Tale of the Dead Town (14 page)

“Just what you see. Looks to me like they just went off on a goddamn killing spree.
From the shape of these bones, I’d wager it was quite some time ago. And it looks
to me like not one of them made it out alive.”

“Well, they launched missiles at us. And put down gangways. Is that the sort of thing
a crewless ship does automatically? For starters, we don’t even know why they fired
the missiles. They might’ve been small scale, but they were still nukes. If they’d
scored a hit, they’d have most likely knocked the town out of the sky with one shot.”

“So, failing to shoot us down, they decided to close with us,” the sheriff spat. He
looked at the skeletal faces, and, an instant after relief swept over him, the urge
to plunder filled his head. The presence of the doctor and Lori quickly became a hindrance
to his plan.
They’ll get theirs, too
, the lawman thought, a kind of madness suddenly at work in his mind. The barrel of
the rocket launcher rose smoothly.

And that was when it happened. Screams echoed off in the distance. Two of them—Yan’s
and Pete’s. Exchanging glances, the physician and sheriff started running as fast
as they could toward the sound. The sheriff halted in front of the control center,
where the iron door had fallen into the room. There was a blue tinge to the air, and
the foul smell of burnt flesh hit his nose. Smoke was creeping out through the doorway.
Someone was in there.
Don’t tell me they went after D
, he thought.

Apparently realizing his duty as a lawman, the sheriff told Dr. Tsurugi, “You two
stay right here.” And then he slipped through the doorway alone. It didn’t take long
at all. At some point someone or something had utterly destroyed the control room,
and on the floor lay a pair of charred corpses, one on top of the other. He didn’t
even have to look at them to know they were Pete and Yan’s remains. An optical weapon
with less output than a laser had burnt them to a crisp. Most likely it was a heat
ray.

Shifting the rocket launcher to his left hand, the sheriff drew a huge explosive-firing
handgun with his right. While its design closely resembled that of an old-fashioned
revolver, it could hold thirty-six shots. The exploding rounds were powerful enough
to drop a lesser dragon with one shot, or dispatch a medium-sized fire dragon with
half a dozen. He couldn’t very well start blasting away with his missiles indoors.
Suddenly, a metallic sound reverberated from a pitch-black corner of the room. Looking
over his shoulder, the instant Sheriff Hutton’s eyes caught a semicircular shape,
his handgun roared.

The deafening report of a weapon made Dr. Tsurugi tense up. Beyond the doorway, a
red glow swelled momentarily, and an incredible shriek rang out. Lori clung to Dr.
Tsurugi’s arm, trembling. Though he’d told her to wait, the girl was determined to
go with him. Apparently she could gather from the red light and Dr. Tsurugi’s tension
that something had happened. Slowly mouthing the words, “Wait here,” Dr. Tsurugi pulled
his arm free from her grasp.

Lori didn’t disobey him. In her travels with her parents, she’d learned far too well
what resulted when action was precipitated by curiosity or fear.

Laying both hands gently on the girl’s shoulders, Dr. Tsurugi headed quickly for the
doorway. His steps suddenly halted. With a strange sound, a dark figure appeared from
the room. The doctor readied his shotgun. The first thing he saw was an arm-like protrusion
that called to mind a thermal-ray cannon. Following that was the spherical body. And
supporting that body from below were caterpillar treads like those of a tank.

“Get down!” the physician shouted as he shoved Lori out of the way, a wave of orange
sailing right over him. The tremendous heat set the back of his white lab coat ablaze,
and flames licked from his hair. Screaming, the physician writhed in pain. Cradling
his head, he rolled his back against the ground in an effort to put out the fire.

Grabbing him by the scruff of the neck, Lori dove off to the side. A second heat shower
narrowly missed the pair, striking the ground near where they lay. Without so much
as looking at the physician’s back, Lori shouldered the shotgun and pulled the trigger.
The blast struck the dome-shaped torso, and the buckshot ricocheted off in all directions
with a beautiful sound. Lori threw herself to the ground. There was no way to escape
now.

The arm that was going to spray them with white-hot death, however, turned in the
opposite direction along with the rest of its body. In the shadow of a building some
fifteen feet away there suddenly stood a figure in black so beautiful and tragic it
numbed even the electronic brain of this machine. Perhaps that was the reason why
it was delayed a tenth of a second aligning the sights on its thermal-ray cannon.

Easily leaping over the shower of blistering heat his foe unleashed, D brought his
longsword down, slicing the top of the machine’s head into a half-moon shape.

-

-

I

-

Sparks and electromagnetic waves shooting from the newly cut opening, the machine
halted, and, in the very same instant, Lori threw herself on the physician. Rubbing
against his body, she crushed out the still-smoldering fire. Giving off only bluish
smoke now, Dr. Tsurugi moaned. Above her, the girl sensed someone moving. Lori looked
up and moved her lips.
Hurry
, she mouthed.
We have to get him to the nurse quickly!

“I should have a look at him first,” D said slowly, and, helping Lori out of the way,
he pulled off the physician’s lab coat.

“I’m fine,” the disheveled Dr. Tsurugi said as he tugged at his own hair. “It’s not
a serious burn. I can walk on my own. Kindly leave me be.”

D stood up. Despite the other man’s sharp tone, the Hunter didn’t seem particularly
angry. Without giving the physician another glance, he looked at Lori.

An awesome tempest of fear and self-loathing raged in the girl’s eyes.
Didn’t even try to help the doctor
. . .
I just
. . .
took the gun . . .

“Well done,” D said soberly. Of course, Lori had no idea how close to miraculous it
was to hear those words coming from him. “If you hadn’t taken that shot, the machine
probably would’ve killed you both. You knew the doctor’s burns weren’t too bad.”

But I
. . .

“And when you took the shot, you even put yourself in front of the doctor,” the Hunter
continued. “Not many people would’ve done that.”

The girl’s eyes were gleaming. Only after D said those words did she realize just
what she’d done.

“Yes, indeed,” the physician said as his hand picked through the miserable remnants
of his hair. “If you’d bothered with me, both of us would be checking into the hereafter.
I owe you my life. Now, then—lead on. My nurse hasn’t been any use since the magnetic
storm. This time it’ll be
my
turn to get looked at.”

Lori nodded. The girl knew that she was needed now.

Just then, they noticed there was no sign of D. A few minutes later he reappeared
from the door to the control room.

“What happened to the sheriff and his men?”

D simply shook his head.

“What the hell was that thing?” the physician muttered, his voice fraught with anger.

In reply, D merely said, “An internal defensive system for the ship, no doubt. It
seems to be the only thing moving. The ship’s crew died off three years ago.”

“How do you know that?”

D pulled a yellowed ship’s log from his coat. After the physician had run his eyes
over the last page of it, ineffable shades of terror and misery colored his face .
. . an expression that didn’t fade for the longest time.

The crew of this pirate ship had grown weary of their aimless voyages. Though they
freely sailed the skies, the floating cities and cargo-laden sailing vessels they
preyed on were few and far between. What’s more, when the pirate ship finally
did
get a chance to shine, all her opponents had either mounted heavy firepower or acquired
three-dimensional radar and more powerful engines, making fight or flight the only
viable solutions. The number of targets a pirate ship could go after had decidedly
decreased. Apathy and ennui began to take over the ship, and before long many of the
crew took their own lives, while the rest either started killing each other to stave
off the boredom or grew sick and died. But the ion engines of the ship itself still
ran, and could continue to do so until the end of time. Carrying nothing save a load
of corpses, she continued her voyage across the boundless seas of fear.

“And the person who kept this log?”

“He was in his cabin,” D said, “shot through the forehead.”

“In that case, who in the world fired those missiles?”

“The computer must’ve been programmed to do that. Someone told it to go right on plundering
even after they were all dead.”

The physician shook his head in disgust. Looking at D, he asked, “And none of this
bothers you? There’s carnage all around us, and your expression says you don’t feel
a thing. What does it take to break that pretty face of yours? What could make you
cry? Or make you laugh?”

“I’ve seen too much,” D said dispassionately.

“Still—” the physician began to say, but then a mysterious light filled his eyes.
“Okay, I understand about the missiles. But what about the gangways being sent over
after they pulled alongside us? You mean to say that was programmed into their computers
as well?”

“I don’t know.”

“I see. But . . . ”

“Let’s go.”

D turned around. As the physician was about to ask him to wait, he heard a low groan
beneath his feet. The ship was starting to move. “What in the name of—”

“It’s setting off on another journey. A new voyage of plunder.” D’s voice trailed
off into the distance.

The other two went after him. The whole ship was mired in an eeriness that staggered
the imagination. Just as the three of them finished crossing the gangway, the pirate
ship gradually began pulling away from the town.

“Where do you suppose she’ll go?” asked Dr. Tsurugi.

Lori gazed at D. The same question swam in her innocent eyes.

Both of them had already noticed something—the dark destiny that hung over the pirate
ship. Somewhere on it, something still survived: the will of the crew that’d grown
tired, killed their compatriots out of that boredom, and ultimately programmed their
computer with orders for indiscriminate destruction and marauding before they themselves
disappeared. The ship would leave on another voyage. Without a destination, she was
steered by a shapeless hand on a horrifying journey of nothing but murder and plunder.

D and his companions watched the ship’s dwindling form for what seemed like ages.

“Mayor’s not around, is he?” D said.

“Probably at home. It’s kind of strange, though. Barring extraordinary circumstances,
he’s not really the type to sit on the sidelines in a situation like this . . . ”

“You should send Lori back to the hospital. And don’t forget to take those weapons.
You should go back with her.”

The physician scanned the area, a shaken look in his eyes. If a man who didn’t run
without good reason had turned tail, there could be only one explanation—something
big had happened. Taking Lori by the hand as the girl wondered what was going on,
Dr. Tsurugi walked off toward the hospital.

D headed straight for the mayor’s house. Ming’s daughter came out and told the Hunter
her father was in the control room. Not even acknowledging the thick, syrupy gaze
the young lady kept trained on him, D turned right around.

As the town slid into a calm afternoon, an unnatural atmosphere hung over everything.
D alone understood. Only he saw the resemblance between the mood in town and the eerie
atmosphere that hung over the pirate vessel.

As he slipped in through the control room door, a shadowy form blocked his field of
view. Using just his left hand, D caught the man flying toward him like a rag doll.
It was one of the men who worked in the control room. His lower jaw had been completely
torn off, and bloodstains covered his chest like an apron. His eyes had rolled up
in his head. Fear and massive shock had stopped his heart. It was the work of a monster,
something beyond the human ken.

Gently setting the dead man down, D turned his gaze forward to the perpetrator. Weapon
in hand, the mayor was frozen in place. In front of him stood another worker. Several
corpses lay at the worker’s feet. All of them had bulging eyes, and skin as pale as
paraffin. There was no need to see the wound at the base of each neck.

The worker turned toward the Hunter. He was in his forties. According to the list
the mayor had given D, his name was Gertz Diason.

“Careful, D! He’s a vampire!” the mayor shouted.

The worker opened his mouth, displaying a pair of stark white fangs. Discarding the
bloody lower jaw he had in his hand, he slowly walked toward D. He knew who the real
foe was. His feet stopped moving. If the vampire knew who his enemy was, he also knew
the extent of his enemy’s power. Fear left a clear taint on his cruel face.

“When did he start acting strangely?” D asked. His tone was so tranquil in the face
of this fearsome opponent that it absolutely beggared belief.

“Been like that ever since he got back a little while ago,” the mayor replied. He
was also rather composed. And not just because D was there. “About three hours ago,
they let him go home for a nap. After he came back to the control room, it seems he
attacked the nearest guy. When a second man went down, one of the workers came and
got me.”

“Where’s the town going?” D asked, his question on an entirely different track.

The enemy snarled. Whipping up the air, he attacked D. It was an ill-conceived attempt.
As he passed D’s shadowy form, it became clear that the Hunter had his longsword in
hand. The blade sank deep into the fiend’s chest, and, as the menace dropped, the
mayor let his shoulders fall.

“Is this the result of the Knights’ experiments?” D asked softly. “Is this what you
wanted to get your hands on? Is this the peace you idealized?”

“Stop it!” the mayor shouted. “The Knights succeeded in their experiments, I tell
you. Right in that very house. I knew that much. What they produced was perfect. That’s
why I wanted their method! Because my own efforts turned out imperfect.”

“You kept what you’d created alive, and hid it somewhere. Kept the failure your experiments
had created, when the Knights had been successful.”

A frightening silence descended. It was D who formed the silence, and D who broke
it.

“What did you hope to accomplish by turning the people in your town into vampires?
Did you want to make eternal travelers?”

The mayor’s Adam’s apple bobbed wildly.

-

II

-

Before they had made their way back to the hospital, Lori noticed that a ghastly atmosphere
had shrouded the town. Someone was watching them, she felt, through the keyhole in
a closed door, or through a crack in drawn blinds, or from a back alley entrance.
Lori was going to latch onto Dr. Tsurugi’s arm, but then thought better of it. He
was the one who was really hurt here. This wasn’t a matter of who was a man and who
was a woman. Maybe she couldn’t hear or speak, but the strong still had to take care
of the weak. And neither strength nor weakness had anything to do with one’s physical
condition.

However, the road carried them back to the hospital without incident. Though the physician
called out the nurse’s name, there was no answer. “Looks like she’s gone,” he clucked.
Then, flopping down into a rickety chair, he quickly grabbed a memo pad and handed
it to Lori.
Stay in the hospital. You mustn’t go outside. And don’t forget that shotgun.

Lori wrote a reply:
Okay, but you need to be taken care of first. Where’s the medicine?

Stored with the other drugs in the next room.
You’ll have to apply it to me
.

Nodding, Lori straightened herself up. Her body brimmed with vitality. This was the
joy of accomplishment. Leaning her shotgun against the wall, she hurried out of the
examination room.

For a hospital that seemed so cramped, the drug storeroom alone was huge. This room
held the keys to life for the whole town. Lori knew the name of the medicine she needed—after
all, she was the daughter of two chemists. The various medicines were organized according
to their usage. The jars she was looking for were stored next to the artificial-skin
patches back on the farthest rack, stacked one shelf below the acid. Grabbing two
jars and a heap of skin patches, Lori turned.

A woman in white was standing in front of her. It was the nurse. Her eyes were strangely
red. Like she was angry.

I’m sorry
, Lori mouthed slowly. As a nurse, the other woman would be used to things like that.

The woman’s lips slowly twisted and formed a smile. From the corners of it, fangs
peeked out.

Lori froze in her tracks.

The nurse’s thick fingers latched onto the girl’s frail shoulders. Lips that loosed
the winds of hell slowly climbed up her throat.

Help me!
Lori shouted. But no voice came from her. Of course it wouldn’t. Though the girl
struggled with all her might, the vampire’s hands didn’t budge.
Help me!
Lori screamed, not giving up.
Help! Please! Somebody, help me!

They were cries no one could hear. The voice of despair, frail and futile. Lori knew
at last she was truly alienated. Left in a world where she sought aid, but no one
would come. She was its sole resident. The significance of the sunrise she’d watched
with D was swept away with everything else. Fear of the unknown filled the girl’s
mind.

When the nurse pressed her lips against the nape of Lori’s neck, the girl reached
out with her left hand and grabbed a jar on the shelf above. She smacked it against
the woman’s face with all of her might, and the jar shattered. White smoke enveloped
the fiend’s hateful visage. The nurse reeled backward. Acid had gone into her eyes.

Knocking the nurse out of the way, Lori ran. A hand as cold as ice caught her ankle.
The chill spread throughout her body, and Lori grew stiff. There was a strong tug
on her leg. Pulling her back to the fallen fiend. Another pull. Her body slid across
the floor. Something heavy clambered onto her back, and Lori tried to give a scream.

No one came. The doors were closed. Something as minor as the sound of a glass jar
breaking wouldn’t reach the examination room.

Lori was mired in despair. Then, the pressure of someone sitting on her back suddenly
vanished. Something black was oozing through the middle of the door. As the blackness
took human shape, Lori looked up at it with teary eyes.