Chapter Twenty-One: Four Fathers

Large Sections of this chapter owe their inspiration to Messrs Johnny ‘Gleefully Insane’ Depp and Orlando ‘Disgrace to his Y-Chromosome’ Bloom. See if you can spot ‘em. A shoutout also to Michael the Steward of Pathos, for demanding I make Swiss neutrality jokes about the Zardarkians making clocks and watches, which inspired a lovely piece of plot, and also to the makers of ‘Withnail and I’ for a few quotable quoteys.

The Wendauer/SURTR Barracks, King’s Sanctuary, Megiddo.

‘Excuse me. You’re standing on my feeler.’

‘Oh, sorry.’

Nevin shifted, looked, and then knelt down, a sudden and gleeful look on his face. ‘Ooh, whatever are you.?’

‘Excuse me…..’

‘Sorry. Whoever are you?’

‘I am Loredelver Bhæzgð:tkpa:rzðæzgv:bzræþkz:’

‘Bhæzgð:tkpa:rzðæzgv:bzræþkz:. Good grief, and they say Cymraeg is hard to pronounce.’

‘Good grief, you’re the first human I’ve ever heard who could pronounce it.’

Nevin let ‘human’ slide. ‘You try saying what I have to say whenever people ask where I’m from, see.’

‘Why, where are you from?’

‘Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch.’

‘You win.’

‘Ooh, do I get a prize?’ Nevin said, and sat down crosslegged next to the table in front of the little fungous something. Baz looked at his slightly bloodshot blue eyes and contemplated something.

‘You’re not by any chance the Monster with eyes of ..er…Crimson are you?’ He asked.

‘Naa, bach. But I know him. And…’ He frowned and batted at something invisible above his shoulders. ‘Shut up. Don’t all talk at once…where? Here? What? Room 31844-A?’

‘I know where that is.’ Baz said.

‘Well let’s go there then, hey?’ Nevin scooped up the astonished sticky little Mi-Go and deposited it on his shoulders before leaping to his feet and exiting the mess hall, all legs and elbows.

‘I wonder where he’s off to now?’ Kara asked, thoughtfully.

Klot shrugged. ‘Far too dynamic. I don’t think he’s capable of keeping still for more than five minutes straight.’

Nevin, guided by Baz, eventually reached the door marked 31844. He pushed the buzzer. The door slid open and revealed an empty common area.

‘Oh. No-one here.’ He appeared to listen to the air and blinked. ‘Someone had a really nasty dream in here though. I can almost smell the blood.’ Involuntarily, he licked his lips.

‘Yum.’

The fungus on his shoulders shifted uncomfortably. ‘I don’t like it.’ He said. ‘The energy patterns are odd.’

‘Don’t fret. We’ll look elsewhere.’ Nevin shrugged, turned around and nearly walked into Vinny. He broke into a delighted grin. ‘Ah, there we go, see. One Crimson-Eyed Monster for you. Morning, kingy.’

‘What?’ Vinny blinked and straightened his hat up.

‘Greetings in the name of Yog Sothoth the Unholy One.’ Baz said, tentatively.

‘And may his blessings fall stickily upon you.’ Vinny replied.

‘Oh. You’re reformed.’

‘Yuhuh. Hey No-one.’ Vinny grinned a little at Nevin and turned back to Baz. ‘You looking for me, little sticky guy?’

‘Bhæzgð:tkpa:rzðæzgv:bzræþkz:’ Nevin corrected.

‘What???’

‘Baz is fine.’ Baz said, huirriedly. ‘It’s not really me that’s looking for you. There’s just this whole ancient prophecy thing about the Monster with Eyes of Crimson.’

‘Oh, Jeez, not more ancient prophecies..I had enough of them for a lifetime.. Is there something you want me to do?’

‘Well, you’re ..if it is you…supposed to bring about the Return of Yog Sothoth.’ Vinny looked thoughtful. ‘If I remember my Liber Sothorum and I didn’t read it much y’understand, aren’t we all supposed to be trying for that?’

‘Yes, but you’re supposed to be particularly good at it.’

‘I won’t even pretend I know what you’re both on about here.’ Nevin said, picking at his nails.

‘Ah, sorry man. Look, Pez or whatever your name was..’

‘Baz..’

‘If I run into Yog Sothoth I’ll be sure to free him and stuff. But right now he’s pretty low on my schedule, if you get my meaning. This whole war, yeah? Hey, wait a minute, I know that face…’ Vinny’s head suddenly turned to face away from them, and he was off. ‘Nice seeing ya again, No-one!’ He yelled over her shoulder.

‘Where does he think he’s going?’ Baz asked.

‘Want me to go after him?’ Nevin asked.

‘No, it’s all right.’

‘Let’s go and get someon…I mean something to eat, then..’

Vinny skidded around the corner of an empty corridor and raced after the figure in the distance.

‘Oscar!’ He yelled. ‘What the hell are ya running for? Hold up!’

The figure turned around to look at him and then ducked into another corridor. Vinny skidded around another corner, coat and cloak flying. He was gaining, the runner wasn’t as fast as him. They ducked into another corridor and Vinny slowed for the turn. As he moved in, a black shape dived at him and knocked him over. The black hood fell back from the brown hair and revealed a pair of horns.

‘Aw crap. Joel.’ Vinny sighed.

‘Where’s he gone!’ Joel yelled, forcing Vinny’s shoulders to the ground. The demon was strong.

‘Who?’ Vinny asked, folding his arms underneath Joel, fully aware that he could throw the other man off any second if he felt like it.

‘Oscar, you furry idiot!’

‘Don’t mess me around, Joel. You always know where Oscar is, he said.’

‘Where did he go! Someone’s cloaking him from me. I don’t know where he is. I can’t feel him anymore.’

Vinny smiled. ‘Well, good for them I say.’

Joel fairly steamed with fury and dug his fingernails into Vinny’s shoulders.

‘You gonna get off of me now, Joel? Or do I gotta do it myself?’

‘No.’

‘No smart remarks?’

‘Not in the mood.’

‘Not very comfortable?’

Joel hit Vinny across the face. Vinny snarled and reared up, throwing Joel off him and at the wall behind him. Joel’s head hit the metal with a loud clang. He tried to sit up, but Vinny was already on his feet and he kicked Joel in the stomach, knocking him back against the wall.

Joel wheezed, winded.

‘Warned ya.’ Vinny said, touching the bruise rising where Joel had hit him. ‘You seem stressed, Joel. I guess because hurting Osc is the only thing that gives your sick little life meaning. Good. He deserves a break.’

‘It was all fine before you came along.’ Joel said bitterly, looking at Vinny.

‘Well this just ain’t like you at all.’ Vinny said, finding a cigarette and lighting up. ‘Don’t even think about moving.’

Joel untensed his leg muscles.

‘This is really bugging you, isn’t it? Oscar’s a good guy. He deserves friends. He deserves someone who isn’t you.’

‘You don’t know anything about Oscar.’ Joel sneered.

‘What are you going to tell me, huh Joel?’ Vinny said, angrily, kicking Joel again, in the chest this time, then smacking him across the face. He had utterly lost his temper with the demon. ‘That he ain’t that brave? That he’s a little emotionally fucked up?’

‘Hah!’ Was all Joel could get out.

‘Yeah, I guess I have no right to talk there.’ Vinny shrugged and kicked Joel again, who slowly slumped on to his side. A little blood dribbled out of his nose.

‘We said Oscar was the only one who can kill you. But nobody said anything about beating the shit out of you.’ Vinny said, conversationally.

‘That’s right, kick a man while he’s down..what a good guy.’ He choked out.

‘You’re not a man, Joel.’ Vinny snarled. ‘You’re a fucking waste of space. And nobody said I was a good guy.’

‘You don’t know.. about… before..when we…who we were…’

Kick. ‘I don’t care about before, Joel. I care about now, and Oscar is my friend now. And people hurt my friends, well, they’re gonna get what’s coming to them.’

Joel coughed up blood.

‘Are we straight? You got anything else to say, Joelinho?’ Joel shook his head.

‘All righty then.’ Vinny turned around and headed back down the corridor.

Joel rolled over onto his back to ease the weight on his bruised and probably cracked ribs. Vinny had hit the same place precisely at least three times. He stared at the ceiling.

‘I’m gonna get you for that, Vinny, you fucking fucky f..argh…ach..’

Meanwhile, completely oblivious to all this, Oscar sat alone in a diner, munching thoughtfully on a spacemac. His ribs were aching a little, and he’d no idea why.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a flash of corn-blonde hair. He looked up, but it was only a pretty blonde waitress.

Assumpta. I’m going to earth, and she’s there. When I’ve been wherever God is pointing me, I’ll find her and ask her about the deer, the stag. Perhaps she knows what it means. And..it would be nice to see her again, I guess.

He contemplated his spacemac.

When he looked up, there was a woman with forest-green hair sitting across the table from him. He started.

‘Um…sorry, I don’t want any company, Miss…’ Was Miss the right word? She seemed young, but there was an ancient look in her eyes.

She shook her head, indicating she wasn’t _that_ sort of person.

‘Can I help you?’

She stared at him, a little disbelievingly. ‘Josephus. It is Josephus, isn’t it? You’ve been missing for more than a decade, and you don’t look a day older. I never thought you’d go for Vitalicium…’

‘I’m sorry. I think you’ve mistaken me for someone else.’ More than a decade? But that’s…no…it can’t be. How long have Joel and I been fighting? Since always..I haven’t kept track of the time. It must be longer than that.

‘Always apologising, as usual. You are Josephus, Josephus de Viaminima. I’d recognise you anywhere.’

‘No, really. My name’s Oscar. I don’t know anyone called Josephus.’

‘Well..if you insist.’ She looked down.

Oscar suddenly wanted to know more. ‘Who was he, this twin of mine?’

‘A…technical consultant…on a project I was involved in.’

‘A technomancer?’

‘Yes.’ The green-haired woman took hold of his wrist urgently. Oscar jumped at the contact and pulled it back. Her hands were like cold leaves. ‘I’ll play your little game then. If Josephus were to want to come back, I’d say it would be a very good time about now. A very good time, because he may be needed.’ She took one last look at him, a little pleading. Then she stood up quickly and turned around, walking out of the door of the diner.

Oscar stood up. ‘Wait!’ He slid out from between the table and the bench and tried to follow her, but she was already disappearing into the distance. ‘Wait!’ He yelled after her. ‘Tell me who I am!’

Someone tapped him on the shoulder. He spun around.

‘You’re the guy who still has to pay for his dinner.’ The blonde waitress said.

Whistling amiably, Vinny wandered down a corridor. He was quite lost, but he didn’t care a bit, as it had been such fun to kick Joel until he bled. Vinny was quite sure he’d run into someone eventually, though he had noticed the dustyness of the corridors increasing. He vaguely remembered Wyn saying something about the King’s Sanctuary having a lot of forgotten corridors from when it was a major base. Still, he was bound to run into a lift or something like that eventually.

The passages started to slope downwards. Vinny started to get worried. He was about to turn around when he noticed a set of footmarks in the dust. They looked old, there was a thin film of dust over the top of them, but it meant someone had been down here at least fairly recently, and if he followed them he was sure to end up somewhere people were. Yeah. If he followed them backwards, it should take him to wherever they’d come from…

He started following. They led him down a few more passages to a set of flashing lights saying “Restricted Area. Do Not Pass This Point”. He walked past the point slowly and cautiously in case of heavy machinery or alarms. Nothing particularly interesting happened, so he picked up his pace again.

Eventually, he hit a dark corridor with a dead end.

‘Aw, to hell with it.’

The footmarks paused at a panel on the wall to the left and then disappeared through a what could possibly be a door. Next to the door was a dust-covered pane of glass. Vinny wiped at the dusty pane and peered through. The room beyond was empty and seemed to have no other way out. It had furniture and a food dispenser, the kind that produced blocks of tasteless but well-balanced protein-food from waste products. He cursed again and decided he’d better follow the footmarks in the opposite direction to wherever they had been heading to, probably out. He absentmindedly put his face closer to the pane of rather thick glass to get a better look into the room.

Suddenly, another face appeared on the other side and pressed it’s nose against the glass right in front of him. Vinny jumped, stepped back and tripped over, smacking his elbow on the floor.

‘Owch.’ He said, looking up at the face. ‘What did you have to go and do that for?’ He shouted angrily.

The face shook from side to side and the person tapped their ear, indicating they couldn’t hear him. They stared at him with a look of mild astonishment. Whoever it was had shoulder-length black hair, eyes that seemed to be made of black glass, or obsidian and seemed to be wearing some kind of silvery jumpsuit thing, from what could be seen of them through the dusty glass. They looked about twenty.

Vinny picked himself up and brushed the dust off his ass. The person was making frantic poking motions at the panel at the side of the door. Vinny looked at it, and wiped the dust away. There were symbols, probably numbers, on it. The person on the other side of the door disappeared for a minute or so and returned holding up a small electronic pad with symbols drawn on it.

Vinny raised an eyebrow at the person.

The person sighed, and made poking motions.

‘Oh…you want me to..’ Vinny pointed to the pad, then to the panel and pretended to be pressing keys.

The person nodded, frantically and delightedly.

Oh well. Maybe they knew the way out. Vinny looked at the pad, then looked for a matching symbol on the panel. He found it, poked it. It lit up. He continued. After the last one had lit up, the panel bleeped twice and nothing happened. He turned to the person and shrugged.

The person banged a fist on the glass angrily and leaned his forehead against it, looking down. He looked so hopeless that Vinny felt quite sorry for him. He poked at the panel. It only seemed to be made of some brittle plasticy stuff, it shouldn’t be too hard to…

When all else fails, do some damage.

He punched the panel in, shattering the front and slicing a long tear from the knuckle of his third finger to his wrist. Wincing a little, he found some wires and ripped them out, making the panel shower sparks onto his furry arm. The door slid a third of the way open and clanked to a stop. Vinny gingerly removed his hand from the wreckage of the panel and licked the wound clean. Then he turned to the partially open door.

‘Hey, you in there?’

‘Yes?’ The person said, peering through the gap.

‘Can you get through now?’

‘No.’

‘Gimme a hand getting this open then, hey?’

‘All right.’

Vinny stuck his boot and his hands in the gap. ‘On three, pull. One, two, THREE’

The door resisted their combined weight for about thirty seconds, then slid with a grinding creak all the way open. Vinny moved out of the way and the person stepped out, a pair of great, black scaly wings folded behind him.

‘Hey..’ Vinny began. ‘You’re a dra…’

Before he could finish his sentence, the person had swooped on him and kissed him on the lips, and then proceeded to hug him tightly.

Vinny blinked, stunned for a few seconds, before remembering something Gauss had said. ‘You dragons and your ‘friendly greetings’. He grinned.

‘Your poor hand.’ The dragon said, sympathetically, taking hold of Vinny’s fuzzy left hand and pressing it to his face.

‘It’s been through worse, believe me.’ Vinny said. ‘Could you..ah..let go of me now?’ Not that it wasn’t nice to have arms around him, but he was rather unused to them being those of a male dragon.

The dragon let go. ‘How can I ever repay you for releasing me?’ He said.

‘You know the way out?’

‘I know the way to the surface, yes.’ The dragon nodded. ‘But it’s been a long, long time since I’ve been up there.’

‘That’ll do nicely.’ Vinny smiled and began walking. The dragon hurried to his side.

‘Are you a dragon too? I’ve never seen another one.’ He said.

‘Nuh-uh.’ Vinny said. ‘But a know a couple.’

‘Do they look like me?’

‘No. They’re all silver and white. You’re all black.’

The dragon nodded, running his fingers through his black hair.

‘My name’s Vinny.’ Vinny said, straightening up his hat again and looking at the dragon, who was a little shorter than him, but taller than Gauss or Nike. He was quite fine-featured and girlish. Vinny guessed most dragons were like that and vaguely wondered why.

‘Mine is Emmanuel. The scientists who looked after me said they gave it to me.’ The dragon said.

‘Not your mom and dad?’ Vinny asked.

‘No. I never saw them. They’re dead.’

‘Real sorry to hear that, Em. My mom’s dead too. How long you been down there?’

‘Don’t know.’ The dragon shrugged, sadly. ‘I lost track after the scientists stopped coming. This way, I think. Here we are.’ He pushed an almost invisible panel on the wall, and a pair of doors slid open revealing a lift. They stepped inside and Emmanuel pushed a button. The lift clanked ominously, but began to move.

Vinny looked upwards and grinned. ‘Gee, I’m glad I found you. I mighta been lost down there forever.’

Emmanuel looked at him. ‘I’m glad you did too.’ He said.

Admiral Morgan-Giles stood at the head of the table in the Gamezoha Prime War Room, surrounded by the heads of the Gamezohan Military. At the other end sat Nike, with her feet up on the table filing her nails.

‘Are we all agreed, then?’ Morgan-Giles said.

‘Yes. We launch another attack, this time on the Wendauerians themselves. That will show Dewnheem. This whole surrender thing is utter nonsense, a ridiculous farce. We have a far superior force.’ The Unit Commander of the Silver Berets nodded.

‘The Gamezohan Empire does not give in so easily.’ The recently appointed Section Chief of the Schwarzwymkommandos, once Klot's second in command, agreed. He hadn’t been having a very good time recently. Reports of people in SWK uniforms up to all sorts of strange things had been coming in. His unit was in almost as much upheaval as the Silberwyrmritters had been before they were relegated. It was still unclear what was going on between the units. The SWKs seemed to be regarded as a separate unit, offshooting from the SWRs, and very little was being said about their origins.

The former Grand Master of the Silberwymritters was notably absent, but that was all right, as so were most of the Silberwyrmritters themselves (those that weren't now SWKs). No-one had any idea where they were.

Morgan-Giles looked down the other end of the table and winced.

‘Your imperial majesty?’

Nike looked up. ‘Sorry? Is the boring part over?’

Morgan-Giles sighed the imperial family were really trying his patience. ‘Yes, your imperial majesty. Have you any objections to our attacking the Wendauerian Empire?’

‘Oh, whatever makes you happy, admiral.’ Nike said, waving one perfectly manicured hand dismissively and flashing Morgan-Giles a smile which made his brain spin due to lack of blood flow.

‘So…’ Aris leaned down from the table he was sitting crosslegged on to face the children, seated on the floor and a circle of chairs. ‘Then I stared it in the feelers, and said..’

‘Hey! Hat-guy! You seen Wyn lately?’ Vinny asked, appearing breathlessly above the seated children, followed by Emmanuel.

‘What? Oh, no. She asked for some privacy. Well, when I say ‘asked for some privacy’ what I mean is she threatened to gut me like a kipper then fry my insides if I didn’t goddamn well leave her alone for a bit.’ Aris said, cheerfully. ‘Why?’

‘Need some info.’

‘Can I suggest using a terminal or something then?’

The small, blue-haired Wendauerian children of the base were glaring daggers at Vinny for interrupting their storytime. Skai stood up in the middle of them.

‘Vinnneeee….go’way, Aris just got to the good bit.’

Vinny looked at her and grinned, indulgently. ‘Okay, okay, I’m going.’ He backed away and spun around, looking for a computer terminal.

‘Who was that?’

‘Eh? Oh, Wyn’s bodyguard.’

‘The child?’

‘Skai? Nah, that’s Wyn’s sister. Wyn is my..girlfriend, fiancee..whatever.’ Vinny looked thoughtful. It was odd to think of Windsong as anything like that.

‘Your fiancee?’ Emmanuel looked a little disappointed. Vinny didn’t notice.

‘Yeah..ah, here’s one. Now, how do you work these dumb things?’ Vinny poked at the terminal experimentally. ‘I never use ‘em.’

‘What are you looking for?’ Emmanuel asked.

‘Info about you, find out why you were down there.’ The terminal bleeped. ‘Whassat... Restricted access, Royal Family only?’

‘Pardon?’

‘I typed in ‘Black Dragons’ and got this.’

‘Whatcha doing?’ Skai asked, appearing in between the two of them. ‘Aris finished the story.’ She explained.

Vinny looked down at her. ‘Trying ta find some stuff about Em.’ He said.

Skai peered at the panel, then turned to look at Emmanuel. ‘Hello Em.’ She said.

‘Hello Skai.’ Emmanuel replied.

‘You a dragon?’

‘Yes.’

‘Cool.’

‘Skai, honey, you’re royal family aren’t ya? Can you get me in here?’ Vinny pointed at the screen.

‘Ookey.’ Skai nodded, and pushed a button. ‘Princess Skysong Ellamina de Lanseau.’

The screen flashed ‘Voiceprint Recognised. Processing.’ Then produced rows and rows of text.

Vinny whistled. ‘Lot of stuff here, Em. By the looks of it no-one was supposed to read it either.’ He flicked across. ‘It’s all written by some guy named Doctor James Stern. Here, this is about you. Latest entry. Emmanuel Saurin appears to be developing well, despite a lack of room in which to take on his full dragon form. We wonder if he will be able to do it at all, were he ever to be freed. Once again I protested at his incarceration in front of the board, but Queen Ellamina informed me that it was still impossible to release him until hostilities had ceased between Wendauer and Gamezoha. I do not think that will ever occur. Adamus spoke to me afterwards, saying that he sympathises with me. He is a much kinder man than his brutal brother. I wish he were in charge.’

‘Doctor Stern. I remember him. He used to look at me sadly and tell me things I could tell he wasn’t supposed to.’

‘Looks like he got what he wanted.’ Vinny pointed out, biting his lip. ‘I wonder what happened to him. Maybe he’s with Adamus.’

Skai touched the screen. 'Mom.’ She said, sadly.

Vinny knelt down and hugged her. ‘Yeah, that was your mom, wasn’t it?’ He said, sympathetically.

‘Your hair still smells bad.’ Skai said, but her heart wasn’t in it.

Emmanuel scrolled through the text. He was a fast reader. There hadn’t been much else to do. His face slowly fell, as he read and his expression turned to anger.

‘Vinny. Look at the first entry.’ He said.

Vinny stood back up and looked. Skai peered over the buttons, wiping surreptitiously at her face. Emmanuel started to read aloud.

‘I heard yesterday that the King and Queen of our allies the Black Dragons have fallen and today I have been entrusted with an egg. It is the child of King Laplace and Queen Pascal Saurin. Queen Windgust told me that she made a promise to its mother that it would be well protected.

I am apprehensive, but I will do as I am told. The Gauss Dynasty must not be allowed to commit genocide.’

‘Oh my God.’ Vinny said, staring at Emmanuel. ‘It was Gauss’s family. I don’t believe it.’

‘You know who did this?’ Emmanuel’s fists were clenched into angry balls and his obsidian eyes were glittering.

‘Yeah, but they must be long dead. Only Gauss..eh, what’s his other name again….only Wernher and Nike Gauss are left alive.’

Emmanuel said nothing. Just then, they were interrupted by a little dwarf woman.

‘Princess Skysong! Whatever are you doing away from your chambers!’

‘Oh Thoooraaaa.’ Skai whined. ‘I’m okay, I’m with Vinny.’ She pointed.

Vinny glanced at Thora and absentmindedly waved a hand. ‘Yeah, it’s cool.’

‘Oh, I suppose it was Fendegist keeping you this late then?’ Thora scolded.

Vinny found himself cowering under the matronly glare of someone three feet shorter than him. 'It was not me. She was with Funny-hat-guy. Aris. I only came in a few minutes ago.’

‘Oh, really.’

‘And my name’s Vincit, not Fendegist. I’m still pissed at him for giving me this.’ Vinny pointed at his left cheek.

‘Whatever will you think of next.’ Thora rolled her eyes. ‘You silly big men, gallivanting about everywhere keeping little children up. Come along, Princess. Time for bed.’

Skai contemplated playing up and decided against it. It would take effort she wasn’t prepared to make. ‘Oh, okay then. Bye Vinny. Bye Em.’ She headed off after Thora.

Emmanuel seemed to have calmed down a little, enough to wave unenthusiastically at Skai.

‘What happened to her mother. Ellamina?’

‘Dead. And her dad.’ Vinny said, sadly. ‘Like yours.’

‘The Gauss Dynasty have a lot to answer for.’

‘Nah, that was Adamus.’

‘Oh. Hmm. Her family were protecting me?’

Vinny looked at Emmanuel, thoughtfully. ‘Yeah, I guess. Em, I think it isn’t safe for you here. Not because of Gauss and Nike. I bet they don’t even know about you. But there’s a war on. You should go away from here. Look.’ He pulled a scruffy notepad out from his pockets somewhere and a pencil and scribbled an address on a piece of paper. ‘Here. Go to this address, on Earth and ask for Dave. Tell him I sent you there to be safe.’

‘But..’

‘Em, please. You’re the last of your kind. You gotta stay safe, okay? Or you’ll be letting down all those people that put in all that work to look after you.’ Vinny said.

Emmanuel stared him in the eyes and saw only concern, and his love for Vinny grew even more. He nodded. ‘All right. I understand.’ You only want to keep me safe.

‘Bring me a smurf, Azrael. In chains, if necessary.’ Mobius said, pushing Tootoo across the chessboard, with a new little black piece between his plush paws.

Perched unseen high in the rafters of Moebius’ chamber. Azrael, the Angel who Slew the Firstborn of Egypt blinked.

‘What in El’s name is a smurf and why does he want me to bring him one?’ He asked, shaking his head disbelievingly. His eyes were black and his wings of flame.

‘I don’t think he’s talking about you.’ Uriel, the Angel Who Cast Down Atlantis replied. His aura-wings were electric blue and his raiment was the rainbow.

‘He’s talking about a cat.’ Asariel, the Angel of Neptune, who rules all Psychic Power told them. He was mostly a sort of emeraldey sea-green.

The fourth angel, a dark and brooding figure, said nothing.

‘Silent as ever, Uziel?’ Uriel asked.

‘He hates this one.’ Azrael said. ‘How many times has he been assassinated now?’

Uziel said nothing.

Moebius chessboard now had six different levels, each with seven sides, and slightly blurred at the edges where they passed into another time period. The black squares were now transparent and the white ones a lurid puce. Some of the pieces were upside down on the underside of the boards.

Something seemed to be occurring to Moebius.

‘Where’s the angel, Tootoo? Where’s he gone???!! I won’t have it!’

Up in the rafters, Azrael grinned and slid a white knight, the figure of pegasus with white wings, out of his sleeve and tossed it up and down a few times.

‘Got to look after our own, haven’t we boys?’ He said, cheerfully.

Uziel smiled with teeth like Israeli bullets.

Miriam sat with Kreuz near the back of the unmarked ship that was taking Emperor Wilhelm and his retinue to Zardark, which according to the galactic databases was the main land mass on a planet known as Mathlar, and it’s principle exports were clocks and other non-offensive gadgetry. Mathlar had not engaged in wars since before it had developed spacefaring capability and even now remained totally neutral in all conflicts. It had no strategic importance, being located in a singularly unimportant section of the galaxy and as a result it had long been a haven for asylum seekers from all sides of various conflicts.

‘How close are we?’ Kreuz asked for the umpteenth time.

‘Nearly there.’ Miriam said. Sixty thousand kilometres closer than when you last asked me, she added in the relative privacy of her own head. Wilhelm’s people were being uncommunicative, reacting to them with sullen disinterest. She wished she knew where Maximille had disappeared to. He was extremely good at hiding from all forms of electronic surveillance. It was irritating. She continued looking for him.

She twitched.

Ewige Blumenkraft?

Blink.

Oh. Oh, I see.

‘Excuse me?’ Lysander appeared in front of them. ‘Dhought you might like to know we’re coming into Madhlarian space.’

Miriam lifted her head. ‘Thank you, Sky Marshall.’ So much more amiable than his son…clone..whatever. Lysander really did look like Whutty, a decade or two into the future. He turned on his heel, and headed away from them. ‘Why did you raise him as your son?’ Miriam wondered aloud.

Lysander stopped and turned around slowly. He looked at Miriam with an expression half way between surprised anger and fatigue.

‘He is my son.’ He said, and walked away.

Miriam rested her chin on her hands. The ship was landing. Its CPU told her there were atmospheric particles bouncing off the hull.

***

As they stepped out of the airlock. They were greeted at the dock by a two big, black-furred, red-eyed figures in ceremonial blue robes. Looking at them, Miriam found something familiar about the shorter one.

‘I am Zardark Council Member Mikko Kantonnen.’ The taller one said, in clipped common. ‘We welcome Emperor Wilhelm Gauss and his people to our planet.’

Miriam glanced around at said planet. Four red moons hung in the purplish sky and in the distance a blue sun was setting. It fulfilled most human criteria for ‘beautiful’.

Emperor Wilhelm bowed graciously, his beard and moustache dangling. The long robes he wore hid several life support devices, but he looked a good deal healthier than he had for a while. Nevertheless, Lysander stood next to him, always on guard, or so it seemed. ‘I am most grateful for your hospitality in this time of need, Council Member.’

The council member nodded, acknowledging the thanks. ‘Your Imperial Majesty, we Zardarkians do not often leave our home and we are unused to the ways of others, so I have brought Jaakol Vreythig,’ he gestured to the other Zardarkian stood next to him ‘who is what we call a ‘Wanderer’, someone who has left the planet and then returned. He will be your guide whilst you are here. If there is anything you need, simply speak to him.’

Emperor Wilhelm bowed to the other Zarkdarkian, who bowed back, rather clumsily.

‘If you’ll come this way, I’ll show ya to your quarters, your Imperial Majesty.’ He said, in a thick Chicago accent, completely different from the clipped ‘learned it from a book’ common of the council member. Miriam blinked. Several others of Wilhelm’s retinue expressed equal surprise. Wilhelm was the picture of calm, as usual.

The party moved off and the Council Member disappeared away to do whatever council members do, Miriam slipped her way through the group of people to the other side of their guide.

‘Excuse me.’ She said, tapping him on the arm. He looked around.

‘Ah, Miss Krigsley.’ Wilhelm appeared to notice her and brightened up a tad. ‘I was wondering what had happened to you. Wanderer Vreythig, this is Miss Krigsley, who is…well, along for entertainment value, I suppose.’

‘Oh?’ Vreythig smiled a very familiar toothy grin at Miriam. ‘What kind of entertainment?’

‘You are Mister Omnibus, aren’t you? Jake Omnibus?’ Miriam asked, although she was almost certain. There were deed poll records.

Vreythig stared at her.

‘That kind of entertainment.’ Wilhelm said, smiling amusedly through his moustache.

‘I don’t use that name no more.’ He said. ‘Not since Kathy…Not since I came back home. Have we met?’

‘No.’ Miriam shook her head.

‘Remarkable, isn’t she?’ Wilhelm said, proprietarily, as if Miriam were some performing animal. ‘She knew all my middle names, even where they came from. They aren’t on any of my official correspondence. Nanobot interfaces was it?’

‘Something like that.’ Miriam nodded and then couldn’t resist adding. ‘You might both be interested to know that your sons are quite good friends with each other.’

Now it was Wilhelm’s turn to stare at her, and then at Vreythig/Omnibus Sr, who stared back at him.

‘Really?’ He said.

Miriam nodded.

Wilhelm smiled and clapped his hands together. ‘Amazing. I suppose you found out from records of where they’ve been?’

‘No, actually, I spent the last week or so with them.’

‘Gracious..’

Miriam blinked again and shook her head. ‘Sorry, someone’s…Jon?…’

Miriam! We are trapped on Halak!

I’ll tell Vinny at once and get him to send someone. You and Oscar?

Nay, Gauss and I and another, one of Windsong’s soldiers, I think. Oscar received a message from the Lord and has gone elsewhere. He is safe as far as I know.

Where are you?

The dungeons of the Baronial Castle, Halak.

I’ll come as soon as I can. Don’t worry. Vinny?

Miriam? Oh, boy do I have some news for you..

I don’t think it’ll top the news I have for you. But that doesn’t matter. Jon’s in danger.

What? Where?

He says he’s with Gauss in the dungeons of the Baronial castle on Halak. Can you get Windsong to send someone?

Send someone? I’ll freaking go myself!

Be careful!

‘Are you all right?’ Wilhelm asked.

‘Yes, yes, I’m fine.’ But I’d be better if I could get out of here without causing a fuss..

Someone tapped Vinny on the shoulder. He span around.

‘Whatcha looking at?’ Nevin asked.

‘Huh? Noth..Jon’s in danger!’ Vinny blurted out, phased by the interruption.

‘Whosat?’ Nevin asked, cocking his head on one side.

‘My bro.’

‘Oh. Oh, we should go and save him!’ Nevin jumped up and down cheerfully on the spot and the prospect of more interesting stuff. ‘Meet you back here in five minutes!’

Vinny raised an eyebrow. ‘Uh…okay. Guess if you want to come’ He said, and stood there thinking for a moment. ‘I should tell Wyn.’

Five minutes later…

‘Okay, Wyn says to use the slipgates to Halak, but go to a neutral planet first so it don’t look like I came straight from a Wendauer planet… What did you do?’

‘Left a note.’ Nevin said, conversationally. ‘For some friends. Dear K&K. Have gone out. No idea when I’ll be back. See you later. No-one. Of course I had to ask that computer whatsisname to print it out for me, see, so I assume that’s what it said.’

‘Okay, whatever.’ Vinny waved a hand and shook his head impatiently. ‘Let’s go.’

‘Okiee. Where are we going first?’

‘Oh, I dunno, Earth.’

‘Okiee.’

Five more minutes later….

Vinny and Nevin stepped out of the slipgate outside Halak Castle. They were covered in snow, since they had accidentally come by way of the Moscow Slipgate. Vinny pulled his hat down low over his eyes.

‘Last time I came here the guy in charge got killed. I don’t wanna be recognised.’ He explained.

‘Okiee.’ Nevin nodded. He had acquired a furry hat from somewhere and pulled that down over his eyes too. ‘We’re hiding.’

‘You’re totally nuts.’ Vinny shook his head.

‘Yees.’

‘Never mind. Somehow we gotta get into that castle.’ Vinny pointed at the imposing building above them.

They headed out of the crowds towards the front gate, hoping to spot a tradesman’s entrance or something and after some wandering around the castle exterior, found themselves outside a quiet guard-post.

‘Hey, you.’

They both looked around. They were being addressed by someone in a Schwarzwyrmkommando uniform. ‘What are you doing here? What section are you with?’

Vinny glanced at the uniform and then at Nevin. ‘ He’s talking to you, No-one.’

The SWK came over and glared at Nevin. He had an air about him that said ‘sergeant’. ‘Been out drinking I suppose…good grief, you smell..and is that snow… on your uniform…?’

‘Um…’ Nevin said.

‘Name and number, soldier?’

‘Nevin. Forgotten my number. Sir.’

‘Nevin?’ Vinny asked. Nevin shrugged.

‘You’re an idiot, corporal!’ The sergeant shouted. ‘It’s on your shoulder.’

‘Oh, so it is.’

‘What kind of a silly voice is that you’re putting on?’

Nevin snarled, glanced around, then broke the sergeant’s neck, quickly and quietly. ‘Insulting the accent is one step too bloody far.’ He said, then bit into the sergeant’s neck.

Vinny, taken aback, stepped backwards. Nevin lowered the drained, dead, soldier on the floor and wiped his mouth.

‘There. You can use his uniform now.’ He said, grinning horribly at Vinny and offering him the corpse.

Vinny swallowed, dryly.

***

Two figures, one with a bundle under one arm, slipped into the castle. No-one bothered them. SWKs were everywhere. Vinny sniffed the air.

‘I don’t smell Gauss. But I smell someone like Gauss.’ He said. ‘A girl. Maybe Nike.’ He wasn’t too keen on running into her. ‘Getting closer.’

Valendil and Nicolette walked by. Nicolette looked very unpleased about being with him. Nevin slipped behind Vinny, who surreptitiously glanced over his shoulder at the pair, then looked back at Nevin.

‘Why are you hiding?’ He asked.

‘Oh…no reason. For fun. We’re being all sneaky, right?’

Vinny looked at him skeptically. ‘You smell like you might be lying, but I can’t tell with you, so I’ll let it slide.’

‘Golly, you’re nice.’

‘Thanks. That lady had Gauss’ scent all over her.’

‘We should follow them.’ Nevin nodded.

‘Good idea.’

‘Isn’t it? Who’s Gauss?’

Vinny sighed.

***

Keeping a little behind the pair at all time, hats pulled down over eyes, Nevin and Vinny followed. Luck was on their side. Valendil was taking Nicolette down to the dungeons to gloat over Gauss.

The gloating and ‘noble-wife-refusing-to-give-in’-ing went on a while.

Vinny and Nevin lurked in the shadows. Vinny picked at his claws. Nevin picked bits of SWK Sergeant out of his teeth.

Eventually they left.

‘About fricken time.’ Vinny sighed, stepping out of the corner they’d been lurking in and heading over to the cells.

‘It was funny how she kept sticking her nose in the air at him, wasn’t it?’ Nevin said, following him.

‘Hehe, yeah, then he said he’d get them to put Gauss in the…never mind. Hey, Jon.’ He ran his claws along the bars of Cell 1. ‘Guess who.’

‘Aye, what took thee so long.’ Jon replied, standing up and grinning. ‘Brother, I am worried about Gauss. He is silent in the cell next to this one. I have called to him, but he does not respond.’

Nevin peered through the bars of cell three. ‘S’probably because he’s asleep.’ He said.

‘Hey, what are you two doing down here?’

Ten minutes later.

‘Oh well.’ Said Gauss, who had been woken up by having Nevin shoved in the cell with him. ‘Looks like I shall die as I have lived. Surrounded by morons.’

‘Shut up, Gauss.’ Vinny said, sulkily from the next cell.

‘Nay, brother, he is right. You are morons.’

Nevin sat on the bed across the way from Gauss, listening to something in the air above his right shoulder.

‘Dragon says someone’s coming down to see us right now. Someone….heeeheeehaaaahahahahahahaHHAAAAAAHAHAHAH.’ He started laughing so hard he fell off the bunk onto the floor. Gauss regarded him coldly down his nose. The mark on his face was still burning and his irritability was upping his sarcasm level immensely, not to mention the suppressed guilt.

‘Sorry, correction, one moron and one absolute nutcase.’

‘Well, at least someone’s happy.’ Gunther pointed out from the other cell. The decomposing body of his cellmate was starting to smell and there was something wriggling inside it.

Nevin looked at Gauss across the way. ‘You’re a dragon, then.’ He stated.

‘Ten out of ten for observation.’ Gauss replied, sarcasm permeating his gloom.

‘Knew a dragon once.’ Nevin went on, conversationally.

‘Really. That’s fascinating.’ Gauss said, in a way that clearly indicated it wasn’t.

‘Ludwig von Sphexoren. Used to call him Ludo. Bright blue, he was..’

‘Ludwig the Fair, Resolver of Many Disputes.’ Gauss said, half-interested now. ‘Went missing more than three hundred years ago. Before the unification of the empire.’

‘S’right. Great bloke. Said he was sick of all the fighting his family did and buggered off somewhere quiet. Met him in Clwyd. I was ever so sad when he died. He was very old, mind. Three times as old as I am now, at least. Great bloke.’ Nevin ceased his musing, sat up and looked at the door. ‘Here we go.’ He said.

The door swung open. Valendil stood there, somewhat irritated by the interruption of his seduction of Nicolette.

‘Now..who dares to try and rescue my pris….Great Thundering Typhoons!!!’

‘Ooh. Hello Valendil.’ Nevin waved cheerfully. ‘How’s you then?’

‘Pon my soul! Mad Nevin, the Blue-Eyed Fiend, Captain o’ the Arianwen! You old dog! What brings ye here?’ Valendil then proceeded to drag Nevin by the arm off the floor and out of the cell, slamming the door behind him.

Gauss sat there, wide-eyed.

‘Hey.’ Vinny banged on the wall behind him. ‘What just happened?’

‘I have no idea.’ Gauss replied.

***

Miriam sat in the quarters assigned to her and Kreuz, thinking. Mostly about how stupid Vinny was, but also about a way to get to them. Lysander had made it fairly clear to her if she and Kreuz tried to leave they would have to do something quite bad to them. She wasn’t too keen on being shot to pieces. This seemed like a safe place. She decided she would like to have all her..friends…here if possible. Friends. How odd.

She thought, plans ticking over in her head. A very interesting option presented itself.

It ought to be possible to dissolve this body, retaining a perfect image of its makeup in her nanobots and then reassemble it elsewhere. After all, she had made it out of the elements in the near vicinity, carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen and a few other traces of sodium, calcium, potassium, magnesium.

Experimentally, she took herself apart and reassembled herself halfway across the room. Anyone who was watching would have been quite disturbed to see a girl dissolve into glittering nothing and then reappear elsewhere.

Purely for her own amusement, she then dissolved herself again and reassembled herself as an identical copy of Jon, then as Vinny, then as Oscar.

She flexed the wings, experimentally. Must remember that DNA pattern.

She turned herself back into the image she had produced from the junk DNA of one of their semitic female ancestors, far back into the past. An X-Chromosome can come from anyone, but the particular pattern of melanin in her skin, eyes and hair had to come from somewhere specific.

It then ought to be possible, surely, to use her nanobots to send an electrical message down a communication channel and reassemble her body somewhere else. In fact, surely it would be possible to reassemble her nanobots somewhere else? After all, they were only an extremely complex organisation of gluons and other nanoparticles. You could get electrons from anywhere..

Uhum. What about her consciousness. That inexplicable ‘soul’. She had no idea how it worked. It seemed to have no physical existence and could be contained in either her nanobots or the physical shell she wore like a suit of clothes.

A quick search of metaphysical literature seemed to suggest the soul was some form of energy. She wondered if it could pass down communication lines. How could she test the hypothesis?

She broke herself down to a single nanobot, riding in a water droplet. The world was a mass of slow moving planets, surrounded by spinning electron-moons. She could not see them, only feel their presence by electrostatic forces. Then she fixed her focus on a water molecule spinning in the distance and imagined herself there.

This would be a leap of faith. She was basing this on no scientific fact, only the empirical evidence of reports of astral projection.

And there she was. But her nanobot-body was also across the gap on another molecule.

Now came the difficult part. By a force of will she broke apart the particles making up the nanobot body.

For a split second she wavered without existence, only a will, floating in the space between the atoms. She no longer had any sensation of anything at all. She was Void. Then she recreated herself from the particles of the molecule she was on, and all the life came back into the world.

She fairly exploded herself into macrobeing, glanced at the comms terminal in the room and disappeared.

***

‘What do you think of my new wench?’ Valendil asked, shoving a cuffed and bound Nicolette at Nevin, who was sat on a velvet-lined chair next to his, with a cup of Halakian Vintage Red.

Nevin caught the ruffled indigo dragon with one arm, took a handful of her hair and sniffed at it. ‘Pretty.’ He said.

‘Wretch.’ Nicolette spat. ‘Good grief, you stink.’

‘But a little shrewish.’ Nevin added. ‘May I have a taste?’ He took hold of her neck and made as if to bite.

‘No, you may not.’ Valendil said, severely.

‘Just asking.’ Nevin shrugged. ‘Howya been, Mad Knife? Haven’t seen you since we sank that Royal Navy booty-hauler in eighteen-fifty-two.’

‘Oh, well, well. Things were a little off during the twenty-first century, but as soon as this space malarkey showed up, a whole new world opened up, ye could say. What about you?’ Nevin rested his chin on his hand and spoke wistfully. ‘After a while, most of my crew dropped dead and the rest I had to stake myself when they mutinied on me. The fire went out of it all anyway. I buried the gold, forgotten where. Then I went home. Then I went wandering. Found somewhere quiet. Stayed there a while.’

‘I heard ye were dead.’

‘I was dead a long time before that.’ Nevin grinned with nasty sharp pointeh teeth. His eyes occasionally flicked back and forth between Valendil and his left shoulder. It was quite disconcerting.

‘So the rumours were true then?’

‘Aye..um…actually, not the one about the convent and the rhinoceros.’

‘No?’

‘It was a horse. It sortof grew in the telling, see.’

‘But the one about the cursed ship with the blood drinking immortal captain.’

‘Aye, that one was.’

‘And the cucumbers.’

‘Aye.’

‘And the shark with copper-plated teeth.’

‘Aye.’

‘Oh, the memories.’

‘You sentimental old bwbachod.’ Nevin said, clapping Valendil on the arm cheerfully.

‘Bwbachod yourself. Don’t tell me there’s nothing of the fae in you, a fair-haired welshman.’

‘Aye, I had an uncle who used to say that.’ Nevin said, anger flashing across his face for a moment. ‘Mind, it was more like “Get back to the Tylwth Teg, you cursed changeling, you’re no kin of mine, prophesying doom hither and thither and bringing it down on our heads. You’d think a body’d be pleased you warned him there was going to be a storm in the strait when he took his boats out, but no. What happened to the Faerie Queene? She who appeared out of the mists and stole the souls of whatever man looked upon her as I remember.’

‘Sank off the Cape.’

‘Horn or Hope?’

‘Cod.’

‘Aye..’

‘What brings ye here then?’

‘You’ve got a friend of mine’s brother clapped in the dungeon.’

‘Not the dragon?’

‘No, the knight.’ Nevin bit his lip. ‘I think so, anyway.’ He batted at his left shoulder. ‘All right, yes, I know it’s the knight, I just said it, didn’t I?’

‘Well, I’m sure we can come to some arrangement.’ Valendil suggested, raising an eyebrow at Nevin’s behaviour. ‘Come on up to my ship, me old messmate, for I’ve something to show you.’

‘Oooh….’

Nicolette watched them bitterly from next to Valendil’s throne. Reduced to a slave…the empress of Gamezoha. That vile..stinking…how dare he lay hands on her? She touched her neck where Nevin had and her fingers met the clasp of the collar that prevented her from transforming.

It was undone.

***

Vinny was kicking the door repeatedly.

‘Twill do no good, brother.’ Jon pointed out.

‘Hmph.’

‘Thou will do thyself an injury.’

‘Hmph.’ Vinny was angry with himself at getting captured so easily. He kicked at the door again.

It swung open.

Miriam stood there, and behind her were two unconscious guards.

‘Hey Mir.’ Vinny said, folding his arms. ‘Good to see you.’

‘You too.’ Miriam nodded, and moved over to unlock Gauss’ cell. Gauss emerged.

‘Oh man, what happened to your face?’ Vinny asked.

‘Same question, names reversed.’ Gauss replied.

‘Well, you remember Dumla told us about Jorgen and Fendegist?…eh, it’s a long story.’

‘I can heal it if you want.’ Miriam suggested, but she knew the answer. Gauss just looked at her out from under hooded eyes. He still didn’t trust her.

Jon was unsure what was going on, but he didn’t really like it. ‘Well, then, may I try?’ He asked.

‘No.’ Gauss said, and there the matter was dropped.

There was an uncomfortable silence.

‘Hey Mir, you should draw something on your face too.’ Vinny said, in a feeble attempt to de-ice the mood. ‘Then we can all match.’

Miriam smiled. ‘I think we should get out of here, actually.’ She said. ‘There’s something I want to show you, both of you.’ She looked at Gauss and Vinny.

‘Yeah, ok.’ Vinny lowered his eyes, humbly. Then he raised them again, wide. ‘Hey…wait, we forgot about No-one…ah…Nevin.’

‘I think he’s with his old shipmate.’ Gauss suggested, bitterly.

‘We better go find him anyway.’ Vinny insisted.

‘Hey!’ Gunther yelled from the third cell. ‘What about me?’

‘Who are you?’ Miriam asked.

‘Gunther.’

‘Oops, yeah, let him out too.’

***

‘Surprise? What kind of surprise?’

‘Ye’ll see. Behind this door.’

Valendil pushed the heavy door open and Nevin was hit in the face by a blinding light.

‘Agh!’ It burned, burned like the sun. He covered his eyes with his arms and batted frantically but hit thin air. He felt someone pick him up by the arms, pull off his shirt and tie ropes to his wrists, dragging him backwards against something that scorched his back like boiling water.

‘Yeeoooow oow owoowowowowowowowww!!!!’ Nevin was never afraid to express his discomfort. He opened his eyes and realised the blinding light was behind him now and he was up high, hanging. Valendil was looking up at him, triumphant scorn on his face.

‘Ye stinking undead bilge-rat.’ He said, angrily. ‘Did you think I’d forgotten you cheated me out of my fair share of that Royal Navy gold? We sidhe have long memories, Blue-Eyes. Five hundred doubloons you took from me!’

‘You can have them back!’

‘Noo, ye skuggins. I’ll have it from the flesh of your hide and naught else.’

The ropes tightened on Nevin’s wrists and something hard was nailed into the palms of his hands. Nevin howled in pain and turned to face his arm, stretched out along a horizontal piece of wood, glowing with the blinding light so he could barely see his own skin. He turned the other way and choked at the movement. It was as if his arms were crushing his ribcage.

He winced. ‘Oh you never…you…bloody crucified me!’

‘Well.’ Said a little buzzing voice above his left shoulder. ‘This is another fine mess you’ve gotten yourself into.’

‘You shut up.’ Nevin snapped. ‘No-one asked you. Owwwww..’

‘It’s all right. Someone’s coming.’

The door to the chamber burst open. Revealing Vinny with one boot extended.

‘I like doing that.’ He said, grinning. Valendil span round. Jon was on him in a second and before he knew it he was on the floor with the sword of Jorgen pointing at his throat.

Vinny and Gauss freed Nevin from the wooden Cross, and he slid, back-smoking, halfway to the floor before Vinny could catch him and put him back on his feet.

‘Jesus, man, are you okay.’

‘Did you have to use _that_ name?’ Nevin asked, wearily.

‘Um…’

‘Come on.’ Gauss said, slinging one of Nevin’s blood-dripping arms over his shoulder. Vinny did the same with the other. ‘We’ll get you somewhere safe, then we can look for Nicolette.’

‘Haughty lass, short hair?’ Nevin asked.

‘Yees.’ Gauss nodded.

‘Oh, I wouldn’t worry about her.’ Nevin grinned, painfully.

From down a corridor came a roar of draconic fury.

***

Whutty sat in the cockpit. The autopilot was on. His feet were up on the controls. He was reading the Little Book of Doom.

‘No-one will ever love you and you will die alone and friendless. Hah, it’s so true..’ He said. ‘Dhis book is great.’

‘Approaching Mathlar.’ The Navicomp chirped.

Whutty put his feet back on the floor and the book in one of his numerous pockets. Now to find his father. And demand an explanation. And perhaps moan a little more.

***

‘So, you’re going to teleport us to wherever we’re going.’ Vinny said. He bit his lip, worriedly.

‘That’s impossible.’ Gauss said, firmly, shifting Nevin’s weight. ‘Not without complex technology. Especially if we’re going a long way.’

‘I am complex technology.’ Miriam said.

‘Hey.’ Vinny interrupted. ‘Can we do something about Nevin? He’s hurt bad.’

‘Oh, I’m all right really. Ow. Ow. Fine. I’ll heal up in a day or two.’

Miriam nodded. ‘Of course. I’ve never done this on someone who was dead before, but I’ll try.’

‘Noo!’ Nevin fairly shrieked and turned his head away from Miriam, eyes closed, whimpering. ‘Don’t let her near me! Her face is shining like the sun!’

‘Hah, I knew she was…what?’ Gauss began, then got confused.

‘I don’t understand.’ Miriam blinked, but she could find no relevant information.

‘He’s nuts, Mir.’ Vinny tried to explain.

‘Tiphareth! Tiphareth! The sun..’ Nevin ranted.

Miriam did a search. ‘Oh, I see. And that’s why the cross burns you, because of what it represents. It’s the solar wheel, the solar logos.’

Nevin nodded, frantically.

‘I’ll move out of your eyeline.’ Miriam said, and did. ‘Perhaps if I send my nanobots through Jon?’

‘Oh, the priest now??? Those hands can make Holy Water!!’ Nevin turned to glare at her and then had to look away again.

Jon looked at his hands thoughtfully.

‘How about me?’ Gunther asked. As usual, no-one had noticed him.

Nevin scrutinised him. ‘S’all right I s’pose..’ He said, grudgingly, and let go of Vinny and Gauss, leaning on Vinny for support.

Miriam took Gunther’s hand and took him round to Nevin’s back, which was a mass of burns.

‘Lay your hand on him.’ Miriam commanded. Gunther did so, and watched interestedly as silver liquid leaked out of his fingers. Nevin winced under the touch. The skin began to reform, spreading out from Gunther’s hand.

‘Eech. Little metal ants.’ Nevin complained. ‘Makes me itch.’

The wounds on his palms healed up. There was a flash of silver near Gunther’s fingers. Miriam let go of his hand. Nevin flexed his shoulders.

‘Diolch, cariad.’ He said. ‘Much better.’ Then he winced again as he caught sight of the shining cross.

‘Don’t mention it, and don’t call me darling. Right. No more arguments.’ Miriam said. ‘We’re leaving.’

‘Hey..’ Gauss began. ‘What about Nicol..’

And they all vanished.

***

The sensation was something like closing your eyes and having the entire world disappear and then reappear completely different.

‘Trippy.’ Vinny said, turning around and looking at his surroundings.

‘Quite.’ Gauss said. ‘Are we all in one piece?’

‘I am.’ Said Gunther.

‘Yees.’ Nevin nodded.

‘Yup.’ Vinny nodded. ‘Neat trick, Mir.’

‘Where’s Jon?’ Miriam asked. ‘I remember rematerialising him.

‘You’ve left Nicolette behind and completely lost Jon.’ Gauss said. ‘Oh well, accidents happen. Not sure I appreciate being your guinea pig.’

‘Jon’s gone? WHAT??!’ Vinny yelled, frantic. ‘Where is he??’

‘Shut up, Gauss, that’s not helpful.’ Miriam snapped. ‘I’m looking for him. He must be around somewhere. There was a minor glitch in the pathway I was using as he passed through, it’s just a matter of finding where I put his soul..er..pattern.’

***

Jon found himself standing in a dirty alleyway with a very familiar smell. He looked around. Everyone had disappeared, along with the room he had just been in.

‘Miriam?’

He walked forwards, heading out of the alleyway and found himself in an equally dirty street, only with a few more people.

A small boy came running down the street, followed by a pack of bigger boys. Some of them had sticks. The boy seemed familiar. He seemed terrified. Jon watched him coming closer, then as he ran past, and impulsively scooped him up into his arms. The boy struggled.

‘Hold still.’ Jon said. ‘I will not allow them to hurt you.’

The boy immediately went limp, obviously taking a stranger over the others kids any day. The other boy stopped a few feet away and jeered.

‘Who you think you are, mister?’ One yelled.

‘Someone who does not tolerate injustice, young knaves.’ John said.

One of boys, stepped closer, brandishing a stick. Jon shifted the boy onto his left hip. He was small and thin and seemed only about ten or eleven. Then he drew his sword. He had no intention of using it, but the boy with the stick took one look at the glinting steel, still sharp after more than half a millennium and stepped back.

‘Now.’ Jon said. ‘Suppose you tell me what terrible thing this little one has done to be chased by so many of you?’

The boy with the stick seemed to have elected himself spokesman. ‘He was in our place.’ He said.

‘Just wanted some food.’ The boy whimpered.

‘My, hunger, what a crime.’ Jon snapped. ‘Begone.’

The boys needed no second telling, in case it involved sharp things. They ran.

Jon put the boy down on the ground.

‘Thanks, mister.’ He said. He was really very thin and had pale blond hair and strange eyes. Jon racked his brains trying to work out where he had seen that face before.

‘Before thou art gone.’ Jon said. ‘Coulds’t thou inform me where this place is?’

‘Citru.’ The boy said. ‘S…Some people call it Citrus though. Cause of the oranges.’

‘Hmm. Thought so.’ Jon rubbed his shaven head thoughtfully. ‘I am Jonathan Krigsley. Perchance thou couldst point me in the direction of the bar? It’s name was something to do with oranges…the Rotten Orange, methinks.’

‘Sure.’ The boy seemed happier now. ‘Go straight down this street. It’s on the left. You can’t miss it. You talk funny mister. My name is Karl. Karl Moebius.’

It took a few seconds for things to click for Jon, and by then, the boy was gone.

‘Moebius?’ Some kin? A grandson maybe? No, there was no mistaking that face and those eyes, even with forty or fifty years difference and a long beard. That was Moebius and somehow Jon was in the past.

***

‘I can’t find him. It’s as if he’s completely disappeared. Where did I reassemble him?’

‘Keep trying.’

***

Miriam’s transportation, that must have been what did it.

That was Moebius. If I ran after him now, if I stuck my sword through him, would that put an end to all our problems with him?

Kill an innocent child?

I am no knight to even think of such a thing, whatever he is destined to become.

‘That was very kind, what you did for that boy.’

Jon turned around and found him facing a woman with long dark hair and kind brown eyes. She was heavily pregnant. Another familiar-looking face.

‘Oh. Thank you.’ Jon nodded. ‘The Knights of the Seraphic Order will not stand for injustice.’ He thought. ‘Madam, couldst thou tell me what year it is?’

The woman looked at him strangely. ’2540’ She said.

My parents are alive..I could save them.. Jon thought. But is it not wrong to interfere with God’s will thus? They have died, it has happened. All I would need to do is go to England…Nay, I will wait and see what happens.

‘A knight, huh? Like Sir Lancelot.’

‘Madam, du Lac was an adulterer and a forn….’ Once again something clicked. ‘Mrs Omnibus!’

The woman’s mouth dropped open. ‘How did you..’

Oops…now how do I talk myself out of that one. And how can Moebius be a young lad such a short distance into the past? Does he play with time so much that he truly comes from the future?

‘Madam, I am Jon Krigsley of the Seraphic Order of the Arthurian Knights of the Ineffable Dogma, and I believe thou and I are very distantly related.’

‘You’re kidding!’ Mrs Omnibus said. ‘Through the Irish Queen and the German Wolf, right?’

‘Aye. You know of Fendegist then?’ Irish Queen?

‘Was that his name?’

‘I believe so. I am a direct descendant of his brother, Saint Jorgen.’

Mrs Omnibus looked at him funny for a bit, in a manner that so reminded him of Vinny that Jon had to stop himself from laughing. ‘That’s one hell of a story, Mister Krigsley. But it’s too weird not to be true.’

‘Madam, if you need further proof.’ He leaned in close to her ear. ‘You are a werewolf, are you not?’

Mrs Omnibus nodded.

‘Would you like to come for dinner?’ She asked.

‘I would love to.’

***

Mrs Omnibus regaled Jon with stories of family all the way back to her house. Most of them were coma-inducingly boring, but Jon nodded politely.

‘..so we’re thinking of moving to Chicago after the baby is born. This isn’t a good place to bring up a kid.’ She said, unlocking the door and pushing it open.

‘A wise idea.’ Jon nodded.

‘Honey! I’m back! I brought a visitor! A distant relation! From England!’

Jon remembered glowing red eyes and black fur and was briefly apprehensive as a hulking dark shape appeared around the hall door. His apprehension was spoiled by a perfectly ordinary but somewhat battered workman’s apron that looked so out of place on the mass of black fur that for the second time that day he had to try not to laugh. The red eyes twinkled like Vinny’s did when he was laughing.

‘Good afternoon Mister Omnibus.’ Jon said, bowing politely.

‘Mister Omnibus. Hah! I’m Jake. Who are you?’ Mister Omnibus seemed like a very jolly person, despite being seven feet tall and covered in black fur.

‘Honey, this is Jon. You remember I told you that old story my grandfather Vincit used to tell me about the wolf-man from Germany? Well, Jon says he’s like..the wolf-man’s brother’s x-times great grandson.’

Jon unbuckled his sword belt and offered it to Jake. ‘His name was Jorgen. This is his sword, handed down in my family through the generations.’ Jake took it and drew the sword.

‘I dunno much about swords..but..uh, this is good metalwork.’

‘Jake works with metal a lot. It’s a speciality of his home planet.’ Mrs Omnibus said, proudly. ‘He’s very good.’

Jon nodded, and regarded the smiling couple. They seemed very happy together. He felt a little wistful and a tad jealous of Vinny that these two had been his parents. The house was warm and clean and smelled of cooking and polish.

‘You have a beautiful house, Mrs Omnibus.’ He said.

‘Call me Kathy. Thanks.’ Mrs Omnibus smiled. ‘I like to take care of it. Of course, it’s been difficult lately, what with the baby and all.’ She seemed to glow, in that maternal way pregnant women do.

‘Of course.’ Jon said, absently, slightly in past-shock. ‘Is your son doing well?’

Kathy froze. So did Jake.

‘How do you….’

‘You think it’ll be a boy?’ Jake asked, surprised and pleased.

‘Um. Priests’ intuition?’ Jon suggested. ‘Apologies…’

‘I think so too.’ Kathy nodded.

Jon cursed silently and vowed to watch his mouth.

‘Well, I’ll go start dinner then.’ Kathy bustled off away to the kitchen.

‘Siddown.’ Jake said. It was half way between an order and a request. Jon did so, out of politeness. ‘How come you’re here?’ He said. ‘Something don’t smell right. You don’t smell bad. You just smell worried. Like there’s something you don’t want to talk about.’

Ah, Vinny’s interminable nose. ‘I confess.’ Jon said. ‘I am here by accident and quite lost. A transportation accident has left me stranded.’

Jake nodded. ‘You smell like you’re out of place. Worried, in unfamiliar territory. Are you really related to Kathy?’

‘Yes.’ Jon nodded. ‘It was a great relief to see someone I recognised so soon. I believe God has delivered me to where I could find aid and kin.’

‘Ooh, don’t let her hear you talk about God in this house.’ Jake said, lowering his voice.

‘Um. Sorry. I shall not.’

‘So. Tell me about your family and your home and stuff.’

They chatted for a while. Jake offered condolences for Jon’s being an orphan. Eventually Kathy came in with food.

They talked more as they ate. The subject got around to Kathy’s pregnancy, a subject Jon did not want to discuss. It was too disturbing to have his blood brother in the room yet not.

‘Jon?’ Kathy asked. She seemed uncomfortable. ‘The baby .. you knew about it being a boy. Do you know if it’s all right?’

‘I believe it is healthy, yes.’ Jon said, praying Vinny hadn’t been permature or anything like that. Considering the size of him, it was unlikely. The parents did not question how he knew, they obviously thought it was some sort of mystical thing.

‘We weren’t sure we would be able to have children together at all, you see.’ Kathy went on. ‘With us being so different.’

‘At heart, you are similar though?’ Jon asked, remembering the great beast. ‘Inside?’

Kathy and Jake looked at each other, smiled and nodded.

Lord, why am I here? Jon asked, internally. It is no accident, this. I am your humble servant, what do you want of me? Jon then felt as if he needed to wait, but not long. I see. How long? Oh, not long at all.

Jon blinked. More realisation dawned.

‘Hot water.’ He said. ‘And clean towels.’

Kathy winced. There was a trickling sound.

Jake stood up so quickly his chair fell over and ran into the hallway. Jon heard him heading up the stairs, probably to the bathroom. He stood up and took hold of Kathy’s arm, aware of his task and determined to complete it. ‘Where do you want to go? Is there a bed?’

‘The couch..’ Kathy managed to gasp before another contraction hit her.

‘Lean on me.’

He helped her onto the couch as Jake raced back downstairs clutching towels, blankets and water. Kathy screamed. Jon racked his brains and wished he’d paid more attention in hospitaller training.

‘Thou shouldst send for a physician.’ He said to Jake.

‘We can’t..we can’t afford one.’ Jake replied, looking at Jon, pleadingly. ‘Can’t you do anything?’

‘I will do what I can.’

No respite then Lord? I will not fail thee. I will be thy vessel. Check the stomach, see if the baby has turned. He laid his hands on Kathy’s stomach and felt around. The largest bulge was at the bottom. That was hopeful.

Jake was kneeling by Kathy’s side, holding her hand. ‘It’s okay baby, just push.’

‘I am pushing, you furry idiot!!’ She shrieked. Jon and Jake both winced. Kathy whined like a dog. Jon plucked up his courage, overcame a personal taboo about women’s down-there-parts and removed Kathy’s lower garments.

‘Should I lift her up a little? So gravity can help?’ Jake asked. Jon nodded, biting his lip. He would never have thought of it himself.

‘Yeah yeah, any help I can get.’ Kathy nodded. She was sweating, but seemed more angry with her own pain than upset. Jake lifted her up and pushed blankets behind her back. She clung to him and started sobbing about how much it hurt and she was going to kill him for doing this to her. Jon was nearly sweating himself. He had no idea of what to do. He prayed silently for help, looking at his hands. Shaman’s hands, healers hands. The power of life and death. Just let them do what they want to do.

He laid his fingers on Kathy’s straining belly and let white light flow into it. How long had they been here? It seemed like forever. Kathy was still straining, redfaced and with sweat dribbling down her brow. She relaxed a little, leaning into the blankets.

And so it went on, Kathy fighting, Jon and Jake helping however they could. Jake mopped her brow with the water.

‘How long has it been?’ Jon asked. Jake pulled a pocketwatch out of his apron and looked at it. ‘Nearly four hours.’ He put the watch down on the floor where Jon could glance at it.

They continued on like that. The clock ticked by another half an hour. Kathy got weaker. Jake got more and more panicky. Jon did too. He pressed his fingers into Kathy’s stomach and yelled with his mind at the baby in the womb to come out.

Vinny! Get out here now, thou art killing thy mother!

The baby stirred beneath his fingers. Kathy screamed and pushed. Jon opened his eyes and saw the beginnings of a bloody head emerging from the gap.

‘Aha!’

‘What?’ Jake jumped.

Jon plucked up his courage again, and took hold of the head, trying not to do any damage, gently pulling on it. With a wet slippery noise and one last cry from Kathy the baby slid out, followed by the snaking umbilical cord.

Cry, Vinny, Cry. Jon demanded, and the baby obliged, although it was more of a howl.

‘Scissors.’ He said. Jake produced something from his apron and passed it along. Jon cut the umbilical cord and tied it in a knot, vaguely remembering something about it falling off eventually. Kathy had collapsed, exhausted. Jake produced wet towels and cleaned the infant off while Jon held it, then they both wrapped him up.

‘Definitely a boy.’ Jake said, impossible amounts of joy in his voice. Jon nodded and smiled, then wiped sweat away from his brow. Jake held the baby in front of Kathy.

‘Look, Honey, it’s your baby.’

‘Our…baby.’ Kathy corrected, smiling weakly.

Jon laid a hand on her brow. ‘She should sleep.’ He said. Jake was busy rocking the child in his arms. Kathy took a faint hold of his arm. ‘Thanky..’ She tried. Jon smiled and shook his head. It was a duty he had been set to perform. Kathy smiled back and then slipped into sleep again.

Jon picked up the watch to have a look at the time and then went to the kitchen to wash his hands. It all seemed so unreal. Not only was it the first birth he had ever witnessed, it was the first one he’d ever helped on, and it was the birth of his blood-brother on top of that.

His task was complete now. He ought to go, before any more questions were asked, reluctant though he was to leave the little family.

Jake had gone upstairs to find clothes for the baby. Kathy was fast asleep. He slipped across the room and out the door. He was a few feet away from the yard, when he heard a familiar voice behind him.

‘You sneaky little…!’

He spun around and found himself facing Moebius. Not child-Moebius from the streets, but fully grown, ancient Moebius, standing swathed in robes and with fury written all over his face.

If the situation hadn’t been so serious, a man with the word ‘fury’ scribbled on his cheeks would have amused Jon greatly.

‘Moebius.’ It was almost good to see someone from his own time. But why did it have to be Moebius?

‘’Well, you are a clever one. I never dreamed you’d try to impale me on my own sword. I should have paid closer attention to Wernher’s little gang. Thought you and the angel weren’t important. I was wrong.

‘Nay, this was an accident, Moebius.’

‘Oh, I’m sure. Going to kill my past self were you? Doesn’t work, you know. Tried it. You just end up doing it yourself, what you wanted to stop happening. It’s all already happened, you see. Don’t you think I would have ended you all long before your grandfathers were born if I could?’ Moebius snapped, bitterly. ‘I know, oh I know. I tried it. Only myself. Only me can I change.’

‘Moebius, I am not thee. I would not kill a child.’ He stared angrily at the old man.

‘No, you wouldn’t, would you. Silly merciful heroes. I don’t want you here, messing things up. Go away, back to your own time.’

‘I cannot. I do not know how.’ Jon replied, stubbornly.

‘If you think I believe that you’ll think anything.’ There was still something bitter, angry, in Moebius’ tone.

‘Why are you so angry?’ Jon asked.

‘Why are you asking questions and thinking I’ll answer them, Saint Happy Families?’

Jon looked into Moebius’ eyes. ‘Would it change things too much if I were to find a certain small boy and then go to the house of my friends there and ask them to look after him as a favour to me? Could you not be foster brother to my brother?’

For a moment there was a flickering of something old and lost in the old man. Then he shrieked.

‘You don’t know anything about ANYTHING!!!’ And dived for Jon’s throat with clawed fingers. Jon was frozen, by some evil magic that his own spirit power could not break, no matter how much he battered at it. Moebius was lifting him up by the throat screaming insults. He began to choke.

Then there was a heavy thud and he was dropped on the floor, and free of the spell. Jake was standing over Moebius’s still form.

‘If you’re gonna try to damage members of my family outside my house then try not to do it so freaking loud, huh?’ He suggested. ‘You okay Jon?’ He asked, reaching out a hand to help Jon up. Jon nodded.

‘An old enemy.’ He said.

Jake nodded. ‘You coming back inside?’

Jon shook his head. ‘I should go. I should not be here.’ He remembered the watch he had picked up and took it out of his pocket. ‘Here, this is thine.’ He said, offering it back.

‘Keep it. I make ‘em. To remember us by. We’re thinking of naming the kid after you.’ Jake said.

Jon thought that would be bad. ‘Nay, he should be named Vincit.’ He said.

‘After his mom’s grampa?’ Jake asked.

‘Aye, she mentioned him to me. It sounds like a good strong name.’ Jon said.

‘Well okay.’ Jake shrugged. ‘If you think so.’

To Jon’s surprise, Jake suddenly hugged him. ‘Come back and visit us someday okay?’

Jon realised that he would never be able to do that and so said nothing. Jake let go of him. Moebius had disappeared.

‘‘Farewell.’ Jon said, turned and walked away.

***

‘I found him!’ Miriam said, after having introduced a four dimensional algorithm into her search. She vanished.

And appeared in front of Jon.

‘Oh, praise the lord.’ He said.

They both vanished and reappeared in the room with the others. Only a few seconds had passed.

‘Jon, you’re covered in blood.’ Vinny said, stating the obvious.

‘If I tell thee, thou shalt not believe me.’ Jon said, grinning.

‘And Nicolette?’ Gauss said, tapping his foot.

‘She is absolutely fine.’ Miriam snapped. ‘She just boarded a Silver Beret Troop ship and is on her way to Gamezoha Prime.’

‘Wonderful.’ Gauss clapped his hands together. ‘Right, now why are we..’

At that point the door slid open and Kreuz, Jake/Jaakol and Wilhelm stepped into the room.

There was a moment of silence.

‘Hi Pop.’ Vinny said, sullenly.

‘Hi Vinny.’ His father replied.

‘Father.’ Gauss said, icily.

‘Wernher.’ Wilhelm replied, equally icily. ‘I hear you’ve left my empire in quite a state.’

‘Oh really.’ Miriam said, hopelessly. ‘Children, all of you.’

Nevin silently beckoned to Gunther, looked at Kreuz and Jon and did the same, then jerked his head towards the door and began sneaking off. Jon shook his head. Nevin shrugged. The other two observed the stony silence and did the same.

Jon looked at Jake. The fur was flecked by grey now, and the red eyes a little dimmer, but he was the same man. He stepped forwards between the sightline of Vinny and his father. Jake’s jaw dropped open.

‘Y…’

Jon reached into his pocket, pulled out the watch and slowly held it out to Jake, who held out his hand. Jon dropped the watch into it.

‘I apologise. I could not have come back and visited even if I wanted to.’ He said.

‘Twenty-two years. Twenty-two years and you look exactly the same as the day you left. Right down to Kathy’s blood on your coat.’ Jake said, his voice barely a whisper.

‘Well.’ Wilhelm interrupted. ‘I think we all have a lot of catching up to do, mm?’

***

Windsong looked out through the window at the stars. Somewhere out there, Vinny was. Honestly, just when she thought she had him tied down for good he was off again.

There was that buzzing in her ears again. It had been irritating her all day. She’d have to see a medic. The door buzzed.

‘Come.’

The door slid open revealing Aris and a small man with pale blue hair, a drooping moustache and muddy green eyes.

‘YOU!!’ Wyn yelled, then turned to Aris furiously, brandishing a fireball from no-where. ‘How DARE you let HIM in here!’ Back to the man. ‘Murderer! Traitor! FRATRI-REGICIDE!!’

Aris stepped in the way. ‘Your majesty, he just wants to talk…’

‘Oh well, if he’s surrendering, that’s a different matter.’ Wyn said, calming down instantly. ‘Your death shall be marginally quicker.’

‘Actually, I was proposing a temporary alliance. Morgan-Giles is sending the Gamezohan fleet against both of our forces.’

‘I know that.’ Wyn snapped. She didn’t. She very nearly threw the fireball, but then remembered to act like a queen and not like a vengeful brat. ‘All right. For as long as it takes to stop the threat. But I’m watching you..’

‘Of course.’ Adamus smiled.

***

Emmanuel’s first thought on entering Citru was quite a common one.

This place stinks.

It was strange being around people again. And so many. He had seen more people just travelling than in the rest of his life, not that he had paid much attention to them, he was too busy thinking.

‘Excuse me. Do you know the way to the Rotten Orange?’

‘Straight down this street mister. You can’t miss it.’

He was in full human form. It was best not to alarm them. Although it would be fun. Hehe.

He walked down the street and surveyed the various races that inhabited this stinky and slummy town…or city..or whatever. What a pit of human filth. Why had Vinny sent him here? To be safe. No-one would look for him in such a horrible place. Vinny. Who are you? What person would punch through an electrified panel for someone he had never met before? Some day I hope to able to repay you. I wish you had been a dragon. I thought perhaps when I saw you with your black hair and your sharp teeth, you were one of my people come to find me.

Emmanuel found the sign, pushed open the door and walked over to the bar. Dave was there, doing his best to stop the guy (a Marine Biologist named Gerald Mussel, incidentally the guy Vinny accidentally threw a boiled sweet at back in chapter one) from the Society for the Protection of Fish from wheedling money out of him.

‘What can I get ya?’ Dave asked, cleaning glasses as usual.

‘Are you Dave?’ Emmanuel asked.

‘Guilty as charged.’ Dave nodded cheerfully, inhaled and then changed his expression. ‘You just come from Vinny.’

Emmanuel blinked. ‘How did you…’

‘I know his brand of smokes. You been near him, I can tell. Real near.’

‘He said I should come here because it was safe.’ Emmanuel said, ignoring the ‘real near’.

‘Ah.’ Dave raised a finger. ‘Now I know you come from Vinny. See, that’s like a code we have. When Vinny sends someone to me so they can be safe, it means they’re to go somewhere specific. Follow me.’

Emmanuel did so, behind the bar and into the back, where Dave lifted up a previously invisible trapdoor and yelled into it. ‘Ketch! You down there??’

‘He’s down da sluice.’ Someone yelled back. ‘You want I should get him?’

‘Who’s that?’

‘Snufflin’ Jack.’

‘You a rat?’

‘Yeah.’

‘You take this guy to Ketch for me? Frienda Vinny’s?’

‘Sure. It’s on my way.’

Emmanuel slid over the side of the hole and dropped into the sludge at the bottom.

‘Thank you.’ He called up to Dave.

‘It’s cool. Is Vinny gonna come and get you? Did he say when it would be safe again?’

‘No. He didn’t say anything.’ Emmanuel sniffed. The oranges had been ousted by the reek of sewage. It was actually an improvement.

‘’Kay. You best stay down there till he sends word then.’

Emmanuel wasn’t keen on that prospect. Dave closed the door and plunged them into darkness. Emmanuel shifted to part-dragon form to gain better night vision.

‘Yeah, good idea.’ The voice identified as Snuffling Jack said out of the darkness. A very ratty form began to emerge in Emmanuel’s vision. ‘Hey, you got wings. What are you? Smell like a lizard.’

‘Dragon.’ Emmanuel said.

‘What’s your name, dragon?’

‘Emmanuel. Em will do.’ That was what Vinny had called him. He liked it.

‘Jack’s me. You come with me then Em.’ Snuffling Jack said, and began trudging through the sludge. Emmanuel followed him.

‘What kinda trouble you in, Em?’ Jack asked conversationally.

Emmanuel thought about this question. ‘Vinny let me out of my cell. There are some other dragons who might want to kill me.’

‘Gee, seems like Vinny’s always getting himself and other folks into trouble.’

‘Why do you do things for him then?’ Emmanuel asked.

‘Cause he’s a good guy.’ Jack shrugged. ‘Puts himself on the line for his friends, y’know. For my cousin once. Got a big family and we help people who helps us.’

Emmanuel nodded in the dark. He noticed the roaring of water up ahead where a torrent of sewage was flowing over a drop above to a bigger tunnel down below. The emerged at the end of the tunnel, where a little light was cast down from a grating above. Jack leaned around a corner and shouted down. ‘Ketch! Vinny sent you a visitor.’

The churning sewage smelt awful. Emmanuel covered his nose.

‘Coming up!’ Someone with a voice that sounded like they were talking through their ears yelled back. A spiderish shape scrabbled up a ladder below them and scrambled over the edge of the tunnel, then straightened up. In the light from above, it was shown to be horrifically ugly. One eye was slightly further up the face than the other, it had a mass of scraggy hair exploding out of the top of its head and the teeth were all crooked. The nose seemed fairly normal though, apart from the boils.

‘Me’s Ketch.’ It said, if said could be appplied to what came out of the hole in its face. ‘Cause I ketches what floats past, see.’

‘He tells that every time and it doesn’t get any funnier.’ Snuffling Jack sniffed. ‘Well, I got things to do. See ya round, Em.’

‘Goodbye Jack. Thank you.’

‘Oh, the manners.’ Jack grinned and disappeared, wormlike tail twitching.

‘Em, is it?’ Ketch burbled. ‘You come with me Em, down to my little domithile by the sluice and we’ll have a little tea and chat, shall we?’

Emmanuel swallowed his disgust. These people were helping him. ‘Thank you very much.’ He said.

‘Oh, anything for Vinny, anything at all.’

***

‘And so I came back here..’ Jon finished.

‘That’s so disturbing I can’t even begin to say how disturbing it is.’ Vinny said and shuddered. ‘You helped me be born, man. God does weird shit.’

‘Brother, kindly cease speaking of the Lord in such a manner.’

‘Sorry.’

‘So you’re really from this time then?’ Jake asked.

Jon nodded.

‘Weird.’ Jake shook his head. ‘Well, welcome to the family then, I guess.’

Jon smiled. ‘Thank you.’

‘Yes, a touching reunion.n Wonderful.’ Wilhelm said, in a very bored voice.

‘Father!’ Gauss snapped.

Uncomfortable silence reigned. Neither son would look at their respective fathers. Vinny and Jake spoke only to Jon and not to each other. Wilhelm and Wernher Gauss were a little more proactive about it, putting each other’s comments down when they made any. Jon felt very uncomfortable indeed. Miriam was just getting angry. It was the only emotion she had down so far, so it was filling in for a lot of the others.

‘Oh, this is utterly ridiculous.’ She snapped. ‘Will you please talk to each other?’

‘We are talking, Mir.’ Vinny said, evasively.

‘To your father?’

‘Well…’

‘Say something to him now or I shall get very angry.’

‘I should do as she says if I were you.’ Wilhelm said, conversationally.

‘I think he knows that, father.’ Gauss snapped. Wilhelm glared.

‘Wait your turn.’ Miriam said to them, omniously. ‘Well, Vinny?’

Vinny forced himself to make eye contact with his father.

‘So..dad…how ya been. Haven’t seen you since..’

‘Since your mother’s funeral.’ Jake finished, bitterly. ‘Where did you go?’

‘Back where I went the first time, dad.’

‘I don’t know where that is because you never told me.’ Jake said. ‘You never called, you never wrote.’

‘Disgraceful.’ Wilhelm said.

‘I expect he had his reasons. Like getting away from irritating parents.’ Gauss said, pointedly.

‘What the hell do you know about it!’ Jake yelled at Gauss.

‘He’s right, dad!’ Vinny yelled back. ‘You were freakin’ smothering me!’

‘I do apologise for my son’s behaviour.’ Wilhelm said, shaking his head sadly.

‘Hah!’ Gauss laughed, mirthlessly.

‘Your mother and I gave you everything.’ Jake turned back to Vinny. ‘And that’s how you repayed us?’

‘How ungrateful.’ Wilhelm said, sounding shocked.

‘Oh, man, shut up, no wonder Gauss hates you.’ Vinny said to Wilhelm.

‘He’s right, Vinny.’ Jake said. ‘You are ungrateful.’

Jon was edging away from the row. Miriam just sat on a table, watching.

‘Omnibuses stop shouting.’ She said, calmly. ‘Gausses stop being a pair of manipulative bastards, especially you, your imperial majesty.’

‘Young lady…’ Wilhelm began, in a most imperial manner. Miriam glared at him.

‘Damn it, I’ve had enough!’ Vinny yelled and stormed out of the room. Gauss slid off the table he’d been sitting on and followed him.

‘Running away again.’ Wilhelm shook his head.

‘All they ever do.’ Jake added. ‘Run away from their problems instead of facing them like men.’ He looked at Wilhelm. ‘Wanna go get drunk, Will?’

Wilhelm raised a white draconic eyebrow at him. ‘Is that wise?’

‘Nope. Never stopped me before.’ Jake grinned.

‘Very well.’

They left.

Jon looked at Miriam.

‘I think they need more time.’ He said.

Miriam nodded, thoughtfully. ‘Possibly a millenium or two.’ She added.

***

‘You could cut the atmosphere in there with a knife.’ Gunther said, as they snuck out.

‘Or a fish.’ Nevin added.

‘Um…yeah…’

‘Don’t think we’ve met.’ Kreuz said.

‘Sorry. Gunther.’ Gunther said, holding out his hand to shake. Kreuz obliged.

‘S’pose I’m Nevin then.’ Nevin said.

‘Lieutenant Kreuz, Ticine Guard.’

‘Kreuz??’ Nevin’s eyebrows shot through his hairline. ‘AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH.’ There was a clunk as he passed out on the floor.

‘What…the…hell…’ Kreuz began.

‘I don’t think he’s that keen on crosses.’ Gunther said. ‘I saw him flinch at the swastika tattooed on the back of the knight’s neck.’

‘How odd.’

Nevin sat bolt upright, and stared into the distance.

Gunther and Kreuz stood outside the door listening.

‘Stand back.’ Nevin said. They did. The door slid open and Vinny stormed past, not paying attention to what he was hitting, followed by Gauss.

A few minutes later, Wilhelm and Jake also left. Nevin held the door and slid through, followed by the other two.

Nevin stood up and walked through the open door. Gunther and Kreuz followed.

‘Any survivors?’ Gunther asked.

‘Very funny.’ Miriam said, mirthlessly from her table.

‘They need time.’ Jon said. Then for no particular reason. ‘I wonder how Oscar is?’

‘The angel?’ Nevin asked. Jon nodded. Nevin appeared to listen to his right shoulder. ‘Noo…you’re joking.’ He said. Jon looked confused. ‘The Green Maiden of Aber Dyfi? He’s an angel, not a white cow called Snowflake.’

‘Oh, do stop talking welsh nonsense.’ Miriam said.

Nevin spat some unpronounceable swearwords at the wall, since he couldn’t look at Miriam. ‘The angel’s fine.’ He said. ‘Not a cow, even if they are similar in colour. Cows don’t have feathers see, and angels don’t live underwater.’

‘Does he gibber like this all the time?’ Kreuz asked. Jon, Miriam and Gunther all nodded.

‘Oh, there’s grateful, see. And me not a few hours ago burning myself to bits so you lot could sneak off.’ Nevin snapped. ‘I’m famished.’ He walked off.

Miriam sat in thought for a moment. Then ‘famished’ and ‘vampire’ came together in her brain.

‘NEVIN, WAIT!!’

Wilhelm and Jake were getting quite royally, or rather imperially, drunk on some violent Zardarkian liquors.

‘You got any other…thing…kids? Part from mister smartypants?’ Jake asked.

Being drunk made Wilhelm more pompous than usual, if that were possible. ‘Yes, dear fellow.’ He said, reminding himself that he could sober up any moment he felt like it, he only had to engage his draconic …things…. If he could remember how. ‘Another one. Daughter. Nike.’

‘Like the trainers?’

‘No. Neekeeeee…eee…eeeeeee.’

‘Kay.’

‘Completely insane, of course. Whore as well. Streak of lovers across the galaxy. Bad as her mother.’ He said, bitterly. ‘You?’

‘Nah. Just Vinny.’ Jake said, regretfully. ‘He always used to say he’d have liked a little brother. Bet that’swhy he keepscallingJonbr…bro. Damn, that whole thing is so _weird_…’

‘Quite a story. Time travel. Mm.’ Wilhelm agreed. ‘We must face it, Jake. We have truly appalling children.’

‘I’ll drink to that, Will.’ Jake said, raising his glass. ‘To truly appalling children.’

‘Santé.’

Clink.

‘Barkeep!’ Wilhelm said, to a small green bottle. ‘We demand the finest wines known to humanity, and we demand them here, and we demand them now!’

‘Heheh, you’re funny, Will.’ Jake grinned, sliding off his chair.

‘I haven’t been drunk like this for years. Centuries.’ Wilhelm told him, happily.

‘Damn kids. We should have fun.’ Jake said.

‘Too right.’

Jake looked at his glass, pensively. ‘It’s our fault, innit?’

‘Wha.’

‘The kids.’

Wilhelm solemnly looked into his glass too. ‘Yes.’ He said. ‘Undoubtedly.’

‘I shoulda let him leave when he asked. With my blessinganstuff. Then he wouldn’ta needed to run away.’

‘I shouldn’t have been so terrible to his mother when she ran off.’

‘Uh?’

‘Or him. I shouldn’t have taken it out on him and his sister. Shouldn’t have been so cruel to them. Then they might not have turned out as total lunatics.’

‘Um..’

‘I also probably shouldn’t have declared war on the entire nation of the man she ran off with and then gone on a jealous genocidal rampage, destroying them all before effectively kidnapping her, killing the man she loved and dragging her back to a life of breeding servitude, causing her to die of grief once she had produced the male heir I wanted.’

‘Jeeezus Will, you _are_ a bastard.’

‘I know.’ Wilhelm nodded. ‘Oh, I know.’ He started sobbing into his glass. ‘It was all that dreadful Saurin’s fault, I’m sure. He seduced her.’

Jake patted Wilhelm on the back. ‘S’okay.’

‘I’m a terrible, terrible person, Jake. I also betrayed my greatest friend.’

‘Uhuh.’ Jake said, through the side of his mouth, red eyes wide.

‘If I hadn’t let Moebius get me into that insane project of his, Lysander would still be a genius. Faithful Lysander, obeying his emperor’s every wish, even unto a decade of soullessness. Oh, my dear Lysander…’ The sobbing started anew.

‘I think you need a hug, Will..’ Jake said, and obliged. The sheer absurdity of the emperor of a huge section of the galaxy crying like a baby was not lost on him.

‘Thank you.’ Wilhelm said. ‘I needed that. I wish more people called me ‘Will’ instead of ‘Your imperial majesty.’I shall make it up to him.’

‘Who?’

‘Wernher. Lysander. Nike. Whoever. And you should too.’ He wagged a finger at Jake.

‘Me and Vinny? Uhh…’

‘No, I won’t brook any resistance. That should be obvious by now. I insist we go and apologise to them immediately.’

‘Uhh. Ok.’ Jake nodded. ‘Yeah. Yeah, that’s a damn good idea.’ He thumped the bar. His glass fell over.

‘Barkeep, one for the road.’

‘You’re talking to a bottle, Will.’

‘Of course I am. I knew that.’

***

‘I’m still pissed at you for declaring war on Wyn by the way.’ Vinny said to Gauss.

‘Don’t take it out on me.’ Gauss said, spitefully.

‘I am not ‘taking it out on you’, you declared war on my girlfriend!’ Vinny said, getting angry again and stopping in the middle of the corridor. Gauss stopped as well.

‘I can’t believe you’d be dumb enough to let Moebius get to you, after everything he put us through.’ Vinny continued, wading deeper and deeper into the red mist.

‘Oh, that’s right, it’s all my fault. Never mind your ‘girlfriend’ is one of a long line of bloodthirsty lunatics and might I add has made an alliance with flesh-eating, insanity-inducing monsters from the outer dimensions.’ Gauss replied, his voice like a very angry iceberg.

‘You want a monster, Gauss?’ Vinny asked. ‘Cause I’ll give you a monster.’

‘Oh, don’t you even try it, you furry idiot. I’d destroy you before you could blink.’

‘Oh yeah? Smartass?’ It was at this point that they realised they were both uncomfortably close to each other, their faces just inches apart.

There was an uncertain pause. Gauss felt Vinny’s hot breath on his face, could smell the warm, animal body. They looked at each other.

Both of them realised what was very nearly happening and immediately turned away in disgust.

‘Ewww, as if I’d..’

‘Oh, that’s absolutely disgusting…’

‘I can’t believe you’d think I’d..’

‘What are you even thinking of that for?’

‘It’s bad enough being kissed by one dragon in a day…’

‘Oh, what makes you think I’d…wait…you….’

‘Oh crap.’

‘Who was it??? Was it Nike?? I’ll tell Windsong…’ Gauss said, gleefully.

‘No, for your information it wasn’t Nike, it was some guy I met on Meggiddo and I’m not telling you about him.’

‘I bet it was one of the Sawarren lot, they’re such sluts. Wait, did you say he?’

Vinny decided to let Gauss think what he wanted. ‘Yeah, I figured he was being friendly, remember you said it was a friendly greeting in your culture.’

‘With each other, yes. Not with other species. He must have taken a liking to you. Those pheromones of yours are going to get you into real trouble one day. Sawarren or Dactylos, they never watch their bloodline.’ Never mind that didn’t make any sense.

‘Whatever. Where are we going anyway?’

‘Er..’

They paused again.

‘I think we should find our pops, Gauss.’ Vinny said, mournfully.

‘Oh, don’t talk nonsense.’

‘Come on.’ Vinny took hold of Gauss’ arm, then dropped it again as a blush spread across the dragon’s face. ‘What is _with_ you?’

***

An hour or so passed while both pairs looked for each other and repeatedly just missed meeting up.

After the fourth time of being asked if they’d seen the other two, and having the pair speaking disappear before they could say the other two were looking for them, Miriam and Jon suggested that Wilhelm and Jake remain in her and Kreuz’ room until the others showed up. Nevin was curled up a corner happily scoffing blood puddings he had been provided with by an obliging Zardarkian cook. Their hosts really were very nice. Gunther and Kreuz had produced a pack of cards out of no-where and were losing horribly against Miriam and Jon.

‘Royal Flush.’ Miriam said. ‘I win again.’

‘You’re counting the cards.’ Gunther said,

‘Sorry, I can’t help it.’

‘Sure...’

‘Deal me in.’ Jake said. At that point, Gauss and Vinny walked in and were halfway through saying ‘have you seen..’ before a tearful and touching reunion ensued.

‘I’m so sorry..’

‘No, I’m sorry…’

‘Wernher, I…’

‘Father, it’s all right, really.’

‘Can’t a body eat in peace?’ Nevin grumbled from his corner.

‘We need to do something about the empire, Wernher.’ Wilhelm said, resting his hand on his son’s shoulder.

‘I think Nike is much better off with it than me.’ Gauss replied, sadly.

‘Possibly, but my intelligence says Morgan-Giles wasn’t happy with your decision.’

‘I thought that would happen.’ Gauss nodded, pensively. ‘I suppose I never really thought Nike would stop him.’

‘He’s taking the fleet against Wendauer.’

‘What?’ Vinny practically ran over. ‘Against Wyn?’

‘Who’s Wyn?’ Jake asked.

‘My…uh…Dad, I’m getting married. Come to my wedding? When we get the chance to plan it..’

‘That’s great!’

‘To the Queen of Wendauer.’

‘Ohmygod.’

‘I thought you were marrying Princess Windsong.’ Wilhelm said, a little tetchily.

‘Well, she seems to have fallen in love with Vinny, and I’d really rather she married him. By the way. Vinny, have some confetti.’ Gauss said, and pulled a small bag of shredded yellow marriage contract bits out of the pocket of his Silver Beret uniform.

‘No doubt so you can have your elvish floo…’ Wilhelm’s disapproving remark was cut off by Vinny’s furry hand over his mouth.

‘Shhh’ Vinny said.

‘Mffmffmff.’ Wilhelm mffed.

Vinny let go. ‘What?’

‘I said, unhand me.’

‘Oh.’

‘Krystal is dead, father.’ Gauss said, sadly.

It was now Wilhelm’s turn to say ‘Oh.’ And then. ‘I’m sorry, Wernher.’

‘Who’s that?’ Jake asked.

‘Gauss’s girlfriend.’ Vinny informed him.

‘She died?’

‘Yeah, someone assassinated her.’

‘Uhm. Real sorry about that, Wernher.’ Jake said, and awkwardly patted him on the shoulder.

‘No, it’s all right, really.’ Gauss smiled, sadly. ‘Her and I. Everything will be fine. Come on, we have a war to stop.’

‘Hah! Royal Flush!’ Gunther suddenly shouted and threw his cards down. ‘There.’

‘You win.’ Miriam smiled, and hid her Imperial Flush.

‘I shall ask if we can use a meeting room or somesuch.’ Wilhelm said.

‘I’ll come too.’ Gauss said.

‘I really don’t..’ Wilhelm began. Then he smiled. ‘Of course.’

‘You’re supposed to be asking me.’ Jake pointed out.

‘See you later, dad.’ Vinny smiled.

The three of them left the room.

‘Glad you got that sorted.’ Gunther said.

‘Aye.’ Jon said.

‘Well done.’ Miriam said, dealing.

‘You’re all nuts.’ Kreuz said. ‘I’m enjoying myself immensely.’

‘Whee.’ Vinny said, sarcastically. Then he started a cigarette he thought he rickly deserved and wandered over to the corner, where Nevin seemed to be half asleep, staring into space.

‘Hey. Nev.’

‘Mmf?’

‘Been meaning to ask you something for a while now, since you seem to know everything.’ A small cloud of smoke floated towards the ceiling. ‘Leastways, your left shoulder seems to know everything.’

‘Mff?’

‘What..exactly…am I king of?’

Nevin’s eyes suddenly opened fully and he developed a familiar manic expression.

‘Exactly? Well I couldn’t say exactly.’ He stood up. ‘But I would say roughly…that you’re the King of Beasts. Recs Cwondym et Fytyrys, Recs yr Bestia. Brenin Dhu.’

‘I don’t get it.’

‘Neither do I, so don’t expect me to explain it. King of Beasts. King of the Howling Things in the Darkness. No King of Men, no. King of Fire in the Blood and Water in the Bones, and tearing and shredding and warm, wet things in the teeth. King. Of. Us. ’

Vinny stepped back, taken aback by Nevin’s staring eyes and flailing words. ‘Who’s us?’

‘Dunno.’ Nevin shrugged. ‘But we’re everywhere, see. HAHAHAHAAAAAA. Bran the Death-bird and the Wulfkyn you know, but there are more, so many more. Everywhere.’ He wiggled his fingers and stretched out his arms.

‘Everywhere, eh?’ Vinny grinned, disconcertingly and took another drag.

‘Ev-Ry-Wer.’

***

“Dear Dave…’ Dave read out his e-mail. ‘Sorry about springing Em on ya. I’ll come for him eventually when all this shit blows over. If I were to, say, want to get every were-thing in the galaxy, and maybe the vampires too, to do something for me, like the plan I wrote out and put in this letter, then how would I go about doing it?”

‘Well, Vinny.’ Dave said to himself. ‘First you would send me the plan..’

***

Vinny wandered into the room with the big table in which Gauss Sr and Jnr were discussing strategy. Miriam, Jon, Gunther and Kreuz were also there, but mostly as furniture. Jake sat by the door, with no idea what was going on. Where Nevin was was anybody’s guess.

‘Jon, the empire has quite a high christian population. Do you think you could use your influence to get them on our side?’ Gauss asked.

Jon stood up so fast he nearly knocked his chair over. ‘Of course. I will send out a request, to bring peace to the galaxy in the name of the Lord. I shall go at once!’ He was out the door like a shot.

‘Lucky bastard.’ Gunther said quietly.

Miriam glared at him.

‘Hey, guys.’ Vinny wandered over and stole Jon’s seat. ‘Sup?’

‘We’re encouraging peace.’ Wilhelm said. ‘Unfamiliar territory for me, I’m afraid.’

‘I fixed a little something up.’ Vinny said, grinning and still smoking.

‘What sort of something?’ Gauss asked.

‘Oh, you’ll see.’

***

‘Admiral! Admiral!’

‘What?’ Morgan Giles asked, glaring at the panicking comms officer.

‘70% of the major supply lines have been cut off! Thirty different craftworlds have suddenly refused to condone any further hostilities against Wendauer. All the workers are striking for peace. All anyone can get out of them is ‘The King has commanded it’.’

‘WHAT??’

‘And sir, a few hours ago, a major catholic figure appeared on the galactic nets and urged all Christians to do all they can to prevent further war and now all the christians are refusing to support us as well. We’re stranded!’

‘Who? The pope?’

‘No, the name on the screen was Saint Krigsley of the Schwarzwald. Apparently something happened on earth, he performed some miracle or something. I looked it up.’

‘This is terrible!!’ Morgan-Giles yelled furiously. ‘It must be Wernher Gauss, that damned Peacenik. Oh, you win this battle…but you have not won the war!’

‘Sir, what do we do.’

‘Turn the ships around! Without supplies of food and ammunition, there’s nothing we can do.’ DAMNIT!’

***

Meanwhile Jacob Syne was on one of the Craftworlds, wandering among the strikers.

‘Tell me about the Crimson Eyed King?’ He asked.

The woman with the green hair warming her hands by the fire looked at him.

‘You’ll find him with the Saint and the Dragons.’ She said.

***

The buzzing in her ears had become maddening and unbearable without her even noticing it. It wasn’t painful, it was just preventing her from even completing a thought. How long had she been sitting here, watching the stars? Since after Adamus left..how long ago was that. Vinny..

The door buzzed again. She hadn’t noticed the first time, through the noise.

‘Come.’ Probably that irritating Delapore fellow again…

‘Windsong?’

Wyn turned to face the door, delighted despite the buzzing. ‘Oscar? You’re back?’

‘You two really need to learn to tell the difference between us.’ Joel said, and threw a net over her. She struggled wildly as he gathered it up, and slung her thin form over his shoulder. The buzzing became so loud she couldn’t think, or even move. She hung, limp.

‘Smart girl.’ Joel said, as he edged around a corner. ‘Stay still and you don’t get hurt too much yet. I’m just going to find somewhere quiet and do terrible things to you to get revenge on your furry boyfriend.’

Internally she raged, but was no longer sure who against or even why. When eventually he threw her down on the floor in an empty room god knows where, she only felt a vague hunger and was no longer certain of who she was. The buzzing had dulled to a low, pulsating throb, like a heartbeat.

Joel knelt down by the still form staring into space.

‘What the hell is up with you? You trying to trick me?’

She didn’t move. The words had meant nothing to her.

Joel took hold of her chin and pulled her head around so she faced him.

Smell of Blood. Hungry.

She bit the hand.

‘Agh! I knew it, I’m so dumb!..you little BITCH!’ He slapped her across the face. You would think by now he would have learned. She snarled, and dived for his throat, sinking teeth into the flesh and lapping at the fresh, warm blood.

Joel yelled, and threw her off, sitting up and clutching at his neck.

‘Why, you little..’ A green fireball formed in his other hand. At the same time a red one formed in hers, though she didn’t understand why or what she was doing, just knew she wanted to burn the thing that struck her. The two fireballs were thrown and clashed in the middle, exploding with a bright yellow flame into nothing.

Joel stared at the figure in front of him. Royal blue hair had flown out of it’s usual ponytail and crackled around her like a halo. Were those teeth suddenly becoming pointed, flashing silver at the edges as if something was rearranging them? Were those _numbers_ her could see scrolling past in her green eyes.

SHE’S MINE NOW Said a voice in his head.

‘Damocles?’ Joel said, disbelievingly. Then he suddenly started laughing hysterically. ‘Oh, that’s classic! That’s better than I ever DREAMED of.’ He stood up and began to back away from the snarling girl on the floor. He leaned on the panel and the door slid open. He stepped backwards through it and allowed it to close behind him. Then he ran for it.

HELLO JOEL.

Where did you come from?

WHEN SHE BIT YOU

Joel covered the wound on his neck impulsively with his hand again. Tiny metal ants, in his blood. Like when he was delirious.

Get out. ‘Get out.’ He repeated the command aloud.

BUT THERE’S SO MUCH WE COULD DO TOGETHER, JOEL.

‘I’m sorry, did you just try to tempt me? The demon? You gotta be kidding me.’

‘I’M NOT

Get out, or do I have to throw you out?

I DOUBT YOU COULD.

Really.

I MEAN TO HAVE YOU, JOEL.

We’ll see.

Joel reached inside himself for the green fire, the sickening unholy flame of his being, and spread it into his veins, his body, his entire self, incinerating and melting. So clever Damocles? Didn’t you know that when that disgusting friend of Oscar and Vinny’s put his nanobots inside me I destroyed thousands of them and corrupted the rest before I realised she was foolishly trying to help heal me and let her get on with it? You think holy fire is any more powerful than the power of corruption and decay and hate?

YOU’RE MISSING OUT ON A GREAT OPPORTUNITY JO…E.. Damocles’ insipid voice was fading as Joel destroyed the link to the rest of it, inside his body.

‘I work alone, fucktard. Just me. Me and Oscar, that’s all there ever is.’ Everything else is just periphery. Ooh, nice word.

***

Cell Three, Halak. Empty, but for a fishy thing starting to grow legs. It used them to wriggle out of the remains of it’s previous body. Who the hell was that killed me this time?

A scream of elfish rage echoed across the palace, loosening a large chunk of rock that was on the very verge of falling.

It fell.

Squish.

Now. The four fathers. Two are easy, Jake and Wilhelm. The other two? The third is a little harder, Laplace Saurin. The other? Well, you’ll have to ask me. Or Luiz, he knows too.

<-- Chapter Twenty: Thirteen Hours of the Night (Dev/Null Remix) | Index | Chapter Twenty-Two: Angel, Disturbed -->