Derek pulled on the black socks, loving the silky feel of them. The brown shoes were fine, smooth, without buckles or zippers, but it was a chore to pull them on.
"...extremely dangerous," said the low barely audible computer voice. "All elders are asked to come to Court. The Prince has asked this. All elders should come to Court if they possibly can, to confer on the matter of these menacing non-humans."
"This is all wrong, what he's saying. They must have done something to Garekyn."
Dertu knelt before him, helping him with the shoes.
"Now put on a sweater, maybe two sweaters," said the boy. "The gloves and scarves are on the bed."
Dertu turned up the volume on the computer.
"Anyone sighting any of these strange non-humans must call us at this number," said Benji Mahmoud. "Remember, a machine will answer you and take the information night or day. To go directly on the air in my absence, press the numeral two on your keypad. Provide your information at the usual level. Be clear and succinct as to where you've seen the non-humans and at what time. It is very important that you include the time. When I come back on the air, I will return your call as soon as I can."
Dertu at once picked up a ballpoint pen from the desk and wrote something on his wrist.
"What are you writing?" asked Derek.
"Never mind."
Derek was in a daze. There was an abrupt crackling sound from the computer. A female voice was speaking: "This is Selena calling in from Hong Kong, Benji. We are all on the alert here but we cannot make it to the Court at this time. Benji, please update us as soon as you can."
Dertu was offering Derek a good thick cashmere sweater. Red. Derek hated the color red, but there was no time. Derek pulled it over his head.
"If you knew how hard it is to craft identities," muttered Derek. "And Roland went back and destroyed my identity. He used to say to me, No one will ever come looking for you. No one will ever seek to find out what happened to you."
Dertu handed him a black coat, a coat as soft as the sweater. This was a man's formal overcoat, exquisitely lined, German made.
"Well, maybe it's not so hard anymore," said the boy. "Maybe it just takes money, and we have plenty of money."
"These things may be even more physically powerful than we realize," Benji Mahmoud was saying. "Garekyn Zweck Brovotkin may have left Los Angeles and we have no clues as of now to his destination."
Dertu put a scarf around his father's neck.
"Clean clothes," said Derek under his breath. He saw himself again in the mirror, restored. He couldn't move. "Clean clothes," he said. "Being warm."
"And we know that the monsters are aware of this broadcast," said Benji Mahmoud through the computer, "and that they are listening to it. Only hours after we broadcast the alert on Garekyn Zweck Brovotkin, Dr. Karen Rhinehart and her companion Welf disappeared from their Geneva apartment. We suspect that Dr. Rhinehart and her companion had been spying on us for some time, and regularly listening to this program was undoubtedly part of it...."
Dertu appeared transfixed staring at the computer.
"...you must be circumspect when you go on the air with your reports. You want to alert your brothers and sisters. You do not want to aid these monsters in any way."
"My God," said Derek. "They are our avowed enemies. They will seek to destroy us on sight! We have become fiends to them as they are to us."
"No, not on sight," murmured Dertu. "They want us to come in."
He put up his finger for quiet.
"I don't believe that," said Derek. "I want to get as far away from them and their kind as I can."
But someone had entered the great stone castle. Again Dertu motioned for quiet. They could hear a heavy uneven tread echoing as in a wooden stairwell, and a faint sound as if the person were singing.
Dertu turned off the volume on the computer. He motioned for Derek to shut the closet door.
"There's no time to do any more work here now," Dertu whispered. "Put on the coat, Father."
Yes, a human male voice singing, singing some pleasant little ditty as the footsteps made their way closer. Dertu gathered up the two leather suitcases, han
ding one off to Derek.