Battlefield Earth Part 101

He felt the pulse. It was racing faster if anything, and the limbs were trembling more.

Had he done all he could? He couldn't think of anything more.

The air was getting used up in this close s.p.a.ce and he put his air mask back on. Jonnie's radiation mask was in the way and he took it off and checked the air mask under it. The flutter valve was moving slightly but very rapidly. In briefing, they were supposed to put in a new bottle just before the first alert. If Jonnie had done that, he had two hours of air.

Sir Robert sank back. He worked the bonds off his ankles and then straightened Jonnie's body out and raised Jonnie's head to his own knee to keep the head higher. Double devils in h.e.l.l but the limbs trembled!

He thought the situation over. He had not been in on the last briefings; he did not know whether there had been anything he should know now.

Bitterly, Sir Robert cursed his own stupidity. Since things had been going so smoothly with the Academy move, one night he had walked by himself-like a daft sheep- to a knoll to look at the compound. Not really any purpose in it. Just a review of a field where a battle would soon be fought. And Brigantes had grabbed him. They must have been watching him for days.

They had trussed him up and kept him in a cavern. They had tried to interrogate him and had beaten him. His nose was broken and full of dried blood even now. But he was too old a campaigner to talk. He did not know what they wanted with him until they brought him into the compound area and dumped him.

He had not really thought they would take him to Psychlo until they put the air mask on him. The thought had made even him sweat. He had an excellent example of how the Psychlos interrogated- Allison.

Sir Robert had been braced to stand up to it. He had known of this attack but he could not see how he could be fished out. A flame thrower was supposed to sweep that platform clean.

And then this lad had thrown his flame thrower down and attacked! It looked like such a hopeless effort.

Because of Sir Robert, this lad had thrown away his own chances. His own life?

Sir Robert felt the pulse again. Good G.o.d, how long could a pulse race like that without a person dying?

He began to get uneasy about the silence outside. There was supposed to be a standby rescue crew deep in the old compound, waiting with flatbeds and planes with both Dr. Allen and Dr.

MacKendrick. All in radiation suits and air masks.

It was so silent in here. Was that a slight crackling sound?

Jonnie would have had a mine radio. Sir Robert felt around Jonnie's belt and then scrabbled around the floor.

He had it! A crackling sound was coming out of it. It was live, but no voices.

Were they all dead out there?

He pressed the transmit b.u.t.ton. "h.e.l.lo. h.e.l.lo." Not clever to say more. Who knew who might be out there?

Silence.

"h.e.l.lo, h.e.l.lo." Then he thought he better give them a location. Not clever but he had to do it. "Console talking."

Was that the click of a transmit switch?

Then a voice in a whisper as though from far away, "Is that you, Sir Robert?"

It was Thor's voice! Sir Robert almost wept with relief.

"Thor?"

"Yes, Sir Robert."

"Thor, Jonnie is in here. He has had a poisoned arrow in him. You've got to get him out quick!"

Then Dr. Allen. "Sir, do you have a radiation suit on?"

"No, blast ye! I've no suit! To heil wi' thet! Get the lad out!"

"Sir, is his suit whole?"

Sir Robert realized he had torn the sleeve off. No.

"I'm sorry, sir," whispered Dr. Allen over the mine radio, "to open that dome would kill you both. Have a little patience. We're trying to find out what we can do."

"Patience be domned!" stormed Sir Robert. His extreme urgency was throwing his speech into dialect. "Git th' lad oot!"

There was no answer. Sir Robert was about to start banging on the inside of the dome. Didn't they realize Jonnie was probably dying in here?

Then a tiny, piping, whispering voice took over. "Sir Robert?" It was one of the young Buddhist communicators. Probably the youngest they had. They had turned him over to a child!

The War Chief was about to thunder a d.a.m.nation at them when the child whispered, speaking Psychlo, "Sir Robert, they're doing all they can, honored sir. It is pretty bad out here."

"Where are you?" demanded Sir Robert, reverting to Psychlo.

"I am just outside the dome, honored sir. My mine radio is inside my air mask under my radiation face s.h.i.+eld. Excuse me that I whisper. We want nothing picked up by the visitors above. They can't hear this and the mine radio won't reach them." "What are the visitors doing?"

"I don't know, Sir Robert. The snow clouds have closed in again. I see a pilot communicator. I will ask. I will be right back."

There was a long pause. Then the tiny, shrill little voice, "Sir? The pilot communicator says they have moved in orbit and are somewhere above us.

They have this place being looked at. But our battle planes are standing by. Dunneldeen is up there. He wants to know how we are. How is Lord Jonnie?"

Sir Robert felt the shaking limbs of the body resting against him. But he knew morale was a factor up there in the sky. He could not tell them he thought Jonnie was dying. But Jonnie was still alive. "Tell them they should not worry just now."

The child was gone for a bit.

Then the tiny whispering voice, "The pilot communicator pa.s.sed it on."

"What are they doing here to get us out?" demanded Sir Robert. What h.e.l.l it was sitting here in the dark waiting. Jonnie's breathing was too rapid, too rapid by far!

"It's very bad out here, Sir Robert. Very bad. If you hear crackling, it's the power lines. They are all shorted out and burning on the ground, throwing sparks."

"Are there any casualties in the raiding party?"

"Oh, we don't know that, Sir Robert. The rescue team is using blade sc.r.a.pers to uncover the coffins. I'm standing beside a hole where the platform used to be. It 's smoking. Is it hot in there?"

Sir Robert had not noticed. Then he realized that the dome was warm to the touch. He said so.

"I'm told to tell you not to release the annealing lever on the dome skids. It is a wonder that they held. So don't release the lever. They will move the whole metal platform."

Somebody else was coming through on the channel. "Dwight? Can you hear us? Dwight!"

The tiny voice of the child said, "They found his coffin under the ravine bank just now. The bank caved in on it. They have found a forklift in the garage that operates and they are lifting the coffin. They are opening the lid. Dwight looks stunned but he is sitting up."

"They should be working on this dome!" raged Sir Robert.

"Oh, there's a whole other team working on it, honored sir. They are bringing a small crane out of the lower levels of the compound now. I see a man throwing clamps on the big crane. It is on its side and they have to lift it upright."

Sir Robert was getting an idea of what it was like out there.

"We were down in the sixteenth level," said the tiny voice. "The concussion was bad. It grabbed air out of the place but nothing was heard."

"Well, what was it? What happened?" demanded Sir Robert.

"We don't know, honored sir."

"They had some nuclear weapons on standby. Did they explode?"

There was a pause. The child had gone off somewhere. He came back. "No, sir. Thor says they are intact and he is awfully relieved. They didn't explode." "Then what was it?"

"I am so very sorry, sir. None of us knows. Oh, here comes a blade sc.r.a.per to loosen your platform so it can be lifted. The first one they had broke down after they got the fire out of it. I am told you must be patient, sir. We are doing all we can." Then, "They've got three more coffins out now." A pause. Then sorrow. "The one they call Andrew is dead."

The platform gave a jolt as a blade sc.r.a.per seemed to pry under it. Sir Robert could hear a motor roar.

There was a shout of alarm and then a crash.

Then the piping little voice, "One of the poles fell in the crater. No one was hurt. Here comes your flatbed truck, sir."

"Flatbed!" barked Sir Robert. "It's supposed to be a plane! We're supposed to airlift out of here!"

There was a pause. The Buddhist communicator had gone off somewhere. He came back, "They have found a river to the south. It is the Purgatoire. The pilots told us."

Sir Robert felt Jonnie's pulse. Racing!

"I don't understand!" cried Sir Robert. "Time is everything here! I need serum! Can't we lift this dome and push some serum in here?"

"I am sorry, Sir Robert. The Purgatoire is one hundred twenty miles south of here. It 's on an ancient man-highway." He rushed on so Sir Robert wouldn't interrupt. "They have mine pumps out. All our equipment and planes are contaminated. They have to be hosed down to get rid of radiation. When that's done they can open the dome."

Sir Robert clenched his fists. One hundred twenty miles! How long would that take?

The child must have been reading his thoughts. "I'm told they will drive very fast; they can on the ancient highway. Thor himself will drive your flatbed. They know how important it is. Your flatbed will be the first to leave. They have your crane standing up now."

There was another chunk from the blade sc.r.a.per. Something under the platform seemed to tear loose.

"They have found fifteen coffins now," said the child. "The Scots in them were all alive except one. The coffin was blown into the air and smashed his skull. The lead on the outside of the coffins is all melted. The tops, I mean. They're hot to the touch and it's hard to handle them."

There was a groan and a squeak as the crane hook on top of the dome tightened. They were being very careful from the sound of it not to drop the lower platform off.

The annealing skids held. Sir Robert felt them swinging in the air. Then a thump as they hit the top of the flatbed body. They picked it up again to let it drop down more squarely.

The child must still be standing on the platform overhanging. The tiny voice calmly came through. "I can see better from here. It 's not snowing. Way out on the plain over there I see some bodies. Must be the Brigante tribe. And I can see more coffins." He yelled to someone and must be pointing. "The whole top of the old compound had blown off. It 's wide open to the winds."

Sir Robert was feeling Jonnie's pulse.

Was it weaker?

"Thor is turning over to someone. He is climbing in your truck now. He says he's a good driver, don't worry. He will go as fast as he can. Excuse me but I am supposed to get in the cab and tie a seat belt."

The flatbed started up with a roar. It jolted and banged over the uneven terrain. Sir Robert steadied Jonnie's head. Was he still breathing?

They hit the ancient man-highway. The engine revved into a high-pitched scream.

Sir Robert remembered Jonnie had had a watch. He tried to find its illumination b.u.t.ton.

The numbers were rolling.

They were driving so fast Sir Robert could hear the wind roaring outside the dome.

Time, time, time! Fifty minutes. Fifty-two minutes. Fifty-nine minutes!

The flatbed abruptly slowed. It jolted down some rough ground. It halted with a surge. It dropped to the earth.

The small piping voice again: "We are at the riverbank. There is plenty of water. They are rigging a mine pipe. I must get away from the dome while it is washed down. I have to get washed down myself and so do the others.

Then they will test with breathe-gas."

Water was suddenly pounding against the dome. It roared and reverberated inside. The sound went all around. And then the water went all over the flatbed, apparently.

There was silence then. Then the piping voice. "Sir Robert? The truck with the small crane has arrived and has been washed down. So have I. Can you find the release lever in there?

The one outside is bent."

Sir Robert had already located and indeed had been on the verge of pulling it an hour ago. He yanked it open. There was a roar and a clank as a crane was moved closer and connected. The dome lifted!

Murky daylight hit his eyes. Jonnie was lying there. Was he breathing?

The owner of the small voice was standing there, dripping water, visor and air mask off.

He was about thirteen. "My name is Quong. Thank you for being so patient with me, Sir Robert. I was as worried as you."

Dr. Allen jumped up on the flatbed. He had a syringe in his hand and was grabbing Jonnie's arm. A woman nurse took over. She was holding Jonnie's head.

Sir Robert stood up unsteadily. He was drenched with sweat and the wind was cold.

He looked to the north. The sky was glowing there. "What's that?" he demanded.

Thor was there. Another member of the rescue team. More trucks were arriving further downstream.

Thor said, "That's Denver."