In a moment Adolf had his ear pressed against the door of the safe and his nimble fingers were twiddling with the lock. There was a click, then another and another until there was a click that sounded more definite than all the rest and Adolf's eyes glowed like the jackpot lights on a fruit-machine. He seized the handle with both hands and pulled open the massive steel door.
"Bull's-eye," he cried. "Oh, verdammt! I haven't lost my touch."
Knocker gazed into the safe and saw a large brass-bound box. "You must be the best safe-cracker in the whole world," he said, "Adolf Wolfgang Amadeus Winston !"
"Danke," said the German, "I am proud of my new name and will enjoy telling how I earned it—if we ever get out of here."
They pulled the box from the safe and it thumped to the floor. Knocker flung back the lid and sat back on his heels in amazement. It was full to the top with crisp notes of the realm.
"I'll be jiggered," he said, "there's a fortune here."
"No good if you can't get it out," said Adolf.
"Wait," said Knocker, seizing the German's shoulder, "it will need two of us to carry this. We'll have to leave Vulge behind."
Adolf stood up, his face angry. "You may do what you wish," he said. "I am taking Vulge."
Knocker faced his friend, his mouth tight. "The whole point of the expedition is that money. I have strict orders to get the box out. Vulge has taken his chances like the rest of us. Why, he's half dead already."
"And half of him is worth all of you, Knocker, and the money too," cried Adolf and he kicked the lid of the box so that it closed with a crash.
"This money," said Knocker, lowering his voice, "could change life for thousands of Borribles. It's important, more important than any one of us, that's why Spiff wanted me to get it home, no matter what."
"Who cares about your Spiff. I don't want my life changed," said Adolf passionately, "nor do other Borribles. The lives I care about at this moment are my life and Vulge's life, and yours if you will stop being stupid."
Knocker hesitated. He knew that what the German said made sense, but there were other considerations.
"Vulge got his name by a valiant battle," he argued. "You were destined to open the safe, my part is to take this money out of here and win my name that way. Can't you see that?"
"I see it," said Adolf, "but it doesn't mean I have to look at it. You carry the money if you can, I will carry Vulge if I can; the rest is chance. Let us remain friends though we differ. I like stealing too you know, but sometimes other things come first."
Just then there was a yell from Vulge in the bathroom. Both Borribles grasped their catapults and loading them as they moved they dashed through the door.
Two Rumbles armed with stickers were coming into the room, a third lay stunned in the entrance. Vulge was reloading his catapult. A Rumble threw his sticker at Adolf who side-stepped it with ease and the spear thudded into the wall. Knocker fired, Adolf fired and both Rumbles fell. It became quiet and Adolf went to the door to look out. "Only those three," he said, "but others will be coming. Let's go." He crossed the room and knelt beside Vulge. "You're coming with me, my friend," he said. "I will give you a fireman's lift. It will be painful but safer than staying here."
"You can't take me," grimaced the wounded Borrible. "Leave me another bandolier, and I'll do for a few more."
"Rubbish," laughed the German, "are you content to die with only one name?"
Vulge wagged his head in the old way of his. "Go on then, idiot. 'It is madness to quarrel with a madman'."
Adolf ignored the proverb, hoisted his wounded comrade up and carried him towards the door. Knocker meanwhile ran back into the inner sanctum and lifted the box onto his shoulders with a supreme effort. "With both of us laden like this," thought Knocker, "there is very little chance of us getting out. Adolf was right, but then so am I. We will just have to play it by ear."
Their progress was slow and awkward. They stopped frequently to rest and Vulge was in great pain, though he said nothing.
The lighting system had obviously suffered serious damage, for the lights often went out. Bells and sirens clanged and wailed as the general alarm spread through the maze of corridors, and shouts and calls could be heard echoing from side tunnels. Something somewhere was burning and smoke was beginning to drift by, sucked along by the ventilation fans. Steam from the cauldrons left boiling in the kitchens lent an acrid smell to the atmosphere, and the temperature in the Bunker was rising fast.
The fugitives encountered several dazed and panic-stricken bands of Rumbles but they were not trained warriors and a show of belligerence was enough to make them sheer off. But every time they passed a branch corridor Rumbles issued from it noiselessly on their padded feet and followed at a safe distance, waiting for the right moment to pounce and bear down upon the Adventurers.
"I must rest," said Knocker for the fifth time. "Money weighs you down."
"I too could rest," said Adolf panting, and he lowered Vulge to the floor.
"How are you, my friend?" asked the German.
Vulge was near to fainting with pain but he said, "Mustn't grumble. Got to keep going till you can't go any more, isn't it?"
They had stopped by the entrance to a dark branch corridor and suddenly two figures leapt out with a cry, brandishing lances. Adolf and Knocker stepped back and reached for their weapons but then held their hands. Before them stood Bingo and Orococco, fresh and alert.
"Well, hello sailor," said Orococco. "What's a nice Borrible like you doing in a place like this?"
Knocker smiled with relief. He gestured towards Vulge and the box. "We're trying to get Vulge out. He's done for the Chief, but the bodyguard nearly did for him."
"He knocked them about beautifully," laughed Adolf. "He deserves twenty names."
"He doesn't look too good," said Bingo, "that's for sure."
"How have you got on?" asked Knocker, sitting down on the box of money.
Bingo knelt by Vulge and felt his pulse, saying, " 'Rococco's got his, at the door. He came along to keep me company. I've been running all over the place but I'm damned if I can find mine anywhere. I hope someone else hasn't done him. I'll be stuck without a name if they have."
The lights in the corridor flickered off and the Borribles grasped their lances and stood back to back. They heard the snuffling sound of Rumbles moving nearer but then the lights snapped on again and the Adventurers saw their foes scrambling to get beyond the range of the Borrible weapons.
Knocker came to a decision. "You could come along with us, then, give me a hand with this box and help carry Vulge."
"I don't mind that," agreed Bingo, "as long as I am free to take off after my bloke at any time."
The five Borribles moved on, pausing at every intersection. They were followed, sniffed and snuffled at but not attacked. The hazards would increase when they reached the open space of the Central. There hosts of angry Rumbles could trample them down, no matter how well they defended themselves.
At length Bingo, who was leading, stopped and held up a hand. "It's the Central," he whispered.
They gathered at the end of the corridor and looked out into the wide cavern from which radiated the main arteries of the Bunker. A fearful sight met their eyes. Hundreds of Rumbles ran backwards and forwards across the immense hallway. Blue lights flashed in the ceiling and the alarm bells rang. The roadway leading to the Great Door was crammed with Warrior Rumbles, struggling to enter the tunnel and do battle with whoever was at the other end; thick smoke issued from a corridor above which was written "Kitchens". Some Rumbles were disappearing into a tunnel marked "Infirmary", bearing wounded comrades on stretchers.
Bingo took in the scene and turned to the others. "I've got an idea," he said. "There's a tunnel over there with no one in it, or so it seems, the one that says 'Library'. I'll run across the hall, throw a few spears and some of those warriors will chase after me. You'll have to fight the rest. Not much of an idea but it's Hobson's, isn't it?"
Knocker spoke for them all. "It's the only way."
Bingo took extra stickers from his companions and with no goodbyes he ran light-footed into the hall. So sudden was his appearance that he got three-quarters of the way across before he was noticed by some non-combatant Rumbles, who shouted out to the Warriors who were crowded round the Great Door tunnel.
Bingo planted his feet firmly on the floor and threw sticker after sticker at the enemy. He threw well and he threw hard, each of his lances struck a mark and half a dozen Rumbles fell dead or sorely wounded. The others fell back and hesitated, so Bingo drew his catapult and two more Rumbles fell stunned before he turned and with a remarkable burst of speed vanished into the Library tunnel yelling defiantly, "A Borrible, a Borrible." Scores of Warrior Rumbles raced after Bingo, shouting fiercely in their turn, and in a few seconds the entrance to the Great Door corridor was left deserted.
"Vulge," said Knocker, kneeling, "can you make it across the Central? We'll need all hands to fight our way over."
"Get me to my feet," said Vulge, sitting up, "and give me a sticker to lean on. I'll waltz it over there."
They pulled him upright and thrust a lance into his hand. He tucked the butt of it under his good armpit and used it like a crutch. "There you go," he wheezed, "nice as ninepence."