Dream Park

by Larry Niven

  For once Henderson seemed undisturbed by Waters' enthusi­asm. "Significance?"

  The Engineer turned the map upside down, and flipped it back­wards before placing it right side up again. "Don't seem to be any markings here..."

  Chester was tracing a line with his forefinger down what seemed to be a river. The map covered a mountainous region, readily rec­ognizable as New Guinea. "Pre-Inversion," he murmured. "Any­body see anything interesting here?"

  Alex scanned the map carefully from across the table, differen­tiating the grays and blacks into jungle and plain. "There's a blank area about the size of a dime right there, in that mountain range." Chester's gaze followed the pointing finger to a pale circle amid a patch of jagged lines. "Maybe someone dripped coffee on it? or water?"

  Alex ran his finger lightly over the surface. "Nope. Paper's not rough there. I think that's our clue."

  Henderson nodded ungrudging admiration. "And I think that you're right. Well then, if it's a clue, then..." He paused, scratching the three-day stubble on his chin. "If our Illustrious Enemy doesn't appreciate anyone speaking their names, then just maybe they don't like anyone to find them, either. A spell in­tended to make them invisible just might backfire with a photo­graph, leaving a blank area like this."

  Acacia was still puzzled. "But why a German boat?"

  Chester waved it off. "Visual contrast. It tells us where to go. It is in context, though. German spy planes and high-altitude cam­eras would have been ideal for supplemental fly-bys in World War Two. Just a matter of cooperative technology. Kasan, do you recognise this area?"

  The little guide hemmed and hawed for a minute, then nodded his head. "And look here, effendi. We have a large body of water. That would fit with what Lady Janet told us."

  "Good, good. Where is this?"

  "Hmm... I believe there is a volcano in here, but I can't find it. It may be hidden in the blank spot."

  "May be?" Chester seemed skeptical.

  "Let's not expect too much from a poor native guide, kimo sabe," he said modestly. "Trust me. It's there. And if... since it's there, I think we have here a half-day's march, along the coast, then inland."

  "Excellent. Progress at last." Chester scooped up the roll and curled it, folded it once and stuck it in his backpack.

  Holly Frost sniffed the air. "Let's have a danger read, Boss Man. I don't like this setup too much."

  "You're first-level magic. You handle it."

  "Much grass. Hear me, oh gods!" She tried to spread her arms imperiously, but her knapsack was ill balanced, and she had to shift it on her shoulder. She was totally unembarrassed. "Reveal Danger!" A green cloud enfolded her. One edge of the cloud swirled with crimson light.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  THE HAIAVAHA

  The mood in the cabin changed instantly. Oliver was the first to drop his hand to his sword. "Methinks it's time to split," he said, peering out of the cabin.

  "Right you are," Chester agreed. "Women and Lore Masters first." He was out of the cabin in three elastic steps. "Hustle, peo­ple," he called back, scrambling down the ladder. "I'm getting a tingle. It's coming, and it's big."

  They bolted after him. Dark Star looked grim, edgy, and Alex found that worrying. He pulled Acacia to the side. "Get ready. Remember what I said."

  "Big monkey time? Monkey shmunkey," she grinned, drawing her sword. "Just give me something to cut, and I don't care if it's King Kong."

  That, of course, had been Griffin's first thought. "They wouldn't really hit us with King Kong, would they?"

  "I should let you sweat, asking a question like that. Of course not, dumbo. This is New Guinea, not Skull Island. Different mythos."

  "Just asking." Alex followed Oliver down the ladder. He felt the vibrations as soon as his feet touched the dock. He lifted his arms to help Holly, and she fell back against him.

  "Now normally I get along just fine, handsome, but in your case I'll-"

  He felt her cheek, against his, grow taut. "Holy hell. Griffin-" Alex spun around, and gasped. Two hundred meters away, a light plane of some kind was taking to the air, in pieces. Water surged, and the dock shook with the impact of the waves. A sound that started in the bones and radiated outward, only belatedly rec­ognizable as a bestial snarl, grew in intensity until it hurt their ears. They glimpsed a dark, vaguely manlike figure rising above the water, then sinking again behind a capsized ocean liner. The liner trembled, and the grinding wheeze of shredded steel filled the air.

  Oliver flashed a glance at Chester. "What do you think, Ches? How do we tackle it?"

  The Lore Master was peering out over the junked vessels with tiny frown lines crinkling his forehead. "We don't even know what the hell it is. All I know is that that mother's strong." He squeezed Gina's hand hard, and she flinched. "And angry. Honey, how much time do we have before curfew?"

  She lifted a naked wrist. "No watch."

  "Just about fifty minutes," Griffin volunteered.

  Chester considered. He looked worried. "I don't really want to tackle that thing tonight. We're all a little tired, and I think that Lopez is counting on that. Well, I'm going to surprise him and back off."

  Bowan the Black, face set in a mask of frustration, pushed his way past Oliver to protest. "What do you mean, ‘back off'?"

  Chester snapped, "What would I mean, Bowan?"

  "I can't believe I'm hearing you right. This is the second time you've had us turn tail, Henderson. It doesn't look good on my record."

  "How would being on the receiving end of a massacre look on your record?"

  Dark Star had sidled up next to Bowan. She said, "You may

  not think we can handle it. I do." She turned to the others. "Any­one else? Shall we do a quick vote?"

  "It'll have to be quick," Chester said. The thing was wading to­ward them now, leaving a white wake. A river of water flowed from its fur. Smaller than King Kong, but much larger than a man, it seemed a cross between an ape and a boar, with a boar's tiny eyes, long snout, and jutting white tusks. Wet, the fur was almost black; but the lank dry fur of its head and shoulders was red, with bright orange and yellow-white tufts. Its arms were dispropor­tionately long; the hands were underwater as it waded straight to­ward them. Chester said, "We're short of dithering-time. Okay, I vote we run for it."

  Oliver ground his foot nervously. "Sorry, Chester. I've gotta back Bowan on this."

  "Okay. Gwen?"

  She held onto Oliver silently. The body language was clear.

  "Alright, who else?"

  Griffin had chosen. "Follow the Lore Master. Run, but keep looking back. We might learn something."

  "I agree," said Margie. Owen nodded.

  S.J. seemed very unhappy, one thin hand in front of his mouth, brown eyes darting back and forth before he finally moved next to Chester.

  He knows something, Griffin told himself. He caught Acacia's eye and motioned her toward him. She gritted her teeth, but she came.

  Holly Frost was watching Griffin with the barest of smiles purs­ing her lips. The wheels turning in her head were nearly audible. She stepped toward Chester, who nodded his appreciation.

  "Airight," he b'àrked, "no more time for fence-sitters. Decision time, people." Eames joined Bowan. Tony moved to join Chester. Acacia tried to establish eye contact with Tony, but he ignored her.

  Mary-em grinned rakishly. "Now normally, I love a fight. But I'll stick with my buddies this time." She linked arms with Griffin and Holly.

  Chester took a quick count. "That does it. Outvoted, Bowan." The black-garbed figure gripped Chester's arm and spoke low. "Let me try a spell, Chester? Please? You can start the rest run­ning."

  Chester's eyes focussed on the oncoming monster. Abruptly he

  nodded. "Try it if it's quick." His voice rose. "Not much time, people. Gina, put a firebolt into that Quonset hut. The rest of you, head for the slopes."

  Bowan had turned to face the bay. He breathed deeply, ready­ing himself, and raised his arms. />
  Gina called on the gods. Flame lashed from her staff. The Navy Headquarters building whooshed flames from doors and windows. Bowan's voice was impassioned.

  "Oh gods of Darkness, grim and cold, Deliver us from Evil's hold.

  Destroy this ape, whate'er it be, And transfer all its power to me!"

  At the sound of the last line, Chester's head jerked around. "What-?"

  Green light formed a halo around Bowan. Green light reached toward the monster in a narrow spear of destruction. The monster snarled and waved a black-taloned fist. The bolt touched its face.

  And fire lashed back along its length, as if green light could burn like gasoline. The halo enclosing Bowan flashed from green to yellow-white. They heard the whuff of the fire catching, and then Bowan screaming curses from inside a tremendous candle flame.

  Bowan ran out of curses. He stepped out of the flame and looked upslope, to where the Garners had stopped to watch. "Chester?"

  There was pallid light around him now; even his robe seemed white, and his face whiter. Behind him the great flame stuttered and died away.

  "You've got to help me, Chester!" Bowan called.

  The boar-ape walked up onto the dock. Bowan flinched vio­lently, but it passed Bowan as if he did not exist.

  The Lore Master glanced from Bowan to the advancing beast. He screamed, "No time, Bowan. You're already dead! Look be­hind you!"

  Where flame had engulfed Bowan the Black, there stood a neat conical heap of ash with black bones protruding.

  Dark Star tried to run to the slain magician, but Chester caught her by the arm. "Can't afford to lose you too. Get up the incline, dammit!"

  The monster took one more step toward the fleeing Garners, then turned ponderously toward the blazing Quonset hut. It disap­peared behind the building.

  Chester's eyes widened as he watched a plume of firelit smoke sucking itself back into the building's doors and windows. The flames went black-black!-dwindled and were gone, leaving not so much as a soot stain on the corrugated metal.

  "Double damn," Chester whispered. "Now that's a trick." Then, "Oh!"

  He fished into his pocket and pulled out a teardrop-shaped crys­tal, clear as ice, with a blood-red spider frozen in the center. He pointed it at the monster. "Hear me, oh gods! I request a tracer, a mark by which to find this beast on the morrow!" His aura flick­ered with strain, but the talisman lit from within, the spider crawl­ing sluggishly to life. "Got you," he grinned at the monster, drop­ping the crystal back into his pocket. "And tomorrow..." He turned and ran, ignoring the dying sound of Bowan's voice, the milk-pale tindalo still standing with arms outstretched, screaming:

  "Damn you, Henderson! I'll get you for this! You wait, coward. .

  Alex sucked air as if he'd been underwater too long. The ache in his chest was only just beginning to subside. Next to him, Mary-em was bent double, coughing, her ruddy face even darker than usual. These last five minutes he had run while pulling Mary-em along by her sword harness.

  The monster had only given up the chase after the lot of them were totally exhausted. Henderson was on his side in the grass, wiping sweat from his face with a wet, dust-crusted sleeve. Gina lay sprawled beside him, her eyes closed, breath rasping in her throat.

  McWhirter was up and spreading his pack. The Gods knew where he found the energy. He'd been ahead of Alex all the way, even before Mary-em started to fall behind.

  S.J. balanced on his knees, dry-retching. He shook his head and looked at Dark Star venomously. Between coughing fits he was mumbling words that Griffin had to strain to hear: "I knew it. I knew I should have blown the whistle on those bastards. I knew it..."

  Professional reflexes triggered. Griffin rolled over and stood up, though his head spun. He walked over to S. J. Waters and hovered

  above him. Waters looked fearfully up into a big black shadow. Griffin dropped to his haunches beside the boy. He kept his voice low and matter-of-fact. "Tell me all about it, or we both talk to Henderson."

  "W-what do you mean?" S.J.'s expression made the protest pitiful.

  "If I can't get it out of you, maybe Henderson can. You were spying on Bowan and Dark Star. What did you see?"

  Waters seemed to weigh his options. Griffin gave him some time, then started to stand up.

  "Wait! Griffin, if Henderson finds out-"

  "He won't. Not if you tell it straight."

  "Sit down before someone notices!"

  Griffin sat.

  "All right. The first night of the game, everybody was hopping into the woods for some nookie. Hell, man, I just didn't have any­thing better to do."

  "So you played peeping tom. You followed them. Why them?"

  "Oh... Bowan's such a... I mean, the way he acts, you can't imagine the mighty sorcerer with his pants off. And Dark Star, why would anyone chase her? I just wondered about them. So I followed them.

  "The only thing was, they weren't interested in fooling around. They cut across the Gaming area to where the workmen were set­ting up props and testing the holograms, and they spied. I just spied on them. The workmen turned on the giant monkey and ran it through its paces. I saw Bowan and Dark Star go into a whisper on it, and then they both scampered back to the Daribi village. They've been waiting for that thing to show up ever since." S.J. laughed. "They must have thought it was just a poor man's King Kong."

  His face had finally lost some of its beet color. He hunched his shoulders. "Really, that was all there was to it." His eyes pleaded, and suddenly Griffin felt sorry for him. "Please don't tell Chester, huh? Honest to God, I wasn't trying to cheat. I was just lonely and thought I'd have a little fun. Please?"

  What S.J. had said seemed to fit the facts. And it helped. Griffin patted his shoulder comfortingly. "I won't say anything. You just stay out of other people's business, okay?" The Engineer nodded with all the sincerity he could muster. Griffin stood, walked a few paces away, and flopped.

  Acacia got unsteadily to her feet and walked over to join him. He held out his hand to her; it was clammy and cold with con­densing sweat. Her face was streaked with sweat and what looked suspiciously like tears. She hugged him, and said angrily: "God, Lopez made us pay for that."

  "For running?"

  She nodded. "Can you imagine what that rout is going to look like on tape? I wouldn't want to be Chester right now."

  Mary-em's face turned angry. "What was he supposed to do, Acacia? You saw what that hairy freak did to Bowan."

  Acacia sank to the ground and stared at her feet.

  They looked like the aftermath of a disaster. Alex was in good condition, but it had been no picnic for him. The damnable thing, the haunting, humiliating thing, was the way Lopez had toyed with them. The monster had remained just close enough to keep them running, and far enough back that they wouldn't turn and make a stand.

  Henderson was waving the group together with an unsteady hand. "Kasan!" he bellowed. He looked around for the guide. Kasan was having trouble getting up.

  "All right, Kasan. What was it?"

  The little guide kept one hand on his chest and swallowed air before trying to speak. "I have no clue, bwana. There are many such creatures known to us-"

  "Clues? I'll give you clues. That critter's fur was the color of fire where it wasn't wet." Henderson stopped to pant, then:

  "When Bowan tried to steal its power, it burned him crisp. And we saw it make a fire bum backward. Aren't those clues? Its power is fire. What kind of fire demon have you got for us?"

  "Ah. Now I believe that I know what that creature was. The legends of my people speak-"

  "Cut the bullshit, dammit." All heads swung around to face Dark Star, who was wiping the wet from her eyes with the side of a clenched fist. "I just want to know what killed Bowan."

  Henderson gave her a warning glance, and she bit her lower lip, furious.

  Even Maibang seemed a bit upset. "I was saying that we have a legend that might apply. The Haiavaha-"

  "Nobody gives a good goddamn wh
at its name is. What was it?" She was shaking now, her voice rising almost to a scream.

  Chester crossed to her in two strides and took her by the shoul­ders.

  "Now you listen to me, lady. You and Bowan wanted to have at Jumbo back there. In fact, you wanted it so damn bad that it re­ally makes me wonder. I didn't like it then, and I didn't like it when Bowan gave us his little prepared incantation. Frankly, I don't think he's good enough to come up with that off the cuff. Do you get my drift?" She tried to turn away from him, but his slen­der fingers bit into her shoulders without mercy. "Now you and I both know that I can't prove anything. But so help me, if you don't shut up and let the rest of us play this Game the way it's supposed to be played, I'll see to it that you join Bowan the Black."

  The other players seemed embarrassed for them both. Dark Star nodded her head silently, a single teardrop drooling down her puffy red cheeks. Maibang cleared his throat politely. "Um... I was saying that my people have a legend about this creature." Chester had finally released Dark Star, and had turned to face Maibang. "It is said that centuries ago, Man was forced to eat his meat raw, and lie helpless in the darkness of night. He was denied the secret of fire. Fire was the sole possession of the gods, who felt that such a gift was more than mere humans could safely con­trol."

  Chester had his mind back on the Game. "Was there no fire at all on Earth?"

  "Ah, that is where the Monster comes in. Fire could be found in but one Earthly place, the lair of the dread Haiavaha. Whether itself a minor god, or merely a watchdog for the gods, was not known. But when men shivered in the cold, the Haiavaha had warmth. And where men depended upon the coming of dawn to rescue them from the clutches of night, the Haiavaha had some­how gained possession of a small piece of the sun, and kept it burning in its cave.

  "Many men died trying to steal the secret. Then one night a dog was beaten and chased away from the camp for stealing a haunch of pig and insulting the cooking-woman. Its master shouted that it could not return unless it could redeem itself. The dog found the cave of the Haiavaha, and, seeing that the creature was asleep, snuck in and stole a burning branch. The monster woke and came after the dog. It ran for its life, the fire burning its mouth horribly.