"He'll have gone deeper than this." "Now we have him." "He cannot escape!" "No one will ever know how he tried to trick the Graff Vynda-K." "It's the beast!" "Take cover!" "Guards!" "Reform!" "These caves remind me of that labyrinth we had to fight through on Freytus." "We moved in darkness, every forward step, things were squirming and crunching under our feet." "Remember, Highness?" "Almost a year without sight of sky." "But these are not caves like those, Sholakh." "The air's the same, heavy and damp with the stench of death." "Little wonder the natives wouldn't come here." "Why think you now of the Freytus labyrinth?" "What troubles you?" "Problem's the same, Graff." "There we had two legions searching for the enemy." "Here we have a few men searching for one." "It'll take as long." "Still the pessimist!" "Even if it takes twice as long," "I shall not leave this planet until I have that jethrik." "Then perhaps, Highness, we should have brought that old boneshaker with us." "The Seeker?" "If she truly has the gift of sniffing out fugitives..." "You're right, Sholakh!" "Yes, by heaven!" "We'll force that old witch to lead us even if we have to carry her!" "Come!" "You need a rest, Binro." "No, no, no." "I can go on." "No, no, come on." "I'm thinking of myself as well." "In that case..." "Sit down." "Space travel rots the muscles, Binro." "Space travel!" "How is it done, my friend?" "How do you fly between the stars?" "If we were to stay here the rest of our lives, Binro," "I couldn't begin to explain that one." "I understand, there's so much still to learn." "Have they gone?" "No." "You nearly got us killed." "If you call that being nearly killed, you haven't lived yet." "Stay with me and you'll get a lot nearer." "In fact, you're a lot nearer right now." "You've got an unconscious death wish." "Don't bicker!" "No bickering." "Never bicker." "We should be looking for my invaluable young friend Unstoffe." "Who's carrying a valuable piece of jethrik." "What is property at such a time?" "Quite right." "What do we do now?" "You go that way, I'll go this way." "Which way?" "That way." "Oh, that way!" "Back to the city?" "Someone's got to keep an eye on Vynda-K." "Don't just lie there, do something!" "What?" "Move!" "What, now?" "Now?" "Now!" "You called, master?" "No, don't explain, don't explain." "Look after those two." "Off you go." "Master." "If you had the knowledge, of how to use it, Binro, there's enough energy in there to move you and me across the universe." "Really?" "No wonder men fight for it!" "But you didn't steal this from the Relic Room." "Where did you get it?" "It belonged to a friend of mine." "The one who sent his voice through the air into your hand?" "Garron, yes." "I was supposed to meet Garron in the Concourse, it was to be our contingency rendezvous." "Yes..." "What?" "We were supposed to meet there if anything went wrong." "He didn't turn up so I suppose he must be in trouble himself." "You're worried about him, aren't you, my friend?" "Yes." "You see, we've worked together for a long time and this was to be our last job." "He often talks of going back to Hackney Wick." "What's that?" "Well, for all I can make out it's just a mud patch in the middle of nowhere." "But I suppose it's home to him." "I don't understand." "I'm sorry, I was just thinking aloud." "Well, you see, I have a feeling this was our last job after all, only it hasn't turned out quite the way we expected." "Perhaps I should go back and look for him?" "Do you think you could find your way from here?" "From here, yes." "If we go any further into these caves, it'll not be possible." "And the deeper we go, the more chance there is of being eaten, right?" "Yes, or of the roof falling in." "You see, these caves are very old and dangerous." "But on the other hand, there may be another way from here up to the surface." "I'll do whatever you think is best, my friend." "But there could be danger waiting for you back in the city." "Who knows I helped you?" "No, no, nobody notices old Binro the Heretic." "You'd risk your life for me?" "Why?" "You wouldn't understand." "For years, I was jeered at and derided." "I began to doubt even myself." "Then you came along and you told me I was right." "Just to know that for certain, Unstoffe, well, is worth a life, eh?" "Binro, here." "You'd better take this." "Just in case Garron suspects it's some kind of trick." "Oh!" "Thanks!" "I'll try to hurry." "Good luck." "Captain, I'm tired of waiting!" "How much longer?" "The Seeker will come in her own time." "That's not polite, is it, Sholakh?" "It's grossly discourteous, Highness." "Grossly?" "You'd go so far as to say that, would you?" "I'd even say insulting." "Then I have a right to be angry, Sholakh." "Someone should be punished." "It'd teach them the value of good manners, Highness." "Precisely!" "An excellent shot, Highness!" "He's dead!" "What have you done?" "Slightly high and to the left." "Still an excellent shot." "Thank you." "You're not from the north!" "What are you?" "Impatient, Captain!" "Tell the Seeker I want her here now." "What are you waiting for, Captain?" "That stirred them up a bit!" "I flatter myself I know how to get the best from natives." "Garron?" "Garron, where are you?" "He has departed, mistress." "Well, that's obvious, but where?" "To see a man about a dog." "What?" "That was the information he imparted." "Why didn't you tell me earlier?" "You did not ask, mistress." "Which route, mistress?" "The tracer!" "He's stolen the tracer!" "How could I be such a fool?" "Question not understood." "Kindly re-phrase." "It's vital to get that tracer back." "What can I do?" "I will run through my databanks for information." "I wasn't asking you, K9." "No other entity is present." "I was talking to myself." "That procedure is not logical." "The purpose of speech is to communicate information." "Be quiet, K9." "You're a very irritating computer." "Mistress?" "I'm sorry, K9." "What can we do now?" "Seek, mistress." "Seek..." "Move yourself, unless you want my boot behind you!" "We'll soon know the truth now, Sholakh." "If she proves a charlatan, we'll use her carcass for target practice." "She knows that already." "Those bones of hers are shaking even as she's standing still." "You!" "Double up!" "What's keeping you?" "If I ain't standing at your feet, my son, this instrument has to be Japanese!" "Garron!" "There you are!" "How did you find me?" "The wonders of modern technology, my boy!" "This remarkable piece of equipment of a jethrik detector!" "In that bag, I perceive." "First things first, Garron..." "Yes, exactly." "You know how attached I am to that piece of jethrik." "Ah!" "Do I hear the chink of the Graff's gold?" "Money isn't everything, Garron." "Well, who wants everything?" "I'll settle for 90%!" "I see him!" "The one you seek is here." "Then lead us to him." "We shall not reach him." "I see death standing between us." "You are wrong, witch!" "Death is standing right behind you!" "I will lead him if that be your wish." "But all but one of us is doomed to die." "Thus has it been written." "Our problem now, my boy, is to find our way back." "If we move from here, Binro will never find us again." "Do you think he'll come back for you?" "Of course he will!" "After he's searched the city for you, and that'll probably take him hours." "Let's hope the Graff doesn't get here first." "Not much chance of that, these caves stretch for miles." "I don't know, he's press-ganged some native witch." "The Seeker?" "You know about her?" "Yeah." "Binro told me about her." "What about this Doctor and the girl, any chance of them finding us?" "Oh, I sincerely hope not." "Why not?" "I thought they helped you escape." "We were temporarily allies in adversity." "Where are they now?" "The girl's wandering about somewhere." "The Doctor said he'd go back and keep an eye on the Graff." "Just a minute, Garron, wandering about?" "Down here?" "Well, I imagine so." "Unless she happens to have another of these little gadgets." "You stole it from her!" "That's where you got it from." "Well, I relieved her of it." "It seemed such a responsibility for a young girl." "You old hypocrite!" "How could you?" "Well, I admit I had a great struggle with my conscience." "Fortunately I won!" "Deeper, deeper, fibula and tibia." "Halt!" "Lead us deeper, deeper yet..." "Highness?" "By those rocks over there!" "Something moved." "You two." "Bring him here." "What are you doing here?" "Looking for fossils." "Fossils?" "Grave robbing, more like!" "I sell them sometimes." "I cannot work, I'm too old." "What's in your hand?" "A strange fossil, Highness." "All right, where did you get this from?" "Found it." "Come on, the truth, old one, or we'll blast your head off!" "Not yet!" "Bring him." "That'll do." "Now, pack it with shot." "They say none ever returns from the deep Catacombs." "If any of that lot do, they won't get very far." "The bones!" "The bones, the bones are alive!" "The one you seek is here!" "This is where, Highness." "I'll show you." "Stay!" "Unstoffe!" "Unstoffe!" "Kill him!" "You fool, you fool..." "Right..." "I was right, Unstoffe?" "Yes." "Was that Binro?" "Charming fellow, the little I saw of him." "Murderers." "Murderers..." "Now, don't be a fool!" "Don't be a fool, Unstoffe!" "Unstoffe, don't be..." "Unstoffe!" "Unstoffe!" "Over here, hurry!" "Binro said the roof wasn't safe." "Guards, the jethrik!" "Here." "Take it!" "No!" "Unstoffe!" "It's here, Highness, and the gold." "Good." "When these criminals have been executed, we shall almost have settled our score here." "Now, how did you escape, Garron?" "Ingenuity, Highness." "Sheer ingenuity." "And where are the others?" "Your two accomplices?" "Not accomplices, Highness, you mean the security agents." "Security agents?" "That's the irony of it." "They just arrested us for landing on a class three planet." "They didn't even know of your presence until you made it felt." "You lie!" "Why should I bother?" "No, Graff, their report will be with the Alliance shortly, and you'll no longer be a nobleman of the Cyrrhenic Empire, and an honoured war veteran, you'll just be a common criminal like us." "Stand them against that wall." "Firing squad, fall in!" "Unstoffe, my son." "What?" "I was gonna make a touching speech, but my throat is too dry." "Stand fast!" "Attack the beast." "Can you locate it, K9?" "Position determined, mistress." "This way." "There's a good computer." "I can hear firing." "Get back, then." "Take cover." "I'll close the Catacombs forever." "Back, Highness, back." "No, no..." "Highness, leave me..." "I am done." "Not you, Sholakh, never." "My guts are flattened..." "I'll get you out, you'll be all right." "The jethrik, Highness, take the jethrik..." "Here, you!" "Help me with my general!" "Too late!" "He is dead." "Leave us!" "I'll avenge you, Sholakh!" "I'll bombard this stinking planet till it's nothing but a smoking hole in space!" "Come on now, Garron." "Oh, I'm dead already." "Get up!" "Oops!" "Oh, such lousy shots, they got me in the foot." "You're not shot, the roof just fell in." "So we're buried alive." "Oh, Unstoffe, I don't like the options we're getting." "Shh, listen." "Listen, K9, there's somebody behind there." "Hello, can you hear me?" "There is someone." "Help me move this rock, K9." "Oh, it's no good, it won't budge." "Can you do anything to help, K9?" "Affirmative." "Please stand clear, mistress." "Oh, my dear, there you are!" "I've been looking for you everywhere." "You, erm, dropped this." "Into your hand, yes." "Let's go, shall we?" "Soldier, I'm gonna blow up these caves behind us." "What are you doing, alien?" "The Ice Gods..." "Silence!" "These caves will not shelter your scum from my missiles." "Now, you made a prophesy, old woman, what was it?" "All but one doomed to die." "Thus written." "Then die now!" "No, not you, soldier." "I have a more honourable purpose for you." "So you're the last of my guards, eh?" "The last of my Levithian Invincibles!" "All the rest are dead now." "Even Sholakh..." "Were you with me on Skarrn, soldier?" "No, sir." "So many battles." "Skarrn, the Freytus labyrinth, Crestus Minor." "Now, there was a fight!" "I remember Sholakh planting my standard in the very heart of the Crestan general." "So many battles, so many years." "But over now." "All but one of us doomed to die, soldier." "Thus has it been written." "There is no greater honour, soldier, than to surrender your life in the service of the Graff Vynda-K." "All but one of us!" "Sholakh?" "Sholakh?" "Sholakh!" "To me!" "To me!" "Charge!" "Onwards!" "Onwards!" "Onwards!" "Onwards!" "Three, two, one... 4:00 and all's well." "Goodbye, Garron." "Doctor?" "Yes." "Doctor, I still don't understand..." "What don't you understand, Garron?" "Ask me something." "What is it you don't understand?" "Who came first, the chicken or the egg?" "Ask me something!" "How did you manage to switch the jethrik for the thermite pack without the Graff noticing?" "Garron, I would've thought you'd have known that!" "Sleight of hands." "I was trained by Maskelyne." "Quite clever, really." "I do dislike faint praise." "It was astoundingly clever, wasn't it, Garron?" "Indeed it was, Doctor!" "Oh, Doctor, a favour to beg." "Do you think I might just handle the jethrik once more?" "Please, for old time's sake, you know." "All right." "Oh, it's lovely, isn't it?" "I'm so reluctant to part with it." "Ah, well, there you are, Doctor." "Thank you very much." "Goodbye, Garron!" "Oh, goodbye, Doctor." "What's your name?" "Unstoffe." "Goodbye, Unstoffe." "All right, Doctor." "Mistress." "Come along, K9." "Goodbye." "Goodbye!" "Well, that's it, Garron, we'll have to go straight now." "Oh, come, my boy, don't be downhearted." "We haven't done too badly." "Haven't done too badly?" "We've lost the jethrik and we come out of this without a penny." "Oh, don't forget there's the Graff's ship stuffed with 1 8 years of loot." "You crafty old..." "That's a queer takeoff." "Thank goodness he's gone." "I was afraid he'd notice." "Notice?" "What?" "We haven't lost the jethrik." "I switched it for a piece of ordinary stone!" "Yeah, I did!" "Look." "He switched it back again!" "Oh, Unstoffe, is there nobody you can trust these days?" "Would you like to do it?" "Well, perhaps you'd better do it, Doctor." "No, you do it." "You do it." "I'll just stand here and watch." "Right." "The first segment." "Simple, wasn't it?" "Only five more to go."