Time's Dark Laughter Part 26

The child gazed inward across the measureless ether, and waited for revelation.

CHAPTER 19: The Final Battle.

ALL through the night meteor showers screamed out of the sky. They struck the earth and ocean in explosions of flame that froze immediately into phosph.o.r.escent ice patterns, then melted into s.h.i.+mmering orange pools that danced across the horizon. No one in the Bookery camp slept.

The next morning Phe flew in, carrying Ollie and the aerosols from the City of Ice. They had made one stop, near the Forest of Tears, then flown directly over the Ter-rarium, with all due haste. They had flown high, for speed, and it was freezing up there-so Ollie had willingly allowed Phe to hug him closely to her breast. It was the first time he had ever been in such close, prolonged contact with a Vampire; and though he had grown tired of her endless vulgar jokes, and from time to time had to push away her boisterous, groping hands, and endure her rowdy laughter, he found he was developing, against all his better judgment, an affection for her.

The flight had exhausted them both, so after telling their stories to Jasmine and the others, they quickly fell asleep beside the campfire.

It was a day for returns, though, and shortly thereafter Aba showed up, bruised but strong. He and Paula immediately fell into each other's arms, embraced long and without words; and readied themselves for the imminent onslaught.

It was decided to attack at once, before nature could be any further subverted by the whims and spasms of the bird-child's will.

Joshua still had not returned from his meeting with the child on the previous night. Jasmine shook her head at the irony: after all that had happened, they would finally try to rescue Joshua from the castle.

Her plan was rather simple. At the Outer City, they would divide into two groups. One, led by her, would go down into the tunnels and come up in the throne room. The other group, led by Ollie, would reach the throne room through the castle itself. Jasmine and Ollie would each carry one of the aerosols. They would kill whomever tried to stop them from spraying the child.

As they were arming themselves with whatever they had-crossbows, knives, swords, torches, syringes-Osi swooped down and landed squarely in then- midst.

There was a brief furor as the alien Vampire was surrounded and nearly attacked-until Aba stepped forward.

"Let him stand," Aba shouted. Then, more softly: "He is Osi-Sire, and my friend."

"Thank you, Sire Aba." The older Vampire bared his neck. "Meeting you again, here, is an unexpected joy."

"What do you want?" Ollie demanded, for he remembered Osi well from his own brief captivity in the castle.

Osi spoke to the group. "There has been a castle conspiracy and rebellion. The child is besieged by half of her own guards. I barely escaped after joining the plot-"

There were gasps and murmurs. "Let him finish," Jasmine yelled, quieting everyone.

"Thank you, Neuroman," Osi continued. "I have been flying in circles . . . for some time. I saw your camp from the air. I thought at first to steal a few of you, and set up a harem in the jungle. But on further consideration, I've decided to join you, that we might all destroy the monster in the castle."

A score of protests and accusations rose up, but Jasmine silenced them. "Hold!" she yelled; they quickly quieted.

She looked hard at Osi, as if weighing him, then said to him, "What is the situation in the castle now?"

"The castle is in ruins. The insurgents number half a hundred and are led by a Neuroman named Fleur. They are based, I believe, in the power station. The child is de- fended by fifty others, under charge of another Neuroman called Ninjus, and a Sire named Ugo-he is sang noir, that one. Bad blood."

Jasmine nodded slowly, then slowly spoke again: "Why did you come to help us?"

For a moment, Osi felt naked under her stare. He looked away-his gaze fell on Aba; their eyes met, and held. Tension, affection; question. Neither one moved. Then Paula walked up beside Aba, and put her arm around his waist . . . and the trance was broken. Aba leaned down and kissed her head. Osi looked back at Jasmine and smiled. "On my blood, Neuroman," he said, "it seemed the thing to do."

Jasmine considered a moment longer, then bowed her acceptance. Osi told what more he knew of the child's defenses and soon all was ready.

Jasmine stood on a boulder in front of the a.s.semblage, and held a final benediction.

"What the world will be may well depend upon what we here do," she told them all. "Be strong, for we are together."

"The Word is great, the Word is One," the Books all droned responsively.

"We will take this time, too, to think on those who are not with us now."

All thought of Josh, trapped in the beleaguered castle- of all he had done for them, of all he meant. They would save him now, or die in the process.

Some thought of Michael and Ellen, too-lost somewhere out on the tundric wastes of the Ice; the first martyrs of this strange and final confrontation. And of David.

Ollie and Aba thought longingly of D'Ursu Magna, strongest of Bears, truest of friends. They wished him well in their hearts, wherever he was.

And Rose and Jasmine thought of Beauty, their graceful Centaur-and wondered if they would ever see him again; and hoped his world would be better for what they did today.

After several minutes of silence on these matters, Jasmine raised her voice again. "Are we ready, then?"

"The Word is great!" "May you reach Communion, sister!" "May we meet again in the Heart of the Forest!" "Or turn into Scripture trying!"

And so they were off. Forty rag-tag heroes of the age, intent on storming a ruined castle.

Once through the outer gates, they split up. Jasmine took her regiment-Paula, Aba, Osi, Redsun, five Books and ten other Pluggers-down into the tunnels. Following Ollie, the other squadron-Phe, Rose, Candlefire, Isis, five Pluggers, five Books, and a few miscellaneous animals who had wandered into camp during the excitement of the preparation and had come along at the last minute-moved through the Outer City.

The Outer City looked like another planet. Purple rock formations grew in gravity-defying patterns; liquid fires trickled down the streets, emitting a vile smoke. Ollie's group stayed bunched up and low to the ground. There were no other creatures around.

The Inner City was so thick with smoke that it wasn't possible to see the castle. Ollie knew where it was, though, and kept his course true. In a few minutes, the smoke cleared, and the young man found himself on the steps of the main gate. Silently, he counted heads: all were safe. Silently, they entered.

They moved double-file behind Ollie, who took them at a crouching run up the first set of main stairs, down smoking and steaming corridors, under dangling, sparking wires. Still no other creatures.

They were making their way steadily upward, toward the third-floor center, where the throne room lay. On the second-floor landing of the maintenance stairwell, they were attacked from above and below by castle guards, ten at each end, composed primarily of Vampires and Cer-beruses. The Books and Pluggers at the rear of Ollie's line were slaughtered-five of them within seconds, another five in the first minute. Ollie killed half a dozen in that time by himself, and rallied those around him to dispose of the other attackers at the head of the line.

He was bleeding, called for a retreat upward. What was left of his group followed him up another flight of stairs, pursued closely by the remainder of the child's guard.

They made it down the next hall and into the first room they came to, closing it behind them and barricading it against the pursuit Ollie turned to his group and quickly a.s.sessed the situation: only six left!

Ollie, Phe, Rose, Candlefire, and two Books. The Vampires outside began battering in the door. Ollie looked around to see where they were. It was the Communion Room.

Only Phe" looked unperturbed. "Nice fighting, little blood!" She clapped Ollie on the back. "You've got one hot knife."

Ollie ignored her and raced to the other side of the room. The place was empty now, devoid of the Humans who once lay here, plugged in to the Queen. Rose and Candlefire had lain here then, cables streaming from their heads. They stared around them mutely now, reeling as much from the shock of this memory as from the shock of the fight they had just been through.

"Over here!" Ollie called. He was standing by the hole hi the wall through which all the connections once exited into the computer room. He climbed through, and the others quickly followed.

Another dead room. Huge machines lined the walls, blinking randomly, sparking, burning, smoking. The six fugitives pushed an enormous console in front of the hole they had come through. In the opposite wall was another hole, the one through which cables from the computers had traversed to connect with the Queen's brain-in the throne room.

Ollie's eyes flashed. "Come on," he whispered.

They followed him to the portal. He stuck his head through and looked around. Empty. He climbed in. The others followed suit.

Ollie approached the throne. Empty. There was a noise behind him, and he whirled just in time to see Jasmine stick her head above the lip of the disposal shaft.

"How we doing?" she whispered.

"This place is secure, but this is all that's left of us." He indicated the five near the throne.

Jasmine frowned and jumped out of the chute, followed rapidly by Aba, Paula, Osi, and a few others. "We lost some in the tunnels," she muttered. "Thought they saw Josh, and just disappeared after him . . ."

"What now?" asked Ph. "It's a big castle."

"Room by room," Paula croaked fiercely.

"There's Vampires on our tail," Ollie said.

"How many?"

"Seven, maybe eight."

"Coming which way?" asked Jasmine.

Ollie indicated the hole in the wall.

"We'll kill all but one," said the Neuroman. "Let one escape-make it look real-and we'll follow him back to his friends."

It was six Vampires, a Cerberus, and a Lizard, in fact. They reached the cable port in two minutes, then carefully entered the throne room one by one. When they were all in, Ollie fell on them with vengeance-along with Jasmine, Aba, Osi, Phe, and five Books. The combat was swift. When it was over, one wounded Vampire had escaped out the door to the Communion Room. He was soon followed.

Down the winding stairways, they tumbled and ran, over bodies and debris, chilled by dark winds. Outside, fires billowed against the dull sky, while distant explosions rumbled the stone.

Across great halls they ran, always just seeing the vanis.h.i.+ng wings of the wounded Vampire going through the next door ahead. Rooms, doors, crumbling floors. Until finally, not so far away: a noise. A lot of noises. Shouts, clangs, and thuds. And when Jasmine, at the head of her people, burst finally into the next room, she found herself in the thick of a great battle.

Osi was right on her heels, and he looked around but a moment before he spoke: "There is Fleur, on the landing, leading his force. I don't see Ninjus, but there is Ugo, rallying the child's guard-and he is mine."

And so saying, he leapt into the fray, bent on killing the scar-faced Vampire.

Whereupon Jasmine and her entourage rushed in and joined the fighting.

It was apparent who the child's guards were-each wore one of her feathers tied at the wrist. Beyond that, little was discernible. Insanity reigned.

A hundred creatures filled what had once been the Communications Room-gnas.h.i.+ng, clawing, slicing and stabbing one another to death amid a terrain of electrical fires, sparking generators, and dismembered parts. The floor was slippery with blood.

Ollie sought die child. He walked among the chaos almost as if he were invisible, sticking his dagger ruthlessly into backs or bellies, but never stopping to engage: he had eyes only for the child-his niece.

Jasmine, too, looked for the child, but she was attacked by a Minotaur before she had gone five steps, and was quickly rolling furiously around the floor in his clutches, battling for her life.

Nor did Osi make it far into the room before he was embroiled hi a tangle with a Cerberus and a ferret-faced Neuroman he knew slightly and had always disliked.

Ugo stood at the head of a phalanx of three Vampires, fighting hand to hand with three of Fleur's best. When Osi pointed him out, though, he was rushed by several Books and Pluggers from Jasmine's party, two of whom reached him. One of these was Paula.

She threw herself on the foul beast, jamming her knife into his left flank. He screamed, and fell on top of her, his teeth tearing at her shoulder. The knife was yanked from her grip. Hissing, he brought his mouth around her neck for the kill. Paula closed her eyes.

Ugo's weight was suddenly lifted from her, and she looked up to see Aba pulling Ugo precariously to the side. A Neuroman was flung into them suddenly from another corner, knocking them both over. For a moment, they stared at each other. "You . . ." growled Ugo. Then Aba cut his neck, and he was dead.

In the next moment a blade came down over Aba's head; but he was pulled clear in time by his sister, Phe. "Watch your backside, Baby-Sire!" She laughed, and moved off in another direction.

It was then that Josh decided to enter-though decision probably had little to do with it. He was dazed, almost som-nambulant. Like a wraith, or prophet, he wandered among the living and dead, seeming to distinguish little between them. The fight had thinned a good deal by now, through mortal attrition, so Joshua's entrance was clearly visible from the floor. Jasmine saw him at once.

"Joshua!" she called. He didn't seem to hear her, though his name had the effect of a rallying cry on his followers. They redoubled their efforts-though all was going against them at this stage: the child's forces were steadily winning.

Josh took no notice. Instead, his eyes were focused on a ventilation duct opening in the wall across the room, from which the mesh screen had been removed. It formed a square hole hi the wall, six feet above the floor, two feet on a side. The ventilation shaft of which it was the mouth was too black to see into.

But stare into it Joshua did, from across the room, with a gaze transfixed by visions Jasmine couldn't even begin to guess at. From her own position under the window, she followed the line of his gaze to the vent on which it was fixated. And then she stared at the open vent, stared into its invisible blackness, could see nothing but nothing- except, wait . . . weren't there two denser spots of blackness within the ebony of the unlighted duct? Yes, two circles of black, s.h.i.+ning black, staring back out of the blackness of the vent like . . . eyes. A child's eyes.

"Ollie!" Jasmine called out. She caught his attention, pointed to the duct, pulled out her aerosol, and started wading slowly across the room. Joshua's eyes flickered momentarily, saw what was happening, and he began walking through the melee toward the vent.

Ollie extricated himself from under the body of Red-sun, who had just fallen, and began moving toward the screenless vent, aerosol can in his left hand, knife in his right. Before he had gone half the distance, though, he saw Osi downed, just a few feet away. Two Neuroman guards were on the Vampire friend, throttling him from behind. Ollie hest.i.tated a second, then leaped onto the pile.

Ollie tumbled with one Neuroman, Osi with the other. In a minute the Neuromans were still-but in the scuffle, Ol-lie's aerosol had been knocked away. Now he couldn't find it.

Josh, meanwhile, was slowly nearing the focus of their attentions-he would get there just about the same tune as Jasmine.

His mind was coming back, now-who he was, where he was. He could see what was happening, and guessed more or less how it had come about. But these things were beyond him-or he, beyond them. For he had spent the past night-only one night?-in places Time had taken him. Places far from there.

The center of the universe. No light there; no time. He had lost his self in that distant place for an eternal moment, spinning blindly through the hub of the wheel, without form or substance or motion.

And then suddenly from the core, through all the spokes-spokes of suns, uncountable suns, green suns, black suns, imploding and fusing suns, suckled by swirling ga.s.ses, showers of jewels, invisible planets, dimensionless creatures, organic, conscious, s.h.i.+mmering spokes of excruciating design, numberless patterns, waxen and glistening photon liquidities-to the edge, to the furthest racing filaments of light, each breathless to outdistance the other, to this thin, fine gossamer edge of Time and s.p.a.ce, where, light-headed with speed, speed-headed - with light, dizzy with the momentum of the Wheel, he had gone over the edge.

Over the edge. Into nothing. Falling, falling ... he had looked back. He had seen the Wheel. The teetering gyroscope of Time.

And now he saw the child. The child, hiding hi the darkness of the ventilation duct, waiting for . . . what? For Jasmine? For the end of the world? For the universe to spin into chaos? No.

For him, surely. But who was he? He was once The Serpent, the master Scribe. Jasmine had said so. He was hunter, Selkie brother. Time-traveler. Friend. Father. Father of this child, who could see All but was helpless under the weight of her knowledge. This was the child; but who was the father? All these things? He felt like none of these things. He felt like nothing. He no longer had any sense of who, or what, he was.

A greater despair filled him. If he didn't know who he was, how could he ever know what to do? Indecision threatened to immobilize him. Dare he take another step? Dare he not?

"Joshua, thank G.o.d," Jasmine whispered, and raised the aerosol can up to the level of the duct Josh lifted his hand. "Stop the child," he whispered, "stop her and make this dream end . . ."

Something about his voice, or the commanding movement of his hand, arrested Jasmine, and she stared at him strangely for just a moment. The moment was long enough for Ninjus suddenly to emerge from a hidden door a few feet away. He kicked Jasmine in the head, knocking her out, knocking the cap off her Hemolube valve. He lunged at Josh in the next second. Josh reflexively jumped back to avoid the blow, and was quickly lost in the melee.

Fleur leapt forward at that-he had been looking for Ninjus from the start, looking to avenge Elspeth's death- and locked Ninjus in a vise grip with one hand, forcing a long knife down his throat with the other, trying to stick it through Ninjus's soft palate to his spinal column-his one vulnerable spot.

They wrestled against the wall, slowly turning. Ninjus had his scaly hands on Fleur's neck, trying to break it. Just as Fleur's back was to the wall, though, Ninjus lost his footing in a pool of blood, and Fleur rammed his killing dagger home. Then, before Ninjus even slumped to the floor, the child stuck her head out of the vent just over Fleur, reached out, and snapped off Fleur's valve cap. Leaning over, she put her lips to the valve and blew as hard as she could, forcing half a lungful of air into Fleur's circulatory system.

The pink, translucent Neuroman convulsed once, then settled to the ground beside Ninjus.

The child quickly retreated back into the ventilation duct.