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the same charm that is sold on the streets of Estorya, that circumscribes the
country and the island of Shimdoog. It is the same as the spaceship that landed
near the King's palace."
Green hailed a rickshaw and continued his account while they rode through
the still-crowded streets. There was so much noise that he felt quite safe
talking, provided he kept his voice soft.
By the time they had reached the northern end of the windbreak, Green had
told the boy all he thought he should hear at that time. If, later on, his trip
to Shimdoog proved successful he would enlighten him even more.
For the present he was concerned with the problem of getting
transportation. Fortunately they found almost at once a nice little yacht with
speedy lines and a tall mast. The craft must have belonged to a wealthy man, for
a watchman sat close to it before a little fire just outside his shed. Green
walked up to him, and when the fellow rose, his hand suspiciously resting upon
his spear, Green struck him on the jaw, then followed with a hard right to the
pit of his stomach. Grizquetr completed the job by hitting him over the head
with a length of pipe he'd picked up off the ground.
Green emptied the handbag of the watchman and was pleased to see several
coins of respectable denominations.
"Probably his life-savings," he said. "I hate to rob him, but we have to
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have money. Grizquetr, do you remember those slaves who were drinking and
gambling outside the Striped Ape Inn? Run to them and offer them six danken if
they'll tow us out of the 'break. Tell them we're paying them so much because
it's so late at night, and also to keep their mouths shut."
Grinning, the boy ran off. Green hauled the limp body of the unconscious
watchman behind the hut, bound and gagged him and threw a tarpaulin over him.
Grizquetr returned, leading six noisy and reeling men, sturdily built, with
legs and backs big-muscled from hauling 'rollers.
At first Green thought he ought to try to make them keep quiet, then
decided that it would look more natural if he let them talk as loudly as they
wished. There was a festive air over the city tonight, and more than one yacht
was going out for a moonlight cruise.
Once out on the plain, Green threw the promised money to the slaves and
cried, "Have a good time!" To himself he muttered, "Because tomorrow may be your
last day." Already, he had a presentiment of what might happen if he succeeded
in tonight's work. There was no telling what forces he might be unloosing. As
he'd said to the boy, there were demons imprisoned in the bowels of the island
of Shimdoog.
26
JUST BEFORE DAWN the yacht coasted to a stop outside the high stone walls of the
north side of the island of Shimdoog. Green had dropped the sail and, judging
his speed exactly, had steered the craft until its side was almost scraping the
wall. As soon as the roller stopped, Green put Lady Luck in a bag tied to his
belt and cautioned her to keep quiet. Then he began climbing up the rungs nailed
to the mast. The boy followed him, and both crawled out upon the spar. Green
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tied one end of a long rope around the end of the spar. Then he let himself down
on it to the ground on the other side of the wall.
After the boy had also descended they paused for a moment, crouched, ready
to run at the first sign they'd been seen. But there was no outcry.
The big moon, though dropping to the horizon, was bright enough for them to
make good progress. Green led the way up a series of hills, heading in a
circuitous fashion toward the highest. Twice he had to step and warn Grizquetr
about the towers ahead, where sentries were stationed. Lady Luck seemed to know
she should be silent. Her eyes glowed and her teeth flashed, but she was only
making a soundless snarl.
They saw the fires of the guards and heard their muttered voices, but none
saw them. It was doubtful that the sentinels ever did look out, for they did not
think that any man in his right senses would be roaming about in the darkness,
where it was well known that ghosts and demons waited for foolish mortals.
Just before they began climbing the slope of the peak that was their goal,
Green whispered. "This island is built much like the first one we encountered. I
think that all of these islands are more or less similar, all being composed of
a base of a mile and a half square of eternum metal or something like eternum.
And all covered with rock and dirt and trees and vegetation and stocked with
birds and beasts. I suppose that the original builders landscaped these craft
for aesthetic reasons. After all, a sheet of metal with a few metal chambers on
it doesn't look very pretty and would make a blinding glare in the sunshine."
"Uh," replied the boy, who didn't understand.
"Do you know, it's strange that I was right the first time when I
sarcastically referred to the roaming islands as glorified lawn-mowers?"
"What?"
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