Chapter XXII: Treachery

The pandemonium of battle was punctuated by the staccato reports of the men's cannonlike mattorks as Grandon reached the interior of the men's sleeping quarters. He mounted to the topmost chamber from which Joto directed the activities of the two mattork crews while he shouted orders to the defenders.

Here he found Vernia and Rotha, and could not but notice the difference in the expressions of the two girls as they viewed the attack. While Vernia, daughter of a thousand fighting emperors, maintained a calm demeanor in the face of that oncoming horde, Rotha, pale and trembling, looked this way and that, like a hunted wild thing.

"See," the marsh-girl cried, "they come by thousands and tens of thousands. They cover the entire landscape. Our defenses will be crushed."

"You forget that they are only brutes, Rotha," replied Vernia, "and as such may be overcome by creatures of superior intellect. Men are the lords of creation, not sabits."

"But they are wiser than all other animals--"

"Except men." She turned to Grandon smiling. "We are going to win this battle, are we not, Robert Grandon?"

"Most assuredly," he replied. "However, I am not so positive that we will be able to hold this building. This is hardly a safe place."

"You forget," said Vernia, "that I, too, am a soldier. I prefer to remain here, and if necessary, take part in the fighting."

"I am sure you are too good a soldier to disobey orders, and I am in command. You are ordered below."

A quick flash of resentment came to her eyes at his tone and words.

"You presume to command me? To dictate to the Princess of Reabon? I only command. Others obey."

In outraged dignity she turned her back on him and walked toward the ramparts--that is she started toward them, but a strong pair of arms picked her up, armor and all, and carried her struggling and kicking down the runways and to the foot of the stairway, while Rotha, passive and thoroughly frightened, trailed behind. Grandon set Vernia gently on her feet and, taking her by the shoulders, turned her so she looked up at him with flaming eyes and heaving bosom.

"That is a man's fight out there," he said softly, apparently unperturbed by the storm of anger he was creating. "You would only be in the way, and would more than likely be carried off by the sabits. Now will you go forward peaceably or must I carry you the rest of the way?"

A slight flush suffused her cheeks. When she raised her eyes to his there was a new look in them--a soft, melting look that gave him his answer even before she spoke. The woman had conquered the princess, and the man had conquered the woman.

She saluted stiffly, and there was a slight catch in her voice as she replied:

"I will go, my commander."

"Spoken like a true soldier," he said, and paused for a moment to admire her, walking gracefully with Rotha down the passageway. Then he turned and took the steps three at a time, to join in the fighting.

* * * * *

In one of the more remote underground chambers, Tholto, the mighty man of the mating pens, was haranguing a group of twenty followers recruited from the army of marsh-men. His first plan had been the overthrow of Grandon and Joto and the establishing of himself as ruler of the new community. Later, when he had discovered the way out of the valley, he decided on flight and the establishing of a community of his own. He felt it was the wiser course, not only because his following was inadequate to cope with the guards of Grandon and Joto, but because it was his belief that the sabits would eventually win the battle for domination of this valley.

Since the night when Grandon rescued Vernia from his clutches in the mating pens, he had secretly harbored a hatred that was none the less violent because of his apparent passivity.

Fate played into his hands when he discovered the secret way out of the valley, and he was not slow to take advantage of the opportunity offered. His co-plotters had been hastily summoned from their various posts, and now awaited his orders.

He instructed the men to place provisions and water aboard the boat at once, then await his coming in the passageway which led to the armory. When all had departed he lowered his visor and started down the passageway when he saw Vernia and Rotha approaching.

Quickly leaping to a vacant position in front of one of the hexagonal columns, he assumed the pose of the empty suits of armor that were similarly placed in front of the other columns, and stood in breathless silence until they passed--then followed with the patient stealth of a tiger stalking its prey.

He saw the two girls enter the fountain room and seat themselves on the edge of the fountain where they bathed their hands and faces in the clear, cold water. As he stood immobile before a column he could hear the ring of their silvery laughter mingled with the soft, splashing murmur of the fountain.

As the minutes passed he fidgeted uneasily. What if some one should come? What if Grandon should discover his absence, or Joto should notice that there were twenty men missing?

As the time wore on, and no one put in an appearance from the direction of the men's sleeping quarters, he regained confidence. The boat would be provisioned by now and the men waiting his coming. He chose a moment when neither of the girls was looking his way--then stepped boldly into the room and approached them.

Vernia looked up inquiringly.

"I bring orders from Grandon of Terra," he said, bowing low.

"What are his orders, soldier?" she asked.

"We cannot resist the sabits much longer. Many of our soldiers have been slain, Joto among others. There is a secret way out of this valley which all the survivors must take. I have been ordered to convey you and Rotha thither and await his coming."

"A secret way out of the valley from here? Surely you jest, soldier! By what miraculous means may we escape from the very center of the valley, surrounded by thousands of sabits?"

"There is an underground stream which will carry us safely under the cliffs. A boat of the ancient Albines is provisioned and ready. But come. Explanations can wait until later. We must hurry, for it is the order of our commander."

All unsuspecting the two girls followed Tholto down the long passageway that led to the armory. Before the hexagonal columns to the right and left of them stood the figures of warriors, though here and there a suit had been removed to do service in Grandon's army. As the three entered the doorway of that great storehouse of weapons and engines of war, twenty silent figures stepped from before as many columns and closed in behind them.

There was the sound of many mailed footsteps followed by the screams of two frightened girls. Then the rough gutturals of the men, the voice of Tholto issuing commands, the scraping of a metal keel on the stone dock followed by a splash, more commands, the dip of the paddles in the water which quickly died away in the distance, and once more the great, empty walls of the armory echoed only the roar of tumbling black waters that came through the ancient Albine door which Tholto and his men had not troubled to close.

* * * * *

Grandon found the lower floor of the men's sleeping quarters well defended, so climbed once more to the top of the structure where Joto was directing the battle. As far as he could see in every direction the ground swarmed with sabits. In a comparatively short time the brown-mouthed sabit community was overwhelmed and its buildings where razed to the ground, as were three of the outer structures of the white sabit community.

The men in the central building held their own for a considerable time, but their outer ring of sabit guards were killed and torn to pieces almost instantly. At length it appeared inevitable that this building must fall. Sabits were gnawing their way through the walls and more and more soldiers were required to hold them back.

"I will take a force to help them," said Joto.

"No. You are doing very well here. I will go to their assistance," replied Grandon.

Taking fifty men from the reserve force in the storeroom Grandon led them through the low underground runway. As they arrived the guards were being driven to the inner chambers, but they rallied with the aid of the new reénforcements and once more drove the sabits from the building.

Sheb, the captain in command here, was on the roof directing the mattork crew, so Grandon climbed thither after assuring himself that the first floor was well defended. He found the crew standing idle while Sheb, fuming and cursing, was attempting to dislodge a jammed gas clip from the breech of the weapon.

"Are you all so witless that you insert a clip backward after having been told the proper way a thousand times?" he roared. "For the price of a bowl of wine I would have you stripped of your armor and thrown to the sabits."

"Let me try," said Grandon coolly. "I believe I can get that clip out for you."

Surprised at the sudden appearance of his commander, Sheb stood up and saluted hurriedly. With the point of his sword Grandon gently pried the recalcitrant clip, turned it, and closed the breech. Once more the crew sprayed bullets into the ranks of the attackers.

* * * * *

A soldier rushed up from below.

"The outer walls are nearly gone," he gasped. "In a few minutes the building will cave in."

"Order a retreat," said Grandon. "There is no use in defending this shell."

"The king and queen sabit prisoners--shall we take them with us?"

"Leave them behind. I fancy the attackers will take care of them. Their followers are all dead, anyway, and I don't believe any of our people will care to nurse their fantas."

"If we leave them we will have no sabit slaves," said Sheb.

"Plenty more can be captured if we successfully withstand this attack," replied Grandon.

Another messenger arrived from below.

"The sabits have burrowed into the runway," he cried. "We will not be able to return to the other building."

"Every one below at once," shouted Grandon. "Bring the mattork and ammunition. Hurry!"

The building trembled and one of the walls collapsed as they rushed to the ground floor.

"Into the runway, every man of you," he commanded. "Let the mattork crew go first and clear the way."

Soon the men were all crowded into the narrow runway while Grandon and Sheb, standing abreast, fought off the sabits that attempted to follow. The entire structure collapsed a few minutes later, crushing not only the imprisoned ruler sabits and their green cattle, but many of the attackers as well. The entrance to the runway was completely bottled up by fallen débris.

Shouldering his way through his crowded soldiers, Grandon at length arrived at the point where the sabits had burrowed into the runway. Here the mattork crew worked desperately, flanked by a half dozen soldiers. The cut in the runway was more than twenty feet across, and swarmed with sabits. Across this breach he could see Oro and his men fighting to keep the attackers from entering on the other side.

Meanwhile the sabits on the ground above the runways were burrowing in a hundred places. Something had to be done quickly or their place of refuge would first be turned into a trench, then a shambles. Already a third of the men who guarded the central building had been dragged away by the attackers. It could not be long before the others, including Grandon, must share their fate.

* * * * *

Some men lose their wits completely in moments of extreme stress. Others do their keenest thinking at such times. This was the case with Grandon. After a short conversation with the captain Sheb he suddenly ran across the twenty-foot breach the sabits had made in their defenses, leaping this way and that to avoid the snapping forceps.

Oro and the others welcomed him with enthusiasm.

He ran swiftly through the passageway and, upon coming up, quickly placed crews in the ancient Albine fighting chariots he had sent from the armory some time before. Taking a place with the men in the foremost machine, he led them through the door straight into the army of sabits, the guards standing aside to let them pass. They formed a flying wedge with Grandon's machine at the apex, cutting a wide swath in the ranks of the attackers.

The efficacy of the machines was surprising, even to Grandon, who had formed some idea of their possibilities. The whirling knives and clubs literally cut the opposing sabits to ribbons.

Arriving at the mouth of the runway which held the imprisoned men, they quickly drove back the attackers, then kept them at bay by running in a circle about the breach while Sheb led his followers to safety. When the last man had crossed they formed a wedge once more and cut their way back to their comrades, entering the door amid shouts of acclamation from the defenders.

Night fell, and the fighting continued by torchlight, while Grandon made further plans. There were more than a hundred of the machines in the armory, and he planned to press them all into service as soon as possible. Taking the entire force of reserves with him, he hurried thither, not noticing the absence of Vernia and Rotha who he supposed had retired to their bedchambers in the women's quarters.

He was surprised at sight of the open exit door, as he remembered having closed it on his departure, but decided that he must not have pushed it far enough for the lock to catch, so he closed it once more.

The machines were quickly dragged from their ancient resting places and provided with crews. Within a half hour they were assembled in the building, ready for the charge. One by one they emerged from the doorway, spreading out in a great line six hundred feet long, then "Forward!" shouted Grandon, while Joto on the roof withheld the mattork fire.

The charge was irresistible. With every fifty feet of progress a thousand sabits perished. They cut completely through the sabit army, turned their machines and charged again, breaking down the resistance of those who had instinctively filled in the lines. Back and forth they drove through the thinning ranks of the attackers until the survivors, seeing that further resistance was futile, turned and fled.

Thus was the power of the sabits forever broken in the valley. Thenceforth, though there would be desultory fighting for some time to come, men should rule its fertile slopes in place of monsters.

When Grandon entered the building with his victorious machine-crews, the people cheered until they were hoarse. Posting a guard at the entrance, he called them to attend what he had to say to them in the great audience chamber of the ancient Albines.