Savage Lands Page 17

  “You come to Opar to free your friends … but there is no escape from here. The slaves volunteer their lives for their queen.” She gestured toward them with the whip, then squeezed Tarzan’s broad shoulders. “You wouldn’t even make a meal—all muscle and gristle, no doubt. So if you don’t make a meal … then you must make an example.” She whispered the last thoughtfully. “Yes … a sacrifice to the Fire God …”

  She looked around the cavern, her eyes suddenly wide and raised her hands and shouted. “Tarzan shall be sacrificed to appease the Fire God!”

  The statement excited the Targarni who began whooping their approval. Tarzan struggled at his bonds, choking himself so tightly he dropped to his knees, gasping for breath. Queen La stood over him and mocked him.

  “So full of power, Tarzan will make a fine sacrifice once subdued.” She crossed to a new section of the cavern—a section the Targarni kept a noticeable distance from. Tarzan was feeling weak due to his wounds and lack of oxygen. With his head bowed, his eyes followed Queen La to a large square bath carved into the stone. Covered in hieroglyphs, it was the size of a small swimming pool and came up to her waist. A large stone snake arced from the end, curved so it peered down into the bath.

  Queen La slowly reached in, a manic look in her eyes. With a smile she suddenly pulled out the largest histah Tarzan had ever seen. The snake was as wide as his arm and the length of two men. Queen La held it just behind its head, but it hissed furiously as it thrashed. Despite her wiry frame, the queen was incredibly strong—able to lift the snake out with one hand, draping it around her neck and under one arm. The thrashing reptile curled its body around her. She approached Tarzan with slow methodical footsteps, extending the snake toward him. Tarzan recoiled, but the simple act forced the rope to crush his neck. Queen La teased the snake close to his face, which only irritated the serpent. Its jaws hyperextended as it hissed.

  Tarzan could see venom dripping down the two-inch fangs and he tried to move again, but Queen La shoved the reptile closer and in a blur of movement it struck Tarzan’s shoulder.

  • • •

  Jane’s hand crossed her mouth to prevent her from screaming aloud as the snake bit into Tarzan. The mighty ape-man slumped face-first onto the ground.

  “He’s dead!” She could hardly get the words out.

  Idra placed a consoling hand on her shoulder and shook her head. “Not yet he’s not. It’s a Gaboon viper. Only I’ve never seen one so big. It’ll pack a punch with its venom. Those fangs sink deep but will have trouble getting through that much muscle. Plus he’s tied up so his circulation is restricted. With luck, he could still make it.”

  They watched as Goyad crossed to the unconscious ape-man. Walking on all fours was painful, so the chimp stood on two legs, as if mocking Tarzan, and kept one hand clamped across its chest to stem the blood from its wound. He sat at Tarzan’s head, batting him with a backhand, and tensing to flee just in case the man retaliated. But Tarzan remained motionless. Goyad was about to strike again when a scent suddenly caught his nose. He looked around quickly, trying to identify it.

  “We don’t have any luck,” intoned Robbie as Goyad disappeared into the bushes.

  “In that case, he’s got about five minutes so I can administer an anti-venom.” Idra patted the first-aid kit in her pack. “It’s a generic one, but we can only hope it’s enough.”

  “I don’t think we have five minutes,” said Robbie urgently. “And I hope you can do it without us being spotted.”

  • • •

  Queen La began strapping Tarzan to sections of wood that had fallen from the gantry. Clark took a step forward, but a hiss from a Targarni made him quickly retreat.

  “We’ve got to do something,” he said to Ramón and Greystoke, but both men looked helpless now that their one chance of escape had been thwarted.

  La pushed a plank under Tarzan’s armpits, so the back of his neck braced it in place. She attached a rope and ordered several Targarni to heave on the pulleys to lift Tarzan several feet off the ground.

  The cavern shook as she did so, debris raining from the ceiling. The lava-fall spluttered, and then spectacularly ejected even more molten rock into the river below. The edge of the lava tube, from which it flowed, crumbled from the pressure building behind. The Targarni looked around fearfully, but Queen La’s words prevented them from fleeing.

  “We hear you Mountain God!” screamed Queen La. “We will sacrifice this beast to appease you!”

  The apes pulled on the rope and Tarzan was hoisted further into the air.

  • • •

  “Can’t you shoot her?” Robbie asked in desperation.

  Idra lined the crazed woman in her sight and nodded. “Sure. But then who will hold the apes back?” She lowered the rifle. “And where are we going to go?” her voice quivered fearfully. “Sorry, guys, I just can’t see a way out of this.” She lifted the rifle again. “But I’m going to take her out anyway.”

  With the pulleys working, Tarzan was inched closer to the magma.

  “Stop!” said Jane suddenly, pushing Idra’s barrel down. “Can you shoot the rope?”

  Idra looked uncertain. “If I miss, it’s not going to be a pretty sight… .”

  Jane felt anger well up inside her. She was not going to give in, not now—not this close to rescuing Clark and Greystoke. Then an idea formed, born out of desperation. Usually, she would have never given it another thought. But it was their only chance.

  • • •

  Clark tensed as Tarzan was hoisted several feet over the magma. The terrific heat was scalding the ape-man’s legs, but still he remained unconscious. Only the slight rise and fall of his chest convinced Clark that he was still alive.

  Clark couldn’t see a way out of their predicament, and he had been in many tight spots in his life. He didn’t want to accept that his greed had helped lead them all to certain death, it was not a burden he wished to carry to the grave. If he was going to go out, it would be on his terms. He braced himself, ready to run the fifty yards to the crazed woman. Four Targarni blocked the way, but Clark was determined to fight to the death.

  • • •

  From his vantage point, Werper could see everything play out beneath him. He saw Jane dash from cover, crouching through the foliage just as another huge spurt of magma increased the flow of the molten fall.

  The wood to which Tarzan was strapped was starting to char and he could only guess what it would be like for the ape-man to be cooked alive. Queen La and the Targarni watched with glee, the apes hooting their approval and bobbing excitedly on all fours.

  Then Werper’s gaze fell to the prisoners where Clark was clearly tensing for action. Werper knew the lame fool wouldn’t make it a dozen yards. He had wondered how he could reach the queen himself so he could rip the jewels from her robe. His initial plan of waiting until she slept was in jeopardy now that the lava flow had increased. Since everybody was focused on Tarzan, nobody had noticed the magma river was rising. Even as Werper watched, the liquid inched above the channel it had carved over hundreds of years. It was just a matter of time before the chamber reverted to its old purpose and was filled with magma.

  Logic told Werper to run, but he was too weak and the lure of the jewels was too great. If a miracle occurred, and he survived the inevitable eruption, then he wanted to ensure he was a rich survivor.

  He became aware of the hot breath on the back of his neck before he heard the hoarse breathing. His blood chilled as he slowly spun around. Goyad rose from the darkness behind him.

  • • •

  Jane crawled silently on her belly through the undergrowth. In her pants pocket she carried a syringe Idra had quickly prepared from her first-aid kit. Getting the anti-venom into Tarzan was critical, even if it meant she got caught. She clutched Robbie’s machete in her hand. She didn’t know if she had the stomach to attack Queen La
or the apes with it, but she would find out soon enough.

  She tensed, ready to make the run across the mined earth the moment Robbie and Idra started their distraction—but suddenly all was chaos.

  A blood-curdling scream jerked her attention to a balcony where Goyad hurled the body of Albert Werper from the twenty-foot drop. She didn’t see Werper hit the floor, but his screams quickly switched to murmurs of pain. The albino gave a triumphant yell and dropped onto him.

  Jane watched as Clark made the most of the distraction and dashed for Queen La. He passed two confused Targarni before a third one coiled to attack. But before it could, a gunshot cracked, killing it.

  Now it was her turn. Jane bolted from her hiding place. Nobody saw her coming and she made it to the nearest Targarni who had paused in hoisting Tarzan to his fiery death. She saw flames begin to lick the surface of the wooden disk, which only served to ignite her own rage.

  She swung the machete at the savage apes, closing her eyes as she did so. The blade decapitated one, the other screeching in fear as it jumped back several paces before twisting around to attack her. Another gunshot rang out and the rock close to the ape’s foot shattered as Idra’s bullet ricocheted from it. The ape bolted for safety, and Jane hoped that Idra’s aim would hold steady before she was shot too.

  • • •

  “No!” screamed Queen La as Clark collided into her. She staggered backward, falling hard, still with the great viper around her shoulders. Clark fell next to her, uncomfortably close to the magma’s edge. He tried to scramble away, but the snake was blocking his only path to safety. It coiled, hissing loudly as its head swayed between him and Queen La, deciding who to strike first.

  • • •

  Robbie could scarcely believe Jane’s escape plan when she had revealed it back in the tunnel, but now he could see it was the only chance they had. He sprinted down the tunnel to retrieve the raft from the alcove room. Rolling the raft back into its carry bag wasted precious moments. He was halfway back when all hell broke loose in the cavern.

  “You were supposed to wait!” he muttered when he heard Idra’s first gunshot.

  Emerging from the tunnel, he saw Idra quickly reloading her rifle. She gave a quick nod of the head. “Go!”

  Robbie followed the back wall, circling around to the river. Jane’s distraction was working perfectly—he didn’t bump into a single Targarni. He reached the edge of the fast-flowing river and slung the pack to the ground. As he unrolled the raft he peered into the water. It looked deep and dangerous. He tried not to think about the journey that lay ahead.

  He laid the raft flat on the ground and activated the small internal electric pump. It was noisy and he was concerned that it would attract attention. But nobody paid him any heed. He had initially expected the raft to inflate instantly, but Idra had warned him it would take a minute or so.

  Another gunshot rang out and he risked peeking over a pile of boulders that was offering cover. He was relieved to see Jane hauling Tarzan back to safety. The ape-man was still trussed up, his head bowed in uncharacteristic weakness.

  Robbie saw Clark farther down the magma river, trapped between the molten rock and the enormous snake. He had given his only weapon to Jane and frantically searched around for anything he could use. The telescopic raft paddles were the only things at hand.

  Robbie charged from his hiding place, bellowing as loudly as he could. The dozen Targarni around the cavern saw him and galloped to intercept. But their path was blocked by the prisoners, who finally saw their chance for freedom. To Robbie’s surprise, Greystoke led the charge, his pickaxe swinging down on the nearest Targarni with lethal ferocity.

  The snake’s attention was focused on its nearest two victims and didn’t sense Robbie. He arced the paddle backward, extending it to its full length in a series of clicks, and swung it as hard as he could. The flat blade struck the enormous snake, and it lunged for the threat, its jaws unhinging so wide the paddle got caught in its mouth. Unable to close its jaws, the snake writhed with such power that the paddle was yanked from Robbie’s hand. But his job was done and Clark scrambled away from the edge of the bubbling magma.

  • • •

  Jane slashed the ropes binding Tarzan and he slumped onto his side. She put the machete down and pulled the syringe from her pocket. The hypodermic needle was in a protective plastic sleeve and she had difficulty removing it as her fingers were shaking so much. She dropped it and cursed. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, she tried again. On the third attempt she got the needle onto the end of the syringe.

  Idra had told her to inject straight into a vein. Jane held the needle over one of Tarzan’s bulging veins and hesitated. Even after decapitating a Targarni, this seemed like a terrible thing to do. She had never liked injections, despite her father being a doctor. But with Tarzan close to death, there was no time to lose. She gritted her teeth and plunged the needle into his skin, thumbing down the plastic plunger to inject the anti-venom.

  Tarzan gasped and a spasm pulsed through him as the adrenaline in the mixture kicked in. His eyes flicked open and he bellowed so powerfully that several Targarni froze in fear—providing easy targets for the handful of prisoners to pick off.

  • • •

  The prisoners were fighting the Targarni to the death—bodies, both human and ape, lay strewn around. Robbie looked away, not wishing to linger on the carnage. The viper was still writhing on the floor, attempting to dislodge the paddle, so for now it was no threat. Robbie saw Jane helping Tarzan sit up, so shoved Clark toward the boat.

  “We’re leaving,” said Robbie.

  “You’re not going anywhere!” snarled Queen La, sprinting to intercept them. “Your queen forbids it!”

  She grabbed the whip from her robe and swung it at them. Clark’s hand snapped out and he grabbed it. The leather coiled painfully around his arm, drawing blood. But with Queen La holding the other end, he yanked her forward.

  “I was never a stickler for rules,” he snarled, and punched her in the face, so hard that two of her fangs shattered and she was lifted clean off her feet. Clark pulled the whip from around his arm and tossed it aside.

  Robbie tried to help him back to the boat, but Clark resisted. Queen La was not moving. She was lying just feet from the magma, which was quickly seeping across the floor toward her.

  “Clark!” said Robbie urgently.

  “The jewels!” he said, his eyes filling with greed as he shucked Robbie off.

  “Leave them!”

  Clark ignored him and approached Queen La. Already she was regaining consciousness.

  A terrific bang shook the entire cavern, throwing Clark off balance. The magma torrent exploded in volume to almost five times its size and the cavern wall disintegrated as a huge fiery wall of magma poured into the chamber. Spurts of molten rock landed in the freshwater river upstream, hissing violently and sending up a wall of steam that rapidly cut off visibility.

  Clark’s hand was just a foot away from the fortune he craved. “We have to go!” yelled Robbie, pulling Clark away from the queen.

  The raft had fully inflated as they returned. Idra had made it to the raft and was readying for launch. Clark stopped in his tracks.

  “We’re leaving in that?” he said incredulously.

  “There’s no other way out,” said Robbie. Already, the steam obscured most of the cavern as it throbbed a dull red, lit by the magma flowing behind.

  “Leave everything here,” Idra commanded, tossing her rifle and spare ammunition onto the bank. “We have to keep weight down.”

  Robbie cupped his hands around his mouth and yelled, “We’re leaving! Come on!”

  Idra helped Clark aboard before following. She reached for Robbie.

  “We can’t wait!” she warned.

  Robbie didn’t move and called out again. “JANE! LET’S GO!”

 
Idra extended the remaining paddle and dipped it into the water. “WE’RE GOING!” she called out to whoever was left to hear them.

  To Robbie’s relief, two figures emerged from the mist. “You had me worried… .” he began—but it wasn’t Jane and Tarzan, it was Greystoke supporting Ramón.

  “He was hurt saving me,” said Greystoke simply. He was covered in blood and his arrogant swagger had been stripped clean by the Savage Lands. A Mbuti porter followed closely behind. Robbie looked doubtfully at the raft, which was built for four people plus supplies—six at a push. He had discussed with Idra how they would get the rest of the prisoners out, but she had simply ended the conversation by reminding him that whoever was aboard first got to live.

  “Robbie,” Idra warned as Greystoke helped Ramón aboard, before clambering up himself, “get in.”

  Then Jane emerged through the mist, and Robbie felt one of the many knots of tension inside him vanish. Tarzan followed close behind, the skin on his legs red and raw, but not making a single sound of complaint.

  Jane clambered onto the raft, helped by the Mbuti porter who quickly followed her. Robbie looked doubtfully at the boat—it was already at capacity.

  “Come on!” said Jane urgently.

  “If we board, you’ll sink,” said Robbie desperately. He hated the conclusion he’d abruptly reached, but it was an obvious one. “You’ll have to go without us.”

  The heartbroken look on Jane’s face tore him apart inside. She reached desperately for him, as did the Mbuti man, encouraging him in his Kango language. Tarzan made no move to climb aboard, and Robbie guessed the ape-man had drawn the same conclusion.

  “That’s it then,” said Idra as she leaned her weight on the oar and pushed away from the bank. “Sorry, guys.” The boat only moved a few feet; the prow caught against some rocks.

  Jane was overwhelmed with emotion and reached for Robbie. “NO!”