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Chapter 5 · Slaves to the Metal Horde

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  Chapter five of Slaves to the Metal Horde by Stephen Marlowe. This LibriVox recording
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  is in the public domain. Slave to the Metal Horde, Chapter five,
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  Will Harry Starbuck please step forth and make his report? One of Kelliher's assistants
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  brought the command to the Shining Ones, who had joined the larger group near
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  Hamilton Village. There was a silence. Where is Starbuck? No one knew.
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  The assistant shook his head and returned to kell Her for further instructions.
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  Had any one seen Starbuck a short while ago? Yes, not for the
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  past hour, though. Kell Her next called for Diane, who had found
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  Johnny Hope, the alleged trader, along with Starbuck. Some of them had
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  seen her marching toward the rear of the column with Tom Burwood not long since.
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  She did not answer the summons, and Burwood could not be found anywhere.
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  As everyone going crazy, Kellerhurt stormed fetched the prisoner himself. We'll see
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  what's going on moments later, Hope, charges have been brought against you concerning
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  a raid on Hamilton Village. I know all about the charges. I refuse
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  to discuss them now. Kellerhurst smiled without mirth, you refuse. They were
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  looking for Diane, they couldn't find her. They were looking for Starbuck too,
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  and couldn't find him. It is Starbuck who has made the accusation,
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  so we'll have to wait until he's found. I don't care one way or
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  the other about Starbuck, but I want to find Diane. Plump. Gilbert
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  came forward, said I may be able to shed some light on this.
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  After Starbuck gave me charge of the column. He conferred with Tom Burdwood for
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  a time, then disappeared, but Burwood whispered something to Diane and she joined
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  him, heading for the rear of the column. You see, Johnny demanded,
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  Starbuck went someplace with Diane. From the looks of it, she was
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  tricked into going with him, mere supposition, said Kellerher. Although I wouldn't
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  trust Starbuck particularly listen, Johnny went on, that girl saved my life.
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  I want to find her. Since you can't try my case until Starbuck is
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  found. Let me look for them. And how do we know you will
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  return my word? Said Johnny, But the look on Kellerhur's face said that
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  would never satisfy him. If the lad promises, and if meanwhile he cannot
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  be tried, began Gilbert. When I want your advice, I'll ask for
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  it. Kellerhurst said curtly. The boy stays here, but he merely wants
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  to find Diane, persisted Gilbert. Enough, if someone thinks to pose me,
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  let him try Meanwhile, I command here the boy stays. He will
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  be considered innocent until we can bring him to trial, but he will not
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  be permitted to leave the encampment. Her life may be in danger, Johnny
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  said grimly. I doubt it. I have given my orders. They don't
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  satisfy me. Johnny told keller Her bluntly. Am I to be regarded as
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  prisoner or member of the community until my trial? You are one of us,
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  a shining one until proven guilty. It is the way of our law.
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  In that case, Johnny informed him, I challenge your right to rule.
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  I would depose you. Even as he spoke the words, Johnny doubted
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  their wisdom. Keller Her was large and powerful. Johnny had recently recovered from
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  the plague and did not feel fully himself. Still, he had to find
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  Diane, and if there was no other way. Keller Her was grinning.
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  Perhaps you do not know what that entails. I'll admit it's primitive. Upon
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  your challenge. We fight not with weapons, Johnny Hope, with our bare
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  hands. Call it a peculiarity of mine. But I prefer brute strength.
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  It is as if civilization, inclosing its book for mankind, has put men
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  like me in its stead. The ballot, the tribunal, the town meeting,
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  all these are sophistications leading ultimately back along the road to civilization. If
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  that means another war, and a worse one, I want no part of
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  it. Small communities living by mean strength, fighting for their existence tooth and
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  nail can't start as civilization growing. The level I want to maintain is physical,
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  brutal, elemental. Knowing that, do you still challenge my right Keller
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  her folded huge muscle arms across his massive chest and stared with scorn at Johnny
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  Well, I was aware of that. The answer is yes. Then we
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  can start making arrangements for the time and place. Would you prefer it on
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  our journey before we reach a new permanent encampment or after we have arrived to
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  set up camp. You still look pale from your time with the plague,
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  my young friend, I prefer it right here, Johnny said, I can't
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  wait right here and right now. The sudden, complete silence was broken by
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  Kelliher's explosive laughter as he unbuckled his weapon belt and let it fall with knife
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  and club to the ground. What do you think, Diane, don't speak
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  to me. I think it was a dirty trick, but I should have
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  expected it from you, and you let Tom Burrwood die too. I couldn't
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  do anything about that, Starbuck protested. I tried. By the time I
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  got through to them, Burwood was already dead. As it is, I
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  saved your life for this. Diane gestured around her scornfully to take in the
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  tiny cubicle aboard the rocket, which they occupied after depositing them within it ten
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  minutes before the robots had ignored them. I'm surprised at you have some patience,
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  Diane. Some day you'll be grateful I took you along. You're young.
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  You have no idea what life could be like in a civilized place,
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  do you. How do you know how the robots treat people? I have
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  heard rumors, we all have, but I'm older than I look. I
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  was a small boy before the war, Diane, But I remember, I
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  remember the luxuries, the comforts you'll see. I ought to kill you,
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  Diane said coldly. Starbuck blanched, I might too, first chance. I
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  get you're so self centered, you're almost inhuman. But maybe I'm dumb enough
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  to think you'll realize you're mistake some day, and two of us will have
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  a better chance of getting away than one. I don't know I ought to
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  kill you, though, I did it for you. I wanted you with
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  me. I couldn't enjoy the life we're going to lead without you. You're
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  a fool, Harry. I can't even hate you. I feel sorry for
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  you. What do the robots do from day to day? You don't even
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  know that. You haven't the slightest idea what you've let us in for.
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  You don't even know for sure where we're going, Starbucks shook his head.
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  You're wrong about that. We're going to the Citadel in New York. We
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  should be arriving in a few minutes. You'll change your mind, Diane.
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  Wait till you see the Citadel. Wait until you've never seen it. You're
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  just guessing. It's more than a guess every rumor I have ever heard,
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  Diane, I want you to share it with me, to learn to love
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  it. With me. You're beautiful. You weren't met for Buckskins. Starbuck
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  fingered, the tattered clothing barely covering her Torso keep away from me. Don't
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  you realize it's just the two of us now and the robots. I'm warning
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  you. Starbuck shrugged and sat down at the other side of the small cubicle.
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  You're frightened now, he said, I've got patience if you haven't,
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  wait and see how the robots will provide for us. Diane shuddered and tried
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  to hide it. Trapped aboard a ship full of robots, she was companion
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  to a madman. Strangely, no thought could comfort her, but the image
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  of Johnny Hope somewhere many miles behind them, a prisoner of kelliherm and the
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  band of Shining Ones. Perhaps, she thought grimly, the madman had for
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  company a mad woman. The Shining Ones were bivouacking, not two miles above
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  the gutted ruins of Hamilton Village. Wood have been stacked for the cook fires,
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  but as yet no spark had been coaxed into flame. Half the tents
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  had been raised tautly about their ridge poles. Others were still to be unpacked.
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  Five hundred strong. The whole group gathered around a natural clearing in the
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  woods, where deft fingered girls were applying grease to keller Her and Johnny Hope.
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  They had stripped to their shorts. Keller Her with his thick, fewed
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  limbs glistening in the fading sunlight, arms folded like some immobile heroic statue,
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  all muscle and sinew carved from granite. Johnny fidgeting waiting for the fight to
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  start. He was surprised at his his own objective lack of fear. He
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  wanted only to start out after Diane, you probably wonder why they'd grease you,
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  Amos Wesler declared. Westler was a small, slim man with close cropped,
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  graying hair and eyes that would twinkle. Johnny thought, even in darkness,
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  he had come to Johnny's corner as a sort of unexpected second to ready
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  him for battle. It's a concession on the part of keller Her, Johnny
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  Hope, he has declared openly, your strength is no match for his.
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  The slicking will make speed and dexterity count for more. Am I supposed to
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  be grateful? The only reason I'm fighting him is because he won't let me
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  seek Diane any other way. She could be in danger right now. Her
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  life might be at stake. Keller her as a fool, and life among
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  the shining Ones has always been an expendable item. Diane's life, your life,
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  even keller hers. What happens if I win? Westler sighed wistfully.
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  You won't. This won't be the first time for kelliherm nor the last.
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  Actually, I hope you do win. Why and you haven't answered my question?
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  Because I've always wanted to leave the encampment, But I'm not a man
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  for the outdoors, Johnny, I wouldn't survive a week with your companionship.
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  I might should you win the fight, and should you decide to seek Diane,
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  I would like to join you. Johnny grasped his hand. Shook it
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  done, he said. Westler smiled, wiping grease on his trousers. To
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  answer your question, if you win, you're the chief of this encampment now,
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  Johnny was smiling. A job I'm not particularly interested in. I only
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  want to, I know, look for the girl. During the excite,
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  something went entirely unnoticed. A rocket ship took off near the ruins of the
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  village. Rockets mean robots and from the citadel. Tell me, Johnny Hope,
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  if the trail leads there, will you follow? Johnny shrugged. I
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  hadn't thought of that. I didn't realize the robots were near. Then you're
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  going to back down. Disappointment was in Westler's expressive eyes. Never I saw
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  New York once I stood on the Jersey Cliffs at sunset and gazed across the
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  broad River at the Citadel with its winking lights and beacons. It's not a
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  place of fear, but a place that men built long ago. I will
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  go again, Amos. Westler sighed. I wish you win this fight,
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  Johnny Hope, I never wish for anything as much in my life. I
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  was a college professor before the war, and I learned this. The for
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  knowledge is a strange thing and knows no fear. But I am no young
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  man, and this may be my last opportunity. Ready, Callerher's voice roared
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  across the clearing. If the girls are finished caressing you with their oils,
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  the girl stepped back, looked at Johnny, tall and lithe but so small
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  compared to Keller Her, and shook their heads. Ready, Johnny said,
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  moving out toward Keller. Her warily his legs. Amos West are confided.
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  He uses them like a pair of arms. Watch them. The grease on
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  his face had been applied too close to his eyes, and Johnny found he
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  had to blink to clear his vision. Kellerher came lumbering across the clearing,
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  gathering momentum. By the time he neared Johnny, he was fairly rocketing down
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  upon him. The muttering of the assembled encampment had been stilled, as if
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  by some unspoken command. There was the sound of Kellerhur's thundering feet and nothing
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  else. Juggernaut thundered close, was almost upon him, great arms outstretched,
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  huge body shining red in the last light of the sun. At the last
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  moment, Johnny side stepped, thrust out his leg, added momentum to kill
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  her with his arms. As he pounded by something struck his leg. There
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  was a loud, bull bellowing cry. Kelliher flipped completely over and sprawled in
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  the dust a dozen feet away. He came up, roaring his rage as
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  Johnny waited, balancing on the balls of his feet. Fists up and ready.
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  Kelliher parried Johnny's left hand when the blow was too long in coming,
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  struck with his own great right fist. Johnny went over on his back and
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  felt keller Heer at his throat almost before he had hit the ground. Now
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  the crowd was churning with excitement, and Johnny found himself thinking they must have
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  smelled blood on the air. Their heavily greased bodies prevented keller Her from applying
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  a stranglehold. Johnny squirmed out from under, straddled the bigger man's back,
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  and felt himself borne aloft, still clinging there as Kellerher climbed to his feet
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  and charged about the clearing Johnny held grimly his forearms circling the thick throat,
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  choking off Kellerher's breath. But the shaggy head twisted broke free. The legs
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  drummed backwards, and Johnny whirled in time to fathom Kellerher's plan. He was
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  going to crush Johnny against the bowl of an oak tree, cracking his ribs
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  and ending the battle at once. Without mirth, Johnny smiled. So intent
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  was keller Her upon his plan he did not bother to hold Johnny on his
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  back. Possibly he thought that was Johnny's intention. Anyway, Johnny leapt away,
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  rolling clear, as keller Her backed into the tree trunk with all the
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  strength of his huge muscles. There was a terrible crunch sound as Kellerher hit
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  the tree and went down as if axed. Groggily. He began to rise,
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  but Johnny was waiting for him, waiting to see if there was any
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  fight left, and the half conscious man. The eyes were watery, the
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  lips slack, the arms twitching. Johnny waited stop. Someone cried, I
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  bring news. At first the encamp had shouted him off, but presently Johnny
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  became aware of loud talking, of angry shouts, of a buzzing as from
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  a sundered hornet's nest, which swept the clearing. He whirled to face the
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  newcomer as Kellerher slumped at his feet, clawing the ground and gasping, I
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  don't surrender, Johnny, Hope, only give me time to catch my wind.
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  And they turned to Johnny Hope, all of them, their new leader,
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  for Kellerher had spoken those words, then fell forward on his face.
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  Three men carried him off to a tent, where two women brought vessels of
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  water. They went looking for the three missing ones. Hope, what can
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  we do? The robots tell us hope what they did once they might do
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  again. Johnny laughed as reaction from his ordeal set in the crowd around him,
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  flies swarming for honey. They hadn't given him a chance in the fight,
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  but now because Kellerher had cracked his own ribs instead of Johnny's, Johnny
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  was their leader. It was a job he neither wanted nor would tolerate.
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  What they're trying to say, Amos, Wesler told him is that they found
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  Tom Burwood not far from here. What about Diane, Johnny demanded, eagerly.
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  No, Diane, no Starbuck. They found Burwood hanging by his neck,
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  dead dead, Johnny said, dazed, Diane, you're not listening to
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  me. Young men, Diane, they didn't find then, As if he
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  suddenly realized he was addressing their new, if bewildered leader, Wesler apologized,
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  I'm sorry. While Berwood's corpse was the only one they found that were shreds
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  of clothing in the undergrowth there, Diane. Possibly, they're not sure,
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  I would say, all indications point to the Robot's citadel. You said you
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  would go, but now that you are a leader, perhaps you've changed your
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  mind. When leadership is thrust upon a man. When an old leader is
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  vanquished, plump Gilbert bubbled effusively. There is a celebration, sir, and
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  there is an edict to be handed down by the new leader. Do he
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  banish Kellerher from the encampment when his condition permits? Do we slay him for
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  you? Do we do whatever you want? Johnny said, irritably. I'm
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  not staying. This is some joke. I have nothing against Tell her,
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  I still have nothing against him. I'm leaving. When Kelliher regains consciousness,
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  when his body heals, you may tell him for me. I did not
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  depose him. He is still your leader. That is clearly impossible, is
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  it I command you in this Kellerher remains on as chief, But tell him
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  this for me. Some day I may call upon him and his people for
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  help. And when I do, you have vision, said Amos Westler,
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  admiration in his voice. When I do, I want no delays. That
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  is my message to your ruler, to keller Her. Is it understood?
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  Gilbert and some of the others nodded. A small intense man Wesler fidgeted about
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  impatiently while the girls returned with thick strips of cloth and scrub the grease from
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  Johnny Hope. I am now a celebrity, he said to Westler, feeling
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  himself briefly as one with these wild people as they gathered around for his advice,
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  preparing a victory banquet over roaring fires. As darkness covered the bivouac area,
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  he munched a savory leg of fowl, slaked his thirst from a moist
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  leather wine bag, the claret stream gushing into his mouth from the spout.
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  You see, Wesser could not hide his disappointment. It is even as I
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  said, you will stay, Johnny grinned at him. Are you tired?
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  Why? No? Tossing a chicken bone into the fire, Johnny went on,
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  and do you know the way to New York in the darkness? No?
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  I think I do. Are you ready to start? Are you serious?
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  Wesler cried, do you mean that, Johnny Hope, Let's go,
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  And, not waiting for an answer, Johnny clapped Gilbert on the back,
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  told him to take charge until Kelleher had recovered, and left the leering with
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  Westler trailing at his heels. The night closed in about them, not quiet
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  but alive, with the sounds of insects, and occasional soft pad padding of
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  small hunting animals. Johnny set a quick mileating pace which made Wesseer's breath wheez
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  in and out of his lungs asthmatically, but the older man did not complain
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  once end of chapter five