Kobo Abe by The Ark Sakura

Author:The Ark Sakura
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2011-12-01T21:15:45+00:00

14

THE SHILL WENT FIRST,

CROSS BOW IN HIS ARMS

The shill went first, clutching the loaded crossbow in his arms, and I followed, holding a trigger-operated tear gas cylinder. Kicking aside the sprung trap, we cut across the work hold, our footsteps resounding. From habit I tried to muffle mine, but the shill strode boldly ahead, apparently eager to cover ground.

Each step we took created its own echo. The sum effect was a loud pattering like the noise of falling raindrops.

"If we make this much noise they"ll hear us coming," I said. "You know, whoever it was that got away before might have doubled back, and be waiting in ambush up ahead."

"That"s okay," he said. "As long as the enemy isn"t planning an all-out attack, it"s safer to make a lot of noise as you approach, whether it"s a bear you"re up against, or anything else."

By the time we reached the top of the lift, I was panting. I stopped to lean against the wall and catch my breath, but the shill signaled me to hurry, indicating his watch. After a few more yards we reached a room of medium size (still easily as big as a school auditorium), with a split-level floor. Light from the work hold provided soft, indirect illumination, covering the walls with a thick velvety sheen.

I planned to set up a periscope here someday for outdoor observation. For the present, taking advantage of the room"s soundproof structure, I used it to test-fire converted guns and mock bullets.

"We"re up so high now, the ground must be just overhead," said the shill, switching on his cap light. His breathing remained unaffected by his exertion. He must have a liver the size of a cow"s, I thought, able to convert beer directly into water. It was hard to believe the man had only six months to live.

"Even so, there"s a good thirteen feet of solid rock up there, at the minimum," I answered. "So the law says."

"This is where the smell starts to get worse, notice?" he said.

Besides the passageway through which we had come, two other ceiling-high openings extended on right and left, separated by a wall of rock. The shill headed for the one on the right.

"You got through there with no difficulty before, did you?" I asked.

"Yes--why?"

"There"s another booby trap planted in there."

This was one route I had figured an invader would be sure to take, and so, without begrudging the effort required to replace the laminated batteries once a month, I had installed a rather nasty device: a cylinder of cockroach spray, activated by an infrared sensor.

"Oh, yeah? I didn"t see anything." He paused just before entering the passageway. "There was a trap where we just came through, I know, but that"s all.

I swear I never saw anything else."

He was telling the truth. The safety mechanism was intact--and that wasn"t all: the working part of the cylinder had been hardened with spray coagulant, so skillfully that the eye could scarcely detect anything amiss. This was the work of someone who knew all my secrets, I feared.

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