Prison of Night

by E. C. Tubb

  "To the right," ordered Gartok. "Hold it!"

  Something was over there and he tightened his hands at the hint of movement. A trace augmented by the sudden flicker of the detector. A living creature-Dumarest?

  Gartok swore as a foal suddenly sprang from behind a rock to race down a crevass then, as the detector flickered again, yelled to the driver.

  "Down! Down and to the right a little. Hurry, damn you! That's Earl!"

  He was sitting on a boulder, his head resting in his hands, a thin coating of some kind of slime dried on his clothing so that he seemed to have been dusted with a frost-like powder. As Gartok approached he looked up.

  "God!" The mercenary came to a halt. "Earl, your face!"

  It was tense, drawn, the eyes sunken, the hair also coated with the lace-like patina. More rested on his cheeks, paling his lips, webbed on his eyebrows. It gave him the appearance of having aged a century; an illusion broken only when he spoke.

  "Kars."

  "Here!" Gartok had come prepared. He lifted a bottle and jerked out the cork. "Drink some of this." He restrained his impatience as Dumarest obeyed. "You found them, didn't you?"

  "The Sungari? Yes."

  "It had to be you. I told those weak bastards who came demanding that you should be handed over that. Told them and ordered them from Belamosk. By God, I'd have killed them had they lingered. Then I came looking for you." He added, simply, "I've been looking for a long time."

  With others, scouring the skies with rafts, searching, always searching. But he, at least, had found.

  "Earl?"

  "It's over, isn't it? The war?"

  "Over. Every last mercenary is dead. Tomir too, they found him in a cellar."

  "I know."

  "You know?" Gartok frowned, then changed the subject. "What are they like, Earl? Did they feed you? Give you water? How did you manage to persuade them?"

  Questions followed by more and all stemming from a natural curiosity. Some impossible to answer while others could only be guessed at. The extent of the underground domain. The means by which access was gained to the surface. The method of breeding the selective strains which formed the extensions of the main intelligence-or had there only been one.

  Was Zakym the home of a tremendous, alien brain?

  One thing was certain, the Sungari owned this world despite what men may have thought. They, it, were the masters. Men were tolerated as a harmless insect would have been tolerated by a magnanimous gardener. But should that insect bite it would be crushed as men would be exterminated should they grow too fast and become too greedy.

  Plague could do it. The destruction of all surface life, the crops and herds, would force them to withdraw. And there could be other ways based on the mind. Terrors which he could only imagine. Horrors without a name.

  Dumarest rose and drank more of the brandy and felt the warmth of it spread from his stomach and restore some of his humanity. He had wandered too long in the dark, relied on the alien life-form too greatly, had suffered its probing too long. He needed to face those of his own kind, to hear voices, to take a long, hot bath and feel clean and wholesome again.

  He needed to hold Lavinia in his arms and feel the soft comfort of her, the assurance of her need. But when they returned to Belamosk she was gone.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Roland came running to meet them as the raft landed in the courtyard. "Earl, how good to see you! And Kars! But where is Lavinia?" He looked from one to the other. "Haven't you seen her?"

  "No."

  "But, Earl, you sent word for her to come and join you!" Roland looked baffled. "I don't understand this. The messenger was explicit. He said that you'd been found and was hurt and wanted to see her. She insisted on leaving immediately. I wanted to accompany her but she refused to allow it. We'd had a small argument, nothing serious, but you know how determined she can be at times. I didn't want to upset her further so didn't press the point. But if you didn't send for her then who did?"

  Dumarest said, "What did the man look like? Describe him."

  "A big man, broad with a broken nose and scars around his eyes. He had a patch on the back of his left hand as if it had been burned at one time. I thought he might have been a herdsman."

  "Flying a raft? Was he alone?"

  "Yes. Of course, I should have noticed about the raft. It was stupid of me. One other thing, he had lost the little finger of his left hand."

  "Louchon!" Gartok scowled as he rubbed the edge of his jaw. "He was with Tomir but I thought he was dead. The scars are the result of a cheap regraft and his hand once bore a tattoo. Someone didn't like the design and burned it away with acid. A year later that same man was found hanging head down over a fire. No one could prove who had cooked his brains but Louchon got the credit A hard man, Earl."

  One the Sungari had missed and he had served Tomir as had the cyber. If one was alive then so could be the other and it was obvious why the woman had been taken.

  "Did the man say where I was supposed to be?"

  "He mentioned a stop-over on the edge of Suchong's estate. The one near Eibrens Rise. I know it and could guide you." Roland was anxious. "Earl, what is wrong? Why should anyone have tricked Lavinia?"

  "They wanted a hostage."

  "But why? What value could she be? The war is over."

  One war, but another continued and was just as fierce in its way. As yet he had been the victor but how much longer could his luck hold out?

  As Dumarest turned to enter the castle Roland said, "Earl, aren't you going after her?"

  "Later perhaps."

  "Later? And you aren't sure? But man, she is carrying your child!"

  "What?"

  Roland gasped as Dumarest turned, catching him by the shoulder, the fingers digging deep.

  "It's the truth, Earl, I swear it! That was why we quarreled. I said you'd leave her and she was certain you wouldn't. Please! My shoulder!" He fell back, face drawn in pain, a hand rubbing his bruises. "You must go after her! You must!"

  For a moment Dumarest stared at the man then, without a word, turned and entered the castle. Gartok caught Roland by the arm as he made to follow.

  "Leave him."

  "But he doesn't understand! Neither of you understand! Lavinia is being held at the stop-over. Tortured, perhaps, beaten, mistreated, put to shame. Doesn't he care?"

  "He cares," said Gartok then added, impatiently, "Are you blind? Can't you see he's in no fit condition to look for the woman? He needs time to recover."

  Time to swallow some wine and eat a plate of cold viands served by a smiling, bold-eyed girl. Time to strip and sink into a steaming bath, to lean back and try to relax, to ease the ache of muscle and bone. To remember the strange world of the Sungari.

  To think over what Roland had said.

  Lavinia with child? Her womb filled with his growing seed? Had it been a lie told to tease the man or the naked truth revealed in a moment of stress?

  If so it was added bait for the trap he was certain had been set.

  "My lord?" The girl returned with towels and vials of lotion. "Do you want me to attend you?"

  "No." He softened the sharp refusal. "Did you see your mistress leave?"

  "No, my lord. Are you sure I cannot attend you? A good strong rub with this will make you feel fresh and tingling all over."

  "What is it?"

  "A friction-mat, my lord." She held it up for his inspection. "We make them of woven strips of leather and special fibers from the south. Odd isn't it? It always reminds me of a handful of worms."

  Worms!

  Silkworms!

  Yet Roland had mentioned Eibrens Rise.

  Later, when dressed and rested, he sent for the man. Roland was adamant.

  "I heard the name, Earl. I swear it. Eibrens Rise."

  "I see." Dumarest looked past him to where Gartok was waiting. "Ready, Kars?"

  "We can leave when you give the word."

  "Then we leave now." Dumarest looked at Roland. "
Will you come with us?"

  "Of course. You need me to guide you to Eibrens Rise."

  "No," said Dumarest. "To Taiyuah."

  The place was full of creaks and smells, small sounds echoing in an oppressive atmosphere, the scent of vegetation mingling with the reek of something else which stirred and rustled and which lifted the fine hairs on the back of her neck with primitive distaste.

  The worms, of course, she had never liked worms. Not since when, as a child, she had visited Khaya and had wandered off on a personal exploration and had got lost and found herself in a strange place fitted with tables and instruments and cages filled with moths and other things. Reaching for one she had knocked it over and showered her hair with wriggling creatures. Later someone had told her they had been silkworms but it made no difference. The name alone had been enough.

  A long time ago and she had changed but Taiyuah seemed timeless. He had stood before her wringing his hands his voice carrying his shame.

  "I'm sorry, Lavinia, but I had no choice. You must understand that."

  She had been cynical.

  "No choice, Khaya? Again?"

  "My worms! They threaten my worms-how can you understand?"

  A weakness which made him vulnerable. As her love for Dumarest made her vulnerable. As his love for her- but no, he was a different breed. He wouldn't come running to her even if still alive.

  The doubt annoyed her. He lived! He had to live! To believe him dead was to help him into his grave.

  And he had to be alive else she would have seen him in delusia. Nothing would have kept him away.

  Stirring in her chair, dazed by the drugs she had been given, barely awake she murmured, "Earl, my darling. Earl, come to me, my love. Come to me."

  And he would, Ardoch was as certain of it as he could be about anything.

  Standing tall in his scarlet robe he looked at the woman, wondering at the madness of emotion, the insanity which defied all logic and flew in the face of all reason. A word and she had come running to fall into his hands. A prize which would gain another, more valuable, yet still reacting with the blindness of glandular impetuosity.

  It was only a matter of time and he could wait. As the woman, recovering from the sedative, waited, saying nothing, listening to the drip of water, the rustle of things crawling on leaves. The cellar was chill and dank, a fit place to end the war she thought had been finished. Here would be fought the final battle. The hue of the cyber's robe was symbolic of blood.

  Then she heard it, the slam of the door, a man's voice raised in alarm, the pad of booted foot. Quietly Ardoch moved close to her, his hand lifting to rest against her throat.

  "Earl!" She cried out as he entered the chamber, "Earl!"

  He saw her, turning, his hand dropping to the knife in his boot, freezing as he spotted the cyber, the position of his hand.

  "Kars! Roland! Do nothing!"

  Tension filled the room, giving birth to little sparkles which danced in the air, tiny motes of transient brilliance which glinted in a pattern of elaborate complexity. Flickers in the eyes registering the shift of electrons in the brain, the random motion of ions in the atmosphere. A hypersensitivity he had known before.

  The Sungari? Here?

  Dumarest looked at the walls, noting the cracks and fissures they held, each of which could contain alien eyes and ears. The chamber was below the surface and so within their domain. Did every room hold their spies?

  Things which could adopt many forms.

  Worms, for example-or men.

  "Drop your weapons," said Ardoch. "Dumarest, you will permit yourself to be bound. Refuse and the woman will die."

  Dumarest said, coldly, "What has that to do with me?"

  "Earl!" Roland lunged forward to be caught and held by the mercenary. "Are you mad? Do as he says or Lavinia will die!"

  "Then let her die." Dumarest didn't look at the struggling man. "I didn't come here to save her. She means nothing to me."

  "Earl! For God's sake! She carries your child!"

  "Keep him quiet, Kars." As the mercenary clamped his hand over Roland's mouth Dumarest said to Ardoch, "Is Louchon waiting at Eibrens Rise with men and gas to stun all who arrive? Did you think me fool enough to swallow such a story?"

  "The prediction was high in order of probability. But if you are not interested in the woman why are you here?"

  "For you," said Dumarest. "For money. Chart Embris will pay a high reward to the man who delivers to him the murderer of his son."

  A bluff? Ardoch stood, assessing the situation. How could he have been so greatly at fault? Every factor had been calculated and an extrapolation drawn from viable premises. Yet, as he had so often reminded his clients, always there was the unknown. And had he been so much in error? Dumarest had come as predicted-only the motivations driving him seemed to be at variance. Greed instead of love. But had the act been witnessed or was it nothing but a wild guess?

  Dumarest, watching, saw the almost imperceptible movement of the hand resting against Lavinia's throat.

  Dryly he said, "I trust you remembered to reload the needle buried beneath the nail."

  Proof if any was needed. Weight to add to the logic of Dumarest's actions, his apparent unconcern for the woman. Why should any man sacrifice himself for another? Why should any rational being be so insane?

  And why did the room keep flickering?

  Ardoch blinked, aware of a peculiar tension in the base of his skull, a stirring as if the grafted Homochon elements were rising from quiescence. Colors glowed with a new brightness, hues merging, shifting, altering the tone of skin and hair, touching the chamber with alien configurations.

  But he was unprepared… the Samatchazi formulae… the relaxation… the defenses against invasion…

  His mind expanded, bursting with an overwhelming flood of sharpened impressions, opening like a flower to the rays of alien suns.

  Burning… burning… dying in a flash of unbearable revelation… a sac overfilled… the filament of an overloaded bulb… searing… torn with mental corrosion…

  Ardoch reared, rising to stand on the tips of his toes, head thrown back, mouth open, arms extended, the sinews of his neck standing like ropes against the skin. His eyes were glazed, blind, and the pupils uprolled so that only the glisten of white showed between the lashes. From his open mouth came an animal-like panting. A mewing. A wordless, mindless drone.

  And, standing, he burned.

  Smoke rose from the skull-like head, streamed in oily tendrils from the sleeves of the scarlet robe; hung in a noxious cloud so that his figure became blurred and sagged as if made of wax, flesh falling from bone, the bone charring, turning black, becoming ash.

  Falling.

  Falling to lie in a small heap on the moldering floor.

  To rest in a silence broken only by Lavinia's hysterical screams.

  Three ships waited on the field and Dumarest had already made his choice; a compact vessel which would take him beyond the Rift and on to Izhma. A world where he would find computers and a society free of traditions, a planet on which the dead stayed that way and delusia was unknown.

  Gartok said, "Well, Earl, I guess this is goodbye. But who knows? Someday we may meet again."

  "When you get tired of the fleshpots, Kars?"

  "Things are easy here," admitted the mercenary. "And a strong man can make his way if he is willing to abide by the rules. But, one day, it'll get that I want to see the stars. That'll be the time for me to leave."

  As it was time for Dumarest to leave but he had more reason than a need to see the stars. A cyber had died and the Cyclan would know it. As they must know he was on Zakym. Others would be sent to find the trail and, again, the dogs would be on the chase.

  "They'll learn nothing from me," said Gartok, quietly. "Nor from anyone else on this world. How many really knew you? How can they tell more than is already known?"

  And how much did he know?

  Dumarest looked at the man, seeing the scarred
face, the flat, impassive features, but seeing more than lay on the surface. Like Zakym the man held an inner life; one that was shrewd and more complex than the one he displayed. An arrangement with the Church, he had said. Monks did not advocate violence and abhorred killing but justice was dear to them. Even poetic justice.

  "The Sungari," said Gartok, abruptly, as if wanting to end the scrutiny. "They took care of the cyber, yes?"

  Driving him insane with the stimulation of his brain, showing him vistas beyond imagining, using him, probing, discovering. Investigating the unusual specimen.

  Testing him to destruction.

  "Burning him." Gartok shook his head. "I'll never forget that. Turning a living man into ash while we watched. Maybe he deserved it, but, God, what an end! But why, Earl? Why?"

  "They are curious," said Dumarest. "I appealed to that curiosity, And they could have wanted to show just how powerful they are. Remember that, Kars, if ever you are tempted to cheat them."

  "I will."

  "I think they wanted to complete the bargain they had made with me. We found Louchon dead later-he and the cyber were all that was left of the invading force." Dumarest added, casually, "You're staying at the castle?"

  "Where you should have been, Earl. Lavinia-"

  "No." He hadn't seen her since the time the cyber had burned.

  "She could be made to understand. You had to reject her. I knew that and even Roland came to see it was all you could have done."

  "But he hasn't said so?"

  "No." Gartok rubbed the edge of his jaw. "I didn't trust that man. I thought he was working with Tomir-but it was Taiyuah who did that. Him and his damned worms! Well, he's old and will be dead soon."

  Dead and forgotten and his petty intrigues ended. But others would live, Roland for one.

  "He loves the woman," said Gartok. "You were right, Earl, the man is sick with longing for her. And I think that now she knows it. He was the only one who showed concern. And yet-how can anyone change so soon?"

  They didn't. She hadn't. But time would work its magic. She would forget or, if not forgetting, cease to consciously remember. New life would come to fill her days and Roland would be there to provide the father and comforter she and the child would need.