by James Axler
Ryan looked up to the city on the ledge. “Fuck all, Doc. You would’ve thought that the noise would bring them out, if nothing else.”
“Good. Perhaps they are contemplating their next move, or perhaps they simply assume their tactics have worked and they are waiting for their triumphant little men to return. They have that arrogance. No matter, it will serve us.”
Doc looked down into the face of the wounded sec man. His eyes bore into the wounded man’s clouded eyes, fixing him with a stare that couldn’t be ignored or deflected. When he spoke, it was in a gentle voice that had a rhythm and pitch that was quite unlike anything either of the companions had heard from him before.
“You will listen to me and you will hear no voice but mine, for my voice is the only one that has any meaning. When you look into my eyes you will see yourself reflected in there because I have become you and you have become me and everything that you are I am also. Listen to my words and see that the questions I ask you have a great meaning, for you have much to do before your destiny is fulfilled, and I can help you to achieve that, but only if you cooperate and pay me the greatest heed. Do you understand me?”
The sec man—his already gaunt features now accentuated by the pain he was suffering—nodded briefly.
“Good,” Doc said soothingly. “Now, you will tell me about the aims of your people and how I can help you to achieve that.”
The sec man’s voice, when it came, was slow and pained. At times, it was almost inaudible as he husked his way through the agony that was racking his body, and they had to lean in to hear him clearly.
“We come from the stars, and to them we will return. All life on this earth feeds back to great voids and it is there that we achieve the state of bliss that explains our being. Only then will we be whole. That is why we need to make the circle, to focus the life force and power that will take us on the journey.”
“Why did you take the children from all those villes? What was the purpose?”
“The young have energy that the old lack. We are not all old, but some are, and there are not enough of us to charge the earth and bring on the power we need for the flight. So Gideon told us that we should go out and find the young, bring them back and show them the truth of our way so that they can join us. Their presence will boost the power.”
“And what of our friends? What use are they to you?”
A brief smile flickered across the sec man’s face. “They understand now, and they are with us. That is why they told us about you. They understand that your being here is all wrong. It is too close to the time. We could talk to you, but you would not listen. So they understand that we have to make sure you do not interfere with our plans.”
“So they did betray us…” Mildred said.
“Yes, but not of their volition—you see how easy it is?” Doc snapped. “Now be quiet…” He turned back to the sec man, his tone returning to the way it had been previously. “Listen to me. You say that the time is soon—if I am to help you, then you must tell me when, and what it will entail.”
The sec man smiled distantly. He was beginning to slip away into unconsciousness through blood loss, and Doc was aware that he had to get the information from him quickly.
“The time is now,” he said. “We have waited years for the stars to align, and now they are in the right place. That is why we have worked so hard. But it is ready. Tomorrow the cleansing fires will come and make us whole again. All of us…”
His last words trailed away as the loss of blood took its toll. Death claimed him.
“We do not have much time,” Doc said as he straightened and looked to the sky, which was turning from black to gray. “He said tomorrow, but I think we can safely assume that tomorrow has arrived. We have very little time. They must be stopped, you know… They will destroy all those lives if they can. Whatever they think is going to happen, it will mean a mass cull to achieve it. They will destroy the young. And Krysty, Jak and John Barrymore. Let them destroy themselves if they wish. But not those who have no say.”
Ryan agreed. “It hinges on that bastard circle. They’ll be preparing for that. Just mebbe, if we can get in there unobserved, we can use that as a cover. I don’t know how we’ll do it, but if we can chill those bastards, then the kids will be okay. They’re jolted to the eyeballs, or hypnotized or something, but they aren’t the real problem. Chill the elders and we can free them. And our friends.”
“No time to worry about how,” Mildred said briskly. “We’ll have to make it up as we go along.”
Doc looked at the carnage around them and sniffed. “Well, it has not worked so badly so far. Let’s just hope that they figure it was us who bought the farm down here. They will realize eventually, but we need to make sure they realize too late.”
* * *
IN THE SILENT CITY, Gideon waited for word. He was unable to sleep anyway, excited and agitated as he was by the prospect of their purpose finally coming to fruition. He had heard the firefight below, but had chosen not to leave the palace. He would know soon enough, when his men returned. They had to. They were twice the number of those they opposed, and they had been thoroughly briefed. He had left nothing to chance. He never left things to chance. The idea that his plan may not have worked hadn’t thus far occurred to him. Things had always gone right for him up until this point. Why would that change now?
But the longer that time went on, the more that doubts began to creep into his mind. They had been able to neutralize the threat of three of the intruders, that was true. But these were the three that had managed to get away. In Gideon’s ordered mind, this made the three that were still roaming the canyon floor the more dangerous. That stood to reason. Hence his desire to eradicate rather than try to co-opt them.
By matching them two to one, and also having a full understanding of the way they would fight—something they couldn’t know—then he had assured the success of his own men.
Hadn’t he?
The longer that he had to wait, then, the more that the doubts began to grow in his mind. With the culmination of everything so close, he couldn’t allow for any margin of error.
He had heard gren blasts out there. None of his men carried grens, only blasters. He had believed that the man with the canvas bags carried all the ordnance of that ilk. Certainly the albino and the woman hadn’t. He had made an assumption, and that may have been a grave misjudgment. And if that was so, then what else…
He left the central chamber and hurried up the stone staircase that led to the upper levels of the palace. Here he knew he would find Delroy, sleeping.
He shook the gaunt man until he awoke, his eyes bleary with sleep.
“How on earth could you sleep through that noise?” Gideon asked in an irritated tone. Then, before the dark man had a chance to reply, he shook his head. “It doesn’t matter, it’s just… Listen, I fear I may have underestimated our opponents in this instance. They may have got the better of our men—certainly, they have not returned as yet. I must have a contingency. Get the three intruders and bring them to me.”
“Can’t it wait?” Delroy muttered.
“There is no time. It’s all too close to be risked,” Gideon said cryptically. “Go, please…”
It was unlike the fat man to ask for anything. His authority had grown gradually over the years until, almost without anyone noticing, even himself, his word had been taken as law and was obeyed without question or need for request. The fact that he now felt it necessary convinced the dark man that this was a serious matter. Without further comment he rose and dressed quickly before hurrying to Jak, J.B. and Krysty’s quarters. He roused them and led them back to the palace, where he found Gideon waiting at the doorway, contemplating the silence that had fallen across the night.
“Bring them in,” he ordered, adding, “Do you hear that?”
“I can’t hear anything,” Delroy replied, baffled.
“No, precisely…” Gideon murmured, ushering them into the palace and closing the door. He walked around so that he was facing the companions and Delroy as they stood in the middle of the floor. Their eyes were pinned from the herbal mixture, and out of focus from the influence that Delroy had applied. Gideon nodded to himself, grunting.
“How malleable do you think they are?” he asked. “Really, could you override any instinct they have?”
Delroy shrugged. “I’ve never been tested to extremes, but I’ve never had any problems. I’d say that even if they were buying the farm inside at what they were doing, I could still make them ignore every instinct and do it.”
“Good. I was hoping you would tell me that. I hope that you are right, for all our sakes. Come around, there is something I need to talk to them about.”
The dark man moved so that he was standing beside the fat man. They faced the three disoriented and bedraggled companions. Internally, each of them was fighting to keep some semblance of their independence and true identity alive, but the strain was great, and each doubted that the strength was there to keep up the effort.
While Delroy’s eyes bored into them, Gideon started to speak.
“You are in a very privileged position, one that will take you to great glory, should you choose. I know that you will. Your erstwhile friends would seek to deflect us from our goal. They have already claimed the lives of some of your new compatriots in doing this. We cannot allow this to happen. You have been of great help to us thus far, and we appreciate your efforts. But we would ask one further effort from you. They will seek to stop us as the new day dawns. You must find them and stop them. Only then will you reap the reward—with us—that your new status deserves. Will you do this?”
Gideon looked at each of them in turn. One by one they nodded, their eyes clouded.
They would do this. But only each of them, in his or her own private hell, would know how much the clouded part of their mind made that one small piece of freedom still remaining scream, scream and scream again… .
Chapter Seventeen
While the fat man had wasted little time in arranging a backup action to the plan he now believed had failed, he still hadn’t been quick enough. Ryan, Doc and Mildred knew that their only hope lay in getting off the canyon floor and up into the city of light while it was still, paradoxically, swathed in the dark of night. Now that dawn had broken, they knew that the city would soon stir. By the time that this happened, they planned to be inside and hidden, to wait for the moment when they could take action.
They moved swiftly up the path that was nearest to the spot where the chilled sec man lay. It was the steeper path, but in their adrenalized state this presented no obstacle, and in truth it was the fastest route as it took the least distance. They moved without caution as they ascended. There was no point. If they were discovered, then there was nowhere for them to hide and they would have to fight it out. It was an impossible route to climb with stealth, so speed presented them with their only opportunity.
When they reached the top and were in the city, the gray light of dawn was starting to yellow as the sun crept above the horizon, signaling a new day. Perhaps the last day…
The ledge in front of the palaces was deserted. There was little time for them to take in the strange designs painted ornately across its floor. If they had, they would have seen that these formed a path leading to the circle; a path that was signposted with symbols and depictions of events taken from all the major predark religions and spiritual philosophies, accompanied by bizarre markings. The profane and the sacred were all tied together in pursuit of one goal—one that was marked by the large stone circle that now took up most of one end of the ledge. It was this that took their attention.
Without having to exchange words, each knew that this was where the populace would be herded at some point during the day. Here was where they would find their compatriots. Here was where the children of Baron K’s ville would be taken. Perhaps they would be able to save both. Probably not.
Maybe they would be able to save neither. Also unspoken was the fear that Jak’s, Krysty’s and J.B.’s minds would be so clouded that they would refuse to cooperate. Would there be the opportunity to fight it out with them and with the sec force of the city?
It was doubtful, but all they could do for now was to find some place to wait until the city was awake. They would have to watch events unroll and wait for their chance.
There was no other way.
While it was still silent, the companions made a quick recce of the buildings close to them. Most were populated by sleeping youth. If they were really lucky, then they would find their companions sleeping, and be able to take them before the city had risen. But luck like that doesn’t come along too often.
What they did find was a reeking room, full of unidentifiable meat hung on hooks, surrounded by clusters of flies, with a few piles of sacking and rags strewed about the filthy floor.
“Home sweet home,” Doc muttered, wrinkling his nose in disgust.
“Don’t knock it, Doc,” Mildred said as Ryan ushered them inside and closed the door. “The way I see it, no one’s likely to be using this place. Not when they plan on checking out today. Besides which, I can’t say the smell here is worse than the stink the rest of this place carries.”
Ryan closed the door behind them and went to the empty space that defined the window out on the city.
“No one’s around,” he said softly. “It’s going to be hard to keep some kind of recce without being seen. But at least we can do something about them seeing in…” He moved across to where the rotting slabs of meat were hanging on the pole. He moved them so that they formed a barrier, at an angle, between the view from outside the window and the interior of the room. The movement disturbed the hordes of flies, who buzzed angrily around the room, causing him to swat at them as they flew into his mouth and eyes, before they settled contentedly back on the now-still slabs.
“Wonder where they’re keeping Krysty, J.B. and Jak,” he muttered as he rejoined Doc and Mildred.
* * *
IF HE HAD KNOWN of the irony, he would have been amused. While he and his two companions settled into the room where they had recently been sleeping, J.B., Jak and Krysty were out on the sloping path at the far side of the city, making their way down into the canyon and tracing the recent actions of those who now sought them.
They surveyed the carnage that had been left in complete silence, taking in the chilled and mutilated corpses of the six sec men.
“Good job,” J.B. murmured.
“I’d expect nothing less,” Krysty answered. The words sounded strange and alien to her, reverberating in her head as though coming from another planet…or from another person. For she didn’t feel that she was herself except for some small element at the back of her brain that was crying to be heard. “They must have taken the far path, or else we would have seen signs of their passing,” she continued, mush-mouthed and slow, saying things that only made echoes of sense.
“Know we told, too,” Jak added.
“How?” J.B. queried, his brow furrowed.
Jak indicated the sec man with a neat hole in his forehead. “Tracks here like stood for time. Must made him talk.”
“Shit, that means they know they’ve got to fight us,” Krysty cursed, banging her hand against an open palm. “I was hoping we could take them by surprise.”
“Yeah.” J.B. grinned. “If they weren’t expecting it…” He shrugged and let the rest fall.
“Right.” Krysty looked up at the city on the ledge. “If they didn’t take the path we came down, and they sure aren’t here or they would have come out to greet us, then…”
“Uh-huh.” J.B. nodded. “They’re
ahead of us. Up there somewhere, mebbe looking for us, mebbe hiding out.”
“We’ve just got to find them…and finish them,” Krysty said decisively.
* * *
“WE’VE GOT TO FIND them and get this finished,” Mildred said as she paced the back of the stinking room. “I can’t take this shit much longer. It’s not just the smell or the fact that they screwed us over, even if it isn’t their fault, it’s just…” She trailed off, gesturing that she had no idea what was really at the root of her unease.
Doc was more forthcoming. “It is not you, my dear Doctor, it’s this place. And I do not mean this room. I mean the city as a whole. There is something dark and evil about it, despite the shining grandeur when you first see it. There is a kind of darkness that has settled over it, like the kind of dark you find in the blackest of hearts. And that can leave traces, it can infect. I fear it would infect us if we stayed too long. Certainly, it is a contributory factor to whatever has allowed Krysty, John Barrymore and young Jak to succumb so easily to hypnotic influence. I would suspect that this place has always harbored the dark. Perhaps these people were lured here because of that, because it chimed with some resonance within them, or perhaps they just stumbled here and were infected themselves. Whatever the cause, it is building to a head.”
“You mean, this ceremony thing?” Ryan queried. “I mean, what the hell are they going to do? Get that fat bastard to work extra fast with that knife of his?”
“No…” Doc shook his head slowly. “The way in which this psychic force they can control seems to come from them and yet be apart… I wonder if it was always here, just waiting. If that is so, then perhaps it was here for a reason.”
“That doesn’t make sense,” Mildred said heatedly. “In them and apart from them—it’s got to be one or the other, Doc, it’s—”
“No, hear me out.” The old man raised a hand to stay her. “What if it was always here? What if the fact that they appear to have some kind of mutie ability that can tap into and work with and for it… What if that is what it is looking for? I mean, how else would such buildings come to be in such a place? How difficult that must have been, to carve the stone. And the age of them. What kind of civilization would be able to do that as far back as we know it was done?”