Flash Gordon 5 - The Witch Queen of Mongo (15 page)

“Like shock therapy?” Zarkov asked eagerly.

“Essentially, but without the disorientation and the danger of permanent amnesia. The memory is simply wiped clean in moments, as the sweep washes out the subject’s memory bank from present to past, leaving it completely blank. Then, taking the memory of the other subject, the psychescope force-feeds it into the blank memory bank so that Subject A has the memory and personality of Subject B. And, meanwhile, Subject B takes on the memory and personality of Subject A.”

“Then you mean that Prince Barin will actually take on the prisoner’s personality?”

“Exactly,” Major Grof said, beaming.

“And the prisoner will become Prince Barin?”

“Right.” Major Grof added: “But that’s not quite all. Although the prisoner will be locked into the personality and memory of Prince Barin, that is, he will be Prince Barin for all intents and purposes and no one else, Prince Barin will take on the personality and memory of Jado, but will also retain his entire memory himself so that he is both Prince Barin and Jado.”

“Fascinating,” muttered Zarkov. “Forced schizophrenia! You think it will work?”

“It will,” said Major Grof.

And it had. Minutes later, Jado had emerged from under the helmet and stepped off the metal chair, thinking he was Prince Barin.

“Captain Solas,” commanded Major Grof. “Please take—uh—the prince into the cosmetology room.”

Captain Solas hurried over and led the erect figure from the room into an adjoining one.

“Well, he certainly passed the test,” Zarkov admitted. “Where did Captain Solas take him?”

“To the cosmetology room,” said Major Grof.

“I don’t think I understand.” Zarkov blinked. “Yes, I get it! For cosmetology transference, to correspond to the personality transference.”

“Exactly, so that Jado will look like Prince Barin.”

“And Barin?”

Major Grof waved at the other chair. “Ask him.”

Zarkov strode over to the chair and waited while Major Grof lifted off the helmet.

“How did it go, Prince Barin?”

Barin laughed. “Fine, fine, Major. You’ve never given me any trouble yet, have you?”

“Where were you born, Jado?” asked Major Grof.

“In the Kingdom of Blue Magic,” Barin answered in the voice of Jado.

Zarkov blinked. “Incredible.”

“Who sent you here?”

“Queen Azura.”

“Was Flash Gordon indeed in that room with Ming the Second?” Zarkov asked.

“Yes,” Barin said in Jado’s voice. “I saw the two of them.”

Major Grof nodded. “Good, good.”

“Now what, Barin?” asked Zarkov.

Prince Barin laughed. “To the cosmetology room. Right, Major Grof?”

“Right.”

Zarkov beamed. “So you’ll look like Jado.”

“You’re a bright fellow, Doc. You should take up science.”

Zarkov glowered. “Come off it, Barin. That’s not funny.”

Prince Barin roared with laughter.

Q
ueen Azura leaned back on the silken coverlet of the banquette by the great dining table and surveyed Ming the Second through lidded eyes. The son of Ming the Merciless was flushed with wine, sluggish with a great deal of food, and quite unable to utter a word without slurring it.

“Soon!” he shouted. “Soon we will rule this whole planet, you and I, Queen Azura.” He threw back his head and laughed uproariously, reaching out for another flagon of wine which he gulped down quickly.

Azura stifled a yawn. “Yes, Ming. Now, darling, if you’re quite through eating, perhaps you should go to bed. You need rest, you know. Prince Barin may be coming any hour now. I wouldn’t want his visit to be marred by any lack of vigilance on your part, my dearest one.”

Ming stared at her, his eyes unable to focus. “Oh, the hell with Barin, love. We’ll take care of him with no trouble at all. After all, once he’s in our hands”—he grinned and slashed his forefinger across his neck—“it’s off with both their heads.” He roared with laughter.

“You drunken sot,” Queen Azura said under her breath. “What ever gave me confidence in you as a military ally?”

“What’s that, Queen?” Ming asked, his head lolling forward. “Wha’ you say?”

“Never mind, darling,” said Azura, reaching out her hand commandingly. “I do think you had better retire, love. It’s going to be a busy day.”

“Busy night,” Ming said, chuckling, getting up from the chair and staggering around the table toward Azura.

Azura rose to her feet in a regal manner, standing straight and tall. “Get out of here, Ming, or I’ll call Qilp.”

Ming grabbed her by the arms. “What can stupid Qilp do to me, Azura?” he muttered.

She moved quickly, slapping him in the face. “Get away from me, Ming,” she ordered. “You’re totally drunk. Get to bed and sleep it off before you touch me.”

Standing back in awe, feeling his face with his hand, Ming blinked and suddenly focused on her. “Hey, you hellcat, what do you think you’re doing? This is Ming, baby. Not some stupid courtier you fancy.”

Azura clapped her hands in command and moved quickly away from Ming.

He came after her, reaching out and grabbing the thin cape she wore over her shoulder. It ripped and fell to the stone floor.

The door opened and Qilp ran in. He carried an enormous leather-thonged whip in his hands.

Azura said nothing, but threw her hand toward Ming, who was stumbling after her, pawing at her. Qilp’s eyes gleamed and he flicked the whip quickly so that the thongs caught Ming in the back of the neck.

He yelled in pain, reaching his hand behind his neck. He whirled, and saw the dwarf coiling the whip for another strike. He roared and jumped for the dwarf.

The little man was as agile as a rabbit, and jumped out of the way, running back along the wall, with the whip ready.

“I’ll get you, you deformed little monster!” shouted Ming, and reached out his hands again. “Cousin or no cousin.”

Azura walked sedately out of the dining room and into her own chamber. She slammed the door and locked it.

There was another animal-like roar from Ming. She studied herself in the mirror and smiled slightly as she heard the heavy blows raining upon the thick door, and the outraged cries of Ming the Second.

“Let me in, will you? What kind of treatment is that, Azura? Come on, baby, I was only playing.”

“You’ve had a busy day, little man,” Azura said distinctly through the door. “Better get some rest. Tomorrow you meet Prince Barin.”

Azura leaned forward, staring into her eyes in the mirror. She was sick and tired of Ming and his adolescent interest in athletics and games. Had she made a mistake in hiding him in Azuria while he grew to manhood, so she could use him to conquer the entire planet? Should she perhaps have chosen some other man to be her king?

She shrugged.

It was too late now to make any changes. If only Ming were like Flash Gordon, now. But, of course, he was not.

There was a discreet rap on the door fifteen minutes later.

“Who is it?” Azura asked from the silken-draped bed upon which she lay, fully dressed, reading a book.

“Jado, Your Majesty.”

“Oh, the courier!”

She rose and quickly unlocked the door.

The man she recognized as the courier to whom she had given the note for Prince Barin stood before her, looking down into her eyes.

“Come in,” she said softly, and Jado stepped inside the room. She pushed the door shut behind him and walked slowly to the bed, where she sat down, leaning back against the bolster.

“Well?” she said softly.

Jado came over and stood by the bed. “The message was delivered, Your Majesty.”

“How can I believe that?” she asked.

Jado smiled. His eyes were appraising her. “You can believe it, Your Majesty, because I say it. Did you take me for a fool?”

“How a fool?”

“If I had delivered the letter as you told me to, without knowing the contents, I would have been seized and thrust into prison in Arboria.”

The queen smiled. “And?”

“I saw that the note was delivered to the proper person, and then made my escape, Your Majesty,” Jado said sardonically. He bowed stiffly at the torso.

“You amuse me, Jado. Perhaps you are not the fool I took you for.”

“Indeed I am not,” Jado said with a faint smile.

“And Prince Barin?”

“He has the message. He will come.”

“You are sure?”

“Your Majesty, because I did apprehend the contents of the message, and because I did realize what you wanted, I simply made sure I overheard the discussion that followed the rather dramatic reception of the note.”

The queen chuckled. “You are one of a kind, Jado.”

“He is coming in the early morning—overland through the Great Mongo Desert.”

“Excellent, Jado. Excellent. Alone?”

“He debated that for some time with his ministers,” Jado continued, his eyes narrowed. “They finally decided that he must obey the tenor of the note in order to be in a position to save his friend Flash Gordon.”

“I see,” said the Queen. “And how does he intend to do that?”

“I do not know,” said Jado.

“Then we will secure him the moment he appears,” said the queen.

Jado bowed at the waist.

“Jado,” said the Queen. “How did you return?”

“From Arboria?” Jado asked with a frown.

“Yes.”

“The same way I went, Your Majesty.”

“Through the Great Mongo Desert?” the Queen asked negligently.

“No, Your Majesty. Through the labyrinth of tunnels in the mining sector of the Caverna Gigantea.”

“Ah,” said the Queen. “Ingenious.”

“Yes, Queen Azura.”

“What did the Arborians say to you, Jado?”

“They said to halt, and I killed one of them,” Jado replied with a faint smile.

“I mean in the court?”

“I spoke to no one,” Jado replied stiffly.

The queen nodded slightly. “What is our minister of communication’s name, Jado?”

“Fraj, Your Majesty,” Jado said with an amused smile.

The Queen laughed. “I am eternally suspicious of Arborians, Jado. I am simply testing you to see that you have not been programmed to give me the right answers after having been brainwashed—or possibly having been killed and a spy sent in your place.”

Jado’s eyes were bright. “An amusing concept, Your Majesty.”

“Is it not?” the queen responded.

“Have I passed the test, Your Majesty?”

“For the time being, Jado,” the queen said serenely. “You may go.”

Jado nodded and bowed again.

“I like you, Jado,” the queen said quite suddenly. “I plan to reward you for your faithful mission. Remain nearby so I can summon you.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Jado smiled into her eyes.

Queen Azura reached out her hand and touched his cheek. “Leave me, Jado.”

He bowed and walked slowly out of the queen’s bedchamber.

The queen lay there a moment, bemused. Jado was a bright young man, certainly. He had proved quite shrewd in his actions so far; perhaps she could use him.

She looked at the ceiling of her chamber. Perhaps he was too bright. Perhaps he had proved his worth to her only to make himself visible for further advancement, and then turn against her.

There were always courtiers plotting against her, she knew. And Ming—how could he take to Jado?

The thought of the two of them at each other’s throats amused her.

She would keep a close eye on Jado. Perhaps she could use him yet if she ever parted ways with Ming.

On the other hand, he could have been suborned by Prince Barin. Jado could be an agent of the Arborians. Their scientists were as ingenious as her own. Yes, she would keep an eye on Jado.

She reached out and flicked on the vidphone.

“Ming,” she hissed, and the screen cleared. She saw Ming’s bloated flushed face.

“Hey!” Ming exclaimed. “What did you wake me up for?”

“The outpost, fool,” snapped Azura. “Prince Barin is on his way. Over the Great Mongo Desert.”

“You’re lying,” growled Ming. “Let me sleep.”

“Get your troops out there and wait for him,” ordered Azura. “Or I’ll throw you in the dungeons.”

“Aw, now,” growled Ming in a nasty way, “get off my back, will you?”

“Move,” Azura demanded angrily. “Or I’ll have you in irons!”

“Yes, oh, queen,” snarled Ming, his eyes black with anger and hate.

J
ust inside the mouth of the cave where the Caverna Gigantea opened out onto the cliff face of oceanite rock, Ming the Second waited with a group of Azurian guards in full regalia. It was almost dawn.

The vidphone sounded and Ming turned to it, cursing the headache that still plagued him after all those hours. Queen Azura’s face came into focus on the vidscreen.

“Ming!” she snapped. “Where are you?”

“Here, oh, queen,” Ming said with a growl.

“We’ve calculated Prince Barin’s journey across the Great Mongo Desert. He should be there before the sun rises. Can you see him now?”

“Not now, but we are watching.”

“Good—keep at it.”

Ming scowled at the vidscreen as the queen’s visage faded. Damned meddling woman, he thought. It had been a mistake to let her lead him all the time. He should have fled Azuria when a youth and returned to Mingo. There he could have built up an army of his own to overthrow the caretaker government and set himself up as emperor. He could have gotten followers to help him.

But he had chosen to let Queen Azura talk him into joining forces with her. The trouble was the queen herself. She was an egotistical, vain, and rather stupid woman. She thought she was a great deal smarter than she was. And she loved to throw her power around, particularly to make a man look stupid. In spite of all her attempts, he knew that he did not look as stupid as some of her courtiers. Take that dwarf, for example, his cousin.

Yet Qilp, even though a blood relation, was to be avoided as much as possible. He was a dangerous little sneak. A spy. A deadly agent. A murderer. All those things. But someday . . .

Ming had the shakes from the enormous amount of alcohol he had consumed the night before. It was going to be one of those days, he thought miserably.