Kirlian Quest (22 page)

"Power—on a universal scale," Qaval agreed. "A new door has been opened, one that defies our experience or imagination." Then his teeth clicked: his indication of surprise. "Why did it not occur to me before! This news must be transmitted, and the Weew must return to his Segment where experts can consult with him and verify his findings. Only the Lady can keep him on the subject and out of shock. She should be released for that service, preemptive. It is a Cluster security matter overriding a mere planetary matter."

"Yes!" Herald agreed. "Let's go up to the library so I can call Swees of Weew, the mathematician. He can make the necessary contacts."

They hurried upstairs, this time not forgetting Hweeh. Psyche kept her hand on him all the time, though this was awkward because of the necessary proximity of Qaval, still manacled to her. "What is the connection between me and the Amoeba?" she asked as they went.

"It is—it is—I cannot quite fathom it, Lady," Hweeh replied. "Not that you evoked the information. There is a more fundamental, if peripheral—your aura—" He stopped. "It remains buried," he said regretfully.

"Maybe we'll find it when we delve beneath the cellar," she said. "Somehow I am tied to—oh."

"What?" Herald asked, worried.

"I cannot go to Weew," she said. "My aura peaks here only, near this cellar. I would be of no use elsewhere."

"Of
course
you would be of use elsewhere!" Herald retorted.

"Without my enhancement of aura?" she asked, giving him a direct look that half destroyed him.

"Then we shall bring the Weew experts here," Qaval said. "All the more reason to abate this siege of the castle before it becomes uninhabitable."

They reached the library. Herald placed the call, half fearing that the besieging army would be jamming communications; but he got through right away.

"Swees of Weew here," the Sador host said. "So good to communicate with you again, Healer. I understand you have a bit of trouble there."

"Swees, we have a critical situation," Herald said. "Our castle is under siege and will soon fall. We are trapped. But we have information of inter-Galactic importance. Will you be able to contact Segment Weew to make arrangements for Segment intervention and possible extradition of Hweeh and his party?"

"But—" Psyche began.

"First we must save your life; then we can save the Cluster," Hweeh told her. "Let him proceed."

"Segment intervention!" Swees exclaimed. "Surely you know I have no authority for such a thing! I could relay your information and serve as liaison, but I should have to have much more to go on than what you have told me. They would laugh me right out of shape, if I—"

"They will pay attention to
this
," Herald said. "Hweeh has located a million-strong fleet of spaceships approaching our Cluster from extra-Cluster space, obviously coming to raid our fundamental energy. It may be a greater threat to our survival than that of the two inter-Galactic Wars of Energy, and we have to ascertain—" He broke off, interrupted by Qaval's tap on his shoulder.

"Swees of Weew has gone into shock," the Duke said.

Indeed, the communication wheel of Swees' Sador host was drifting to a stop. "I should have thought of that!" Herald exclaimed. "The mere concept of Cluster doom knocks out these Weews! How can we get through to them?"

"Maybe some other Segment?" Psyche inquired. "After all, the threat applies to
all
Segments."

Qaval slapped his tail irritably against the floor. "Only a creature's home Segment can extradite him. Hweeh is the expert; he is the one who must testify. And he is the only one who requires the Lady's assistance."

"Don't imperil the Cluster for my sake!" Psyche objected.

But it was more complex than that. Psyche could be saved only through Segment Weew, and the Cluster could be warned only through Segment Weew, because the statements of nonexperts would never be heeded in time. But they had no way to alert Weew to the problem! Sufficient detail would send any Weew they contacted into shock.

But it was imperative that they get word out about the Amoeba, regardless of their personal fates. An actual Cluster invasion....

"Maybe some other Segment will listen," Herald said. "Once we get the alert out, the Cluster Council may take over directly. In fact, this
is
a Cluster Council matter. Why don't we see if we can get through to a Minister?"

Psyche shook her head. "You know the red tape to reach a Cluster Minister? You have to go through channels—"

"And the Planet Keep channel leads right through King Roundlet of Crown," Qaval said. "Whose egg, Prince Circlet, is besieging this castle." He paused. "Nevertheless, I might be able to navigate that channel, as I know the entities there and they know me."

"Wouldn't that be taken as traitorous action?" Herald asked.

"Perhaps. But the higher allegiance is to my Cluster, and I hardly think I will be very strongly condemned for saving my Galaxy or Segment or Sphere from invasion by aliens. In fact, if such invasion were facilitated because Prince Circlet had burned the only entity who could evoke the testimony necessary to prevent it, the Prince himself would burn."

Good enough. "We'd better go up and get you and Psyche unlocked," Herald said.

"It is not necessary. I shall work on the ministerial contact," Qaval said. "We should not waste time."

"All right," Herald decided. "I'll go out to find Duke Kade. You try to get through. If you do, have Hweeh explain the situation." And he set off.

The activity on the outer wall had intensified. Soldiers were moving war supplies to their battle stations, especially the parapets nearest the approaching ramp. There were not merely weapons and arrows and stones for the catapults, but also piles of wood, buckets of oil, and even sewage from the deep septic sumps. Nothing was wasted, in war, except lives and property.

The Duke of Kade was hard to find. Everywhere Herald went, Kade had just left, organizing this, touching up that, making last-moment adjustments. Siege-defense was a complex business.

The causeway was not yet all the way to the wall; the increasingly accurate fire from the castle crossbows balked its near approach. But now the enemy was using heavy shields held up and interlocked over their heads, protecting them while they worked. The catapult on this side was lobbing stones down, trying to score on this phalanx, but it was hard to nail a moving target. Herald found these grim proceedings fascinating. This was elementary warfare, from which heraldry had sprung thousands of years ago. Other things might be transient, but war was eternal.

Then as he watched, the main thrust commenced. Dozers poured down the road fashioned from the cliff-collapse, each animal shoving a mound of dirt and rubble before it. There seemed to be an endless line of them. They rolled right down to the end of the ramp, then spun off to the side and climbed back. This was not the same maneuver as before. The earlier dozers had been shaping the ramp from the immediate debris of the fallen cliff, scooping it from underwater, leveling the travel-track. These new ones were pushing material from over the hill, using the foundation for more effective motion. As a result, the ramp suddenly grew much more swiftly.

But why was it being done this way? The avalanche had shoved water out of the lake, drowning the defenders of the dam. By now the enemy surely had control of the dam, and could let the water out of the lake. They did not need to build a high ramp to get above the water level. Had signals been crossed—or was there some more devious thrust in store?

The crossbows fired, but the large fat animals were hardly affected. Their body processes were diffuse, the vital organs protected by the hard wheels. Arrows might cause them pain, but did not kill them or even stop them. And there were so many! All they required was firm ground for their heavy wheels—and that they had, now.

"Cease fire!" the knight in charge of this section of the wall cried. It was the Baron Magnet, rolling along in the saddle. "They've got more dozers than we have arrows. Save your fire for the sapients."

Herald hurried up to Magnet. "I'm looking for the Duke," he said. "Do you know—?"

The Baron did a bounce in the saddle. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be on your way!"

"The enemy has spears waiting for the crawler. We can't use it." It occurred to him now that that could be one reason the lake had not been lowered: The enemy wanted Kade to think the crawler was serviceable, so that key personnel could be trapped when they tried to use it. Once the water was down, it would be obvious that the crawler would be useless. "I need to tell Kade we can't escape."

"You'll never catch him. Stay here and supervise the wall. I will send him back to you."

"I don't know anything about siege defense!"

But the Baron was already wheeling on his way, lost in the commotion.

Herald watched the rapidly progressing causeway, hoping the Baron would be back soon. A number of the dozers were dumping their loads prematurely, causing the road to hump upward more than forward. The fear of arrows most be having its effect, though no arrows were being fired.

Then he realized: That rising elevation was no accident—they,
wanted
the road to rise! This was no causeway, it was a ramp, to be used to ascend the height of the wall! The knights would be able to charge right up and over the ramparts of the castle, overwhelming it. The level of the lake hardly mattered. The dozers would be able to work all night, and with the dawn...

Was there any defense? The catapult and hot oil and crossbows were calculated to discourage troops who tried to ram or scale the wall from below. But a charge over this ramp—No wonder Qaval was sure Kastle Kade would soon fall.

To his relief, Kade was striding toward him. "Where's my daughter?" he demanded.

"Chained to Qaval," Herald said. "We can't escape, so—"

"Well, bring her up here!" Kade snapped. "I can't leave the wall, not while the ramp's building. I'm organizing a counterthrust. Six good knights astride that ramp can hold off the Prince's whole army, if they're well drilled in ridge-combat. Then we can doze out a gap near the wall so that—"

"Sir, the Lady and Qaval are trying to reach the King's palace on the phone, and—"

"
What?
"

Herald coughed. "Psyche's at peak aura. She—"

"Oh, don't repeat that superstition! There is nothing wrong with her aura."

Didn't the Duke
know
how his daughter's aura fluctuated? But this was not a matter to be argued now. "She's got the Weew talking. He says there's a Cluster invasion in the making. We have to reach the Cluster Council of—"

"A Cluster invasion!" Kade exclaimed unbelievingly. "It must be a ruse to subvert our—"

"No, sir. The Weew is no spy. He believes in this thrust—and I'm not sure he's mistaken. We have to get experts on it."

"All right," Kade said, humoring him. "Contact the palace. They may grant the Weew safe passage out; he should not have stayed here anyway. But make it fast. Things are going to get very difficult in a few hours."

Kade had no conception of the Amoeba threat. And there really was not time to educate him now. Herald would have to focus on the immediate details.

"Duke, you don't understand," the Healer said. "Psyche is the only one who can facilitate Hweeh's testimony. She has to go with him." Except that she would have to come back, to enhance her aura—but that, too, was too complicated to go into right now. Hweeh was right: first save her life, then worry about the rest.

Kade stared. "No, that would never work. The Prince is a stubborn idiot, but he's no fool."

"Duke Qaval is speaking for the Lady. But we want to reach the Cluster level, and have them put a hold on this siege while they investigate—"

"And Qaval supports that?" he demanded incredulously.

"Yes, sir."

Kade headed for the down-ramp inside at a heavy run. "Come on, Herald. It's a long shot, but just maybe— We've got to get on that phone!"

They tore into the library, where Qaval was speaking. "... and if you do not pass me up the chain to Sphere HQ, I will nail your wheels to the floor and loose my sand-dogs on you," he was saying into the phone. "We have a Cluster emergency here, Code Thirty-three, and it has nothing to do with the siege of Kade. Now
roll!
"

Kade brought out his key. "Were it any other, I would have sword in hand," he said. "But you, Qaval, when you lie, the planet will surely burst asunder. How came you to participate thus?"

"The Lady has a persuasive aura," Qaval said as the fetter came off.

Now Kade took his daughter's wrist, to remove the handcuff. He stiffened. "That aura!" he exclaimed. "It is stronger than the Healer's!"

Psyche smiled. "Two hundred and sixty and rising, Father. Maybe two hundred and seventy in the cellar. Do not be alarmed."

Kade fell back, his face a mask of horror. "Then you
are
possessed! I never believed it, no, not for a moment, never let myself believe—"

There was the key, Herald realized. The evidence was there, but the man had never
let
himself examine it. Now, caught by surprise, he was taking it the wrong way.

"Kade, she is not possessed," Qaval snapped. "If you have no faith in your daughter, get you back to your ramparts and let us handle her defense at Cluster level."

But Kade was too shaken to comprehend. He had been extremely active for many hours, under a great burden of tension, and he had been knocked out on the ferry. He was not in a reasonable condition. "There is no natural aura that strength! Only demon Possession could—"

"Sphere Sador HQ," the phone said. "What is your emergency?"

"News of a Cluster invasion," Qaval said. "This is Duke Qaval at Planet Keep. I—"

"Where is your Shield of Arms?" the Sador demanded.

"Elsewhere, dolt! I am captive of Kastle Kade. But my face is on record. Verify my credits and bounce me up to Segment level."

There was a pause while a computer check was run on his snout. "Credits verified. Detail?"