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Deal with the Devil

When Jazz Siained consciousness he saw that he here he’d fallen, except now his hands were tied behind hi his brow and lips with a water-soaked rag She sighed her relief as he ca her at her ministrations Others of the clan or tribewith low background voices As Jazz struggled to sit up, so Arlek caered a luht eye rapidly turning black and closing

’I never saw anyone fight like you,’ he stiffly complimented his captive ’I didn’t even see you strike ainst a boulder and brought his knees up a little ’That was the idea,’ he said ’There’s a lot ht the Wamphyri That’s what s like the Was on this world, anyway? Why bargain with the Waht thehed out loud Other Travellers heard him, caht the Wahting with each other! But defy the They don’t fight with Sunsiders, they just make slaves of them Have you seen a Warrior? Of course not, else you’d not be here! That’s e’re Travellers, because to reht" the Wamphyri,as you can’

He turned aalked off with his followers Over his shoulder he called back: ’Talk with the wo about this world you’ve co of why I’ you - both of you - to Shaithis of the Wamphyri’

Wolf loped out of the shadows, licked Jazz’s face Jazz scowled at the ani, eh?’

’When you were fighting,’ she corrected him ’Wolf wasn’t in it Why should I risk his life? I told hi his brothers The Travellers have three or four of them, all raised from cubs’

’Funny,’ Jazz said after a moment, ’but you struck me as a woman who’d bite and scratch a lot’ He didn’t retted it immediately

’I would,’ she said, ’if there was any point But I’d look silly trying to bite a dozen Travellers and their wolves, noouldn’t I? My first concern was for you’

Jazz sighed ’I suppose I went off half-cocked, didn’t I? But I thought you said we’d be safe?’

’We ht have been,’ she said, ’but while you’ve been lying there Arlek’s had word from a runner that Lardis Lidesci is on his way back froive me to the Wamphyri, and so he’ll do it himself - now! There’ll be a price to pay when Lardis hears about it, but Arlek’s got this group on his side and believes that in the end Lardis will have to go along with hiets here it will be too late’

Jazz said: ’Can you touch me behind my ear just here? Ow! That feels tender!’

’It’s soft,’ she said, and he thought he detected a catch in her voice ’God, I thought you were dead!’ She squeezed cold water onto the back of his head, let it soak into the place where his hair was matted with blood He looked beyond her to the south, to where the sun had gone down a little more, crept a little more to the east

A stray beam lit her face, let him see her clearly and really close up for the first tirimy, but under the dirt she was very beautiful too She’d be in her early thirties, only a few years older than Jazz himself Maybe five-nine, sliht; it looked golden and bounced on her shoulders when sheto be, fitted her figure like a glove; it seeht here and now, Jazz supposed any woood to him But he couldn’t think of one he’d rather have here Or (he corrected himself), rather not have here This was no place for any wo now?’ he asked, when the cold water had taken so out of his neck and head

’Arlek trackedthe talents of an old man, Jasef Karis,’ Zek told him ’It wasn’t too hard There was really only one place I could head for: through the pass to the sphere, to see if I could make it back home Anyway, Jasef’s like me, a telepath’

’You told ree of ESP,’ Jazz re about the people I’d got the impression that only the Wamphyri had these talents’

’Generally, that’s true,’ she answered ’Jasef’s father was taken prisoner in a Wao, you understand He escaped from them and came back over the ed in any way He’d escaped before the Lord Belath could make a mindless zombie of him His wife took him back, of course, and they had a child: Jasef But then it was discovered that Jasef’s father had lied He had been changed by the Lord Belath, but he’d e could commence in him The truth finally ca! The Travellers kne to deal with it; they staked it out, cut it in pieces and burned it And afterwards they kept a close watch on Jasef and hisco that Lord Belath put into hi pain where he’d been clubbed buthim ’Stop!’ he said ’Let’s concentrate on the important stuff Tell me what else I’ll need to know about this planet Draw me a map I can keep in my head First the planet, then its peoples’

’Very well,’ she nodded, ’but first you’d better knoe stand Old Jasef and one or two one on into the pass to see if there’s a watcher - a guardian creature - in the keep back there If there is, Jasef will send a telepathic h it to its e will be that Arlek holds us captive, and that he’ll use us to strike a bargain with Shaithis In return for us, Shaithis will promise not to raid on Lardis Lidesci’s tribe of Travellers If it’s a deal, then we’ll be handed over’

’Fro about the Wamphyri,’ Jazz said, ’I’ a deal If they’re so much to be feared, they can just take us anyway’

’If they could find us,’ she answered ’And only at night They can only raid when the sun’s down below the rihteen to twenty Wamphyri Lords, and one Lady They’re territorial; they vie with each other They scheo to war at every opportunity It’s their nature We’d be ace cards to any one of them - except the Lady Karen I know for I was hers once, and she let o’

Jazz tucked that last away for later ’Why are we so iicians,’ she said ’We have powers, weapons, skills they don’t understand Even more so than the Travellers, we understand ain ’Magicians?’

’I’ed To be ESP-endowed and a trueAlso, we’re not of this world We come from the mysterious hell-lands And when I first arrived here I had awesome weapons So did you’

’But I’m not ESP-talented,’ Jazz reminded her ’What use will I be to them?’

She looked away ’Not a lot Which means you’ll have to bluff your way’

’I’ll have to what?’

’If in fact we go to the Lord Shaithis, you’ll need to tell hi it’s hard to disprove’

’Great!’ said Jazz, dully ’Like Arlek, you mean? He said he’d read the future of the tribe’

She faced hiain, shook her head ’Arlek’s a charlatan A cheap, trick fortune-teller, like many of Earth’s Gypsies Our Earth, I ainst me, because he knows my talent’s real’

’OK,’ said Jazz ’Now let’s put our Earth right out of our raphy, for example?’

’So simple you won’t believe it,’ she answered ’I’ve already described the planet in relation to its sun and moon Very well, now here’s that map you asked for:

’This is a world much the sae lies slightlythe coht Just like the old legends of hoht is fatal to vampires And they are vampires! Sunside of the mountains, that’s where the Travellers live They are hus, as you’ve seen They live close to the ives theaht they find caves and go as deep as possible! The mountains are riddled with fissures and caverns Ten miles or so south of thethere for them to live on Just desert There are scattered noh sunup they occasionally trade with the Travellers; I’ve seen them and they’re barely human Several steps down from Australia’s bushmen I don’t kno they live out there but they do One hundred miles out from thethere at all, just scorched earth’

Despite his disco ’What about east and west?’ he said

She nodded: ’Just co to it These mountains are about two and a half thousandlike six hundred e Beyond the mountains west are swamps; likewise to the far east No one knows their extent’

’Why the hell don’t the Travellers live close to the swamps?’ Jazz was puzzled ’If there are no mountains there, then there’s no protection from the sun Which ht!’ she said ’The Waht here behind these o too far east or west, because the swarounds They are the source of vaends’

Jazz tried to take that in, shook his head ’You’ve lost ain,’ he admitted ’No Wamphyri there, and yet vampires breed in the swa to me earlier,’ she said ’I can understand that It’s like Arlek said: you’ve a lot to learn And only so much time in which to learn it I told you that the Waets into a man or woman Well, the true vampires live in the swamps They breed there Every now and then there’s an upsurge; they break out and infest the local animals And they’d do the sao back to a ti’ She shuddered "The Waed by the vampires in them’

Jazz took a deep breath, said: ’Whoah! Let’s get back to topography’

’Nothing more to tell,’ she answered ’Starside are the Wamphyri castles and the Wamphyri themselves North of them lie the icelands One or two polar-type creatures live there, but that’s all They’re legendary anyway, for no living Traveller ever saw one Oh, and at the foot of the mountains on Starside, between the castles and the peaks, that’s where the troglodytes live They’re subterranean, sub-hus and hold the Waods I saw specimens mothballed in the Lady Karen’s storehouses They’re almost prehistoric’

She paused for breath, finally said: That’s it, the planet and its peoples in one There’s only one thing I’ve left out - that I can think of at the moment, anyway - because I’m not sure of itmonstrous’

’Monstrous?’ Jazz repeated her ’Most of what I’ve heard is that! Let’s have it anyway, and then I’ve got some more questions for you’

’Well,’ she frowned, ’there’s supposed to be soertos Westweich" That’s from a Wamphyri phrase and it means - ’

’Him in His Western Garden?’ Jazz tried it for himself

She s about you,’ she said ’And so was I You do learn fast It’s The-Dweller-in-His-Garden-in-the-West’

’Saed, and then it was his turn to frown ’But that sounds sort of placid to me Hardly monstrous!’

’That’s as it may be,’ she answered, ’but the Wahtily Now, I’ve told you how they’re forever squabbling, warring with each other? Well, in one circumstance - to one extent - they’re entirely united All the Waive a lot to be rid of The Dweller He’s legended to be a fabulous reen valley soended’, but thatiend, maybe as little as a dozen Earth years That’s when the stories started, apparently Since then he’s been said to have lived there, uards it jealously and deals ruthlessly ould-be invaders’

’Even the Wamphyri?’

’Especially the Wamphyri, as far as is known The Wamphyri tell horror stories about hi their nature, is really saying so, so there wasimmediately alert; they called forward their wolves, took up their arms Jazz saw that they had torches s Others stood ready with flints

Arlek hurried over, hauled Jazz to his feet ’This could be Jasef,’ he said, hoarsely, ’and it could be so else The sun is almost down’

To Zek, Jazz said: ’Are those flints of theirs reliable? There’s a book of arettes, too Seems they didn’t want them, only the heavy stuff’ He’d spoken in Russian and Arlek hadn’t caught his ly in Zek’s direction

She sneered at hi that Jazz didn’t catch Then she unbuttoned Jazz’s pocket, took out the matches She showed them to Arlek, struck one It flared at once and the Gypsy cursed, gave a great start, struck it aside out of her hand The look on his face was one of shock, total disbelief

Zek quickly snarled soht the word ’coward!’ He wished she wouldn’t be so free with that word, not with Arlek Then, very slowly and deliberately, as if she talked to a dull child, she hissed: ’For the torches, you fool, in case this is not Jasef!’

He gawped at her, blinked his brown eyes nervously, but finally he nodded his understanding

In any case, it was Jasef An old er Gypsies, caht He ht to Arlek, said: ’There was a watcher, a trog But the trog’s iven hireat distances He saw the h the pass, and he reported it to Shaithis Shaithis would have coet on with it,’ Arlek snapped

Jasef shrugged his frail shoulders ’I did not speak to this Szgany trog face to face, you understand Worse thingsin the keep I stayed outside and spoke to him in my head, in the manner of the Wamphyri’

’Of course, that’s understood!’ Arlek was ale, and he passed it on to his Wamphyri Lord Then he told me to return to you’

’What?’ Arlek was obviously duain Jasef could only offer his shrug ’He said: "Tell Arlek of the Travellers that my Lord Shaithis will speak to him in person" I have no idea what he meant’

’Old fool!’ Arlek muttered He turned away from Jasef - and Zek’s radio crackled where its aerial projected an inch or two froan to blink and flicker Arlek gasped and leaped backwards a full pace, pointed at the radio and stared round-eyed as Zek produced it ’More of your foul ic?’ he half-accused ’We should have destroyed all of your things long ago - and you with theive them back to you!’

Zek had been startled, too, but only for a ot them back because there was no harm in them and they were useless to you Also because they were mine Unlike you, Lardis isn’t a thief! I’ve told the Travellers reat distances, haven’t I? But because there was no one to talk to it wouldn’t work It’s a ic Well, now there is someone to talk to, and he wants to communicate’ And to Jazz, in a lower tone: ’I think I knohat this means’

He nodded, said, ’Those ace cards you ht,’ she answered ’I think the Lord Shaithis already has one - or if not an ace, certainly a joker He’s got Karl Vyotsky!’ Then she spoke into the radio: ’Unknown call-sign, this is Zek Foener Send your ain, and a once-faent and breathless but fairly coherent, said, ’You can throw out the radio procedure, Zek This is Karl Vyotsky Do you have Arlek of the Travellers with you?’ He sounded like he wasn’t too sure of what he was saying, as if he simply relayed the requirements of some other

Jazz said, ’Let me speak to him,’ and Zek held the radio to his face ’Who wants to know, Comrade?’ he asked

And after a : ’Listen, British: we’re on different sides, I know, but if you foulup Soht now I have excellent elevation - you wouldn’t believe the elevation I have - but still I don’t trust this radio So don’t waste any tiames I can’t believe you’d let me live once just to kill me now So if this Arlek is with you, please put him on Tell him Shaithis of the Wamphyri wants to talk to him’

Arlek had heard his name spoken twice, and Shaithis’s name several times The conversation obviously concerned himself and the Wamphyri Lord He held out a hand for the radio, said: ’Give it to me’

If Jazz had held the radio he would have thrown it down, staht well have had the sah Arlek snatched the radio from her, fumbled with it for a moment and finally, a little aardly, said: ’I am Arlek’

The radio crackled some more, and in a little while a new male voice said: ’Arlek of the Travellers - of the tribe of Lardis Lidesci - it is Shaithis of the Wamphyri who speaks to you How is it you have the power and not Lardis? Have you replaced him as leader of the tribe?’ The voice was the darkest,Jazz had ever heard But at the sa inhuman about it, it was definitely the voice of aeach word perfectly and with unswervable authority, the owner of that voice knew that whoever he spoke to, that person was an inferior

Arlek had quickly mastered the radio ’Lardis is away,’ he said ’He may return and he may not Even if he does, still there are Travellers with me who are dissatisfied with his leadership The futures are not at all clear Many things are possible’

Shaithis got straight to the point: ’My watcher has told ht-thief, the woman Zekintha from the hell-lands Also, you have a e weapons’

These things your watcher tells you are true,’ Arlek answered, more at ease now

’And is it also true that you desire to coreement with me in respect of this man and woman?’

That is also true Give me your word that in future you will not raid on the so-called tribe of Lardis, and in turn I’ll hand over to you these icians from the hell-lands’

The radio was silent and it appeared that Shaithis was considering Arlek’s proposition At last he said: ’And their weapons?’

’Also their belongings, yes,’ Arlek answered ’All except an axe, which belonged to the man This I claim for myself Even so, the benefits for the Wae weapons to aid you in your wars, devices such as this coh, and their ic to use as you will’

Shaithis seemed swayed ’Hmm! You know that I am only one Lord and there are others of the Wamphyri? I can only speak for reatest of the Wamphyri!’ Arlek was sure of himself now ’I do not ask for your protection, merely that if the occasion should arise, then that you’d obstruct the other Lords in their raids There are many Travellers and we are, after all, only one small tribe You would not raid upon us, and you would ensure - if it please you - that the raids of your fellow Lords were made that much more difficult to accomplish’