The horsemen were more of a problem. For some reason, they seemed to have particularly homed in on the booze and downers. Many had collapsed, but the remainder blundered about shaking their heads. Now and then one of them would chop down one of the glittering pleasure mutants with an off-hand knife blow. Now and then, one of them would stumble into a Ho replica and try to start a fight. The Ho replica invariably cut down the horseman with an air of precise fastidiousness.
The various freaks, although programmed to participate in some bizarre entertainments, were unable to handle the situation. They were confused and terrified. A few cracked. A dwarf rushed at the legs of a bunch of horsemen and started beating at them with his tiny fists. He was rapidly kicked to death for his impudence. The majority, however, simply clustered together in groups, moving round the throne room like panicky sheep, trying to avoid the violence. The floor was rapidly becoming littered with bodies, and slippery with blood.
Billy, Reave and the Minstrel Boy stayed firmly in a quiet corner between the throne and the receiver room. They were out of danger, for the moment, as far as A. A, Catto was concerned. They still had the problem of avoiding mutilation at the hands of her out-of-control warriors. This required so much concentration that even the Minstrel Boy left the vast selection of stimulants, for the most part, alone.
Somewhere in A.A. Catto’s whirling brain an idea hatched. She sat up, pushed the hermaphrodite out of the way and shook Nancy by the shoulder.
‘Nancy!’
Nancy opened one eye.
‘Huh?’
‘Nancy, it’s come to me.’
Nancy blinked.
‘What?’
‘It’s come to me, the whole purpose of my life,’
‘No shit?’
A.A. Catto pouted.
‘Don’t talk to me like that. It’s unkind.’
Nancy sat up quickly.
‘I’m sorry, what’s this that’s come to you?’
A look of bliss came over A.A. Catto’s face.
‘I’m going to rule everything. It’s my destiny.’
Nancy shook her head to clear it.
‘Huh?’
A.A. Catto wasn’t pleased that Nancy didn’t immediately join in her enthusiasm.
‘I’m going to rule everything.’
‘You’re going to rule everything?’
‘Quahal is only a start. I am destined for much greater glory.’
Nancy nodded.
‘Yeah, glory.’
‘I have new men that I invented.’
Nancy glanced up at her in surprise.
‘I was under the impression that the Wanderer, if anybody, invented them.’
A.A. Catto swayed a little as she waved away the suggestion.
‘That’s beside the point. They’re mine, and with them I can conquer everything.’
She started to wax eloquent. Her voice rose a little and her eyes turned upwards.
‘Imagine, just imagine. My warriors suddenly pouring out of the nothings. Swooping down on defenceless towns and cities. Overrunning them and enslaving the population. Can you picture it, Nancy, the power and grandeur of it, our choice of everything we wanted? We could have anything. That’s why they wanted to kill me. They were afraid. They suspected what I was going to do before I even knew it myself. They didn’t manage it, though. They failed. They can’t destroy me. I’m destined to succeed. It’ll be a jihad, a crusade, a holy war to the greater glory of me!’
At the end of the speech A.A. Catto’s voice had risen to something near a shriek. Nancy looked at her in wonder and awe.
‘I’ll say one thing for you. You don’t fuck around.’
Billy, who had caught part of the outburst, slid up close to the Minstrel Boy and nudged him.
‘We got to get the hell out of here.’
‘Don’t I know it.’
‘I mean now.’
‘How?’
Billy looked around.
‘We could nick a couple of porta-pacs from unconscious Ho replicas, and just walk away.’
‘Walk through the nothings?’
‘I’ve done it before.’
The Minstrel Boy shook his head.
‘Not here, you haven’t.’
‘It’s not possible?’
‘This isn’t the inner ring. You can trot off into the nothings there and be sure of landing somewhere while you’re still sane. Out here you can’t. If we tried walking from Quahal, I’d go mad even if you wouldn’t.’
‘So what do we do? We can’t take delivery of a ground car in a place the size of the receiver room.’
The Minstrel Boy thought about it.
‘We could probably get something smaller.’
‘Yeah? What?’
‘Air scooters.’
‘Air scooters?’
The Minstrel Boy grinned.
‘Yeah. Air scooters. Listen, you and Reave gather up three porta-pacs and come to the receiver room. I’ll go there now and make the order.’
Billy and Reave moved cautiously to the nearest unconscious Ho replicas, and unclipped three porta-pacs from their belts. They also took the guns from their holsters. Then they headed for the receiver room doing their best to look unconcerned.
When they got there, the room was empty apart from the Minstrel Boy sitting at the control board. Two of the air scooters had arrived, and as they watched a third one materialized in the cage. The air scooters were shaped like an egg that had been sliced in half lengthways. The flat side rested on the ground. When the engine was cut in, the machine floated on a cushion of air some fifteen centimetres thick. It moved by two propulsion vents at the back, and was braked by a similar vent on the front. A saddle and control bars were mounted on top. The Minstrel Boy had chosen models finished in red metal-flake. He had not had time to order any accessories, although the catalogue did contain a whole range. The Minstrel Boy threw his leg over the first one and turned the power unit to idle. The scooter rose on its air cushion. He gestured to the other two to get on their machines.
‘Here’s what we do. I’ll go through the door first. We take it nice and slow. Sashay around, and knock over a few freaks. We’ll clown it up. A.A. Catto will think it’s some kind of joke. Keep edging towards the door, then, at a signal from me, open the scooters right up, and go. We should take them by surprise. Okay?’
Billy and Reave nodded. The Minstrel Boy turned the twist grip on the control bars very gently and edged his way through the door. He waltzed out on to the dance floor. Billy and Reave did the same. A.A. Catto looked up from her conversation with Nancy. She laughed and clapped her hands as Billy spun his machine round and bowled over a whole group of freaks. They gradually made their way down the hall. When they were about halfway to the doors, the Minstrel Boy looked round and yelled.
‘Now!’
He twisted the powerfeed wide open, and sped towards the door. Billy and Reave followed him. As they raced away, A.A. Catto’s expression changed from delight to fury. She sprang to her feet, knocking over the child who’d been feeding her drugs.
‘Stop them.’
The Minstrel Boy slammed into the doors and they burst open. Billy and Reave sped through behind him. They hit the stairs and fought to control the scooters as they careened down the uneven surface. All three of them reached the bottom still upright and they hummed down the corridor. Some of the Ho replicas arrived at the head of the stairs and started shooting. Bullets screamed off the black stone walls of the corridor, then they made a right-angle turn and were temporarily out of danger.
They kept going at full speed, flashing along corridors and bucketing dangerously down flights of steps. The interior of the ziggurat appeared to be deserted, and they met no opposition. They eventually emerged on to one of the lower external levels. A grey dawn was creeping over the horizon. Further along the level, a long steep ramp led down all the way to the ground. They headed for it. There was still no sign of pursuit. Billy grinned back at Reave, who was slightly behind him.