by Mick Farren
'Fuck that shit. I want to dance.'
He climbed to his feet and started jigging about with the girl.
'Thou art a one, young sir.'
A circle was formed in the middle of the room. Reave swung the screaming and giggling girl round and round, while the accordion player and the fiddler stamped their feet.
The dance whirled faster and faster, then, abruptly, the music stopped. The door had opened, and in the doorway stood two blue-coated officers. Reave collided with the girl and they both fell in a heap on the floor. The officers stood looking down at them.
'What do ye, herein?'
Reave scrambled to his feet. Billy stayed seated at the table, but his hand slid down beside his gun. Reave grinned sheepishly at the officers.
'We, uh, fell over.'
'Ye fell. Art thou sure it wasn't public dancing?'
'Public dancing?'
'Aye, fellow. Public dancing.'
Lo Yuen hurried from behind the bar.
'There no public dancing in this inn, gentlemen officers. That would be against law.'
He took each officer by the arm, and after a muttered conversation they all went outside together. A couple of minutes later Lo Yuen returned on his own. He went straight up to Reave and the girl.
'If gentleman want to sport with girl, then he must take her to own room.'
Reave grinned, and slapped the girl's bottom.
'That suits me, brother.'
He grinned at her.
'You coming then, gorgeous?'
She pouted.
'If that's what would please thee, good sir.'
'Let's go then.'
He took her by the hand and led her towards the stairs. Lo Yuen caught him by the arm.
'One moment, my friend. Officers took twenty crowns of persuasion before they leave.'
Reave dropped the coins into his hand, and then hurried up the stairs with the laughing girl. Billy relaxed in his seat and poured himself another drink. He was beginning to like Port Judas despite its absurd laws. A girl dropped into Reave's empty chair. She had red hair and large green eyes. There were freckles on the section of her ample breasts that were presented to Billy. She smiled at him slyly.
'My friend's gone upstairs with thy mate.'
Billy laughed.
'You want to do the same?'
'I might. If thou wast specially nice to me.'
Chapter 22
'It would be productive to gather data from the static module.'
'It is unfortunate that we lack the time.'
'We are injured and unable to delay our search for a naturally occurring stasis point where we may heal our wounds'
'We must continue.'
'We must continue.'
The spherical form of Her/Them detached Her/Their self from the dead hulk of Wilbur and floated free. She/They maintained the form until She/They was some distance from the silent disrupter, and then resumed the triple form. The two identical women carrying the injured third in their arms. She/They turned so that She/They faced away from the broken disruption module, and once again began Her/Their steady progress.
The mist was unnaturally still. It lay in even horizontal layers. All twisting and undulation had ceased. She/They moved forward, breasting the layers of mist with little effort. Then abruptly it ceased. The mist, the blue light, there was nothing at all. A total empty blackness.
'Absence.'
For a fraction of a second, She/They did not exist either. Then, moved by Her/Their emergency programming, She/They exerted Her/Their will. She/They began to glow with a soft violet light, and became the only thing in that totally empty universe.
'The state of our existence is related to nothing. There is no external by which we may judge our being.'
The words glowed bright red, growing bigger and bigger to fill the empty space. Abruptly they blinked out.
'If motion can be equated with the expenditure of energy, then we move.'
'We expend the energy in order to move, therefore we move.
'Subsequently we move'
More words flashed away into the void.
'The absence of external produces a hole of total subjectivity.'
'Observation. An external has been produced.'
A point of light appeared.
'Cease all energy use.'
She/They became totally inert. The point of light remained.
'External proved to be objective.'
The point of light grew larger and slowly took shape. It moved towards Her/Them like some winged object. It grew larger and larger. It was a huge penguin that glowed with a hard yellow light. She/They remained totally inert as it flapped majestically past without a sideways glance. It flew on, becoming smaller and smaller. Finally it was just a point of light again.
'We possess no data on such a phenomenon.'
'It fails to compute.'
Chapter 23
'Thou wert lusty, young sir.'
'I could say the same for you, babe.'
The girl had been willing and eager. She had lacked a lot in technique, but more than made up for it in enthusiasm. She had reacted with shock and amazement when Billy had put his mouth between her legs. It was obvious that no one in Port Judas behaved that way. She had also been somewhat disturbed when he had suggested that she treated him to a blow job. After some persuasion and instruction she had acquired a taste for both.
'Thou hast taught me much.'
'Glad to oblige.'
When he had entered her she had seemed much more at home, bucking and writhing, moaning and lifting her hips to meet him in what seemed to Billy to be genuine earthy pleasure. She had raked his back with her nails, and finally, after a long time, they had both come together and collapsed exhausted. They had lain together in silence for a while, and then she had spoken. Billy propped himself up on one elbow and looked at her.
'Don't girls like you have a hard time in Port Judas?'
'It's not too bad if we don't stray outside the quarter.'
'What about the good people of the town? Don't they give you a hard time?'
'They call us whores and sinners, but they can't do without us. They need us so the good women can keep their sacred virtue. Much good it may do them too. I wouldn't swap with the wife of an elder right now.'
'Don't they have laws against doing this kind of thing?'
The girl scowled.
' 'Course they have laws. Every so often the blue coats round up a few of us and we get dragged in front of the procurator for fornication and lewdness.'
'And what happens then?'
'Either ten strokes of the rod or five days in the workhouse.'
'Have you ever been pulled in?'
'Once or twice. I always take the rod. It's quicker.'
'You mean you've been beaten?'
' 'Course. I said I had, didn't I? It don't happen often because like I said, they got to have us. We only get rounded up for appearances.'
Billy shook his head.
'I don't understand you. Why the hell don't you split? Why don't you run away from this place?'
The girl looked at him in surprise.
'That's silly talk, young sir. Where would I go?'
Billy lay on his back and stared at the ceiling. The girl seemed so certain that Port Judas was the whole world that he could think of nothing else to say. After a time he rolled over and began to stroke her breast. Just as the excitement was starting to mount again in both of them, there was a knock on the door. Billy's mind flashed back to Dogbreath.
'Not again.'
He rolled over, and grabbed the gun from his belt that was hanging on the bedpost. The knocking came again.
'Who is it?'
'It's me, Billy. It's Reave.'
Taking no chances, Billy padded across to the door, slipped the bolt, and stepped back.
'Come in, but come in nice and slow.'
The door opened and Reave stepped inside. Billy lowered his gun.
<
br /> 'What's happening?'
'I just been down to the parlour for a nightcap, and I heard something that I thought I ought to tell you about.'
Billy wrapped a blanket round himself and sat down on the bed.
'Wouldn't it have kept till morning?'
'I don't think so. There's these two guys downstairs. They're sitting in the corner. They're wearing trench coats and they've got their hats pulled down over their faces. La Yuen told me that they've been asking about us. He reckons they're secret agents from the war zone.'
'Sounds like they're from the Ghâshnákh.'
'And they're looking for us. I got a feeling it's trouble, Billy.'
Billy reached for a cigar, lit it, and held the smoke in his lungs for a long time while he thought.
'I don't think they'll try anything while we're in here. There's too many people about.'
'So what do we do?'
I guess we've got to stick close to the inn until it's time for the boat. Then we'll make a run for it.'
'What do we do about boat tickets?'
'Get Lo Yuen to fix them for us.'
'Think we can trust him?'
'We're going to have to.'
'I suppose so.'
'Listen. Go to bed. Lock the door, and we'll see how things are in the morning. We're going to have to play this thing by ear.'
Reave grinned.
'When did we ever do anything else?'
He headed for the door, and Billy bolted it behind him. He went back to the young woman in his bed. She looked at him nervously.
'Thou art in trouble.'
He ran his fingers between her legs.
'Nothing we can't take care of.'
To his surprise she pushed him away and sat up.
'I think perhaps it's time I was leaving thee.'
Billy put his arm round her.
'Listen. There ain't going to be no trouble. I thought you were going to stay the whole night?'
The girl shot him a sidelong glance.
'Thou couldst try giving me another little present.'
Billy fumbled in his jacket, and dropped ten crowns on the girl's stomach. She gathered them up and placed them with her clothes, then she lay down smiling.
'Perhaps we should play them new games that thou hast taught me?'
Billy pulled her close to him, and they played for a long time before they fell asleep.
When Billy came down to the parlour the next morning, the two men in trench coats were sitting in a corner. They watched openly while Lo Yuen brought him a plate of eggs and a mug of beer.
They were just as Reave had described them. Dirty trench coats and grey fedoras pulled over their eyes. They just had to be Ghâshnákh agents. Billy ate his eggs and. stared back at them. Bit by bit the parlour began to fill up with the morning trade, and when the place was fairly full, Billy managed to get a quiet word with Lo Yuen.
'I hear there's a boat leaving tomorrow?'
The little man nodded.
'Pier six, eleven in the morning.'
'Could you fix it so me and my partner were on it?'
'Very simple. I get you tickets.'
'How much would it be for a good-class cabin for the two of us?'
'Two hundred crowns.'
Billy dropped the coins in Lo Yuen's hand.
'There's an extra fifty. It's for your trouble.'
He gave the little man a hard look.
'I wouldn't like it if anyone else heard about it.'
Lo Yuen smiled blandly.
'You no worry. Me soul of discretion. Ask anybody.'
'Okay. Thanks.'
'Okay. I go now.'
The little man hurried off to take care of his customers, Reave came down to the parlour rubbing his eyes. He flopped into the chair next to Billy and glanced at the men in the corner.
'I see they're still here.'
'Did you really expect them to be gone?'
'I guess not. What are we going to do?'
'Nothing. Nothing at all. We're just going to sit here and drink. Lo Yuen's getting our boat tickets, and at about ten thirty tomorrow, we'll do a run for pier number six. Okay?'
'It's okay with me. I guess you know what you're doing.'
'I hope so. I don't fancy being dragged back to Dur Shanzag.'
They spent the rest of the day sitting at their table in the parlour, drinking in a leisurely manner, and watching the two agents watching them. Towards the end of the evening they each found themselves a girl and retired behind the bolted doors of their rooms. Billy spent a pleasant night informing a second Port Judas whore of the joys that could be had from oral-genital contact. Billy reflected that if the idea spread round the town, he would probably be responsible for yet another addition to the Port Judas city ordinances.
The next morning Billy got up, dressed, crossed the corridor and tapped on Reave's door.
'Who is it?'
'Billy, let me in, quick.'
He slipped inside, and Reave bolted the door behind him.
'You got the tickets?'
Billy nodded.
'Lo Yuen gave them to me last night, I also paid our bill.'
'So we can walk straight out of here?'
'If you've got everything together.'
Reave struggled into his jacket.
'I'm ready.'
'Okay, let's go.'
They hurried down the stairs, and went straight across the parlour and out of the door before the two agents had a chance to move. Once in the street, they hurried along for a couple of blocks, and then ducked into an alley. Reave glanced behind.
'Think we've lost them?'
'I don't know. Let's keep moving.'
They doubled back through the narrow streets of the outlanders' quarter, crossing the same route a number of times, before heading for the pier. There was no sign of the two men when they finally emerged on the quayside. They were jostled by sailors and dock workers as they looked for pier six. The smell of the river seemed like the scent of freedom. At last they came across a sign that read Pier Six and they hurried out to board the river boat.
The Maria Nowhere was a floating palace. It looked as though it had been designed by a fin de siècle shipwright with an obsession about decorative wrought iron. It lay low in the water, but its elaborate white and gold superstructure was a maze of saloons, companionways and promenade decks. Towering above the wheel house were the ship's pair of slender smoke stacks, and in the rear, the huge single paddle wheel that drove the river boat.
Billy and Reave breathlessly hurried up the gangway. At the top, they were stopped by the purser.
'You have tickets, gentlemen?'
Billy produced the tickets and they were directed to the first-class berths. Halfway there, they were met by a steward and showed into a large, comfortable cabin. Reave grinned at Billy.
'This is the way to travel.'
The cabin followed through the same design style as the outside of the boat, except that the wrought iron and white timber had been replaced by inlaid veneer, crystal mirrors and dark red plush. Billy flopped into an armchair while Reave wandered round the cabin looking in cupboards and opening drawers.
'This sure is an improvement on anything else we've had.'
Billy laughed.
'It's a pity we're so scruffy. That steward couldn't believe we were first-class passengers.'
'Fuck him. We've got money, and that's what counts when you get down to it.'
There was a shudder as the boat's engines began to turn over, and then after a few minutes an even tremor began. Reave went to the porthole.
'We're moving, Billy. We're under way. Come and have a look.'
Billy moved across to the porthole. The waterfront of Port Judas was slowly receding. Billy put a hand on Reave's shoulder.
'Looks like we're out of it, old buddy. We've got away from it all, Dur Shanzag and the good people of Port Judas. I got a feeling that life is going to get better. I got a good feeling, old budd
y.'
Reave smiled.
'I got a feeling that I need a drink now all the excitement's over.'
Billy grinned.
'Good idea, let's go up to the saloon. I think it's on the next deck up.'
They both stowed their porta-pacs in one of the cupboards, hid their surplus money under the mattress, and started for the door. Billy opened it, and found himself staring down the muzzle of a heavy-calibre automatic pistol. Behind the gun were the two men in trench coats.
'Oh no!'
They pushed Billy back into the cabin. The agents' eyes glittered from behind their hat brims and upturned collars.
'You will not move or make a sound.'
'Turn round and place your hands on the wall.'
The agents' voices were little more than a cold hiss. Billy and Reave did as they were told, and were patted down and relieved of their guns. They were then ordered to sit on the bed. Billy decided to try and bluff it out.
'Who are you, and what do you want?'
Silently one of the agents reached in his pocket and produced a black leather billfold. He flicked it open. Inside was an enamel badge with the eye and flames emblem in red on a black background.
'We are agents of the Ghâshnákh. We are taking you back to Dur Shanzag for interrogation.'
Billy started to get up.
'Listen, you've made a mistake. I don't know who you're looking for but . . .'
One of the agents hissed at him.
'Sit down. If you move again I shall blow your head off. One would suffice to take back for interrogation.' Billy sat down abruptly.
'As for being mistaken, there is no possibility of that. You are without question the deserters who stole a fighting machine. We found it where you abandoned it in the desert. Your accessory the albino pervert also told us much before he died. There is no mistake.'
Reave leaped to his feet.
'You mean you killed Burt the Medicine?'
'Obviously, and we'll kill you if you don't sit down.'
Reave sank to the bed.
'What are you going to do with us?'
'You'll be taken back to Dur Shanzag for examination by the Eight.'
'And then?'
'You won't survive examination.'
There seemed to be nothing more to say. Then Billy had an idea.
'You'll have to get us off the boat.'