Vengeance of the Dancing Gods (32 page)

"I've been pretty sore before, but asking questions is free..

They didn't like his attitude, but they were here on business first. Joe longed for his old, perfect body now, which could have disarmed and made mincemeat out of both of them in a series of moves, but he decided not to risk anything until he also found out a little.

"Okay, big guy—why were you pressing that bubblebrain back there?.

"We wanted good directions to the beach and some pineapple..

The man hit him again. The other said, "You have a lot of plans about the castle here. What were you trying to do?.

"Find out all I could about your happy little heaven..

That was better. "Why?" the first one asked. "Who are you working for?.

Joe thought fast. "The Sierra Club," he told them.

That brought both of them up short. "The Sierra Club?.

"Your boss made a deal to get the land and keep it out of the hands of the government. Now he's moving in hordes of people, generators, lots of equipment—we think he violated his agreement. We think he's preparing to make so many changes he'll damage the land beyond repair.

Since you've refused to let us in, we're getting information where we can. And that's the truth..

The first man stared past Joe to the second. "What do you think?.

"I think we ought to take him in and let the Master talk to him..

Page 171 Chalker, Jack L - Vengeance of the Dancing Gods "Yeah, I—.

Joe moved with sudden swiftness against the first man.

He was not in the condition that he once was, but he knew all the moves and he wasn't in bad shape. He was not about to desert Tiana and be hauled before Dacaro or Boquillas right now.

Both he and the man outside the van went down, and the gun flew into the darkness. Ignoring the man down, he turned and kicked the van door hard before the first man could react, catching his arm between the door and the post. He then flung the door open and pulled the man from the van violently, adrenaline and mental training replacing what he'd lost.

The gunman recovered, though, and was no pushover, suddenly coming to life and pushing Joe off, then launching himself on the big man. They struggled and fought for what seemed several minutes, but finally Joe seemed to prevail.

There were three sharp explosions, and Joe felt terrible, tearing pain in his back. The first man had found his pistol and had panicked. Joe cried out in agony and released his own opponent, then rolled onto the ground.

The first man helped the second man up, and they looked at Joe. "What'U we do now?.

"Get back to the castle and report. We can ditch the van on the way so his lady friend can't find it, even if she can drive..

"What about him?.

"Forget about him. Can't you see with your own eyes.

He's dead..

JACK L.CHALKER 221 CHAPTER I 4 INTO THE DRAGON'S LAIR ... For I well believe Thou wilt not utter what thou dost not know...

—William Shakespeare, King Henry IV, Part I IT WAS A BRIGHT AND SUNNY MORNING, ATYPICALLY warm and clear for this part of the country in this season of the year. Poquah wished to take full advantage of it, but he first had to arrange for a car to be sent over by some of the detectives on retainer.

It had been well after six when one of the special trouble numbers had rung and the call had been relayed to the Imir. He knew something had happened when Joe and Page 172 Chalker, Jack L - Vengeance of the Dancing Gods Marge had failed to return or call in the previous evening and he already had people out at McMahon's place checking on things. What they had discovered had not been encouraging. McMahon had apparently not returned from the church and there was no sign of her anywhere. The tape recorder was still on and the small fog machines were still hissing and overheating, although long out of the chemicals that made them go, but of the high priestess of the Neo-Primitives there was no sign.

The Imir was relieved, then, when he heard Joe's voice on the line.

"Yeah, three shots right in the back at point-blank range.

Really screwed up my shirt. I'll tell you, that were stuff really paid off for me last night. Good thing they weren't using silver bullets, anyway. I figured the best thing to do 220 was to play dead, though—the shock knocked me out for a couple of minutes, and when I came to I had the choice of lying there or killing them. I figured I was better dead.

No sense in the Baron learning that somebody got up after taking those kinds of slugs. He'd know in a minute it was me..

"I agree. But why did you take so long to call?.

"Hell, Poquah! It was the middle of nowhere, and I still had to wait for Tiana, although she was nearby and saw most of it. I cleaned off as best I could, but a guy walking or hitchhiking up the road with a blood-stained back would be about as obvious as a mermaid jumping up on a pier and making a phone call. It took some time, and I still feel really conspicuous here..

"I will be down to pick you up as soon as possible..

It was about a fifty minute drive along less than perfect roads, but Poquah had no trouble finding the spot and picking Joe up by the side of the road. The Imir had brought along clean clothes, which Joe needed badly, and the big man changed while they went back to pick up Tiana. She was glad to see them, although almost reluctant to leave the sea. She alone had not suffered at all during the period.

"They didn't make us, so they must have had the church staked out," Joe told him. "What I can't figure out is why they let her loose in the first place if she was a threat to them..

"She probably wasn't," Poquah replied. "At least, they did not believe she had any information that couldn't be gleaned elsewhere. They allowed her to be bait unknowingly, I suspect, since she's an obvious source for anyone looking into the Baron's affairs. That is why her abduction now worries me. If it was just after you left, then we might weep for her but not worry very much, since they might simply have decided that she was of no further use.

However, if they went back for her after their encounter with you, then they wanted to pump her for information Page 173 Chalker, Jack L - Vengeance of the Dancing Gods 222 JACK L. CHALKER 223 VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS on you, and, as I gather from your preliminary account, she knows quite a bit..

"It was the only way to get her to open up," Tiana explained. "It did not seem much of a risk..

"Yeah, considering she was higher than a kite at the time," Joe added.

"Most would dismiss her story, but Dacaro and the Baron will not. We must assume that they will put the Elders' account together with hers and come up with the correct assumptions. They will assume that it was you, Joe, and that means they will not assume that you are dead, and they will also now assume that Marge is here as well. We must accelerate our timetable, even though the evidence shows that the Baron is not yet as strong as we believed. There is not only increasing danger to us, but also the danger that he will accelerate whatever plans he has in operation. I want you both to get a good night's sleep because you'll have to be ready to go while it's still light. Tonight is the first night of the full moon; if we lose it, we lose one opportunity..

"So you want us to go in tonight?.

"Yes. This will be an exploratory foray at ground level, but it may give us the last few pieces of the puzzle. Late this afternoon, if the weather holds, I'd like to go into town and pick some likely prospects. I spotted the van, off the road a few miles ahead. But since it will be recognized now, we'll leave it and stick to this car. We can always pick it up later, if we need it..

"The demonic force behind all this resides below,.

Poquah told them in a briefing before they were to go into town. "Gimlet and even Marge felt it and knew that it was there, although it does seem somewhat under control by the proper spells and restrictions. Do not underestimate it..

"Still only one demon, though," Tiana remarked. "Can it be Hiccarph again?.

"It is doubtful. The demotion seemed plain, and they wouldn't trust a known blunderer and insubordinate on an Earth project. It will be one of the majors, though— count on that. We will have to find some way to deal with it. I am still not clear why they need it this close to the Earthly plane of existence. Dacaro has more than enough power for this sort of operation." He thought a moment.

"Unless Dacaro himself is being prepared merely as a conduit through which the demonic power can flow. Yes, Page 174 Chalker, Jack L - Vengeance of the Dancing Gods that must be it, but what could the Baron have dreamed up that would require that much raw power?.

"Great, so we got a demon in the cellar—" Joe began, but Poquah cut him off.

"No, beneath the cellar and not quite in this plane of reality, but real enough..

"So, all right, that gives us still more of a blank. Did Gimlet get down to the cellar at all?.

"No, the tremendous force of evil made her quite naturally too afraid to do so. The first floor, however, has been redone so that there is a single long room along the left side, here, terminating in a standard altar and having a few hundred folding chairs. This is obviously the chapel where they conduct services for the locals. On the other side, there is a large and comfortably furnished reception room and in back of that is the kitchen. On the second floor is a suite of offices, still in the unfinished stages, used by Dacaro and the Baroness, and also headquarters and quarters for the chief Elders and the heads of the Ministering Angels. The third floor is only partially used, apparently as communal quarters for more of the enforcement personnel, and is partly sealed off. The fourth floor is boarded up and not used at all..

"Hmmm..." Tiana studied the drawings made from Gimlet's observations. "So where are the Baron's offices?.

"In the cellar, we must assume. The Baron and Baroness use the master bedroom on the second floor, while Dacaro is currently sleeping in a small area behind the altar downstairs until they finish up his own complex. The exterior is well patrolled by the Elders; the interior has 224 JACK L. CHALKER VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS 225 a Ministering Angel or two in each of the rooms. Gimlet says that all of the Angels are totally enslaved by spells, and are specifically assigned to a task—a room, a person, and so on. The Elders have more freedom and individuality and less clearly defined tasks, but are no less bound.

She also states that there is a lot of equipment of various sorts piled up all over the place, and that technicians seem to be working there day and night. Just what's up, though, is unclear, although I have some suspicions. Come. Let's go into town..

"Aren't you afraid they'll recognize me?" Joe asked him.

Page 175 Chalker, Jack L - Vengeance of the Dancing Gods "It is unlikely that those Elders will be around, and I wouldn't worry about them in any event. The Baron, if he doesn't already know, will know soon enough..

The day remained fairly clear and warm, giving Tiana some help, and the three drove the car from the old industry siding where the truck was parked and into the town.

It was in fact a quite attractive little place, not very large but with all the requisites—a general store, a small cafe, a couple of tiny old churches, a sheriff's office— but no jail—a gas station, a tiny branch bank, a Wards catalog store, and nine places selling redwood burl. There were mostly pickups parked diagonally up and down the lone main street, but not a lot of people or traffic. The place looked unnaturally, antiseptically clean, though, and, while the people they did see were all dressed pretty normally for this place and the time of the year, almost all of them seemed to have something yellow on—a shirt, a skirt, or perhaps a kerchief. Even Joe, Tiana, and Poquah wore yellow shirts this time; in Stockman Mills, even those who weren't members of the True Path found it better to show solidarity.

It looked peaceful, orderly, and friendly enough, but there was something intangible in the air that they could nonetheless all feel.

"You can almost smell the fear," Tiana remarked.

Poquah nodded. "It is a strong stench, like being in one of the towns after the Baron's soldiers had taken it..

"But—can't all those legitimate religious figures smell it, too?" Joe asked him. "I mean, here was Dacaro guestpreaching on some guy's TV show a few days ago, and you tell me he's gotten support..

"People see what they wish to see," the Imir responded.

"In just recent Earth history, we find Hitler the social reformer, Pol Pot the democratic liberator of Cambodia, and Khomeni the democratic liberal. In this very state, they hailed the Reverend Jones as a liberal reformer and even appointed him to government office. Humans are very much oriented to the surface, rather than what is within, both here and back home..

"But he can't fool all of the people all of the time,.

Joe noted. "Eventually he has to come out into the open..

"Perhaps. Probably. They all did, didn't they? But how much innocent blood was spilled to stop the cancers that should have been obvious? How many dead, maimed, and ruined in Husaquahr to block the Baron's visions of social reform? That is why we must stop him here and now, while the toll is still relatively small..

The plans and the passwords were set. Tonight, a few more people would attend the services.