Under the Eye of God (32 page)

“But now, with Drydel's death, you have forced both his hand and Lady Zillabar's. The Lady will now have no choice but to make him her consort. She had hoped to avoid this marriage, but now she needs him to enforce her family's power. Without d'Vashti, she risks civil war across the Cluster. They both know that neither can win such a conflict. It would last for centuries without a resolution. So she'll name him consort, and he'll use the Zashti family's authority over all Vampires to advance his personal goals. He'll rebuild the fleet. And then he'll start moving against the other Cluster Worlds, one by one. But here he will practice his tyranny, perfecting it for tomorrow.”

“And nothing can stop him?” asked Sawyer.

“If he can consolidate his power, he'll have the authority of the Regency.”

“The Gathering can dismantle the Regency,” said Lee. “We don't need it any longer. You have to go.”

“I'll decide what I have to do,” corrected William Three-Dollar.

“What happens at the Gathering?” asked Sawyer.

“The TimeBinders of thirteen worlds will link their souls,” he explained. “The linkage will create an entity with the cumulative wisdom and spirit and vision of all thirteen TimeBinders—a living cross section of the history of the Cluster in a single man.”

“And then what?”

Three-Dollar shrugged. “I don't know. If we knew what we would say, we wouldn't have to link ourselves to say it, would we?”

“You could reassert the authority of the Regency, couldn't you?”

“That could occur, yes. We would make that choice not because we want to or need to or even because we wish to—we would make it only because our vision of the future would dictate such a choice. We will speak for the wisest course we see in the possibilities before us.”

“And that course,” vowed Lee, “will see the destruction of the Regency.”

“That possibility remains one of many,” acknowledged the TimeBinder.

Sawyer snorted. Finn looked almost as skeptical. “Forgive us our disbelief, Father; but it sounds too much like mysticism to my brother, and to myself for either of us to accept it easily.”

“You don't need to apologize, son. I've seen skepticism before. It doesn't bother me.” William Three-Dollar looked over at Lee-1169. “I will go to the Gathering.”

This time of year, the secondary tunnels saw little traffic. Nevertheless, the small band of rebels moved cautiously through the maze of passages, lest they encounter an unexpected security force. The TimeBinder appeared unconcerned as they negotiated the twists and turns of various dark corridors. Occasionally, he would offer a suggestion as to the suitability of one passage over another; he appeared to have absolute knowledge of the labyrinth. In contrast, Sawyer and Finn had become hopelessly confused. Neither had any idea at all of their location in relation to anything else.

“It took more than a thousand years to carve this network of tunnels,” William Three-Dollar noted. “Most of them remain unknown to the Regency.”

“The rebellion has lasted that long?” Finn asked.

“Oh, no. Before the Alliance of Life, smugglers used these caves. The smugglers carved the first tunnels.”

“Ahh,” said Sawyer. “That we understand. Profit. Greed. Money.”

The TimeBinder studied the brothers with a practiced eye. “You don't approve of the Alliance, do you?”

Sawyer shrugged. “We don't have any opinion one way or the other. It doesn't really involve us, does it? We sell our services to whoever can afford our fees. Why do you support the Alliance?”

“I don't. I exist solely as a vessel to hold the heritage of this planet. The Alliance has the investment, not me. They choose to protect me from assassination by the Kernel d'Vashti and Lady Zillabar. But if I die, another will wear the headband, and I will live on. The Vampires cannot co-opt the TimeBinder. They've tried it elsewhere. It has never worked. It won't work here. In the meantime, the Alliance protects me because it serves their purposes. I cooperate because it serves my purpose of experiencing everything I can of the continuing history of this world.”

Sawyer shook his head. “That sounds like a very roundabout justification to me. The rebels have the access to your wisdom. The Vampires don't. You represent an asset to whoever you cooperate with.”

“Yes, I guess so,” the TimeBinder said blandly. “So do you, of course. And your brother. You both have experience that the Alliance of Life could make good use of.”

Sawyer shook his head again. This conversation had suddenly begun to make him uncomfortable. “No, thank you. It would feel too much like working for a government—a government in exile, a proto-government, call it what you will. We don't work for governments or people who want to take over governments. It leads to bad habits and worse company.”

Three-Dollar laughed genially at Sawyer's observation, but he did not allow the tracker's flippancy to distract him from his train of thought. “I think you have an inaccurate perception of the Alliance of Life,” the TimeBinder said. “You keep equating it with organizational entities like governments and rebellions. The Alliance operates not as a government, but as an agreement among many to create a different operating context for all governments. The Alliance works to create a new agreement, one of mutual respect for sentience, out of which all the different species of the Regency can deal with each other as partners instead of adversaries.” Three-Dollar interrupted himself to point down a final corridor. “Here,” he said. “This one leads to the transport.” He led the small group toward the red daylight seeping in at the end of the tunnel.

“You actually believe it will happen?” Sawyer asked.

“What will happen, will happen,” the TimeBinder replied. “Lee and the other people that you see here—this tiny group of rebels—they may succeed. More likely, they probably will not. But the underlying philosophy will transform the relationships of everyone who accepts it.”

Sawyer shrugged. “Maybe. I don't know. I've seen too much of Vampires and Dragons and humans to have much faith in the inherent goodness of any of them.”

“I promise you,” the TimeBinder remarked, “I have probably seen much more and much worse than you can even imagine. And it hasn't dissuaded my convictions at all. If anything, it has only strengthened them.”

“Yeah, well—you have to see things differently. You have immortality. We don't.”

“Sawyer, Finn—” William Three-Dollar stopped at the tunnel mouth and put one huge hand on each of their shoulders. The oppressive red light of the swollen star enveloped them all. “You've both seen how the Alliance can work. You've experienced how different species can work together. You couldn't have escaped from the labor camp without that cooperation.”

The brothers looked at each other uncomfortably. Finn said reluctantly, “We just did what we had to do, not what we wanted to do.”

“I see,” said the TimeBinder. He looked disappointed. “So you don't feel any loyalty toward those who helped you . . . ?”

“What we feel has nothing to do with it. We work for money.”

Three-Dollar didn't answer that directly. Instead, he focused on something in the distance past and remarked, “It bothers me that Lee has placed so much trust in the two of you. I don't see a corresponding loyalty.”

Neither Sawyer nor Finn responded immediately to that, so the TimeBinder tried another tack. “Forget the Alliance for the moment. What if I offered you a job? What if I asked you to come and work directly for me? Could I buy your loyalty?”

“Under ordinary circumstances, Father, you probably could,” Sawyer said. “Unfortunately, we already have a job.”

“What kind of job?”

“This kind,” said Sawyer. He rolled up the sleeve of his jacket to reveal a beeper-bracelet on his arm. He activated the device.

“Father, forgive us,” gasped Finn as he collapsed weakly to the ground.

-- A sudden terrifying noise filled the air—it rose like a siren—Lee whirled around alarmed—

And then it hit them.

The slop field enveloped the men with a hideous whine. The sudden nausea toppled them like reeds before the wind—even the TimeBinder. William Three-Dollar grunted involuntarily and sank gracefully down to his knees, his hands clutching his stomach.

Sawyer gasped and dropped as the pain spiked through his abdomen and his testicles. He grabbed himself and screamed. He rolled back and forth in agonized seizures. Lee-1169 and the others also fell writhing to the ground, jerking and shrieking. Finn had already passed out from the shock; he sprawled limply, his body twitching in sympathetic spasms.

The hideous warble of the disablement field increased—until one by one each of the humans lost control. Every nerve cell in their bodies discharged. Their bodies twisted and stiffened in terrible seizures. Consciousness disintegrated. Frenzied hallucinatory flashes dissolved into madness and darkness beyond.

William Three-Dollar held on longest, and then he too went limp.

Consciousness returned with a shock—the memory of the incredible pain still racked their bodies. They came awake gasping, screaming. They looked to each other in horror, their faces pale.

They had soiled themselves. Their bladders had let go and their sphincters had released. Some of them had coughed up blood or injured themselves in their seizures. Sawyer's arm felt stiff; he couldn't tell if he had broken it or not. Finn remained unconscious. William Three-Dollar looked shaken. Lee could barely move. The other men still lay in their misery and groaned.

For a long while, nobody spoke. None of them had the strength or the coordination for it. They just lay there like broken dolls. Sawyer became aware of the vibration first. Somehow he managed to work his mouth well enough to say, “Truck. They've put us on a truck.” He opened his eyes. The dim red light hurt. Everything hurt. He could see a dark roof pressing close. He could feel the rumbling of the vehicle's heavy treads.

Eventually, he tried to sit up. He couldn't. He could barely manage to raise his head, but strong hands pulled at him and helped him into a sitting position. He found himself looking into William Three-Dollar's compassionate eyes.

“The headband gives me some protection,” the TimeBinder said, tapping the bright halo he wore. “My body might hurt, but my mind has the power to disengage from the pain and move the muscles regardless.”

“You could have escaped—?”

“Not quite. The band does have its limits. But I don't have to suffer as intensely as you.” He smiled wryly. “I find it ironic.”

“What?”

“Your job hurts you and your brother much more than it hurts me.” And then he added softly, “Spiritually as well as physically.”

Sawyer turned his head away. “Spare me.”

William Three-Dollar placed a hand on Sawyer's feverish brow. “You don't have to hate me to justify what you did. You accepted your job willingly. You tracked me down. You turned me in. You don't need to justify it. You had a contract, you fulfilled it.”

Sawyer stared in disbelief. “How can you say that?”

“Easily. I open my mouth, the words fall out. TimeBinders don't hate. TimeBinders experience. Out of experience comes understanding. You haven't hurt me, so I bear you no ill will. You don't need to hate me either.”

“I don't hate you,” Sawyer replied slowly. With Three-Dollar's help, he eased himself up into a sitting position against the side of the truck. He looked around at the others. Lee glared weakly at him from the other side of the cabin. Finn lay unconscious between them. “I had to do it,” he said. “We didn't have a choice. Kernel d'Vashti—”

He couldn't meet their eyes. He looked down at his hands in embarrassment.

“Go on,” said Three-Dollar gently.

Sawyer got the words out painfully. “d'Vashti offered us something we couldn't refuse . . . our lives.”

Lee spat in disgust. “You cowardly traitors.”

William Three-Dollar shook his head. “No, Lee. He speaks the truth. They had no choice.”

“I did it for Finn,” Sawyer said.

Lee remained unconvinced. “Everything they did, from the very beginning—I should have known we couldn't trust trackers. Now I know why you tried to stop the Dragon from throwing me in the water, and why you helped me escape from the labor camp, and why you stayed so close to me. You knew the sluice tube had to have an access—and maybe you even knew about the Vampire camp as well—because d'Vashti told you, didn't he? You did it all to win my trust, because you needed me to lead you back to the TimeBinder.”

Sawyer acknowledged Lee's accusations with a reluctant nod. “We just want to get off this miserable planet. We should never have come here.”

“I'll give you agreement on that, you lousy
traitor!
”

“No,” said Sawyer, looking up for the first time and meeting Lee's eyes. “You don't understand. You never did. My brother and I could not have betrayed you—for the simple reason that neither of us ever swore allegiance to your cause. You assumed what you had no right to assume—our agreement. My brother and I have no allegiance to anyone except each other.”

“And look what that loyalty bought you! Your brother lies dying at your feet.”

“You idiot,” Sawyer said. “The Regency poisoned Finn. What did you think causes these goddamn spells? The blood-burn doesn't work like that. Finn suffers from the Vampire's bite—look at him, damn you! The Phaestor poison flows in his veins. Did you ever wonder what happens inside those cocoons? Look at Finn and see! Every hour he gets weaker—and the antidote carries a very high price. Only the capture of the TimeBinder buys the cure!” Sawyer's anger rose to the surface; he let it. “You want me to feel guilty? Okay, I feel guilty. But I'd do it again to save my brother. Wouldn't you?”