The Jewels of Aptor Part 27

"Nothing could be simpler," said the G.o.ddess. "Unfortunately you are wrong in nearly every other point."

"But then why did Jordde throw the jewel after us when he tore it from Argo's--I mean the other Argo's throat?"

"When he s.n.a.t.c.hed the jewel from around my daughter's neck," added Argo, "he threw it to the creatures of the sea because he knew they would take it back to Aptor. With it once again in the island, the priestesses would have a better chance of getting it; my daughter, acting Argo Incarnate in my absence and her sister's, does not know that what she is fighting is another face of Argo. As far as she is concerned, all her efforts are against the mischief Hama has caused, and truly caused, in Leptar. This ignorance is far greater than you imagine, for beyond these blind creatures is a far greater enemy that she must vanquish."

"Hama...?" began Iimmi.

"Greater than Hama," said old Argo. "It is herself. It is hard for me to watch her and not occasionally call out a word of guidance. With the science here in Aptor it would not be difficult. But I must refrain. I suppose she has actually done well. But there is so much more to do. She has directed you well, and a.s.signed your tasks properly. And until now you have carried them out well."

"She said we were to steal the final jewel from Hama and return with you to the ship," said Geo. "Can you help us with either of these things?"

"The moment I compliment you," laughed Argo, "you completely confuse your mission. Once the jewel is stolen, whom are you supposed to take back to Leptar?"

"Argo Incarnate," Urson said.

"You said that Argo back in the ship was your daughter," said Geo, "but she said you were her younger sister."

"She said nothing of the sort," Argo corrected. "I have two daughters.

You have already met one. Now you must rescue the other. When my youngest daughter was ... kidnaped here to Aptor, I was already here, waiting for her. Look."

She turned a dial beneath the screen and lights flickered over the gla.s.s until they formed a sleeping figure. She had short red hair, a splash of freckles over a blunt nose, and her hand lay curled in a loose fist near her mouth. A white sheet covered the gentle push of adolescent b.r.e.a.s.t.s, and on the table beside her bed was a contraption made of a U-shaped piece of metal mounted on a board, an incomplete coil of wire, and a few more bits of metal, all sitting on top of a crumpled paper bag.

"That is my youngest daughter," Argo said, switching off the picture.

"She is the one you must take back to the ship."

"How shall we steal the jewel?" asked Geo.

Argo turned to Snake. "I believe that was your task." Then she looked around at the other three. "You will need rest. After that you can see about the jewel and my daughter. Come with me, now. Pallets have been set up for you in the far room where you may sleep." She rose and led them to a further chamber. The blankets over the loose boughs seemed to pull them down. Argo pointed to a trickle of water that ran from a basin carved in the rock wall. "This stream is pure. You may drink from it."

She pointed to a cloth sack in the corner. "There is fruit in there if you become hungry."

"Sleep!" said Urson, jammed his two fists in the air, and yawned.

As they settled, Argo said, "Poet?"

"Yes?" answered Geo.

"I know you are the tiredest, but I must talk to you alone for a moment or two."

As Geo raised himself, Urson stood up too. "Look," he said to Argo, "he needs the rest more than any of us. If you want to question him about rituals and spells, take Iimmi. He knows just as much as Geo."

"I need a poet," smiled Argo, "not a student. I need one who has suffered as he has. Come."

"Wait," Urson said. He picked the jewel from Geo's chest where Snake had returned it when they entered the chapel. "You better leave this with me."

Geo frowned.

"It still may be a trap," said Urson.

"Leave it with him," suggested Argo, "if it eases him."

Geo let the great hand lift the thong from his neck.

"Now come with me," said Argo.

They left the room and walked back through the chapel to the door. Argo stood in the entrance, looking down at the molten rock. The light sifted through her robe, leaving the darker outline of her body. Without turning, she began to speak. "The fire is a splendid symbol for life, do you agree?"

"And for death," said Geo. "One of Aptor's fires burned my arm away."

"Yes," she turned now. "You and Snake have had the hardest time. Both of you have left your flesh to rot in Aptor. I guess that gives you a closeness to the land." She paused. "You know, he had a great deal more pain than you. Do you know how he lost his tongue? I watched it all from this same screen inside the chapel, and could not help. They jammed their knuckles in his jaws and when the mouth came open, Jordde caught the red flesh with pincers that closed all the way through, and stretched it out as far as it would go. Then he looped the tongue with a thin wire, and then he threw a switch. You do not know what electricity is, do you?"

"I have heard the word."

"Let me just say that when a great deal of it is pa.s.sed through a thin wire, the wire becomes very hot, white hot. And the white hot loop was tautened until the rope of muscle seared away and just the roasted stump was left. But the child had fainted already. I wonder if the young can really bear more pain than older people."

"Jordde and the blind priestess did that to him?"

"Jordde and some men on the boat that picked up the two of them from the raft on which they had left Aptor."

"Who is Jordde?" Geo asked. "Urson knew him before this as a first mate.

But Urson's story told me nothing."

"I know the story," Argo said, "and it tells you something, but something you would perhaps rather not know." She sighed. "Poet, how well do you know yourself?"

"What do you mean?" Geo asked.

"How well do you know the workings of a man, how he manages to function?

That is what you will sing of if your songs are to become great."

"I still don't ..."

"I have a question for you, a poetic riddle. Will you try to answer it?"

"If you will answer a not too poetic riddle for me."

"Will you do your best to answer mine?" Argo asked.

"Yes."

"Then I will do my best to answer yours. What is your question?"

"Who is Jordde and why is he doing what he's doing?"

"He was at one time," Argo explained, "a very promising novice for the priesthood of Argo in Leptar, as well as a scholar of myths and rituals like Iimmi and yourself. He also took to the sea to learn of the world, but his boat was wrecked, and he and a few others were cast on Aptor's sh.o.r.e. They strove with Aptor's terrors as you did, and many succ.u.mbed.

Two, however, a four-armed cabin boy whom you call Snake, and Jordde were each exposed to the forces of Argo and Hama as you have been. One, in his strangeness, could see into men's minds. The other could not.

Silently, one swore allegiance to one force, while one swore allegiance to the other. The second part of your question was _why_. Perhaps if you can answer my riddle, you can answer that part yourself. I do know that they were the only two who escaped. I do know that Snake would not tell Jordde his choice, and that Jordde tried to convince the child to follow him. When they were rescued, I know that the argument continued, and that Snake held back with childish tenacity both his decision and his ability to read minds, even under the hot wire and the pincers. The hot wire, incidentally, was something Jordde brought with him from the blind priestesses, according to him, to help the people of Leptar with. It could have been a great use. But recently all he has done with the electricity is construct a larger weapon with it. However, Jordde became a staunch first mate in a year's time. Snake became a waterfront thief.

Both waited. Then, when the opportunity arose, both acted. Why? Perhaps you can tell me, poet."

"Thank you for telling me what you know," Geo said. "What is your question?"