Athena's Son by Jeryl Schoenbeck Page B

it burns better and longer than wood.” Like thick clay, he scraped off a small lump with a stick and lit it. After several moments it caught fire, but gave off a thick, black smoke.
    “ It’s a glue, it’s malleable, and it burns,” Archimedes said. “I’ll take it.”
     
     
    The sun continued its resolute climb and Callimachus suggested getting something to eat. At one stall Archimedes saw dried fish hanging from a long stick like brown leaves on a branch, except these leaves still had their heads and eyes.
    “ Excuse me, sir,” Archimedes said. “What are those and what do they cost?”
    The fish monger finished an argument with his wife before attending to Archimedes. “These? Tilapia, dried fish. Salted and spiced with pepper. Very good, fresh, not like some of the offal the others hawk. I sell them all day for 2 obols, but for a fine young man like you, only one obol.” The man was already removing one from the stick by tearing the gill, so Archimedes pulled out one obol and set it on the counter. The man quickly started a new argument with his passive wife.
    As Archimedes took a small bite of the oily fish, he noticed a small commotion to his right. A guard with two large baboons on leashes barged through the crowd. The guard was leaning back to offset the pulling and his arm was twitching from the two baboons constantly moving, sniffing, giving short howls, and trying to wrench themselves free to inspect food or people.
    “ What an odd choice for pets,” Archimedes said.
    Callimachus chuckled. “They do make horrible pets, but great police animals. The guards use them to help patrol the marketplace. Baboons are aggressive and bite like dogs, but unlike dogs, they can climb and grasp things. The thieves fear them more than the guards.”
    Just then the smaller of the two baboons turned on Archimedes. It opened its mouth wide to bare long, vicious fangs and howled. The guard yanked back hard on the leash, but the baboon didn’t budge and continued howling at Archimedes. He twisted away from the aggressive baboon and watched the taunt leash closely, praying it would hold.
    “ Give it your fish,” the guard yelled. “Just throw it to him and he’ll leave you alone.”
    Archimedes hesitated because he didn’t like the idea of paying a bribe to something that was supposed to provide protection. He was about to relent when someone called out, “Thief! Come back! Guard, thief!”
    All three, the guard and two baboons, spun toward the direction of the yelling. The guard released the leashes and the two baboons took off down the road, one jumping up and running across the stalls and the other howling and scampering on all four legs.
    Archimedes watched them disappear down the road and he exhaled deeply. He looked at his meal but there was only the vacant fish eyes looking back. In his panic he had squeezed the fish too hard and the body crumbled into the dirt. Along came the same begging child from before who picked up the piece of fish, brushed off some dirt, and popped it in his mouth.
    “ I think you got a taste of what the marketplace offers,” Callimachus said. “We still have some time before it gets too hot. There is one more place I’d like to take you before we go back to the library, and the guards there don’t bite.”
     
     
    The tomb of Alexander the Great was a few blocks away in a quieter area of Alexandria. Surprisingly, it was a small building, but elaborately designed, with traditional Greek columns fronting a square, two-story building influenced by Egyptian architecture. The only sign that it held something of great value was the guards patrolling outside.
    The Medjay were a special military force separate from the regular army. They were highly trained and guarded Egyptian royalty, either living or dead.
    “ Inside rests the body of a man who at one time ruled the known world, from Greece to India,” Callimachus said. “He fought countless armies, never lost a battle, and yet