Wild Cards: Aces Abroad

by George R. R. Martin

  Jayewardene was in the front seat with Saul. Tachyon was in back between Danforth and Paula. No one spoke. Jayewardene reached for his government ID as they approached the well-lit front gate.

  The gate guard was a young Sinhalese. His shoulders were as straight as the creases in his khaki uniform. His eyes were bright and he moved with measured steps to Jayewardene’s side of the car.

  Jayewardene rolled down his window and handed the guard his ID. “We wish to speak with General Dissanayake. Dr. Tachyon and two representatives of the American film company are in our party as well as myself.”

  The guard looked at the ID, then at the people in the car. “One moment,” he said, then headed over to the small booth beside the gate and picked up the phone. After speaking for a few moments he walked back and handed the ID back with five laminated visitor badges. “The general will see you. He’s in his office. Do you know the way, sir?”

  “Yes, thank you,” Jayewardene said, rolling his window back up and clipping one of the badges onto his shirt pocket.

  The guard opened the gate and motioned them past with his red-tipped flashlight. Jayewardene sighed as they drove through and the gate closed behind them. He directed Saul to the officers’ complex and patted the driver on the shoulder. “You know what to do?”

  Saul eased the car to a stop between two faded yellow stripes and removed the keys, holding them between his thumb and forefinger. “As long as the trunk opens, you don’t have to worry about my screwing up.”

  They got out of the car and walked down the sidewalk toward the building. Jayewardene heard helicopter rotors cutting the air overhead. Once inside, Tachyon stayed at Jayewardene’s side as he guided them down the linoleum hallways. The alien was fussing with the cuffs of his coral-pink shirt. Paula and Danforth followed closely behind them, whispering to each other.

  The corporal in the general’s outer office looked up from his cup of tea and waved them in. The general was sitting behind his desk in a large swivel chair. He was a man of average height and compact build with dark, deep-set eyes and an expression that seldom changed. Some in the military community felt that, at fifty-four, Dissanayake was too young to be a general. But he had been both firm and controlled in his dealing with the Tamil Tigers, a militant sepa­ratist group. He had managed to avoid a bloodbath without appear­ing weak. Jayewardene respected him. The general nodded as they entered, pointing to the group of chairs opposite his cluttered desk.

  “Please, sit down,” Dissanayake said, tightening his lips into a half-smile. His English was not as good as Jayewardene’s, but was still easily understandable. “Always a pleasure to see you, Mr. Jayewardene. And of course to welcome our other distinguished visitors.”

  “Thank you, General.” Jayewardene waited for the others to seat themselves before continuing. “We know that you’re quite busy now and appreciate your time.”

  Dissanayake looked at his gold watch and nodded. “Yes, I’m supposed to be up at operations right now. The first wave is sched­uled to be taking off as we speak. So,” he said, clasping his hands, “if you could be as brief as possible.”

  “We don’t think you should attack the ape,” Tachyon said. “To my knowledge it’s never harmed anyone. Are there any reports of casualties so far?”

  “None have been reported, Doctor.” Dissanayake leaned back in his chair. “But the monster is headed for Adam’s Peak. If unchecked, there will almost certainly be fatalities.”

  “But what about Robyn?” Paula said. “You go after the ape with attack choppers and she’s likely to be killed.”

  “And if we do nothing, hundreds could be killed. Possibly thousands if it reaches a city.” Dissanayake bit his lip. “It is my duty to prevent that from happening. I do understand what it means to have a friend in danger. And be assured, we will do everything possible to rescue Miss Symmes. My men will sacrifice their own lives to save hers, if need be. But to me her safety is no more important than the others who are threatened. Please, try to understand my position.”

  “And nothing we can say will persuade you even to postpone the attack?” Tachyon hand-combed his hair back out of his eyes.

  “The ape is very near to Adam’s Peak. There are many pilgrims at this time of year, and there is no time for a successful evacuation. Delay will almost certainly cost lives.” Dissanayake stood and picked up his cap from the desktop. “And now I must see to my duties. You’re welcome to monitor the operation from here if you like.”

  Jayewardene shook his head. “No, thank you. We do appreciate your taking time to see us.”

  The general extended his palms. “I wish I could have been more helpful. Good luck to us all, even the ape.”

  The sky was beginning to brighten when they got back to the car. Saul was leaning against the door, an unlit cigarette in his mouth. Tachyon and Jayewardene walked over to him as Danforth and Paula got into the car.

  “Everything proceeding according to plan?” Jayewardene asked.

  “She’s out and hidden. Nobody seems to have noticed a thing.” Saul pulled out a plastic lighter. “Now?”

  “Now or never,” said Tachyon, sliding into the backseat.

  Saul flicked the lighter and stared a moment at the flame before starting up his cigarette. “Let’s get the hell out of Dodge.”

  “Five minutes,” said Jayewardene, walking quickly to the other side of the car.

  They pulled up next to the front gate. The guard walked slowly over and extended his hand. “Your badges, please.”

  Jayewardene unclipped his and handed it over as the guard collected them.

  “Shit,” said Danforth. “I dropped the damn thing.”

  Saul flipped on the car’s interior lights. Jayewardene glanced at his watch. They didn’t have time for this. Danforth reached into the crack between the edge of the seat and the door, made a face, and pulled out the badge. He handed it quickly to the guard, who took the badges back to his post before swinging the gate open.

  The gate creaked closed behind them with less than two minutes left. Saul pushed the accelerator quickly up to fifty, doing his best to avoid the larger potholes.

  “I hope Radha can manage this. She’s never extended her powers over such a large area before.” Tachyon drummed his fingers on the vinyl car seat. He turned to look back. “We’re far enough away, I think. Stop here.”

  Saul pulled over and they all got out and looked back toward the base.

  “I don’t get it.” Danforth crouched down next to the rear of the car. “I mean, all she can do is turn into an elephant. I don’t see where this gets us.”

  “Yes, but the mass has to come from somewhere, Mr. Danforth. And electrical energy is the most easily convertible source.” Tachyon looked at his watch. “Twenty seconds.”

  “You know, if you could make your movies this exciting, Mr D. . . .” Paula shook her head. “Come on, Radha.”

  The entire base went silently dark. “Hot damn.” Danforth popped up and bounced on his toes. “She did it.”

  Jayewardene looked at the gray sky above the horizon. A dark shape lifted itself up out of the larger blackness and moved toward them, throwing off occasional blue sparks.

  “I think she may be a bit overcharged,” said Tachyon. “But no gunfire. I’m sure they don’t know what hit them.”

  “That’s fine,” said Danforth. “Because I’m not really sure what did either.”

  “What I understand,” said Saul, leaning into the front seat and starting up the car, “is that no more choppers are taking off from there for a while. And Miss Elephant Girl owes me a new battery from yesterday.”

  Radha flew in and landed next to the car, sparks igniting from each foot as she touched the ground. Jayewardene thought she looked a little bigger than she had the day before. Tachyon walked over and stepped onto her front leg, his hair standing out like a clown’s wig as he touched her. Radha lifted him up onto her back.

  “We’ll see you soon, with luck,” the alien said, wavi
ng.

  Jayewardene nodded. “The drive to Adam’s Peak should take us about an hour from here. Fly northwest as quickly as you can.”

  The elephant rose noiselessly into the air and they were gone before anything else could be said.

  The road was narrow. Dense trees grew to its edge and stretched ahead endlessly. They had been alone except for a bus and a few horse-drawn carts. Jayewardene explained to them what the ape really was and how he had come by the knowledge. Discussing his ace ability passed the time during the drive. Saul was pushing as hard as he could on the mud-slicked roads, making better time than Jayewardene had thought possible.

  “I don’t understand one thing, though,” said Paula, leaning forward from the backseat to put her head next to his. “If these visions are always true, why are you working so hard to see that things turn out?”

  “For myself there is no choice,” Jayewardene said. “I cannot let the visions dictate how I lead my life, so I try to act as I would have without such knowledge. And a little knowledge of the future is very dangerous. The final outcome is not my only concern. What happens in the interim is equally as important. If anyone was killed by the ape because I knew it would ultimately have its humanity restored, I would be guilty of having caused that death.”

  “I think you’re being a little hard on yourself.” Paula gave his shoulder a light squeeze. “There’s only so much anyone can do.”

  “Those are my beliefs.” Jayewardene turned around and looked into her eyes. She returned the look for an instant, then sank back next to Danforth.

  “Something going on up ahead,” Saul said in a level, almost disinterested tone.

  They were at the top of a hill. The trees had been cleared away from the roadside for a hundred yards or so on either side, giving them an unobstructed view.

  Sri Pada’s peak was still shrouded in the early morning mist. Helicopters circled something unseen near the base of the mountain.

  “Think it’s our boy they’re after?” asked Danforth.

  “Almost certainly.” Jayewardene wished he had brought along field glasses. One of the circling shapes might be Radha and Tachyon, but from this distance there was no way to tell. The clearing ended, and they were again surrounded by jungle.

  “Want me to jack it up a little?” Saul crushed out his cigarette in the ashtray.

  “As long as we get there alive,” Paula said, fastening her seat belt.

  Saul pushed the accelerator down a little farther, leaving a spray of mud behind them.

  They parked behind a pair of abandoned buses that blocked off the road. No one was visible other than the beast and its attackers. The pilgrims had either fled up the mountain or back down the road into the valley. Jayewardene walked as quickly as he could up the stone steps, the others following behind him. The helicopters had kept the ape from making it very far up the mountain.

  “Any sign of our elephant?” asked Danforth.

  “Can’t see them from here.” Jayewardene’s sides already hurt from the exertion. He paused to rest a moment and looked up as one of the choppers dropped a steel net. There was an answering roar, but they couldn’t tell if the net had found its target.

  They worked their way up the steps for several hundred yards, passing through an empty but undamaged rest station. The heli­copters were still pressing their attack, although they appeared to be fewer in number now. Jayewardene slipped on one of the wet flagstones and smashed his knee against a step edge. Saul grabbed him by the armpits and lifted him up. “I’m all right,” he said, painfully straightening his leg. “Let’s keep on.”

  An elephant trumpeted in the distance.

  “Hurry,” said Paula, taking the stairs in twos.

  Jayewardene and the others trotted up after her. After another hundred-yard climb he stopped them. “We have to cut across the mountain’s face here. The footing is very dangerous. Hold on to the trees when you can.” He stepped out onto the moist soil and steadied himself against a coconut palm, then began working slowly toward the direction of the battle.

  They were slightly higher than the ape when they got close enough to see what was going on. The monster had a steel net in one hand and a stripped tree in the other. It was holding Radha and the two remaining helicopters at bay like a gladiator with a net and trident. Jayewardene couldn’t see Robyn but assumed that the beast had her in the top of a tree again.

  “Well, now that we’re here, what the hell do we do?” Danforth leaned against a jak tree, breathing hard.

  “We go get Robyn.” Paula wiped her muddy hands on her shorts and took a step toward the ape.

  “Wait.” Danforth grabbed her hand. “I can’t afford to lose you too. Let’s see what Tachyon can do.”

  “No,” Paula said, twisting away. “We have to get her out while the ape’s distracted.”

  The pair stared hard at each other for a moment, then Jayewardene came between them. “Let’s get a bit closer and see what’s possible.”

  They half-slid, half-walked down the slope, then hit a ledge that was deep mud. Jayewardene felt it slip uncomfortably into his shoes. Robyn was still nowhere in sight, but the ape hadn’t noticed them.

  The last helicopter moved into position over the ape and dropped its net. The ape caught it on the end of the tree and deflected it to one side, then tossed the tree at the retreating chopper, which had to bank away sharply to avoid being hit. The ape beat its chest and roared.

  Radha and Tachyon moved in from behind at treetop level. The ape reached down, picked up one of the steel nets, and swung it in a blur of motion. There was a pinging thwack as the edge of the net caught Radha on the foreleg. Tachyon slipped off her back and was left dangling from her ear. Radha gained height and pulled Tachyon back up onto her shoulders.

  The ape pounded the earth and bared its teeth, then stood there clutching and unclutching its huge, black hands.

  “I don’t see what they can do,” said Danforth. “That thing is just too strong.”

  “We shall see,” Jayewardene said.

  Tachyon leaned in close to one of Radha’s immense ears. The elephant dropped down like a stone for a distance, then began circling rapidly around the ape’s head. The ape lifted its arms and twisted around, trying to keep its enemy in sight. After a few moments the creature was half a turn behind the elephant. Radha dove directly for the ape’s back. Tachyon jumped onto the ape’s neck, and the flying elephant moved away quickly to a safe dis­tance. The ape hunched down, then reached back for Tachyon, who was clinging to the thick fur on its shoulder. The beast plucked the alien off easily and held him up for inspection, then roared and brought Tachyon toward its mouth.

  “Holy shit,” said Danforth, restraining Paula.

  The monster had Tachyon almost into its mouth when it froze, jerked convulsively for a moment, and toppled over backward. The impact jarred water from the trees, streaking the mud on the faces of Jayewardene and his companions. Jayewardene hurried downhill toward the ape, trying to ignore the pain in his knee.

  Tachyon was squirming out of the ape’s rigid fingers when they arrived at the creature’s side. He slid down quickly off the giant body and steadied himself against Jayewardene.

  “Burning sky! You were right, Mr. Jayewardene.” He took several deep breaths. “There is a man inside the beast.”

  “How did you stop it?” Danforth asked, staying a few steps farther away than the others. “And where’s Robyn?”

  “Headed back to North Dakota,” came a weak voice from a nearby treetop. Robyn waved and began picking her way down.

  “I’ll see if she’s okay,” Paula said, running over.

  “To answer your first question, Mr. Danforth,” Tachyon said, counting the missing buttons on his shirt, “the main portion of the brain is simian and consists mostly of an old black-and-white film. But there is also a human personality, completely subordinate to the ape mentality. I have temporarily given them equal control, thus providing a stasis that has paralyzed it.” />
  Danforth nodded uncomprehendingly. “So what do we do now?”

  “Dr. Tachyon will now restore the ape to human form.” Jayewardene rubbed his leg. “The military isn’t likely to stay away for long. There isn’t much time to do what must be done.” As if to punctuate his remark, one of the helicopters appeared and hovered over them for a moment before turning away.

  Tachyon nodded and looked at Jayewardene. “You saw the transformation in your vision. Was I injured? Just out of curiosity.”

  Jayewardene shrugged. “Would it matter?”

  “No. I suppose not.” Tachyon chewed on a fingernail. “Matter. That’s the real problem. When we restore the human mind to dom­inance, he’ll shed all that excess matter as energy. Anyone near, including myself, is likely to be killed.”

  Jayewardene pointed to Radha, who was helping Robyn down out of the tree. “Perhaps if you were held in the air, ungrounded so to speak, the danger would be minimized. And if the energy was channeled into something like a lightning bolt . . .” Jayewardene looked up at the overcast sky.

  “Yes. That idea has possibilities.” Tachyon nodded and yelled to Radha. “Don’t change back yet.”

  A few minutes later everyone was in position. Jayewardene sat next to Paula, who held Robyn’s head in her lap. Saul and Danforth stood a few yards away. Radha, some ten feet off the ground, held Tachyon in her trunk a few feet from the ape’s head. Saul had torn his shirt into blindfolds for Elephant Girl and Tachyon. They could hear the beast’s labored breathing from where they sat.

  “You’d better close your eyes or turn away,” said Jayewardene. They did as he suggested.