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[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
van, that wouldn't be too bad. Together they could run down Phreak. She was tempted to make that
literal, but it was Phreak's information they needed, not his game-death.
There was a commotion at her door. Friend or foe? She decided to be noncommittal until she was sure.
For one thing, it saved energy, her most precious commodity. So she sat at the window and gazed
languidly toward the door as it opened to reveal the man.
"Princess, I have been freed from the oppressive dominance of the Evil Sorcerer and have come to free
thee from thy foul captivity!"
A game construct, obviously. That was good news, because it indicated that Walter was making progress
against the opposition. Or did it? The loyal denizens were freed only when the Evil Sorcerer used his
magic, and his magic might win the day. So she couldn't relax yet. Meanwhile, if Walter was winning
through, she needed to remain here, where he could find her.
"Well done, thou good and faithful servant," she replied. "Abide with me until my Hero comes, and guard
me from all ill."
The denizen promptly came to attention, standing by the door, guarding her from ill.
Soon another arrived. That meant that the Sorcerer had had to invoke another spell, which suggested that
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the first one had not been effective, but also that the Sorcerer remained alive, which wasn't the best news.
She bade the man abide and guard, as she had the first.
A third denizen came, and joined the others. That must be quite a battle! But she remained calm, because
she couldn't afford excitement. She schooled herself in faith: Walter, her Hero, would prevail.
The fourth denizen was a player. She suspected this immediately, because of his speech. "Hey, honey,
we'd better get you outa here before that Guardian Angel clobbers the kook from Beirut!"
But he hadn't used the code word, so he was a stranger. "I thank thee, faithful servant. But I must wait the
victory of my beloved. Remain and guard me from evil meanwhile."
"Okay, honey. Boy, you sure are cute! Do you look anything like that in real life?"
"Nothing at all," she assured him. "I am a homely thing, and sickly."
"Too bad." He lost interest. In a moment the character went blank; the player had stepped out of it and
gone elsewhere.
The fifth one was another construct, this time a woman. Baal questioned her on the progress of the battle,
but she was from elsewhere in the castle and knew nothing of it.
After what seemed like a long time, something odd happened. All five denizens came out of their guard
positions and stared at her.
"What is the matter, loyal servants?" she inquired, quelling her thrill of alarm.
"We must confine thee here, Princess, until our master decides thy fate," the first denizen said.
Oops! That meant that the Evil Sorcerer had been replaced, and the castle denizens were all back in thrall.
But after a moment she realized that this was good news: it meant that Walter had killed his man! Indeed,
his blip was glowing more brightly on her screen, indicating his rapid approach.
But it also meant that these denizens would oppose Walter when he came here. They might kill him out
of hand. What could she do to stop that?
She remembered that the Princess did have a bit of magic. It didn't approach the level of the
enchantments of the Evil Sorcerer, but was more than other characters had. Maybe she could use it. Let's
see, what were her talents? Ah, yes: she could throw her voice.
Baal concentrated, hoping this worked well the first time. She willed a man's voice to sound from the
landing outside the chamber. "Here to me at my chamber, denizens!"
It worked! The denizens, hearing it, immediately crowded out of the chamber and hurried down the
winding stairs. They even forgot to lock the door.
Soon another person approached. She heard his bare feet on the stairs. Was this an enemy trying to sneak
in to molest her? How could she fight him off? Was it even worth the effort, considering that this was
only a game body?
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She decided to defend herself with minimum effort. She took her knife in her hand, holding it concealed.
She would let him strip her and get close; then, when his belly was exposed, she would make one deep
stab.
The figure appeared at the door: a Druze militiaman in bare feet. "Needlepoint!" he said.
Her heart jumped gladly. "Wheels!"
He ran to her. "Oh, Baal, I'm glad you're all right!"
"Just kiss me, Walter."
He did that, and it felt a lot like love. Then he drew back. "A knife?"
She looked down at the knife in her hand. "I feared someone else might "
"Right. Your insulin are you okay on that score?"
"For the nonce. I have been conserving my energy. The moment I do something, I'll be in trouble, though.
Just my excitement at being with you is depleting me."
"Excitement? That almost sounds like "
"I think I love you, Walter. Maybe that's because of my low blood sugar." She was more serious than she
cared to let on. Low blood sugar did mess with her emotions, but usually to intensify what was already
there.
He smiled wistfully. "I don't have that excuse."
She stared at him. "You mean ?"
"I shouldn't have spoken."
She made a connection. "Because you are paralyzed, in life."
"Because I am useless, in life. I need more than a lump of sugar to set me straight. I'm an albatross."
No way! But she muted her reaction, knowing that this was not the time for foolish commitments. "I can
live with that, Walter."
It was his turn to stare. Then he shook himself. "Maybe we'll talk again once you're okay. Things will be
different then."
When her blood sugar was back up, and she was rational. He thought she would take back what she had
said. "Will they? I don't think so."
"It's all academic if we can't catch up with Phreak. Do you have any way to locate him?"
"Yes!" she said gladly. "The proprietors set it up. My screen shows glowing blips for both of you. Yours
is bright. His is dim. He's far away, off in another subset. But we can find him."
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"Then let's go find him! I'll carry you."
"But suppose we encounter enemies?"
"Can you fire a pistol?"
"I think so."
He produced a pistol and handed it to her. "Plug anyone who looks dangerous. In fact better to plug
anyone we see, because I think the castle denizens reverted when the Evil Sorcerer came back to life."
"Yes they did. Maybe you should have tied him up and gagged him, instead of killing him, so that my
five loyal servants would have helped us."
He looked stricken. "I never thought of that! I could have made it so much easier for us."
"No, maybe not," she said, reconsidering. "Because most of the castle denizens remain in thrall to him.
One of them would have untied him. Better to have a new, ignorant Sorcerer, or maybe even a construct
in his place."
"I like your way of thinking. Remember: no mercy on others, until we get out to the van."
"No mercy," she agreed. "We both have too much at stake."
He picked her up and walked out of the chamber. But the winding stairs were too narrow; her head and
feet projected to the sides. "I'll have to walk," she said.
"No. Let's see how strong this body is."
"But there's no room. Any way you carry me, I'll bang into a wall. Even piggyback."
"How about shoulderback?"
She considered. "The one direction it isn't tight is up," she said. "Still "
He sat on the top step. "Get on."
She got on. Her thighs clamped around his ears. She had to tuck her billowing robe behind his head so
that it wouldn't cover his face. He caught hold of her legs, his two hands clamping on and above her
knees. Then he eased forward until he could heave himself to a standing position.
"Oooo!" she cried, feeling dizzy. "It's precarious."
"But possible. Hang on." He took a step down.
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