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Kickaha cried, "The crescent's gone!"
"Either it was found some time ago or someone just found it after the statue was knocked over," Wolff said. "I have an idea of who did take it. Have you seen Abiru?"
Neither of the others had seen him since shortly after the invasion of the palace had started. The harpy, who was supposed to keep an eye on him, had lost him.
Wolff ran toward the labs with Kickaha and Podarge, wings half-opened, behind him. By the time he had covered the 3000 feet to it, Wolff was winded. Breathing hard, he stopped at the entrance.
"Va
"Va
Wolff swore mentally. He and Kickaha had not wanted to reveal the identity of Abiru until later. Podarge hated any Lord so much that she would have killed him at once. Wolff wanted to keep him alive because Va
Wolff muttered, "The old saying goes that you can't trust a Lord."
"What did you say?" Podarge asked. "And I repeat, who is Va
Wolff was relieved that she did not know the name. He answered that Abiru had sometimes disguised himself under that name. Not wanting to reply to any more questions, and feeling that time was vital, he entered the laboratory. It was a room broad enough and high-ceilinged enough to house a dozen jet airliners. Cabinets and consoles and various apparatuses, however, gave it a crowded appearance. A hundred yards away, Va
Silently, the three advanced on him. They were soon close enough to see that two crescents were locked down on the console. On the broad screen above Va
Va
Wolff knew that the machine was sending out a frequency-tracer and had located that of the crescent set into the floor of the control room. Next, Va
Va
Wolff gave a cry of despair, for they were too far away to stop him. Then he stopped and threw a hand over his eyes, but too late to shut out the blinding flash. He heard Kickaha and Podarge, also blinded, shouting. He heard Va
Sightlessly, he advanced until his feet touched the hot corpse.
"What the hell happened?" Kickaha said. "God, I hope we're not permanently blinded!"
"Va
He stood and waited, knowing that time was getting short and that he was not serving his cause or anyone else's by his patience with his blindness. But there was nothing else he could do. And, after what seemed like an unbearably long time, sight began to come back.
Va
"He was a traitor," Wolff said in a low voice to Kickaha. "But he did us a service. I meant to try the same trick, only I was going to use the horn to activate the crescent you hid after I'd changed its resonance."
Pretending to inspect other consoles for boobytraps, he managed to get Kickaha and himself out of ear-range of Podarge.
"I didn't want to do it," he whispered. "But I'm going to have to. The horn must be used if we're to drive Arwoor out of the control room or get him before he can use his crescents to escape."
"I don't get you," Kickaha said.
"When I had the palace built, I incorporated a thermitic substance in the plastic shell of the control room. It can be triggered only by a certain sequence of notes from the horn, combined with another little trick. I don't want to set the stuff off because the control room will then also be lost. And this place will be indefensible later against any other Lords."
"You better do it," Kickaha said. "Only thing is, what's to keep Arwoor from getting away through the crescents?"
Wolff smiled and pointed at the console. "Arwoor should have destroyed that instead of indulging his sadistic imagination. Like all weapons, it's twoedged."
He activated the control, and, again, an image of the crescent shone on the screen. Curving lines of light ran across the plate. Wolff went to another console and opened a little door on the top to reveal a panel with unmarked controls. After flipping two, he pressed a button. The screen went blank.
"The resonance of his crescent has been changed," Wolff said. "When he goes to use it with any of the others he has, he'll get a hell of a shock. Not the kind Va
"You Lords are a mean, crafty, sneaky bunch," Kickaha said. "But I like your style, anyway."
He left the room. A moment later, his shouts came down the corridor. Podarge started to leave the room, then stopped to glare suspiciously at Wolff. He broke into a run. Podarge, satisfied he was coming, raced ahead. Wolff stopped and removed the horn from the case. He reached a finger into its mouth, hooked it through the only opening in the weblike structure therein large enough to accept his finger. A pull drew the web out. He turned it around and inserted it with its front now toward the inside of the horn. Then he put the horn back into the case and ran after the harpy.
She was with Kickaha, who was explaining that he thought he had seen a gworl but it was just a prowling eagle. Wolff said they must go back to the others. He did not explain that it was necessary that the horn be within a certain distance of the control room walls. When they had returned to the hall outside the control room, Wolff opened the case. Kickaha stood behind Podarge, ready to knock her unconscious if she started any trouble. What they could do with the eagles, besides sicking the apes on them, was another matter.