Stalking the Unicorn: A Fable of Tonight (27 page)

"Done,” said the Grundy. He vanished for perhaps twenty seconds, then reappeared. “If you will step outside the office, you will find the woman waiting for you."

Mallory picked up Eohippus and walked out into the warehouse. As the Grundy had promised, Winnifred was waiting for him nearby, a bewildered expression on her face.

"Are you all right?” he asked.

"Yes,” replied Winnifred. “But it was most disconcerting! One minute I was bound and gagged in a storage closet, and then the Grundy himself set me free!” She looked up at Mallory. “That was
your
doing, wasn't it?"

He nodded. “What happened to the two of you?"

"I bribed some leprechauns to tell us where Gillespie was,” said Winnifred ruefully. “Evidently they immediately raced ahead and warned him, because he was waiting for us.” She shook her head. “I must be getting old, Mallory. I would never have made that mistake twenty years ago."

"Don't worry about it,” said Mallory. “You're all right now, and that's all that matters.” He paused. “I want you to take Eohippus back to the Morbidium and wait there."

"You're not coming with us?” she said, frowning.

He shook his head. “I've still got business to conduct in there,” he said, gesturing toward the office.

"With the Grundy?” she demanded.

"Yes."

"Then we're staying too!” said Eohippus adamantly.

"No, you're not,” replied Mallory. “The first piece of business I transacted was a guarantee of your freedom. Besides,” he added, running a hand gently over the tiny horse's battered body, “you can't be six inches tall. I don't want you taking any more chances."

"But he'll kill you!” protested Eohippus.

"Not while I know how to find the stone, he won't."

"He'll torture the location out of you,” said Winnifred.

"I've taken precautions."

"You're a remarkable man, John Justin Mallory,” she said earnestly. “How soon should we expect you at the Morbidium?"

"You're not waiting for
me,"
said Mallory. “Felina's got orders to show up there if I don't check in with her by a specified time."

"Has she got the ruby?"

"Not anymore."

"What should we do if she shows up?"

"You'll figure it out,” said Mallory, handing Eohippus to her. “Patch him up and take good care of him."

"I will,” she promised. “Good luck, Mallory."

"Thanks,” he said, accompanying her to the front door. “Now, get going."

He waited until they had left, watching through one of the windows to make sure that the Prince of Whales had let them pass. Then he turned and went back to the office.

"Thanks for letting them go, Grundy,” said Mallory.

"They are merely spear carriers in this little drama,” replied the demon with a condescending shrug. “I have no interest in them."

"He'll kill them as soon as he gets the ruby!” said Mürgenstürm.

"I give you my word that I will not,” said the Grundy.

"He's lying, John Justin!"

Mallory turned to Mürgenstürm. “There's only one person in this office who's lied to me,” he said harshly. “And only one who's volunteered to kill me."

"I wouldn't have done it!” swore the elf. “I had to say it, or Gillespie would have given the ruby to the Grundy!"

"You know, you're such a smooth liar that you probably even believe what you're saying,” remarked Mallory disgustedly.

"You know it's the truth!"

"I don't know any such thing,” snapped the detective. “Mürgenstürm, you're as charming as anyone I've met in this Manhattan—but charm has nothing to do with worth."

"You're a very perceptive man, Mallory,” said the Grundy, walking over to the desk and sitting on the edge of it. “You have no intention of turning the ruby over to him, do you?"

"No,” said Mallory.

"John Justin!” shrieked Mürgenstürm.

"Sooner or later every man has to face the consequences of his actions,” said Mallory. “Now it's your turn."

"But it's not fair!"

"Was it fair to slaughter Larkspur and strand thousands of people in the wrong Manhattan?"

"But that was never my intention!” wailed the elf.

"Someday I'm going to have to tell you what the road to hell is paved with,” said Mallory. He turned to the Grundy. “We have no use for him. Let him go."

"He must die for what he's done,” said the Grundy sternly.

"He will,” Mallory assured the demon. “His own guild will kill him at sunrise."

"And if he escapes them?” demanded the Grundy.

"Then he can spend the rest of his life peering into shadows to see if they're lying in wait for him."

A savage smile crossed the Grundy's face. “I
like
that."

"I thought you might."

The demon turned to Mürgenstürm. “Begone!"

"But—"

"If you are still within my domain at sunrise, I will come after you myself,” promised the Grundy.

Mürgenstürm glared at Mallory.

"Thanks a lot,
friend!"
he said bitterly.

"Friends don't do what you did,” said Mallory. “Now, get the hell out of here. Sunrise isn't that far off."

Mürgenstürm walked to the door, seemed about to say something, thought better of it, and left.

"Wait,” said the Grundy. He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them. “All right. He's left the building.” He turned to Mallory. “All that remains is to settle upon a price. I seem to be the only interested party left."

"Wrong,” said Mallory.

The demon growled deep in his throat, and the smoke issuing from his nostrils turned a bright blue.

"Who else is there?” he demanded.

"There's me."

"You?"

Mallory nodded. “That stone is my ticket home."

"I've tested the membrane,” said the Grundy. “It will remain permeable for two or three more hours. We can conclude our transaction and you can still go home after you turn the ruby over to me."

"But I don't know if I'm going to turn it over to you,” replied Mallory.

"What?"
growled the demon, his eyes glowing even brighter.

"You're the Grundy,” said Mallory. “You kill things. You cause plagues. You slaughter unicorns for these damned jewels. You've even made
my
Manhattan unsafe. Why should I give you the key to additional power?"

"Fool!” raged the Grundy, leaping to his feet. “You don't begin to understand!” He stared at Mallory, his eyes mere slits in his horned head. “Do you think I
wanted
to kill Larkspur?"

"You sure as hell didn't try to talk Gillespie into returning him,” said Mallory.

"Gillespie was never supposed to kill the unicorn!” snapped the Grundy. “He was only supposed to deliver it to me!"

"And you, of course, would have returned it to Mürgenstürm's guild,” said Mallory sardonically.

"Never!” bellowed the Grundy. “I would have kept possession of the animal, and eventually, when it died of old age, I would have appropriated the ruby, as is my right. But I didn't want Larkspur to die yet! Closing the membrane will make my work all the harder!"

"Your work consists of doing terrible things,” said Mallory. “How the hell does a dead unicorn make it harder?"

The Grundy shook his head savagely. “Fool! My work is to be a balance point, a fulcrum against the worst tendencies of worlds."

Mallory stared at him. “What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about why I need the ruby!"

"What's all this crap about fulcrums and balance points?"

"It is my duty to act as a balance against the worst tendencies of a world. In
this
Manhattan, where anarchy reigns and cause is not always followed by effect, I am a force for order."

"You impose order by killing and looting?” said Mallory incredulously.

"I am a demon. My nature restricts the ways in which I can function. I
must
maim and kill and pillage! It is what I was born to do!"

"All of which constitutes as poor a justification for evil as I've ever heard."

"Don't you understand? This society is without direction! It
needs
a common enemy to give it a sense of purpose.” The Grundy paused. “
I
am that enemy."

"And much against his will, the noble demon takes the onerous burden upon himself, is that it?” said Mallory sardonically.

"I can take it upon myself precisely because I
am
a demon!” thundered the Grundy. “I take nourishment from death, I revel in grief and injustice!” His face glowed with an unholy ecstasy. “There is an exquisite mathematical precision to the creation of suffering, a geometric beauty in the state of hopelessness, a fierce primal joy in the creation of terror.
You
could no more fulfill my function in this universe than I could fulfill in
yours."

"So you become the common enemy. What about all the other would-be enemies of the state?"

"That's why I wanted Larkspur to live. I cannot by my very nature reform a lawbreaker; nor will I permit the existence of competitors—but I can impose order on this world by letting my would-be competitors commit their crimes in
your
Manhattan."

"For which my Manhattan thanks you,” said Mallory dryly.

"Your Manhattan
should
thank me. An overly regulated society needs lawbreakers, just as
this
society needs a sense of order.” The Grundy stared at Mallory. “Do you even begin to comprehend what I am saying to you?"

"I'm working on it,” said Mallory. “Just out of curiosity, what about the other two worlds?"

"What other two worlds?"

"The worlds those rubies give you access to,” said Mallory, pointing to the Grundy's necklace.

"I was very young when I acquired my first ruby,” replied the demon. “My powers were immature, and I didn't know how to control them."

"You destroyed the whole world?"

"I gained considerable knowledge from the experience."

"Well, I'm glad
somebody
did. What about the other one?"

"It was a rational world, dedicated to all that is best in Man,” said the Grundy. “It was approaching a state of utopia when I obtained the ruby."

"And now?"

"I visited it with chaos, I introduced hatred and bigotry and jealousy into its soul, I destroyed their monuments to Reason and forced them to erect pagan statues to me."

"For their own good?” said Mallory dryly.

"Certainly,” replied the Grundy. “One cannot appreciate a utopia without having experienced a dystopia, any more than one can appreciate the concept of Good without having experienced Evil."

"You keep talking about balance, and good and evil, and your sense of purpose,” said Mallory. “But all I hear is how you bring ruin to everything you touch."

"Humanists will tell you that Good and Evil are relative concepts, that there are no absolutes in the universe,” said the Grundy. He growled contemptuously. “Humanists are fools! There is absolute Good and absolute Evil. The universe requires not just one, but both. I represent the one, and my job is to oppose the other."

"Who represents Good?” asked Mallory.

"Just as I do not exist in all times and places, neither does my counterpart. In some universes he is Jesus, in some Mohammed; in some he is nothing more than an abstract ideal, a concept embedded in a thought or a word."

"And you try to kill off the Good?"

The Grundy shook his head. “The universe would be as out of balance if I killed my Opponent as it would be if he killed me. I may try to subdue him, just as he tries to subdue me, but neither of us can ever win. I destroy a man, and he creates a child; he plants a flower, and my breath withers it; I enslave a race, and he imparts to them a vision of freedom; he creates a monument, and I gnaw at its foundations."

"If you've achieved a balance, why do you need another ruby?” asked Mallory.

"To maintain balance in yet another world,” answered the Grundy.
"Your
world."

"If by balance you mean murder and rape and war, then my world's already got a little more balance than it knows what to do with,” replied Mallory dryly.

"I will bring confusion out of order, hate out of love, pollution out of sterility—and from my strength my Opponent will drink deep and increase his own."

Mallory stared at him for a long moment.

"You've caused enough misery for one lifetime,” he said at last. “I don't intend to let you bring any more to my world."

"You will not turn the ruby over to me?” demanded the Grundy.

Mallory shook his head. “My world's got enough problems without you adding to them."

"But I already
have!"
laughed the Grundy. “Larkspur lived for more than fifty years. Who do you think whispered dreams of empire into the ear of a frustrated Austrian housepainter? Who placed the machinery of execution in Stalin's hands? I was at My Lai and Auschwitz, at Phnom Penh and Hiroshima. It was I who told Idi Amin how to exercise his power, who designed the dungeons of Paraguay, who convinced Neville Chamberlain to trust his fellow man.” He paused and stared directly into Mallory's eyes. “And yet you survived, and you grew, and you prospered, for my Opponent never rests. I blow polio upon the winds, and he guides Jonas Salk's hand; I walk the battlefields and ravage the wounded, and he transmutes bread mold into a magical elixir. I slaughter the satiated, and he feeds the starving. The balance still exists—but for it to continue, I
must
have the ruby."

"No."

"But
why?"
demanded the Grundy, slamming his fist against the wall in frustration and leaving burn marks on the shattered plaster. “I have explained the situation to you! Surely you see the necessity of it!"

"Consider it a social experiment,” said Mallory. “I think one world deserves a chance to survive without your particular notion of balance."

The Grundy sighed and shook his head. “Then some other entity will come along to take my place."

"Perhaps,” acknowledged Mallory. “But I can't worry about that. All I can do is concentrate on what I can control—and I control the ruby."

"I have ways of extracting it from you,” said the Grundy ominously.

"I'm sure you have,” said Mallory. “But they won't do you any good. If I don't report to Felina at four-thirty and every hour thereafter, neither you nor I will ever see the stone again."