The Code War

by Ciaran Nagle

  'No, Holzman. She will never be part of my team. Don't you understand anything about me yet?'

  Holzman swallowed hard. He thought he'd asked a friendly question.

  'When Nancy arrives in Inferno,' continued Bezejel, measuring every word, 'she will be full of herself. She will have a head so big she'll barely make it through the Gates. Within minutes of getting here she'll want my job. She will want my place, my place you understand, next to the Leader. Well, I forbid it. Her square yard of misery is already reserved for her.'

  There was a pause which Holzman felt he was obliged to fill. 'Do you mean to send her to…to…'

  'Yes, I do mean to send her to,' replied Bezejel sarcastically. 'That's exactly where I mean to send her. Nancy will go straight to Tyrant's Fall.'

  Heaven's Shore

  Jabez's globe sparked like a hundred arc welders working simultaneously. Each spark was the image of a male or female angel. As each one came and went in a scintilla of a moment he looked for a perfect match to his needs. Luke's face stayed constant to the side of the flickering faces.

  'I'm going to need lots of help on this one, Luke. First I've got to find a code-breaker. They're heading somewhere with this letter game and I need to understand it. That capital letter R, it's mysterious. We also need a character reader, someone who can tell us what's going on inside Nancy's head. One moment she's an ordinary girl, quiet and shy. A face in the crowd. Then she intimidated her boss in front of the whole office. Now she's used sex to manipulate and control several men. Yet she's holding it together quite naturally. That's for starters. Luke, you've done a great job already tracking the enemy for me. But I think I'm going to need someone on this round the clock. Can you come and join my team full time and give me your insight into twentieth century human behaviour? When I last walked the Earth people didn't have so many options available. Especially options to do bad stuff. I need some support.'

  Luke hesitated before responding.

  'I could see that coming so I already checked with my boss. Things are a little slow in Supernova Start-ups at the moment so she says I can work with you, at least for now. But she may want your help on one of her projects in the future.'

  'She may, or she may not, depending on how this goes,' replied Jabez sardonically. 'If I deliver a big 'fail' on this project she may want to wash her hands of me. Anyway thank her for me; it's good to have you on board. Meanwhile I was thinking of Agatha for the code-breaker. Do you know her?'

  'Not sure I do. Tell me about her.'

  'English. She worked on the Enigma thing while in the Fourth Dimension and she hasn't been assigned to a project yet. She's in Clearing. There hasn't been a big call for code-breakers recently and hopefully she's looking for her first project.'

  The Creator was continually expanding and building new territories in the dimensions in which he existed. The human-inhabited universe was the Fourth Dimension. Most of Paradise was in the Fifth Dimension; as was all of Inferno. In 'the Fifth' as it was known, time had little relevance. Time didn't flow forward uniformly as it does on Earth. In the Sixth, the problem of distance had been eliminated with thought travel while in the Ninth, light could be played with in ways unimaginable on Earth. Other dimensions were just as unusual.

  'Just looking her up right now,' replied Luke. 'Hmm, says here she has a flair for danger. She once went on an intelligence gathering mission into occupied territory during the Fourth's World War Two. That could be useful. I'm not saying we're going to do anything like that here. But you never know. I like the sound of her Jabez, why don't you go ahead and get in touch?'

  'Good, I will, and if you happen..'

  But Luke interrupted him.

  'Yes, I do happen to have an idea for a shrink. Thank you for asking. Angel by the name of Ruth. Texan. Lots of experience. Worked on the Skajj interrogation. Built a great reputation there.

  Jabez's brow was furrowed. 'I don't know much about the Skajj case. Tell me more.'

  'Well, Skajj was a demon who approached Heaven on the sly,' continued Luke. 'He claimed to be an intelligence devil who had fallen out with his team and was eager to cut a deal with Heaven for his own benefit. He was interviewed by a mid-ranking council of angels, the Mitten Gard, who were inclined to believe him. But then Ruth produced an analysis of all Skajj's replies to the Gard. It showed inconsistencies in thought and sentence-forms which pointed to origins in lots of different sources. This meant that Skajj could not have created the plan by himself. He was being told what to say by a motley of different Crossbones centurions who hadn't bothered to confer with each other. They all had different ways of saying things and Skajj simply repeated everything they all told him. That was why he sounded like a crowd.'

  'Fascinating. Go on.'

  'When Ruth displayed her research, it blew Skajj's scam out of the water. In reality he was trying to identify and map an approach route to Paradise's Tenth dimension preparatory to an invasion by elements of four sprite armies. The Mitten Gard were initially sceptical of Ruth's reasoning. But in the end they were very grateful to her. They had nearly been deceived. She showed a lot of nerve to challenge their authority but luckily it paid off.'

  'I remember that incident now,' said Jabez. 'But I didn't know what occasioned it. Thanks for filling in the gap in my knowledge.'

  'Glad to. But it's what happened to Ruth as a result that's interesting. Her reputation ascended the heights. She was included on every panel and leadership group connected with better understanding demon thought patterns. She's now a leading authority in that area. That's why I mentioned her.'

  'She's out of our league, isn't she Luke? A lady like that isn't going to want to get involved with small fry like us.'

  'You may be surprised, Jabez,' Luke rejoined confidently. 'Two of Ruth's panel appointments are in recess right now, meaning she has very little to do for a while. But also, she involves herself in projects that interest her. Especially where she can be highly involved with a committed project team, not just be a player in a talking shop. I think she could be interested.'

  Jabez began to suspect that Luke had already spoken to Ruth and had solicited her interest. That was why he was talking her up so confidently.

  'OK,' he said, 'I'll go ahead and globe her.'

  Luke wasn't finished. 'And remember, Jabez, you and I may be small fry but the project isn't. You're saving the world now. There's lots of senior people watching you.'

  'Thanks Luke,' said Jabez with a heavy sigh. 'Just what I needed to hear.'

  Navaho's Squawhouse, Central Pentacurse Region, Inferno

  Bezejel and Kodrob crunched their way across the cinder track outside Navaho's squawhouse. Gog and Magog followed close behind, keeping a watchful eye on the gaunt figures surveying them from the shadows. Many lower-caste demons came down to Pentacurse from the fingers of Festerlode and Slothmire looking for drunken soldiers to ambush and rob. Gog and Magog pulled their cloaks aside revealing the flashing iron handles of their swords and glared at them contemptuously.

  Above them towered the huge conical structure that was Navaho's, an oasis for those seeking forgetfulness. Outside the door, neon signs that read Smokin' Joe's Frankfurters, Budweiser, Cold Pepsi and Studebaker shone out brightly. They had been foraged from derelict towns in America's rustbelt. None of these were really on sale. Demons just liked their colour. 'You know how squawhouses got their shape, Kodrob?' asked Bezejel, now playing a tour guide.

  'No ma'am, no-one ever told me that.'

  'It's all about women, Kodrob. Not men.'

  'Yes ma'am.'

  'Throughout Earth's history, women with supernatural power used to wear conical headgear. Witches. Men would come to them with all types of hopes and hates. Give me a son. Poison my enemy. That sort of thing. Follow?'

  'Yes ma'am.'

  A crowd of eager squaddies was gathered at the door of Navaho's trying to get in. Satyr doormen were taking their weapons for safe-keeping. An argument developed over a small knife. Bezejel and Ko
drob stood near a lava lamp while they waited for the fracas to blow over. Its convex mirror reflected the light coming up from the lava in the hole in the ground beneath it and bathed their faces in its glow. Lava lamps were Inferno's cheapest form of light.

  'So when brothel madams set up their enterprises in Inferno,' continued Bezejel proudly, 'they made their buildings conical. It meant a certain type of female was inside.'

  'But why squaws ma'am? Where does that come from?'

  'Americans, Kodrob. Yanks,' exclaimed Bezejel loudly over the din. 'When Americans started coming here in huge numbers they noticed the brothels' conical shape and said it reminded them of native American teepees and wigwams.'

  The doormen threw a squaddie on the ground. His knife landed beside him. His mates began to walk through into the interior, leaving him behind.

  'So the madams started calling the girls 'squaws' and the demons liked it.

  Bezejel nodded her head forward and they began to amble towards the door of Navaho's.

  'So then,' put in Kodrob. 'Brothels became squawhouses and they started naming them after different American tribes. OK, I get it.'

  Kodrob began to raise his arms to be searched but the doormen drew back in fear when they saw Bezejel. 'These three are with me,' asserted the demon princess with a smile. The doormen bowed slightly and stepped back.

  Bezejel led the way as they plunged through the first doorway. To the left was a wide spiral staircase leading up and around the building. The staircase led off to dozens of small passion rooms where squaws entertained their demon clients. They walked through the next arch and then the next and the next, each separated by a staircase leading upwards. As Navaho's grew in popularity, its owners had simply added extra cones outside the first ones, each cone taller and wider than its predecessor. Now there were nine cone shells. Gas lights hung precariously off the hide walls of the corridor, almost setting the structure alight.

  As they made their way inwards to the vast atrium at the heart of Navaho's, the noise of the party inside grew intense. Demons and skimpily-dressed squaws passed them walking in the opposite direction, arms around each other, heading to one of the staircases. A doom-doom drum beat reverberated through the rock beneath them and came up through their feet. Everything shook. Finally the last of the nine great doorways was behind them and they emerged into the cavernous space that many felt was the true centre of Inferno.

  Bezejel led Kodrob through the noisy throng of compacted, steaming demonry to the circular bar at the centre of the atrium. Vixens, attractive demonesses, carried tankards of hot petroleum and cold diesel to tables of burping, leering upper caste males around the room. A forest of claws groped and pawed them as they walked.

  The walls displayed crude paintings of male and female demons in every imaginable sexual throe and position. Braziers suspended from above burned coal and cast their red glow around.

  Everywhere demons were drinking cocktails of flammable liquids while negotiating hourly prices with available squaws. After agreeing a deal with a customer, the squaw would take them by the paw and lead them up one of the spiral staircases to a room. Her tail would flick triumphantly from side to side, flaunting her conquest.

  As Bezejel approached the bar, a nervous quietness descended across the room. Demons nudged each other and pointed her out. She was wearing a short red dress, its close fit revealing every contour of her figure. She looked about her and soaked up the effect she was having.

  'What's the matter, boys,' she bellowed with a bewitching grin, 'seen something you want?' Then pulling up a stool she placed one foot on it.

  The drumbeat stopped.

  'Now that I have your attention, I'm looking for someone,' shouted Bezejel. Kodrob and the two bodyguards stayed several paces behind her. The room was now quiet.

  'I'm looking for someone who…'

  'You've found him.' All eyes turned to the speaker, an upper-caste demon wearing steel-framed glasses who was sitting at a table near the curved wall. A richly-engraved ceremonial sword hung from his waist. Beneath his feet was a decorative footrest and he sat back in his chair with his fingertips together staring ahead of himself contemplatively.

  Bezejel walked over and stood near his table. Kodrob and the bodyguards followed at a discreet distance. It was only at this point that Kodrob realised the footrest was not an object but a female demon. She was dressed in traditional Japanese costume but was so still as to be lifeless. Her face was painted white and her upper body moved ever so slightly as she breathed.

  If Bezejel had noticed the female, she did not give any indication of it. She and the bespectacled demon regarded each other for several frosty moments.

  'Hideki, I see we find you in reflective mood. There are not many who come to Navaho's to meditate.'

  'Madam Bezejel,' said Hideki, noticing her for the first time and half-bowing where he sat. 'It's a great pleasure to see you again. Won't you join me for a drink?'

  Bezejel sat down slowly in the opposite chair and crossed her legs tightly. She looked around her at the gawking faces, which rapidly turned away. Kodrob, Gog and Magog stood respectfully three paces back.

  'Now, what is your poison?' asked Hideki, rapping the table in front of him. A serving vixen in high red heels appeared and placed a bottle and two glasses on the table. 'Our best cold diesel ma'am,' she said, without making eye contact.

  The drumbeat restarted. The chatter around them picked up.

  Hideki poured some fuel into both glasses and pushed one across to Bezejel. He also poured some into a small bowl by his feet and pushed it towards his slavegirl. Kodrob could see the creature's eyes focus on the drink. But she was waiting for the order of command before she would imbibe.

  Hideki raised his glass to Bezejel. 'I trust you are happy with the performance of my department so far, Lady Bezejel. You are here to reward and congratulate me, no doubt.'

  'Hideki, you squaw-voucher thieving son of Nippon,' replied Bezejel, completely ignoring the slave footrest. 'Why shouldn't I have you sent to the incinerators for a thousand years? You didn't tell me that knicker-dropping shiksa Nancy isn't a shiksa at all. She's a Hebrew of tribe Judah. That could be important.'

  Hideki smiled broadly. He was clearly familiar with Bezejel's verbal salvos and was not the least intimidated.

  'Bezejel, my satyr-squeezing friend, you're a motivation to us all. But you clearly haven't looked at the notes I sent you. Remember, detail is for devils.'

  'Go on.' Bezejel had relaxed a little. Nobody spoke to her like this without a very good reason.

  'I have spent a lot of time in the company of the young woman Nancy. Observing her. I know her intimately. Well, almost intimately.'

  Watching his expression, Kodrob could guess just how intimately Hideki would like to know Nancy. If he ever got the chance.

  The Japanese demon looked up at Bezejel. 'I sent you a sheaf of information when the Leader first asked you to take the project. Maybe it got lost en route?' Hideki held his hands in front of him, fingers together, steeple-style.

  'I don't read, Hideki. Everyone knows that. I expect to be told anything important.' Bezejel was trying to be fierce but it wasn't quite working.

  'Ah.'

  Hideki picked up his glass and took a mouthful of diesel. He swished it around his mouth for a moment. Then replacing the glass on the table he picked up a lighted candle and held it in front of his mouth. As he blew upwards, a perfect cloud of flame leapt twenty feet into the vault above.

  Heads turned nervously all around the room as curious demons and squaws followed the flame cloud. They twisted in their seats to see what was going on at Hideki's table without drawing attention to themselves. Everyone had expected Hideki to be roasted by now. It hadn't happened.

  'Ah so,' Hideki repeated quietly to Bezejel. 'Then let me take the opportunity now.'

  The other demons turned back to their own business. It was dangerous to stare in Bezejel's direction for too long.

  'We have
known for a long time that Nancy is a Jew. That was a factor in her selection. But not the only factor. Here is why she excites us. We have looked back many generations into her past and there are significant character strengths in one of her ancestors which we can, with care, bring forward to poison her mind permanently. Those strengths include ambition and lust for power in impressive quantities. What you see in Nancy now is like the painted flower that conceals a hidden serpent under it. Soon you will see the serpent, dragon even, reveal itself in her and lay the foundations of the empire that will last a thousand years.'

  'Dragon?' Bezejel knew that Hideki had exposed her lack of attention to detail. But her curiosity was aroused.

  'Yes, dragon. Seems there is a connection to the Orient that was made by a Russian ancestor. Most interesting.' Hideki looked down at the glass in front of him, apparently lost in thought.

  Few demons were able to forget they were in Bezejel's presence. But Hideki seemed determined to prove that he was not frightened by her. He removed his legs from his footrest and said something to it. The slavegirl inched forwards with her head down and began to lap from the bowl. Even by the standards of Inferno she was thin and dirty.

  'I want to know more about the ancestor, Hideki. The Leader has put me in charge of the project. Is the ancestor Russian or Chinese?'

  'All in good time, Bezejel,' he said patiently. He gave another command to the slavegirl who immediately ceased her drinking and returned to her former position. Hideki replaced his feet on her back.

  He looked at Bezejel again. 'But for now, did you notice the start of my seed trail?'

  'If you mean the capital R, yes. Of course I saw it. What comes next?'

  'That is our dragon seed trail. It is our code. It will spell out the person that Nancy will become. Once she has followed the trail to its end and spelt out the entire name, eaten all the seeds, so to speak, she will be convinced that the name was meant for her. She will see it as her destiny. She will be excited by her new name and will become it. She will be ours.'