gets a shaft in the chest!"
By now Jared had pieced together a more or less complete auditory composite of the situation. Mogan and a score of Zivvers were spaced along the ledge, the central caster's tones rebounding clearly against their raised lances. A lone Zivver guarded the entrance, standing next to the large boulder.
As gingerly as he could, Jared stooped to retrieve his spear. But a lance _hissed_ down and stabbed into the ground in front of him.
"I said _nobody_ moves!" Mogan's menacing voice poured down.
Even if he could get his hand on the spear, Jared realized, the ledge would be out of range. The rear guard at the entrance, however, was a different matter. And there was nothing but boiling pits and manna plants between him and the man. If he could make it to the first spring, none of the raiders would be able to ziv his progress through the heated area.
He traced the flight of another spear from the ledge. It sank into the echo caster's shaft, wedging itself against the pulley. And the Upper Level was thrown into stark silence.
"Take what you want," the Wheel quavered, "and leave us alone."
Jared sidled toward the first hot spring.
"What do you know about a Zivver who's been missing for the past twenty periods?" Mogan demanded.
"Nothing at all!" Anselm assured him.
"Like Radiation you don't! But we'll find out for ourselves before we leave."
Moist warmth swirled against Jared's chest and he lunged the rest of the way into the vapors.
"We don't know anything about it!" the Wheel reiterated. "We've had a Survivor missing too--for over fifty periods!"
Clicking his teeth faintly to produce echoes as he crept through the hot-springs area, Jared pulled up sharply. A Zivver missing? One of the Upper Level men too? Could there be any connection between those two occurrences and what had happened to Owen? Had the Original World monster crossed the Barrier after all?
Mogan barked, "Norton, Sellers-go search their grottoes!"
Jared cleared the last boiling pit and stepped soundlessly over to the boulder. Now only the big rock stood between him and the raider guarding the entrance. And the man's breathing and heartbeat clearly divulged his exact location. No one had ever enjoyed such an advantage of potential surprise over a lone Zivver! But he had to strike fast. Norton and Sellers were already trotting down the incline and would, in the next three or four breaths, pass within a few paces of the boulder.
More things than he could keep track of happened in the next instant.
Even as he started his lunge around the rock, he caught the horrible stench of the thing from the Original World. It was too late, however, to check his charge.
Then, as he broke around the boulder, a great cone of roaring silence screamed out of the passageway. The incredible sensation struck him squarely in the face with deafening force. It was as though obscure regions were being opened in his mind--as though thousands of sensitive nerves that had never been stimulated before were suddenly flooding his brain with alien impulses.
In that same instant he heard the _zip-hiss_ that had sounded in the Original World just before Owen collapsed. And he listened first to the Zivver crumpling before him and then to the frantic cries of distress rising from his rear.
Whirling to flee before the monster and the terrifying noise that he could neither hear nor feel, Jared was only vaguely aware of the Zivver spear that was screeching in his direction.
He tried to duck at the last heartbeat.
But he was too late.
CHAPTER FOUR
_______________
Guided by clickstones, Jared went cautiously down the passageway.
The inconsistencies before him were distressing. The corridor itself was both familiar and strange. He was certain he had been here before. There was that slender stone dripping cold water into the puddle below with melodious monotony, for instance. He had stood beside it many times, running his hands over its slick
By now Jared had pieced together a more or less complete auditory composite of the situation. Mogan and a score of Zivvers were spaced along the ledge, the central caster's tones rebounding clearly against their raised lances. A lone Zivver guarded the entrance, standing next to the large boulder.
As gingerly as he could, Jared stooped to retrieve his spear. But a lance _hissed_ down and stabbed into the ground in front of him.
"I said _nobody_ moves!" Mogan's menacing voice poured down.
Even if he could get his hand on the spear, Jared realized, the ledge would be out of range. The rear guard at the entrance, however, was a different matter. And there was nothing but boiling pits and manna plants between him and the man. If he could make it to the first spring, none of the raiders would be able to ziv his progress through the heated area.
He traced the flight of another spear from the ledge. It sank into the echo caster's shaft, wedging itself against the pulley. And the Upper Level was thrown into stark silence.
"Take what you want," the Wheel quavered, "and leave us alone."
Jared sidled toward the first hot spring.
"What do you know about a Zivver who's been missing for the past twenty periods?" Mogan demanded.
"Nothing at all!" Anselm assured him.
"Like Radiation you don't! But we'll find out for ourselves before we leave."
Moist warmth swirled against Jared's chest and he lunged the rest of the way into the vapors.
"We don't know anything about it!" the Wheel reiterated. "We've had a Survivor missing too--for over fifty periods!"
Clicking his teeth faintly to produce echoes as he crept through the hot-springs area, Jared pulled up sharply. A Zivver missing? One of the Upper Level men too? Could there be any connection between those two occurrences and what had happened to Owen? Had the Original World monster crossed the Barrier after all?
Mogan barked, "Norton, Sellers-go search their grottoes!"
Jared cleared the last boiling pit and stepped soundlessly over to the boulder. Now only the big rock stood between him and the raider guarding the entrance. And the man's breathing and heartbeat clearly divulged his exact location. No one had ever enjoyed such an advantage of potential surprise over a lone Zivver! But he had to strike fast. Norton and Sellers were already trotting down the incline and would, in the next three or four breaths, pass within a few paces of the boulder.
More things than he could keep track of happened in the next instant.
Even as he started his lunge around the rock, he caught the horrible stench of the thing from the Original World. It was too late, however, to check his charge.
Then, as he broke around the boulder, a great cone of roaring silence screamed out of the passageway. The incredible sensation struck him squarely in the face with deafening force. It was as though obscure regions were being opened in his mind--as though thousands of sensitive nerves that had never been stimulated before were suddenly flooding his brain with alien impulses.
In that same instant he heard the _zip-hiss_ that had sounded in the Original World just before Owen collapsed. And he listened first to the Zivver crumpling before him and then to the frantic cries of distress rising from his rear.
Whirling to flee before the monster and the terrifying noise that he could neither hear nor feel, Jared was only vaguely aware of the Zivver spear that was screeching in his direction.
He tried to duck at the last heartbeat.
But he was too late.
CHAPTER FOUR
_______________
Guided by clickstones, Jared went cautiously down the passageway.
The inconsistencies before him were distressing. The corridor itself was both familiar and strange. He was certain he had been here before. There was that slender stone dripping cold water into the puddle below with melodious monotony, for instance. He had stood beside it many times, running his hands over its slick
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