Robert Charrette - Arthur 01 - A Prince Among Men

by Robert N. Charrette

  Hector disengaged himself from Carla and bounced up the steps. Spinning, he kicked out and knocked John's feet from the railing. John nearly followed them, but not quite. He'd anticipated Hector's move and had taken a restraining grip on the railing. Hector grinned at John while he swung his feet back up onto the railing. Once John was settled, Hector's face went all solemn.

  "Watch them rays, okay, Compadre Jack? They make you pale boys look like the main course at Red Lobster house. Don't you be thinking you can go cancerboy on us and darken up to a real color."

  Life with the Dons wasn't the same as living on the street alone, nor was it like having a corporate family, but it was a way of getting by. If getting by was all you wanted. Three months hadn't reconciled John to thinking of Hector as any kind of family, even if he was friendlier than many of the gangers. Nor had those months gotten him used to the physical liberties Hector took. But those months had taught him how to play the game.

  "Making like a lizard, Compadre. Rays is warm." He stretched out a hand and inspected it ostentatiously. "Girls like me well enough pale like this."

  Carla giggled.

  Hector looked at her sideways. "Girls get strange sometimes. Who can figure?"

  Carla tilted her head down and gave Hector a wicked grin. "I thought you liked strange."

  "Time and place, babe." He grinned. "Time and place."

  They welded themselves back together. When they came up for air, Hector turned to John.

  "Say and hey, where's the warlord?"

  "Why? Trouble brewing?"

  Hector shrugged. "Who can say? Nothing the Dons can't handle, hey? Don't got all day to look." He squeezed Carla and she squeaked. "So, where's he be?"

  MaxMix Manor had once been a beautiful private home with a big bay window that punched out the front of the building on the first two floors. John pointed with his head toward the second story, where an open window leaked something that sounded like a documentary on helicopters.

  "Bear's facing again," he said, using the slang the loose way most of the folks around here did. The warlord wasn't actually in direct machine interface, just using the vid set. He didn't even have a virtual receptor headset, but any interaction with tech was "facing" around here.

  "Don't seem right, ya know?"

  No, John didn't know. Artos was doing what he'd been doing since he woke up, learning. Learning about anything and everything about the strange world he found himself in.

  There was nothing wrong with that, but around here, learning anything not directly related to survival was considered a waste of time. That's what didn't seem right to John. Life in the Northeast sprawl, and the people here, were very different from what he knew. He didn't feel at home at all; too much was different, and it made him unhappy.

  Hector looked up at the window, uncertainty on his face. "You been hanging with him longer than me, Compadre Jack. He gonna get squeaky if this ain't important?"

  "Depends on how stupid your news is."

  "I dunno. Maybe I should come back."

  "He'll squeak for sure if it's important and you don't tell him. Only one way to find out."

  Hector looked dubious. Apparently, intruding on the warlord was a very serious business.

  "No balls, no fun," John taunted. Hector's interruption of his lazing, then the hesitancy to follow through, made John testy. "He does have cojones, doesn't he, Carla?"

  "More than you, bianco," Hector bristled before his woman could answer. "Maybe I'll cut yours off and add them to my collection."

  "And maybe I'll eat yours for lunch."

  "Anytime, bianco."

  "That's what Chico said."

  "This ain't no dark alley and you ain't got no allies."

  "You said 'anytime.' But it ain't gonna be now, 'cause I ain't starting a cut and slash under the warlord's nose. I can wait. I've waited before."

  It was low and a little stupid, but that was the way John felt most of the time around these people. Low, and a little stupid. If he didn't come to grips with it, it'd get him in real trouble. To judge by Hector's scowl, he might be in real trouble already. And Hector was one of the friendlier gangers. Making sexual slurs in front of the guy's squeeze might not have been the brightest idea, but it was beat by bringing up that business with Chico. More than a little stupid. But the code said you never backed down unless you wanted to get torn down.

  The only way out was sliding around the problem. Later would be, well, later.

  "You want to see Bear or not?"

  "Yes," Carla answered quickly.

  Hector accepted the out. With an elaborate shrug he reset-lied his jacket and dropped the tension out of his shoulders.

  "Compadre Bear's the man we came to see."

  "Let's go, then." John led them upstairs to Bear's room, rapping twice on the door before opening it. The warlord of l he Downtown Dons spun his rickety old office chair around and stood. The Don of Dons wasn't a tall man, but his breadth of shoulders was impressive. He looked a lot more commanding in black leathers and studs than he had in a ratty velvet robe.

  "Hector, my man," said Artos, whom the Dons knew as Compadre Bear, their warlord.

  Compadre Bear was a different man from "Ar-tos, not Ar-tur." A lot had changed since John and Artos had abandoned Trashcan Harry's apartment and hit the streets, and Artos had come a long way from the confused and confusing refugee who'd followed John's lead since that night of magic at the museum. Together with Trashcan Harry they'd gone I rom homeless wanderers to members of this urban gang. Artos had even made himself leader of the gang. He was a quick learner; his command of street idiom was only one proof of that.

  Uncharacteristically hesitant, Hector started, "I don't wanna bother..."

  "No bother, Compadre. Always time for a warrior." I lector grinned at the implied compliment. He even flashed his teeth at John, as if to cement his worth and superiority over John. John had yet to fight in one of the gang's wars. Ilear ignored the byplay. "Jack, get the lady a seat."

  While John did as he was told, Hector, obviously impressed by his reception, just babbled out his thoughts. "You're not like Compadre Ferd."

  "Ferddy was a booter," Bear said admiringly as he rubbed at his rib cage where the previous warlord had cracked it in their first encounter. The demonstration of scars was good etiquette here. It served as a form of history, a way of remembering what had happened to you. It also served to show you belonged, a way of demonstrating you had earned your place. John's scars weren't so demonstrable.

  "Yeah, a real booter," John agreed. "All fist, no brain."

  "But Ferddy's gone," Bear said firmly. "I do things differently." Hector nodded and Carla looked expectant, almost hopeful. "Why have you come to see me?"

  Carla and Hector exchanged glances. She nodded almost imperceptibly. He spoke.

  "Trashcan Harry ain't come into Louie's last night."

  "He doesn't go every night," John pointed out.

  "He does when Ledo's singing," Hector informed him.

  Bear ran fingers through his beard, thinking for a moment before stating, "Ledo sent you."

  Carla nodded. "She got a soft spot for strays. Thinks the old dode's sweet, not that she'd want him to know. God help her, the dode trails after her too much already. But she's, you know, worried that, like, something might have happened to him. We're just doing a favor for her, you know."

  "Compassion for others is nothing to be ashamed about." Bear didn't specify anyone's compassion in particular, but John took it as a condemnation of his attitude. Bear wasn't looking at him, though. "Anyone seen him around today?"

  Trashcan Harry rarely passed up a meal, and John realized the old custodian had done so today. "He wasn't in the kitchen this morning."

  He was surprised to find himself worried about the guy. Strange as it was—strange as Trashcan Harry was—Harry was John's only link to the life he used to lead. Well, not only. Faye was still around. Occasionally. Very occasionally.

  His memories swept
him back to the night his old life had died. He remembered the terror and the confusion, the wonder of what he had seen. Trashcan Harry had shown up and offered a way out, and John had grabbed it, running away from what he couldn't deal with. At the time, the custodian had seemed a godsend, someone who knew what to do, which John had found comforting. The next morning, John had learned that he was supposed to be dead; Trashcan Harry had shown him the net story.

  In shock, he'd listened to Trashcan's plan, listened and agreed. Trashcan Harry had told him that there were people out there who knew that John was involved in what had happened at the museum, and who knew that he was not dead. They had to avoid those people. John had listened. That was how he'd found himself at the train station, telling himself over and over that the old guy had experience and that he was older than John, that he had some idea of what was going on. The only part of Trashcan Harry's plan John had balked at was the suggestion that they leave Artos behind. John insisted; it had been obvious that the guy needed someone to look after him. More than obvious when it came time to get Artos on the train. Artos had been pretty passive until he saw the train pull into the station, but one look at the train had set him to backing up and quivering. Only continual assurances from John that it was safe had persuaded him to board. Artos had been nearly catatonic the whole way to Boston, but it had been easier to get him onto the next train and, by the end of that ride, Artos had been almost back to his nervous, paranoid self.

  It wasn't until they had been holed up in Trashcan Harry's Providence apartment for a couple of days that John realized the old guy was as clueless as Artos about what to do next. But before John's trust was totally undermined, the phone rang. The call had immediately put Trashcan Harry on edge, He'd insisted that they bail out of the apartment. They'd hit the streets, directionless. With winter coming on, it had been ... unpleasant, with even worse prospects. Then they had their run-in with the Downtown Dons and life had changed again. If it hadn't been for Artos ...

  They'd joined the gang, and now even John could see that the gang was better off. Artos had restructured the Dons, bringing his brand of law and justice. Even the gang's neighborhood had prospered; though most of its inhabitants still lived in the twilight world of shadows cast by the corporate

  mainstream and neglectful governmental monoliths, they were better off than they had been. But while living in MaxMix Manor wasn't like living in a rezcom, life in the Manor wasn't as bad as it used to be. If it hadn't been for Artos...

  Yeah, if it hadn't been for Artos.

  Was his mother still living in their apartment in Rezcom

  3?

  "Jack?"

  Bear's voice. Time had passed; Hector and Carla were gone. The warlord's interruption wasn't exactly welcome.

  "What?"

  "You're thinking about going back again."

  It wasn't a question. It also wasn't a wrong guess. When John had followed Trashcan Harry into the night, he hadn't realized that all of his previous life was being left behind. If he had, he might not have followed Trashcan.

  "Is it that obvious?"

  "To some." John felt Bear's eyes on him, but the man didn't say anything else until John looked up and met his gaze. "You can't, you know."

  "With ail the weirdness that's been coming down in the world, who says the dead can't rise?"

  "You're not dead."

  "My mom doesn't know that. I shouldn't have let her believe that."

  "What's done is done. You thought it wise at the time."

  "So I was stupid, all right?"

  "Perhaps not. It may not yet be safe to let her know you live."

  "What do you mean?" John felt suddenly anxious. What had he missed?

  "Don't worry unduly. I only meant to suggest caution. Trashcan Harry's disappearance may mean nothing; or it may mean that someone who was seeking him, or us, has found him. We should be cautious for a while."

  "I'm tired of looking over my shoulder."

  "Even were you to go back, it wouldn't stop. Willingly or not, you've been involved in significant events. Events, or their creators, will involve you again. Willingly or not."

  "You making some kind of occult prediction?"

  "You know I don't do that. I'm just speaking from past experience."

  "How far past?"

  "You're deliberately being difficult. I'm just trying to point out something that will improve your chances of making something of what has been handed to you. Your old life is gone and you can't have it back. You have to deal with what you do have, with the here and now. Failing to learn from what is happening around you is asking to be handed your head. The serpent lies in wait for the unwary."

  "Dump the aphorisms. This isn't one of your lectures to the Dons."

  "You make it sound like aphorisms are worthless and boring. That's a cheap shot. There is accumulated wisdom in such sayings. Hard-earned wisdom. To dismiss something just because it's old is to throw away wisdom. The Dons are learning that. They've learned a lot since we've been here."

  "And we haven't?"

  Bear laughed. "Yes, we've learned, too. But I think they've come further. We're just learning the outside of the way they live here. Haven't you been watching them? They're changing inside and learning how wrong they were to follow a serpent-lover like Ferd. They're beginning to see l he inherent weakness of the rule of simple might. They're learning important things. You're helping me teach them."

  "You don't need me."

  "No, I don't."

  Blunt, but not very reassuring. John was surprised to fee! I hat he wanted Bear to say that he did need John. Hadn't this guy's entry into his life trashed his life? "You want to teach a lesson so much? What are you wasting your time here for? I he whole world needs the lesson you say you're trying to teach these people."

  Bear sighed tiredly. "Some things never change."

  "So what if you get what you want here? What difference will one educated gang make to the world?"

  "As much difference as anyone can make. Haven't I made a difference with these folks?"

  "Yeah, I guess so."

  "I'm just one man."

  "So?"

  "So. One man can make a difference."

  John didn't want to hear it. He folded his arms. "One man can shoot you dead."

  "And one man can save you. Under the right circumstances." Bear gave John a chance to respond, but when it was clear that he wouldn't, the warlord went on. "When I said that I didn't need you, I was telling the truth. But it was a simple, incomplete truth. Other people could have taught me what you have. Other people could continue the job; the Good Lord knows I still need teaching about this concrete and plastic world of yours. There's so much about the way people live here that is familiar to me, but there is even more that is totally strange. I've never liked strangeness much, Jack. You've helped me with the strangeness more than anyone, and I am grateful. I want to do something for you."

  "There's nothing you can do for me." That you haven't already done to me, that is.

  "I could take you on as my comes."

  "Say what?"

  Bear's brow furrowed as he sought a way to explain himself. "The word that comes to my mind is 'man,' but that doesn't explain it right. Not with the way I've heard the word used recently. Companion of my house, maybe?"

  "You mean like a squire?" An unaccountable thrill electrified him. King Arthur's squire? Even if this guy wasn't Mal-lory's Arthur, he was still a legend maker. His squire! John reined in his enthusiasm, fought it back. This guy was a gang warlord, not a king. Who needed, even wanted, to be his squire?

  "Squire?" Bear was saying. "Don't know the word. What does it mean?"

  Without thinking, John answered, "A squire is sort of a student to a knight, learning how to be a knight himself, but it's more than that. They have a sort of deal where the squire does things for the knight, going where he goes and fighting whoever he fights. The knight is supposed to teach the squire how to fight and how to behave in polite so
ciety."

  Nodding, Bear ran his fingers through his beard.

  "The exchange of obligations sounds familiar, but I don't understand that polite-society part. Most of the warriors I knew had their own society. It was polite in its own way, though, I guess.

  "As for teaching you how to fight, you already seem to have a grasp of that, and much of what I know is very outdated. For what it's worth, I can teach you what I know.

  "Behavior, now. That's different. There are still ways of thinking, ways of dealing with people, that seem to have applications today. I've had some success in those areas. I'll teach you what I know of that, if you like.

  "And you talked about a squire fighting for his knight, but you didn't say anything about the other side of that coin. A lord must care for his men. That I will do for you by all means in my power. Being warlord of the Dons is a position of no small local authority. Further, I can offer you my own roof and give you of my wealth. These are all things I can do lor you."

  Some roof. As a member of the Dons, John was already assured of a place in MaxMix Manor. He looked around at the dingy walls and the battered furnishings. Some wealth. Bear watched him and smiled.

  "Things will get better," he said.

  "There are a lot of people around here who would as soon see me gone. I'm not useful to your position here among the Dons. Why are you making this offer?"

  Bear was quiet for a moment. "I don't always operate simply for advantage."

  "Don't you?"

  "Jack, you stood by me when you didn't have to. I came into your world almost like a child. Here in the sprawl, we've sort of grown up together. Certainly we've shared trouble together. I've started to put together something here, but there's a long way to go, and I need reliable people around me, people I can count on. You've been steadfast all along. Now that I have position, I want to reward that steadfastness. Becoming a comes used to be considered an honor."