Well after dark, they landed at the airstrip serving the city of Lackderry on what would have been the Gulf of Mexico. "A good city for soirées," Alastair said, beaming. "One of Jean-Pierre's favorite places. On our way back perhaps I'll go on the town and drink my own weight in his honor."
They were flying again by midnight, south over the water, Noriko and Doc back at the controls.
Shortly after dawn, they crossed over the northernmost coastline of Aluxia and put down in an airfield—just a flat field with no pavement, no lights, and a tower that deserved to be called such only because it was two stories instead of one and featured a wind sock on a pole. Doc and Gaby went out to deal with the field officials—he because he'd been here before and knew the drill, she because her Spanish was recognizably the same as the Castilian spoken by half the people of Aluxia. Noriko, Ladislas, and Welthy went over the engines.
Hot, wet, heavy air flooded the Frog Prince and Harris decided that he didn't feel like taking a walk outside. He stayed in the lounge.
"You're looking haggard," Alastair told him.
"Speak for yourself." Alastair could have; he had dark rings under his eyes.
"Too much air travel. Trains are much better for the constitution. And for lovemaking."
Half a bell later, with Welthy and Ladislas back at the controls, they were flying south over forest-covered flatland, the darkest living green Harris had ever seen, almost never broken by the path of a river.
Harris climbed the stairs to the upper deck.
One of the cargo holds was mostly empty. Harris dragged what cargo was there against the forward bulkhead and used the rest of the compartment for training. After an hour, he got pretty good at tying the new toy securely and was sure that he'd be able to move naturally while wearing the thing. Of course, he'd have to switch back to baggy fair world clothes for a while.
The aroma of meat and onions drew him back down. Alastair, singing to himself, cooked steaks with onions and mushrooms in the little galley. The doctor brought a huge platter of meat into the lounge and carried a smaller platter up to the cockpit. The others swooped down on the plate he'd left behind.
Harris briefly considered being mad at himself for enjoying the meal. Maybe, after the events in Cretanis, nobody should ever have an appetite again.
Nah.
Not long after noon, he heard a call floating down from the cockpit, Welthy's voice: "She's in sight, prepare to land." But it was Gaby's cry of "Oh, how beautiful!" that brought him forward to Jean-Pierre's cabin.
It was standing room only; the sofas and chairs were already full. The view through the bubble-window showed him why.
The Frog Prince angled down toward a great sheet of blue water, a miles-long lake surrounded by green mountain peaks. To port, Harris saw three great mountains on the south side of the lake; to starboard, there was some sort of community built on the north slopes. Every moment of travel presented Harris with a new, glorious, picture-postcard view.
The lake grew larger and larger. The pilots obviously meant to land there.
The Frog Prince set down with a noise like a washing machine set on overdrive. Water sheeted up over the bubble-window and the plane shuddered with the friction of landing. Harris gripped the doorframe for balance.
Then the water drained away from the window and the Frog Prince heeled very slightly starboard, swinging slowly around to face the village on the slope. Harris could see terraces where small houses were built from wooden poles and thatch. As more of the village came into view, he gaped at the blood-red pyramid that dominated the other buildings. Below it, at water's edge, was a dock protruding into the water; people, tiny forms barely visible at this distance, stood on it.
As the plane completed its turn, the castle came into view to the extreme right, set above and well back from the village. It was a ruin of some antiquity, its stones dark with more than age—it looked like it had been burned, much of the course of its walls toppled. But frameworks of metal and wood surrounded the old structure, some unfinished project of repair.
Welthy and Ladislas brought the Frog Prince alongside the dock as delicately as though they were returning a borrowed Rolls-Royce to its owner's garage. The plane's port wing hung over the dock. The men and women gathered there retreated until the propellers stopped spinning.
Doc stepped out onto the port landing wing. Through the window, Harris saw a flash of movement outside, a brown-and-yellow blur hurling itself at Doc . . . and then the man staggered back inside, his attacker wrapped around him.
She was a woman with milk-and-coffee skin and hair that was a lustrous black. She wore what Harris thought of as Hollywood safari gear—shorts and short-sleeved shirt with many pockets, knee-high socks and sturdy shoes—but instead of khaki or tan, her clothes were a fading yellow. The scarf tied around her neck was gold with jaguar spots. She had her legs wrapped around Doc's waist and was kissing him with such enthusiasm that Harris found himself impressed and envious.
Finally she broke the clinch. "Welcome to Aluxia," she said.
"With welcomes like that, I must leave many times."
She smiled and released him, dropping to her feet. Harris saw she was tiny, not more than four and a half feet tall. Her eyes matched her hair and her mouth was a handsome curve just a little too wide for her face. She was both beautiful and built, and Harris thought she made quite a reception committee.
She finally turned to look at the others. "Alastair, a thousand blessings." Her smile faded. "Noriko, I heard about Jean-Pierre. I am so sorry." The smile returned, no less luminous than before. "Doc, introduce me to my new friends."
"Ish, this is Joseph, who builds things of steel. Gaby Donohue, who may someday be remembered as the discoverer and first priestess of the talk-box god. Harris Greene, who knows how to box with his feet. And Caster Roundcap, arcanologist. Everyone, I present you Ixyail del Valle, princess and rebel—called Ish by her friends."
Doc and friends debarked and the villagers crowded around them. These men and women were no taller than Harris' sternum, but the young ones looked very strong and fit. They seemed dressed for visitors. Though some of the men wore nothing more than white cloth tied around their middles, many wore calf-length breeches and jackets that were a crimson dark enough to be nearly black; each jacket was embroidered with brilliantly colored geometric designs Harris could not decipher. The women were in dark ankle-length skirts, undecorated, beneath sleeveless blouses, like ponchos bound at the sides, embroidered with the same sorts of designs.
They stared openly at the northerners, especially at Doc and the late-arriving Welthy, whose fair hair seemed to draw their eyes.
Ish dragged Doc before one of the villagers, a middle-aged man whose clothes were the darkest and whose embroidery was the brightest. "This is Balam, the ahau, or lord, of the villages around the lake. Don't call him the lord of the lake—that is a title reserved for one of their local gods."
Doc bowed. The village lord, seemingly unable to tear his gaze away from Doc's hair, bowed back. Ish gestured for the man to accompany her and Doc up to the village, and the whole mass of people drifted in their wake. "I spent a lot of Foundation money bringing very expensive dyes to these people. A rich bribe, much appreciated. Too, they are a peaceful folk. I think they will stay friendly."
There was a stir at the back of the crowd. They turned to see two older villagers, a man and a woman, pressing Caster Roundcap from both sides, smiling, talking at him in excited tones. He answered them briefly in their own language.
Caster saw Doc watching. He looked up and shrugged. "I told you I'd been here before. It appears some are old enough to remember me."
Ish said, "Now I know they will stay friendly."
In the village plaza, east of the blood-red pyramid and in its shadow, the villagers of Itzamnál hosted them in a feast. They served fish and small steamed crabs, something like a mild tamale the size of an orange and wrapped in banana leaves, papaya the size of watermelons, coarse, tasty corn tortillas t
hat were more gray than brown, roast turkey, roast pig, honey and bitter chocolate sauce for flavor . . . Harris decided that Jean-Pierre would have approved; he ate heartily, without guilt.
Caster nodded over at the grim bulk of the fortress a hundred yards away. "They've begun repairs since last I was here."
Ish spat. "Another project of the blood-drinking, sons-of-Castilian-pigs government. I think they plan to put everything in shape so they can build a hotel and bring up wealthy Castilians to take the waters and stare at the volcanoes. This place is sacred. It should not be a playground. When I hear they have done this, I will use bombs and throw the first carloads of wealthy visitors off the mountain road. That will discourage them."
Harris, alarmed, looked at Alastair, but the doctor shook his head and gave him a "pay no mind" expression.
"I don't see anyone working on it now," Caster said mildly.
"I sent them away! All workmen from the city. Any of them could be spies for Blackletter."
Harris asked, "Why is it ruined when everything else is in good repair? I'm used to seeing pictures where the pyramids are overgrown and the more modern stuff is kept up."
Caster gestured, a broad sweep that took in the lake and its surroundings. "During the Castilian conquest, the whole area of Itzamnál was a retreat for Aluxian kings who continued to fight. It was eventually conquered and the Castilians built that hulk. A few years later, the Aluxians came back, burned it, and kicked the Castilians out." He shrugged. "Of course, the Aluxians kept fighting among themselves once the Castilians were at bay, and effectively destroyed themselves as a military power. The new government is not so easy to shake off."
The village lord exchanged a few words with Caster.
Alastair asked, "What does he say?"
Caster and Ish smiled. Caster said, "He tells us it's time. Half a bell since the last one. Look at the lake."
They did. Nothing was different: the water was so still that the Frog Prince barely moved.
Then, in patches, the surface began to roil, as though the entire lake were heated to the point of boiling. The patches spread out to join one another. In less than a minute, the lake's surface as far as they could see was a frothing mass. Steam rose from the water.
"Jesus," Harris said. "How hot is that?"
Caster shook his head. "Not very. It's usually warm; now it's just a bit warmer, not even uncomfortable. It's brought on by volcanic activity deep under the water."
"Volcanoes!" Ish glared at him. "It's the breath of the lizard in the earth. The trouble with you arcanologists is that you dissect and analyze your devisements until you forget to believe in them."
They watched as the roiling finally settled down. The steam, a solid layer, lifted clear of the lake's surface and slowly, gracefully rose until it was lost into the sky.
In a wood-pole hut given over to her use, Ish spread out a hand-drawn map of the kidney-shaped lake and its surroundings. Doc held down two of the corners for her.
Ish tapped a point not far from the village, two places along the southeast curve of the lake, and one on the southwest. "These are the passes out of Itzamnál. I have a man at each one. Scouts of the Hu'unal, my people, trustworthy. And another here," she tapped the land portion between the two southward curves of the lake, "on the tallest mountain. No lorries full of cabinets can get in without our knowing. None is here now. We've even searched the castle, top to bottom, to make sure nothing is left there. All that's there is wood, stone, and cement for the repairs."
Harris asked, "What if they come in a seaplane like we did?"
"What if they do? They land, they taxi toward shore, and we shoot them." She shrugged as though it were a small concern.
Doc frowned over the map. "Caster, which part is the sacred area?"
"It's all sacred. But the link with the other world is strongest in the vicinity of the village, centering on the pyramid. You'd have to perform the ceremony here, anywhere within a few hundred paces."
"That's encouraging. I'd hate to have to protect fifty square destads of lake and mountain."
Ish rolled up the map. "So. All questions answered? Good. Everybody go away. Now I can finally get some sleep."
As Doc turned away to follow the others, she caught him by the collar. "Not you." She smiled up at him. "I insist on company."
Harris took a walk around the village, followed everywhere by two children and an old woman who seemed fascinated by his every move but too shy to talk to him.
Though the pyramid and the other buildings on the plaza around it were stone, he saw that the houses of the villagers were not just made of wood—they seemed constructed of living trees. New branches budded from the wall poles driven into the earth. Vines and ferns sprouted out of the thatch roofs. He saw women at work pruning their houses.
Near the village and all around the lake, he could see fields of what looked like tall grass; wind would stir the plants in great rolling waves. These weren't the sort of fields he was used to from Iowa. They grew up the slopes of the mountains, some at angles of forty-five degrees or more. He saw men working them, pulling waist-high bushes and weeds free and hurling them downslope. He walked alongside the field nearest the village and saw that the tall grass was actually corn—or maize, most likely.
The ground was so warm he felt it through his leather soles, and though the air was thin and cold, the water in the lake stayed comfortable—he dipped his hand into it and decided that it was somewhere around eighty degrees.
All through his walk, he heard the screeching from the forest he'd thought must be birds—big, ugly ones from the sound of them. But when he returned to the Frog Prince, Caster told him they were howler monkeys. "Best get used to their noise," the arcanologist said. "You don't have much choice."
Half a bell after the display of roiling water, it happened again. This time Harris sat cross-legged on the dock and watched the whole event, from the first boiling patch to the disappearance of the steam cloud far overhead.
Alastair stepped out of the plane onto the port water wing. "Ladislas is taking first watch, at four bells. I relieve him at five bells."
"I'll take the watch at six bells, then." Harris frowned. "Ixyail is a weird one. What was all that talk about bombs?"
The doctor smiled. "It was just talk; she's very excitable. She actually is a rebel, an enemy of the Aluxian government, and they would arrest and execute her if they knew she were here. But she confines herself to spying and sabotage. No attacks on the innocent."
"Good. Is Doc serious about her?"
Alastair shrugged. "It's complicated. But they've been friends and lovers for some time."
"Oh. I just sort of thought, the way he jumps into every bad situation that comes along, that he'd have sworn off relationships until he was retired or something."
"What sort of idiot would punish himself that way?" The doctor looked offended.
"Just a thought. Never mind. I'll see you at six bells." Harris rose and breezed past the doctor to return to his bunk.
Three days passed.
Gaby spent some time each day before the talk-box. With each attempt, the use of her ability became easier . . . and more difficult.
It was easier to project herself into the mind and room of Gabrielle. She could do that almost effortlessly. Each time, it took longer for her to feel the pressure that promised pain.
But on the second day, lying in her bunk, she put herself in Gabrielle's room . . . and could not hear the hiss of voices. The room was peaceful. She never felt pressure behind her eyes. She could not find the Grid.
The next morning, she began experimenting. Her practice went as usual from the lounge of the Frog Prince. But from any other cabin, from outside the plane, she failed to reach the Grid.
"I don't get it," she complained to Doc.
He considered for a moment before answering. "Gaby, in uniting you with Gabrielle, it may be that I have fatally compromised your Gift. It may be a thing that belongs to dreaming. Giving you
r waking mind access to it may have damaged it. May continue to do so. It could be a delicate machine, and it may be burning out from overuse or unaccustomed wear."
"Damn." She turned her thoughts away from the loss she might be facing. "I heard Duncan a few minutes ago."
"What was he saying?"
"I only heard a snatch of conversation, very faint. Something about the lake being effectively sealed off, and then a few words about something being in place." She gave him an apologetic look. "I couldn't get any more. I'm sorry."
"Don't be. We're now sure his people are in the vicinity. Things could happen anytime now. If you can, keep listening . . . but don't tire yourself to excess."
"I won't," she lied.
In the darkness of the dock, Harris shivered. He wouldn't have believed that the air could turn so cold after dark. Every morning when he'd awakened, bowls of standing water had been frozen over the top.
A distant buzz, like an insistent insect, intruded on his thoughts. He stood at the edge of the dock and tried to spot the source of the noise, but all he did see was the sudden flaring of a signal fire atop the mountain peak on the other side of the lake.
A plane, it had to be a plane. He stuck his head through the hatch into the Frog Prince. "Up and at 'em!" he shouted. "There's a plane coming in!" Then he trotted up the slope to the village and hammered the frame of the curtained doorway to Ish's hut. "Doc! Incoming!"
By the time he got back to the plane, Doc's associates were stumbling out of it, some half-dressed, all clutching weapons. They turned in the direction of the noise. The buzzing increased slowly in volume, but still there was nothing to see.
"It's a Hammerling engine," Noriko said. "Hear the way it misses? It's not in good repair." Harris wondered where Welthow and Ladislas were, but not for long; one engine on the Frog Prince coughed into life, its propeller spinning. A second engine followed.
Alastair cast off the lines lashing the plane to the dock and joined the others. "Get moving," he said, though the pilots could not hear him. Then something caught his attention and he pointed. "There. Low, at eight bells."
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