Captives of the Flame Page 3

  CHAPTER II

  It had been silent for sixty years. Then, above the receiving stage inthe laboratory tower of the royal place of Toromon, the greattransparent crystal sphere glowed.

  On the stage a blue haze shimmered. Red flame shot through the mist, anet of scarlet, contracting, pulsing, outlining the recognizablepatterning of veins and arteries. Among the running fires, the shadow ofbones formed a human skeleton in the blue, till suddenly the shape waslaced with sudden silver, the net of nerves that held the bodyimprisoned in sensation. The blue became opaque. Then the black-hairedman, barefooted, in rags, staggered forward to the rail and held on fora moment. Above, the crystal faded.

  He blinked his eyes hard before he looked up. He looked around. "Allright," he said out loud. "Where the hell are you?" He paused. "Okay.Okay. I know. I'm not supposed to get dependent on you. I guess I'm allright now, aren't I?" Another pause. "Well, I feel fine." He let go ofthe rail and looked at his hands, back and palms. "Dirty as hell," hemumbled. "Wonder where I can get washed up." He looked up. "Yeah, sure.Why not?" He ducked under the railing and vaulted to the floor. Onceagain he looked around. "So I'm really in the castle. After all theseyears. I never thought I'd see it. Yeah, I guess it really is."

  He started forward, but as he passed under the shadow of the greatribbon's end, something happened.

  He faded.

  At least the exposed parts of his body--head, hands, and feet--faded. Hestopped and looked down. Through his ghost-like feet, he could see therivets that held down the metal floor. He made a disgusted face, andcontinued toward the door. Once in the sunlight, he solidified again.

  There was no one in the hall. He walked along, ignoring the triptych ofsilver partitions that marked the consultant chamber. A stained glasswindow further on rotated by silent machinery flung colors over his faceas he passed. A golden disk chronometer fixed in the ceiling behind acarved crystal face said ten-thirty.

  Suddenly he stopped in front of a book cabinet and opened the glassdoor. "Here's the one," he said out loud again. "Yeah, I know we haven'tgot time, but it will explain it to you better than I can." He pulled abook from the row of books. "We used this in school," he said. "A longtime ago."

  The book was Catham's _Revised History of Toromon_. He opened thesharkskin cover and flipped a few pages into the text.

  "... from a few libraries that survived the Great Fire (from which wewill date all subsequent events). Civilization was reduced beyondbarbarism. But eventually the few survivors on the Island of Toronestablished a settlement, a village, a city. Now they pushed to themainland, and the shore became the central source of food for theisland's population which now devoted itself to manufacturing. On thecoast, farms and fishing villages flourished. On the island, science andindustry became sudden factors in the life of Toromon, now an empire.

  "Beyond the plains at the coast, explorers discovered the forest peoplewho lived in the strip of jungle that held in its crescent the stretchof mainland. They were a mutant breed, gigantic in physical stature,peaceful in nature. They quickly became part of Toromon's empire, withno resistance.

  "Beyond the jungle were the gutted fields of lava and dead earth, and itwas here that the strange metal tetron was discovered. A great empirehas a great crime rate, and our penal system was used to supply minersfor the tetron. Now technology leaped ahead, and we developed many usesfor the power that could be released from the tetron.

  "Then, beyond the lava fields, we discovered what it was that hadenlarged the bodies of the forest people, what it was that had killedall green things beyond the jungle. Lingering from the days of the GreatFire, a wide strip of radioactive land still burned all around the lavafields, cutting us off from further expansion.

  "Going toward that field of death, the plants became gnarled, distortedcaricatures of themselves. Then only rock. Death was long if a manventured in and came back. First immense thirst; then the skin driesout; blindness, fever, madness, at last death; this is what awaited thetransgressor.

  "It was at the brink of the radiation barrier, in defiance of death,that Telphar was established. It was far enough away to be safe, yetnear enough to see the purple glow at the horizon over the brokenhills. At the same time, experiments were being conducted withelementary matter transmission, and as a token to this new direction ofscience, the transit ribbon was commissioned to link the two cities. Itwas more a gesture of the solidarity of Toromon's empire than apractical appliance. Only three or four hundred pounds of matter couldbe sent at once, or two or three people. The transportation wasinstantaneous, and portended a future of great exploration to any partof the world, with theoretical travel to the stars.

  "Then, at seven thirty-two on an autumn evening, sixty yearsago, a sudden increase in the pale light was observed in theradiation-saturated west by the citizens of Telphar. Seven hours laterthe entire sky above Telphar was flickering with streaks of pale blueand yellow. Evacuation had begun already. But in three days, Telphar wasdead. The sudden rise in radiation has been attributed to many things intheory, but as yet, an irrefutable explanation is still wanted.

  "The advance of the radiation stopped well before the tetron mines;however, Telphar was not lost to Toron for good, and ..."

  Jon suddenly closed the book. "You see?" he said. "That's why I wasafraid when I saw where I was. That's why ..." He stopped, shrugged."You're not listening," he said, and put the book back on the shelf.

  Down the hallway fifty feet, two ornate stairways branched right andleft. He waited with his hands shoved into his pockets, looking absentlytoward another window, like a person waiting for someone else to make uphis mind. But the decision was not forthcoming. At last, belligerentlyhe started up the stairway to the left. Halfway up he became a littlemore cautious, his bare feet padding softly, his broad hand precedinghim wearily on the banister.

  He turned down another hallway where carved busts and statues sat inniches in the walls, a light glowing blue behind those to the left,yellow behind those to the right. A sound from around a corner sent himbehind a pink marble mermaid playing with a garland of seaweed.

  The old man who walked by was carrying a folder and looked serenely andpatiently preoccupied.

  Jon waited without breathing the space of three ordinary breaths. Thenhe ducked out and sprinted down the hall. At last he stopped before agroup of doors. "Which one?" he demanded.

  This time he must have gotten an answer, because he went to one, openedit, and slipped in.

  * * * * *

  Uske had pulled the silken sheet over his head. He heard several smallclicks and tiny brushing noises, but they came through the fog of sleepthat had been washing back over him since Chargill's departure. Thefirst sound definite enough to wake him was water against tile. Helistened to it for nearly two minutes through the languid veil offatigue. It was only when it stopped that he frowned, pushed back thesheet, and sat up. The door to his private bath was open. The light wasoff, but someone, or thing, was apparently finishing a shower. Thewindows of his room were covered with thick drapes, but he hesitated topush the button that would reel them back from the sun.

  He heard the rings of the shower curtain sliding along the shower rod;the rattle of the towel rack; silence; a few whistled notes. Suddenly hesaw that dark spots were forming on the great fur rug that sprawledacross the black stone floor. One after another--footprints! Incorporealfootprints were coming toward him slowly.

  When they were about four feet away from his bed, he slammed the flat ofhis palm on the button that drew back the curtains. Sunlight filled theroom like bright water.

  And standing in the last pair of footprints was the sudden, naked figureof a man. He leaped at Uske as the King threw himself face down into themound of pillows and tried to scream at the same time. Immediately hewas caught, pulled up, and the edge of a hand was thrust into his openmouth so that when he bit down, he chomped the inside of his cheeks.

  "Will you keep still, stupid?" a voice whispered behi
nd him. The Kingwent limp.

  "There, now just a second."

  A hand reached past Uske's shoulder, pressed the button on the nighttable by the bed, and the curtains swept across the window. The handwent out as if it had been a flame.

  "Now you keep still and be quiet."

  The pressure released and the King felt the bed give as the weightlifted. He held still for a moment. Then he whirled around. There wasn'tanyone there.

  "Where do you keep your clothes, huh? You always were about my size."

  "Over there ... there in that closet."

  The bodiless footprints padded over the fur rug, and the closet dooropened. Hangers slid along the rack. The bureau at the back of thecloset was opened. "This'll do fine. I didn't think I was ever going toget into decent clothes again. Just a second."

  There was the sound of tearing thread.

  "This jacket will fit me all right, once I get these shoulder pads outof it."

  Something came out of the closet, dressed now: a human form, onlywithout head or hands.

  "Now that I'm decent, open up those curtains and throw some light aroundthe place." The standing suit of clothes waited. "Well, come on, openthe curtains."

  Slowly Uske reached for the button. A freshly shaven young man withblack hair stood in the sunlight, examining his cuffs. An open brocadejacket with metal-work filigree covered a white silk shirt that lacedover a wide V-neck. The tight gray trousers were belted with a broadstrip of black leather and fastened with a gold disk. The black boots,opened at the toe and the heel, were topped with similar disks. JonKoshar looked around. "It's good to be back."

  "Who ... what are you?" whispered Uske.

  "Loyal subject of the crown," said Jon, "you squid-brained clam."

  Uske sputtered.

  "Think back about five years to when you and I were in school together."

  A flicker of recognition showed in the blond face.

  "You remember a kid who was a couple of years ahead of you, and got youout of a beating when the kids in the mechanics class were going to gangup on you because you'd smashed a high-frequency coil, on purpose. Andremember you dared that same kid to break into the castle and steal theroyal Herald from the throne room? In fact, you gave him the fire-bladeto do it, too. Only that wasn't mentioned in the trial. Did you alsoalert the guards that I was coming? I was never quite sure of thatpart."

  "Look ..." began Uske. "You're crazy."

  "I might have been a little crazy then. But five years out in the tetronmines has brought me pretty close to my senses."

  "You're a murderer...."

  "It was in self-defense, and you know it. Those guards that converged onme weren't kidding. I didn't kill him on purpose. I just didn't want toget my head seared off."

  "So you seared one of their heads off first. Jon Koshar, I think you'recrazy. What are you doing here anyway?"

  "It would take too long to explain. But believe me, the last thing Icame back for was to see you again."

  "So you come in, steal my clothing" Suddenly he laughed. "Oh, of course.I'm dreaming all this. How silly of me. I must be dreaming."

  Jon frowned.

  Uske went on. "I must be feeling guilty about that whole business whenwe were kids. You keep on disappearing and appearing. You can't possiblybe more than a figment of my imagination. Koshar! The name! Of course.That's the name of the people who are giving the party that I'm going toonce I wake up. That's the reason for the whole thing."

  "What party?" Jon demanded.

  "Your father is giving it for your sister. Yes, that's right. You hadquite a pretty sister. I'm going back to sleep now. And when I wake up,you're to be gone, do you understand? What a silly dream."

  "Just a moment. Why are you going?"

  Uske snuggled his head into the pillow. "Apparently your father hasmanaged to amass quite a fortune. Chargill says I have to treat himkindly so we can borrow money from him later on. Unless I'm dreamingthat up too."

  "You're not dreaming."

  Uske opened one eye, closed it again. And rolled over onto the pillow."Tell that to my cousin, the Duchess of Petra. She was dragged all theway from her island estate to come to this thing. The only people whoare getting out of it are mother and my kid brother. Lucky starfish."

  "Go back to sleep," said Jon.

  "Go away," said Uske. He opened his eyes once more to see Jon push thebutton that pulled the curtains. And then the headless, handless figurewent to the door and out. Uske shivered and pulled the covers up again.

  * * * * *

  Jon walked down the hall.

  Behind the door to one room that he did not enter, the red-headedDuchess of Petra was standing by the window of her apartment, gazingover the roofs of the city, the great houses of the wealthy merchantsand manufacturers, over the hive-like buildings which housed the city'sdoctors, clerks, secretaries, and storekeepers, down to the reekingclapboard and stone alleys of the Devil's Pot.

  The early sun lay flame in her hair and whitened her pale face. Shepushed the window open a bit, and the breeze waved her blue robe as sheabsently fingered a smoky crystal set in a silver chain around her neck.

  * * * * *

  Jon continued down the hall.

  Three doors away, the old queen lay on the heap of over-stuffedmattresses, nestled in the center of an immense four-poster bed. Herwhite hair was coiled in two buns on either side of her head, her mouthwas slightly open and a faint breath hissed across the white lips. Onthe wall above the bed hung the portrait of the late King Alsen,sceptered, official, and benevolent.

  * * * * *

  In a set of rooms just beside the queen mother's chamber, Let, Prince ofthe Royal Blood, Heir Apparent to the Empire of Toromon, and half adozen more, was sitting in just his pajama top on the edge of his bed,knuckling his eyes.

  The thin limbs of the thirteen-year-old were still slightly akimbo withnatural awkwardness and sleep. Like his brother, he was blond andslight.

  Still blinking, he slipped into his underwear and trousers, pausing amoment to check his watch. He fastened the three snaps on his shirt,turned to the palace intercom, and pressed a button.

  "I overslept, Petra," Let apologized. "Anyway, I'm up now."

  "You must learn to be on time. Remember, you are heir to the throne ofToromon. You mustn't forget that."

  "Sometimes I wish I could," replied Let. "Sometimes."

  "Never say that again," came the sudden command through the tinyintercom. "Do you hear me? Never even let yourself think that for amoment."

  "I'm sorry, Petra," Let said. His cousin, the Duchess, had been actingstrangely since her arrival two days ago. Fifteen years his senior, shewas still the member of the family to whom he felt closest. Usually,with her, he could forget the crown that was always being pointed to asit dangled above his head. His brother was not very healthy, noreven--as some rumored--all in his proper mind. Yet now it was Petraherself who was pointing out the gold circlet of Toromon's kingship. Itseemed a betrayal. "Anyway," he went on. "Here I am. What did you want?"

  "To say good morning." The smile in the voice brought a smile to Let'sface too. "Do you remember that story I told you last night, about theprisoners in the tetron mines?"

  "Sure," said Let, who had fallen asleep thinking about it. "The ones whowere planning an escape." She had sat in the garden with him for an hourafter dark, regaling him with the harrowing details of three prisoners'attempt to escape the penal mines. She had terminated it at the heightof suspense with the three men crouching by the steps in the darknessand the drizzling rain, waiting to make their dash into the forest. "Yousaid you were going to go on with it this morning."

  "Do you really want to hear the end of the story?"

  "Of course I do. I couldn't get to sleep for hours thinking about it."

  "Well," said Petra, "when the guard changed, and the rope tripped him upwhen he was coming down the steps, the rear guard ran
around to see whathad happened, as planned, and they dashed through the searchlight beam,into the forest, and ..." She paused. "Anyway, one of them made it. Theother two were caught and killed."

  "Huh?" said Let. "Is that all?"

  "That's about it," said Petra.

  "What do you mean?" Let demanded. Last night's version had containeddetail upon detail of the prisoners' treatment, their efforts to dig atunnel, the precautions they took, along with an uncannily vividdescription of the scenery that had made him shiver as though he hadbeen in the leaky, rotten-walled shacks. "You can't just finish it uplike that," he exclaimed. "How did they get caught? Which one got away?Was it the chubby one with the freckles? How did they die?"

  "Unpleasantly," Petra answered. "No, the chubby one with the frecklesdidn't make it. They brought him, and the one with the limp, back thatmorning in the rain and dropped them in the mud outside the barracks todiscourage further escape attempts."

  "Oh," said Let. "What about the one who did make it?" he asked after amoment.

  Instead of answering, she said, "Let, I want to give you a warning." Theprince stiffened a bit, but she began differently than he expected."Let, in a little while, you may be going on quite an adventure, and youmay want to forget some things, because it will be easier. Like beingthe prince of Toromon. But don't forget it, Let. Don't."

  "What sort of adventure, Petra?"

  Again she did not answer his question. "Let, do you remember how Idescribed the prison to you? What would you do if you were king andthose prisoners were under your rule, with their rotten food, the rats,their fourteen hours of labor a day in the mines ..."

  "Well, I don't know, Petra," he began, feeling as if something werebeing asked of him that he was reluctant to give. It was like when hishistory teacher expected him to know the answer on a question ofgovernment just because he had been born into it. "I suppose I'd have toconsult the council, and see what Chargill said. It would depend on theindividual prisoners, and what they'd done; and of course how the peoplefelt about it. Chargill always says you shouldn't do things tooquickly ..."

  "I know what Chargill says," said the Duchess quietly. "Just rememberwhat I've said, will you?"

  "What about the third man, the one who escaped?"

  "He ... came back to Toron."

  "He must have had a lot more adventures. What happened to him, Petra?Come on, tell me."

  "Actually," said Petra, "he managed to bypass most of the adventures. Hecame very quickly. Let me see. After they dashed across the searchlitarea, they ducked into the jungle. Almost immediately the three gotseparated. The black-haired one got completely turned around, andwandered in the wrong direction until he had gone past the mines, out ofthe forest, and across the rocky stretch of ground beyond a good fivemiles. By the time it was light enough to see, he suddenly realized hehad been wandering toward the radiation barrier; because in thedistance, like a black skeleton on the horizon, were the abandoned ruinsof Telphar, the Dead City."

  "Shouldn't he have been dead from the radiation?"

  "That's exactly what he figured. In fact, he figured if he was closeenough to see the place, he should have been dead a few miles back. Hewas tired. The food they'd taken kept him from being hungry. But he wasdefinitely alive. Finally he decided that he might as well go towardthe city. He took two steps more, when suddenly he heard something."

  There was silence over the intercom.

  After he had allowed sufficient time for a dramatic pause, Let asked,"What was it? What did he hear?"

  "If you ever hear it," Petra said, "you'll know it."

  "Come on, Petra, what was it?"

  "I'm quite serious," Petra said. "That's all I know of the story. Andthat's all you need to know. Maybe I'll be able to finish it when I comeback from the party tonight."

  "Please, Petra ..."

  "That's it."

  He paused for a minute. "Petra, is the adventure I'm supposed to have,the war? Is that why you're reminding me not to forget?"

  "I wish it were that simple, Let. Let's say that's part of it."

  "Oh," said Let.

  "Just promise to remember the story, and what I've said."

  "I will," said Let, wondering. "I will."

  * * * * *

  Jon walked down a long spiral staircase, nodded to the guard at thefoot, passed into the castle garden, paused to squint at the sun, andwent out the gate. Getting in was a lot more difficult.