Chapter Twenty-Three

IT WAS MIDAFTERNOON WHEN ARZADEL APPEARED, AND Slant had not devised any way to improve his situation. The wizard was not alone; several other men and women accompanied him, clad in flowing robes of red, black, or gold. When Slant rose politely to greet them, Arzadel introduced the wizards, Pleido, Shopaur, Marse, Arrelis, and Dekert.

The six seated themselves, and Arzadel started to speak; before he could say anything, Slant interrupted him.

"Forgive me, but before you tell me of your decision, I want to thank you for even considering my request that you aid in the repair of my ship."

He hoped the wizards would take the hint; he did not want the computer to know what he had actually requested.

There was a moment of confused silence; Arzadel studied Slant's face and then said, "Of course, of course. I think, however, that the matter may require further consideration, after all; this committee will have to discuss it, and we may want to reconvene the whole Council. Is there anything that we can do for you immediately, here and now?"

"I do have a favor to ask."

"Ask it."

"I am weary from traveling; would it be possible for me to remain here as your guest for nine or ten days?"

"Ten days?"

"Yes. I would also ask that someone see to our horses, as I do not feel that I can manage the trip down to ground level again for a while."

"I think that can be arranged."

-'Thank you. I am grateful for your hospitality."

"I think we had best depart now, and consider your request further." Arzadel arose, followed by his five compatriots, and the group trailed out through the door.

Haiger remained behind, obviously confused. "I thought they had reached a decision," he said.

"So did I," Ahnao agreed.

"Apparently they hadn't," replied Slant

There was a faint crawling of his skin; the cyborg informed him, "Minor gravitational anomaly occurring in vicinity of cyborg unit."

Haiger's eyes were unfocused, staring at something beyond the ceiling. He rose, and his eyes returned to normal. "I have to go," he said. "They're calling for me."

"Go, then. We can manage for ourselves," Slant said.

"Must you go, Haiger?"

"I'll be back when I can, Ahnao." He smiled at her, then followed his superiors, closing the door carefully behind him.

Slant decided that he would have no further trouble with Ahnao; she would probably be eager to stay in Praunce. He was not entirely sure he liked the idea after all; she might have been good company once he taught her a few things.

The remainder of the day passed in quiet boredom; Slant and Ahnao were both tired of admiring the view, discussing the weather and the furnishings, and sitting around doing nothing. Ahnao took to pacing the length of the room impatiently and poking about in the kitchen; Slant, with years of practice in boredom, sat back and lost himself in thought, running through familiar old games, working mathematical problems, considering his situation. He came up with nothing new. He was trying to remember his name when Haiger returned, shortly after sunset.

"Arzadel has sent me," he announced, "to ask your help in a small matter."

"What is it?"

"Someone was sent, to tend to your horses but encountered some difficulty. If you could come down for just a moment, I'm sure the whole matter can be straightened out quickly.

"Well, computer? It will look suspicious if I don't cooperate, and it will just be a few minutes."

"Negative. Cyborg unit will remain in present location until main drive is fully operational."

"I'm afraid I can't, Haiger."

"I really think you should."

"I'm sorry, I can't. You people will just have to deal with the horses as best you can without me."

"I'll tell them what you've said." He turned and left again, with only a brief glance at Ahnao.

Haiger did not return that night; Slant and Ahnao made themselves an adequate dinner from the stores in the kitchen and, after another hour of sitting around doing nothing, went to sleep. Again, Ahnao remained a few meters away from Slant; she was obviously over her attachment to him.

Haiger had still not returned when they awoke in the morning. They prepared and ate breakfast, and waited.

By midmorning Ahnao could no longer stand the boredom and announced, "I'm leaving."

Slant replied, "Take care of yourself."

"I'm going to find Haiger and find out what's going on."

"Good luck, then."

She looked at him angrily and marched out through the door the wizards had used. Slant simply sat where he was and watched her go. He was pleased that she was removing herself from the danger of his presence.

Shortly after noon, as Slant was gathering himself his midday meal, he heard a door open and close; he put down the orange he had been peeling and returned to the main room.

Haiger had returned. "Oh, there you are," he said as Slant emerged from the kitchen. "We have to leave; the tower isn't safe. Something's gone wrong with the frame; one of the beams has rusted through, and the whole thing could collapse. We're getting everybody out as fast as we can."

"Computer? I think I better go with him. Ill go straight to the top of one of the other towers and contact you from there."

"Negative. Cyborg unit will remain in present location."

"I can't; didn't you hear? The building's about to collapse!" He did not for a moment believe that to be true, but it was an admirable lie.

"Cyborg unit will remain in present location."

"Do you want me to get killed? You're not being rational!"

"Computer dysfunction remains within acceptable parameters. Cyborg unit will remain in present location."

"What computer dysfunction?" Slant was much more seriously worried by the computer's words than by anything Haiger had said.

"Computer is marginally dysfunctional as a result of general wear and damage suffered during recent power loss."

"Slant?"

"Just a moment; I'm thinking."

"We have to hurry."

"Listen, computer, I have got to leave!"

"Negative. Recommend enemy personnel be terminated."

"Why?"

"Cyborg unit will remain in present location."

"You're not making any sense; are you sure you're not seriously damaged?"

"Slant, we have to go." Haiger reached out to take the cyborg's arm.

Slant reacted automatically; he picked Haiger up and threw him across the room. The apprentice landed hard, the wind knocked out of him, but the furs and cushions kept him from serious injury; he lay dazed where he had fallen.

"Recommend enemy personnel be terminated."

"No, damn it, I won't kill him. I won't kill anybody." Six words spoken aloud aboard his ship would put an end to this idiotic behavior—but the computer wouldn't let him reach the ship to speak them yet. He refused to kill anyone else when he was this close to freeing himself from the computer's control.

"Please take proper action."

That phrase meant the computer would use the override if he continued to disobey; Slant didn't care. He headed for the door to the stairs leading down.

The override came on, and his legs stopped obeying him. He fell forward and lay face down on the rug, twitching as he fought the computer for control of his body.

"I won't kill him!"

The distance was extreme, and the computer had no power reserves; for the first time in his life Slant was able to resist the override, though with only limited success. His right hand jerked, swinging in an arc from his elbow, as the computer tried to force him to draw a weapon; while it concentrated its attention on his arm, he was able to roll onto his back, so that his vest was flung open to one side, the weapons out of reach again.

The arm jerked back, and the machine-pistol was knocked free. It fell to the floor beside him. He fought for control of his arm, and his hand flapped wildly back and forth.

Behind him a door opened, and the six wizards he had met with the previous morning entered the room.

"Enemy action occurring. Failure to cooperate in termination of enemy personnel will permit termination of cyborg unit."

"Damn it, I won't kill them!" He waited for the explosion as he continued to struggle. He was lying on his side, his right arm reaching out toward the gun; the computer was winning. Perhaps, he thought, that was why it was taking so long in carrying out its threat.

His hand touched the gun; he was concentrating now on keeping his fingers from closing on it. He remembered that the computer was weak on fine control at long range. He could no longer make any motion of his own; the computer had stopped that somehow, strengthening its hold. All he could do was slow down and throw off the moves the computer tried to make.

In a flash of intuition, he wondered if the computer's termination threat was a bluff; if so, he had called it, and so far nothing had happened.

His fingers closed loosely on the pistol grip, and the electric tingle of magic touched him. His index finger groped toward the trigger, and abruptly the crawling sensation became a vicious shock; his limbs jerked spastically, his hand slamming itself against the fur-covered floor but retaining its hold on the gun.

He was no longer able to control his movements at all as he flopped about, but apparently the computer was also incapacitated by the magic; he was flung onto his belly, and the back of his neck burned with an electrical fire that was beyond anything he had ever experienced before. He was no longer completely conscious, and wondered vaguely whether the incredible pain was due to thermite igniting or some new sort of wizardry.

"Cyborg unit has been captured. Immediate termination essential." There was a sudden dull hissing thump, horribly loud, behind him; his body was pressed down viciously, his face rammed into the fur, as if the building had indeed collapsed upon him. The back of his head was abruptly laced with' lines of burning agony, and he smelled singed hair and scorching flesh. He lost consciousness.