A Covenant of Justice (17 page)

Almost immediately the doors of the vessels popped open, the ramps dropped down, and the surviving members of the Elite Dragon Guard came pouring out of the ships like an avalanche of flesh, cascading across the ground and forming up into ranks of terrifying splendor.

Even before the last of the Dragons had come down the ramp, a bevy of ground cars came speeding directly across the landing zone, hurtling to a halt before the largest of the landing craft. Gray-uniformed officials—all human—leapt from the vehicles, hurrying to line up at the base of the ramp. They looked pale and frightened.

Even before the last of the welcoming committee reached his place at the end of the line, the great door dilated open and the imperious figure of the Dragon Lord came waddling heavily down to the ground; his tail lashed behind him in restless anger. Two of the waiting officials exchanged nervous glances.

The Dragon Lord surveyed the line of waiting humans with a contemptuous snarl. The two senior executives stepped forward quickly. “We welcome you to Burihatin Fourteen, your excellency. We hope you will have a pleasant stay and if you require any service at all from us, you need only—”

The Dragon Lord held up a hand. “I want the StarPort sealed off. Nothing lands. Nothing leaves. Nothing moves.”

“But excellency—that would paralyze the economy of the planet. We couldn't possibly—”

The Dragon Lord didn't even wait for the man to finish. He opened his jaws wide, lowered his head, and bit the man's head off, spitting it sideways across the tarmac, where it bounced and rolled an incredibly long distance. The man's body spurted blood from the neck for one frozen terrifying moment; then it toppled diagonally to the ground, the blood flowing outward in all directions.

The second official gulped and said quickly, “We'll seal the port immediately, your excellency, no questions asked!” He thumbed his communicator to life and began issuing orders at a frantic pace.

The Dragon Lord held up a hand. The man paused. “Just a moment—” he said to his communicator. “Yes, excellency?”

“Dangerous rebels have captured a Vampire Queen and brought her to this world. We have some idea where they landed, but they may have deceived us. My warriors will scour every settlement on Dupa if they have to. They will start with this StarPort. They will also report to me about any interesting cargoes that they find . . . so if any of your officials have allowed any traffic in contraband, I would suggest for your own sake that you have it confiscated immediately.”

“Oh, yes sir, absolutely, excellency. I don't think you'll find a hair out of place here. We run a very clean port. Absolutely—”

The Dragon Lord didn't hear the man—or perhaps he simply didn't care to listen to any more prattle. He turned away with a casual wave of dismissal. As his tail whipped around, several of the StarPort officials leapt to get out of its way; two didn't make it in time, they went flying across the ground.

And then the Dragon Lord turned back again, his nostrils flaring. “I need a car,” he said in a voice of imminent doom. “I see no other cars here! Did you forget to order vehicles for myself and my warriors?”

The executive's eyes rolled up in his head. He keeled over in a dead faint, falling to the ground in a limp gray bundle.

M'bele's house had no rooms, no doors, no windows—it existed as a winding network of tunnels that wound around and down inside the flesh of the blacktree. All around them, the sinewy cables of the tree pumped with its life-giving sap. Here and there, great spaces opened up within the limbs and branches and multiple trunks of the tree.

Lights hung everywhere, but the maze remained unfathomable to the strangers. Very quickly, they became lost in the tunnels and simply followed the dark man down and around and up again. At last, they arrived at a cavernous room filled with medical gear and equipment. Several scanning tables stood side by side, and with Sawyer's help, M'bele quickly slid Finn onto the nearest one. Seeing Finn's ashen color, he pursed his lips thoughtfully, then turned away to the nearest work station.

By the time the dark man completed his medical scan of Finn Markham, his expression had gone through several grim transformations. Finally, his face just closed down and his eyes became unreadable.

He swiveled away from the bank of displays and sighed. He let his head sink down on his chest in exhaustion. After a moment, he looked up at Sawyer and said, “Your brother has the worst case of tertiary blood burn that I've ever seen. I don't know a medico in the Cluster who could help him. How the hell did you bastards end up in this situation?”

Sawyer explained quickly. “The Zillabitch bit Finn—and then promised us the antidote if we'd track down and deliver the TimeBinder of Thoska-Roole. Then she refused to provide the antidote, so we helped William Three-Dollar escape.”

M'bele scowled. “You guys never did stay bought.”

“She betrayed us!”

“Good. Now you know how it feels.” M'bele turned angrily back to the displays and studied them again. “I still don't like you, Sawyer. But I want you to know that my anger over our previous business dealings has nothing to do with what I have to say to you.” He took a breath and lowered his head in resignation. “I wish I knew more. I don't know what I can do for Finn except ease his final passing.”

A noise made them all turn around. A nine-year old girl, wearing only an ankle-length smock, stood in the opening of a small nearby tunnel, sleepily rubbing her eyes. She looked from one person to the other in confusion. “I heard talking,” she said. Her speech had a clumsy, indistinct quality. Sawyer's eyes narrowed as he studied her. He looked to Three-Dollar, who nodded almost imperceptibly.

M'bele dropped to his knees and scooped the child into his arms. “Nyota. You promised to stay in bed.”

“I heard talking,” the girl repeated. She looked around the room, wide-eyed. Her expression had a dull glassy quality, as if nothing she saw quite made sense. As if she existed in her own simpler reality.

M'bele kissed her once and held her tightly. “You shouldn't have gotten out of bed. You know the rules.”

Nyota nodded solemnly. “Uh-huh.”

“All these people will disappear by morning, just like any other bad dream. I promise.”

Nyota's eyes kept wandering from one face to the other. “But I heard talking.”

“Excuse me for a moment,” M'bele said curtly, and disappeared up into the tunnel, carrying the child with him.

For a moment, none of the men said anything. Finally, Sawyer glanced to Three-Dollar. “She has no soul—?”

Three-Dollar shook his head. “No. She has a soul. Every human does. But apparently, she doesn't have the intelligence to animate her body as you and I might deem appropriate. But don't judge him too quickly, Sawyer. M'bele might carry a heavier burden than most parents, but he carries it well.”

“Parent?”

“Do you remember what I spoke to you in Zillabar's prison? Of a time when humans brought their own children into the world? M'bele has done just that.”

Sawyer stared at the empty tunnel in disbelief. “I cannot imagine M'bele as a mother—how can you know that about him?”

“Not a mother, a
father
. And I can see the relationship expressed in everything he does, the way he looks at her, the way he holds her, the way he speaks to her, the way he protects her from us.”

“From us? We wouldn't hurt a child—”

Three-Dollar raised an eyebrow. “How many Vampires have you killed? How many Dragons have you killed? How many other lights have you snuffed out to bring us here? I cannot blame M'bele for having fears for his daughter's safety around you.”

Sawyer puzzled at Three-Dollar's words, but he couldn't quite connect them all the way. He felt trapped by his language, as if a thought fluttered helplessly around in his brain, unable to express itself, unable to leap out into the air, because he lacked the words to speak it. He turned away in frustration; he went back to the table where Finn lay bathed in amber light.

M'bele returned then, looking grim.

Sawyer glanced up, looking at the dark man with somber new eyes. “May I ask you something personal? The child? She came from K'fai's womb—?”

M'bele's face hardened further. But he answered Sawyer's question curtly. “K'fai passed away four years ago. No one else knew of the child until now. She has never seen another human until now. I have no idea how she will react to you.”

Sawyer shuffled his feet, embarrassed. “Forgive me. I apologize for intruding on your privacy. Perhaps we should leave—”

“And Finn? What will you do about Finn?”

“You said you had no hope. If you have no hope, then neither do I.”

“No. I didn't say that. You
heard
that, but I didn't say it. I said I didn't know of a medico in the Cluster who could help him.”

“Then you can help him?”

“I said I didn't know enough to help him. I didn't say I wouldn't try. If he has nothing to lose, we can still take desperate measures. I've already begun transfusing his blood, cleaning it as best I can. That'll buy him some time, but I don't know if I can save him, Sawyer. I honestly don't know. But I can promise you this much—if he dies, he won't die in vain. I know this offers you only small comfort, but I'll learn everything I can.” He scratched his head as he studied the displays again. “The Vampire woman—why did you bring her with you? I never knew you to go jogging with an anchor before.”

“We needed to bring Zillabar,” Sawyer said. “She bit Finn. Her venom brought him down.”

“Zillabar!” M'bele came shooting out of his chair. “Do you mean to say that you brought Zillabar here?! The Dragons will burn the forest to a cinder if they have to. They'll track her here! How dare you? I have a daughter! You've risked my life in the past, but now you've gone too far. You've endangered my child!” The dark man turned darker with rage.

Sawyer waited until M'bele's anger began to ebb. He held up his hands in an apologetic gesture. “I didn't know you had a child. And besides, we took precautions. We destroyed all the locators. We put the down in Salut Minoh, we traveled to the eastern wart by sled, which we then sent away. They have no way of knowing where we went.”

M'bele remained unconvinced. “And you think you acted intelligently? The Dragons will start their search in the tunnels of Salut Minoh. They always do. Don't you think they know something about the trade in contraband by now? Don't you think they know where the smugglers go?”

Sawyer nodded and smiled impishly. “You should listen to the news-channels more often. Apparently, one of the tunnels will shortly collapse. We may hear of a terrible loss of life. The Dragons will have much to mourn. What else would you like to know?”

“At best, you bought yourself two days,” M'bele snorted. “They'll kill every person on the planet if they have to. The Dragons know the locations of at least three of my nests. I expect they may know more. They know that you've dealt with me in the past. You've effectively destroyed my investment here.” He turned to Sawyer with an odd look on his face. “You realize, of course, I'll have to charge you for my losses.”

“Add it to my bill.”

“I already have. How do you feel about indentured servitude?”

“I think you'll have to buy my contract from the Alliance of Life, but other than that, I've already resigned myself to a lifetime of reparations.”

“Damn!” said M'bele. “And I had just begun to develop a real fondness for this place.” He grunted and shook his head. “Y'know, it would make my life a lot easier if I just got on the channel and turned you guys in. Perhaps I could collect a big reward.”

“If you lived, yes. But do you really think the Dragons would let a human claim the honor of rescuing of the Vampire Queen?”

M'bele grunted an unhappy acknowledgment. “At least your logic hasn't failed you, even though your emotions have.” The dark man considered his possibilities, and which loyalty would best serve his own interests. He did not have to consider for too long. He knew the Vampires too well. “All right,” he said. “At least, I can finally discover how the blood-burn immobilizes its victims.” After a moment, he added softly. “But damn! I wish this had happened to almost anybody else but Finn. I
liked
Finn. I'll miss him a lot more, Sawyer, than I'd miss you—”

“Thanks for your affection,” the tracker said. His voice sounded odd.

“Any time,” M'bele replied bitterly.

Sawyer sank to a chair. He had given up hope three times already. He had let himself rekindle that hope three times. He sagged where he sat, drained and empty and close to a total breakdown. The anguish showed in his every move. M'bele had his back to Sawyer and did not see the effect that his words had had on the distraught man.

The exhaustion and grief overwhelmed Sawyer like a hot rush of fire. He had hoped for too much, had spent every last bit of energy getting his brother here to M'bele's secret laboratory. He had finally run out of ideas and run out of strength, both at the same time.

William Three-Dollar spoke then. Actually, he made a sound like an exploding gasket, halfway between a scream of rage and a burst of frustration. Everyone turned to look at him.

“I know something,” he said.

M'bele, Sawyer, and Lee waited for him to go on.

“I have difficulty speaking this,” Three-Dollar said. He licked his dry lips uncertainty. “TimeBinders often know things that they should not discuss. Sometimes, people don't want to hear them. More often, other people don't want them said. Sometimes we take our own oaths of confidentiality. To reveal this might threaten the existence of the Regency, but—”