Stolen Faces, Stolen Names полностью

Wumorin’s head dropped forward. “This is Hell, after all,” he mumbled. Then he went on, in a slightly stronger voice. “Don’t blame the slaves. They were hoping for a cheap messiah when they bought me. I might have been the one they hoped for. But then I learned who I was. And who you were. Nomun. Admired on a thousand worlds. Great Nomun. So that day I decided to not be the one, to wait until they must send for you.”

A puzzle solved, Nomun thought darkly. Here is the reason why the FareLoi'ds are still on Hell. “How many died while you were waiting to take my place?”

“What does it matter? I would have been Nomun. Of course, poor Wumorin would have had to disappear....” Wumorin drew a deep bubbling breath.

“You’d never have gotten into my ship,” Nomun said after a while, but the clone was dead.

NOMUN STUMBLED THROUGH the jungle, spitting out the taste of the memory. It was better when I was empty, he thought. A hand reached out and took him by the shoulder, pulled him to a stop. Nomun struck the hand away, whirled, teeth bared. Young Nomun dodged away, his finger to his lips. “Shhh....”

Young Nomun crouched, gesturing for Nomun to follow. They moved downhill, until they could see the black mirror of the sea through the jungle. “He tried to go too close to the beach,” Young Nomun said. On the beach, False Nomun battled a pack of predators. The sand was alive with the fluid shapes; they swirled about False Nomun’s feet like surf, rising and falling. With a manic energy, False Nomun swung a long shard of crystal, smashing at the creatures. But there were hundreds.

“You may stay and watch,” Young Nomun whispered. “I intend to pass while they’re busy with him.” He crept away.

False Nomun’s blows were slowing. One creature ripped at False Nomun’s belly, and a loop of intestine spilled out, to tangle around False Nomun’s feet. Arms flailing for balance, False Nomun fell silently, and was covered.

Nomun closed his eyes for an instant. Then he slipped off. When he was over the crest of the node, he began to run, as fast as he could, occasionally bouncing painfully from a low-hanging crystal.

He reached the beach, almost blind with fear. He fell to the sand, gasping for breath. Why now, he wondered. Why did it take so long for me to be afraid?

The other two were already in the shelter, as far apart as possible, wearing identical looks of watchful hatred. Neither spoke when Nomun came in, and he was taken aback by the sudden similarity between Jade Nomun and Young Nomun.

The day passed with exquisite slowness. Nomun was exhausted, but felt no urge to sleep. Nor did the others, apparently; they sat staring at nothing. In late afternoon, Nomun ate. After a while, he went outside into the sunlight.

Dead Nomun stood motionless at the jungle’s edge. Seven plastic bags hung against its chestplate. False Nomun’s head was a red tatter, not recognizably human.

“A bad night for head hunting, eh?” Nomun called out impulsively. He expected no reply, and he was shocked when the killmech responded.

“Yes. My master will be sad. He likes to preserve their memory in some way.”

Nomun shook his head. “What is your master’s purpose in tormenting us?”

Dead Nomun looked at him. “Purpose?”

Nomun was suddenly furious. “Yes, purpose! Why were we captured, why were we brought here, why do you drive us along the memwort? Why do you kill us? Why?”

The killmech took a step forward, then another. “I do not have that information.” Its arms twitched, as if it were disturbed, and Nomun retreated into the shelter, heart pounding, his anger cooling abruptly into fear. I shouldn’t have asked it such questions. It might have answered. He couldn’t imagine why this notion frightened him so badly.

Inside, Jade Nomun mumbled to himself and took no notice, but Young Nomun looked up inquiringly. “The mech is friendly?”

Nomun lay down without answering.

Night finally came, and they went out into the stillness of the beach. Jade Nomun’s face was no longer human; he had the look of a cornered animal. His eyes flickered constantly from the killmech to Nomun. He sidled away, moving toward the jungle.

Dead Nomun spoke. “This is the last node. Survivors will be taken off the apex beach, tomorrow at sunrise.”

Jade Nomun stopped, listened, his head cocked at a feral angle. “Survivors?” A hideous smile corrupted his face. Then he ran into the jungle on light, quick feet.

Young Nomun stood for a moment, as if waiting for the killmech to speak again, before he trudged away. At the edge of the sand, he paused to look back at Nomun. Nomun thought: How terrible to look into my own face and see a stranger.