by Don P. Bick
Chapter 44
Druc floated back and forth between light and dark, most of the time he was completely detached from all feeling of pain or pleasure. He would start to rise up into the light, and then would once again drift deep down into the darkness. He didn't know whether he was dead or alive. Colors swirled in front of his eyes when he was in the area of light; bright colors that were rotating, flowing and constantly swirling, blending all their hues into an array of magical design.
He dreamed he was back home on Saturn, staring out the window at the darkening skies, black with blue streaks could mean only one thing. Another atmospheric chemical reaction was underway. They were not all that infrequent, and fortunately he had noticed this one in time. All he had to do was walk to the steps leading to the subterranean shelter, and safety. The steps going down into the shelter were not more than twenty yards from were he stood.
He continued watching out the window as the sky became darker. Below him, coming around the corner of a lower building was a young woman with her two toddlers. Alarmed, Druc didn't understand why they didn't duck into the nearest building to safety. They would never make it to the building she was headed toward before the chemical storm hit. That building was the one in which he stood looking out the window.
Without giving the situation a second thought, Druc grabbed a clear sheet of metalglass and headed out the door. The metalglass was used to protect the eyes and face of the stone and metal masons who worked and experimented in the projects at the Center. It was almost as clear as glass but was many times stronger. It was also fairly heavy and he strained as he carried the four by four foot sheet down the hall and out the exit door.
Druc had no idea whether or not the sheet of metalglass would work. As far as he knew it had never been tried before. The woman and children were three short flights of steps below him. He hurried down the steps without regard for his own safety. Two at a time he took them until he reached the woman's side. Startled, she looked at him as though he were a stark raving lunatic. He pointed up at the sky. A look of horror came over her face as she saw and realized what was about to descend upon them.
"I didn't realize," she stammered, as Druc lifted the metalglass above her and the two children.
The shield wasn't large enough for all three to fit under, but with the woman carrying the two toddlers, they were sufficiently protected. Druc's head, hands, and part of his arms were also under the shield, at least enough to receive some cover. The rest of him wasn't. If anything was to be saved it was his hands. They were what were important. To live without his hands would be meaningless life to Druc. He was a stone mason, and one of the best. Without his hands he would lose all sense of life as he knew and loved it. If his hands, even one of them, were damaged badly he might as well die. His stone work consumed his entire life.
If they hurried and the shield held for long enough he just might be able to get the children and woman to safety. However, he didn't think he would be able to make it without receiving some burns to his back and legs. It all depended on when the storm hit, and how heavy the chemical rain dropped when it began. He steeled himself for those first drops to land on his back.
They rushed up the stairs as fast as they were able, while Druc struggled with the heavy sheet of metalglass. Halfway through the second flight of steps the rain began, lightly at first. Still the chemicals landed on Druc's back and burned through his clothes and into his skin. He almost dropped the shield the burns hurt so badly. He could tell the shield was not going to last very long. By the time they reached the bottom of the last flight of steps the metalglass was beginning to dissolve, as the chemicals burned their way through the solid sheet.
The woman yelled, apparently receiving a burn on her leg. The chemicals began to fall more heavily. Druc screamed as the burning liquid ate at his back and legs. Still, he held onto the shield. Step after step they climbed. It seemed to take forever, but eventually they reached the top of the last flight of steps. The doorway to the building was just a few feet away.
Druc heard himself screaming, knew the woman and children were crying, but there was nothing that could be done for any of them until they were inside the door and down the stairs to the shelter.
With only a stride to go, a large amount of the burning chemicals landed on Druc's back in one big glob. It must have run off of the overhang protecting the entryway. He stumbled and fell, dropping the shield on his way down. The woman and two children were already under the protective overhang at the entrance to the building. Druc was not. He lay on the ground exposed from the middle of his back down. The chemicals continued to rain down upon him.
The woman set her children inside the doorway and turned to help the man that had saved their lives. Druc's arms were out of danger so she grabbed his hands and dragged him inside the doorway, yelling at the children to stay back and not touch the burning man.
After pulling Druc inside the building the woman got her children to safety in the shelter and brought help back up to Druc. They placed him on a stretcher and took him into the emergency showers, located in the shelter. The water seemed to burn as bad as the chemicals when it sprayed onto the raw flesh of Druc's partially dissolved body. Ointments were applied to his legs and back, and when the storm passed he was transferred to a hospital.
For five days and nights Druc continued to suffer in his hospital bed. The burning never stopped. And nothing would ease the pain. The chemicals continued to burn though his flesh. No amount of washing or other treatment could stop the acids from burning still deeper, until late at night on the fifth day, Druc died, the chemicals finally having reached his inner organs.
Druc relived the entire episode in excruciating detail. He experienced the pain all over again. It was all so real, exactly as though he were actually going through it for the first time. He tried to scream at the horror of the nightmare. Mercifully he dropped back down into unconsciousness.
Druc continued to drift in and out of semi consciousness, aware of pain in his chest and aches all over his body. He was also aware of someone tending to him, although he couldn't force his eyes open to see who was there.
Some time later Druc awoke. His body ached and his chest burned. He was wrapped in bandages from his armpits to his navel. He tried to lift his head but was unable to do so. He was lying in a comfortable bed, in a very clean and well furnished room. The walls were made of stone blocks, painted a soft rose color. The ceiling was high and Druc stared in astonishment at the light fixtures. The lights were on. Electricity! It must have all been one long nightmare. He was back home on Saturn.
Turning his head to the right he experienced another shock. A large bird sat on the stone wall outside an open double door entry leading to a small terrace. After just resolving with himself that he was back on Saturn, seeing Eagle was too much for his brain to handle. He smiled at the bird as he passed out and slept for a few more hours.
Druc awakened to someone sitting beside him, holding a damp cloth to his forehead. It was obviously a Vulcan. She smiled as Druc looked up at her. The Vulcan was beautiful. She was more ethereal than she was physical. Druc had to look closely to make out her features she was so ghostly in appearance. She seemed to barely exist in this world. Her touch was as soft as a feather. When she spoke her voice had the ring of fine crystal to it. Druc lay there enchanted with the beauty of the woman's face. She could have easily passed for a person from Earth or Venus, except for her size. She couldn't have been more than four feet tall. The longer he looked at her, the better he could see her, and the more beautiful she appeared.
In answer to his questions she told him he was in fact on Serpent Isle, had been there for two days. The person responsible for his injury had only been in the world for a short time. He reacted poorly when he saw him standing on the deck of the ship, holding what appeared to be some metal weapon. He fired a stun shot into your chest. Normally not fatal, but sometimes the person receiving the blow wishes it had been. She assured him he wou
ld be fine with a little more rest. She also told him that word had been sent to his friends, letting them know he was fine and that he would be on the Isle for several more days. She was sorry his friends could not be allowed to come to the Isle.
He pointed to the lights on the ceiling. “Yes,” she said, they had electricity because they had access to metal. It was a luxury they bestowed upon themselves.
“As for the bird,” gesturing toward Eagle still perched on the terrace wall, “he was a different story. He attacked the new young man that sent the fireball. Before anyone was aware the bird was there he removed a hunk of flesh from the young man's arm. We may not look as dense physically, but we are just as vulnerable to physical difficulties as he was,” she explained. “At least up to the point we are physical.” She didn't explain the last statement.
“Anyway,” she continued, “a co-worker was able to subdue the bird with a smaller non-painful fireball. They left him on the docks, not knowing he was your companion. The Vulcan do their best not to harm anything, man or beast, unless there is a strong reason, or it is unavoidable. As to the young man who lost flesh to the bird, he will be fine, though in some pain for a short while.”
In response to Druc's question regarding all the stories about Vulcan killing those who came too close or who waited on the ships, she responded that they were just that, stories. He was living proof that they don't just kill, they stun first, if at all possible.
Going back to the bird, she told him that the first night after he arrived the bird showed up at the Isle, obviously flying over from the docks. He showed up outside these doorways, gesturing to the open doors, and started to break into the room. I opened the doors to stun the creature once more and when the doors were opened he went and perched on the wall. He has been there ever since. We finally got the hint he must be with you. We have brought him some vegetables and he has eaten well. Sorry, we don't have any meat to feed him. Druc told her the bird’s name was Eagle and that he eats anything and everything, so not to worry about it.
The Vulcan woman fed him some soup and fruit. When he finished eating he began to doze. She left to let him get some rest, saying when he was well enough he would be taken before the council of the Isle regarding the staff he had with him. She pointed to the side of the room. There in the corner stood the golden staff.
