Under Cover of Darkness
Hobart Zircon's usually booming voice couldn't have been heard more than
two yards away as he spoke into the tiny Megabuck radio unit.
"We're starting down the western slope of the volcano. How are things,
Tony?"
Rick and Scotty, their ears close to the tiny earphone Zircon held out,
heard Briotti's reply. The kidnaped scientists had given up trying to
dissuade them.
"Everything normal, Hobart. The lookout is settling down now. He's one
of the regulars. He relaxes completely as a sleeping cat, but he's wide
awake. Don't let his appearance deceive you."
"We won't," Zircon promised. "We'll call you again as we get into the
danger zone. Chahda?"
The Hindu boy answered instantly. "Here."
"Fine. Keep listening and you'll know how we're doing."
"Will do. Tell Rick shoot straight."
Rick grinned. It was good advice. Nevertheless, apprehension had kept
him in a sweat. He had never before been in a position where success or
failure--and probably all their lives--hung on a single shot.
Scotty put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "This is just another
shot, old son. You've made far tougher ones on the course back home."
"He's right." Hobart Zircon added. "You showed this afternoon that you
could hit a small target with that unwieldy club you invented. Let's
go."
Scotty took the lead, following the route he and Rick had explored the
night before. Rick followed close on his heels, and Zircon brought up
the rear. In spite of his bulk, the scientist was light-footed and
silent.
They reached a point where the boys had tied a rope to a boulder the
night before and now they paused to attach the rope ladder Rick carried.
It was one of four they had fashioned. Two already had been placed.
Zircon carried the last one. Scotty went down first, with Zircon
following cautiously.
The ropes creaked, but held. Zircon stepped to firm ground and Rick
followed down the ladder. They negotiated a bend in the trail, then
Scotty stopped and held up his hand.
Rick took Shannon's bow from the quiver. While he was getting ready,
Zircon made a last check with Tony and Chahda. When Rick signaled,
Scotty led the way down the last few dozen yards of steep lava to the
final shelf.
There, just out of sight of the guard, Scotty unslung his rifle. The
dark-haired boy went forward and peered over the edge of rock that
shielded them. For a long moment he surveyed the scene below, then
backed away. Rick caught his gesture. It was time.
He had planned how he would do this. He couldn't shoot in a lying-down
position, and kneeling would expose him to the guard just as surely as
standing upright would do--if the guard happened to be looking. So, he
would shoot while standing erect. His accuracy would be better that way.
Rick fitted the arrow's nock to the bowstring, got his fingers in
position to draw, and flexed the bow slightly. Then, taking a deep
breath, he stepped calmly forward to the edge of rock.
It took only three steps to bring him within sight of the guard. He had
a quick vision of a black velvet cap, hunched shoulders, and a rifle
held casually across the knees. He drew smoothly, held for the briefest
instant, and released the shaft.
Scotty was at his side, rifle ready, the moment the shaft left the bow.
It wasn't necessary. Rick had an instant's impression of sound, like a
baseball slapping into a catcher's mitt. The guard didn't even move from
his position. His shoulders slumped a little more and his head went
forward between his knees. He stayed that way. The arrow skittered
across the stone shelf and stopped.
Rick knew his aim had been a little off. The ball had caught the guard
behind the ear, instead of directly in the back of the head. Cold sweat
bathed the boy at the nearness of it. He had almost missed!
But there wasn't time to think about that now. Scotty and Zircon were
already moving into action. The big scientist unwound the rope ladder
from around his waist while Scotty drove spikes into a cleft in the
lava. His wooden mallet, muffled with cloth padding, made only a dull,
almost inaudible sound.
Zircon secured the end of the ladder to the spikes, then put his weight
on it, testing. It held. He moved forward, and lowered the free end over
the cliff.
Rick and Scotty stood by to give a hand to the men on the ledge below.
They were already on their way, Howard Shannon first.
Rick eyed the village anxiously. He was sure they were practically
invisible against the dark lava, but he wouldn't feel secure until they
had moved out of sight.
Shannon reached the top, and Rick and Scotty helped him over. A Filipino
boy was next up, and Rick knew this must be the famous Elpidio Torres.
The boy came up the ladder like a sailor and scrambled over the top
without help.
Tony Briotti was last. The youthful archaeologist wasted no time in
swarming up the ladder to the top, and in a moment the six of them were
shaking hands in silent glee.
Scotty pulled the ladder up, so it wouldn't be seen dangling, then
whispered urgently, "Let's get going."
By prearrangement, Scotty led the way with Zircon next in line, followed
by Shannon, Briotti, and the Filipino boy, with Rick bringing up the
rear. He paused long enough to unstring the bow and put it back in the
quiver.
As the group paused before making the difficult stage of the journey
around the cone, Rick took the Megabuck unit from Tony. In the
excitement no one had called Chahda.
"On our way back now, Chahda," Rick said calmly. "All six of us."
The Hindu boy's yell of triumph and relief almost shattered Rick's
eardrum. He whispered, "Stow it, you wild Indian. You'll ruin my
hearing."
"Sorry," Chahda said, but he didn't sound it. "Hurry back now. I wait
for word to come."
Rick followed as the group started off again. He wondered how the guard
was doing. By all reckoning, the man should still be unconscious. He'd
better be!
The party reached the eastern slope of the volcano, directly under the
cone, and started the last descent. The rope ladders made the trip
comparatively easy, except for the final drop before the ground leveled
off somewhat. It was a rough stretch, too long for a ladder. A single
rope had been saved for the purpose. Rick took it from Scotty and made
it fast around a spike they had driven earlier. Zircon was the first to
use it. He went down swiftly, keeping hold of the rope in case of a
slip.
Scotty followed, then Shannon. The lanky zoologist was halfway down when
Rick felt the rope tighten with a jerk and he heard Shannon's choked
cry of pain. Rick rechecked to be sure the rope was secure, then
motioned to Briotti and the Filipino boy. "Go on. We've got to get down
to him."
Scotty and Zircon, climbing back from below, reached Shannon's side
before Rick and the others could get there. In a few moments the six
were clustered together.
"A rock turned under me," Shannon explained. "I felt the bone snap in my
leg. You'd better go on. You can send help back to me later."
"Nonsense," Zircon grated. "Boys, what can we use for a splint?"
Rick was already pulling arrows out of the quiver. "These are Dr.
Shannon's. I'm sure he won't mind if we use them."
"You have my permission," Shannon said with a painful chuckle.
The blunt-headed arrows were quickly lashed into two bundles. Rick and
Scotty shed their light jackets and Scotty's knife flashed in the faint
starlight as he sliced them into padding. Rick took the extra bowstrings
from the quiver and handed them to Zircon. The bowstrings would make
ideal ties. Within a short time Shannon's leg was securely splinted and
Zircon was giving instructions.
"Scotty, go untie the rope and bring it down. You and Rick will hold
from above, while Tony and I carry Howard. You, Mr. Torres, will please
stay directly in front of us to test the footing and warn us of loose
stones."
"Of course, sir," the Filipino boy replied quickly.
Scotty returned from his climb with the rope coiled. He made several
turns around Shannon's waist, pulled the rope up under his armpits, and
secured it with a bowline.
"Slow and easy does it," Zircon directed.
Slow was the key word. Rick and Scotty kept the safety line taut while
Briotti and Zircon moved the injured man an inch at a time, bracing
themselves against the rock and feeling for each step. Zircon, the most
powerful of them all, had to carry most of the scientist's weight.
Rick was worried. The trip across the volcano had taken quite a while
and now time was running out on them. He looked at the luminous dial of
his watch and realized with a sudden chill that dawn was only a half
hour away. "We've got to hurry," he said.
"They change the lookout just before dawn," Tony said. "Even if he's
still unconscious we won't have much time once they find him!"
"You're right." Zircon stopped and began untying the rope that secured
Shannon.
"What are you doing?" Scotty asked anxiously.
"Changing methods," Zircon said grimly. He handed the rope to Scotty.
"Cut off a length and tie Howard to me. Then secure the remainder under
my armpits."
Rick knew that it would be a terrible strain on the big scientist, but
it would be faster--if his strength held out.
Zircon picked Shannon up in his arms, and Scotty lashed them together,
making a kind of sling that would help support Shannon's weight. Then he
tied one end of the remaining rope around Zircon's barrel chest, up
under his armpits.
Rick, Scotty, Briotti, and the Filipino boy grasped the rope and held it
firmly while the big scientist walked upright down the remaining slope,
one slow step after another, the others following but always keeping the
rope tight in case he started to fall.
They negotiated the hardest part of the slope, then Zircon leaned back
against a boulder and rested for a moment. The final hundred yards
wasn't steep, but it was strewn with loose boulders and lava chunks.
Zircon wouldn't be able to speed up much. Rick looked at his watch
again, then at the sky. He didn't say anything. The big physicist was
doing more than any man should be asked to do. He couldn't do it any
faster.
Scotty moved to his side. "Got arrows left?"
"Yes. Most of the big broadheads and half a dozen of the small
broadheads. Why?"
"We may need them. I'm scared. The guard's relief must know by now that
his pal got conked."
"We're both scared," Rick corrected. "But what can we do?"
"Be ready to fight."
Zircon called hoarsely, "Let's go!"
They were off again, the scientist plodding slowly ahead, down the last
stretch to the cove. About half of the distance had been covered when
Rick saw the first sail. It was close to shore, near the cove where
they had anchored the vinta.
Zircon saw it, too. He called softly, "Scotty! Leave the rope to the
others. Get ahead of me and cover us. But don't shoot until they start
something."
Scotty moved ahead, unslinging his rifle as he went.
Zircon speeded up as much as possible. Fortunately, the going was easier
now and the big scientist could make better time. Rick helped to keep
the rope braced, and tried to divide his attention between watching the
uncertain footing and looking for other sails.
The first pirate vinta was nosing into the cove when two others came
into sight. And, at nearly the same moment, Zircon reached the small
patch of level ground at the cove's edge.
Rick dropped the rope and hurried to the big scientist's side, drawing
his knife. He cut the ropes that bound Shannon to Zircon, and they
lowered the injured zoologist to a sitting position with a big rock at
his back.
Dawn was breaking fast now. Already Rick could see details more clearly
and he knew it was only minutes to practically full daylight. The
Spindrift group could see the pirate vintas clearly now against the sea,
but the pirates could not yet see them because they were still in
shadow, dark rock at their backs. Still, the pirates would try the cove
first. It was the logical place.
He estimated their chances quickly, and saw that the situation was
hopeless. There was no chance of getting their vinta past the pirates.
They would have to fight. He drew the bow sections out of the quiver and
got ready. Next to him, Zircon was checking the clip in his pistol.
Rick took the Megabuck network unit from his pocket and called softly,
"Chahda!"
"Here, Rick. Long time wait. How things go?"
"Not good. Shannon broke a leg. Also, we're at the cove, which is
filling up with pirate vintas. We're cut off."
Chahda whistled. "I say plenty no good! Look, you figure way to get to
clear water. I figure way to pick you up. Starting right now!"
"Okay," Rick said, without knowing how it could be done. "Come on in,
but don't get trapped!"
There was a sudden chorus of pirate yells, then one of the Moros fired a
shot. Scotty's rifle snapped, and pirate rifles answered. The fight was
on! Rick grabbed a broadhead arrow from the quiver and hurried forward.