Books: The Emancipatrix
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Homer Eon Flint >> The Emancipatrix
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"It shall be done, Supreme. Is there anything further?"
"Yes. Make quite sure that none of the inferiors are missing."
Shortly afterward the lieutenant reported that one of the huts was
empty.
"Rolla, the soil-tester, and Cunora, the vineyardist, are gone."
"Seek them!" Supreme almost became excited. "They are the lovers of the
men we punished! They would not absent themselves unless they knew
something! Find them, and torture them into revealing the secret! We
must weed out this flowing blossom forever!"
"It shall be done!"
Such methods were well known to Rolla and Cunora. Had not their fellow
villagers, many of them, tried time after time to escape from bondage?
And had they not inevitably been apprehended and driven back, to be
tortured as an example to the rest? It would never do to be caught!
So they made it a practice to travel only during twilight and dawn,
remaining hidden through the day. Invariably one stood watch while the
other slept. The bees were--everywhere!
Upon crossing the range of mountains going down the other side, Cunora
and Rolla began to feel hopeful of two things--first, that their luck
would change, and the wonderful stone be found; and second, that they
would be in no danger from the bees in this new country, which seemed to
be a valley much like the one they had quit. It was all quite new and
strange to them, and in their interest they almost forgot at times that
each had a terrible score to settle when her chance finally came.
Twice they had exceedingly narrow escapes. Always they kept carefully
hid, but on the third day Cunora, advancing cautiously through some
brush, came suddenly upon two bees feeding. She stopped short and held
her breath. Neither saw her, so intent were they upon their honey; yet
Cunora felt certain that each had been warned to watch out for her. This
was true; Billie learned that every bee on the planet had been told. And
so Cunora silently backed away, an inch at a time, until it was safe to
turn and run.
On another occasion Rolla surprised a big drone bee, just as she bent to
take a drink of water from a stream. The insect had been out of her
sight, on the other side of a boulder. It rose with an angry buzz as she
bent down; a few feet away from her it hung in the air, apparently
scrutinizing her to make sure that she was one of the runaways. Her
heart leaped to her mouth. Suppose they were reported!
She made a lightninglike grab at the thing, and very nearly caught it.
Straight up it shot, taken by surprise, and dashed blindly into a ledge
of rock which hung overhead. For a second it floundered, dazed; and that
second was its last. Cunora gave a single bound forward, and with a
vicious swing of a palm-leaf, which she always carried, smashed the bee
flat.
Before they had been free five days they came to an exceedingly serious
conclusion: that it was only a question of time until they were caught.
Sooner or later they must be forced to return; they could not hope to
dodge bees much longer. When Rolla fully realized this she turned
gravely to the younger girl.
"Methinks the time has come for us to make a choice, Cunora. Which shall
it be: live as we have been living for the past four days, with the
certainty of being caught in time or--face the unknown perils on the
edge of the world?"
Cunora dropped the piece of stone she had been inspecting and shivered
with fear. "A dreadful choice ye offer, Rolla! Think of the horrible
beasts we must encounter!"
"Ye mean," corrected the philosophical one--"ye mean, the beasts which
men SAY they have seen. Tell me; hast ever seen such thyself? Many times
hast thou been near the edge, I know."
The girl shook her head. "Nay; not I. Yet these beasts must be, Rolla;
else why should all men tell of them?"
"I note," remarked Rolla thoughtfully, "that each man tells of seeing a
different sort of beast. Perchance they were all but lies."
However, it was Cunora's fear of capture, rather than her faith in
Rolla's reasoning, which drove the girl to the north. For to the north
they traveled, a matter of some two weeks; and not once did they dare
relax their vigilance. Wherever they went, there was vegetation of some
sort, and wherever there was vegetation bees were likely to be found. By
the time the two weeks were over, the women were in a state of near-
hysteria, from the nervous strain of it all. Moreover, both suffered
keenly for want of cereals, to which they were accustomed; they were
heartily tired of such fruits and nuts as they were able to pick up
without exposing themselves.
One morning before daybreak they came to the upper end of a long, narrow
valley--one which paralleled their own, by the way--and as they emerged
from the plain into the foot-hills it was clear that they had reached a
new type of country. There was comparatively little brush; and with
every step the rockiness increased. By dawn they were on the edge of a
plateau; back of them stretched the inhabited country; ahead, a haze-
covered expanse. Nothing but rocks was about them.
"Ye are sure that we had best keep on?" asked Cunora uneasily.
Rolla nodded, slowly but positively. "It is best. Back of us lies
certain capture. Ahead--we know not what; but at least there is a
chance!"
Nevertheless, both hesitated before starting over the plateau. Each
gazed back longingly over the home of their kind; and for a moment
Rolla's resolution plainly faltered. She hesitated; Cunora made a move
as though to return. And at that instant their problem was decided for
them.
A large drone passed within six feet of them. Both heard the buzz, and
whirled about to see the bee darting frantically out of reach. At a safe
distance it paused, as though to make sure of its find, then disappeared
down the valley. They had been located!
"We have no choice now!" cried Rolla, speaking above a whisper for the
first time in weeks. "On, as fast as ye can, Cunora!"
The two sped over the rocks, making pretty good time considering the
loads they carried. Each had a good-sized goatskin full of various dried
fruits and nuts, also a gourd not so full. In fact, it had been some
while since they had had fresh water. Cunora was further weighed down by
some six pounds of dried rabbit meat; the animals had been caught in
snares. Both, however, discarded their palm leaves; they would be of no
further use now.
And thus they fled, knowing that they had, at most, less than a day
before the drone would return with enough soldiers to compel obedience.
For the most part, the surface was rough granite, with very little sign
of erosion. There was almost no water; both women showed intense joy
when they found a tiny pool of it standing in a crevasse. They filled
their gourds as well as their stomachs.
A few steps farther on, and the pair stepped out of the shallow gully in
which they had been walking. Immediately they were exposed to a very
strong and exceedingly cold wind, such as seemed to surprise them in no
way, but compelled both to actually lean against its force. Moreover,
although this pressure was all from the left, it proved exceedingly
difficult to go on. Their legs seemed made of lead, and their breathing
was strangely labored. This, also, appeared to be just what they had
expected.
Presently, however, they found another slight depression the rocks; and
sheltered from the wind, made a little better progress ahead. It was
bitter cold, however; only the violence of their exercise could make
them warm enough to stand it. All in all, the two were considerably over
three hours in making the last mile; they had to stop frequently to
rest. The only compensating thing was their freedom from worry; the bees
would not bother them where the wind was so strong. So long as they
could keep on the move they were safe.
But what made it worse was the steadily increasing difficulty of moving
their legs. For, although the surface continued level, they seemed to be
CLIMBING now, where before they had simply walked. It was just as though
the plateau had changed into a mountain, and they were ascending it;
only, upon looking back, nothing but comparatively flat rock met the
gaze. What made them lean forward so steeply anyhow?
Rolla seemed to think it all very ordinary. She was more concerned about
the wind, to which they had become once more exposed as they reached the
end of the rift. On they pressed, five or six steps at each attempt,
stopping to rest twice the length of time they actually traveled. It was
necessary now to cling to the rock with both hands, and once Cunora lost
her grip, so that she would have been blown to one side, or else have
slipped backward, had not Rolla grasped her heel and held her until she
could get another hand-hold.
"Courage!" gasped Rolla. Perspiration was streaming down her face,
despite the bitter cold of the wind; her hands trembled from the strain
she was undergoing. "Courage, Cunora! It be not much farther!" On they
strove. Always it seemed as though they were working upward as well as
onward, although the continued flatness of the surface argued
obstinately against this. Also, the sun remained in the same position
relative to the rocks; if they were climbing, it should have appeared
overhead. What did it mean?
Finally Rolla saw, about a hundred yards farther on, something which
caused her to shout: "Almost there, Cunora!"
The younger girl could not spare breath enough to reply. They struggled
on in silence.
Now they were down on their hands and knees. Before half the hundred
yards was covered, they were flat on their faces, literally clawing
their way upward and onward. Had the wind increased in violence in
proportion as the way grew harder, they could never have made it,
physical marvels though they were. Only the absolute knowledge that they
dared not return drove them on; that, and the possibility of finding the
precious stone, and of ultimately saving the two men they had left
behind.
The last twenty feet was the most extraordinary effort that any human
had ever been subjected to. They had to take turns in negotiating the
rock; one would creep a few inches on, get a good hold, and brace
herself against the wind, while the other, crawling alongside, used her
as a sort of a crutch. Their fingers were bleeding and their finger-
nails cracked from the rock and cold; the same is equally true of their
toes. Had it been forty feet instead of twenty--
The rocks ended there. Beyond was nothing but sky; even this was not
like what they were used to, but was very nearly black. Two more spurts,
and Rolla threw one hand ahead and caught the edge of the rock. Cunora
dragged herself alongside. The effort brought blood to her nostrils.
They rested a minute or two, then looked at one another in mute inquiry.
Cunora nodded; Rolla took great breath; and they drew themselves to the
edge and looked over.
XII
OUTSIDE INFORMATION
The two women gazed in extreme darkness. The other side of the ridge of
rock was black as night. From side to side the ridge extended, like a
jagged knife edge on a prodigious scale; it seemed infinite in extent.
Behind them--that is, at their feet-lay the stone-covered expanse they
had just traversed; ahead of them there was--nothingness itself.
Cunora shook with fear and cold. "Let us not go on, Rolla!" she
whimpered. "I like not the looks of this void; it may contain all sorts
of beasts. I--I am afraid!" She began to sob convulsively. Rolla peered
into the darkness. Nothing whatever was to be seen. It was as easy to
imagine enemies as friends; easier in fact. What might not the unknown
hold for them?
"We cannot stay here," spoke Rolla, with what energy her condition would
permit. "We could not--hold on. Nor can we return now; They would surely
find us!"
But Cunora's courage, which had never faltered in the face of familiar
dangers, was not equal to the unknown. She wailed: "Rolla! A little way
back--a hollow in the rock! 'Tis big enough to shelter me! I would--
rather stay there than--go on!"
"Ye would rather die there, alone!"
Cunora hid her face. "Let me have half the food! I can go back to the
pool--for water! And maybe," hopefully--"maybe They will give up the
search in time."
"Aye," from Rolla, bitterly. "And in time Dulnop will die, if we do
nothing for him--and for Corrus!"
Cunora fell to sobbing again. "I cannot help it! I am--afraid!"
Rolla scarcely heard. An enormous idea had just occurred to her. She had
told the girl to think of Dulnop and Corrus; but was it not equally true
that they should think of all the other humans, their fellow slaves,
each of whom had suffered nearly as much? Was not the fire equally
precious to them all?
She started to explain this to the girl, then abruptly gave it up. It
was no use; Cunora's mind was not strong enough to take the step. Rolla
fairly gasped as she realized, as no Sanusian had realized before, that
she had been given the responsibility of rescuing A WHOLE RACE.
Fire she must have! And since she could not, dared not, seek it here,
she must try the other side of the world. And she would have to do it--
alone!
"So be it!" she said loudly in a strange voice. "Ye stay here and wait,
Cunora! I go on!"
And for fear her resolution would break down, she immediately crept over
the edge. She clung to the rock as though expecting to be dragged from
it. Instead, as she let her feet down into the blackness, she could feel
solid rock beneath her body, quite the same as she had lain upon a
moment before. It was like descending the opposite side of an incredibly
steep mountain, a mountain made of blackness itself.
The women gave one another a last look. For all they knew, neither would
gaze upon the other again. Next moment, with Cunora's despairing cry
ringing in her ears, Rolla began to crawl backward and downward.
She could plainly see the sun's level rays above her head, irregular
beams of yellowish light; it served slightly to illuminate her
surroundings. Shortly, however, her eyes became accustomed to the
darkness; the stars helped just as they had always helped; and soon she
was moving almost as freely as on the other side.
Once she slipped, and slid down and to one side, for perhaps ten feet.
When she finally grabbed a sharp projecting ledge and stopped, her
vision almost failed from the terrible effort she had put forth. She
could scarcely feel the deep gash that the ledge had made in her finger-
tips.
After perhaps half an hour of hard work among bare rocks exactly like
those she had quit, she stopped for a prolonged rest. As a matter of
course, she stared at the sky; and then came her first discovery.
Once more let it be understood that her view was totally different from
anything that has ever been seen on the earth. To be sure, "up" was over
her head, and "down" was under her feet; nevertheless, she was stretched
full length, face down, on the rock. In other words, it was precisely as
though she were clinging to a cliff. Sky above, sky behind and all
sides; there were stars even under her feet!
But all her life she had been accustomed, at night, to see that broad
band of silver light across the heavens. She had taken it for granted
that, except at two seasons of the year, for short periods, she would
always see "the Silvery Way." But to-night--there was no band! The whole
sky was full of--stars, nothing else!
It will be easier to picture her wonder and uneasiness if she is
compared mentally with a girl of five or six. Easier, too, to appreciate
the fact that she determined to go on anyhow. Mile after mile was
covered in the darkness. Rolla was on the point of absolute exhaustion;
but she dared not sleep until she reached a spot where there was no
danger of falling. It was only after braving the gale for over four
hours in the starlight that Rolla reached a point where she was no
longer half crawling, half creeping, but moved nearly erect. Shortly she
was able to face the way she was going; and by leaning backward was able
to make swift progress. In another half-hour she was walking upright.
Still no explanation of the mystery!
Finding a sheltered spot, she proceeded to make herself comparatively
comfortable on the rock. Automatically, from habit, she proceeded to
keep watch; then she must have remembered that there was now no need for
vigilance. For she lay herself down in the darkness and instantly fell
asleep.
Three hours later--according to the time kept by the watchers on the
earth--Rolla awoke and sat up in great alarm. And small wonder.
It was broad daylight! The sun was well above the horizon; and not only
the Sanusian but the people on the earth were vastly puzzled to note
that it was the western horizon! To all appearances, Rolla had slept a
whole day in that brief three hours.
Shortly her nerves were steady enough for her to look about,
uncomprehendingly, but interestedly, as a child will. There was nothing
but rock to be seen; a more or less level surface, such as she had
toiled over the day before. The day before! She glanced at the sun once
more, and her heart gave a great leap.
The sun was rising--IN THE WEST!
"'Tis a world of contraries," observed Rolla sagely to herself. "Mayhap I
shall find all else upside down."
She ate heartily, and drank deep from her gourd. There was not a cupful
remaining. She eyed it seriously as she got to her feet.
Another look back at that flat expanse of granite, which had so
gradually and so mysteriously changed from precipice to plain, and Rolla
strode on with renewed vigor and interest. Presently she was able to
make out something of a different color in the distance, and soon was
near enough to see some bona-fide bushes; a low, flowerless shrub, it is
true, but at least it was a living thing.
Shortly the undergrowth became dense enough to make it somewhat of an
effort to get through. And before long she was noticing all manner of
small creatures, from bugs to an occasional wandering bird. These last,
especially, uttered an abrupt but cheerful chirp which helped
considerably to raise her spirits. It was all too easy to see, in her
fancy, her lover helpless and suffering in the power of those cold-
blooded, merciless insects.
In an hour or two she reached the head of a small stream. Hurrying down
its banks as rapidly as its undergrowth would permit, Rolla followed its
course as it bent, winding and twisting, in the direction which had
always been north to her, but which the sun plainly labeled "south."
Certainly the sun mounted steadily toward the zenith, passing
successively through the positions corresponding to four, three and two
o'clock, in a manner absolutely baffling.
About noon she came out of the canon into the foothills. Another brief
rest, and from the top of a knoll she found herself looking upon a
valley about the size of the one she called "home." Otherwise, it was
very different. For one thing, it was far better watered; nowhere could
she see the half-dried brownishness so characteristic of her own land.
The whole surface was heavily grown with all manner of vegetation; and
so far as she could see it was all absolutely wild. There was not a sign
of cultivation.
Keeping to the left bank of the river, a much broader affair than any
she had seen before, Rolla made her way for several miles with little
difficulty. Twice she made wide detours through the thicket, and once it
was necessary to swim a short distance; the stream was too deep to wade.
The doctor watched the whole affair, purely as a matter of professional
interest.
"She is a magnificent specimen physically," he said in his impersonal
way, "and she shows none of the defects of the African savages."
And such was his manner, in speaking of his distant "patient," that
Billie took it entirely as a matter of course, without the slightest
self-consciousness because of Van Emmon and Smith.
All this while Rolla had been intent, as before, upon finding some of
the coveted crystals. She had no luck; but presently she discovered
something decidedly worth while--a fallen tree trunk, not too large, and
near enough to the bank to be handled without help. A few minutes later
she was floating at ease, and making decidedly better time.
A half-hour of this--during which she caught glimpses of many animals,
large and small, all of which fled precipitately--and she rounded a
sharp bend in the stream, to be confronted with a sight which must have
been strange indeed to her. Stretching across the river was--a network
of rusty wire, THE REMAINS OF A REINFORCED CONCRETE BRIDGE.
There was no doubt of this. On each bank was a large, moss-grown block
of stone, which the doctor knew could be nothing else than the old
abutments. Seemingly there had been only a single span.
The woman brought the log to the shore, and examined the bridge closely.
Instinctively she felt that the structure argued a high degree of
intelligence, very likely human. A little hesitation, and then she
beached her log, ascended the bank, and looked upon the bridge from
above.
A narrow road met her eyes. Once it might have been twice as wide, but
now the thicket encroached until there was barely room enough, judged
the doctor, for a single vehicle to pass. Its surface was badly broken
up--apparently it had been concrete--and grass grew in every crack.
Nevertheless, it was a bona-fide road.
For the first time in a long while, Rolla was temporarily off her guard.
The doctor was able to impress her with the idea of "Follow this road!"
and to his intense gratification the woman started away from the river
at once.
Soon the novelty of the thing wore off enough for her to concern herself
with fresh food. She discovered plenty of berries, also three kinds of
nuts; all were strange to her, yet she ate them without question, and
suffered nothing as a result, so far as the doctor could see.
The sun was less than an hour from the horizon when the road, after
passing over a slight rise, swung in a wide arc through the woods and
thus unveiled a most extraordinary landscape. It was all the more
incredible because so utterly out of keeping with what Rolla had just
passed through. She had been in the wilderness; now--
A vast city lay before her. Not a hundred yards away stood a low, square
building of some plain, gray stone. Beyond this stretched block upon
block--mile upon mile rather--of bona-fide residences, stores and much
larger buildings. It is true that the whole place was badly overgrown
with all sorts of vegetation; yet, from that slight elevation, there was
no doubt that this place was, or had been, a great metropolis.
Presently it became clear that "had been" was the correct term. Nothing
but wild life appeared. Rolla looked closely for any signs of human
occupancy, but saw none. To all appearances the place was deserted; and
it was just as easy to say that it had been so for ten centuries as for
one.
"There seems no good reason why I should not go farther," commented
Rolla aloud, to boost her courage. "Perchance I shall find the magic
stone in this queer place."
It speaks well for her self-confidence that, despite the total
strangeness of the whole affair--a city was as far out of her line as
aviation to a miner--she went forward with very little hesitation. None
of the wild creatures that scuttled from her sight alarmed her at all;
the only things she looked at closely were such bees as she met. The
insects ignored her altogether, except to keep a respectful distance.
"These masters," observed Rolla with satisfaction, "know nothing of me.
I shall not obey them till they threaten me." But there was no
threatening.
For the most part the buildings were in ruins. Here and there a
structure showed very little damage by the elements. In more than one
case the roof was quite intact. Clearly the materials used were
exceptional, or else the place had not been deserted very long. The
doctor held to the latter opinion, especially after seeing a certain
brown-haired dog running to hide behind a heap of stones.
"It was a dog!" the doctor felt sure. To Rolla, however, the animal was
even more significant. She exclaimed about it in a way which confirmed
the doctor's guess. On she went at a faster rate, plainly excited and
hopeful of seeing something further that she could recognize.
She found it in a hurry. Reaching the end of one block of the ruins, she
turned the corner and started to follow the cross street. Whereupon she
stopped short, to gaze in consternation at a line of something whitish
which stretched from one side of the "street" to the other.
It was a line of human skeletons.
There were perhaps two hundred in the lot, piled one on top of the
other, and forming a low barrier across the pavement. To Rolla the thing
was simply terrible, and totally without explanation. To the people on
the earth, it suggested a formation of troops, shot down in their tracks
and left where they had fallen. The doctor would have given a year of
his life if only Rolla had had the courage to examine the bones; there
might have been bullet-holes, or other evidence of how they had met
their death.
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