"Then let's go," said Alai.
Peter invited Alai to take precedence, but then he himself entered before any of Alai's soldiers. Ivan made as if to protest, but Alai gestured for him to relax. Alai had already bet everything on Peter's being cooperative and trustworthy. Now was not the time to worry about assassination or kidnapping. Even though there were twenty Hegemony soldiers already inside, as well as a sizable amount of equipment. Alai recognized the Thai-looking commander as someone he knew from Battle School. Had to be Suriyawong. Alai nodded to him. Suriyawong nodded back.
Once they were under way and on jet power--this time without any embarrassed woman having to be officially rebuked and forgiven and dressed--Peter indicated the men who were with him.
"I assumed," said Peter, "that the lone hitchhiker our mutual friend told me about didn't need a large escort."
"Only enough to get me to where a certain thick rope is coiled like a snake."
Peter nodded. "I have friends currently trying to find his exact location."
Alai smiled. "I assume it's far from the front."
"If he's in Hyderabad," said Peter, "then he will be under extremely heavy guard. But if he's across the border in Pakistan, security will not be unusually heavy."
"Either way," said Alai, "I will not have your men exposed to danger."
"Or observed," said Peter. "It wouldn't do for too many people to know you were brought to real power with the help of the Hegemon."
"You do seem to be at hand whenever I make a play for power."
"This is the last time, if you win," said Peter.
"This is the last time either way," said Alai, then grinned. "Either the soldiers will follow me or they won't."
"They will," said Peter. "If they get the chance."
Alai indicated his small escort. "That's what my camera crew is here to ensure."
Ivan smiled and lifted his shirt enough to show that he was wearing a bulletproof vest and carrying grenades and clips and a machine pistol.
"Oh," said Peter. "I thought you had gained weight."
"We Battle School boys," said Alai, "we always have a plan."
"You're not going to fight your way in, then."
"We're going to walk in as if we expected to be obeyed," said Alai. "With cameras rolling. It's a simple plan. But it doesn't have to work for very long. That thick rope, it always did love a camera."
"A vain and brutal man, my sources say," said Peter. "And not stupid."
"We'll see," said Alai.
"I think you're going to succeed," said Peter.
"So do I."
"And when you do," said Peter, "I think you're going to do something about the things Virlomi has been complaining about."
"It's because of those things that I could not wait for a more opportune time. I must wash Islam clean of this bloody stain."
"I believe that with you as Caliph, the Free People of Earth can coexist with a united Islam," said Peter.
"I believe so as well," said Alai. "Though I can never say so."
"But what I want," said Peter, "is insurance that I can use in case you don't survive. Either today or at some future point, I want to make sure I don't have to face a Caliph I can't coexist with."
Peter handed Alai a couple of sheets of paper. It was a script. Alai began to read.