The Apocalypse Script (12 page)

“
This must be ancient,” he
said.

“
The bezel is not but the ring is
quite ancient,” said Lilian, “and I am giving it to
you.”

Ben was taken aback. Looking at
her, he said, “Lilian, no. This should be in a museum.”

“
No, it is the ring of a Nisirtu.
It cannot be put on display.”

“
But it must be worth a
fortune.”

“
Not to me, Ben. I cannot sell it,
and would not. I cannot trade it, and would not. Do not focus on
the ring’s antiquity or historical significance. Those qualities
are unimportant.”

“
Maybe to you,
Lilian, but to someone like me those qualities are
very
important. Besides,
isn’t giving me a valuable ring the same thing as giving me money?
It seems rather hypocritical to say the Nisirtu don’t use money but
then to give away items that are worth a fortune.”

Lilian shook her head. “No, Ben.
It is not the ring’s monetary value that is important. It is
the
inscriptions
that matter. Though the ring is ancient, my father added the
bezel with the inscriptions. He had it added for a son that was to
succeed him. An anticipated son that was, sadly, stillborn. The
inscriptions grant the bearer of this ring my father’s
authorities.”

Ben hesitated. “What authorities?
I mean, what authorities can a dead man have? I’m sorry to be so
frank, but-.”

“
No, you’re right, in most ways.
Yet this ring does give you one authority, and a notably
appropriate one. It gives you the authority to act in his stead to
approve my marriage.” She raised her eyebrows. “That is a pleasant
coincidence, don’t you think? My father gives you his authority,
through this ring, to approve my marriage, and thus the dowry is
paid, and we may marry. We kill two birds with one
stone.”

Ben meditated on her words. “You
mean, if I accept this ring, I am both accepting a dowry and giving
myself permission to...well, anyway, that’s a tangled web, isn’t
it?”

“
Yes, but perfectly legal. You
must keep in mind, Ben, that we are speaking only of a ritual
relationship. Nothing more. Members of other orders, ones you are
more familiar with, address one another as ‘brother’ or ‘sister’
without any fear that the government might construe such titles as
legally binding.”

Grimacing, the man said, “True,
but ‘brother’ and ‘sister’ are very different from ‘husband’ and
‘wife.’ Anyway, putting that issue aside for now, I have another
concern”

“
What?”

“
The Delphic Order of the Nisirtu
appears to be very exclusive, and given how you erased last night’s
events from history, very influential. Even if I accept the ring, I
find it difficult to believe that you could bring me, a stranger,
into that kind of society. I could be a spy. I could reveal
everything I learn to the press. Why would others in your
organization take that chance?”

“
You’re right, Ben. It’s unusual
for a marriage to a non-Nisirtu to be approved. Detailed background
checks are necessary. It is not unlike being screened for a top
level security clearance in Government.”

“
Well, there you go.”

Lilian regarded him, pursed her
lips, and looked away. She tapped the coffee table with her
manicured nails.

Then he knew. “You’ve already had
me screened.”

“
Yes,” she admitted. “You passed
with flying colors. Congratulations. You’re quite
trustworthy.”

“
This was planned,
then.”

Lilian looked at him intently.
“
Everything
in my
life is planned. There is no time for trial and error.”

“
I still don’t understand the
urgency.”

“
You
will.”
But not this very
moment
, her expression told
him.

“
Okay, what about Fiela? Ridley
said I need you both to sponsor me.”

“
She’s to be your guardian – and
mine.”

“
She’s agreed to this?”

“
Oh yes, in advance, though she
didn’t know it was to you she’d be attached, specifically. Ridley
has in his possession what amounts to a general power of attorney
for his niece. He can authorize the…” She seemed at a loss for
words.

“
Sponsorship?” suggested
Ben.

“
Yes, thank you. Sponsorship,”
parroted Lilian, looking relieved and embarrassed.

The man said, “I realize this is
only ceremonial but I still think she should okay this
personally
.”

“
Ben, she already has.”

“
Yeah, but this
is getting a little weird.
Weirder,
I mean.”

“
A little weirdness seems a small
price to pay to study Ridley’s tablets and to become wealthy beyond
your wildest dreams.”

She had a point. Ben pinched the
bridge of his nose and thought for a long moment. “Okay, fine. I
will accept the ring. Temporarily. I’ll return it to you when my
study of the tablets is complete.”

He reached into the box on the
table and touched the ring experimentally, as if it might shock
him, but it was simply a cold piece of metal. He exchanged a last
look with Lilian before pulling the ring from the box and placing
it on his finger in a quick, fluid motion.

“
Done,” he said
victoriously, as if he’d successfully ripped a bandage from his
skin without screaming. He inspected the ring.
“
Huh.
A
perfect fit.”

Lilian touched the ring
delicately. “Do you approve the marriage?” she asked.

Ben was momentarily at a loss.
“Oh, right. Yes, I approve the marriage.”

A warm breeze swept through the room and a door
somewhere above them slammed shut.

“
Then I welcome you to the
Nisirtu,” Lilian said, smiling, but as she remembered her father
her smile fell away, and she trembled.

The helicopter that transported
them from Steepleguard to Denver was nothing like the Blackhawk
helicopters Ben had grown accustomed to in Afghanistan. Ridley’s
helicopter had the interior of a private jet, complete with wet
bar. The flight took only minutes and they were met at a private
airport by a limousine. When they were inside the vehicle, Lilian
raised the privacy screen and turned to Ben looking very
serious.

“
Ben, I shall
refer to you as
Mutu
, especially in front of other
Nisirtu. You must refer to me as
Asatu
from time to time.”

“
I am committed to the charade,”
the other occupant responded, palms up in surrender. “So, we just
flew down the mountain in a luxury helicopter from a hotel the size
of a small city that is home to one man, and you hired a male model
to act as surrogate for me in London to get me this suit – which is
very nice, by the way.”

“
Thank you,” she said.

“
But you told me
earlier that the Nisirtu do not use money. You can understand why I
have trouble reconciling that statement with what I’m seeing. You
certainly
appear
to have money. Someone just deposited a lot of
money into my bank account.”

Lilian shook her head. “I assure
you, Ben, Nisirtu do not carry cash, credit cards, or debit cards.
We have no bank accounts. We do not own property, at least not in
the fragmented sense that you understand ownership. We have no
possessions other than Nisirtu-specific heirlooms that serve ritual
functions. Nisirtu are quite literally penniless. In practice, we
do not even touch money. It is considered
unclean.
Only the Ardoon-” she
stopped.

“
The slaves,”
said Ben. “You mean
non-Nisirtu
, I imagine?”

“
That’s right.” She gauged his
reaction and seemed surprised at the lack of one. “In my world, you
are either Nisirtu or Ardoon. A master of the world or a slave.
Only slaves use money.”

Nodding toward her, Ben said,
“Then who paid for that necklace you’re wearing? It has to be
worth, what, a hundred thousand?”

“
It was provided to me by Mr.
Fetch.”

“
And where did he get
it?”

“
I have no idea,” she said. “I
described to him the necklace I wanted and he obtained it for
me.”

“
But you own it now.”

“
Not in the sense you mean. I
merely wear it.”

“
Your mansion?”

“
It’s not mine. Nor is the car I
drive or the clothes I am wearing. All were provided by Mr. Fetch.
As was the money deposited into your accounts.”

“
I see. You simply tell Mr. Fetch
what you need and he provides it.”

“
That is his job, Ben. It is the
job of every fetch. It is, I’m sure you realize, a title, not a
name. There are thousands of men assigned that title, and thousands
of women who bear the title, ‘Miss Fetch.’ They are Ardoon who
hunger for power and money. Like most of the underclass, they
confuse the two. They serve us to get and control more of what they
love, though none of them realize they are serving the
Nisirtu.”

He said, “But if you don’t use money how are the
people you call ‘fetches’ compensated?”

“
We provide them with new and
useful connections, insider information, access to important people
or technologies, that kind of thing. It is all done indirectly and
discreetly, of course. Consequently, fetches are never certain
exactly why fortune smiles upon them while they are in our employ,
but the fact that it does conditions them to behave
properly.”

Ben said, “Alright, I can almost
grasp how fetches work. There at least seems to be some reciprocity
in those arrangements. But this class-warfare thing bothers
me.
Masters and slaves?
I don’t care how rich the Nisirtu are, or
powerful, that’s a remarkable level of arrogance.”

Lilian smiled. “Only if it is
untrue, Ben. Anyway, that belief is immaterial to your assignment.
I’m only revealing our beliefs to you because soon you’ll be
interacting with other Nisirtu and I’d rather you hear them from me
than others.”

Letting out a deep breath, he
said, “Fine. If you guys want to be pompous asses, that’s your
business.” He decided to take the conversation in a safer
direction, saying, “Ridley told me that you have chapters that you
call kingdoms. Is tonight’s meeting open to all chapters, or just
yours?”

“
Ours, you mean.”

“
Right.”

“
It is open to
any Nisirtu in good standing. There are ten kingdoms. A Family is
in charge of each kingdom, also called a
House
. The terms
Kingdom
,
House
, and
Family
are somewhat
interchangeable.”

“
You have kings and queens, that
kind of thing.”

“
That’s right.
Most often a king is called
Anax
and a queen is called
Annasa
. The Nisirtu are
ancient. A ruler with subjects is the natural order of
things.”

“
What chapter
are you – are
we
in?”

“
We are in the Fifth, but don’t
let that mislead you. Fiela is in the Tenth. All kingdoms exist in
all places. A kingdom is defined by its membership and the Family
that rules it, not by geographic boundaries. Just as you will have
Democrats, Republics, Libertarians, and so forth in one city, so
you will also have members from each of the Ten Kingdoms. Ziggurats
like the one we are going to now are meetings of nobles and
high-ranking scribes of the various kingdoms.”

“
You said ‘kingdoms in good
standing?’ That implies some are not.”

“
That’s right.
For reasons we don’t have time to go into right now, the Third,
Seventh, and Ninth Kingdoms are in rebellion. Those three kingdoms
form what is called the
Maqtu
. The Houses in good standing
are called simply ‘the Seven’. I am, and you are, a member of the
Seven.”

“
Rebellion sounds rather
militaristic.”

“
It is the proper term. They war
against us and thus we war against them.”

“
Court battles, you
mean.”

The woman laughed. “Yes, but not
in the sense that
you
mean. I mean we are killing one another. With guns or
whatever else is available.”

“
Seriously.”

“
Seriously. Why do you think Fiela
fights as she does? She’s been fighting the rebels for a decade,
since she was a child. Did you not see the scars on her
legs?”

The researcher stewed on that.
“Sounds almost like a Mafia thing.”

“
That is a fair
analogy.”