The Stainless Steel Rat Sings the Blues
Page 11
His voice died away as Floyd crawled out of bed and staggered, groaning, from the room.
"You are cruel," I said, smacking my dry lips together and feeling a little better.
"Not cruel. Just pointing out a few truths. This mission first. Overdrinking, hangovers and Technicolor yawns saved for our victory celebration."
There was nothing I could say. He was right.
"Message received," I said, reaching for my clothes. "The quiet life and plenty of rest and raw vegetables. Think positive."
Dawn brightened the window. A new day. Ten days to deadline. I was thinking negative and I shook myself like a wet dog and tried to shrug off the mood. "Let's go to the fair."
When we emerged from the BOQ, Sergeant Ljotur was waiting for us. He snapped to attention and gave a mighty salute-as did the squad of soldiers from the gate guard that he had brought with him.
"We take you to the market!" he called out. "These men are all volunteers, eagerly happy to carry any purchases finest musicians in galaxy may make."
"Greatly appreciated. Lead on," I said as we stepped out briskly on the red brick road.
The sun was a glowing crimson disk on the horizon when me reached the market. The Fundamentaloid nomads must lave been early risers because everything was in great swing already. I ready. And gory too; I thought I heard a low moan from Floyd, but the baaing and farting of the sheots tended to drown out most other sounds. Complain they might as the butchered carcasses of their late companions were unloaded from their backs. But there had to be more than a meat market here; eyes averted we hurried past the sanguineous display.
Now bearded nomads solicited our attention in pleading voices, pointing out the attractions of their wares. Which weren't that attractive. Tired-looking vegetables, crude clay pots, piles of dried sheot chips for the barbecue.
"Pretty grim," Floyd said.
"Not important," I told him, jerking my thumb towards the strolling customers. "They are the ones that we are interested in." I took out the photographs of the artifact that we were looking for and passed one to each of my companions. "Find out if any of the Paradisians have seen this."
"We don't just spring it on them?" Steengo said doubtfully.
"You're right. We don't. During the sleepless hours of the night I worked up a cover story. It goes this way, something close to the truth. The nomads found this thing in a stream bed after a flash flood. Tried to trade it to the keepers of the Pentagon who have a strict policy of noncommunication. However it was photographed when presented and only later was it recognized as an archeological artifact of possible interest."
"Reasonable," Steengo said doubtfully. "But what are we doing with the photos?"
"Given to us when we were booted out of the place. Hints made of rewards, possible remission of sentence, lots of fedha. With great reluctance we agreed to look for the thing since, simply, what have we got to lose?"
"Thin but plausible," Floyd said. "Let's give it a try."
There was no difficulty talking to the Paradisians; if anything it was hard to get rid of them once approached. How they loved The Stainless Steel Rats! Soon I had a string of adoring fans trailing behind me-along with most of the squad of guards. Everyone wanted to help: none of them knew a thing. But one name kept cropping up during the questioning. Sjonvarp.
Steengo pushed through the crowd and held up the now dogeared photograph. "Still nothing. But a couple of them said to ask Sjonvarp. Who seems to be the top trader around here."
"I heard the same thing. Grab Floyd, He must be recovering because I saw him looking at the fermented sheot-milk stand. Bring him here before he makes a mistake that he will long remember."
Sjonvarp was easy enough to find, with countless fingers pointing us the way. He was a tall and solidly-built man with iron-gray hair. His stern face broke into a smile when he turned to see who had called out his name.
"The Stainless Steel Rats in the flesh! I am trebly blessed!"
We hummed two bars of "All Alone" followed by a brisk buck and wing. Which elicited a round of applause from the spectators and a broader smile from Sjonvarp.
"Such rhythm and beauty!" he said.
"We sing 'em the way you like it," I said. "It is told in the market that you are the master-trader in these parts."
"I am. Pleased to make your acquaintances, Jim, Floyd and Steengo."
"Likewise. If you have a moment I have a picture here I would like you to look at." I hit the high points of our spiel as I passed the pic over. He only half listened, but did put all of Isis attention on the photo. Turning it around at arm's length, squinting farsightedly to make it out.
"Of course'. I thought so." He handed it back to me. "Some markets ago, I forget exactly how many, one of these odorous simpletons traded it to one of my assistants. We buy anything that might be of scientific interest for the specialists to examine. It didn't look like much. But I gave it to old Heimskur anyway."
"Well that takes care of that then," I said, tearing the photo up and dropping the pieces. "We're doing our concert tonight-I can get you a ticket if you want one."
The artifact was instantly forgotten-as I hoped, although it took some time for us to extract ourselves from the attentive embrace of our fans. Only by saying that it was rehearsal time did we manage to break away.
"Don't we look for the thing any more?" Floyd asked worriedly. A good musician, but I think drink was eroding his brain cells.
"We have the man's name," Steengo said. "That's what we look into next."
"How?" Floyd asked, still suffering from semi-paralysis of the neural network.
"Any way we can," I told him. "Make friends. Drop names. Drop Heimskur's name among the others. We find out who he is and what he does. Now, as we stroll, I'll report in."
Tremearne and Madonette listened carefully to my report. He overed and outed but she stayed to chat.
"Jim, it's time I left my hole in the wall and visited the other half of the city. It must be safe . . ."
"We hope that-but we don't know that. And there is no point in your taking any chances as long as the thing we are looking for is here. Enjoy the break. And don't do a thing until we find out more here."
We found lunch waiting in our quarters. Fruit and slices of cold meatloaf on silver plates, covered with crystal domes.
"Great!" Floyd said, chomping down a slice.
"Probably minced sheot shank," Steengo said, suddenly gloomy.
"Food's food and I never consider the source." Floyd reached for another slice just as our golden greeter appeared.
"A pleasure to see you musical Rats enjoying yourself. When you have eaten your fill I have a request for the presence of Rat Jim."
"Who wants me?" I asked suspiciously through a mouthful of sweet pulp.
"All will be revealed." He put his index finger along his nose, winked and rolled his eyes. Which silent communication I assumed meant something like you'll find out soon enough. I had no choice. And I had lost my appetite. I wiped my fingers on a damp cloth and followed him yet another time.
Iron John was waiting for me at the door of the Veritorium where we had all seen the puzzling holoflic.
"Come with me, Jim," he said with a deep voice like distant thunder. "Today you will see and understand all of the revelation."
"I'll get the others . . ."
"Not this time, Jim." His hand closed gently but firmly onto my shoulder and I had little choice but to go along with him. "You are wise beyond your years. An old head on a young body. Therefore you are the one who will be helped the most by your understanding of this mystery that is no mystery. Come."
He sat me down but did not join me; yet I was aware of his presence close by me in the darkness. The mist roiled and cleared and I was once again by the lake.
There was only silence in the forest around the ducky pond. As the last ripple died away the young man turned crud left without looking back. Trod the dead leaves beneath. the trees until he emerged and saw the king before him.
"I need that," he said.
"Take it." The king dismissed him with a wave of his hand. "Remember I have helped you. One day you must tell me what you found in the woods."
The young man turned in silence and made his way, alone, back to the dark pond. There he dipped the bucket into the water and hurled its contents into the ditch nearby. Another and another. He did not stop but worked steadily at bailing out the pond. It was hard, slow work. Yet the sun never set, the light never changed, the young man never stopped.
After a great period of time the water was almost gone and something large was revealed lying in the mud on the bottom of the pond. The young man kept emptying the water until he revealed a tall man who was covered with reddish hair, like rusty iron, from head to foot. The large man's eyes opened and he looked at the young man. Who beckoned to him. With a heaving shake the rusty man rose from the pond's bottom and followed the young man away from the pond and through the woods.
To the castle of the king. All of the soldiers and retainers fled when they appeared and the king alone stood before them.
"This is Iron John," the young man said. "You must imprison him in an iron cage here in the courtyard. If you lock the cage and give the key to your queen the forest will be safe again for those who walk through it."
Mist rose and darkened the scene. It was the end.
The red-furred hand was heavy on Jim's shoulder-but it did not bother him.
"Now you understand," Iron John said, newfound warmth in his voice. "Now you can release Iron John. Welcome, Jim, welcome."
I wanted to say that I felt more confusion than comprehension. That I was experiencing something, yet not understanding it. Instead of speaking my feelings aloud I suddenly found that my eyes were brimming with tears. I did not know why although I knew that they were nothing to be ashamed of.
Iron John smiled at me and, with a great finger, wiped the tears from my damp cheeks.
CHAPTER 16
"What was all that about?" Floyd asked when I returned to our quarters. He was jazzing with his trombonio, a complex and gleaming collection of golden tubes and slides, which made some very interesting sounds indeed. Most of them, regrettably, of an ear-destroying nature.
"More training film," I said, as nonchalantly as I could. I was surprised to hear a certain quaver in my voice as I spoke. Floyd tootled on, unaware of it, but Steengo who appeared to be asleep on the couch opened one eye.
"Training film? You mean more about the pool in the forest?"
"You got it in one."
"Did you find out what was in the pool? The thing that dragged the dog down?"
"A stupid story," Floyd said, and tootled a little fast riff. "Although I do feel sorry for the dog."
"It wasn't a real dog," Steengo said. He looked at me, seemed to be waiting for me to speak, but I clamped my jaw shut and turned away. "Nor was it a real pool."
"What do you mean?" I asked, looking at him.
"Mythology, my dear Jim. And rites of passage. It was Iron John at the bottom of the pool, wasn't it?"
I jumped as though I had been zapped with an electric shock. "It was! But-how did you know that?"
"I told you I read my mythology. But the thing that really disturbs me-not this training film as you call it-is the fact that Iron John is here in the flesh, solid and hairy."
"You've lost me," Floyd said, looking from one to the other of us. "A little explanation is very much in order."
"It is," Steengo said, swinging his feet around so he sat up straight on the couch. "Mankind invents cultures-and cultures invent myths to justify and explain their existence. Prominent among these are the myths and ceremonies of the rites of passage for boys. The passage from boyhood to manhood. This is the time when the boy is separated from his mother and the other women. In some primitive cultures the boys go and live with the men-and never see their mothers again."
"No big loss," Floyd muttered. Steengo nodded.
"You heard that, Jim. In all cultures mothers try to shape sons in their female image. For their own good. The boys resist -and the rite of passage helps this resistance. There is always symbolism involved, because symbols are a way to represent the myths that underlie every culture."
I thought about this; my head hurt. "Sorry, Steengo, but you left me behind completely with that one. Explanation?"
"Of course. Let's stay with Iron John. You have just said that you didn't understand it-yet I think that it affected you emotionally."
I started to protest, to lie-then stopped. Why lie? I tried not to lie to myself, ever. This was a good moment to apply that rule.
"You're right. It got to me-and I don't know why . . ."
"Myths deal with emotions, not facts. Let's look at the symbols. Did the young man bail out the pool and find Iron Hans, or Iron John at the bottom?"
"That's exactly what happened."
"Who do you think Iron John is? In the story I mean, not the one walking around here. But before you answer that-who do you think the young man in the story was?"
"That's not too hard to figure out. Whoever the story was aimed at, whoever was watching it. In this case, since I was there alone, I guess it must have been me."
"You are correct. So in the myth you, and every other young man, are looking for something in the pool, and have to work very very hard with the bucket to find it. Now we come to Iron John, the hairy man at the bottom of the pool. Is it a real man?"
"No, of course it couldn't be. The man at the bottom of the pool has to be a symbol. Part of a myth. A symbol of manhood, maleness. The primitive male that lies beneath the surface in all of us."
"Bang-on, Jim," he said in a low voice. "The story is trying to tell you that when a man, not a boy, looks deep inside himself, if he looks far down and for long enough, works hard enough, he will find the ancient hairy man within himself."
Floyd stopped playing and his jaw gaped. "You guys been smoking something I don't know about."
"Not smoking," Steengo said. "Sipping at the font of ancient wisdom."
"Do you believe this myth?" I asked Steengo. He shrugged.
"Yes and no. Yes, the process of growing up is a difficult one and anything that helps the process is a good thing. Yes, myths and coming-of-age ceremonies help prepare boys, giving them the assurances they need in the transition from boy to man. But that is as far as I will go. I say no resoundingly to a myth manifest as reality. Iron John alive and well and leading the pack. This is a fractured society here, without women and without even the knowledge of women. Not good. Quite sick."
I was uneasy at this. "I don't agree all the way. I was affected very strongly by watching that story. And I am a very hard guy to con. This got to me."
"It should have-because it was dealing with the very stuff of personality and self. I have a feeling, Jim, that yours was not the happiest of childhoods . . ."
"Happy!" I laughed at the thought. "You try growing up on a porcuswine farm surrounded by bucolic peasants who are not much brighter than their herds."
"And that includes your father and mother?"
I started to answer warmly, saw what he was doing and where this was going. I shut up. Floyd shook the spittle from his so-called musical instrument and broke the silence.
"I still feel sorry for the dog," he said.
"Not a real dog," Steengo said, turning away from me. "A symbolic dog like everything else you saw. The dog is your body, the thing you order around, sit up, beg."
Floyd shook his head in amazement. "Too deep for me. Like that pool. If I could change the subject from theory to fact for just a moment-what's next on the agenda?"
"Finding Heimskur, of cour
se, so we can find out if he still has the artifact," I said, happily putting this other matter aside. "Any suggestions?"
"Brain empty," Floyd said. "Sorry. That hangover never really went away."
"I'm glad some of us didn't drink," Steengo said, a sudden edge of irritation to his voice.
For personal reasons I was happy to hear it, glad that he was still human; he came on pretty strong with the myth stuff. Forget this for awhile. I ticked off on my fingers. "We have only two choices. Hint around about him and gather what information we can. Or blurt right out that we want to see him. Personally, I'm all for the blurting since there is a kind of time limit on this investigation." Like ten days to the grim reaper. "Let's ask Goldy, our majordomo. He seems to know everything else."
"Let me do it," Steengo said, standing and stretching. "I'll talk to him like an old buddy and work the conversation around to science and scientists. And Heimskur. Be right back."
Floyd watched him go, tootling a little march in time with his footsteps. "This Iron John stuff sort of gets to you," he said after the door had closed.
"Yes-and that's the worst part. I don't know why I'm bothered."
"Women. I had six sisters and there were two aunts who lived with us. I had no brothers. I never think about women except one at a time in the right situation."
Before I had to listen to one more boring macho tale about the right situation I excused myself and went for a jog. Returned sweating nicely, did some pushups and situps, then went for a wash. Steengo was there when I came out. Shaking his joined hands over his head when I lifted a quizzical eyebrow.
"Success. Heimskur is head of the bunch who Labor in the Cause of Science, or so Veldi says."
"Veldi . . . ?"
"The doorman here. He does have a name after all. From what he says I get the feeling that this is a pretty stratified society with everyone in their correct place. Great respect is given to the scientist. Veldi was more than respectful when he talked about them because they appear to be the ones pretty much in charge."
"Great. How do we get to meet Heimskur?"
"We wait patiently," Steengo said and looked at his watch. "Because any moment our transportation will be here to take us to his august presence."