'Where is Charles?' asked Wilfred. 'At this rate we shall probably need him soon.'
'I saw him go to the puushtaal,' said Veldo. 'But that was some time ago.'
The team exchanged worried glances.
'Come on,' said Wilfred, and they headed for the dark and primitive Venusian latrines.
'All empty,' reported the Captain of Ships.
'Look, the door!'
Previously locked and barred, the heavy wooden back door to their pavilion now stood open, revealing a deserted stretch of the palace battlements.
'The no-good blighter's done a runner. I might have guessed!'
'That servant must have left it open for him. Do we follow?'
'No, you'd best go back; they might need you shortly. I'll see if I can find him.'
There was nowhere obvious for a man to hide on the open battlements but peering over them, Wilfred discovered a lower courtyard shielded from prying eyes by high walls. It appeared to be a private landing ground, for in it hovered a beautiful, gleaming spindle of polished bronze, perhaps sixty feet long, with glowing bluish vapour already issuing from its sides. Bunty's ship! Although quite unlike other Venusian spacecraft, it seemed oddly familiar until he remembered the tiny, half-buried vessel they had discovered in the shadow of the tower. This must surely be its twin. Bags and suitcases lay piled around its open door, but there seemed to be no-one about until, from somewhere beneath his feet, Bunty appeared. Casually dressed in a shirt and slacks she was wearing no fewer than three bejewelled tiaras with another around her neck. Close behind came Charles, struggling to control a heavy wheelbarrow, its contents glinting with gold and silver. On his head was a golden crown of Byzantine opulence.
Wilfred looked around for the way down but could see no steps close by. He took out his pistol and aimed it squarely at his errant team-mate. 'Why if it isn't Captain Blood,' he said. 'Running away again I see. You seem to make a habit of it.'
Charles looked up and scowled. 'You're becoming a nuisance, Carstairs. And I can hardly be accused of stealing my own wife's property. Thrashed you already, have they?'
'No. We need twenty to win, but we can't do it without you.'
'Really? Well that's a shame because we're just about to leave. Good luck, and give our love to Mummy.'
A great roar went up in the amphitheatre, and Wilfred knew that another wicket had fallen. Turning his pistol on one of the bags by the ship, he fired, causing it to explode in a brief burst of flame.
'That was my underwear!' cried Bunty, scandalised. 'Why did you do that?'
Wilfred ignored her. 'I think we'll make it your crown next, oh King. Unless you'd prefer to accompany me back to the match.'
'You're bluffing,' sneered Charles. 'I'm no use to you dead.'
'All right then, I'll put a few holes in your pretty ship. How about that?'
The fugitives exchanged glances.
'Why don't you come with us?' suggested Bunty hastily. 'We can probably manage the four of you at a pinch, can't we darling?'
'And what about Daphne and Veleema?'
'You might as well forget them,' said Charles brutally. 'If they've gone to Iyx, they won't be coming out.'
'Why not?'
'Because there's no way out. They'll be there until they die. They might have preferred the jalaapa.'
Wilfred suddenly felt sick. Was such a thing possible? But recalling how his brave and proud Veleema had nearly fainted at their sentence, he realised it was probably true. And this misbegotten fellow with his ridiculous wheelbarrow full of baubles must have known all the time. In a red mist of anger he set the pistol to full power and aimed it at the ship.
But even as he began to squeeze the trigger something made him glance upwards. At first he thought it was a flock of birds, but they quickly resolved into a veritable swarm of hakijukid, all seeming to converge on where he stood. Beneath him in the town he saw that every street had acquired a moving thread of silver-grey bodies, each joining a single mighty horde that streamed uphill towards the palace. Others were even now arriving from ships on the landing field and canoes on the shore.
In moments the hakijukid were circling and hovering directly overhead. But almost drowning the steamy hiss of their engines and the cries of alarm from within the amphitheatre there now arose on all sides the sound of countless voices chanting in unison: 'Vinapoo Voorni! Vinapoo Voorni!' The thaalid had come for their own.
Chapter 26
Wilfred heard a shout behind him. It was Tuuntu Haramu, his chest heaving with the unfamiliar effort of running.
'You must come quickly,' he said, and was engulfed in dazzling blue-white light.
Half-deafened by the whine of a million mosquitos, Wilfred turned back to Bunty's ship, but the courtyard below was empty, save only for a capsized wheelbarrow, spilling gold. Such was its speed that the little vessel was not even a speck in the distance, though he fancied he could see where it had burst through the black and louring cloud. Then it began to rain.
Back in the arena they found pandemonium. Several hakijukid had landed on what minutes before had been a cricket pitch, and thaalid were pouring down their landing ramps. A few of the palace guard attempted to challenge them but most fled, throwing away their weapons and mingling with the hundreds of terrified spectators. Desperate to get out, they found themselves fighting against a great press of chanting thaalid, eager to get in. Adding to the chaos, several captive kritid had somehow got loose and were indiscriminately scooping up man and thaal alike, shaking them as a dog might shake a rat before engulfing them whole. Wilfred shot one dead before his attention was caught by Agnes, waving her medicine stick. Beside her was Loris Loriji.
'Well met my friend!' cried the High Tuun as they clasped hands.
'Please, we must hasten,' implored the Tuuntu.
The other Earthlings and Veldo appeared and together they forced their way among the tight-packed thaalid crowding upwards towards the heart of the palace. At the last moment, however, the Tuuntu turned aside, throwing open a small and unremarkable door.
'Do not let them see us enter,' he cautioned. 'They would only get in the way.'
A bronze receptacle stood at the entrance, filled with freshly cut foliage. Each taking a branch or two they hurried down many steep flights of steps and along narrow passages until they arrived in a kind of domed vault, far below ground. Concentric rings of worn flagstones radiated from a dark hole at its centre. An old woman was emptying a basketful of paan down it. She looked up in astonishment at the invaders and fled.
'To give the prisoners food and clothing is believed to bring good fortune,' explained the Tuuntu. 'It is well, for they receive nothing else.'
Gagging on a rising exhalation of foul air, Wilfred peered into the inky blackness. 'Do you mean to tell me the Voorni and Migraani are down there?'
'Yes, it is Iyx.'
Wincing in pain, Freddy fell to his knees beside the hole. 'Veleema!' he shouted. 'Daphne! Are you there?'
No answer came, although Wilfred fancied he could hear a faraway twittering, as of small birds. 'How deep is it?' he asked.
'That is unknown,' said the Tuuntu. 'I have sent for a rope.'
'Is that how one normally enters, down a rope?' frowned the Professor.
'No, the entrance is behind you.'
They all turned to gaze at an inky shadow in a corner of the room.
'Then what are we waiting for?' demanded Freddy.
'Would it were so easy,' sighed the Tuuntu. 'You can readily enter but you cannot leave.'
'Why?' asked Simms. 'If you can go in, you must be able to come out.'
'I cannot explain, but it is so.'
Two thaalid arrived with a great coil of rope. Attaching it to a convenient pillar, they knotted the old woman's abandoned basket to the free end and fed it into the hole. Many yards were paid out before it went slack, suggesting it had touched the bottom. After some anxious moments, there was more of the odd twittering that Wilfred had heard, but loud
er.
'That doesn't sound like human voices,' said the Professor. 'Are there creatures of some sort down there?'
'I am not aware of any. It is the sound of Iyx.'
Suddenly there came a distinct tug on the rope.
'Ah, a bite,' said Freddy with relief.
'It may not be the Voorni,' cautioned the Tuuntu. 'Many are condemned each year.'
'Well whoever it is, let's have 'em up and see what we've got.'
The Tuuntu called down instructions and they began tentatively to haul on the rope. After a few moments there came a faint cry, followed by what might have been a thud.
'This won't do,' said Wilfred impatiently. 'How do we know they aren't sick or too frightened to do as we ask? I'm going down there.'
'That would be unwise.'
'Well I'm going anyway.'
'I will come with you,' said Veldo.
Wilfred shook his head. It would be foolish to risk more than one of us. Besides, we'll need your strength to haul on the rope.' Then to avoid further argument he stepped sharply through the doorway leading from the vault.
A narrow passage curved away to the right, but after only a few yards it terminated in an apparent dead end. Peering doubtfully about, he could see no means to continue and was contemplating turning back when with a dry, rasping sound the floor began to move, throwing him violently sideways. At the same time, the passage behind him disappeared, to be replaced by swiftly moving stone. Crying out in alarm, Wilfred could not prevent himself from tumbling head over heels as the ceiling became the floor and the floor the ceiling before whatever infernal engine he'd stepped into came to an abrupt halt. Another passage had opened up, and scrambling to his feet he lost no time in hurling himself into it, fearing that the thing might start moving again. He was still feeling a little stunned when Freddy appeared, his legs up the wall and a comical look of surprise on his face.
'Uncle, you're a damned fool!' chided Wilfred. 'What did you want to do that for?'
'You never know, you might need help,' said Freddy. 'Look, I've borrowed Veldo's sword.'
'There's no reason to expect trouble.'
'You don't know that. There could be someone half-mad here. And what about those noises?'
'Weird acoustics probably.'
They turned to examine the means of their arrival.
'I should imagine it's a sort of stone Ferris wheel,' said Wilfred. 'If anyone steps into one of its compartments, their weight brings them to the bottom.'
Freddy nodded. 'And no obvious way back. What sort of twisted mind would think of such a thing?'
'After encountering that monstrous woman you scarcely need ask. It's easy to see why their dynasty has lasted for so long.'
They made their way cautiously down the steeply sloping passage until it gave into what appeared to be a natural cavern. Dripping stalactites hung from the ceiling, some matched by their counterparts on the floor.
Freddy shivered. 'Damnably cold down here. I'd almost forgotten what it feels like. Surprisingly light though.'
'I think it's something growing on the walls. Thank the Fates for Venusian plant life. Left or right?
'Left I think. No, listen!'
They paused, peering around them.
'In that side tunnel,' whispered Freddy. 'I'd swear I saw something move.'
'You're right.'
Taking out his pistol, Wilfred advanced a few yards into the tunnel. 'Veleema? Is anybody there?'
There was a sudden, hostile-sounding hiss and he beat a hasty retreat.
'What was it?'
'Not sure. Anthropoid, naked, hairy. It was holding something, perhaps an infant. There might have been others.'
'Great Scott!'
'I don't care for this.'
They continued warily onwards, eventually entering a lofty space where several tunnels met. In the centre dangled their rope and basket.
'Theseus was never so relieved,' said Freddy. 'But where next?
'Up here,' said a whispered voice.
'Daphne?'
'Yes, above you, on this ledge. I could hear you all along but was afraid to answer.'
'Where's your mother?'
'She's here too. She's not well.'
'They scrambled up to a tiny shelf of rock several feet above the floor of the cavern. Veleema was lying huddled against the wall.
Wilfred, is that you? I can't seem to see. Why did you come? You shouldn't have come. Who is that? Freddy? Oh what fools you are.' She sounded half delirious and her voice was very weak.
Wilfred took her gently in his arms, a great wave of relief and tenderness surging through him. 'Shush, shush,' he said. 'You'll be all right now. We've come to get you out.'
'There are creatures here,' said Daphne. 'They attacked us. One of them stabbed her with this. I think it's a bit of bone. I grabbed it and they ran off. They take all the food. We've scarcely eaten for days.'
Freddy examined the sharply pointed weapon, then passed it to Wilfred.
They exchanged horrified glances.
'Where are the other prisoners?' asked Wilfred, but he already knew the answer.
'We haven't seen anyone else,' said Daphne. 'There's no-one here but us, and those . . . things.'
'I fear them. I fear them so,' murmured Veleema, stirring restlessly.
'She's been like that for hours.'
'Right, this is what we're going to do,' said Wilfred briskly. 'I'm going to take you up on that rope, one at a time.'
He was interrupted by a call from above. It was Veldo. 'Wilfred, are you there?'
'Yes, we're here,' shouted Wilfred. 'I'm going to bring the Migraani up. Get ready to haul when I tug on the rope.'
'I'm not sure that's such a good idea just at the moment,' said Freddy.
Large numbers of the strange creatures had suddenly arrived from all directions and were gathering in the centre of the chamber, some gazing at where the rope disappeared into darkness and others peering into the empty basket. A few looked speculatively up at the watchers on the ledge. Whatever they were, they were not human. Their eyes were mere dots that seemed to glow red in the semi-darkness, while their mouths were sphincter-like holes, perfectly circular, and their noses two vertical slits in their peculiarly flat faces. None was more than four feet tall. Wilfred guessed it was the sound of Veldo's voice that had attracted them. It seemed likely that for uncounted years they'd been the beneficiaries of the unsuspecting townsfolk's generosity, with the occasional human prisoner providing a welcome supplement to their diet.
'What do we do now?' asked Freddy.
'I'll make things a bit warm for them,' said Wilfred. 'We've only got to hold them back for an hour or so.' He adjusted the ray pistol and swept the horde below with a hot, diffuse beam. With much squeaking and twittering there was a general stampede for the side tunnels where they huddled together, gazing out. He passed the weapon to Freddy. 'Here, take this and keep us covered. If they make trouble, tighten the beam and fry a few of them. Fry the lot, if necessary. Veleema, I'm going to pick you up now. Don't be afraid.'
'No,' said Daphne, moving between them.
'What do you mean, no?'
'You must take me first.'
Wilfred gazed at her incredulously. 'Your mother is sick! Don't you care? We have to get her out of here. I'll be back for you soon enough.'
'I'm the Voorni — you must take me first,' said Daphne stubbornly.
'She is right,' whispered Veleema. 'You must do as she says.'
Wilfred tried to lift her anyway but she gripped his sleeve with sudden strength and vehemently shook her head. 'Please, you must listen. Do you want me to die in vain? I do not think I can stand in any case. Remember only that I love you and always will. Now kiss me and begone.'
Wilfred glanced at Daphne, whose expression was as cold as the air in the cavern.
'Don't mind me,' she said sourly. 'I know what you did in the rain.'
A stone was thrown at them, bouncing off the wall.
&nb
sp; Aiming in the general direction of the thrower, Freddy fired. There came a brief scream and the stench of burning flesh. Several of the creatures immediately pounced on the body and dragged it away. 'Whomever you take, I'd advise you to hurry,' he said. 'I don't like the look of this at all.'
They stood on the rope at the centre of the cavern.
'Place your feet in the middle of the loop,' said Wilfred curtly. 'I'll place mine on either side. Hold tight to me and don't look down.' He hated her now, and couldn't keep it out of his voice. He tugged on the rope and they began slowly and jerkily to rise towards the roof of the cavern. He was deeply unsure as to what they would find. Their case was akin to ascending into a dark chimney of unknown shape and diameter. It might well have twists and turns, and he remembered with a stab of fear that it had not been possible to see the glow of the cavern from above. His only comfort was that a fairly large basket had successfully passed downwards.
After what seemed an inordinately long time, they began to pass into the chimney itself. They were, he estimated, some forty feet above the cavern floor. Suddenly Daphne gasped as they dropped an inch or two to hang slowly rotating. Briefly alarmed, Wilfred remembered that the rope was made up of several shorter lengths. Probably a knot had taken up. He hoped whoever was responsible for them knew how to tie one correctly. It seemed unlikely that any Venusian did.
'Are you all right, Mr Carstairs?' This time it was the Tuuntu.
'Yes, I think so.'
'We have much rope here. You are close now, I think,' grunted Veldo, who seemed to be doing most of the hauling.
It was good to hear them, but there was still only blackness above and he was concerned about what was happening in the cavern. There seemed to be a great deal of twittering and pattering about and the ray pistol flashed again. He contemplated calling down but thought better of it.
'My back is against the rock,' complained Daphne. 'It hurts!'
With difficulty, Wilfred swung them around until he had taken her place. They were no longer dangling freely but dragging against one side of the chimney. He could feel Daphne's weight against him and numerous small projections raking his flesh. Veldo's steady grunting was now augmented by that of others and he became aware of the rope rubbing against some solid object, probably the lip of the feeding hole. Would it fray? It had to be good for two further trips, possibly three. He wished now that he'd made them set up some sort of block and tackle, or even a windlass. At last he could see shadowy faces above, but almost at the same moment his shoulders encountered hard rock.
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