Tyrant's Stars: Parts Three and Four (14 page)

“Well, looks like we’ve got ourselves a deadlock,” the left hand remarked with glee.

“You needn’t have interfered,” the count spat. His body quaked the tiniest bit—not due to having such a close brush with death, but rather from the humiliation of being rescued by someone.

“What are you gonna do?” the left hand inquired.

“Never underestimate a Noble,” the count said, his right hand reaching into his cape and coming back out with his longsword.

As if in response, Seurat leaped back and bit down on his right index finger. Using it, he drew something on the palm of his left hand.

The count kicked off the ground. He looked like a wild animal pouncing. As he brought down a blow from overhead that would’ve split a boulder in two, Seurat caught the sword in his left hand. Its blade disappeared, for the giant had drawn a maze in blood on the palm of his hand.

The count poised himself for a second blow. But Seurat sank unexpectedly. It was neither a feint nor an invitation to strike; rather, he’d tumbled forward. There was no hesitation in the count’s swing. He brought the blade down with no intention of letting the giant escape this time—however, Seurat abruptly vanished beneath its steel.

“Not again, you bastard!” His white fangs bared, the count laughed hoarsely at a stand of trees. “Are you in there?”

Just as the Nobleman’s gigantic form was about to leap forward, the left hand shouted, “Don’t!"

But it was too late, and red spots like drops of dew flowed together on the count’s chest. The screen of the force field was stained crimson. When it faded, the count seemed to have lost his beastly will to fight, gazing into the depths of the stand of trees as he picked up his spear and walked off.

“It seems we’ve just gained another foe,” the left hand said to the count when he returned.

Perhaps the Nobleman was angry with himself for not finishing off his opponent, because he gave no reply.

Nevertheless, the left hand continued, saying, “After luring him out and all, that’s gotta be really annoying.”
“What?”

“Earlier, I checked the course logs in the control room. From where we picked up Sue all the way to here, you were broadcasting on a subspace frequency—the same secret wavelength Nobles use to communicate with each other. You used that to lure Seurat out, didn’t you? Were you
that
angry about Sue trying to protect him?” There was the sound of something knifing through the air before the left hand had finished speaking.

The left hand leaped a yard away. Seeing the long spear sticking out of the ground where it had just stood, it jeered, “Come now, pretty little Sue is watching! I left the view screen on.”

“You little bastard—can you make my car do whatever you like?” Roughly pulling his spear free, the count headed for his vehicle. Sue’s face appeared in one of the windows that had its shades open only by night.

“Too bad she didn’t get to see you at your best, eh?”

Not replying to the silently laughing left hand, the count made a swipe of his spear, and then walked toward his car.

As soon as they were in the living room, Sue came by. Not saying anything, she stood in the doorway, gazing at the count as he set down his spear and took off his cape.

“What are you looking at?” the count asked irritably.

“Um, nothing,” Sue replied, hanging her head low.

“Did the left hand say anything to you?”

“No, it’s just—well, I just. . .”

“You just what?”

“I was just worried if you were hurt—that’s all.”

“Worried about me?”

“Yes.”

“Did you think a mere servant of the Nobility could slay a Noble?” The girl had no answer for that.

“Go to bed,” he said without even glancing in Sue’s direction. The girl didn’t know what to say.

“What is it? Go to bed already.” “I’m sorry.”

The count didn’t seem to understand what she meant.

“Um ... I mean . . . thank you.”

This time, it was the count who was at a loss for words.

“You get hurt, risk your life in battle ... all for our sake . . . But I . . . I can’t do anything in return . . .”

“It’s my job—now go to bed.”

“Yes, sir.”

Bowing to him, Sue left. Before the door closed, he heard her thank him once again.

The count heaved a sigh. And a long sigh at that. As if there was something funny or unavoidable about the situation.

Down by his feet, a voice chortled, “You old man, you! All it takes is a thank you to put you over the moon? As Nobles go, you’re a pushover.
Oh, thank you so much, kind sir!”

A chase then ensued that lasted a good ten minutes, at which point the left hand leaped out of the room.

I
t was Sue who noticed something wasn’t right. Waking with the dawn, as had been her habit back on the farm, she peered out the window through the still-open shades and called to the left hand on the floor, “This is strange.”

“What is?"

“The sun’s to our right, so if that’s the east, we’re going in the opposite direction. We—we’re going further and further away from the fortress!”

“That’s preposterous,” a voice snorted, but rather than the left hand’s, it was that of the count. “I was up all night. Even without consulting the instruments, I can tell what direction I’m going. This car is definitely headed for the fortress.”

“Wait just a second—the light
is
coming from the east. That’s bizarre. Look into it.”

With this remark from the left hand, the count ordered an investigation. There wasn’t long to wait before a female voice responded, “There’s nothing out of the ordinary. We shall reach the fortress in approximately one hour.”

However, the natural world beyond the windows offered the two of them a contrary opinion.

“Yes, this really is quite strange. Stop the car,” the count said, now

that he too realized all was not right.

After the span of a breath or two, the female voice announced, “We’ve come to a stop.”

Beyond the windows, the scenery continued to roll by.

“So, your computer’s been taken in, too?” the left hand said. Perhaps it was a quirk of its character, but it seemed to delight in the problems of others—even when it was caught up in the same situation. “Yeah, this is probably the work of whoever’s been helping Seurat. That’s a formidable opponent. The computer alone would be bad enough, but whatever it is has screwed up
our
sense of direction, too.”

That’s right,
Sue thought, her blood running cold. The Nobleman and D’s left hand had both easily fallen prey to this spell.

“I’m sorry, but I’ll have to leave this to you. I’ll send out a projection of myself. You may use it as you see fit.”

The count’s words overlapped with the creaking of his coffin’s lid—the coffins of the Nobility always made this sound. Perhaps their kind had a sort of nostalgic need to hear it.

“Damned irresponsible Noble,” the left hand yelled, but then it quickly gave the command, “Hey, stop the car!”

It didn’t stop.

“So, you won’t follow my directions either, eh? Okay.”

“What are you gonna do?” Sue inquired, no longer able to restrain herself.

“Wait until it stops. Come what may, we’ll be safe so long as we stay inside the car.”

It was more than an hour before the vehicle finally halted. The blinds had closed automatically, so there was no way to view the scenery outside except holographic images, but the computer didn’t comply with the left hand’s requests.

Just then, the lights went out. They were enveloped by the darkness. “Hmm, looks like we have no choice now. Shall we step outside?” “We can’t do that!” Sue shouted in the direction of the left hand’s voice. “It’s certain to be dangerous. If our enemies brought us here, they’ve obviously laid traps for us.”

“I agree with you there. But we’re not gonna accomplish anything sitting here like this, either. The first thing to do is let in some fresh air and sunshine, eh?”

“But—can you get the door open?”

“That’s the rub.”

There was a rap down by the floor—apparently the left hand had banged against it. Perhaps it was trying to say the girl was right on the mark.

“Hey, open the door!”

Light beat back the darkness.

“It opened up . . . just as I thought. Well, here I go.”

“But you—” That was all Sue managed before she fell silent. She couldn’t think of what to say next.

Skillfully manipulating its fingers, the left hand leaped outside, and as soon as it did, the door shut.

The car had stopped in the midst of dark earth dotted with cobblestones. Ruins lay up ahead. Marble columns, collections of stones that had formed the foundations of buildings, and sculptures stretched out under the blue sky. Judging from how discolored and weathered they were, they had to be quite old—probably thousands of years.

“Why, this is—” the left hand began to say, its tone one of both astonishment and amusement. Apparently it knew what this place had been. “Hmm, it looks like we’ve come to a nasty little spot. We’d better get out of here quick.”

Turning toward the door, the left hand said, “Open up.”

But it didn’t open. It seemed the hand had been lured out. “Show yourself,” it called out.