Jack Vance - Demon Princes 02 - The Killing Machine.pdf

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The Killing Machine - The
Demon Princes 02
Jack Vance
The Demon Princes Series
Star King
The Killing Machine
ThePalaceofLove
The Face
The Book of Dreams
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The Killing Machine
From “How the Planets Trade,” by Ignace Wodleckt:
Cosmopolis, September, 1509:
In all commercial communities, the prevalence or absence of counterfeit money, spurious bills of
exchange, forged notes-of-hand, or any of a dozen other artifices to augment the value of blank paper is
a matter of great concern. Across the Oikumene, precise duplication and reproducing machines are
readily available; and only meticulous safeguards preclude the chronic debasement of our currency.
These safeguards are three: first, the single negotiable currency is the Standard Value Unit, or SVU,
notes for which, in various denominations, are issued only by the Bank of Sol, the Bank of Rigel, and the
Bank of Vega. Second, each genuine note is characterized by a ‘quality of authenticity.’ Third, the three
banks make widely available the so-called fake-meter. This is a pocket device that, when a counterfeit
note is passed through a slot, sounds a warning buzzer. As all small boys know, attempts to disassemble
the fake-meter are futile; as soon as the case is damaged, it destroys itself.
Regarding the ‘quality of authenticity’ there is naturally a good deal of speculation. Apparently in certain
key areas, a particular molecular configuration is introduced, resulting in a standard reactance of some
nature: electrical capacity? magnetic permeability? photo-absorption or reflectance? isotopic variation?
radioactive doping? a combination of some or all of these qualities? Only a handful of persons know and
they won’t tell.
Gersen first encountered Kokor Hekkus at the age of nine. Crouching behind an old barge, he watched
slaughter, pillage, enslavement. This was the historic Mount Pleasant Massacre, notable for the
unprecedented cooperation of the five so-called Demon Princes. Kirth Gersen and his grandfather
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survived; five names became as familiar to Gersen as his own: Attel Malagate, Viole Falushe, Lens
Larque, Howard Alan Treesong, Kokor Hekkus. Each had his distinctive quality. Malagate was
insensate and grim, Viole Falushe gloried in sybaritical refinements, Lens Larque was a megalomaniac,
Howard Alan Treesong a chaoticist. Kokor Hekkus was the most mercurial, fantastic, and inaccessible,
the most daring and inventive. A few folk had reported their impressions: uniformly they found him
affable, restless, unpredictable, and infected with what might have seemed utter madness, except for his
demonstrable control and strength. As to his appearance, all had different opinions. He was, by popular
repute, immortal.
Gersen’s second encounter with Kokor Hekkus occurred in the course of a routine mission Beyond,
and was indecisive - - - or so it seemed at the time. In early April of 1525, Ben Zaum, an official of the
IPCC, (Note: IPCC - - - Interworld Police Coordination Company in theory, a private organization
providing the police systems of the Oikumene specialized consultation, a central information file,
criminological laboratories, in practice, a supergovernmental agency occasionally functioning as a law in
itself ) arranged a clandestine interview with Gersen and proposed a stint of “weaseling” - - - that is to
say, an IPCC investigation Beyond. Gersen’s own affairs had come to a standstill; he was bored and
restless, and so agreed at least to listen to the proposition.
The job, as Zaum explained it, was simplicity itself. The IPCC had been commissioned to locate a
certain fugitive: “Call him ‘Mr. Hoskins,’ “ said Zaum. So urgently required was Mr. Hoskins that at least
thirty operatives were being despatched to various sectors of the Beyond. Gersen’s job would be to
survey the inhabited localities of a certain planet: “Call it ‘Bad World,’” said Zaum, with a knowing grin.
Gersen must either locate Mr. Hoskins or establish as a definite certainty, that he had not set foot on Bad
World.
Gersen reflected a moment. Zaum, who reveled in mystification, on this occasion seemed to be outdoing
himself. Patiently Gersen began to chip away at the exposed part of the iceberg, hoping to float new
areas into view. “Why only thirty weasels? To do the job right, you’d need a thousand.”
Zaum’s wise expression gave him the semblance of a large blond owl. “We’ve been able to narrow the
area of search. I can say this much, Bad World is one of the likelier spots - which is why I want you to
take it on. I can’t overemphasize how important all this is.”
Gersen decided he didn’t want the job. Zaum had determined - or was under orders - to maintain as
much reticence as possible. Working in the dark irritated Gersen, distracted him, and so reduced his
effectiveness - which meant that he might not return from the Beyond. Gersen wondered how to turn
down the job without alienating Ben Zaum and so drying up a pipeline into the IPCC. “What if I found
Mr. Hoskins?” he asked.
“You have four options, which I’ll name in order of decreasing desirability. Bring him to Alphanor alive.
Bring him to Alphanor dead. Infect him with one of your horrible Sarkoy mind-drugs. Kill him outright.”
“I’m no assassin.”
“This is more than simple assassination! This is - confound it, I’m not permitted to explain in detail. But
it’s truly urgent, I assure you of this!”
“I don’t disbelieve you,” said Gersen. “Still, I won’t - in fact, I can’t - kill without knowing why. You’d
better get someone else.”
Under normal circumstances, Zaum would have terminated the interview, but he persisted. Gersen
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thereby was given to understand that either qualified weasels were hard to come by or that Zaum
regarded his services highly.
“If money is any object,” said Zaum, “I think I can arrange - “
“I think I’ll pass this one up.”
Zaum made a half-serious display of beating his forehead with his fists. “Gersen - you’re one of the few
men whose competence I’m sure of. This is a murderously delicate operation - if, of course, Mr. Hoskins
visits Bad World, which I myself think is likely. I’ll tell you this much: Kokor Hekkus is involved. If he
and this Mr. Hoskins make contact - “ He flung up his hands.
Gersen maintained his attitude of disinterest, but now all was changed. “Is Mr. Hoskins a criminal?”
Zaum’s bland brow creased in discomfiture. “I can’t go into details.”
“In that case, how do you expect me to identify him?”
“You’ll get photographs and physical characteristics; this should suffice. The job is perfectly simple. Find
the man: kill him, confuse him, or bring him back to Alphanor.”
Gersen shrugged. “Very well. But since I’m indispensable I want more money.”
Zaum made a peevish complaint or two. “Now as to definite arrangements: when can you leave?”
“Tomorrow.”
“You still keep your spacecraft?”
“If you call the Model 9B Locater a spacecraft.”
“It gets you there and back, and it’s suitably inconspicuous. Where is it docked?”
“At Avente Spaceport, Area C, Bay 10.”
Zaum made a note. “Tomorrow go to your spaceship, make departure. The ship will be provisioned and
fueled. The monitor will be coded to Bad World. You will find a folder with information regarding Mr.
Hoskins in your Star Directory. You need only personal effects - weapons and the like.”
“How long am I to search Bad World?”
Zaum heaved a deep sigh. “I wish I could tell you. I wish I knew what was going on. ... If you don’t find
him within a month after arrival, it’s probably too late. If we only knew for sure where he was going,
what were his motivations. .. .”
“I gather he’s not a known criminal then.”
“No. He’s lived a long, useful life. Then he was approached by a man named Seuman Otwal, who we
suspect to be an agent of Kokor Hekkus. Mr. Hoskins, according to his wife, thereupon seemed to go to
pieces.”
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“Extortion? Blackmail?”
“In these circumstances - impossible.”
Gersen was able to elicit no more information.
Arriving at Avente Spaceport somewhat before noon of the following day, Gersen found matters as
Zaum had stated. Boarding the spartan little spacecraft, he went first to the Star Directory, where he
found a manila envelope containing photographs, plus a printed description. Mr. Hoskins was shown in
various costumes, headgear, and skin-toning. He appeared a man in his late maturity, with a big loose
body, affable large eyes, a wide mouth with heavy teeth, a small rapacious nose. Mr. Hoskins was an
Earthman: so much was clear from his clothes and skin-toning, which were generally similar but different
in detail to those of Alphanor. Gersen put the folder aside, reluctantly decided against a visit to Earth,
where he probably could identity Mr. Hoskins. Such a detour would take too much time - and
undoubtedly get him into the IPCC’s blackbook. He made a final check of the boat, called Port Control
for departure processing.
Half an hour later, Alphanor was a shining orb astern. Gersen engaged the monitor, and watched as the
nose of the boat swept across the sky, finally to point in a direction sixty degrees off the baseline between
Rigel and Sol.
The Jarnell Coverdrive now seized the ship, or, more accurately, created conditions where a few pounds
of thrust caused near-instantaneity of transfer.
Time passed. Random photons curling and seeping through the Jarnell laminae entered the ship, to allow
the outside universe to be seen: stars by the hundreds and thousands, drifting past like sparks on the
wind. Gersen kept a careful astrogational record, fixing on Sol, Canopus, and Rigel. Presently the ship
crossed the separation between the Oikumene and the Beyond, and now law, order, civilization had no
formal existence. Projecting the line of travel, Gersen finally was able to identify Bad World: Carina
LO461 IV in the Star Directory, Bissom’s End in the terminology of Beyond. Henry Bissom was
seven-hundred-years dead; the world, or at least the region surrounding the principal town Skouse, was
now the preserve of the Windle family. Bad World was no misnomer, thought Gersen; in fact, should he
put down at Skouse without good reason - offhand he could think of none - he would without fail be
picked up by the local platoon of the Deweaseling Corps. (Note: The single interworld organization of
Beyond, existing only to identify and destroy undercover agents of the IPCC) He would be rigorously
questioned. After which, if he were lucky, he would be allowed ten minutes to leave the planet. If
weaseling were suspected, he would be killed. Gersen thought harsh thoughts concerning Ben Zaum and
his overelaborate secrecy. Had he known his destination, he might conceivably have set up some kind of
cover.
Ahead a greenish-yellow star of no great luminosity clung to the crosshairs, waxing brighter and larger.
Presently the intersplit kicked off; ether collapsing in upon the ship sighed and shuddered through all the
atoms of ship and Gersen himself: a sound to set the teeth on edge, but which perhaps wasn’t even real.
The old Model 9B coasted through space. Nearby hung Bissom’s End - Bad World. It was a smallish
planet, cold at the poles, with a chain of low mountains forming a cincture of the equator, like a weld
joining the two hemispheres. To north and south ran belts of sea, shallowing somewhere near 50 degrees
latitude to bayous and jungles, beyond which were swamps and morasses all the way to the permafrost.
On a windy plateau sat the town Skouse, an irregular huddle of dingy stone buildings. Gersen was
puzzled. Why would Mr. Hoskins want to come to Bissom’s End? Far more pleasant refuges existed -
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