Part 4 (2/2)
Shall I tell Min-os that you still re-fuse? There are wea-pons much great-er than cat-a-pults that you could make for him.”
”I doubt you will tell Minos anything. I doubt that he will speak to you any more.”
”Why not? You mean I have displeased him?”
He meant, but was not going to say, that Minos seemed to be getting increasingly afraid of his pet monster. It was not, Daedalus thought, that the King suspected the Bull of plotting to seize power, or anything along that line. Minos' fear seemed to lie on a deeper, more personal level. The King perhaps had not admitted this fear to himself, and anyway the White Bull brought him too much prestige, not to speak of useful knowledge, for him to want to get rid of it.
Daedalus said: ”The King sent me today, when he could have come himself, or else had you brought before him.”
”On what er-rand?”
”Not to renew old arguments.” Daedalus spat into the White Bull's moat and watched critically as the spittle was borne along toward the splash gutter at the side. He was proud of this water-works and liked to see them operating properly. ”Among today's Athenians is one whose coming poses problems for us all.” He identified Theseus, and outlined Minos' concern for his alliance with Aegeus. ”The young man is probably here at least in part because his father wants him kept out of possible intrigues at home. Minos said nothing of the kind to me, but I heard it between the words of what he said.”
”I think I un-der-stand, Dae-dal-us. Yet I can but try to im-part knowledge to this young man. If he can-not or will not learn, I can-not cert-i-fy that he has. Else what I have cert-i-fied of o-ther stu-dents be-comes sus-pect.”
”In this case, surely, an exception might be made.”
They argued this point for a while, Daedalus getting nowhere. Until the White Bull suddenly offered that something might be done to make Theseus' way easier, if Daedalus himself were to enroll as a student again.
Daedalus was angry. ”Minos wll really be dis-pleased with you if I bear back the message that you want me to spend my next four years studying rather than working for my King.”
”E-ven stu-dy-ing half time, one with a mind like yours may learn in three years what a mere-ly ex-cell-ent stu-dent learns in four.”
The man was silent, holding in, like an old soldier at attention.
”Why do you re-sist me, Dae-dal-us? Not rea-lly be-cause you fear your mind will crack be-neath the bur-den of my trea-sures. Few e-ven of the poor stu-dents have this hap-pen.”
Daedalus relaxed suddenly. He sat down on the fine stone pavement and was able to smile and even chuckle. ”Oh great White Bull, whenever I see man or G.o.d approaching to do me a favor, a free good turn, I do a good turn for myself and flee the other way. Through experience I have acquired this habit, and it lies near the roots of whatever modest stock of wisdom I possess.”
There was at first no answer from the creature on the high inhuman chair, and Daedalus pressed on.
”Because Ican learn something, does that mean I must? Should I not count the price?”
”There is no price, for you.”
”Bah.”
”What is the price for a man who stum-bles up-on great trea-sure, if he sim-ply bend and pick it up?”
”A good question. I will think upon it.”
”But the cost to him is all the treasure, if he re-fuse e-ven to bend.”
He knew he had no particular skill in intrigue, and was afraid to do anything but carry the whole truth back to Minos. The King of course gave him no way out, and next Daedalus was forced to enroll. He had no black sail to hoist, but simply walked to the White Bull's apartments again and said, ”Well, here I am.”
”Good.” He could not tell if the Bull was gloating. ”First, a re-fresh-er course.” And shortly Daedalus was walking into a cla.s.sroom where Theseus and Phaedra sat side by side among other young folk.
Daedalus took his place on a bench, endured some curious glances, and waited, gnarled and incongruous, until the Bull entered and began to teach.
This was not instruction in the human way. Daedalus knew that he and his fellow students still sat rooted to their benches, with the tall s.h.a.ggy figure of the Bull before them. But there came with the sudden clarity of lightning a vision in which he seemed to have sprung upward from the ground, flying at more than arrow-speed into the blue. The Labyrinth and the House of the Double Axe dropped clear away, and his view carried over the whole fair isle of Crete. Its mountains dwindled and flattened, soon became almost at one with the fields and orchards, and very quickly the sea was visible on every side. Other islands popped into view, and then the jagged mainland of Greece. Then the whole Mediterranean, with a sunspot of glare on it bigger than lost Crete itself, then Europe and much of Africa, and then a hemisphere-the shared experience was too much for some of the students and there were outcries and faintings around Daedalus. He was a little shaken himself, though he had seen this much during his previous enrollment.
Eventually the first day of his renewed schooling was over, and in due time the second and third had pa.s.sed. Lessons came in a more or less fixed plan. Seldom were they as dramatically presented as that early one that indicated the size and complexity of the world. Mostly the students studied from books, hand-copied for them by students more advanced, who also did much of the teaching. And there were tests.
QUESTION: THE WORLD ON WHICH MEN LIVE IS:.
A. Bigger than the island of Crete.
B. Approximately a sphere in shape.
C. In need of cultivation and care, that can be accomplished only through education, if it is to support properly an eventual population of billions of human beings.
D. All of the above.
”Are these the secrets of the stars and atoms, Bull?”
”Pa-tience, Dae-dal-us. One step at a time. Tra-di-tion hal-lows the mode of tea-ching.”
”Bah.”
”Now you are a stu-dent. Dis-re-spect low-ers your grades and slows your pro-gress.”
Theoretically his attendance was to be for half a day, every day except the rare holidays. But it was tacitly understood between the Bull and Minos-at least Daedalus hoped it was-that Daedalus in fact kept to a flexible schedule, spending whatever time was necessary on 'the King's projects, the catapults, the life-like statues, to keep them progressing. His days were more than full, though he could have done all the school-work required so far with half a brain.
Meanwhile the White Bull seemed to be keeping his part of the bargain. One of his chief acolytes, Stomargos, an earnest mainland youth, frail and clumsy at the same time, explained to Daedalus how Theseus was being shunted into a special program.
”The Prince will be allowed to choose both his Greater and Lesser Branches of learning from courses that have not previously been given for credit,” said the young man, whose own Greater Branch was, as he had proudly informed Daedalus, the Transmission of Learning itself. ”Since Prince Theseus seems fated to spend most of his life as a warrior, the Bull is preparing for him courses in Strategic Decision, Command Presence, and Tactical Leaders.h.i.+p-these in addition, of course, to those in Language, Number, and the World of Men that are required of all first-year students.”
”I wish the royal student well.” Daedalus paused for thought. ”It may be foolish of me to ask, but I cannot forbear. Where and how is the course on Tactical Leaders.h.i.+p to be conducted?”
”All courses are conducted within the student's mind, Daedalus.” The answer sounded somewhat condescending. Nonetheless Daedalus pursued the matter, out of concerned curiosity, and found out that the Labyrinth itself, or some part of it, was to be the training ground. Beyond that Stomargos knew little.
Back at his workshop that afternoon, Daedalus found a message from Icarus' teacher awaiting him-the boy had run off somewhere, playing truant. It was the second or third time that this had happened within a month. And scarcely had he grumbled at this message and then put it aside to take up his real work, when Icarus himself came dawdling in, an elbow sc.r.a.ped raw, arm messy with dried blood from some mishap during the day. Daedalus waved the note and growled and lectured, but in the son's face he could see the mother, and he could not be harsh. He ordered a servant to take Icarus home, see to his injury, and keep him confined to quarters for the remainder of the day.
Then there was a little time at last to part the curtains at the workshop's rear, and move through the secret door there that slid out of the way as if by magic, carrying with it neatly what had looked like an awkward, obstructing pile of dirty trash. Time to crank open a secret skylight above a secret room, and look at the great man-wings spread out on a bench.
Long ago he had given up trying to use real feathers; now he worked with canvas and leather and light cotton padding to add shape. But work was lagging lately; he felt in his bones that more thought, more cunning was needed. When he strapped on one wing and beat it downward through the air, the effect was not much different from that of waving a fan. He was not impelled noticeably toward the sky. There were secrets still to be discovered...
When he got back to quarters himself, it was late at night. He grabbed a mouthful of fruit and cheese, drank half a cup of wine, shooed a bored and sleepy concubine out of his way, and dropped on his own soft but simple bed to rest.... It seemed that hardly had his eyes closed, however, before he heard the voices of soldiers, bullying a servant at his door: ”...orders to bring Daedalus at once before the King.”
This was not Minos' usual way of summoning one of his most trusted and respected advisors, and Daedalus knew fear as, s.h.i.+vering, he went with them out under the late, cold stars. The lieutenant took pity on him. ”It concerns Prince Theseus, sir. The King is...” The soldier shook his head, and let his words trail off with a puffed sigh of awe.
It was the formal audience chamber to which the soldiers brought him-a bad sign, Daedalus thought.
At the King's nod they saluted and backed out, leaving the engineer standing before the throne. Theseus moved over a little on the carpet to make room for him. No one else was now present except Minos, who, seated on his tall chair between the painted griffins, continued a merciless chewing-out of the young Prince. The flames of the oil-lamps trembled now and then as if in awe. The tone of the King's voice was settled, almost weary, suggesting that this tongue-las.h.i.+ng had been going on for some time.
Sneaking glances at Theseus, Daedalus judged he had been drunk recently, but was no longer.
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