Pao had explained some of the results of the Grailing, and heknew that during the voyaging ceremony he would be able to scan through a partof the cosmos. He did not know how he could do this, but he had been assuredby Paothat it was open to him. The implication was that he could go on toany world hewas able to see during the ceremony. The idea scared him now, and hehad been frank enough to tell Pao that. Pao had replied that he would not bescared during the ceremony because the power would make him courageous.
But now, he had changed his mind. He wanted to escape. The chopping off ofthe snake-thing's bead had sickened him. He was becoming an Og byassociation with them. If he continued with them, he might end up as cold andcruel as they.
An hour passed. Then, knowing that he did not have too much timeto carryout the plan he had conceived, he arose. He went into the bathroomand turned on all the faucets. He used a nailfile to unscrew the grate over theshower drain, and he stuffed the drain with sheets. He put the plugs in the bathtuband washbasin drains. Then he looked around for weapons and tools. TheOgs had takenthe pliers and the cleaver.
The nearest thing to a weapon was the jade statuette, which hecould use for a club. He could also use it to listen in on anything on theintercommunication system, since it operated without wires.
He prowled around, looking for other useful items and could findnone. He sat down on the bed and waited. It would take a long time for thewater to fill the room as high as the canopy on top of the bed. He would be on topof it when that occurred, since he had determined that the canopy would supporthim.
The hours passed. The water flowed out of the bathroom and spreadover the bedroom floor. It rose agonizingly slowly. But the time came when hehad to climb up on the canopy and wait there.
The statuette in his hand spoke. "Captain, it is dinner time. Doyou wishanything to eat?"
"Not now!" he said. He gauged when the water would rise to thelevel of the canopy. "In about an hour. I'll take the same food as last night! Oh, by theway, when does the ceremony start?"
There was a pause and then the voice said, "About nine, Captain. Or later if you prefer."
"I think I'll sleep a little now," he said. "Be sure to wake meabout ten minutes before you bring dinner in."
When the waters lapped at the canopy, and wet his rear throughthe cloth, heswam out into the room. The door to the bathroom was almost under bythen. He dived through the door and came up to the airpocket between thebathroom ceilingand the surface. Then he dived down again. The ceiling light wasstill on, so hecould see somewhat in the clear water. He turned off all the faucets in one dive and then returned to the top. Another dive through the door, and heswam back to the canopy.
As he pulled himself onto it, he felt a shock. The water slippedto one side of the room, as if the house had been tilted, and then it rushed back.
For a moment the motion confused him. He was panicked. What thehell had happened?
The voice said, "Captain! If you felt that lurch, do not bealarmed! It's not an earthquake! We think that the front of the hill gave way! We're inspecting the damage now! But do not be alarmed! The house is atleast fortyfeet from the edge of the hill!"
Everybody in this house was so engrossed in the Grailing thatthey hadforgotten about the deluge and its possible effects. Other houseswere slippingand sliding, tumbling down hills which caved out from under them. Butthese people had felt themselves insulated from the disaster. They had farmore important matters to attend to.
Now was his best chance. If a large number of them were out ofthe house, looking at the slide, he had a clearer road out than he had hopedfor.
He spoke into the statuette: "I'll take my dinner right now." "Sir," said the voice. "It isn't ready yet." "Well, send a man in. The slide broke a waterpipe in here. It's
flooding my
room." "Yes, sir." He waited. He had slipped the statuette between his belt and his
stomach. He poised now, hoping that the pressure of the water would spring thedoor outwards even more swiftly than it normally traveled.
The caving in of the hill front had undoubtedly been the mainfactor in making the house lurch. But the enormous weight of all the water inthis room had helped. Now, if only things worked right.
Suddenly, the door swung out. The water churned and frothed as itplungedthrough the narrow exit.
Childe hesitated several seconds and then he dived. He was caughtby thecurrent and hurled through the doorway, brushing it as he went by andhurtinghis ribs and hips. He struck into the wall on the side of thecorridor oppositethe door and then was shot, turning over and over, helplessy down thehall. The house must have been tilted slightly forward, towards the road, whenit had shifted in response to the cave-in. Most of the flood seemed to becharging inthat direction.
CHAPTER 42
The water fell through the hole in the floor as if it were awaterspout. It pounded the narrow platform, making it shudder and threaten to breakup. Itswirled the raft around so that several men, clinging to the side ofthe raft, were crushed between raft and wall.
Forry, hanging on to another man on the raft, thought that thistime the house had slipped forward after another cave-in. This time, it wasnot going tostop. It would go down the hill, and everybody in it would be buriedunder tons of mud. Especially those in this underground hole!
The worst part of it was that they had removed their air tanksand so could not swim back through the tunnel.
Or could they? It was difficult to think coherently while thewater was roaring through that hole and the raft was spinning and he could notsee much because of the splashing and spraying around him. But it had seemedto him that the swim through the tunnel was a very short one and that he wouldnot have to swim under the surface of the swimming pool to its end. He couldemerge at once.
But the thought of going through the curving tube when its sidemightcollapse at any second unnerved him. Bad as it was being shut in thishole here, he would stay.
By then all the lights had been extinguished, and he was in totaldarkness.
Suddenly, though the raft was still turning, the turbulence wasmuch reduced. A light came on, and he could see another light. This wasshining downthrough the hole in the floor. Water was still coming through but itwas a trickle compared to the first discharge.
Hindarf was shouting at them to be quiet. Miraculously, he wasunhurt.
Under his directions they erected the ladder again, and heclimbed on upthrough it. His men followed him. Presently, a man pushed Forry andurged him toget going. Forry scrambled up the ladder swiftly but reluctantly. Hepoked hishead through the floor and saw a bedroom that had been submerged onlya few minutes before. The only exit was blocked with chairs, tables, andthe bed, which had been swept against the doorway by the current.
The Tocs worked furiously to clear the furniture away. Hindarfand another looked for Childe, but he was not in the room.
"What happened?" Forry said to Hindarf.
"I don't know. But I would guess that Childe or whoever was aprisoner inhere flooded this place. When the door was opened, he went on out, riding thewaters. He may have escaped."
"Good!" said Forry. "Maybe we can leave then?" Hindarf looked down the hall at the wreckage. Several tables andvases and a crumpled carpet were piled at the corner where the hall turned. Partof the wall, where the water had first struck, was broken in. A man with abroken neck lay against the wall. He was identified as Glinch, an Og who had onceterrorized medieval Germany as a werewolf. For the past twenty years, he hadbeen workingin the Internal Revenue Service, Los Angeles.