Undying World

Sybelline shrugged. «Without the power for the lifts there is only one-an escape ladder. I know where it is. In my time I have never known of anyone using it. But I have read that back in other times the young Morphi, the athletes, contested each other to see who could climb it in the shortest time.»

Blade pondered that, calculating. They were about six miles deep. He was not going to climb any such ladder if he could help it. He doubted his ability to do so. The heat was telling on him and his sweat never stopped dripping.

«The ladder ends in a sub-1 basement of the Government Building,» said Sybelline.

That settled it. By now the circular building would be alive with Jantor's men.

He began to question Wilf about Jantor. All that Wilf could tell him was that Jantor was moving his troops up into the city. He was taking over and defying the orbfolk. Women and children remained in the sewers until the issue was settled one way or the other.

Wilf gave Blade a sly look and said, «I have something else to tell you, but it is for your ears only.»

Blade nodded at Sybelline. «Go stand with Sart. Both of you out of hearing.»

She crossed her arms over her firm breasts and scowled. «I will not. You plan to betray me with my own son.»

Blade jerked a thumb at the door. «Go, I say. If there is betrayal it will not be on my part.»

She left them reluctantly. Blade bent to hear Wilf's whisper. «It is said that Jantor has had second thoughts. He knows now that it was Sart who murdered Alixe, not you. A guard has remembered hearing screams while you were absent. Jantor wishes to parley and again be friends, if you will turn over Sart to him for punishment.»

Blade stroked his beard. «That poor fool. I could not-«

«And Sybelline,» said Wilf. «Jantor wishes to destroy her also.»

Blade stared down at him. «She is your mother.»

Wilf shrugged. «What of that? Anyway I propose nothing. I merely say what I have heard. And there is more.»

Blade waited, his face grim. Wilf hurried on. «I also heard that more than a hundred of the Gnomen females have missed their bloody time. All have lain with you.»

And Wilf added, slyly, «This may have some bearing on matters, I think. It is why Jantor is willing to be reasonable.»

Blade felt no thrill of fatherhood. A hundred pregnant women spoke well of his performance as a man; it did nothing for his ego, the impact diminished by the numbers involved. And yet the boy was right Jantor was thinking now that Blade was proven a baby-maker; it would be folly to kill him. Jantor could not rebuild the Gnomen race alone. There was only Blade.

On the whole Blade was pleased. He now had a bargaining point where he had lacked one before. But it did nothing to solve his immediate problems.

He called Sart and Sybelline into the bunker and explained to them and to Wilf what must be done.

CHAPTER 13

There was plenty of food and ca

He found the ramp and began the climb. Mole rats lurked after him but did not attack. Now and again he saw the glistening bones of a mole rat that had been eaten by its brethren. The heat was worse than the mole rats; it left him weak, dehydrated and giddy. He stopped often to rest.

The ramp ended in a long corridor of darkness and when he saw the first iron door he knew where he was-at the five-mile level. One of the doors was ajar and Blade pushed it with his foot. On the floor a skeleton had crumbled to dust. Blade swept his torch around the tiny chamber and saw the tubes through which food and drink were dropped to keep the prisoner alive, in total darkness, so long as he could stand it. Blade stood for a moment in deep thought. He had never underestimated Jantor, and now he began to grasp the iron will of the Gnomen chief. To survive in one of these pits, to be at the edge of blindness, and yet to come back, to keep sanity, that was an awesome achievement.

He rested and consulted the map. Wilf had marked the way with a red stylus. It was a circuitous route, slow and difficult, leading through a maze of long disused tu

The mission-the secret of how rock dust was converted into power and how that power was transmitted through space. At the moment it looked hopeless; he was no nearer to the secret than he had been on first awakening in this Dimension X. Sybelline could not help him, nor Wilf. Certainly not Jantor. That left the Morphi elders, the ruling clique, or possibly the Selenes. Blade wiped at his sweat and combed out his beard with filthy fingers. It might come to that. Onta, the Selene Chief of Brain Secrets, might know the answer. But how in the hell was he-

The crystal in his brain, as though on cue, began to feed him thoughts. Lord Leighton was sending brain waves.

Time short here in HD as computer return phase upcoming-if miss this phase will mean long wait to recover you-urgent you discover how rock dust converted to power-crystal function perfect, am following you, noting all information as fed.

Blade, sweating in the stygian depths, emitted a few choice HD words and began to climb again.

As he made his way through passage after passage, tu

Blade came to a ladder set into a wall-it was marked on Wilf's map-and climbed a hundred feet into another passage. While on the ladder he made a confession to himself-he was becoming something of a coward after so many trips into DX. He was not as bold as he had been earlier, or perhaps not so foolish. He did not really know which it was.

He toiled on. The air grew better as the heat decreased. He came to a short tu

Blade ran softly back to the mouth of the tu

A single Gnomen guard was bringing up the rear. For some reason, he had fallen behind and was making no effort to catch up. He carried a torch and was trailing his spear bar along behind him in a casual ma

It was over in seconds. Blade reached with the hook end of his bar, caught the man's denim breeches, pulled him into the tu