The Caryatids

Dawn had come, and Lucky was sleeping. He had been holding her tightly, so that she did not raise her vulnerable head above the parapet during her nightmares.

Sonja sensed that the planes were gone. There was no way to know this as a fact, however. Not without testing that theory.

Tired of having Lucky assuming all the risks, Sonja untied her dust­proof tarpaulin gown, held it high over herself with her arms outspread to blur her target silhouette, and stepped, naked and deliberate, over the rocky wall.

She was not shot, she did not die, there were no sounds of planes. Yawning and grainy-eyed, Sonja clambered to the top of the hill. The dutiful pack robot was standing there, its empty rifle methodically scan­ning the empty skies. The pack robot had been shot an amazing num­ber of times, almost all of the rounds hitting its front prow, which looked like metal cheesecloth. A few holes adorned the thing’s rear bumper, presumably the results of targeting error.

Yet the robot was functional. Its pistoning, crooked, crazy legs were in fine condition. Sonja felt an affection for it now, the unwilling love one felt for a battlefield comrade. Poor thing, it was so dumb and ugly, but it was doing the best it could.

Sonja tore the rifle from its gun-mount and used its target scope to scan the landscape. What of their friends, allies, strangers—the ones pursued by a wheeling column of aircraft? No sign of them. Wait. Yes. A blackened spot on the ground, a ragged asterisk.

Heavy weaponry had hit something there, a truck, a tank, a half-track, whatever that had once been. Heavy weapons had knocked it not just to pieces, but to pieces of pieces. A falling meteor couldn’t have crushed it more thoroughly: it was obliterated.

Sonja reviewed her tactical options. Retreat back to the den, pile up more rocks? Make a break for it, across country, back toward Jiuquan? Leave this hilltop, seek out a better overview? This hilltop’s overview was excellent; the Acquis raiders had clearly chosen it on purpose.

Maintain the hardware. That action always made sense. Sonja searched through the baggage, found a clip, and reloaded the rifle. Then Sonja spread out the solar panels for the pack robot, tissue-thin sheets that stretched an astonishing distance down the hill.

This work done, she sipped some greenish yogurt from the rumen bag, which hung there, whole and unpierced. The ferment tasted all right now; during all the mayhem it had brewed up fine.

With nutrition her head cleared. She had survived and another day was at hand. Sonja took the rifle and carefully scanned the horizon.

Two riders were approaching.

They rode from the north, on two rugged Mongol ponies, ragged, burrolike beasts whose short legs almost seemed to scurry. These riders were men, and armed with rifles slung across their backs. The man in front wore furs—thick, bearlike furs—and a fur hat, and apparently some kind of furry face mask. The rider who followed him— incredibly—wore an American cowboy hat, blue jeans, boots, a checkered shirt, and a vest.

The quick temptation to pick them off with the rifle—for she did have the drop on them, and the rifle was loaded—evaporated. Who on Earth would ride out here, dressed in that fashiori? It was almost worth dying to know.

The cowboy rode up to his friend, stopped him, and handed over his rifle. The cowboy dug into a saddlebag, and took out a white flag­apparently an undershirt. The cowboy then rode straight toward her hill, slowly and with care, waving his snowy white shirt over his head as he stood in his stirrups.

This man was surely one of the worst horseback riders Sonja had ever seen. She walked to the edge of the hilltop and waved back at him with her white sleeves.

Then she climbed downhill.

The cowboy was a young American, a teenager. He was strikingly handsome, and, seen closely, his clothes were vivid and gorgeous. His costume only mimicked the rugged proletarian gear of the American West. He was a cowboy prince: theatrical and dramatic.

He pulled up his snarl-maned, yellow-fanged mare—it appeared he had never ridden a horse in his life, for he drove the beast like a car­—and he half tumbled out of his saddle. His cheeks were windburned. He was short of breath.

“Are you Biserka?” he said.

He spoke English, which did not surprise her. “No,” she said.

“You sure do look like Biserka. I had to make sure. To meet you here, that’s kind of uncanny. You are Sonja, though. You’re Sonja Mihaj­lovic.”

“Yes.”

“What is that strange gown you’re wearing? You’ve got, like, a white tablecloth with all kinds of yin-yangs and rosary beads.”

Sonja stared at him silently. This man was certainly Dispensation. He had to be. No one else would behave like this.

“You look great in that getup, don’t get me wrong,” the cowboy said hastily, “that look is really you! I am Lionel Montalban. John Mont­gomery Montalban—you know him, I’m sure—he’s my brother. You and me, we’re family.”

“John Montalban is here? Where is John?”

“John’s in a camp with some of the locals. John sent me here to fetch you. I’m glad I was able to find you. You’re all right?”

“If airplanes don’t shoot at me, yes, I am all right.”

Lionel Montalban nodded over his shoulder at his riding compan­ion, who sat on his pony like a furred centaur. “The airplanes come from his people. So no, they won’t be shooting you. Not when you are with us. Why are you on foot, Sonja? Where is George’s robot?”

So: George had told John Montalban about the robot. Of course George would do that. George adored John Montalban. George was the man’s factotum. His fixer. His butler. His slave.

Lionel was busy apologizing to her. “We lost track of your robot’s po­sition when those solar flares hit. That solar noise was sudden. Really sudden. And bad. Did you see the sun rise this morning? I saw it!” Li­onel yawned. “There were visible sun spots on the sun’s surface. I could see those spots with my naked eyes.”

“Lionel Montalban,” she said.

“Yes, what?”

“What are you doing here, Lionel Montalban?”

Lionel looked surprised. “You mean, what am I doing here, officially? Oh. Officially, I’m on an ‘Asian wilderness vacation.’ I’m giving up my ‘juvenile delinquent drug habits.’ I’m in rehab. My brother’s gonna clean me all out in the fresh air with some bracing backwoods hikes.”

Lionel turned on the charm: he grinned and winked. “What are you doing here, ‘officially’? May I ask you that?”

Sonja said nothing.

“Never mind, Sonja! Whatever it is, it’s okay by me! After that solar eruption—snarled communications all over the planet!—why sweat the small stuff? After a catastrophe like this one, nobody’s gonna remember what I did, back in Los Angeles. Some riots, some burned-out neigh­borhoods, no problem! It’s all part of the legend of Hollywood.”

Lionel waved his arms gleefully, which spooked his horse. The beast jerked the reins and almost knocked Lionel from his feet.

Lionel recovered his booted footing with a gymnast’s half skip. “Youdon’t care about some derelict neighborhoods burned down in Los An­geles, do you? You don’t care one bit, right? See, I’m almost home free!”

“What is John’s assignment here?”

“Oh, this is John’s usual work. We are shutting down an out-of­-control tech operation. John never took me along for his work before, but, well, I learn fast.” Lionel smiled. “Because I have to learn fast! Bril­liancy, speed, lightness, and glory!”

It was a sinister business that the Acquis and Dispensation used the same slogan. Why had no one