The Pirates of Shan: A Rick Brant Science-Adventure Story “Dangerous Discovery” - Chapter 18 Under Cover of Darkness

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter eighteen 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 eighteen, under Cover of Darkness. Hobart Zircon's usually booming
voice couldn't have been heard more than two yards away

(00:22):
as he spoke into the tiny megabuck radio unit. We're
starting down the western slope of the volcano. Howard things, Tony, Rick,
and Scottie their ears close to the tiny earphone Zircon
held out heard Briatti's reply. The kidnapped scientists had given
up trying to dissuade them. Everything normal, Hobart, the lookout

(00:42):
is settling down now. He's one of the regulars. He
relaxes completely as a sleeping cat, but he is wide awake.
Don't let his appearance deceive you. We won't, Zirkon promised.
We'll call you again as soon as we get into
the danger zone. Shahada, the Hindu boy answered instantly. Here, fine,
keep listening and you'll know how we're doing. We'll do

(01:05):
tell Rick shoot straight. Rick grinned it was good advice. Nevertheless,
apprehension had kept him in a sweat. He had never
before been in a position where success or failure, and
probably all their lives hung on a single shot. Scotty
put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. This is just
another shot, old son. You've made far tougher ones on

(01:26):
the course back home. He's right, Hobart added, you showed
this afternoon that you could hit a small target with
that unwieldy club you invented. Let's go. Scotty took the lead,
following the route he and Rick had explored the night before.
Rick followed close on his heels, and Zircon brought up
the rear. In spite of his bulk, the scientist was

(01:46):
light footed and silent. They reached a point where the
boys had tied a rope to a boulder the night before,
and now they paused to attach the rope bladder. Rick carried.
It was one of four they had fashioned. Two already
had been placed. Zirkon carried the last one. Scotty went
down first, with Zirkon following cautiously. The ropes creaked but held.

(02:09):
Sirkon stepped to firm ground and Rick followed down the ladder.
They negotiated a bend in the trail. Then Scotty stopped
and held up his hand. Rick took Shannon's bow from
the quiver. While he was getting ready, Zirkon made a
last check with Tony and Shahata. When Rick signaled, Scotty
led the way down the last dozen yards of steep
lava to the final shelf. There, just out of sight

(02:31):
of the guard, Scotty unslung his rifle. The dark haired
boy went forward and peered over the edge of rock
that shielded them. For a long moment, he surveyed the
scene below, then backed away. Rick caught his gesture. It
was time. He had planned how he would do this.
He couldn't shoot in a lying down position, and kneeling
would expose him to the guard just as surely as

(02:53):
standing upright would do if the guard happened to be looking,
so he would shoot while standing aroud. His accuracy would
be better that way. Rick fitted the arrow, knocked to
the bow string, got his fingers in position to draw,
and flexed the bow slightly. Then, taking a deep breath,
he stepped calmly forward to the edge of rock. It

(03:14):
took only three steps to bring him within sight of
the guard. He had a quick vision of a black
velvet cap, hunched shoulders and a rifle held casually across
the knees. He drew smoothly, held for the briefest instant,
and released the shaft. Scotty was at his side, rifle ready.
The moment the shaft let the bow. It wasn't necessary.

(03:36):
Rick had an instant's impression of sound, like a baseball
slapping a catcher's mitt. The guard didn't even move from
his position. His shoulders slumped a little more and his
head went forward between his knees. He stayed that way.
The arrow skittered across the stone shelf and stopped. Rick
knew his aim had been a little off. The ball

(03:57):
had caught the guard behind the ear instead of directly
in the back of the head. Cold sweat bathed the
boy at the nearness of it. He had almost missed,
but there wasn't time to think about that now. Scotty
and Zirkon were already moving into action. The big scientist
unwound the rope ladder from around his waist while Scotty
drove spikes into a cleft in the lava. His wooden mallet,

(04:20):
muffled with cloth padding, made only a dull, almost inaudible sound.
Zircon secured the end of the ladder to the spikes
and put his weight on it. Testing it held, he
moved forward and lowered the free end over the cliff.
Rick and Scotty stood by to give a hand to
the men on the ledge below. They were already on
their way Howard Shannon first. Rick eyed the village anxiously.

(04:43):
He was sure they were practically invisible against the dark lava,
but he wouldn't feel secure until they had moved out
of sight. Shannon reached the top and Rick and Scotty
helped him over. A Filipino boy was up next, and
Rick knew this must be the famous Elpidio Torres. The
boy came up the ladder like a sailor and scrambled
over the top without help. Tony Briotti was last. The

(05:06):
youthful archaeologist wasted no time in swarming up the ladder
to the top, and in a moment the six of
them were shaking hands in silent glee. Scotty pulled the
ladder up so it wouldn't be seen dangling, then whispered urgently,
let's get going. By pre arrangement, Scotty led the way,
with Zircon next in line, followed by Shannon Briatti and
the Filipino boy, with Rick bringing up the rear. He

(05:28):
paused long enough to unstring the bow and put it
back in the quiver. As the group paused before making
the difficult stage of the journey around the cone, Rick
took the megabuck unit from Tony and the excitement. No
one had called Shahata on our way back. Now Shahata,
Rick said, calmly, all six of us. The Hindu boy's
yell of triumphant relief almost shattered Rick's ear drum. He whispered,

(05:51):
stow it, you wild Indian, you'll ruin my hearing. Sorry,
Shahada said, but he didn't sound it. Hurry back now,
I wait for word to come. Rick followed. As the
group started off again, he wondered how the guard was doing.
By all reckoning, the man should still be unconscious. He'd
better be. The party reached the eastern slope of the volcano,

(06:13):
directly under the cone and started the last descent. The
rope ladders made the trip comparatively easy, except for the
final drop before the ground leveled off somewhat. It was
a rough stretch too long for a ladder. A single
rope had been saved for the purpose. Rick took it
from Scotty and made it fast around a spike they
had driven earlier. Zirkon was the first to use it.

(06:35):
He went down swiftly, keeping hold of the rope in
case of a slip. Scotty followed, then Shannon, the lanky zoologist,
was halfway down when Rick felt the rope tighten with
a jerk, and he heard Shannon's choked cry of pain.
Rick reach checked to be sure the rope was a cure,
then motioned to Briotty and the Filipino boy, go on,
we've got to get down to him. Scotty and Zirkon,

(06:57):
climbing back from below, reached Shannon's side bare before Rick
and the others could get there. In a few moments,
the six were clustered together. A rock turned under me.
Shannon explained, I felt the bone snap at my leg.
You'd better go on. You can send help back to
me later. Nonsense, Zirkon, graded, boys, what can we use
wrist splint? Rick was already pulling arrows out of the quiver.

(07:19):
These are doctor Shannon's. I'm sure he won't mind. If
we use them, you have my permission, Shannon said with
a painful chuckle. The blood headed arrows were quickly lashed
into two bundles. Rick and Scotty shed their light jackets,
and Scotty's knife flashed in the faint starlight as he
sliced them into padding. Rick took the extra bow strings
from the quiver and handed them to Zirkon. The bow

(07:41):
strings would make ideal ties. Within a short time, Shannon's
leg was securely splinted, and Zirkon was giving instructions. Scotty,
go and tie the rope and bring it down. You
and Rick will hold from above while Tony and I
carry Howard, You, mister Torres, will please stay directly in
front of us to test the footing and warn us
a blue stones. Of course, sir, the Filipino boy replied quickly.

(08:05):
Scotty returned from his climb with the rope coiled. He
made several turns around Shannon's waist, pulled the rope up
under his armpits, and secured it with a bow line.
Slow and easy, does it, Sirkon directed. Slow was the
key word. Rick and Scotty kept the lines safely taunt
while Biatti and Zirkon moved the injured man an inch
at a time, bracing themselves against the rock and feeling

(08:28):
for each step. Zirkon, the most powerful of all of them,
had to carry most of the scientists. Wait Rick was worried.
The trip across the volcano had taken quite a while,
and now time was running out on them. He looked
at the luminous style of his watch and realized with
a sudden chill, that Don was only half an hour away.
We got a hurry, he said. They changed the lookout

(08:49):
just before dawn. Tony said, even if he's still unconscious,
we won't have much time once they find him. You're right.
Zirkon stopped and began untying the rope that secured Shannon.
What are you doing, Scotty asked, anxiously changing methods, Zirkon
said grimly. He handed the rope to Scotti, cut off
a length and tie Howard to me. Then secure the
remainder under my armpits Rick knew that would be a

(09:13):
terrible strain on the big scientist, but it would be
faster if his strength held out. Zirkon picked Shannon up
in his arms. Scotty lashed them together, making a kind
of sling that would help support Shannon's way. Then he
tied one end of the remaining rope around Zirkon's barrel,
chest up under his armpits. Rick, Scotty, Briatti, and the

(09:33):
Filipino boy grasped the rope and held it firmly while
the big scientist walked upright down the remaining slope, one
slow step after another, the others following, but always keeping
the rope tight in case he started to fall. They
negotiated the hardest part of the slope. Then Zirkon leaned
back against a boulder and rested a moment. The final

(09:53):
hundred yards wasn't steep, but it was strewn with loose
boulders and lava chunks. Zircon wouldn't be able to speed
up much. Rick looked at his watch again, and then
at the sky. He didn't say anything. The big physicist
was doing more than any man should be asked to do.
He couldn't do it any faster. Scotty moved to his side.
Ganny Arrows left. Yes, most of the big broadheads and

(10:15):
half a dozen of the small broadheads. Why we may
need them. I'm scared the guard's relief must know by
now that his pal got conked. We're both scared, Rick corrected,
But what can we do? Be ready to fight? Zircon
called hoarsely, let's go. They were off again, the scientists
plodding slowly ahead down the last stretch to the cove.

(10:38):
About half the distance had been covered when Rick saw
the first sail. It was close to shore, near the
cove where they had anchored the Vinta. Zircon saw it too,
He called softly, Scotty, leave the rope to the others.
Get ahead of me and cover us, but don't shoot
until they start something. Scotty moved ahead, unslinging his rifle
as he went. Zirkon sped up his as much as possible. Fortunately,

(11:02):
the going was easier now and the big scientists could
make better time. Rick helped to keep the rope praised
and tried to divide his attention between watching the uncertain
footing and looking for other sails. The first pirate, Vinta,
was nosing into the cove when two others came in sight,
and at nearly the same moment, Zirkon reached the small
patch of level ground at the cove's edge. Rick dropped

(11:24):
the rope and hurried to the big scientist's side. Drawing
his knife, he cut the ropes of boundshannonto Zirkon, and
they lowered the injured zoologists to a sitting position with
a big rock at his back. Dawn was breaking fast now.
Already Rick could see details more clearly, and he knew
it was only minutes to practical full daylight. The spindrift
group could see the pirate vent as clearly now against

(11:46):
the sea, but the pirates could not yet see them
because they were still in shadow dark rocks at their backs. Still,
the pirates would try the cove first, it was the
logical place. He estimated their chances quickly and saw the
situation was hopeless. There was no chance of getting their
vinta past the pirates. They would have to fight. He

(12:07):
drew the bow sections out of the quiver and got ready.
Next to him, Zirkon was checking the clip in his pistol.
Rick took the Megabuck network unit from his pocket and
called softly, Shahata here Rick, long time, wait, how things
go not good? Shannon broke a leg. Also where out
the cove which is filling up with pirate vintas. Were

(12:28):
cut off. Shahada whistled. I say plenty no good. Look
you figure way to get to clear water. I figure
way to pick you up, starting right now. Okay, Rick said,
without knowing how it could be done. Come on in,
but don't get trapped. There was a sudden chorus of
pirate yells. Then one of the Moros spired a shot.

(12:49):
Scotty's rifle snapped, and the pirate rifles answered. The fight
was on. Rick grabbed a broadhead arrow from the quiver
and hurried forward. End of Chapter eighteen.