Tale of the Dead Town (10 page)

The sheriff’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed loudly. For the first time, it dawned
on him just who he’d chosen to go up against.

The stir of excited voices suddenly hung in the air over town. “Sheriff! Sheriff!”
a voice cried, and there was the sound of approaching footsteps.

“You’re a lucky man.” Giving a light wave of his right hand that threw every last
drop of gore from his blade to the ground, D walked right by the frozen sheriff’s
side. He simply left, as if saying he was finished with the lawman. And in the Hunter’s
place, a deputy came running into the alley. Seeing the carnage, he froze in his tracks.

“Wha—what do you want?!” the sheriff stammered.

No sooner had he asked the question than the ground shook terribly. No earthquake
could even begin to compare to this. It felt like the earth itself had shifted nearly
ninety degrees. Panic swept over the people. The crying of children echoed from more
than one home.

“What on earth’s going on?” This time it was the physician who shouted the question.

“It’s Magnetic Storm Pass.”

“That’s impossible. We’re not supposed to be headed south-southwest!”

“Yeah? Well, we are!”

Frightened screams and angry shouts bounced across the shifting earth as it continued
to rock wildly. Ahead of the moving town, the entrance to a narrow pass formed by
the slopes of a pair of mountains was visible, and a purple cloud could be seen masking
that entrance. That magnetic field would wreak havoc with anything electronic, and
the town was headed straight for it.

So, what exactly was the Magnetic Storm Pass? Simply put, it was another slice of
insanity spawned by a dispute between Nobles. At the end of an interminable battle
over the borders of their domain, one Noble faction had set various offensive and
defensive devices along the perimeter of what they held was their land. They built
a spatial distortion that could pack infinity into a finite area and swallow any invaders.
They made visible light into a weapon that could slice through the solid steel hull
of a flying battleship. They constructed illusion projectors that not only made people
see things, but could even convince them they were part of an entirely different ecosystem.
And finally, they created a magnetic storm with the power to disrupt the electrical
systems of any machine. Though the Nobility that created these defenses were dying
out, the weapons, fed by nuclear power sources, continued to terrorize humanity. And
it was one such deadly device that had its lair in the very pass the town was now
rushing toward.

“That’s odd . . . the warnings aren’t sounding.”

“Warnings be damned. There’s no way in hell our route should be taking us through
there!” a voice bellowed angrily out on streets where darkness and light intermingled
seductively.

Purple bolts of lightning zipped down the lightning rods. The string of small explosions
that could be heard were most likely from circuit breakers that could no longer bear
the load. Now, blackness claimed the heavens and earth, and tendrils of light like
colossal serpents surrounded the entire town. Factory shutters rattled down noisily,
and the radiating fins spread wide on the electrical discharge towers. Energy absorption
rods began extending from the ship’s sides.

“What’s wrong with the navigational computers?” shouted someone in the underground
control room.

“There’s nothing wrong with the computers,” another voice replied shrilly.

“But we’re way off course!”

“Someone put in bad data, I tell you!”

“Damn it! Who in blazes could’ve done that?!”

-

Grains of sand and small pebbles struck D and Dr. Tsurugi’s cheeks.

“This doesn’t look good. Doctor, you’d better hurry home.”

“Come to mention it, so should you,” the young physician replied.

“It’s a long way back to my quarters.”

“I’ll walk you there.”

D looked at the physician’s face. And then he casually started to walk away. Dr. Tsurugi
followed right behind him.

Lightning raced across the earth. Thin, wriggling threads of it. Spraying sand, flinging
stones, the lightning wrapped around a gatepost and gave off a shower of sparks. The
dazzling display of light made D look like white-hot metal. Along the town’s sides,
the energy absorption rods were also catching the lightning. It would be sent to the
nuclear reactors via transformers. Tasting untold bounty for the first time in ages,
the reactors showed their satisfaction with their rising, pale blue flames.

D continued silently down the street. Serpents of light raced all around him, raising
their heads menacingly at the hem of his coat and spitting fire.

“I’m going back,” the physician said from behind him. “Not because I’m getting scared
or anything. Oh, I’m scared, all right. But I realized at present we really can’t
afford to have me getting hurt.”

D nodded.

Bowing and excusing himself, the physician did an about-face. Just above him, there
was a flash of silvery light. A bolt of lightning that was about to strike his head
was split in half, and the fragments twitched on the ground. Completely oblivious
to what had happened, Dr. Tsurugi raced off.

Again the town shook. A phosphorescent flash engulfed an electrical discharge tower,
and flames shot from its base. Flashes of electricity zipped from the ground in the
industrial sector. The energy absorption circuits had surpassed their capacity. Absorption
and discharge—both methods had reached their limits.

D had noticed that the town’s course had changed. There was no way a navigation system
governed by a number of computers working in concert would plot a course that took
them right through the middle of a magnetic storm. Some outside agent had adjusted
it. But why? Where on earth were they taking the town? Those were questions best put
to the mayor.

D stopped in his tracks. A man staggered from the path that ran beside a house. He
was clutching at his throat. This was no victim of electrocution. D’s eyes glittered
at the sight of his oddly pale skin. Turning around, D went to cross the street. The
man collapsed on the spot.

An especially massive electricity snake wriggled down the street. D sprinted. The
shining serpent sank into the man’s midsection. Black smoke rose from him, and the
stench of burning flesh pervaded the area. His charred corpse rolled into the street.

Lightning coursed at D from all sides, only to be sundered by silvery flashes.

As D was about to take a step forward, the smoking black mass suddenly moved. Bracing
himself with his arms, he slowly raised his torso. Needless to say, his hair and clothes
were singed, and his face was burnt to a crisp. Bits of sizzled cloth and hair rained
down on the road. The man was getting up.

There weren’t many creatures that could be jolted with fifty thousand volts and not
be the worse for wear. The Nobility was one of them. It seemed this man was infected
with the disease.

A red cavity opened in the lower half of the blackened face. His mouth. That alone
was as red as ever, as if to offer some contrast to his pearly white fangs. How does
a person charred to a crisp get to their feet? Burnt body framed with white light,
he slowly began walking toward D. Smoke wafted from his limbs. Probing bolts of lightning
crackled from his singed flesh.

D didn’t move a muscle. A blackened hand reached for him. A second before it closed
on the Hunter’s throat, the hand swept away in an elegant arc and then fell back to
earth. D seemed to listen for the
thunk
of it hitting the ground.

The charred human form began to lose its thickness, turning into a pile of dust. In
the blink of an eye, the gusting winds had scattered the remains far and wide. This
was the second case of the vampire infection. However, simply just because a person
had turned into a vampire didn’t necessarily mean they would crumble like ash when
true death claimed them. The degree of corruption their body manifested depended entirely
on how long it’d been since they’d been made a servant of the Nobility. A person who’d
spent three days in their service would leave a rotting corpse. Given two weeks, the
flesh would melt from their bones. If more than a year had passed, then they might
be reduced to dust. In death alone they would be bound by the same rules as the living.
What’d just occurred to the corpse of this vampirized individual simply wasn’t possible.
Or was this a case where his transformation into one of the Nobility had long been
concealed? No, that wasn’t possible, either. This was an entirely new disease. Perhaps
it should’ve been called Nobilitation Syndrome.

D turned his back on the remains and started to walk away. But the question remained:
where was he headed?

-

II

-

The town’s ability to insulate itself from the storm had reached its limits. Breakers
in four of the five electrical discharge towers had burnt out from the overload, and
the remaining tower was down to fifty percent effectiveness.

“Nuclear reactor number one—energy level at fifty-two percent over normal capacity.”

“Number two is fifty-seven percent over. She’s got all she can handle.”

“Number three is sixty-nine percent over—well into the danger zone. Danger! Danger!
Danger!”

“Navigational control room, how many minutes more until we’re clear of the magnetic
storm?” Mayor Ming asked.

“We can’t be certain. According to our data, this magnetic belt is approximately 2.95
miles wide. At our present speed, that’d be 5 minutes, 19.6 seconds.”

“Report what degree of danger the town would face in that five minutes if we were
to shut down energy absorption for one, two, or all three of our reactor towers.”

“If all three towers are shut down—town will be destroyed in 2 minutes and 22 seconds.
Two towers—town will be destroyed in 3 minutes and 5.4 seconds. One tower—town will
be destroyed in 5 minutes and 21.3 seconds.”

“Keep only the number one reactor in operation. Increase cruising speed to twenty-five
miles per hour.”

“That’s insane. The outer shell will suddenly be taking three times as much voltage—it’ll
blow the reactor!”

“I realize it’s crazy,” the mayor said. “But we can’t do a damn thing unless we get
clear of this storm!”

“Roger that.”

The instant the other two nuclear reactors stopped absorbing power, the remaining
energy turned at once on the number one reactor, snapping at it like the fangs of
a crazed beast. Fire shot from the energy flow control system and five of the safeties,
and the now unbalanced flames of nuclear fusion quickly drove the needle toward the
danger zone. In no time at all, pale blue flames had burst through the bottom plates
of the town and were shooting wildly into the air.

-

Wracked by the powerful shocks, Lori gave a silent scream and clung desperately to
her bed. Dr. Tsurugi ran to her. Shouting Lori’s name, he threw himself at her and
pulled her tight to him. Lori clung to his warm chest. The physician’s heart kept
pounding wildly.
He’s just as scared as I am
, Lori thought. For the first time, she found herself feeling something other than
curiosity toward the young doctor.

-

Ahead of the town, there wriggled a particularly large and fierce serpent of light.
Lightning crackled from every inch of it, and when bolts from it brushed the craggy
cliffs to either side of it, the surface was fused into glass or rained down on the
town. Chunks of rock crashed through the roof of a house somewhere, and a woman could
be heard screaming. A compressor in one of the factories took a hit as well, turning
the braided steel air hose into a high-voltage cable that whipped into workers’ bodies
and scalded their faces. White light engulfed the town. Silicon polymer roofs were
being blown off houses, and whole trees were being sucked up into the sky, roots and
all. People scrambled into their basements for protection.

The fierce suction assailed D as well. His traveler’s hat and the hem of his coat
began to rise. Securing the hat’s wide brim with his left hand, D drew his sword with
his right. Turning the blade over, he drove it into the earth. Kneeling, he waited.
Pebbles flew up, and roofing materials followed right after them.

-

The true mayhem was concentrated in the reactor and navigation control centers. A
serpent of light that slipped in through a fresh hole in the wall thrashed ruthlessly
through the bulkhead, flinging workers everywhere. The pungent odor of burnt flesh
filled the air. Snagging a flying worker with one hand, the mayor slammed him back
against the floor. The old man’s strength was incredible. Raising his voice, he asked,
“Can’t correct our computers, am I right?”

“No, it’s no use!”

“Then switch to manual controls!” Mayor Ming snapped back.

“Manual controls on these were scrapped over five hundred years ago.”

The mayor’s face took on the fierceness of a demon. Pulling the serpent of light that
was devastating his surroundings to his chest, the mayor tore it apart with his bare
hands. Black smoke rose from his hands and his torso. His hair stood on end, and lightning
leapt around in his mouth. “Where the hell are we going?” he said. “Who’s doing this,
and where do they think they’re taking my town?”

-

D heard the riot of life and death all around him. Kneeling, gripping the sword he’d
driven into the earth, he looked like an obsidian statue. With all the elements howling
furiously around him, he alone remained unaffected. Light filled the air above him.
A serpentine form twice as thick as any man could get his arms around was dropping
toward D, scorching the air molecules as it went. Here was the leader of this deadly
swarm. Never breaking his pose, D flew backward. Passing him in midair, the serpent
fell to the ground and broke in half before taking to the air once again.

-

The magnetic belt is pulling away from the town.”

“Pull out of it at full speed.”

As if in response to that joyful cry, blue-black space stretched across the forward
view screen—a sky sealed in tranquil darkness, without a hint of blinding light. As
if beaten off by the winds gusting against them, the lights coloring the town began
to fall off behind them.

“We’re clear!” someone shouted. Cheers suddenly filled the air.

-

When Sheriff Hutton called on Ming, some three hours had passed since the mayor had
left one of the workers in charge of overseeing the removal of the radioactive waste.
The sheriff found Ming settled into a chair in his private chambers. “How are the
townsfolk?” the mayor asked in ill humor, his eyes shut.

“They’re finally settling down. We’re looking into the number of injured now,” the
sheriff said in a tone that sounded somewhat intrigued.

“Then, I gather there were no fatalities?”

“Yeah. Surprisingly few wounded, too. Hard to believe no one got electrocuted. Radiation
poisoning’s been pretty minor, to boot.”

“We have that medicine I came up with forty years ago to thank for that. Anyway, what
do you want?” The mayor opened his eyes. Somewhat reproachfully, he added, “You ought
to still be out there.”

“Actually, I’ve come to gab about old times with you,” the sheriff said, smiling at
him. The mayor had never seen him smirk like that. “You happen to remember Ende Remparts?
He was a twelve-year-old kid.”

The expression that formed on the mayor’s face was that of an entirely different person.
“Just what the hell do you think you’re doing?!”

“Poor kid had a muscular disease they could’ve treated well enough in a town on the
ground, but you hated the idea of anyone getting off. Told him the condition was untreatable,
and he ended up offing himself as a result, didn’t he?”

“Hey!”

“How about that time with Ebenezer Villzuya?” the sheriff continued, stroking the
barrel of his rocket launcher. “That one I had a hand in. We were in the middle of
a famine, and he stole a half-pound more synthetic butter than he was supposed to
get. His kids were on the brink of starving. The rest of the town pretended not to
notice. After all, no one else was half as bad off as his family. Why, even you were
pretty easy on him at first. But in the end, you just couldn’t find it in you to let
the first man to break the rules in the town you made get away with it. So, this cuss
here, who was just a deputy at the time, went in and gunned down his whole family,
then made it look like suicide.”

The mayor got up out of his chair and barked, “Who the hell are you?!”

“It’s me. Take a good look now. I’m the one and only Sheriff Hutton. Given name: Bailey
Hutton; height: nine feet nine inches; weight: five hundred thirty-five pounds; place
of birth: three hundred thirty-fourth sector of the Eastern Frontier. I first came
on board . . . ”

A loud crack resounded at his jaw. The massive frame of five hundred and thirty-five
pounds lurched backward and rolled on the floor. Dashing over, the mayor was just
about to stomp his right foot down on the giant’s throat when the barrel of the rocket
launcher rose from the floor to stop him.

“Hey, now—cut that out. I don’t care how tough you are. Seven blasts from this will
send you straight to the hereafter,” the sheriff said, rubbing his jaw as he got back
up. He was like a walking mountain. If someone had opened the door just then, they
wouldn’t have seen anything besides his back. On the other hand, the mayor stood only
five foot eight and weighed less than a hundred and fifty pounds. Though nutritional
supplements might’ve helped to explain how he’d lived to be over two hundred, the
punch he’d just delivered was beyond anything imaginable. “Ow, that smarts. You pack
more of a wallop than I’d heard,” the sheriff said as he nursed his jaw, but his voice
was clearly that of another person.

“Oh, it’s
you
? Got one hell of a strange power there,” the mayor said, not seeming particularly
upset as he went back to his chair. He must’ve figured that as long as he knew what
and whom he was dealing with, he could do away with them whenever he pleased. “I thought
you were a bit of a shady character from the moment I heard you were D’s partner—and
then you go off possessing our sheriff and stealing his memories. Well, what exactly
do you intend to do next?”

“Nothing serious, really. Compared to what a heavyweight scoundrel like you gets away
with, what I’m asking for is small potatoes.”

“I see. And that would be?”

“I want what the Knights left you.”

“Really?”

“I’ve been over every inch of that house, and I couldn’t find a thing. From what they
told me, it seems you wanted it, too. In which case, it’s pretty obvious where it’d
have to be now.”

“Unfortunately, I don’t know its location either.” Sitting there in his chair, the
mayor spread his hands in a display of innocence. “When I found out you tried to save
them, I very much wanted to ask you exactly the same thing.”

“I see. So, you were the one behind that whole little act about bringing me in for
stealing some flowers?” the sheriff said in Pluto VIII’s voice, grinning at him as
the biker would. “Too bad about that. But, you see, I’ve got no proof what you’re
telling me is true. Worse yet, your town’s got these vampires running around and no
one knows when the hell they got on.
Got on
. . . ” he snorted. “That’s a laugh. Of course no one would know when. They’ve
been
here
since the very beginning, after all.”

The voice suddenly became that of the sheriff. “Six months back, on your orders, I
snatched Dumper Griswell and Yan Will. Didn’t have the foggiest notion what you intended
to use them for, but no one in town was gonna miss a couple of worthless drunks. But
with things as they are now, I kinda have to wonder—did them two maybe get themselves
turned into vampires?”

“And just what would you do if they did?” the mayor said menacingly.

“Hey, now! I thought I told you not to move. Besides, trying to do anything to me
won’t accomplish anything. Your sheriff here’s the one who’ll take the lumps, while
I’ll just go back to my old body and slip into someone else. Hell, I could even use
your own daughter . . . ”