Captives of the Flame

  CHAPTER VI

  The Duchess of Petra said, "Now, your first direct assignment willbe ..."

  * * * * *

  Then, the sudden green of beetles' wings; the red of polished carbuncle;a web of silver fire; lightning and blue smoke. Columns of jade caughtred light through the great crack in the roof. The light across thefloor was red. Jon felt that there were others with him, but he couldnot be sure. Before him, on a stone platform, three marble crescentswere filled with pulsating shadows. Jon Koshar looked at them, and thenaway. There were many more columns, most broken.

  He saw a huge break in the sanctuary wall. Outside he could look down onan immense red plain. At a scribed line, the plain changed color to aneven more luminous red. Near the temple a few geometrical buildings castmaroon pinions of shadow over the russet expanse. Suddenly he realizedthat the further half of the plain was an immense red sea, yet with aperfectly straight shore line. Calmly it rippled toward the brighthorizon.

  At the horizon, filling up nearly a quarter of the sky, was what seemedto be a completely rounded mountain of dull red. No, it was a segment ofa huge red disk, a great dull sun lipping the horizon of the planet. Yetit was dim enough so that he could stare directly at it withoutblinking. Above it, the atmosphere was a rich purple.

  Then there was a voice from behind him, and he turned to the triplethrone once more.

  "Hail, hosts of Earth," the voice began. The very shadows of the roomwere like red bruises on the stone. "You are in the halls of an extinctcity on Creton III. Twelve million years ago this planet housed acivilization higher than yours today. Now it is dead, and only we areleft, sitting on their thrones in the twilight of their dying, ruddysun."

  "Who are you?" demanded Jon, but his voice sounded strange, distorted.As he bit the last word off, another voice broke in.

  "What do you really want from us?"

  Then a third voice.

  "What are you going to do with us?"

  Jon looked around but saw no one else. Suddenly another picture, thepicture of a world of white desert where the sky was deep blue and eachobject cast double shadows, filled his mind. "This isn't the world youtook me to before ..." he exclaimed.

  "No," came the quiet voice, "this is not the world we took you tobefore. Listen. We are homeless wanderers of space. Our origin was notonly in another galaxy, but in another universe, eternities ago. By wayof this universe we can move from star to star without transversing anysegment of time, unless we desire. Thus we have dwelt quietly in thedead cities of myriad suns till now. We have never tampered with anyliving species, though there is something in us that yearns for theextinct cultures.

  "Recently according to our standards, though still much older than yoursolar system, a dark force has come into the universe. It has evolvedsimilarly to us, and also leaps among galaxies in moments. Yet it holdsno culture sacred that it finds, and has already tampered with a scoreof civilizations. It is younger than we are, and can only exist in oneindividual at a time, while our entity has three lobes, so to speak.This rival thinks nothing of completely changing the mind of its host,giving deadly information, even new powers. We are bound only to ridewith your minds, warn you, guide you, but changing your body before yourminds, and that only to keep you from death. So it will be your owngreed, your own selflessness that will eventually win or lose thisbattle. Therefore it will be won or lost within the framework of yourown civilization."

  "Then tell us this," came a voice that was not Jon's. "What is on theother side of the radiation barrier?"

  "But we have told you already. And you have guessed. Toromon is at warwith an economic condition. Beyond the barrier is a civilization whichis controlled by the Lord of the Flames. He is only in one member oftheir number, and any time he may move to another, although it is notlikely."

  "Are they our enemies?"

  "Your only enemies are yourselves. But he must be evicted none the less.To do that, all you must do is confront the individual who is bearinghim, the three of you together. But you must all be within seeingdistance of him at once. For we work through your minds. What you cannotperceive, we cannot affect."

  "How will we do this?"

  "One of you has already been made immune to the radiation barrier. Sowill the rest of you when it becomes necessary. This is what you will dofor us, and it will also remove the threatening element of the unknownthat distracts Toromon from her own problems."

  "But why our planet?" a voice asked.

  "Yours is an ideal experimenting ground. Because of the Great Fire, yourplanet has many civilizations that are now completely isolated from oneanother; many, however, are on a fairly high level. The radiationbarriers that lace your planet will keep you isolated from them for sometime. When the Lord of the Flames is finished with one empire, he maywish to try a different method on a basically similar civilization. Forall your isolated empires had the same base. Marinor, Letpar, Calcivon,Aptor--these are all empires on your planet of which you have neverheard. But your first concern is Toromon."

  "Will we remember all this?" Jon asked.

  "You will remember enough. Good-bye; you know your task." The red hazein the deserted temple pulsed and the jade columns flickered. Hands ofblue smoke caught him and flung him through a lightning flash. Whirledthrough a net of silver, he dropped through red into the vivid green ofbeetles' wings.

  * * * * *

  Jon blinked. The Duchess took a step backwards. The green carpet, therich wood-paneled walls, the glass-covered desk: they were in a sittingroom of his father's house, again.

  Finally Jon asked, "Now just what am I supposed to do, again? Andexplain it very carefully."

  "I was going to say," said the Duchess, "that you were to get to thePrince, who is being kept at an inn in the Devil's Pot, and accompanyhim to the forest people. I want him to stay there until this war isover. They live a different life from any of the other people of thisempire. They will give him something he'll be able to use. I told you Ispent some time there when I was younger. I can't explain exactly whatit is, but it's a certain ruggedness, a certain strength. Maybe theywon't give it to him, but if he's got it in him, they'll bring it out."

  "What about ... the Lord of the Flames?"

  "I don't--do you have any idea, Jon?"

  "Well, assuming we get beyond the radiation barrier, assuming we findwhat people we're fighting, assuming we find which one of them iscarrying around the Lord of the Flames, and assuming we can all three ofus get to him at once--assuming all that, there's no problem. But wecan't, can we? Look, I'll be going to the forest, so I'll be closest tothe radiation barrier. I'll try to get through, see what the situationis, and then the two of you can come on. All right?"

  "Fine."

  "If nothing else, it'll put me closer to the Lord of the Flames ... andmy freedom."

  "How are you not free now, Jon Koshar?" the Duchess asked.

  Instead of answering, he said, "Give me the address of the inn at theDevil's Pot."

  * * * * *

  Going down the hall, with the address, Jon increased his pace. His mindcarried an alien mind that had saved him from death once already. Howcould he be free? The ... obligation? That couldn't be the word.

  Around the corner he heard a voice. "And now would you please explain itto me? It's not every day that I'm called on to declare war. I think Idid it rather eloquently. Now tell my why."

  (Jon remembered the trick of acoustics which as a child enabled him tostand in this spot and overhear his sister and her girlfriends'conversation just as they came into the house.)

  "It's your brother," came the other voice. "He's been kidnaped."

  "He's been what?" asked the King. "And why? And by whom?"

  "We don't know," answered the official. "But the council thought it wasbest to get you to declare war."

  "Oh," said the King. "So that's why I made that little speech in there.What does mother say?"

>   "It wouldn't be polite to repeat, sir. She was locked in her room, andvery insulted."

  "She would be," said Uske. "So, the enemy has infiltrated and gotten mysilly brother."

  "Well," said the voice, "they can't be sure. But what with the planesthis morning, they thought it was best."

  "Oh, well," said the King. There were footsteps. Then silence.

  Coming round the corner, Jon saw the coat closet was ajar. He opened thedoor, took out a great cape and hood, and wrapped it around him, pullingthe hood close over his head. He stepped into the foyer and went outpast the doorman.

  * * * * *

  At the edge of the Devil's Pot, the woman with the birthmark on the leftside of her face was tapping a cane and holding out a tin cup. She hadput on a pair of dark glasses and wandered up one street and downanother. "Money for a poor blind woman," she said in a whiny voice."Money for the blind." As a coin clinked into her cup, she nodded,smiled, and said, "Welcome to the New World. Good luck in the Island ofOpportunity."

  The man who had given her the coin walked a step, and then turned back."Hey," he said to Rara. "If you're blind, how do you know I'm new here?"

  "Strangers are generous," Rara explained, "while those who live here aretoo frozen to give."

  "Look," said the man, "I was told to watch out for blind beggars whoweren't blind. My cousin, he warned me ..."

  "Not blind!" cried Rara. "Not blind? Why my license is right here. Itpermits me to beg in specified areas because of loss of sight. If youkeep this up, I'll be obliged to show it to you." She turned away with ahuff and began in another direction. The man scratched his head, thenhurried off.

  A few moments later, a man completely swathed in a gray cloak and hoodcame around the corner and stopped in front of the woman.

  "Money for the blind?"

  "Can you use this?" the man said. From his cloak he held out a brocadejacket, covered with fine metal work.

  "Of course," said Rara softly. Then she coughed. "Er ... what is it?"

  "It's a jacket," Jon said. "It's made pretty well. Maybe you can sellit?"

  "Oh, thank you. Thank you, sir."

  * * * * *

  A few blocks later, a ragged boy, who looked completely amazed, washanded a white silk shirt by the man in the gray cloak. In front of adoorway two blocks on, a pair of open-toed black boots with gold diskswere left--and stolen from that doorway exactly forty seconds later by ahairdresser who was returning to her home in Devil's Pot. She wasmissing the little finger of her left hand. Once the gray cloaked figurepaused in an alley beneath a clothes line. Suddenly he flung up a ballof gray cloth, which caught on the line, unrolled, and becameidentifiable as a pair of dark gray trousers. A block later the lastminor articles of clothing were hurled unceremoniously through an openwindow. As Jon turned another corner, he glimpsed a figure ducking intoa doorway down the dim street. The man was apparently following him.

  Jon walked very slowly down the next block, ambling along in the shadow.The hoodlum crept up behind him, then grabbed his cloak, ripped it away,and leaped forward.

  Only there wasn't anything there. The mugger stood for a moment, thecape dangling from his hand, blinking at the place a man should havebeen. Then something hit him in the jaw. He staggered back. Somethingelse hit him in the stomach. As he stumbled forward now, beneath thestreet lamp, a transparent human figure suddenly formed in front of him.Then it planted its quite substantial fist into his jaw again, and hewent back, down, and out.

  Jon dragged the man back to the side of the alley, fading out completelyas he did so. Then he took the hoodlum's clothes, which were ragged,smelly, and painfully nondescript. The shoes, which were too small forhim, he had to leave off. Then he flung the cape back around hisshoulders and pulled the hood over his head.

  For the next six blocks he was lost because there were no street signs.When he did find the next one, he realized he was only a block away fromthe inn.

  As he reached the stone building, he heard a thud in the tiny alleywaybeside it. A moment later a girl's voice called softly, "There. Justlike that. Only you better do exactly as I say or you'll break your armsor legs, or back."

  He walked to the edge of the building and peered into the alley.

  Her white hair loose, Alter stood looking up at the roof. "All right,Tel," she called. "You next."

  Something came down from the roof, flipped over on the ground at herfeet, rolled away, and then suddenly unwound to standing position. Theblack-haired boy ran his fingers through his hair. "Wow," he said. Thenhe shook his head. "Wow."

  "Are you all right?" Alter asked. "You didn't pull anything, did you?"

  "No," he said. "I'm all right. I think. Yeah, everything's in place." Helooked up at the roof again, two stories above.

  "Your turn, Let," Alter called up.

  "It's high," came a childish voice from the roof.

  "Hurry up," said Alter, her voice becoming authoritative. "When I countthree. And remember, knees up, chin down, and roll quick. One, two,three!" There was the space of a breath, and then it fell, rolled,bounced unsteadily to its feet, and resolved into another boy, this oneblond, and slighter than the first.

  "Hey, you kids," Jon said.

  They turned.

  Jon looked at the smaller boy. His slight blond frame, less substantialthen even Alter's white-haired loveliness was definitely of the royalfamily. "What are you doing out here, anyway?" Jon asked. "Especiallyyou, your Highness."

  All three children jumped.

  It looked like they might balk, and after that descent from the roof, hewasn't sure where they might balk to. So he said, "Incidentally, theDuchess of Petra sent me. How did you do that fall?"

  His Highness was the only one to relax appreciably.

  "And are you sure you're supposed to be outside?"

  "We were supposed to stay on the top floor," Tel said. "But him," hepointed to his ragged Highness, "he got restless, and we started tellinghim about the tricks, and so we went up to the roof, and Alter said shecould get us down."

  "Can you get them back up?" Jon asked.

  "Sure," said Alter, "all we do is climb ..."

  Jon held up his hand. "Wait a minute," he said. "We'll go inside andtalk to the man in charge. Don't worry. No one'll be mad."

  "You mean talk to Geryn?" said Alter.

  "I guess that's what his name is."

  They started back out of the alley. "Tell me," Jon said, "just what sortof person is Geryn?"

  "He's a strange old man. He talks to himself all the time," said Alter."But he's smart."

  Talks to himself, Jon reflected, and nodded. When they reached the doorof the inn, Jon pulled his cape off and stepped into the light. A fewpeople at the bar turned around, and when they saw the children, theylooked askance at one another.

  "Geryn's probably upstairs," Alter said. They went to the second floor.Jon let the children go ahead of him as they passed into the shadow ofthe hall. He only stepped up to them when Alter pushed open the door atthe end of the hall and bright light from Geryn's room fell full acrossthem.

  "What is it?" Geryn snapped. And then, "What is it, quick?" He whirledaround in the chair at the rough wooden desk when they entered. Thegiant was standing by the window. Geryn's gray eyes fidgeted back andforth. Finally he said, "Why are you out here? And who is he? What doyou want?"

  "I'm from the Duchess of Petra," Jon said. "I've come to take Let to theforest people."

  "Yes," said the old man. "Yes." Then suddenly his face twisted as if hewere trying to remember something. Then shook his head. "Yes." Suddenlyhe stood up. "Well, go on. I've done my part, I tell you. I've done.Every minute he's in my house he endangers my boarders, my friends. Takehim. Go on."

  The giant turned from the window. "I am to go with you. My name isArkor."

  Jon frowned. For the first time the scarred giant's height struck him."Why...?" he started.

  "It is my country that we go to," said
Arkor. "I know how to get there.I can take you through it. Geryn says it is part of the plan."

  Jon felt a sudden knot of resentment tighten inside him. Theseplans--the Duchess', Geryn's, even the plans of the triple beings whoinhabited them--they trapped him. Freedom. The word went in and out ofhis mind like a shadow. He said, "When do we go then, if you know how toget there?"

  "In the morning," said Arkor.

  "Alter, take him to a room. Get him out of here. Quick. Go on." Theybacked from the room and Alter hurried them up the hall.

  Jon was thinking. After delivering Let to the forest people, he wasgoing further. Yes. He would go on, try to get through the radiationbarrier. But all three of them had to get through if they were to do anygood. So why wasn't Geryn coming instead of sending the giant? If Geryncame, then there'd be two people near the Lord of the Flames. But Gerynwas old. Maybe the Duchess could bring him with her when she came.Mentally he smashed a fist into his thoughts and scattered them. Don'tthink. Don't think. Thinking binds up your mind, and you can never be--He stopped. Then another thought wormed into his skull, the thought offive years of glittering hunger.

  That night he slept well. Morning pried his eyes open with blades oflight that fell through the window. It was very early. He had been uponly a minute when there was a knock on his door. Then it opened, andArkor directed the dwarfed form of the Prince into Jon's room, thenturned and left.

  "He says to meet him downstairs in five minutes," Let said.

  "Sure," said Jon. He finished buttoning up the ragged shirt stolen fromthe mugger the night before, and looked at the boy by the door. "I guessyou're not used to these sort of clothes," he said. "Once I wasn'teither. Pretty soon they begin to take."

  "Huh?" said Let. Then, "Oh."

  "Is something wrong?"

  "Who are you?"

  Jon thought for a moment. "Well," he said. "I'm sort of a friend of yourbrother. An acquaintance, anyway. I'm supposed to take you to theforest."

  "Why?"

  "You'll be safe there."

  "Could we go to the sea instead?"

  "My turn for a 'why'?" Jon asked.

  "Because Tel told me all about it last night. He said it was fun. Hesaid there were rocks all different colors. And in the morning, he said,you can see the sun come up like a burning blister behind the water. Hetold me about the boats, too. I'd like to work on a boat. I reallywould. They don't allow me to do anything at home. Mother says I mightget hurt. Will I get a chance to work someplace?"

  "Maybe," Jon said.

  "Tel had some good stories about fishing. Do you know any stories?"

  "I don't know," Jon said. "I never tried telling any. Hey, come on. Webetter get started."

  "I like stories," Let said. "Come on. I'm just trying to be friendly."

  Jon laughed, then thought a minute. "I can tell you a story, about aprison mine. Do you know anything about the prison mines beyond theforest?"

  "Some," said Let.

  "Well, once upon a time, there were three prisoners in that prisoncamp." They started out in the hall. "They'd been there a long time,and they wanted to get out. One was ... well, he looked like me, let'spretend. Another had a limp ..."

  "And the third one was chubby, sort of," interrupted Let. "I know thatstory."

  "You do?" asked Jon.

  "Sure," Let said.

  "Then you go on and tell it." Jon was a little annoyed.

  Let told it to him.

  They were outside waiting for Arkor when the boy finished. "See," Letsaid. "I told you I knew it."

  "Yeah," said Jon quietly. He stood very still. "You say the othertwo ... didn't make it?"

  "That's right," Let said. "The guards brought them back and dumped theirbodies in the mud so that ..."

  "Shut up," Jon said.

  "Huh?" asked Let.

  He was quiet for a few breaths. "Who told you that ... story?"

  "Petra," Let answered. "She told it to me. It's a good story, huh?"

  "Incidentally," Jon said. "I'm the one that got away."

  "You mean?" The boy stopped. "You mean it really happened?"

  The early light warmed the deserted street now as Arkor came to the doorof the inn and stepped into the street.

  "All right," he said. "Come on."