It was hard to say which part of the face was more uncomely. The chin was weak and small. The mouth was a pouting rosebud of quivering red membrane. The nose was upturned and piglike, with vast nostrils, and two additional artificial nostrils penetrated the cheeks like metal plugs, one to each side of the nose. The continual hissing and suction of the breathing bespoke the immense amount of oxygen the three-foot-wide brain required. The ears were disagreeable nubs of flesh.
The eyes, however, were large and lustrous and golden, great orbs set in round sockets, with pupils like bright wells. The irises were yellow speckled with green, and the rapid dilation and contraction of the pupils as the Giant looked from one to another of the aspects and fixtures, men and dogs, in the vast chamber before his feet hinted at a brain able to absorb tremendous amounts of visual information quickly.
The Blue Men had returned his clothing to him also. In the hand of the Giant was an immense staff on which he leaned for support. His headgear was the jawless skull of a saber-toothed tiger, and the tawny pelt of leopard-spots, still attached, swathed his upper limbs as a stole, clawed feet and tail dangling down like tassels. Beneath, he wore the traditional suit lined with flexible vertical smart-piping, hydraulically stiffened to help support his frame, and the pipes flexed and tensed like muscles as he moved.
Strange gold eyes stared down above a curious double nose, a puckered bud of a mouth, a nub of a receding chin, a ghastly neck of layered flab.
Neither Scipio, nor the others in the chamber, could meet that gaze, only Menelaus.
He spoke in flawless Intertextual. “Forgive me for taking so long to deduce your language, but your forms are complicated, even for me. I am Dr. Bashan Christopher Calligorant Hugh-Jones, interment date, Year of Our Lord 3033. I speak all the languages of all within the chamber.
“Ull Ynglingas, you should be aware that the Xypotech protecting the Tombs was invaded, damaged, and switched to standby; but it was switched from standby to lethal defense seventeen minutes ago. Surrender now and submit to the justice of the Judge of Ages, or be destroyed.”
Mentor Ull stared at him. “Insufficient explanation! We have been battling the coffins and associated weaponry for weeks! We have won sixty-nine coffins from the Tomb with minimal losses.”
The Giant laughed. “Those were not his weapons. Those were his toys.”
Now he spoke in Iatric, and the Hormagaunts and Clade-dwellers looked on.
“Preceptor Illiance Vroy,” came the voice of Bashan, “I call upon you to relieve Mentor Ull Ynglingas of his command. Take the gems from the handweapon that Preceptrix Aanwen Leel tossed to the ground, and place them on his coat as a sign of his demotion.”
Illiance looked at Ull suspiciously, then up at the hundred guns peering from the ceiling, and then (because he could not look him in the eye) at the chin of the strange, oversized head of the Giant. “I have insufficient reason to comply with your request, reasonable as it may be.”
“Do what I say, and quickly, for I stand in intellect and wisdom to you as a father to a child, or a shepherd to a sheep.”
“I reluctantly refuse. Mentor Ull’s actions perhaps have a reasonable construction. If you were to tell your reasons, I might comply.”
Bashan the Giant sighed, which was a noise like an immense wind, and the oddly childish mouth became a grim line. “Your compliance is tardy. The situation now has changed. Had you done as I said, you would have discovered the red metallic amulet Ull wears affixed like a medical prosthetic just below his elbow. This amulet once belonged to Father Reyes y Pastor, who was expelled from the Hermetic Order.
“As a reward for his work in biotechnology and Cliometry wherein he successfully interfered with the lives of countless Melusine, who are the dominant and Current species of the Earth, Ull was given the honors and the place of Reyes.
“His arms are too thin to wear the band on his wrist, so he must affix it to his forearm. He did not slumber when you did, but, being granted endless youth by the sciences of the Hermetic Order, came again alive periodically during all the centuries you slept. He has betrayed your principles, and seeks the Judge of Ages only to kill him.
“The only reason why the Judge of Ages has not been attacked with lethal force is that some doubt still clouds Ull’s mind surrounding the issue of identity.
“Had you done as I asked, his deception would have been revealed without any further ado. Because you refused, there will now be a firefight in this chamber, and not all here will emerge alive.”
5
Jurors
1. To Arms
Daae the Alpha Chimera called out in Virginian, “The Judge of Ages in his wrath has summoned a Giant from the earliest of times, from the Antecpyrotic World, to destroy all those within the chamber! Prepare yourselves for the oblivion we crave, for the force of the elder days will make no distinction of innocence or guilt, any more than the fires they used to destroy earlier worlds!”
And the voice of Daae simply rang with joy.
Whether he knew that the Blue Men had thawed this Giant themselves, keeping him out of sight in their hospital all this time, or whether he thought the Judge of Ages had arranged to have him brought into the chamber, was not clear, but his words startled both educated Chimerae and Witches who understood his language.
Fatin the Witch maiden called out to her Witches in Virginian, “Stay! The Giant knows the guilty. Have you never seen one before? This is a posthuman—his intelligence range is in the 500s. Look at his eyes! He understands everything about us … He will spare us…”
Ajuoga called out in her icy, poisonous voice, “No! He is baptized of the White Christ, and is an enemy to all Witches. We are dead meat and food for birds and jackals!”
Mickey shouted toward the Giant, “Eat the Blue Men, not me! I am full of unhealthy hallucinogenic chemicals and fatty tissue! You need to watch your diet!”
Alpha Daae whistled. The Chimerae moved with practiced quickness, and retreated into the alcove holding the atomic pile. The dog things, dividing their attention to cover the Giant and the Judge of Ages on his throne, were taken unawares, and given no direct orders, they did not stop the Chimerae.
Gamma Phyle and Kine Happy pulled down the two display cabinets to the left and right of the opening of the alcove, sending the huge cases tilting, toppling, and shattering with a noise like thunder when they fell to the floor. Priceless antiques spilled out. The two prone display cases now made an impromptu bulwark across the opening of the alcove, and Beta Vulpina and Beta Suspinia took position to the left and right, bows strung and arrows nocked. The tops of the display cases did not quite touch, and in this breach stood Alpha Daae and Alpha Yuen, both looking more fierce and fearless and splendid than even their wont.
Seeing this, Prissy Pskov and Zouave Zhigansk scrambled for any weapon-shaped antique that had fallen from the smashed cases, and they called Toil, Drudge, and Drench to do likewise. The three Donors did not obey, but fled to a corner of the chamber, cowering behind the looming statue of Michael the Archangel.