The Lovers * Dark Is the Sun * Riders of the Purple Wage

by Philip José Farmer

  Now and then Deyv managed to doze, only to be awakened trembling from sleep by a deafening and darkness-dispelling blast. He ate now and then, and when he had to relieve himself, he went to the room where the witch was imprisoned. The others also did this to lower her morale. None of the captives were fed, though they were given water. If hunger weakened them, so much the better. They would have less resistance to the inquisition. And lying in their own excrement would make them more miserable.

  After an almost intolerable length of time, the black thunder and his white sisters went away. Observation from the top deck showed that the wind was still as strong. Moreover, they were just over a particularly mountainous region, and now the tharakorm dropped sickeningly in downdraughts or cannoned upward so suddenly that they momentarily floated. They had to go back to their room and lie down again.

  Sloosh, who should have known better by now, insisted on telling the others what might happen.

  ‘The drowndraughts could take us all the way to the ground. The updraughts could take us so high we’d pass out or even die from lack of oxygen. And we might be dashed against a mountainside.’

  He couldn’t understand why they told him to shut up.

  ‘Ignoring the facts or wishing to be ignorant of them is unrealistic. However, as you wish. So… I won’t irritate you by telling you about these mountains.’

  ‘Good,’ Deyv said. After a while, though, he asked, ‘What about the mountains?’

  ‘Ah, curiosity is stronger than fear. These mountains are part of a mighty range that extends from one ocean-shore to the other. It bisects this land mass. It’ll make our return on foot very difficult. But we can bypass it by making a boat and travelling along the shore. Of course, that isn’t without its perils. There are tsunamis and giant carnivorous fish and sea-mammals and hostile sapients. It might be better to take the land route. But if we do, the journey will take much longer. Also, the quakes make the range very perilous. Landslides, the earth opening under us, all sorts of unpleasant events.’

  ‘Shut up!’ the others said in unison.

  The mountains fell behind, and the flight became more comfortable. The wind slackened considerably, though Sloosh estimated by a little less than half. The band of light on the horizon widened a trifle, causing Sloosh to remark that he had seriously underestimated the wind velocity.

  ‘It must have got up to one hundred and fifty miles per hour at times, maybe even two hundred. In any event, we still can’t take a chance on landing. However, the tharakorm haven’t been fed since we took off, and eight sleep-times without food will result in some loss of the lifting gas. So, eventually, like it or not, we’ll sink to the ground.’

  Deyv regretted that they had thrown the corpses overboard instead of feeding them to the ship-creatures.

  By then the stink of excrement and unwashed bodies was pervading the tharakorm. The captives were released, by couples, to clean themselves up and the floors. There was still enough drinking water to spare for washing the filthier parts of their bodies. Empty vases and bowls were set out to catch rainwater. So far, the food supply was sufficient. Even so, the captives were fed sparingly.

  After the tenth sleep-time, the wind began dropping. In the meantime, the tharakorm were thoroughly searched. Even the yardarms were examined. They could find none of their soul eggs nor the Archkerri’s crystal. It was time for the questioning.

  The slaves were tried first, though it was unlikely that they would know where the soul eggs were kept. Feersh and her children were present at the sessions so they could witness – in the witch’s case, hear – what was in store for them. The slaves were not tortured, since it was not worthwhile, but Deyv and his companions made plenty of references to their plans to do so.

  As expected, the slaves had no idea where Feersh had put the eggs. Even when they were threatened with being thrown out of a window, they insisted on this. The Yawtl was all for heaving them out anyway, but Deyv and Vana felt that they might be useful later on. Sloosh said nothing about this. He either did not care or had not yet considered the problem.

  Next, the two surviving sons of Feersh, Kiyt and Jeydee, and the daughter, Jowanarr, were worked upon. All three normally wore floor-length robes, but they had been naked when captured and had remained so. They had no soul eggs, since their original witch ancestors had been people whose eggs had ‘soured’, as the saying went. Thus, they could not be threatened with the loss of these.

  However, their lack of clothes when outside their cabins did humiliate them and make them feel powerless. As the first step in the interrogation, the Yawtl passed water all over their bodies. This was, in witch culture, a peculiarly insulting deed. The slaves must have enjoyed this, since they had had to undergo the same treatment whenever Feersh’s brood wished to punish them. They had difficulty suppressing their smiles.

  The slaves were then told to pummel the witch’s children. They hesitated until Hoozisst said they would be thrown out of the window if they did not obey. They must not beat them so severely, though, that they could not answer questions clearly. At first somewhat diffident, the slaves became enthusiastic after a while. The Yawtl called them off when he thought the three had had enough softening.

  ‘Now,’ he said, ‘the hard part starts. I have in mind burning wooden splints under the fingernails first. If that does not work, I’ll put burning wooden splints up your genitals. After that, I’ll start getting tough.’

  The sons began weeping and sobbing and moaning that they did not know where the eggs were. Their mother did know, but she would never take them into her confidence about them. Jowanarr said nothing, nor had she cried out when being beaten.

  Jeydee spoke out of a mouth which had lost half its teeth. ’Mother, tell them! We cannot take this!’

  Feersh stood in a corner, her hands tied behind her. She, too, was naked and no doubt very conscious of her ugly scrawny body and breasts, which sagged almost to her navel. The long narrow face with its bulging cheekbones and hairy upper lip was set as if it were a wax mask. The blind eyes stared straight ahead.

  Sloosh said, ‘It is a waste of time to give pain to these creatures. You might enjoy this, Yawtl, but I don’t. I’m very sensitive to the pain of others. I can permit torture if there is a rational reason for it, even if I too suffer, though not of course to the same degree as the tortured.

  ‘But my main objection is the uselessness of this. The witch isn’t going to tell us anything which will keep her children from being hurt. She doesn’t really care about them. She’s spoiled them, kept them from maturing, not from love but to make them weak and easier to handle. Her eldest daughter has been raised somewhat more strictly because she will someday be the chief, and so she has a stronger character. However, Feersh won’t give in if you torture Jowanarr. In fact, she might even enjoy it.

  ‘So, I suggest you tackle Feersh herself. Not with pain or threats. She’s too tough for those. She –’

  For the first time, the witch spoke. ‘What is the plant-man saying?’

  Hoozisst raised his thick tangled eyebrows as if he thought they might be making progress. He translated for her.

  She said, ‘What he says is true. You could kill me, and I still wouldn’t cry out, let alone tell you what you want to know. However, I wouldn’t hesitate at all telling you where the eggs are hidden if I believed you’d not kill me. If I could think of some way to guarantee that we’d be freed once I told you, I’d do it.’

  Kiyt cried out, ‘Mother! Why didn’t you say this before? Why let us be degraded and beaten?’

  The witch smiled, revealing very yellow teeth. ‘I’ve been too soft with you. I thought that perhaps the ordeal might strengthen your character.’

  His face twisted with anger, Kiyt spat blood at her. Then he stepped back as if he feared that she might strike him.

  Feersh either did not know that it was he spitting or had decided to ignore him. She said, ‘Vegetable-thing, can’t we make a deal? One which you can enforce? I don�
�t trust these savages.’

  ‘Vegetable-thing!’ Sloosh said. ‘You don’t arrange such matters by starting with an insult!’

  Hoozisst translated for Feersh.

  She said, ‘I apologize – for the first time in my life. Actually, it wasn’t an insult. I am a flesh-thing, and you are what I said. But since it offends you… Now, what about my proposal?’

  The Archkerri closed his eyes. Except for the coughing of a slave and the muted groanings of the two sons, there was silence. Finally, he opened his eyes. ‘It’s a reasonable suggestion. I think we should accept.’

  ‘No!’ Hoozisst shouted. ‘What about my revenge? Would you cheat me of that? We can have what is owing me and the eggs also!’

  ‘Ah, but if revenge is in order,’ Sloosh said, ‘what about Vana’s and Deyv’s? You stole their eggs, and it was only with difficulty that I could keep them from torturing and then killing you. The reason I could is that they needed you to help get the eggs back. The same logic applies here.’

  Hoozisst was too angry to talk for a while. Then he said, ‘But I was under duress! I had to steal the eggs or I wouldn’t have got the Emerald of Anticipation! Also, she would have killed me if I hadn’t done what she wanted!’

  ‘She didn’t tell you to rob me of my crystal,’ Sloosh said. ’She didn’t want that. Yet, you took it. Besides, all you had to do was promise her you’d steal the eggs and then run away. She could never have found you.’

  ‘What? And be for ever separated from my tribe?’

  ‘“For ever” is not exact. It would have lasted only until you died. However, you do have a point there. Though it’s not much.’

  The Yawtl, scowling, stamped around for a moment, taking time to knock Kiyt down with his fist. He started towards the witch, but Sloosh said, ‘No, Hoozisst.’

  ‘I smell a trick,’ the Yawtl said. ‘We’ll give her our promise, and then we’ll find out she’ll tell us but we still won’t have the eggs.’

  ‘A good point,’ Sloosh said. ‘Tell Feersh that we don’t just want the location of the eggs. We must be able to get our hands on them. It’s possible that she set traps around them.’

  Feersh listened to the translation. She said, ‘You tell the plant-man that I agree to those terms. But first we must be unbound. I give my word that we won’t attack you if you don’t attack us.’

  ‘A witch’s word!’ Hoozisst said harshly.

  ‘As good as a Yawtl’s,’ she said.

  ‘Which would mean no good at all,’ Vana said.

  Hoozisst raised his fist and said, ‘Aargh!’

  Aejip rose to her feet and snarled. The Yawtl lowered his fist and backed away.

  ‘I wasn’t going to hit you. I wouldn’t be that stupid. But I’m furious!’

  ‘It doesn’t take eyes to see that,’ the witch said. ‘Now, tell the plant-man that I’ll co-operate completely, that I’ll withhold nothing, so that you may get your eggs and his crystal back.’

  Deyv said, ‘You must also tell us why you wanted them.’

  ‘I’ll be very happy to do that. In fact, if you hadn’t attacked us, if you’d only got as far as the place beneath the tharakorm, I’d have told you why. I never dreamed that you’d have a plant-man in your group. One of the reasons I threw the Yawtl overboard was that he’d disobeyed me. I hadn’t told him to steal an Archkerri’s crystal. I had no use for one.

  ‘But I never suspected that the plant-man would follow the Yawtl. If I had, I’d not have been so negligent. I’d have had sentinels. I knew that the cable-vines wouldn’t give an alarm if a plant-man touched them. But who would have thought that one of those creatures would care if his crystal was stolen?’

  Feersh also requested that she and her children should be robed at once. It was not proper for them to appear before their slaves without clothing, except when these were in bed with them or bathing them, of course.

  Sloosh said that that was all right with him. Hoozisst objected to any agreement. He still believed that the witch was somehow tricking them. The others overruled him.

  Feersh, now clad in a robe covered with many strange figures and a few of The Dark Beast and wearing a tall blue cylindrical hat, said that she was ready to give them their information. But she wanted them to reaffirm that they would do nothing to her once they obtained it.

  That doesn’t need repeating,’ Sloosh said.

  Hoozisst groaned and said, ‘She must have a good reason for making sure of that! I tell you, she’s playing us for fools!’

  ‘I can’t do anything that the goddesses haven’t already done,’ she said.

  She paused, licked dry lips, then spoke. ‘Very well. Your eggs and crystal are embedded inside one of the fungus growths at the base of a tree in the forest that rings the sandy plain around the place where the tharakorm were moored. In fact, from what you tell me, you camped by that tree.’

  23

  For a little while, no one spoke. Feersh smiled broadly as if it was all she could do to keep from laughing.

  Then Sloosh moved towards her. As if that broke the spell, Hoozisst leaped at her with both hands half-closed. The plant-man had expected this, which was why he had stepped over to the witch. Sloosh’s great hand closed on the Yawtl’s shoulder, and Sloosh lifted him up.

  Hoozisst, feet kicking, his face bent with both anger and pain, screamed, ‘Let me down! I’ll kill her!’

  ‘I’ll release you when you promise to keep your promise,’ Sloosh said.

  ‘But she tricked us! I told you she would!’

  ‘That’s a good point, but it’s our fault. Mostly mine, since I should’ve been intelligent enough to make sure she didn’t trick us. However, we must ascertain that she is indeed telling the truth. If she isn’t, the agreement is no good.’

  The Yawtl looked at Sloosh. His anger was gone, though the pain in his shoulder was still there.

  ‘Let me down. I won’t touch her.’

  His feet on the floor, Hoozisst rubbed his shoulder. He said, ‘I think you could squeeze the truth out of her. Very well, how do we find out if she’s telling the truth? She doesn’t have a soul egg.’

  ‘Any soul egg will do.’

  Vana and Deyv said, ‘What?’

  Hoozisst said, ‘You’re crazy! Only her own egg would be in phase with her mind! Everybody knows that!’

  ‘This is one of those many cases among you flesh-sapients where what “everybody knows” is only what everybody says. When I lived with the People of the Striped House I made an experiment. I talked two people into exchanging eggs temporarily, though they were very reluctant to do so. And I found that any egg would serve as a lie detector.’

  Deyv felt that the statement was close to blasphemy. But, knowing by now that Sloosh would not lie, he said nothing.

  Hoozisst yanked an egg-cord off a slave, breaking it and felling the slave to his knees. He strode to the witch and thrust it into her hand. ‘Hold that in your fingers so we may see what the egg shows!’ he shouted. ‘Hold it against your flabby breast, you bitch!’

  Feersh went grey under the dark-brown skin. She spoke steadily enough, however. ‘I only half-lied. It’s true that the eggs and crystal are not on the tharakorm. They are not, though, in the fungus around the tree. I placed them in a cave high on a mountainside. The mountain is on the other side of the river you took to get to the forest.’

  ‘Put the egg against your breast!’

  She did so, and she repeated what she’d said. The egg turned blue shot with writhing star-like figures.

  ‘So!’ the Yawtl said. ‘You thought we’d go to that tree, and by then you would’ve escaped us. You would be safe in some place where you could laugh at us.’

  ‘She may have meant to cheat us,’ Sloosh said. ‘That is the way of witches. But I doubt it. She had another reason for not telling us the truth. Witch, what is it?’

  Hoozisst translated.

  Feersh said, ‘It’s a long story. The main reason I sent this thief out to get the eggs is that
I had to have people of a certain character to do something for me. Only they might be able to complete my mission. Hoozisst was my tool, a good one, but I wasn’t planning to reward the greedy creature with the Emerald of Anticipation. He says he’s wearing it now, so he has been paid off. He shouldn’t bear a grudge. If he’d been in my place, he would have done the same. Wouldn’t you, Yawtl?’

  Hoozisst bared his sharp teeth, but he nodded. ‘I was a little hasty in wanting to get rid of you,’ he said. ‘I forgot that you’d also promised to show me how the stone works.’

  ‘Which I’ll do. Anyway, all this business has to do with The Shemibob.’

  Sloosh buzzed amazement through his beak. ‘She still lives?’

  Hoozisst translated this.

  ‘As far as I know. The last one to see her alive, to be able to tell about it, that is, was a slave of hers. She is the only one who’s ever escaped from The Shining House of Countless Chambers.’

  She paused, undoubtedly for dramatic effect.

  ‘I was that slave!’

  Sloosh was delighted. There is so much you can tell me about The Shemibob. We Archkerri haven’t been able to get any data about her from our vegetable kin for a long time. The Jewelled Wasteland has been steadily, if slowly, growing, and where it is, there are no plants. Eventually, as you must know, The Wasteland will cover all the land mass.’

  ‘We can get those details later,’ Deyv said impatiently before Hoozisst could translate. ‘Tell your story as it concerns those whose eggs were stolen.’

  ‘Those details, as you call them, are a vital part of my story. When I was a very young woman, I went into the dreaded land of The Shemibob, which some also call, with good reason, The Bright Abomination, My mother had tried to kill me because she found out that I was planning to kill her. I had grown tired of waiting for her to die. So I fled just in time, and I was that most contemptible and pitiable of creatures, a witch with no ancient artifacts. So I decided to steal into The Wasteland and rob The Shemibob of some. I had heard that she had a great treasure of them. That’s not surprising, since she had a long time to collect them and had many to begin with.’