by John Purcell
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Out in the hallway again, I experienced a moment of uncertainty. Should I let Queen Scarlett know I’d arrived? She’d given me until nightfall and that deadline had passed. Did it really make sense to tiptoe around, trying to sneak up on her?
The Oracle came to mind.
The city wall is scaled, but not won.
It’s time to attack.
I decided it would be better to barge right into her trap, ready for a fight. At the very least, it would save time.
I found the stairwell and pounded down the steps to the floor below, banging my ax against the metal handrail for good measure. Exiting to the 36th floor, I let the door bang shut behind me.
The layout was the same as the top floor, except that the ceilings weren’t as high. I took a left and stopped at the first door I came to, rattling the knob and calling Luma’s name. Receiving no answer, I continued down the hallway, repeating the same procedure at every door. Queen Scarlett would have to be deaf not to know I was coming.
I was beginning to think the floor was deserted when I heard Luma call to me. “Teo, is that you?”
Her voice was coming from just up the hallway.
I hurried toward the next doorway. “Luma, are you all right?”
“I’m not sure! I think she broke my arm! It really hurts!”
As I approached, I could see that the door was standing open. “Where’s Queen Scarlett?”
“I don’t know! She locked me up and left and then the lights went out! Get me out of here!”
I stopped outside the doorway. “Where did you hide Moto’s registration papers?”
“What?”
“The other night, at home. Where did you hide them?”
‘Teo, just help me!”
“Where did you hide them?”
No answer.
Queen Scarlett came through the doorway swinging her sword, a whirlwind of red, orange and yellow. Night vision goggles covered her eyes. She was reliving the Aspen Domes, as hoped.
Even though I was expecting her, I had to move quickly. I managed to duck under the blade, but I felt it graze my hair. An instant later, it came back the other way and I had to duck even lower. Then I had to duck a third time, which left me in a squat.
With nowhere left to go, I blocked the fourth swing with my ax. The blades clashed and mine sliced hers in two. The severed end went clattering across the floor.
This surprised us both, but she let it distract her. As she stared at the stump of her sword in disbelief, I pulled Luma’s flashlight from my pocket and switched it on.
She grabbed for her goggles, too late. The beam hit her square in the face, blinding her. I sprang to my feet and drove my fist into her stomach. She was wearing some sort of armor beneath her robes and didn’t feel the blow. I chose a more vulnerable spot, delivering an uppercut to her jaw, snapping her head back. She went over backwards and sprawled on the floor, unconscious.
Tossing the flashlight away, I straddled her chest, pinning her arms with my knees. I wrapped my hands around her neck, thumbs on her throat, and began to squeeze.
The flashlight beam lit the hallway well enough for me to see a dozen soldiers at the far end, armed with spears. They made no effort to stop me.
Images flashed through my mind: Bannion strangling his wife’s killer; Shane shooting the gunslingers dead; Luma’s face turning blue; the Ten Commandments painted on a bed sheet. Lewis’s words came back to me, too, and even Queen Scarlett’s: Oughtn’t you reach some conclusions before you start killing people? I still hadn’t reached any conclusions, but my time was up.
Queen Scarlett’s eyes flickered. I pressed my thumbs harder. She started making croaking sounds. The awareness seeped back into her eyes and turned to panic as she realized what was happening. She struggled frantically but she didn’t have the strength to break free.
Gradually, she stopped struggling. Her face was gray now, and her eyes were unfocused. I was watching her die.
I released my thumbs enough to let her gulp some air.
I couldn’t kill her. Instead of rage, I was experiencing a new emotion, one that wasn’t hard to identify: pity. And it was suddenly clear to me that I had no right to take her life, or anyone else’s.
I couldn’t kill her, but she didn’t know that.
Her eyes were back in focus now. I put pressure on her throat, cutting off her air again.
I said, “Swear it on your life! Swear it or you’ll die right here! Swear you’ll never harm Luma again!”
I let her take a breath.
She gasped out the words. “I swear…”
I cut off her air again. “You give me your word? No lies, no tricks?”
She nodded.
I released my thumbs. “Promise me!”
She gasped again. “I promise…”
I removed my hands from her throat. The moment I did this, her soldiers rushed me. They yanked me off and slammed me face first onto the floor, shackling my hands and feet.
For a long while, Queen Scarlett just lay in place, sucking in air. When her breathing returned to normal, she jumped to her feet. I thought she would come right at me, but she went at her soldiers first, locking eyes with each man in turn, making her displeasure exceedingly clear.
Then she turned her attention to me, squatting by my side. “That’s the second time you should have killed me, Teo. If you don’t have the gumption, just stay home, for God’s sake! Take up knitting or something.”
“Where is she?”
“Not so fast.” She turned to one of her soldiers. “Start the generators.”
He hurried away toward the stairwell.
Queen Scarlett unzipped my backpack and fished out the only item left inside: Moto’s remote. Then she rolled me onto my back, smiling slightly. “Remember our little game of Monkey in the Middle? It seems a long time ago, doesn’t it?”
I found this surprising. “Are we friends all of a sudden? I thought we were enemies.”
“Not enemies, Teo. Adversaries.”
“There’s a difference?”
“An enemy is someone you hate. An adversary? It’s the next best thing to a friend, really.”
“A friend you can kill.”
“It’s not like I’m opening you up for the fun of it, Teo. I just need your TEO’s. You understand that, don’t you?”
I nodded.
She sighed. “I know you know how to build them. Your put one in your iPup. Why don’t you just teach me? Perhaps then I wouldn’t have to open your skull.”
I shook my head.
“No? All right, but don’t say I didn’t offer.”
The emergency lights snapped on. Queen Scarlett slipped Moto’s remote into her robes and stood up, addressing her soldiers. “Take him to Lab 3. Strap him to the operating table.”
As a pair soldiers hoisted me from the floor, she reached down and picked up my ax. She ran her thumb along the blade, thinking aloud. “Hmm. I was going to fetch another sword, but I think this will do nicely.”
Moto must have raced up the stairwell, all 36 floors. She rounded the corner and charged the two soldiers holding me. The one gripping my ankles staggered backwards as Moto slammed his legs from behind, buckling his knees. She rebounded off the wall and drove her head into the other one's belly, doubling him over. They let me drop.
By then, Queen Scarlett had Moto's remote in hand. As Moto whirled to face her, she hit the power button. Moto looked my way as she curled up, her expression a mixture of surprise and sadness and guilt. Then she was asleep.
The two fallen soldiers climbed to their feet and hoisted me from the floor again. Queen Scarlett turned to a third, saying, “You! Bring the pooch!”
She headed straight for the elevator, striding past the stairwell. Most of the soldiers detoured down
the stairs, but the ones carrying me and Moto continued on behind her. When we reached the elevator, Queen Scarlett pushed the down button. As we waited for the elevator to make its way up from the subbasement, she hummed a little tune.
When the doors finally opened, Dogan came out swinging his bat. He had the element of surprise and landed a blow near Queen Scarlett’s ribs. She didn’t feel it.
He should have taken another quick swing, at her head this time. Instead, he brandished the bat, shouting, “Give Luma back or I'll—”
She kicked his feet out from under him, sending him crashing to the floor. He whacked the back of his skull and lay still, gazing up in bewilderment. She placed her foot on his chest and raised the ax, preparing to chop off his head.
Then she lowered it, frowning in thought, and gave him a swift kick in the temple. Turning to the soldier carrying Moto, she said, “Drop the mutt and chain him hand and foot.”
The soldier took her literally, tossing Moto carelessly to the floor and unhooking the shackles from his belt.
As all this was happening, I watched Bim exit the elevator, carrying the shock wand. He walked calmly down the hallway, disappearing around the corner. No one else noticed him.
The elevator doors started to close and Queen Scarlett stuck her foot in the way, bouncing the doors back.
She turned to the soldiers holding me. “Sometime this month would be nice!”
They carried me inside.
She addressed the third soldier, who’d finished shackling Dogan. “Bring them both.”
He threw Dogan over his shoulder and grabbed Moto by the hind leg, dragging her behind him into the elevator.
Queen Scarlett pushed the button for the 35th floor and the doors closed. A few seconds later, they opened again and we all got off. She had used the elevator to go down one flight.
She led us down the hallway and into Lab 3. The soldiers who’d taken the stairs were standing at attention in the outer room, spears at their sides. Queen Scarlett walked past them without a glance, passing through the inner doorway, into the laboratory itself.
The first thing I saw as they carried me in was a large steel cage, bolted to the rear wall. Luma jumped to her feet and rushed forward, grabbing the bars, crying, “Teo!”
Then the two soldiers turned me around and hoisted me onto the operating table and I couldn’t see her anymore.
As they strapped me down, I called out to her. “Luma, are you all right?”
Her voice had a rasp to it. “Yeah, except I have a headache and I’m dying of thirst!” She addressed Queen Scarlett. “Miss Veiny, would you please just let me have the VaporFlask? Please?”
Queen Scarlett was standing at the foot of the table, supervising her soldiers. She glanced at Luma indifferently. “I’m not your art teacher, dearie, and you can drink what’s in the bucket, like everyone else.”
“But it smells awful!”
“If you’re unhappy with your accommodations, rest assured you won’t be here long.”
The two soldiers finished strapping me down and Queen Scarlett dismissed them. As soon as they’d left, the third soldier stepped hesitantly into the lab, still carrying Dogan over his shoulder and dragging Moto. “Forgive me, your Majesty! Would you like them in here with you?”
“Throw the doggie on the desk and put the boy down over there.”
The soldier slung Moto onto the desktop and lowered Dogan to the floor. As he propped him up against the wall, Luma realized who it was, saying, “Oh no…”
Queen Scarlett turned to her. “Oh yes. Three down, one to go.” She leaned over me. “The village idiot’s here too, I dare say.”
I didn't reply.
“I’ll take that as a yes. Cassius sent you on quite the fool’s errand, didn’t he?”
“You mean Dogan’s father was never here.”
“I don’t know. Maybe he was, maybe he wasn’t. I don’t ask their names. But he isn’t here now.” She ran her thumb along the ax blade again. “I think Cassius made the whole thing up, don’t you?”
I agreed with her, but I didn’t care to show it.
She said, “Well, enough chitchat. To be honest, I find the conversation a bit one-sided.”
Dogan groaned and his eyes opened a little.
Queen Scarlett glanced at him over her shoulder. “Oh, good, he’s coming around. I want him to see this.” She looked past me, at Luma. “You, too, pumpkin. No arguments, please.” She returned her gaze to me. “The offer stands. Teach me how to make TEO’s and your head stays on for now.”
“Sorry.”
“Then at least shut yourself down. What’s the point of experiencing your own decapitation?”
I shook my head, forcing my eyes to stay on hers. Bim was tiptoeing through the open doorway, shock wand extended, the indicator light flashing red.
I spoke just to distract her. “You swear you won’t harm Luma.”
She rolled her eyes. “How many times do you want me to say it?”
Bim was moving silently toward her.
“I need to be sure.”
She sighed, placing her hand over her heart. “I swear she will live out her natural life in excellent health.”
Bim drew nearer.
I said, “Wait a minute. Are you saying you’re going to keep her here?”
She shrugged. “You never said a word about letting her go.”
Bim was almost within reach.
I held her gaze. “But keeping her here is harmful, in and of itself.”
Queen Scarlett smiled. “An interesting argument. I’ll take it under advisement.”
She spun around suddenly, confronting Bim. “Hello, stupid! I suppose you think you’re invisible.”
As he lunged at her, she smacked the shock wand out of his hand, sending it skittering across the floor. Then she lifted him by the throat with one arm. “Everything about you annoys me! You’re definitely next to go!”
She flung him backwards into the wall. He slammed against it and dropped to the floor, stunned.
If we had any hope left at all, it was Thomas, wherever he was.
The Oracle came to mind.
The assemblage first wept, then laughed.
The great armies finally clash.
This was of no use whatsoever.
Queen Scarlett stepped over to Bim and leaned down, slapping his cheeks forehand and backhand. As he propped himself on his elbows, she said, “Rise and shine, birdbrain! The show’s about to begin!”
She stepped back to the operating table. Gripping the ax with both hands, she took aim at my neck, saying, “I guess this is goodbye, then…”
At that moment, I could see in her expression the friendless little girl she once was.
A wave of stagnant water came from behind me, slapping Queen Scarlett in the face and soaking her robes. Luma had hurled the contents of her bucket through the bars of the cage, dousing Queen Scarlett from head to toe. Water streamed off of her, pooling at her feet. It began wending its way toward a drain set into the floor, close to where Bim was lying.
Queen Scarlett froze for a moment, then tipped her head back and laughed. She wiped the water from her eyes with her index finger and looked at Luma. “You silly little twit! Did you think I was made of sugar?”
When Luma didn’t answer, she went on. “I know, I know, everyone says Queen Scarlett can’t stand water. Honestly! I don’t know how that rumor got started!”
Luma burst into tears and began to plead with her. “Please, Miss Veiny! Please, please, please don’t kill Teo! You can’t! You just can’t!”
I knew how Luma sounded when she was really crying and how she sounded when she was faking. This was an odd mixture of both. And then I realized what she was up to.
Unfortunately, it all depended on quick thinking by Dogan.
The shock wand had come to rest at his feet. He was watching Luma, but I managed to catch his eye. The water
had reached the drain now, and I kept looking from the shock wand to Bim, from the shock wand to Bim, again and again. All I got in return was a blank look.
Luma held Queen Scarlett’s attention, launching into hysterics now. “You can’t kill Teo! You can’t! You can’t! I love him more than anything else in the whole world!”
Queen Scarlett contorted her face, mocking Luma. “Don’t kill him! Don’t kill him! I love him! I love him!”
Along with these words, I just blurted it out: “Dogan, kick the shock wand to Bim!”
When Dogan finally understood, his reflexes took over. Ankles chained, he swung both legs together and sent the shock wand spinning across the floor, straight into Bim’s hands.
Queen Scarlett might have reacted quickly enough, had she taken us seriously. Instead, she turned away from Luma, eyeing me peevishly. “Who told you to speak?”
As she said this, the meaning of my words sank in. She whipped her head around just as Bim dashed the shock wand into the pool of water. Jagged blue bolts shot out across the floor, striking her feet.
Queen Scarlett dropped to the ground, paralyzed, her face frozen in a look of astonishment. My ax was still locked in her grasp.
Bim jumped up and slammed the door to the outer room, throwing the bolt, locking out the soldiers. They immediately began pounding, trying to force their way in.
I addressed Bim urgently. “Queen Scarlett is wearing some sort of exoskeleton! You have to get her out of it before the shock wears off!”
I could tell by Queen Scarlett’s eyes that she understood my words. Fear flooded into them.
Bim hiked her robes up around her neck, revealing a blood-red bodysuit beneath. A heavy metal seam ran down the front, from collarbone to groin. Bim tried to get his fingers into it and pull it apart, but quickly gave up.
Luma figured it out first. “Teo, that thing in her box! Where did you put it?”
“It’s in the left front pocket of my pants.”
Bim stepped over Queen Scarlett and fished it out. As he held it up, examining it, I saw the shock in her eyes.
Bim started pushing buttons, watching the readout on its tiny screen. “I can’t unlock it. She has a password.”
I relayed this to Luma and Dogan. “We have to guess her password. Call out anything that comes to mind.”
Dogan yelled out, “Babe Ruth!”
Luma said, “Dogan, it has to be something she would think of.”
I said, “Try Aspen.”
Bim punched it in, without success.
Luma said, “How about Carla?”
A brilliant guess, but incorrect.
The soldiers were pounding the door with something heavy now.
I said, “Try Veiny!”
I didn’t expect it to work and it didn’t.
For a moment, no one spoke. Then Luma said, “I was only half awake, but she called her gryphon the stupidest name I’ve ever heard! What was it?”
Bim and I looked at each other, speaking at the same time. “Droogie!”
He punched it in, then shook his head, perplexed.
Luma said, “No, that wasn’t it! It was Schmoogie!”
There was a brief silence and then she and Dogan exploded into laughter. Luma managed to gasp out “Droogie and Schmoogie!” Dogan writhed around on the floor, chains jangling, laughing so hard he wasn’t making any sound at all.
They stopped laughing when the door buckled.
Queen Scarlett was watching Bim as he punched in “Schmoogie,” her eyes wild with terror.
The exoskeleton burst open with a blast of air, and an indescribable stench filled the lab. Bim turned his head as he pulled the seams apart. The naked body within was shriveled and frail.
The door buckled some more.
To our horror, blood began to seep from every surface of Queen Scarlett’s body, through the pores in her skin. Then it started gushing from her mouth and nose. Unable to sit up, she began to drown in it.
The door came off its hinges, slamming down flat on the floor, and soldiers rushed into the laboratory. They stopped short when they saw Queen Scarlett.
She was beyond all help, dissolving in a river of blood, eyes unfocussed. The blood overflowed the confines of her bodysuit and streamed across the laboratory floor, pooling around the drain. Bones were appearing now and even these were turning to yellow foam.
Bim appeared at my side. I said, “What’s happening to her?”
“Her exoskeleton was pressurized. It’s supposed to decompress before she takes it off.”
“For how long?”
“That depends on how long she’s been wearing it. Hours. Maybe days.”
“And we just blew it open.”
“Yes.”
The cascade of blood slowed and gradually stopped. Whatever hadn’t pooled in her bodysuit completed its journey down the drain with a final gurgle. All that was left of her was a mush of organs and muscle tissue and liquefied bone. Her skull had caved in on itself and her jagged gold crown now rested on a mound of blood-soaked hair, its metal dyed red.
I looked at the soldiers. Most of them were throwing down their spears and shedding their armor, preparing to desert. Only one soldier seemed to be reacting in anger, but he was the most imposing by far, and the markings on his uniform suggested he was their commander. He stood almost 7 feet tall. Matching scars ran down his cheeks.
He had stepped in front of the doorway, spreading his arms and blocking it, and now he was glaring at the other soldiers. One by one, they became aware of this and stopped what they were doing. Silence fell over the room.
The Commander stepped forward and began to speak, his voice hushed.
“What do you think you’re doing?” He paused, looking from man to man. “What do you think you’re doing? Is it wise to leave these children where they are?”
I thought he was going to make the case for executing us.
He raised his voice. “Is it wise to toss aside your arms and flee? What will you do next? Run up and down the hallways, telling everyone what’s just happened?” He pointed to his head and shouted, “Think! For God’s sake, just for once, think!”
He paused again. When he resumed, his voice was back under control. “Now. Somebody has to take care of these children. Who here is man enough to do it?”
Even the soldiers seemed unsure of his meaning. Finally, one of them timidly raised his hand.
The Commander reached for his belt. “Step forward!”
He unhooked a large metal ring and flipped through the keys on it, until he found the right one. He held it up to the soldier, tipping his head at Luma’s cage. “Ladies first.”
The soldier crossed the room, disappearing behind me. I heard the lock turn and the door swing open. Luma said, “Thank you! Thank you very much!”
The Commander addressed the soldier again, nodding at me. “The green key with the notches opens the shackles.”
The soldier freed my hands and feet and Luma began unbuckling my straps. The soldier removed Dogan’s shackles, as well, and returned the key ring to the Commander. Dogan climbed to his feet.
Everyone stood in silence, waiting. The Oracle came to mind again.
A gathering at a ritual in the field.
No grudges.
The Commander began to speak again, the anger gone from his voice now.
“We’re all thankful Queen Scarlett is dead, but this isn’t the time to start acting on impulse. You are going to put your armor back on and pick up your spears and march out of here as if nothing has happened, do you understand me? Go about your business, walk your patrols, do whatever you would normally do. Is that clear?”
The soldiers all nodded.
“I will dispose of what’s left of her and lock down this laboratory. The longer we can keep her death a secret, the more we can accomplish before the GR replaces her. Even a few days would be a godsend. I’ll get a boat out to the L
incoln. I’ve got people I can trust.”
He pressed his fingertips together, raising them to his chin. “But most of all, I’m placing my trust in you. You mustn’t say a single word about this to anyone, under any circumstances. There are GR spies all over this building and they will ruin everything if we give them the chance.” He paused once more. “I know you won’t let me down.” He raised his hand in salute. “Dismissed!”
As the soldiers retrieved their spears and armor, the Commander came toward us. I hopped down from the table. We all waited for him in a line, like his soldiers.
He stopped at the foot of the operating table and looked us over. Then he smiled for the first time. “I have to admit, I never dreamed children would put an end to her.”
Luma rushed to explain herself. “Wait, wait, you don’t understand! We weren’t trying to kill her! We really just came here to find Dogan’s father and then she kidnapped me and everyone came to rescue me and it just kind of…happened.”
He shook his head, still smiling. “Of course you didn’t mean to. Had you wanted to kill her, you never would have succeeded. Now, is there anything we can do for you in return?”
Luma said, “I’m really thirsty…”
He nodded. “We can certainly do something about that.”
I said, “We need to get back to Washington, DC, as soon as possible.”
The Commander frowned. “I’m afraid I can’t help you there.”
“That’s okay, we’re going to fly back. But we have to be there before 9:30 PM and it’s 8:07 now.”
Luma and Dogan were staring me in disbelief.
I said, “That’s right, we’re taking Droogie and Schmoogie. But we should leave here by 8:30, at the latest.”
The Commander nodded. “Taking the gryphons will actually help. We can claim she’s away on a raid.”
Luma held up her hand. “Wait a minute, wait a minute! Are we sure Dogan’s father isn’t here?”
Dogan said, “He wasn’t in the dungeons. We looked everywhere.”
“Okay, but shouldn’t we search the rest of the building, just in case?”
She was absolutely right, of course, aside from the fact that he wasn’t here.
Bim said, “I imagine they keep records.”
I turned to the Commander. “Do you have records on all the captives?”
“Only on the ones the GR sends. Not the ones the LobeBots drag in.”
“Dogan’s father was probably sent down from the Arctic.”
“They’re all sent down from the Arctic. When would this have been?”
“He was supposedly killed on September 2nd, 2171.”
“So within the last two years, give or take.”
“Yes.”
The Commander sighed. “All the records are kept on third floor. You’d need a couple of hours to go through them. And I’m not sure how much light there is down there at the moment.”
Luma spoke up. “I have a flashlight and we could all go through them together. That would speed things up, wouldn’t it?”
The Commander said, “We’re getting ahead of ourselves. I process all the captives myself. Maybe I remember him. What was his name?”
“His name is—” She reddened. “Uh, I don’t actually know his first name…”
Dogan said, “His name is Harold Nath.”
The Commander looked surprised. “His name is Harold? That’s my name, too! My mother named me after Harold Land.”
I looked up “Land, Harold.” No entry.
Dogan said, “Then you remember him!”
The Commander shook his head. “Believe me, if any Harolds had come through, I would’ve noticed.”
Dogan looked dejected.
The Commander said, “You should be happy he wasn’t sent here!”
“I guess. But how are we going to find him now?”
I said, “All we need is access to the DataStream.” I turned to the Commander. “Does Queen Scarlett have it here?”
He gave me a look. “Queen Scarlett? They’d have to be mad!”
I turned to the Three. “We’ve done all we can here. We have to get back to Washington. Luma, I know you’re thirsty. Can you make do with the VaporFlask until we get there?
She nodded.
I looked at Bim. “Do you think you can fly a gryphon?”
He shrugged.
