Robert Charrette - Arthur 01 - A Prince Among Men

by Robert N. Charrette

  Bear looked at Trashcan disdainfully. "Where do you think you're going to go?"

  "Anywhere, long as it ain't here. They know we're here."

  "Running blind won't help," Kun said.

  "I don't like the idea of running away," Bear said.

  "You don't have to," Trashcan Harry told him. "It's Jack they want."

  "Reddy said they wanted the sleeper," Kun said.

  "They shot at all of us. They'll kill us all if we stay here," Trashcan said.

  "They didn't do so well this time," Bear said.

  "They killed Carla." John was surprised that his voice was so calm.

  "And Gillie," Trashcan added. "And Shanta. And Tara, she was with Gillie. They nearly killed Hector."

  Tara wasn't even a member of the Dons.

  "We know about them now." Bear sounded determined. His face took on the expression John was used to seeing when he was putting together a plan. "We'll just have to be ready for them next time."

  "You can't fight a corporation like Mitsutomo without help," Kun said.

  "I know." Bear nodded heavily, as though he'd reached an unpalatable conclusion. His expression soured. "I had hoped that the world had changed enough to do without it."

  John thought he knew what Bear was talking about, but he had to ask. "Without what?"

  "Caliburn. I could use it, if I could get my hands on it."

  Kun looked surprised and puzzled, but Trashcan Harry just looked nervous. John felt a little sick to his stomach; Bennett had said Bear would go after the sword. What if Bennett was right about other things as well?

  "What's a caliburn?" Kun asked.

  "Something that used to belong to me," Bear said. "Something powerful."

  "It'll have to be very powerful to help you stand up to Mitsutomo," Kun said.

  "It's powerful, all right. And if it's not strong enough, I'll go down fighting." Bear shrugged. "It won't be the first time."

  "I'll bet you don't even know where it is," Trashcan Harry said.

  The sort of probe Bennett would want.

  Bear nodded. "Of course I do. It lay by my side for a thousand years."

  "Was it one of the swords at the museum?" John asked. If it was, Mitsutomo already controlled it. Did they know they had it?

  "No."

  "Then it's still in England." Going to England would get them away from here, and Mitsutomo didn't have as much influence there as they did here in the States. They might be safe there. Maybe having Bear go after the sword wouldn't be so bad after all.

  "No."

  "Then where?"

  Bear gave each of them an evaluating look, as if he wasn't sure he could trust them. John felt hurt, then a little guilty. I ladn't he been keeping things from Bear? Didn't Bear have a right to his own secrets?

  "It's hard to explain," Bear said. "I may not be able to get to it, but I think I've got to try."

  May not? Try? Very tentative words, despite Bear's confident tone. John was confused. So what else was new?

  "I'd like to offer my help," Kun said.

  •"Why?" Bear asked.

  John wondered the same thing himself. Was this Kun another of Bennett's agents? If he wasn't, who was he? Should John tell Bennett about this guy, or could he rely on Trashcan Harry to take care of that?

  "We're on the same side, sir." Kim sounded sincere. "I work with other people who have backgrounds similar to yours, people who would be very pleased to have you by their sides. We understand your special circumstances."

  "You seem to know a lot more about me than I do about you."

  "If you will come with me and talk to my associates, that will change. You can do much better than this for yourself."

  "I like it here," Bear said. That seemed to surprise Kun. "Besides, I've got people here to take care of."

  Kun recovered quickly. "Considering what happened tonight, I think you might want to consider what will happen to the people around here if you remain visible, a magnet for further violence."

  "Maybe we should listen to him, Bear," John said.

  "I can offer you a place to lie low for a while," Kun said.

  Bear looked unhappy. "Sounds like running away."

  Which, John thought, was a good idea. He tried to put it in a way Bear would accept. "Consider it a strategic withdrawal, a chance to rally for another battle." At the very least it would buy them some time. John had a lot to sort out.

  Bear nodded slowly. "I do need some time to think."

  Turning to Kun, he asked, "Where did you say your associates were?"

  CHAPTER

  I5

  I he place Holger took them to looked like an ordinary town-house in an ordinary development, but that was the way it was supposed to be. Safe houses were not supposed to look out of the ordinary.

  The neighborhood was one of those oases of suburbia contained within the desert of the Northeast sprawl, an island of fin-de-siecle living sitting in the waters of concrete blight. I lore rising stars of the corporate world lived side by side with solid middle managers and long-term government employees. Children played in streets made safe by regular patrols of community-approved rent-a-cops. Homeowners tended lawns and gardens. Pet owners exercised their animals. Joggers jogged, runners ran, and walkers walked. A pleasant neighborhood, safe and quiet, a perfect place to hide the unusual.

  Headquarters had chosen well.

  The safe house was better protected than most of the neighboring townhouses, with security and alarm systems an order of magnitude more effective, but true safety relied on anonymity. So he decided to unload his vehicle within the walls of the garage, unlocking the passenger doors only after the door had rolled down to shield them from the outside world.

  Holger watched them as they stretched muscles cramped after the confinement of the GM Runner™. Just looking at them made him wonder if headquarters wasn't right to treat this whole operation like a bastard stepchild.

  What a crew.

  Harry Black, the man whose trail had enabled Holger to find the sleeper, was a smelly old guy who looked as if he'd lost a few too many bar fights. Reddy called him Trashcan Harry, a good name since the old guy smelled like one and had manners to match. Holger doubted the cleaning crew would ever get the smell out of the upholstery. Holger would have rather left Mm behind, but the kid seemed to assume that Black was part of the deal There hadn't been a lot of time to argue, so Holger hadn't argued, planning on cutting Black out here; the prole had too many unanswered questions hanging around him to be trusted.

  The guy who was supposed to be the sleeper was a hulking brute of a fellow who fit the name Bear. The man's eyes were always moving, watching Holger suspiciously while simultaneously scoping out his surroundings. He had wary eyes, a warrior's eyes. It was the only thing about Mm that made him credible. Still, Holger found it hard to believe that this leather-wearing gang boss could be King Arthur.

  Then there was Reddy, a gangly college kid who looked out of place in his gang colors the way an English tea iady would at a gathering of an Angolan insurgent cell. But Holger knew there was more to him than that; he had read the psychological "reports, including the ones someone at Mitsutomo who didn't know enough about computer files had wanted to suppress. Still, Reddy didn't look to be the sort prone to violent outbursts, and in that he was a lot like Holger. The kid might have potential, but just now he was playing out of Ms depth.

  Holger led them inside, taking them upstairs to the kitchen and offering them refreshment. He'd noticed Spae wasn't in the living room; she'd be upstairs, either busy with her re-searches or on the line berating headquarters again. He surreptitiously tapped her intercom call button while he was pouring Bear a beer.

  "Nice place," Black said, slurping his own beer. "Who pays the rent?"

  "Would you believe me if I said the UN?"

  Bear turned to Reddy, who whispered "United Nations" to him while Black said, "I don't believe it."

  "How about the European Community?" Holger asked, sk
ipping his usual abbreviation for Bear's benefit. "The Secret Service, to be exact."

  "I Smew you was a spook," Black said.

  "European Secret Service?" Reddy said in a puzzled tone. "What are you doing in the States?"

  "And what do we want with you? That was your next question, wasn't it? You can relax, Reddy. As far as I know, you and Black are only coincidentally involved in this. We're really interested in Bear here, because he's what you heard the Mitsutomo people call a sleeper." Bear glared suspiciously at Holger, a look Holger found politic to ignore. Procedure required that an alleged sleeper be treated deferentially at all times. "Bear appears to have something to do with a rather famous sleeper. He may even be the man himself. Either way, we're very interested in him."

  "What sort of interest, Mr. Kun?" Bear's growling voice made it clear that he didn't like unspecified interest in himself.

  Holger put on his best "we're-all-in-this-together" face. Spae was the one who should be handling this part; she was the one who liked talking about it. But an agent had to do what he had to do. If Bear was Arthur, he had to be kept

  friendly.

  "You've all had firsthand experience with the way the world's been changing of late. You know these aren't ordinary changes. Phenomena that have no rational explanation are occurring, and things which appear supernatural are being encountered. It is most distressing. We believe that, somehow, the awakening of sleepers is connected to these ... anomalies."

  "It is not my doing," said Bear.

  "No, sir, not directly." At least, not intentionally. If it were ... "Have you heard the phrase 'once and future king'?"

  "White's nonsense?"

  "Then you've read some of the legends?"

  "I think the phrase is 'don't believe everything you read.'"

  A cautious and inconclusive answer. Best to continue friendly. "And yet it seems that there is a kernel of truth at the heart of the legends. Many of the myths about King Arthur say that he isn't dead, but only sleeping; lying adream until such time as Ms people need him again. There are many other legends about other men, other heroes, which say that they, too, lie sleeping until there is dire need for them. Such legends may be found all over the world. Like you, some of those other heroes are awake now, displaced like you from their own times."

  Bear looked thoughtful, Reddy stunned; but Black, curiously enough, didn't look as though Holger's words were news. That would bear investigating.

  "Who are these others?" Bear asked.

  "In time, you'll meet them." One way or another. "But for the moment there are some important questions to wMch we need answers. Can you tell me who called you forth and, more important, why?"

  "She called herself Nym," Reddy volunteered.

  "She was the woman the Mitsutomo people showed you the picture of?" Reddy nodded. Holger didn't like the implications of that. If the corporates knew more about this woman than the Department did... "Bear, what did she tell you?"

  "I didn't get a chance to speak to her."

  "So you don't know anything about her, or her reasons for waking you?"

  Bear hesitated for a moment, then said firmly, "No."

  The hesitation made Bear's assertion play like honest truth; a plant trying to mislead them wouldn't have wanted them to suspect that he was concealing knowledge. Perhaps Hear was a real sleeper; ignorance of the reason for their awakening was characteristic among the sleepers. Some thought they knew, but their reasoning rarely held water in the here and now; old enemies and older ways of thinking had no relevance in the modern world. Bear might be one of those deluded ones or he might be one who knew more than he thought he knew; that kind took a lot of careful questioning before anything useful came out.

  "What do you know about her?" Bear asked.

  "Not knowing her identity for sure, I can't say. If you'd be willing to try to identify her from some pictures, I might be able to tell you something." Both Bear and Reddy nodded in agreement. Cooperative. Good. Best not to lead them to expect too much; bait-and-switch might satisfy the kid, but it would lose the warrior. Policy said tell sleepers nothing till the experts were there, but Holger knew he needed to win this one's confidence. "But even then, I probably won't be able to tell you much. We are still in the dark as to how sleepers are woken, but we know it's happening. Most of the legends connected with these sleepers say that they will wake to face some great danger. Although my superiors do not agree on the nature of the danger, it is clear from the I acts of the awakenings we know about that there is a widespread danger. If the legends are true."

  Bear stared at him. "Do you have any idea what this danger is?"

  "Yes, I do," was all Holger was willing to say, especially nice he could hear Spae coming down the stairs. She might not be a policy slave, but she was the local "expert" and she didn't like people stepping on her prerogatives. As she came into the kitchen, he said, "Gentlemen, this is Dr. Spae, my associate. Dr. Spae is a specialist, which is a euphemism in my department for someone who deals in anomalies."

  Spae ran her gaze over Holger's acquisitions. Her expression made it clear that she didn't like what she saw.

  "So where's Arthur?"

  Bear snorted. "I don't think this is going to work out, Kun."

  "Give her a chance. You don't exactly match your PR." To Spae, he said, "Be nice, Doctor. I've told this gentleman that you can help him get to something he has mislaid."

  "What's pea are?" Bear asked.

  It was Spae's turn to snort. Bear didn't take it kindly. "I did not come here to be the object of your derision, woman."

  To Holger's surprise, Spae didn't bristle. Instead she dropped into scientist mode. "By which reaction I assume you are supposed to be the sleeper."

  "That's what they tell me," Bear said in & surprisingly tolerant tone.

  "You don't remember much about it?"

  "I have a very good memory."

  "Good. Can you tell me about the transition?"

  "Yes. But why should I?"

  "Hostility is understandable. Culture shock. But we're all your friends here, and we want to help you." Spae's reassurances sounded automatic to Holger, and from Bear's expression he wasn't impressed either. "But in order to help you, I need to know some tilings. For example, have you been vaccinated for anthrax?"

  "Explain what you're talking about, and maybe I can answer your question; though why I should be bothered escapes me."

  "Where did you go to school?"

  "To what?"

  "Who trained you?"

  With a slight smile, he said, "The books say Merlin the Magician."

  "You can read?"

  "These days."

  "Good," Spae murmured to herself. "Very good. Given the time since transition, the mix of language acclimatization and ignorance is credible. But the Mitsutomo people could know enough to fake that. A few tests should clear it up." "I did not come here to take tests," Bear said, obviously having heard Spae as clearly as Holger had.

  "Yes, yes. We've established the attitude." She dismissed the concept with a wave of her hand. "Anybody could guess that as a likely attribute. What's your name?"

  "They call me Bear."

  "No, not your street name. What did they call you when you last walked the earth?"

  "Same thing, different language." Annoyance had crept back into Bear's voice.

  "What language?"

  "1 don't know what you call it."

  "What name, then?"

  "Artos."

  "Artos."

  Spae was quiet for a moment.

  "It correlates with the time frame of the artifacts. A good detail." Something uncertain crept into her manner. "Could you actually be him?"

  Bear said nothing.

  Faced with his silence, Spae seemed taken aback, even a little awed. Quietly she asked, "Did you know Meliadus? Who were your comitesT

  "What does it matter?" Bear frowned. "I'm me, not the man you think you know about. This King Arthur legend you all are so wild ab
out is nonsense."

  "Not completely, or you wouldn't be here," Holger pointed out.

  "I'm not involved in whatever this is," Bear said.

  "The choice has been made for you," Holger told him.

  Bear gave him a long look. "You remind me of someone I used to know." His tone didn't suggest a flattering memory.

  Holger smiled at him.

  Spae said, "I still need to do some tests."

  "Tests can wait, Doctor," Holger told her.

  "A very long time, Doctor," Bear said. "Mr. Kun promised me help. I don't consider making me submit to your tests to be help."

  Eyeing Holger distrustfully, Spae asked, "What sort of help?"

  "A matter of finding something called Caliburn," Holger said.

  "Oh, my G—" She blinked rapidly several times. "Caliburn is real?"

  "As real as I am, Doctor." Bear seemed to be enjoying Spae's shocked reaction. "Mr. Kun told me that you'd be able to help me recover it."

  "I— Why—I—"

  "Articulate, ain't she?" Black said.

  "Shall I inform headquarters that we will be—"

  She cut Holger off by grabbing his arm.

  "You do and I'll shrivel your balls." To herself she said,. "Cut me off, will they? Backwater, eh?" She smiled broadly at Bear. "There are some things I'll need to know in order to help you."

  "I'll just bet," he said.

  Jut they talked long into the night.

  CHAPTER 16

  With Kun and Spae paying almost all their attention to Bear, there wasn't a lot for John and Trashcan Harry to do. The townhouse was well supplied with a library of vidbooks and games, but Trashcan wasn't very interested in games and when John finally convinced him to play, he was a poor opponent. After the second match John gave up, and Harry occupied the television with some of the more violent selections among the movies, leaving John to himself. John tried reading, but nothing seemed to hold his interest. Maybe it was the company, maybe it was just being inside the town-house for two solid days and Holger's regular pronouncement that it was best if they not go outside.

  John got very bored.

  But fugitives hiding out at safe houses need food, and the place apparently hadn't been stocked with people of Bear and Harry's appetites in mind. The stocks of fresh stuff started to run low. John suggested that he make a food run. To his surprise, Kun consented. The EC agent even suggested that Trashcan Harry go along. John was in such a rush to get outside that he almost left without the debit card that Kun offered him to pay for the groceries.