by John Blaine
“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 timeShannon ’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 aroundShannon ’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 securedShannon .
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“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 pickedShannon up in his arms, and Scotty lashed them together, making a kind of sling that would helpsupportShannon ’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 Page 74
boundShannon 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.
CHAPTER XIX
Chahda Sweeps the Sea
The exchange of rifleshots lasted only a few moments without causing casualties to either side. Scotty had fired more in warning than to score a hit. The Spindrifters had taken cover behind the rocks, and the protection had been enough.
Rick sized up the situation. More vintas were crowding into the cove. There were so many now they got in each other’s way. Before long the entire cove would be jammed with vintas and the Moros would come swarming ashore. Unfortunately, the sea was calm, with only low surf on the eastern shore. Heavy breakers would have been helpful in keeping the pirates busy, Rick thought.
One thing was clear as glass. They couldn’t wait for the pirates to overrun them. Rick hurried to Zircon’s side. “Professor, can you carryShannon ? We’ve got to get to the other side of the cove, then across the rocks to the sea. It’s a better position to defend, and we might have a chance to get to the water when Chahda comes. I’ve called him. He’s on the way in.”
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“Rick’s right,” Scotty chimed in. “Get going and I’ll cover you.”
Zircon nodded without speaking. He stepped swiftly toShannon ’s side and picked the zoologist up.
Then he followed Rick to the end of the cove and started the climb over the tiny spit of land that separated the cove from the open sea.
It was rough going. Tony Briotti gave Zircon a hand over the roughest places, while Rick and El- pidio Torres stood by to assist where needed. Scotty stayed at the edge of the cove, rifle at the ready.
The pirates hadn’t gotten organized yet. The Spindrifters were still in deep shadow and not clearly visible. Now and then a pirate took a rifleshot , but that was more from lack of discipline than a target at which to shoot.
Rick hoped that the Spindrift group could reach the seaward side of the spit they were now climbing before the pirates swarmed ashore. There was a good chance of defending the spit, particularly with Scotty’s rifle.
Zircon reached the top and went over, and Rick called, “Scotty! Come on!”
Scotty instantly turned and ran.
&
nbsp; A hail of badly aimed rifle slugs spattered off the rock across an area forty feet wide as the pirates shot at the sound of Rick’s voice. None came near the mark. Then, a few pirates, smarter than the rest, realized what was going on. As Tony Briotti and the Torres boy were silhouetted briefly against the sky at the top of the rise, the handful of alert pirates fired. Most shots missed, but Rick heard the Filipino boy gasp.
Scotty reached Rick’s side and said softly, “Let’s go, and slide over the top on your stomach.”
Rick didn’t need the advice. He had no intention of letting the pirates catch him in silhouette. He crouched low and moved the few feet to the top, found a boulder, and slipped quickly around it. Scotty followed a moment later.
“I’m staying here at the top,” Scotty said. “If any pirates try to come after us, I’ll have a clear shot. And when they get wise and come around to the sea side, I can shoot down on them. How are we going to get out of this?”
“You tell me,” Rick suggested. “I don’t know.”
The pirates hadn’t been long in catching on. A few vintas were already rounding the cove point heading for the party now huddled behind boulders on a ledge just above the sea. Rick hurried down to join the others, leaving Scotty to guard the rear.
Tony Briotti greeted him. “Look.”
Rick’s eyes followed the archaeologist’s pointing finger. Off to the southeast, on a sea tinted pink from the rising sun, he saw the low lines of the Swift Arrow. Chahda was on his way!
Zircon bellowed, “Watch it!” He echoed his words with the flat slap of a pistol shot. The first vinta had reached the group and was standing only a few feet offshore. Others were crowding in behind it. Rick got ready to shoot again, and saw that the Torres boy, a bloody handkerchief tied around his upper arm, Page 76
was throwing rocks with his good hand. Tony Briotti followed suit, picking up large chunks of lava and slamming them into the pirate craft.
Rick spotted a rifleman in the nearest vinta and sent a broadhead arrow at him. The arrow passed between the pirate’s arm and side, but pinned him by his shirt to the vinta mast. Rick quickly nocked another arrow and waited for a clear shot.
Behind him, Scotty’s rifle spoke once, twice, then a third time. Yells from beyond the spit of land showed that the pirates had tried to come at them overland. Rick hoped Scotty’s single rifle would be enough. At least his pal was shooting from cover, while the pirates were in the open.
A vinta tried to approach and Rick sent an arrow into the helmsman’s shoulder. The vinta sheered off and collided with another.
It was only a question of time before the pirates were forced ashore by their very numbers. Rick knew that his small group wouldn’t last long, not against barongs and krises . He shot again, and took a pirate rifleman out of the action. Zircon’s heavy automatic picked off the first pirate that tried to climb ashore, and slammed him back onto his fellows.
Tony Briotti aided the sudden pile-up of pirates with a chunk of lava the size of a basketball. Sudden screams of pain and rage came from the mass of struggling Moros.
Other vintas had pulled into shore farther away and Rick saw pirates scrambling up the rock unhindered.
He got two with arrows,then Scotty fired from his vantage point and drove them to cover.
Above the Moro battle cries and screams of rage Rick suddenly heard the horn blast of the Swift Arrow. He looked up in time to see Chahda driving at full speed, parallel with the beach. As the Hindu boy drew close, the Swift Arrow’s saluting cannon suddenlyerupted a load of tacks into the cluster of vintas. The pirates scrambled to cover against this new menace as the MTB swept by. The terrific bow wave lifted the vintas high and sent them crashing into one another. Two of them turned over.
Rick fell back and grabbed his radio unit, quickly plugging in the earphone.“Chahda! That was great!”
The Hindu boy sounded excited. “I make short turn now, do same thing again, only closer. You get ready. When I toot horn, you get to water somehow. Okay?”
“We’ll try,” Rick answered grimly. He beckoned to Scotty, who came down to join him, keeping a watchful eye to the rear in case a pirate tried to come over the rise. The two hurried to Zircon’s side.
Rick said swiftly, “We’ve got to get to the water. Chahda’s coming back right now. We have to be ready when he toots.”
Zircon handed Tony the pistol. “Keep their heads down, Tony. I’m going to take Howard up the shore to that nearest vinta. The rest of you come after me. Hurry it up! We’ll have to swim for it, unless we can grab the vinta.”
The big scientist reachedShannon ’s side just as Chahda started his second run. Again the Hindu boy opened with a blast from the saluting cannon, then crowded close inshore, letting his bow wave drive the vintas hard against each other and the shore. The crashing vintas sent their crews down in heaps. The MTB was so close to shore that Rick could see the string Chahda had rigged to trigger the cannon by remote control.
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The pirates were too busy to worry about the Spindrifters for the moment. Zircon scoopedShannon up and hurried along the shore, ignoring the wash from the MTB that lashed over the rocks. Rick and Scotty were right behind him, weapons ready.
A vinta with only two pirates aboard was scraping back down over the rock. The rest of its crewwere struggling in the water.
“Get them!” Zircon yelled.
Rick caught one with an arrow just as the man rose to a sitting position on the gunwale. The heavy shaft carried him over the side. Scotty’s rifle sent the other one to the bottom of the vinta in a heap.
The boys moved fast, grabbing the vinta before the retreating waves carried it away. Zircon jumped in, turning as he did so. He fell, the zoologist in his arms. The mast took the blow of the scientist’s great weight and broke off short, leaving a tangle of sail, mast, and boom.
“Get in!” Scotty yelled at Tony and Torres. His rifle barked at the pirates further up the beach, driving them to cover again. Zircon putShannon down and heaved the pirate Scotty had wounded onto the shore.
Rick followed Tony and Torres into the boat,then yelled for Scotty to push off. He grabbed the radio unit again and called, “Chahda! What do we do now?”
“Get little way from shore and go into water. Catch rope when I come. All must catch! You watch when I toot horn, and you see.”
Rick yelled the instructions to the others, then stuffed the set back into his pocket, dropped his bow, and took a paddle. Scotty knelt beside him, a length of board in his hand. “Let’s go, boy,” he said urgently.
Under the impetus of Scotty’s initial shove and the boys’ paddles the vinta moved slowly out until it was a good thirty feet from shore. The nearest of the pirate craft moved to intercept it, four Moros at the paddles.
Scotty stopped paddling and started shooting. The pirates dropped paddles and dove to the bottom of the vinta.
Rick looked about anxiously. Where was Chahda?
Then he saw the MTB making a sweeping turn at the northern tip of the island. As he watched, Chahda straightened out and the bow wave of the MTB curled as he picked up speed.
“Better get in the water!” Rick called. “Tony,give me the pistol, and takeShannon ’s bow and quiver.
Better hang them both on your back. Scotty and I will stay in the vinta and cover you!”
Tony nodded and exchanged weapons. “I’ll help Zircon withShannon . Come on, Pete. Over the side and swim out a little way.”
The Torres boy responded at once, diving headlong into the water. Tony followed and tookShannon as Zircon handed the injured man down. Then Zircon got into the water, too, and led the four away from the vinta.
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Rick and Scotty watched the tangle of pirate craft, waiting for the next pirate boat to get untangled and make a try for them. Chahda’s bow wave had left the pirate fleet in a shambles, some of the vintas turned over, nearly all with sails and booms in a heap on deck or over the pirates.
One vinta
extricated itself and the pirates suddenly located the boys. A Moro raised his rifle to fire and found it smashed in his hands as Scotty snapped off a shot. The pirate’s stock splintered and the force of the slug smashed the barrel across his face. He went down.
Then one of the pirates on shore made a try. He stood upright, rifle poised. Rick fired with the heavy automatic. He missed. The pirate looked at the silvery spatter of lead on a rock two inches from his right knee and dove for cover.
Chahda flashed by, and the bow wave lifted Rick and Scotty high into the air. They grabbed at the vinta with their free hands and had to grip tightly to keep from being thrown as it rolled wildly. Rick snapped the safety on and lowered the hammer to half cock, then tucked the pistol securely in his belt. For a moment he hung on with both hands,then called to Scotty.
“Let’s hit the drink!”
Scotty was trying to sling his rifle on his back while holding on with one hand. He gave it up and went over the side. Once in the sea, he rose to the surface and got the rifle sling into position. Rick waited until the vinta was on the downward slope of the backwash from the shore,then went in headfirst. The cool water engulfed him and he twisted upward and broke the surface.
Scotty was waiting. The two of them swam outward, to where the other four were treading water, waiting for Chahda.
Rick heard the MTB’s horn let go with a long blast, and herose high out of the water to look. For a moment he thought Chahda was out of control, because the big boat was spinning in a tight circle. That could only be done by putting one engine in full reverse and the other in full forward!
Then the boy saw what Chahda had done. The centrifugal force of the whirling MTB sent a fifty-gallon drum dancing across the water to the full length of a long rope. As the barrel swung wide, Chahda straightened out and put on speed.
“Come on!” Rick yelled at Scotty. He stretched out in the water for a fast sprint. Leave it to Chahda!
Had he tried to swing the barrel out while traveling in a straight line, it would merely have fallen astern.
Circling the MTB at a fast speed was the only way to get the rope out far enough from the boat to give them all a chance of grabbing it.
