Mordecai

  Someone had entered the room while she had been gone, and they had probably come through the window. On its face, that fact was almost absurd. Her window was on the fourth floor, and barely wide enough to accept any but a child or a very thin man. The wall outside would also be difficult to scale. Though it was constructed of stone, it wasn’t rough, the available handholds would require a climber to have incredible finger strength.

  They entered, and either stumbled over the table or were forced to move it. Afterward they tried to put everything back in place, she noted silently. Then they entered my bedroom. She had already observed that that door hadn’t been firmly shut.

  The question that made her heart flutter with cold fear, was whether they had left. Stay calm. Her mind raced through possible scenarios, theft, espionage, or assassination being the top three that presented themselves. She had already discarded the notion that her maid had disturbed the room. Angela knew her habits and preferences well after years of service.

  After stirring the fire, she straightened back up and re-racked the andiron. Though she was reluctant to release it, she didn’t want to give away her hand, if someone was watching her. Better to feign obliviousness. She had other weapons close by.

  She needed to get out of the apartment, but the only possible hiding place in the main room was the wardrobe, and it was positioned close to the door that led to the front waiting room. I never should have placed it there, she thought regretfully.

  Aloud, she said to herself, “It’s still too chilly in here. Where did I leave my housecoat? Probably in the front room.” Then she moved purposefully toward the door. She hoped that, if there was someone in the wardrobe, they would wait for her to return before springing their trap. Assuming they did wait, she would simply leave through the main door and return with several large bodies to search the apartment.

  As she passed, the wardrobe doors sprang open, and a someone leapt toward her.

  Most of Rose’s dresses had a hidden opening in the skirt, allowing her to reach a long knife strapped to her leg. She altered them herself if necessary. Already alerted, her hand was on the handle when her attacker emerged. Pulling it free she brought the blade up at a low angle and drove all nine inches of sharpened steel into the stranger’s body, just above the groin.

  She was momentarily shocked to see the stranger was a lithe young woman with short-cropped hair and wearing men’s trousers. Rose’s second surprise came when the assassin didn’t crumple or flinch away from the pain of her wound. Instead, her attacker’s hand dropped down to grip her wrist, preventing her from striking again.

  Rose screamed, deliberately pitching her voice to its highest volume. As empty as the keep was it was unlikely anyone would hear her, but there was always that chance. Jerking backward, she tried to pull free of the invader’s hold, but the woman’s hand held onto her wrist with a grip of iron.

  Though the assassin was slender and small boned, she was still taller and heavier than Rose. Awkwardly, the strange woman tried to slam her hand into Rose’s head.

  Dropping low, Rose avoided the punch, while continuing to twist the knife still lodged in the woman’s abdomen. As she went, she reached into her bodice and drew out her second weapon, a small stiletto, and drove it into the first available target, the assassin’s knee.

  The strange woman fell forward on top of Rose, driving the knife even deeper into her own belly, and they struggled together on the floor. Blood was everywhere. Rose managed to keep her left hand holding the stiletto free. She stabbed again, and again, while the other woman scrabbled at the floor with her own free arm.

  Eventually she managed to get free. Rose slid and almost fell getting to her feet, for the floor was slick with dark blood. The woman was still trying to rise, to reach her, but she had grown too weak to manage it.

  Then two hands gripped her shoulders from behind, pulling her backward. Rose screamed again, and this time her cry was born purely of instinct and fear. Twisting, she pulled forward, but the hands had caught the neckline of her dress. The fabric gave way before she did, and she wound up tangled in her own clothing, her arms caught in the material that had previously covered her torso. She still held the stiletto, but it was impossible to bring it to bear.

  The new attacker was male, and inexorably he twisted her body around. When she resisted, he kicked her legs out from beneath her and followed her down to the floor, landing atop her.

  For a moment she thought he meant to rape her. Even as the nightmare unfolded, her mind had continued working. Neither of the two intruders had had weapons, or sought to use any. It had to be rape, or possibly kidnapping—or both. Then, as the man pulled his head away, she knew it wasn’t rape.

  The look in his eyes was dead, empty. Not once had he glanced at her exposed chest. Kidnapping, then, she thought, but something still didn’t feel true about even that. As her assailant moved to secure his hold on her she brought her knee up, slamming it into his groin.

  It had been a desperate measure, one she hadn’t expected to work. Most men guarded their precious parts instinctively.

  This man simply ignored the move, and when her knee connected, he didn’t flinch.

  One of his hands slipped behind her, grasping her unbound hair by the roots, jerking her head back at a painful angle. She gasped at the pain, and then his mouth opened as he leaned in to kiss her.

  Something metallic glinted within.

  ***

  Gary stood quietly in Matthew’s workshop. His eyes were closed, and his body in a low power mode meant to preserve energy, but his mind was active. It wasn’t something he did when humans were around, for it only served to highlight his mechanical differences. If he had to rest in sight of humans, he would lie down and pretend to sleep, but Matthew didn’t seem to care about his uncanny strangeness.

  Matthew was gone today, so there was little for him to do, other than think. At least that was true until he began receiving the signal.

  The android opened his eyes and returned his body to normal function levels, listening in his own special way. It was a sense unique to him in this world, though he hadn’t ever expected it to be useful here. There was nothing to hear.

  Until now.

  For all the apparent power and special senses that the mages of this world employed, none of them could have detected this. But what is it? he wondered. His higher functions had already turned the signal over to his multi-point computational unit, which in turn was running it through a variety of specialized signal algorithms.

  Thus far it was just noise, but it wasn’t natural noise, it was highly organized and discrete. It was coming through on a low frequency shortwave bandwidth. Almost too low for me to detect, he realized.

  Spreading his arms wide, he maximized the distance between his hands while applying a mirror repetition filter to the signal. It wasn’t a perfect technique and could be prone to error, but it allowed him to simulate having a much longer antenna. The signal became stronger, but he could detect clipping at the edges. The distortion would make it impossible to decode, even if he knew the encryption code.

  Then the signal ended.

  But who sent it, and who was it for? Pure deduction couldn’t answer the question. A shortwave signal could cross vast distances, so the location of the intended recipient would be nearly impossible to determine. And without an active signal, as well as a much larger antenna, he couldn’t know from what direction it had originated. It could easily have come from hundreds of miles away.

  Inductive reasoning produced significantly more information. Based on his prior experience, he knew of only one entity likely to be on this world that would use such a signal. ANSIS. The weaponized artificial intelligence he had helped create in his home dimension. Matthew had already told him about its incursion here.

  The humans here had hoped it had been eliminated, but this signal proved that to be a false hope. Someone needed to be notified, but who? Matthew, along with his father and the rest of the ruling family
here were absent, except for one. Irene.

  Gary finished his analysis and decision making in less than a fraction of a second. Moving to the door, he opened it and began walking toward the keep that was the heart of Castle Cameron. There was only one guard at the main entrance to the keep. The rest were probably stationed at the outer gatehouse.

  The man recognized him immediately, his body language broadcasting his unease at seeing the artificial man.

  Gary smiled to help alleviate the human’s anxiety. “Excuse me, where is Irene Illeniel? I have important news to relay to her.”

  The guard looked at him suspiciously. “You’ll have to wait here. I don’t think the Count would want you anywhere near his youngest while everyone else is gone. I’ll send for the chamberlain.”

  Gary decided that would be acceptable. The recipient of the signal was probably far from here. The humans wouldn’t be able to react to the news in any meaningful timeframe.

  And then he heard a new signal, this one on an entirely different wavelength, a high frequency radiowave. This one could transfer information at a much higher rate, but only over short distances. Almost immediately a second signal became active. Two ANSIS units were talking to each other.

  Fortunately, the higher frequency and short range also meant he could detect the direction of the signal source. Taking quick steps, he walked a triangle in the yard, taking measurements at each point, then he triangulated the source location. Roughly fifty feet above and to the left, he noted. That put the source somewhere in the living areas used by some of the castle inhabitants. They’re inside the castle!

  The matter was considerably more urgent than his first estimate.

  Returning to the guard, he spoke, “I am afraid that there is an enemy within the keep, probably the same one that the Count and his daughter faced in Dunbar. If we do not act quickly, I do not know what may happen.”

  Those words got a more appropriate reaction. The guard stepped within and rang a bell, then he abandoned his post, running down the main hall. Gary took this as an invitation to enter. Guessing that the guard would be heading for Irene, he followed the man.

  ***

  Irene Illeniel sat in the main hall, trying out her father’s seat. It was unlikely she’d ever be the Countess, since she had two older blood siblings. But she couldn’t help but have a fascination for the seat of authority. Besides, there was little else to do with everyone gone. Her closest friend, Carissa, was away in Albamarl.

  In short, Irene was bored.

  In theory, being left in charge sounded exciting, though both her parents and the chamberlain, Peter, had made it clear that Lady Rose would be the actual arbiter of any important decisions. The reality though, was that she had been left behind with nothing to do and a babysitter to make sure she didn’t cause trouble. Irene let out a long sigh, wishing something, anything, would happen.

  “Lady Irene!”

  The doors at the end of the hall were flung back as one of the guards, the only guard in the keep in fact, entered. What was his name? she tried to remember. Stevens, that was it.

  Irene felt self-conscious at having been caught sitting in her father’s seat, but she pushed the feeling aside and straightened her back. “Yes, Guardsman Stevens, what is the problem?”

  “Your brother’s creature, the one they call Gary, is outside. He claims there are enemies in the keep!”

  The young lady’s heart jumped in her chest. Excitement was one thing, an attack was something else. She still had nightmares of the day that she had been kidnapped. Behind the guard she could see Gary walking into the room.

  Stevens turned around, alarmed at the android’s presence. “I told you to stay outside!”

  Irene frowned. She hadn’t particularly liked Stevens’ referring to Gary as her ‘brother’s creature’, nor did she think his reaction now was appropriate. “Stevens!” she called out. “Stand down. Gary is a friend of mine as well. You should have let him in immediately.”

  Stevens bit his lip, but kept his sword sheathed. He didn’t particularly like taking orders from a young girl, especially one whose judgement he doubted, but until Lady Rose appeared, he had no choice. “Yes, milady. Forgive me.”

  Irene addressed the machine-man, “Gary, what is this news of yours?”

  Gary didn’t waste time beating around the bush. “ANSIS is here. I can detect signals coming from two of their units above us and in that direction.” He pointed at the ceiling, angling his arm to the left. “Given my readings since entering the building I am certain of their height now, which places them on the fourth level.”

  Irene froze. His statement terrified her. All too vividly she remembered the assassins in her home, the fighting and the blood. The murder of Lily. What should she do? There were no guards, other than Stevens. It would take ten minutes or longer to recall the other four from the outer gate. Anything could happen in that time. Her hands began to tremble.

  Peter entered then, coming through one of the side doors. “What’s going on?”

  This was her moment. Irene knew it. She had to say something, otherwise Peter would take over, and she would be ushered off to someplace the chamberlain decided would be safe. “Peter,” she said loudly. “Send for the guards at the gate. Have them meet us on the fourth floor.”

  Unsure of what was happening Peter glanced at Stevens, but the guard merely gave a slight shrug. “Certainly,” he answered. “I’ll send someone for them and follow you up.”

  Irene was already standing, though her knees felt weak. Marching forward, she headed for Stevens and Gary. “Let’s go.” Do I really mean that? I can’t do this. Her legs continued to move despite her doubts, however.

  The walls seemed to close in around her as they went, enclosing her in a dark tunnel. Something terrible waited for her at the end, and Irene’s heart began to pound harder with each step. Deep down she wanted nothing more than to stop, to turn away—to run. Gritting her teeth, she kept moving. No! I have to face this.

  Her hands were sweating by the time she reached the fourth floor. Gary led the way, and she was glad he couldn’t see her face, she was sure her fear must be written across it.

  “It’s this way,” he told them.

  Stevens sped up to walk in front of her as well, and from behind Irene could hear steps on the stairwell. Glancing back, she saw Peter emerge. He was panting, and she guessed he had probably been running to catch up after sending a messenger to the gate. The chamberlain held a short mace in his hand.

  It should have comforted her. Irene had three defenders now, but the sight of the quiet chamberlain grasping a weapon only served to highlight the gravity of the situation.

  Gary stopped. “This door, they’re in there.”

  Irene stared in horror at the door he had chosen. No, no, no, no—not this door, not her. This can’t be happening again!

  “That’s Lady Rose’s chambers,” said Peter in alarm.

  The guard tried the door handle, but the it wouldn’t move. The chamberlain pushed his way forward, “Hang on, I have the keys for it.” Fumbling with his ring, Peter tried several, his anxiety and haste only serving to slow him down. When at last he got the right key in, he realized the door was already unlocked.

  “It isn’t locked,” he announced. “Someone has barred it from the inside.”

  A heart wrenching scream coming from within pierced their ears.

  “Get it open!” yelled Irene.

  Stevens threw himself against the door, but it was made of heavy oak, bound with iron.

  “Get it open, now!” Irene yelled again, her voice rising to a near hysterical pitch.

  Gary turned to her. “These doors are too heavily constructed. Neither my body nor the guard’s has sufficient mass to break or dislodge the bar on the other side.”

  Another scream came from within, a cry of desperation and fear. Irene stared at the door and the world shrank around her until she could see nothing else. Her mind went blank, and the world vanished in a
white blaze.

  When her vision returned the door was gone, and everything was bathed in a strange golden light. Irene felt as though she was swimming. A dead woman lay in front of the door, but she hardly noticed her. Across the room and through a second door she could see Rose on the floor, her dress covered in blood, while a man lay atop her, twisting her head back at an odd angle.

  Irene’s throat erupted with a shriek of rage and denial, and everything turned first red, and then black. Her knees folded, but she never felt herself hit the floor.

  Chapter 17

  The forest around us was foreboding, but then again, when had anything in my life not been. I was certain I had been born under some cursed star.

  With Penny on my right, Gram to my left, and Chad leading the rest of the men behind me, I felt well protected. Even so, I kept my senses tuned to the environment. Using my staff to clear the path was effective, but it still took time, time I used to make sure we didn’t fall into another ambush. Now that I knew what to look for, I didn’t think the spiders could surprise us again.

  Still, a dragon would have been nice. Dragons are always nice—as long as they’re on your side.

  A quarter of an hour passed, and we had crossed perhaps a third of the distance, when I sensed something new. “Something is coming,” I warned the others. “Two of them.”

  They were big, much bigger than the spiders, though nowhere close to the dragons in sheer size. I followed them with my magesight, as they ducked between the larger trees and smashed through the underbrush. They were roughly the size of very large brown bears, but they weren’t furry.

  I pointed my staff in the direction they were coming from, and Gram and Penny moved forward and to the sides. Looking back at the men, I ordered, “Fan out. They’re too big to hold with a defensive line. If they get past, you’ll need to try and surround them.”

  “How big?” asked Chad.

  “I think they’re the same thing you fought before, when you first came here,” I told him. “Bear size.”

  The ranger nodded and after a brief search, began climbing a tree.