Chapter TWENTY-NINE
Entering the Charnel Pit, Ram scanned the tavern.An empty table beckoned, and he folded his longframe onto its stool and delicately leaned an elbowon the least filthy spot of the scarred surface.Shifting his body slightly, he observed the millingcrowd with frequent glances toward the entry.
Garbed in earth-toned street clothes, he had justleft his room at the Condor, his mind on Drummer.Their meeting at the landing pad had been properand courteous, with no attempts at prying, eitherway. Confining themselves to amenities, theyspoke of tedious space jumps, the quality ofaccommodations in various parts of the system,and generalities on a better life for humankindfrom a benevolent Slingshot.
Drummer had taken leave following Ram's inspectinghis lodgings at the Condor and shrugging themacceptable under the circumstances. Departing,Drummer informed Ram that he would call for himor send an escort as soon as a suitable time for hismeeting could be arranged with President Narval.Ram expressed his trust that the meeting would besoon and productive.
As his eyes accustomed to the bar-room'ssmoke-diffused lighting the harsh faces ofthe jostling crowd emerged. A frontier, indeed,he mused. Satisfied that he drew no untowardattention, he glanced once more toward the doorand signaled a robo-dispenser.
A face drifted past, paused for the briefestmoment, and moved on. It was enough. Ram gaveno outward sign, but felt less alone. Hodak ambledto the bar, where the drinkers greeted him andjovially made room. An hour and several drinksslipped by. Hodak and Ram ignored each other.
A small man in a nondescript tunic sidled up Ram'stable.
"Xindral?" He wheezed.
Ram glanced at him and away. He remained silent.
"I have a message for Ram Xindral."
"Give it."
"If you're Xindral, the person you're here to seeprefers to meet with you away from his normalplace of business. I am to guide you to the meeting.Follow me."
"Name the man who sent you?"
"Drummer."
"Why didn't he come himself?"
"He is with his superior at the meeting place."
Ram was suspicious. It could be a trap. On theother hand, it was not unreasonable that Narvalmight want to meet away from the formal seat ofgovernment. His options were limited. If Drummerhad really sent the message, and he refused theescort, the meeting with Narval would be off to abad start, perhaps canceled.
The messenger stood by, subservient, waiting.Ram brought his hands to his forehead as ifdeliberating a decision, and gently rubbed histemple to cover a flashing glance at Hodak. Hodaksubtly acknowledged the sign.
"Be with you as soon as I finish my drink," Ramsaid.
Taking a sip, he placed the goblet on the table andbegan to fish about in his tunic pockets, clumsy andtime-consuming. Finally, he rose slowly, toweringover the small man.
"Lead on," he said.
Alarms shrilled in Hodak's mind as he recognizedthe person speaking with Ram. What were Scarf'sstooge and Ram discussing? Ram's mission to PlanetPluto was clearly diplomatic and entirely Drummer'sshow. Drummer would not have knowingly acceptedScarf's involvement in the proceedings.
Ram's surreptitious glance in his direction anddeliberate clumsy hesitation imparted doubtsconcerning his predicament. Hodak stretched,quickly finished his drink, paid his tab, andslapped drinking partners' shoulders good-bye. Hesauntered toward the door, left the bar-room and,outside, turned away as Ram and his escort emergedand moved off. Hodak turned casually to observe.
A man in a dark tunic slipped out from a shadowalong the wall and followed behind Ram. Anothertrailed further behind. As Hodak watched, two moremoved out of an alley and took positions ahead ofRam and his escort. Ram was boxed.
Hodak followed, barely close enough to distinguishRam's swaying form in the street crowds.
Ram's guide moved toward a break in the wall andmotioned Ram to follow. Hodak saw Ram hesitate,speak harshly, and draw back. He was too late.The others closed in and pushed him forward.Ram stumbled, tripped, fell, tried to rise. Armswhipped about and he stayed down. The four liftedand dragged him through the breach. The fifthwaited until they disappeared and darted away.It had happened fast.
Direct intervention on his part, Hodak realized,would be extremely hazardous. Recognition wouldinstantly compromise the Sentinel mission. Hehad to help Ram in a way that would not disclosehis own identity.
He slipped silently into the alley.
From up ahead came rumbled curses and harshlaughter; they were sure of themselves.
Hodak's eyes searched the shadows without successexcept for the grind of boots on stony detritus andthe scrape of a weight being dragged. He closed thegap, counting on the procession ignoring their rear.
The sounds muted and stopped. Peering from arecessed slot along the wall he saw Ram's abductorscrowd around the entry to an open utility. One ofthem crawled in and Ram's unconscious form passedto him. The remaining three followed and the coverdrawn into place.
Hodak moved swiftly to the entry and pressed hisear against its thick cover. Shifting position andscooping aside loose dirt and pebbles, he pressedhis ear first against the ground then back to thecover. Scraping noises from the other side wereaudible, but diminishing.
The odds were not with him but timing and surprisemight even them a bit. Lifting the cover slowly, hefelt the texture of the surface and slipped into thedimness beyond. He crouched in the rubble, the faintsounds giving him direction.
The tunnel lights were low and flickering, theirsconces widely spaced. It was enough.
Working his way forward along the tunnel, shortdashes from one bend to the next, Hodak closed onthe laughing, cursing pack. They were close beyondthe next bend.
Feeling along the waistband of his tunic, Hodakdrew a thin, flat metal strip from the weave.Holding the strip gingerly, he jerked their ends inopposite directions and sensed the sharpness ofthe blades that instantly snapped outward alongboth edges. Twisting and turning formed a half-meterlong scimitar and bending it slightly along itslength added a curve comparable to the ancientAustralian boomerang. It was both silent and deadly.
Hodak eased closer to the bend in the tunnel, andsnaked his way along the ground until he had a viewof the scene ahead.
Ram lay in a heap against one wall, motionless.His captors, facing the opposite wall, were busilyexamining its surface. Words bounced back alongthe wall.
"...as good a place as any, huh?"
"Yeah. Let's get this over with and head for theBlind Pig. I'm thirsty as hell."
"OK, Patch and Swat, you two -- start burningthe hole. Cut it deep enough so all of him can beshoved in. Leave enough room so we can seal itover with the same dirt. Flume, you start collectingrocks to pack around the body once we get itin place. Then we'll just pack and fuse-seal untilit's all smoothed over. This guy'll be riding thisice ball when hell freezes over."
"What're you gonna do, Angel?"
His tone was sarcastic. It brought a snarl inreturn.
"Scarf put me in charge of this detail, Flume.Remember? So when I tell you to haul rocks, don'tfight it." The heavy tone eased. "I was ordered tosearch the guy. Scarf wants everything from hispockets, and all his clothes, just in case he's gotsomething stashed away. I gotta deliver the stuffas soon as we're done here. My orders are also tomess up the body so it'll never be identified, evenif it does get found. So let's get with it."
As Hodak watched, Flume, the rock gatherer movedoff down the tunnel. Two of the remaining threedrew soil-fusers from a backpack and concentratedon their power settings. The fourth, obviouslyAngel, turned toward Ram who was beginning to stir.
Seeing Ram's movement, Angel drew his weapon,hefted it, and aimed it at Ram's head. Angel'smouth twisted into a savage grin.
His companions turned from their work to watch.
"Wait. I want him to see it coming," Angel saidover his shoulder.
Hodak pressed his fingernail against a pip on theinstrument in his hand and felt it vibrate withenergy. Thrusting his arm further i
nto the tunnel'sbend he hurled the boomerang toward Angel.
The weapon reached its maximum velocity within twometers of the throw. Moving at a speed that madeit invisible to the naked eye, it flew silently andtrue.
The slender implement curved around Angel's neckand, without stopping, completed its return toHodak's hand.
Angel's head was gone from his shoulders.
The sound of Angel's falling body startled thetwo staring expectantly at Ram, waiting for theexecution shot. Turning, they gaped at what hadbeen Angel. They scrambled in panic to presstheir backs against the tunnel wall. Dropping thesoil-fusers, they drew and waved their weaponsabout.
One of them shouted, "Flume. Can you hear me,Flume?"
"Yeah, I hear you. Whatta ya want?"
"Get back here, quick."
Flume came running, took in the scene and joinedthe other two against the wall. Together, theystared at Angel, then along the tunnel, onedirection then the other.
"What the hell's goin' on?"
"How do I know? We didn't hear anything, then thenoise of him falling. We looked and there he wasand there was his head. We had our eyes on thebig guy; couldn'a been him did it."
"What do we do now?"
"Search me."
"Let's get outta here."
"Can't. We gotta finish the job, or Scarf'll burnus alive."
"Then we better stick together from now on,"Flume said. "You two finish cutting the hole butnow make it deeper. I'll keep watch. Soon asyou're ready we'll load 'em in, seal it up withstuff from around here, and scram."
As Hodak watched, Patch and Swat recoveredsufficiently to raise their soil-fusers and directthe nozzles at the tunnel's wall.
An amber glow formed on the fuser's tips and thetunnel wall's surface bubbled and flowed towardthe floor in the light gravity. Wielding the fusersexpertly they distributed its liquefied substancein a rough, irregular pattern, blending it in withthe surrounding surfaces. The excess that reachedthe floor quickly hardened to match the rubblestrewn about.
Flume, back against the opposite wall, weapon highand ready, peered tensely about. Finally satisfied,Patch switched off his fuser and tapped Swat onthe shoulder. Swat glanced at him, switched off,and they stepped back.
"This'll do it," Patch said. "Load Angel in first.The back of the hole is too small for the big guy."
He leaned over, grasped the open-eyed head bya hank of hair and flung it into the hole. The headdisappeared with a soft thud. Swat joined Patch;each grasped one of the body's arms and legsand they heaved it in after the head. Patch leanedinto the hole and pushed the solid flesh as far as itwould go. Turning, he motioned Swat toward Ram.
For a moment Flume faced away from Hodak.He did not see the boomerang before it twistedaround his throat and was gone.
Intent on Ram, Swat and Patch saw neither thestrike nor the weapon. They heard a gurgling soundand whirled. Flume was on the tunnel floor, bloodpulsing from the neck of his headless torso. Thehead, itself, had rolled against the opposite wall,eyes open.
Panicked, they fired frantically down the tunnelin both directions.
The boomerang back in his hand, Hodak waited. Anopen assault was unacceptable, both for himself andfor Ram. He would be cut down with a single sweepof the killers' heavy handguns, and with his identityrevealed, Scarf would track down the Sentinels witha vengeance.
Snapping a quick peek he saw Patch and Swat backto back in the middle of the tunnel, facing in oppositedirections and whispering to each other in terror.Guessing the distance between the two he extendedthe boomerang slightly and pressed the pip.
Stepping away from the wall Hodak threw theboomerang around the bend.
One of the targets must have seen it coming.There was the beginning of a scream.
Boomerang back in hand, Hodak walked around thebend. Patch lay quietly; Swat's body still quivered.
Hodak took less than five minutes to enlarge thehole, load the newly dead in with their companions,and smooth the surface to match the tunnel's wall.
Ram, groggy, sat against the opposite wall andwatched.