bastards to shreds.”

“I think about little else, believe me Uncle, but I don't even know where to start. This pin she left doesn't do a thing that makes me believe I can use it to find Aulus. Maybe it was only meant for my brother to use.”

“You're just now at the start of the journey and there's plenty of ground yet to cover,” he said. “Trust in your mother as I do. If experience has taught me anything, it's that when we start in earnest to uncover a mystery, the gods come the other half of the way to help. Remember, this isn't just for the tournament, not even for your brother. Accala, the fate of the empire is in your hands.” His image faded out as the transmission ended.

“The whole empire,” I said to Julia.

“The whole empire,” she repeated.

“Atlas carries the weight of the galactic disc upon his back,” I said. “How can I bear such a responsibility?”

“I'll be there for you,” Julia said. “We'll carry it together. And more, I've got a decoder built into my armilla. The tournament course will be demarcated with energy shields, but we'll be able to bypass them and escape at least once, maybe twice as long as the editor and the Sertorians don't catch on. The emperor's new course plan will take us near where your mother died, near where the Sertorians purchased land. Aulus has to be near there. As soon as you have some clues about your brother's location, I can help you track him down.”

“I just wish I knew what to do with this pin,” I said, turning the platinum rod around in my fingers. “Mother said it had been modified. That it would bring Aulus and me together and help me finish what she started.”

“I've been thinking about your pin,” Julia said. “What if it's a kind of antenna? A means of picking up a transmission maybe. You told me you've been having strange headaches and that the pin sometimes gets extremely hot. Maybe the heat is the result of the signal not being able to successfully transmit, a buildup of energy that has nowhere else to go.”

“I don't know,” I said. “Mother always believed in simplicity. If the pin had a message of some kind for me, I should have received it by now.”

“I'd tell you to keep faith and that things will work out, but I'm a pragmatist. We'll keep anaylizing the data as we go and build a complete picture. You'll see, everything will fit together in the end.”

“Ha. Hands-on pragmatism sounds good. I've got to tell you that my regular gods haven't been doing too much for me lately.”

“They will,” Julia said consolingly. “Your mission couldn't be any more important. That's when Winged Victory comes, right when you need her, but only if you're sincere and trying your damnedest.”

“You worship the Greek gods?”

“Not formally. I don't believe in literal gods.”

“Ah, your celestial machine. I remember now.”

“But I like the idea of swift-footed Nike. I've got a thing for speed and winning.”

“You know, Julia, I spent a lot of time in school daydreaming about being the one the empire depends on, like the heroes in the old stories. I've got to tell you right now that in real life, it feels like shit.”

She laughed at that. “You look hungry. You should order some food, they'll prepare anything you want.”

The only thing I really felt like was my pot of tisane. I hadn't had any since the morning and I was starting to feel it, but the last thing I wanted to do was go and beg Crassus for some.

“I've got what I want right here,” I said, pulling her to me. “Stay with me tonight.”

“I don't think that's a good idea,” she said. “It's the night before the tournament. Gather your strength, get some sleep. For once, Licinus was right.”

I grabbed her more roughly by the arms and pulled her to me, crushing my lips to hers.

“Accala!” She pushed me away. I grabbed her again. She wasn't strong enough to resist me.

“Stay with me,” I insisted. “I won't take no for an answer.”

She reached over with her free hand and tapped her armilla. All of a sudden I was on the ground, pain exploding through my body.

“Get control of yourself, Accala.”

“The bracelet,” I said through gritted teeth. “You know the code.”

She tapped at her armilla again and the shock stopped. “I stole it from the shared network the Sertorian armillae use. I was working on disabling it, but now it looks like it might be better to leave it as is.”

“Please,” I said. “I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me. Please take it off.”

“You do know that we're supposed to be working together, right? We're on the same side,” Julia said. “I thought we were friends.”

“We are, and you're supposed to support me. My uncle said as much. Now do as I say and take this thing off.”

“I can't yet. I only have the activation code, not the release code.” She smoothed her rumpled clothing.

“I'm so sorry. I don't know what I was thinking…” My tone was appeasing.

“You were thinking you'd take what you want, like a good Sertorian. I'd like to say I'm flattered, but I think you should be concentrating on hanging on to a semblance of that vaunted Viridian honor if you want to make it through this thing in one piece. You're not the only one with something riding on the outcome of this mission. You think I'm only in this for the glory of the Vulcaneum?”