CHAPTER IX
Snake reached down, picked the beads up from Urson's hand. The sound ofwings had stopped.
"Where do we go now?" Urson asked.
"Follow the general rule, I guess," said Iimmi. "Since we know Hama doeshave a temple somewhere, we try to find it, get the third jewel, andrescue Argo Incarnate. Then get back to the ship."
"In three days?" asked Urson. They had related the rest of what they hadfound to him by now. "Well, where do we start looking?"
"The Priestess said something about a band of Hama's disciples behindthe fire mountain. That must mean the volcano we saw from the steps inthe City of New Hope." Iimmi turned to Snake. "Did you read her mindenough to know if she was telling the truth?"
Snake nodded.
Iimmi paused for a moment. "Well, since the river is that way, we shouldhead," he turned and pointed, "... in that direction."
They fixed their stride now and started through the moon-brushedfoliage.
"I still don't understand what was going on back at the monastery," Geosaid. "Were they really priestesses of Argo? And what was Jordde doing?"
"I'd say yes on the first question, and guess that Jordde was a spy forthem for an answer to the second."
"But what about Argo--I mean Argo on the ship?" asked Geo. "And whatabout Snake here?"
"Argo on the ship apparently doesn't know about Argo on Aptor," saidIimmi. "That's what Jordde meant when he reported to the priestessesthat she was bewildered. She probably thinks just like we did, thathe's Hama's spy. And this one here," he gestured to Snake, "I don'tknow. I just don't know."
In the distance was a red glow in which they could make out the faintlines of the volcano's cone. Snake made lights with the jewels, and oncemore they began to pick their way over the terrain, barer and barer ofvegetation. The earth became cindery and the air bore the acrid smell ofold ashes.
Soon the rim of the crater hung close above them.
Iimmi gazed up at the red haze above them. "I wonder what it's like tolook into that thing in the middle of the night?" Twenty feet laterSnake's light struck a lava cliff that sheered up into the darkness.Going on beside it, they found a ledge that made an eighteen-inchfootpath diagonally up the face.
"We're not going to climb that in the dark, are we?" asked Geo.
"Better than in the light," said Urson. "This way you can't see how faryou have to fall."
Thirty feet on, instead of petering out and forcing them to go back, thelip of rock broadened into a level stretch of ground and again theycould go straight forward toward the red light above them.
"This is changeable country," Urson muttered.
"Men change into animals," said Geo, "jungles turn to mountains." Hereached around and felt the stub of his arm in the dark. "I've changedtoo, I guess."
Iimmi recited:
"_Change is neither merciful nor just. They say Leonard of Vinci put his trust in faulty paints: Christ's Supper turned to dust._"
"What's that from?" Geo asked.
"That's one of my bits of original research," Iimmi explained. "It comesfrom a poem dating back before the Great Fire."
"Who was Leonard of Vinci?" Geo asked.
"An artist, another poet or painter, I suppose," said Iimmi. "But I'mnot really sure."
"Who's Christ?" Urson asked.
"Another god."
* * * * *
There were more rocks now, and Geo had to brace his stub against thewalls of fissures and hoist himself up with his good hand. The igneousstructures were sharp in his palm.
Through the night the glowing rim dropped toward them. With it came abreeze that pushed sulfa powder through their hair and made the edges oftheir nostrils sting.
The earth became scaley and rotten under their feet. Fatigue tied tinyknots high in their guts so that their stomachs hung like stones.
"I didn't realize how big the crater was," Iimmi said. The red glow cutoff at the bottom and took up a quarter of the sky.
"Maybe it'll erupt on us," Urson muttered. He added, "I'm thirsty."
They climbed on. Once Urson looked back and saw Geo had stopped sometwenty feet behind them at a niche in the ledge. He turned around anddropped back himself. There was sweat on the boy's up-turned face as thebig man came toward him. He could see it in the red haze from the rim.
"Here," Urson said. "Give me a hand."
"I can't," Geo said softly, "or I'll fall."
Urson reached down, now, caught the boy around the chest, and hoistedhim over the cropping of rock. "Take it easy," Urson instructed. "Youdon't have to race with anybody." Together they made their way after theothers.
Iimmi and Snake cleared the crater rim first; then Urson and Geo joinedthem on the pitted ledge. Together they looked into the volcano as redand yellow light fell over their chests and faces.
Gold dribbled the internal slope. Tongues of red rock lapped the sides,and the swirling white basin belched brown blobs of smoke which rose upthe far rocks and spilled over the brim a radion away. Light leapt inwavering pylons of blue flame, then sank back into the pit. Windingtrails of light webbed the crater's walls, and at places ebon cavitiesjeweled among the light.
Wind fingered the watchers' hair.
* * * * *
Iimmi saw her first, two hundred feet along the rim. Her drapes, diedred and orange in the flame, blew about her as she walked toward them.Iimmi pointed to her, and the others looked up.
As she neared, Geo saw that though she stood very straight, she was old.Her short white hair snapped at the side of her head in the warm breeze.Firelight and shadow fell deeply into the wrinkles of her face. As sheapproached them, light running like liquid down the side of her windedrobe, she smiled and held out her hand.
"Who are you?" Geo suddenly asked.
"_Shadows melt in light of sacred laughter, Hands and houses shall be one hereafter._"
recited the woman in a calm, low voice.
She paused. "I am Argo Incarnate, of Leptar."
"But I thought ..." Iimmi started.
"What did you think?" inquired the elderly woman, gently.
"Nothing," said Iimmi.
"He thought you were a lot younger," Urson said. "We're supposed to takeyou home." Suddenly he pointed in to the volcano. "Say, this isn't anyof that funny light like back in the city that burned our hands, onlythis time it made you old?"
She glanced at the pool of light. "This is natural fire," she assuredthem, "a severed artery of the earth's burning blood. But wounds arenatural enough."
Geo shifted his feet and rubbed his stump.
"We were supposed to take the younger sister of the present ArgoIncarnate and return with her to Leptar," Iimmi explained.
"There are many Argos," smiled the woman. "The Goddess has many faces.You have seen quite a few since you arrived in this land."
"I guess we have," Urson said.
"Are you a prisoner of Hama?" asked Iimmi.
"I am with Hama," said the woman.
"We are supposed to secure the third jewel and bring it back to theship. We don't have much time...."
"Yes," said Argo.
"Hey, what about that nest of vampires down there," Urson said, thumbingviciously toward the black behind them. "They said they worshiped Argo.What have you got to do with them? I don't trust anything on this placevery much."
"The nature of the Goddess is change," said the woman, looking sadlytoward the slope, "from birth, through life, to death," she looked backup at them, "to birth again. As I said, Argo has many faces. You must bevery tired."
"Yes," said Geo.
"Then come with me. Please." She turned, and began to walk back alongthe rim. Snake and Iimmi started after her, and then came Geo and Urson.
"I don't like any of this," the big man whispered to Geo as they camealong. "Argo doesn't mean the same thing in this land like she means onLeptar. There's nothing but more evil to come out of this. She's
leadingus into a trap, I tell you. I say the best thing to do is take thejewels we have, turn around, and get the hell out of here. I tell you,Geo...."
"Urson," Geo said.
"Huh?" the big man asked.
"Urson, I'm very tired."
They walked silently for a few steps more. Then Urson heaved up a halfdisgusted breath, and put his arm around Geo's shoulder. "Come on," hegrunted, supporting Geo against his own great form as they progressedalong the rocky ledge, following the new Argo.
At last she turned down a trail that dropped into the crater. "Walkcarefully here," she said as they turned into the huge pit.
"Something is not right," Urson said softly. "It's a trap I tell you.How does that thing go? I could use it now. _Calmly brother bear ..._"
"_Calm the winter sleep, Fire shall not harm,_"
continued Geo.
"Says who," mumbled Urson glancing into the bowl of flame. Geo went on:
"_water not alarm. While the current grows, amber honey flows, golden salmon leap._"
"Like I once said before," mused Urson, "In a ..."
"In here," came the voice of Argo. They turned into the dark mouth ofone of the caves which pocked the crater's inside wall. "No," she saidto Snake, who was about to use the jewels for illumination. "They havebeen used too much already."
With a small stick taken from a pocket in her robe, she struck a flameagainst the rock, then raised it to an ornate, branching candelabra thathung from the stone ceiling by brass chains. Flame leapt from cast oilcup to oil cup, from the hand of a demon to a monkey's mouth, from anymph's belly to the horns of a satyr's head. Chemicals in the cupscaused each flame to burn a different color; green, red, blue, andorange white light filled the small chapel and played across the tops ofthe benches. On the altar sitting on one side of the room were twostatues of equal height: a man sitting, and a woman kneeling. Iimmilooked at the altar. Geo and Urson stared at the candelabra.
"What is it?" Iimmi asked when he saw where their eyes were fixed.
"There's one of those things in Argo's cabin on board the ship," Geosaid. "And look over there. Where did we see one of those before?" Itwas a machine with an opaque glass screen, identical to the one in themonastery of Argo.
"Sit down," Argo said. "Sit down."
They sank to the benches; the climb, once halted, knotting their calvesand the low muscles on their backs.
"Hama has allowed you the privilege of a chapel even in captivity,"commented Iimmi, "but I see you have to share your altar with him."
"But I am Hama's mother," smiled Argo.
Geo and Urson frowned.
"The rituals say that Argo is the mother of all things, the begetter andbearer of all life. I am the mother of all gods as well."
"Those blind women down in the ground," asked Urson, "they aren't reallyyour priestesses, are they? They wanted to kill us. I bet they werereally dupes of Hama."
"It isn't so simple," replied Argo. "They are really worshipers of Argo,but as I said, I have many faces. Death as well as life is my province.The dwellers in that convent from which you escaped are a--how shall Isay, a degenerate branch of the religion. They were truly blinded by thefall of the City of New Hope. To them, Argo is only death, the dominatorof men. For not only is Argo the mother of Hama, she is his wife anddaughter."
"Then it's like we figured," said Iimmi. "Jordde isn't a spy for Hama.He's working for the renegade priestesses of Argo."
"Yes," returned Argo, "except that renegade is perhaps the wrong word.They believe that their way is correct, and a respect for belief isessential to the understanding of Man. And it is through understandingthat the mysteries that still remain in your mind will be solved."
"Then they must be responsible for all that was going on in Leptar, onlysomehow blaming it on Hama," said Iimmi. "They were probably just afterthe jewels, too. You don't look like a prisoner. That must be the wholething. You're here in league with Hama to prevent the priestesses ofArgo from taking over Leptar."
"Nothing could be simpler," said the Goddess. "Unfortunately you arewrong in nearly every other point."
"But then why did Jordde throw the jewel after us when he tore it fromArgo's--I mean the other Argo's throat?"
"When he snatched the jewel from around my daughter's neck," added Argo,"he threw it to the creatures of the sea because he knew they would takeit back to Aptor. With it once again in the island, the priestesseswould have a better chance of getting it; my daughter, acting ArgoIncarnate in my absence and her sister's, does not know that what she isfighting is another face of Argo. As far as she is concerned, all herefforts are against the mischief Hama has caused, and truly caused, inLeptar. This ignorance is far greater than you imagine, for beyond theseblind creatures is a far greater enemy that she must vanquish."
"Hama...?" began Iimmi.
"Greater than Hama," said old Argo. "It is herself. It is hard for me towatch her and not occasionally call out a word of guidance. With thescience here in Aptor it would not be difficult. But I must refrain. Isuppose she has actually done well. But there is so much more to do. Shehas directed you well, and assigned your tasks properly. And until nowyou have carried them out well."
"She said we were to steal the final jewel from Hama and return with youto the ship," said Geo. "Can you help us with either of these things?"
"The moment I compliment you," laughed Argo, "you completely confuseyour mission. Once the jewel is stolen, whom are you supposed to takeback to Leptar?"
"Argo Incarnate," Urson said.
"You said that Argo back in the ship was your daughter," said Geo, "butshe said you were her younger sister."
"She said nothing of the sort," Argo corrected. "I have two daughters.You have already met one. Now you must rescue the other. When myyoungest daughter was ... kidnaped here to Aptor, I was already here,waiting for her. Look."
She turned a dial beneath the screen and lights flickered over the glassuntil they formed a sleeping figure. She had short red hair, a splash offreckles over a blunt nose, and her hand lay curled in a loose fist nearher mouth. A white sheet covered the gentle push of adolescent breasts,and on the table beside her bed was a contraption made of a U-shapedpiece of metal mounted on a board, an incomplete coil of wire, and a fewmore bits of metal, all sitting on top of a crumpled paper bag.
"That is my youngest daughter," Argo said, switching off the picture."She is the one you must take back to the ship."
"How shall we steal the jewel?" asked Geo.
Argo turned to Snake. "I believe that was your task." Then she lookedaround at the other three. "You will need rest. After that you can seeabout the jewel and my daughter. Come with me, now. Pallets have beenset up for you in the far room where you may sleep." She rose and ledthem to a further chamber. The blankets over the loose boughs seemed topull them down. Argo pointed to a trickle of water that ran from a basincarved in the rock wall. "This stream is pure. You may drink from it."She pointed to a cloth sack in the corner. "There is fruit in there ifyou become hungry."
"Sleep!" said Urson, jammed his two fists in the air, and yawned.
As they settled, Argo said, "Poet?"
"Yes?" answered Geo.
"I know you are the tiredest, but I must talk to you alone for a momentor two."
As Geo raised himself, Urson stood up too. "Look," he said to Argo, "heneeds the rest more than any of us. If you want to question him aboutrituals and spells, take Iimmi. He knows just as much as Geo."
"I need a poet," smiled Argo, "not a student. I need one who hassuffered as he has. Come."
"Wait," Urson said. He picked the jewel from Geo's chest where Snake hadreturned it when they entered the chapel. "You better leave this withme."
Geo frowned.
"It still may be a trap," said Urson.
"Leave it with him," suggested Argo, "if it eases him."
Geo let the great hand lift the thong from his neck.
"Now come with me," said Argo.
They left the room and walked back through the chapel to the door. Argostood in the entrance, looking down at the molten rock. The light siftedthrough her robe, leaving the darker outline of her body. Withoutturning, she began to speak. "The fire is a splendid symbol for life, doyou agree?"
"And for death," said Geo. "One of Aptor's fires burned my arm away."
"Yes," she turned now. "You and Snake have had the hardest time. Both ofyou have left your flesh to rot in Aptor. I guess that gives you acloseness to the land." She paused. "You know, he had a great deal morepain than you. Do you know how he lost his tongue? I watched it all fromthis same screen inside the chapel, and could not help. They jammedtheir knuckles in his jaws and when the mouth came open, Jordde caughtthe red flesh with pincers that closed all the way through, andstretched it out as far as it would go. Then he looped the tongue with athin wire, and then he threw a switch. You do not know what electricityis, do you?"
"I have heard the word."
"Let me just say that when a great deal of it is passed through a thinwire, the wire becomes very hot, white hot. And the white hot loop wastautened until the rope of muscle seared away and just the roasted stumpwas left. But the child had fainted already. I wonder if the young canreally bear more pain than older people."
"Jordde and the blind priestess did that to him?"
"Jordde and some men on the boat that picked up the two of them from theraft on which they had left Aptor."
"Who is Jordde?" Geo asked. "Urson knew him before this as a first mate.But Urson's story told me nothing."
"I know the story," Argo said, "and it tells you something, butsomething you would perhaps rather not know." She sighed. "Poet, howwell do you know yourself?"
"What do you mean?" Geo asked.
"How well do you know the workings of a man, how he manages to function?That is what you will sing of if your songs are to become great."
"I still don't ..."
"I have a question for you, a poetic riddle. Will you try to answerit?"
"If you will answer a not too poetic riddle for me."
"Will you do your best to answer mine?" Argo asked.
"Yes."
"Then I will do my best to answer yours. What is your question?"
"Who is Jordde and why is he doing what he's doing?"
"He was at one time," Argo explained, "a very promising novice for thepriesthood of Argo in Leptar, as well as a scholar of myths and ritualslike Iimmi and yourself. He also took to the sea to learn of the world,but his boat was wrecked, and he and a few others were cast on Aptor'sshore. They strove with Aptor's terrors as you did, and many succumbed.Two, however, a four-armed cabin boy whom you call Snake, and Jorddewere each exposed to the forces of Argo and Hama as you have been. One,in his strangeness, could see into men's minds. The other could not.Silently, one swore allegiance to one force, while one swore allegianceto the other. The second part of your question was _why_. Perhaps if youcan answer my riddle, you can answer that part yourself. I do know thatthey were the only two who escaped. I do know that Snake would not tellJordde his choice, and that Jordde tried to convince the child to followhim. When they were rescued, I know that the argument continued, andthat Snake held back with childish tenacity both his decision and hisability to read minds, even under the hot wire and the pincers. The hotwire, incidentally, was something Jordde brought with him from the blindpriestesses, according to him, to help the people of Leptar with. Itcould have been a great use. But recently all he has done with theelectricity is construct a larger weapon with it. However, Jordde becamea staunch first mate in a year's time. Snake became a waterfront thief.Both waited. Then, when the opportunity arose, both acted. Why? Perhapsyou can tell me, poet."
"Thank you for telling me what you know," Geo said. "What is yourquestion?"
She glanced at the flame through the door once more and then recited:
"_By the dark chamber sits its twin, where the body's floods begin; and the two are twinned again, turning out and turning in._
_In the bright chamber runs the line of the division, silver, fine, diminishing along the lanes of memory to an inward sign._
_Fear floods in the turning room; Love breaks in the burning dome._"
"It is not one that I have heard before," Geo said. "I'm not even sure Iknow what the question is. I'm familiar with neither its diction norstyle."
"I doubted very much that you would recognize it," smiled Argo.
"Is it part of the pre-purge rituals of Argo?"
"It was written by my youngest daughter," Argo said. "The question is,can you explain it?"
"Oh," said Geo. "I didn't realize...." He paused. "By the dark chambersits its twin, moving in and out; and that's where the floods of thebody begin. And it's twinned again. The heart?" he suggested. "Thefour-chambered human heart? That's where the body's flood begins."
"I think that will do for part of the answer."
"The bright chamber," mused Geo. "The burning dome. The human mind, Iguess. The line of division, running down the lane of memory--I'm notsure."
"You seem to be doing fairly well."
"Could it refer to something like 'the two sides of every question'?"Geo asked. "Or something similar?"
"It could," Argo said, "though I must confess I hadn't thought of it inthat way. But it is the last two lines that puzzle me."
"_Fear floods in the turning room_," repeated Geo; "_Love breaks in theburning dome._ I guess that's the mind and the heart again. You usuallythink of love with the heart, and fear with the mind. Maybe she meantthat they both, the heart and the mind, have control over both love andfear."
"Perhaps she did," Argo smiled. "You must ask her--when you rescue herfrom the clutches of Hama."
Before turning back to the room with his companions, he looked once moreout at the fires of the volcano. Light whirled white and red. Bluetongues licked at black rock siding. He turned away now and went backinto the darkness.