The Labyrinth
Zircon led the three boys to the center of the big cave, then spoke in a
whisper. "I see no need in advertising our plans to the enemy. Keep your
voices down. Now, what are we to do?"
"Long Shadow must be watching us from somewhere," Scotty said uneasily.
"But from where?"
"The walls are uneven," Rick pointed out. "There could be peepholes
anywhere. But what I'd like to find is the place with the controls for
that gate! It can't be far from the entrance."
"Is true," Chahda agreed. He turned the big light on the barred
entrance, then played it back and forth across the walls on that side of
the cave. There was no break anywhere.
"Turn it on the other side," Zircon ordered.
Chahda did so. Now that they were closer to the far wall, openings could
be seen. There were two, both of them door size. Except for the entrance
through which they had come, they were the only openings in the cave.
Rick spoke up, and he was surprised that there was no shakiness in his
voice. "Look, gang. If we stay here waiting for Long Shadow to open up,
we might stay forever. I'd rather push on, at least for a little way."
Zircon looked at Scotty. "You're the military expert. What chance have
we in a fight?"
Scotty shrugged. "In an open fight, we have a good chance. Our rifles
are better than any I've seen around here, and we can fire a lot faster.
But if they start potting at us from around corners and through holes in
the rock...." He didn't have to finish.
"Better we go ahead," Chahda said.
Zircon hesitated. "If this is the only entrance to the caverns, as seems
quite likely, Long Shadow has trapped himself as well as us. He'll have
to open up to get out."
Rick didn't think so. "There's no opening under the Black Buddha except
the one we came through. But we didn't look around the passage very
thoroughly, so there might be a door of some kind."
"You're right," Zircon agreed. "Very well. Let's try going on. Rick, you
bring up the rear, and keep looking back."
Rick objected. "Wouldn't it be better for me to go ahead and use the
infrared beam with the glasses? Then I could see perfectly."
The scientist considered. "It would be better if the caves ahead are
large, yes. If they are not, our flashlights will do just as well. I
think we'd better save the infrared battery as long as possible.
Incidentally, do you have a spare?"
"At camp," Rick said. It had been planned as a brief trip of
exploration. He hadn't thought spare batteries would be necessary. Now
he blamed himself for being so shortsighted. It was always best to be
prepared for anything.
"Can't be helped now," Scotty said. "And speaking of batteries, we'd
better use only two flashlights at a time, one in front and one in
back."
"Excellent idea," Zircon approved. "I'll take the lead. Scotty next,
then Chahda, with Rick as rear guard. Now, which of the entrances do we
try first? I vote for the one on the right."
The scientist strode toward the deeper darkness of the entrance and shot
his light inside. The others took up the positions he had assigned. Rick
kept his flashlight beam moving around the big cave, watching for any
sign of an enemy.
"Another passage," Zircon said, and his voice echoed hollowly. "Cover
our rear, Rick." They went into it single file, Rick walking sideways in
order to keep looking back for a possible enemy. Then, as the others
stopped suddenly, he fell over Chahda. He heard the scientist say, "Dead
end. Nothing but a blank wall. Rick, lead the way out. We'll try the
other."
The second passage gave better results. It wound through the limestone
for a short distance, then opened into a small cave filled with
wonderful white rock formations.
"Stalactites and stalagmites," Zircon boomed. "I suspect we are getting
into the deeper caverns, those hollowed out by water and not by man. The
question is, which way do we go now?"
Rick took his eyes from the way they had come long enough to look
around. The cave was like a junction room, openings branching off in all
directions.
Scotty switched on his flashlight and began examining the cave floor.
"Look for signs," he directed. "If men have come this way, they must
have left some traces."
Chahda hurried to look, too. Rick stood where he was, light and eyes
going from one opening to another. He didn't intend to be caught off
guard.
Scotty gave a grunt of satisfaction and stood up. "Candle wax," he
announced. "And it leads through here." He pointed to a gap between two
fluted columns, made by centuries of dripping water that had deposited
countless grains of limestone.
Zircon immediately walked to the gap and peered through. "Come on," he
said. "There's another cave beyond."
The next cave was larger, and nowhere in it was there evidence that man
had occupied it. Rick looked around him, awed by the bizarre beauty of
the place. From ceiling and floor limestone icicles strained toward each
other. They were the stalactites and stalagmites Zircon had mentioned,
formed over the centuries by slow drops of water, each of which left its
tiny trace of limestone to help build up the formation. On one wall of
the cave the water deposits had carved a waterfall, so perfect that it
might have been frozen into white rock only moments before. And from
every grain of stone their flashlight beams twinkled and reflected until
it seemed the walls were crusted with jewels.
"More wax," Chahda called. He had found it near an irregular low opening
in the cave wall, a tiny drop left by someone carrying a tallow candle.
Zircon went through the opening an inch at a time, on hands and knees.
The others followed, to find themselves in a cave almost identical to
the one they had left, except for the stone waterfall. This cave, too,
had walls broken in a number of places.
Rick and Zircon flashed their lights around, seeking the next step. Then
Rick caught a quick glimpse of something red that moved! Quick as a
flash he shifted his hand on the stock of his rifle, pointed it like a
pistol, and fired. The red object vanished!
The thunderous echo of the shot reverberating through the cave drowned
out his yell. He sprang through the entrance where he had seen the flash
of red and found himself in still another cave. Scotty was right behind
him.
"What is it?" Scotty demanded.
"I think it was a man," Rick said quickly. "He was wearing something
red. Come on, he can't be very far from here."
"Which way?"
There was no way of telling which way the man had gone. There were a
half dozen openings in the cave walls. Rick pointed at the two biggest.
"You take that one and I'll take this." Rifle ready and flashlight held
in front of him, he ran through the break in the wall he had indicated.
Scotty hurried to the other.
If only they could get their hands on even one man, Rick thought, they
might force him to serve as their guide! He passed through another cave,
choosing the biggest entrance on the opposite wall. As he went through
it, he was certain he saw a movement, as though the quarry had just
rounded a corner. He let out a yell and lengthened his stride. In a
second he reached the corner, rounded it, and found himself in an odd
cave with countless pillars, formed when stalactites from the ceiling
and stalagmites from the floor had joined together. It was a veritable
labyrinth. He started through it, got perhaps fifty feet, and stopped.
The man he had chased surely knew his way around the caves. There was no
hope of overtaking him now. Better rejoin the others, Rick thought. It
was senseless to get too far away from his companions.
He turned and started back, then hesitated, not sure of the way he had
come. The corridors formed by the limestone pillars led in all
directions.
"I must have come this way," he muttered, and started off. Then he
stopped again, playing his light around. He couldn't be sure. Suddenly
worried, he ran forward and was brought to a halt by a solid wall. He
turned and hurried along it, seeking an opening. He found one, but
smaller than the one through which he had come. He plunged on, found a
big opening, and went through it into an irregular cave unlike any he
had seen before. He turned to retrace his steps, and his eyes met a wall
where the openings were separated only by glistening partitions of
limestone. He couldn't even be sure of the one through which he had just
entered.
He licked lips that were suddenly dry. "I can't lose my head," he told
himself sternly. "I've got to stay calm."
But in spite of his warnings to himself, he felt panic rising within
him.
He was completely, hopelessly lost!