“All right, savage,” he was saying, “I'll tell you how to get here. It's easy."
This was an irresistible opportunity, better than anything he could have hoped for; if he was somehow making a mistake, he could straighten it out later. He pulled out the stasis generator, adjusted the range, and pushed the control.
Thaddeus froze, his face raised to Monitor's light, one hand raised in a gesture of admonition, the other holding the disintegrator knife. His black garb seemed to expand and fill the surrounding air as the field darkened around him, and then he vanished completely as it crystallized into the familiar mirrored sphere.
In the war room, as Bredon groped for something to say, some new delaying tactic, he saw the stasis field appear. He stared at the screen, baffled.
Then he relaxed and sank into Thaddeus's control chair, overcome with relief, as Geste stepped into view and the prisoners, despite their chains, burst into applause.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
“…told among the people who live along the banks of the river where the forests end and the grasslands begin. There, a woman will often wake in the middle of the night to find the furs beside her empty. When that happens, she knows that the Nymph has called her man away for a few hours’ pleasure.
"You might think that the women would be upset by this, that they would be jealous, but in fact few are. They have lived all their lives knowing that this happens, for it's hardly a secret. Scarcely a grown man in the area has not been called at least once. In fact, the wife of a man who has been called back repeatedly will often take pride in the fact-must her man not be a wonderful and inventive lover, to have been so summoned?
"It's not as if another woman had seduced their men. After all, who can compete with a Power? And they can take comfort in knowing that for tensleeps afterward, after a dark or two with the insatiable and perverse Nymph, their men are always too tired and too jaded to bother straying to the beds of other mortal women…"
– from the tales of Atheron the Storyteller
The disintegrator knife would have been handy for cutting the chains, but it was trapped in the stasis field with Thaddeus. Monitor refused to provide any assistance, and eventually, at Geste's suggestion and with Aulden providing the necessary technical advice, Bredon sent a machine down that blew Monitor out of the wall in microscopic shards.
While this was being done Bredon and Geste exchanged accounts of what had happened, piecing together the entire story of Thaddeus's downfall. When they had the tale straight, Bredon put a reassuring call through to the Skyland; almost all the jamming and defensive fields had been shut down when he gave his “abort” command to the entire war room, so communication was easy.
The Skyler, though relieved, had no intention of entering Fortress Holding. She would wait where she was, she said.
The same machine that destroyed Monitor, under careful direction, was able to remove the shackles from the seven captives and lead them all, as well as Geste, to the war room.
As they made their way through the passages Bredon, growing more confident in his abilities, summoned other machines, and by the time the Powers reached the room he had a steady stream of service devices bringing food and drink.
This done, he stood and turned to face the door.
Brenner was the first to arrive; he burst into the war room smiling, directly behind the guiding machine. The machine wheeled itself quickly to one side, letting the Powers into the room. “Well done, boy!” Brenner called. “Well done indeed!” He started to cross the room to address Bredon more directly, but then stopped at the sight of the machines bearing food and redirected his steps.
“Very well done!” he called as he stuffed a handful of delicacies in his mouth.
Khalid and Madame O arrived close on Brenner's heels. They said nothing, but headed directly for the refreshments.
Lady Sunlight hung back, looking at the vast, machinery-lined room.
Geste, Rawl, and Sheila were more polite. The three of them crossed the room to congratulate Bredon on his part in their victory.
“I think we make a pretty good team,” Geste said, holding out his hand to Bredon. “If you hadn't kept him busy like that I couldn't have gotten him. And if you hadn't jumped him when you did, and disabled most of his machines, he probably would have killed me."
Bredon accepted this praise calmly, but felt compelled to point out, “It was Aulden's password that made it all possible. I couldn't have done anything if he hadn't set it up for me."
“So you're all wonderful,” Sheila said mockingly.
Aulden and Imp, who had fallen behind the others, arrived then, ambling into the war room with their arms about each other. Aulden disengaged himself and promptly settled into a nearby chair. Imp bounced across the room, kissed Geste, kissed Bredon, and then flung herself back in Aulden's arms, letting her white prison gown bunch up to her waist as she nestled onto his lap.
Bredon looked away, slightly embarrassed by Imp's lack of modesty.
Close beside him, Sheila draped herself on Geste and began to kiss him repeatedly, working her way downward. Startled, Bredon stepped back and again looked away.
Over by the food-bearing floaters and carts O, Brenner, and Khalid draped arms around one another.
To Bredon's shocked surprise these embraces led to other actions. Aulden raised his own gown and pushed Imp's higher as her hand fell between his thighs. Sheila pulled Geste's gown from his shoulders and worked his arms free, so that the garment dropped to the floor, followed by her own.
In short order the victory celebration turned into an orgy. Bredon stood to one side, watching.
He glanced around. Rawl was paying no attention to the others as he studied the walls of machinery, and Lady Sunlight was still standing quietly by the door, but the others were all enjoying each other, oblivious to their rather inappropriate surroundings.
Bredon stepped back against the banks of controls and closed his eyes. The thought came to him that at any moment, Rawl and Lady Sunlight would follow the example of their companions; he suppressed the thought, but kept his eyes shut. He did not want to see that.
Lady Sunlight watched the others uncertainly. She was still somewhat disoriented. Thaddeus had thrown her entire view of the universe into doubt; in her understanding of reality, no one kidnapped or tortured anyone.
That was over, though. She was free again.
There were still unanswered questions, however, such as just who this “Bredon” person was. He certainly didn't fit her image of the natives. He was not noticeably crude or unclean, and in fact he had proven very useful.
Perhaps it was time she reconsidered some of her long-held opinions.
Besides, there was an orgy going on, and she did not want to be left out. Rawl was never much fun, and could be so very irritating at times. O was hogging both Khalid and Brenner. That left Bredon.
She crossed the room slowly, wisps of doubt still lingering, and almost shyly put an arm around his waist.
Startled, he opened his eyes. He started to draw away, embarrassed, then stopped. This was something he had dreamed of, to have Lady Sunlight's arm around him, and he was not enough of a fool to throw it away.
“What's the matter?” she asked.
Bredon blushed and shrugged.
She remembered that, clean and intelligent as he was, he was still a native of Denner's Wreck, and guessed what was bothering him. The natives were fairly conservative, sexually-natural enough in a society with poor medical care and contraception. She looked at her companions and smiled. “Ah, yes,” she said. “Not quite befitting the dignity of demi-gods, is it?"