Quest for the Well of Souls

by Jack L. Chalker

  They understood. The enemy was there, ready, and less than twenty meters down and across the hall from them.

  The Bozog did in fact linger with small talk for a while, allowing Vistaru, Renard, and the Makiem to unsuit and choose their weapons. Renard unpacked his tast and took a pistol in his other hand.

  "I hope I remember which hand has which," he whispered in a half-joking tone he didn't feel. "It'd be a hell of a thing if I blew up the gun and shot the tast."

  Trelig and Burodir checked out their own hand weapons. The centaurs managed to get out of their suits before the Bozog felt it had to leave. With a cheery, noncommittal farewell, it oozed out the panel, leaving them inside.

  "Best to let them come to us," the Ghiskind said as low as possible. "Dillians to either side of the door. Makiem in the far corners. Agitar with me in the middle, just forward and a little out of direct fire from the door. Vistaru, can you fly in here?"

  She tried it. She could and it felt wonderful to rise up and dart about, although her wings hurt like hell from their recent inactivity. She had a Lata pulse-pistol in her tiny hand, and now her wicked red-and-black-striped stinger oozed with venom.

  "Now what?" Renard asked tensely.

  "We wait," Trelig whispered from his corner. "As long as necessary."

  * * *

  Time passed. It wasn't productive, nor comfortable; they were all tired. The tension, too, was having its effect, developing into a sense of numbing lethargy.

  Renard was sitting down now, pistol only half-pointed forward, shaking his head. Vistaru, too, was relaxing.

  "Why don't they just come and get it over with?" he grumbled. "I figured they'd hit us as soon as the Bozog left."

  "There are a lot of devious minds there," Trelig pointed out. "I'm sure that that was their first plan, but it will have been refined into something a lot more diabolical by now. This waiting is almost certainly part of it—designed to get us to let down our guard."

  "It's working," his wife grumped from the other corner. "I can hardly keep my eyes open."

  "Look who's talking about devious minds," Renard said wryly, looking over his shoulder at Trelig. "I've been told that nobody holds a candle to you in that department."

  "Stop that!" the Ghiskind ordered. "It will simply get us killed if we start in on one another. Why do their job for them?"

  "Relax," Faal the Dillian cautioned. "Remember, we outnumber them. Chang and her mate are no threat, they won't even be in on it. That's just three of them against seven of us."

  Renard suddenly stirred and jumped up, looking around.

  "What is it?" several of them said at once.

  He looked around, a slightly puzzled expression on his blue devil's face. "I'm not sure," he responded carefully. "Something funny. You know how aware I am of electrical things. I'd swear the lights flickered for a moment, then became brighter."

  They were all suddenly awake again, and tense, even though none of the others felt what he did.

  Against the brightness of the lights, none had noticed a strange shape, faded almost to invisibility, flow under a room partition that was only two or three centimeters off the ground, and silently move along the baseboard toward the door until it reached the big male centaur, Makorix, standing pistol at the ready.

  It flowed into the body of the Dillian, instantly striking at nerve centers, paralyzing movement. The Dillian brain was related to the human brain, and the Dillian central nervous system was a good compromise between human and horse. The Torshind had become familiar with equine movements while transporting Mavra and Joshi to Yugash; except in size Yulin's Dasheen brain was very close to the Dillian brain. The Torshind had no trouble locating the correct spots.

  Slowly the hand holding the pistol moved and readjusted. A thumb kicked the little control lever up two notches. The energy density would be greatly lowered, but still enough to paralyze; the beam would now be much wider.

  The barrel moved ever so slightly away from the door toward the left of the room, where Renard, Vistaru, and Burodir sat waiting.

  Suddenly Vistaru noticed the new targets. "Look out!" she screamed, and took off straight up.

  Renard's reflexes were tremendously fast; he kicked off on his powerful goatlike legs, soaring into the air as Makorix's pistol fired.

  The beam sprayed the room, and struck the Ghiskind and Burodir full on. It had no effect on the Yugash, but the great female frog gave a strangled croak and pitched forward.

  Suddenly, the door exploded as a huge orange shape burst through it, followed quickly by a squat, humanlike powerfully built form, shooting wide scatter bursts.

  Vistaru reached Makorix in an instant and knocked the pistol from his hand. The Dillian reached up for her with a snarl, and she obliged, stabbing him with her stinger.

  The centaur gave a surprised cry, then collapsed in a heap.

  Faal, hardly comprehending what was happening or why, swung her pistol at the orange shape and was gunned down almost immediately by Yulin.

  Renard had lost his tast and had almost run straight up the wall in his escape from the initial shot; fully charged, he whirled and leaped for the orange shape, but the Yaxa saw him and spit a thick, brown fluid, catching him in midleap. It burned like fire when it hit and he plunged helplessly to the floor.

  The Torshind left the unconscious body of the centaur and was headed for the Ghiskind when Trelig opened up. He was like a madman, capable of leaping ten meters or more. Coming to rest on any surface—even walls or ceiling—for an instant, he would fire. Suddenly he dropped directly onto the Yaxa.

  The Ghiskind's crystal form leaped now, crashing into them, jarring them away from each other.

  Vistaru, flying about, was afraid to move close in for fear of hitting a friend. She looked anxiously about and screamed, "Where's the damned Torshind?"

  Wooley shouted something and Yulin ran out the door. Spitting and using fore-tentacles as whips, the Yaxa also retreated beyond the door, which banged back down noisily.

  Vistaru looked around appalled. Both Dillians were either out cold or dead; Burodir was frozen stiff, Renard was unconscious and covered with sticky Yaxa stuff.

  She looked at the two survivors with her. "Nothing to do but go get them before they try again!" she yelled.

  "I agree," yelled Trelig, slapping a new energizer into his pistol. "Let's go!"

  "Let me go out the door first!" the Ghiskind cautioned. "I'm harder to kill."

  There was no argument, and out it went, the other two following a second or so later when they heard no sound of struggle.

  The hall was deserted, but there was a thin trail of a pale-green ichor leading toward the other room. One of them, probably the Yaxa from the nature of the stuff, had been hurt.

  "Take it easy," the Ghiskind cautioned. "No sense in playing their game all the way. We hurt one, yes, but they're still a whole party and we're down to three. It's even now. If we go charging in there dead on, they'll just wipe us out. Let's think a minute."

  * * *

  Although Mavra and Joshi knew the plan, they were helpless to do anything one way or the other. This was not their fight; they wanted only to survive it.

  When Wooley and Yulin had come crashing back through the door, the horses knew that the plan had been only partially successful; there were some gashes in Wooley's tentacles, too, which slowed the Yaxa a good deal, and a few nasty welts on Yulin's back. The Torshind entered by other means and slid back into its crystal shell.

  "Be ready," the Yugash warned them. "The few remaining will come at us as soon as they can. It will be hours before they can count on any of their survivors, and they won't wait that long."

  Wooley's death's head nodded. "If I were they, I'd be coming through that door right now. Check your weapons and be at the ready. Yulin! Dim the light so we can make sure the Ghiskind doesn't pull our own trick on us! Mavra and Joshi, stay back and out of the way!"

  They waited tensely for the counterattack, and they didn't ha
ve long.

  The door opened slowly, and they all trained their weapons on it, ready to fire as soon as the creature was visible.

  It was the Ghiskind's ptir, against which they had only the energy pistols, but they fired anyway.

  Which played right into the Ghiskind's hand.

  The shots ignited a series of smoke and concussion grenades attached to the creature; these went off with a deafening roar that almost blew the door apart and filled the entire area with a dense, acrid yellow smoke.

  Everyone was blinded, and Yulin started coughing. As he did so, something struck him hard on the back of the head and neck, knocking him down and rendering him semiconscious. His pistol skidded into the yellow fog.

  The Ghiskind, its shell destroyed by the blasts, drifted across the room to the two horselike creatures it saw cowering helplessly against the far wall and entered the first one it encountered, taking control. Suddenly animated, Mavra made for the Torshind's crystal shell and plowed right into it, sending it sprawling. The horse reared and with its forelegs struck the fragile crystal form repeatedly, shattering it like glass.

  The fog began to clear, allowing Trelig and Vistaru—who were wearing the breathers from their spacesuits—to join the action.

  The Torshind abandoned its ptir for the body nearest it—Wooley's. The Yaxa was surprised, but the Torshind knew the Yaxa system well and was in complete control almost immediately. It quickly turned on Trelig, spitting the brownish substance.

  The material didn't devastate the reptile as it had the Agitar, but the goo did blind him for a minute. Wooley then turned to the horse, which was finishing the job on the Torshind's shell, and raised its pistol.

  Joshi, still amazed at Mavra's jumping into the fight, noticed Wooley's threat to her, although none of the others did. Without thinking, he leaped to the center of the room, placing himself between the Yaxa and Mavra, who was just turning around.

  The pistol fired full-force, enveloping Joshi in a blinding electrical light that flickered like a photographic negative and then faded into nothingness.

  Seeing this, Mavra's mind suddenly exploded, expelling the Ghiskind with unexpected force. "Joshi!" she screamed and started for the Yaxa. Disoriented, the Ghiskind followed just above her, almost as if attached. Vistaru, who had managed to fly out of the smoke, saw what had happened and dived for the Yaxa.

  At this moment, Ben Yulin was rising shakily to his feet and noticed a blur of motion from the corner of his eye. Lunging for a saddlebag, he flung it with full force at the shape. The saddlebag struck Vistaru straight on, knocking her to the floor and pinning her under it.

  She looked up to see Mavra's horselike form bearing down on the possessed Yaxa, whose pistol rose to meet the threat.

  "Kally! For God's sake fight it! Take control! My God, Kally! She's our granddaughter!" the Lata screamed.

  A tentacle tried to squeeze the trigger, but could not. The Yaxa body convulsed, and Mavra Chang struck, knocking over the Yaxa and landing on top of the butterfly-creature.

  Trelig, meanwhile, spied Yulin picking up his pistol, and leaped for the minotaur. Yulin whirled, saw the frog, dived—and the Makiem sailed over him.

  Like a swimmer in a sprint, Trelig didn't miss a stroke. He turned in midair, and his powerful webbed feet struck the wall, propelling him forward again. He landed, somersaulted, and rose with a pistol on Yulin.

  And Yulin had his pistol on Trelig.

  The Ghiskind, atop Mavra, regained its senses from the stunning mental blow it had received. No mind that strong had ever been experienced by it or any other Yugash.

  In the meantime, Mavra extricated herself from the convulsing Yaxa to avoid being crushed. Clearly, a major battle was being fought within the shiny yellow-black head.

  Trelig and Yulin looked at each other. "Standoff," Trelig chuckled. "How about a truce, Ben? We're old friends. Let's see how the rest of this comes out. You and me, together again on New Pompeii!"

  Yulin's big brown eyes shined, his manner softened. The pistol dipped slightly. "Okay, Antor. Partners this time, though. Right?"

  Trelig kept one of his eyes on Yulin while the other followed the drama being played out on the floor.

  And it was clear now who was winning.

  Slowly and unsteadily, the Torshind emerged from the body of the Yaxa; Wooley collapsed and was still.

  The Ghiskind immediately hurled itself at the emerging ghostly red figure. As the two met, their forms became less distinct, just a blurry dull-red sheet of energy, a ball of dull fire suspended two meters or so above the floor.

  While this was occurring, Vistaru managed to free herself of the heavy saddlebags and rose groggily to her feet. She looked around, saw Yulin and Trelig through the thin yellow haze not three meters apart, pistols half on each other but attention mostly on the drama now in the center of the room.

  Mavra lay unnaturally on her side, still but breathing hard. Huge, thick tears fell from the horse's eyes.

  The fight between the two Yugash had intensified. The energy sphere grew denser, more compact, and more intense. Now, suddenly, there was but a single glowing bright-red ball, almost too bright to look at, in the air above the room. It was about the size of a grapefruit.

  There was a sudden, violent explosion and thunder reverberated along the halls of the building, rattling partitions, doors, and anything else that was loose. The odor of ozone was sharp.

  Then, so dim that it could hardly be seen, a figure dropped to the floor and seemed to inflate, like a balloon. It moved slightly, but was terribly weak and stunned, that was obvious.

  One of the Yugash had survived.

  "Which one?" Vistaru breathed. "I wonder which one?"

  Trelig turned slightly to face her. "We'll only find out when it can get into a body," he said. "Until then—"

  His words were cut short as Yulin, taking advantage of Trelig's preoccupation, suddenly dropped to one knee and fired directly at the frog. As Joshi's had, Trelig's form froze in fire, seemed to become a negative of itself, then winked out with a flash.

  Antor Trelig had made the first mistake of his long life, and now he was dead.

  Vistaru gasped and had her own pistol from its little holster in an instant. Yulin turned to face her, gun ready, and saw that she had him cold.

  He paused, shrugged, and tossed his own energy pistol away to the other side of the room where it fell with a clatter.

  The Lata was amazed.

  "Why?" she asked him in wonder.

  He laughed. "I'm your only way into Obie now," he reminded her. "And the only pilot with hands. I think it's time for a merger."

  Vistaru didn't trust him, but was uncertain as to what to do. Mavra was apparently in shock; the Yugash, whichever it was, was badly hurt and unable to communicate; Wooley was out cold; Trelig was gone; the rest of her allies were out cold or dead.

  She and Ben Yulin were the only whole and conscious people in the room, perhaps in the whole building.

  Yulin stood up and looked around. His massive bull's head surveyed the wreckage of bodies, the charred and smashed equipment.

  "God! What a mess!" he breathed.

  The Launch Complex Four Hours Later

  Bozog attendants wheeled out the last of the problem cases, janitorial crews swabbed down the floor, and blowers cleansed the air. Several decisions had been made by the survivors, which had pared things down nicely.

  Of them all, Renard had been the least hurt; the paralysis from the Yaxa venom wore off within an hour of the battle. Wooley was slower to recover; she had lost some blood in the first clash and had a debilitating headache as a result of the second. Burodir and the centaurs were sent to the Zone Gate for return home. The form of a Yugash still lay on the floor, indistinct but definitely alive. The survivors still had no idea which Yugash had survived; to most of their tastes, it would have been better if the two enemies had destroyed each other.

  And now they sat—just Renard, Wooley, Yulin, Vistaru, and Mavra Chang�
��and the odd red form on the floor.

  With Bozog help, they'd managed to get Mavra to her feet; she hadn't made any protest, just remained limp and glassy-eyed.

  Ben Yulin looked her over carefully, trying to get some reaction, but none was forthcoming. "Think it was the Yugash battle that did it?" he asked casually.

  Wooley, still nursing her head, emitted a sigh that sounded like metal scraping glass. "No, I don't think so. Certainly her experience would have been no worse than what I went through, which was bad enough—and I surely had the crazy one. The creature was totally insane, its thoughts flooded into my brain somehow. It hated us—it hated all of us, everything and everybody. It was incredible. And I almost lost. If Vistaru hadn't yelled . . ."

  "So what is wrong with her?" Vistaru asked, perplexed. "Why won't she say anything?"

  Renard, now cleaned up thanks to a chemical suggested by Wooley and provided by the Bozog, got to his feet and walked over to her.

  Twenty-two years, he thought. She has changed more than I; she had a nasty life for that period while I enjoyed things. The guilt he felt was mixed with admiration for her. She was here, she'd come this far. He was also convinced that she'd survived because of her total egoism, her absolute belief in self, in the ability to do anything no matter what the odds.

  He looked at her. "Come on, snap out of it!" he said sharply. "You're Mavra Chang, damn it. Perhaps you loved him, cared for him as wife or mother, but you've gone through that before! You never let it get to you! You survived! You triumphed! That's what life's all about to you! The chase is coming to a climax after all this time! Come on! You can't give up now!"

  He sensed a flicker in her eyes, minimal animation, fleeting but nonetheless very real. She heard him and understood him all right.

  "Don't you think you're being a little hard on her?" Vistaru asked, concerned.

  "Let him be, Star," Wooley whispered. "Let's face it, he knows her a lot better than we."

  The Lata nodded silently. "You feeling as guilty and rotten as I am?" she asked after a moment. Wooley didn't reply.