Whistlestop (37 page)

Linger appeared on the bridge of the
Terminus and smiled. “Those stupid mortals think they can deprive
me of my toys. They will learn better very soon.” He hurried over
to the captain’s station and sat down triumphantly. “Now I can take
these ships back to Earth and kill their army and that coward Karl
Galantine at the same time!” He laughed and laughed, knowing he had
won easily. He opened his eyes and wiped away a tear and then
froze. Looking at the view screen, he could see the fleet had moved
much closer to his ship. “What kind of game is this?” He put his
finger on the control to deactivate the nuclears and grinned
knowingly. “I’m coming for you, Lilian Iron-heart.” He pressed the
button and all the weapons on the ships detonated at the same time.
Twenty million miles away, the imperial troopers stranded on
Paranaxis noticed the sun appearing to double in brightness for a
second and then go back to normal.

Karl woke later to the splatter of
rain on his back and neck. It was dark and thousands of stars
peaked between the clouds along with a single crescent moon. He
pulled off his jacket and draped it over his head to block the
rain. He could see a fence line not far away in the faint moonlight
that broke through the scattered rainclouds. He stood and moved
slowly toward the fence which was up a low rise. When he reached
the fence, he saw a small house a hundred yards in the distance.
Bright light shone through a single window. Karl climbed over the
fence and moved toward the house, aware that Linger Bartholomew
Breakneck was likely waiting for him inside. He began to shiver
from the chill of his wet clothes and the thought his life would
soon be snuffed out. When the house was one hundred feet away, he
stopped and thought about his predicament. There was no way Linger
could not know he was here. Linger knew everything. He wondered why
he was still alive. Perhaps this was the Evil One’s way a luring
him to his own death. After standing still for several minutes, he
decided he had been thinking too much and continued forward. He
realized that he had been emperor for ten thousand years, and
perhaps that was enough. Ready to die, he stepped up onto the porch
and confidently knocked on the door. “My lord, I am here to
surrender myself and accept my punishment.”

The door opened and Lilian Iron-heart
said, “It’s about time you got here, Karl. Please come in.” The
shock of seeing someone other than Linger made him stumble. His
eyes glazed over and he fell to the floor unconscious.

The Emperor of the Universe woke a few
hours later. He was lying on a small bed under a heavy blanket. A
fire in a large fireplace made the room comfortably warm as the
rain storm continued outside. The teenaged woman who answered the
door was sitting on a small chair facing him. Seeing he was awake
she walked over to the counter and filled a glass with water and
offered it to him. Karl sat up, took the glass and drank deeply. “I
thank you for your kindness, child. Who are you and how do you know
my name?”

She sat next to him on the bed and
said, “Everyone knows the Emperor of the Universe. That’s a silly
question. I am Lilian Iron-heart. I believe you kidnapped my
father.”

“
How long have I been
unconscious?”

“
Two or three hours, I
suppose.”

“
Then you are wrong about
me. First, Jeremy Davis Iron-heart II came with me of his own
accord. Second, his daughter was just a child.” He looked quickly
from side to side and whispered, “It’s really you, master,
right?”

She giggled at him and replied, “Not
all of existence is a linear as you have come to believe, Karl. I
am the daughter of Jeremy Davis Iron-heart II.”

“
If you believe I am the
emperor, why do you risk your life by addressing me so
casually?”

She moved next to him and put her hand
on his knee. Karl flinched at the thought of Linger branding him
again. “Perhaps I wasn’t precise with what I said, Karl. Everyone
knows who used to be the Emperor of the Universe.”

He removed her hand and moved over to
the small chair. “That’s preposterous! I don’t believe
you!”

She rose and walked over to the
counter. She took another glass and filled it with whisky and
returned, handing it to him. “I think you might need this, Karl.”
Then she sat on the bed again. “You see, when your fleet was
captured over Paranaxis, Linger was very upset, but he knew there
was little either of you could do. Then you ran away. That really
pissed him off. An honorable man would stand up for his mistakes.”
Karl took a large gulp of whisky. “But Linger even accepted that.
After all, he knew you feared the worst, and so he forgave you
again.”

“
Then I am still the
emperor!”

“
No, I’m afraid not, and I
do apologize, but this last part is my fault. He decided to recover
the fleet and nuclears himself, which was a foolish idea. He
imagined bringing those ships here to kill you and my father’s
army, but obviously I could not allow that.”

“
You couldn’t allow it?” he
gasped.

“
When he attempted to
deactivate the nuclear devices, I’m afraid that I detonated them
simultaneously.”

Karl jumped to his feet and exclaimed,
“You killed him?”

She giggled again. “What a crazy
question! If he was dead, you’d still be emperor, right? He was
vaporized, which I imagine was very excruciatingly painful, but
after existing as a widely dispersed cloud of subatomic particles
and raging fury for an hour or so, he began to coalesce into
himself again, although oddly he no longer had any tattoos. He
immediately summoned Bartok to Axis and crowned him Bradley August
Lincoln Breakneck, Emperor of the Universe.”

“
I cannot imagine the
empire accepting an ogre as emperor.”

“
What you can imagine
doesn’t matter anymore, Karl. What matters is that the imperial
army will be here at dawn to fight my father’s army. This cottage
is exactly between the two lines. I am giving you the option to
join either side, or I can send you somewhere safe. Alternatively,
you can take your own life, although that would be a terrible waste
in my opinion.”

He drained the glass and sat next to
her. “Why do you care what happens to me, Lilian Iron-heart? I have
done nothing to earn your pity.”

She put her arm around his back and
kissed his cheek. “I don’t pity you, Karl. You have done a lot of
bad things, but there is still a soul within you, and it remains as
pure and chaste as ever. My great grandfather and I know that the
Evil One made you do most of the bad things, and we also know that
while you live, there is hope. You can choose differently from now
on, if you like.”

“
But where could I go and
be safe from him? That seems impossible.”

“
My great grandfather will
protect you. You can live on the same street as he. No harm will
come to you there. Linger might be able to invade your dreams, but
eventually, he too will lose interest.”

“
Who is your great
grandfather that he can do that?”

“
Trust me,” she finished
and kissed him again. He started to say something and then quickly
faded away.

Five thousand guests filled the grand
hall in the palace of the Emperor of the Universe. Many were
dancing on the massive dance floor while the remainder sat at one
of five hundred tables adorned with huge floral arrangements and
plates of the richest and most exotic foods to be found in the
empire. Brad Lincoln sat on a golden throne that was heavily
encrusted with jewels. Two dozen concubines personally selected by
the Evil One sat nearby waiting to serve any wish from their new
liege. Hours earlier, Linger had ordered the execution of the wives
and concubines of the former emperor. Brad had argued against the
act and eventually convinced his father to show mercy. The women
had then been ordered to gather their possessions and leave the
palace grounds immediately. The new emperor seemed very
uncomfortable in the vestments of power. Since the visit by Lilian
Iron-heart to the internment camp, his view of the universe had
been changing. Even though he was the envy of every person at this
gala, he knew they also yearned to take his place. As he glanced
around the crowd, he could see one face out of five that seemed to
know his true species. Although Linger had assured him that was not
possible, the contempt in some eyes proved otherwise. Brad took a
drink of his champagne and immediately a server came forward to
refill his flute. He turned to thank the man but he had already
disappeared behind the wall of women eager for his attention. He
half-smiled at them and turned to face the crowd just as Linger
pushed his way through and approached him. The Evil One smiled
sweetly, bowed graciously and knelt on the floor in front of him.
“Father, I find it embarrassing that you bow before me.”

“
Son, please don’t worry
about that,” Linger replied. “It is simply a matter of protocol.
Many attendees have no idea of my true nature, and anything less
than submission might be viewed as a threat to you. Of course, you
know I am no threat to you.”

“
Yes, Father, I know that
you love me as much as I love you,” Brad lied.

“
Do you think we could have
a moment alone, Lord Emperor?”

Brad nodded and before he could say a
word, they were standing on a low rise, not far from where the
Woods of Elin met the plains leading to the ocean. “Where are we,
Father?”

“
This planet is called
Paranaxis. It is the shadow world of Bastion, exactly opposite the
star from here.”

“
Why are we
here?”

“
You see the bonfires down
there, and the sea of tents?”

“
Of course.”

“
The men down there are all
traitors. They have been allowed to survive their failure to defeat
the enemy army today. Those fools allowed a few sprites and elves
to take over their starships and strand them here,” Linger
replied.

“
Father, I have listened to
Captain Temple’s report, and it seemed they had no opportunity to
stop them. You even told me that you and Karl were caught off guard
by this plan.”

Linger glowered angrily at his son,
and then his face softened to a generous smile. “I know you’re new
at this Son, so I can understand your generous attitude, but the
Emperor of the Universe cannot allow such failures to
stand.”

“
What would you have me do,
Father?”

Linger’s eyes began to glow red. “Do
you doubt my judgment, dear Emperor?”

Brad stammered, “Of course not,
Father, I was merely asking a question. I apologize if I spoke
harshly.”

Linger kissed his son on the cheek and
smiled, “All is forgiven my darling. Now let me demonstrate how the
Emperor of the Universe must act.” The two began to float up into
the air. Soon they were three hundred feet above the scene.
Suddenly the encampment was surrounded by hundreds of large beasts
like the guards in the prison camp. Each carried a large battle
axe. The beasts rushed down the rise and out of the woods to attack
the soldiers.

The soldiers fired their weapons at
the beasts, but they did not seem to have any effect. Now the
beasts were on them. They swung their blades, slicing men in half
and chopping off arms, legs and heads. The soldiers tried
desperately to escape, but the beasts were relentless. The grass
was red with blood and the air filled with the screams of the dying
and the cheers of the bloodthirsty monsters. Tears poured out of
Brad’s eyes as he watched the carnage, unable to move or try to
stop it. Minutes later, it had become eerily quiet. Linger and Brad
began to descend toward the ground again. Now they stood amid the
chopped up bodies in ankle deep blood. The monsters gathered around
them, their bodies and weapons coated in blood and gore.

“
You have done very well,
my Children,” Linger said as he smiled at the beasts. “I want all
the heads placed on posts around the imperial compound. The rest of
the military must understand that failure is not rewarded.” The
monsters moved away and began to gather the heads. Linger turned to
his son, smiled and said, “That is how an emperor reacts to
failure, Brad.”

“
I don’t think I could ever
do that, Father,” he groaned, overwhelmed by grief and the stench
of death around him. “They could not defend themselves and were
slaughtered mercilessly. It was inhuman!”

“
Who among us is human,
Brad?” Linger asked while smiling broadly. The beasts chuckled and
continued their gruesome mission. “Certainly not me, and if I’m not
mistaken, you are an ogre, isn’t that right?” Brad just stared at
him and walked away. “Where the hell do you think you’re going,
Bartok?” The Emperor of the Universe kept walking away. Linger
considered striking him dead on the spot, but was distracted when
one of the beasts touched him on the shoulder.

“
Father, you cannot expect
mortals to understand,” the monster said. “To the ogre, these
beings are now dead and lost forever. If I’m not mistaken, I think
it took almost a thousand years for Karl Galantine to become
desensitized.”

“
Was it really that long?”
Linger asked. “I must have forgotten that. How do I fix this
mess?”

“
Perhaps one of my sisters
can help Bartok see the light. Merihem has always been adept at
convincing men to do as she pleases.”