The Time Trap Read Online Free PDF Page B

indeed!
    Fear came into her face. She arose with a lithe motion, and looked around with the wariness of a hunted thing. In Semite Mason said:
    “Do not be afraid. We come to free you—not to harm.”
    Alasa eyed him doubtfully. The Sumerian said:
    “That is true. You know me, I think—and you know how I fought when the Master first came.”
    For the first time Alasa spoke, her voice low, a little husky, as though her vocal cords had not been used for long. “Yes, I know you, Erech. I trust you, But—tell me, how long have I been in this prison.”
    “Thrice four moons,” Erech said. “But come; we’ll talk as we go. There’s no time to waste.” He turned to the coffin, closed it, lifted it into the air, where it hung unsuspended. “The Master may not discover you’re gone for a while, anyhow.”
    The Sumerian led the way. He seemed thoroughly familiar with the intricate maze of Al Bekr, though more than once Alasa’s eyes widened in wonder at sight of her transformed city. Glancing aside at her, Mason felt his pulses leap at the girl’s strangely elfin beauty. Once she looked at him with undisguised curiosity.
    “You are from a distant land, I think,” she observed. “Men of Al Bekr are either strong or handsome, but seldom both. You are not very handsome—” she chuckled, golden eyes lighting with mirth—“yet I like you!”
    Before Mason could answer a shadow flitted past in the distance. It was the white leopard of Nirvor. It paused, eyeing the group inscrutably. Mason felt a shiver crawl down his spine. The creature was only a beast, of course—yet in its stare was a deadly malignancy and a queer spark of intelligence…
    The leopard slipped away and was gone. Erech whispered, “It is a demon. Bokya, the black one, is a killer—but white Valesta is like Malik Taus, peacock-devil of the eastern tribes. Hurry!”
    The way led downward now, along steeply-sloping ramps, deserted, lit by the pale green radiance. Once they encountered a robot, but Erech’s ray-weapon swiftly reduced it to immobility. Down they went, into the hidden depths beneath lost Al Bekr…
    And fear crept at Mason’s heels, stalking him. A dread he could not suppress had risen within him ever since the white leopard had appeared. An inexplicable certainty that danger was drawing closer…
    Without warning disaster struck. From the gloom of a side passage a black bolt of lightning sprang—the black leopard! Right at Erech’s head it leaped, and the Sumerian would have died then beneath grinding fangs had not Mason, almost without thought, lunged forward into the man’s back, hurtling him aside. A razor claw raked Mason’s arm. He felt fur brush his cheek, so close did death pass. Then the leopard seemed to turn in midair, green eyes blazing.
    But Erech had drawn his scimitar. With fury no less than the beast’s he crouched, teeth bared in a savage grin.
    “Back, Ma-zhon! Guard Alasa! Your dagger is shorter than my blade—let me deal with this hell-spawn.”
    Mason thrust the girl behind him. He drew his dagger. The leopard advanced on Erech, tail switching erratically. And—
    Darkness fell.
    The green-glowing bars blinked out. Intense blackness shrouded the passage.
    The nearness of doom sent inspiration lancing into Mason’s mind. He cried,
    “The weapon, Erech! Murdach’s weapon—”
    Whether the ray would paralyze the leopard Mason did not know. But, at least, the glowing egg would provide light—light enough so that the leopard could not kill unseen in the blackness.
    Whether Erech heard Mason did not know. The floor trembled beneath his feet. It shuddered and sank down as he fought for footing. He felt Alasa’s soft body cannon into his, and then the two of them were plummeting down into the abyss.
    They did not fall far, and a mound of furs saved them from injury. In the stygian gloom Mason heard the girl’s unsteady breathing. He put out an exploring hand, touched the warm softness of an arm.
    “Are you all