"You know I'm right. Peter Wiggin can't touch us. Only Han Tzu stands between us and uniting the world under our rule."
"That's not true, Virlomi," said Alai.
"So you contradict me, too?"
"We're equals, Virlomi," said Alai. "We can contradict each other--when we're alone together."
"So if I'm wrong, who is a greater threat than Han Tzu?"
"If we attack
Han Tzu, unprovoked, and it looks as if he might lose--or he does lose--then we can expect the Muslim population of Europe to be expelled, and the nations of Europe will unite, probably with the United States, probably with Russia. Instead of a mountain border that Han Tzu is not threatening, we'll have an indefensible border thousands of kilometers long in Siberia, and enemies whose combined military might will dwarf ours."
"America! Europe! Those fat old men."
"I see you're giving my ideas careful consideration," said Alai.
"Nothing's certain in war," said Virlomi. "This might happen, that might happen. I'll tell you what will happen. India will take action, whether the Muslims join us or not."
"India, which has little equipment and no trained army, will take on China's battle-hardened veterans--and without the help of the Turkish divisions in Xinjiang and the Indonesian divisions in Taiwan?"
"The Indian people do what I ask them," said Virlomi.
"The Indian people do what you ask them, as long as it's possible."
"Who are you to say what's possible?"
"Virlomi," said Alai. "I'm not Alexander of Macedonia."
"That much is abundantly clear. In fact, Alai, what battle have you ever fought and won?"
"You mean before or after the final war against the Buggers?"
"Of course--you were one of the sacred Jeesh! So you're right about everything forever!"
"And it was my plan that destroyed the Chinese will to fight."
"Your plan--which depended on my little band of patriots holding the Chinese army at bay in the mountains of eastern India."
"No, Virlomi. Your holding action saved thousands of lives, but if every single Chinese they sent over the mountain had faced us in India, we would have won."
"Easy to say."
"Because my plan was for the Turkish troops to take Beijing while most of the Chinese forces were tied up in India, at which point the Chinese troops would have been called back from India. Your heroic action saved many lives and made our victory quicker. By about two weeks and an estimated hundred thousand casualties. So I'm grateful. But you've never led large armies into combat."
Virlomi waved it away, as if such a gesture could make the fact of it disappear.
"Virlomi," said Alai. "I love you, and I'm not trying to hurt you, but you've been fighting all this time against very bad commanders. You've never come up against someone like me. Or Han Tzu. Or Petra. And definitely no one like Bean."
"The stars of Battle School!" said Virlomi. "Ancient test scores and membership in a club whose president got outmaneuvered and sent into exile. What have you done lately, Caliph Alai?"
"I married a woman with a bold plan," said Alai.
"But what did I marry?" asked Virlomi.
"A man who wants the world to be united in peace. I thought the woman who built the Great Wall of India would want the same thing. I thought our marriage was part of that. I never knew you were so bloodthirsty."
"Not bloodthirsty, realistic. I see our true enemy and I'm going to fight him."