By the Time I Get to Pellax

by Keith Dersley

  - 30 -

  'The snake's not there, but we don't need him, Baas. We just go back the same way,' said Julian. With Venner's help he got the grille out once more and stuck his head and shoulders into the gap. Venner bent down and began to push him through. 'You're not supposed to take those off,' said someone. Venner turned to see one of the ship's security men bearing down on them. 'Only technicians down there, please!' He was a well-built individual who always had a slight smile on his face. Except for now. 'It's my friend who came to my aid,' said Venner. 'He dropped his pipe in the vent. Just wait a second and he'll come back out.' 'No, I can't wait a second. If he's lost something, a technician will fetch it for him.' He crouched down and he and Venner watched the sole of Julian's boot disappearing into the dark. 'He'd better come out,' said the security man, crouching down to glare uselessly into the vent. The chap stood up and reached for the comm pin on his jacket. 'I hate to do this,' said Venner, bringing his right fist up smartly into the man's chin. His head snapped back and the whites of his eyes showed. A string of saliva drooped down, but the guy rebounded, throwing a punch which Venner ducked. He gave the guy another blow in the gut, then two more to the chin. Still groggy from the first blow, the fellow collapsed into a heap. Wasting no more time, Venner slithered into the gap and squinted ahead to see in the gloom the shape of Julian wriggling like a worm. As he crawled, the burrow got smaller, but ahead of him he could see a light and occasionally the moving form of Julian. 'Nearly there, Baas,' he said. 'I am glad you made it.' 'Well, it's Helen and Latonia. I can't leave them back there.' 'Why not, Baas? They seem happy. The real world is this way. We got out of the clutches of the wizards!' Julian climbed out of the crack at the foot of the mountain and when he stepped away Venner could see the glorious sunlit hole that was the exit. After a few more feet of crawling through the dusty dark he saw Julian's grinning face right in front of him. The Hottentot reached down and helped him get his head and one arm through. 'I don't know what happened to the snake, Baas, but we didn't need him after all.' With his foot against the mountain side the Hottentot grabbed Venner's upper arms and pulled. The shock of the South African sun beating on his head made Venner dizzy and exuberant. He looked around and picked up his leather hat which was lying where he had discarded it on the way in. Feeling foolish, he and Julian shook hands and clapped each other on the back then took the road back to Hilldorp. The first thing Venner noticed was that the houses looked different. It was hard to put his finger on it. 'Julian, what is it with the houses? The old vrouw's place is gone.' 'What, Baas? The vrouw Amelia Jubilee lives there, always has,' he said, pointing to an ingenious dwelling made of mud bricks. Venner didn't recall it. It was low, but had been erected over a dug-out. A look through the doorway revealed a dim but comfortable place. The old girl was throwing wood into the stove and she waved at them as they peered through the doorway. 'Where are Helen and Latonia?' asked Venner. 'At home, I think,' said the old woman. He made his way towards the hut where the three of them had had their separate rooms, hoping that it was still there. It was, though it had the door in a different place. Venner decided not to mention this to Julian. The two girls were inside and came rushing to Venner, calling out. Helen was crying with joy. 'We thought Silvera had caught you!' said Helen. 'Silvera?' 'Bad man, Baas, Portugee,' said Julian. 'He can really shoot. You are not his favourite hunter, Baas.' 'What has he got against me?' asked Venner. 'He is helping the Kaffir King, Bausi, the one you took the cattle from.' 'I'd never have left Hilldorp if I knew all these problems would build up in my absence,' said Venner. 'Yes, whether you did it or not, they say you took cattle from the herds of King Bausi, Baas. That alone is death, but he has also been told that you were trying to get some officers of the Royal Regiment, the Bees, to turn against him.' Helen and Latonia were biting their lips. They looked ten years older since he was last in Hilldorp. The three of them got together in Venner's room, along with Julian. Latonia prepared a pot of coffee. 'What did you see in the mountain?' asked Helen. 'We came out through the other end into the corridor of the Tortuga.' Latonia almost dropped the coffee pot. 'You can get back to the ship through the mountain?' 'That's it. That's why I had to return. I couldn't just leave you two here, could I?' Helen looked at him meltingly. 'Well, I've been rocking in my chair,' said Latonia, and I've seen a few things too. You can try it if you like.' 'Ah, I had forgotten about that thing. Does it lead to a way out? If it does, we can all get around it together. You can come too, Julian.' 'Not me, Baas, thank you very much. I would like to look after you all, but I can do it best here in the real world.' 'We could ask the Vrouw Amelia's advice,' said Helen. 'Shall we ask her if she would like to have coffee with us?' said Latonia. 'If you want, I will invite her,' said Julian. He came back with the vrouw Jubilee. The old girl had a book under her arm called Moby Coppernob. 'Welcome back,' she said to Venner, hugging him to her massive chest. She sat at the table and was handed a cup of coffee and a slice of blackberry pie. 'You have been away inside the mountain to find out what you could. You could just have asked me, you know,' she added scoldingly. 'She can tell you anything, she's amazing,' said Helen. 'I could have told you from this,' she said, holding up the battered book 'May I see it?' said Venner. Moby Coppernob was a work of some 400-odd pages, printed in Durban. It was a simple tale of a ne'er-do-well, so far as Venner could see. No author's name was given, nor could Venner find a publication date. Almost pityingly he gave it back to her. Was that her fount of all wisdom? 'You don't think so much of my reading matter?' said the vrouw, laughing merrily. 'I know that this Moby is a naughty boy. A rogue, he is, a skellum. Of course, I never read the story on a Sunday. Do you think it is foolishness?' 'No, not at all. I'm sure it gives you hours of reading pleasure,' said Venner. 'Well, the tale of Moby is wonderful for me to read with the lamp when I can't get to sleep, but I also find in here things that are important to other people. Answers.' 'Why don't you just look into the coffee grounds?' said Latonia. 'That would do just as well, now that you mention it,' said the old woman. 'Get her to ask the book about what you can do, Baas, to save yourself from the assegais of the King's men.' 'It's just fortune telling though, isn't it?' said Venner. 'Of course,' said Julian. 'Fortune and fate. Isn't that the point of it all?' 'Do you put your faith in her?' 'As much as in the yellow snake.' That was enough for Venner. 'All right Amelia,' he said, 'would you please ask your book a question for me?' ' Of course, Lupo. But first get pen and ink and write your question down.' Venner scrawled it on a piece of paper: How can I escape the spear points of the King's men and the other problems I have come back to? The old woman looked at the paper and shrugged. 'All righty.' She took Moby Coppernob off the table and ruffled the pages. She handed it to Venner. 'Choose a page.' Venner ruffled the pages and chose one towards the end of the story. The old woman reached into the bosom of her capacious brown dress and brought out a pair of dice. 'Now throw the dice.' Venner threw a a six and a four. The old woman took a pencil and circled the first letter on the page. She then went on counting every tenth letter and circling it. When she had a word she got Venner to pick another page and throw the dice. In all, she went through this process six times. The vrouw had been writing completed words on the scrap of paper. At last she read it out: ' SAFE HARBOUR IN VITBURG NEVER RETURN' 'I thought so,' said Julian. 'Where's Vitburg?' ' Two days west from here if we take the wagon, Baas. Good hunting, none of your enemies will know you are there. You won't have to worry about Silvera or the King.' 'You know the main thing that the message means though?' said the old woman. 'Pretty clear, isn't it?' said Venner. 'Stay away from Hilldorp.' 'No. The 'NEVER RETURN' part means you must give up your searches into the mountain and you, Latonia, must make no more journeys on the rocking chair.' 'We can have a quiet life and a long one, so long as we give up the world we came from?' said Latonia. 'That's it all right,' said Julian.

  - 31 -

  'What about this Silvera character?' said Venner. 'He came here while you were away,' said Latonia. 'A good-looking guy, b
ut evil. Vile,' said Helen with a shudder. 'The worst white man I know,' said Julian. 'What can he have against me?' 'Nothing personal, Baas, but he helps King Bausi because the King gives him cattle and women.' 'There have been a few signs that the program is breaking down while you were away,' whispered Latonia. 'Such as?' 'A Wells Fargo stagecoach rolled through the centre of Hilldorp.' 'Really? Did it cause any comment?' 'No, everybody went about their business. It could have been a hay wagon passing by.' 'Anything else?' asked Venner. 'Yes,' said Latonia, 'a talleyman arrived with a sack on his back, offering computer wristwatches. They must have a real time warp in the programming. Several of the Boers examined the watches, but said they were too expensive.' 'Did you look at one?' 'I did, and I bought it. But I left it on the bedside table and in the morning it was gone.' 'He also had a catalogue,' said Helen. 'I was looking through. It offered home replicators.' 'I don't know how long we're going to be stuck here, but one of those could be worth sending for. Did you keep a copy of the catalogue?' asked Venner. 'I never thought of that, I was forgetting Latonia would find it valuable in her work on the rocking chair.' 'Assuming the stuff would arrive, I might have been able to make a real jump forward,' said Latonia. 'Of course, the batteries I've got here would never be enough for a replicator, and I would then somehow have to put a massive generator together too.' 'Well, if you managed it there would be plenty of strong-armed Boers to work the handle,' said Venner. 'Where is your rocking chair?' he asked Latonia. She nodded to Helen and before he could offer to help, the two girls went into Latonia's room and brought it out. Latonia went back for the relay of wires, switches, and valves that she had put together and plugged it into a socket on the leg of the rocker. 'Try it,' she said to Venner. He got onto the thing and they all stood in a row against the far wall of the room, looking at him. 'It may flicker, but it's safe,' said Helen. 'No one's been lost on it yet,' said Latonia. Slowly Venner began to rock. The legs and struts of the chair were of thin dark wood highly polished and he was afraid his weight might be too much. But soon he was rocking away like a veteran and the room began to spin. He lifted up from the ground, and looking down he saw his friends still gazing at the spot where the chair had been. He left the air over Hilldorp, then left the atmosphere and shot into what he thought was the blackness of space, though he had no difficulty breathing and saw no stars. As he looked down he could see the Tortuga. The chair responded as he leaned over to one side or backwards or forwards. Before he knew it he was flying above and parallel to the starliner. He let himself rock backwards and down and with no sensation of a crash he penetrated the roof and found himself over a walkway leading to the bridge. He knew this part of the ship quite well. He was up towards the ceiling. Beginning to master the principles of flying, all he had to do was settle back and push the arms of the chair outwards and hold it and he would hang there motionless, getting an eyeful. Commander Billy Flax was on the bridge. Everything was going well and there was nothing there for Venner. He had more curiosity about the Holodream Suite. As soon as thinking about it he found himself gliding towards deck fourteen over the heads of numerous passengers and crew, none of whom were aware of his presence. He got to the foyer of the Holodream Suite and glided inside to find a half-dozen geeks at work in front of triple- and quadruple-screens, manipulating diagnostic programs. They appeared to be ready to tear their hair out. As Venner angled himself to get in close to overhear their talk and attempt to communicate with them, the rocker began to wobble. The wooden struts and joints began to creak and complain. The thing lurched to one side and he was almost thrown out. Someone was twisting his right upper arm in a painful grip and the next second he was thrown down onto the hardened dirt floor of the house that he shared with Helen and Latonia. 'Hernan, don't be a fool!' shouted the old vrouw. Shaking his head and feeling nauseated, Venner could tell immediately that Hernan, whom he had never seen before, was going to make as big a fool of himself as he could. The burly voortrekker with rolled-up sleeves and a flowing moustache that eclipsed the unruly expanse of his gingerish beard, was circling around Venner. He pulled a knife and waved it, taunting the Englishman. There were shouts from a mob hovering outside: 'How long do you think you can spy on us unmolested, you dirty agents of the British Queen? Put two and two together! We are not for mocking! Get out, go to Vitburg!' 'Best play fair with the Baas, Mr Hernan!' shouted Julian. He took a walking stick from a hook on the wall and rushed at the man, cracking his right hand with the curved end of the stick. The blade dropped to the floor and Julian grabbed it. Frustrated at the loss of his weapon, the Boer threw himself onto Venner, raining blows from fists which were perhaps smaller than hams. Some aspects of the Holodream Suite would need modification once this was all over, thought Venner. They had to make it so that Hernan's fists for example were a more reasonable size. The chunky Dutchman had his green eyes concentrated on the face of Venner and it would have been suicidal to look away. Again and again the nimble brute would bounce forward with his fists up and rain down lefts and swing piledriving rights up from he floor so fast that Venner felt his ribcage bruising and his face swelling minute by minute. As all the overdeveloped software and hardware of the Holodream Suite had capabilities far beyond the wit and physical strength of any one man, Venner decided he would be an idiot to abide by worn-out concepts of fair play while he was caught in the clockwork. This became all the clearer to him when he saw that the few blows he himself was able to land were a matter of indifference to the athletic Boer. 'Julian, can you help me?' he shouted. 'I was thinking of it, Baas,' said the Hottentot. 'We do not have to treat him too decent, you know.' Julian went over to the stove and got a copper pot full of hot water. He threw the water over Hernan who shrieked and lost all interest in Venner. He bore down on Julian but the Hottentot pulled a large black revolver that gave out a resounding click as he cocked it. Bellowing something about a dirty yellow monkey, Hernan left through the back door. Venner went to the front doorway and looked out. Standing under the shade of a spreading banyan was a group of surly Boers in high boots, broad hats and long jackets. He saw rifles and a pistol belt or two. 'Let us get out the back way, Baas,' said Julian. This excellent idea proved impossible. The vrouw, agreeing with Julian's suggestion with a broad grin, covered the distance from the stove to the back door in a second and opened the door, but there were fellows out there too. 'Come out. old vrouw,' they said. 'You will get to stink like the spies themselves.' 'Where did you go to on the rocker?' asked Latonia. 'The Tortuga,' 'I thought so. That means that anything from the Holodream Suite will be tugged along in the wake of the starliner. Physically we've never really left the ship, of course. If I can get back to the controls I may be able to work from that side to get the rest of you out.' 'Charge it up then, ' said Venner. 'We'll make sure Hernan doesn't reappear to drag you out of it.' He shook his head thinking of that nauseating experience. 'I'll need to be the one to get out of here and manipulate the control boards of the Holodream Suite,' said Latonia, 'but the chair is big enough for two at a squeeze. So if you and I can get through I'll be able to do my stuff from that end and get Helen out with no trouble whatsoever.' 'No, I can't get out and leave Helen here,' said Venner. 'Helen, you get aboard with Tonia. I'll stay and take my chances. 'I've got Julian.' Seeing that Venner was in no mood to argue, Helen agreed, though hating herself for it. 'I suppose it's better two get out than one,' she muttered, though she would have preferred that the future king had a chance. 'Even that way is chancy, Miss,' said Julian. Shots rang out and the walls of the house rang with the dull thud of lead. A bullet flew through the window and smashed a picture on the wall. 'If what I'm afraid of is really happening,' said Latonia, 'the whole game is speeding up. As all three of us are still in this scenario, the software is creating heavier doses of every experience in order to give satisfaction. And as Drax, or whoever, has wiped the safety controls, some of them are getting too tasty for comfort.' So Latonia sat in the chair while Helen climbed on. Helen put part of her weight on the other girl's lap and
part on the arm of the chair. As the others watched, the rocking became pendulum-like. Helen seemed to be getting dizzy from this mechanical rhythm, and she stared around the room as if ready to leap off again as Latonia adjusted a dial on the arm of the chair. 'Good luck, girls!' said Venner as, with a last tremor, the rocking chair and its passengers disappeared from view. Bullets were still flying and from the shouts and curses there were more Boers gathering outside. 'Amelia, you must leave. They won't harm you,' said Venner. The old vrouw nodded sadly. She went to the doorpost, raised her hand to her lips, and blew him a kiss before going. Venner peered out behind a curtain and watched her walk through the throng of armed men and women unharmed. 'They look at me and they see you, Baas, so don't ask me to go out there,' said Julian. Venner picked up a pistol from the dresser beside the kitchen stove, the brother of the one that Julian had waved at Hernan earlier. 'The best chance is out the back way, as you suggested earlier, old lad,' he said, annoyed at his trembling voice. 'Yes, my Baasi. But wait one second.' The Hottentot opened opened a door low down on a massive cupboard and produced a cardboard box. Out came a pile of all kinds of fireworks: Mount Etnas, Cannons, Catherine Wheels, Devil Rockets, and so on. Julian grabbed a box of matches from the table and gestured to Venner. The two of them crouched under the open window and lit a number of fireworks. 'We'll throw them all out at those skellums in the front as a diversion then get out through the back door,' said the Hottentot. This they did, and as they exited through the back there were only three men idly standing there, talking to each other rather than watching for the 'English agents' to come out. The two fugitives did not need to fire their pistols, but when one man threw a curse at them Julian swiped at him with his gun barrel. He went down with a shriek.