The Preacher Man

"Yes, Grand Mufeto. We have solid harmonic locks around both our locations. It is rigorously impossible for us to be spied upon without changing the laws of physics."

"Great! So, what's up with the Grand Mufeto title? Didn't I give you permanent permission for informality?" I smiled at him and raised my eyebrows.

The smile was contagious. He finally smiled back. "Ten months Ilias! People have been known to change. I didn't know how much the capital might have... Well..."

"I'll never change that much Amid!"

He finally gave me the relaxed smile I was hoping for. Gosh, after ten months of strict isolation, it was so nice to see him again. He glanced at a display to his side for a second, and then returned to look at me. "No, apparently not sir. I should have guessed by how quickly your personal guard jumped in to help with the generator problem."

"So it was the generator? How did the two teams work together?"

"It was the generator sir, and we worked remarkably well together, very professional. It really wasn't their job to fix this. We wound up teaching each other a few tricks. Their best e-techs were off-duty, but they were here within minutes after the problem started."

"So, what caused the problem?"

"Simple mechanical failure of a quantum coupling tunnel. Its exact failure mode set up a very unusual sub-harmonic resonance. Just a fluke sir."

"Excellent. And the problem is solved?"

"Completely sir. Your guard team is also performance testing the entire generator array. This won't happen again."

I yawned nodded. "I'm heading back to sleep. Nice to see you again Amid."

"Same here sir." We signed off a few seconds later and I went back to bed.

I curled up against Abigail's back and sighed. The room was a bit cool so I covered us both with a thin blanket. It felt absolutely delightful for feel Abby's warmth, and my hand came across to hold her low on her stomach. Under the covers, her hand moved and came to mine.

"Okay to wait till morning?" she signed silently.

I thought for a moment. If the five of us... No, the four of us. Michal was probably in the middle of a real purge cycle. If the four of us did get together for a meeting now and the Heisenberg shield suddenly collapsed, it would look very odd for anyone to see us all in conference this time of night. I signed back to Abby, "A wise idea. But I have so much to tell you."

Abby signed in reply, "Yes, from our side too, so much to tell you." And then her hand flattened and she held my hand tightly against herself, my fingertips brushing against the top of her pubic fur. As the moments passed, I could feel all her tension leave her body and she entered real sleep.

It's one of Abby's most endearing features. No matter how tense a situation, when I hold her she relaxes completely. Such profound trust. Such an incredibly rare and precious gift she offers me. I found myself joining her, feeling all my worries fade to nothingness, and in the quiet darkness of my new bedroom, and knew that I had returned to my true home.

Chapter 39. Short But Sweet

Early next morning...

Time: January 2, 8240 5:20 PM

I awoke from a deep dreamless sleep, my mind perfectly at peace. I wondered a moment for the reason for my profound state of relaxation, and then realized I was still holding Abby in my arms. She was perfectly still, but I could sense she was awake, and somehow she also knew my eyes were open. As I kissed the back of her head, she sighed and turned and smiled at me.

We kissed playfully for a moment, and then she asked, "Do you need to get ready for morning Prayers?"

I smiled back. "Nope. I have declared this entire day to be one of inner mediation for me. My deputies will be handling everything until tomorrow."

Abby's eyes lit up. "Excellent! The other wives will be so happy!"

"Are they still asleep?"

Abby shook her head. "Michal got up an hour ago, and then Sheffie took her into the living room to explain things to her. I'm not sure, but I think Chanah is up too."

I nodded and sighed. "It was so nice to see you all again."

"Oh, for us too." Abby reached over and touched a control, making a large eastern bank of windows transparent to the day's first rays of sunlight. It was strictly a one-way affair. With the Heisenberg shields at full power, from the outside the bedroom still appeared to be covered with a blurry gray foam.

Abby petted me for a moment and grinned. "Wow! You sure are in excellent shape! I don't think I've ever seen you looking so muscular!"

I caressed her lower back, tracing her spine and smiling at the compliment. "Thanks!"

Abby continued, "We were all wondering if political life would slow you down. I guess not!"

I chuckled. "It does happen to a lot of Royalty, maybe most of them. I wound up doing daily exercises with my guard."

"The special weapons teams?"

"Yeah."

"Wow. How did it go?"

"It was great, very challenging. I liked it a lot, as long as I stayed away from their competitive games."

Abby blinked. "Competitive games?"

"Well, not really games at all. Their Prayer of Weakness is both competitive and brutal, with a strong emphasis on performing through extreme pain. Those workouts I just avoided."

Abby squinted at me, wrinkling her nose, and then she shook her head in disbelief. She pushed me back to lie flat on my back, and then she mounted me, sitting on my groin and stroking my cheek. "Oh, you men! You have such different minds. I can't imagine women ever doing something like that, at least not willingly."

I kissed her hand and nodded. "You are perfectly correct. Women are so obviously the superior half of the species."

Abby laughed and bent down to lie on me. She playfully kissed my cheek. "Very good Ilias! You are so smart to see that!" She paused for a moment as my hands came up to hold her waist, and then she wiggled her hips firmly into my groin and laughed again. "Hah! What would Bel'dar think if he heard us playing like this?"

I laughed back. "Yeah, probably not be too pleased. I think I just violated all eight of his faith pillars in one sentence."

Abby rose up and blew a breath of air through her cheeks, smiling for a moment, but then a frown erased the laughter from her eyes. "It's not that hard to do. His whole first chapter, it's really only one pillar, one great awful pillar of hate, a single sick candy bar packaged under eight different wrappers."

I sighed back. "Not a bad analogy..."

Just then Chanah poked her head in by the bedroom doorway and gave me a beaming smile. "Good morning, light of my life! Ready for a nice breakfast?"

I looked at her startled. "Uh, sure."

Chanah nodded happily and disappeared. I turned to Abby and whispered, "Good morning, light of my life?"

Abby giggled. "Oh yes. Chanah has become addicted to some of the fictional writing from the crystals." Her fingertips brushed my temple. "They're called romantic novels."

"Romantic novels?" I spoke the unfamiliar name thoughtfully and considered. "Novels of the Roman times?"

My question returned Abby to her playful mood. "No! Man and woman relationships were so different before the war Ilias, so unbelievably different! We have so much to tell you!" She rose up and ran her hand lightly across my naked chest one last time. "And I think I have enjoyed you to myself long enough. I can't be this selfish. Come! Let's get dressed and join the others."

We sat down with the other wives in a breakfast area a short time later. I looked around at my new home as my wives busily prepared the table for our meal. The room was nice, simply furnished and very clean, with magnificent views of the mountains through the large, shielded windows.

I was surprised to find my mind making comparisons with my other homes. My quarters here were very similar to my cathedral at Karbala, none of the rich splendor I had enjoyed at Dakar or the capital. Had I grown used to opulence? Certainly all the high-tech gadgets at Dakar were fun to play with. But did I miss them, want them here? I thought for a moment and decided to let each of my homes keep their native qualities as much as possible. It's the diversity of life that makes it so interesting.

Our breakfast was a wonderful time for us to reacquaint ourselves. We used to have an unspoken rule not to discuss business during meals, and I think we all felt the desire to continue that tradition, remarkably even Michal. So we talked of personal things, letting each other know how our likes and dislikes and interests had evolved over the ten months of our separation. We didn't finish until close to 8 AM.

And then finally, it was time for business. After cleaning up from the meal, we trotted off to a small conference area near my private office. My mind was bursting with curiosity about what their months of research might have uncovered, but I wound up going first. I spent more than an hour describing how the world had changed over the last ten months, and the new political reality.

My wives were silent throughout my explanation, holding back their obvious questions. There was a long pause after I had finished, and then surprisingly Michal spoke first.

"You?" she whispered. "You'll be the next Cunif Califar?"

I blushed. "Well, the politics of this are always in motion, but right now it looks that way." I sighed and leaned back and thought for a moment.

I had given my word to Faisal last year that I would tell no one about Abdul Quddus's medical condition, and yet I had broken my word without hesitation and told my wives everything. As a seasoned politician, was it so easy for me to lie now?

I thought for a moment and realized my promise of secrecy to Faisal was conflicting with my promise to the true Holy to end female mind mutilation, and I had without thinking decided where the deeper truth lay and subordinated my promise to Faisal. Life makes such situations unavoidable, I realized. With our limited abilities to see the future, we are bound to have such confrontations within our integrity. And if we limit our promises to what we are absolutely sure we can keep, we will never promise anything of value.

I looked at Michal and tried to explain the politics. "Unless something changes, a year from now I'll move up to CL-29, becoming High Tech's senior member on the council. The opening will be there because Utility's CL-29 Ajib will advance and join Faisal as the council's second CL-30. Health will be allowed a second councilman in the slot I'll be vacating. It'll probably be CL-27 Qusay, though Health is still undecided on that part of the plan."

Michal stared at me. "You know about these things so far in advance?"

I smiled at the familiarity she was using with me. During our breakfast, she had started off being quite shy with me and calling me sire, even Grand Mufeto once. But even after our ten-month absence, her heart was quick to accept me again as a husband who loved her. "Yes. The Health faction has changed the political world. I see it now as a brilliant political plan. They still hold all the physical power of their medical arts, and now have aligned their welfare with the interests of the other factions. It really was a very crafty bit of maneuvering."

Abby nodded. "Agreed. And you became their lynchpin for holding this all together."

"Well, I hate boasting, but to be honest, yeah. As a newcomer to the political scene, I don't have the history of back-stabbing of the other councilmen. That was a tremendous advantage in acting as an intermediary in all the negotiations. Everyone on the council has learned to trust me."

I paused for a moment and then smiled. "I'm the only member who is acceptable to everyone as the next Cunif Califar. I think even Abdul Quddus realizes that."

Chanah asked, "How does he feel about that?"

"Oh, I think he's relieved. Abdul Quddus really does love this world and its society. He doesn't want chaos at the end of his reign."

Abby nodded. "Wow Ilias, the next Cunif Califar. Have you picked your new name yet?"

I sighed. "No. I guess I have thought about it a bit. But to tell you the truth, I'm not sure I want the job."

My four wives stared at me. "Huh?!" they all said at once.

"You don't know what it's like! It's a life absolutely filled with politics. I'll lose what little free time I have and my power would be strictly secular. I'd have no power to change the religion at all, no power at all to change the priesthood. All sacred power rests with the Code of Bel'dar."

Michal looked puzzled. "But Ilias, isn't that just a computer code?"

"Well, maybe. It would certainly be instant death to refer to it like that in public. And it's not just ordinary code. It's the very best AI of pre-war technology. Research in that field is explicitly forbidden now by the code. AI has become a lost art."

Michal was still unconvinced. "But somebody still has to run it, don't they?"

I nodded. "Babylon is the most isolated of all the townships, even more than Giza. I should know, I was there. The Lion stated that my ride to CL-13 should be done at Babylon. There are thousands of manager priests there who spend their lives devoted to maintaining the code and its standards. It's the one city that will forever be without a Mufeto presence. The Code of Bel'dar forbids their presence in the city. The penalty for me even to step inside the city limits now would mean instant death."

I thought for a moment and shrugged. "I misspoke slightly. It's the death sentence that would be immediate. My actual death would be prolonged over several days. The Code of Bel'dar demands an excruciating death experience for such sacrilege."

Michal nodded after a moment. "And there's no outside access to the code?"

"Absolutely none. And it's protected by multiple layers of manager priests who are constantly screened for their devotion."

Abby frowned. "Ilias, as a teenager, I remember reading the history of Abdul Quddus. Didn't he return to the capital from some kind of ceremony at Babylon, maybe a decade or so after his coronation?"

"Huh? Well, he came to power in the summer of 8184, February 3'rd", I said, as I pulled the date out of my perfect memory. "Oh yeah, the high Holy Judgment of 8196, the Ceremony of the Holy Recompilation."

Chanah burst out laughing. "The what?!"

"The Cunif Califar makes exactly one visit to Babylon, during the eighth day of Judgment at the start of the first Holy Decade after his coronation. It's the Ceremony of the Holy Recompilation."

Chanah's and Shephatiah's eyes lit up with astonishment as soon as I said this. "Ilias!" said Chanah excitedly, "tell us more!"

"About the Ceremony? It's not what you think it is. There's no access to the Code of Bel'dar, just a ceremonial recompilation of the operating system."

Chanah clapped her hands with glee. "Even better!"

"Even nothing! There's absolutely no opportunity for me to change anything. I'll be sitting on a throne surrounded by Holy managers and with the ability to push just one button, that's it. And all the source code gets examined many times, both before and after the ceremony. The real compilation occurs more than a month after the Ceremony."

"The real compilation?" Shephatiah asked.

"Oh, minor additions to the standard. Suggestions on how to tweak the OS build up over the decades. The Ceremony of the Recompilation is when they're implemented."

"Perfect!"

"Sheffie, there really is no opportunity here. The Ceremony is my obligation to bless the Code, not change it. As the Holy's first servant, the Code finds renewal and affirmation by symbolically springing from my hand. In practice, the Ceremony is a pledge of fidelity and subservience to the Code by the new Cunif Califar, nothing more."

Shephatiah turned to Chanah. They were both smiling wildly. "Well, we'll see about that! What's the code written in?"

"Huh? Oh, I don't know Sheffie. Z prime prime I guess."

"Excellent!"

"Do you really see a way to seize control of the Code?"

"You mean now? No, of course not. But perhaps a door has been opened. Chanah and I have much to discuss. Ilias! If you get the opportunity, take the job!"

I gave a small laugh. "It would probably be suicidal not to! No one has ever refused the position. I wouldn't be at all surprised if the Code took a very dim view of someone who did."

I took a deep breath. "Sheffie! I can't wait any longer! Last night, were we in any danger of being spied upon?"

Sheffie squirmed in her seat. "Maybe. It's so difficult to decide! I thought of this a year before you married me, a really clever way of probing through quantum foam if its harmonic lock were broken."

"Ah. So it was deliberate?"

"I'm really not sure. My intellect says no, that it was just a fluke. But my instincts were screaming danger to me as soon as it happened. It was exactly the right failure mode to give the appearance of screening without actual protection."

I looked at her for a moment. "How would it work?"

"I don't have the details worked out. But in principle, I suspect a quantum entangled laser could be beamed into the foam and coupled with the polarization states within the shielded area. The harmonic lock guarantees no information could be passed through such a coupling."

"But without the lock?"

"... It's possible... In theory..."

"So why does your intellect think it was a fluke?"

"The quantum literature Ilias! There's no mention of the underlying principles behind this, not even mention of research in the area. The application I mentioned would be built on a foundation of some very basic research, entanglement research so basic I doubt anyone would try to hide it. I've read the literature. What's your opinion Ilias? Are the photonics labs at Baalbek hiding a lot of basic research?"

I thought for a moment. "With me not knowing about it? Possible I suppose... I doubt it though. The political negotiations last year didn't indicate anyone holding this kind of hidden technology. Sheffie, could you build me a prototype?"

"By myself?! Even with Michal and Chanah... Oh, no offense Abby."

"None taken. I know this isn't my area."

Shephatiah gulped and nodded. "I don't know Ilias. Two years at a minimum if I tried, and I'd need a lot of resources. This kind of development really needs a team of scientists. There would be so much to do, theoretical development, design work, all the proof of principle experiments... It would be a huge job, one for a team of twenty scientists and quantum engineering specialists, not just me. I might not be able to pull it off solo. I'd also need to be back at our lab at Dakar."

"That might not be possible for a while."

"I know."

Just then my intercom signaled a call requesting entrance through the quantum shields. We all groaned, especially me. I knew the instructions I had left with my guard and security teams. For them to allow this request to come through...

I sat down by the telecom monitor and accepted the call, my wives discreetly out of sight. The familiar hologram of Faisal was before me a second later. The monitor indicated the call was coming from Giza.

"Sir? Nice to see you."

"Hah! Don't joke with me Ilias. I know you just got home last night. I'll get right to the point. A Health faction issue of some delicacy has come up. As the Domine of Dalma, you need to be here."

"Shaitan Faisal! Any way I can do this by video conference?"

"Two days at most. Well, maybe three," Faisal replied, ignoring my plea entirely. "How soon can you be here?"

I sighed. "Let me check." I put him on hold and made a few calls, then switched back. "Faisal, the earliest I can depart is 10:30 AM, arriving at Giza a few minutes before noon."

"That will be satisfactory. I'll make sure you have priority on landing rights. There will be a very nice lunch waiting for you, I can promise you that." And then he laughed. "But I doubt you'll have much time to eat it!" And on that note, he disconnected.