The Pirates of Shan: A Rick Brant Science-Adventure Story “Dangerous Discovery” - Chapter 16 The Black Cliff

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter sixteen of the Pirates of Shan a Rick Brandt's
science adventure story by Harold L. Goodwin. This LibriVox recording
is in the public domain. Read by Cinda J. M.
Chapter sixteen, the black cliff heavy seas broke against the
rocky base of the island. Rick surveyed the cove they

(00:22):
had chosen with some misgiving. The venta wouldn't be safe
if tied to shore, the breaking surf would batter it
to bits before they could get back. Scotty moved to
his side. Now what swim Rick said grimly, Around that
point looks like the most sheltered place, But it isn't good.
The wind blows these ways half way around the world,

(00:43):
and they've got plenty of steam. Have to chance it,
Scotty stated. They maneuvered the cranky craft into their meager
shelter of the point Rick had indicated, then dropped the
stone anchor. It dragged along the bottom briefly, then caught
in a cleft between two underwater rocks. It would hold
unless the rope broke. The boys took their belongings and

(01:04):
bundled them in their clothes, along with shoes and weapons,
then holding the bundles high with one hand, they slipped
into the water. In a few moments, the two were
rubbing themselves dry and putting their clothes on again. Rick
tried the radio unit while they rested. Rick to Zirkon,
standing by Rick, where are you ashore? He described the

(01:25):
situation briefly. Should a thought of that? Zirkon replied, the
eastern shore is to windward. You were bound to have surf.
Are you all right? Yes, we're starting out now. We'll
talk to you from the top if it's safe. He
hung the little radio around his neck by its lanyard
and stood up ready to climb Mount Everest. Brother Scott

(01:45):
Scotty stared up at the slope of the volcano. If
you are brother Brandt. Neither boy was inexperienced mountaineerer, but
both knew the principles of operation. They roped together and
started the long climb. It was easy, for the slopes
low down were not steep, and the broken lava gave
plenty of hand and footholds. But as they reached a

(02:06):
point Rick estimated to be about two hundred feet above
the water, the slopes steepened sharply. Rest a moment, Scotty suggested,
we'll last longer if we take a breather once in
a while. Rick knew Scotty was right, but he resented
the need for sitting idly for even a few minutes.
He used the five minute resipuery to report to Zerkon
that all was well. Rick led the way again as

(02:28):
soon as the luminous dial of his wrist watch showed
that five minutes had elapsed. Twice. He and Scotty were
stalled for a brief time, but finally found a route
and improved it by hammering the steel spikes and clefts
in the rock. With the hammer padded, the sound was
muffled to a point where it couldn't be heard more
than a few feet away. The spikes could be used
to belay their rope on the way down. The last

(02:51):
stage of the upward journey was to the top of
the cone. It was nearly vertical, but wide cracks made
it less difficult than some of the areas below. Scotty
was leading now. He reached the top and waited for
Rick to join him. Silently, the two boys looked out
over the dark sea, and Rick wished for a moment
that he could see the view by daylight. Let's check

(03:12):
the crater, Scotty suggested. He drew his flashlight, then inched
forward across the rubble of the rim. Rick stayed with him.
Any danger of the beam being seen, Scotty asked softly, No,
the angle's wrong. If you keep it directed toward the crater,
it'll be invisible from the sea. Rick watched as Scotty
switched the light on. The pencil of light swept downward

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and finally lost itself in nothingness. The two boys stared
at each other the whole islands hollow. Rick breathed, I'll
say this thing has a crater plenty deep. Scotty agreed, well,
that tears it. Nothing to do but go around. You
lead the way. Rick felt his way down until at

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last he was standing on the shoulder of an ancient volcano,
just below the final sweep upward to the crest. In
a moment, Scotty joined him. Slowly and carefully. They started
the long journey around, taking the southern slope as previously agreed.
It was hard going. In spots the lava was crumbly
and gave way under foot or hand, and others it

(04:17):
was dense as steel slag. When Rick estimated that over
half the distance around the volcano had been covered. He
called Zirkon and reported, then told the big scientist it
would be their last contact for a while. Within one
hundred feet the lights of the village came in sight
far below. The boys paused to survey the situation and

(04:37):
to examine the western part of the island. Most of
it was visible from their vantage point. Only the cove
where the vinas were kept, and the section of village
closest to the cliff were out of sight. Rick could
see the beach clearly and wondered if the guards were
looking their way. Go carefully, Scotty whispered, this is no
time to start a landslide. Good advice, Rick whispered, But

(05:00):
which way do we go now? The slope to the
left looks pretty good, Scotty answered softly, we can cut
back when we get down a little. At the bottom
of the slope, they found another drift that angled away
toward the north. By the time they reached the bottom
of it, Rick whispered that they must be directly above
the cave. He could see the lighter path of the
street that ran from below the shelf toward the western

(05:22):
end of the island. Now all that remained was to
make their way down to within reach of the scientists.
They moved with extreme caution, fearful that the slightest noise
would give them away, or that a wrong step would
start rock slide. It was painful work, going down backward
most of the way. Once they reached what seemed to
be a dead end and lay on their stomach, surveying

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a sheer wall nearly twelve feet high, Rick solved the
problem by finding a lava boulder big enough and stable
enough to serve as a rope anchor. They took an
extra length of line Scotty carried and made it fast,
then went down the rope hand over hand. The whole
village was spread before them. Now Rick could even see
the cross street that ran below the base of the cliff,

(06:07):
and knew they must be nearly within sight of the
shelf on which the scientists were imprisoned tough section below.
Scotty whispered so low that Rick could barely hear him.
I think it dropped off sheer. Another dozen feet of
slow progress proved Scotty was right. There was a small shelf.
Then the slope dropped away abruptly, Both boys lay flat

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and slowly inched up to the drop and looked over.
Rick felt Scotty's hand grip his arm like an iron clamp.
At the same moment, he realized that another shelf was
directly below a tiny campfire burning on it. But that
wasn't what Scotty had seen. At a point off to
their right, and only slightly below them, was a second,
smaller shelf. On it sat a pirate guard rifle across

(06:53):
his knees. Staring out to ze, Rick swallowed his heart,
which had climbed into his throat. They were in place
in sight of the guard, or at least their heads were.
He backed away as rapidly as the rough surface allowed,
until the guard was no longer in sight. He and
Scotty held a whispered exchange, their voices no louder than
a zephyr. Keep your eyes off him, Rick said, he

(07:14):
may feel someone looking at him right. He's in a
wonderful position. He looks down on the shelf where the
fire is located. Did you see the ladder, Rick hadn't.
It leads from his perch to the shelf. I suppose
latters lead down to the ground from there. The guard
was an obstacle Rick had not expected. He wondered if

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the guard on duty last night had seen him slug
the pirate, and he decided it didn't make much difference.
As Zurkon had said, they had to assume the whole
colony was alerted. Let's look out one at a time,
he whispered, I didn't see anyone on the ledge. He
inched forward once more and put his head over the
edge of the drop. The fire on the rocky shelf

(07:59):
was a small one, probably only a cooking fire. There
wasn't anyone in sight. He guessed the scientists must be
in a cave under the rock on which he crouched.
He could only hope they were awake. Rick estimated the situation.
It was perhaps thirty feet down to the shelf. The
guard was ten feet below and twenty feet to his right.
He noticed that the guard didn't look down at the shelf.

(08:21):
He was awake, but his attention was focused outward. In
all probability, he was a lookout rather than a guard,
watching for signs of ship movement to the west, the
direction from which danger to the pirates might be expected
to come. The boy withdrew and joined Scotty, no sign
of anyone on the shelf. I'm going to lower the
radio unit anyway. Okay, let's get the rod out. Rick

(08:45):
had carried the rod section case on his back, tied
to shoulders and belt with line. He untied the line
swiftly and assembled the rod. Scotty helped him put the
reel in place and fed the line through the guides.
Then Rick carefully wrapped the radio unit in his handkerchief
and put the whole thing in a black Denham ditty
bag borrowed from Shahada for the purpose. He secured the

(09:09):
draw string of the ditty bag to the end of
the fishing line and inched forward again. Scotty moved forward
to his rifle, unslung and ready for action. Rick hadn't
even bothered with a note. Both Shen and Briaty would
recognize the radio unit instantly. There were no others like
it outside Spindrift. They would immediately put it to use

(09:29):
and be talking to Zurkon before the two boys had
moved away from the position over their heads. Carefully, Rick
pushed the tip of the rod out far enough so
the ditty bag would clear all obstructions on the way down.
Then he swung the bag clear and began to feed
out the line. The bag went down an inch at
a time while he concentrated on keeping the motion slow

(09:50):
but steady. A sudden jerk might attract the guard's attention,
but very slow motion probably wouldn't. He was sweating profusely.
By the time the the bag got within reach of
the shelf below. He began to worry. He had seen
no one. Had the pirates removed the scientists leaving the
lookout in his usual position. He kept the bag moving

(10:11):
until suddenly strain went off the line, and he knew
it was down. He could see it in the faint
glow from the fire, lying motionless on the rock below.
Long moments ticked by, and he felt the trickle of
sweat on his face, the sweat of apprehension. Why didn't
someone show up? And then, as though in answer to

(10:32):
the frantic thought, a man stepped into view below and
casually dropped his coat over the ditty bag. Rick almost
sobbed with relief. Tony Briotti. The familiar crew cut had
grown long, but it was Tony Swiftly the boy drew
his knife and cut the line, letting the loose end
tumble down. Then, careful of the fishing rod, he withdrew
from the edge and touched Scotty to indicate he should

(10:54):
withdraw too. For a few seconds they just lay there,
weak with relief. Then rick Is assembled the rod and
restowed it. Scotty reslung his rifle on hands and knees.
The two started their retreat. Not until they were certain
that the guard could no longer see them did they
stand upright and begin to move more rapidly. Their mission
was a success, but perhaps the plan was not. Rick

(11:18):
was no longer filled with enthusiasm for his scheme. The
guard had changed all that. How were they going to
get the scientists out with a guard watching them? End
of chapter sixteen.