Rislo's explanations as to why they kept their distance were right. Yes, they disliked the light, but it did them no harm. Yes, he was to big for most of them to handle while he remained alive. So they had placed themselves strategically in the ponds and lakes. Their prey as still their prey, they sensed his movements in the water and on the thin bars of soft mud in between. He instinctively moved way from them through waters which looked empty. So, gently they guided him to the last and deepest of the pool which was black and cold and deep.
Rislo did not look behind as see the blind fish skipping on large powerful flippers from pool to pool across the mud bars which separated them. Rislo reached the last expanse of water and stood knee deep in oozing, oily mud at its edge. Beyond it the cavern ended and somewhere in the rock wall across the lake was the shaft upwards to his goal.
He looked at the lake before him. It was not wide, but there seemed to be no way around it, stretching into the darkness right and left. But it looked empty, not a single ripple broke its oily black surface, not solitary white fish broke its calmness.
Rislo sensed something odd, something sinister, about this lake. He was reluctant to enter it, but it was the only way to the rock wall. He could see no way around. He cast a glance over his shoulder and was amazed to see a great mass of white bodies, either floating silently in the pool immediately behind him or drawn up at the edge of the mud bar on which he stood. They did not move. At either side the scheming catfish had taken up positions at an equal distance from Rislo, he seemed to be at the bottom of a giant, glistening crescent which pointed its horns into the black pool.
Rislo shouted at the gathered fish and threw globs of heavy mud in their direction, but they stood firm. He turned the orb light to its highest intensity, but they did not move and their skin did not boil and shrivel. He looked back at the pool.
They wanted him to enter it. There was something there; just waiting. The Tallman sent his mind probing the lake bed. His powers were not in the same league as Jonathon's, but they were enough to tell him that something lurked at the bottom of this pool. Something very large, but it was sleeping. Perhaps he decided, if he slid silently into the pool, it would not detect him. It was his only hope. A voice spoke inside his head again, but this time he knew its name, it was Fear.
"What are you doing here Rislo when you could have been away from this place hours ago?”
But Rislo knew that he had no option now. If he went back the mutated catfish might attack him in numbers. He would risk going forward. The giant slipped off his pack, boots and the heavy clothing which might have dragged him down. He bundled it all together and, with a truly gigantic effort, hurled it across the lake to the other side where it landed with a dull plop in the soft mud.
A yellow eye on the lake bed flipped open. Rislo slid his naked body into a silky coldness which quickly numbed all sensation rapidly. He moved his arms and legs slowly, attempting not to break the surface of water and bring whatever lurked below him, to the surface. He clenched his teeth around the orb light's shaft which held in his mouth.
Below him, another eye opened and pivoted upwards toward the surface of the narrow pond it had, for many years, inhabited. It was not blind, it could see clearly that something had been driven to its lair; and it was amused.
The giant breast-stroked slowly and carefully. He was almost half way across now and, so far, all was well. Then a foot broke the water and Rislo sought out the mind at the bottom of the lake. It was awake and alert! Its consciousness directed towards the splash!
Rislo decided that now was the time to really swim, splashing no longer mattered. He launched himself into a furious front crawl and began to devour the yards to the other side. He sensed was moving now, cutting smoothly through the water like a knife. Rislo dragged himself harder through the water, his muscles protesting at the brutal demands of his mind.
Now the yellow eyed creature underneath the giant, its lower jaw slowly opening, it twisted its long slender body towards the shadow at the centre of the bewitching pattern of lights it had watched gliding gently at first, now
sparking brightly across the surface of the pool it had never seen before, only felt.
It was not blind and it had been treated to a once in a lifetime sensory experience which now had it in an ecstatic rapture. It had no intention of eating this beautiful thing in its pond, it liked it and followed it, twisting and turning, gyrating – dancing, with a fluid grace only such a huge eel could, to the rhythms of the ripples of light it now could see. It was mesmerised by Rislo's light orb.
Rislo reached the far bank breathless and almost crying with relief. He had felt its terrible presence, felt its movement in the turbulence of the water beneath him. He looked back at the pool. A head the size of Rislo broke the surface. Two yellow eyes peered at him for a moment and at the leg that Rislo still had in the water. Then, with a slight flick of its head, it slid gently into to the water and back to its lightless isolation.
The Tallman dressed quickly and made his way to the cavern wall, searching for the well shaft that led to his goal. His heart still pounded his breath shallow and irregular. He had survived and now he tried to forget the terror he had felt by focussing on the task ahead of him.
Soon he found the dark crevice which marked the spot where the Tallmens’ well-shaft descended deep into the bowels of Dubh from their city. Rislo looked up. It was considerably narrower than the one he had ascended earlier, its sides roughly hewn in the hard bed-rock, rather than being made of brick and mortar. But his ascent would be easier today up the rusty, steel maintenance ladder which was bolted firmly to the rock walls.
Even though Rislo had intended to enter the city during the hours of darkness the Tallman night, his curiosity got the better of him. It would be early evening up there and the Tallmen would be largely engaged in recreational activities, rather than being conveniently asleep in their beds.
But the chamber above him would still be deserted, he hoped. Panting, despite his relatively easy ascent, the giant reached the well-head. Cautiously he pushed the well-cap door. It was not secured!
He lifted the door a fraction and manoeuvred himself so that he could examine the entire chamber. It was empty, it was deserted. Tools and equipment lay around the work tops, technician's robes were thrown untidily about the floor. Not the usual fastidiously tidy state the chamber would have been left in at the end of a shift. At the far end of the chamber, opposite the entrance, a Field expander pulsed brightly as it dispersed its stored energy into the Field Walls. Along side it, the reserve machine stood ready.
To the right of these machines, a huge mass of gigantic cables entered the chamber from the generator halls of the Halls of Machines and disappeared into the charging room, where the electrical energy from the Halls was stored in the Power Reservoirs. The door was wide open and Rislo could see a discharged globe mounted and awaiting charge. In a few seconds he could be in and out of the chamber and away with his prize!
He took a deep breath and threw open the well cap door and leapt into the deserted chamber. The door's hinges squeaked noisily and flew open with a loud clang which made Rislo's heart stop momentarily. As he climbed out, his feet encountered something soft and he staggered forward and fell, twisting around to discover the body of a woman, a human woman, naked and severely beaten, lying in a crumpled heap against the well-cap, which protruded above the chamber floor.
Rislo slowly raised himself to his feet. There had been no Tallmen females in their societies, let alone human females, for centuries. They had disposed of the weaker, irrational sex once their science had allowed them to clone themselves. Freed of their burdensome sex, the Tallmen race had claimed to have escaped their biological strait-jacket and gone forward beyond nature. Science was then seen as the partner of the Tallmen, their counsellor and comforter.
Thus Rislo was stunned that the woman had been allowed to enter the city and had obviously been brutally violated in the attempt to satisfy some sexual
craving here in the City of the Tallmen. He had observed that this place, its general standards, its own moral standards, had been slipping, but he did not believe that it could have already slid so far. It was a sanctuary from the perversity and corruption of the human world they shared here, things had slid yes - but this far, so quickly?
He had miscalculated; things had to be bad for him to find this woman here. The dark primal energies which had a possessed the bodies and souls of the human population were here. The Tallmen had succumbed. It was even worse than what he had seen himself.
His conclusions were confirmed when a naked Tallman lurched, staggering from behind the raised well head where he had been lying. He laughed at something unseen and then his un-focussed eyes came to rest on Rislo. His face and neck were scratched and bleeding and he slobbered uncontrollably and giggled in delight as his eyes moved to the woman.
He seemed to have forgotten the other Rislo's presence now his attentions now focussed upon the moaning human woman who he now picked up in his arms. He laughed at the look of fear as she opened her eyes, then threw her down the open well shaft. He stared blankly down the dark hole for a moment then, wiping the saliva from his chin with a forearm, attempted to secure the door. He failed miserably, his hands no longer under the control of his drug impaired brain and collapsed on the chamber floor.
Rislo walked over to him and lifted the chin of his kinsman, his eyes were glazed and his pupils dilated. His arms where covered in sores and puncture marks, some old and some new. Rislo gritted his teeth, he knew such signs, but who had introduced such evils into the city.
A shout from the doorway caused him to whirl around. A small dark human looked him up and down and Rislo deduced from Jonathon's descriptions that the human was a High Hat. The caller smiled broadly. "Brother!" he laughed “can I ‘elp you! This is your lucky day, late, but still bargains to be 'ad. Dope and women still available, as you can see."
Rislo's eyes narrowed, he felt an anger boiling up inside of him. They were here! High Hat's in the Towers, the city. Plying their trade openly amongst his kind - corrupting them. What had happened over the past few days, had he been so blind in all his years here that he had never seen the disaster which was so close? He knew that the morals and integrity of his race had been failing, but to this extent, so suddenly? He had grown to hate his own people, but had never thought to see them fall so fast. The High Hat swaggered toward him, trailing a young woman close behind him. "What'll it be brother.
Somethin' to escape y’troubles or this delightful specimen. The High hat moved closer pushing the girl before him. Her head lolled from side to side, her eyes dark and rolling with the drugs the High Hat's had used to pacify her.
Rislo looked at her. Her body was boyish and her muscle structure well defined. The Tallman realised that her life had been one of hard work, each muscle group twitching from years of constant use. She was clearly no High Hat brothel girl.
The High Hat raised his eyebrows suggestively, misreading Rislo's close scrutiny for something else.
“Nice eh! “he continued his sales pitch. "Nice and clean this, a bit wiry, but look at the 'air! He grabbed the girl's raven black hair which cascaded down her shoulders into the middle of her back.
"She'll be alright for you, if you prefer 'em firm ‘n’ wild - and don't forget mate we don't need 'em back - do what y'will with it!" the High hat grinned, and prepared to close the sale. "So what’ve y’got to exchange then pal"
Rislo stared at the High Hat and smiled, but there was no warmth in his face. These people were not content with the perversion in their own city - they had come to trade it here, infect the Tallmen with their own primitive diseases of body and soul. He could not believe this was happening. It must have been going on for sometime - how had he missed it?
Rislo smiled at the High Hat.
"I've not seen you here before brother. How long have you been trading in the Towers?"
The High Hat shrugged.
" Me? Well, since the beginin’. On and off for the past couple of years. First we began with your bosses, now your Elder's think it'll be a good thing if you lot get some fun too, nice of 'em eh? Once a week t'let you blokes get rid of some tensions, keep you ‘appy. A city without women’s a strange place" he chuckled amused with himself. He winked at the Tallman. "Know wot I mean, bruv."
Rislo shook his head, his false smile
disappeared rapidly.
"No I don't actually" he paused. "What do you mean." he shouted angrily as he twisted the shaft of his light orb and pointed it angrily at the slowly retreating High Hat who was now visibly shaken and, for some reason, shocked by the Tallman's response. The giant took menacing pace the High Hat.
“Do you realise what's going to happen if the Tallmen are forever pre-occupied with this." he gestured to the stupefied Tallman who had awoken and now crawled groaning toward the raven haired girl who had collapsed at his feet.
The High Hat raised his hands in a gesture of innocence. “We only sell to those off duty. That was the agreement." he croaked still retreating slowly. The High hat had been shocked by Rislo's sober appearance. Hadn't he drunk from the City's water supply today? It was obvious he hadn't or he wouldn't have been so unfriendly, the High Hat realised that a straight thinking Tallman might jeopardise there real mission here tonight, especially here at one of the places where they had tapped into the water supply.
Rislo shook his head and began to lower his light orb. Perhaps he had over reacted he thought? And so what! Wasn't he personally going to destroy it all soon. It was absurd to get worked up about things. He had to get on with his plans.
The High Hat saw the Tallman lower his weapon and took his chance drawing a short musket from beneath his cloak. The clicking of the hammer alerted Rislo who squeezed the light staff's trigger, sending a beam of energy into the human’s stomach. His musket dropped to the ground and the man swayed for a moment, exploring the hole beneath his ribs. Then, when he realised he could feel his spine, he collapsed on his face.
Rislo stared at the smoking corpse, then at the girl who stared up at him, with her tired blue eyes. The drugged Tallman came closer, now crawling on all fours. His arms reached out for him and he began to foam at the mouth like a rabid dog. Rislo kicked him hard in the throat and sent him tumbling across the polished floor and into a still and silent heap.
The girl dropped at his feet by the retreating High Hat watched all of this and the violence of the last few moments seemed to have brought her back to the edge of reality. She stared at the Tallman who stared angrily back at her, her eyes pleaded with him to take her away from this place and the drug induced hell the High hats had placed her in.
The Tallman ignored her. He strode off across the chamber and removed something from the smaller room and stuffed it into his pack. He moved purposefully across to the work benches and took several tools and other pieces of equipment and placed these in his pack too. Then he placed his light orb in a socket and recharged it, before taking two more from a rack above and slipped them into his belt.
His business here complete, Rislo moved to the entrance of the chamber and peered cautiously up and down the corridor. Rislo could still not fully comprehend the sights which he had witnessed this evening, part of him would not believe it and this drove him to further investigation of the state the Tallmen had got themselves into. After all this was just one room of thousands and hadn't the High Hat said that they did not sell to those on duty? he thought. But then again what were they really up he thought? He had to find answers his own questions, despite the risks. Quickly Rislo searched the chamber for some form of disguise and found a yellow technician's robe and donned this over his black leathers.
With the robe’s hood dropped over his eyes he walked casually out into the corridor, after hiding of the Tallman and the High Hat in the charging room. He walked slowly along the brightly lit corridors and observed the behaviour of his colleagues who were supposed to be on duty.
&n
bsp; Superficially there seemed to be little wrong, except that many waved and smiled at him in a extraordinarily friendly way. At one point a technician left his tasks and congratulated Rislo on his recovery from illness and gave him a suffocating and emotional embrace. The Tallmen were too friendly, their society was a best strictly formal. Rislo could see that they were all doped.
As he approached the dormitories he realised from the screaming and shouting that something was seriously amiss, that his fears were about to be confirmed. At the doorway into the dormitories another sneering High Hat greeted him touting his wares of drugs and an offering him a choice from a string of naked men, women and children chained tightly together.
Rislo pushed him aside and entered the dimly lit sleeping quarters where the Tallmen were not sleeping. Most were furiously engaged with their recent and disposable purchases or each other in a hot, sweaty and sex soured atmosphere. Those who were not were rolling around in a state of drug induced frenzy lay stupefied on the floor. He stared in disbelief. All discipline, control over the savage and powerful side of their physical existence and self imposed morality these once proud beings had, all those things which had made them what they the Tallmen were, had gone. They had fallen and Rislo finally believed what he saw and he had seen enough.
The Tallman, who now thought himself the last, retreated from the dormitory and made his way back the way he had come. He closed his ears to the sound of screaming and psychotic laughter and ran quickly to the chamber and the well shaft. As he approached the doorway he stopped abruptly when he heard the sound of voices from within. Rislo peered around the door to see two Tallmen warriors in full mirror armour standing over the bodies of the technician and the High Hat. Neither were drugged or disoriented. They were armed and their glowing red laser staffs had been primed to kill. Rislo considered his position, and then lunged into the chamber shouting at the top of his voice.
The Chronicles of Jonathon Postlethwaite: The Seed of Corruption Page 15
