Dancers at the End of Time

by Michael Moorcock

"Be quiet, lad. You speak when you're spoken to."

  But Jherek was too delighted to listen to him.

  "Lord Jagged! Don't you recognise me?"

  Everyone had begun to sit down again and Lord Jagged did not seem to have heard Jherek. He was leafing through some papers which someone had placed before him.

  "Quiet!" said the man behind Jherek again.

  Jherek turned with a smile. "It's my friend," he explained pointing.

  "You'd better hope so," said the man grimly. "That's the Lord Chief Justice, that is. He's your Judge, lad — Lord Jagger. Don't get on the wrong side of him or you haven't a chance."

  "Lord Jagged," said Jherek.

  "Silence!" someone cried. "Silence in court!"

  Lord Jagged of Canaria looked up then. He had a peculiar, stern expression on his face and, as he looked at Jherek, he gave no sign that he recognised him.

  Jherek was puzzled but guessed that this was some new game of Lord Jagged's. He decided to play it in the same way, so he made no further reference to the indisputable fact that the man opposite him, who seemed to command the respect of all, was his old friend.

  The trial began and Jherek's interest remained lively throughout as a succession of people, most of whom he had seen at the hotel, came to tell what had happened on the night when Jherek and Snoozer Vine had arrived at the Imperial and what subsequently took place on the following morning. These people were questioned by a man called Sir George Freeman and then Mr. Griffiths would question them again. By and large the people recounted the events pretty much as Jherek remembered them, but Mr.

  Griffiths did not seem to believe them much of the time. Mr. Griffiths was also interested in their view of Jherek. Had he behaved oddly? Did they notice anything strange about his face? What had he said?

  Some of the people remembered that Jherek had said some strange things — or at least things which they had not understood. They believed now that this was a thieves' code arranged between Jherek and Snoozer Vine. Men in blue uniforms were questioned, including the one whom Jherek had seen in the street when he left the hotel and several of the ones who had come to Jones's Kitchen later. Again these were closely questioned by Mr. Griffiths. The Reverend Lowndes appeared to talk about Jherek and told everybody that he thought Jherek had "repented".

  Then there was a break for lunch and Jherek was escorted back to a small, clean cell and given some unappetising food to eat. As he ate, Mr. Griffiths came to see him again.

  "There's every chance, I think, that the Jury will find you guilty but insane," Mr. Griffiths told him.

  Jherek nodded absently. He was still thinking of the surprise at seeing Lord Jagged in the court.

  How had his friend managed to find him? How, for that matter, had he been able to get back through time? In another time machine? Jherek hoped so, for it would make everything much easier. As soon as all this was over he would take Mrs. Amelia Underwood back with Lord Jagged in the new time machine. He would be quite glad to get back to his own age, for this one was, after a while, a bit tedious.

  "Particularly," Mr. Griffiths went on, "since you did not actually shoot the man. On the other hand, the prosecution seems out for blood and the Jury doesn't look too sympathetic. It'll probably be up to the Judge. Lord Jagger's got a reputation for leniency, I hear…"

  "Lord Jagged," Jherek told Mr. Griffiths. "That's his real name, at any rate. He's a friend of mine."

  "So that's what that was all about." Mr. Griffiths shook his head. "Well, anyway, you're helping prove my case."

  "He's from my own period," Jherek said. "My closest friend in my own age."

  "He's rather well-known in our age," said Mr. Griffiths with a crooked smile. "The most brilliant Q.C. in the Empire, the youngest Lord Chief Justice ever to sit on the bench."

  "So this is where he used to go on those long trips!" Jherek laughed. "I wonder why he never mentioned it to me?"

  "I wonder!" Mr. Griffiths snorted and got up. "Your lady friend is here, by the way. She had read about the case in the papers this morning and contacted me herself."

  "Mrs. Underwood! This is wonderful. Two old friends. Oh, thank you, Mr. Griffiths!" Jherek sprang to his feet as the door opened and revealed the woman he loved.

  She was so beautiful in her dark velvet clothes. Her hat was quite plain with a little veil coming down in front of it through which he could see her lovely, heart-shaped face.

  "Mrs. Amelia Underwood!" Jherek moved forward to embrace her, but she withdrew.

  "Sir!"

  A warder made a gesture, as if to assist her.

  "It's all right now," said Mrs. Underwood to the warder. "Yes, it is he, Mr. Griffiths." She spoke very distantly and sadly as if she remembered a dream of which Jherek had been part.

  "We can leave here and return very soon!" Jherek assured her. "Lord Jagged is here. He must have a time machine. We can all go back in it."

  "I cannot go back, Mr. Carnelian." She spoke in a low voice, in the same remote tone. "And until I saw you a moment ago I did not quite believe I had ever been there. How did you get here?"

  "I followed you. In a time machine supplied by Brannart Morphail. I knew that you loved me."

  "Love? Ah…" She sighed.

  "And you still love me, I can tell."

  "No!" She was shocked. "I am married. I am…" She recovered herself. "I did not come for this, Mr. Carnelian. I came to see if it really were you and, if so, to plead for your life. I know that you would do nothing as wicked as take part in a murder — or even a robbery. I am sure you were duped. You were ever naïve in some ways. Mr. Griffiths wants me to tell a lie to the court which, he thinks, might save your life."

  "A lie?"

  "He wants me to say that I have known you for some time and that you always displayed idiotic tendencies."

  "Must you say that? Why not tell them the truth?"

  "They will not believe the truth. No one would!"

  "I have noticed that they tend to ignore me when I tell them the truth and listen only when I repeat back to them what they have told me is the truth."

  Now Mr. Griffiths was looking from Jherek to Mrs. Amelia Underwood and back again and there was a miserable, haunted look on his face. "You mean you both believe this wild nonsense about the future?"

  "It is not nonsense, Mr. Griffiths," said Mrs. Amelia Underwood firmly. "But, on the other hand, I do not ask you to believe it. The important thing is to save Mr. Carnelian's life — even if it means going against all my principles and uttering a perjury to the Court. It seems the only way, in this instance, to stop an injustice taking place!"

  "Yes, yes," said Mr. Griffiths desperately. "So you will go into the witness box and tell the jury that Mr. — Carnelian — is mad. That is all I shall require."

  "Yes," she whispered.

  "You do love me," said Jherek, also speaking softly. "I can see it in your eyes, Mrs. Underwood."

  She looked at him once, a look of longing, of agony. An imploring look. And then she turned and had left the cell.

  "She does love me!" Jherek skipped around the cell. Mr. Griffiths watched him skip. Mr. Griffiths seemed tired. He had an air of fatalism about him as he, too, left the cell and Jherek began to sing at the top of his voice. "All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small. All things wise and wonderful…"

  After lunch everyone assumed their places again and the first person to appear was Mrs. Amelia Underwood, looking even more strained than ever, in the role of Witness for the Defence.

  Mr. Griffiths asked her if she had known Jherek before. She said she had met him when travelling with her missionary father in South America, that he had caused her some embarrassment but that he was

  "harmless".

  "An idiot, would you say, Mrs. Underwood?"

  "Yes," murmured Mrs. Underwood, "an idiot."

  "Something of — um — an innocent, eh?"

  "An innocent," she agreed in the same voice. "Yes."

  "Did he show any
violent tendencies?"

  "None. I do not believe he knows what violence is."

  "Very good. And crime? Would you say he had any notion of crime?"

  "None."

  "Excellent." Mr. Griffiths turned towards the twelve men who were all leaning forward, concentrating on the exchange. "I think, members of the jury that this lady — the daughter of a missionary — has successfully proved to you that not only did the defendant not know he was being involved in a crime by the deceased Alfred Vine but that he was incapable knowingly of committing any crime. He came to England to seek out the woman who had been kind to him in his own country — in the Argentine, as Mrs. Underwood has told you. He was duped by unscrupulous rogues into aiding them in a theft. Knowing nothing of our customs…"

  Lord Jagger leaned forward. "I think we can save all this for the summing up, Mr. Griffiths."

  Mr. Griffiths bowed his head. "Very well, m'lud. I apologise."

  And now it was Sir George Freeman's turn to question Mrs. Underwood. He had small beady eyes, a red nose and an aggressive manner. He asked Mrs. Underwood for particulars of where and when she had met Mr. Carnelian. He produced arguments and evidence to show that no ship had docked in London from the Argentine on the date mentioned. He suggested that Mrs. Underwood had misguidedly felt sorry for Mr. Carnelian and had come forward to give evidence which was untrue in order to save him. Was she one of those who objected to capital punishment? He could understand that many good Christians were. He did not suggest that she was appearing in the witness box from anything but the best — if most misguided — of motives. And so on and so on until Mrs. Underwood burst into tears and Jherek tried to climb out of his own box and go to her.

  "Mrs. Underwood!" he cried. "Just tell them what really happened. Lord Jagged will understand!

  He will tell them that you are speaking the truth!"

  And then everyone seemed to be springing up at once and there was a loud babble of voices and the rapping of a hammer against wood and a man crying loudly:

  "Silence in court! Silence in court!"

  "I shall have to have the court cleared in the event of a further demonstration of this kind," said Lord Jagger drily.

  "But she is only lying because these people will not believe the truth!" cried Jherek.

  "Silence!"

  Jherek looked wildly around him. "They said that you would not believe the truth — that we met a million years in the future, that I followed her back here because I loved her — still do love her…"

  Lord Jagger ignored Jherek and instead leaned towards the men in the false hair below him. "This witness may leave the box," he said. "She seems to be in distress. Do you have any further questions, gentlemen?"

  Mr. Griffiths shook his head in silent despair. Sir George Freeman seemed quietly pleased and also shook his head.

  Jherek watched Mrs. Underwood being led from the box. He saw her disappear and he had a terrible feeling that he would never see her again. He looked appealingly at Lord Jagger.

  "Why did you let them make her cry, Jagged?"

  "Silence!"

  "I think I have successfully proven, m'lud, that the only witness for the defence was lying," said Sir George Freeman.

  "Have you anything to say to that, Mr Griffiths?" Lord Jagger asked.

  Mr. Griffiths had lowered his head. "No, m'lud." He turned and looked at Jherek, who was still agitated. "Though I believe we have had ample proof of the defendant's unbalanced mental state today."

  "We shall decide on that later," said Lord Jagger. "And it is not, I should like to remind the jury, the defendant's mental condition today which is being examined. We are trying to discover whether he was mad on the morning of the murder."

  "Lord Jagged!" cried Jherek. "I beg you. Finish this thing now. The charade might have been amusing to begin with, but it has caused Mrs. Underwood genuine grief. Perhaps you do not understand how these people feel — but I do — I have experienced quite awful emotions and states of mind myself since I have been here."

  "Silence!"

  "Lord Jagged!"

  "Silence!"

  "You will be able to speak in your own defence later, if you wish," said Lord Jagger, without a flicker of humour, without a single sign of recognition. And Jherek at last began to doubt that this was his friend on the bench. Yet the face, the mannerisms, the voice were all the same — and the name was almost the same. It could not be a coincidence.

  And then the thought occurred to him that Lord Jagged was taking some malicious pleasure in the proceedings — that he was not Jherek's friend at all. That he had engineered this entire fiasco from start to finish.

  The rest of the trial seemed to take place in a flash. And when Lord Jagged asked Jherek if he wished to speak, he merely shook his head. He was too depressed to make any reaction, to try to convince them of the truth. He began to believe that, possibly, he was, indeed, quite mad.

  But the thought almost made Jherek dizzy. It could not be! It could not be!

  And then Lord Jagger made a short speech to the jury and they all left the court again. Jherek was taken back to his cell and was joined by Mr. Griffiths.

  "It looks grim," said Mr. Griffiths. "You should have kept quiet, you know. Now they all think it was an elaborate trick to get you off. This could ruin me."

  He took something from his case and handed it to Jherek. "Your friend, Mrs. Underwood, asked me to give you this."

  Jherek took the paper. He looked at the marks on it and then handed it back to Mr. Griffiths. "You had better read it."

  Mr. Griffiths squinted at the paper. He blushed. He coughed. "It's rather personal."

  "Please read it," said Jherek.

  "Well, here goes — ahem — 'I blame myself for what has happened. I know they will put you in prison for a long time, if they do not hang you. I fear that you have little hope now of acquittal and so I must tell you, Jherek, that I do love you, that I miss you, that I shall always remember you.' Hmph. It's unsigned. Very wise. Most indiscreet to write it at all."

  Jherek was smiling again. "I knew she loved me. I'll think of a way to rescue her, even if Lord Jagged will not help me."

  "My dear boy," said Mr. Griffiths solemnly, "you must try to remember the seriousness of your position. It is very much on the cards that they will sentence you to be hanged."

  "Yes?" said Jherek. "By the way, Mr. Griffiths, what's involved in this 'hanging,' can you tell me?"

  And Mr. Griffiths sighed, got up and left the cell without a further word.

  Jherek was escorted back to his box for the third time. As he mounted the steps he saw Lord Jagger and the others taking their places.

  The twelve men came in and resumed their seats.

  An oppressive silence now hung over the room.

  One of the men in false hair began to read from a list of names and every time he read a name one of the twelve would answer "Aye," until all twelve names had been read.

  Then the man next to him got up and addressed the twelve. "Gentlemen of the Jury, have you agreed upon your verdict?"

  One of the twelve answered, "Yes."

  "Do you find the prisoner at the bar guilty or not guilty?"

  For a moment all twelve turned their eyes on Jherek whose attention was scarcely on the ritual at all.

  "Guilty."

  Jherek was startled as the hands of two warders fell simultaneously upon his shoulders. He looked at each of their faces curiously.

  Lord Jagger looked steadily into Jherek's eyes.

  "Have you anything to say why sentence should not be passed upon you?"

  Jherek said wearily: "Jagged, I am tired of this farce. Let us take Mrs. Amelia Underwood and go home."

  "I gather you have nothing to say," said Lord Jagger, ignoring Jherek's suggestion.

  One of the men near Lord Jagger handed Lord Jagger a square of black cloth which he placed carefully on top of his white false hair. Reverend Lowndes appeared beside Lord Jagger. He was wearing a long black gow
n. He looked much sadder than usual.

  "You have been found guilty of causing the cruel murder of an innocent employee of the hotel you sought to rob," droned Lord Jagger, and for the first time Jherek thought he saw the light of humour in his friend's eyes. It was a joke after all. He smiled back. "And therefore I must sentence you —"

  "Ha! Ha!" shouted Jherek. "It is you, Jagged!"

  "Silence!" cried someone.

  Lord Jagger's voice continued through the confusion, the faint murmur of voices in the court, until it concluded "And may the Lord have mercy on your soul."

  And Reverend Lowndes said:

  "Amen!"

  And the warders tugged at Jherek to make him leave.

  "I will see you later, Jagged!" he called.

  But again Jagger ignored him, turning his back as he rose from his seat and muttering something to the Reverend Lowndes who nodded mournfully.

  "No threats. They won't do any good," said one of the warders. "Come on, son."

  Jherek laughed as he let them lead him back to his cell. "Really. I'm losing my sense of humour — my sense of drama. It must have been that terrible time in Jones's Kitchen. I will apologise to Jagged as soon as I meet him again!"

  "You won't be meeting him," said the warder with a jerk of his thumb backward, "until he joins you down there!" And he pointed at the ground.

  "Is that where you think the future lies?" asked Jherek with genuine curiosity.

  But they said nothing more to him and in a moment he was alone in his cell fingering the note which Mrs. Amelia Underwood had sent him, wishing he could read it, but remembering every word. She loved him. She had said so! He had never experienced such happiness before.

  After he had been taken to yet another prison in another black carriage, Jherek found that he was being treated with even more kindness than before. The warders who had spoken to him previously with a sort of good humour now spoke with sympathy and often patted him on the shoulder. Only on the matter of his release did they preserve a silence. One or two would tell him that they thought "he ought to have got off" and that "it wasn't fair," but he was never able to interpret the significance of their remarks.

  He saw Reverend Lowndes quite frequently and was able to make him happy enough. Sometimes they sang one or two hymns together and Jherek was reminded with greater clarity that he would soon be seeing Mrs. Amelia Underwood again and singing those same hymns with her. He asked Reverend Lowndes if he had heard anything of Mrs. Underwood, but Reverend Lowndes had not.