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song in mid-refrain, switching abruptly (as abruptly as the perambulator, in fact) from a defiant ballad to
the sweetest strong song he knew.
Braglob was ill-prepared for the sudden shift in tactics. The wolverine staggered away from his wailing
wall, fought to draw himself upright. You could see the change come over him. His expression softened.
His body relaxed as the tenseness drained out of his muscles. Most revealing of all, the wild,
undisciplined stare began to fade from his eyes. Gone was the terrified, frozen glare; gone the hopeless,
defensive posture.
He blinked once, twice, did Braglob the Mad, and smiled at Jon-Tom.
Behind him there came an explosion of light and sound. Even though he was looking away from it, the
sudden pulse of energy temporarily blinded him. Gneechees fled the chamber like a million retreating
miniature suns. The humming and whistling of the panpipes retreated before a single reverberating note
like the lowest register of some gigantic organ.
Jon-Tom made himself turn, heedless of the consequences. The single devastating flash of light had
faded, and he could see that the perambulator had been transformed a last time, into a crystalline
geometric conglomerate so utterly perfect, so heart-stoppingly beautiful that he thought he would burst
into tears.
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He turned away just in time. A second energy pulse even more powerful than the first lit the walls.
Jon-Tom felt himself lifted off his feet by the sheer pressure of light. He saw himself turning, tumbling,
doing a slow somersault in the air, and bouncing gently off the far wall.
The organ pedal faded with the light, and so did his consciousness.
XIV
Calm. It was so calm, he thought as he regained his senses. It was quiet in the chamber, but in his mind
he still heard that climactic final note, felt the photons lifting him off the ground and shoving him against the
stones. Yet as he picked himself slowly off the floor and checked his bones, he discovered that there was
no reminder of that hard contact, nothing broken, not so much as a bruise to indicate where he'd struck
the wall. Even his clothing was undamaged.
A small shape lay crumpled nearly, lithe and familiar. It let out a sob. He stumbled over to kneel beside
it. "Talea."
She was lying on her belly. He rolled her over, and she grabbed him tightly with both hands. He winced,
having forgotten how strong she was. Then she recognized him and loosened her grip.
"Jon-Tom?"
"You're all right?"
She did not reply immediately, as though the question required some careful consideration. "I guess so. I
shouldn't be. I think I bounced headfirst off the ceiling, like a ball in a game of whist." She sat up without
his aid. "But I feel okay. Just a little dazed. What happened?"
"The perambulator went away. It didn't go quietly, but I think it went joyfuDy. By breaking Braglob's
madness we broke his control over it." He was looking past her, toward the center of the now-empty
chamber. "I think the perambulator, in its way, was saying good-bye to us as it departed. Or maybe it
was nothing more than abstract noise. I guess we'll never know."
Their companions were slowly picking themselves off the floor. Clothahump was examining the air
beneath the dome. Protected and cushioned by his shell, he'd recovered first. Mudge was brushing
himself off while Dormas was trying to untangle her legs from Colin, who'd been blown into her by the
force of the perambulator's departure.
And there was one more who was recovering rapidly from the shock. Jon-Tom left Talea to cautiously
confront their nemesis.
Braglob was flexing his muscles, testing first his legs and then his mighty arms. He appeared clear-eyed
and alert.
"How do you feel?"
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"Very strange, man." The wolverine lifted the hem of what once had been a fine piece of clothing. "Why
am I clad in rags like this? Wait-I remember now. Yes, I remember." He raised his eyes to meet
Jon-Tom's. "Something about changing the world. I was going to change the world so that I would feel
comfortable with it."
"But you don't have to do that anymore, do you? There's no longer any reason to live in a crazy world
because you're no longer unbalanced yourself. You're cured, Braglob. Your madness departed with the
perambulator. A little spellsinging goes a long way."
Mudge had rejoined Colin, leaned close to whisper to the koala. "Cured, 'e says. Look at 'em standin'
there grinnin' at each other. If you ask me, the both of 'em are nuts."
Braglob listened, and as he listened, he was nodding slowly. "It is true. I don't remember exactly what I
was doing or why. I remember only that I was afraid. I've always been afraid. Eventually my fears drove
me from my family, my friends, my home. To this place, where I resolved to deal with my fears by
changing the world. I had to do that, don't you see? It was the only way.
"My companions laughed at and tormented me until I fled to this remote region to escape their taunts.
Even the smallest citizens, the rats and the mice and voles, threw things at me and chased me from their
company. So I came here to practice my art. I studied hard. And I trapped the perambulator! Something
the books said could not be done. I, Braglob, did this," He searched the chamber behind Jon-Tom. "And
now it is gone isn't it?"
Jon-Tom nodded. "Gone like your madness and the fear that drove you mad. You couldn't live with
your private terrors, could you? You couldn't deal with being a wolverine and a coward at the same
time."
"You understand, then. But I am no longer fearful. I feel as I should. The fears are gone, every one of
them, along with the pain and the hurt that was with me every day, here." He rubbed the back of his head
and neck. "I feel-normal." His smile vanished.
"But I was going to change the world. I can't do that now. I was going to rule it. Tell me, man, is it better
to live a sane but ordinary life or to be a mad emperor?" He reached for the massive battle-ax, which lay [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]