Part 17 (2/2)

Drorgon slid down the slope along with a minor avalanche of pebbles, his fangs bared, growling in anger.

'It's all right, Dro,' Qwaid snapped. 'He had to wake you.

Something's been getting to us, into our minds, like we was drugged. We gotta get out of here fast. Gribbsy!' he shouted into the link. 'Get the s.h.i.+p up. Use the scope to find us the quickest way through this place.'

'OK, got ya,' Gribbs replied.

'Peri?' the Doctor shouted out as they s.n.a.t.c.hed up their packs, 'keep talking. Don't let us drift off again!'

Her voice came back tremulously. 'I understand... but what shall I say?'

'Anything! Any outside stimuli to remind us what we're meant to be doing!'

'OK... right. Well... er, Gribbs is punching a lot of b.u.t.tons...

and the controls are lighting up... OK, I'm strapping myself into the spare seat... oh, there go the rockets, or whatever they are.

We're rising... uh... it feels like an express elevator. I can see the pyramid and the wood dropping away under us. We must be a mile up already. There's the plain... all hazy and s.h.i.+mmering. We should be able to see where you are soon...'

Qwaid, Drorgon, and the Doctor ran from between the rocks and out across the mud flats. In the far distance were the specks of figures crossing the flats away from the large island. Qwaid focused his binoculars as they ran.

'They're in a hurry. Wonder if they were caught like us.'

'Where are we going?' Brockwell asked as they splashed through the mud.

'Away from that place,' said Myra determinedly.

'But how do we know this is the right way?'

'We'll chance it. Do you want to stay here any longer trying to get directions out of those poor drossers?'

'Is that a darker line... on the horizon ahead?'Thorrin panted.

Brockwell narrowed his eyes. 'Yes... I think so, Professor. Higher ground, maybe?'

'That'll do as well as anywhere,' said Myra.

'It's no use, Qwaid,' Gribbs said. 'All I can see beyond the plain is haze, even through the scope filters.'

'Well overfly us then,' Qwaid ordered.

There was a pause, then Gribbs's voice came back unsteadily.

'I can't... make it happen. Like in the pyramid when we tried to pull the triggers. I'm trying to move the 'stick forward... but I can't.'

”The Gelsandorans are making sure we play the game by their rules, the Doctor observed.

'Try harder!' Qwaid shouted into the comm link. In the distance Thorrin's party had disappeared behind an island, and if they lost their tracks he knew they couldn't afford the time picking them up again. What would happen if they were here for another night and started to get tired?

'Its no good, Peri's voice cut in. 'I can see him trying, but he simply can't make his hands work properly.'

'All right,' Qwaid relented. 'We'll just have to do the best we can for ourselves. Put the s.h.i.+p down again.'

'But how do I get to you when you've found the treasure?'

Gribbs asked.

'Then we'll have won. No need to play any more tricks on us.'

'OK, I hope so. I'll just -'

'Attention, attention!'

A loud voice had issued from the control-cabin speakers and echoed clearly over the comm link. As he heard the harsh crisp tones, Qwaid stumbled to a halt, the colour draining from his face.

The voice was unmistakably Alpha's.

In the Falcon's Falcon's control room Peri saw Gribbs struck rigid; an expression of utter horror distorted his features. The unknown grating voice continued. control room Peri saw Gribbs struck rigid; an expression of utter horror distorted his features. The unknown grating voice continued.

”Ibis is a time-coded recording. As I have not reset this system for a significant interval, I must a.s.sume some misfortune has befallen me and this s.h.i.+p is being operated without my approval.

To ensure no one profits from my incapacitation or untimely demise, I have installed a cutout circuit in the Falcon Falcon which will render all systems inoperative until freed by a certain code known only to myself.' which will render all systems inoperative until freed by a certain code known only to myself.'

And all the lights on the control board went out and a moment later the hum of the thrusters faded away.

The Falcon's Falcon's nose dropped and it began to fall freely. Peri's stomach tried to climb into her throat and she swallowed to prevent herself throwing up. Terrified, Gribbs stabbed desperately at b.u.t.tons on the control board, but nothing worked. nose dropped and it began to fall freely. Peri's stomach tried to climb into her throat and she swallowed to prevent herself throwing up. Terrified, Gribbs stabbed desperately at b.u.t.tons on the control board, but nothing worked.

The wooded landscape of Gelsandor spun below them, growing larger by the second as they dropped out of the sky.

CHAPTER 16.

A FRIEND IN NEED.

The shrill whine of air speeding over the hull began to penetrate the control cabin. Through the forward ports Peri saw the green forest canopy rus.h.i.+ng up to meet them. She heard both Qwaid and the Doctor shouting over the comm link but could not make her mouth shape any words of reply.

Gribbs suddenly ceased to stab at the useless controls, reached up over his head with both hands, grasped the raised bar of the headrest, and pulled forward and down sharply. A transparent tinted canopy unfolded out of the seat frame, covering his head and shoulders. With a sharp crack of exploding bolts, a section of cabin roof above his chair blew outwards, letting in white light and a blast of shrieking air. A telescoping guide rail sprang up from the back of his chair and through the open panel in the roof. A rocket charge ignited with a bang and a roar, and Gribbs and his ejector seat were blasted upward through the hatch and into the blue sky beyond in a cloud of smoke.

Peri gaped at the empty s.p.a.ce beside her, then at the treetops that were beginning to blur across the viewport. She reached up, grasped and pulled.

The bolts cracked, the guide rail thudded, the seat charge ignited. For a moment she felt as though her spine was going to collapse under the acceleration. Then there was light around her and a shocking smack of racing air striking the front of her body and tearing at her clothes. The rocket charge cut and she tumbled freely for a second in silence. Then there came a vibration and a snapping of fabric, a jerk and a bounce and a gradual swaying motion.

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