The Shadows of God - J. Gregory Keyes [94]
“We are happy to be of help. Your foe is our foe—we have been fighting these men since they crossed the Mississippi River.”
“We had heard the Choctaw were resisting.”
“I'm glad you recognized us.”
Oglethorpe smiled wearily. “It's been my business for many years to know the Indians in these territories. Well, as I said, you've helped us out. What can I do for you?”
“Most of my men will stay here and continue to fight. But we have a wounded Frenchwoman with us, and it is quite urgent that she—and I—reach New Paris as soon as possible.”
Oglethorpe chewed his lip. It could be a trick, couldn't it? A sort of Trojan horse?
“How many of you?” he asked.
“Me, the lady, twelve of her company, and one Indian woman.”
Oglethorpe coughed—his lungs were still thick with the smoke of the guns—and nodded. “I will have you there by nightfall,” he said. “But tell me—how much respite do we have? Is there more of this advance force?”
“This was most of them, I think,” the Choctaw replied. “But there will be more very soon.”
“Can your men help us carry these guns down to our redoubt?”
“Of course, General.”
“Wonderful. I hate to ask more favors, but again it is much appreciated. I will make certain your men get a share of what gifts we have.”
“That is good.” He gave some orders in Choctaw.
“Where is this lady?”
“Back a bit. We will fetch her now, if you are ready to escort us.”
Oglethorpe hesitated only an instant. “I will arrange it. May I ask—who do you have business with in New Paris?”
“The philosopher Benjamin Franklin. The lady is also a philosopher, late of Russia. She has much to tell him. Crucial things.”
Or you wish to assassinate our best hope, Oglethorpe thought, suspicious again. He would send a message ahead, to prepare them.
“That might do it,” Franklin murmured, staring at the odd device he, Euler, and Vasilisa had just cobbled together. It was simple and delicate in appearance—a glass rod a fathom long and the thickness of a sword blade, rising to a point from a cubical iron case. The complexity came in the small additions to the glass, the chime of philosopher's mercury in the casing, and the small tympanum on the side—a sort of “ear ” that would help the device adjust to the precise harmonics it was exposed to.
“Might,” Euler said. “But how can we test it, when it is made to repel a substance that does not yet exist?”
“I don't know.” Franklin mused, “I suppose, in this instance, we must have faith. I want five more of these made by tomorrow, and five more the next day.”
“You understand, it is a temporary solution,” Vasilisa said.
“Of course I do. But it gives us more time, yes?”
“How much time will we need, I wonder?” Euler said. “And—assuming we defeat the army cast at us, and hold the engines at bay—how much of the world will remain? After all, this will protect only a few miles, maybe not even that.”
“Which is why we must stop wasting time jabbering and build more. ‘Tis a simple enough device to construct—the craftsmen should be able to get the hang of it easily enough.”
Vasilisa sighed and settled onto a chair. Several strands of her hair came down across one eye, making her look both very young and very tired. “I never imagined we would get even this much done. It's all in God's hands now.”
“Who helps best those who help themselves,” Franklin reminded her. “Once we have a few of these, I want to try another approach.”
“You will then re-proach?” a voice asked from the doorway.
“Hello, Robin. Any news?”
“Yep —all good. We've heard from Oglethorpe. He cleared out that first invasion—the northernmost redoubt is damaged, but still stands. The engineers are shoring it up now. And some visitors are on the way—a Choctaw and some others. I'm to ask y’ if you know a fellow named Red Shoes.”
“You know damned well I do. You also know what Tug and the tsar said about him. What are we to think? All of our old friends are coming home to roost, and we don't know whether they're doves or hawks or death angels. Who else is with him?”
“That's a funny thing. Some Russians who are really Frenchmen.