Pyramid Scheme by Dave Freer and Eric Flint

“And what do you want me to do?” asked Prometheus with a smile.

The two paratroopers stared up at him. Way up. McKenna grinned. Cruz even managed a smile.

* * *

Liz was in a pensive mood. She sighed as she wandered through what must once have been the armory of the Titans. No wonder these guys had been outclassed by the Olympians. Their spears and arrows still had flint tips.

“What’s wrong?” came a quiet voice.

She hadn’t even seen Jerry there. “Hi. I was just thinking. Wondering about things.”

“Nickel for your thoughts,” he murmured, while fiddling with a bow three sizes too big for him.

“I reckon you’d think you’d been cheated.” She smiled all the same.

“I’ll take that chance.”

She shrugged. “It was just that I was, well, almost enjoying this. Then I saw that town. Those children. And then, when we were talking about the assault, I realized that we could all get killed. That all this was really totally crazy. That maybe we should be out there trying to find the populace, arm them, train them. Persuade them to at least fight back. Fight an ordinary war, instead of this crazy, commando-style raid.”

Jerry took a deep breath. “It’s not as simple as all that. That’s in part what this Krim-monster depends on: That people here at least accept the ‘rightness’ and the power of the gods. They won’t fight. Besides, to be honest, even if we got every human in Ur-Greece, armed them, trained them, and sent them on a frontal assault on Mount Olympus . . . we would probably still lose.”

“So why are you doing this, Jerry? Why are you taking part in this?”

He paused. Bit his knuckle. Then said, seriously: “For the same reason you are. Because somebody has to do it. And if I won’t, how the hell can I expect Cruz and Mac to do it for me?”

She nodded. “You know, I’ve realized throughout this jaunt how easy it is to misjudge people. I thought you were one of these little academic arts types. Faint at the sight of blood. Ineffectual. Chicken.”

Jerry grinned. “That’s a pretty fair description. You just forgot about the ‘scared of girls’ part.”

She lowered her lashes. “Even me?”

His eyes fell away. But only for a moment. “You more than the others. You’re rather like my dream girl. A . . . beau ideal woman.”

They stood for a few moments in silence.

“I guess I shouldn’t have said that.” Jerry flushed a little with embarrassment.

Liz smiled broadly. “Actually, it’s pretty delightful being told you’re somebody’s beau ideal. Especially when you’ve spent your life thinking you’re just a big ox and not very feminine.”

Jerry smiled shyly. “Well, you got it wrong.”

She stuck her tongue out. “My mother told me so. And it’s like your assessment of yourself. Way out.”

Jerry put his nose up in the air. “I have thirty-six years of experience with my subject matter. How dare you tell me I’m wrong?”

She smiled. “You’re an idiot.”

“Ah! Now I happen to agree with you about that.”

Silence returned. Jerry cleared his throat. Cleared it again.

Liz laughed. “Sure, Jerry. If we get out of this alive, and ever get back to our own world—it’s a date.”

47

Spiderwebs and moonshine.

Before dawn, Prometheus had transported the balloon fragments and all his companions across to the southeastern flank of Mount Ossa. A sea mist lay heavy across the Aegean, rolling off the sea and onto the mountain itself, cold and clammy.

Prometheus smiled. “Oceanus and his Oceanids have done their work well, Liz. Knowledge is a powerful tool.”

“It’s just upwelling,” said Liz dismissively. “Deep cold water meets warm moist air.”

Prometheus shook his head. “I will say it again. Knowledge is a powerful weapon. And out of the mist will come the balloons. To the Olympians they will rise out of the mist. They could just as easily have come across the sea from Lydia as from the slopes of Mount Ossa. Oceanus has sent his sons to fetch Aeolus, lord of the winds, to direct them. Now. To work, Magicians. To work! We have long hours ahead of us.”