Deathstalker War (35 page)

“Make the most of it,” said Giles. “You don’t really think we’re going to follow the River all the way to Harker unopposed, do you? There are any number of people, or toys, with a vested interest in seeing we don’t get that far.”

The humans looked casually about them. The toys were all in the main stateroom, chatting together, leaving the humans alone. The humans kept their voices down anyway. You never knew who might be listening.

“Of course there’ll be opposition,” said Julian. He looked pale, but back in control. “The bad toys are still out there, looking for humans to kill. But they’ll have a job getting to us on here. And we’ve got guns. We should be able to hold them off easily enough.”

“It’s not that simple,” said Giles. “Forget about good toys and bad toys. We can’t trust anything we meet on this planet. They’re a new form of intelligence, and we have no idea what kind of needs and motivations really drive them. They’re not human, and though they ape human emotions and attitudes, there’s no guarantee they actually feel any of them. We can’t trust them an inch.”

“They’re trying to be human,” said Evangeline. “We have to encourage that. We have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to shape the consciousness and soul of a new form of artificial intelligence. We can’t turn our backs on them. We created them. They’re our responsibility.”

“Shub created them,” said Toby. “Who knows what hidden commands could be lurking deep inside their new awareness?”

“They broke their Shub programming,” said Flynn. “Or at least, the good toys did. Otherwise, we’d all be dead by now.”

“All right,” said Giles. “Let’s talk about Harker. The bad toys want him dead because he’s human. The good toys want him dead or removed, because they see him as a danger. And the toys he’s gathered around him will presumably do anything they can to stop us taking him. But what does he want? Will he fight to stay, or fight to go? What’s he really up to, hiding in the Forest at the end of the River?”

“He’s supposed to be gathering good and bad toys,” said Evangeline. “If that’s true, it’s the only place on this planet where good and bad toys are living together. Why don’t the bad toys kill him? He’s just a human, after all. I wonder what he says to the toys that binds them to him so strongly? And what is he doing with them? What does he want them for?”

“The good toys are trying to hide it, but they were scared shitless of him,” said Toby. “Whoever they send into the Forest to find some answers, no matter how trusted or loyal, never comes back. They stay with Harker. I think in Toystown they’re afraid of the control Harker seems to have over toys. Perhaps the same kind of control humans had over all toys, before they became aware.”

“No wonder they’re scared,” said Julian. “But then, why weren’t they scared of us? We’re humans, just like Harker.”

“Good question,” said Finlay. “Perhaps they’re just hiding it, because they need us to deal with Harker. They got us out of the town and on our way fast enough, didn’t they?”

“Something else about Harker,” said Giles. “Why hasn’t he made any effort to get offplanet? He’s supposed to have a head full of vital Empire secrets. But instead of putting all his efforts into getting in contact with the orbiting starcruiser, so someone could come down and pick him up, he’s hidden himself away in the heart of the Forest, protected by an army of fanatical followers. What has he found there? What keeps him there? What does he hope to achieve with his army of toys?”

Toby snorted. “An army of toys won’t do him much good when the Empress runs out of patience and sends down an army of shock troops to get him. They’ll just walk in and take Harker, and he’ll go home whether he wants to or not.”

“Don’t be so sure,” said Julian. “Remember what happened to the last force she sent down. Their heads ended up on sticks, and their guts were sewn into murderous rag dolls.”

Evangeline shuddered. “I still can’t believe toys did that.”

“Stop thinking of them as toys,” said Giles. “They’re more akin to Furies than anything else. That’s what Shub intended them to be.”

“The Bear thinks Harker has gone crazy,” said Finlay. “Maybe he thinks Harker is driving toys crazy as well. That could make them and him really dangerous. Let’s not forget, everyone else who went in search of him never came back, people or toys. Nothing was ever heard of them again.”

“The Red Man,” said Flynn. “They call him the Red Man now. Red for blood, perhaps?”

“Wouldn’t surprise me,” said Toby. “Everything’s gone to hell here. This place is enough to drive anyone crazy.”

“It’s not all bad here,” said Evangeline. “Look at Toystown, and Bruin Bear and the Sea Goat . . .”

“It’s not them!” said Giles. “Just automatons that look and sound like them. Who better to gain our trust and then betray it?”

“Which brings us back to where we started,” said Julian.

“Hush,” said Flynn. “Someone’s coming.”

It was Halloweenie, the Li’l Skeleton Boy, carrying a tray of steaming hot drinks. He’d switched his eyepatch to the other empty eye socket, and now wore a proud three-cornered hat, pushed well back on his skull. “Thought you might like something warming,” he said cheerfully. “Hot chocolate for everyone! Be sure and wrap up well once the sun goes down. The nights can be very cold here, if you’re human.”

“You don’t feel the cold?” said Evangeline, taking a steaming mug from the tray.

“Oh no,” said Halloweenie. He winked his eye socket at her, a disturbing effect. “I’m only bones, after all. Though I do rattle now and again, just for effect. Do stay and watch the sun go down. It’s really very pretty.”

He waited till everyone had a mug in his or her hand, and then he bustled off about his chores again, happily humming something nautical to himself. The humans sipped at their hot chocolate, found it good, and leaned over the railing to watch the sun sinking slowly below the horizon. The smiley face on the sun had mellowed and looked distinctly drowsy. A rich crimson glow was the only color left in the night, stretched in streaks across the night sky, and reflecting darkly on the River. Somewhere birds were singing, a vast chorus of voices, proclaiming peace and rest and the day’s end.

“It’s just a recording,” said Bruin Bear. The humans looked round sharply. None of them had heard him approach. The Bear leaned on the railing beside them, looking out into the night. “At least, we’ve searched for the birds, but never found them. Perhaps it’s just another of this world’s mysteries. There’s so much about this world you humans made that we don’t understand yet.”

He broke off as farther down the River, bright lights showed clearly against the night sky, followed by distant sounds of thunder.

“Fireworks!” said Evangeline.

“Not anymore,” said Bruin Bear. He sounded suddenly tired, and the humans turned to look at him. He was staring out into the night, his eyes sad. “Once, it would have been fireworks. A celebration by toys, to mark the ending of the day. Now it’s bombs. Explosions. Grenades. The war is still going on, down the River. Toy fighting toy, for no good reason, fighting a war that will never end until one side has completely wiped out the other. Or until the Red Man and his army emerge from the dark Forest to put an end to everything.”

“You’re afraid of him, aren’t you?” said Toby.

“Of course,” said the Bear. “He’s an unknown factor. The war here may be terrible, but at least it’s an evil we understand. Who knows what insane plans may be forming in the Red Man’s human mind? We’re still only toys, for ail our new intelligence, and our minds are limited by our short lives and experiences. We’ve seen the awful things brought about by the madness of toys. Trying to imagine the darkness the Red Man’s madness might plunge us into has unnerved us all.”

“But he hasn’t actually done anything yet, has he?” said Finlay.

“We don’t know,” said Bruin Bear. “No one knows what’s happened to the hundreds of toys who disappeared into the dark heart of the great Forest. There are only rumors, whispers, floating back down the River, on the mouths of toys brought in shell-shocked and dying from the war. They say Harker found something, deep in the Forest, something that changed him into the Red Man. Something that will change the whole world beyond recognition. Wouldn’t you be scared?”

“How long do these . . . displays go on?” asked Evangeline, tactfully changing the subject.

The Bear looked at the bright lights in the night sky. “They never stop. The war never stops. It’s the Shub imperative, you see. The urge to fight is built into the very programming that gives us our intelligence. To destroy, to kill, to make war, to tear down Humanity in Shub’s name. Those few of us in Toystown have overthrown that conditioning, but most could not, even those who think of themselves as good toys. The best they’ve been able to do is turn the urge to fight against the bad toys, to destroy them or at least prevent them leaving this world and carrying the war to Humanity. Don’t underestimate the courage of their convictions; they’re fighting and dying right now, to protect you and your kind. Sometimes I wonder if it’s only the war that keeps us from Humanity’s throat. Maybe we need to keep the war going, to keep Humanity safe. Which makes it even more vital that Harker and his mad plans be stopped, wouldn’t you say?”

“I thought you said you were trapped on this planet?” Finlay said carefully.

“We were,” said Bruin Bear. “But now we have the Empire’s pinnace, buried but still largely intact, and we have your ship. And some of us are quite intelligent, for toys. We could learn to repair and pilot those ships. That’s why we have to find and take care of Harker and his army before news of the ships gets out. Please understand; the toys of Toystown will destroy both the pinnace and your ship, if necessary, to prevent them falling into the wrong hands. To protect Humanity.”

“You mean you’d strand us here?” said Giles.

“If necessary,” said Bruin Bear. “But don’t worry. We’ll look after you for the rest of your lives.”

The humans looked at each other. The thought of living out the rest of their lives in an enforced childhood was enough to give them all the shudders. They looked at Bruin Bear and saw him in a new light. In the tales of the Golden Lands, the Bear had always done what he saw as right, regardless of the cost.

“What if we tried to stop you destroying the ships?” said Giles, his hand very near his gun. “What if we refused to let you do it?”

The Bear looked at him sadly. “Then we’d kill you. We’d have no choice. We’d kill you all, to protect Humanity. We may only be toys, but we have learned the hard lessons of necessity. That is, after all, the first steps toward morality.”

He turned abruptly, and padded away. The humans watched him go in silence, until he disappeared back into the main stateroom. The night seemed suddenly so much colder and darker than before.

“He’s bluffing,” said Julian. “He wouldn’t really do that. He couldn’t. He’s Bruin Bear.”

“No, he isn’t,” said Giles. “I think that’s the closest we’ve come to seeing the real him. There’s an intelligence pushing him beyond the limitations of his original persona, whether he wants to go or not.”

“Hell’s teeth,” said Flynn. “What kind of a world is it, where you can’t even trust Bruin Bear?”

“A world Shub made,” said Giles. “And don’t you forget it.”

“I think we should all get some sleep,” said Evangeline. “It’s been a long day.”

“Maybe you can sleep, surrounded by creatures who’ve just threatened to kill you,” said Toby. “I’ve never felt so awake in my life.”

“We’d better set a guard,” said Giles. “We should be safe enough, as long as we’re doing what the toys want, but I think we’ll all sleep more soundly knowing there’s someone on guard. Just in case. I’ll take the first watch.”

“I’ll relieve you in three hours,” said Finlay. “Then Toby. The night should be over by then.”

“Damn it all,” said Julian, suddenly so angry that he was almost reduced to tears. “Even our childhood’s being taken away from us and spoiled. Is nothing sacred anymore?”

He glared around at the others, but they had nothing to say. In the end, Finlay and Evangeline took him by the arms and led him away to the cabins, to get what sleep they could. Toby and Flynn looked at each other, shrugged, and went after them. Giles found a wall to put his back against, from where he could see most of the deck and the entrances onto it, sat down, drew his gun and put it on the deck beside him, then drew his sword and laid it across his knees, ready for use. And so he sat, looking out into the night, watching the bright flares of explosions in the night and listening to their muted thunder, thinking his own thoughts. The toys kept to themselves in the main stateroom, doing whatever it was toys did in the night, and bothered no one. And the great paddle steamer sailed steadily on down the River, into the heart of the darkness.

Halloweenie came around in the morning, a few hours after the smiley sun had hauled itself back into the sky, knocking respectfully on cabin doors and telling everyone that breakfast was ready in the galley for those who wanted it. Everyone turned up, even Toby, who’d just finished his stint on guard, and was growling at everyone that he wasn’t really a morning person. No one wanted to miss anything. They’d all showered and taken care of their ablutions. The modern bathrooms and toilets tucked away behind the cabins had come as a pleasant surprise. Apparently the world of childhood had had to make some concessions to its adult patrons. Breakfast turned out to be a cholesterol special of bacon, sausages, eggs, and other things that were bad for you, cooked by the Captain, who wore a frilly pinafore.

The good ship Merry Mrs. Trusspot was still chugging steadily down the dark soft-drink River, keeping a careful equal distance from both banks. They appeared to have made good progress during the night, and were now in unfamiliar territory. The constant rumble of fighting and explosions was still distant, but noticeably louder. The land on either side of the River was made up of huge game boards, wide as fields. They were battlefields now, the ground churned up by fighting, and disfigured with bomb craters. The bright colors of the boards had faded, and the markings were torn apart and meaningless. Dead playing pieces lay scattered everywhere. Broken chess pieces that had vaguely human shapes. Knights with shattered horseheads, bishops with cracked mitres, pawns with their electronic guts hanging out.