The Worm That Wasn't

by Mike Maddox

  Wallas was puzzled, but swung his blaster from his shoulder anyway, thumbing the safety catch.

  "A worm? A worm in the well?" He signalled to his men who shouldered their rifles warily. Wallas unclipped a flare from his webbing, and lobbed it into the hole. He counted to three and then thrust himself forward to peer over the lip. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness he saw something move, far below him.

  "Keep back!" shouted Leah.

  Lights filled the square as a military transport pulled up. Captain Rilston and a squad of Castle guards jumped down, guns at the ready, their blue uniforms spotless in the torchlight.

  "Caught one, have we?" Rilston strode across the square, hands behind his back. "And it's Miss Carleaf, what a pleasant surprise. Out for a stroll, were we? And who's this with you? Oh, one of your little friends. Fast asleep I note. Dear me, you really must learn to hold your drink better."

  Wallas stepped back from the well, resetting the safety catch on his weapon.

  "Tell him, Wallas. Tell him what's down there." Leah said.

  Wallas stood awkwardly to attention.

  "I'm not sure, Miss. I mean, I saw something, I think. Couldn't say what."

  Leah left Gim lying on the ground and rushed to the well mouth. "Captain, there's a worm down there, a giant beast. It attacked my friend."

  Rilston walked over to the well and peered down. "In the well? You mean you were down there? Whatever for?"

  "We were looking for it."

  Rilston snorted. "I wasn't aware you'd lost one, Miss Carleaf." He turned to Wallas. "Have these two taken to the militia barracks for further questioning. No idea what they're up to, but the curfew is to be strictly enforced. If I don't have a reasonable answer to what I believe to be a set of reasonable questions, I'll have the pair of them taken to the Castle for interrogation if need be. That is all, Sergeant."

  Wallas walked over to Leah, slinging his rifle over his shoulder. "You heard him, Miss."

  Leah knelt beside Gim, cradling his head. She looked up at Wallas, sharply. "This man is hurt, Sergeant. He may well be dying. He needs immediate attention."

  "Not for me to say, Miss."

  "Not for you to -? Sergeant, his face is bright purple! Look at him! He was stung by the worm and I'd say he needs urgent medical attention. Please, get him into a transport and take him to the hospital. It's on the way to the barracks."

  Wallas hesitated

  "Look. If he dies on us, then I promise I'll let you shoot him if that it will make you feel any better!"

  Gim was taken into the isolation ward on an army stretcher, carried by two militiamen wearing gas masks, just in case. Guards were posted on the ward, although it was obvious to everyone that Gim was in no state to escape. A drip was inserted into his right arm, while his wrist-port was attached to a bedside computer that monitored his vital signs. Although satisfied that he did not show symptoms of the sickness, they decided to take no chances.

  Leah sat on the single plastic chair in her cell and stared at the door. Rilston's men had brought her to the barracks, after she too had been tested for the sickness. It was a blockhouse, designed to house about twenty soldiers, with a high perimeter wall, a couple of cells and a central control room

  A guard brought her a warm drink and something to eat. He was young and obviously uncomfortable to be her jailor.

  "Any further news of my friend Gim?" said Leah, sipping the drink.

  "None that I know of. Has he got the sickness?"

  "What? No he hasn't. He was stung by the worm! However it is that people are getting ill, it's not because they were stung by enormous monsters. You need to tell your Captain that there's a creature in the well, and that it's got to be taken care of."

  "I'll do what I can, Miss. But I was only told to bring you something to eat and drink before they get round to questioning you." Leah looked at her food, suddenly suspicious. The boy laughed. "It's alright, Miss, I haven't put anything funny in it. It's just food, really it is."

  Leah took a mouthful and cried.

  Grefno strode along the passageway between the War Room and the Council Chamber, his warriors struggling to remain a dignified distance behind him. In the past few days he had developed an unseemly gait that had caused less generous souls to whisper behind his back that he was damaging the dignity of his calling. Grefno knew, and didn't particularly care. He had been stuck in his books for three days now, trying to understand the sickness and what might have caused it. He knew he should be gearing his thoughts towards the impending war, but the more he tried to steer his thoughts in that direction, the more unfocussed and distracted he became. It was only by concentrating on the sickness that he felt truly engaged.

  Deciding to allow his thoughts free rein, he had walked away from the war altogether and was now wholly concentrating on finding the cause of the disease.

  There were so many variables to consider. The illness didn't seem to be as random in its choice of victims as Grefno had at first thought. The loss of the Gardeners was a worry, but over the last few days he had seen soldiers struck down and local civil servants, while it seemed to ignore the lower classes as often as not.

  Grefno had considered diet, lifestyle, all the factors he could in his quest for a cure, for if a solution could be found, then there would be no need for war. And war was something to be avoided at all costs.

  As a young man Grefno had served in the front line overseas. Distant allies had been threatened, and they had gone to their aid. As a Chemical Warrior he had been assigned to a logistics unit, supposedly supporting front line troops, but in a career destroying tactical blunder, a senior general had allowed the line to be over run, meaning Grefno was caught behind enemy lines. He had formed a loose group of soldiers, engineers and stores clerks, and together they had fought their way back home against incredible odds, and in the most inhospitable of terrain.

  Sages did not suffer nightmares. Their dreams were far more lucid and valuable than that. The other men in his unit were not so fortunate, and were still plagued by horrors on nights when the air was warm and the air thick with pollen. They had been in a jungle, knee deep in water for weeks, with constant rain and stifling heat. Apart from the enemy, who seemed perfectly at ease in such hostile terrain, there were other threats. Trees that swallowed men whole, leeches the size of bricks and lights that would lure a man off into the swamp.

  Grefno reached the lobby, and strode out into the cool marble entrance. Four men waited for him, one in grey, two in the black armour of serving infantry. At their head stood General Vale. Without a word, Grefno gestured them towards him, and together they filed into a brass elevator cage. As it ascended, Grefno at last spoke.

  "My esteemed colleague, the Sage Niaal, says that war is inevitable," he said. The General coughed, flicking a glance at his comrades. Like him, they were white haired and getting on in years, though still commanding in appearance.

  "War is seldom inevitable, Grefno. It may be that a certain amount of sabre rattling along the borders will be enough, or it may be that we need to project sufficient power into disputed territories to convince them of our resolve."

  A short man in a grey naval uniform cut in, saying, "There are no disputed territories. What we are talking about is stealing several hundred miles of someone else's land. There is no dispute. It's downright hostility. We would be outraged if this were done to us by another state."

  Grefno led them out of the elevator and into a chamber that was open to the sky. A Thought Ship wavered in the breeze above them. This was the Mage's personal hanger. Grefno clicked his fingers and a faint blue powder fell around them, forming a bubble with them inside.

  Grefno faced them. "There. Now no one can hear us. Even in the Castle we must be careful." He folded his hands beneath his robes, projecting an air of calm, as he described the situation and the lack of a cure for the sickness, with all that entailed. "To that end it has been suggested that we annexe land from Prash-Romaria. It will be a brief, blood
y conflict which we expect to win. Our nation will survive." He looked around at them, appalled by his own words. "The Sages suggest that we save ourselves by murdering our own countrymen, and by openly stealing from our neighbours."

  The naval officer adjusted his collar. "It's madness. Surely we can do better than this? What if we go to them in the spirit of friendship and ask for help?"

  "That has been tried. Diplomats report that the Prash-Romarians are at best unwilling to help, at worst may consider destroying all of Allesh by fire themselves, in order to contain the sickness. Already we have seen troop movements on their borders."

  "Well, we cannot expect them to sit idly by as we move our troops nearer to their territory," said the Admiral. "I know we wouldn't stand for it, were our situations reversed."

  "If we attack then the conflict will escalate in no time at all." General Vale said. "The Prash-Romarians are fierce warriors, and are ably supported by cunning wizards. Tanks and shells would quickly churn up any farmland we might hope to gain. We would take hundreds of miles of arable farmland and quickly turn them into a muddy swamp filled with trenches and dead bodies. We could be no better off."

  "Yes," said Grefno, simply. "Quite possibly. But if we do nothing, then we will almost certainly die, unless a cure is found, and found quickly." They stood in silence, the fate of the country sat on their shoulders.

  "The Mage," said General Vale. "What does the Mage say?"

  "He is not to be disturbed. He is in deep meditation and must not be contacted under any circumstances."

  "But surely," spluttered the navy officer. "Surely a situation like this is so exceptional that protocol can be side-stepped?"

  Grefno avoided his gaze. "Under any circumstance. Sorry my friends, but we have to deal with this by ourselves."

  "But this is ridiculous! What's the point of having a Mage, what's the point in all this," Vale gestured around them at the Castle, "if the Mage refuses to even talk to us? Duty is one thing. But it cannot and must not make us blind to reason!"

  Grefno held his hands together in front of him in a gesture of humble supplication. "I know you are right. And that makes it all the worse. We must find a way around this, before war becomes the only option open to us."

  The two men glared at each other, before the General placed a conciliatory hand on Grefno's shoulder.

  "We will find a way round this. We always have. Together."

  The bubble burst around them, and they were back in real-time again.

  The General flexed his shoulders, feeling the stiffness of the years suddenly in his bones. "Come my friends, we must address the Sages."

  "I will not be joining you," said Grefno. "For now I am needed elsewhere. If a cure can be found, then I must do all I can to find it. If we fight the sickness, then perhaps we will have no need to fight our neighbours."

  Back in his study, Grefno poured over figures and calculations, the numbers blurring in his head like fireballs swung by dancers at harvest time. His wrist-port was linked to the Castle mainframe, feeding him a constant stream of information. Grefno was pushing himself beyond all reasonable tolerances now, and was closer to breaking than he would ever admit.

  Every time he thought he saw a solution, it vanished, every time he thought he had turned a corner it led only to another dead end.

  The sickness was so hard to pinpoint, to hold down for a second.

  He sat in his favourite chair, looking blankly at the numbers hanging in the air before him.

  As a boy he had gone fishing with his father. They had meant to catch saltfish, but he had caught an eel instead. He remembered how they had tried to hold it to take the hook from its mouth, and how it had slithered and slid across the small boat, scaring him. Every time his father grabbed it, it would slide through his fingers. Grefno had not liked even small garden earthworms as a boy, and to him the eel seemed like some horrible worm, only the length of his arm.

  Grefno sat very still and gently massaged his wrist. He was being told something. His mind was telling him something, but what was it? Something about fathers, something about... fishing?

  His fingers flicking, he sent out a broad media scan to the news channels. News agencies in other countries were complaining about fluctuations in the magical energies that sustained them. There had been talk for several weeks now of the possibility that the magical energy that flowed across the world of Inan was somehow being interfered with. The Mages of Inan were apparently unaffected. Nonetheless, he was reassured that other wizards in other states were looking into it, as the problem seemed to be global in nature. It couldn't fall to a small country the size of Allesh to solve the world's problems, after all.

  Closer to home there were the usual reports of people dying, the aftermath of the fire in the Gardens, news along the borders, patrols ambushed. He looked again at the reports of the sickness in the Garden. The Gardeners all dead; the Gardens now being run by soldiers, the only survivors of the original work-force being a girl and two local boys.

  The girl had now been arrested. Her name was Leah Carleaf.

  Carleaf? He focussed on her story, suddenly alert. The daughter of Griggo Carleaf? Now there was a thing. She had been arrested, with a young man, for breaking curfew. Well, that seemed obvious enough; young people wanting privacy under cover of darkness was nothing new. What he heard next made him sit bolt upright in his chair, his heart racing.

  She was claiming that she had seen a giant worm.

  The image of his father with the eel ran through his mind once more.

  There were no giant worms in this part of Inan. Not even in zoos. Grefno checked Leah's story again.

  Pulling himself free from the cables and plugs that attached him to his work, Grefno got up and made his way to the door. He must speak with this girl at once. His guards were waiting for him outside, vigilant as ever. "Come," he said and they followed. It was a matter of minutes before Grefno was in the town and outside the barracks, the brown-uniformed militiamen snapping to attention as he came forwards. The duty officer was there to greet them, as soon as they were inside the main compound.

  "Honoured Sage, you grace us," he muttered, unsure of protocol. "To what do we owe the pleasure?"

  "The girl," snapped Grefno. "I need to see her."

  "Of course. Please, follow me." The officer led them along a brightly lit corridor, to a wooden door held in place with heavy iron bolts. A latticework of delicate red laser light flickered across it, picking out the dust motes that hung heavy in the air.

  Leah was lying on her bed when the door swung open, and two bright yellow clad Chemical Warriors entered the cell. She recognised one as the man who had given her sedatives on that first morning, the day her friends in the Garden had been killed. If he recognised her, then his eyes betrayed nothing. Grefno entered. He looked her up and down. "Leah Carleaf? I believe we have much to discuss."

  Inside the cell, Grefno sat on the bed next to Leah. Leah, unsure as to what was happening, sat unmoving watching him and the guards. Eventually he spoke. "You have seen a worm." It was a statement, not a question.

  "Yes. Last night. It's in the well in the market square."

  "Why do you think there is a worm in the well?"

  "Because I saw it. Because I climbed down into the well and saw it for myself."

  "Why did you climb down into the well?"

  "To look for the worm."

  "Why did you think there was a worm in the well?"

  Leah looked at him, not sure if he was an idiot or playing games. "Because I saw the worm in a magical note left by the old Head Gardener. He had seen it in the market place, and I took it to be a Soft Worm. I read in one of my father's books that Soft Worms are prized by Wizards. I thought if we caught it then we might earn the gratitude of the Mage and he would help my mother."

  "Why did you not tell the local militia captain?"

  "Because he's a prick?"

  "He is. But he also has the power to send men down there and search fo
r it. Instead we find your friend Gim gravely injured in hospital, and you locked up in a holding cell. So I ask again, why did you not tell the Captain?"

  Leah burst into tears. Grefno shot a glance at his warriors, one of whom handed Leah a blue phial.

  With a quick movement she smacked the ampoule from his hand.

  "No! Bloody stuff's messed me around enough as it is!" she shouted. Her sudden outburst bringing her quickly back to her senses.

  "Leah, it's alright," said Grefno. "You've been under a great deal of pressure recently. It's perfectly understandable. Added to this the fact that, despite your junior position, you now find yourself running the Gardens must be a lot to take on board. All you have to work with are local soldiers who don't know the first thing about horticulture." He smiled. "How am I doing?"

  Leah looked at the man anew. "That's about it. That and the fact that I've got myself locked in jail after spending half the night being chased through tunnels by a sodding great big monster, which might have killed one of my friends."

  "Describe the creature to me," said Grefno, his fingers drawing patterns in the air as he did so.

  "It was about thirty feet long," she said. As Leah described the creature, it took shape in the air in front of her, Grefno using his power to conjure up a picture of it. "It had scales and horrid eyes."

  "How did it attack you?" asked Grefno, quietly.

  "It stung my friend with a spike in its tail. And it had teeth. Lots of them."

  "Soft Worms have no teeth, Miss Carleaf."

  "I know that. I think it's something else. I can't be sure, but I think it's a Gentle Worm." Leah watched the colour drain from Grefno's face. "You know what one is then?"

  Grefno flicked his fingers and the shape blurred, and reasserted itself as the same beast Leah had seen in the well. "Is this the beast you saw in the well?"

  "No mistaking it. Not the sort of thing you'd forget in a hurry."