99 Gods: Betrayer

by Randall Farmer

  He walked away horribly numb inside.

  “Watcher?” Dave said. She was another Indian-appearing Watcher, but this woman dressed in modern clothing, off-the-shelf Subcontinent style, a salwar kameez. Inside the fortress, some of the Watchers didn’t use the eyesight-blurring defense that their four leaders did.

  “Yes. I am. You may call me Yanisen.”

  “Yanisen. My wife, Elorie, is in great pain. I know you cannot touch her with your magic, but I was wondering if you had anything around here for pain, some modern analgesic.”

  Four other Watchers came over to surround Dave. They didn’t speak. Three of them wore the eyesight-blurring protection, but the other did not. He was a short man, much shorter than Dave, and very dark of skin. South Indian? Bangladeshi? Dave wasn’t sure.

  “I do not fully understand your question, but I believe the answer is no,” Yanisen said. Dave had found Yanisen tending a vegetable plot behind a stone house that Dave suspected she shared with two or three other Watchers. The garden prospered in the arid ground. Magic, Dave guessed. Yanisen’s hands were dirty.

  “Okay. How about this? Can you make any salves or potions, using your magic, that aren’t themselves magic?”

  Yanisen smiled. “Yes.”

  “He went straight to the source of the problem and uncovered the mystery, to allow us to speak,” the south Indian man said. “His mind intrigues me.”

  The indistinct ones spoke, but not in English.

  Dave’s eyes opened wide. “Do you have anything of that nature able to cure her disease?”

  “No,” Yanisen said. Her eyes held excitement.

  “Something able to stop the disease, or help her fight off the disease?”

  “Yes.”

  This had to be a game with these Watchers, not volunteering information but willing to answer questions yes-no. He wondered how they could teach people anything with such strictures, and realized they hadn’t agreed to teach him anything, considering him unteachable or unqualified for their learning. He wasn’t their student.

  “I would like you to give this to Elorie, if you can.”

  “I must have her permission,” Yanisen said. “Let us speak with her.” Yanisen walked off before Dave agreed, and he followed her. This had to work, he prayed.

  “It would be a shame if her suffering ended,” Yanisen said. “I find her suffering enjoyable.”

  Dave almost stumbled.

  “You don’t like us for what we are?” Yanisen said. “You would not want to be us.”

  “I don’t know what you are.”

  “You do, but you refuse to admit the truth to yourself. You have pain, too, pain of the mind. I shall attune myself to enjoy your mind’s pain.”

  Well, that was unambiguous. “Feel free. Someone should enjoy it.”

  “I like you, surprising man,” Yanisen said, chuckling. The Watcher reached Elorie’s room, bent down, and roughly shook her awake.

  “Dying one, your ex-husband has penetrated one of our mysteries,” Yanisen said. Ex-husband? Damn. Nothing went on here these highly magical creatures didn’t know about. “Because of his work, I can offer you an elixir that will in time essentially remove your cancer. The elixir will, unfortunately, also ease your pain.”

  Elorie shot a needle gaze at Dave, and turned back to confront Yanisen. “What’s the catch?”

  She knew of their slippery ways. She hadn’t been a completely helpless invalid in her short time as a hostage of the Watchers.

  “This elixir is far too strong for mortals,” Yanisen said.

  Strange phraseology, there. Would Mr. Lorenzi consider himself mortal or immortal? Mortal but with an extended lifespan, Dave decided, based on the ancient magician’s diary. Did these Watcher magicians consider themselves immortal?

  “What will this do to me?”

  “The elixir will rob you of your youth,” Yanisen said. “If you were to take the potion forever, you would remain eternally fifty. This potion does not give the vigor of youth, but the placidity of old age, though, given how long lived you Americans are, middle age might be a better description. You would no longer be able to have children.”

  “How long would I need to take this elixir to have this effect?” Elorie said.

  “Long enough to cure the cancer.”

  “How long would that be?”

  “Four to six months.”

  “How long before Elorie becomes sterile?” Dave said.

  Yanisen turned to him, instant anger on her face, which quickly eased into a ‘you had to notice’ exasperated expression. “Four doses. Two days. The cancers will start to shrink in two days. If she stops taking the elixir, the cancer will resume its growth.”

  Elorie shrugged. “I’ll take it.”

  “They didn’t appreciate my comment when I suggested how much money they would be able to make if they marketed their potion,” Dave said. He sat amidst the straw on the floor of Elorie’s room. She sat on the bed opposite him. Distance, necessary distance.

  “My guess, asshole, is that if you offered to be their agent, they would have killed you.” The prospective cure hadn’t eased her ire, although she had stopped asking him to leave.

  “Luckily I know how pathetic my marketing skills are,” Dave said. The potion, which Yanisen refused to name because, in her words, ‘he already knew the name’, had already taken Elorie’s pain away. “So they kill so easily?”

  “They love to kill, torture and maim, and they’ll do so whenever an excuse arises,” Elorie said. “They have a bunch of rules governing when they can kill and when they can’t, which of course they won’t tell us. They’re vicious and evil as well as kindly and good.” She paused. “Despite their shape, they are animals, utterly inhuman. If they were ever human, they lost their humanity a long time ago.”

  “Do you want to hear about how I lived through the disaster?”

  “Not in the slightest,” Elorie said. She sighed. “You don’t understand at all. I’m, well, what happened to me destroyed me. I thought I was a hero, dammit, a wild risk-taker able to stand up to anything the outside world was able to dish out.” She turned away for a moment. “I now know otherwise. I’m not cut out at all for the immense power games of the Watchers, the Gods, the magicians, the Telepaths, the Supported and who knows who else. I fall apart too easily and I hate myself when I do. I’m nothing but a pawn. I want to get out of this mess and go back to my old job. Seeing the land in this area reminded me of my real mission in life, helping countries develop. Easing people’s lives. That’s what I want to be doing, not this idiocy.” Elorie lay back on the bed and stared at the ceiling.

  “Jobs flee the countryside and cities grow. When they grow, the poor, who flock to the cities, end up more screwed over than before,” Elorie said, her voice low and distant. “In the developing world the poor are charged high prices for basic city services – water, sewer and solid waste disposal – that in our world come essentially free. Why? The rulers of the developing world consider city growth excessive, and thus have no reason to make things easy on those who flock to the cities. This is wrong and hinders economic growth. If you can show this to the rulers – not the titular rulers but those who rule without titles, the equivalent of mob bosses and the like – show them how even such small improvements of basic city services allow their enterprises to grow, they will no longer impede the establishment of city services. Instead of a flat extortion income, capital investments work as any investment, with compound interest in the favor of the investor. Once they understand this isn’t a risk, or how minor the risk is…”

  Dave faded out and let Elorie talk about development issues. She wanted to bore him away from her. He didn’t find her words boring, though. He saw her career as a different aspect of environmental geology, his calling.

  He wanted to make up for his mistakes and make up with Elorie. He didn’t understand how. Her anger had been too final. Or did he read too much into her words? Perhaps he just needed to be absent, with El
orie whole again, so she could miss him.

  Hah. He wasn’t much of a prize; he wouldn’t be missed.

  He ran ideas through his mind and tried to catch up with Elorie’s words.

  “…the real deal-killers for any transnational development are not just title issues on land, but what comes before: settling disputed claims, getting the land surveyed and acquiring the many layers of government approval. Most places in the developing world don’t have many plots of land where a clear title exists. In order to make a meaningful difference and attract more transnational business, reform is needed in several areas: mechanisms to settle disputed claims, mechanisms for speeding up land surveys, minimum transparency standards for the title acquisition procedure, and a clear set of administrative procedures for the title acquisition process.”

  “I don’t understand how this can help if the ruler is your standard kleptocrat,” Dave said. “All you’re doing is streamlining the cash flow to the kleptocrat’s pocket and serving as an enabler to their rent-seeking addiction.”

  Elorie’s face fell. Dave guessed she had counted on him both not being able to keep up with her logic and for his ignorance about the subject at hand.

  “I advise businesses to avoid the states run by kleptocrats,” Elorie said. “Although this might sound harsh, the solution is simple, although it does require patience – the more prosperous the neighbors of the kleptocrat become, the more pressure is on the kleptocrat to reform or be run out of office.”

  “Your program won’t work on island nations, such as Haiti.”

  “True, but most nations aren’t island nations.” Elorie licked her lips. “Are you saying you want to go back to environmental geology after tasting the power of being a Supported? Are you ready to be through with this insane life? I mean, you got shot, fatally shot, and lived, anyway. How can you resist the lure of power?”

  He hadn’t told her, but she knew anyway.

  “I didn’t ask for this so-called power. In addition, my time with the Telepaths has left me feeling pawn-ish as well,” Dave said. “I can walk away.”

  “Bets?” Elorie said. “Let’s see what happens after Portland or someone on her side of the fence makes a play for you as a reward for what you’ve done in this mess. They’ll dangle, and you’ll jump. Only a fool wouldn’t.”

  Meaning, she would if she had the chance; since she can’t because of her immunities she’ll be pissed. Because of this, she’s pissed now. Deal-breaker.

  “Portland’s already made a play for me once,” Dave said. “I refused then, I can refuse now.”

  Elorie snorted.

  On the other hand…

  “Let’s see how you cope when Nessa comes up to you and sucks you into her hypnotic eyes and says ‘I love your mind; you think like a Telepath; I need you for my stability’,” Dave said.

  “Huh?”

  “She wants both of us, as a mated pair, for her stable of stability ponies,” Dave said. “At least I’m immune to Telepaths, although from what I’ve seen so far, I suspect my so-called mind shields are highly over-rated.”

  “No worries there. I wouldn’t press the walk sign for the bitch if she was tied to a wheelchair,” Elorie said.

  “She’s very hard to say ‘no’ to.” And she can get in your brain, Elorie, he didn’t say.

  Hell.

  How would he feel if Nessa tweaked Elorie’s mind to make her love him?

  Dammit. Right now, he wished all the Telepaths and Supported and magicians and Gods would go away.

  “I wish all these goddamned Telepaths, Supported, magicians and Gods would go away,” Elorie said.

  “That’s what I was thinking.” They were on the same wavelength again.

  Elorie frowned, displeased.

  “I’m counting you as one of the Supported,” Elorie said. She closed her eyes. “Okay. I still love you. But I’m a cruel and cold hearted bitch…and you, love, are deadly poison. Tiff figured you out, dumped you like a gooey turd, and now so have I. The games of the 99 Gods are poison and even if you’re not attracted to them, they’re attracted to you…”

  “But you’re the one who got me here,” Dave said. At least she said she still loved him. That was something.

  “You got yourself into the game long before I came along. We’re finished with what I got you into and you’re still swimming in the cesspool up to your eyeballs.” Elorie waved her arms expressively and smiled a big and patently false smile. “Here we are,” she said, singsong. “The Watchers killed the Ecumenists. End of story. When I get out of here I’m done with the Gods and all the other crap.”

  “But we’re not done,” Dave said. “For instance, what are the Watchers?”

  “Who the hell cares? Besides, you wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” Elorie said, glaring.

  “Fine by me,” Dave said. He shrugged. “I’ll go with you.”

  Elorie clenched her fists. “You’re not making this any easier, you know.”

  Dave nodded. “Whatever you want I’ll do.”

  “How’s about you stay on the other side of this room,” Elorie said. She closed her eyes. “Fuck.”

  He watched her think and didn’t say anything. She had been through the wringer, at least twice, but he swore the black bags under her eyes had faded.

  “Okay, boy genius, I’ve got a job for you to do,” Elorie said, a few minutes later. She sat up in bed. “We’re not done yet. If you’ve noticed, the Watchers still hold us captive. Whatever the crazy evil Telepaths intended when they bamboozled you into coming in here didn’t work. They need help. What I need you to do is get out of here and give the idiot Telepaths some information I’ve learned, so they’ll take you and go away.”

  “Well, I got in, perhaps I can get out,” he said. “No guarantees. I’m as much a pawn in…”

  “Save your shit for someone who cares, Poison,” Elorie said, frowning. “Listen to me for once, okay?” Dave nodded. “First off, the Watchers have found out the Telepaths are suffering under a curse from one of the 99 Gods. This curse has cut them off from…”

  “All communications.”

  Elorie rolled her eyes. “Shut the fuck up and let me finish, asshole. The curse has them befuzzled to where they’re not even thinking about communicating with their backers. Second, they need to know the Watchers are older than they realize. I know they were around and thought themselves ancient in the days of Christ. I don’t know if they’re telling the truth or not, but I haven’t caught them in any overt lies.”

  He had figured out the Watcher’s age by himself but didn’t say anything. Instead, he said “I’ve caught them in lies of omission.”

  Glare. “Fine. Next, the Telepaths need to know they shouldn’t try and fight the Watchers. The Watchers’ evil is, well, I don’t have words. Transcendent, perhaps. They didn’t just cut off Jack, Georgia, Lisa and Osham’s heads, they played with them after they defeated them. They tortured them, with magic, for about four hours before the Watchers tired of the game and whacked off their heads. Worse, the Watchers are insane. They don’t want to do evil, and they have all these rules set up to prevent them from doing evil, but the truth is, they’re addicted to doing evil. If their rules allow, they revel in evil. They say they’ve been caught by Satan, but – big but – they don’t mean the Telepath Satan who’s roaming around or the Christian Satan or the lord of the underworld, but, if I’ve interpreted the Watchers’ comments correctly, it’s nature itself who is Satan to them. In some fundamental fashion, mundane nature oppresses the Watchers. I don’t understand their whining, but this is important, something the Telepaths need to know if they’re going to deal with the Watchers in a successful fashion and get us out of this.”

  “I’ll do what I can,” Dave said. Based on what he had seen with the Telepaths, he doubted the last, the mystery of why the Watchers thought themselves oppressed by nature, would even stick in their short-term memories. They weren’t mystery motivated, at least as far as he understood.

&nbs
p; He stood, but Elorie waved him down.

  “I’m not done yet, shithead.”

  Dave shrugged and sat.

  “These Watchers once had a group of backers, a group of powerful supernatural backers they referred to as ‘The Omnipresent’. What does this remind you of?”

  “The 99 Gods.”

  “Exactly. I may be overreaching a bit here, but based on some hints that Yanisen let drop, I think these Watchers may be Supported, despite the fact the Omnipresent are long gone.”

  Dave wanted to say that Elorie’s idea was flat-out crazy, but he stopped himself. “Okay,” he said.

  “Good. I was afraid you were going to fight me on everything. You don’t believe a word I’m saying.” Now Dave glared. Elorie ignored him. “In any event, I think that if we can figure out the Watchers’ rules we can deal with them and learn about a huge swath of human history from an eyewitness perspective as well as learn how to properly deal with the 99 Gods.” Elorie lowered her voice. “If I’ve understood their hints, the Watchers were responsible for getting rid of the Omnipresent, and doing so weakened them. I think they may be able to teach us how to get rid of the 99 Gods.”

  His love, Dave feared, had gone fully around the bend.

  “Since Elorie’s better, no longer suffering, I need to go back to the Telepaths and confer with them,” Dave said. The Watcher he spoke to was the south Indian man he had met before, who named himself ‘Tevosh’.

  “I sense a stratagem in this,” Tevosh said.

  Tell the truth, only lie by omission, Dave told himself. Follow the same rules the Watchers follow, his best chance of survival.

  “Yes. I believe my conferring with the Telepaths may be beneficial to both sides,” Dave said. “Have the negotiations moved forward?”

  “No, they haven’t,” Tevosh said. “You are saying that by revealing what Elorie has learned you may be able to talk sense into the Telepaths?”

  Dave nodded.

  “You must understand that you are still our hostage,” Tevosh said. “Once you tell your tale to the Telepaths, you are bound to return to us unless the Telepaths immediately capitulate.”