第55节
these bastards!" The M'Calls had
summarily executed GoodYear for failing the test of a warrior - but
Grand Central put guys up against a wall and shot them in front of the
video cameras for crapping out on operations. It could even be
happening to Hartmann, commander of The Lady, right now. The smell of
roasting human flesh assailed his nostrils.
It was a salutary reminder that he himself had committed the same act
in reverse. He had dropped bonfires on people; made of napalm and
aimed at the children of the people he was sitting with. We are all,
thought Steve, as mad as each other.
Good-Year's body, blackened and charred, merged with the blazing embers
as more wood was heaped on the fire and slowly crumbled into
oblivion.
The ceremony continued far into the night, with the clan roaring its
approval as each Mute presenting himself for reinstatement as a
warrior, broke the blood-stained arrow held between his clenched teeth
and spat the third piece contemptuously into the flames. The other two
pieces, Cadillac explained, would be attached to a necklace; a badge of
courage to be worn with pride.
Steve lost track of time. He was becoming tired. The incessant
drumming and chanting had become, to his ear, monotonous,
overwhelming.
He longed to get up and stretch, to creep into the fur-skin bed he had
been given and go to sleep but he felt constrained to stay where he
was. With the whole clan in a hyped-up state there was no knowing what
might happen. Steve had an odd sense of foreboding.
All it needed was for some of those Bears who'd been giving him
mean-eyed looks to decide to have a little fun and...
He decided it would be safer to stick close to Cadillac and Mr Snow.
Cadillac leaned into him and pressed something in his hand. 'Take
this,' he muttered. 'Just in case ..."
Steve glanced at his neighbours but nobody appeared to have noticed the
transaction. He brought his right hand casually up to his face, rubbed
his nose with his thumb and forefinger and glanced down at what
Cadillac had put into his palm. It was shredded Dream Cap. Steve
slowly rubbed his hand over his mouth and chin, scooped the drug up
with his tongue and chewed it discreetly. Something about the way
Cadillac had passed over the Dream Cap suggested it was the best thing
to do. But what did he mean by 'Just in case' ?
Another roar of approval. Another M'Call knelt to have his cheeks
pierced. The line of waitifig warriors seemed endless. Steve let his
eyes roam over the closely-packed rows of lumpheads on either side of
him. Male and female warriors, den-mothers, young Mutes. What, Steve
wondered, did they make of all this? On the far side of the huge fire,
partly masked by the rows in front, Steve unexpectedly caught sight of
the most beautifully formed face he had ever seen. It came as a shock
to realise that it belonged to a female Mute. It was hard to be sure
in the flickering light but she looked smooth skinned - like
Cadillac.
Her face was patterned with light and dark pigments but otherwise even
at this distance - Steve could see it was flawless.
And her eyes! Like two points of blue fire...
When they connected with Steve's he felt an inexplicable surge of
excitement. A shiver ran down his spine. He felt an insane urge to
get up and make his way round to where she sat but did not dare move
from his allotted place. As he had to look past Cadillac to see her,
he averted his gaze so as not to reveal the true focus of his
attentions. He watched the next warrior break and wrench the arrow out
of his cheeks then slowly let his gaze drift round to where she sat.
Her face was turned towards him; her eyes waiting to meet his.
This is crazy I thought Steve. Come on, get a grip on yourself!
She's a lumphead. She's probably got a body like a sack of rocks. And
even if she hasn't what you are thinking is unthinkable. He tore his
eyes away and silently berated himself. You're imagining things,
Brickman. It's the Dream Cap. You've been a prisoner of these lumps
so long, you're beginning to think of them as real people. Just keep
cool.
Hang loose.