The island was shrouded heavily in mist and the blue darkness of the
night. Stark and Treon crept silently among the rocks until they could
see the glimmer of torchlight through the window-slits of the power
station.
There were seven guards, five inside the blockhouse, two outside to
patrol.
When they were close enough, Stark slipped away, going like a shadow,
and never a pebble turned under his bare foot. Presently he found a
spot to his liking and crouched down. A sentry went by not three feet
away, yawning and looking hopefully at the sky for the first signs of
dawn.
Treon's voice rang out, the sweet unmistakable voice. "Ho, there,
guards!"
The sentry stopped and whirled around. Off around the curve of the
stone wall someone began to run, his sandals thud-thudding on the soft
ground, and the second guard came up.
"Who speaks?" one demanded. "The Lord Treon?"
They peered into the darkness, and Treon answered, "Yes." He had come
forward far enough so that they could make out the pale blur of his
face, keeping his body out of sight among the rocks and the shrubs that
sprang up between them.
"Make haste," he ordered. "Bid them open the door, there." He spoke in
breathless jerks, as though spent. "A tragedy--a disaster! Bid them
open!"
One of the men leaped to obey, hammering on the massive door that was
kept barred from the inside. The other stood goggle-eyed, watching.
Then the door opened, spilling a flood of yellow torchlight into the
red fog.
"What is it?" cried the men inside. "What has happened?"
"Come out!" gasped Treon. "My cousin is dead, the Lord Egil is dead,
murdered by a slave."
He let that sink in. Three or more men came outside into the circle of
light, and their faces were frightened, as though somehow they feared
they might be held responsible for this thing.
"You know him," said Treon. "The great black-haired one from Earth.
He has slain the Lord Egil and got away into the forest, and we need
all extra guards to go after him, since many must be left to guard the
other slaves, who are mutinous. You, and you--" He picked out the four
biggest ones. "Go at once and join the search. I will stay here with
the others."
It nearly worked. The four took a hesitant step or two, and then one
paused and said doubtfully,
"But, my lord, it is forbidden that we leave our posts, for any reason.
Any reason at all, my lord! The Lord Cond would slay us if we left this
place."
"And you fear the Lord Cond more than you do me," said Treon
philosophically. "Ah, well. I understand."
He stepped out, full into the light.
A gasp went up, and then a startled yell. The three men from inside
had come out armed only with swords, but the two sentries had their
shock-weapons. One of them shrieked,
"It is a demon, who speaks with Treon's voice!"
And the two black weapons started up.
Behind them, Stark fired two silent bolts in quick succession, and the
men fell, safely out of the way for hours. Then he leaped for the door.
He collided with two men who were doing the same thing. The third had
turned to hold Treon off with his sword until they were safely inside.
Seeing that Treon, who was unarmed, was in danger of being spitted on
the man's point, Stark fired between the two lunging bodies as he fell,
and brought the guard down. Then he was involved in a thrashing tangle
of arms and legs, and a lucky blow jarred the shock-weapon out of his
hand.
Treon added himself to the fray. Pleasuring in his new strength, he
caught one man by the neck and pulled him off. The guards were big
men, and powerful, and they fought desperately. Stark was bruised and
bleeding from a cut mouth before he could get in a finishing blow.
Someone rushed past him into the doorway. Treon yelled. Out of the tail
of his eyes Stark saw the Lhari sitting dazed on the ground. The door
was closing.
Stark hunched up his shoulders and sprang.
* * * * *
He hit the heavy panel with a jar that nearly knocked him breathless.
It slammed open, and there was a cry of pain and the sound of someone
falling. Stark burst through, to find the last of the guards rolling
every which way over the floor. But one rolled over onto his feet
again, drawing his sword as he rose. He had not had time before.
[Illustration: _Stark burst through._]
Stark continued his rush without stopping. He plunged headlong into the
man before the point was clear of the scabbard, bore him over and down,
and finished the man off with savage efficiency.
He leaped to his feet, breathing hard, spitting blood out of his mouth,
and looked around the control room. But the others had fled, obviously
to raise the warning.
The mechanism was simple. It was contained in a large black metal
oblong about the size and shape of a coffin, equipped with grids and
lenses and dials. It hummed softly to itself, but what its source of
power was Stark did not know. Perhaps those same cosmic rays, harnessed
to a different use.
He closed what seemed to be a master switch, and the humming stopped,
and the flickering light died out of the lenses. He picked up the slain
guard's sword and carefully wrecked everything that was breakable. Then
he went outside again.
Treon was standing up, shaking his head. He smiled ruefully.
"It seems that strength alone is not enough," he said. "One must have
skill as well."
"The barriers are down," said Stark. "The way is clear."
Treon nodded, and went with him back into the sea. This time both
carried shock-weapons taken from the guards--six in all, with Egil's.
Total armament for war.
As they forged swiftly through the red depths, Stark asked, "What of
the people of Shuruun? How will they fight?"
Treon answered, "Those of Malthor's breed will stand for the Lhari.
They must, for all their hope is there. The others will wait, until
they see which side is safest. They would rise against the Lhari if
they dared, for we have brought them only fear in their lifetimes. But
they will wait, and see."
Stark nodded. He did not speak again.
They passed over the brooding city, and Stark thought of Egil and of
Malthor who were part of that silence now, drifting slowly through the
empty streets where the little currents took them, wrapped in their
shrouds of dim fire.
He thought of Zareth sleeping in the hall of kings, and his eyes held a
cold, cruel light.
They swooped down over the slave barracks. Treon remained on watch
outside. Stark went in, taking with him the extra weapons.
The slaves still slept. Some of them dreamed, and moaned in their
dreaming, and others might have been dead, with their hollow faces
white as skulls.
Slaves. One hundred and four, counting the women.
Stark shouted out to them, and they woke, starting up on their pallets,
their eyes full of terror. Then they saw who it was that called them,
standing collarless and armed, and there was a great surging and a
clamour that stilled as Stark shouted again, demanding silence. This
time Helvi's voice echoed his. The tall barbarian had wakened from his
drugged sleep.
Stark told them, very briefly, all that happened.
"You are freed from the collar," he said. "This day you can survive or
die as men, and not slaves." He paused, then asked, "Who will go with
me into Shuruun?"
They answered with one voice, the voice of the Lost Ones, who saw the
red pall of death begin to lift from over them. The Lost Ones, who had
found hope again.
Stark laughed. He was happy. He gave the extra weapons to Helvi and
three others that he chose, and Helvi looked into his eyes and laughed
too.