Lee Falk - [Story of the Phantom 14]

by The Assassins (v0. 9) (epub)

  “There’s no money.”

  “No money? Then why did you jump?”

  “Phantom! Phantom!”

  “What’s all this about a ghost?”

  “No! Ghost Who Walks! He came in the night. I could see his face.”

  “Fool! No one sees the Phantom’s face.”

  “The mask. The hood. I saw the Phantom!”

  “If you’re lying, Kali will kill you.”

  “I never lie. Get me aboard.”

  There was the sound of splashing and cursing.

  “Help me up!” another voice called.

  The Phantom moved slowly toward the powerboat, circling it to approach from the opposite side. He could see three men on board, peering out into the gloom.

  “I heard a splash. He’s dived in after us!”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Positive. Look, isn’t that him?”

  “I can’t see—but, yes!”

  “I’ll shoot him.”

  “Hold it,” snapped the first voice. “Kali said there was to be no shooting. Sound attracts police. Come on. We’ve got to use our heads.”

  “What shall we do?”

  “We’ll cut him to ribbons with the propellers of the boat.” The Phantom could hear the sound of the boat engine revving up. He treaded water, realizing he could not get to the side of the craft before it began moving. The propellers were a distinct threat to him. If the Assassins on the boat could locate him, they would certainly run right over him.

  As he thought of this, and tried to plan a counteraction, a bright yellow spotlight blazed in the fog, casting its light in the Phantom’s eyes.

  “There he is!” a voice shouted triumphantly.

  The powerboat engine gunned up, and the Phantom could hear it cutting through the water toward him.

  The Phantom had always been a good swimmer. From his days as a youth in the jungle of Bangalla, he had swum for hours at a time and had practiced underwater diving along with the pygmies of the jungle. He had been known throughout the area for his speed, endurance, and ability to stay underwater for long periods of time.

  Now he gulped in a breath of air and plunged down into the waters of North River, opening his eves underwater to try to make out the powerboat coming toward him on the water’s surface. The three Assassins had left the spotlight turned on, which enabled Mm to see the form of the boat’s , hull as it approached.

  Quickly he squirmed out of his trench coat, which he wore over Ms Phantom suit, and bundled it into a wad in Ms hands. Then he shot upward, finning toward the craft above him with his powerful legs, timing his shot. He reached the propellers at the stern of the boat just as it passed over him, and thrust the trench coat into the blades.

  There was a grinding sound and a great flurry of foam in the water all around him.

  The Phantom swam away, remaining underwater as long as he could. The powerboat was several yards from Mm when he surfaced. The spotlight had been turned in toward the edge of the hull.

  Treading water silently, the Phantom watched the three figures on board. He could hear their voices as they spoke to one another, but he could not distinguish which one was speaking.

  “I tell you, I heard those propellers hit sometMng.”

  “But can you be sure it was the Ghost Who Walks?”

  “What else?”

  “Let’s go back,” said a third voice. “I’ll circle around and maybe we can find proof of his death.”

  “Yes. I would not want to report to Kali our failure and not be able to swear the Ghost Who Walks is now dead.” The Phantom decided that the speaker was the leader of the group and had been the one left aboard the powerboat.

  The craft circled slowly around, the spotlight probing through the mist.

  “Hold up! There! You see it?”

  “Yes! It’s something floating.”

  “Get that grappling pole.”

  “Here. Look. It’s a piece of clothing.”

  “That’s it! The Phantom’s coat! That’s the coat he was wearing over his suit!”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes!”

  “I saw it too. It’s the Ghost Who Walks, all right.”

  “Then the propellers did their work. He’s dead. The Ghost Who Walks is no more!”

  There was excited laughter.

  The Phantom swam quickly toward the craft. “Playful bunch of Assassins,” he mused. “And to think Diana’s in their hands.”

  He could hear the voices continue as he swam.

  “I hate to report to Kali that two sworn Assassins have run like frightened sheep at the sight of a mere man.”

  “But it was the Ghost Who Walks!”

  “We swear it!”

  “Yet he is now dead, killed like any normal man, by the propellers of our powerboat.”

  “Then we are lucky. It was the Phantom.”

  “Very well. We’ll report it that way. I think you’re both chicken-hearted cowards.”

  “You’d have run too, if you’d seen him.”

  “Not me,” snarled the voice of the man who the Phantom knew was their leader.

  With his silent crawl, the Phantom was approaching the hull of the boat. He could see a mooring line hanging down the side of the craft near the stem. He grasped it quietly and again took a breath and lowered himself into the water where he could not be seen.

  “Ill take one more look out there,” said one of the Assassins.

  The spotlight revolved all the way around the boat, shining through the mist and lighting up the quickly flowing current of the river.

  “Okay. He’s not there. He’s sunk to the bottom, I’m sure.” “Let’s go. We’ve got to report that we didn’t get the ransom to Kali.”

  “We must be sure to point out that we have destroyed the Phantom.”

  The engine began throbbing in a higher tone, and the craft moved downstream toward the sea.

  Holding onto the line, the Phantom came up for air, twisting the line around his hands to prevent it from slipping out of his grasp.

  “I’ve got to hang onto this murderous trio and let them lead me to Diana,” he said to himself.

  Where was Diana? he wondered. Obviously many miles from here. Unless the kidnappers had circled back and brought the skyjacked airliner to the United States.

  Highly unlikely.

  The Assassins had spoken of reporting to Kali. Did that mean they were in radio contact with him? Or that he was physically present at the rendezvous toward which they were now headed?

  The Phantom hoped it was the latter.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  When Diana Palmer first awoke, she could not for the life of her remember where she was. Then, as she studied the interior of the airliner and looked through the porthole at the dawning day outside, the memory of the night before flooded back into her consciousness.

  She sat up straight, to find that she had gone to sleep in one of the seats in a reclining position. The aircraft was no longer in flight, but was bobbing up and down on water. She clambered over to the seat next to her and peered outside.

  The plane had landed in a kind of lagoon, with a sparkling white beach beyond and numerous palm trees and thick vines bordering it. The beach was deserted. The terrain rose slightly to a sloping hill, topped with volcanic minerals and some small tropical trees.

  The plane was moored to a wharf built out into the sparkling blue water. Beyond the wharf she could see more beach, and on top of a rocky hill a large structure was built in the shape of an ancient castle. It reminded her of pictures in books she had read at school showing castles the Crusaders had built in the Middle Ages.

  She stood immediately and began to walk down the aisle to the back door of the plane. At the same moment, the door to the cockpit opened, and Kali stepped through. He saw her instantly, and smiled. He was not wearing his hat, but was smoking his ubiquitous cigarette. He seemed untired although she knew he had slept even less than she had.

  “I thought I
heard a stirring out here. Did you have a nice rest, Miss Palmer?”

  “As nice as could reasonably be expected,” she snapped. “Where are we?”

  “We are at our destination, as you can see.”

  “Where is that?”

  Kali smiled. “That would be telling, Miss Palmer. Suffice it to say it is an island and not a continent. I mention this 'merely to warn you in advance that it is quite impossible for you to escape from it.”

  “An island? In the Caribbean?”

  “Not every ocean is contiguous to the American land mass, Miss Palmer,” said Kali softly. “Perhaps yes. Perhaps no. Let us leave it at that.”

  “I promise you that I will try to escape if you continue to try to hold me.”

  “I shall hold you, Miss Palmer, until the ransom is paid for your release,” Kali spoke severely. “There is no escape from this island. I own it. I also own access to and egress from it.” Diana bit her lip. It was obvious that Kali was not lying. “Do you have a summer home here?”

  Kali laughed. “I have all my followers here, Miss Palmer.” “Followers? Are you a—a god of some kind?” Diana couldn’t conceal her sarcasm.

  “Indeed not. There is but one Supreme Being, Miss Palmer.” Kali glowered at her sternly. “However, I am the leader of a large group of people who believe as I do. Let us leave it at that.”

  “What kind of group?”

  “A religious sect.”

  “I don’t believe it. You’re just a cheap crook who’s decided to skyjack a plane and collect ransom for a kidnapping.”

  Kali smiled faintly. “Perhaps that is the way it seems to you, Miss Palmer, but I assure you, there is a great deal more to it than that.”

  “Oh? What?”

  Kali shook his head. “I have no time to talk.” He took her arm. “Come. Let us go ashore. I, for one, am very hungry, and I am sure you must be famished yourself.”

  Diana frowned. “Where are the two men who helped you skyjack the plane?”

  “I have dismissed them. I presume they are in their own quarters ashore.”

  “And the seamen from the boat?”

  “They too have gone ashore to their families.”

  “Then the island is inhabited.”

  “By my followers,” Kali said.

  “If your group is so large, I don’t see why you have to stoop to such underhanded methods of achieving your ends.” “There is always the problem of financial backing,” Kali observed, puffing elegantly on his cigarette. “My actions are simply in response to that rather pressing demand.”

  Diana fumed, but said nothing.

  “Come, let us go eat.”

  There was a gangplank leading from the entrance of the plane to the wharf. Kali led Diana down it, and Diana felt the solid planking of the wharf under her feet. It was the first time she had felt the security of the earth since leaving her mother and uncle so long ago at home.

  She felt a sudden pang. How were they taking this thing? Their steps clattered on the wharf as they crossed it to the sand, and Kali pointed out the hills and the beaches on either side of the wharf.

  “That’s my home,” said Kali a moment later, gesturing toward the castle on the rock.

  “It’s more like a palace,” snorted Diana, trying to get a rise out of her host, but failing.

  “In point of fact, it is a castle. The Moors originally constructed it, but it was rebuilt by the Crusaders when they came through this way in the thirteenth century.”

  “Just who are you?” she asked suddenly.

  Kali laughed. “Henry Kali, in your tongue, my dear.”

  “And in yours?”

  “Sheik-al-Jabal.”

  “You’re Arabic?” Diana asked quickly.

  “Not at all. Those of my sect subscribe to Moorish customs, in part, but we are not a segment of the Muslim faith. We take Arabic names from history. It is simply a way of identifying ourselves.”

  “And you come from what country originally?”

  “That is for me to know and no one else,” Kali intoned.

  They walked along a path that rose from the beach. It was hewn from the rocky outcrop overhanging the ocean. Waves crashed on the rocks below, throwing spume high into the Diana paused a moment to look off across the water. It was a beautiful sight—pure blue water all the way to the hori-, zon and blue sky above. There wasn’t anything in sight, except seagulls wheeling and squawking above them. Except for the sound of the birds, there was an almost pristine silence overhanging the scene.

  “Lovely,” said Diana.

  “Of course.” Kali waved his cigarette in the air.

  They continued on up the pathway until it led them into a courtyard surrounded by large ironwood trees. Tables and chairs had been set out under the trees.

  “We occasionally dine out here,” said Kali, indicating the furniture. “It’s very peaceful.”

  Kali took her across the courtyard to a walk leading around the side of the castle wall. Diana could see seagulls flying around the buttresses of the tower.

  The walk passed another open yard which had a stone wall at least eight feet high built around it. Diana felt her heart leap into her throat. She drew back, gripping Kali’s arm compulsively.

  “No!”

  Kali smiled. “He’s quite harmless, even if I say so.”

  Diana was staring in fright at an enormous gorilla linked to the rock wall by a heavy chain attached to an iron collar around his neck. The beast was staring at Diana with hatred in his eyes, but he did not move.

  “You see, he never moves when I am around.” Kali laughed.

  “Why do you have such a beast?”

  “To keep some people out.” Kali chuckled. “And to keep others in.”

  “To kill your prisoners if they try to escape?” Diana asked lightly, trying to smile.

  “Exactly. One doesn’t need to be subtle with you, does one, Miss Palmer?” He removed Diana’s hand from his arm. Diana was embarrassed and moved away from Kali. “His name is Toto,” Kali told her after a moment.

  At the sound of his name, the big gorilla rose to his feet, pulled at his ponderous chain, and pounded his fists at his breast, uttering a strange lonely bellow.

  “Yes,” said Kali. “You see? He’s glad to see me. Aren’t you, Toto, old boy?”

  Diana cringed. “See you? I think he wants to eat you.”

  “Perhaps,” said Kali. “Well, he will never get the chance.”

  They moved away from Toto, who watched them go with glowering intensity. Diana looked back once and shuddered. The gorilla was eyeing her with disdain, shaking his chains and growling deep in his throat.

  Kali led Diana into the castle through an outside door, and soon they were walking along a dimly lit interior corridor. Steps led down from the corridor, and Kali took Diana’s hand and helped her go down them. They were old-fashioned stone steps that must have been cut for the original structure. Diana was intrigued by the ancient architecture and kept looking up at the niches cut in the wall for the placement of oil lamps and candles.

  There was a smell of dampness and fetid age in the air. Diana shuddered, her fascination with the architecture evaporating instantly. They came out into a narrow corridor, and there, in front of them, stood a door with iron bars on it.

  “In here,” said Kali.

  Diana drew back, her arms raised in defense. “Please! Not in there!”

  “It’s quite clean.” Kali gripped her mercilessly and pulled her along with him. “I can always call my men to help, you know.”

  Diana let herself be led through the door into a room which was actually quite pleasant even though it had almost no furniture and only one large barred window cut high in the stone wall.

  “I have to stay here?”

  “Only until your ransom is paid, Miss Palmer.”

  Diana sat down on the rather comfortable chair, which, along with the bed, were the only articles of furniture in the cell.

  “And what if they
don’t pay?” Diana wondered, thinking of the difficulty her mother and uncle might have in raising all that money in cash.

  Kali removed the dead cigarette butt from his holder and stamped it out on the floor.

  “Then, my dear, you will be destroyed. And so will they.

  All must be destroyed. We don’t want any loose ciuls around.”

  “Not Mom and Uncle Dave, too!”

  “Certainly. We are a very tidy sect. We do things up neatly. No loose ends.” He chuckled.

  CHAPTER NINE

  When the powerboat manned by the three Assassins finally pulled in toward a small jetty in the ghetto section of the city, the Phantom quietly let go of the line, submerged, and swam underwater until he was under the protection of the small ramshackle dock.

  With the engine turned off, the leader of the three leaped onto the jetty and made a line fast to a stanchion.

  The other two clambered to the dock after him.

  “We have to report in at once,” said the leader, whose voice the Phantom was beginning to recognize.

  “Kali will be furious.”

  “It wasn’t our fault. We did our best.”

  “Come on. Let’s stop all this foolish talk and get back to the radio room.”

  The Phantom heard the sound of their steps moving away from the jetty. He pulled himself up onto the jetty and crouched there, watching the three figures as they walked off past the docking area which was littered with broken bottles and tin cans. Beyond it there was an alleyway bordered by wooden fences.

  The Phantom slipped along in the darkness after them, keeping in the shadows and making no sound.

  The man in the lead, who had a shining bald head, was the tallest of the three. He was easily distinguishable from the others. The other two were of similar size, about six feet, one with an old-fashioned butch crewcut, and the other with long curly hair. They all wore tee shirts and slacks for ease in movement.

  One of the three—the one with the crewcut—suddenly halted and turned around, peering into the darkness near where the Phantom had frozen into immobility.

  “I got the funniest idea we’re being followed.”