Cold Copper Tears

by Glen Cook

  Again Morley didn’t answer. I heard the faintest sound, like a fairy’s wing beat. It didn’t come from where Morley was, though in the dark sounds are confusing.

  I spoke a little louder. “Let’s go! He knows there’s something wrong. He just hasn’t figured it out yet.”

  “Right.” He was there after all.

  I opened the door, slipped out, extended my hand to the wall, walked slowly. “You behind me?”

  “Yes.”

  “Close the door tight.”

  “I did.”

  That Sampson had to be an insomniac or something. We’d lucked out getting in without bumping into him. We almost ran into him twice before we reached the steps leading upward. We almost got lost, having to adjust our route to keep from colliding with him.

  But get out of the catacombs we did, and exit we did, without incident — until we reached the guard station.

  Four guys jumped me. They’d found the guard and had set an ambush. A fifth, inside, sounded an alarm.

  I spun away from the rush. They didn’t see Morley, who had lagged, eyeballing the treasures of the altar, probably figuring how much trouble it would be to get them out. I thumped a guy, my back against a wall. They had their hearts set on bloodshed. I thought I was dead. They kept me too busy to shove a hand into a pocket.

  Morley just walked up, jumped in the air, and literally kicked the side of a man’s head in. He ripped another’s throat out with his bare hand. I whacked the same guy over the head with my club. The remaining attacker and the guy who had sounded the alarm got a case of the big eyes. One tried to run. Morley folded him up with a groin kick. I put the other one down with my stick.

  “Let’s go!” There was all kinds of racket in the depths of the temple. The gods knew who or what lived in those twisty ways beyond the main worship gallery. It sounded like we’d have a hundred men after us in a minute.

  “We’re not finished.” Morley indicated the three men still alive. “They can identify us.”

  He was right. They would know what faces to look for and the Church was known for holding a grudge. Hell, they were still trying to get even for things that happened a thousand years ago. “I can’t.”

  “You’ll never learn.”

  He used a thin-bladed knife to still three hearts as quick as you could blink.

  I’ve seen a lot of guys killed. I’ve had to do a few myself. I’ve never liked it and I’ve never gotten used to it. I almost puked. But I didn’t stop thinking. I got out the coin I’d taken from Jill’s place a thousand years ago and stuffed it under a body. When Morley was past me I smashed a couple blue bottles in the entry-way, hoping their contents would slow the pursuit.

  We ran like hell until we were a block away, hidden in shadows.

  “Now what?” Morley asked.

  “Now we go after the real target.” And I told him how Maya and Jill had disappeared into the Orthodox compound.

  47

  Men with lanterns poured from Chattaree. It looked like they’d dragged out every damned priest in the place. Morley said, “Better move out. You have a plan?”

  “I told you the plan.”

  “Get the women out? That’s a plan?”

  “It’s the one I’ve got.”

  We were across the street from the gate where the women had entered the Orthodox compound. A group of Church priests were set to head our way. I dashed across the street. Morley stayed at my heels. “Even if they saw us I don’t think they’d come in after us,” I whispered.

  “Shit. You’re such a goddamned genius.”

  I vaulted the coach gate. Morley followed. He had more difficulty because he was shorter. I’d barely landed when a couple of guys came out of the gate house. They weren’t armed but they were looking for trouble. I gave it to one with my stick. The other dove for an alarm bell. Morley landed on his back.

  We’d barely gotten them inside when the Church bunch roared up. I stepped outside. “What’s going on?”

  “Thieves. Murderers. Invaded the temple.” They all wore priestly garb. I, as an Orthodox employee, should have no trouble knowing what temple they were from. “See anybody go by here?”

  “No. But I heard somebody run past a minute ago. Going like crazy. That’s why I came out.”

  “Thanks, brother.” Off the gang went.

  “Good thinking, Garrett,” Morley said when I stepped back inside. I didn’t look for the guards. Morley was nothing if not certain about covering his ass. Those guys weren’t going to come to, get themselves loose, and raise an alarm. “You ever been here before? Know your way around?’’

  “Once when I was a kid. They used to let you wander around the grounds.”

  “You’re a wonder. Don’t you ever plan anything?”

  In the circumstances it was hard to argue with him. I didn’t waste my breath. “You can back out any time.”

  “I wouldn’t miss it. Let’s go.”

  Needless risk-taking isn’t like Morley Dotes. He wouldn’t do this sort of thing unless he had an angle somewhere.

  No skin off my nose. If somebody looted the temple or this place, I’d have my suspicions but I wouldn’t be heartbroken. Morley would just look at me blankly, baffled, if I suggested he’d had anything to do with it.

  We found a whole complex of buildings behind the first stand of trees. The biggest was the main Orthodox basilica in TunFaire. It was as grand as Chattaree but had no name except something generic like All Saints. Morley and I slipped into some shrubbery and reviewed everything we’d heard about the compound, which wasn’t much. We could identify only three of the cluster of seven buildings, the basilica itself and two structures housing monks and nuns. Those had featured prominently in the scandals.

  “Isn’t there suppose to be an orphanage and a seminary?” Morley asked.

  “Yeah. I think so.” That would identify two more buildings. But which two?

  “Logic would suggest a building with kitchens and whatnot to feed all the people.”

  “Unless each has its own.”

  “Yeah.”

  “How’s this sound? If you grabbed a couple women wouldn’t you maybe stash them in the nunnery?”

  “Maybe. Unless they have jail cells or something.”

  “Yeah. But I’ve never heard a rumor like that.” Short of searching the complex, building by building,

  I had no idea what to do. I hadn’t thought this part out. Like Morley said, I tend to jump without looking.

  “Hey.”

  Somebody was doing a sneak from shadow to shadow. It was too dark to tell much but he came close enough to identify as a monk. Morley suggested, “Let’s follow him.”

  That seemed as good an idea as any.

  I let Morley lead since he could see better and walk more softly. In a minute he reached back and stopped me. “He’s checking to see if anybody’s watching.”

  I froze. After a minute Morley tugged at my sleeve. We didn’t go twenty steps before Morley stopped again and urged me into some shrubbery.

  The man had climbed steps to a side door of the building I thought was the nunnery — which explained his sneaking.

  He tapped a code. The door opened. He embraced somebody, then slipped inside. The door closed.

  “Think that would work for us?” Morley asked.

  “If we had somebody waiting.”

  “Let’s check that door.”

  It took only a second to discover that it was barred inside. It took only a few minutes to learn that all the building’s four entrances were barred. The ground floor windows were masked by steel lattices.

  Morley muttered, “See what happens when you bull ahead with no research? We don’t have the equipment we need.”

  I didn’t argue. I went around to that one side door and tapped the code the visitor had used earlier. Nothing happened. Morley and I got into a brisk discussion about my tendency to act without thinking. I didn’t put up much of a defense. As Morley was getting irked enough to walk, I ta
pped the door again.

  And to our astonishment it opened.

  We gaped. The woman said, “You’re early …” then started to yell when she saw we weren’t who she was expecting. We jumped her, and managed to keep her quiet. We dragged her into the little hall behind the door, which was about six feet long and four wide and lighted by a single candle on a tiny stand. Morley yanked the door shut behind us. I let him take the woman, then I darted to the end of the hallway and looked both ways, but saw nothing.

  I turned. “Let’s make it quick.”

  Morley grunted.

  I told the nun, “Two women came in today. A blonde, middle twenties, and a brunette, eighteen, both attractive. Where are they?”

  She didn’t want to play.

  Morley placed a knife at her throat. “We want to know. We aren’t worried about the sin of murder.”

  Now she couldn’t answer because she was too scared. I said, “Cooperate and you’ll be all right. We don’t want to hurt anybody. But we won’t mind if we have to. Do you know the women we want?”

  Morley pricked her throat. She nodded.

  I asked, “Do you know where they are?”

  Another nod.

  “Good. Take us there.”

  “Mimphl murkle mibble” came from behind Morley’s hand.

  “Let her talk, “I said. “Kill her if she tries to yell.”

  We were convincing because Morley would have done it. She said, “They put the blonde woman in the guest house. They put the other one in the dining-hall wine cellar. It was the only place they could lock her up.”

  “That’s fine,” I said.

  “Dandy,” Morley agreed. “You’re doing wonderfully. Now take us to them. Which one first?” That to me.

  “The brunette.”

  “Right. Show us this wine cellar.”

  Somebody knocked on the door, just a gentle tippy-tap. Morley whispered, “How long before he gives up.”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve never not shown up.”

  “Been late?”

  “No.”

  I suggested, “We could use another door. Which building do you use for a dining hall?”

  She was reasonably calm now, and pliant. She explained. Morley said, “Let’s go. And quietly.”

  “I have no wish to die. Why are you doing this? The Holy Fathers won’t tolerate it. They’ll have you hunted down.”

  “The Holy Fathers won’t have time. We approach the Hour of Destruction. We have entered the Time of the Devastator. The heretic will be devoured.” I couldn’t get much passion into it because it sounded so silly but I doubted she was calm enough to hear that. “Show us the way.”

  She balked. Morley pricked her. I said, “We will have those women, with or without you. You have only one chance to see the sun rise. Move.”

  She moved.

  We went out another secondary door. The dining hall proved to be a one-story affair between the nunnery and monk’s quarters and behind the main temple. A seminary, occupied by yet another bunch of people, stood behind the dining hall. Maximum convenience. I asked about the other buildings in the complex. Stables and storage, she told us. The guest house, orphanage, and a few other buildings, like homes for several of the Holy Fathers (four of Karenta’s twelve lived in TunFaire), were scattered around the grounds, in semi-seclusion. I thought it must really gall the Church to be stuck with one oversized block while the Orthodox maintained a whole city estate. But that’s the way it goes when you’re number two.

  We reached the dining hall without incident. It wasn’t locked. Morley muttered something about moving too slow, that sooner or later there was going to be a change of guard at the gate and an alarm would sound.

  I tried to hurry the nun.

  48

  The nun seemed a little old for clandestine assignations. I guessed she had fifteen years on me. But maybe we never get tired of the great game.

  “There’ll be a guard,” Morley whispered. “Let me go first.”

  I didn’t argue. He was better at that sort of thing. “Don’t cut him if you don’t have to.”

  “Right.” He went down the stair like a ghost. It wasn’t a minute before he called up, “Clear.” I herded the nun down. Morley waited at the bottom. “I’ll watch her. Get the girl.”

  Thoughtful of him.

  The guard slumped on a stool in front of a massive oak door strapped with iron, hung on huge hinges. There was no opening in it. It was secured by a wooden peg through a hasp. Effective enough, I guessed.

  I touched the guard’s throat. His pulse was ragged but it was there. Good for Morley. I opened the door, and saw nothing but darkness. I used the guard’s lamp to give me light.

  I found Maya curled in a corner on burlap sacks, asleep, filthy. The dirt on her face had been streaked by tears. I dropped to my knees, placed a hand over her mouth, and shook her. “Wake up.”

  She started violently, almost broke loose. “Don’t say a word till we get home. Especially don’t name any names. Understand?”

  She nodded.

  “Promise?”

  She nodded again.

  “All right. We’re going out. We’ll collect Jill, then run like hell. We don’t want these people to know who we are.”

  “I got it, Garrett. Don’t pound it in with a hammer.”

  “You think somebody just heard you? Maybe somebody we forced to show us where you were? Somebody we’d have to kill so they won’t repeat it?”

  She got a little pale. Good. “Come on.”

  I stepped out and told Morley, “I got her. Watch her while I put this guy away.” The nun didn’t look like she’d heard anything.

  I dragged the guard inside, stepped out and shoved the peg home, then told the nun, “Lead on to the guest house.”

  She led on. Maya kept her mouth shut. Some notion of the stakes had gotten through.

  There were lights on the second floor of the guest house, a cozy two-story limestone cottage of about eight rooms. Morley checked for guards. I watched the women. “Just a few minutes more,” I promised the nun.

  She shook. She thought her minutes were numbered. I kept on with the dialectic of nihilism, filling her with arrows pointing at the Sons of Hammon. I wouldn’t let Morley do what he’d want to do after we used her up. I wanted one live, primed witness left behind. I wanted the Orthodox Holy Fathers to foam at the mouth when they thought of the Sons.

  The trouble was, there would be some right to Morley’s argument. The nun had had too many chances to get a good look at us.

  Maya caught on. She put on a damned good act, pretending to be terrified. She kept whispering tales about her previous stay with the Sons of Hammon.

  Maya knew most everything I did. She was able to lay it on thick.

  Morley came back. “Guards front and back. One for each door.” “Any problem?” “Not anymore. They weren’t very alert.”

  I grunted. “Let’s go,” I told the women. “Sister, behave for a couple more minutes and you’re free.”

  We’d gone maybe fifty feet toward the house when Morley said, “There it is.”

  “It” was the alarm we’d anticipated.

  Bells rang and horns blew. Signal lights and balls of fire arced through the night. “They do get excited, don’t they?” I grabbed the nun’s habit to make sure she didn’t stray.

  We stepped over a guard. The door he’d watched was locked but the top half was a leaded glass window, Terrell with a halo. I bashed it in and lifted the inner bar. We shoved inside. I said, “Put her to sleep.” Morley slugged the nun behind the ear. He understood what I was doing.

  Someone shouted a question downstairs. A man. I started up. Morley was right behind me. Maya was behind him, armed with a knife she’d taken off the guard as soon as the nun went down.

  The hurrah outside got louder.

  The stairs took a right angle turn at a landing twelve steps up. A man in a nightshirt met me there. He made a noise that sounded like, “Go
rki”

  “Not me, brother.”

  He was the guy I’d seen at the talk-talk place, the little gink with the nose. I grabbed him by the back of the nightshirt before he could run for it. I softened him up with my stick and shoved him at Morley. “Bonus prize.”

  Morley grabbed him. I went on. Maya followed me.

  That Jill was a quick mover. When I charged in she had a window open and was shoving a leg through. It wasn’t wide enough for a fast exit. I got to her while she was still trying to scrunch up small enough to fit. I grabbed an arm and pulled. She popped out like a cork. “Anybody’d think you weren’t thrilled to see me. After all the trouble I’ve gone through to rescue you.”

  She regained her balance and dignity, then gave me a lethal look. “You’ve got no right.”

  I grinned. “Maybe not. But here I am. And there you are. And here we go. You’ve got one minute to get dressed. You’re not ready then, you take it through the streets like that.”

  The proverbial jaybird wore more than she had on. I couldn’t help admiring the landscape. Maya said, “Put your eyes back in, Garrett. You’ll have me suspecting you of immoral thoughts.”

  “The gods forefend. Jill?”

  Maya moved between Jill and the window. I gave her an approving smile and retreated to the door to check Morley and the bald gink. “We’ve got her. She’s got to get dressed.”

  “Don’t waste time. The whole place is awake.”

  “Speaking of. See if you can wake him up. He’s going with us.”

  Morley scowled.

  “If anybody knows the answers, he does.”

  “If you say so. Find something we can put on him. Can’t drag him around like this.”

  I looked around. The little man’s clothes were on a chair, neatly folded. Jill was almost ready. She hadn’t bothered with underwear. Maya was giving her some song and dance about us telling the nun that she’d been sent ahead to soften up the little guy for the grabbing. I raised an eyebrow, then winked. The girl could think on her feet.

  I said, “Jill, carry your friend’s clothes. He’s going with us.”

  “I’m sorry I ever came to you.”