Theogony 1: Janissaries (22 page)

“
Top, watch out,
” Calvin commed. “
We’ve just been
apprehended by soldiers. They’ll probably come for you next.
”

“
Too late,
” Top answered, looking at the 15 men that
had just stormed into the room. “
They’re already here. By the way, they’re
armed with blunderbusses and dragons. Ain’t that some shit? Where did they get
those?
”

“
No idea,
” replied Calvin, “
but ours were armed,
too. What’s a dragon?
”

“
It’s the pistol version of a blunderbuss,
” Top
answered. “
What do you want us to do?
”

“
Go along with them for now,
” Calvin told him. “
If
they don’t bring you here, we’ll work out an alternate way of getting back together.
”

“
Roger that sir,
” commed Top. “We’ll come along
quietly,” he said out loud, “as long as you have some way of transporting my
wounded soldier.”

“So they’re not gods?” asked Plung, the Second Advisor to
the King.

“Of course not, you idiot!” replied his cousin Stref Pirle,
who was also the uncle and First Advisor to the King. “The only thing you did
right in the whole sorry mess yesterday was to confirm that!”

Plung looked confused. “What do you mean?” he asked.

“Let me spell it out for you,” replied Stref. “I’ll even use
little words.”

“Thank you!” interrupted Plung.

“That wasn’t a compliment,” Stref said with a sigh. He
continued, “I asked you to bring me a poor, idiot farmer so that we could
question him on what he knew about the foreigners. If they acted like gods. If
so, what were their powers? Not only did you
not
bring me the farmer,
you got six of our best men killed in the process.”

“The foreigners were good fighters!” his cousin interjected.

“One of them was,” said Stref with a small smile. “The other
was definitely
not
, and she also got wounded in the process and had to
be assisted back to their inn.”

“Yes?” asked Plung, not seeing where the conversation was
going.

Stref sighed again. He probably should end his cousin’s
family line. It was obviously too hopelessly inbred to be of any value. “Have
you ever heard of a mortal hurting a god?” he asked.

“No,” said Plung. “Gods don’t get hurt by...oh, I see!” he
nearly shouted. “The girl got hurt, so she wasn’t a god. And if she wasn’t a
god, the others probably weren’t either. That’s why you had them thrown in the
dungeon!”

“Exactly,” said Stref. “Now that we have the lizards taken
care of, we need something for our troops to do. We can interrogate these
foreigners and find out where they came from and what kind of weapons they
have. If their weapons are better than ours, we will torture the secrets of how
they work out of them. If their weapons are not more powerful than ours, we
will crush them with our new guns, just like we did the lizards.”

“Do you think the king will go along with that plan?” asked
Plung.

“I’m sure he will,” said Stref, the smile back on his face.
“His mother will suffer greatly if he does not.”

* * * * *

Calvin’s group was led into the dungeon and chained to the
walls. While the soldiers did not go out of their way to mishandle the Terrans,
they also did nothing to try to alleviate the misery of being tied up or
chained. The Terrans found that, no matter how gently it was accomplished, being
chained to a wall was not fun.

Calvin looked around the room as the soldiers left. When he
was in school, he had idly wondered during history classes if dungeons were
really as bad as they were described. Surveying his surroundings, the answer
was a definite, ‘yes.’ His chains were just long enough for him to be able to
sit, but he had to keep his hands up. His arms were already getting sore and
starting to knot up, and he’d only been there a couple of minutes. Within 15
minutes, he wasn’t sure he’d still be able to grip a weapon.

The dungeon was a long way below the castle, and everything
was damp. Not only did the humidity make the dungeon nasty and smelly, it also
made the metal rusty. The chains were already cutting into his skin, and he saw
as a line of blood trickling down his right arm.

There were a few of the standard torture devices from Earth’s
past in the room, he saw, including a rack that was exhibited prominently in
the center of the room. A bed of nails along one of the walls was sufficiently
blood-stained to let him know that it had been well-used during its time in the
dungeon. The torture table by the wall was also bloodstained from use, and it
had an impressive array of tools for cutting and doing other nasty things to a
body. Some of the tools must have been designed with the lizard race in mind,
because he wasn’t sure what purpose they would have served on a humanoid. There
was even a fire going in the room’s fireplace, with a large basket of things
that were obviously meant to be heated sitting next to it. On closer
inspection, there were already three pokers glowing red hot inside the blaze.

As he thought about the lizards, he noticed that there were
two chained to the opposite wall. Both looked like they had been well
acquainted with the torture devices, as they had a variety of burns, cuts and
missing scales. He didn’t know much about the lizards, but from the little he
had seen, one of them was a female. He’d had about enough of this.

“
Anyone else ready to end this charade?
” Calvin commed.

“
I have had quite enough,
” replied the ambassador, “
if
I do say so, myself.
”

A chorus of “Yes sir” and “Damn right” was also heard
throughout the room.

“
Top, where are you now?
” Calvin inquired.

“
It looks like we’re being led into a dungeon,
” he
replied. “
It’s taking longer because of Deadeye’s knee.
”

As he said that, the door opened, and a group of soldiers
with guns brought the remaining Terrans into the room, along with Gurp. They
were quickly chained to the wall, and the soldiers left, although one of them
took the time to kick Deadeye in the knee as he walked by, eliciting a scream.

After they had left, a small voice said, “They’re going to
start with her.”

Calvin looked up and realized that it was the female lizard
that had spoken. “I’m sorry,” he replied. “What did you say?”

“They always start with the females,” the lizard answered.
“It makes the males talk. Of course, they don’t stop once the men start
talking; they like the act of torture too much.” She paused. “Pray to whatever
gods you believe in that they make a mistake and kill you. It would be for the
best.” She appeared to grimace. “It’s not likely, though. They are very good at
prolonging the pain.”

She looked at the lizard next to her. “He has been here for
ten days. He was to have been my husband. They leave him here so that his pain
will torture me more.” A tear ran down her face.

“So you are the princess?” asked the ambassador, making the
connection.

“Sadly, yes I was,” she replied. “He tried to rescue me. Now
he suffers all day and night for me. If I could, I would kill him myself to end
his misery.”

Calvin looked at Top. “Think you could bust one of these
chains?”

“I’m ready to try,” Top answered. “Just give me the word.”

“It’s time to get out of here,” Calvin announced. “Anyone
that can break their chains, please feel free to do so.”

There were a number of grunts around the room and the sound
of metal being stressed. Two ‘pops’ were heard, and Top and Bad Twin stood up.
Bad Twin looked at his brother and said, “Dude, you’re such a wuss!”

Seeing that his brother had escaped, Good Twin tried a
little harder and ‘pop,’ he was free also. “I was just waiting to see if you
could do it, dude. I didn’t want to make you look bad.”

The princess was amazed. “No one has ever broken out of
those chains,” she said as Top and the twins began releasing the rest of the
Terrans.

“We’re stronger than we look,” said Calvin with a smile.

“Please sir, if you would kill my betrothed before you
leave, I would be forever in your debt,” begged the princess.

“
You’re not going to leave her...
” commed the
ambassador, but he was cut off by Calvin.

“I’m not going to kill him,” said Calvin. “We’re getting both
of you out of here. Weddings just aren’t any fun without both a bride and a
groom.”

“That would be nice,” the princess replied, “but I am afraid
that we are both too greatly hurt to travel. We would only slow you down. Just
kill us together, and we will be at peace.”

“Not going to happen, ma’am,” said Top, opening her
shackles. Top helped her stand and then went to release her fiance.

“He will not be able to do much,” said the princess. “I’ll
need help carrying him.”

Top looked at Calvin. “I think we’re going to need more help
sir,” he advised. “Between needing someone to carry him and someone else for
Deadeye, we don’t have very many combat effectives. Beside the fact that they
have guns and we don’t.” He tried not to look at the ambassador as he said the
last part, but couldn’t help it. Top had argued vigorously to bring at least
laser pistols, but the ambassador had vetoed the idea.

“I already tried to contact the
Gulf
,” Calvin said,
“but we’re too far underground to get a signal out. We’ll have to get closer to
the surface if we’re going to call for help.

“Someone is coming!” said Yokaze from where he was standing
near the door. “It sounds like many people.”

“Quick!” ordered Calvin. “Get back to where you were and
look like you’re still chained up.”

The prisoners had just finished returning to their shackles
when the door opened. A soldier in red led the way, followed by Blin, a tall
muscular man, and another five soldiers. “I have brought a friend to talk to
you,” said Blin, stopping in front of the ambassador. He looked over his
shoulder at the other man, who was carrying a variety of cutting tools. “My
torturer will hurt you a lot less if you tell me what I want to know now,
rather than making me beat it out of you. You will still get hurt, of course.
It wouldn’t be any fun if you didn’t. It will, however, not be as bad.” He
looked at Cristobel Contreras, sitting next to the ambassador. “I’m going to
hurt
you
just for fun and to teach you some manners. I probably won’t
even ask you a question.”

“Hey Blin!” Calvin shouted. “Why don’t you start with me?”
As all of the locals focused their attention on him, Calvin commed, “
Take
them from behind!
” Top, the twins and Yokaze left the wall behind the
soldiers and began sneaking up on them.

Blin walked over to stand in front of Calvin. “I wouldn’t be
in such a hurry to attract my attention if I were you. Don’t worry, you’ll get
your turn.” Seeing Deadeye next to Calvin, he squatted down next to her. “I
almost forgot about you,” he said. “You look like a lot of fun. Perhaps I’ll
start with you...” He ran a finger down her face and across one of her breasts.
He smiled in anticipation. Calvin saw that most of the soldiers were smiling
and licking their lips as well. Obviously, this was not their first visit here.

“
NOW!
” Calvin commed, and the Terrans surged forward
to attack. Four of the soldiers went down in the initial attack as Top and the
twins each grabbed one and slit their throats with knives they had picked up
from the tables. Yokaze had been chained near the fireplace, and the poker he
had removed from the fire made a hissing noise as he stabbed it through the
back of a fourth. The soldier went down screaming.

Realizing the prisoners had escaped, Blin was faster than
the rest and bolted for the door, only to have it slammed shut by the lizard
princess before he could get to it. He turned on the princess with a snarl,
hoping to take her hostage, but found his way blocked by Cristobal Contreras. “You
have already done enough to this lady,” said Contreras. “No more.”

Blin smiled. “At least I will have the pleasure of killing
you,” he said as he drew his sword. Contreras backed away as Blin made a
backhanded cut at his head, narrowly avoiding the strike. Blin stepped forward,
following him and driving him back.

Seeing the Chilean in trouble, Top took the sword of the
soldier he had killed and lobbed it to him. “Cabo!” he cried, as he lobbed it
over the oversized torture table that stood between them. Contreras reached out
and caught the sword, narrowly avoiding a sweeping cut that Blin tried to land
while he was distracted. Sword in hand, Contreras faced Blin. “The pleasure of
killing will be mine,” he said and advanced on Blin. The room was immediately filled
with the sound of steel on steel as both men directed cut after cut at the
other.

It was an even fight, with Blin’s years of experience
matched by Contreras’ augmented speed and strength. They traded blow after
blow, each man parrying the other’s best attacks. Finally Contreras saw an
opening and delivered an overhead cut. Blin had intentionally left himself open
there, though, hoping that Contreras would try it. As Contreras’ sword
descended, he raised his to block it and swept Contreras’ sword aside, slamming
it into the stone table next to them. The sword shattered into several pieces,
leaving Contreras holding the hilt and about six inches of blade.

Completing the block, Blin delivered a backhand stroke on
the suddenly defenseless Chilean, and his sword whistled through the air toward
Contreras’ neck. Bracing himself, Contreras put up his left arm, bent at the
elbow, and intercepted Blin’s stroke on his forearm. There was a meaty slap as
the blade struck his arm and stuck. Contreras yanked his arm back, drawing Blin
closer. All he had was six inches of blade, but that was enough as he jammed
the remnant of his sword through Blin’s throat. Blin’s eyes went wide in shock
and surprise, and he gurgled something unintelligible. Contreras pulled him even
closer and spat into his face. He watched the light leave Blin’s eyes and then
cast him aside like garbage. “Bastardo!” Contreras said as he shoved the dead
man away.

He turned toward the princess and did a sword flourish that
was undiminished by its lack of blade. Bowing, he swept the sword hilt to the
side with another flourish and said, “Cabo Segundo Cristobal Contreras, at your
service, m’lady.”  

The princess stared at his left arm, which still had the
sword imbedded in it. “Doesn’t that hurt?”

Contreras looked down at the sword as if seeing it for the
first time. “That? That is nothing but a scratch in the service of m’lady,” he
said elegantly as he bowed again.

As Blin began trying to flee, the torturer looked up to find
Yokaze blocking his way. The soldier held the fireplace poker in a defensive
position, centering himself. The torturer looked down at the basket of knives
he was carrying. He shifted the basket into his left hand and grabbed one of the
knives. Without looking up, he hurled it at Yokaze with all of his might.
Yokaze waited, and the poker twitched and knocked the knife away. Annoyed, the
torturer picked up a second knife and threw it. Again, Yokaze batted it away.

Top came up alongside him. “You go left; I’ll go right,” he
said.

Seeing a new person entering the fight, the torturer picked
up another knife and threw it at Top. Top flung up his arm to protect himself,
unable to dodge it. Just before it hit him, a hand appeared as Yokaze reached
over to pluck it from midair. “No,” Yokaze said, “you are fighting me.” He flipped
the knife into the air, caught it by the blade and whipped it back at the
torturer.

The torturer’s eyes grew large as the knife sped toward him.
Dropping the basket, he tried to knock the knife away. He missed, and the knife
completed its final spin, burying itself in the center of his chest. The
torturer looked down in disbelief at the expanding red stain before falling to
his knees and then face first onto the ground.

“Kuso,” said Yokaze.

“Wha...What?” asked Top, still amazed at the reprieve. “What
was that?”

“I said ‘shit,’” Yokaze replied. “It was a bad throw. It
should have hit him in the heart, two centimeters to the right.” He shook his
head. “The knife was poorly weighted.”

As the torturer threw his first knife at Yokaze, the last
two soldiers faced off with the twins. The soldiers, armed with swords, had a
big advantage over the twins, who only had knives. They drove the twins back,
trying to make their way to the door and escape. Suddenly, the one facing Good
Twin gave a startled cry and fell to his knees. As the soldier slumped forward,
Good Twin could see a butcher knife sticking out of his back. Deadeye stood on
one leg behind him. “That’ll teach you to kick a girl when she’s down,” she
said as he fell.

In her anger, she didn’t see the other soldier turn from his
fight with Bad Twin. The soldier saw the unarmed girl, and drew his arm back to
slash her with his sword. Seeing what was about to happen, Bad Twin dove
forward and tackled the soldier. They rolled on the ground, first one on top,
then the other. Finally, they stopped moving, and Bad Twin got up. He left his
knife where it was, embedded in the soldier’s chest.