Roger Zelazny - Donnerjack

She slowed to let him catch up.

“Behind the North Wind,” she whispered, her mouth close to his ear, “and now you have your first secret.”

Drum blinked, but Alice was off and away before he could ask anything more. He hurried, knowing Alice—or at least Link—well enough to be certain that he would get no further answers until they had arrived wherever it was that they were going. His agile mind was at work, though, considering the implications of Lydia Hazzard’s disappearance into Virtu prior to Alice’s birth, birthday celebrations, and Alice’s mood. When they arrived at the cottage in the orchard and he was filled in on Ambry’s disappearance, he had almost come to expect the information.

When Alice finished her narration, Lydia took over, explaining what she and Ambry had learned during their visit to the Donnerjack Institute. For once, Alice kept her questions until the end of the tale.

“Are you saying that my father is or was a god?”

“I’m saving that Ambry apparently is intertwined into more legends than he realized,” Lydia answered. “Sid didn’t say that Ambry was a god—more like a legend incarnate.”

Drum chuckled. “A virgin gives birth after tarrying with a god. It has a certain resonance. Of course, most of those kids were boys, weren’t they? Looks like you ladies fell down on the job.”

Lydia gaped and Alice kicked him in the shin.

“Drum! You’re mean!”

He just grinned and soon Lydia was laughing with him. Alice stared at the two adults as if they were crazy.

“I’m sorry, Alice, dear,” Lydia managed between gasps. “It must he the stress, but Drum is right. The entire situation is almost too much to believe.”

“While you stand there giggling,” Alice said woodenly, “Ambry is still in trouble.”

“Captive,” Drum corrected, “which is distinctly different. It means that he is in no immediate physical danger.”

“Until the legions of Skyga march,” Lydia said.

“Which—if my guess is correct,” Drum continued, “will not he for some time yet. If Alice would stop scowling at me and put on her Link hat, she’ll realize that we have a pretty good indication of when Skyga will need his legions.”

“For the Elishite Celebration.”

“Precisely. We had hypothesized that the Hierophant of the Church of Elish had to have some backing in Virtu. Skyga fits the bill: powerful, influential, and, especially if he envisions himself as a primal deity kept out of his rightful domain, quite likely to benefit from a crossover.”

“So we have time.” Alice relaxed slightly. “I’m sorry I kicked you.”

Drum rolled up the cuff of his pants, revealing a length of pale, hairy calf.

“No bruises, kid. You’re going to need to calm down, though. This isn’t like breaking into other people’s offices to read their files.”

“Alice! You didn’t!”

“Can we discuss that later, Mom?” Alice said quickly. “Okay, I’m calm, Drum. Any thoughts where we should start looking? Virtu’s a big place.”

“Where’s the local equivalent of Mount Olympus or Valhalla or wherever the gods hang their hats when they’re at home?”

Alice and Lydia both shook their heads, but the ants still scavenging remnants of the picnic spelled out: “Mount Meru.”

“Mount Mem,” Drum read. “Great! Any idea how to get there?”

The ants scattered then reformed to spell: “Sorry. Don’t move.”

“I doubt we’re going to find this place on any of the usual directories,” Drum said, “and I’m a bit nervous about asking questions of just anyone.”

“We could ask Sid or that associate of his at the Donnerjack Institute—Paracelsus,” Lydia suggested.

“Good idea,” Drum said, “but I’m a bit hesitant. You said that these aions worshiped the gods on Meru—and that they respected Ambry for his role as the Piper. I’m not certain how they would feel about us mucking about their theology.”

“The ants are getting busy again,” Alice said. “Lots more this time.”

“Get Virginia Tallent, Markon’s site,” the genius loci wrote. “VSD.”

“I don’t understand,” Lydia said.

“VSD, that’s the Virtu Survey Department,” Alice said.

“Believe it or not, I’ve actually heard of her,” Drum added. “Daimon had me check her out back when we started on the Elshies. For a while, he was considering trying to locate the Hierophant. Tallent has a reputation as one of the best VSD scouts. She’s Veritean, but spends almost all her time in virt.”

“And we have an address for her,” Alice said. “I wonder if there is any particular reason that the Lady of the North Wind suggested her?”

The ants milled, finally settling on: “Markon in danger from Meru.”

“And so Virginia Tallent will want to help us?” Alice asked.

“Tallent Markon’s friend,” the ants agreed.

“Can you get us transport there?” Drum asked.

In response a strong wind began to blow first around Alice, then around Drum. Lydia, although standing close to her daughter, was untouched.

“I guess that’s a ‘yes,’ ” Alice said, giving her mother a quick hug.

“Luck, Alice! Be careful. I don’t consider switching you for Ambry a reasonable trade.”

“How about Drum?” Alice giggled.

The wind blew them away before Lydia could answer, but when Alice looked back she could see that Dr. Hazzard was smiling.

The wind set them gently down in the center of a forested grove. Unlike the Land Behind the North Wind, this site had a somewhat tropical feel to it, an impression not at all diminished when a slim brown-skinned woman clad in a saronglike garment emerged from the shelter of a red-flowered vine. Her long brown hair was loose and her feet were bare, but the Chaos Factor gun she held in one hand and the steady menace in her pale blue eyes made quite clear that she was no harmless primitive.

“Virginia Tallent?” Alice said quickly, holding her hands palms out so that the other woman could see she was unarmed. “We’ve come for your help.”

“You know who I am,” the woman said, her pistol unwavering, “but I don’t know who you are.”

“Fin Alice Hazzard—also known as Lincoln Crain. This is my partner, Desmond Drum.”

“Lincoln Crain… I think I’ve encountered that name.”

“I write articles for the newsies.”

“Then that’s probably where I’ve heard of you. This is a restricted area of a private site. How did you know to find me here?”

“The Land Behind the North Wind… its genius loci sent us. She’s a friend of my father. This is dreadfully complicated, ma’am, and your pistol is making me very nervous.”

“There are two dire-cats standing behind you who would probably make you more so.” For the first time, Virginia Tallent smiled. She stuck her CF pistol in the sash around her waist. “You want me, not Markon?”

“That’s right. Can I just tell you my story? It’s pretty incredible.”

Virginia Tallent glanced across the grove. At its farthest edge, enveloped in muddy green light, was a long box.

“I’ve had a few incredible things happen myself, lately. I’m in a listening mood. Give me your tale, Alice.”

And so, with minimal assistance from Drum, Alice told Virginia about the kidnapping of Wolfer Martin D’Ambry—the Phantom Piper of Skyga. She left nothing out, not Ambry’s multiple identities, not Skyga’s manifestation, not even her and Drum’s theory that all of this was connected to the Church of Elish’s upcoming Celebration.

Virginia Tallent had the gift of listening, a gift honed in her work for the VSD, and later as she dwelt with Markon and listened to the genius loci’s complicated tales. She listened now, and the occasional stirring of the brush or bubbling of the stream told her (although not Alice or Drum) that Markon was listening as well.