Chapter Fourteen
The Doctor scooted back down the ridge. He'd been guided to Chuck's base by a nomad. They had been scattered, but not destroyed. They were already fighting the war. Chuck had a great deal of difficulty storing ammunition and explosives. The nomads had decided, magic or not, they liked to make things go boom.
"Well, at least I've learned why the beasts and scavengers were in those places. Iron ore, lead, and saltpeter from the western mountains, sulfur from the south. He's had six years to accumulate a good supply, but your people have about taken care of that. Hathnan, I need to get into that base."
"Doctor, the thing you seek is in the tower of metal. It wears the guise of an old man. We have one who spies for us among its servants. He is a strong man, but was sickened by its feeding. It possesses strong magic."
"Yes, I know. I've encountered it before. I thought it was destroyed nine thousand years ago. I destroyed the rest of its kind nine hundred thousand years before that."
"Are you a god, that you live forever?"
"No, I'm not. I have a ship that sails through time. So does the one who commands this rather nasty bunch. The thing in the tower is what I followed here. It's in the service of that which hates life. I must destroy it."
"Doctor, those here are not like all other men. They are sickened. They are all of the animal and none of the man."
"Not all, Hathnan. There is still a great deal of wrongness in this world, but slavery and brutality will die out soon. Your society is evolving very rapidly. I'm here to see to it you fulfill your destiny as one of the most civilized peoples in the universe. And make sure the fishing is good."
He watched in amazement as the Doctor mounted his magic beast and rode down the ridge toward the base. He wasn't sure what he'd meant about fishing, but he would tell his brother. He would enjoy knowing this god, who said he was not a god, shared his passion.
"He already headed out with a guide. You know what he'll do."
"Peral, we've got to catch him. He's going to walk right into the den of the hagish."
"Yes, Jo, and he'll probably try to deactivate the rings first. Puck, find us a guide."
"You have one. Shall we go?"
Peral grinned at him. "I hope you don't mind riding double. We're in a hurry. Sorry, you'll have to walk back."
Puck took his hand and swung up behind him. "My derkine will be jealous. She will follow the scent of your animals. I shall have a mount when I must return to guide the army."
Chuck was angry. Things weren't going according to plan. He should have had control of the planet by now. Instead, he got reports of an army headed east. The thing he'd built the tower for was also becoming a problem. It was insatiable. He was running out of prisoners to feed it.
"Master, I bring ill news."
"I don't like bad news. Oh, what is it?"
"Varna is dead. Killed by Turime."
"Just what the hell is a Turime?" He was really mad. Varna had been with him for years and kept him supplied with pretty young things. He'd always liked visiting her. She had one proud one she kept around just for him.
"They are champions out of legend, Master. None have walked the world for hundreds of years. Now, it is said there are four. They follow another who walks from the scrolls of myth."
"I'm getting tired of this superstitious crap. Just who is this myth they're supposed to be following?"
"I think he's talking about me."
Chuck looked at the man six guards had just hustled into the room. He obviously didn't come from Laeth. He was tall and fair with none of the gold tone of the laethans. "You're human!"
"No, I'm a Time Lord. I believe you've been looking for me. I am known as the Doctor."
The Doctor was rather upset with himself. He'd forgotten the rings until he'd nearly reached the base. He'd barely started to work on the ruby when one of Chuck's patrols found him. Now, he was in no position to do anything about them.
"I'm holding you in reserve, Doctor. My helper has gotten difficult. You seem to be the carrot that will make it do what I want. I'm glad you showed up."
"I've been wondering how you managed to get a dalek ship."
The huge black man shook with laughter. "Simple. I had this small country in Africa until some do-gooders decided it should be independent. When the Daleks landed wanting human help to find something, one of my loyal followers brought them to me. I never did find out what they wanted. Stupid things told me they had a time ship. I had a couple men drop a cliff on them. I grabbed a couple of science types and took off. I made a couple landings and picked up Varna. This was just the kind of place I was looking for. You'd be amazed what twenty men with modern weapons can do on a planet like this."
"And you had the scientists make the giant animals."
"Mainly they designed weapons. The animals were just an idea I had. I figured I'd grow a bunch of giant warriors. Idiot scientist refused to work on people. Killed himself."
"And the other scientist?"
"My helper got him one night."
"The hagish like the taste of those with imagination. You must be keeping it well supplied or you wouldn't still be here."
"What do you mean?"
"The hagish is a parasite. It isn't working for you. You have a good imagination. It would find you a tasty morsel."
"You're wrong, Doctor. It makes slaves for me. Makes even argumentative types nice and docile. They build weapons and make explosives for me."
"That's new. It must stop feeding on them before they die. It's gained a lot of control since I last met it."
"It says it remembers you. It wants you very badly. Why?"
"I suppose, because it remembers how I taste." The Doctor smiled. "It told me I was sweet."
Chuck laughed. Too bad the man sitting chained in the middle of the cell had to die. "This conversation has been most enjoyable. Too bad it will probably be our last. I hope you don't mind all the chains, but you make my men nervous. I told them they were powerful magic. Titanium alloy is magic enough for this planet."
The Doctor watched Chuck leave and rested. He wasn't in very bad shape. It seemed the hagish wanted him healthy. Chuck had stopped the 'fun' after a very short time, but he was going to get very tired of the one meter 'tether' that ran from his neck to the floor. The fifteen kilos of chain wrapped around him weren't extremely comfortable either.
"I felt the ring draw on me while I stood guard this night past, Peral."
"I felt it too, Lathan, but it wasn't very strong."
"Yeah, but somebody hurt him." Lib was disgusted. "He walked right into the middle of them. Why do you suppose they felt it was necessary to hurt him?"
"Fear." Jo thought people who beat up prisoners were disgusting. "Since he wasn't afraid of them, they were afraid of him." Suddenly she grinned. "He probably told them he wouldn't hurt them." They all began to laugh.
"All right. It's time we made some plans. Our first objective has got to be the time ship."
"We need to get rid of those copters too, Peral. The nomads have been doing a good job of keeping the supplies of ammo low."
"According to Puck, they like the boom it makes when they blow it up, Jo." Lib grinned at her.
"My kind of people. I like booms myself. Look, I know this will make it harder, but we need to do it in the daytime. The hagish will be prowling at night. It's the sentry. Everyone else locks themselves inside."
"That makes it hard. The time ship must be in the headquarters building."
"I will go. I am laethan. I will not be noticed among them. Tell me what I seek." Lathan handed Lib his coronet and cloak and pulled peasant garb from his saddlepack.
"How did he know what to look for?"
"Hello, Lathan. Are you all right?"
"I will mend, Doctor."
"I asked you a question."
"I told him you had a time capsul
e. I hope he put it out of commission."
"You've managed to strand me on this backwater planet, Doctor. I should have let Varna kill you. You and your friend are going to spend the night outside."
The Doctor watched Chuck storm out of the room, then turned to Lathan. "You look like you made him mad."
"I think my wife will be most unhappy with me. She told me I was not to "get my pretty face messed up". I fear I have disobeyed my knight."
"I think it's Chuck she'll be angry with."
A series of explosions rocked the building. Lathan smiled with his bruised lips. "Perhaps, not as angry as he will be with her."
The army moved through the hills and onto the plain.
"They are falling back, My Lord. They flee without fighting. They throw down their useless weapons and run. They have no more of the pellets the weapons throw."
"Thank you, Captain. Well, Peral, the war seems to be near won, but we've still no word on the Doctor or Lathan."
"I know. The hagish is roaming free at night. We know it because of the men we keep losing to it. Talf, I think Chuck's using the Doctor to make it follow his orders. Jo says he's the only thing it wants. Chuck couldn't force it to take only our men if he weren't still holding him, but I'm afraid we're running out of time. We have to take that base."
"We attack in the morning."
"Good. We're going in today."
"How do you plan to sneak into the base. They are fully alerted."
"We're going to use the Doctor's favorite ruse." He grinned. "We're going to surrender."
"Hello, Doctor. We know. We're not supposed to be here."
He shook his head as his three remaining companions were pushed into his cell.
"Jo, why didn't you stay with the army?"
"Lib got lonesome. That's quite a load of metal you're wearing. Chuck certainly doesn't want you moving around."
"We figured you'd probably be on the menu for the hagish soon. We'd rather be in the area when you need us." Peral knelt down and touched his ring to the ruby. The Doctor gave him a disgusted look and he grinned. "Just checking."
"Actually, we've been on the menu, Peral. There seems to have been a last minute substitution."
"Yeah, the army. We lost about sixty to it in one night. It's been responsible for about eighty percent of our losses. The Doctor buried his face in his hands. Lib said, "You're blaming yourself. That's ridiculous. You didn't bring it here and you didn't set it on the army."
"No, but I carried it out of the past and set it loose on the universe."
"You're wrong, Doctor." Peral had seen this argument coming. "We drove it from you and didn't pay attention to where it went. We could have destroyed it. We didn't."
"I do not think these words are useful. The choice not to kill this thing was made. It is never wrong not to kill. You have taught us this, Doctor. It is time to speak of the present. The past is done." Lathan was delighted with the way Lib told him she'd liked what he said.
"I want your ship."
The Doctor smiled. "It's a long way from here and it doesn't work. Even if it did, you'd have to get the key from my horse."
"I don't believe you."
"Chuck, do you really think I would have spent more than three years riding around on a horse if I could have just set the coordinates and flown there?"
"Then I'll just have to do it. the old fashioned way. You four, back off. Don't try anything. I'd just as soon shoot you."
The Doctor's companions waited while Chuck unlocked the chain fastened to the ring in the middle of the floor. They could have taken him and the six guards, but it wasn't what the Doctor wanted.
"I suppose we're going to visit the tower."
Chuck laughed. "Yes. You four pick him up. It's nearly sunset. I've decided to give the thing one more meal. I'd just as soon it was busy while I get a long way from here. I plan on locking the door, but I don't want to fall asleep trying to get through the hills. You'll have an easy death. Easier than I'd give you. It puts its victims to sleep before it feeds."
"It's tried that on me before. It doesn't work."
"That's too bad." They'd reached the tower. Chuck unlocked the door and motioned them in. The hagish was beginning to stir. Just before he closed the door, Chuck tossed in the Doctor's sword. "I wouldn't want it said I left an unarmed man to face that thing." He was laughing as the door closed.
"Doctor, this thing is strong. I'm trying to stay awake, but it's not working. I'm sorry."
"That's all right, Jo. Put the sword in my hands." She'd been trying to get to the hagish. She managed to place it in his chained hands before she succumbed. He rolled her off his legs and used Perseveren to lever himself to his feet. He wouldn't be able to use it as a weapon. His arms were still chained to his sides and his wrists manacled, but he wanted to face the thing standing. He pushed the point into the floor and braced himself with it. The hagish was coming toward him.
"You are mine. I have waited nine thousand years to feed upon you again. This time I shall have all of you."
"How did you live nine thousand years? You were dis-embodied."
"Only for a short while. My master gave me this one. It was empty. It served me well, but now I wish another. My master has promised me yours when it is emptied. He has said it would amuse him to see me wear it."
"No humanoid body lasts nine thousand years."
"My master created this body for me. He called it android." The hagish walked behind the Doctor and sank its fangs in his neck.
He fought it. It was incredibly powerful. He couldn't stop it feeding on him, but he did slow it. The hours passed and he battled for his spirit.
"'The day comes. I will feed again this night. The others will not awaken. Do not think they will aid you." The hagish climbed the stairs set in the wall and disappeared from the Doctor's view.
He dropped to the floor and checked Jo. She was alive, but comatose. He felt himself losing consciousness. He mentally apologized to his companions. He didn't have the strength to fight the ruby.
He awoke when the hagish sank its fangs into his throat. He began fighting it again. He could feel the ruby feeding him strength. His companions were still alive, but he was killing them. And he couldn't stop. If he stopped fighting the hagish to fight the ruby, it would drain him and the ruby would drain his companions. He fought the hagish and mourned his companions.
We must find him! He weakens!" Mirune clutched the amulet and willed it to beat stronger.
"All right, you, where is he?" Talf pushed his sword a bit deeper into the skin of Chuck's throat.
"In the tower. I don't know why he's still alive. No one else ever lasted a night in there."
Caster said, "Talf, we need the key. We tried to open the place he speaks of." He, Peris and Logan had worked to break the lock for more than three hours earlier in the day.
"Search him."
"They're in my pocket. I'll give them to you." Chuck had almost gotten away. He'd been captured as he tried to slip into Palenthale. Ranger Gaire, Puck as he was now called, had returned him trussed on a derkine.
"Give them to my friend." Chuck pulled a gun out of his pocket and Talf pushed his sword in. Caster searched him and found the keys around his neck. The leaders of Laeth ran for the tower. The amulet was growing dim.
They burst in upon the hagish and it lifted its fangs from the Doctor's throat and hissed at them. The amulet began to pulse more strongly. The light pulsed in the rhythm of the life force it had taken. It confused it and it couldn't use its telepathic power to cause sleep.
"It fears! Come touch the amulet. Add your caring to mine." Mirune held the amulet in front of her. Lorin and Merdin touched it and it brightened. Bethda laid her hands on Mirune's shoulders and it began to flash. Cermine grasped her father's hand and Lorin's. The rest caught hands and soon all were joined to the amulet.
The
Doctor groaned and sat up. The room pulsed with brilliant blue-white light. Logan left the others and unlocked the Doctor's chains. He helped him stand and handed him his sword. The hagish gibbered in the corner.
"Mirune, give me the amulet, then I want you all to leave. Take my companions with you."
"Doctor, it will kill you."
"Not this time, Talf. Dawn must be near. It's nocturnal. It will be as helpless as its victims at sunrise."
"Doctor, the Turime are cold. They still breathe, but I fear they die."
"I know, Cermine. Take them out of here. All of you, go. Now." He hung the amulet around his neck and watched the hagish as they left.
"You have destroyed all my kind. When you slay this body, you kill the last of my species."
"I'm not going to kill you."
"I do not understand. You hold the instrument of my death in your hands."
"I only kill if necessary. I've only used this sword against a poor misshapen beast. I won't use it against you. Its name is Perseveren. That which preserves. It was the final clue. For more than eleven years, I've been relearning the value of life in preparation of my decision to kill an entire species. I will choose one species over another. I watched myself do it and didn't truly understand what I was seeing. Others of my race were shocked, but I protested the law could not be applied. The circumstances warranted it. They will, but that's not enough. You are a poor helpless tool of your master, but I have free will. On this world I'm called the Champion of Life. That too was a clue. I will betray everything I profess to believe in and commit genocide. I'll serve your master. I will destroy life. It's not necessary to kill you. You're a pawn and you've fallen to the knight. Your master has no compassion. You've served your purpose. The game is ended. This tower will stand long after your android body ceases to function. I pity you. Dawn comes and you can never see its glory."
"You will not imprison me forever!" The hagish rushed at him. He caught it and threw it to the floor, turned, and left the tower.
"Lock the door, Logan, then destroy the key."
"Yes, Doctor." Logan locked the door, then knelt and pounded the key between two stones until it was useless. He stood and said, "I will lead you to your companions."
Leoht trotted up to the Doctor with Logan's derkine trailing him. He vaulted on and Logan led him west across the plains.
"I know only we are to bury him before the baron returns." The soldier pulled the body off the derkine and rolled it toward the hole the detail had dug.
"Sergeant, he clutches some strange device." The trooper stooped down and pried the stiff fingers open.
The explosion shook the ground. The Doctor turned and looked back in the direction of the tower and the base. There was nothing but a huge smoking crater. Chuck's deadman switch had worked. It had just taken awhile.
He rode into the encampment and they left him alone with his dying companions.
Knight Progenitor Page 22