The Ruins Of Kaldac Part 2

"It does."

"Then-" She flung her hands wide in disgust. "Very well. If it is your honor at stake..." With a heroic effort she steadied herself. "By the Law, I swear that nothing shall be done to Sidas for this day's work. I also swear that your life, limb, and honor shall be safe from me and from all who obey me, until judgment is pa.s.sed upon you." Her calm broke and she stamped her foot like a small girl having a tantrum. "Is that enough for you, Blade of England?"

"It is. In return, I swear to make no attempt to escape, as long as I am under the protection of Kareena, daughter of Peython, leader of the warriors of Kaldak." Holding the laser rifle by the muzzle, he handed it to Kareena.

Blade would have preferred more guarantees of safety but knew he'd won about as much safety as he could hope for. Besides, Hota was back on his feet again and looked ready to attack Blade on the spot, Law or no Law. Blade didn't quite trust Kareena to stop the man if he did. He was alive, they'd accepted his parole, and he suspected that defending Sidas had made him some friends who might guard him from Hota if not from Kareena. For now, this was enough.

Chapter 5.

The Kaldakans kept their word about not punis.h.i.+ng Sidas and treating Blade honorably. They wouldn't allow him even a knife to cut his food, but didn't bind him. He couldn't fight, but he could run if he had to. He was also fairly sure that if it was really a matter of life or death, many of the fighters would turn a blind eye to his picking up a sword or a bow. He overheard enough remarks praising the way he'd defended Sidas to know that.

No one dared to speak to him openly, for fear of Kareena and Hota. This included Bairam, and this was quite all right with Blade. For now he had nothing polite to say to the boy who'd put his life in danger. He also didn't expect to have anything to say to Hota, who was now clearly Blade's sworn enemy. The man's eyes said everything necessary on that point. Blade would have liked to talk with Kareena and learn more about her father and her city, but could live without this.

Blade settled down to keep up with the Kaldakans as they marched for home. The trip took ten days, and the strips of leather Blade tied around his feet were almost worn through when the city finally came in sight.

Kaldak combined features from Mossev and the ruins he saw when he first arrived in this Dimension. There were three tall towers arranged in a triangle in the center, with nine streets of smaller buildings radiating from the triangle. The buildings on the edge of the city seemed to be store houses, stables, or workshops. Around the base of the towers were the living quarters and merchants' shops. Damaged buildings had been carefully repaired with timber roofs, leather shutters, stones solidly mortared into place, and lots of paint in vivid colors.

Blade wanted to see more of the city, but Kareena had other ideas. Grim and unsmiling, she marched Blade up the widest street with a drawn sword at his back. Half a dozen fighters followed her, escorting her brother as if he also was a prisoner. Porters with loads, men leading munfans, women carrying laundry, and children playing in the gutters all made way for their chief's daughter. They marched straight up to the base of the nearest of the three towers, then up four flights of broad stairs to the room where Peython, ruler of Kaldak, waited for them.

Peython sat cross-legged on a round wooden table with carved legs, covered with rich gray furs. He wore leather breeches dyed blue, hammered copper bracelets on his wrists and ankles, and an iron-studded belt. Above the waist he wore nothing but a necklace of s.h.i.+ny metal blocks strung on a leather thong. It was almost lost in the hair on his chest. An ugly scar ran diagonally from his left shoulder down across his ribs to his stomach.

Peython's face didn't match the rest of him. It was long, and he had the same expressive green eyes as his children, although his hair was black. His nose was large and hooked, and his mobile lips seemed to smile naturally. He reminded Blade of one of his physics professors at Oxford, suddenly called on to play the part of a barbarian chieftain. Blade wasn't sure he was in the presence of a friend but felt he was in the presence of much wisdom, or at least common sense.

Peython dismissed the guards, then listened in silence while Kareena and Bairam told their stories. Both spoke quickly and clearly, and Bairam seemed much more adult and sensible in his father's presence than he had under his sister's leaders.h.i.+p. Perhaps there was a little more to the boy than Blade had suspected.

When Kareena and Bairam were finished, Peython looked at Blade. "Is this true?"

Blade was so surprised at being asked to confirm the stories of his captors that for a moment he could only nod. Then he added, "I do not think Bairam dares to ask for mercy. I am not sure that Kareena wants her brother to have it." She spun around, but her father's raised hand stopped her before she could speak. "Perhaps you yourself doubt if you should show mercy to your son. If a ruler shows too much mercy to his own children, there are always evil-minded people who cast doubts on his justice or even his wisdom."

"I see you know something of ruling, Blade of England. Were you a chief in England?"

"No, but I was a warrior in the house of a mighty chief who taught me much." That would do for a description of J and MI6A, as well as Lord Leighton and Project Dimension X.

"You are worthy of his teaching. Do you wish me to show mercy to my son in the matter of his going against the Law?"

Blade answered the blunt question simply. "Yes, I do."

"Why do you believe you have any right to speak of this matter?" snapped Kareena. "That is what I want to know. And I want to know why my father-"

"Kareena," said Peython. He did not raise his voice, but again Kareena stopped with her mouth half open. Then she swallowed the rage visible on her face and stood silently.

"That is a good question, when I think upon it," said Peython after a short silence. "Blade, you will answer it."

"I do not know that I have any such right," said Blade. "I am a stranger who does not know your Law and may yet die for breaking it. I do know honor, and what it is to a warrior. Your son broke the Law trying to save my honor, by giving me Oltec. I think he was also trying to save the honor of Kaldak. Not giving Oltec to a man who saved the life of its chief's son might be dishonor to the city. Am I right, Bairam?"

The boy could only gape like a dying fish for a moment, then said, "Yes, Father. That is how I thought. Blade has said it better than I could have, though. I thank him for his strong words." Now he looked more like a grateful puppy than a dying fish.

Kareena didn't look grateful. She looked as if she wanted to skin Blade alive with a very dull knife, then roll him in coa.r.s.e salt. In her father's presence, she would keep a rein on her tongue, but Blade had the unpleasant feeling he'd made another enemy. Having a beautiful woman hating him did not bother him as much as it usually did. It didn't seem as if Kareena would do anything to help him whether she hated him or not!

Peython sat with his chin in one hand for a minute, then stood up and jumped down off the table with the agility of a young man. "I think Blade does speak strong words, also wise ones. But we are Kaldak of the Law. We are not Doimar, where the Law is only studied in the hope of finding ways to break it. To let Bairam go unpunished, to let Blade live-this is far beyond the Law. I cannot go so far myself if I want to, nor do I want to.

"Therefore the Gathering shall be proclaimed." Kareena gasped. "In seven times seven days, all of Kaldak shall Gather to hear what I have heard today. When they have heard, they shall give their judgment, and that judgment shall guide me. Do you accept this, Bairam?"

"Yes, and with grat.i.tude, Father."

"Save your grat.i.tude for Blade, if you think it will help him," growled the chief. "Blade, what do you say?"

Apparently Peython was going to leave matters to an a.s.sembly of the people of Kaldak, which couldn't be convened for nearly two months. That was a free gift of two months' extra life, and Blade was a great believer in the old saying, "While there's life there's hope." Even a slave can hope to find himself free, while a dead man can do absolutely nothing to improve his situation.

"I accept. I trust the wisdom of the people of Kaldak. I know that if I die, it will not be from their hatred of me, but only because they care for their Law. That is an honorable death, by the Laws of England." He had no intention of pa.s.sively submitting to that death, however honorable it might be, but there was no need to tell Peython that.

"Very good. Kareena, Bairam, you may go." When his children were gone, Peython sat down again and frowned at Blade. "Blade, why did you speak as you did for Bairam? Kareena is not pleased, and I am curious."

Blade had the feeling that he might throw away most of Peython's goodwill whatever he said, so he decided to tell the truth. "I do not care whether Kareena likes me or not. If there is such bad feeling between them that she wishes her brother punished, I do not want her friends.h.i.+p. It could turn to hatred any day."

"That is true. But that also does not answer my question. Many people would say that Bairam is a fool, and that you are a fool for thinking he is worth anything or can do anything for you."

Blade smiled. "Bairam is no fool, or at least no more of a fool than I was at his age. He is not stupid. If his mistakes do not kill him soon, he will learn. In time, he may even learn enough to be a worthy son to you, and a proper chief for Kaldak, city of the Law.

"He is also honorable, and will be a friend to those who have done him good. I have come to Kaldak, without friends or knowledge of its ways. I need every friend I can honorably win. Do you feel that I have lacked honor-?"

He broke off as he saw Peython's frown deepen and his shoulders begin to shake. For a moment he thought he'd finally said too much, then realized that Peython was trying to hide laughter. Finally he sighed and looked at Blade again.

"Blade, men who have known my son since he came from his mother's body have not found such wise words for him. I am going to find your time in Kaldak interesting, however long it lasts and however it ends." He rose and shouted for the guards. "You may go now."

Chapter 6.

Blade spent his first few days in Kaldak as something less than a guest but somewhat more than a prisoner. He was confined to a room on the ground floor of the northern tower. The room had heavy wooden bars on the door and a guard armed with a laser rifle at the door, but plenty of light, air, and comfortable furniture. The Kaldakans also fed Blade three large meals a day, along with good strong beer. Once they even brought him a bronze jug of distilled liquor which tasted like cheap gin.

Blade didn't like being confined even as comfortably as this. He was bored, and he wasn't learning anything about Kaldak or getting enough exercise. He also knew that he was still at the Kaldakans' mercy. He did have to admit that if he was going to be a prisoner at all, this was one of the most comfortable prisons he'd ever seen in any Dimension.

On the sixth day Kareena came to him with an escort of guards led by Hota and a message from Peython. "If you give your word of honor not to leave Kaldak, you may go where you will within the city until the Gathering," she said. Her words came out in short bursts from a tight mouth. Obviously she didn't like having to deliver this message.

"I swear by the Law of England and my own honor as a warrior that I shall not put one foot beyond the streets of Kaldak until the Gathering has rendered its judgment," said Blade. He hoped he wouldn't also be asked to swear to submit tamely to a sentence of death. He would rather not have to take an oath he had no intention of keeping. He could lie with a straight face if he had to-his years in MI6A guaranteed that. But he still preferred to tell the truth, particularly among people who took oaths much more seriously than the "civilized" nations of Home Dimension.

"Do we know that England has a Law by which anyone can swear?" asked Hota.

Kareena looked at him sharply, half angry and half embarra.s.sed. "We do not. But we can hardly ask Blade to swear by the Law of Kaldak when he is confined for breaking it."

"Then why take an oath from him at all?"

"Because my father has ordered that we take it," snapped Kareena. "And I will say nothing more on this to you, Hota." She turned and stamped out. Hota lingered a moment to glower at Blade, then followed her. Blade frowned and poured himself some beer. At least Peython's order hadn't made him any new enemies. But he'd have to watch his back carefully as he moved around Kaldak. Hota would cheerfully slit his throat for a penny, and might be a formidable opponent even in a straight fight.

It turned out that Blade didn't have to worry about his back. Bairam appointed himself Blade's official escort from the first day of Blade's parole. With the chief's son and heir by his side, Blade could go anywhere he wanted in the city without anyone trying to stop him. Accidents were another matter. Bairam was as impulsive as ever, and sometimes Blade wondered who was keeping whom out of trouble.

In spite of this, Blade quickly learned most of what he wanted to know about Kaldak. Peython ruled about twelve thousand people. Most of them lived in the buildings of the city itself, including the farmers who went out to their fields every morning and returned every night. The rest were herdsmen who lived in distant pastures with their herds and flocks, or fishermen who lived by the Aloga River. The herds and fish gave Kaldak plenty of meat, and the rich soil of its fields produced grain and vegetables. The people of Kaldak were mostly slim-bodied, but it was not for lack of food.

"It is said that our land is richer than that of many cities because we keep the Law better than they do," said Bairam.

"Do you believe this?" asked Blade.

"Is it possible that it is-not so?"

"Many things are possible, for I have seen them since I left England," said Blade. "But I have not seen enough of Kaldak to answer that question." He didn't want to get into a full-scale discussion. For one thing, Kaldak probably had some punishment for questioning the Law's principles. For another thing, the less he said himself, the more freely Bairam would talk.

"I think the Law makes some difference," said Bairam. "We eat better and we have found more living Oltec. But our women bear no more children than those of cities with a weaker Law."

That answered one of Blade's questions-why there were so few children. Some lingering aftereffect of the war-radiation, chemicals, a plague-made men or women or both infertile. When you had to do most work by musclepower, a small and slowly-growing population was a very mixed blessing. When you had to do most of your fighting with muscle-powered weapons, it was an outright curse.

The Kaldakans despised those cities with a weak Law and the wretched Tribes with no Law at all, who lived by hunting and gathering in the forests. But they could not ignore them. The warriors of Kaldak were always meeting the warriors of Doimar and its allies in savage fights over new finds of Oltec in the ruined cities. Over the years these fights took their toll of Kaldak's best men. Even more warriors died in fights with the Tribes when they raided Kaldak's fields or herds or burned the fishermen's huts.

Other cities had strong Laws and were more or less friendly. Kaldak traded with some of them, and there was a whole street of merchants supported by this trade. They sold leather, metal, furs, bone implements, drinking cups, weapons, fire jewels- "Fire jewels?" asked Blade. He hadn't heard the term before.

"You've seen my father's necklace, haven't you?" said Bairam. "That is made of fire jewels."

Blade remembered Peython's necklace of small metal blocks strung on a leather thong. "Why are they called fire jewels?"

"Because they hold fire within them, they cannot be cut or worked like other kinds of jewels or metal things of the Oltec. If you cut into them, they burst with much bright blue light or melt with a sound like meat frying. If a man holds them too long, he feels as though he is being struck by lightning. Men have died from holding burning fire jewels. Do you know why this is so?"

"I do not," said Blade, which was only partly the truth. "But I would very much like to look closely at some fire jewels." That was a considerable understatement.

"Well, there is a merchant of fire jewels named Saorm, and indeed I was going to visit his house tomorrow," said Bairam. He hesitated. "I was not going to ask you to come with me-you see, I have a rather special reason for going there-"

"Is it his wife or his daughter?"

"You are very clever, Blade. Yes, it is his daughter Geyrna."

"And-you do not think her father approves?"

"I do not know. I think he would not keep away the chief's son, but Geyrna is only fifteen." He shrugged. "We keep swearing to ourselves that next time we will tell him, but somehow we always forget." He smiled. "Geyrna is very pretty. She has red hair, which is not common in the Land."

"I see." By now Blade understood enough about Kaldak to understand the s.e.xual customs here. The Kaldakans didn't worry about nudity because they didn't worry about s.e.xual fidelity. Any man could ask any woman for s.e.x, and an adult woman could ask any man. A married woman needed only her husband's consent to have s.e.x with another man, and an unmarried girl under seventeen needed only her father's permission. This leniency regarding s.e.xual activity was the only way the Kaldakans had to make sure that all the fertile men and fertile women sooner or later got together and produced enough children to keep up the population of the city. If a woman bore a child to someone not her husband, it was still her husband's heir, but the actual father could also claim the honor of "Protector." That way all of Kaldak's precious children had at least one father, and many of them had two.

Having s.e.x with a young girl without her father's permission was not precisely a violation of the Law itself, but it was definitely frowned on. Saorm probably would not object to the chief's son becoming the father of his grandchild, but other people would certainly talk. Blade was quite sure Peython was quite tired of his son's doing things to make people talk. He was also sure that the chief would be happy if he kept Bairam out of Geyrna's bed, for he had not yet met her nor had a chance to approve of her.

If Blade tried to keep the young man away from Geyrna, however, Bairam wouldn't take him to the fire jewels. He suspected they were far more important to the future of Kaldak and the whole Dimension than one girl's virtue or what people would say. He also suspected that to obtain the fire jewels he would have to break the Law again. Blade recalled the old saying, "They can only hang you once," and refused to worry.

"I'll come with you to Saorm's house," said Blade. "After that I'll turn my back, if you'll do the same."

"Thank you, Blade. I swear to do as you wish."

They went to Saorm's house late in the morning, in the hope of finding the man out doing his shopping. He was a widower, and his daughter kept house for him.

They were lucky. The house was empty except for Geyrna and the slave who did the heavy work. The girl looked much older than fifteen, and she was not only beautiful but clearly delighted to see Bairam. In fact, she looked ready to tear his clothes off right in front of Blade. Bairam led her off to the back of the shop, the slave went out to draw water from the well, and Blade was left alone with the fire jewels.

They were all rectangular blocks of metal, three times as long as they were wide, with a small ring on one end. They came in a number of sizes, the smallest about three inches long and the largest nearly a foot. Blade studied them carefully. They might be what he suspected, but he'd need a piece of Oltec to prove it. He started looking.

Fortunately most prosperous houses in Kaldak had a piece of dead Oltec somewhere, as a kind of household totem. In a few minutes Blade found the merchant's piece, a pistol-shaped object with a hollow metal tube sticking out of the muzzle. Blade couldn't tell if it was a weapon or a tool but knew there should be a place for the "fire jewels" somewhere in it, if he was right. There was definitely a switch on the top.

He started poking and prying at the "pistol." At last he felt something give. With his thumbnail he pried open a corroded metal cover on the handle, exposing a rectangular slot the exact size and shape of the smallest fire jewels. Blade s.n.a.t.c.hed one off the table, held his breath, and tried to insert it into the slot.

It slipped easily into place.

Now Blade pointed the muzzle at the ceiling, then thumbed the switch forward. For a moment many years of dirt and corrosion resisted. Then the switch snapped forward.

With a shrill whine, the metal tube started to turn.

Blade let out a war-whoop of triumph and danced around the room, waving the tool until he collided with the table, which promptly fell over with a crash. Blade ignored the pain in his s.h.i.+ns. He'd never had the sensation of holding in his hands the whole future of a Dimension before. He felt almost drunk with delight.

As he'd suspected, the fire jewels were miniature power storage cells, far beyond anything in Home Dimension technology. Inserted into "dead" Oltec, they could make it "live" again. The Kaldakans and the other cities of the Land would have more tools and weapons than they'd ever dreamed of. Then if they could find a way to recharge the power cells...

Yes, but how many of the fire jewels were there, and how many still held power? Blade realized that he didn't know, and the realization sobered him. So did the appearance of Bairam and Geyrna, drawn by the uproar he'd made. Both were stark naked, but they looked so contented that Blade knew he hadn't interrupted their lovemaking too soon. The girl smiled and shook her head so that her long dark red hair fell down over her bare shoulders. Then she saw what Blade was holding, and her smiled faded.

"England-man Blade, that is-" Blade flipped the switch and the tool's whine filled the room. "That is-it was dead. Bairam! It was dead! Now it lives! But-" She didn't have the words for what she wanted to say. Bairam put an arm around her and comforted her, although his own face was twisting and his mouth hanging open.

"Bairam!" said Blade sharply. "Where is there a dead Oltec weapon I can have?"

"You can't have-the Law-" Bairam now seemed to be nearly as confused as Geyrna.

"I must see if I can make other dead Oltec live," said Blade as patiently as he could. "It is most important to make the weapons live again-"

"Yes," said Bairam, understanding dawning on his face. "If you make Oltec live again, then the Law must be changed. What you did to the great-hawk will be no breaking of the Law, not if there is more than enough live Oltec to go around. And you-"

"Will not have a death sentence hanging over my head," finished Blade, grinning at the boy. Whatever faults Bairam might have, he certainly wasn't stupid. "Now where is an Oltec weapon?"

"In my rooms in my father's house," said the boy. "I have two of them. One is not only dead but hurt. The other maybe you could make-live again." He said the words as if he still couldn't quite believe them, then turned to the girl. "Geyrna, I must-"

At this moment Saorm the merchant walked in. He took one step into his shop, then stopped. Bairam bolted out the door, not bothering to put on his clothes. Geyrna knelt, murmuring "Oh, the Law protect us, the Law protect us." Blade lifted the tool and turned it on. As he saw his household totem of dead Oltec coming to life, the man's eyes bulged until Blade thought they would fall out of his head. Blade scooped up a handful of the fire jewels, turned off the tool, and put it down by the fallen table. Then he followed Bairam out the door before Saorm could recover from his confusion.

Chapter 7.