Oath Bound - Book V of The Order of the Air by Melissa Scott, Jo Graham Read Free Book Online

college decades ago, and more than once since then.
    “Pleased to meet you,” Willi said bemusedly, apparently confused by the news that Jerry’s oldest friend was an Egyptian peasant.
    “We need to get off the street,” Iskinder said, glancing about. “You are staying near here?”
    “Yes, but…” Willi began.
    “What is this about?” Jerry asked. “Iskinder, what kind of trouble are you in?”
    “I’ll tell you when we’re off the street,” Iskinder replied.
    Their rooms were only another block away, a third floor flat with two bedrooms and a tiny sitting room. Iskinder pulled the shades down before Jerry turned on the electric lights. Willi bolted the door as soon as Jerry was inside.
    “Is someone following you?” Jerry asked.
    “I don’t know,” Iskinder said. Here, in the light, the changes in him were startling. Not only was he positively thin, but his face was creased with care, his black hair graying at the temples.
    “What’s happened?” Jerry said.
    Iskinder raised one eyebrow. “Surely you’ve heard that the Italians have invaded Ethiopia?”
    “A border incident according to the papers,” Jerry replied, feeling a furious flush rise to his face.
    “No, my friend,” Iskinder said gravely. “It’s a war. This is not a matter like Walwal last year, a skirmish over a border town. This is an invasion, a three pronged attack deep into our territory. When I left, they had just occupied Maqale.”
    “That hasn’t been in the papers,” Jerry said a bit defensively. How could he not know what was happening when his oldest friend was in the midst of it?
    “Probably not,” Iskinder said. “Because who cares what happens in Ethiopia?” He turned, pacing away from the window. “Why should the Times of London or the Hearst newspapers cover Mussolini invading us? We’re black Africans and the Italians…” He broke off, a bitter twist at the edge of his mouth. “Hearst may have attended Harvard as we did, Jerry. But last year he was in Nuremberg shaking hands with Hitler. Do you think he’s going to print the truth about what’s happening in Ethiopia?”
    Willi drew in a sharp breath, and Jerry and Iskinder both turned. “Don’t look at me that way,” Willi said. “Just because I’m German doesn’t mean I like Hitler! I think he’s a nut. These crazy saber-rattlers — don’t they know where this goes?”
    “It goes to my homeland,” Iskinder said gravely. “We’ve had thousands of casualties already. Not that any western paper has bothered to report it, I expect. We must rely on ourselves.”
    Jerry frowned. “Then — if you don’t mind me asking — why are you here, Iskinder?”
    Iskinder smiled. “You mean, have I fled the country? Hardly, Jerry. I have a job to do, and I mean to do it.”
    “What kind of job?”
    “Our emperor, Haile Selassie, imagined something like this would happen after the Walwal incident last year. He is a prudent man, so he placed some orders just in case with Fusil Darne.”
    “The French arms manufacturer?” Jerry said.
    “The same. A thousand M1922 light machine guns paid in cash last spring,” Iskinder said. “To be shipped from Marseille to Alexandria for pickup.” He sat down heavily in the room’s one armchair. “I’ve come to pick them up. With their ammunition, of course. Fifty thousand rounds on belt fed cartridges.”
    “Jesus,” Jerry said.
    “I doubt very much Jesus has anything to do with it,” Iskinder said. “He was fairly clear on the concept of not killing your fellow men. However, I am not about to let my country be overrun and my people killed. So I am here at the Emperor’s request, and I will see this mission through.”
    Willi took a deep breath. “I see,” he said. Jerry glanced at him, and Willi squared his shoulders. “And of course you cannot trust me.”
    “Italy has invaded Ethiopia, not Germany,” Iskinder said. “I do not see you have any moral obligation to aid Mussolini.”
    “True,”