Flash Gordon 5 - The Witch Queen of Mongo (14 page)

Prince Barin’s eyes narrowed. He glanced at Zarkov. Zarkov stared at Jado. Dale turned away and put her hands to her face.

Prince Barin sighed. “I don’t know if that will do it or not, Jado. I simply—”

“There’s more,” said Jado. “I know who the queen is working with. Do you know that?”

“I suppose that you’re going to give us that old canard about Queen Azura and the dictators who now rule Mingo.”

“She’s working with Ming the Merciless, Jr.”

Prince Barin’s expression did not change. His hands tightened in front of him. “Ming the Merciless is dead,” he said softly. “He died without offspring.”

“Not true,” protested Jado. “I saw Ming the Second at the palace. There have been rumors for a long time, Prince Barin, about a supposed son of Ming. And now—I swear to you—I saw him in the queen’s chambers. He was tormenting the stranger.”

“The stranger?”

“Flash Gordon,” explained Jado.

“Tormenting him?” Zarkov asked.

“I’ve said enough.” Jado stood straight again. “No more.”

Prince Barin waved Zarkov away. “We have heard rumors about an exiled son of Ming. You believe that this person you saw was Ming’s son?”

“I’m positive about it,” Jado said.

“If you’re lying, we’ll kill you, of course,” Prince Barin said easily.

“I do not lie.”

Prince Barin nodded silently, and pressed a button on the desk. Instantly, the far door opened and Captain Solas stood there.

“Take him to the counterespionage laboratory, Captain Solas,” Prince Barin said.

Captain Solas nodded. “Aye, sire. . . . Come along quickly there, step right along. Hup, two, three, four.”

They were gone.

Zarkov leaned on Prince Barin’s desk. “Well?”

“Ming the Second,” Prince Barin whispered. “Then it is true. Well, that means serious trouble. With Ming’s blood line still viable, we’ve got a bad problem. There are a number of fools on this planet who will follow any demigod. If I don’t show up, Queen Azura and Ming the Second will rally both nations to an attack. And that will throw the Free Council of Mongo into complete disarray.”

Prince Barin rose, packing back and forth in deep agitation.

“The news about Flash being under the influence of drugs is a sobering thought, indeed. Those scientists of Azuria are far more advanced than our own, although I hate to admit it. They’ve got him on some kind of fear drug, some pacifist thing, I’m sure. Our own people are trying to work something out, but so far haven’t achieved anything more than a couple of fairly ineffective tranquillizers. Oh, well.”

Zarkov muttered to himself, tugging at his beard.

“He’s probably close to a vegetable,” Prince Barin went on. “And that means that he has no way of escaping. We can’t depend on him to use his wits and ingenuity to get out of there.”

Prince Barin bit his lip.

“How can we get to him?” Zarkov shouted. “I want action, dammit! Not all this standing around and talking.”

Prince Barin wheeled on him angrily. “You’ll get your action, Doc. It’s up to me. I’ve got to work—and I’ve got to work fast.”

“You insist on going to Queen Azura?” Zarkov asked slowly.

“Yes,” replied Prince Barin. He turned to eye Zarkov and a faint smile lightened his grim expression. “But perhaps not exactly the way you think I mean.”

Dale looked up. “What have you got up your sleeve, Prince Barin?”

Prince Barin smiled.

I
t was a large low-ceilinged room with computer banks standing in rows, tables filled with electronic equipment, and several chairs and complicated scientific measuring devices placed at intervals over the floor space.

Jado was led in by Captain Solas and placed on a bench near the doorway.

“Is this counterespionage?” Jado asked curiously. “It looks more like an experimental lab.”

“Just don’t worry about it, Jado,” Captain Solas said slowly.

In spite of a gnawing curiosity as to what was going to happen to him, Jado relaxed. He thought he had come through the interrogation fairly well. By at first refusing to talk, he had given himself some leeway to bargain with, and when Prince Barin had finally put on the pressure, he had given in a bit to insure his safety. Then when the pressure had been strong, he had given them some information that would undoubtedly pay for his life.

Still he was uneasy over what might happen in this room. Queen Azura was the one who supposedly had the best and most gifted scientists on Mongo—but from the looks of it Prince Barin’s Arboria lab had every bit as much equipment as she had.

“Do you know what they’re going to do to me?” Jado asked. “If it’s truth serum, I’ve already told all I know.”

“I have no idea what their plans are for you, Jado,” said Captain Solas. “If I were you, I’d consider myself lucky. You’ve killed two men and you’re still alive.”

Jado nodded. “I suppose so.” He leaned back on the bench.

Soon Prince Barin and Zarkov entered the room. Barin beckoned to Captain Solas, and the two of them engaged in whispered conversation for a few moments, with Zarkov listening intently.

Then Captain Solas came over and motioned Jado to rise.

“Come on. We’re going over to the chair.”

Jado began to perspire. He had read in school about that Earth method of putting a person to death—electrocution. Wasn’t that done in what was called an “electric chair?”

“You’re going to electrocute me?” he whispered anxiously.

Captain Solas smiled grimly. “No Jado. We’re not. Although I think even that would be too good for you.”

“What’s going to happen?” Jado asked in a hoarse voice.

Captain Solas led him to the large metal chair in the middle of the room. In fact, now that he was in the middle of the area, he could see that there were two chairs lined up side by side, almost like the twin thrones of a king and queen.

“Sir down,” Captain Solas commanded.

Jado frowned. “I—I don’t want to.”

“Get in the chair,” ordered Captain Solas. He pushed Jado toward the big chair and a guard stepped out from behind a bank of computers and grabbed Jado’s other arm.

“I’ll go quietly,” Jado promised.

He climbed into the chair.

Captain Solas and the guard quickly strapped his chest, arms, and legs to the formidable-looking chair, and stepped away.

Now another figure appeared from the dimness of the computer bank. He was a very obese individual with curly red hair and a benign countenance.

“Major Grof,” Prince Barin asked, “are you ready?”

“All ready,” Major Grof replied, smiling at Prince Barin and glancing questioningly at Zarkov.

“This is Dr. Zarkov,” Prince Barin said, almost as an afterthought.

Major Grof’s eyes widened. “I’ve heard so much about you, Dr. Zarkov.”

“I’m sure,” said Zarkov, shaking hands. Zarkov’s eyes were on Jado, Jado felt cold chills race up and down his spine. For the first time since his capture, he was shaking with fear.

“Well, you’ve come along to witness the experiment, have you?” Major Grof was gleeful.

“Yes,” said Zarkov. “I don’t quite understand—”

“It will all be perfectly clear in a moment,” Major Grof said, rubbing his hands together. “Perfectly pellucid.”

Prince Barin moved over to Major Grof. “How about the prisoner? Is he secured?”

Major Grof nodded, eyeing Jado. Jado stared back at him, feeling the perspiration form on his forehead.

“Get the helmet,” ordered Major Grof to the guard who had been helping Captain Solas.

“Aye, sir,” said the guard, and hurried off.

Jado tried to see where he was going, but could not follow him.

“Helmet?” Zarkov asked. “What is the helmet for?”

Prince Barin smiled. “You’ll see, Doc.”

The guard appeared, carrying a large metal helmet that had dozens of wires extending from it. The wires were twisted into a single strand of insulated cord which ended in a metallic jack.

Jado felt his heart jump into his throat. “What is that?”

The guard smiled at him. Major Grof reached out for the helmet and lifted it over Jado’s head.

“It’s very simple. Just sit there and we’ll take care of you. It won’t hurt a bit. In fact, you won’t feel a thing.”

Zarkov was stroking his beard thoughtfully. “What on earth is it, Prince Barin?”

“Ask Major Grof,” Prince Barin responded.

Zarkov turned to Major Grof. “Will you tell me now what you’re doing?”

“I’m rather busy,” Major Grof said pleasantly. He turned to the guard. “Will you get the second helmet, please?”

The guard saluted and ran off.

“Second helmet?” Zarkov repeated, puzzled.

“If you please, Prince Barin,” Major Grof said with deference, indicating the second metal chair.

Prince Barin nodded and climbed into the chair.

Zarkov’s eyes bulged almost out of his head. “Prince Barin! What is this? Why are you getting into the other chair?”

Prince Barin smiled. “It’s perfectly all right. Major Grof will explain it once we’re under the control of the psychescope.”

Zarkov’s eyes narrowed. “Psychescope?” He glanced at the bank of computers behind the chairs. “That thing?”

Prince Barin nodded. “That’s right, Doc.”

The guard hurried up with the second metallic helmet, and fitted it carefully over Prince Barin’s head. “Is it all right?” he asked anxiously.

“Yes,” said Prince Barin. “No discomfort.”

“Good,” said Major Grof.

He hurried behind the chairs, lifted the two metallic jacks, and inserted both swiftly into corresponding slots in the computers.

Zarkov followed Major Grof behind the chairs and Jado could not see where he had gone. He was staring ahead, his hands trembling on the arms of the metal chair. Somehow knowing that Prince Barin sat in a chair that corresponded to his made him feel somewhat easier, but it did not totally allay his fears of the unknown. What were they doing to him? What were they doing to Prince Barin?

Major Grof came around and stared at Jado. “Are you comfortable?” he asked.

Jado nodded. “Will you please tell me what you’re going to do to me?”

“Nothing at all, really,” Major Grof said pleasantly. “You’ll probably not even experience the slightest discomfort, and you won’t remember a thing.”

“But—”

“Prince Barin?” Major Grof asked, walking rapidly to stand in front of the other chair.

“Fine,” said Prince Barin.

“Good.” Major Grof signaled to someone standing in back of Jado’s chair. Jado thought it must be Captain Solas, whom he could not see in front of him.

There was a humming whirr in the machinery behind him. Jado moved about inside the helmet, but found that it was quite light and did not wiggle at all. He could feet a pleasant vibration in the top of his skull, and that was all.

In fact, it was so pleasurable that he soon lost all sense of tension and fear. He was very much aware of the room around him, of the table of electronic gear in front of him, of the figure of Dr. Zarkov, who stood in front of him, of Major Grof, who stood by Zarkov and engaged in a whispered conversation with him, of the warm sensation that imbued him from head to foot now. It was like being in a kind of drugged sleep. Pleasurable sensations traveled all through his body. He forgot his travail and thoughts of his mission to Arboria receded into the dim recesses of his mind.

He had a brief glimpse of Queen Azura as he sat there, and thought of his mother for an instant, and his father, and of his tiny apartment in the palace, Then he was back in his childhood briefly, and then he was quite contented to sit in the chair and stare at Zarkov and Major Grof.

He could see a pleasant stream, with a beautiful house surrounded by flowers and lush plants, with the forest in the background. It was familiar, and yet in someway strange to him. He remembered a great deal more then—the beautiful woman who was his mother, the stern man who was his father, the palace and the throne room, and the war in which he rode at the head of the columns of troops, and the celebration when he was proclaimed leader.

The helmet was removed from his head.

“Well?” Major Grof asked, peering at him with deep interest.

“Well, what?” he asked, with a slightly imperious manner.

“Was there any discomfort?”

“None whatever,” he replied. “If there had been, I certainly should have complained.”

Major Grof smiled. “Good,” he said.

“Amazing,” said Zarkov, coming around to peer into his face.

“What do you find so amusing, Doc?” he asked.

“It’s just that I can’t believe what I’ve seen,” Zarkov muttered.

“And what is that?”

“It’s as if you’ve known me for a long time,” Zarkov said in awe.

“But we have known each other, Doc, ever since you crash-landed on Mongo six years ago and came to the palace and helped us fight Ming the Merciless. Are you trying to play some kind of joke on me?”

“No,” Zarkov said, thoughtfully tugging at his beard. “Not at all.”

“All right,” said Major Grof. “You can get out of the chair now.”

The straps had been loosened by the guard. He got up, stretched, and stood in front of the chair. After a moment, he turned to the second chair nearby. “How’s the other one?”

“Fine, fine,” said Major Grof.

“Good,” he said. “Then you’d better get him out of the helmet.”

“Aye,” said Major Grof.

He held up a hand. “Wait—how long do you think it will be before Jado can leave for the Kingdom of Blue Magic?” he asked.

An amused Major Grof said, “Right away.”

“So be it,” said Prince Barin.

To Zarkov the whole proposition had been one of the most amazing performances he could remember.

Jado, the prisoner, and Prince Barin were strapped to adjoining metal chairs, helmeted and hooked up to the computer bank, with Major Grof behind them working at the dials and switches.

When finally the major had finished, he stood by Zarkov, and Zarkov had asked him what was happening.

“It’s personality transference,” Major Grof said in a whisper. “It’s forced extrasensory perception, actually. The computers are wired to promote maximum power. Then the memory of the prisoner from Azuria is slowly erased from his mind by means of the psychescope to which he is wired.”