Malig Tumora

by James Moloney

  The effort exhausted her and she slumped back against the wall.

  ‘Duck!’ Aden cried, and if Berrin hadn’t dropped to the ground, the eagle’s talons might have hooked into his back. When he stood up again, he saw that their razor-sharp tips had brushed his father’s shoulder. Blood seeped slowly from the wound, but the pain seemed to awaken him somehow. Berrin watched him struggle to overcome the power of the flower’s fragrance, to form words.

  ‘The eagle’s coming again,’ Aden shouted.

  Berrin stayed upright, keeping his ear as close to his father’s mouth as he could. He heard sounds, words that he could just make out, but they didn’t make sense. With the eagle swooping towards them, his father whispered, ‘Find the moth.’

  ‘I don’t understand.’ Berrin was desperate now. Had he heard correctly? The excited gleam in his father’s eyes made the words even more important.

  ‘Find the moth,’ he said again, and this time there could be no doubt, even though Berrin had no idea what he meant.

  A movement close by drew his attention. It was Aden, getting ready to defend them again. Bravely though he tried, he really was a hopeless swordsman.

  ‘Here, give it to me!’ Berrin shouted and grabbing the weapon just in time, he took aim at the eagle’s leg.

  But a giant eagle was a more powerful enemy than a pig-dog or even a Gadge. As the blade flashed towards its legs, the bird struck deftly with its beak and plucked the sword from Berrin’s hands. The weapon clattered to the ground beyond the walls of the maze.

  The four humans were defenceless now. The eagle turned in a tight circle and came towards them again. It would take flesh and bone this time. There was nothing they could do.

  The ferocious bird was only metres away when suddenly it veered off to one side, screeching in pain. Looking round, Berrin spotted a figure at the end of the passage. In the shadows it was hard to see, but the man held something in his right hand. A small box of some kind. He pointed it at the furious eagle and appeared to press a button. Instantly, the bird cried out in fear and rage. Keen to avoid a third blast from that tiny box, it banked away from its prey and slowly began a retreat towards the horizon.

  The man stepped out of the shadows and Berrin saw who had come to save them. It was Malig Tumora.

  TEN

  Malig Tumora’s Creations

  ‘I AM DISAPPOINTED,’ SAID Malig Tumora, his eyes flicking from Berrin to the disgruntled eagle as it flapped away and then back to the boy. ‘You had your chance to escape but you wouldn’t take it.’

  ‘You know perfectly well why we couldn’t lower this wall,’ Berrin retorted.

  ‘Couldn’t?’ cried Malig Tumora. ‘Of course you could. All you needed to do was let out that rope.’

  ‘And crush my own parents to death as I did it!’ A searing anger burned in Berrin’s throat. He had to do something before it set his whole body on fire. If only he still had the sword. But even without a weapon, he could inflict some damage. He charged, fists clenched.

  But Malig Tumora was not so easily attacked. He aimed the tiny box he had used to chase off the eagle at the on-rushing boy and pressed the button.

  Berrin felt a sharp pain in his ears and collapsed face first into the dirt. He couldn’t move his arms or legs at first. I’ve been paralysed, he thought as he struggled to turn onto his back. Then, slowly, sensation returned and with Aden’s help he was able to stand again, although unsteadily.

  ‘Sound waves,’ said Malig Tumora, holding up the little box. ‘You were hit by a miniature sonic boom. Very handy. There is no doubting your courage, boy. Or should I call you Berrin, since your mother used your name just now?’

  ‘Yes, she remembers me. You have your proof. The flower’s fragrance is not as strong as you think it is.’

  ‘Oh, we are well aware of that, aren’t we?’ Malig Tumora said to the observation ball which hovered close by. ‘It was you we were watching this time, Berrin, and you let us down. So brave, so clever, yet you have a fatal weakness. Like so many other humans, you cannot command your feelings.’

  The mechanical voice of the huge computer spoke through the observation ball. ‘If-only-you-had-lowered-that-wall-we-would-have-found-the-one-we-have-been-looking-for.’

  ‘The suitable subject,’ Berrin whispered, remembering what Malig Tumora had said back in the huge black bulding. ‘For those clown things.’

  ‘Clones,’ Malig Tumora corrected sharply. ‘Yes, these mazes were a test, but you failed at the most important task.’ He pointed towards Berrin’s parents who were showing more signs of life with every minute. The effects of the flower’s fragrance were wearing off quickly, it seemed.

  A team of Dfx appeared around the corner. Some were carrying masks and others cylinders. ‘Get those two under control,’ Malig Tumora ordered, nodding towards the red wall. ‘Take them back to the laboratories. They have work to do.’

  To Berrin, he said, ‘It would have been a pity to lose my best scientists.’

  ‘Scientists!’ Berrin repeated in astonishment.

  ‘Oh, yes. They are brilliant, both of them. Unfortunately, I need the flower’s fragrance to make them obey my orders.’

  The Dfx slipped the masks into place and unchained Berrin’s parents. As they were being led past, he rushed to walk at their side, but the Dfx pushed him away roughly. Would he ever see them again?

  ‘Come, it is time we left as well,’ Malig Tumora announced.

  When he saw Berrin staring after his parents, he decided to explain a little more. ‘I have many like them working for me. Few as good as your parents, mind. Yet once I had a boy who might have been even better. He learned quickly and eagerly and he didn’t need the flower’s fragrance to make him obey. I was grooming him for my laboratories. Eventually he would have become the perfect subject for cloning,’ Malig Tumora paused as though revelling in a fond memory. ‘Ah, but it was not to be,’ he sighed with genuine regret.

  ‘What happened to him?’ Berrin asked.

  ‘He was not as perfect as I imagined. He had been fooling me, I think, while all the time he learned as much as he could. He wanted to know how I controlled the grown-ups, but I grew suspicious and wouldn’t tell him. Then he ran off. The Dfx chased him into some tunnels under the city. The fools killed him.’

  Berrin could hardly breathe. He knew who that boy was. No wonder Ferdinand knew so much about electricity and machines. He had learned it all from Malig Tumora himself.

  THE BOYS FOLLOWED MALIG TUMORA back through the maze. The observation ball was there as always, watching and listening.

  As they stepped out into the wide street yet another blood-curdling roar made the boys hunch their shoulders. Malig Tumora did not flinch. In fact, he laughed at their fear.

  ‘You are more afraid because you cannot see the beasts, I’m sure,’ he said. ‘Come, I’ll show you some of the animals Berrin’s parents helped me create. Then perhaps you won’t be so afraid.’

  Berrin and Aden glanced uncertainly at one another. ‘No, we’d rather not,’ said Berrin.

  ‘But I insist. These animals are failures, it is true, but you must see them to appreciate my genius. Only by learning from these early mistakes could I hope to succeed.’

  The boys were still reluctant but a pair of Dfx joined them to make sure they obeyed. Malig Tumora opened a narrow door in the wall. A darkened passage led to a flight of steps with daylight streaming down from above. When they emerged into the open once more, they found themselves on a gangway high above a large enclosure. There was only one occupant. It greeted them with the same roar that had frightened them a few minutes earlier.

  ‘What is it?’ Aden murmured, unable to take his eyes from the creature.

  ‘Whatever it is, I don’t want to get any closer than we are right now,’ Berrin said.

  It was the stripes that caught the eye first: black and orange with tinges of grey and white. But the animal was huge, almost the size of the elephant Berrin had seen in a picture book
back at the dormer. Its legs were heavy like an elephant’s too and it had small tusks. There was no trunk, however.

  ‘Tiger,’ said Aden. His eyes had fixed on those stripes and then the head with its fearsome jaws.

  Malig Tumora watched their reaction. ‘I created this beast to help the Gadges keep order,’ he explained. ‘The strongest of animals matched with the fiercest. Unfortunately, they were too fierce and too powerful for the Gadges to control.’

  He walked on and the Dfx nudged the boys along the gangway to keep up. ‘Of course, it didn’t work the first time,’ he said, arriving at the next enclosure. They looked down on a similar creature but its body was crooked and painfully thin. Its tusks curled tightly, each in a different direction. One had grown so close to the animal’s chest that when it moved its head to look at them, it stabbed itself. Dried blood around the wound showed that this happened often. The creature bellowed pitifully.

  ‘The poor thing is in agony,’ Berrin cried.

  Malig Tumora dismissed his outrage with a snort and a wave of the hand.

  Next they came to an enclosure with a deep pool in the centre. ‘Dolphins have always intrigued me and seals too,’ Malig Tumora said cheerfully. ‘I tried a few things with them. I think you will find the results quite interesting.’ He gestured proudly towards the water.

  Looking down, Berrin and Aden were surprised to see not the sea creatures Malig Tumora had named, but human beings. It took a few moments before they realised what Malig Tumora had done. The people’s arms ended not in hands, but in flippers, and high on their backs, between the shoulder blades, a strange fleshy circle was plain to see.

  ‘Is that what I think it is?’ Aden whispered.

  ‘Yes, it’s a breathing hole,’ Malig Tumora said. ‘They are wonderful swimmers. Would you like to see?’

  The unfortunate creatures below had spotted them. They stood up and stared sadly at the small group that had come to view them. One held out a flipper. Was it a wave or an appeal for help?

  ‘That’s the cruellest thing I’ve ever seen,’ said Berrin in disgust.

  His words chased the delight from Malig Tumora’s face. ‘Cruel?’ he repeated. He seemed astonished.

  ‘Take us out of here,’ demanded Aden. ‘We don’t want to see any more.’

  ‘I don’t know why you’re getting upset,’ Malig Tumora snapped at Aden. ‘I made you, just as I made all of these.’ He swept his hand around the many rows of enclosures surrounding them.

  ‘Made me?’

  ‘And studied you from your earliest days. You are one of my greatest successes. No human has ever been able to learn as quickly as you.’

  A look of horror spread across Aden’s face. ‘Made me?’ he said again, as though he couldn’t get past these words.

  Berrin’s earlier suspicions came back to him. He thought of the clothes piled in the corner of the lean-to. He had never quite managed to ask Aden who they belonged to. Aden had never mentioned any other human visitors. Now Berrin wondered if that was because there hadn’t been any.

  ‘That’s not all that’s special about Aden, is it?’ he challenged Malig Tumora, as his suspicion slowly swirled into focus. ‘How old is he?’

  The question jolted Aden out of his trance. ‘What does it matter how old I am?’

  If Berrin was right, poor Aden was in for a huge shock, but they had to know. ‘Tell us,’ he demanded. ‘You’ve done something, changed him in some way, his DNA — that’s what it’s called, isn’t it? That’s why he can learn so quickly. It’s why he eats so much too, isn’t it? He’s growing faster than any human being before him.’

  Malig Tumora eyed both boys, his silence hinting at the truth. The seconds ticked by awkwardly, making Aden even more anxious.

  ‘What do you mean?’ he said to Berrin. ‘I’m the same as you. Just look at us. We’re the same size. That makes us about the same age, doesn’t it? I don’t understand all this about growing quickly.’

  ‘Say it,’ Berrin taunted Malig Tumora. ‘How long has Aden been alive?’

  Still Malig Tumora held out, but his computer companion saw no need to hide the truth. The observation ball answered in the now familiar monotone: ‘The-young-human-named-Aden-is-one-year-and-twenty-seven-days-old.’

  ELEVEN

  The Suitable Subject

  BERRIN WAS SHOCKED. A year and twenty-seven days! It seemed impossible, but all the signs were there, especially the way the observation ball crammed Aden full of information. Besides, the computer was no different from Malig Tumora himself. There was no reason to lie. But only a year!

  Aden still didn’t know what all the fuss was about. ‘You look worried, like we’re back in those mazes,’ he said to Berrin. ‘So I’m a year old. What’s so special about that?’

  ‘Aden, I’m a lot older than that. Nine or ten years old maybe, I’m not sure. Could be even more. One-year-old humans are supposed to be this big.’ He held his hands half a metre apart. ‘They’re still learning to walk. Normally, human beings don’t learn how to talk until they’ve been around for two or three years at least.’

  ‘You’re lying.’

  Berrin saw the pain in Aden’s face but he couldn’t deny the truth. ‘I’m sorry,’ he muttered miserably.

  Aden appealed to Malig Tumora. ‘It’s not true, is it? Children don’t take that long to grow up. I’m not a freak, tell me I’m not.’

  Any other human being would have been careful with the answer, wanting to ease the hurt Aden would feel. But not Malig Tumora. ‘Of course it’s true. I told you before — you are one of my greatest successes. What I learned from making you I will use again with my clones.’

  Aden had to accept the truth now, but it was too much for him. He wrapped his arms around himself, as though he had suddenly become very cold. Berrin went to him and tried to comfort him.

  ‘Get off,’ he hissed. Then, when Berrin stepped back, ‘You knew, didn’t you? You called me a learning machine. You knew this monster had made me into some kind of freak.’

  ‘It was the food and those clothes lying around,’ said Berrin helplessly. ‘I didn’t know for sure. I just suspected.’

  Aden turned away in shame, his arms still around himself protectively.

  Malig Tumora was growing tired of them both now. ‘Back to your enclosure,’ he ordered. ‘I have things to do. The hunt must go on for a suitable subject.’

  ‘I-am-continuing-the-search,’ said the observation ball. ‘I-am-watching-a-possible-subject-already. He-is-being-assessed-at-this-moment.’

  ‘Good,’ said Malig Tumora with an eager smile. ‘Keep me informed.’

  A DFX LED THE TWO BOYS down the steps through the thick wall and soon they were back in the street. Malig Tumora had lost interest in them now. Perhaps he was disappointed that they had not been impressed by his achievements. He walked ahead of them and didn’t say a word.

  This gave Berrin time to think. That evil man, striding only metres ahead, had spoken again of making his clones. Berrin understood that clones were copies of the same person, but these wouldn’t be copies of just any person. Malig Tumora was looking for someone without feelings.

  Berrin winced at the thought. A person like that was barely human at all. How many did he intend to make? What was to stop him from making hundreds of them, even thousands? Then a dreadful thought occurred to him.

  Despite the close attentions of the Dfx, he moved close enough to Malig Tumora to ask a question. ‘When you’ve made your clones, what will happen to all the grown-ups you already have working for you? And all the children in the dormers, what about them?’

  ‘They will all become obsolete,’ Malig Tumora answered without turning around.

  Berrin had never heard the word before. He went to Aden and shook him out of his trance. ‘What does obsolete mean?’

  Aden didn’t want to answer at first so Berrin shook him again. Finally he replied just so that Berrin would leave him alone. ‘Not needed any more. Something you get rid of, b
ecause you have a new and better version.’

  ‘Get rid of,’ Berrin murmured uncomfortably. He was beginning to understand Malig Tumora’s plans. Once he found the right person to copy, he intended to create a new kind of human being. It would be intelligent and ambitious but wouldn’t care about others. Worse still, it would grow very quickly, from a baby to a grown-up in two years, maybe less. Along the way, it would learn everything Malig Tumora wanted to teach it, just as Aden had done.

  And when he was happy with the result, Malig Tumora would make as many copies of his perfect human being as he needed; then all the other humans under his control would be obsolete. Something to be got rid of.

  ‘You’re going to kill them all,’ Berrin seethed.

  ‘Who am I going to kill?’ Malig Tumora asked, unconcerned. ‘All the animals in my menagerie? Quite possibly. They have served their purpose. I don’t need them any more now.’

  They had reached the enclosure now where the Dfx ushered them inside. Malig Tumora entered behind them to continue the conversation. The door clanged shut. Berrin glowered at him. He knew he was an evil man, but only in the last few moments had he realised just how terrible his plans were.

  ‘The grown-ups, all the children in the dormers, what about them?’

  ‘Ah, I see your sharp mind has been at work. You understand what lies ahead. A year or two and I won’t need the flower’s fragrance to control those around me.’

  The observation ball interrupted. ‘The-data-has-been-analysed. The-results-are-very-promising.’

  Malig Tumora turned away from the two boys. ‘Wonderful news. Have you found the one we need?’

  ‘Yes-the-suitable-subject-we-have-been-looking-for. He-has-all-the-qualities-we-require.’

  Malig Tumora beamed with excitement. ‘Where is he?’ the scientist asked.

  ‘Already-secure-within-the-menagerie,’ came the answer.

  ‘Even better.’

  ‘He-is-in-good-health. Extracting-the-necessary-body-tissue-will-not-be-difficult.’