DOC SAVAGE: THE INFERNAL BUDDHA (The Wild Adventures of Doc Savage) by Robeson Kenneth & Dent Lester & Murray Will

Author:Robeson, Kenneth & Dent, Lester & Murray, Will [Robeson, Kenneth]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Action and Adventure
Publisher: Altus Press
Published: 2012-05-14T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

The Toe

RUNNING AS FAR and fast as they could, the group—consisting of  Doc Savage and his men, the Chans and the remnants of Dang Mi’s pirate band—eventually reached the edge of a large watering hole.

They plunged in.

Immersing themselves, they began to drink. The water was clear and fortunately not briny. Otherwise matters would have turned out far worse than they did. Drinking salt water is not recommended.

Taking great greedy gulps, they drank their fill. More than their fill. Monk immersed his entire head and seemed determined to engulf as much of the reservoir as possible. Ham was only slightly more refined in his imbibing.

After possibly twenty minutes of this, they dragged themselves back on dry land. Dragged because they were very, very weak.

Doc Savage’s amazing vitality seemed to withstand the influence more tolerably than the others. But even the mighty Man of Bronze looked sorely affected. Doubtless, his recent blood loss contributed to his debilitated state of being.

He lay on his back in the sand gasping for breath, and enjoying the satisfaction of a stomach full of water.

After a while, Doc sat up and looked at his bronze forearms intently.

His expression told that he did not like what he saw. Pinching a bit of bronze flesh between fingers and thumbs, he pulled it upward. It distended with an elasticity that was disturbing.

The pinch of flesh was slow returning to its normal contour. The bronze man also noticed that the pores of his fine-textured skin were visibly distended.

Doc’s flake-gold eyes became filled with eerie stirrings. Ham was beside him.

“I feel as though I couldn’t get enough water—not even if I drank an entire ocean,” he complained.

Doc explained, “We have been subjected to something that rapidly leached the moisture from our bodies, potentially with fatal consequences if it were not for one thing.”

“Yeah, what’s that?” asked Monk Mayfair thickly.

“The fact that the box was immersed in a large volume of water, which absorbed the brunt of its influence upon the surroundings. Otherwise, it is doubtful that we would be numbered among the living at this moment.”

Mark Chan offered an unsettling thought. “And that is the smaller of the two boxes.”

“The other is much larger,” Mary gasped out.

Doc eyed them. “You have witnessed this phenomenon before?”

Mark nodded grimly. “Yes. It is terrible.”

“What dwells within the box is more terrible still,” Mary chimed in.

“Describe the thing in the box,” Doc requested.

“It is something new,” said Mark.

“New?”

“Never before seen on the earth,” clarified Mary.

“What is it?” pressed Doc, shifting his position carefully. With his thirst in retreat, his bloodied back began aching.

Mark shook his head tiredly. “We do not know, exactly. But it is terrible—more terrible than the worst substance known to man.”

“If not brought under control,” rejoined Mary, “it could wreck the world.”

Doc Savage’s trilling piped up as if agitated. He lacked the strength to make it in full measure. He was still very weak.

They lay on the sand for the greater part of an hour. Although their primary discomfort was lack of

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