More Than Fire

Just like that, Kickaha thought. Torture and murder, and then he compliments himself for his mercy.

"It took me some time to track the sisters down to this planet and then locate them. I found them wandering half-starved and totally miserable in the forest where you came across them. Instead of immediately punishing them as I had promised, I decided to use them against you and Anana. They were in such terror, wondering if they would be released without harm, as I had promised they would be if they cooperated. Or would I break my word? I also arranged for a raven, an Eye of the Lord, and an oromoth to work with them, to keep a watch on you and Anana when you showed up and also to make sure the sisters did not betray me. The Eye and the oromoth would get a suitable reward, but I promised them they would die if they tried treachery. I-"

"Anana and I know about that," Kickaha said. "We killed both of them." Red Orc's face crimsoned. Glaring, he shouted, "Do not speak unless I give you permission!"

When he had regained his composure, he said, "I was faced with a problem. You had the Horn, or at least I assumed you still had it. The Horn changed normal conditions for those in a circuit. With it, you might escape even if caught in one. And then the alarms I had set up in the circuit sounded through the series of gates and registered in my base. I knew then that you and Anana had entered the gate from the planet of the Tripeds.

"The gate-circuit chart I inherited from Ololothon after I killed him so many years ago showed that one of the brief stops would be on Alofmethbin. But it would be for only a few seconds. I gambled that you would recognize Alofmethbin and would run out of the area of influence of the gate before it could send you on. Or that you would be sounding the Horn at that time and that would nullify the action of the gate. And I was right, of course. I would have preferred that you be much closer to the sisters when you exited, but I had to work with what was available. Nor did I know, of course, whether or not there was a flaw near the gate.

"For this reason, I could not erect a cage there to imprison you and Anana when you entered. You would only have to blow your Horn and you would escape through the flaw, if there was one. The probability that there would be was about fifty-fifty."

Kickaha opened his mouth to ask a question, thought better of it, and closed his lips.

"I knew you would head in a straight line for the nearest gate, the one in the boulder. My usual good fortune held because I knew about the gate. Ololothon was on this planet several times when Wolff was its Lord, found four gates, and charted them. He co

Kickaha cleared his throat, then said, "Permission to speak?"

Red Ore waved his hand.

"What happened to Anana?"

"I have a story to tell!" the Thoan said harshly. "It will enlighten you so that you will know whom you are up against! Now, be silent! Ololothon must have dug that pit shortly after the chasm was made by my father's engine of destruction during my campaign against him on Wanzord. I found the pit a long time ago when I went briefly to the planet Wanzord. I like to prowl around universes and gather data that I may use later. You never know when it will be useful. Then, when you two disappeared from the circuit for a few hours, a delay that came too soon for you to be on the islet ..."

He paused, then said, "You used the Horn to escape the circuit before you got to the islet, of course. But you got caught in it again?"

Kickaha nodded. Though he did not see how the Thoan could use knowledge of the scaly man's existence to his own advantage, it was best to keep him ignorant. Never give anything away; you might regret it.

"Few things make me anxious," the Thoan said, "but I am not above admitting that your disappearance gave me a bad time. But I went ahead with my plan. However, there might be a flaw in the walls of the pit. It was not likely there was, but I could not take the chance. One blast from the Horn and you might escape through that. So, I placed a generator near the pit-you could not see it from the bottom of the pit-and set it to form a one-way gate completely around the pit and just below the surface of the rock wall. As long as that one-way gate shield was there, even the Horn could not open a flaw."

Red Orc paused.

"Permission?" Kickaha croaked. His throat and mouth were very dry, but he'd be damned if he'd ask the Thoan for a glass of water.

"Go ahead."

"Why didn't you just wait for night, while we were on the plains or in the forest, then swoop in in your aircraft and capture us?"

"Because I take no chances unless I am forced to do so. You might have had enough time to use the Horn and escape through a flaw. Once you were in the pit, you could not escape. Your Horn could not get you out of it."

"But you overlooked the flash floods," Kickaha said.

The Thoan's face became red again. He shouted, "I had not been on the planet long enough to know that there were floods caused by rainstorms! That planet is very dry! I never saw a cloud while I was there!"

Kickaha said nothing. He did not want to goad the Thoan into doing something painful, such as burning his eye out with a beamer ray. Or God knew what else.

"So!" Red Orc said. "I got a bonus! That Englishman, Clifton, apparently escaped from the floating palace of Urthona in the Lavalite World. But he fell at last into one of my traps in another world, and I shuttled him into the pit! All my most elusive enemies except for Wolff and Chryseis-were collected like fish in a net!"

"Wolff? Chryseis?" Kickaha murmured.

"Wolff and Chryseis!" Red Orc howled. His voice was so loud in the narrow area of the boat that Kickaha was startled again.

The Thoan yelled, "They escaped! They escaped! I should have dealt with them as soon as I caught them!"

"You don't know where they are?" Kickaha said softly.

"Somewhere on Earth!" the Thoan said, waving one hand violently. "Or perhaps they managed to gate through to another world! It does not matter! I will catch them again! When I do ... !"

He stopped, took a deep breath, and then smiled. "You can quit being so happy about them! I did find Anana!"

Kickaha knew that Red Orc wanted him to ask about her. But he gritted his teeth and clamped his lips. The Thoan was going to tell him anyway.

"Anana's body, what was left of it, was sticking out from under a small boulder! I left her for the scavengers!"

Kickaha shut his eyes while a tremor passed over him, and his chest seemed to have been pierced by a spear. But the Lord could be lying.

When he felt recovered enough to speak in a steady voice, he said, "Did you bring back her head to show me?"

"No!"

"Did you photograph her body? Not that I'd believe a photo." "Why should I do either?"

"You're lying!"

"You will never know, will you?"

Kickaha did not reply. After waiting for a few moments for his captive to say something, the Thoan returned to the pilot's seat.

Kickaha looked out through the canopy again. Though he saw no more vast chasms, he did see a world the surface of which had been swept clear of soil and vegetation. Yet new growth had managed to get a roothold here and there. Some species of birds, as he well knew, had survived, and he supposed that some animals had escaped the apocalyptic raging. Perhaps somewhere were small bands of humans. They must not be eating well, though.

He became more angry than usual at the arrogance and scorn for life of the Lords. They would destroy an entire world and think little of doing it.

It was a miracle that Anana was not like her own kind.

In ten minutes, the vessel began to slow, then hovered in the air for a few seconds before sinking swiftly. It landed by a corrugated monolith of stone that bent halfway up in a thirty-degree angle from the horizontal. At its base was an enormous reddish boulder roughly shaped like a bear's head. The Thoan squeezed several drops of a blue liquid from a container onto a small part of the sticky rope. A moment later, the rope became smooth and was easily loosened by Kickaha's efforts. But the bonds tying his hands before him were still sticky.