The Purple Adept stepped out of the fog. “We have tracked you three, and now have you. An any resist, we shall torch the snow demons here and take him anyway; we have set a spell to snare any who try to use magic to flee. What shall it be?”
“Thinkst to employ my specialty ‘gainst me?” the Green Adept said scornfully. “I can douse those flames, or turn them against thee.”
“An thou dost, thy family pay,” Purple said evenly. “And thine, Junior Adept,” he added, looking at the figure beside Icy. “We have all in tow.” He looked at the Black Adept. “And we can cut thy line: a Hectare missile be oriented on thy castle. But the Hectare be indifferent, and will harm none not who resist them not.”
“Thou dost come too late,” Black said. “We have planted the Magic Bomb where none can retrieve it.”
“About that we shall see,” Purple said. “Now, submit yourselves to Hectare power, and it be done.”
Green shrugged. “Methinks this be not the end o’ this.” But the two Adepts went with Purple. Now a Hectare saucer-ship came into view within the fog. This trap had been thorough!
When the two of them, and the man-figure beside Icy, stood with Purple, the snow demons were freed. “Go, maid o’ ice, and tell thy folk to associate not again with enemies o’ the power that be,” Purple cried.
The harnessed dogs scrambled away, hauling the sledge, and the loose ones ranged beyond them, resuming their guard duty. Flach knew he had escaped; by the time Purple discovered his error, it would be too late to do anything about it. He was just one dog, coming into the mountains where thousands were, and no snow demon would betray him.
He hoped Icy did well in her quest for a suitable match. He rather thought she would, now.
Chapter 9
Play
The Brown Adept knew it was further folly, but she was quite taken with Tsetse. The woman was beautiful and obliging, and made a perfect servant and companion. Perfect except for the fact that she was a creature of Citizen Purple’s, his former mistress and surely still his spy. It would be her job to watch Brown and report on any deviance. So she could not be trusted.
Yet what did it matter? Purple had finally fathomed Brown’s secret, and required her cooperation with the Hectare invaders on pain of the revelation of that shame. His cynical ploy of assigning a woman who had been the mistress of both a man and a woman demonstrated his complete contempt for Brown. He was happy to facilitate her shame, binding her yet more closely to his fell cause. Brown understood this, but was helpless against it.
Tsetse herself was innocent, being genuinely relieved to have a compatible assignment instead of whatever other horror Purple might have visited on her. She wanted very much to stay here at the Brown Demesnes, and eagerly did anything Brown asked. There really wasn’t much that needed doing, other than going into Proton to check the affairs of Citizen Brown, who of course wasn’t a Citizen any more. She much preferred the isolation of the wooden castle. So Tsetse’s availability for that was nice. If she reported to Purple at the same time, what of it? Brown had never been under any illusion on that score.
But Tsetse as a companion was a temptation it was hard to resist. Tsetse knew the ways of love with either sex, but preferred female. She had made it clear that such a thing would be no sacrifice at all. What was Brown to do?
For days she had stewed over this question, appreciating the horrific nicety of the trap Purple had set for her. If she got friendly with Tsetse, then Tsetse would become a hostage in a way that Brown could not. One Adept could not truly hurt another by magic; some inherent magic in the position of Adept seemed to nullify their efforts against each other. Brown had kept Purple and Tan prisoner, but had not tried to hurt them; now Purple had reversed the ploy, and was making no direct move against her. Of course the Hectare could have her killed, but it was already evident that they preferred to use native talent when they could, and that Purple had promised them to obtain her cooperation. So Purple was working on her—and if she made it too plain that he was getting nowhere, then the Hectare might do it their way.
Brown did not want to die, but neither did she want to betray her friends. She did not know which way she would go, if put to a straight choice between those alternatives. She could only hope it would not come to that. But that hope had never been great, and was diminishing as she saw how methodically the Hectare were consolidating their hold on the planet. Already all but five Adepts were captive, and the hunt was on for those. Clef they would not catch, but the others…
Tsetse hurried up, looking elegant in the temporary robe Brown had given her. “Brown, there’s something in the storeroom!” she exclaimed. “I heard it!” She used her native speech, and Brown used hers, and there was no problem between them on that score.
“Surely not,” Brown said in a businesslike manner. “But needs must we check it.” She hoped it was a certain thing, but did not feel free to speak of it. She walked to the golem storeroom with Tsetse.
Inside were the inactive golems, and the guidebot that had brought Tsetse here. “Thou dost see, all be in order,” she said. “It must have been a mouse. They do get in, and I have not the heart to trap them.”
“But it sounded like a machine!” Tsetse protested. “I heard it from outside, and it frightened me.”
“Well, there be one machine here; I had forgotten.” That was a lie, but a necessary one. “The guidebot that brought thee here; perhaps it were restless.”
“Maybe you should send it back,” Tsetse said doubtfully.
“Yes, surely I should! Unfortunately I have no ready conveyance for it, unless I have a large golem carry it.” She reflected briefly. “Yes, that may indeed be best. Why dost thou not go and fix us something to eat, while I ready a suitable golem?”
“Certainly!” Tsetse agreed readily, and hurried off.
Brown walked around the chamber, looking at golems. Then she came to the guidebot as if to check its size. “Why didst thou return?” she inquired quietly.
“Mach said you did not betray me,” the machine replied as quietly. “Though you did recognize me.”
“Of course I betrayed thee not, thou darling child! Thou knowest I support thy grandfather, as I always have.”
“But Purp will make you,” Nepe said. “I know how.”
Brown stiffened. “Thou knowest?”
“I must ask you to do something awful,” Nepe said, retaining her form as the guidebot. “My father asks.”
“What dost thou know?” Brown demanded, hoping it was something else.
“Brown, not all of us are conservative like Grandam Neysa. We don’t care how you live; we know you’re a good person. But we need your help, and you can do it if you can stand to. It would really make a difference.”
Brown realized that the child did know. “What dost thou want?”
“Do what Purp wants.”
“What?” Brown was horrified.
“Go with Tsetse. Let him blackmail you. Do whatever he says. But don’t tell on me.”
“Betray thy grandfather—to help thee?” Brown asked, appalled.
“Brown, they’ve nabbed Black and Green, but their mission was accomplished. The Adepts covered for Flach, so we could escape. Now it’s just Mach and me, and he’ll give himself up to save me. But we need your help to get Purp out of the way.”
“Thou’rt going after Purple?” Brown asked, amazed.
“In a way. I’d like to wipe him out, but we can’t afford to waste our effort doing that. So we’re just going to punish him a little, and keep him occupied.”
“What dost thou need from me?” Brown asked grimly.
“Take Tsetse with you when you go to the game.”
“What game?”
“The one Purp has to play against the Hectare.”
Brown was astonished. “I understand not!”
“We’re going to throw off the Hectare, and soon, but it’s a plot so tricky that none of us knows the whole. All I really know is that I have three mess
ages, and I must do what they tell me. I have done one. The second tells me to do something more complicated, and that’s what I’m doing now. I need to sneak a person in past the Hectare alerts to fetch something, and this is the best way I can figure to do it. So it won’t be Tsetse with you, really, it will be this other. Don’t tell, and when Tsetse disappears, cover for her. She’ll be back. Do this, and I will accomplish my second task. If I get through all three, Phaze can be saved, I think. If I can’t, then it will be very bad. Will you help me?”
“O’ course I will, dear! But how canst thou know the Purple Adept will—”
“You go with him to his game, and help him all you can, and take Tsetse along and don’t let on about her. I can’t tell you more, Brown, because if this doesn’t work I’ll have to try some other way, and you mustn’t know anything that would hurt us.”
Brown spread her hands. “As thou sayest, dear. But it makes not much sense to me.”
“It should happen within the hour,” Nepe said. “He’s coming here to put the screws to you. Now you know what to do.”
“An thou be sure—”
“Almost sure,” Nepe admitted.
Brown had mixed feelings. She was appalled by the notion of going along with Purple, and worried about Nepe, whom she had known as Flach, but relieved that she no longer had to choose between life and culture. She could yield to the enemy, yet not betray Phaze! If what the child said was true. And though Nepe was a child, she was a remarkably special one, and surely to be trusted.
“I put mine honor in thy hands,” she said. “I will do as thou dost ask. May it save Phaze!”
“Thanks, Brown!” the seeming machine said. “And oh, don’t tell Tsetse. She must hide, and not know why, until you return.”
“Aye, child.” Then Brown left, closing the door behind her, so that the room would not be disturbed.
She shared the meal with Tsetse. Now that her mind was somewhat at rest, she was able to consider the woman more subjectively. Tsetse was beautiful and docile; it would be easy to love her. Now, perhaps, it was time.
“I have a matter o’ some caution to broach to thee, trusting I give not offense,” Brown said.
“Have I done something wrong?” Tsetse asked, immediately worried.
“Nay, woman! My concern be this: I have by choice no man in my life, but that be not because I be without passion. It be that I prefer mine own gender. I find thee attractive, and would know thee better, an the notion not disturb thee.”
“It doesn’t disturb me!” Tsetse said, and her relief was obviously genuine.
“Yet thou dost prefer employment here, so mayhap dost feel not free to speak thy true mind. I would not seek to play on that to—”
“I’ve had both men and women,” Tsetse said. “But pleasure only with women. I think you’re a great woman!”
“Yet I be concerned. I ask thee to take time to consider, and if thou dost conclude against, I will have no onus against thee. I be minded to send thee on a day-long trip to fetch wood, and if thou dost not reconsider by thy return, we may talk further.”
“I don’t need—”
“But I need, Tsetse,” Brown said. “I am athwart a conflict o’ interest, and needs must give thee time.”
“Yes, of course,” the woman said, always amenable. “I’ll go immediately.”
“The golems know the route, and carry supplies. Thou willst be safe and comfortable. Thou has only to see that they load good wood; they choose not well alone.”
“I’ll do that!” Tsetse was eager to prove herself.
“Methinks Franken be good to lead the party,” Brown said. “He be used to carrying me in his knapsack, and will carry thee in comfort. He will obey thee when thou dost call his name, and keep thee safe. An a dragon attack, say ‘Franken, save me,’ and he will do it. But thou must speak always literally, for he be not smart.”
“Yes,” Tsetse said, less eager but ready.
Within the hour, woman and golems were gone. The large golems hauled a wagon for the wood, and Tsetse rode in Franken’s knapsack. There were four hauler golems, and four guard golems; she would be safe enough. There was a magic tent on the wagon, that she knew how to invoke for the night’s repose. Tsetse might not really like being alone with the golems, but it was something she needed to learn if she was to be genuinely useful, and the mission was a valid one.
Not long thereafter, a small aircraft arrived. It was Citizen Purple, as Nepe had predicted. Probably the child had gotten hold of a divination, so that she had known the timing. It had been a fairly near thing.
Purple strode into the castle as if he owned it—which was close enough to the fact now. He wore the ludicrous tentacle-cap of Hectare service. “Have you considered your situation, Brown?” he inquired brusquely. He was in his Citizen aspect, which meant he wouldn’t be using magic. That was a small relief, for a magic check could have spotted the golem party, and it would have been awkward if he realized that Tsetse seemed to be in two places at once.
“At length,” she confessed. “Thou has power now, and canst make my life difficult an I not cooperate with thee.”
“And comfortable if you do cooperate,” he said. “Look, woman, I don’t ask you to renounce your heritage. Just put your golems at our disposal, and swear that you will not allow them to harm any person or thing associated with the Hectare. I know your word is good.”
“I can keep my castle and my privacy?” she asked. There was more to that question than showed, as they both knew. She wanted assurance that her shame would not be advertised.
“Yes. You will answer only to me, and the Hectare, who are not concerned with personal details.”
“My golems I can pledge, but my heart not. I will do what thou sayest, and the golems will obey, but I will betray not my friends.”
“Soon enough there will be none loose to betray.”
“And Tsetse—”
“She’s yours as long as the golems are ours.”
“And that be the whole o’ it?”
“Almost.” He waggled a fat finger at her. “You were a temperate keeper, when Tan and I were your prisoners. But then you were honor-bound to keep us, not to harm us. Now you are not. I want your word that you will obey me personally, and seek no physical or magical harm to me. I know you don’t like me, but you will never try to lead me into harm, or refuse to help me if I am in peril.”
Brown reflected. Nepe had said they were going to punish Purple, but not actually to hurt him, and in any event that was not Brown’s doing. If she saw that Purple was actually being hurt, she would have to try to help him. That seemed to be an appropriate compromise. “An thou keep thy word to me, I will keep mine to thee,” she said. “I will obey thee and seek not to lead thee to harm, but an thou come to it by device other than mine, it will grieve me not.”
“Agreed. Now I have assignments for your golems. I want a complement set to the North Pole to ensure that no other person or creature has access to it.”
“The North Pole!” she exclaimed, surprised. “There be no such Pole!”
“There is in Proton. Now there are four. Can your golems get there and remain functional?”
“If there be no fire.”
“Snow, not fire.”
“Then they can go. I will send a complement. But I must advise thee that golems be not smart; they will prevent thy forces also from approaching it.”
“Understood. Do it.”
“That be the extent o’ mine obligation?”
“For the moment, Brown.” He got up to go.
There was a beep. Purple brought out a holo cube and set it on the table. “Purple,” he said, evidently acknowledging a call.
A three-dimensional image formed above the cube. Brown’s breath stopped. It was a Hectare, one of the bug-eyed invaders. She had shielded herself from such contact, trying to pretend the creatures didn’t exist, but here one was virtually in her castle.
The thing’s tentacles writhed, rippling aro
und what could be its neck section, and there was a faint, unpleasant keening. They spoke by rubbing short tentacles together, she had heard, producing mostly ultrasonic whistles that the human ear could not fathom if it were able to hear them at all. Evidently it was so, for in a moment the translation started.
“I am pleased to accept your invitation to game,” the thing was saying. “A studio is being reserved. Be there with your second in ninety-four minutes.” The image faded out.
Purple’s mouth hung open. He looked as though he had received a death sentence. This communication had evidently come as a complete surprise to him.
Then he gathered his wits. “Do you know what this means, Brown?”
“I knew not e’en the invaders played games!” she protested. “Thou didst ask to play with it?”
He stared at her. “You don’t know that the Hectare not only play, they bet? That they are compulsive gamers who play for keeps?”
She returned his gaze blankly. “I know as little o’ them as I can.”
“Then you shall learn!” he said grimly. “Make yourself ready, woman; you shall be my second.”
“Thy second? I know not how—”
“My adviser, my supporter. You will do your best to see that I win that game.”
Suddenly she remembered what Nepe had said: that Citizen purple would play a game with a Hectare, and that she should go with him, and take the mock Tsetse. How had the child managed this? But she had no time to wonder; she had to do it. “I agreed to do thy bidding. Purple, but must warn thee that I know naught o’ seconding or the game, and may be o’ little use to thee. I may help thee best by urging thee to obtain a more competent second.” Absolutely true!
Purple fixed her with an abruptly steely eye. “Do you know what the Hectare do to losers?”