The Quest - Smith Wilbur (читаем книги онлайн бесплатно TXT) 📗

'Horses!'

Taita blinked in the dust and smoke, but he could not see clearly. His vision was blurred and dull. He wiped his eyes on his sleeve, then stared again. 'Cavalry?' he muttered, in disbelief.

'Egyptian cavalry,' Meren whooped. 'Crack troops! A blue pennant flying over them.' The cavalry charged through the Basmara lines, taking them on the lance, then wheeling back to finish the work with the sword. The Basmara threw down their weapons and fled in disarray.

'It cannot be,' Taita muttered. 'We are two thousand leagues from our very Egypt. How come these men to this place? It is not possible.'

'Well, I believe my eyes - or should I say my one good eye?'i cried Meren gaily. 'These are our countrymen!' Within minutes the only Basmara remaining on the field were either dead or soon to be so. The guardsmen were trotting back, leaning from the saddle to lance the wounded where they lay. A trio of high-ranking officers detached themselves from the main body of cavalry and cantered towards the small party of survivors.

'The senior officer is a colonel of the Blue,' Taita said.

'He wears the Gold of Merit and the Cross of the Red Road Brotherhood,' Meren said. 'He is a warrior indeed!'

The colonel pulled up in front of Taita and raised his right hand in salute. “I feared that we might be too late, exalted Magus, but I see that you are in good health still and I thank all the gods for that mercy.'

'You know me?' Taita was further astonished.

'AH the world knows Taita of Gallala. However, 1 met you at the court of Queen Mintaka, after the defeat of the false pharaoh, but that was many years ago when 1 was a mere ensign. No wonder it has slipped from your memory.'

'That? Colonel That Ankut?' Taita resurrected a memory of the man's face.

The colonel smiled with gratification. 'You honour me with your recognition.'

That Ankut was a handsome man, with strong, intelligent features and a level gaze. Taita viewed him through the Inner Eye and saw no taint or defect in his aura, although a sombre blue flicker in its depths betokened some deep emotional disturbance. He knew at once that That was not a contented man. 'We had news of you when we passed through Fort Adari,' Taita told him, 'but the men you left there thought you had perished in the wilderness.'

'As you can see, Magus, they were mistaken.' That did not smile. 'But we must leave this place. My scouts have descried many thousands more of these savages converging upon us here. I have done what I was sent to do, which was to take you under protection. We must waste no time, but leave at once.'

'Where will you take us, Colonel That? How did you know that we were here and in need of aid? Who sent you to rescue us?' Taita demanded.

'Your questions will be answered in due course, Magus, but I regret

 I THE QUEST

not by me. I leave Captain Onka here to care for your other needs.' He saluted again and turned his horse away.

They got the horses up. Most had been wounded, two so gravely that they had to be destroyed, but Windsmoke and Whirlwind had come through unscathed. Although they had little baggage remaining, Taita's medical equipment was heavy and bulky. They did not have enough baggage animals to carry it all so Captain Onka called for more pack horses, and Taita tended the injuries and wounds of his band and their mounts. Onka was impatient, but the work could not be hurried, and it was some time before they were ready to ride out.

When Colonel That returned a squadron of his cavalry led them. Taita's band marched in the centre and was well protected. Another large column laboured behind, which included many hundreds of lamenting captives, most of them Basmara women.

'Slaves,' Meren guessed. 'That combines slave-catching with saving innocent travellers.'

Taita made no comment, but considered their own position and status.

Are we prisoners also, or honoured guests? he wondered. Our welcome was ambiguous. He considered putting the question to Captain Onka, but he knew it would be a wasted effort: Onka was as reticent as his commander had been.

Once they had left Tamafupa they went south, following the dry course of the Nile towards the lake. Soon they were in sight of the Red Stones and the abandoned temple on the bluff above, but at that point they left the river and headed eastwards on a track beside the lake. Taita tried to talk to Onka about the temple and the stones, but Onka had a stock reply: 'I know nothing about it, Magus. I am a common soldier and no great sage.'

After several more leagues the party climbed another bluff above the lake and looked down into a sheltered bay. Taita and Meren were astonished to see a fleet of six war galleys and several large transport barges riding at anchor on the tranquil waters only a few cubits off the white beach. The craft were of an unusual design the like of which they had never seen in Egyptian waters: they were open-decked and double ended. It was obvious that the single long mast could be unstepped and laid flat down the length of the hull. The sharp bows and sterns were

designed to drive through rough white water in the cataracts and rapids of a fast-flowing river. It was a clever design, Taita conceded. He learned later that the hulls could be broken into four separate sections to be carried round waterfalls and other obstructions.

The fleet looked handsome and businesslike, riding at anchor in the bay. The water was so pure and clear that the hulls seemed to hang suspended in air rather than water, and their shadows were clearly outlined on the bottom of the lake. Taita could even make out the shoals of large fish that cruised round them, attracted by the rubbish that the crews threw overboard.

'The design of those hulls is foreign,' Meren remarked. 'They are not Egyptian.'

'On our travels in the Orient we saw their like in the countries beyond the Indus river,' Taita agreed.

'How did such vessels come to be on this remote uncharted inland sea?'

'One thing I know for certain,' Taita remarked, 'is that there will be no profit in asking Captain Onka.'

'For he is just a common soldier and no great sage.' Meren laughed for the first time since they had left Tamafupa. They followed their guide down to the beach, where embarkation began almost immediately. The captured Basmara were put on two of the barges, the horses and Tinat's troops on to the others.

Colonel That Ankut became quite animated as he studied Wind smoke and Whirlwind. 'What a magnificent pair. Clearly they are dam and foal,' he remarked to Taita. 'I have probably seen fewer than three or four to match them in my life. They have the fine legs and strong chests you see only in animals of Hittite bloodlines. I would hazard these hail from the plains of Ecbatana.'

'You have hit upon it exactly.' Taita applauded. 'I congratulate you.

You are a skilled judge of horseflesh.'

That mellowed still further, and he set aside quarters for Taita, Meren and Fenn aboard his galley. Once everyone was embarked, the fleet cast off from the beach and headed out into the lake. As soon as they had made their offing they turned westward along the shoreline. That invited the three to share a meal with him on the open deck. In comparison to the lean fare of the years since they had left Qebui, the food that his cook provided was memorable. Freshly caught and grilled lake fish were followed by a casserole of exotic vegetables, and the amphora of red wine was of a quality that would have graced Pharaoh's own table.

As the sun sank into the waters ahead the fleet drew level with the Red Stones at the mouth of the Nile, and they pulled beneath the tall bluff on whose summit stood the temple of Eos. That had drunk two bowls of wine and had become a gracious, affable host. Taita attempted to take advantage of his mood. 'What building is that?' He pointed across the water. 'It seems to be a temple or palace, but of a design such as I never saw in our very Egypt. I wonder what manner of men erected it.'