Trullion: Alastor 2262 (23 page)

“What else could he say except the truth?"

“Well, I’m sure the truth will be made clear. Did you ever find that hussade player, Jorcom, Jarcom, whatever his name?”

“Jorcom? Jarcom?” Glinnes stared in wonder. "Sodergang, you mean?”

Young Harrad grinned sheepishly. "That was somebody else, a fisherman down Isley Broad. I wrote the name in the wrong place.”

Glinnes controlled his voice with an effort. "The man’s name is Jorcom, then? Or Jarcom?”

“Let’s take a look,” said young Harrad. He brought out his register. “Here’s Sodergang, and here is the other name; it looks like Jarcom to me. He wrote it himself.

“It looks like Jarcom,” said Glinnes. “Or is it Jarcony?

"Jarcony! You’re right! That’s the name he used. What position does he play?”

“Position? Rover. I’ll have to look him up sometime. Except that I don’t know where he lives.” He looked at Young Harrad’s clock. If he drove at breakneck speed back to Welgen he could just barely connect with the Port Mheul ferry. He made a gesticulation of fury and frustration, then jumped in his boat and hurtled back east toward Welgen.

In Port Maheul, Glinnes found the name Jarcony as unknown as “Sodergang.” Tired and bored beyond caring, he took himself to the arbor in front of the Stranger’s Rest and ordered a flask of wine. Someone had discarded a journal; Glinnes picked it up and scanned the page. His eyes was caught by an article:

AN ILL-FATED HOSTILITY AGAINST THE FANSCHERS

Yesterday news reached Port Maheul of an improper act commuted by a Trevanyi gang against the Fanscher camp in the Vale of Green Ghosts, or, as the Trevanyi know it, the Vale of Xian. The Trevanyi motives are in doubt. It is known that they resent the Fanscher presence in their sacred vale. But also it will be remembered that the mentor Janno Akadie, for many years resident in the Saurkash region, has declared himself a Fanscher and now resides at the Fanscher camp. Speculation links Akadie with a sum of thirty million ozols, which Akadie claims to have paid to the starmenter Sagmondo Bandolio, but which Bandolio denies having received. It is possible that the leader of the Trevanyi gang, a certain Vang Drosset, apparently decided that Akadie had taken the money with him into the Vale of Green Ghosts, and so organized the raid. The facts are these: seven Trevanyi entered Akadie’s tent during the night, but failed to stifle his outcries. A number of Fanschers responded to the call and in the ensuing fight two Trevanyi were killed and several others wounded. Those who escaped took refuge at a Trevanyi conclave nearby, where sacred rites are in progress. Needless to say, the Trevanyi failed to possess themselves of the thirty million ozols, which evidently has been hidden securely. The Fanschers are outraged by the attack, which they deem an act of persecution.

“We fought like karpouns,” declared a Fanscher spokesman. “We attack no one, but will fiercely protect our rights. The future is for Fanscherade! We summon the youth of Merlank, and all those opposed to the varmous old lifeways: join Fanscherade! Lend us your strength and comradeship!”

Chief Constable Filidice declares himself perturbed by the circumstance and has launched an investigation. “No further disruptions of the public peace will be tolerated,” he stated.

Glinnes threw the journal across the table. Slumping into his chair he poured half a goblet of wine down his throat The world he knew and loved seemed in fragments. Fanschers and Fanscherade! Lute Casagave, Lord Ambal! Jorcom, Jarcom, Jarcony, Sodergang! He despised each of the names!

He finished the wine, then went down to the dock to wait for the boat back to Welgen.

Rabendary Island seemed unnaturally still and lonesome. An hour after Glinnes’ return the gong sounded; he discovered his mother’s face on the telephone screen. “I thought you’d gone to join the Fanschers,” said Glinnes in a voice of hollow jocularity.

“No, no, not I.” Marucha’s voice was fretful and worried. “Janno went to avoid the confusion. You can’t conceive the browbeating, the bluster, the accusations which have come our way! We had no respite and poor Janno finally felt obliged to leave.”

“So he isn’t a Fanscher after all.”

“Of course not! You’ve always been such a literal-minded child! Can’t you understand how a person might be interested in an idea without becoming its staunchest advocate?”

Glinnes accepted the deficiencies imputed to him. “How long will Akadie stay in the Vale?”

“I feel that he should return at once. How can he live a normal life? It’s quite literally dangerous! Did you hear how the Trevanyi set upon him?”

“I heard that they tried to rob him of his money.”

Marucha’s voice raised in pitch. “You shouldn’t say such a thing, even as a joke! Poor Janno! What he hasn’t gone through! And he’s always been such a good friend to you.”

“I’ve done nothing against him.”

“Now you must do something for him. I want you to go to the Vale and bring him home.”

“What? I see no point in such an expedition. If he wants to come home, he’ll do so.”

“That’s not true! You can’t imagine his mood; he is limp with passivity! I’ve never seen him so before!”

“Perhaps he’s just resting — taking a vacation, so to speak.”

“A vacation? With his life in danger? It’s common knowledge that the Trevanyi plan a massacre.”

"Hmmf. I hardly think that is the case.”

“Very well. If you won’t help me, then I must go myself.”

“Go where? Do what?”

“Go to the Fanscher camp and insist that Janno return home.”

“Confound it. Very well. Suppose he won’t come?”

“You must do your best.” Glinnes rode the air-bus to the mountain town Circanie, then hired an ancient surface-car to convey him to the Vale of Xian. A garrulous old man with a blue scarf tied around I head was included in the rental price; he manipulated the device as if he were directing a recalcitrant animal.The car at times scraped the ground; at other times it bounded thirty feet into the air, providing Glinnes with startling perspectives over the countryside. Two energy-guns on the seat beside the driver attracted his attention and he inquired as to their purpose.

“Dangerous territory,” said the driver. “Whoever thought we’d see such a day?”

Glinnes considered the landscape, which seemed as placid as Rabendary Island. Mountain pomanders stood here and there clouds of pink mist clutched in silver fingers. Blue-green fials marched along the ridge. Whenever the car rose into the air the horizons widened; the land to the south fell away in receding striations of pallid colors.

Glinnes said, “I see no great cause for alarm.”

“So long as you’re not a Fanscher, your chances are tolerable,” said the driver. “Not good, mind you, because the Trevanyi conclave is only a mile or two yonder, and they are as suspicious as wasps. They drink racq, which influences the nerves and makes them none the kindlier.”

The valley grew narrow; the mountains rose steep on either side. A quiet river flowed along the flat floor; on each side stood groves of sombarilla, pomander, deodar.

Glinnes asked, “Is this the Vale of Green Ghosts?”

“Some call it so. The Trevanyi bury lesser dead among the trees. The true and sacred Vale lies ahead, behind the Fanschers. There you can see the Fanscher camp. They are an industrious group, no question as to that... I wonder what they are trying to do? Do they know themselves?”

The car slid into the camp a scene of confusion. Hundreds of tents had been erected along the river bank; on the meadow, buildings of concrete foam were under construction. Glinnes found Akadie without diffculty. He sat at a desk in the shade of a glyptus tree performing clerical work. He greeted Glinnes with neither surprise nor affability.

“I am here to bring you to your senses,” said Glinnes. “Marucha wants you back at Rorquin’s Tooth.”

“I will return when the mood strikes me,” said Akadie in a measured voice. “Until you arrived life was peaceful... Though for a fact my wisdom has been in no great demand, I expected to be greeted as a noble sage; instead I sit here doing footling sums.” He made a deprecatory gesture at his desk. “I was told that I must earn my keep and this is a job no one cares to undertake.” He cast a sour glance toward a nearby cluster of tents. “Everyone wants to participate in grandiose schemes. Directives and announcements flow like chaff.”

“I should think,” said Glinnes. “that with thirty million ozols you could easily pay your way.”

Akadie gave him a glance of weary reproach. “Do you realize that this episode has blasted my life? My integrity has been questioned and I can never again serve as a mentor.”

You have ample wealth even without the thirty million,” said Glinnes. “What shall I tell my mother?”

“Say that I am bored and overworked, but at least the accusations have not followed me here. Do you plan to see Glay?”

“No. What are all these concrete structures?”

“I have made it my business to know nothing,” said Akadie.

“Have you seen the ghosts?”

“No, but on the other hand I have not looked for them. You’ll find Trevanyi graves across the river, but the sacred home of the death bird is a mile up the valley, beyond that copse of deodars. I made a casual exploration and I was exalted. An enchanting place, beyond all question -- too good for the Trevanyi.:

How is the food?” Glinnes askes ingenuously.

Akadie made a sour grimace. “The Fanschers intend to learn the secrets of the universe, but now they cannot so much as toast bread properly. Each meal is the same: gruel and a salad of coarse greens. There is not a flask of wine for miles...“ Akadie spoke on for several minutes. He remarked upon Fanscher dedication and Fanscher innocence, but mostly of Fanscher austerity, which he found inexcusable. He trembled with rage at the mention of the thirty million ozols, yet he showed a pathetic anxiety for reassurance. “You yourself saw the messenger; You directed him to my house. Does the fact carry no weight?”

“No one has required my evidence. What of your friend Ryl Shermatz? Where was he?”

“He saw nothing of the transaction. a strange man that Shermatz! His soul is quicksilver.”

Glinnes rose to his feet. “Come along then. You achieve nothing here. If you dislike notoriety, stay quietly at Rabendary for a week or so.”

Akadie pulled at his chin. “Well then, why not?” He gave the papers a contemptuous flick. “What do the Fanscers know of style, urbanity, discernment? They have me doing sums.” He rose to his feet. “I will leave this place. Fanscherade grows tiresome; these folk will never conquer the universe after all.“

“Come along then,” said Glinnes. “Have you anything to bring? Thirty million ozols, for instance?”

“The joke has lost its savor,” said Akadie. “I will go as I am, and to lend flair to my departure, I will perform an unfamiliar equation.” He scrawled a few flamboyant flourishes on the paper, then slung his cloak over his shoulder. “I am ready.”

The ground car slid down the Vale of Green Ghosts and toward avness arrived at Circanie. Akadie and Glinnes put up for the night at a little country inn. At midnight Glinnes awoke to hear excited voices, and a few minutes later detected the sound of running footsteps. He looked out the window, but the street lay quiet in the starlight. Drunken revelry, thought Glinnes, and returned to his couch.

In the morning they heard the news that explained the occasion. During the night the Trevanyi had waxed passionate at their conclave; they had walked through fires; they had performed their bounding mood-dances; their “Grotesques,” as they called their seers, had breathed the smoke of baicha roots and had belched forth the destiny of the Trevanyi race. The warriors responded with mad screams and ululations; running and leaping over the starlit hills, they had attacked the Fanscher camp.

The Fanschers were by no means unprepared. They employed their energy-guns with dire effect; the bounding Trevanyi became startled statues limned in blue sparks. Action became confused. The first zestful onslaught became a mournful writhing of bodies up and down the Vale, and presently there was no more fighting; the Trevanyi were either dead or had fled in a horror as full and wild as their attack. The Fanschers watched them go in dismal silence. They had won but they had lost. Fanscherade would never be the same; its verve and vivacity was gone, and in the morning there would be dreary work to do.

Akadie and Glinnes returned to Rabendary without incident, but Glinnes’ slipshod housekeeping made Akadie irritable, and before the day was out he decided to return to Rorquin’s Tooth.

Glinnes telephoned Marucha. who had undergone a change of mood; now she fretted at the prospect of Akadie’s return. “There has been such turmoil, and all unnecessary; my head is splitting. Lord Gensifer demands that Jano make instant contact with him. He is most persistent and not at all sympathetic.”

Alkadie’s pent emotions burst forth in outrage. :Does he dare to hector me? I’ll set him straight, and quickly, too. Get him on the telephone!”

Glinnes made the connection. Lord Gensifer’s face appeared on the screen ”I understand that you wish a word or two with Janos Akadie,“ said Glinnes.

Quite true,” stated Lord Gensifer. ”Where is he?”

Akadie stepped forward. “I am here, and why not? I recall no pressing business with you; still you have been incessantly telephoning my house.”

“Come then,” said Lord Gensifer, thrusting forth his lower lip. ”There is still a matter of thirty million ozols to be discussed.”

“Why should I discuss them with you, in any event?“ demanded Akadie. “You have nothing at stake. You were not kidnapped; you paid no ransom.”

“I am secretary to thge Council of Lords, and I am empowered to look into the matter.”

“I still do not take kindly to your tone of voice,” said Akadie. “My position has been made clear. I will discuss the matter no further.”

Lord Gensifer was silent for a moment. ”You may have no choice,“ he said at last.

“I really don’t understand you,“ replied Aladie in and icy voice.

“The situation is quite simple. The Whelm is delivering Sagmondo Bandolioto Chief Constabel Fillidice in Welgen. Undoubtedly he will be forced to identify his accomplices.”