City of gods - Hellenica (28 page)

Hippolyta smiled and then nodded her head. Her eyes were heavy from days spent in meetings and negotiations, and her old skin looked soft. If Gunnar hadn’t known her bloody, torturous past, he’d have thought her a trusted statesman.

“True,” said Hippolyta, “we still hold many Spartans in our jails. But the Spartans hold many of our Amazons prisoner, and we treat our Spartans as guests provided they treat ours well.”

“I guess you’re right,” said Gunnar, “trust is indeed lacking nowadays.”

“I won’t engage in a war of words with you, Redstone,” said Hippolyta. “All I’ll tell you is this: the Amazons are a friend of the Horsemen and a friend of the Academy. And though we may still be at war with the Spartan district, remember that you
are not
a Spartan.”

Gunnar thought and then relaxed a bit. The Amazons were cruel to their enemies but perhaps they were fair to noncombatants and even defectors like himself. President Hippolyta turned on the flat-screen monitor in the far corner and it showed Saoirse, Kayana and Tommy in full color, sitting and talking with a Mermaid in another room.

“We’re not your enemy,” said President Hippolyta.

“Perhaps you’re a friend of both the Academy and the Horsemen,” said Gunnar, “but the Academy does not currently share your friendship with us.”

“The Academy is currently …
misinformed
,
”
said Hippolyta with a smile.

President Hippolyta beckoned Gunnar towards the monitor. He saw his friends talking jovially with the Mermaid from a variety of camera angles; Gunnar could tell that it wasn’t a fake tape.

“Now, you attacked Pyrgomache, and she fought back,” said Hippolyta. “There will be no more of this behavior. What we are dealing with in Dagon and the Academy is too important to be sublimated by personal prejudice. Do you understand?”

Gunnar looked back at Pyrgomache; she was staring in another direction, as if he was the furthest thing from her mind.

“I understand,” said Gunnar.

“Good,” said President Hippolyta. “Now the Mermaid is telling your friends what really happened.”

Gunnar looked at the monitor; there was some audio of the Mermaid speaking, but he couldn’t decipher her sing-song tongue.

“Would you like me to summarize?” asked President Hippolyta.

“Of course,” said Gunnar.

President Hippolyta nodded at her second-in-command, and the woman snapped her fingers. Two more Amazons came in with a formal presidential chair made of dark wood and black leather. President Hippolyta sat in the chair gingerly, and her face winced as her arthritic joints creaked into place.
Her past may have been filled with legend and cruelty,
thought Gunnar,
but she’s now just an old woman.

“Dagon, of course, is largely behind this,” said Hippolyta. “His district was set to take over the conurbation, but then came along our idea of an
Academy
that would help police us so that we could all live together. We don’t know if it will work, but Dagon is threatened nonetheless. So he captured some of Poseidon’s Mermaids, and promised one of them her sisters’ freedom if she’d convince the King Basilisk to send his children into your Academy.”

President Hippolyta shook her head and smirked a bit.

“Dagon’s power lies in these roundabout plots,” said President Hippolyta. “He puts forth several of these obscure plans at once, and one of them inevitably achieves his goals. The successful plan is, of course, so bizarre that it would never get traced back to him. Sending basilisks is a brilliant touch; the best way to quash a revolution is to poison it from within.”

“Basilisks bring poison,” said Gunnar, “yet those that they bit in the Academy have demons flood their head, and then are controlled.”

President Hippolyta sighed, and then nodded her head.

“This is what I meant when I said that Dagon is
largely
behind this,” said President Hippolyta. “You see, basilisk poison doesn’t kill by itself. The best way I’d describe it is that a basilisk bite,
or even stare
, simply strips the protection from its victim’s soul. So if a basilisk were to attack you in the wild, its bite would really allow
everything else
to attack your body and kill you.

“Something, perhaps a god, perhaps something else, found out that the Academy was going to be attacked by basilisks. They sent their demons there and instructed them to wait for the bite, then attack the victim’s soul, and try to control him from within.”

“And this isn’t Dagon’s doing?” asked Gunnar. “He likes
control
, and this sounds—”

“Dagon controls through money, and failing that, he’ll eliminate his enemies,” said Hippolyta. “Relying on demons to
control
isn’t his style. We’ve looked into it extensively; he unknowingly opened the gate for something, but ultimately the end result was not his intent.”

“I was bitten,” said Gunnar. “I was in a coma.”

“Perhaps the bite overloaded your system, perhaps these demons wanted to see what they could do with you,” said Hippolyta. “I understand you remember nothing from when you were under?”

“Nothing,” said Gunnar.

“As far as we can tell, it appears you’ve been cured by the King Basilisk’s antivenom,” said Hippolyta. “And if you’re not cured later on down the road, Kayana has made it clear that she will take care of you.”

Kayana
“
taking care” of me,
thought Gunnar.
I don’t like the sound of that.

“So there we have it,” said Hippolyta. “We’re on your side—the just side.”

“Agreed,” said Gunnar.

“But we still have a problem,” said Hippolyta. “Though
just
sides are ultimately vindicated by history,
for the moment
we have a major problem.”

“Speak,” said Gunnar.

“Dagon still wants the Horsemen dead,” said Hippolyta. “And he’s made an embargo around our island, and will only lift it when we turn you over.”

“Hellenica would not allow this,” said Gunnar.

“No,” said Hippolyta. “But Hellenica’s strong in principle, and Dagon’s strong in force.”

“Can we wait him out?”

“Perhaps,” said Hippolyta, “but we need to sneak you back to Hellenica
now
, to clear your name and then have Kayana cleanse the victims down there of the infestation. She can enter the dreams where the demons live, and with help she will be able to save the Academy before they collapse upon themselves.”

“Okay,” said Gunnar. “How will you sneak us past this barricade?”

“We’re going to give you up,” said Hippolyta, “but you’ll carry something that will take a bite out of Dagon’s empire and allow you to escape. In simple terms, it could be considered a
bomb.
”

Hippolyta snapped her fingers, and Pyrgomache left the room. Moments later, the large Amazon came back with an oblong-shaped grey casing, which was flat and about the size of Gunnar’s outstretched hands. It was light and cold to the touch, but solid, and Gunnar wondered if it was bulletproof. Pyrgomache placed the casing on Gunnar’s back, frowned, and then brought it around to his stomach. She smiled, strapped it onto his waist, and then another set of guards put a shirt on him. It was hard to move with this odd casing on him, but it was more or less hidden underneath his clothes.

“You’ll turn us over to Dagon?” said Gunnar in a mistrusting voice. “And then I’ll let loose a
bomb
strapped to my midsection that will allow me and my friends to escape unharmed? This does not sound like a plan so much as a ruse to—”

“It’s not a
bomb
in the conventional sense,” said Hippolyta. “It’s a gift from Poseidon. Needless to say, he’s quite upset with Dagon for kidnapping his Mermaids, and Poseidon will take great pleasure when this goes off. We’ll teach you when and how to use it, and if you use it correctly it will allow you to escape unharmed.”

Gunnar looked at Hippolyta with distrust.

“We’ll tell you and only you what this bomb is and what it can do,” said Hipployta. “And we’ll not turn The Horsemen over to Dagon without your approval.”

“Fair enough,” said Gunnar.

“It
is
fair,” said Hippolyta. “Like I said, trust is lacking in our society, and now is a good time to bring it back. Perhaps this gesture will even begin a peace between the Amazon and Spartan nations.”

“I doubt it,” said Gunnar, “especially because as you said, I’m not a Spartan. I failed the Agoge and subsequently, I’m reviled by them.”

“I disagree,” said Hippolyta. “The Spartan district has officially disavowed you, perhaps, but you’re not reviled. The Spartan infantry speaks highly of you; legend has it that you’ll come back and lead them one day. If you bring this bomb from the Amazon nation into the heart of Dagon’s district, your legend will only grow.”

Gunnar felt the casing around his stomach. It seemed innocuous; smuggled contraband, perhaps, but not anything dangerous.

“The reunification of the Amazons, Spartans, Hellenica and the Academy starts now, Gunnar,” said Hippolyta. “Right here, with you. I promise you that if you use this device properly, it will get you home safely.”

Gunnar felt the casing one last time, then looked up at President Hippolyta, who stared back at Gunnar with rheumy, calm eyes. She wasn’t lying.

“And if you use this gift from Poseidon at just the right time,” she said, “it will tear Dagon’s entire world in half.”

/***/

“We yield the captives,” said Pyrgomache.

“And we have already begun lifting the blockade around your island,” said the General in Dagon’s speedboat. “We want no quarrel with the Amazons.”

Yet you would keep the blockade forever if it profited you,
thought Gunnar.

Gunnar and the rest of the Horsemen had been shackled in heavy chains, and they were led onto Dagon’s boats and ordered to sit in chairs built into the vessel’s wall. Dagon’s guards locked the chains to their chairs, and they were secured, though not uncomfortably and not tightly. Gunnar looked back to see the Amazons downcast; this was humiliating for them.
They can’t stand to give ground,
thought Gunnar,
even if they’re doing it on purpose.
Even Pyrgomache looks sad, and perhaps more surprisingly, I’m sad to see her go.

Dagon’s boats sped away with them, and soon the island of the Amazons was just a small speck in the night’s water.
No wonder the Amazons retain their cruelty,
thought Gunnar.
They have an island, but Dagon has a nation. Fear is the only thing keeping his soldiers from running them over.

Though he no longer felt any fear himself, Gunnar feared for his team. They had given control of themselves and there were just too many variables now. Gunnar felt confident in his mission, but couldn’t guarantee his team’s safety; Dagon was in control now. Still, as the boats sped towards Dagon’s docks, Gunnar gave each of his Horsemen a look that said
We’ll be fine. No matter how dire the circumstances, we’ll be fine.

Once on the docks, they were led back to the aquarium and then put in a cavernous, empty room several floors underground. The room had ten thick chains dangling above a large, above-ground crocodile tank. The crocodiles swam freely and could even escape the tank if they wanted; the only thing preventing them from doing so was the five-foot drop onto the ground.

The guards bound Gunnar’s hands and feet and then attached them to one of the chains dangling above the tank, and they did the same with Saoirse, Tommy and Kayana. The group stood shackled in front of the tank, but could be pulled backwards and then dangled stomach-first over the crocodiles on a whim. Gunnar had heard that this was one of Dagon’s tricks; the Babylonian god would deal with rivals by bringing them to this room and pulling them backwards with every answer that displeased him.

Dagon’s men clearly knew who they were dealing with; they had a cage for Kross and wore gloves while handling Kayana. Dagon walked by the tank, showing no fear of the crocodiles, and frowned in front of Gunnar. He was taller than Gunnar, and almost as broad as Heracles. He swallowed his anger and then forced a grin.

“Remove their armor,” said Dagon.

The guards tried, but couldn’t; it was a brand of armor that Hippolyta had instructed them to wear to conceal Gunnar’s bomb. The guards struggled and struggled, but couldn’t unclasp the linking plates.

“Armor won’t come off sir,” said Dagon’s underling. “But we scanned them; no weapons.”

“Amazon armor,” said Dagon with a laugh. “Can’t be taken off; helps prevent assault after capture.”

Dagon circled his captives slowly, and then reached into his pocket. He pulled out a hunk of meat and threw it in the crocodile tank. The crocodiles snapped at each other while devouring it, and then all was quiet again.

“You’ve heard the legend of
Horatius Cocles
?” asked Dagon.

The group was quiet. Gunnar had heard that legend every day of the Agoge, but chose to remain silent.