Vengeance of the Dancing Gods (35 page)

"Yeah, but he couldn't practice the spells. He got his local power, the Satanist, but he needed more. He needed Dacaro and he needed to block Ruddygore to make it all work, so he went to his old allies in Hell to get their cooperation. I'm sure he wasn't any too popular down there, but this plan probably knocked their little demonic socks off," Joe agreed. "They were the bridge between home and here. Hell decided on this Master of the Dead and got him all the best magic spells in exchange for a little help—never mind what it's for, old boy—it doesn't concern Husaquahr, only Earth. You can have Husaquahr.

It would never even cross his mind that, if they Page 187 Chalker, Jack L - Vengeance of the Dancing Gods take Earth, it means the final battle and the end of both worlds..

"So now we have it," the Imir said cautiously. "The total picture. We know exactly what they are going to do, and how, and when, and even where. We now also have all the elements of our own puzzle guide—the Oracle's 240 VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS rhyme—in place. We will talk to this priest tomorrow when he's sobered up—if he ever sobers up. Macore?.

"Marge? Or Gimlet? What about this porch? Is it solid or does it have a crawlspace underneath?" the thief asked.

Marge looked at the pixie, who shrugged.

"Joe—didn't your Hawaiian priestess say something about trapdoors rigged in the porch?.

"Uh—yeah. Come to think of it, she did. I'd forgotten..

"All right, then. I've got a potential solution to the puzzle, but it's gonna be pretty damned hard on some folks, I'm afraid..

They all leaned eagerly forward. "What is it?.

"I can't tell you. Even when it's happening, I can't tell you, because it's possible, even likely, that it will require some of you to get caught. Poquah, I'll need a way around that barrier spell..

"That is not too difficult. It will be even easier if we can examine both of our were friends here while still weres and find the point of commonality..

It turned out that the only thing the two bodies seemed to have in common that could not be explained as normal was a small polyp inside the left armpit. Poquah was satisfied.

"Behold the sign of the true Elect," he told them.

"A very nice touch. Who would notice?" He turned to Macore. "It is not even truly sorcerous in nature, only in origin. It will be rather simple to give you one, even right now..

"Okay, then do it," Macore said. "Tomorrow, I'm going to have to ask you to erase any knowledge or memory of my very existence in this world from Joe and Tiana's minds..

"Huh? Why?" Joe wanted to know.

"I told you—no clues. If they catch you, the less they Page 188 Chalker, Jack L - Vengeance of the Dancing Gods know the better. As for why not do the same to the fairy folk, it's because their minds can't be as easily dissected by Pathies as yours, and also because it's damned near JACK L. CHALKER 241 impossible to do on you all without it being noticed, or am I wrong?.

"That is correct," Poquah agreed.

"Wait a minute," Tiana put in. "Do you mean that only you will know this plan in full? And if anything happens to you, the plan fails?.

"No. Poquah already knows the added elements you don't, although I'm gonna have to explain it all to him to show him how it puts itself together. I think he'll deal quickly with any fairy folk to avoid any chance of them using their power against him. Why not? He only needs to keep you all on ice until he broadcasts and then it won't make any difference..

"You are certain you can get in there?" the Imir asked him.

"Why not? I got into Ruddygore's vaults. Compared to that, this is a piece of cake..

"You are sure this will work?" Marge asked worriedly.

"Of course not. Nothing's ever a hundred percent. But it all fits in and clicks with the people we have and the rhyme we got, not to mention the other information we've acquired. I do, however, have one backup, if it all falls down. It's not a sure thing, either, and it's sure not part of the Oracle's script; but since I got the idea from Dacaro, it should work..

"From Dacaroi" Marge exclaimed.

"Yeah, but don't worry about it. I doubt if I'll need it.

The important thing is this—you're all gonna have specific jobs to do. Every one of you. They'll all be dangerous, but so will mine. I usually work solo, but the Baron's expecting a mob and some specific characters as well, and we have to provide them. Sorry about that, but that's why some of you might get caught. If so, don't worry what happens to you, so long as you don't go and get yourselves killed. Given a choice, surrender. Either we'll bail you out or it won't matter anyway..

"Sounds like a cheery thought," Marge noted. "Still, you don't think they don't know about the porch and the 242 VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS JACK L. CHALKER 243 trapdoors, do you, Macore? I mean, they'll probably have people under there and run the dogs through and every- Page 189 Chalker, Jack L - Vengeance of the Dancing Gods thing..

"Yeah, they probably will, on Monday night. But I won't be there on Monday night." He clapped his hands together in anticipation. "We'll all start this tomorrow night," he told them, then looked over at the pixie.

"Gimlet, old goil, I don't even understand the contraption, but can you type?.

CHAPTER I 5 ONE HELL OF A MESS It did not last: the Devil howling, "Ho! Let Einstein be!" restored the status quo.

—Sir John Collings Squire "YOU REMEMBER NOTHING OF LAST NIGHT, FATHER?.

Joe asked, a little frustrated and wondering whether he, the priest, or Marge was crazy.

"No, I'm afraid I—well, I was in no shape to remember things last night, I fear. It's the pressure of all this going on around me..

The priest that Joe and Poquah faced was quite a different sort of person from the one Marge chanced on the previous evening. He was tall, military in his bearing, and quite cold sober.

"You're not Irish, though, in spite of your name?.

The priest sighed. "No, I'm not, although I don't know how you know that. It was one of the stupider things I did in my youth. I'm afraid that I've always had a taste for the grape, or worse, but I never could really handle it. I was on the wagon for years, went through AA, and was a fine example—until this business happened here..

"We are here, we hope, to end this business. Father,.

Poquah said. "If what we've heard is true, we may need your help to do so. We have battled this evil man before and won when all others had been defeated. We know him and respect, rather than fear him—but this is our gravest challenge..

"What do you need done, then?.

"You have, we understand, performed exorcisms?.

The priest sighed. "Yes. Unfortunately, those were mostly in my off-the-wagon days. I have some memory of the subjects, but little memory of the actual exorcisms.

Those for whom I performed them seemed comforted and pleased..

It was becoming increasingly clear to both of them that Father O'Grady was really two people, one drunk and one sober. The drunk saw Fairies as they were and had at least one foot in the supernatural world, while the sober Page 190 Chalker, Jack L - Vengeance of the Dancing Gods one was the coldly rational and somewhat distant intellectual they faced.

"Tell me, Father—do you believe in the Devil?" Joe asked. "I mean it, I'm not just kidding around..

The priest thought a moment. "Yes, son, I believe in the Devil and in Hell. I've been partly there. I was in Vietnam for quite a long time, and I was later in Beirut.

I've also stood in the preserved remains of concentration camps in Germany, where you can still feel the evil. I believe that God exists and I have come face-to-face with evil, and so I have no choice but to believe in the Devil as well..

Joe nodded. "The Devil's here, Father—and not in an abstract sense. He's over there, in that compound, in that old house..

"The Baron has opened a pathway between Hell and the house," the Imir added. "It is there and it is real and tangible. He draws his power from it. The Baron and 244 VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS Dacaro are evil men. Dacaro has more sheer temporal power than the Baron, but it is the Baron's intellect and will which guide him. Something monstrous is going to be loosed tomorrow night. We are going to attempt to stop it from happening, even at the cost of our lives. We will attempt it with or without you, but we need your help, your expertise..

"But you can't even get in!.

"We can get in—any time we wish. The trick isn't getting in, it's accomplishing what we must accomplish.

The Baron fears us so much that the Elders attempted to kill my companion here the other night, using pistols. It may require violent action, even killing some of them, but it must be done..

Oddly, the priest seemed more fascinated than put off by this. It was very clear that he was so afraid of the True Path and so disgusted with it that he would leap at striking a blow against it, and his combat experience certainly didn't hurt. Chaplains didn't fight, but bullets never respected their rank or position.

"Assuming we could get in at all, what would you have me do? You're not talking about some demented man who is, or thinks he is, possessed by spirits. I admit I'm having trouble even accepting the idea, but you are saying that there is a demon, evil incarnate, in there. That's not an exorcism..

"It isn't exorcism that we need," the Imir told him, "nor could it be very effective in any case. Somewhere in the cellar of that old house is the gateway, the way Page 191 Chalker, Jack L - Vengeance of the Dancing Gods through. We need to get into that cellar, which also contains the Baron's offices, find that gateway, and seal it shut. Cut it off or contain it. Even Hell is constrained by laws and agreements that it made. But it will take no simple pentagram drawn in chalk. There is too much power there for that..

Father O'Grady thought for a moment. "What is needed, then, is a Seal of Solomon. It resembles the Star of David, but in addition has various legends and symbols written JACK L. CHALKER 245 in the created triangles. Activated by the proper liturgy, it is supposed to prevail against the Devil himself..

"Then that's what we must do. Seal it off. Once sealed, how much trouble would it be to undo it?" Poquah asked him.

"I've never done any of this, but I've read up on it. If properly done, it could not be broken from either side.

That gateway would be closed, the Seal set within the very Earth itself and guarded by the power of God. Even broken or erased, it would exist..

"Then that is what we need. I'm not minimizing the risks for the impossibility of the task, though, Father. We may well have to fight our way in there. We may face forces beyond our control. And, if we do make it and locate the place and even seal it, we may not be able to get back out again, for it will do nothing to those, some with power themselves, who will be after us..

"Are you trying to talk me out of it?" The priest sighed.

"You realize, gentlemen, that you would be thrown out of here or be taken out to the nearest asylum under normal circumstances. Had I not seen this power of evil you speak about in operation here, I would not even have given you the time of day. They've left me here as a poor, old, retired drunk of a priest, not only to be a permanent bad example, but also because they felt I would eventually pack up and leave. I'm angry and I'm frustrated. I haven't felt this way since I stood in front of the Marines' demolished barracks in Beirut and helped them haul out the bodies of more than two hundred fine young men. When you meet and look into the eyes of fanatical young men who are perfectly willing to drive a truck full of explosives into a place and detonate it, even though they, too, will die, all because some so-called religious leader, for his own ends, told them God wanted them to do so, and you turn around, in your own small, peaceful village here in the United States, and see the same look and the same devotion on those who once were your friends and neigh- 246 VENGEANCE OF THE DANCING GODS JACK L. CHALKER 247 bors..." He paused a moment, trying to force down his fury.

Finally he said, "Gentlemen, I still think this is mad- Page 192 Chalker, Jack L - Vengeance of the Dancing Gods ness, but perhaps even my death or disappearance will cause some ripples elsewhere. I have no family, my friends are my enemies, and I have no future. Perhaps I am driven by this to be as deluded as that fanatic who drove that truck into the barracks. And yet—I will go with you. I must believe that God has placed me here for some reason, in this situation. When do we go?.

"Tonight, Father," Joe told him. "That's when you'll also get a few new lessons in the supernatural..

The little church seemed the ideal place to meet at sundown, and Joe and Poquah left and went back to their car. Both were preoccupied with the coming night's work and got in without even thinking about it. Suddenly they froze as someone's head came up in the back seat, and both whirled and halted themselves only at the last moment.

"Mahalo McMahon!" Joe exclaimed. "What the hell is thisT' She was still wearing the flowers and the lei and nothing else.

"Hi ya, Conan! Geez, I'm sorry I scared you like that, but there didn't seem to be any other way. They're all over the place..

Joe looked at Poquah, who checked her out for spells.

She had one, but it wasn't in the nature of a controlling threat. She was definitely not working involuntarily for the Baron, although that didn't mean she wasn't working for him freely.