01. Spirits of Flux and Anchor (34 page)

"Put her on."

Mervyn gestured with the gun and the chief war- den came over to the intercom. "She's here," he told her.

"Daran, this would not have been necessary if you had not refused to carry the message. These people are not criminals, nor are they committing sacrilege. How many are there?"

"Three, Your Worship," the warden said glumly. "Two have guns, and the third's pretending to be a priestess."

"She may very well be one," the Sister General snapped back. "Now, listen carefully. You are to escort these three to my office without delay of any kind. Understand? I want no trouble and no revenge. If there is any trouble or any action of any kind taken against them you will all be exiled to Flux immediately. I mean that."

"But Your Worship -- "

"No buts! Deliver them immediately, healthy, and with no problems and I will forgive all. Do anything else -- anything -- and you will all curse the day of your birth and the parents who bore you. That is all."

The watch officer sighed. Mervyn smiled at her and handed her his rifle. She seemed startled, then undecided, suppressing an urge to fire anyway. Instead they walked into the other room, where Suzl handed over her pistol as well. There ensued a great debate among the four in which the watch officer had to exercise abnormal control just to keep them from tearing the three limb from limb or at least working them over with rubber hoses. Once the officer had made her decision, though,

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she stuck to it. When the warden who had been shoved back tried to attack Mervyn anyway, the watch officer struck her in the mouth with the rifle butt. She looked mad, but finally calmed down, as blood from a small cut trickled from the side of her mouth.

"Now, then," sighed the watch officer, "let's all go see Her Holiness, shall we?"

Leaving the guns in the security office and then locking up, they all walked back upstairs, into the chapel, then back into the sacristy. Cass had a feeling of having been here before, but now she was with someone who knew the way.

Ultimately they reached the first of three-secur- ity doors. Obviously the Sister General's own area had been reinforced since Cass had blundered in. Each of the doors could be opened only from the inside, by someone who first could look at who- ever was out there and take action if necessary. The wardens generally expected their way to be barred at this point, and action taken, and seemed extremely surprised when each door opened for them with no hesitation.

Finally they reached the office of the Sister General. It looked much the same as Cass remem- bered it, although she'd had a very different view the last time. Sister Daji was nowhere in sight, but to the left of the Sister General's huge desk the falcon perch still stood, and why not? On it was a falcon.

The Sister General looked at the mob, then said, "That will be all, wardens. Retire to your posts and await my instructions." They bowed, bewildered, and exited.

She looked at the three of them in turn, settling on Mervyn. "I don't have to guess which one of you is Pericles."

"It's been a long time, hasn't it, Des?" he re- sponded lightly.

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The tone and question startled both Cass and Suzl. It was obvious now that, somehow, these two actually knew each other!

She came over and hugged the wizard. "You wore that guise just for me, didn't you?"

He laughed. "I figured if nothing else you'd get a photo from the police with a report on my doings."

She laughed. "You always were the one for di- rect actions. But, enough of this^ for now. I'm going to have problems with my security staff for a long time over you three. What is this really all about?"

Mervyn looked around. "Is it just us in here?"

"Yes. I cleared the rest out. Please, all of you, have a seat and we'll talk."

"Not everybody was cleared," Mervyn remarked casually. "I see we have a spy over there."

She laughed. "Oh, Demon. Yes, my secretary went roaming in the marketplace while I was away on business and bought her as a surprise for me- Unfortunately, she seems to like the secretary far more than me. She's safe, though."

Mervyn nodded, and Cass began to wonder if she in fact had dreamed the whole thing. Was it instead some odd story planted in her mind by Haldayne? Was she, in fact, loosed with false infor- mation in her mind to contuse and disrupt the Nine? She felt suddenly very confused.

"Haldayne has taken Persellus and means to move on the gate," the wizard said simply. "We are mounting a massive force to retake it, supported by myself and two others of the Nine." Quickly, and in a businesslike fashion, he outlined the en- tire plot, leaving Cass out of it completely, though, as well as Daji and the part Anchor Logh played in it. She listened attentively, her face grim. When he had finished she asked, "What do you want me to do?"

"How large is your troop force?" She thought a minute. "I don't have the exact

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figures, but not counting the new recruits in train- ing after Census, about a thousand,"

"Let's count the recruits."

"Then, perhaps a hundred more plus training instructors. But we need a minimum of three hun- dred to man and guard the borders."

He nodded. "That's fine. Give me five hundred under your best officers and noncoms. Get them in Flux and I'll see they don't crack. Once we break Haldayne's shield we'll need warm bodies to overrun and root out what's left of Persellus. He's very strong and has had time to prepare."

"Do you think you'll catch him this time?" she asked, apparently getting caught up in the adven- ture of it.

"We're going to try- That's all we can do, no more. There is nothing I would like more, as you well know. Half a dozen times I've had him in my nets and he's managed to slip away. But, with your gracious help, we'll beat him this time, at least."

"You shall have it and welcome," she responded. "And what will you do with it -- after?"

He shrugged. "Sister Kasdi has a great deal of talent and is now training under me. A church- controlled Fluxland in such a strategic position would consolidate quite a bit and secure the gate for some time."

She thought about it, and liked the idea. "A church-controlled Fluxland. It was the dream of the Founding Mothers, but somehow it's never come to pass. It would create a church-held domain over a hundred and fifty kilometers southwest." She turned to Cass. "You must do it! You have the best teacher in the world for it. Why, it could be the old dream -- the training and university ground for the Church, as Globbus is for wizards."

"I will consider it. Your Eminence," Cass re- sponded carefully, trying to make sense of all this,

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The idea of her becoming a Sister General wizard to a Fluxland church indoctrination center was ludicrous at best. She wondered what the Sister General would think if she knew who really sat before her in the guise of a tall priestess. Again she felt frustrated that she had no idea what games were being played here, only that everybody seemed to know and understand more than she did-

It was, in fact, as simple as that insofar as get- ting the troops was concerned. The Sister General herself would give them the commands and see them off, and they would be ready at the western gate in three days. They were ready now to leave, with a total pass from Her Eminence herself, when Mervyn asked, "Where's that secretary of yours? I've heard some stories about her."

She laughed. "Daji? Around someplace, I suspect. Absolutely gorgeous body, but rather empty in the head, I fear. I have to keep it that way, if only for security."

He nodded. "I understand. But if you could spare her for these next three days she'll be most helpful, as your secretary, in clearing away bureaucratic barriers just by her presence. I can use her, so don't worry about what she doesn't know."

The Sister General laughed. "You're just trying to get her away from me so you can have some fain. But, all right. Take her. I'm going to be too busy for her anyway, it appears, and she only has one thing on her mind all the time, bless her." She pressed a buzzer and there was a muffled response. "Is Daji about?"

Again a muffled response. She nodded. "Send her up. She's going on a little trip with some friends of mine."

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Sister Daji had seemed quite confused when or- dered by the Sister General to go with the three nice ladies and do what she was told, but after a tittle heart-to-heart talk in the other room she went along with it, at least grudgingly. Cass could not get over the contrast between the woman she saw now and the one she had seen with Haldayne. It seemed almost inconceivable that this bubble- brained airhead could possibly be a mistress of Hell and conniving plotter -

They went out the door and down the Temple steps, Daji clutching a small overnight bag. Some birds scattered into the air as they descended the stair, but one bird, a particularly large raven, did not. Instead, he circled and then settled atop one of the lampposts along the sides of the square itself and watched the four figures come forward. There were few people about, although there was some traffic on the streets and a couple of people were sitting on one of the benches in the square, and two yellow-robed Sisters were walking towards the Temple as the quartet walked away.

Still, Cass had an uneasy feeling she couldn'.t shake off. Something seemed very wrong, although things had been going well from Mervyn's point of view. It had started with the falcon still in the

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Sister General's office, grown worse at meeting Daji, and was now building to the breaking point. She looked around nervously, studying everyone in the square, her eyes finally reaching the two approaching Sisters. There was just something about them, something very odd... .

"Everybody watch it!" she cried suddenly. "Those Sisters are wearing boots!"

"Caw!" screamed the raven almost immediately. "Caw! Caw! Caw!"

The two "Sisters" split from one another, reach- ing in and drawing guns at the same instant. Mervyn dropped where he was and pulled an auto- matic pistol, firing at the closest attacker first. The "Sister" fell back with the force of the shots, blood soaking the front of the robe while her gun clat- tered as it fell. The other, however, dropped and rolled, and had time to open fire before Mervyn could bring his pistol around. Suzl had dropped at Cass's warning and now rolled towards the first assailant's fallen weapon, while Cass managed to make it behind a post that afforded some protection. Birds and people were screaming and panicking everywhere.

Daji, however, had just stopped and stood there, looking very confused. As a result, she took the full blast of the second assailant's shots and staggered back, then collapsed on the paving stones, writh- ing and groaning. Mervyn fired at the assassin but scored only a grazing blow. Then his gun went dead, empty. The woman in yellow, realizing this, stopped, raised her own gun, and pointed it di- rectly at the wizard, who had nowhere to run. A volley of shots rang out, echoing across the square and against the Temple walls, and the killer spun and fell dead.

Suzl looked a little surprised that she'd shot so well from such a distance, and smugly blew the smoke away from the barrel. Mervyn, however,

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was in no mood for gratitude or theatrics. "Shoot the raven!" he cried. "The raven'" He pointed to the large bird atop the lamp, but before Suzl real- ized what he was saying and could make sense of it the bird launched itself into the air and was soon lost from sight to the southwest.

Cass ran over and helped Mervyn up. "Damn!" he swore. "It was Haldayne and we almost had

him!"

Suzl walked cockily over to them. "He almost

had you, you mean. Where the hell did you get

that pistol?"

"Trick compartment in the cape," he told her. "They took the rifle, left the holder, and it was still there. Damn you, though! Why didn't you shoot the raven while you had the chance? I had a spell on you that made you a great marksman. You

could have had him!" "And lost you," she responded, getting a little

irritated. "What do I matter?" he growled. "That raven

was Haldayne. If we had gotten him we could have taken Persellus without any real losses."

She shrugged. "Sorry. Next time I'll let you die and shoot every damned bird in sight." She looked around. "Where's Cass?" They both looked, and found her kneeling beside the fallen Daji. Aicrowd was gathering fast, and police could be heard on their way. Mervyn elbowed his way through and

knelt down beside Cass.

Daji was mortally wounded, but still alive, Gasping, blood running from her mouth, she looked for all the world a hurt and confused child. She choked once, and then something seemed to grow within her, filling her face and particularly her eyes. Her whole appearance took on a different look, and she coughed and gulped down air. "Damn you!" she screamed, in a far different, more self- assured voice filled with hatred and fear. "Damn

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