by Rose Estes
After a time, they came to the end of the corridor and found only a set of double doors mounted flush against the wall. A feeling of dread filled Keri. She tried to resist, to stand firm, but at a command from one of the men, one of the hard ones jabbed Keri with the end of his rod. A bright, blue light sizzled against her skin and she screamed, nearly fainting from the intense pain that burned like fire and continued to sear its way into her flesh even after the rod had been removed. Batta Flor was there instantly, picking her up in his arms, cradling her against his shaggy chest and circling with a massive, balled fist extended, daring them to come closer.
The man barked out another command and the two hard ones, acting in unison, rolled silently forward. Batta Flor looked around, but there was no way to go except through the doors. He could not even attack the hated metallic men without letting go of Keri and this he refused to do. Teeth bared in a hideous grimace, rumbling growls emanating from his slavering lips, Batta Flor backed through the swinging doors.
As the doors swung shut behind them, they found themselves dazzled by a light far brighter than any they had ever known before, set in the ceiling like a captive sun. Even Batta Flor was stunned by the ceaseless glare. His arms dropped to his sides and Keri huddled against him, burying her face in his thick fur, closing her eyes against the painful light.
In that instant of helpless passivity, they were seized in a firm, unyielding grip, so strong that not even Batta Flor’s incredible strength could break it. Tears streamed down their cheeks, blinding them, hiding the identity of their captors, which only served to increase Keri’s terror. She flung herself hard against the implacable grip and screamed with fear and frustration. A tiny, sharp prick touched her arm, barely noticeable against the larger terrors, but immediately afterward, a strange lassitude filled her limbs, weighing her down, then carrying her away on a cloud of buoyant light.
When she awakened, it was to a headache even more blinding than the light had been. She put her hand to her head and touched the hated, metal plate fitted flush with her skin. It tingled with a life it had not had before. She rolled to one side and retched. When the bitter taste of bile filled her mouth, she spat and swung upright, gasping for air, wanting to know what had happened but too fearful to touch her head again.
“It appears to be some sort of receiving unit,” said Batta Flor.
Keri raised her eyes and saw that Batta Flor was seated a short distance away atop a shiny, metal table. Implanted in his skull above his ear was the bright, silver disc which from the clipped fur around it had obviously been tended to. He seemed very calm and undisturbed by the fact that their flesh had been mutilated.
“But why?” cried Keri. “Why are they doing this to us? What do they want from us?” Before Batta Flor could reply, a voice spoke out inside her head.
“Welcome to our world. You are the newest combatants from those gathered from the farthest reaches of the star system. You will find honor and purpose in the arena and with each victory you will be rewarded.”
Keri was too stunned to speak, all but overwhelmed by the voice that spoke from inside her skull. She clutched her head with both hands and screamed. Batta Flor slipped from the table and came to her instantly, supporting her and glaring around, searching for the source of the voice which had fallen silent.
“Why should we fight for you?” demanded Batta Flor, his voice harsh with anger.
“Because it is your destiny,” the voice replied.
“My destiny?” queried Batta Flor. “According to who?”
“You are a creature of our making—we made you and your destiny is ours to command.”
“And what about her?” asked Batta Flor. “Did you make her, too?”
“We have acquired her and she is ours. If you wish to be free, you have the right to fight for that privilege.”
“You’ll really free us if we win?”
“We honor our promises,” the voice replied. “But know that no quarter is given. There can only be one victor.”
“You mean if we lose we die?” Keri said in disbelief. “You’d actually kill us for losing?”
“The price is high,” admitted the voice, “but so are the stakes—you are wagering your lives.”
“What about Keri?” Batta Flor asked after a moment’s pause. “I can take care of myself, but if I agree to fight, you have to leave her out of this.”
“No, Batta Flor, if you fight, so will I,” said Keri, placing her hand on his arm. “I learned a lot from Braldt, I know how to handle a sword and a knife and two of us stand a better chance than one alone. I am with you.”
14
The dungeon was dark. The reptilian water carrier had long since trundled past, muttering to herself and doling out their meager allotment of water. Braldt had never been able to understand what she was saying, even with the aid of the translator. It seemed to be some grievous litany of woe, repeated over and over until it took on the cadence of a religious chant. The scaly creature was so wrapped up in the contemplation and recitation of her miseries that she barely seemed aware of them and at times would pass up one cell or another until their angry cries and the banging of metal cups against the bars broke into her musings and returned her to the present.
Braldt had come to feel a strange sense of sympathy for the odd creature and normally he tried to make out some of her words, but tonight all of his attention was focused on Septua and the tale he told.
“They came from old earth in the beginning,” said the dwarf, looking round the circle at his rapt audience and taking the opportunity to slip his hand up the side of Randi’s thigh. Randi’s eyes flickered and a muscle tensed in her jaw but she allowed the dwarf’s hand to remain.
“It was a long, long time ago, further back than any one alive can remember. They was a seafaring people, rode out on the waters in long, wooden boats and took what they wanted. No one could stand up against ’em. They were that fierce—big an’ tall an’ strong with eyes blue as the skies an’ ’air as white as the sun. Some say they were the children of the sun god an’ the sea.
“When earth began to die, they was among the very first to leave, sailing their ships to the stars. They called their new world Valhalla, the ’ome of the gods. Lots of people left earth then. The seas was dying an’ so were the people, poisoned by their own greed and stupidity. Most of ’em went to the moon an’ Mars an’ other places that was close by an’ spent most of their time figuring out how to ’elp those still left on earth.
“The Scandis though, they figured that earth was dead and they left it for good. They found Valhalla and settled it alone an’ they wouldn’t let no one who wasn’t one of them set foot on the place.
“It be beautiful,” said Septua, his voice heavy with emotion, “Valhalla is. It’s easy to believe that the gods made it for their own selves. It ’as mountains so tall an’ beautiful it breaks your heart to look at ’em. The sky is blue, too, not black or red like other places I’ve seen since. And it has water everywhere, lots an’ lots of water, clear an’ clean an’ pure, too. But that was about all it ’ad. There was no life. No animals, no fish, no birds, no nothin’. An’ then they found that the planet itself was made out of solid granite an’ didn’t have no minerals or nothin’ that they needed to make things work. It was an empty world.
“They ’ad to figure out a way to make it work. They couldn’t go back to earth—there was nothing there for them an’ they ’ad already made folks mad ’cause they wouldn’t ’elp out, send a tithe back to earth, like all the others. That’s when they ’it on the plan. They would become as they ’ad been in the old days of glory. They would sail their ships among the stars an’ take what they needed from those that ’ad. There was lots of folks travelin’ the skies, even way back then.
“It worked good for a time, a long time, but then the different worlds came together an’ formed the World Council. It was supposed to police the skies an’ make sure no wrongs was done by nobody. The Scandis ignored ’em for
as long as they could but eventually the Council caught up with ’em an’ told ’em they ’ad to stop it or else they’d blast ’em outta the skies. They ’ad the force behind ’em, too, so us Scandis had to listen, even if we didn’t like it.
“Times got grim then, an’ we mighta’ died out, but the Council, they relented and gived us a mining license, said we could learn to survive like everyone else, by workin’ for our right to live. An’ that’s what they been doin’ ever since, claimin’ empty planets an’ minin’ ’em an’ the meteors an’ asteroids in the skies for the metals an’ minerals.”
“Seems to me like they decided to harvest a few more things, like other people’s ships and people themselves,” Randi said dryly.
“Salvage,” Septua said defensively as he slid his hand a little higher. “We only take what’s legally ours to claim. Laws of the Council, ain’t none who could argue otherwise.”
“I could!” Randi said bitterly.
“And I,” added Allo. “We were attacked, plain and simple. We were no helpless, drifting hulk, no victim waiting to be salvaged.”
“And I,” said Braldt, curious as to how he and his world figured into this scheme. “I was taken from my world by force. How do you explain that? And who are these hard ones? What is their role?”
Septua was obviously uneasy with the hostile confrontation of his companions. Defense of their captors was clearly an unwise course. Avoiding their pointed comments, he seized gratefully on the tail end of Braldt’s question.
“The ’ard ones? You mean the ’bots? They just be mindless workers, no minds of their own. They takes their orders from us. Do what they’re told to do. It be easier than tryin’ to deal with real folks what can argue an’ fight back. They does the mindless drudge work where a real person might get bored. An’ you don’t have to feed ’em or give ’em clothes or even a place to sleep. You just turns ’em off when you’re done. They’re real good ’cause they can work places that got poison air, or no air a’tall, places that would kill a real person. I had two of ’em once myself. Come in real ’andy.”
“So if you’re one of them,” Allo said slowly, “how come you’re sitting here in this cell with us? And how come you don’t look like them?”
Septua wriggled uncomfortably and stared down at the floor, the flaccid folds of his mobile face drooping sadly. He even removed his hand from Randi’s thigh before replying in a low whisper that no one could hear.
“What?” asked Randi. “What did you say?”
“Caught me,” he said in a slightly louder voice, but still he did not raise his eyes.
“Caught you? Caught you doing what?” asked Braldt, wondering what the little man could have done that would have been so bad as to be so cruelly punished by his own people.
“I ain’t really a Scandi, guess you can tell. But me folks lived among ’em for generations until we almost become one of ’em. Called us lantsmen, let us come with ’em when they left earth. My dad and me mum, they were normal-sized and they ’ad ’air, too. But I always been small,” Septua said in a soft voice. “I were even born small. All ’cept my head. My mum said it were big so it could hold all my brains. She always said I were smarter than anyone gived me credit for. It were ’er suggested to the Thanes that they could use me to salvage stuff in places that were too small for others to go. Places that even the ’bots couldn’t go ’cause they don’t bend too good an’ of course, they can’t think for themselves, don’t always recognize somethin’ of value when they see it.
“I worked for the Thanes ’til I was growed. Then my mum took sick, needed a new ’eart. But the Thanes, they decided she weren’t important enough an’ we didn’t ’ave enough money to pay for it ourselves. She lasted for a time an’ then she died. After she went, I quit salvagin’ for the Thanes, just sat an’ thought about things. An’ then I got mad. It din’t seem right, ya know? I’d worked for them since I were real little. Riskin’ my life lots o’ times, doin’ dangerous stuff, goin’ after somethin’ they wanted. An’ then when we needed somethin’, well, we wasn’t good enough for ’em and so they let her die. I decided it weren’t goin’ to be like that no more. If they would let my mum die, well, chances were they would chuck me out just as fast if I weren’t no more use to ’em. I said to myself, Septua, it’s just you now an’ there’s no one to look after you, so you gots to take care of yourself. Set somethin’ aside for the ’ard times. An’ so that’s what I done.”
Fascinated by the dwarf’s story, Randi urged him to continue. “How did you do that, my friend, and what did you do to get yourself thrown in here with us?”
Septua smiled, a gap-toothed grin full of satisfaction. “I went back to the Thanes. Told ’em I were ready to work again an’ they was willin’ to believe me. Had no reason not to, never crossed their minds that someone might dare to oppose them. After that, every time I did a job for them, I kept something back for myself, a bit of precious metal, some coins, a gem, something small that wouldn’t be missed. It were easy an’ they never suspected a thing. After a while, it came to be a goodly collection. I were rich, but I still lived like the poorest of the poor.
“One day I were out in the square an’ I smiled at this woman, red hair, green eyes, an’ legs that stretched until tomorrow. You know, the kind that would bring the gods back to life. Well, you’d thought that I had insulted her an’ she starts screamin’ at me, makin’ fun of me an’ callin’ me all sorts of names. Said how dare I look at her, me being so puny an’ all without the means to so much as dust the path before her.
“I don’t know what happened to me,” groaned the dwarf, burying his overlarge head in his broad palms. “Every bit of smarts I ever had went out of my head, I were that mad. I jerked my pouch off my belt, opened the drawstring, an’ emptied it onto the ground at ’er feet. ’Er eyes got so big she actually choked an’ couldn’t say a word. It were worth it to see the look on ’er face. Me, I just turned an’ walked away like it didn’t mean nothin’. I never felt so good in my whole life. I felt… big.
“Well, she couldn’t let me go, you know? She scooped up what was on the ground an’ come after me. An’ that were the start of it. The start of the end, even if I didn’t know it then. Now don’t get me wrong. I don’t pretend to think that she liked me, I never fooled myself into believin’ that. I always knowed it were the money an’ the gems. But it were nice to ’ave a woman be good to me, even if it were just pretend.
“But she were expensive. First, mum’s ’ouse weren’t good for ’er, so she found a bigger place, one that suited ’er better. Then, she ’ad to ’ave new stuff to put in it. All the things that ’ad been good enough for me an’ mum was garbage to ’er an’ she tossed ’em out when I were gone salvaging an’ bought new stuff that I ’ad to pay for. An’ clothes! I never knew a woman could wear so many things or that they could cost so much! An’ of course, there was jewelry an’ presents, most of which she bought for herself any time somethin’ took ’er fancy. But I ain’t complainin’, you understand,” the little man said with an uptilted chin. “It were worth everythin’ I gived. It were wonderful walkin’ down the center of the chambers with a woman like that on my arm. Seein’ all the others lookin’ at me, wonderin’ what I ’ad that could keep a woman like that ’appy. Seein’ ’er smile at me like she really cared. It were worth it all. Even this.”
“So what went wrong?” Braldt asked softly, breaking into the dwarf’s reverie of remembrance.
“Huh? Oh, well you know, she kept askin’ for more of this an’ more o’ that an’ I didn’t ’ave no way of gettin’ everything she wanted. I couldn’t take too much at any one time or they was sure to catch on to me. I was down to the last of what I had put aside, an’ Mirna, that were ’er name, Mirna, it were like she sensed it somehow an’ she started to get restless, spent a lot of time talkin’ to the captain of the guards, rollin’ her eyes an’ twitchin’ ’er ’ips. I weren’t dumb, I could see what was comin’. It’s not like I couldn’t ’ave l
et her go, you understand, go back to the way things ’ad been before, it’s just, well, it’s just I got used to having ’er around.
“So when this Thane came to me in the middle of the night with ’is big idea that were supposed to be so easy an’ earn me lots of credits, why, you can see ’ow I had to say yes.”
“What was it that this Thane wanted you to do?” asked Allo.
“Nothin’ so very ’ard, at least it didn’t seem so in the tellin’. I were to sneak into the ’ome of the ’Igh Thane when ’e were gone an’ find the program key for the ’bots.”
Randi and Allo murmured their understanding and exchanged meaningful glances. But Braldt was totally lost, failing to comprehend what Septua was talking about. It was like so much that had happened to him since his capture. He could hear the words, sometimes even put meaning to them, but they were seldom the right meaning and he was adrift on a sea of confusion, feeling no smarter than the dumbest of beasts who trained in the arena. How could this vast world filled with so many diverse life forms have existed without his knowledge? It made him feel small and insignificant.
“I do not understand what you are speaking of. Please explain the meaning of this program key,” he said quietly.
“Oh, Braldt, I’m sorry, I should have explained,” said Randi. “There’s no way you could know. Programs are the brains of the ’bots, it’s what tells them what to do and how to do it.”