“What if this is Alai’s doing, and you don’t know him as well as you think?”

“Petra,” said Bean. “We know Alai.”

“Yes, and he knows us.”

“Alai is a builder, like Ender. He always has been. An empire won through audacious and bloody conquest isn’t worth having. He wants to build his Muslim empire the way Peter is building the FPE, by transforming Islam into a system that other nations will want, voluntarily, to join. Only somebody’s decided not to follow his path. Either Virlomi or the hotheads within his own government.”

“Or both?” asked Petra.

“Anything’s possible.”

“Except Alai controlling the Muslim armies.”

“Well, it’s simple enough,” said Bean. “If we’re wrong, and the Turkish counterattack is brilliantly planned, then we’ll lose. As slowly as possible. And hope Peter has something else up his sleeve. But our assignment is to draw Turkish forces and attention away from China.”

“And meanwhile, we’ll be putting pressure on the Muslim alliance,” said Petra. “No matter what the Turks do, the Persians won’t believe they’re doing enough.”

“Sunni against Shi’ite,” said Bean. “It’s the best I could think up.”

So for the past two days they had been drawing up plans for the quick, audacious airborne attack on Tabriz, and then, when the Iranians started to react to that, an immediate evacuation and airborne attack on Tehran. Meanwhile, Petra, in command of the defense of Armenia, would be prepared to make the Turkish counterattack pay for every meter of progress through the mountains.

Now everything was ready, awaiting only the word from Peter. Petra and Bean weren’t really necessary while the troops began their deployment and the supplies were moved to depots in the areas where they’d be needed. Everything was in the hands of the Armenian military.

“What scares me,” Petra told Bean, “is how they have absolute confidence that we know what we’re doing.”

“Why does that scare you?”

“Doesn’t it scare you?”

“Petra, we do know what we’re doing. We just don’t know why.”

It was in that lull, between planning and getting the order to go ahead, that Petra got a call on her cellphone. From her mother.

“Petra, they say they’re friends of yours, but they’re taking the babies.”

Panic stabbed through her. “Who’s with them? Put the one in charge on the phone.”

“He won’t. He just says, the ‘teacher’ says to meet them at the airport. Who’s the teacher? Oh, God help us, Petra! This is like the time they kidnapped you.”

“Tell them we’ll be at the airport and if they’ve hurt the babies I’ll kill them. But no, Mother, it’s not the same thing at all.”

Unless it was.

She told Bean what was happening, and they calmly made their way to the airport. They saw Rackham waiting at the curb and made the driver let them off there.

“I’m sorry to frighten you,” said Rackham. “But we don’t have time for arguments until we get on the plane. Then you can scream at me all you like.”