The Last Protector (14 page)

"Maybe it'll make more sense if I start at the beginning.” Jape sipped his light lager and stroked his chin thoughtfully. “About a hundred and fifty years ago, my people learned how to bring new worlds into existence. For now, don't worry about how they did it. They made a lot of new worlds, including this one."

"We're taught that Spafu made the world."

"This world was made by the UniFlag Group. Spafu was—” Jape paused, searching for the right word. “Spafu was associated with them."

"And you came from the same place?” She gazed at him with something approaching reverence. “Are you one of Spafu's Helpers?"

"Umm, no. I come from the same world, but I don't pretend to be anything more than a human being."

"And if anybody ever tried to worship you,” Scrornuck warned, “I'd bust a stone tablet over their head. And yours."

"Oh.” Nalia shook her head and took a somewhat larger sip of wine.

"All in all,” Jape said, “my people made over two thousand worlds. Many were made so that people could live in what they saw as golden ages of history: ancient Greece, the days of King Arthur, the post-war American empire...” He stopped, noticing her blank expression. “This isn't making any sense, is it?"

She shook her head. “The only history I know is the last hundred years, since Spafu created the world. I've never heard of these other things."

"Well, it's not important. UniFlag developed Taupeaquaah as a themeworld, a place of entertainment and recreation, pleasant weather and wide-open spaces, a place to get away from the crowds of my world. The DisWarner company built its Safari World as the African savanna. The place had herds of animals roaming the plains, elephants the size of a house. And there were others, places of incredible beauty...” He suddenly straightened and folded his hands on the table-top. “But my people made mistakes.” He took a deep breath. “Big mistakes. Mistakes that destroyed whole worlds."

"Whole worlds?” Nalia asked nervously.

"Earthquakes, storms, volcanoes, plagues, the ground splitting open.” Jape leaned across the table until his face was just a few inches from hers. “Yes, whole worlds destroyed. Deaths in numbers too huge to count."

"You're serious about this.” Her hands trembled as she lifted her glass and took a large swallow.

"I've seen what happens,” he said. “We call it a stream crossing, and one's going to happen here in eleven days and a few hours.” He held out his left hand. “Look at this,” he said, pointing to a ring whose large jewel was a bright yellow with just a hint of green. “When we arrived, this ring was green. That means everything's all right: the worst you'll get when the streams cross is a little snow in midsummer or frogs falling from the sky. Now it's this yellow color. That means storms, fires—and at least some people will die."

Nalia stared at the ring, and then looked about at the beautiful blue sky and the pleasant meadow surrounding the pub. “Storms and fires..."

"And death. And it's getting worse—in just four days the ring's gone from green to yellow. By the time of the crossing, it could be orange or red, and that means thousands and thousands of people killed. And if, heaven forbid, it gets all the way to black, every living thing in this world will be obliterated.” He shuddered at the thought.

"Every living thing?” Nalia's face had gone ashen, and her hands shook so badly that she spilled as much as she drank.

Scrornuck put an arm around her. She was shivering all over. “It's not going to happen,” he said firmly. “We're here now, and we're going to fix it, right, Jape?"

"That's the Rangers’ mission,” Jape said. “We locate and fix the paradoxes before they can turn a stream crossing deadly.” A note of pride crept into his voice. “We've succeeded just about every time."

Nalia relaxed for a moment, but then tensed again. “What's this got to do with me?"

Jape pointed to a ring whose jewel flickered blue. “This one measures mind reading.” He pointed the finger at Nalia. “You're the strongest mind reader in this world, whether you believe it or not, and you're getting stronger.” He then lifted a finger bearing a ring that glowed a faint lavender. “And this is something else, probably connected with that thing we found at the Executive Palace. Somehow, you and the Orb, whatever it is, are involved in reconciling the crossing, and we've got eleven days to solve the puzzle."

"So what are you going to do?"

"Learn more about your abilities. Find the Orb, figure out what it is and how it works. And then, whatever's necessary to make this ring green again."

Nalia looked at Jape warily. “Does that mean you'd kill me?"

"No.” Jape pointed at Scrornuck. “He would."

"Well,” she said, “at least you're honest."

Jape shrugged. “I don't want to see anyone die. And there are usually alternatives to killing people. But I can't make any promises.” He reached for his purse. “I suppose this is as good a time as any to ask. Our agreement ends when we return to Taupeaquaah tonight. I'm prepared to extend it through the stream crossing, a week from Saturday. Are you interested?"

"I don't know,” she said. “You talk about mind reading and two thousand worlds, but you can't show me any proof and you can't promise you won't have me killed. Doesn't sound all that great. A part of me just wants to go home and forget I ever met you."

"You may not be safe there,” Scrornuck said. “The guys who attacked us were Guards."

She thought about this. “Yeah, I suppose I'm not safe anywhere. Great, just great."

"You're safe with me,” Scrornuck said. “I said I'd protect you, and I meant it."

She flicked a thumb in Jape's direction. “Yeah, I'm safe until this guy tells you to kill me."

"Umm...” In his three years as Jape's Protector, Scrornuck had only once been ordered to carry out an execution, but he doubted Nalia would find this fact reassuring.

"Right now,” Jape said, “I think the Captain is a greater danger to you than we are."

"This sucks,” she said glumly. “Well, how much are you offering?"

"Same as before, three gold pieces a day plus food, drink and lodging."

"Well, that could pay for a nice little vacation, if I live to collect.” She shook Jape's hand. “What the hell, if I'm going to die I might as well have money in my pocket. You've got a deal."

"Welcome to the Rangers,” Jape said formally.

"Yeah,” she said, without much enthusiasm. “I wish I believed this stuff.” She jingled the gold pieces Jape had already given her. “Oh, well, for three gold pieces a day I can still pretend to believe."

[Back to Table of Contents]

Or Are You Just Happy to See Me?"

Scrornuck dozed in a plush chair by the door, his fingers an inch from his sword. He perceived in a dream-like way that Wednesday morning had come. The sun shone outside, a pleasant breeze stirred the air, and something in the distance made a soft splashing sound. Jape sat at the table nearby, busily tapping on his softscroll, while Nalia still slept. All was well and he could sleep a little longer.

The three had arrived in Taupeaquaah late Tuesday night, as the fireworks lit up the city's spires in brilliant colors and sent thunder rolling across the plains. Weary from their journey, they'd checked into a luxurious three-room suite in the Guest Quarter and settled in for the night, Jape and Nalia in the two bedrooms, Scrornuck guarding the door.

A smile crossed his face as he dreamed about their run-in with the High Priest. Rosaiah had again harassed Scrornuck to offer up his boots, and he'd replied with a gracious bow and a series of formal gestures. It had taken the Priest a full minute to realize that the gestures all carried the same message: from the upswept arm to the two-fingered flick to the classic middle-digit bird, Scrornuck had been signaling an enthusiastic “up yours!"

A vibration, a slight change in the background sound, brought him to a more alert state. Nalia was moving—yawning, stretching, getting up and dressing, and he let his eye open just in time to see her enter the living room and greet Jape. “Look at him,” she said, pointing to Scrornuck's chair. “He's curled up like a big dog.” She got down on one knee and whispered in his ear, “Wake up, Fido, it's morning!"

"Arf!"
Scrornuck barked, as loud as he could. Nalia, startled, tumbled over backward. With a laugh, he jumped to his feet and extended a hand to help her up. “Morning! Sleep well?"

"Uh, yeah.” She took his hand and stood. “Never slept better in my life. And you?"

"Just fine.” He walked her to the suite's balcony, and pointed to the resort's beautiful outdoor pool. “After all that walking, we need to visit the hot tub."

"Plenty of time for that,” Jape said. “First I want to see if we got replies to any of our queries.” He waited, read, and sighed.

Scrornuck knew what that sigh meant. “Problems? Or do you just need your coffee?"

"Both. Search agents found records that mention the name McGinn, but they're in nonstandard encodings. Well, they're worth a crypto team.” He stabbed a button marked
Accept.
“And I could use the coffee."

Nalia followed as Scrornuck headed for the suite's tiny kitchen. “What's he talking about?” she asked. “I know the Captain called that purple ball the Orb of McGinn, but the stuff about search agents and crypto teams lost me."

Scrornuck placed a cup of water into a small chamber in the kitchen's wall and pushed a button. “The softscroll can talk to people in Jape's world, so he's got them looking for old records that mention McGinn.” He removed the cup of boiling water from the microwave and stirred in some dark brown powder from a small bag, grinning slightly as Nalia wrinkled her nose and backed away from the stench. “They found some records, but nobody can read them."

"I thought you could read anything,” Nalia said as they returned to the living room. She carefully stood upwind of the coffee cup.

"Not this—can't even see ‘em until the Ranger Control people do some magic.” He set the cup down next to the scroll. “Here you go. Finding anything else?"

Jape accepted the coffee gratefully. “A lot of hits on the name Draggott.” He took a swig of the coffee, examined the scroll and sighed again. “Now that's a disappointment—"

"Sorry,” Scrornuck said, “all we have today is instant."

"Huh? Oh, the coffee's fine; I'm talking about what we found. Nothing on Draggott as such, just a few near-matches. Dragons, no. Lord Braggart, a mythical character thought to be derived from Baron Munchausen, don't think so. Raggott, the name given to a gerbil in a late-twentieth-century urban legend...” He read silently for a moment. “Ugh."

"Cruelty to animals?"

"More like cruelty to all concerned, including the reader.” He turned the scroll so Scrornuck and Nalia could read it.

Scrornuck stuck out his tongue. “That's disgusting!"

"I didn't know intestinal gas could explode,” Nalia said thoughtfully.

Scrornuck's belly rumbled ominously.

"Explosive gases?” Jape asked.

"Just hunger. Let's go get some breakfast!"

They moved to a restaurant on the inn's third floor, a place featuring a spectacular view and a plentiful buffet. Between bites, Scrornuck scanned the
Morning Taupeaquaahn
for the latest news. “This is weird,” he said.
"Eight off-duty Mayoral Guards, including First Leftenant Leondo, were killed and eaten by unfriendly dragons Monday night, while camping in the forest southwest of the City. Those venturing outside the City are reminded to stay close to roads and established Trading Posts, and to avoid being in the woods after dark.
Camping trip? Unfriendly dragons? Looks like somebody wants to keep this quiet."

"Our special friend, Draggott?” Jape mused. “If so, he's got influence in the city government."

"Maybe they're just trying to maintain calm,” Nalia suggested. “Taupeaquaah's a peaceful town—at least it was until you got here. If people hear that somebody's killing Guards eight at a time, there'd be panic."

"Perhaps,” Jape said. “Or maybe the story is a cover, to keep the Guards who aren't in cahoots with the Captain from asking questions."

"Shhh!” Scrornuck pointed discreetly—a woman in a Guard's uniform had just entered the restaurant. She glanced indifferently at Jape, Scrornuck and Nalia, pulled a donut from the buffet, and left.

"Well, it appears the Guards aren't looking for us,” Jape said. “At least, not officially.” He held up his ring, whose jewel now glowed yellow with a distinct touch of orange. “Meantime, there's a world to be saved—let's get to work!"

Eager as they all were to find out about the mysterious Lord Draggott and the equally mysterious Orb, there was little they could actually do until evening. Nalia's former employer was the gossip center of Taupeaquaah—if any of the townspeople knew about Draggott, they'd be drinking at Syb's—but the place was deserted during the day. Scrornuck decided they should spend their free time in the resort's magnificent pool, so they headed to Temple Square in search of a swimwear shop.

Almost as soon as they entered the Square, they were surrounded by a half-dozen children, who giggled, stared and pointed. Suddenly the boldest of the children darted forward and attempted to lift the edge of Scrornuck's kilt. Scrornuck slapped the boy's hand away and glared sternly into his twinkling brown eyes. The boy smiled innocently and fled, still giggling, with his friends.

"Somebody always wants to know,” Jape said.

Scrornuck's stern look dissolved into a smile. “Yeah, the kids are just honest about it!"

They strolled along the row of shops lining the Square, and in time came to the display window where the long knife engraved with images of Spafu had been on sale. It was empty. “Looks like somebody bought your souvenir,” Jape said.

Scrornuck shrugged. “No big deal. I'll find something else."

A few doors down, they reached the swimwear shop. Nalia quickly pulled several suits from the rack and ducked into a fitting room, while Scrornuck engaged in the usual exchange with the proprietor about his “skirt.” About the time the businessman walked away, shaking his head in confusion, Nalia returned. Scrornuck's jaw dropped and he stared shamelessly—if Nalia had been easy to look at in her serving wench uniform, she was an absolute knockout in this light blue two-piece swimsuit.