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I went down the steps into a wide corridor that stretched away in both directions. There was a thick tubular thing hanging in the middle of it, ru
There was the sound of footsteps coming towards me along the tu
Any sensible person would have beaten a hasty and silent retreat and saved curiosity for another day. I have always thought of myself as a sensible person.
Then why was I easing off my heavy working boots and stuffing them into my jacket? For what sane reason was I tiptoeing forward, trying to see around the curve.
I stopped, one foot raised, frozen.
My curiosity was satisfied in a rather large way.
There, just meters away, was Professor Justin Slakey peering through a window into the large tube’s interior.
Chapter 21
I drew back instantly. Surely he could hear the bass drum of my heartbeat echoing loudly in that quiet corridor. Had he seen me? I waited one second, two—and there was no sound of pursuing footsteps.
I started back as silently as I had come—just as the following footsteps sounded behind me. All I could do was run. Trying to stay ahead of the plodding sound. If he went a bit faster, or if I went slower, he would be far enoItgh around the curve in the tu
There were the stairs ahead of me, where! had come down. Should I try to climb them? No, they went straight up and weren’t curved like the tu
I took the chance, jumped and pressed myself against the wall under the steps Tried to slow down my breathing, which sounded in my ears like a porcuswine in heat. Slakey’s footsteps came closer. Was he passing by the stairs? If he did he would discover me. And no matter how fast I attacked and rendered him unconscious, he would have seen me and every other Slakey would know at the same time that I was here.
That would be the end.
Slap, slap, the sound of his footsteps came closer. Sounded different, closer—then dying away. He was going up the stairs.
When the last clack—clack had dimmed and vanished I let myself slump down to sit against the wall. And put my shoes back on.
Jim, I said silently to myself, Ida hope you enjoyed your little reccy. You were that close to ending the whole thing.
Then I waited, a good long time. I waited far longer than I thought necessary, then I waited some more. By the time I did move my bottom was numb from the hard floor. Creaking, I stealthily climbed the steps. I twisted my head about so much that I quickly got an even sorer neck. Back through the large lab and out the door. Unseen as far as I could tell. Down the corridor and into the storeroom.
Jumped back in fright at the horrible growling sound.
Relaxed and closed the door behind me as Berkk emitted another gargling snore. My toe lightly planted in his ribs brought him around.
“Snoring on duty is punishable by death,” I said.
He nodded glum agreement. “Sorry. Meant to stay awake. Thought I could. Didn’t. What did you find?”
“Food and drink for openers. That got your attention, didn’t it? Look at you—up on your feet, nostrils flaring, snoring forgotten. After I lead you to it I’ll tell you what else I found.”
We didn’t linger in the food hall. In and out and back as fast as we could in case Slakey had a touch of appetite.
“It could have ended in disaster just as easily,” I said, licking a last crumb from my fingers. “Maybe it was that luck you wished me. If so—thanks.”
“Don’t mention it. We’re alive, full of food and drink, safe for a moment—and we even know our way around a bit. And we are out of the rock works at last. A good begi
“Indeed.” I ticked the points off on my fingers. “It is a rocky road that we have taken—but we’re still on the move. First, we got away from the rock—digging works along with a lot more rocks. Second, we find that our rock is being ground to dust in an underground rock—grinding mill.” I touched another finger. “Third, after the rock is ground it is moved through a pipe to the place where we are now hiding. And we are still underground. The circular tu
“Not a clue. But what I do know is that we are still not out of the woods. Or the tu
“Quite right. We can rest a bit, eat a bit—but that is not going to solve our problem. Sooner or later we are going to have to move on. It stands to reason that the ground—up rock is going someplace for some important reason. Slakey has gone to an awful lot of trouble and expense to get it this far. I’m willing to bet that it eventually ends up in that place with the tables and the women I told you about.”
“Yes. Where you were just before you came through to the rock works.”
I thought about that hard. “I went from the tables to the stairs that led up to the room that opens into the rock works. But you went from a different planet right to the room.” He nodded agreement. “Which means that the interuniversal transmitter leads from that room. But—” My head was begi
Sudden realization sizzled and burned in my brain and I leapt to my feet with the strength of it. “Think about it. We both went through the transmitter to the room that opens on the frozen planet where the opencast mine is. Then we dropped into the pit with the crushed rock. We undoubtedly went through another transmitter. To Heaven! Maybe we are underground on Heaven right now—and the entire complicated operation is completed here.”
“Think!” I ordered. “If we are in Heaven—then we are at the heart of the Slakey operation. Everything begins here and ends here. Whatever he has been up to, whatever he is spending all those billions of credits on is right around us.” I stabbed a finger upwards. “There, on the surface, is Heaven. And Professor Coypu of the Special Corps knows how to get there!”
“Great. But what good is that going to do us now?”
I slumped back to the floor, deeply depressed. “None, really. We’re still in deep doodoo and still trying to find a way out.”
He looked worried. “Are we? If what you figured out is correct then all we have to do is go on. Follow the ground rock to this place with the tables that you talked about. You came in there—so there might still be a way out. We just follow the rock dust.”
“It’s not that simple.” “Why not?”
Why not indeed? We couldn’t go back—so we had to press on. It was the only chance we had.
“You’re right—we’ll go on in the same direction.”
“Now?”
I thought about that for a bit. “Slakey is awake and wandering around. But he might not be alone. And there is always a chance someone will come into this storeroom. It’s taking a chance whatever we do.”