He became other minds. In particular, he felt a Keeper of Memories, a drone named Zah-Ahan-Nu, crouching in the shadows of the Chamber of the Eye, peering out through the opening and down into the walled-in rectangle of the offworlder compound. The bodies of several Ahannu and Sagura lay sprawled about on the stone floor, testimony to the deadly accuracy of the Blackhead warriors below.
Slowly, Zah-Ahan-Nu raised its head, surveying the alien compound. It appeared to be filled to overflowing with Blackheads—wild slaves escaped from Ahannu care. These would be the remote descendants of the Blackheads left behind on Kia after the coming of the Hunters of the Dawn.
Its horizontal, slit pupils widened until nearly the entirety of the golden eyes showed glassy black. Zah-Ahan-Nu had become the eye of the Zu-Din.
Regimental HQ
Building 5, Legation Compound
New Sumer, Ishtar
1920 hours ALT
“Attention on deck!” Captain Warhurst called, standing. The several dozen Marines in the room came to attention as Colonel Ramsey, Major Anderson, and General King strode in.
“As you were, as you were,” King said, waving a hand. “This is your HQ, Colonel?”
“Yes, sir. It’s not much, but it’s home.”
Until a few hours before, the former supply room had been an empty, junk-filled shell. Working parties had cleared out the debris and brought in chairs of various descriptions salvaged from other parts of the compound, which were set up around a makeshift boards-on-nanocrete-block map table. Someone had painted sheets of plyboard white and drawn rough topo maps on them using colored markers. Chips of painted wood with unit designations printed on them were scattered about the board, blue for Marine forces, red for known or suspected concentrations of the enemy.
Most of the men and women in the room were still in their armor, with their gloves, helmets, and weapons stacked in military order along the wall next to the smashed-open door. The only civilian present was Gavin Norris, and he was wearing a green Derna jumpsuit with the Spirit of Humankind patch on the front.
Captain Warhurst stepped to one side, making room for the newcomers. He could sense the tension in the air; Ramsey was making nice to the general, but the politics of the situation were obviously costing him in stress.
“This is your answer to the noumenon?” King asked, looking down at the table. “How the hell can you see what’s going on?”
“It’s not as bad as you might think, sir,” Ramsey replied with a thin smile. “It’s true, without remotes giving us data from all over the battlefield, without linked-in team leaders, this is the best we can manage. But Marines were playing war games on computers, on paper, and with sticks in the sand long before we had noumenal sims.”
“Show me.”
“We’ve reorganized the MIEU in order to spread out the effect of casualties from the initial assault. Five companies in two lightweight battalions—768 Marines altogether—plus our air wing, another twenty-three. The rest—about two hundred, including both physical and psych wounded—have been assigned to an ad hoc reserve company.”
He began pointing out the different features on the map: the walls of the Legation compound, the city proper, the river, and, squarely to the east, a black square representing the Pyramid of the Eye.
“Right now we have the walls secured and patrols inside the compound. This,” he said, tapping the representation of the pyramid to the east, “is our big problem.”
“The so-called Pyramid of the Eye,” King said. “That thing has a Priority One for this mission, you understand.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Damn it, it should have been among the first objectives taken.”
“That possibility was discussed, General. It was decided, you’ll recall, that it was more urgent that we take Objective Krakatoa before the main landing, and it seemed unwise to divide our forces among too many targets.”
“I am not senile, Colonel. I remember the briefings, even if they were ten years ago.” The weak attempt at humor fell flat.
“Yes, sir. In any case, we had no way of knowing how strongly held the pyramid was when we made the landings inside the Legation compound.”
“Some of your men reported taking fire from it.”
“Yes, sir. We think the Ahannu may have tunnels or secret passageways inside the structure. Our spotters have seen some movement up there during the past few hours and have taken a few shots. We believe they’re using it to watch us, rather than as a strongpoint. At least so far.
“That could change, however, at any time. And, as you’ve pointed out, General, the pyramid is a high-priority target.”