September 24, 2025 • 30 mins
In Jewels of Aptor, Samuel R. Delanys debut novel from 1962, we are transported to a world centuries after a devastating nuclear holocaust known as the Great Fire. Here, a young woman embarks on a quest for her destiny, aided by a mysterious four-armed youth. This captivating tale serves as a prologue to Delanys subsequent work, Captives of the Flame. (Summary by BellonaTimes)
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Chapter nine of the Jewels of Abdur by Samuel ar Delny.
This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Reading by
mant Berard, Chapter nine. Snake reached down picked the beads
up from Erson's hand. The sound of wings had stopped.
Where do we go now? Erson asked, follow the general
(00:25):
rule a gaze said, YIMMI sind me know Hama does
have a temple somewhere. We try to find it, get
the the jewel, and rescue ago in Kani, then get
back to the ship in three days, asked Erson. They
had related the rest of what they had found to
(00:46):
him by now, well where do we start looking? The
priestess said something about a band of Hama's disciples behind
the fire mountain that must meet the volcano we saw
from the steps in the New Hope. Jimmy turned to Snake.
Did you read her mind enough to know as she
(01:06):
was telling the truth? Snake nodded. Jimmy paused for a moment. Well,
since the river is that way, we should head. He
turned and pointed in that direction. They fixed their stride
now and started through the moon brushed foliage. I still
(01:28):
didn't understand what was going on back at the monastery.
Geo said, were they really princesses of Argo? And what
was Geordie doing. I'd say yes on the first question,
and guess that Jordie was a spy for them for
an answer to the second. But what about Argo, I
(01:48):
mean Argo on the ship, asked Geo. And what about
Snake here? Argo on the ship apparently doesn't know about
Argo on Apdoll said, yem, that's what Jordie meant when
he reported to the priestesses that she was bewildered. She
probably thinks jist like we did, that he's Homma's spy.
(02:11):
And this one here, he gestured to Snake, I don't know.
I just don't know. In the distance was a red glow,
in which they could make out the faint lines of
the volcano's cone. Snake made lights with the jewels, and
once more they began to pick their way over the terrain,
barer and barer of vegetation. The earth became sundery, and
(02:35):
the air bore the acrid smell of old ashes. Soon
the rim of the crater hung close above them. Jimmy
gazed up at the red haze above them. I wonder
what it's like to look into that thing. In the
middle of the night. Twenty feet later, Snake's lights struck
(02:56):
a lava cliff that cheered up into the darkness. Going
on decide it, they found a ledge that made an
eighteen inch footpath diagonally up the face. We're not going
to climb that in the dark, are we, asked Geo?
Better than in the light, said Erson. This way you
(03:17):
can't see how far you have to fall thirty feet on.
Instead of petering out and forcing them to go back,
the lip of rock broadened into a level stretch of ground,
and again they could go straight forward toward the red
light above them. This is changeable, country person muttered. Men
(03:39):
change into animals, said Geo. Jungles turned to mountains. He
reached around and felt the stub of his arm in
the dark. I've changed too, I guess, Jimmy recited. Change
is neither merciful nor just they say Lennida Vinci put
his trust in faulty pints. Try's supper turned to dust.
(04:03):
What's that from, Geo asked, that's one of my bits
of original research. Jemmy explained. He comes from a poem
dating back before the Great Fire. Who was Leonard Davenci.
Geo asked an artist, another poet, a painter, I suppose,
(04:25):
said Jimmy, But I'm not really shoved. Os christ Ersun
asked another god. There were more rocks now, and Geo
had to brace his stub against the walls of fissures
and hoist himself up with his good hand. The igneous
structures were sharp in his palm. Through the night, the
(04:48):
glowing rim dropped toward them. With it came a breeze
that pushed sulpha powder through their hair and made the
edges of their nostrils stain. The earth became skied ay
and rotten under their feet. Fatigue tied tiny knots high
in their guts, so that their stomachs hung like stones.
(05:10):
I didn't realize how big the craterle was, Jimmy said.
The red glow cut off at the bottom and took
up a quarter of the sky. Maybe it'll erupt on us,
Erson muttered. He added, I'm thirsty. They climbed on once.
Urson looked back and saw Geo had stopped some twenty
(05:33):
feet behind them at a niche in the ledge. He
turned around and dropped back himself. There was sweat on
the boy's upturned face. As the big man came toward him,
he could see it in the red haze from the
rim here. Urson said, give me a hand. I can't,
(05:53):
Geo said softly, or I'll fall. Erson reached down now,
caught the boy around the chest and hoisted him over
the cropping of rock. Take it easy, Erson instructed, you
don't have to race with anybody. Together, they made their
way after the others. Jimmy and Snake cleared the crater
(06:15):
rim first, then Urson and Geo joined them on the
pitted ledge. Together, they looked into the volcano as red
and yellow light fell over their chests and faces. Gold
dribbled the internal slope, Tongues of red rock lapped the sides,
and the swirling white basin belched brown blobs of smoke,
(06:37):
which rose up the far rocks and spilled over the
brim A radium away. Light leapt in wavering pylons of
blue flame, then sank back into the pit. Winding trails
of light webbed the crater's walls, and at places, ebon
cavities jeweled among the light wend fingered the's hair. Jimmy
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saw her first two hundred feet along the rim. Her drapes,
dyed red and orange in the flame, blew about her
as she walked toward them. Jimmy pointed to her, and
the others looked up. As she neared, Geo saw that,
though she stood very straight, she was old. Her short
white hair snapped at the side of her head in
(07:24):
the warm breeze. Firelight and shadow fell deeply into the
wrinkles of her face. As she approached them, light running
like liquid down the side of her winded robe. She
smiled and held out her hand. Who are you, Geo
suddenly asked. Shadows melt in light of sacred laughter, hands
(07:49):
and houses shall be one hereafter, recited the woman in
a calm, low voice. She paused, I am argo and
carnate of Leptar. But I thought Jimmy started. What did
you think, inquired the elderly woman gently. Nothing, said Jimmy.
(08:12):
He thought you were a lot younger. Ursun said, we're
supposed to take you home. Suddenly, he pointed into the volcano.
Say this isn't any of that funny light like back
in the city that burned our hands, Only this time
it made you old. She glanced at the pool of light,
(08:34):
This is natural fire, she assured them, a separate artery
of the earth's burning blood. But wounds are natural enough.
Geo shifted his feet and rubbed his stump. Were supposed
to take the younger sister of the present ago in
Kalnate and return with him to Lepta, Jemmy explained. There
(08:59):
are many argos, smiled the woman. The goddess has many faces.
You have seen quite a few since you arrived in
this land. I guess we have. Ursun said, are you
a prisoner of Hamma, asked Yemi. I am with Hama,
said the woman. We are supposed to secure the jewel
(09:22):
and bring it back to the ship. We don't have
much time, yes, said Argo. Hey, what about that nest
of vampires down there, Ursun said, thumbing viciously toward the
black behind them. They said, they worshiped Argo. What have
you got to do with them? I don't trust anything
(09:43):
on this place very much. The nature of the Goddess
is change, said the woman, looking sadly toward the slope
from birth, through life to death. She looked back up
at them to berth again as I said, Argo has
many faces. You must be very tired, Yes, said Geo.
(10:09):
Then come with me, please. She turned and began to
walk back along the rim. Snake and Jimmy started after her,
and then came Geo and Urson. I don't like any
of this, the big Man whispered to Jeo as they
came along. Argo doesn't mean the same thing in this
(10:29):
land like she means on Leptar. There's nothing but more
evil to come out of this. She's leading us into
a trap. I tell you, I say, the best thing
to do is to take the jewels we have, turn
around and get the hell out of here, I tell you,
Geo Urson. Geo said, ha. The Big Man asked Erston,
(10:54):
I'm very tired. They walked silently for a few steps more.
Then Urson head up a half disgusted breath and put
his arm round Gio's shoulder. Come on, he grunted, supporting
Gio against his own great form as they progressed along
the rocky ledge following the new Argo. At last, she
(11:17):
turned down a trail that dropped into the crater. Walk
carefully here, she said, as they turned into the huge pit.
Something is not right, Urson said softly. It's a trap.
I tell you, how does that thing go? I could
use it now. Calmly, brother, bare, calm the winter's sleep.
(11:42):
Fire shall not harm, continued Gio says, who mumbled urson,
glancing into the bowl of flame. Geo went on, water
not alarm. While the current grows, amber, honey flows, golden
salmon leap like I once said before, mused person in
(12:06):
a in Here came the voice of Argo. They turned
into the dark mouth of one of the caves, which
pocked the crater's inside wall. No, she said to Snake,
who was about to use the jewels for illumination. They
had been used too much already. With a small stick
(12:28):
taken from a pocket in her robe, she struck a
flame against the rock, then raised it to an ornate,
branching candelabra that hung from the stone ceiling by brass chains.
Flame leapt from cast oil cup to oil cup, from
the hand of the demon to a monkey's mouth, from
a nymphs belly to the horns of a satyr's head.
(12:51):
Chemicals in the cups caused each flame to burn a
different color green, red, blue, and orange. White. Light filled
the small chapel and played across the tops of the
benches on the altar. Sitting on one side of the
room were two statues of equal height, a man sitting
(13:12):
at a woman kneeling. Jimy looked at the altar. Geo
and Urson stared at the cantelabra. What is it? Yimy asked,
when he saw where their eyes were fixed. There's one
of those strange things in Argo's cabin on board the ship,
Geo said. And look over there, where did we see
(13:35):
one of those before? It was a machine with an
opaque glass screen, identical to the one in the monastery
of Argo. Sit down, Argo said, Sit down. They sank
to the benches, the climb once halted, knotting their calves
and the low muscles on their backs. Halma has allowed
(13:57):
you the privilege of a chapel even in activity, commented Jimmy.
But I see you have to share your altar with him.
But I am Hamma's mother, smiled Argo. Geo and Urson frowned.
The rituals say that Argo is the mother of all things,
(14:18):
the beagetter and bearer of all life. I am the
mother of all gods as well. Those blind women down
in the ground, asked Urson. They aren't really your priestesses,
are they. They wanted to kill us. I bet they
were really dupes of Hama. It isn't so simple, replied Argo.
(14:42):
They are really worshipers of Argo. But as I said,
I have many faces. Death as well as life, is
my province. The dwellers in that convent from which you
escaped are a how shall I say, a degenerate friend
of the religion. They were truly blinded by the fall
(15:04):
of the City of New Hope. To them, Argo is
only Death, the dominator of men. For not only is
Argo the mother of Hama, she is his wife and daughter.
Then it's like we figured, said Yemi, Jordie isn't a
spy for Hama. He's working for the renegade priestesses of Argo. Yes,
(15:28):
returned Argo, except that renegade is perhaps the wrong word.
They believe that their way is correct, and a respect
for belief is essential to the understanding of man, and
it is through understanding that the mysteries that still remain
in your mind will be solved. Then they must be
(15:49):
responsible for all that was going on in Leptah, only
somehow blaming it on Hama, said Yemi. They were probably
just after the jewels too. You don't look like a prisoner.
That must be the whole thing. You're here in late
with Hama to prevent the priestesses of Argo from taking
(16:12):
over leptop. Nothing could be simpler, said the goddess. Unfortunately,
you are wrong in nearly every other point. But then,
why did Geordie throw the jewel after us when he
tore from Argo's i mean the other Argo's throat when
(16:35):
he snatched the jewel from around my daughter's neck, added Argo,
he threw it to the creatures of the sea because
he knew they would take it back to Aptor. With
it once again in the island, the priestesses would have
a better chance of getting it. My daughter, acting Argo
(16:55):
incarnate in my absence and her sisters, does not know
that that what she is fighting is another face of Argo.
As far as she is concerned, all her efforts are
against the mischief Hama has caused, and truly caused in Leptark.
This ignorance is far greater than you imagine, For beyond
(17:19):
these blind creatures is a far greater enemy that she
must vanquish, Hamma began Jemmy. Greater than Hama, said old Argo.
It is herself. It is hard for me to watch
her and not occasionally call out a word of guidance.
(17:42):
With the science here in Aptor, it would not be difficult,
But I must refrain. I suppose she has actually done well,
but there is so much more to do. She has
directed you well and assigned your tasks properly, and until
now you have carried them out well. She said, we
(18:04):
were to steal the final jewel from Hama and return
with you to the ship, said Geo, can you help
us with either of these things? The moment I compliment
you laughed, Argo, you completely confuse your mission. Once the
jewel is stolen. Whom are you supposed to take back
(18:25):
to Leptar, Argo incarnate Ursun said you said that Argo
back in the ship was your daughter, said Geo, But
she said you were her younger sister. She said nothing
of the sort. Argo corrected, I have two daughters. You
(18:47):
have already met one. Now you must rescue the other.
When my youngest daughter was kidnapped, kirt Aptor, I was
already here waiting for her. Look. She turned a dial
beneath the screen, and lights flickered over the glass until
they formed a sleeping figure. She had short red hair,
(19:09):
a splash of freckles over a blunt nose, and her
hand lay hurled in a loose fist near her mouth.
A white sheet covered the gentle push of adolescent breasts,
and on the table beside her bed was a contraption
made of a U shaped piece of metal mounted on
a board, an incomplete coil of wire, and a few
(19:31):
more bits of metal, all sitting on top of a
crumpled paper bag. That is my youngest daughter, Argo said,
switching off the picture. She is the one you must
take back to the ship. How shall we steal the jewel,
asked Geo. Argo turned to Snape. I believe that was
(19:55):
your task. Then she looked around at the other three.
You eat rest after that you can see about the
jewel and my daughter. Come with me now, pouts have
been set up for you in the far room, where
you may sleep. She rose and led them to a
further chamber. The blankets over the loose boughs seemed to
(20:18):
pull them down. Argo pointed to a trickle of water
that ran from a basin carved in the rock wall.
This stream is pure, you may drink from it. She
pointed to a cloth sack in the corner. There is
fruit in there. If you become hungry. Sleep, said Urson,
(20:38):
jammed his two fists in the air and yawned. As
they settled. Argo said, poet, yes, answered Geo. I know
you are the tiredest, but I must talk to you
alone for a moment or two. As Geo raised himself,
Ursuon stood up too. Look, he said to Argo, he
(21:01):
needs the rest more than any of us. If you
want to question him about rituals and spells, take Jimmy.
He knows just as much as Geo. I need a poet,
smiled Argo, not a student. I need one who has
suffered as he has come. Wait, Urson said. He picked
(21:23):
the jewel from Geo's chest to where Snake had returned
it when they entered the chapel. You'd better leave this
with me, Geo frowned. It still may be a trap,
said Urson. Leave it with him, suggested to Argo. If
it eases him. Geo let the great hand lift the
(21:43):
thong from his neck. Now come with me, said Argo.
They left the room and walked back through the chapel
to the door. Argo stood in the entrance looking down
at the molten rock. The light sifted through her robe,
leaving the darker outline of her body. Without turning, she
began to speak. The fire is a splendid symbol for life,
(22:08):
do you agree? And for death? Said Joe. One of
afdoor's fires burned my arm away. Yes, she turned. Now
you and snake have had the hardest time. Both of
you have left your flesh to rot and aptor. I
guess that gives you a closeness to the land, she paused.
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You know he had a great deal more pain than
you do. You know how he lost his tongue. I
watched it all from this same screen inside the chapel
and could not help. They jammed their knuckles in his jaws,
and when the mouth came open, Geordie caught the red
flesh with pincers that close all the way through and
(22:53):
stretched it out as far as it would go. Then
he looped the tongue with a thin wire, and then
he threw a switch. You do not know what electricity is,
do you? I have heard the word. Let me just
say that when a great deal of it has passed
through a thin wire, the wire becomes very hot, white hot,
(23:19):
And the white hot loop was tautened until the rope
of muscle seared away, and just the roasted stump was left,
but the child had fainted already. I wonder if the
young can really bear more pain than older people. Geordie
and the blind priestess did that to him, Geordie and
(23:41):
some men on the boat that picked up the two
of them from the raft on which they had left Aptor.
Who is Geordie? Geo asked. Urson knew him before this
as a first mate. But Urson's story told me nothing.
I know the story, Argus said, and it tells you something,
(24:03):
but something you would perhaps rather not know, she sighed. Poet,
how well do you know yourself? What do you mean?
Geo asked, how well do you know the workings of
a man? How he manages to function? That is what
(24:23):
you will sing of if your songs are to become great.
I still don't I have a question for you, a
poetic riddle. Will you try to answer it? If you
will answer a not too poetic riddle for me, will
you do your best to answer mine? Argo asked, yes,
(24:48):
then I will do my best to answer yours. What
is your question? Who is Geordie? And why is he
doing what he's doing? He was at one time time?
Argo explained, a very promising novice for the priesthood of
Argo and Leptar, as well as a scholar of myths
(25:09):
and rituals like Yemi and yourself. He also took to
the sea to learn of the world, but his boat
was wrecked and he and a few others were cast
on Apdor's shore. This drove with Aptor's terrors as you did,
and many succumbed. Two, however, a fore armed cabin boy
(25:30):
whom you call Snake, and Geordie were each exposed to
the forces of Argo and Hama as you have been. One,
in his strangeness, could see into men's minds, the other
could not. Silently oneswore allegiance to one force, while one
wore allegiance to the other. The second part of your
(25:52):
question was why. Perhaps if you can answer my riddle,
you can answer that part. I do know that they
were the only two who escaped. I do know that
Snake would not tell Jeordie his choice, and that Geordie
tried to convince the trial to follow him when they
(26:14):
were rescued. I know that the argument continued, and that
Snake held back with childish tenacity. Both his decision and
his ability to read minds even under the hot wire
and the pincers. The hot wire, incidentally, was something Geordie
brought with him from the Blind Priestesses, according to him,
(26:36):
to help the people of Leptarwidth. It could have been
a great use, but recently all he has done with
the electricity is construct a larger weapon with it. However,
Geordie became a staunch first mate in a year's time,
Snake became a waterfront thief. Both waited. Then, when the
(26:59):
opportunity arose, both acted. Why perhaps you can tell me, poet,
thank you for telling me what you know? Geo said,
what is your question? She glanced at the flame through
the door once more, and then recited by the dark
(27:21):
chamber sits its twin where the body's floods begin, and
the two are twinned again, turning out and turning in
In the bright chamber runs the line of the division
silver fine, diminishing along the lanes of memory to an
inward sign. Fear floods in the turning room, Love breaks
(27:44):
in the burning dome. It is not one that I
have heard before, Geo said, I'm not even sure I
know what the question is. I'm familiar with neither its
diction nor style. I doubt it very much that you
would recognize it, smiled Argo. Is it part of the
(28:05):
pre perjured rituals of Argo? It was written by my
youngest daughter, Argo said. The question is can you explain it? Oh,
said Geo. I didn't realize, he paused, by the dark
chamber sits its twin moving in and out, and that's
(28:26):
where the floods of the body begin, and it's twinned
again the heart, he suggested, the four chambered human heart.
That's where the body's flood begins. I think that will
do for part of the answer. The bright chamber, mused Geo,
the burning dome, the human mind, I guess the line
(28:49):
of division running down the lane of memory. I'm not
sure you seem to be doing fairly well. Could it
refer to something like the two sides of every question?
Geo asked, or something similar, it could, Argo said, though
(29:10):
I must confess I hadn't thought of it in that way.
But it is the last two lines that puzzle me.
Fear floods in the turning room, repeated GEO. Love breaks
in the burning dome. I guess that's the mind and
the heart again. You usually think of love with the
heart and fear with the mind. Maybe she meant that
(29:33):
they both the heart and the mind, have control over
both love and fear. Perhaps she did. Argo smiled, You
must ask her when you rescue her from the clutches
of Hama. Before turning back to the room with his companions,
he looked once more out at the fires of the volcano.
(29:54):
Light world, white and red, blue tongues licked at black
rock siding. He turned away now and went back into
the darkness. End of chapter nine
Chapter nine of the Jewels of Abdur by Samuel ar Delny.
This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Reading by
mant Berard, Chapter nine. Snake reached down picked the beads
up from Erson's hand. The sound of wings had stopped.
Where do we go now? Erson asked, follow the general
(00:25):
rule a gaze said, YIMMI sind me know Hama does
have a temple somewhere. We try to find it, get
the the jewel, and rescue ago in Kani, then get
back to the ship in three days, asked Erson. They
had related the rest of what they had found to
(00:46):
him by now, well where do we start looking? The
priestess said something about a band of Hama's disciples behind
the fire mountain that must meet the volcano we saw
from the steps in the New Hope. Jimmy turned to Snake.
Did you read her mind enough to know as she
(01:06):
was telling the truth? Snake nodded. Jimmy paused for a moment. Well,
since the river is that way, we should head. He
turned and pointed in that direction. They fixed their stride
now and started through the moon brushed foliage. I still
(01:28):
didn't understand what was going on back at the monastery.
Geo said, were they really princesses of Argo? And what
was Geordie doing. I'd say yes on the first question,
and guess that Jordie was a spy for them for
an answer to the second. But what about Argo, I
(01:48):
mean Argo on the ship, asked Geo. And what about
Snake here? Argo on the ship apparently doesn't know about
Argo on Apdoll said, yem, that's what Jordie meant when
he reported to the priestesses that she was bewildered. She
probably thinks jist like we did, that he's Homma's spy.
(02:11):
And this one here, he gestured to Snake, I don't know.
I just don't know. In the distance was a red glow,
in which they could make out the faint lines of
the volcano's cone. Snake made lights with the jewels, and
once more they began to pick their way over the terrain,
barer and barer of vegetation. The earth became sundery, and
(02:35):
the air bore the acrid smell of old ashes. Soon
the rim of the crater hung close above them. Jimmy
gazed up at the red haze above them. I wonder
what it's like to look into that thing. In the
middle of the night. Twenty feet later, Snake's lights struck
(02:56):
a lava cliff that cheered up into the darkness. Going
on decide it, they found a ledge that made an
eighteen inch footpath diagonally up the face. We're not going
to climb that in the dark, are we, asked Geo?
Better than in the light, said Erson. This way you
(03:17):
can't see how far you have to fall thirty feet on.
Instead of petering out and forcing them to go back,
the lip of rock broadened into a level stretch of ground,
and again they could go straight forward toward the red
light above them. This is changeable, country person muttered. Men
(03:39):
change into animals, said Geo. Jungles turned to mountains. He
reached around and felt the stub of his arm in
the dark. I've changed too, I guess, Jimmy recited. Change
is neither merciful nor just they say Lennida Vinci put
his trust in faulty pints. Try's supper turned to dust.
(04:03):
What's that from, Geo asked, that's one of my bits
of original research. Jemmy explained. He comes from a poem
dating back before the Great Fire. Who was Leonard Davenci.
Geo asked an artist, another poet, a painter, I suppose,
(04:25):
said Jimmy, But I'm not really shoved. Os christ Ersun
asked another god. There were more rocks now, and Geo
had to brace his stub against the walls of fissures
and hoist himself up with his good hand. The igneous
structures were sharp in his palm. Through the night, the
(04:48):
glowing rim dropped toward them. With it came a breeze
that pushed sulpha powder through their hair and made the
edges of their nostrils stain. The earth became skied ay
and rotten under their feet. Fatigue tied tiny knots high
in their guts, so that their stomachs hung like stones.
(05:10):
I didn't realize how big the craterle was, Jimmy said.
The red glow cut off at the bottom and took
up a quarter of the sky. Maybe it'll erupt on us,
Erson muttered. He added, I'm thirsty. They climbed on once.
Urson looked back and saw Geo had stopped some twenty
(05:33):
feet behind them at a niche in the ledge. He
turned around and dropped back himself. There was sweat on
the boy's upturned face. As the big man came toward him,
he could see it in the red haze from the
rim here. Urson said, give me a hand. I can't,
(05:53):
Geo said softly, or I'll fall. Erson reached down now,
caught the boy around the chest and hoisted him over
the cropping of rock. Take it easy, Erson instructed, you
don't have to race with anybody. Together, they made their
way after the others. Jimmy and Snake cleared the crater
(06:15):
rim first, then Urson and Geo joined them on the
pitted ledge. Together, they looked into the volcano as red
and yellow light fell over their chests and faces. Gold
dribbled the internal slope, Tongues of red rock lapped the sides,
and the swirling white basin belched brown blobs of smoke,
(06:37):
which rose up the far rocks and spilled over the
brim A radium away. Light leapt in wavering pylons of
blue flame, then sank back into the pit. Winding trails
of light webbed the crater's walls, and at places, ebon
cavities jeweled among the light wend fingered the's hair. Jimmy
(07:02):
saw her first two hundred feet along the rim. Her drapes,
dyed red and orange in the flame, blew about her
as she walked toward them. Jimmy pointed to her, and
the others looked up. As she neared, Geo saw that,
though she stood very straight, she was old. Her short
white hair snapped at the side of her head in
(07:24):
the warm breeze. Firelight and shadow fell deeply into the
wrinkles of her face. As she approached them, light running
like liquid down the side of her winded robe. She
smiled and held out her hand. Who are you, Geo
suddenly asked. Shadows melt in light of sacred laughter, hands
(07:49):
and houses shall be one hereafter, recited the woman in
a calm, low voice. She paused, I am argo and
carnate of Leptar. But I thought Jimmy started. What did
you think, inquired the elderly woman gently. Nothing, said Jimmy.
(08:12):
He thought you were a lot younger. Ursun said, we're
supposed to take you home. Suddenly, he pointed into the volcano.
Say this isn't any of that funny light like back
in the city that burned our hands, Only this time
it made you old. She glanced at the pool of light,
(08:34):
This is natural fire, she assured them, a separate artery
of the earth's burning blood. But wounds are natural enough.
Geo shifted his feet and rubbed his stump. Were supposed
to take the younger sister of the present ago in
Kalnate and return with him to Lepta, Jemmy explained. There
(08:59):
are many argos, smiled the woman. The goddess has many faces.
You have seen quite a few since you arrived in
this land. I guess we have. Ursun said, are you
a prisoner of Hamma, asked Yemi. I am with Hama,
said the woman. We are supposed to secure the jewel
(09:22):
and bring it back to the ship. We don't have
much time, yes, said Argo. Hey, what about that nest
of vampires down there, Ursun said, thumbing viciously toward the
black behind them. They said, they worshiped Argo. What have
you got to do with them? I don't trust anything
(09:43):
on this place very much. The nature of the Goddess
is change, said the woman, looking sadly toward the slope
from birth, through life to death. She looked back up
at them to berth again as I said, Argo has
many faces. You must be very tired, Yes, said Geo.
(10:09):
Then come with me, please. She turned and began to
walk back along the rim. Snake and Jimmy started after her,
and then came Geo and Urson. I don't like any
of this, the big Man whispered to Jeo as they
came along. Argo doesn't mean the same thing in this
(10:29):
land like she means on Leptar. There's nothing but more
evil to come out of this. She's leading us into
a trap. I tell you, I say, the best thing
to do is to take the jewels we have, turn
around and get the hell out of here, I tell you,
Geo Urson. Geo said, ha. The Big Man asked Erston,
(10:54):
I'm very tired. They walked silently for a few steps more.
Then Urson head up a half disgusted breath and put
his arm round Gio's shoulder. Come on, he grunted, supporting
Gio against his own great form as they progressed along
the rocky ledge following the new Argo. At last, she
(11:17):
turned down a trail that dropped into the crater. Walk
carefully here, she said, as they turned into the huge pit.
Something is not right, Urson said softly. It's a trap.
I tell you, how does that thing go? I could
use it now. Calmly, brother, bare, calm the winter's sleep.
(11:42):
Fire shall not harm, continued Gio says, who mumbled urson,
glancing into the bowl of flame. Geo went on, water
not alarm. While the current grows, amber, honey flows, golden
salmon leap like I once said before, mused person in
(12:06):
a in Here came the voice of Argo. They turned
into the dark mouth of one of the caves, which
pocked the crater's inside wall. No, she said to Snake,
who was about to use the jewels for illumination. They
had been used too much already. With a small stick
(12:28):
taken from a pocket in her robe, she struck a
flame against the rock, then raised it to an ornate,
branching candelabra that hung from the stone ceiling by brass chains.
Flame leapt from cast oil cup to oil cup, from
the hand of the demon to a monkey's mouth, from
a nymphs belly to the horns of a satyr's head.
(12:51):
Chemicals in the cups caused each flame to burn a
different color green, red, blue, and orange. White. Light filled
the small chapel and played across the tops of the
benches on the altar. Sitting on one side of the
room were two statues of equal height, a man sitting
(13:12):
at a woman kneeling. Jimy looked at the altar. Geo
and Urson stared at the cantelabra. What is it? Yimy asked,
when he saw where their eyes were fixed. There's one
of those strange things in Argo's cabin on board the ship,
Geo said. And look over there, where did we see
(13:35):
one of those before? It was a machine with an
opaque glass screen, identical to the one in the monastery
of Argo. Sit down, Argo said, Sit down. They sank
to the benches, the climb once halted, knotting their calves
and the low muscles on their backs. Halma has allowed
(13:57):
you the privilege of a chapel even in activity, commented Jimmy.
But I see you have to share your altar with him.
But I am Hamma's mother, smiled Argo. Geo and Urson frowned.
The rituals say that Argo is the mother of all things,
(14:18):
the beagetter and bearer of all life. I am the
mother of all gods as well. Those blind women down
in the ground, asked Urson. They aren't really your priestesses,
are they. They wanted to kill us. I bet they
were really dupes of Hama. It isn't so simple, replied Argo.
(14:42):
They are really worshipers of Argo. But as I said,
I have many faces. Death as well as life, is
my province. The dwellers in that convent from which you
escaped are a how shall I say, a degenerate friend
of the religion. They were truly blinded by the fall
(15:04):
of the City of New Hope. To them, Argo is
only Death, the dominator of men. For not only is
Argo the mother of Hama, she is his wife and daughter.
Then it's like we figured, said Yemi, Jordie isn't a
spy for Hama. He's working for the renegade priestesses of Argo. Yes,
(15:28):
returned Argo, except that renegade is perhaps the wrong word.
They believe that their way is correct, and a respect
for belief is essential to the understanding of man, and
it is through understanding that the mysteries that still remain
in your mind will be solved. Then they must be
(15:49):
responsible for all that was going on in Leptah, only
somehow blaming it on Hama, said Yemi. They were probably
just after the jewels too. You don't look like a prisoner.
That must be the whole thing. You're here in late
with Hama to prevent the priestesses of Argo from taking
(16:12):
over leptop. Nothing could be simpler, said the goddess. Unfortunately,
you are wrong in nearly every other point. But then,
why did Geordie throw the jewel after us when he
tore from Argo's i mean the other Argo's throat when
(16:35):
he snatched the jewel from around my daughter's neck, added Argo,
he threw it to the creatures of the sea because
he knew they would take it back to Aptor. With
it once again in the island, the priestesses would have
a better chance of getting it. My daughter, acting Argo
(16:55):
incarnate in my absence and her sisters, does not know
that that what she is fighting is another face of Argo.
As far as she is concerned, all her efforts are
against the mischief Hama has caused, and truly caused in Leptark.
This ignorance is far greater than you imagine, For beyond
(17:19):
these blind creatures is a far greater enemy that she
must vanquish, Hamma began Jemmy. Greater than Hama, said old Argo.
It is herself. It is hard for me to watch
her and not occasionally call out a word of guidance.
(17:42):
With the science here in Aptor, it would not be difficult,
But I must refrain. I suppose she has actually done well,
but there is so much more to do. She has
directed you well and assigned your tasks properly, and until
now you have carried them out well. She said, we
(18:04):
were to steal the final jewel from Hama and return
with you to the ship, said Geo, can you help
us with either of these things? The moment I compliment
you laughed, Argo, you completely confuse your mission. Once the
jewel is stolen. Whom are you supposed to take back
(18:25):
to Leptar, Argo incarnate Ursun said you said that Argo
back in the ship was your daughter, said Geo, But
she said you were her younger sister. She said nothing
of the sort. Argo corrected, I have two daughters. You
(18:47):
have already met one. Now you must rescue the other.
When my youngest daughter was kidnapped, kirt Aptor, I was
already here waiting for her. Look. She turned a dial
beneath the screen, and lights flickered over the glass until
they formed a sleeping figure. She had short red hair,
(19:09):
a splash of freckles over a blunt nose, and her
hand lay hurled in a loose fist near her mouth.
A white sheet covered the gentle push of adolescent breasts,
and on the table beside her bed was a contraption
made of a U shaped piece of metal mounted on
a board, an incomplete coil of wire, and a few
(19:31):
more bits of metal, all sitting on top of a
crumpled paper bag. That is my youngest daughter, Argo said,
switching off the picture. She is the one you must
take back to the ship. How shall we steal the jewel,
asked Geo. Argo turned to Snape. I believe that was
(19:55):
your task. Then she looked around at the other three.
You eat rest after that you can see about the
jewel and my daughter. Come with me now, pouts have
been set up for you in the far room, where
you may sleep. She rose and led them to a
further chamber. The blankets over the loose boughs seemed to
(20:18):
pull them down. Argo pointed to a trickle of water
that ran from a basin carved in the rock wall.
This stream is pure, you may drink from it. She
pointed to a cloth sack in the corner. There is
fruit in there. If you become hungry. Sleep, said Urson,
(20:38):
jammed his two fists in the air and yawned. As
they settled. Argo said, poet, yes, answered Geo. I know
you are the tiredest, but I must talk to you
alone for a moment or two. As Geo raised himself,
Ursuon stood up too. Look, he said to Argo, he
(21:01):
needs the rest more than any of us. If you
want to question him about rituals and spells, take Jimmy.
He knows just as much as Geo. I need a poet,
smiled Argo, not a student. I need one who has
suffered as he has come. Wait, Urson said. He picked
(21:23):
the jewel from Geo's chest to where Snake had returned
it when they entered the chapel. You'd better leave this
with me, Geo frowned. It still may be a trap,
said Urson. Leave it with him, suggested to Argo. If
it eases him. Geo let the great hand lift the
(21:43):
thong from his neck. Now come with me, said Argo.
They left the room and walked back through the chapel
to the door. Argo stood in the entrance looking down
at the molten rock. The light sifted through her robe,
leaving the darker outline of her body. Without turning, she
began to speak. The fire is a splendid symbol for life,
(22:08):
do you agree? And for death? Said Joe. One of
afdoor's fires burned my arm away. Yes, she turned. Now
you and snake have had the hardest time. Both of
you have left your flesh to rot and aptor. I
guess that gives you a closeness to the land, she paused.
(22:31):
You know he had a great deal more pain than
you do. You know how he lost his tongue. I
watched it all from this same screen inside the chapel
and could not help. They jammed their knuckles in his jaws,
and when the mouth came open, Geordie caught the red
flesh with pincers that close all the way through and
(22:53):
stretched it out as far as it would go. Then
he looped the tongue with a thin wire, and then
he threw a switch. You do not know what electricity is,
do you? I have heard the word. Let me just
say that when a great deal of it has passed
through a thin wire, the wire becomes very hot, white hot,
(23:19):
And the white hot loop was tautened until the rope
of muscle seared away, and just the roasted stump was left,
but the child had fainted already. I wonder if the
young can really bear more pain than older people. Geordie
and the blind priestess did that to him, Geordie and
(23:41):
some men on the boat that picked up the two
of them from the raft on which they had left Aptor.
Who is Geordie? Geo asked. Urson knew him before this
as a first mate. But Urson's story told me nothing.
I know the story, Argus said, and it tells you something,
(24:03):
but something you would perhaps rather not know, she sighed. Poet,
how well do you know yourself? What do you mean?
Geo asked, how well do you know the workings of
a man? How he manages to function? That is what
(24:23):
you will sing of if your songs are to become great.
I still don't I have a question for you, a
poetic riddle. Will you try to answer it? If you
will answer a not too poetic riddle for me, will
you do your best to answer mine? Argo asked, yes,
(24:48):
then I will do my best to answer yours. What
is your question? Who is Geordie? And why is he
doing what he's doing? He was at one time time?
Argo explained, a very promising novice for the priesthood of
Argo and Leptar, as well as a scholar of myths
(25:09):
and rituals like Yemi and yourself. He also took to
the sea to learn of the world, but his boat
was wrecked and he and a few others were cast
on Apdor's shore. This drove with Aptor's terrors as you did,
and many succumbed. Two, however, a fore armed cabin boy
(25:30):
whom you call Snake, and Geordie were each exposed to
the forces of Argo and Hama as you have been. One,
in his strangeness, could see into men's minds, the other
could not. Silently oneswore allegiance to one force, while one
wore allegiance to the other. The second part of your
(25:52):
question was why. Perhaps if you can answer my riddle,
you can answer that part. I do know that they
were the only two who escaped. I do know that
Snake would not tell Jeordie his choice, and that Geordie
tried to convince the trial to follow him when they
(26:14):
were rescued. I know that the argument continued, and that
Snake held back with childish tenacity. Both his decision and
his ability to read minds even under the hot wire
and the pincers. The hot wire, incidentally, was something Geordie
brought with him from the Blind Priestesses, according to him,
(26:36):
to help the people of Leptarwidth. It could have been
a great use, but recently all he has done with
the electricity is construct a larger weapon with it. However,
Geordie became a staunch first mate in a year's time,
Snake became a waterfront thief. Both waited. Then, when the
(26:59):
opportunity arose, both acted. Why perhaps you can tell me, poet,
thank you for telling me what you know? Geo said,
what is your question? She glanced at the flame through
the door once more, and then recited by the dark
(27:21):
chamber sits its twin where the body's floods begin, and
the two are twinned again, turning out and turning in
In the bright chamber runs the line of the division
silver fine, diminishing along the lanes of memory to an
inward sign. Fear floods in the turning room, Love breaks
(27:44):
in the burning dome. It is not one that I
have heard before, Geo said, I'm not even sure I
know what the question is. I'm familiar with neither its
diction nor style. I doubt it very much that you
would recognize it, smiled Argo. Is it part of the
(28:05):
pre perjured rituals of Argo? It was written by my
youngest daughter, Argo said. The question is can you explain it? Oh,
said Geo. I didn't realize, he paused, by the dark
chamber sits its twin moving in and out, and that's
(28:26):
where the floods of the body begin, and it's twinned
again the heart, he suggested, the four chambered human heart.
That's where the body's flood begins. I think that will
do for part of the answer. The bright chamber, mused Geo,
the burning dome, the human mind, I guess the line
(28:49):
of division running down the lane of memory. I'm not
sure you seem to be doing fairly well. Could it
refer to something like the two sides of every question?
Geo asked, or something similar, it could, Argo said, though
(29:10):
I must confess I hadn't thought of it in that way.
But it is the last two lines that puzzle me.
Fear floods in the turning room, repeated GEO. Love breaks
in the burning dome. I guess that's the mind and
the heart again. You usually think of love with the
heart and fear with the mind. Maybe she meant that
(29:33):
they both the heart and the mind, have control over
both love and fear. Perhaps she did. Argo smiled, You
must ask her when you rescue her from the clutches
of Hama. Before turning back to the room with his companions,
he looked once more out at the fires of the volcano.
(29:54):
Light world, white and red, blue tongues licked at black
rock siding. He turned away now and went back into
the darkness. End of chapter nine
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