Weird Space 2: Satan's Reach (5 page)

He felt something stab his right bicep and seconds later released his hold on Zeela and slumped to the jungle floor.

H
E CAME AWAKE
suddenly, and his first thought was for Zeela. He must have murmured her name. She replied, “I’m here.”

He turned sluggishly, the alien drug retarding his movements. The girl was lying a metre away. He reached out a hand and she gripped it.

“Where are we?”

She smiled at him with infinite sadness. “In the Ajantans’ underground lair.”

“Ah...”

He blinked and his eyes adjusted to the gloom. Ten metres away was a glowing insect, its light illuminating a small cavern. Here and there in the concave rock wall were dark patches which he guessed must be exits. As his vision adjusted to the half-light he made out perhaps twenty human figures lying around the cavern. Immediately to his left was his old friend, the adipose crone.

He sat up, massaging his shoulder where the dart had impacted. “We’ve got to–”

Zeela said, “They have armed guards on all the tunnels leading from here. Earlier I tried to find a way out.”

He touched his left arm, alarmed. His wrist-com was missing.

“What?” Zeela asked.

He told her.

She squeezed his hand. “I knew it would end like this.”

He shook her. “It hasn’t ended, just yet. The Ajantans’ are small. I could easily overcome...”

“They guard the tunnels in groups of three. And they are armed. You wouldn’t stand a chance.”

They fell silent, each staring at the mossy floor. At least there was no sign, yet, of their tormentors. That horror was to come.

A few minutes later Zeela said in a small voice, “And I thought I was doing the right thing when I followed Rasnic from The Rat and Corpse.”

He smiled. “You were. You were very brave.”

She smiled in return. “I kept to the shadows and followed him to the Ajantan quarter. He had you on his back. Your hat fell off... I considered stopping to pick it up, but feared he’d get away. From a distance I saw him bartering with the Ajantan bargee. Money changed hands, but not before Rasnic went through your pockets and stole the notes he had given you, and something else.”

“My data-pin.”

“Then he dumped you in the barge and walked away, whistling at a job well done.”

“I wonder if that was his motive all along? He lured me to Ajanta with the spurious order of a steamboat engine, but meant to sell me to the green men?”

“Of course. And once you were as good as dead he’d steal your starship and whatever goods he’d ordered. It is a well known fact that Rasnic bribes the ’port officials.”

“Oh, how I’d like to get even with him, one day.”

“That’s what I thought,” Zeela said, “so I followed him.”

He stared at her. “You what?”

“I followed him. The barge was not due to set off until midnight, and anyway it travels so slowly that I’d catch it up in no time. I followed him to his house on Pie-Maker Row. He was still drunk, weaving this way and that, and as he passed into the shadows between glowbugs I seized my opportunity. I tripped the ape and he fell like a dead man, and before he could stop me I went through his pockets.”

She reached into a pouch in her dress and came out with a bundle of soggy notes. She passed them to Harper, and he took them with a smile. “I applaud your resourcefulness, Zeela. I don’t know what to say.”

“They’re a little wet, but I thought they’d dry out. Oh, and this...” she went on, withdrawing his data-pin and passing it to him. “Not that it will be of any use, now.”

He held the pin up before his eyes, then smiled at the girl. “You are,” he said, “a marvel.”

She blinked. “I am?”

“Look at it,” he said. “An effective weapon, no? A sharp needle as long as my hand... I’m sure I could surprise an Ajantan or two when they show themselves.”

She smiled, and he thought her expression was almost one of pity.

He looked up as something moved at the far end of the chamber. Three bobbing Ajantans entered and crossed to the closest comatose human. Two of the creatures stooped and gripped an old man’s arms and legs while the third, weapon poised, passed a gaze around the cavern.

If I acted now
, Harper thought... But the trio was too far away. The armed guard would fire long before Harper closed the distance. But perhaps if he positioned himself closer to the exit, beside the humans, and played dead until the aliens returned for their next victim...

“They’re taking them to what they call their pleasure chamber,” Zeela whispered, “a vast cavern many times the size of this one, further underground. Perhaps if we move to the back of the chamber...”

“I was thinking the exact opposite,” he said, and explained his reasoning. “Stay here while I...”

Her eyes flared with anger. “I will come with you!”

He climbed unsteadily to his feet. He was aware of the beating of his heart as he crossed the chamber to where half a dozen men and women, in various stages of torpor, lay side by side.

He positioned himself next to the opening and sat down against the rock, Zeela folding herself beside him.

Minutes passed. Harper willed the green men to show themselves. He wanted to be active, anything but this passive dwelling on what might happen if his plan of action failed.

“One thing...” Zeela said.

“Yes?”

She looked at him. “In The Rat and Corpse, you knew my name. But I had not told you it.”

He considered lying to her, saying that he’d overheard a member of the audience mention her name in appreciation. Instead he said, “It’s a long story, Zeela, but I am telepathic. Don’t worry,” he said quickly, “I can’t read you now. My ability needs to be...” Instinctively he reached into his pocket, and smiled as his hand encountered the cold metal band of his ferronnière. He explained about the amplification device.

Her eyes were wide. “And you read my mind?”

“Only briefly. I suspected you – I’m sorry to say – of being in league with Rasnic. I would never normally have invaded your mental privacy.”

“I’m very glad to hear that.” She cocked her head and said, “And you can’t read me now, not a thing?”

He smiled. “Not a thing.”

“It must be strange,” she mused, “to be able to read the thoughts of your fellow man.”

“It’s a terrible thing, Zeela. A torture. You cannot begin to imagine... One day, perhaps, I’ll tell you all about it.”

She smiled. “That would be nice.” She paused, then said, “And your name?”

He laughed as he realised that introductions, in all the excitement, had been overlooked. “Harper, Den Harper.”

She reached out a solemn hand and shook his. “It’s good to meet you Harper Den Harper.”

He was about to correct her, before realising from her cockeyed smile that the mistake had been intentional.

“If you don’t mind me asking, Den, what is a telepath doing in Satan’s Reach, working as a star trader? Shouldn’t you be catching villains for the Expansion?”

He nodded. “That’s right. I should. And I was, once upon a time.”

“Oh, and what happened?”

“That’s another long story, for another time. Let’s just say that I had to get away.”

He was about to change the subject when he heard footsteps issuing from the exit to his left.

Zeela stiffened, regarding him with wide eyes.

He placed a finger to his lips, then gestured for her to lie down. He sat back against the rock and half-closed his eyes. He gripped the data-pin in his right hand, readying himself to attack.

As before, three Ajantans stepped into the chamber. They halted and looked around at the scattered humans as if deciding which one to take. The armed guard was just too far away, Harper judged, to attack without the risk of being shot. Perhaps if it moved closer...

To his alarm, the two unarmed aliens stepped towards him, exchanging comments in their fluting tongue. The first one gestured to Zeela and, as Harper watched mutely, bent to pick her up.

He thought fast. He would allow them to lift her – hoping that Zeela wouldn’t give the game away and struggle – and then he’d follow and attack.

He watched through slitted eyes as the Ajantans gripped the girl’s shoulders and ankles, braced themselves, and lifted. He had expected them to struggle under her weight, but they proved to be surprisingly strong as they hefted Zeela between them and moved towards the exit. The armed alien, ever watchful, scanned the cavern and then followed his compatriots through the exit.

Just as the alien was passing from sight, Harper saw something attached to its skinny arm – his wrist-com...

He counted to three, sprang to his feet, and gave chase.

The corridor was low, designed for Ajantans, and he had to crouch as he loped along after them. The guard was a couple of metres ahead, and strategically positioned glowbugs cast dancing shadows across the rocky floor.

He had to act sooner rather than later. The guard was carrying his rifle casually now, its muzzle pointing at the ground. As the trio rounded a bend in the corridor, Harper took his opportunity. He leapt forward, grabbed the alien beneath its oleaginous chin, and drove the data-pin into the centre of its back with all the force he could muster. He felt the pin slide through muscle and hit bone.

He withdrew the pin as the alien squealed and fell. He grabbed its rifle, pulled his wrist-com from its arm, and ran around the corner. He came upon the remaining pair so suddenly that he had no time to find the rifle’s trigger – so he used the weapon as a club and slammed its butt against the head of the closest alien. Its skull crunched with surprising ease and its brains, pale and gelatinous, slopped against the tunnel wall.

Zeela fell to the ground with a cry, then struggled upright and kicked out at the remaining alien. She missed, and the Ajantan fell into a crouch and leapt at her. Harper found the firing stud and levelled the weapon, but Zeela was between himself and the alien and he couldn’t get a clean shot. The Ajantan hit Zeela and they rolled, a spray of red blood – human blood – jetting into the air.

Zeela screamed in terror. She and the alien rolled apart as they hit the ground. Harper swung the rifle and fired. At least a dozen darts slammed into the alien’s narrow chest. At such close range the darts crunched bone. The alien squealed, spasmed, and lay still.

He ran to Zeela and pulled her upright. Her dress was slashed across her left shoulder, and with it the flesh beneath. She pressed a hand against the wound, then raised bloody fingers to her incredulous eyes.

She looked over his shoulder and screamed.

Harper turned in time to see the alien he’d stabbed – the same alien he thought he’d killed – dive at him. He lifted the rifle and thrust, and impaled the Ajantan on the barrel. Behind him Zeela gagged. Harper pulled his rifle free and grabbed her hand.

Before them, the corridor forked.

“Do you have any idea,” he asked, “which way is up?”

She was too shocked to respond. Blood trickled from the wound in her shoulder. He made a snap decision and took the tunnel to the left. He ran, pulling Zeela after him. To his dismay he realised, seconds later, that the ground was sloping downwards. To make matters worse he heard fluting sounds from up ahead. Before he could turn and retrace his steps a dozen Ajantans rounded a corner, stopped in surprise, and then came at him.

He fired a dozen darts, wondering how many the rifle held. The aliens screamed, three fell and the others came after him. He fired again, spraying darts right and left. Beyond the first group of aliens, another dozen Ajantans appeared – some of them armed. They pushed past their compatriots and fired at Harper and Zeela.

He pulled her to the ground and returned fire, hitting the armed aliens as darts whistled over his head. He heard the fluting calls of even more Ajantans further ahead, leapt to his feet and dragged Zeela back the way they had come. At the end of the tunnel he made a sharp u-turn where the initial tunnel forked. He rounded the bend and sprinted along the second corridor, expecting this one to rise...

He should have known, given his recent run of luck, that it would do no such thing. The tunnel was descending further into the hellish bowels of the planet.

He heard scuffling sounds behind him. A posse of aliens was giving chase, but the fact that they hadn’t fired yet suggested they weren’t armed. He turned and fired as he ran, slowing them down. Glowbugs were positioned at more regular intervals now, which suggested they were approaching a more populous area of the lair.

Seconds later, hard on this thought, yet more aliens appeared up ahead. This delegation, he saw with sapping dread, was armed – and armed not with dart guns, but with the wide-muzzled incendiary rifles.

He slid to a halt, Zeela panting beside him. Behind them, he was aware of the following aliens edging closer.

He raised his rifle and fired – or rather tried to. The rifle clicked, spent. Crying out, he turned it quickly and gripped its barrel, intending to use it, in the last resort, as a club.

The three leading aliens halted and raised their weapons – something almost human in their arrogant postures of triumph.

Then another alien moved around the trio, this one bearing a dart gun. It halted and raised its weapon...

So he and Zeela would be tranquilised again, and no doubt monitored so that they could not attempt another escape... and then they would be carried to the pleasure cavern and...

He pulled Zeela to him. “I’m sorry,” he said.

He would launch himself at the alien armed with the tranquiliser in one last, desperate effort. Even if it failed to effect their escape, he would go down fighting.

Harper raised his makeshift club and was about to attack when a great roaring sound, the rushing, pounding cacophony of a tsunami, filled the tunnel. A second later the noise was accompanied by a staggering typhoon – like the back-blast of a starship’s maindrive – which skittled the aliens and pushed Harper and Zeela backwards. The howl raged, hot and inexorable and laced with excoriating particles of grit and dust. Harper covered his eyes and battled forward against the raging storm, laughing out loud in manic delight.