He exposed his discolored, broken teeth in a lascivious grin. “What the hell, though. I had three wives and three kids myself. Kind of hard to be too jealous with that kind of diversion.”
“How many women for Pharaoh?” Jak inquired. “A hundred?”
“Not hardly. He stuck with Connie. He truly seemed to love that woman. When their daughter, Nefron, was born, the celebration lasted two weeks. For a long time after that, we dwelt in peace in the city. Oh, there were a few medleys with some nomads and Roamers who stumbled into our territory. The ones that we didn’t chill joined up with us, absorbed by our society. Yeah, for years we dwelt at peace in Aten, doing damn little but eating, drinking, making love and making babies. It was kind of like paradise.”
“Even a paradise has its price,” Doc challenged. “What were you expected to give Pharaoh in return for this bucolic existence?”
Danielson shrugged. “The usual. Unswerving, unquestioning obedience and loyalty.”
“In other words,” Ryan said softly, grimly, “your free will.”
Danielson’s gray eyes flashed in anger. “What would you have done, Cawdor? First of all, Pharaoh has a power, and I’ve had a long time to study on it, on how it works.”
Pharaoh’s power was subtle, Danielson explained, an amplified application of will and emotion. The strength of his mind-energy required only a focal point to guide it, a vibration it followed like a torch flame in the wind. If your mind was naked and unguarded, you were immediately under Pharaoh’s influence. Even if you were prepared, the influence was so persistent that resistance was eventually eroded away.
“You’re thinking that all of us in Aten are weak-brained fools,” Danielson said. “You’re thinking we let Pharaoh turn me and my people into zombies. That’s sort of right and sort of wrong. He gave back as much as he took. He provided us not only with emotional sustenance but material sustenance. No suffering, no poverty, no going hungry, no night-crawling coldhearts slitting your throat for your shoes. Who wouldn’t go along with that? You’d go along with it, too, if you’d been us.”
Danielson’s voice grew soft with a touch of mockery beneath it. “You know why you’d go along with it, Cawdor? Because you’re afraid to die, just like the rest of us zombies. I never believed in any god but myself and a blaster, but I believed in him. And even if Pharaoh is a mutie, spawned in a test tube and not heaven, who gives a shit?”
“What about Connie Harrier?” Krysty asked. “You said he loved her. Did she love him back, or was she just under his influence?”
“Doesn’t matter. Like I said, when you’re in the presence of Pharaoh, you end up loving him eventually.”
Taking a deep breath, Danielson continued, “After a few years, Pharaoh decided his dynasty needed a son. To make sure of it, he took Connie back to his tomb—the redoubt—to do something to her. Don’t know what, exactly.”
“Genetic preselection, probably,” Mildred said. “Prenatal manipulation to determine the sex of the offspring.”
“Yeah, whatever. Connie died.” Danielson’s tone thickened with anger and grief. “She died, and something died inside of Pharaoh, too.”
Pharaoh brought his wife’s body back to Aten. The period of mourning went on for months, went on so long that the atmosphere of brooding and grief became the norm. Pharaoh locked himself away in his palace, shutting out his daughter, Nefron, his counselors and even the needs of his own people.
Danielson wasn’t sure how long Pharaoh’s self-imposed exile lasted, but he was certain that well over two years elapsed. Then came the day when Pharaoh emerged. He made several announcements, issued a number of decrees.
The old man uttered a short, sneery laugh. “He claimed that Connie had never been meant to be his mate, that he had been deceived by her. Henceforth, he wouldn’t recognize their union, and he wouldn’t recognize Nefron as a legitimate heir to his kingdom.”
Furthermore, he knew his true queen, his true consort, lay out in the world somewhere and in order to prepare himself and his kingdom for her arrival, a pyramid in her honor would be erected. Its power would act like a beacon to draw her into his arms.