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identical to those of history; the Game was only a Machine-governed reconstruction, subject to many
minor distortions.
"I am not sure. Some I should know."
"Intriguing limits to your powers," Uga remarked, not intrigued.
"I am better on general events. There are so many people."
"Consider Qutli."
Alp shook his head. This was just like the Game Machine's interrogation! "I know no noble of that
name."
"Bilgo."
"Him I recognize. He was executed in why, you killed him!"
"By no means," Uga said. "He is alive and well, a most important member of my retinue."
"Not for long! He plots against you, unsuccessfully. Perhaps you have not yet discovered this but you
will."
"You charge him with treason?"
Alp considered how to put it. "You asked me what I knew about certain men. The first you named is a
blank, but if this Bilgo is the same one I remember "
"Try Pei-li."
Alp pondered. "Him too I recognize. A formidable and loyal warrior and scholar. He will give you
excellent service for many years."
"Now me."
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"You?" Alp was surprised. "I do know your future, to a certain extent. But how could you believe ?"
"Where do you see me next year?"
Alp thought, putting together the events of the past, when he was a growing lad. Where had the real Uga
been? "You will travel to China in 842 and not return for a year. The Khagan sends you on a mission to
call on the T'ang emperor, who does not receive you kindly. There is some fighting, and after that you
hate the Chinese implacably."
"I do not hate the Chinese," Uga objected.
"You will, two Days from now. I think the Khagan conspired with the Emperor to betray you, making it
seem an accident. But I am not sure. Politics are devious."
Uga sat silent for several minutes a very long time, in terms of the Game. His eyes focused absently on
Alp's sheathed sword. That sword...
"I have told you the truth as I know it," Alp said at last, fearing that he had in some way offended the
man. "The truth is seldom kind."
"Kinder than lies," Uga said. "Now I shall tell you some truth. There is no Qutli; I made up that name to
trap you. Had you given a fortune for him I would have deemed you a charlatan. Bilgo is indeed plotting
treason; I learned of it recently but have allowed him to continue until I am able to determine all his
accomplices. I shall surely execute him soon and I have told no one of my intent. Not even Bilgo
knows that I know and if you were with him, you would not have exposed him as you have. Pei-li I
trust implicitly; he and I were boys together in life, and he has saved my life in past parts in the Game.
He keeps my records, as he is literate. As for my journey to China I have no orders yet. We shall wait
upon it. And you are either a very shrewd guesser, or "
"It's memory, not guessing," Alp said. "But memory is still imperfect, and I can make mistakes."
"Yes. So when the Khagan sends me to China, you will accompany me."
A sensible precaution! "As you wish. But you should know: even if my memory is accurate, my
information may not conform precisely to the actions of the Game."
"Because your smuggled history text may differ from the program of the Game," Uga said. "That I well
understand. My interest is merely in verifying that you are in fact a scholar of Steppe history, and not a
spy from the Khagan's court."
Apt suspicion, and plausible enough so that Uga would not need to search further for the truth. "I could
be both," Alp pointed out.
"Or neither. But there will come opportunities to separate your motives and your knowledge from those
of the Khagan whom, naturally, I serve loyally until his demise ten Days hence. Meanwhile we shall
take you on faith. Limited faith, but it can grow."
"Fair enough," Alp agreed.
Dismissed, he left Uga's ger. Alp had now been in the Game several Hours, and nature had further call
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upon him. He walked out onto the sand, seeking a suitable spot but a guard challenged him.
Among true Uigurs there never would have been any confusion. But Alp realized suddenly that these
imitation nomads would not understand. They were not accustomed to using the sand, his new memory
said. They had facilities within their tents.
All right. He turned back.
He found the place in his tent. It was a kind of chair with a hole in the top. He had heard of this type of
thing; the Chinese and others used similar devices on occasion. There would be a bucket that had to be
emptied periodically...
He looked. There was no bucket. Instead there was the shimmer of running water.
Running water! Alp recoiled in shock. It was forbidden to urinate into running water! No man fouled the
precious fluid that all men had to drink!
Yet it was so: these Galactics were less than men, and this was the proof. They never buried their dung
decently in sand but made a point of dropping it obscenely into this channel of running water. It was
then carried down into a grinding unit that prepared the substance for "recycling"...
Alp left his tent hurriedly, circumvented the guard, and upheld the standard of personal hygiene he had
been raised with. There were, after all, limits.
Chapter 7 MISSION
At two a.m. February, 842 the Khagan's directive came. Within minutes Uga's small party of
warriors took off for the arduous journey to China. Women, servants and tents were left behind; this was
business. The blast of the jets melted long furrows in the winter snow as the horses galloped into the
sky. The tiny camp was lost to sight at once, and in a moment the entire planet disappeared. These were
light-speed steeds! Uga went, and Alp, and Pei-li, and a picked body of fifteen hard riders. Uga's
mission was to negotiate with the Emperor for the hand of a T'ang princess in marriage to the Khagan.
It was dubious business, as the Chinese were extremely jealous of their princesses, especially where
nomads were concerned... More especially when Uigur power was fading. In fact, historically the
mission had been unsuccessful as Alp had informed Uga.
"Noyan to my ship," Uga said on the screen as the fleet achieved speed. Alp wondered why the chief
continued to insist on this personal contact despite inconvenience, when the screens were quite adequate
for communication. It was the usual nomad way, true but this astonishing flight through reaches Alp
had not before imagined had demonstrated clearly that the usual nomad ways were no longer applicable.
This was not the natural Steppe; it was the Game.
But a Uigur did not answer in such a situation, he obeyed. Alp was a noyan, a member of the Steppe
aristocracy, both in life and here.
He set the reins for rendezvous and gave his horse its mechanical head. The machine-creature made the
maneuver and docked, sealing one of its airlocks to one of Uga's steed. Each horse had three such locks,
so it was possible for up to four to unite in a cluster during flight. Or more, if it wasn't necessary for
each to face into a common chamber. In this way no one horse was overburdened, though overall
maneuverability suffered.
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Pei-li docked next. The two visitors stuck their heads through the locks into Uga's ship, turning off their
screens. Their dialogue was thus assured of privacy.
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