A knowledgeable spectator would have said that de Bergerac had the advantage of control. He was more erect than Burton. His hand was higher, thus allowing the fort, the strong part of the blade from the bellguard to the middle, to contact and so master the feeble of Burton’s e’pe’e, the weak part, that from the middle to the point.
But Burton brought up his fort and turned the blade and drove de Bergerac’s down and then crossed over and up to run him through his left shoulder. De Bergerac’s face and body turned gray where the powder smoke did not cover it, but he still did not drop his sword. Burton could have killed him then.
Swaying, in shock, de Bergerac yet managed a smile. “The first blood is yours, monsieur. You have won. I acknowledge you as the victor. Nor am I ashamed…”
Burton said, “Let me help you,” and then someone shot off a pistol from the doorway.
De Bergerac pitched forward and fell heavily on his face. A wound in his back close to the lower spine showed where the bullet had entered.
Burton looked at the doorway.
Alice was standing in it, a smoking pistol in her hand.
“My God!” he cried. “You shouldn’t have done that, Alice!”
She came running, the water splashing about her ankles.
Burton knelt down and turned the Frenchman over and then got down on his knees and put the man’s head in his lap.
Alice stopped by him. “What’s the matter? He is an enemy, isn’t he?”
“Yes, but he had just surrendered. Do you know who he is? He’s Cyrano de Bergerac!”
“Oh, my God!”
De Bergerac opened his eyes. He looked up at Alice. “You should have waited to find out the true situation, madame. But then… scarcely anyone ever does.”
The water was rising swiftly, and the deck was rapidly tilting at an angle. At this rate, the water would soon be above de Bergerac’s head.
He closed his eyes, then opened them again.
“Burton?”
Burton said, “Yes.”
“Now I remember. What a… what fools… we’ve been. You must be the Burton whom Clemens spoke of… you … the Ethical picked you?”
“Yes,” Burton said.
“Then… why did we fight? I… didn’t remember… too late … we … should have gone to the tower … the tower . . . together. Now … I …”
Burton bent down to hear the fading voice. “What did you say?”
“… hated war… stupidity…”
Burton thought that de Bergerac had died after that. But a moment later, the Frenchman murmured, “Constance!”
He sighed, and he was gone.
Burton wept.
SECTION 12
The Last 20,000 Miles
39
BURTON AND HARGREAVES, ALONG WITH THE OTHER SURVIvors, had to face the wrath of La Viro. The tall dark man with the big nose raved and ranted for an hour while he strode back and forth before the assembled “criminals.” They stood in front of the smoke-blackened temple, a huge stone structure with incongruous architecture: a Greek portico and Ionian columns with an onion-shaped roof topped by a gigantic carved stone spiral. These features were symbols in the Church of the Second Chance, but, nevertheless, Burton and others thought that the temple was ugly and ludicrous-looki.ng. Oddly enough, the bad taste of La Viro, its designer, helped them endure his tirade. He was right in much of what he said, but much else seemed foolish. However, they were dependent upon him for grails, clothes, and housing. So they did not defend themselves but got some relief from their anger by silently laughing at the hideous temple and the man who’d built it.
At last, La Viro tired of pointing out in vivid detail and imagery how stupid, callous, brutal, murderous, and selfish they were. He threw up his hands and said he was sick of the sight of them. He would retire to the sanctum in the temple and pray for the has of the Virolanders they’d killed. And also, though they didn’t deserve it, for the living and the dead culprits. He turned the survivors over to Frato Fenikso, Brother Phoenix, once.known as Hermann Goring.
Goring said, “You look like deservedly chastened children, and I hope you feel like it. But I don’t have, at this moment, anyway, much hope for you. That’s because of my anger at you. I’ll get over it, and then I’ll do my best to help you change for the better.”