A spark jumped in the shadows. A roar and a flash. Something whistled so close to his ear it brushed the lobe. He threw himself down just in time to escape a volley of three more pistol balls. The men charged, fell over his prostrate body, and piled upon and around him.
Nobody knew where the enemy was. They struck at each other, shouted, felt around for him, and were rewarded by blows.
A moment later, light dispelled the chaos. A torch was thrust into the cadmus hole and showed them their surroundings. But they had no thought for Cage. The hand gripping the flaming brand was huge and three-fingered.
The walls of the place they crouched in were formed of some hard and woody-looking substance. There was no exit other than the hole through which they had entered. Whatever passage existed had been so cleverly closed that no line of demarcation showed. If the invaders wanted to go farther they would have to blast their way with bombs. While they remained in the cone, they couldn't do that. And while the dragon waited outside, the men must stay right there.
Impasse.
Four men carried firearms. Three were busy trying to reload. The other was out of powder.
It wasn't bravery but sheer desperation that made Jack charge the thing that held the light.
He ran full into the glare, stared eye to eye with the monster, saw that the left canine in its open mouth was black with rot -- he remembered that later -- and swung the blade. Its sharp edge cut through the thumb gripping one side of the torch; digit and brand fell together to the floor.
Jack stooped to pick it up. As he did so, a gush of blood from the wound spilled down his neck. A roar deafened him as the sound waves bounced back and forth in the narrow chamber. Then he had scooped it up, turned, and flung the still burning wood at the men.
Several things occurred at once. He noticed the dragon's thumb was still curled around the torch, its long heavy nail embedded within the wood. Behind him, the roar shifted into a curiously pathetic wail followed by a lament in child-talk, "My thumb, manling! Give me back my thumb!"
He paid no attention to the dragon. He stared at the wall behind the men, for it was opening. A man-high iris was splitting the brown glossy substance.
He cast aside his plan to try to dodge by the beast and to make a run for the woods. Instead, he swerved past the group and plunged into the fresh hole. He hoped that the time gained when the raiders had thrown up their arms to protect their eyes from his thrown torch would be enough for a good head start. It was.
His enraged pursuers shouted. A pistol went off. He turned a corner and found himself in a narrow corridor. The sounds behind were cut off as if a door had closed.
A moment later he realized that that was exactly what had happened. For the entire hall, like a cyclopean hand, closed round him, pressed against his body, and squeezed so hard he thought his ribs would break and his blood would burst from his mouth and ears. But it was not that terrible pressure that forced consciousness from him. It was a tongue of flowing wallsubstance groping for all apertures; it shoved into his mouth and filled up his throat and cut off his breath. Thunder and darkness and panic seized him. And he knew no more.
Through a veil, light and sound.
R'li's voice.
"Is he dead?"
"Jack Cage?" said a male voice that Jack could not identify.
"No. His father."
"He'll live. If he wants to."
"O Speaker to the Soul, must you always be mouthing what you learned at the Rites?"
"It's true, isn't it?"
"But obvious and tiresome," replied the siren. "Walt Cage will probably want to die when he finds out he's been dragged into a cadmus. He hates us so."
"That's up to him."
Jack opened his eyes. He was lying on a mound of some soft stuff in a large circular room. Its walls and floor were formed of the glossy brown flesh-vegetable. A twilight came from gray globular clusters that festooned both ceiling and walls. He sat up and touched the globes. He withdrew his fingers, but not because they were hot, for they were cool. The cluster had squirmed slightly.
He looked around. R'li and Polly O'Brien were watching the man across the room. His father was lying on a bed of the same mossy stuff that was under him.
Yath, the medicine man of the local Wiyr, was bending over Walt and adjusting bandages. Now and then he whispered into the man's ear. Why, Jack could not guess, because his father was gray with shock, unconscious.
Jack said, "Yath, what's wrong with my father?"
Quickly R'li said, "Please don't interrupt him, Jack. He shouldn't talk to anybody just now. But I'll tell you. Your father has three breaks in his right arm, two broken right ribs, and two compound fractures in his right leg, and possible internal bleeding. Naturally, he's in shock. We are doing all we can."
Jack felt in his pockets. R'li held a smoke out to him and lit it while he sucked through it.
"Thanks. Now tell me, what the hell happened? The last I remember is that the walls were closing in on me."
R'li smiled and picked up his hand. "If we'd ever had time to talk about anything except ourselves, Jack, you'd have found out just what a cadmus is. I would have told you it's a living creature. Like the totumtree, it's half vegetable, half animal. Originally, it was a huge partly underground entity that lived in symbiosis with bears or mandrakes. Or, in fact, with anything that would provide it with meat or vegetation. In return for food, it offered shelter and protection from enemies. If, however, you failed to keep up the rent, you became an enemy and went into the empty belly sac.
"When I say it 'offered' shelter, I didn't mean in any intelligent sense. It has no brain; not as we know it, anyway. But when we were building our new civilization, we bred these cadmi for larger size, for more 'intelligence,' for all the qualities we desired. The result is the creature you are now in. One that provides you with fresh air, a constant and comfortable temperature, light, and safety. Actually, our underground dwelling is a colony of twelve such beasts, each of which grows the almost indestructible horn you see sticking from the meadow."
"It's as simple as that? Why, then, the mystery all these centuries?"
"The information has always been available. But your leaders made it forbidden to you. They know the truth. But they prefer to allow the rank and file to regard cadmi as chambers of horror and evil magic."
Jack ignored that. "But how do you control it? How did it know we were enemies?"
"Before you can establish an 'agreement' with a cadmus, you must offer it a certain amount of food at certain orifices. After that, it recognizes you by your odor and weight and shape. The walls of a room enfold you and take your shape-print.
"We teach it to react in such-and-such a manner to us, and from then on we're its masters -- or partners -- as long as the food comes in. But it's trained to seize unidentified people and hold them until we order it to release them. Or to kill."
She held out her hand to one of the light clusters. "Look."
As the hand neared, the globes brightened. When the hand withdrew, the light dimmed. Stroked three times, the cluster increased its brightness and retained it even after she took her fingers away.
"They'll hold that intensity until caressed twice. It's a matter of establishing communication and of training."
Jack didn't know what he wanted to find out next. The attack, Ed, Poly, the dragons, his father, his present status.
He groaned.
R'li looked alarmed. He was glad of that because, in a way, it answered the question that had suddenly struck him. "What did you think of me when you found me among the raiders?"
Leaning over, she kissed him full on the lips. "I knew all about what was going on. We have our sources of information.''
"I should have stood up to them from the beginning. I should have told them to go to hell."
"Yes, and ended up like poor Wuv," she said.
"When did you find out about that?"
"Some time ago. Through certain -- ah -- channels."
"Then you know all about the HK?"
"Yes."
Yath, looking up, gestured.
She said, "We're interfering with his work on your father."
R'li led them into another cell. After Polly had stepped through, R'li stroked the iris three times, and it closed.
Jack would have liked to stay where they were, for a cadman was talking into a large metal box with needles and dials on its front. Once he stopped, and a male voice issued from the box. R'li beckoned them on; they went into another room where O-Reg, her father, was seated at a table.
The Blind King did not bother with greetings.
"Please sit down, Jack. I'd like to explain a few things about your immediate future. Especially since your fate concerns my daughter's."
Jack wanted to ask just how much he knew about R'li and himself, but O-Reg evidently did not want to be interrupted.
"First, your father is going to be very much disturbed because he was brought into a cadmus without his permission. But it was either that or allow him to die while waiting for a human doctor.
"He'll have to wait until he's much better before he can make a decision. But it's vital that Polly and you decide at once what you want to do. We've received word that news of this attack has reached Slashlark and that the entire garrison is now marching out to surround the farm.
"Ten minutes ago, their vanguard, riding on carriages, dashed past the Watcher of Squamous Creek. Foot soldiers are following. That means that the wheelmen will be here in about an hour and a half.
"Their ostensible purpose is to safeguard us Wiyr from an aroused citizenry. Actually, they may be looking for an excuse to invade our cadmi. They know we've captured HKers. They may reason that we've extracted their secrets and that it'd be best to launch the attack against the horstels ahead of schedule.
"However, let's hope they wouldn't dare do so without word from the capital. It's day now; the Government heliographs have been very busy. Inasmuch as it's fifteen hundred miles from here to St. Dyonis, it'll be some time before Slashlark gets a message.
"But the soldiers will soon be here. They are as excited as the citizens about the affair; there's no telling what'll happen if discipline is forgotten. So, in case they should violate sanctuary, you'd better decide now what you want to do.
"You've two choices. One, take your chance in court. Two, flee into the Thrruk."
"You don't leave much choice," said Jack. "The first is certain death in the mines."
Despite his concentration on the Blind King, he noticed that Polly O'Brien had been edging up to him. Her huge eyes were half-lidded; one hand was held behind her long skirt as if she were hiding something in it. Jack's first thought was that she had a knife. It was easy for him to think so. Too many people had been out to get him these last few hours. His second thought was that she had no reason to stick him in the ribs and that he was getting oversensitive, too nervous.
A cadman stepped into the chamber and spoke in adult-talk to O-Reg. O-Reg said in English, "I'll be back in a moment.''
After he left, Jack said, "Does my father have much chance to pull out of this?"
"I can't guarantee anything," R'li replied in child-talk. "But Yath is very capable. He has his ear to the Great Mother's bosom. He's one of the best of the healer class."
At another time, Jack would have been both surprised and made curious by this remark. He had not suspected that the Wiyr had classes of any sort. Professions and trades, yes, but the word she had used could not be translated into English to mean either of those terms. It had an enclitic particle -- the pang which signified that the noun it modified had qualities that were definitely bounded by certain restrictions. Thus, in certain contexts, it could indicate that the restricted person designated by the noun had been born into the situation and could not get beyond these limits.
If anybody had asked him before this particular conversation, Jack would have replied that he had only a vague idea of how cadmus society was arranged. If pressed, he would have said that he had always thought of the Wiyr as living in near anarchy.
But, right now, he could think only of his father.
R'li continued, "Yath has already repaired the broken bones. Aside from shock, for which your father has been treated, and possible internal bleeding, Walt should be able to get up and walk now."
Polly O'Brien gasped, and she said, "Black magic!"
"No," R'li replied. "Knowledge of Nature. Yath set the bones and then injected a very powerful and quick-drying glue that binds the broken bones together more strongly than they were before the breaks. He has also administered several drugs, the combined effect of which combats shock. And he has placed your father in a kipum. Translated roughly, a kipum is a trance in which the patient is wide open to psychic suggestions that enable the body to heal itself more swiftly and efficiently.
"No, there is no sorcery or witchcraft about our methods. If Yath would explain his methods, the techniques of his profession, the ingredients and formulas of his medicines, you would clearly see that no magic is involved. But he won't tell you any more than he would me. His powers are the secrets of his profession. That is one of the privileges of his class. He may never be a king, but he has rights that must be respected."
O-Reg came back into the room. He said, "Chuckswilly escaped Mar-Kuk and Hya-Nun, the dragons. He's contacted the unicorn soldiers and is now on his way here with them. We'll know in a few minutes what he wants."
He paused, then resumed, "I expect that he'll demand that we surrender you, Jack. In fact, he'll want every human being now in this cadmus. That means Polly, your father, Ed Wang, and his fellows."
R'li, her face anxious, stared up at Jack. "Don't you see what this means? All of you, no matter what your motives for entering here, will be condemned! You know your law! If you go into a cadmus, you are guilty by contamination. You'll be automatically convicted and sentenced. The only doubt will be whether you burn at the stake or work in the mines!"
"I know that," Jack said. He grinned lopsidedly. "In a way, it's funny about Ed. His hatred for you horstels and those humans who associate with them has hurled him headlong among them. And now, like it or not, he must share their fate.''
O-Reg said, "Ed Wang doesn't think it's so funny. I told him what's facing him, and he almost fainted with anger and frustration. Also, I believe, with more than a little fear. I left him howling obscenities and threats."
O-Reg made a face of disgust. "A vile creature!"
"What are you going to do?" R'li said to Jack.
"If I stay here, what will happen? Not that I want to stay. I couldn't remain below the ground forever."
"Nor would we like to be shut up within our homes," O-Reg said. "You know how much we love the open skies, the trees, our fields. Although we are accustomed to descend into the cadmi for protection and for necessary business, we, too, would go mad if forced to be contained for long periods in these cells.
"However, that possibility need not be our concern at the moment. I'll tell you what's happening outside these walls. As you guessed, the government of Dyonisa has been preparing to attack the horstels within its boundaries. Moreover, Dyonisa is in league with Croatania and Farfrom. All three governments plan to exterminate us Wiyr, kill every one, man, woman, child.
"We've known this for some time. But, so far, we've not known what to do. We were prepared to give up much to preserve the peace, but we would not surrender our independence and way of life. However, the human governments do not want mediation and adjustment. They want to solve the problem completely, forever, and at once. So. . ."
Jack said, "If you know you have to fight, why don't you strike first? Be realistic."
"We have made preparations," R'li said. "We will use all the forces of Baibai, our Mother."
She referred to a deity or a force, Jack was not certain which. He suspected that Baibai was an earth goddess, a false deity, a demon to be abhorred by all Christians. It was said that the horst
els sacrificed their children to her, but Jack did not believe that. No one who knew the horstels and their revulsion against the shedding of blood, the protective rituals with which they surrounded themselves even in the slaughter of food animals, could believe that. Nevertheless, there were other evils besides child-sacrifice.
O-Reg smiled grimly and said, "The HK Society was not an official organization, but I'm sure that the government knew of its existence and even planted agents among it to encourage its plans. However, I have news for you.
"The capital city of Dyonisa is on fire."
"It's what?" said Jack.
"It's burning. A fire broke out in the slums. Fanned by a strong wind, it spread throughout the wooden tenement districts. Moreover, it's threatening the houses of the merchants and nobility. The refugees from the slums of Dyonisa are streaming out through the gates of the city walls and into the countryside. I suspect that the government will have other things on its mind and on its hands than war against the Wiyr. At the moment, anyway."
"Who started the fire?" asked Polly O'Brien.
O-Reg shrugged and said, "What's the difference? The slums have been a tinderbox, a firetrap, for a long time. This was bound to happen. But you can be sure that, whatever the cause, the horstels will be blamed."
Jack wondered how O-Reg knew so swiftly what was happening in the capital, so far away. Then he remembered the talkboxes. But 1,200 miles away!
"A few more minutes," O-Reg said, "and you will have to stay here. Your passage out will be blocked by the soldiers."
A horstel male entered and spoke to O-Reg in adult-talk. The Blind King answered; the messenger left. O-Reg switched to English.
"Ed Wang and his companions have left. They ran for the woods, toward the Thrruk, I suppose."
R'li placed her hand on Jack's shoulder and said, "You can't surrender to them! If you do, you'll be executing yourself. You'll die!"
"But what about my father?" Jack said.
She replied, "He'll probably get well, and soon. But he'll have to spend at least a day in bed."
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