by Джеффри Лорд
No wonder, Blade realized. With the Idol itself passing a judgment on their shaman, the Rutari must have thought they were fighting against the gods themselves. And what Crystal had done with her mind… The Idol must have malfunctioned, and Crystal made the parts work again.
«You say you made the parts of the Idol move again? Just like you made that last ball move, in the Great Game of nor?»
Crystal blushed even harder and could only nod. Blade grinned.
«I've suspected it was you for some time. I suppose you know you did me a good turn there. Without Winter Owl on our side-«
(«Master, the Master Winter Owl is coming. If you do not want him to know this, do not talk about it anymore.»)
(«Thank you, Cheeky.»)
The warning was just in time. Winter Owl came leaping up the hill, covered with blood and dust but smiling and as cheerful as a boy. «I have a message from Friend of Lions,» he said. «He brings the riders up the valley to finish the work. He says Blade and the archers should not have all the day's glory.»
«We won't fight him over his share,» said Blade. He stood up and found that his head behaved itself now. Telepathic duels apparently did no permanent injury. But why had he been so weak against Ellspa's attack when he'd fought off the much stronger Guardian successfully? Was Ellspa stronger than the Guardian? Or maybe his memories of Zoe would always leave him vulnerable.
That was something to think about, but later. Right now, he had a battle to finish, as long as Teindo might still be alive. He whistled Cheeky up onto one shoulder, slung his bow on the other, and led the way downhill.
The battle faded away rapidly after the mounted Uchendi arrived. The mounted Rutari were no match for the plainsmen, and Blade wasn't surprised at this after he found Teindo's body.
Somehow, with three bullets from the UZI in her body, Ellspa had been able to keep on her feet for a while. Dying, she'd reached Teindo before her strength finally failed her. He would not leave her, even when a dying shpuga attacked. He died where he stood, and now man, woman, and beast lay almost on top of each other. Their blood made a wide pool around them, and flies were already beginning to gather. Blade noticed that even Winter Owl did not care to look at the sight very long.
Good. Maybe the Uchendi won't try to exterminate the Rutari after all. And when I take the Idol with me, maybe these people will stop worshiping weapons-magic. Perhaps the idea that there's such a thing as too much killing is about to take root in Latan.
In the face of the Uchendi riders the Rutari either ran or died. Most of them did both. By nightfall the Uchendi were back in Red Stones village. Only a few huts were still habitable, but Blade and Crystal were given one of them.
They lit a fire on the hearth and sat down, too tired to even take off their Guardian regalia. In one corner they piled Ellspa's equipment, which they'd found in the saddlebags of her straying ezinti. Shpuga-repellant, staff, aphrodisiacs, enough kerush seed to put a whole tribe into kerush-magor-Ellspa had come well-equipped.
It hadn't done her any good.
Blade leaned back against the wall, realizing how much of the day he'd spent running on sheer willpower. Having that vulnerable spot called «Zoe» reached had taken something out of him that a normal battle didn't. The mere fact of that vulnerability didn't bother him. Indeed, it taught him more about himself and telepathy. That did no harm.
The only problem was-what else might be lurking inside him, ready or at least able to be reached telepathically? «Know yourself» was always a good idea; if you were working with telepathy, it might be a life-or-death matter.
Well, tonight was no time for life-or-death matters. Rather, it was time for living-and for one particular kind of living. Blade reached out an arm for Crystal, and she snuggled into its curve.
She felt so warm and comfortable against Blade that it was a moment before he noticed his head throbbing. Then he sat up, pushing her violently aside.
«Blade, what-?» She sounded concerned rather than angry or frightened.
«Another attack-English magic kind of attack,» he said. The pain was mounting and the words came out only with difficulty. He shifted to telepathy.
(«Cheeky. We go Home. Get some kerush seeds and come to me. «)
(«Home?» came Cheeky's questioning reply.) But he was already digging in Ellspa's gear. He radiated joy as he found a pouch of seeds, then leaped toward Blade. Blade caught him in his arms and then grabbed the Idol.
(«Blade?» cried Crystal. «I don't think this is an attack. You aren't afraid. You're going back to England, with Cheeky?»)
Blade couldn't manage a word now even in his mind, but he tried to give her an affirmative. Then the pain ebbed just enough to let him give a clearer message.
(«Yes. It is a friend doing the magic, not an enemy as I thought. Stay away from me, Crystal. You might be caught in the magic. Stay here, be happy.»)
(«I will, I will.») She wanted to cry but was fighting it back.
(«Good girl. «)
She will do damned well as the first female Guardian of the Uchendi, was Blade's last thought in the Dimension of the warriors of Latan.
Chapter 28
Lord Leighton sat at his desk and contemplated the laboratory reports on Blade's trip to Latan. He also contemplated the complexity of the Universe. At times it seemed as if that complexity altogether exceeded the bounds of reason. This was one of those times.
Leighton knew there was no real reason why the Universe should be so regulated as to be comprehensible to him or to anyone else. He did not really have the right, as a mere human, to feel a sense of personal grievance against those in charge of arranging such matters.
Nonetheless, he did. He also felt more than a little frightened. What Blade had brought back from the last trip was throwing far too many questions about time, space, and Dimension X into the melting pot. Leighton felt as if he were sliding down an ice-coated hillside on a black night with the wind howling about him and strange shapes lurking in the darkness just out of range of clear vision.
He would have felt still worse if it hadn't been for three things.
One was Blade's and Cheeky's safe return. They were now at Blade's country house, supposedly relaxing, but Leighton figured Blade had probably recommenced on the remodeling of the old house already. Blade couldn't sit idle for long.
The second good thing was the gun Blade had brought back from Latan. J's weapon experts had studied the submachine gun and confirmed what the markings indicated: that the UZI was from Englor. That meant that someone else-and someone who was not an enemy-was capable of Dimension X travel. Just how capable they were was something Leighton might not ever learn, but if he did, it might just be possible that England and its inter-Dimensional counterpart-Englor-would be able to pool their knowledge and capabilities.
Leighton picked up the UZI and pulled the trigger. The only sound was an empty click. The weapons experts had said that the gun was beyond repair. But Crystal had fired a round. Had the woman really made the gun function with only her mind?
«Telekinesis…» Leighton murmured to himself and shook his head. «Perhaps it can also move a person the way it can move an object…» Well, enough of this speculation, Leighton thought. There would be time to consider telekinesis later.
Now Leighton scanned the laboratory report on the kerush seed. This was the third good thing that had resulted from this trip to Dimension X. The report said that the key ingredient of the kerush could be synthesized without too much trouble. Not without much expense, however, because the processes were costly, but they were well proven for many years in the pharmaceutical industry.
In a few months they could have enough kerush for years of experiments in telepathy. Should they go ahead?
Should rain fall down?
The more difficult question was where to begin. They would need both Blade and Cheeky for these experiments, which would attempt to find others with telepathic capabilities. They would hope to find someone who could link
up with Blade and/or Cheeky in such a way that he or she would be able to go to Dimension X also.
Whatever the case, the kerush seemed to be the key to telepathy, and telepathy might still be the key to regular travel into Dimension X.
Leighton activated the terminal on his desk and punched in the call for a readout on certain key items of equipment they'd need to produce the kerush, as well as the cost of doing so. He'd want to be briefed with all the vital statistics before he sat down to persuade the Prime Minister to release more money from the Secret Fund.
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