by Mick Farren
'All rules of toleration are suspended. We have to ask you to surrender the metaphysicians to our custody.'
'Baptiste will never keep his word.'
'We intend to preserve the city by any means open to us.'
The Minstrel Boy stepped into the conversation. 'It seems to me that you're between a rock and a hard place, General Zeum. Don't get me wrong, though. I'm not saying that we're the hard place. Although we're not about to hand over the metaphysicians, it's hardly up to us. They sealed themselves in the pyramid, and they don't show any sign of coming out.'
For the very first time Zeum's confidence deserted him. He had lived all his life and spent all his career operating according to a tailored fantasy. He had no patterns or guidelines with which to handle brutal, ragged reality. 'What can we do? Baptiste intends to destroy the city.'
Reave regarded the general with open contempt. 'There's nothing you can do. It's too late. About the only thing you could try would be to ask Baptiste for more time.'
Zeum looked at him with an almost childlike hope that someone would make it all right, after all. 'You think he might allow that?'
Reave closed his eyes. He could not stand looking at that idiot any longer. 'I don't think you've got a prayer.'
Zeum's temper suddenly exploded. Once again it was an infantile regression, a temper tantrum. 'I'll get weapons from Baptiste. First I'll deal with you, and then I'll get those damned metaphysicians out of there, even if I have to burn them out.'
Reave's patience was at an end. 'Yeah, sure. Do what you like.'
Zeum squared his shoulders and marched away.
Reave turned and stared at the blank surface of the pyramid with its black scar from the air attack. 'I don't know if you can hear us, Showcross Gee, but you better let us in there pretty goddamn soon. It's going to start coining unglued out here in a matter of minutes.'
Billy was looking in the opposite direction, across the city and beyond the gates, where Baptiste and his men were waiting out the ultimatum.
'There's something I'd really like to have explained to me,' he said.
'What's that?'
'What exactly does Baptiste have against the metaphysicians? I mean, how did all this get started?'
Reave looked at him in surprise. 'You mean you don't know?'
'How the hell should I know? I was never one of his boys.'
Reave shrugged. 'It's easy. He was one of them.'
'He was what?'
'He was one of them. He was a metaphysician once upon a time.'
Billy blinked. 'That lunatic?'
'They cut him off, drummed him out of the order.'
'Because he was crazy?'
'It was more specific than that. He was doing this series of experiments that involved tapping directly into the brain patterns of live humans. Rumors started going around about massive death tolls and how Baptiste was having hundreds of duplicates beamed in from Stuff Central. The College of Metaphysicians investigated, and they found that he had hundreds of human duplicates wired up to these kind of storage devices. He was literally draining off their life forces like some kind of high-tech vampire. The college outlawed the practice and expelled Baptiste in disgrace. He was lucky to escape with his life. It was only the fact that the College of Metaphysicians had never granted itself capital powers over its members that saved him from execution. Needless to say, Baptiste didn't see it that way. He swore that he'd get his revenge, and he's been doing exactly that ever since. I imagine he sees this as his crowning moment.'
Billy sighed. 'And we're right in the middle of it.'
Reave nodded. 'Ain't that the story of our lives?'
'Ain't it just.'
Baptiste's deadline came and went, and to everyone's surprise, absolutely nothing happened. The Minstrel Boy was deeply suspicious.
'You don't think Baptiste gave them more time, do you?'
'It hardly seems possible.'
'Some kind of deal's been done.'
Reave turned to Billy and nodded at the multiplex. 'How much juice you got left in that thing?'
Billy pulled a wry face. 'Running on dry. Two smartbombs, half a clip of spreaders; after that it's down to particle and focused heat until the power base runs down. Why? Are you thinking of making a fight of it?'
'I'm still hoping that pyramid will open up and let us in.'
'It ain't done it yet.'
The Minstrel Boy noticed something at the other end of the boulevard. 'Now, what in hell is this?'
A single rider had come out from one of the gate towers and was racing hell for leather for the pyramid.
'That's Zeum's horse.'
'That'sRenatta.'
'Huh?'
'I guess we'll find out.'
Renatta did not slacken her pace as she reached the steps that: led up to the plaza, and the charger almost stumbled. At the top of the steps she swung down from the saddle, gasping for breath.
'You know what. . those assholes. . have done?'
The Minstrel Boy grabbed her and hugged her with open admiration. 'You stole Zeum's fucking horse!'
'Never mind that. The beloved Master just gave the city to Baptiste.'
'He really doesn't have any choice.'
Renatta shook her head. 'No, no, you don't understand He's about to open the gates, and he wants the whole city to pledge loyalty to Baptiste. They're running on high-test panic, trying to save their skins at any price. The beloved Master is going to make an announcement. The raiders will come in unopposed and take the metaphysicians out of the pyramid. I came to warn you. We have to get inside the pyramid right now and hope that Showcross Gee has this mysterious escape route on-line.'
Reave gestured to the sealed entrance. 'There's a slight problem about that.'
Renatta's face fell. 'Oh, shit.'
There was a loud electronic crackle from speakers all over the city. Renatta gripped the Minstrel Boy's arm. 'Listen, listen, the little bastard is going to make the announcement.'
Parshew-a-Thar's high nervous voice was relayed across all of Palanaque.
'My children. .' The pause seemed to go on forever. 'Evil days have come to test our loyalty. Evil men are among us. Necromancers and heretics are conjuring abominations in the most sacred places of our Great Pyi-amid. Their mercenaries wait without with their instruments of death.'
Billy looked outraged. 'He's talking about us.'
'But although the storm is in our midst, fear not. A savior is at hand. The warrior Baptiste waits outside our gates.'
'What?'
'How does he get around the fact that the savior wiped out his army as lately as this morning?'
'Vlad Baptiste has come with fire and a sword and has demonstrated the ways in which we have fallen into error. We must heed his words and prostrate ourselves before him. He will enter the city and free us from the abominations.'
Billy was shaking his head, looking bemused. 'I can't believe. .'
Reave glared at him. 'Sure you can.'
'We command you, my children, when the warrior Baptiste rides through the city, you will come out, you will leave yourhomes and come into the streets and, on your knees, make the fullest obeisance to this our deliverer.'
The Minstrel Boy let the AK slide from his shoulder. He felt its weight with his hands as though he needed the touch of something hard and tangible. 'I think that's the sickest joke I ever heard.'
Renatta pointed. 'The gates are opening.'
The quartet at the foot of the pyramid had expected that Baptiste, in the new and absurd role of savior, would come through first, riding on the turret of his armored car, grim-faced, goggles pushed back, and scarf flapping in the breeze. To their surprise, nothing of the sort happened — indeed, absolutely nothing prepared them for the first sight that did come marching out of the shadows of the gatehouse and down the boulevard.
'It's Stent!'
'Stent's changed ssdes?'
'It's not possible.'
Renatta quickly put
them straight. 'It's not Stent.'
'It sure looks like Stent.'
'It's the same model armor, give or take a couple of decades, but it's not Stent. You can see that this one's much more corroded and scarred than Stent.'
'Where did it come from?'
'Baptiste must have been holding it in reserve. It only appeared after he issued the ultimatum.'
'Wherever it came from, it seems to be coming for us.'
The metal man was advancing on them at a rapid pace. The main body of raiders had started to emerge from the gatehouse, but they were coming on slowly, giving the metal man plenty of room. As the lizards plodded down the boulevard, it seemed that the entire population of Palanaque was coming out. On both sides of the boulevard they silently fell to their knees, prostrate as commanded, foreheads pressed to the ground and arms outstretched. The Minstrel Boy watched with a horror that, although different, quite matched the horror of the earlier slaughter. The shards of the Damaged World decayed in different ways. The Palanaquii had surrendered all will to a spurious, divine order, and they had all but ceased to think. It was the psychosis of slaves. In their craving for the comfort of a god they had refined abasement to a surreal art. Now, on a single command of their idiot master, they were changing gods. Maybe Baptiste would spare the Palanaquii and develop a taste for being worshiped. It would undoubtedly be an era of refined evil for as long as it lasted. The Minstrel Boy abandoned the speculation with an angry shake of the head. He did not want to think of what Vlad Baptiste might come up with as a divine being, and in any case, the metal man was getting close.
Reave looked back at the pyramid. There was still no sign of it opening. He beckoned to the others. 'We'll pull back to the entrance and hope that Showcross Gee pulls us out in the nick of time.'
Billy thumbed the ready on the multiplex. 'You want me to try a smartbomb on him?'
Reave shrugged. 'I doubt it will do much damage to that armor, but you can try.'
The amplified voice from behind took all four of them completely by surprise. 'Hold the bomb, Billy Oblivion. This traitor is mine!'
The entrance to the interior of the pyramid had silently opened. Lister Stent was coming down the stepped side of the giant structure. Clay Blaisdell was slightly behind him.
Reave yelled to the others. 'Okay, let's go. Let's get up those steps and inside.'
But Stent held up a hand. 'Wait! There's something that I have to settle.'
He marched past Reave. The other metal man had halted. Stent pointed an accusing arm at him 'You are a traitor. More Mornon. You have allied yourself with our enemy, and in so doing you have betrayed our kind and you have betrayed your host city.'
'Krystaleit is no more, and I am a free agent. I am ronin.'
'We are never ronin. You should have died with the contractor. The very fact that you are here is proof enough. You committed your act of treachery before the destruction of the city.'
'I am a free agent, Lister Stent.'
Stent crossed the plaza with fast, power-assisted strides and halted at the top of the steps that led down to the boulevard. Mornon waited at the bottom.
'You will face me one on one, More Mornon.'
'I 'm not afraid of you, Lister Stent.'
'Face retribution, traitor.'
Violet fire flashed from Stem's arm. Mornon staggered back a couple of paces in the face of the blast. The surface of his armor glowed cherry-red, but he did not go down. All around, everyone stood and stared. Baptiste and his men had come to a complete stop. Reave and the others had also turned and were watching in amazement. It was the spectacle of a lifetime. The metal men were rare enough in any circumstance, but to actually see two of them going against each other like a pair of steel sumo wrestlers was close to unique. Momon returned the blast, and it was Stent's turn to stagger. It quickly became clear to the onlookers that the two armored troopers were very evenly matched. Although the firepower built into their arms and chests was awesome in the extreme, their armor was equally formidable, and neither man seemed able to deliver a decisive knockout. For some minutes they both stood their ground, their huge tracked boots anchoring them to the flagstones. They tossed massive energy blasts at each other across the width of the plaza steps. There were moments when both men were completely enveloped in glowing energy. Cascades of sparks flew for dozens of yards all around, and the closest spectators had to scramble back to a safer distance.
Stent was the first to realize that they were at a stalemate. He suddenly changed his tactics. He charged down the steps at full speed and threw himself at Mornon. Both the crash of metal on metal and Mornon's amplified grunt of pain were audible all over the city. Stent began smashing his arms repeatedly on the top of Mornon's headpiece, powered forearm blows that rang like a giant hammer hitting the anvil of the gods and would have pulped a normal human in an instant. The obvious intent was to jar loose the implants where Mornon's armor and weapons systems interfaced with his natural body. Unable to blast through his armor, Stent was trying to force him to his knees and cripple him internally. Mornon immediately responded by wrapping his arms around Stent's waist as though trying to crush him in a mechanical bear hug. As Mornon tried to lift Stent off his feet, Stent in his turn kept up the relentless hail of blows to the top of Mornon's head.
The metallic savagery reeled backward and forward, with neither combatant gaining the advantage. Steel claws extended from the ends of Mornon's arms. He seemed to be trying to force them into the side seams of Stent's chest armor and penetrate it that way. Stent began to twist and turn, seeking to break the grip. When that failed, he tried another tack. The end of his right arm swiveled, and a plate opened to give access to a limpet ring. He clamped that to the side of Mornon's headpiece and started feeding raw plasma directly into the man's armor. The pain must have been unimaginable. Mornon had not cut off his voice amplifier, and his screams were horrific. Despite the plasma, which must have been burning him alive, his retractable claws continued to scrabble desperately at Stent's armor. Finally, they seemed to find a purchase. He was able to insert the tips into the seam between the chest plates. He threw himself backward seeking to widen the gap by pure force. Stent also screamed. Mornon began to feed power through his claws, directly into the interior of Stent's suit. For long minutes the two of them stood locked in a deadly embrace with glowing, uncontrolled power rippling across the surfaces of their armored suits. The noise that was coming from them no longer resembled anything that even approached human.
It was not clear which one blew first — the twin explosions were close to simultaneous. Stent's entire headpiece was blown off, and it spun high into the air. The weapons built into his left arm discharged in a single blazing arc that melted the stones at his feet. Mornon's fatal blast was more internalized. It did not split his armor, but flame and hot gas jetted from every vent and orifice. The two metal men fell against each other with a doomed knell crash, two lifeless steel hulks still on their feet, propping each other up. Smoke drifted lazily from the hole where Stent's head once had been.
Despite all the horror that had gone before, the whole city, including the contract warriors and Baptiste's raiders, was gripped by a long minute of silence. It was as though the population had been stunned by the very personal display of superhuman violence. When the grip let go, however, all hell broke loose. There was a howl from the raiders as they spurred forward.
Reave turned and yelled. 'That's us! Let's go! Let's get inside the pyramid.'
The remaining five contract warriors were climbing the side of the pyramid as fast as they could. There suddenly seemed to be an infinite number of steps between them and safety. The Minstrel Boy's breath was already coming in short, labored gasps. They should have climbed higher while the metal men were flighting, but they had been held spellbound by the clash of the ancient military behemoths. It suddenly looked like a spell that would prove ultimately disastrous. The raiders were on the plaza, and weapon fire was already hitting the steps. Every
thing had started to move with the alarming speed of crisis and pumping adrenaline.
The Minstrel Boy was sweating and red in the face by the time he reached the platform in front of the entrance to the pyramid. He was running half doubled-over, ducking the multicolored fire that flashed over his head. The great stone blocks that served as doors were still rolled back. He looked behind. To his surprise, Renatta, Blaisdell, and Billy were still laboring up the steps. The raiders were dismounted and climbing, too, firing from the hip as they came. The Minstrel Boy unslung the AK 5000 and thumbed off the safety. He fired a long burst into the climbing raiders. Two of them went down, but then he had to duck a particle beam as one of their comrades took careful aim at him.
He heard Renatta scream. She was down. Blaisdell changed direction to go to her aid. He had taken only a couple of steps when he, too, was hit. A spreader had removed all of his right shoulder and a portion of his head. His body rolled down five steps before it finally came to rest.
The Minstrel Boy started down again. He had to reach Renatta. She was one of them, much more so than Blaisdell. If she was dead, he could die, too. The protective aura would be gone. He found that he was muttering to himself as he slapped another clip into the AK. 'This is too fucking real. This is all too fucking real.'
Billy reached her first. He bent over her briefly and then waved him back. 'There's nothing you can do! She's dead!'
He turned and dropped a smartbomb on his pursuers. The Minstrel Boy stood stock-still. He was numb. Renatta couldn't be dead. She couldn't be dead.
Billy was yelling at him. 'Get moving! Don't be a damned fool, she's dead!'
Reave had come out of nowhere and grabbed him. He dragged him up the last few steps and through the entrance. The stone blocks were already pivoting back into place. Billy rolled through behind them with a couple of raiders hot on his heels.
As he rolled, he loosed a heatflash from the multiplex, and they were charred instantly. The stone blocks closed. They were sealed inside the pyramid.
For the first few seconds they were blind. After the bright, white marble outside, the interior of the pyramid was a place of impenetrable gloom until their eyes adjusted. The Minstrel Boy slowly lowered his gun, but he could not quite put it down. A red LED was flashing on the AK. He was out of ammunition. There were no more fresh clips. He released the empty one and let it clatter to the floor.