CALIPHATE(134)

"I've told you of my best friend, Besma . . . the Muslim girl?"

"Yes."

"Before we left, I got a letter from her. Her husband had been displeased with her and had beaten her. She went to the courts and they told her it was her fault."

"So?"

"So . . . if we stay here, we could perhaps get my friend Besma and her children out of a slavery not much better than mine was."

"Let me think about it," he answered, then thought, No, if you're going to be my wife, you get a say. "You really think so?" he asked.

Petra wiped the last moisture from her eyes and answered, "I owe Besma a lot, John, and her life is Hell. I won't force you—I can't force you—but I'd appreciate it if we could stay here at least until we get her and her children out. And . . . " She hesitated.

"Yes?" Hamilton asked.

"Well . . . you tell me an invasion of the Caliphate is both inevitable and soon coming, right?"

Caruthers harrumphed.

"Oh, knock it off," Hamilton said. "Everyone knows it is." Turning back to Petra he asked, "So what?"

"Well . . . maybe from here, in the middle of the Caliphate, we could aid that."

"It's a thought, John," Caruthers said. "And then too . . ."

"Yes?"

"After deciphering those computers the Swiss are less enthusiastic about neutrality than they were. Another dozen or fifteen divisions suddenly emerging in the middle of the Caliphate would help an invasion immeasurably. You could be our man here . . . and then cross over to being the liaison with the Swiss later on."

Hamilton looked at Petra. "You realize, right, that this will delay your scuba instruction by years." It was his last, feeble shot.

"I can wait," she said. "When a continent of my people is enslaved I can wait for the other things."

Hamilton sighed. "You're a bastard, Caruthers."

"Does that mean you'll do it?"

"I don't see where I have a choice."

Caruthers sighed. "Nobody's had a choice in about a century, John. This whole thing? It's about giving people choices again."

"Speaking of which," Hamilton said, pointing with his chin at Ling and her new partner threading their way across the floor.

The pair, still holding hands, stopped directly in front of Hamilton, Petra and Caruthers. The Swiss girl seemed very shy, though Ling was forward, as usual.

After introductions, Ling said to Caruthers, "I wanted to thank you, you and your organization and the Empire, for getting the Ministry of State Security to release me."

Caruthers said, "You're welcome. After what you've done, you're more than welcome. I just wish the condition of release didn't include a covenant not to employ you ourselves."

Ling shook her head. "No thank you. I've had enough of being used . . . even if it was being used for a higher purpose." She looked very intently at Petra. "I'll miss you, honey."

"No, you won't," Petra answered. "We're staying here, John and I."

Hamilton nodded. "We'll be seeing a lot of each other, I think. And, maybe, too, you might do some work with us, if not for us."

"Only if you choose to," Petra added.

Ling smiled. "A wonderful thing, isn't it, choice? Maybe we'll work together, after all."