03. Gods at the Well of Souls (15 page)

"Huh?" 

"It's linear thinking, like we do, which means the pattern probably came from  him," the doctor went on. "But it is very limited thinking, very limited  processing of information. She has no patience and little interest in learning  most things. If she decides she wants to learn something but doesn't get it  quickly, she loses interest. She's entirely in the present; she has no concept  of the future or any interest in it. She can be thrown a ball and is just as  amused if she catches it or watches it drop and bounce. She learned to push down  on latches aboard ship to open hatches but never could get the idea of closing  them behind her, and she's been frustrated here because she's been trying to  push down on doorknobs to open doors and it doesn't work. The woman you knew is  gone. Accept that. What you have is a young child in her body. And there is no  way of knowing at this stage if she will progress beyond where she is in more  than very small degrees." 

Gus felt the hurt of losing someone very close, but it wasn't quite like that.  'Tell me straight, Doc. Can you say for absolute certain, beyond the shadow of  any doubts, that Terry will never regain any of her memory? That it's a dead-on  medical certainty that she'll be like this until she dies?" 

The doctor considered her words carefully. "No, I can't. Not with absolute  certainty. It is not like we've ever had a case like hers before or know exactly  what we are dealing with. Not even the consulting Ambrezans really understand  what's inside the Glathrielian mind. All I can say is, absent any evidence of  physical trauma, it is a very remote possibility that much of anything would  come back. And if anything were still there, it would come back in pieces, over  a very long period of time." 

"But it's possible? As possible, say, as Captain Brazil surviving all those  wounds?" 

"Well, yes, but-" 

"She's tied to him, Doc. You said so. Maybe some of that immunity rubbed off as  well. If I just send her back now, it's over, period. She can never come back.  The door's closed forever. See, I just can't write her off yet, send her back to  what is a certain life as part of a group mind living in the mud. She was so  much more than that." 

"But what else can you do?" 

"Well, what are my options here?" 

"Not many. She can't stay here. The law says that anyone likely to be a ward of  the state must be returned to its native hex. Of course, she is free to go  anywhere she likes as well, but I still feel that this is the best course to  take. The Glathrielians could probably restore her to their state, but  unencumbered by the baggage she brought in the first time. She'd live what for  them would be a normal life." 

"Not yet, Doc. When I'm convinced, but not yet. There's still some options open,  no matter how wild the odds. If nothin' else, I want to see what happens if  Brazil wakes up." 

The doctor sighed. "Well, as I said, I will get religion and go study the  ancient gods if he recovers, let alone walks. But there's another reason for  possibly sending her back. Perhaps a compelling one. It explains the other major  mystery-why the Well preserved her pretty much as she was instead of translating  her into another race as it did with you." 

"Yeah?" 

"She's pregnant, Gus. According to the Ambrezan material, about six weeks from  normal full gestation. Counting back, that means she was pregnant when she came  onto the Well World and almost certainly not much before that point." "Oh, my God!" 

"It's in the records, although extremely rare even in ancient times, it seems.  The Well has no trouble taking one race and making of it another, but when you  complicate it, give it what it perceived in its analysis as two in one, it  didn't have an answer for that. So it pretty much optimized her for survival  here but otherwise left her just as she was. She is going to have a baby, Gus,  and she doesn't even know what a baby is or how it's made." 

Gus sighed. "Jeez! Now what do I do?" If he sent her back, she'd probably be  okay, but he'd be dooming forever any chance she might have to recover normalcy.  But if he didn't, then what of the baby? 

"Well, you heard the colonel. I'm afraid that since she isn't capable of  deciding for herself, it's entirely up to you." 

"We have exciting news." the colonel told Gus. "We have a real lead on the other  one, this Mavra Chang. She is in the hands of an international drug ring whose  headquarters are on the northern border of this very hex. A fair amount of money  and death have gone into protecting them until now, but this changes just about  everything, as you might suppose. The more things are different, the more they  seem like home. Is it not so?" 

"You should know," Gus muttered. 

The colonel ignored the sarcasm. "Well, they are going to attack their  headquarters in utmost secrecy, led by one of the few really honest policemen in  Agon. With Brazil safely incapacitated, I am going north this very day to be in  on this other operation. After all, if we have Brazil but not Chang, and Chang  can also access the well, then we have gained nothing. Still, I feel we are  closing in and that this matter is about to come to a head. There are others  from Earth in this raiding party as well, so it will be pleasant to have yet  more of a connection with the old home. What do you wish to do, my friend?" "Others? Anybody I know?" 

"I don't think so. Someone 7 knew, at least for a little while, and two  associates of Captain Brazil's who came in on his initiative, I believe, from  Rio de Janeiro. One is a fellow countryman of mine-in the old life, that is. Two  Dillians-they are much like the centaurs of our ancient Earth mythology, I am  told-and one Erdomite." 

Gus sighed and shook his head. "I don't know. Much as I'd like to, the only  person I really know well is right here, aside from you and the captain, anyway,  and I'm just not too sure what to do with her yet." 

"Someone I believe you may know is involved, after all," Lunderman commented,  looking over reports. "Do you know a Juan Campos?" 

Gus's reptilian head shot up, and the eyes blazed with a menace not seen before.  "Yeah, I know the bastard! If it wasn't for him, none of us would be in this  damned fix! He's in this group, too? Don't sound like his style." "You misunderstand me, my friend. Campos is with the drug cartel. In fact, it  might well be Campos who had Mavra Chang abducted." 

That menace in the eyes didn't fade. "Same old Campos, then. He was dirty back  home, and he's still dirty. Guess he just don't know any other trade. Figures.  What'd he wind up as?" 

"A Cloptan. They look something like cartoon ducks, but there is nothing funny  about them or cartoonish, either." He paused a moment. "A Cloptan female! Most  interesting!" 

"He's a girl?" Gus found it impossible not to laugh, although a Dahir chuckle  sounded far more threatening than amusing. "Well, at least he got some justice,  the bastard. He won't be raping any more helpless women." 

"Perhaps not, but Cloptan society isn't as traditional as most. Women have some  real power there, in the government and in the rackets, too, it seems. I would  say that whatever was done to him was compensated for by the society in which he  found himself. He's come a rather long way to be influential in such an  operation so quickly. Campos is the sort to have a deadly grudge against this  Mavra Chang?" 

"Yeah, he would, at least in his own mind. I was sick or drugged for most of it,  but I remember enough, so I'm pretty sure he does, too. I want in on this one,  Colonel. I want to see Campos squashed like the bug he is." 

"I had hoped that you would say that. I should like to bring the girl along as  well. Protected, of course, and well out of the action, but even if she can be  of little help, the detective in charge says that he would like her up there." "Huh? I hadn't really considered it much. Of course, I guess if I'm not gonna  just send her back to that Glathriel forever, at least not yet, she has to stick  with me. She trusts me pretty good, but-I dunno. I guess she could be sent back  by any Zone Gate, so there's no real rush in that regard, but I'm not sure I  want to get her exposed and active too much right now. Why would this drug agent  want Terry?" 

"He does not say. The only way to know is to go up there and ask him. But why do  you have such concern over the girl now? She has certainly managed to take care  of herself with minimal help so far, and even if she has lost her memory, she  still has her unique abilities." 

"Damn it, Colonel, she's gonna have a baby in like a month and a half. That's  why. What if she goes into labor? What if she gets stressed or even accidentally  hurt and the kid gets killed? She's no immortal." 

The colonel thought a moment. "That does complicate things, I do agree. And yet  Agon, and Clopta if we have to go there, are both high-tech hexes, and I believe  she would probably be as safe as or safer in one of them than she would be back  in that primitive no-tech homeland. You've seen the medicine available here  already." 

The colonel knew that Gus was only easing his conscience, that he very much  wanted both to go and to keep the girl with him, pregnant or not. Gus would have  to face the birth sooner or later anyway; it seemed pretty obvious he wasn't  going to send her back to what was tantamount to oblivion forever. Somehow, deep  down, it was obvious that Gus still clung to the belief that Terry, his old  Terry, might well be down there someplace, buried deep inside that girl's head.  Until he was absolutely convinced that this person was forever but a memory, if  he ever was, he would cling to her out of honor, out of friendship, and because  it was the only thing that kept the Dahir himself going. 

There was, of course, no purpose in telling Gus at that point that what the  Agonite cop wanted her for was bait. 

Subar, 

Near the Liliblod Border 

She knew Gus was troubled by something, something concerning her, but she  couldn't, or wouldn't, dig down to find out why. It just wouldn't be right  somehow, and besides, she might not understand it, anyway. 

She liked Gus a lot. She trusted him absolutely, maybe the only one she'd met so  far that she could say that about. Oh, she trusted that nice doctor, too, but  the doctor was way, way too smart for her to really feel comfortable with. It  was nice being able to actually talk to somebody, but most of the time she  couldn't follow what the doc was saying, so it wasn't that big a deal. Deep down  she was just an interesting patient to the doctor, but Gus really cared about  her, although why he did was still a mystery to her. 

She had come to terms with the fact that most of the world was and would remain  a mystery to her; most everybody seemed a lot smarter than she was, and after a  while she realized that would be the way things were and accepted it. It wasn't  as if she had anywhere she wanted to go or anything she wanted to do. It would have been easier on Gus if she could speak, but the doctor thought that  the Glathrielian business had done something to the area of the brain that  controlled vocalization. She could make some sounds, but they were just sounds,  not words. This was something else that might or might not reconnect, depending  on how she developed from this point. Because she could understand others, or  mast others-there were some creatures that seemed a total blank to her but not  many-Gus had worked out what was still a simple sign language for her. It was  okay for the obvious basics, but it would hardly serve as an alternative  language. 

Gus finally decided he had to tell her the situation, no matter how much she  might or might not understand. The concept of pregnancy proved less difficult  than he imagined; some mental pictures, along with a simple child's version of  how it worked, seemed to get the message across. 

She was fascinated by that. A little person growing inside her that would  someday pop out and then grow up to be a big person. It made sense and answered  a few questions she'd had about how all these people got there and why some were  small and some were large, but she never wondered about how one got that way. "Now that you know," Gus told her as gently and simply as he could, "you will  have to be careful. Things could hurt you, or the baby, or both. You could go  back to the people who are like you and be safe, or you can stay here. But if  you stay here, there is a chance you or the baby could be hurt. You understand  that?" 

She nodded. She had picked up graphic images of what her people were like from  Gus, the doctor, and others, and she didn't think she would like that life. Gus  couldn't come, and she knew from his mind that if she went back, she couldn't  talk to or hear anybody else but her own kind. She didn't like that idea at all.  Not only did she want to stay with Gus, Gus's own thoughts about the way her  people lived came through as something scary. She let him know that she  understood he was worried about her and the baby and that he didn't want her to  go. 

It didn't ease his conscience, but it helped him go with the flow of events and  accept that, risks or not, she was staying. He had the distinct idea that no  matter what the colonel had said, they wanted her for something and wouldn't let  her go in any event. He didn't want to be conned by these types; he knew them  all too well. If she was going to be put in harm's way, then he was going to be  there for her. 

That afternoon they met the colonel at a sleek, silvery transport station and  boarded a magnatrain for the north. She found the station itself to be a place  of wonder, and the train was really neat. 

"I spoke to Inspector Kurdon before we left," the colonel told Gus. "He seems  quite happy to have us, and he's particularly interested in you. He thinks your  little talent might well be very useful to him."