Destination Sarkomand
They spent the rest of the afternoon cruising to and fro above the wrecked ship searching for more horned-one survivors, without success. Even Sniffer was unable to locate the rest of the runaways; though when Gytherik ordered the gaunt back to the ship, he seemed loath to give up the search. Then, toward evening, sails were sighted in the east and six men-o'-war came sweeping in to rendezvous. All seven ships made moorings against the fall of night in the desert some miles westward of the wreck, following which the six subordinate Captains were called aboard
Gnorri II
for Limnar's briefing.
The outcome was that the flotilla would remain here for the night and in the morning sail for Sarkomand, there to attempt the rescue of Ula and Una (the abducted girls) and do whatever else was feasible toward thwarting the enemy's plans. With the talking done the six sky-Captains returned to their vessels, leaving the four friends to sit at their ease in Limnar's cabin and sip wine by the light of a ship's lantern.
The afternoon had been awkward, with very little conversation and a sort of moving apart taking place between the friends; but now that night was upon them and the moon all set to put in its hideous appearance, they were drawn together again. Yet even now there were barriers, however tenuous.
“Those gaunts of yours,” said Eldin to Gytherik after a
while. “I wasn't aware that they had minds of their ownâif you know what I mean.”
“In the wild,” the gaunt-master answered, “they do appear to be pretty mindless, I'll agree. But once they have a purposeâ” He shrugged. “Perhaps something rubs off on them. You see, they don't just obey me, they
care
for meâfor you too, now. Take my word for it: they will protect you with their own lives.”
“And the way they dealt with Hrill and his underling,” said Hero, joining the conversation, “that was them protecting us, eh?”
“In their way, yes. From ourselves.”
“Against your instructions?”
“Perhaps they thought my orders invalid. Maybe they were invalid! I mean, our purpose is to kill horned ones, surely?”
“Um,” Eldin thoughtfully rumbled. “See, I like to think that when you tell 'em to do something, they'll do it. Not go taking matters into their own handsâor paws. I mean, two of those little pets of yours carried me into Ilek-Vad last nightâover some very high rooftops!”
“They also carried you over Serannian!” Gytherik hotly retorted. “Over the sky-city itself! They snatched you from thin air when you were blown out through the sky-island's flotation vent; and when Zura made you walk the plankâall three of youâwho was it saved you but my gaunts? They also flew you to the roof of the Museum, and they waited to rescue you if the Curator made you jump from that miles-high place! How can you doubt my gaunts?”
“How indeed,” said Limnar, but quietly. And Eldin was plainly unconvinced.
“Listen,” said Gytherik, exasperated. “King Carter has warned about the horned ones. They've been a source of trouble in the dreamlands since time immemorial. They've brought the dreamlands close to ruin more than once. They serve the moonbeasts who serve Mnomquah. Closer to home: they brought that terrible statue to Ilek-Vad. They sent saboteurs into the city. But for our intervention, Ilek-Vad's
peoplesâourselves includedâwould all now be dead or worse somewhere in the moon, and all through the activities of Lengites. They have sided with Lathi, whom you tried to burn, and Zura, whose zombie fleet we destroyed,
and
the Isharrans, who have taken captive your ex-girlfriends to sacrifice to Oorn! Need I go on listing their crimes?” His voice had gradually risen to a ringing shout and now he sprang to his feet.
“Yes, do,” Hero grinned in his most disarming way. “Why, I was really working up a hate for them then!”
Gytherik sank back into his chair. “My gaunts,” he finally said, “were right. It was bad of them to disobey me, but their motives were good.” He turned angrily to Limnar Dass. “And how can
you
complain? You wrecked their ship and killed a score of them at least!”
“I never said a word,” Limnar evenly answered. “In fact, I think you're right. Frankly, I don't know what has got into us, bickering like this.”
Eldin shrugged. “It's just that I would have liked to get more out of old Hrill. We learned a lot, but there's a lot more we still don't know.”
“And whose fault is that?” Hero tut-tutted. “It was you cut the rope, after all.”
“Because I thought the damned gaunts would catch him!” Eldin exploded.
“Did you?” Hero snarled. “I saw the look on your face as the rope parted. You wanted Hrill to dieâand so did I!” He frowned and paused, as if some new idea had come to him. “We all did ⦔
“Right!” Gytherik exclaimed. “We didâand my gaunts knew it. They can't smell, can't see, can't hearânot as we do. And so they work on instinct. And I repeat: they were right.”
“So if we're all agreed,” Limnar quietly asked, “what are we all growling about?”
A crewman of the watch appeared at the open cabin door. He nodded respectfully. “Moon's up, Cap'n. Just cleared the
horizon. And bigger and fatter than ever!” He nodded again and returned to his duties.
“There's your answer, Limnar,” said Hero. “Didn't Hrill tell us that the closer the mad moon gets, the madder we'll all become? It strikes me that from now on we'll all do well to hold ourselves rigidly in check.”
They went but onto the bridge. The sky was indigo all aroundâwith stars like jewels pinned on deep blue velvetâexcept for that region where the demon moon now floated free of the distant horizon. And gazing at the monstrous orb, which looked as if it might fall from the sky at any moment, Hero and his three colleagues knew beyond any further doubt that he was right. A tingling madness was in the air, radiating from the heart of the glaring yellow nightmare in the sky, and it set nerves ajangle and filled the blood with alien impulses and desires.
“Damn me!” Eldin irreverently muttered after a moment, his bearded, scarred face reflecting a sickly saffron glow. “Madness, is it? Well, only a madman would stay out in this in the first place. I've already had enough of it. If no one minds, I'll retire.”
“Eldin's right,” Hero agreed. “We should all get some sleep. And Limnar,” he turned to the sky-Captain, “it might be a good idea if you got word to the other ships. Tell the Captains to keep their crews out of this mad moonshine. Too much exposure could become a real problem. One thing, though: I think we should all be given a shake if the moon starts acting up again. Oh, and one more thing: anyone who is wearing Leng gold must get rid of it right now!”
Limnar nodded, sent messengers down the rope ladders and across the stony desert to the other ships, issued instructions that he and his friends were to be awakened at first sight of any abnormal lunar activity; and without more ado the four sought their sleeping quarters.
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It seemed that they were no sooner asleep than members of the night watch were shaking them into wakefulness. The
moon was high now, filling a third of the sky, and the desert itself looked a moonscape of yellow gleam and stark black shadow. The tingle in the night air had become a physical thing, as of alien energies that played upon the skin and nerve-ends, causing a heightening of awareness which in turn inspired a terror of the fiendish forces now in play.
Meeting on the bridge, the friends were in time to see the magnetic moonbeam (as they now termed it) strike, but its target was too far away, somewhere in the east, for them to experience any of its associated phenomena. It struck, retired ⦠and then there came an even stranger, yet more ominous occurrence; if that were at all possible.
It was simply this: that before the beam shot down in a solid shaft of shimmering gold, the “face” of the moon had seemed to wear a frown; as well it might considering last night's abortive attack upon Ilek-Vad. But now, with the drawing back of the beam, it appeared that the “mouth” had turned up in a horrific grin, and that the “eyes” had narrowed to lustful slits. And in another moment, with the hurrying of clouds across the great golden disk, it seemed to the breathless watchers that the moon licked its lips!
As if in response, however involuntarily, Eldin used his tongue to dampen his own suddenly dry lips. “Another hamlet,” he croaked, “perhaps an entire townâdrawn up into the maw of the mad moon!”
And so yet again their sleep was destroyed, when for the remainder of the night they could merely toss and turn, sweating in the ship's stifling confines and feeling through the thick planking of her hull the mysterious madness blown on dreamland's winds. And slowly the night passed and the dim light of dawn began to glow in the east â¦
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And in that first dim half-light, as the crews of the seven ships stretched, yawned and scratched, the lookout in
Gnorri
's crow's-nest gave a cry of alert that brought Limnar to the bridge and Hero and Eldin, in their nightclothes, to the ship's rail. There, fleeing east to west, the weirdest craft any
of them had ever seen scudded before a high, strong wind whose eddies could be felt even down here; and Limnar gave a gasp of surprise as he put his glass to his eye.
“Why, it's little more than a mainmast and sail!” he informed. “With a basket lashed below and the whole thing suspended from a couple of flotation bags. Oh, yes, and a flap of canvas on a knocked-together frame, acting as a rudder. There are a couple of horned ones in the basket, working like the devil to keep the thing stabilized. An ingenious affairâbut hardly maneuverable. And look at it go!”
The strange craft passed high overhead, rushed northwest-ward, dwindled down rapidly to a speck and vanished in the dawny distance. Gytherik, last to arrive, had seen only the glow of the rising sun on the distant sail before the makeshift craft disappeared, and he had heard only part of what Limnar said. Rubbing sleep from his eyes, he asked:
“What was that? A gaunt fleeing the rising sun? Surely not, for it was moving too fast.”
“No gaunt,” Limnar answered, “but a couple of clever Lengites flying a bit of wreckage.”
“What?” Gytherik cried. “I'll get my grim aloft at once! Maybe they can catch them.”
“Doubtful,” said Hero, laying a restraining hand on the youth's arm. “They were really moving. By the time your gaunts give chase they'll be miles away. Also, we have to get on. There can be no more diversions. Send a couple of your rubbery chums out by all means, if you think it will do some good. But they'll be on their own in the heat of the day, and they'll have to find their own way back to us. Also, we might just need 'em here, with the flotilla.”
“But surely the horned ones are heading for Sarkomand,” Gytherik protested. “They'll warn of our coming!”
“They don't know for sure that we are coming,” said Limnar. “Also, they'll be damned lucky to land that thing without killing themselves. Alsoâ”
“Also,” grunted Eldin, “maybe this way we get a chance to clear our collective conscience, eh? I mean, we cruelly killed
two of the squat little devilsâin error, if you likeâand so now we can even up the score by letting a couple go.”
Gytherik relaxed and Hero released his arm. “Maybe,” the youth said at last, “but I'm still not sure I like it.”
“Like it or not,” said Limnar, “it's done.” And with that he set about readying his ship for the quest â¦