inferno fiction 16: the rallax operation page 6

He’d segued into his huckster voice. 'Careful, Garron,' I thought.

I slowly sat up, trying to not alert the tribe. I saw the four notice me, and the Doctor cried out, 'Well, it’s about time! Er, It’s about time to demonstrate that yes, we are indeed gods! No doubt!'

The princess chimed in, 'And now we will awe you with our mighty power!'

'I want nothing to do with this, but if it will free me I will attest to the godhood of these humans,' added the chief; rather unconvincingly, I thought.

At this heretical utterance a mild point of theological contention erupted between the tribal agnostics and the true believers.

Garron cried, 'Do not squabble amongst yourselves, mortals!' as with a resounding series of thuds the agnostic delegation was silenced. 'Oh,' said Garron, 'That efficiently settles that. Now, er... Doctor?'

'Right. Who out there can tell me: what are those little points of light in the sky?'

After a quick conference, a timid, 'Stars?' was offered.

'Right! And which of you fine fellows can tell me what stars are?'

'Sparkling pieces of ice,' I thought. I leaned back to enjoy the show and was immediately startled. The cliff face hummed and vibrated!

'Are they suns like ours, only so far away they appear tiny?' said the resident astronomer.

'Oh, that’s brilliant! You’re brilliant, you are!' The Doctor grinned for a second, pleasantly surprised, then frowned. 'No! The stars are simply little floating chunks of ice!'

I looked at the rock wall and what I saw was so incongruous, so impossible, that my mind refused to accept it.

'What is this ice you speak of, possible god?'

'Oh, er, you don’t really have that here, do you? It is a jungle after all, isn’t it?'

'Is it a type of bird, perhaps?'

I faced a control panel. In large English letters, it read, ‘Wild Adventure Environmental Control Substation H’. I brushed off centuries of dust and studied the gently glowing switches and dials.

Behind me the Doctor said, 'Yes! Yes, that’s it!'

'This ice is a bird, then? But why does it glow? Does it self-luminescence like the glow-bugs of the plains?'

'Forget the ice!' Garron thundered. 'It’s not important! What’s important is that we have the very power of turning the darkest night to brightest day!'

Which, in fact, was clearly labelled on the third panel down.

A furious voice broke through the erupting clamour. 'Stop! This will stop now!'

A rather formidable female form leaped to her feet. 'These are not gods! Do gods bruise and bleed? Do gods beg for their lives or traffic with the cone-headed ones? No! Let me hear you say, no!'

Oh, she was good. Their chorused, “No!” echoed across the night.

'And what of these claims they make? Not even the gods can turn night to day! Such a thing is impossible! Unheard of! They merely delay us in this forbidden place with their stories and puppets and magic dances!' I’d missed an awful lot, apparently.'Slay them! Slay them now before doom comes to us all!'

Spear and knives were readied, the savages advanced on their helpless, struggling victims and the singing spear reached a dramatic crescendo. I drew a deep breath, coughed, and drew another.

'STOP!' I thundered. They froze in place.

'The dead one lives!' came a hushed whisper.

'BEHOLD OUR POWER!' I turned the Sky Array manual control knob to Day.'

'Sorry, Binro,' I thought, as the night sky instantly and blindingly became bright blue day, 'but sometimes they are really just lights in the sky.'

The effect on the tribe of feral humans was instantaneous. A third of them fainted in their tracks. Another third, the chief lady included, howled and fled. The remainder grovelled.

'Stand, faithful ones!' I intoned, feeling guilty at my enjoyment of being worshiped, 'Though fully capable of doing it themselves, demonstrate your loyalty and free the other gods.'

This was done, though the Draconian chief rather let the side down by crumpling to the ground. I suppose our demonstration was a bit too much for him, poor chap. The others crowded around.

'Fine work, my boy,' beamed Garron, slapping my back.

'Not bad, not bad at all,' said the Doctor, shaking my hand.

I almost joined the fallen chief when the princess enveloped me in a sincere hug and kissed my ear. 'You will be rewarded,' she whispered. After only briefly considering the nature of my reward, I realised we were still the object of veneration. Embarrassing, ankle stroking veneration, in fact.

'Oh, get up, you lot.' I commanded. 'Take your fallen comrades and go from this place! Never return, or we will plunge your world into eternal night forever!'

It was done in less time than it takes to tell you.

'Well, Unstoffe, that was redundant but it did the job,' said the Doctor. He rubbed his hands. 'Now! Let’s be on our way! Oh, and Unstoffe?'

'Yes?'

'You really should let the princess go. I’m fairly sure she’s stopped breathing.'

We left the Draconian chief where he lay. There wasn’t any reason to carry him further.

Beyond the control panel a flight of stone steps with a tarnished hand rail climbed the rock wall. We ascended, higher and higher. Soon the round ledge was far below, a coin on a side walk.

Higher still, and in the distance we saw another plateau beyond the sea. The sky assumed a knobby, multifaceted texture. And at the top of the stairs we all stopped as the Doctor waved his sonic at a small control dais and a section of the sky creaked down to join the stairs.

Somewhere beyond, I heard engines and ethereal music.

It was magic. It was wonderful. Everyone seemed enchanted by the awe of it, even flinty old Garron, and we all moved with a certain solemn grace.

The Doctor ascended the stairs and stepped into darkness beyond the glowing blue bulbs. Garron and the princess followed. I paused a moment, touched the sky. The lights weren’t hot at all, but cool as ice.

I turned to bid the wild land goodbye and realised the rising, ethereal music I’d been hearing wasn’t in my head at all. The Draconian chief, his noble face contorted with rage, surged up the stairs and threw the singing spear. I ducked and it cracked past like a thunderbolt. Pledging good behaviour if the gods saved me, I scrambled for the darkness.

As I passed the portal the ramp shuddered, creaked and rose. The stairs weren’t stairs any more and I tripped and sprawled. I’d banged my knee but I was safe. I panted for a moment, mentally recanted my hasty promises and began crawling to salvation when a vice-like grip seized my ankle.

I was pulled backwards and desperately gripped a metal stair. 'Let go!' I cried. I saw my leg now protruded past the sharp edge of the hatch. The chief heaved himself up. He now hung halfway in, but I saw that the hatch would seal in seconds. We’d both be killed. He followed my glance and realised the same thing. His face lost its manic intensity as realisation dawned. Our eyes met.

There was only one thing I could do. I had no choice. I kicked his face once and his grip loosened. Twice and he let go, snagging the hatch edge with his fingertips. On the third blow he dropped into the tiny details of the land far below. Maybe he landed safely, maybe on the stone stairs. I don’t know. I hope so.

'You idiot,' I said, as the line of light narrowed and disappeared with a pneumatic thump. I clambered up and brushed myself off. I heard, as I said, the rumbling mutter of far away engines. Condensation or lubricant dripped somewhere. The light fixtures popped and buzzed. The Doctor and the princess were discussing something in urgent whispers. But there was a missing sound, something I couldn’t quite identify.

In the dim light ahead I saw two figured kneeling by a third. 'Don’t move him, not an inch!' warned the Doctor. I was sickened by the realisation of what sound I’d been missing.

'It won’t stop singing until it makes a kill,' I thought.

The song was over and the spear was silent.

TO BE CONTINUED…

written by

AL DICKERSON

artwork by

COLIN JOHN

https://infernofictionseventeen.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_26.html

< PAGE 5 CONTENTS >