Key Out of Time Page 17

  17

  Shades Against Shadow

  The corridor ended in a narrow slit of room, and the wall before themwas not the worked stone of the citadel but a single slab of whatappeared to be glass curdled into creamy ridges and depressions.

  Here were the Foanna, their robes once more cloaking them. Each held,point out, one of the rods. They moved slowly but with the precisegestures of those about a demanding and very important task as theytraced each depression in the wall before them with the wand points.Down, up, around ... as their feet had moved in the dance pattern, sonow their wands moved to cover each line.

  "Now!"

  The wands dropped points to the floor. The Foanna moved equidistant fromone another. Then, as one, the rods were lifted vertically, brought downtogether with a single loud tap.

  On the wall the blue lines they had traced with such care darkened,melted. The glassy slab shivered, shattered, fell outward in a lace offragments. So the narrow room became a balcony above a large chamber.

  Below a platform ran the full length of that hall, and on it weremounted a line of oval disks. These had been turned to different anglesand each reflected light, a ray beam directed at them from a machinewhose metallic casing, projecting antennae, was oddly out of place here.

  Once more the three staffs of the Foanna raised as one in the air. Thistime, from the knobs held out over the hall blazed, not the usual whirlof small sparks, but strong beams of light--blue light darkening as itpierced downward until it became thrusting lines of almost tangiblesubstance.

  When those blue beams struck the nearest ovals they webbed with lineswhich cracked wide open. Shattered bits tinkled down to the platform.There was a stir at the end of the hall where the machine stood. Figuresran into plain sight. Baldies! Ross cried out a warning as he saw thosestar men raise weapon tubes aimed at the perch on which the Foannastood.

  Fire crackling with the speed and sound of lightning lashed up at thebalcony. The lances of light met the spears of dark, and there was aflash which blinded Ross, a sound which split open the whole world.

  The Terran's eyes opened, not upon darkness but on dazzling light,flashes of it which tore over him in great sweeping arcs. Dazed, sick,he tried to press his prone body into the unyielding surface on which helay. But there was no way of burrowing out of this wild storm of lightand clashing sound. Now under him the very fabric of the floor rockedand quivered as if it were being shaken apart into crumbling rubble.

  All the will and ability to move was gone. Ross could only lie there andendure. What had happened, he did not know save that what raged abouthim now was a warring of inimical forces, perhaps both feeding on eachother even as they strove for mastery.

  The play of rays resembled sword blades crossing, fencing. Ross threwhis arm over his eyes to shut out the intolerable brilliance of thatthrust and counter. His body tingled and winced as the whirlwind ofenergy clashed and reclashed. He was beaten, stupid, as a man pinneddown too long under a heavy shelling.

  How did it end? In one terrific thunderclap of sound and blasting power?And when did it end--hours ... days later? Time was a thing set apartfrom this. Ross lay in the quiet which his body welcomed thirstily. Thenhe was conscious of the touch of wind on his face, wind carrying thehint of sea salt.

  He opened his eyes and saw above him a patch of clouded sky. Shakily helevered himself up on his elbows. There were no complete walls any more,just jagged points of masonry, broken teeth set in a skull's jawbone.Open sky, dark clouds spattering rain.

  "Gordon? Karara?" Ross's voice was a thin whisper. He licked his lipsand tried again:

  "Gordon!"

  Had there been an answering whimper? Ross crawled into a hollow betweentwo fallen blocks. A pool of water? No, it was the cloak of one of theFoanna spread out across the flooring in this fragment of room. ThenRoss saw that Ashe was there, the cloaked figure braced against theTerran's shoulder as he half supported, half embraced the Foanna.

  "Ynvalda!" Ashe called that with an urgency which was demanding. Now theFoanna moved, raising an arm in the cloak's flowing sleeve.

  Ross sat back on his heels.

  "Ross--Ashe?" He turned his head. Karara stood here, then came forward,planting her feet with care, her hands outstretched, her eyes wide andunseeing. Ross pulled himself up and went to her, finding that the oncesolid floor seemed to dip and sway under him, until he, too, mustbalance and creep. His hands closed on her shoulders and he pulled herto him in mutual support.

  "Gordon?"

  "Over there. You all right?"

  "I think so." Her voice was weak. "The Foanna ... Ynlan ... Ynvalda--"Steadying herself against him, she tried to look around.

  The place which had once been a narrow room, then a balcony, was now aperch above stomach-turning space. The hall of the oval mirrors wasgone, having disappeared into a hollow the depths of which were veiledby a vapor which boiled and bubbled as if, far below, some huge caldronhung above a blazing fire.

  Karara cried out and Ross drew her back from that drop. He wasclearer-headed now and looked about for some way down from this doubtfulperch. Of the other two Foanna there was no sign. Had they been suckedup and out in the inferno they had created with their unleashing ofenergy against the Baldies' installation?

  "Ross--look!" Karara's cry, her upflung arm directed his attentionaloft.

  Under the sullen gathering of the storm a sphere arose as a bubble mightseek the surface of a pool before breaking. A ship--a Baldy ship takingoff from the ruined citadel! So some of the enemy had survived thattrial of strength!

  The globe was small, a scout used for within-atmosphere exploration,Ross judged. It arose first, and then moved inland, fleeing thegathering storm, to be out of sight in moments. Inland, where themountain base of the invaders was reputed to be. Retreating? Or bound togather reinforcements?

  "Baldies?" Karara asked.

  "Yes."

  She wiped her hand across her face, smearing dust and grime on hercheeks. As raindrops pattered about them, Ross drew the girl with himinto the alcove where Ashe sheltered with the Foanna. The cowled alienwas sitting up, her hand still gripping one of the wands, now ahalf-melted ruin.

  Ashe glanced at them as if for the first time he remembered they mightbe there.

  "Baldy ship just took off inland," Ross told him. "We didn't see eitherof the other Foanna."

  "They have gone to do what is to be done," Ashe's companion replied. "Sosome of the enemy fled. Well, perhaps they have learned one lesson, notto meddle with others' devices. Ahh, so much gone which will never comeagain! Never again--"

  She held up the half-melted wand, turning it back and forth before her,before she cast it away. It flew out, up, then dropped into the caldronof the hall which had been. A gust of rain, cold, chilling the lightlyclad Terrans, swept across them.

  The Foanna was helped to her feet by Ashe. For a moment she turnedslowly, giving a lingering look to the ruins. Then she spoke: "Brokenstone holds no value. Take hands, my brothers, my sister, it is time wego hence."

  Karara's hand in Ross's right, Ashe's in his left, and both linked toYnvalda in turn. Then--they were indeed elsewhere, in a courtyard wherebodies lay flaccid under the drenching downpour of the rain. And movingamong those bodies were the two other Foanna, bending to examine one manafter another. Perhaps over one in three they so inspected they heldconsultation before a wand was used in tracing certain portions of thebody between them. When they were finished, that man stirred, moaned,showed signs of life once more.

  "Rosss--!" From behind a tumbled wall crept a Hawaikan who did not wearthe guard armor of the others. Gill-pack, flippers, diver's belt, hadbeen stripped from him. There was a bleeding gash down the side of hisface, and he held his left arm against his body, supported by his righthand.

  "Baleku!"

  The Rover pulled himself up to his feet and stood swaying. Ross reachedhim quickly to catch him as he slumped forward.

  "Loketh?" the Terran asked.

  "The women-k
illers took him." Somehow the Rover got that out as Rosshalf supported, half led him to where the Foanna were gathering thosethey had been able to revive. "They wanted to learn"--Baleku wasobviously making a great effort to tell his story--"about ... aboutwhere we came from ... where we got the packs."

  "So now they will know of us, or will if they get the story out ofLoketh." Ashe worked with Ross to splint the Rover's broken arm. "Howmany of them were here, Baleku?"

  The Rover's head moved slowly from side to side. "I do not know intruth. It is--was--like a dream. I was in the water swimming through thesea gate. Then suddenly I was in another place where those from thestars waited about me. They had our packs and belts and these theyshowed us, demanding to know whereof these were. Loketh was like onedeep in sleep and they left him so when they questioned me. Then therecame a great noise and the floor under us shook, lightning flashedthrough the air. Two of the women-killers ran from the room and all ofthem were greatly excited. They took up Loketh and carried him away,with him the packs and other things. And I was left alone, though Icould not move--as if they had left me in a net I could not see.

  "More and more were the flashes. Then one of those slayers of womenstood in the doorway. He raised his hand, and my feet were free, but Icould not move otherwise than to follow after him. We came along a halland into this court where men stood unstirring, although stones fellfrom the walls upon some of them and the ground shook--"

  Baleku's voice grew shriller, his words ran together. "The one whopulled me after him by his will--he cried out and put his hands to hishead. Back and forth he ran, bumping into the standing men, and oncerunning into a wall as if he were blinded. And then he was gone and Iwas alone. There was more falling stone and one struck my shoulder so Iwas thrown to the ground. There I lay until you came."

  "So few--out of many so few--" One of the Foanna stood beside them, hercloak streaming with the falling rain. "And for these"--she faced thelines of those they had not revived--"there was no chance. They died ashelplessly as if they went into a meeting of swords with their armsbound to their sides! Evil have we wrought here."

  Ashe shook his head. "Evil has been wrought here, Ynlan, but not by yourseeking. And those who died here helplessly may be only a small portionof those yet to be sacrificed. Have you forgotten the slaughter at KynAdd and those other fairings where women and children were also struckdown to serve some purpose we do not even yet know?"

  "Lady, Great One--" Baleku struggled to sit up and Ross slipped an armbehind him in aid. "She for whom I made a bride-cup was meat for them atKyn Add, along with many others. If these slayers are not put to thesword's edge, there will be other fairings so used. And these Shadowones possess a magic to draw men to them helplessly to be killed. GreatOne, you have powers; all men know that wind and wave obey your call. Doyou now use your magic! It is better to fall with a power we know, thananswer such spells as those killers have netted about the men here!"

  "This is one weapon which they shall not use again." Ynvalda rose from astone block where she had been sitting. "And perhaps in its way it wasone of the most dangerous. But in defeating it we have by so muchweakened ourselves also. And the strong place of these star men lies noton the coast, but inland. They will be warned by those who fled thisplace. Wind and wave, yes, those have served our purpose in the past.But now perhaps we have found that which our power will not best!Only--for this"--her gesture was for the ruins of the citadel and thedead--"there shall be a payment exacted--to the height of our desire!"

  Whether the Foanna did have any control over the storm winds or not, thepresent deluge appeared not to accommodate them. The dazed, injuredsurvivors of the courtyard were brought to shelter in some of theunderground passages.

  There appeared to be no other reminders of the Wrecker force which hadearlier besieged the keep than those survivors. But within hours some ofthose who had served the Foanna for generations returned. And the Foannathemselves opened the sea gates so that the Rover cruisers anchored inthe small bay below their ruined walls.

  A small force, and one ill-equipped to go up against the Baldies. Somefive star men's bodies had been found in the citadel, but the ship hadgone off to warn their base. To Ross's thinking the advantage still laywith the invaders.

  But the Hawaikans refused to accept the idea that the odds were againstthem. As soon as the storm blew out its force Ongal's cruiser headednorthwest to other clan fairings where the Rovers could claim kinship.And Afrukta sailed on the same errand south. While some of the Wreckerswere released to carry the warning to their lords. Just how great aforce could be gathered through such means and how effective it wouldbe, was a question to make the Terrans uneasy.

  Karara disappeared with the Foanna into the surviving innercliff-burrows below the citadel. But Ashe and Ross remained with Torguland his officers, striving to bring organization out of the chaos aboutthem.

  "We must know just where their lair lies," Torgul stated the obvious."The mountains you believe, and they can fly in sky ships to and fromthat point. Well"--he spread out a chart--"here are the mountains onthis island, running so. An army marching hither could be sighted fromsky ships. Also, there are many mountains. Which is the one or ones wemust seek? It may take many tens of days to find that place, while theywill always know where we are, watch us from above, prepare for ourcoming--"

  Again Ross mentally paid tribute to the Captain's quick grasp ofessentials.

  "You have a solution, Captain?" Ashe asked.

  "There is the river--here--" Torgul said reflectively. "Perhaps I thinkin terms of water because I am a sailor. But here it does run, and forthis far along it our cruisers may ascend." He pointed with his fingertip. "This lies, however, in Glicmas's land, and he is now the mightiestof the Wrecker lords, his sword always drawn against us. I do notbelieve that we could talk him into----"

  "Glicmas!" Ross interrupted. They both looked at him inquiringly, and herepeated Loketh's story of the Wrecker lord who had had dealings with a"voice from the mountain" and so gained the wrecking devices to make himthe dominant lord of the district.

  "So!" Torgul exclaimed. "That is the evil of this Shadow in themountains! No, under those circumstances I do not think we shall talkGlicmas into furthering any raid against those who have made him greatover his fellows. Rather will he turn against us in their cause."

  "And if we do not use the cruisers up the river"--Ashe conned themap--"then perhaps a small party or parties working overland couldstrike the stream here, nearer to the uplands."

  Torgul frowned at the map. "I do not think so. Even small parties movingin that direction would be sighted by Glicmas's people. The more so ifthey headed inland. He will not wish to share his secrets with others."

  "But, say--a party of Foanna."

  The Captain glanced up swiftly to favor Ashe with a keen regard. "Thenhe would not dare. No, I am sure he would not dare to interfere. Not yethas he risen high enough to turn the hook of his sword against them. Butwould the Foanna do so?"

  "If not the Foanna, then others wearing like robes," Ashe said slowly.

  "Others wearing like robes?" repeated Torgul. Now his frown was heavy."No man would take on the guise of the Foanna; he would be blasted bytheir power for so doing. If the Foanna will lead us in their persons,then we shall follow gladly, knowing that their magic will be with us."

  "There is also this," Ross broke in. "The Baldies have the gill-packsthey took from Baleku and Loketh, and they have Loketh. They will wantto learn more about us. We hoped that the citadel would provide bait todraw them and it did. That our plan for a trap there was spoiled was illfortune. But I am sure that if the Baldies believe we are coming tothem, they will hold off an all-out attack against our march, hoping togather us in intact. They'd risk that."

  Ashe nodded. "I agree. We are the unknown they must solve now. And thismuch I am sure of--the future of this world and her people balances on avery narrow line of choice. It is my hope that such a choice is still tobe made."

  To
rgul smiled thinly. "We live in perilous times when the Shades requireour swords to go up against the Shadow!"