Live and Let Drood

few yards away. The creatures seemed bigger and madder and more determined than ever, rising to fill the sky with huge slabs of angry shapes. The armoured Droods defending the perimeter had been pushed back, too, till they were only just outside the Hall. They were hitting the monsters with everything they had, but even the combined clamour of all their weapons was nothing compared to the howls and screams and roars of the massed monsters.
    “According to some short-range scanners the Armourer rigged up for me,” the Sarjeant-at-Arms said tightly, “these creatures give off dangerous radiations and toxic emissions. As if they weren’t ugly enough already. Together, just their presence is enough to overwhelm our poor Earth-normal conditions. The monsters have been pushing the barrier hard, and it can’t stand against them much longer. Soon enough the clearing will be full of those monsters, and we’ll have to fight from inside the Hall.”
    “Could they push the barrier back inside the Hall?” I said. “Push their world’s conditions in here with us?”
    “I don’t know,” said the Sarjeant. “The Hall has all kinds of protections, but most of them don’t seem to work here. As though we’re so far from our own reality that even the laws of physics are different.”
    “Where are the Librarian and Ammonia Vom Acht?” I said.
    “Planning some kind of psychic attack,” said the Sarjeant-at-Arms, making clear what he thought of that idea with a very expressive upraised eyebrow. “It’s a sign of how desperate our situation is that I’ve encouraged them to try. It keeps them out of the way.…”
    “Just how desperate is this situation?” said Molly, peering out the door while tapping one finger idly against her silver torc.
    “We’ve had to ground all our air forces,” said the Sarjeant. “The skies were getting too crowded. All that’s protecting us from death from above are the gun emplacements on the roof. And just like everyone else, they’re running out of ammunition. It’s been centuries since we had to withstand a siege; we’re just not prepared. A lesson for the Future, if there is a Future. Any idea how long it’ll be before the Armourer can fire up Alpha Red Alpha and get us out of this hellhole?”
    “He didn’t say,” I said.
    “Of course he didn’t. He never does.”
    Pushed back by the monsters, their backs set against the front of the Hall, golden-armoured figures stood side by side, firing every kind of gun I’d ever seen. Doing remarkable amounts of damage to the walls of flesh before them, but not enough to stop or even slow them. Vicious steaming fluids fell down to splash across the golden armour, only to fall harmlessly away. The stench drifting in through the doorway was unbelievably vile. I wondered if I should raise the question of the Armageddon Codex with the Sarjeant-at-Arms. He’d noticed I was carrying Oath Breaker, but he hadn’t said anything. I wasn’t looking forward to explaining to him just who had taken the ironwood staff in the first place.
    He didn’t need to know about the Original Traitor for now.
    And then we all jumped and cried out as the shimmering screen slammed back several feet to right inside the hallway. We all fell back from the open doors as harsh air and heavy gravity filled the doorway. The Sarjeant yelled for all the Droods on the perimeter to get back inside, and they lowered their weapons and ran for it. Many of them threw themselves through the open windows, rather than get caught in the crush at the doors. Patrick and Diana each got a chair to stand on and calmly laid down covering fire over the Droods’ heads to discourage the advancing monsters. I looked across at the Regent, who just shook his head sadly.
    “Sorry, Eddie. Lateral thinking and tricks of the trade are fine against my usual enemies, but this is all a bit beyond me.”
    “Ethel?” I said.
    “Yes, Eddie,” the disembodied voice said immediately. “I’m right here.”
    “The elderly gentleman here is my grandfather Arthur. I say he is a Drood in good standing once more, so please be so kind as to grant him his armour again.”
    “Of course, Eddie. What about the other two?”
    I paused. “What do you mean, what about the other two? You mean Patrick and Diana? What about them?”
    “Well, they’re both Droods, too. Do you want me to give them armour, as well?”
    I looked at the Regent and then at Patrick and Diana. And just like that, I knew who