Inferno Duology by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle

Author:Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: sf

Chapter 8

Third Circle

The Gluttonous

* * *

In the third circle am I of the rain

Eternal, maledict, and cold, and heavy:

Its law and quality are never new.

Huge hail, and water somber-hued, and snow

Athwart the tenebrous air pour down amain;

Noisome the earth is, that receiveth this.

We tumbled over the edge of the Circle of Winds. The steep slope beyond was slimed, and there weren't any handholds. We slid down. Halfway down the slope we were in sleet driven by winds I'd have thought strong if I hadn't just come from the circle above me. The slime turned to filthy slush. We slid right down to level ground and lay there in cold filth.

"Bugger this for a lark," Rosemary said. She looked awful. I remembered the neatness of her appearance when I'd found her in the Vestibule.

"There's worse to come." I got up easily enough, and when I bent to help Rosemary she was heavier than she'd been back under the trestle, but pulling her up was easier. I heard a faint barking far away. "We have to keep moving."

We picked our way past a crowd who looked like they'd been thrown away with the garbage. They lay there in the stinking filth half covered by hail and sleet. A hand closed on my ankle and a voice said, "I was a glutton."

"Yeah," I said. I shouted, "Get up and come with us! There's a way out of here."

"The dog!" someone shouted. "He'll get us!"

"I don't see any dog," I said. But I remembered. Dante described the three-headed dog, Cerberus, watching over the gluttons and tearing them apart if they tried to get out of the slush. Virgil had dealt with him by throwing slush into his mouths. I remembered wondering at the time I read the poem why no one else had tried that, and why he hadn't needed three handfuls.

The guy clutching my ankle was too deep in slush to show features. He said, "Then I got diabetes."

"Uh-huh." Gluttony seemed a good way to get diabetes.

"I changed my diet. I lived my diet. My friends couldn't stand me. Neither could my family. My wife left me. I couldn't make myself go out, but by God I was a demon cook."

"Maybe we better hurry," I told Rosemary. The diabetic was still clinging. I told him, "It doesn't have to end like that. I know the way."

"There's a monster dog."

"The dog isn't here. Come on, there's time!"

"There are devils down there." The diabetic let go. "I need to think about it."

Someone shouted, "And we have memories here. Remember Morton's of Chicago?"

"Perino's before they closed it! Now there was a place to eat."

"A little pricey."

"Santa Maria Barbecue!"

"The Juneau Moose Club Buffet! Best seafood buffet in the world. In the world, I tell you!"

"Stop thinking about your bellies and come with me! I bring you hope! There's a way out of here. Down! You go down, all the way to the bottom! I've done it, you can do it!"

"You!" A woman's voice, accusing. She was running through the slush, avoiding the inhabitants, and moving at a good clip.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.