"They
probably took the injured into the
Cloisters," he said quietly. "We can go look there first off."
They'd moved only a few steps when Jamaica
noticed them. "Where you taking that bugger?"
"I'm just going to "
"Who the hell is he, anyway?"
"Outsider," put in Ludd. "Tourist bloke. We caught him and brought him here to see what
valuables he "
"Just kill him," instructed Jamaica. "We've got no time for him. Later you can go through
his pockets and "
"Wait now." Dan broke free of Angel's grip and walked up to the leader. "I'm not a
damned tourist, I'm here looking for Nancy
Sands. I didn't come here to do you any harm
or "
"Shut up right now."
"Is Silverhand Sally around?" asked Dan.
Jamaica was sliding a snubnosed lazgun out
of his thigh holster. "You know Sal?"
"Nancy does, and so "
"Jamaica, it won't hurt to let him chat a
bit with our Sal," put in Angel. "After that, if she doesn't know him, then we can kill him
off. Okay?"
~ zig
W I I I I a m 5 h a t n e r
Jamaica dropped the weapon back into its
holster. After rubbing his palm across his
crimson tunic, he said, "All right, okay.
She's in the nave. Take him there and if he makes any trouble on the way, he's dead and
done for."
"All I want is "
"He won't make any trouble," promised
Angel, tugging at Dan's arm. When they were
walking along a dim, vaulted corridor, he
said, "That was very risky, getting beakywith Jamaica. He's not a chap who's too awfully
fond of debating."
"Yeah, I know that, but "
"You on the other hand truly love to argue."
Dan nodded. "Guess I do, yeah."
There were seven or eight young people in
the large, stonewalled room Angel brought him
to. Three of them had been wounded and were
bandaged. None of them was Nancy.
Silverhand Sally finished bandaging the
third and turned toward Angel. She was a slim
girl of about seventeen, blonde, wearing tan
trousers, a gray tunic, and a gunbelt that
held two lazguns. Her right hand and arm to
the elbow were of silvery metal. "Who's that with you?"
"I'm Dan Cardigan." He crossed the mosaic floor to her. "You're a friend of Nancy's
and "
"Dan Cardigan." She stood. "Sure, she told me about you."
"I figured she might be staying with you,
so I came to find her," he explained. "Where is she?"
Sally shook her head. "I'm sorry, Dan. The
Tek Kids took some prisoners," she said
quietly. "Nancy was one of them."
Sally, her chill metallic hand holding his
arm, was leading Dan along a shadowy, vaulted
corridor. They were moving away from the
cookfires, and darkness started to close in.
The intricate carvings on the stone walls and the ornate wooden ornamentation were barely
discernible. "You should've eaten," she told him.
~ 30
T e k L ~ b
"Not very hungry."
"Dog meat's not bad," the blonde young woman said. "Takes a bit of getting used to.
Mostly, though, that's because in the world
you and I come from, we think of them only as
pets."
"You ever going to go back?"
"Mind that fallen masonry, scrunch over
close to this wall," she cautioned. "No, I'm here for life."
"Why?"
"Because this is better than that was."
"Parents?"
"Father mostly." She guided him through an arched doorway. "After my accident, after I got my imitation arm, he turned much worse.
Not that he was ever a very good dad."
Dan asked her, "The arm you have now that's not the one they got you originally, is it?"
"Oh, no, not at all. No, they bought me a
very proper, very conventional one. Highly
believable and looking just exactly like
flesh and blood. Duck your head for a minute
along here and keep an eye cocked for bats,"
she warned as they entered another long,
partially ruined corridor. "Might be a few
rats underfoot, too."
"So why the silver arm?"
"Well, I simply grew tired of the
bullshit," she replied. "Seemed like every time I'd touch anybody with the replacement,
they'd cringe or look all nervous. I decided, why hide the damn thing? I got me a nice
shiny robot arm and now there's no question
as to whether it's real or not. If I touch
you, you know damn well what I touched you
with and fuck you if you don't like it."
They'd reached a room that was nearly
intact. Statues and carvings ringed it.
Sally let go of him. "You can bunk safely
here for tonight," she told him. "On one of those straw mats yonder." From under her
tunic she produced a squat chunk of tallow
candle. "Probably have the place to yourself, since most of them think it's haunted
hereabouts. This used to be called the Poets'
Corner." Lighting the candle, she stuck it
down on a stone bench.
~ 3 ~
W I I I I ~ m ~ h ~ t n ~ r
To his right Dan noticed a wall carving of
someone referred to as "O rare Ben Jonson."
He asked, "What's likely to happen to Nancy?"
"Best not to think about it, Dan."
"I can't just let them "
"It's tough, I know. But believe me, the
TKs will kill you dead if you try to go near
their digs at Buckingham Palace."
"But she's a friend of yours, too. How can "
"Living here, being part of a gang, that
means you can't afford to be sentimental."
"We're not talking about making stew out of dogs," he said to her, angry. "This is a girl who may be raped or tortured or even killed."
Sally touched his arm with her real
fingers. "I'd like to help, but there's
nothing to do," she said. "You saw what happened here, how many of us they hurt and
killed."
"I thought gangs like yours believed in revenge."
"Sure, but not in suicide." She walked over, kicking at a sleeping mat with her
foot. "Eventually we'll do something, you can count on that, but it'll be carefully
planned."
"Meantime, Nancy's in danger."
"Yes, but that can't be helped," Sally said. "You'd best turn in now. I have to get back."
"Why'd she come here?"