D. MacHale - The Merchant of Death

The answer turned out to be so simple I probably should have figured it out myself.

The next morning we were all awakened by the same thing. It was a deep, constant booming sound. I was still asleep and at first it had worked itself into my dreams. I dreamed that I was in a battle. Explosions were going off all around me. No matter which way I turned, another explosion would go off in my face. It was like I was trapped in a minefield. As I began to wake up I realized that I wasn’t in a minefield, I was in the hospital hut of the Milago village. But the deep booming sound continued. What was it? I lay there for a few seconds, trying to remember where I’d heard it before. Then suddenly, it hit me. I knew exactly where I had heard it before and the realization shocked me wide awake. I sat up quickly to see that the others were already awake and looking out of the small windows of the hut. I didn’t have to ask what they were looking at. I already knew.

The sound I heard was the sound of the drum calling the Milago to a Transfer ceremony. I could picture the single drummer standing on the wooden platform in the clearing of the Milago village, slowly but steadily hitting that drum. The memory wasn’t exactly a pleasant one, because it ended in the horrible death of a Milago miner. I truly hoped that this Transfer wouldn’t end the same way.

I jumped up and joined Uncle Press at one of the windows. Loor and Alder peered out of the other one. The hut wasn’t far from the central clearing of the Milago village. We were going to see all that we needed to see.

The scene in the clearing was painfully familiar. The Milago villagers slowly gathered around the central platform; the seesaw device was in place, ready to weigh the next poor victim; the lone drummer stood on the platform, beating out the summons; and a handful of Bedoowan knights stood next to the platform with spears in hand. The drummer suddenly stopped pounding his kettle and an ominous silence fell over the village. Then, as if on cue, I heard the sound of a galloping horse. Mallos was on his way. The crowd parted and Mallos charged up to the platform and dismounted before his horse had come to a stop.

How could anyone be this evil? What was it that drove him to spread terror and chaos wherever he went? Was it because he enjoyed it? Did it give him some kind of thrill? Does evil exist just for evil’s sake? There had to be answers to these questions, but they would have to wait for another time because the curtain was about to go up.

“Where is the glaze?” Mallos bellowed. “Why was I summoned before the glaze was ready to be transferred?”

He scanned the crowd waiting for an answer, but none was coming. Nobody could even look him in the eye. I was afraid he would blow a cork and send the knights on a rampage, but that didn’t happen. Instead, Rellin stepped forward. The chief miner looked calm and in control.

“Mallos,” he said. “I truly hope you will be happy with the news we bring you.”

Mallos shot a suspicious look at Rellin, then stepped up to him and stuck his nose in the chief miner’s face.

“Where are they, Rellin?” he seethed. “I know they are here. If you hide them from me, you cannot begin to imagine the punishment that will come down upon you.”

Mallos was talking about us. He seemed incredibly ticked that we had gotten away and was accusing the Milago of hiding us. The four of us exchanged looks, but none of us were about to give ourselves up. Rellin was cool. He didn’t back down.

“That is the news I bring you,” he said. “We are sorry for all the trouble the outsiders have caused you. We thought they were our friends, but they are not. And knowing that they have caused distress to Queen Kagan, well, that now makes them our enemies as well.”

Was he for real? Was he going to turn us over to Mallos and the knights after telling me he’d let us go? I didn’t think Rellin was a liar, but this sounded bad. I could tell that Mallos wasn’t sure where Rellin was going with this either. He looked at the miner suspiciously and asked through clenched teeth, “Where are they?”

“I do not know,” answered Rellin. “But when we find them we will bring them to you immediately.”

Okay, maybe he was a liar after all, but at least he hadn’t lied to me. He wasn’t going to turn us in. What was he up to?

“In the meantime,” continued Rellin. “As an apology for the trouble we have caused you and Queen Kagan and all the Bedoowan, we would like to present you with a gift.” He made a motion and the crowd parted. Three miners stepped forward carrying their load of glaze. But this was no ordinary load. They carried an entire ore car full of glaze! It was spectacular. The cart was piled high with the biggest, most brilliant glaze stones I had seen yet.

“Yesterday we struck a promising new vein of glaze,” said Rellin proudly. “That is our good news. There is more glaze in this new vein than we could hope to bring up in a lifetime. It took us a full day and night to load this one car and I predict that there are hundreds of more cars to come that will be just as full.”

Mallos seemed impressed. He should have been. It was a lot of glaze.

“This is our gift to you,” said Rellin. “I ask only one thing in return.”

“What is that?” barked Mallos.

“I wish to be able to present this to Queen Kagan myself,” said Rellin. “I realize that a lowly Milago miner would never be allowed into the palace, but perhaps I could bring this carful of glaze to the Bedoowan stadium? I would be honored to present this to Queen Kagan along with the promise of much more to come.”

Rellin was brilliant. He was playing Mallos like a fish and the fish was about to bite the hook. Of course we all knew the truth. That ore car wasn’t full of glaze at all. My guess is that if you dug about a quarter of the way down, the glaze would stop and the load of tak would begin. Yes, Rellin had figured out a way to smuggle his monstrous bomb right into the heart of the Bedoowan palace. It was like the story of the Trojan Horse where the Greeks were at war with the Trojans and gave them a gift of a giant wooden horse. Only the horse was loaded with Greek soldiers. As soon as the big horse was wheeled inside the city of Troy, the soldiers jumped out and gave a big helping of whup-butt to the surprised Trojans.

But this Trojan Horse wasn’t full of soldiers. This was loaded with a deadly explosive that would level the Bedoowan palace and probably most of the Milago village. The plan was insane, and brilliant. The question was, would Mallos fall for it?

Mallos looked at the carful of glaze. He walked to it and dug his hand down into the precious stones. I could sense Rellin tensing, but he didn’t make a move. Mallos pulled his hand out and clutched a load of brilliant blue stones. He then looked to Rellin and said, “Why make your promise to only Queen Kagan? I believe all of the Bedoowan people should be in the stadium to receive this gift and to hear your promise.”

Rellin did his best not to smile and only said, “Yes, you are a wise man.”

Unbelievable. Not only was Mallos going to let Rellin bring the bomb in, he was going to gather all of the Bedoowan around it.

Mallos then climbed back on his horse and bellowed, “Bring the glaze now. I will prepare the stadium!” With that he kicked his horse and charged toward the palace.

Rellin looked to the miners who had brought in the tak bomb. Without showing a hint of satisfaction, he walked to the ore car. No words were spoken. The men knew what they had to do. They all reached down, lifted the heavy car and began the long walk to the Bedoowan palace. Their death mission was under way.

Uncle Press backed away from the window and said, “Mallos knows.”