100

"I wouldn't call a motley horde of religious fanatics 'Stralchus's people.' He and I have sparred for decades over matters of policy and the direction Byzantium should take, but he doesn't employ roughnecks to break down doors."

"We'll see if that changes," Alexius whispers.

"Anyway," the doctor says, "the central refractive prism also suffered catastrophic damage."

"They make those in Eire," Alexius says.

"Vikings have started to interdict Byzantine shipping again," a controller says.

"I thought we weren't supposed to call them Vikings," Alexius says.

"The point is that a mob destroyed my prisms, and we will not be able to get another for months—if ever, if Eire or Francia break the Baltic Treaty. We need a local source of highly refined crystals.

"Finally," the doctor says, "we need to know exactly where and when you are, down to the second. This calls for exacting astronomy. I can send you equipment, but we need some kind of tabulation chart that indicates the local time and the exact location of the earth around the sun and several other factors before we can effect a safe return."