The Ways Between Worlds: Peter Cooper

by Larry E. Clarke

  "But how do they prepare it?" I asked without really being prepared to know.

  "Simple. Great chunks of the glyptons are simply cut off the living beasts and tossed into covered vats to dissolve. When the guards judged it necessary they add more to thicken the mix. In lean times or as a measure of punishment they say it is served thinner or withheld entirely."

  The sleeping area was in the darkened rear of the chamber. Here platforms were carved at various levels from the salt. Once more a single lamp burned with an oily yellow light fueled by a piece of glypton flesh.

  "We sleep here Petar. The others are away in the mines. We were allowed to remain because most had not regained consciousness."

  Around the chamber others I recognized from the Dumpling sat in small groups, stunned and unbelieving at the sudden change in their fortunes. A few spoke or nodded a greeting as we passed. Others did not acknowledge us. Some sat or knelt beside still unconscious comrades. All were stripped of arms and outer clothing. Judging from the bruises and state of their clothing all of the females and some males as well had been sexually misused while unconscious.

  "I must relieve myself" I told Dhars softly. "What's the proceedure here?"

  "Petar, our sanitary facillities consist of that large wooden bucket".

  I looked in the direction he had gestured and saw a wooden tub perhaps half a meter deep and a meter in diameter. It was formed of heavy planks and bound in iron strapping. It fit into a depression in the salt so that the user could squat or stand above it. Otherwise it was entirely in the open at one corner of the chamber.

  There being no other choice, I put aside inhibitions and stepped up to relieve myself. I did turn my back to the others out of habit. As I stood there I looked up the shaft through which the tub was raised and lowered. No light of any kind was visible above. This shaft had no direct connection to the surface. Barely visible in the gloom were heavy wooden doors folded down to totally block the shaft. A hole where the doors met allowed the hoist ropes to pass through.

  Each morning a rope was lowered down a narrow shaft with bucket of gruel. The bucket of wastes was put in its place to be lifted first to the chamber above, thence in two or three stages to the surface. It would then be hauled to the edge of the pit and lowered again via another hoist to the glyptron below.

  Stains at several points around the pit walls suggested that no special care was given the cargo of wastes. The hoist operators saved time and a little energy by dumping their loads while they were still 10 meters above the floor.

  Turning to finish our circuit of the chamber I noticed her. Bending over one of the Threatian (I almost thought Threatian "guards" though truly now their station was the same as ours) was commander Calix.

  Her robes, weapons and insignia of office had been stripped but she still had the air of one in charge. That she had been roughly handled and probably raped by our captors was evident bruises her meager clothing could not hide. She was offering gruel and warm reassurance to the young Threatian. There were about 50 of us in the chamber, all recognizable as Threatians or crew from other vessels in the floatilla.

  That evening a roughly equal number of slaves re-entered the chamber a few at a time via a ladder let down though a hatch in the ceiling. They were mostly dull eyed and exhausted from their labors. But a few still had energy to lord it over the rest.

  A large Helakian lumbered to the head of the sorry looking group. "I speak for the Red group" he began. "I am Hhstt-Therk the team leader. We have never had so many new slaves at one time but you will find that I am a fair leader so long as you follow my rules and are quick to learn my ways".

  Several ugly lieutenants moved to back him up.

  "You" he bellowed to one of the Threatian females, "Move to the table and remove your garments. We will decide what you will be allowed to keep". The shakedown of the newcomers had begun.

  The young woman hesitated but before she had time to move Eripa Calix stepped out of the group and barked two short commands. The well disciplined Threatians instantly responded and soon were drawn up in three ranks, each directly behind the soldier ahead. The remaining 20 of us looked to Ativa-quan, but for the moment stood aside.

  Hhstt Therk growled low in his throat. Clearly he was a being unaccustomed to being crossed. "Among the slaves MY word is law" he bellowed. He too growled an order and was joined by a score or more of his henchmen. Other members of the Red team, however, pulled back. By their faces I judged them too frightened to intervene but they would shed no tears if Hhstt were to lose his position as "the law" among his fellows.

  Ativa stepped forward to stand in formation with Eripa. Dhars and I looked at each other and without a word fell in beside her. Others hesitated, many a shipmate had been felled by the Threatains. . . but it had been a fair fight. Following Ativa's lead these too moved to fill the Threatan ranks. The balance was now clearly shifted in favor of the newcomers. A faint smile played at the lips of Eripa Calix as she saw how her command swelled.

  "You will give no orders here. . . . Hhstt" she said, words dripping with disdain. "One who would molest and rob his unconscious fellows has failed to command even himself. You are unfit to lead others".

  "I claim command here" she challenged. "If you dispute me then let us settle the issue by force of arms."

  "Done, my little female" he shot back. "I see the marks I have already given you were not sufficient. Such sport as my men and I have enjoyed with you thus far is but a taste of what is planned."

  This done he drew himself up to full height and lumbered forth. Eripa stepped to meet him, alert but seemingly unruffled.

  A Threatain officer stepped forward and issued a command which sending thosewho had been standing at attention into a sort of parade rest.

  Across the chamber those who actively backed Hhstt shoved and shouted encouragement to their leader and insults to the Threatains and others they had violated. Hsstt rushed Eripa immediately. He had the bulk of a walrus behind him. She could not directly meet his charge. Instead she stepped lightly aside at the last moment, rapped him sharply where his wrinkled neck joined his body and watched him fall face first before the Threatain ranks. Scraped by the salt he bellowed in rage and rose to his feet. Claws, previously retracted, now appeared on each stubby hand. Again he charged. His claws raked her shoulder and pulled the garment she wore to her waist.

  "I shall use you less gently next time woman. Perhaps you already carry the seed of my line. Though your fragile race might not survive the birthing of Helakian young."

  Eripa said nothing but continued watching, paying special attention to his feet.

  Hhstt's toes griped the salt signaling his readiness to charge. Eripa stood directly in his path. As he came within reach she grabbed a fleshy ear in each hand and gave way. She rocked backwards, still grasping his ears she placed a foot in Hhstt's middle so that his own motion carried him over in a low arc to crash heavily against the barred opening of the chamber. He lay stunned for a moment, moaning softly. Before he could recover Eripa danced in and landed two quick kicks to the fleshy dewlap at his throat.

  From the dirty cloth about his waist Hhstt drew forth a crude wooden knife. The top of the blade had been serrated so as to disembowel anyone stabbed in the guts. With this he slashed weakly at Eripa. She kicked if from his grasp and before he could fully rise lept to wrap her legs around his bull neck.

  Grasping the bars behind her she applied all possible pressure. He convulsed and bucked, trying desperately to dislodge her. Moment by moment the color drained from his face. The yellow-green of his features now became sickly white. At last he slumped forward, unconscious.

  Eripa, glistening with sweat, her beasts heaving as she gasped for air and slid from his back. With her foot she pushed him over. . . and. . . over again, unwinding the yards of cloth hoarded about his loins. When he rolled naked onto the salt she bent and grasped the crude blade still lying nearby. With a couple of powerful sawing strokes and a mighty tug she tore off h
is external organs of reproduction. These she tossed atop the still unconscious Hhstt.

  "Tell Hhstt that this is how "I" deal with those who violate their fellow prisoners" she said, directing the words to his now subdued henchmen. With the cloth she fashioned a sort of sarong for herself. An officer stepped forward to tend her wounds but she waved her away. She eyed the ragged and dull eyed group arrayed along the opposite walls of the chamber. "All who would side with the newcomers, receive them as sisters and brothers and be received as such. . . fall into ranks."

  Most seemed to understand her words. For those who did not a member of the Reds translated. The first to cross was a scrawny humanoid female clutching a baby. One by one most of the others followed. The last to decide were Hhstt's lieutenants. Two of these crossed but 18 remained with their as yet unconscious leader. Two kelt beside him trying to staunch the flow of blood from his recent emasculation.

  Several of the red team members moved to speak against permitting the two to join. Eripa silenced them with a gesture. "What's past is past. Future misdeeds will be dealt with severely."

  Our ranks now held near 100. The chamber where we were confined was squalid in every regard, but we were not crowded. The room, cut from the salt in the early days of the mining process was actually quite large. Eripa took advantage of this space and broke the formation into squads consisting of roughly half Threatains and ship's crew and half new slave recruits. Under the eye of their Threatian leaders all were marched and drilled to the point of exhaustion.

  When vanishing light forced a halt to the activities there was a renewed sense of hope to see even this limited order in the midst of chaos. This drill became a part of the routine both morning and evening, for both male and female from that day forward.

  As the weeks dragged by Eripa and her Threatians were evolved from captors to comrads in arms for all save Hhstt and his hard core supporters. Hhstt and those who clung to him remained unredeemed, outside the group. They took no part in any drill. They were both universally hated and now generally ignored by their former underlings. A year ago, before the arrival of the Ixtet swarm Hhstt had ruled this den of thieves and outcasts. For a year he had continued to rule the slaves of Red team. Eripa had changed that.

  There was no doubt that the new order was a better one for the Reds, nor any doubt that Eripa was firmly in charge. Within the first week the routine was well established. Each morning we would drill for about 1/2 hour. The gruel would arrive at the end of the rope, and the bucket of night wastes attached in its place. All would gather, cup in hand, at the low table that was the chamber's one piece of furniture. The morning meal would be eaten--swilled down-- within a few moments. Soon the hatch in the roof of the chamber would open. Through this a crude but sturdy ladder would be lowered and, one by one we would climb to the guard's chamber's above.

  Our captors had placed a daub of red pigment on each newcomer’s neck at the start of our first work shift. These marks were renewed from time to time. Each morning crude digging tools were passed to us from the numbered pegs to which they must be returned each night. We were informed that the penalty for losing of concealing one of these tools was "death".

  Aboard the Dumpling and in the slave quarters we were a veritable stew of different species. The Ixtet overloards, however, were stunning in their sameness. I initially found it impossible to tell one from the others. All were incredibly similar. Later I learned to recognize individuals by the scuffs or discolorations on their leathery hides, but this required careful observation. Apparently they had a similar problem. The red pigment served to identify the team members who otherwise looked alike to the guards.

  Each of the Ixtet was about 1.65 meters tall. They had identical lean bodies and blunt triangular faces. Where eyes should have been, each had tea cup sized mounds of tissue that looked like clear gelatin over which a sheen motor oil had spread.

  As they spoke the entire lower third their face hinged open to reveal hundreds of needle sharp teeth. Each moved on four spindly legs. Each manipulated objects in two multiply jointed arms. Their limbs seemed capable of bending in the most unlikely directions. I saw one pick a mite from behind his earpatch with the toes of his far side hind leg. They were incredibly dexterous. Across the back were folded a pair of stubby wings, evolutionary left overs, too small to allow actual flight. When the Ixtet walked their semi rigid hide scraped against itself at the joints of their many body sections. The effect was of newspapers being crumpled or cellophane rustling.

  In groups of varying size we were dispatched with guards to work new sections of the mine each day. Each morning we marched through a labyrinth of tunnels to where a heavy, but moveable windlass waited lower us to the work site. We made the descent in twos or threes in a wooden bucket of sorts.

  The bucket was supported by what must have been a couple of hundred meters of rope which a series of gears allowed to uncoil at a measured rate from a large windlass. The first descents were terrifying. The buckets swayed and threatened to tip us out into the gloom below. To save fuel we descended in near total darkness. Only when the crew was assembled in the area to be worked were all the lamps lit.

  The Ixtet were well armed and professional at controlling prisoners. While we worked each day they entered the sleeping quarters and probed every square centimeter to be certain there had been no tunneling. They never allowed themselves to be outnumbered at the wench site where it really mattered. What good would it do us to outnumber the guards 50 to 1 in the pit below so long as we had no way of ever regaining the surface? Where could we run? To flee into the depths of the mine would gain just enough “freedom” to wander alone in pitch darkness and to die of thirst. Some days each descent would take several minutes. Occasionally we saw other slaves daubbed with blue or yellow working in side tunnels as we were lowered past.

  It seemed that the Red team was used primarily at the lowest levels of the mine to search for promising new deposits. We searched for flamestones, fossilized bones, and spices. The stones resembled a sort of amber/opal. Even in the dim light of our mining lights they seemed to radiate a light of their own. The wealthier citizens of Mon-ton had sported small stones in very expensive settings.

  The jewels formed here as the shallow seas receded and the remaining sea life was concentrated into this small area. The jewels were almost invariable found in groups of two. Some claimed that they had once been the sex organs of a sea creature but that was just legend.

  The spice came from the bones and fossilized organs of primitive vertebrates. Concentrated in these was a drug so addictive that it was rumored a single use left one enthralled for life. The Ixtet alone knew the secret of processing it.

  We worked at times in holes scarcely large enough to squat in. On other occasions we were lead to chambers so vast that their ends were lost in darkness. If there was any pattern or design to the digging it was not obvious. I wished that Lady Camille were here with her engineering skills. I had no idea what had happened to her or to the other half of the crew not housed with us. For all I knew, she/they might already have become part of the glyptron we had eaten at breakfast or now burned as oil in our lamps.

  It was not a comforting thought. Still, there was some possibility her circumstances were better. She had learned Leeta's lessons in self-preservation well and could be crafty when the situation called for it.

  -----

  Eripa soon realized that the Ixtet had difficulty distinguishing among their captives. She prepared to exploit this weakness. For the first month she had returning workers scrape red pigment from their necks into a food cup. She called on her troops to produce anything from their meager belongings that might serve to produce a yellow or blue pigment. Soon she had a passable amount of each color which she always carried with her.

  The opportunity finally presented itself as we worked a large chamber beside members of the Blue team. Jarla Tolax made his way slowly toward the area where the Blues were closest. As if by accident, the lights of those
standing nearest needed to be refuled at that moment. By the time they had returned, the Blue team had a new member and we, a few moments later, a new Red.

  In this manner Eripa was able to coordinate movement among three groups that officially had no contact with each other. At my request she made inquiries as to the fate of Lady Camille as she compiled a roster of Threatens and ships crewmen within the other work groups.

  The Lady had not been seen by anyone in Blue or Yellow group. I mourned her loss. To think of that gentle creature coming so far to become food for the glypron or to be murdered by the Ixtet grieved me greatly. I missed her practical jokes, her naiveté about the dangers life could pose, and her invariably sound engineering advice.

  Four groups of 12 slashes and 8 solo marks on the chamber wall marked the 56 days of our captivity. Three of our number had died from a nameless disease whose victims developed high fevers, hallucinated, became unable to stand or move with purpose. Finally, when their bodies finally could no longer continue even the involuntary act of breathing. . .they died. It was a horrible death.

  The "natives", as we called any slave who had been there before us, had seen it before. They thought it a reaction to the air in certain caverns. Perhaps it was a sort of allergic reaction to the spice and jewels we mined. Perhaps it was a virus that attacked the central nervous system. Humanoids were not immune.

  Eripa had continued to organize the workers. Escape plans were discussed each night. Only Eripa herself and possibly one of her trusted officers knew complete details. The rest of the work was divided out to small working groups of 3 to 6 members. Each group reported directly to Eripa. No group communicated what it was doing with any other unless she authorized it. The Ixtet watched and listened. Hhstt and his unrepentant henchmen would clearly appreciate a chance curry favor with the bugs and regain control of the Reds by exposing a plan of escape.

  By secretly swapping Threatians among the three teams we learned the strength and location of captives and captors alike. Communication was later maintained in a less risky way by signaling with flags and mirrors from the mouths of the chambers that faced each other across the pit. A crude map of the mines had been assembled. Every bit of available information had been extracted from those who had ever seen the surface.