robert Charrette - Arthur 02 - A King Beneath the Mountain Read Online Free PDF Page B

hypocritical to berate me for not knowing what's going on when you won't release reports to me."
    "You haven't received reports? I'm shocked. Isn't Charybdis Project under your direct supervision? Of course it is, isn't it? You told me so yourself only today. Clearly there has been a slipup somewhere along the line. Perhaps you should reevaluate your staff. I'd assumed you were aware of why we are here."
    "I am in no mood for your games."
    "Games. You think I'm playing games?"
    "You seem to have a great fondness for them."
    "I do. It's true. And you know, I always play to win. It's an attitude with which I'm sure you empathize. But games are not the issue here today. History is the issue. Or, more properly, time is the issue: the past meeting the future."
    "Save the advertising slogans for the proles."
    "They are not the only ones needing inspiration, Ms. Martinez. Mitsutomo is embarked on a great enterprise here. We stand on the verge of a new day, a new way of life." Nakaguchi began to take on an uncomfortable resemblance to one of the Bible-thumping preachers from the religion channels. "The world was not always as it is today. There were giants in the earth once. All in a time when being a giant meant something other than being a megacorporation. Men were heroes then, able to stride across the world and make it their own in ways that modern people scoff at and call magical.
    The uninitiated consign such stuff to legends, to fantasy. But you have already had a taste of the reality that underlies the stories. You know that some legends are more than fairy stories. That knowledge puts you among the pioneers charting the course into the future. You have had a taste of the power that awaits those who are bold enough to reach out and seize it."
    What she'd had was a taste of disaster. "Legends are unsubstantiated fantasy. Very dangerous in the modern world."
    "Unsubstantiated? Not at all." Nakaguchi continued his patronizing speech. "Have you never wondered why there are certain myths that have analogues all over the world? The very persistence and pervasiveness of such myths give weight to their truth. At the heart of such persevering stories there must be a foundation of reality, something true and concrete upon which the stones are built. Consider the legends from all over the world about heroes who lie asleep, awaiting the time that they will walk the earth again."
    "The age of heroes is over," Pamela told him. If there had ever been one.
    "Is it over? The myths say that the time for heroes will come again. Look at the state of the world today. Could we not use a hero or two? Say, an Arthur with his dream of Camelot, or a Charlemagne to stand against the hordes seeking to tear down civilization. Or a Siegfried, slayer of giants and dragons. Consider what such a man could do today."
    "There is not much call for dragon-slayers today. A knight in shining armor can't do much against an automatic weapon."
    "Your view is excessively narrow. Such a man was not a hero because of mere physical capabilities. A man nearly deified in the memory of his fellows had to be more than a simple warrior. He would have had attributes and skills necessary to make him a great man, a leader. At their core such skills are as applicable today as they were then; people are still people. Such a man would be capable of changing any world he was a part of." Nakaguchi's tone became conspiratorial. "But such a man will need guidance to understand the changes since he last walked the earth, guidance that we must stand ready to provide."
    Stand ready to provide? Despite the sun's heat, Pamela felt a chill. "You have found a sleeper."
    "Very good, Ms. Martinez. Yes, we have found a sleeper, a man who has been in suspended animation through the power of magic. I believe that he is a man who can change the balance of power in the strange new world we face."
    "For the good of Mitsutomo?"
    With only the slightest hesitation, he responded, "Of course."
    "And who