Part 17 (1/2)

DeVore nodded, then, shrugging off her arms, climbed from bed and went through to the bathroom, switching on the shower.

She went across and stood in the doorway, watching him. ”What do you think it means?”

”It means nothing,” he answered, annoyed that she should ask ”If s just a dream, that1 s all.”

”But you've had it several times now.”

”So?” He switched the water off and turned to face her. ”Karr's light-years from here. Literally. We'll never see him again. So the dream means nothing.” ”Dreams always mean something,” she persisted.

”b.o.l.l.o.c.ks!”

As he came to the doorway he stopped, staring angrily at her, his face pressed close to hers. ”Just leave it, okay? If s a dream, and only a dream. If it worries you, I'll have the surgeon purge it, all right?” She nodded, averting her eyes as he continued to stare aggressively at her. ”Good,” he said finally. ”Besides, if there's anyone who's going to be smas.h.i.+ng skulls, if s me. I'm good at smas.h.i.+ng skulls. I've smashed a whole f.u.c.king mountain of them in my time!”

And with that he turned away.

”Yes,” she said softly, almost inaudibly, watching him walk over to the wardrobe and begin to dress. ”You're the best The very best, my love.”

Daniel jerked awake. He was wearing only his breech-cloth, but for a moment he had thought he was still in full armour. He had been sweating profusely and his limbs felt like they were encased.

Sitting up, he looked about him at the tiny dormitory. On every side the boys slept on, their faces innocent in sleep, their soft snores filling the half dark.

Something had woken him. Something ...

He went very still, realising what it had been. The answer. He had the answer suddenly.

For a moment longer he sat there, letting his pulse return to normal, his breathing slow, then he slipped back beneath the thin cloth blanket Horacek. Horacek was the key.

A single huge arc lamp illuminated the yard, throwing its bright glare over the entrance to the barn. Both of the ma.s.sive doors were thrown back, and as the big cart lumbered into the yard men came out from the darkness within to help unload.

As the cart ground to a halt, Horacek jumped down, immediately organising the men, gesturing and shouting in his strange, high-pitched voice. At once they began their gruesome task, taking the bodies from the cart and stacking them inside, men to the right, women to the left, children and those too disfigured to make such distinctions, in the darkness at the far end of the barn.

It was still warm despite the hour, and as Horacek stood watching, he fanned himself, using the clipboard on which were written the latest figures. It was going well. At long last, his campaign against the southern villages was having its effect They knew now. If they sheltered even a single rebel, they would pay the price.

The probes were the key to it, of course. Since he'd been using them to spy upon the villagers, his success rate had rocketed. He had been able to go among them and, rounding them up, show them the unarguable evidence of their duplicity. But he had been careful to kill only a number of them. One in six. The rest were spared deliberately - so that word of what had happened would spread through the southlands.

Even so, there were still those who took the risk and defied him. And so he continued to go amongst them, like a vengeful G.o.d exacting justice. As the last few bodies were carried inside, Horacek wandered over to the two white-coated men who were standing by the gates, looking on. ”Fresh tonight,” he said, grinning his hideous, lop-sided grin. ”Good,” one of them said, turning to him. ”But you ought to think about refrigeration. On nights like this ...”

” You think about it,” Horacek answered him curtly. ”I do my bit you do yours.

Besides, if s only for the camps.”

The two men looked to each other, exchanging a glance that Horacek didn't quite understand. Were they providing meat for other markets now? If so, maybe he should up what he was charging?

”Here,” the second of them said, as if reading his mind, quickly handing him a bag of coin. ”Silver. As we agreed.”

Horacek held the bag up in one hand, as if calculating its weight, then nodded.

”Good,” he said. ”Tomorrow, then.”

”Tomorrow.”

He turned and walked away, past the cart and out of the yard, his six bodyguards falling in about him as he walked down through the empty streets towards the centre of the town. His men would see to the cart He had what he'd come for. It wouldn't do, of course, to be too greedy. But no one would miss a few bodies. And if they all did well out of it, then why should anyone care if he made a profit or not, least of all The Man. After all, DeVore had more than he needed. Indeed, sometimes he thought DeVore had no interest in money at all, except in so far as it allowed him to continue his campaigns. Horacek looked about him at his men. For once he felt like sharing his good fortune.

”Okay,” he said, ”you've worked hard for me today. If s time we had some fun.

Lef s go to Ti Yu, neh? On me.”

There were broad grins and nods of grat.i.tude Ti Yul It was well beyond their reach. This was unlooked-for generosity!

Horacek smiled. If you treated your men well then they looked after you. And little treats like this helped But not too often. It wouldn't do to have them expect this kind of thing all the time.

No. Just now and then. When they'd done particularly well. Grinning now, the heavy coin bag swinging back and forth in the pocket of his tunic, Horacek led them on down the empty,lamplit street, towards the glistening line of the river, and towards the great dungeon-like cellars of the Ti Yu club, where, if you had the money, you could buy anything. Anything at all.

A great cheer went up from all around the exercise yard as Daniel marched his patrol towards the gate, boys crowding the mouths of the tunnels and hanging from the windows just to get a sight of him.

His own boys were grinning, their visors up, pleased to bask in his reflected glory - part of Daniel's team - and as they pa.s.sed out under the gate, more than one of them raised an arm to acknowledge the cheers and whistles. And then they were outside again, on the road that led down through Abendorf itself and out into open country.

Daniel turned, looking back at the camp. The land dipped here, going down into the valley before it climbed again, so they would be in sight of the camp for two, maybe three, kilometres. After that, however, thick woodland obscured the view from the camp walls. There he would leave the road and head east, because he wasn't going straight back. First he would pay Horacek a visit They walked briskly, keeping up a business-like pace while the sun was low and it was less than thirty minutes before they reached the point, deep within the cover of the woods, where he wanted to leave the road. ”Okay,” he said, turning to face them. ”I didn't want to say anything before now, but we're on a special mission.”

Daniel saw how their eyes lit at that and felt a twinge of guilt, knowing they would believe anything he said.

”I had to keep quiet about this, but now Til tell you. We're heading east, to meet up with Marshal Horacek.”

That news, he saw, was less pleasing. None of them liked Horacek. And for good reason. They had seen his methods at close hand, when he'd visited the camp. ”And don't worry,” he added, looking from one to another. ”I shall be dealing with the Marshal. You have only to get me there.”Relief, and new determination. ”Okay,” he said, smiling now. ”So our brief is simple. We move quickly and try not to be seen. We rendezvous with Horacek and then we go back to the camp. If all goes well, no one will know about our little detour. Right?” ”Right!”

”Good. Then lef s go. We've eight kilometres to make.”

One of the golden-eyed, standing just back from the shadowed window of the ruined hut, saw them as they pa.s.sed, moving quickly, silently along the gully that cut between the trees. Eight boys in heavy armour, the sunlight, filtering down through the branches, glinting off the hard edges of their suits. Taking a step forward, he rested his hands against the cool stone of the window ledge, and as he did, he felt a strange yet familiar sensation grip him. There was a flash of pure vision. The trees, the gully, the boys - all vanished. All, that was, but the largest of the boys, who now strode along alone on a gra.s.sy slope. And as he walked he appeared and then disappeared, time and again, his progress across the slope like a sequence of intercut films. There was laughter just out of vision and the dapping of hands. And then the boy turned and smiled.

Abruptly the vision faded and was gone.

Below him the gully was empty now. Only the faintest sound of booted feet on leaves came back to him, and in an instant that too was gone. Daniel. The boy had been called Daniel.

He frowned, then turned, looking back into the room, wondering what the vision meant.

Daniel crouched by the wall, the boys spread out in a line to either side of him, waiting for him to give the order. Two big container vehicles - half-tracks with refrigeration units - were at the end of the lane, some two hundred metres distant Beyond them men in bright green one-pieces were moving to and fro between the compound and the lane, loading the second of the vehicles.

Daniel ducked down, then unfolded the map and studied it again. According to the map, there was nothing here. Nothing, that was, except an old ruined barn. So why the vehicles? Why the armed guards?

The vehicles belonged to SimFic, the entertainments company. At least, they had the double helix logo on the side. But what in the G.o.ds' names were SimFic doing out here at the edge of town?

Time was pressing, and he knew he really ought to be moving on if he was to see Horacek and get back. But this was intriguing. This was the kind of thing the patrols had been designed to observe.

If SimFic were working with the rebels, then maybe someone ought to know?

Or maybe not.

Daniel looked down, frowning. Before yesterday, he wouldn't even have thought about it, but now he couldn't think of anything else. What was he fighting for? To cleanse the world of rebels? To bring about that ”New World” they had all been told so much about? But what kind of ”New World” was it that had no compa.s.sion? And what kind of creatures were being bred to live in it?

Daniel looked along the line, giving the signal to hold position. At once the boys relaxed, turning to slump against the wall, taking the opportunity to rest, their weapons propped between their knees.