Read Dancers at the End of Time Online
Authors: Michael Moorcock
Tags: #General, #Fiction, #Science Fiction; English, #SciFi-Masterwork
Dancers at the End of Time (24 page)
"Isn't it pretty, Jherek!" cried the Iron Orchid. "Where shall we have our picnic?"
Jherek stroked part of the landau's rail and the carriage began to spiral very slowly down until it was floating between the towers, skimming just above the roofs of blocks and domes and globes which shone with a thousand indefinable shades. "There?" He indicated a pool of ruby-coloured liquid overhung with old trees, their long, rusted branches touching the surface. A soft, red-gold moss crept down to the bank and tiny, tinkling insects made sparkling trails of amber and amethyst through the air.
"Oh, yes! It's perfect!"
As he landed the carriage and she stepped daintily out, she raised a finger to her lips, staring around at the scene with an expression of faint recognition.
"Is this…? Could it be…? Jherek, you know, I believe this is where you were
conceived
, my egg.
Your father and I were walking" — she pointed at a complex of low buildings on the opposite shore, just visible through a drifting, yellow mist — "over there! When the conversation turned, as it will in such places, to the customs of the ancients. I think we were discussing the Dead Sciences. As it happened, he had been studying some old text on biological restructuring, and we wondered if it was still possible to create a child according to Dawn Age practices." She laughed. "The mistakes we made at first! But eventually we got the hang of it and here you are — a creature of quality, the product of skilled craftsmanship. Possibly that is why I cherish you so deeply, with such pride."
Jherek took her hand of gleaming jet. He kissed the tips of her fingers. Gently, he stroked her back.
He could say nothing, but his hands were gentle, his expression tender. He knew her well enough to know that she was strangely excited.
They lay down together on the comfortable moss, listening to the music of the city, watching the insects dancing in the predominantly violet light.
"It is the peace, I believe, that I treasure most," murmured the Iron Orchid, moving her head luxuriously against his shoulder, "the antique peace. Have we lost something, do you think, that our forefathers possessed, some quality of experience? Werther believes that we have."
Jherek smiled. "It is my understanding, most glorious of blooms, that individuals are given to individual experiences. We can make of the past anything we choose."
"And of the future?" said she dreamily, inconsequently.
"If Yusharisp's warnings are to be taken seriously, then the future fades; there is scarcely any left."
But he had lost her attention. She got up and walked to the edge of the pool. Below the surface warm colours writhed and, entranced for the moment, she stared at them. "I should regret…" she began, then paused, shaking her dusky hair. "Ah, the
smells
, Jherek. Are they not sublime?"
He raised himself to his feet and went to join her, a billowing cloud of white as he moved. He took a deep breath of the chemical atmosphere and his body glowed. He looked across the pool at the outline of the city, wondering how it had changed since it had been populated by humankind, when people had lived their lives among its engines and its mills, before it had become self-sufficient, no longer needing tending. Did it ever suffer loneliness, he thought, or miss what must have seemed to it, at last, the clumsy, affectionate attentions of the engineers who had brought it to life? Had Shanalorm's inhabitants drifted away from the city, or had the city rejected them? He put an arm around his mother's shoulders, but he realized that it was himself shivering, touched for a moment by an inexplicable chill.
"They are sublime," he said.
"Not dissimilar, I suppose, to the one you visited — to London?"
"It is a city," he agreed, "and they do not alter much in their essentials." And he felt another pang, so he laughed and said: "What shall be the colours of our meal today?"
"Ice white and berry-blue," she said. "Those little snails with their azure shells — where are they from? And plums! What else? Aspirin in jelly?"
"Not today. I find it a trifle insipid. Shall we have a snow-fish of some sort?"
"Absolutely!" Removing her gown, she flicked it out over the moss and it became a silvery cloth.
Together they arranged the food, seating themselves on opposite sides of the cloth.
But when it was ready Jherek did not feel hungry. To please his mother, he sampled some fish, a sip or two of mineral water, a morsel of heroin, and was glad when she herself became bored with the meal and suggested that they disseminate it. No matter how much he tried to give his whole heart to his mother's enthusiasm, he found that he still could not purge himself of a vague feeling of unease. He knew that he would like to be elsewhere but knew, too, that there was nowhere in the world he could go and be rid of his sense of dissatisfaction. He noticed that she was smiling.
"Jherek! You sag, my dear! You mope! Perhaps the time has come to forget your rôle — to give it up in favour of one which can be better realized?"
"I cannot forget Mrs. Underwood."
"I admire your resolution. I have told you so already. I merely remind you, from my own knowledge of the classics, that passion, like a perfect rose, must finally fade. Perhaps it is time to begin fading a little?"
"Never."
She shrugged. "It is your drama and you must be faithful to it, of course. I would be the first to question the wisdom of veering from the original conception. Your taste, your tone, your touch — they are exquisite. I shall argue no further."
"It appears to go beyond taste," said Jherek, picking at a piece of bark and making it thrum gently against the bole of the tree. "It is difficult to explain."
"What truly important work of art is not?"
He nodded. "You are right, Iron Orchid. That is all it is."
"It will soon resolve itself, fruit of my seed." She linked her arm in his. "Come, let us walk for a while through these tranquil streets. You might find inspiration here."
He allowed her to lead him across the pool while she, still in a mood of fond reminiscence, talked of his father's love of this particular city and the profound knowledge he had had of its history.
"And you never knew who my father was?"
"No. Wasn't it delicious? He remained in disguise throughout. We were in love for weeks!"
"No clues?"
"Oh, well…" She laughed lightly. "It would have spoiled it to have pursued the secret too fiercely, you know."
Beneath their feet some buried transformer sighed and made the ground tremble.
"I sometimes wonder," said the Iron Orchid as Jherek's landau carried them away from Shanalorm, "where all the current craze for Dawn Age discoveries is leading."
"Leading, my life?"
"Artistically, I mean. Soon, largely because of the fashion you began, we shall have recreated that age down to the finest details. It will be like inhabiting the 19th century."
"Yes, metallic magnificence?" He was polite but still unable to follow her drift.
"I mean, are we not in danger of taking Realism too far, Jherek? One's own imagination can become clogged, after all. It was always your argument that travelling into the past rather spoiled one's conception — made the outlines fuzzy, as it were — inhibited creativity."
"Perhaps," he agreed. "But I am not sure my 'London' is harmed from being inspired by experience rather than fantasy. The fad could go too far, of course. In the case, for instance, of the Duke of Queens…"
"I know you rarely favour his work. It can be extravagant sometimes, a little, I suppose, empty, but…"
"It is his tendency to vulgarize which disturbs me, to pile effect upon effect. I think he showed restraint in his 'New York, 1930,' for all the obvious influence of my own piece. Such influences might be good for him."
"He, among others, could take it too far," she said. "That is what I meant." Then she shrugged. "But soon you'll set a fresh fashion, Jherek, and they will follow that." She spoke almost wistfully, almost hopefully. "You will guide them away from excess."
"You are kind."
"Oh, more!" Her raven face lit with humour. "I am biased, my dear! You are my son!"
"I heard that the Duke of Queens had completed his 'New York.' Shall we go to see it?"
"Why not? And let us hope he'll be there, too. I am very fond of the Duke of Queens."
"As am I, for all that I do not share his tastes."
"He shares yours. You should be more generous."
They laughed.
The Duke of Queens was delighted to see them. He stood some distance away from his design, admiring it with unashamed pleasure. He was dressed in a style of the 800th century, all crystal spirals and curlicues, beast eyes and paper bosses, with gauntlets which made his hands invisible. His sensitive face with its heavy black beard turned upwards as he called to Jherek and his mother:
"Iron Orchid, in all your swarthy beauty! And Jherek! I give you full credit, my dear, for your original inspiration. Regard this as a tribute to your genius!"
Jherek warmed to the Duke of Queens, as always. His taste might not have been all it could be, but his generosity was unquestionable. He determined to praise the Duke's creation, no matter what he thought of it privately.
It was, in fact, a relatively moderate affair.
"It is from the same period as your 'London,' as you can see. Very true to the original, I think."
The Iron Orchid's hand tightened momentarily on Jherek's arm as they descended from the landau, as if to confirm the validity of her judgement.
"That tallest tower at the centre is the Empire State Apartments, in lapis lazuli and gold, built as the home of New York's greatest king (Kong the Mighty) who, as you know, ruled the city during its Golden Age. The bronze statue you see on the top of the building is Kong's…"
"He looks beautiful," said the Iron Orchid, "but almost inhuman."
"It
was
the Dawn Age," said the Duke. "The building is just over a mile and a quarter high (I took the dimensions from an historical text-book) and a splendid example of the barbaric simplicity of typical architecture of the early Uranium Centuries — almost too early, some would say."
Jherek wondered if the Duke of Queens were quoting whole from the text-book; his words had that ring to them.
"Are not the buildings crowded together rather?" said the Iron Orchid.
The Duke of Queens was not offended. "Deliberately," he told her. "The epics of the time made constant references to the narrowness of the streets, forcing people to move crabwise — hence the distinctive 'sidewalk' of New York."
"And what are those?" said Jherek, pointing to a collection of picturesque thatched cottages. "They seem untypical."
"It is the village of Greenwich, a kind of museum frequented by sailors. A famous vessel was moored in the river. Can you see it?" He indicated something tied to a jetty, it glinted in the dark water of a lagoon.
"It appears to be a gigantic glass bottle," said the Iron Orchid.
"So I thought, but somehow they managed to sail in them. Doubtless the secret of their locomotion has been lost, but I based the ship on a model of one I came across in a record. It is called the
Cutty
Sark
." The Duke of Queens permitted himself a smirk. "And that, my dear Jherek, is where I have had the privilege of being imitated. My Lady Charlotina was so impressed that she has begun a reproduction of some other famous ship of the period."
"I must say that your sense of detail is impressive," Jherek complimented him. "And have you populated the city?" He screwed up his eyes the better to see. "Are those figures moving about in it?"
"They are! Eight million of them."
"And what are those tiny flashes of light?" enquired the Iron Orchid.
"The muggers," said the Duke of Queens. "At that time New York attracted a good many artists, primarily photographers (called popularly 'shooters,' 'muggers,' or sometimes 'mug-shotters') and what you see are their cameras in action."
"You have a talent for thorough research," said Jherek.
"I owe much to my sources, I admit," agreed the Duke of Queens. "And I found a time traveller in my menagerie who was able to help. He wasn't from exactly the same period, but close enough to have seen many records of the time. Most of the other buildings are in lurex and coloured perspex, favourite materials of Dawn age craftsmen. The protective talismans are, of course, in neon, to ward off the forces of darkness."
"Ah, yes," said the Iron Orchid brightly. "Gaf the Horse in Tears had something similar in his 'Canceropolis, 2215.' "
"Really?" The Duke's tone was unintentionally distant. He was not fond of Gaf's work and had been known to describe it once as "over-eager." "I must go to see it."
"It's on the same theme as Argonheart Po's. 'Edible Birmingham, Undated,' I believe," said Jherek, to turn the subject a little. "I tried it a day or two ago. It was delicious."
"What he lacks in visual originality, he makes up for in culinary imagination."
"Definitely a Birmingham of the mind," agreed the Iron Orchid, "and for the palate. Some of the buildings were blatant copies of My Lady Charlotina's 'Rome, 1946.' "
"A shame about the lions," murmured the Duke of Queens sympathetically.
"They got out of control," said the Iron Orchid. "I warned her that they would. Not enough Christians. Still, I thought it drastic to disseminate it, merely because the population was eaten. But the flying elephants were lovely, weren't they?"
"I'd never seen a circus before," said Jherek.
"I was just about to leave for Lake Billy the Kid, where some of the ships are being launched." The Duke of Queens indicated his latest air car, a vast copy of one of the Martian flying machines which had attempted to destroy New York during the period in which he took an interest. "Would you like to come?"
"A wonderful idea," said the Iron Orchid and Jherek, thinking that one way of passing the time was as good as another, agreed.
"We shall follow in my landau," he said.
The Duke of Queens gestured with one of his invisible hands. "There is plenty of room in my air car, but just as you like." He felt beneath his crystalline robes and produced a flying helmet and goggles.
Donning them, he strode to his carriage, climbed with some difficulty up the smooth side and settled himself in the cock-pit.
Jherek watched in amusement as there came a roaring from the machine, a glow which was soon red-hot, a shower of sparks and a considerable amount of blue smoke, and then the contraption was lurching upwards. The Duke of Queens seemed to specialize in exceedingly unstable methods of transport.
Lake Billy the Kid had been enlarged for the occasion of the regatta (this, in itself, was unusual) and the surrounding mountains had all been moved back to accommodate the extra water. Small groups of people were gathered here and there on the shore, staring at the ships which had so far been presented.
They made a fine collection.
Jherek and the Iron Orchid landed on the white ash of the beach and joined the Duke of Queens who was already talking to their hostess. My Lady Charlotina still wore several breasts and an extra pair of arms and her skin was a delicate blue; for decoration she had a collar from which trailed a few gauzy wisps of various colours. Her large eyes were alight with pleasure at seeing them.
"Iron Orchid, still in mourning I see. And Jherek Carnelian, most famous of metatemporal explorers.
I had not expected you."
Slightly put out, the Iron Orchid unostentatiously changed her skin colour to a more natural shade.
Her gown became suddenly so blindingly white that they all blinked. She toned it down, murmuring apologies. "Which of the boats is yours, dear?"
My Lady Charlotina pursed her lips in mock disapproval. "
Ships
, most venerable of plants. That one is mine." She inclined her head in the direction of an immense reproduction of a woman, lying stomach-down in the water, her arms and legs spread out symmetrically, a crown of gold and diamonds upon her wooden head. "The
Queen Elizabeth
."
As they watched, a great gust of blackness billowed from the ears of the model and from the mouth (barely above the surface) there came a melancholy tooting.
"The one beside it is the
Monitor
, which carried off some virgins or something, did it not?" This was smaller than the
Queen Elizabeth
; the vessel's bulk representing a man's body, its back arched inwards, with a huge bull's head on its shoulders. "O'Kala Incarnadine simply can't rid himself of his obsession with beasts. It's sweet, really."
"Are they all of the same period?" asked the Duke of Queens. "That one, for instance?" He pointed to a rather shapeless ship. "It looks more like an island."
"That's the S.S.
France
," explained My Lady Charlotina. "It's Grevol Lockspring's entry. The one just streaming towards it is the
Water Lily
— I'm sure it wasn't a real plant." She named some of the other peculiarly wrought vessels. "The
Mary Rose
. The
Hindenburg
. The
Patna
. And isn't that one beautiful — stately — The
Leningrad?
"
"They are all lovely," said The Iron Orchid vaguely. "What will they do when they are assembled?"
"Fight, of course," said My Lady Charlotina in excitement. "That's what they were built for, you see, in the Dawn Age. Imagine the scene — a heavy mist on the waters — two ships manoeuvring, each aware of the other, neither being able to find the other. It is, say, my
Queen Elizabeth
and Argonheart Po's
Nautilus
(I fear it will melt before the regatta is finished). The
Nautilus
sees the
Queen Elizabeth
, its foghorns disperse the mist, it focuses its funnels and —
whoosh!
— the
Queen Elizabeth
is struck by thousands of little belaying needles — she shudders and retaliates — from her forward ports (they must have been her breasts; that is where I've put them, at any rate) pour lethal tuxedos, wrapping themselves around the
Nautilus
and trying to drag it under. But the
Nautilus
is not so easily defeated … Well, you can imagine the rest, and I will not spoil the actual regatta for you. Almost all the ships are here now. I believe there are a couple of entries to come, then we begin."
"I cannot wait," said Jherek absently. "Is Brannart Morphail, by the by, still residing with you, My Lady Charlotina?"
"He has apartments at Below-the-Lake, yes. He is there now, I would guess. I asked him for help with the design of the
Queen Elizabeth
, but he was too busy."
"Is he still angry with me?"
"Well, you did lose one of his favourite time machines."
"It hasn't returned, then?"
"No. Are you expecting it?"
"I thought, perhaps, Mrs. Underwood would use it to come back to us. You would tell me if she did?"
"You know that I would. Your relationship with her is my abiding interest."
"Thank you. And have you seen Lord Jagged of Canaria recently?"
"He was supposed to come today. He half-promised to contribute a ship, but he is doubtless as lazy as ever and has forgotten. He might well be in one of those strange, unsociable moods of his. He retires, as you know, from society from time to time. Oh, Mistress Christia, what is this?"
The Everlasting Concubine fluttered long lashes over her wide, blue eyes. She was clad in filmy pink, with a pink hat perched on her golden hair. Her hands were dressed in pink gloves and she was presenting something which rested on her outstretched palms. "It is not an entry, exactly," she said, "but I thought you might like it."
"I do! What is it called?"
"The
Good Ship Venus
." Mistress Christia smiled at Jherek. "Hello, my dear. Does the flame of your lust burn as strongly as ever?"
"I am in love, these days," he said.
"You draw a distinction."
"I have been assured that there is one." He kissed her upon her perfect nose. She tickled his ear.
"Where do you discover all these wonderful old emotions?" she asked. "You must talk to Werther — he has the same interests, but does not pursue them with your panache, I am afraid. Has he told you about his 'sin'?"
"I have not seen him since my return from 1896."
My Lady Charlotina interrupted, placing a caressing hand upon Mistress Christia's thigh. "Werther excelled himself — and so did you, Everlasting Concubine. Surely you aren't criticizing him?"
