Vengeance of the Dancing Gods (42 page)

"But that was at least part of it! His explanation of how he solved all of the fatal traps of my vaults, which no one, not even the Baron, had been able to do, convinced me that no one else could adequately solve the riddle of the verse and put it all together. He is rather— limited—in many things, but in the solution of real puzzles with genuine dangers he is a genius. He looked everything over, assembled all his information, put it against the basic puzzle—the verse—and the true puzzle—how to stop the Baron and Dacaro—and he did it! The use of our pixie friend here to type that extra sentence, that very clever and direct wish, into Dacaro's script while it was still in the typewriter was absolute genius..

"Just where is Macore, anyway?" Marge asked. "We haven't seen him since the night we all went into the house..

"After waiting and planting the Lamp, masking it in a metallic box that looked like it connected to all that other apparatus inside the lectern, he got away and fast. Poquah had arranged for memories of him to be erased from Joe and Tiana, so it was unlikely that the Baron or Dacaro knew he was part of the group. If they'd seen him, they might have put two and two together. If they'd caught him, there was no way to keep him from being forced to spill the whole plot. As soon as he was out, we got him well away, although he really did want to be in on things at the end. I understand he is enjoying Disneyland enormously.

If he's not in jail, he will join us later, when we fly back to Texas for our return voyage..

"How'd he get past those dogs?" Joe asked. "They just about lived under that porch..

"But they were still just dogs. Macore is a professional thief. He runs into guard dogs all the time. I don't know the exact method, and whether he used a spell or drugs or a combination, but anyone who couldn't be stopped by the traps in my vault would hardly be concerned with four Dobermans..

"What I can't figure out is how you got there," Marge said. "I mean, didn't the wish Macore made bar you from crossing?.

"It did indeed—only I didn't come that way. Think back to the hotel in Marahbar, and remember that, after you all left to come on the voyage here, Macore lingered a few moments. I had already prearranged this with Jinner, who was in the Lamp, so I simply made a wish and changed places with Jinner. At that point I resided not in Page 226 Chalker, Jack L - Vengeance of the Dancing Gods Husaquahr but in the land of the djinn. I traveled nowhere, including across the Sea of Dreams. The land of the djinn is contiguous only with the location of the Lamp. Thus, the Lamp crossed, not me, and when Dacaro made his unintended wish, having had his own quota of wishes fulfilled, he both freed and replaced me. I was here, but I had not violated the barrier. Before we return, with the aid of associates here and in my own way, I will deal with Mr. Dacaro..

"I understand you're some kind of wizard and all that,.

290 VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS Mahalo McMahon interjected. "You gonna kill him or turn him into a toad or what?.

"I think everyone is better off not knowing," he responded carefully. "It is a most unpleasant business, you understand, for he's a rascal but no worse than many in Husaquahr—or here, for that matter. He cannot, however, be left on Earth with his power, nor can I trust him under any conditions back home, which is almost certainly a real mess right now. I can only assure you that you will never see or hear from him again unless you wind up in Hell..

That seemed definite enough. "I still do not understand why you just did not have someone make the wishes and come out at the start of all this," Tiana commented.

"I couldn't afford to. Oh, Macore and Poquah had instructions to get me out of there if things went sour, but otherwise I was better off hidden. If I were on Earth, Dacaro would have known it, would have felt the power.

And, so long as they had the demon prince Astaroth with them, I could not have defeated them, and this time I had no place to run..

"What about the Baron?" Joe asked.

"The Baron suffered enormous damage to his spinal column and had a great loss of blood, some internally.

He's being kept alive now only on a life-support machine at a private hospital under my control. He has never regained consciousness and may not..

"Then why not just pull the plug and be done with him?" Tiana wanted to know.

"There are some questions I wish to ask him. Most particularly I wish to ask him just what spell he worked out that enabled Dacaro so quickly and efficiently to remove souls from bodies and imprison them, or switch them around. It is a routine task for any competent sorcerer, but it involves demons and much ceremony and preparation and usually takes several hours. He not only did it in what appears to be minutes, but did it without the aid of a demon or any ritual, almost like changing JACK L. CHALKER Page 227 Chalker, Jack L - Vengeance of the Dancing Gods 291 coats. It was something Boquillas did not work out here— clearly this was the price our friend Sugasto, the Master of the Dead, got for going after you—but something his fine mind had worked out while still in Husaquahr. Sugasto apparently was given access to the Baron's private files of proprietary spells, of which this is the most sophisticated, and he is using them..

"Even if the Baron regains consciousness, why should he tell you?" Tiana wanted to know. "He seemed only to want to die after this defeat. He hardly fought me at all, although he is a skilled swordsman and might well have won. He has no reason to tell you..

"It's very doubtful he ever will be able to tell, but if he can, there are things that might be offered. If he dies, his torment in Hell will far exceed anything the usual evil one would get, for he failed Hell over and over again. If I have the formula, there is a way out. You remember, Joe, what happened to your mind when you became a wood nymph?.

"I've been told," he responded imtatedly. "I don't remember it for sure..

"Oh, I see!" Tiana exclaimed. "You can offer to use his own process to place him in the body of such a nymph.

Eventually, perhaps quickly, his entire memory and personality would be suppressed and he would become the creature of instinct Joe almost did. But he would put off punishment until Judgment, if he was lucky and found a nice tree, and he could argue his own case then based on his idealism..

"Very good," Ruddygore replied, nodding. "It is a price I believe he would be willing to pay. And if I know the process, I can make things very uncomfortable for Sugasto,.

"I—I guess I shouldn't have shot him," Mahalo said sadly. "I'm real sorry, but, like, it seemed like the only thing to do at the time..

"So when do we go home?" Marge asked the wizard.

"And who all goes?.

292 JACK L. CHALKER 293 VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS Ruddygore looked around the room. "Ms. McMahon— is it your wish to go with us? I promise you that, once over, you may never return, and it's not the romantic place you might think. It's full of war and death and it has no televisions, transistor radios, electric lights, cen- Page 228 Chalker, Jack L - Vengeance of the Dancing Gods tral heating, or air conditioning; and I'm afraid it's going to be even more of a mess, now that Sugasto's had a month without me to consolidate his position. It will not be an easy road, and, as Marge can attest, you cannot even tell now what might happen to you or what you might become..

"I been thinking a lot about that," the former cult priestess said, "and I got to admit it's kind of scary. But then I think of what I done with my life here and what's been goin' on. I mean, I never was much good at school and I dropped out when I was real young and became a hippie. I've never really had any other life. I'm still a hippie when everybody I knew or was close to is over forty, in jail, or a has-been hippie in a time of tanning booths and polyester suits. I don't know if this place you come from is really better or worse or not, but, you see, it's different. When going's better than staying, it's better to go, I guess..

"Fair enough. We owe you that much, I think. And we owe you more than that. Gimlet. In fact, we owe the whole game to you..

"Well, it ain't Brooklyn, but if you gois is like most of da folks dere, I think I'll get along okay..

"Marge?.

"I'm ready. I was always out of place here, and I'm even more out of place here now. I burned my last bridge on this trip. I'll go tomorrow..

Ruddygore nodded. "What about you, Joe? And you, Tiana? Neither of you look the way you used to, and you aren't likely to. And, of course, Sugasto is there, and there'll be a big fight..

Joe squeezed Tiana's hand. "I didn't think we had a choice, but we're certainly going back. Oh, I admit I wouldn't mind a vacation here once in a while, but I kind of like it back there, even with all the crazy stuff. And since Ti and I aren't gods anymore, maybe we can finally get a chance to see some of the place and be ourselves.

As for Sugasto—well, we beat the Baron and the demons of Hell, didn't we? Now that I know who I'm facing and just what's what, Sugasto seems like a pantywaist..

"There is always a Sugasto." Ruddygore sighed.

"Always another evil threat, always more evil armies with new variations on the march. Peace is very transitory in either world, but particularly so in Husaquahr." He paused a moment and lighted a cigar. "I'm afraid it's in the Rules..

"Thanks to Ti's quick thinking, I've still got Irving, and the poor thing hasn't had a whole hell of a lot of use,.

Joe noted. "Actually, Ti's got more of a change than I have. What about it?.

She looked at Joe, then at the others. "I admit it is taking some real adjustment being so much smaller, but Page 229 Chalker, Jack L - Vengeance of the Dancing Gods this body is in excellent shape and is not so bad. I have the power still, and I will be a were again before long, I think..

"You'll go back under the Rules," the wizard reminded her. "This body is more suited to a courtesan or entertainer or something like that than a barbarian priestess or warrior..

She shrugged. "I have been that and a mermaid and a goddess. Perhaps it is time for some variety. I am of Husaquahr.

I wish to go home..

Ruddygore sighed again. "Well, that settles it, then. In one week, we'll take one of the company jets from Oakland to Midland, and the next night we'll leave. Poquah will remain here for a while, checking on the Baron's condition and aiding with sorcery if he can, but that will be that. I, of course, must return as soon as we use the Lamp to clear the barrier. Otherwise, I'd have to continue using the inconvenient method to go between, which I would find very irritating. There's still a villain to track down and beat, and I don't think he'll be any easier than 294 VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS this one was." He paused a moment. "I visited Father O'Grady last evening. He was straight and sober, and there was a real fire in his eyes. I'm not sure if he'll ever believe his memories or believe that the fairies helped, but he's got his faith back, that's for sure..

"He isn't the only one," Marge noted. "I looked at the papers the last couple of days. It's still big news what happened out there, but they're already explaining away its effects. I bet a hundred Ph.D.s in psychiatry, psychology, and sociology will be awarded for explaining away the mass hallucinations and hysteria we caused across the country and proving clearly and scientifically why what they thought they saw, heard, and felt just couldn't be real..

Ruddygore chuckled. "However, the churches of the nation will have record turnouts this Sunday, I bet. I don't know how many were actually watching the abbreviated broadcast, but I understand the Reverend Pike, who heads the Blessed Art Thou network, is taking a year off and sticking all his money into missions to feed the poor in Latin America. As for the rest—boy! Have they got religion!.

He roared with laughter.

Joe seemed not to hear. "Well, if we've got a week, then I've got one favor to ask you. It's a personal one, but it's important to me. I might need the help of your detectives, though..

"Ask away, Joe," the wizard replied. "I suspect it's a last bridge of your own, is it not?.

"More or less," he admitted. "You know I have to go— if I can find him..

Page 230 Chalker, Jack L - Vengeance of the Dancing Gods They all looked at the two with puzzled expressions.

"How old would he be now, Joe?" Ruddygore asked.

"Eleven—no, twelve. Oh, hell, he probably doesn't even remember me!.

"Still, I understand what must be done. Okay, Joe. Get a plane and charge it all to the accounts. Just be sure to be back in Midland in a week. I'll give you the name of JACK L. CHALKER 295 the hotel. And I've already anticipated you in the other regard. You'll find the report in my briefcase over there..

Tiana now understood, as did Marge. "Do you wish me to go with you, Joe?" Ti asked him.

"No, not this time. This is one thing I have to do myself..

"I tell you, I am certain," Tiana whispered to Ruddygore.

"For five days now we have lived together, and she is not who she says she is. At first I put it down as her odd life or my cultural differences, but any woman her age who has to read the directions in a box of tampons is not someone born and raised in this world. Finally, I could stand it no longer, and I asked her if she was sure she wanted to leave her new lover, Brian, back in California for this new world, because she was hot for him when we spoke back in her temple. She answered that it was only a passing thing. A passing thing! She mentioned no lover by any name to us back there. This whoever or whatever pretending to be Mahalo McMahon is not!" "I know," Ruddygore responded softly. "I wasn't— quite—truthful with you all in San Francisco. Poquah removed all the spells from the Baron in order to see to his condition and to see if magical healing could help. It could and it did, but as a side-effect it freed the bound spirit inside. You see, the Baron was always a cautious man, a paranoid with good reason to be. When Joe, Marge, and Dacaro were in his clutches, he sent the demon Hiccarph instead of dealing with them himself. He must have brooded all night about his capture of the lot of you. Too easy, and if you succeeded, too inconsequential to his long-range plans, but he had no real way of finding out what else was going on, because none of you knew. As a cautious man, he would never even consider that I would risk the Lamp, let alone myself..