The planet of peril
With a wave of pity he pictured the brave Joto being torn to pieces and
devoured by the sabits. He thought of Vernia, left to the mercies of
the marsh-men, who, even though they might treat her with consideration
because of her part in their rescue from the sabits, would not have
the ability to take her to Reabon in time to defeat the purpose of her
scheming abductor.
A powerful sabit, more cunning than its comrades, seized Grandon by
the ankles and beat him against the hard surface root. At the second
terrific shock the thread of consciousness mercifully snapped asunder.
CHAPTER XXI.
AN IMPORTANT DISCOVERY.
Returning consciousness brought numerous twinges of pain to Grandon.
His head ached, his arms ached, in fact it seemed that his whole body
was one solid, throbbing mass of bruises. He stirred uneasily. A soft
hand pressed his fevered brow, and a sweet voice said:
"Speak not so loudly, Rotha. You will awaken him and he needs
rest--much rest and quiet."
Slowly he opened his eyes. He was lying on a sleeping shelf that
projected in a half-moon shape from the wall like the nest of a
cave-swallow. At the foot of his couch, which was of stone but lined
with soft moss, Rotha, the slave girl, held a golden vessel in which
was a pasty compound of aromatic herbs, while Vernia occupied a place
at the head. His armor had been removed and his bruises covered with
the sweet smelling ointment.
In the center of the room a guard stood stiffly erect, holding a
sputtering torch, by the light of which he could see grotesquely carved
figures on the walls, a queer table shaped like a great tortoise, and
chairs that were human figures seated on round pedestals, the body
forming the back, the lap the seat, and outstretched arms with hands
bent downward and finger-tips touching the thighs forming the arm rests.
The furniture was all cut from hard wood of a reddish purple color and
highly polished. The floor was of hexagonal blocks of varicolored
stone and presented a smooth, glossy surface.
He saw all these things at a glance, then his eyes sought those of the
girl at his bedside.
"It is indeed an honor to be nursed by the greatest ruler in all
Zarovia," he said, smiling feebly.
"I'm afraid it is but small recompense for your services," she replied.
"Besides, I am a ruler no longer, nor is it probable that I ever will
be again. Within fifty-eight days my cousin, Prince Destho will assume
the crown. I am sure he must have been the instigator of my abduction.
My legal right to the throne will have been forever forfeited. I will
have been away from the capital for a year, and such is the inexorable
law!"
"Surely you must be mistaken in your calculations," said Grandon. "I
am positive you have not been away from Reabon for over half a year at
most."
"You forget that you are on Zarovia, where the years are much shorter
than on your planet. Our world is closer to the sun than yours,
consequently our year is only two hundred and twenty-five days in
length."
"That's true. Then we must start for Reabon at once."
"But how? The marsh-men say there is no way out of this valley but a
secret tunnel, known only to the sabits, and this is said to be guarded
night and day by a huge army of soldier sabits recruited from all the
communities in the valley."
"But does not the river cut through the surrounding cliffs on its way
to the sea?"
"I am told that the river ends in a great whirlpool a few miles from
here. The marsh-men believe that it falls into a bottomless pit. In the
light of their learning the belief is reasonable enough, for the pit
has never been known to fill up or the river to overflow its banks."
"The river being out of the question, we have the alternative of
scaling the cliffs, or finding the secret passageway of the sabits and
fighting our way through," said Grandon. "In either event we must start
quickly, for the time is short and there is much to be done if we would
defeat your scheming cousin Destho, and save your throne."
* * * * *
Despite her protests Grandon arose, gritting his teeth as the pains
shot through his bruised body. While he donned his armor with the
assistance of the two girls he asked many questions regarding the
outcome of the battle with the brown-mouthed sabits. All of the slaves
had been rescued and the king and queen sabits were prisoners.
Joto had, by his wonderful agility, escaped his pursuers and personally
led a party to the rescue of Grandon. They took him, stunned and
apparently lifeless, to Vernia, who ascertained that his heart was
still beating and had him conveyed to this bedchamber of an ancient
Albine ruler, where she and Rotha, whose mother had taught her to
compound healing salves and potions from herbs and fungi of the valley,
nursed him all through the night.
Grandon was drawing on his gauntlets when Oro entered. At sight of his
commander, Oro saluted smartly, after the style of soldiers of Zarovian
empires.
"Where did you learn the military salute, and why are you here instead
of guarding the roga-sabit as instructed?" asked Grandon.
"We have been taught many things by Joto, who has assumed temporary
command of your army," replied Oro. "He has set the other captains
you appointed to the tasks of guarding the king and queen sabits of
the two communities, drilling, and learning the meaning of military
orders. In addition he has been training a crew of thirty men to
handle the mattorks. We are in grave danger, for the sabits of all the
communities, realizing that we menace their safety, have united with
the common purpose of annihilating us. Our scouts report the marshaling
of a mighty force in the red-mouthed community which they have made
their base of operations. They are pouring in by thousands from all
over the valley, and Joto thinks they will attack us before nightfall."
"Joto has commendable initiative and ability to match it," said
Grandon. "Let us go and see what he has accomplished."
Accompanied by the two girls, they made their way to the place where
Grandon had fallen into the passageway while attempting to tunnel
his way to freedom. Here they encountered the first sign of Joto's
activities, for the hole had been widened and a broad stairway
constructed. Two guards saluted stiffly as they passed.
They found Joto outside the structure, supervising the practice of the
mattork crew, who used empty bullet and gas clips but went through
the motions of loading, aiming and firing with surprising speed and
precision, while four units of a hundred men each were being drilled by
their officers. He turned and raised his visor with a welcoming smile
as Grandon and the others approached.
"I see that you are not without considerable military genius," said
Grandon.
"Having trained men in the art of warfare for some time I should be
reasonably proficient," replied Joto. "However, I bow to you as a
superior strategist. The attack you planned against the brown-mouthed
sabits was marvelously conceived and executed. If the reports of our
scouts are to be credited we will shortly have a battle to fight which
will require infinitely more cunning. We await your orders."
"How many sabits do you expect will attack us?"
"Twenty thousand, at the very least. Every community in the valley is
sending no less than a hundred, and there are more than two hundred
communities. There will soon be a fight that will decide whether this
valley is to be ruled by men or monsters."
"Twenty thousand sabits," mused Grandon. "Enough to sweep us away
bodily, and these buildings with us."
"Easily."
* * * * *
"With four hundred and fifty men it will be impossible to guard both
communities, or even all the buildings of one community against so
powerful a force. Have the brown-mouthed sabit rulers brought to the
central building of this community, and there kept with the rulers of
the white community. Withdraw our guards from all other buildings, and
block all the runways with stones except the one which leads here from
the central building."
"Then we may as well kill all of our sabit slaves at once," said Joto,
"for the attackers will surely kill them."
"Why should they war on their own kind," asked Grandon, "when it is
their purpose to rescue them?"
"Their purpose is not altruistic, but protective only. There is no such
thing as love, mercy or charity in a sabit mind. As our slaves, the
brown-mouthed and the white sabits are outlaws and enemies of their
kind. Moreover, they will fight to protect their rulers, their eggs and
their fantas."
"Why not let them fight?" asked Vernia. "They should account for a few
of the attackers."
"Right," exclaimed Grandon, "Leave them to guard the brown-mouthed
community and the three outer structures of this one. No doubt they
will all be killed in the first charge, but it is probable they will
account for an equal number of enemies."
Joto sent a messenger to order the brown-mouthed rulers brought to new
quarters, as directed by Grandon. It was decided that a hundred men
should be posted in the central building, with one mattork placed on
the roof. The other two mattorks would command the battlefield from a
place on the roof of the men's sleeping quarters.
The stores of dried fungi from both communities were removed from
their storage rooms and carried to the subterranean chambers, as were
also hundreds of sacks of the sticky food. While Joto supervised this
work, Grandon took Oro and a crew of twenty-five men to examine the
engines of war in the ancient armory of the Albines, which Oro had
discovered while exploring the underground passageways.
They traveled underground for more than a mile before they arrived
at the huge subterranean armory which, next to the throne room, was
the largest excavation in the entire system. Its floor level was
considerably below that of the passageways and its ceiling was higher
and dome-shaped. Though the floor was of hard granite, the walls and
ceilings were as elaborately decorated as those of the fountain room,
the reliefs being almost exclusively battle scenes between Albines and
sabits, and in many cases showing in operation engines of war similar
to those which stood about on the floor.
Grandon examined these heavy, death-dealing instruments of a vanished
race with more than ordinary interest. Most of them were better adapted
to the purpose of attack on the sabit dwellings than for defense.
There were catapults that hurled huge stones or fired long, heavy,
metal-tipped missiles which acted as battering rams. There were
instruments apparently adapted to the spraying of poisonous liquids,
though no ammunition for them could be found.
Among the devices which required considerable mechanical ingenuity
were queer three-wheeled carts built in the shape of hollow triangles,
the outside edges of which were protected by curved blades and spiked
clubs that whirled rapidly when the machines were pushed forward by men
running inside. A small group of men operating on level ground might
cut a path through an entire sabit army with one of these machines.
Having sent Oro and his men to Joto with six of the carts, Grandon
was examining the brown metal spring of one of the catapults when his
attention was attracted by a curiously wrought cabinet standing against
the wall. What he at first took to be narrow sliding drawers proved to
be thin flat slabs of stone on which designs had been scratched with
some sharp instrument. The topmost slab was covered with a carefully
drafted design of an Albine catapult. The next illustrated the
construction and working principles of the spraying machines.
* * * * *