Фил Фоглио - Agatha H. and the Voice of the Castle

The ruler of the Empire was surrounded by an impressive array of quietly humming machines and gurgling tubes. He lay still and silent at the center, swaddled in bandages and plaster. The few patches of flesh not covered revealed extensive bruising.

Gil was shaken by his father’s face. For once it was not set in its permanent expression of vaguely irritated disappointment—instead it looked shockingly weary. With a touch of hesitation, Gil gently brushed a lock of white hair away from Klaus’s closed eyes.

Then he took a deep breath and turned back to the patiently waiting physician, who almost took a step back from the expression that now burned in Gil’s eyes.

“What happened?” Gil asked quietly. “The reports I was given are…” he hesitated.

“—Unbelievable?” Sun suggested.

Gil nodded reluctantly. When one dealt with the inner workings of the Empire for any length of time, one became a bit gun-shy about using phrases like “unbelievable.” 4

Sun nodded. “If you want unbelievable, you should hear how your father got here. Allow me to tell you of one Airman Higgs.

“When the field medics found your father, he was severely injured.” Sun handed over a medical chart that had required additional pages.

“He was taken aboard the medical corvette W.A.F. Linnaeus, as was Captain DuPree.”

Gil looked up at this. Bangladesh DuPree usually dealt damage rather than taking it.

Sun noticed his surprise. “According to her, she was injured while destroying a very dangerous merry-go-round.”

Gil’s eyes narrowed. “Head trauma?”

Sun nodded. “Oh, yes. Once the extent of your father’s injuries were understood, the Linnaeus took off immediately for the hospital. Unfortunately, the fighting was still quite fierce, and the ship was hit by antiaircraft fire.

“The alarms woke Airman Third Class Axel Higgs. He reported for emergency duty only to discover the main cabin in flames and the rest of the crew dead.”

Gil frowned. “What did they get hit with?”

Sun shrugged. “Who knows? Mister Higgs reported that the ship was overrun with monsters.”

Sun paused and looked at Gil expectantly.

Gil nodded. “Yes, long range systems to deliver biological weapons. If this isn’t something the Other cooked up, then at least someone’s been studying his methods.”

Sun resumed his narrative. “On his way to the evacuation gig, Higgs discovered your father injured and unconscious. While dragging him to safety, he encountered Captain DuPree, who was apparently delirious. She broke his arm.”

Gil sighed and rubbed his eyes.

“Mister Higgs knocked her out. He then managed to get both her and your father into the gig and shoved off just as the ship began to go down. Now, Mister Higgs is not rated as a pilot or a navigator, but he was able to set the controls for Mechanicsburg and engage the automatic pilot.

“He then began to apply first aid to your father, which was when he was again attacked by Captain DuPree. This time she broke his leg.

“He managed to subdue her by breaking a chair over her head and began to tie her up. That was when she bit him.” Sun passed over another chart. “That’s infected, by the way.

“During the fight, she also got in a few good kicks to the gig’s controls. Mister Higgs put out the fire and tried to set his own arm, apparently blacking out from the pain. He awakened as the gig was crashing into a farmer’s pond.

“He dragged your father and Captain DuPree ashore, where he encountered a nesting goose. This broke his other arm.

“He headed towards the farmhouse, but as luck would have it, there were Wulfenbach troops there. They had been hearing strange reports coming out of Balan’s Gap. Thus, when they saw Mister Higgs, and the way he was moving, they thought he was a revenant. So they shot him in the leg.

“They were very sorry afterwards, of course. They heard him out, saw to your father and DuPree, called for transportation, and gave him some rum.”

Sun paused. “Actually they gave him a lot of rum. Even if they exaggerated how much they gave him, he probably had a touch of alcohol poisoning. But before he passed out, he told them everything.”

He paused, and Gil realized the significance of what the old man had said. Sun nodded wearily at the growing horror in Gil’s eyes. “The battle at Sturmhalten. The loss of the fleet, the monsters—everything. Of course the troops were already reeling from the news about this supposed Lady Heterodyne.

“Needless to say, by the time Mr. Higgs was here and we heard what he had to say, it was far too late for us to suppress the stories.”

Gil closed his eyes. “You mean, the Heterodyne heir, my father nearly being killed, our retreat from Balan’s Gap.” He waved a hand. “You’re saying everyone in Mechanicsburg knows about this?”

Sun arched a shaggy eyebrow. “You’re concerned about Mechanicsburg? My dear boy, news of this import is probably being discussed in the Forbidden City even as we speak.”

Gil stared at him. When the implications of this news really dawned on the people of the Empire…

Sun interrupted his thoughts. “Gilgamesh.” The use of his first name by the old man was so surprising that Gil actually started. Sun placed a hand on his shoulder. “The situation is grave. You must take control of the Empire immediately.”

Gil’s mind went blank. This was the day he had feared above all others. He pointed at his father. “You said he’d recover!”

Sun rolled his eyes. “Eventually.” He waved a hand at the bank of medical equipment. “But even for me, this will be a challenge, even if your father allows me the time to fully repair him.”

Gil had to acknowledge the truth of this. Klaus was, like many people trained in the medical arts, a “bad patient.” He refused to get enough bed rest, second-guessed his physician, and frequently hooked himself up to accelerated healing engines of dubious design or brewed up chemical concoctions from items filched from the hospital gift shop that admittedly promoted healing, as long as one didn’t mind some small side effects. 5

“But more importantly,” Sun continued, “there are many who will try to exploit the current chaos. It must be seen that there is continuity. That the Empire is stable.”

Gil felt the weight settling upon his shoulders. “Yes, Sifu.” He straightened up and his eyes looked older. “I will be staying here.”

Sun looked surprised. “I had thought Balan’s Gap…—”

Gil waved a hand. “Balan’s Gap is contained for now. But my father is here. Those people you spoke of—for many of them, the first step will be to ensure his death.” He stepped up to the window and Sun could see him assessing the terrain.

“I’m guessing that everyone I’ll need to prove myself to, at least in the short term, will be coming here.”

Sun began to look alarmed. “You aren’t expecting an outright attack… are you?”

Gil snorted. “I expect several. I’m convinced that the Royal Family of Sturmhalten wasn’t working alone. I’ve sent Questers to all of the surrounding castles. I have to look strong? Fine. Someone is going to wind up with their head on a stick.” He paused. “Metaphorically, of course.”

Sun nodded. “And the uproar caused by this supposed ‘Heterodyne’ girl?”

Gil took a deep breath. “She’s the real thing.” Sun’s jaw dropped. Gil continued, “Even my father admits it.”

Sun actually looked flummoxed. Gil carefully tried not to notice. The old man would come down hard on him if he thought his aura of imperturbability had been cracked. Sun pulled himself together. “Then…then she must be handled very carefully. If she were to actually enter Castle Heterodyne now… the effect upon the town alone—!”