blood.
But on the floor, only a very few scarlet droplets had been spilled…
Despite that the body was inverted, Trask recognized him at once. 'Liz Merrick's watcher,' he said grimly. 'So much for working for a vampire! This will have to be burned. On our way out we'll burn this whole fucking place!' And the Major turned to him and said:
'Trask, steady up now, okay? Now listen, all of you. This group is now five strong. We're all armed and we have a flamer. We have men climbing the perimeter stairs, closing them off. We know our main target's trapped in the bubble on top of the casino, and that he has at least one soldier, guardian, or—' He looked to Trask for help.
'Thrall/ Trask told him hoarsely. 'Call him a thrall/
'One thrall/ the Major went on, '—the one you men were pursuing — watching his back down here; which might mean that he was guarding the elevators to keep his boss safe. So that's where we're heading, the elevators. But remember: this guy has the advantage of being able to see in the dark, and your flak jackets only give you so much protection. So spread yourselves out, but stay well within sight and sound of each other..
Shortly, the central hexagonal column of elevators became visible, and at the same time the stutter of automatic gunfire sounded from ahead. Ripping into a row of silent slot machines, the stream of bullets was like an invisible buzz-saw that gutted them and spilled their coins on the floor. Then the raking fire found Bygraves and lifted him clean off his feet. Shot in the right shoulder, injured, but by no means fatally, the W.O. went down in a stream of bright silver, a splash of blood red, and his own cries of disgust and frustration.
And in the central area, close to an elevator door marked PRIVATE, there stood a flame-eyed Thing in human form, cradling a gun that spat fire one more time, before the Major sent a single bullet in through his left eye. Swatted, the vampire thrall thudded backwards against the elevator doors; his feet slid out from under him, and he sank down onto the floor in a seated position.
While Bygraves's subordinate went to his aid, Trask and the others approached the vampire thrall. One of Malinari's pair of minders, he must obviously be dead… but wasn't. As his right eye opened, burning yellow in the gloom, so he toppled onto his side, turned himself face-down, and began to claw his way erratically away from the elevators. In another moment, however, the effort became too much for him. He came to a halt, coughed once or twice, and slurred out the words, 'Oh, fuck it!'
He had dropped his gun and no longer posed any real threat. He looked up at Trask and his colleagues, and his clenched left hand jerked and twitched where he reached out towards them. His left eye was a gaping black hole oozing blood and pulped brains, and the rest of his face was a red-and grey-smeared mess.
But as the Major stood back a little and took careful aim, so the thrall's hand opened and he dropped a metal key onto the floor. Then he gurgled, 'This is wh-what you want, right? So go on, f-finish it. Then find that fucker and f-finish h-h-him.'
The Major didn't have to finish it. For as the man's head slumped to the floor, so a gush of blood and morbid fluid erupted from his ruined eye, and he jerked once more and was done.
Trask had called the elevator; as the doors opened, Goodly picked up the key, and the Major called out to Bygraves's subordinate: 'Try to get the Warrant Officer out of here. And see if your number three is okay. We're going upstairs.' He got in the elevator with Trask and Goodly.
The push-button control panel in the rear wall of the elevator had buttons for two basement levels, the ground floor, and floors one and two; plus two keyholes, one of which was marked, PRIVATE — UP. The other keyhole was unmarked. The precog looked at the key in his hand and said, 'Couldn't be simpler… could it?'
'Too simple by far,' Trask growled. 'And we've been losing
men left right and centre.'
'Your talent?' said the Major. 'You're still uneasy?' 'Worried sick!' Trask answered. 'The whole thing is wrong.
But we're committed now.' He gave Goodly a nod, and the precog put the key in the UP hole and turned it…
Liz had found the wounded NCO inside the Pleasure Dome's main doors and helped him out of the casino into the fresh air. She had thought he might be able to call down Chopper One, but his radio had been damaged when he was hit. When she'd left him to go back inside, he had told her that when he'd last seen Trask and his party they'd been heading towards the central elevators. Then he had warned her that for all he knew the vampire sniper who had shot him was still on the loose in there.
Going back into the casino, and knowing what might be waiting for her, Liz hadn't dared to call out after Trask. By that time some of the flares had burned out, leaving it much smokier and a lot darker in there. So that when she'd heard noises from deep inside — shouting, shots, and crashing sounds — then she'd taken a circuitous route in the hope of avoiding trouble. In so doing, she had somehow managed to bypass 'Red' Bygraves and his man on their way out.
But intent as Liz was on what she was doing — finding Ben Trask, and relaying Chung's message — her telepathic guard was down. Which was precisely the opening that Nephran Malinari had been waiting for.
Ben, where are you? she anxiously wondered, as she saw the hexagonal spindle of the elevator column looming ahead. But of course Trask wasn't a telepath, and Liz's probe (if she'd actually sent one, if she had even tried to, for in fact she'd simply been talking to herself, a natural response to her circumstances, like whistling in the dark) would go unanswered.
Or it should have gone unanswered. But:
Liz? (it was Ben Trask's voice — his telepathic voice? — in her head!) Is that you, Liz? But… can you hear me? If so, please listen. You've got to kip us. We've got ourselves trapped down here, behind a bulkhead that only opens from the other side. Your side, that is. But there's been shooting and now the place is burning. We'll burn, too, Liz, if you can't reach us!
She could actually feel the heat behind his mental SOS, could almost see the flames, it was so brilliantly clear. Clear like never before. So perhaps Jake was right: her talent really was growing stronger minute by minute! Yes, it must be so. And:
Ben, she sent. But how can I reach you? Where are you?
Down here, he answered. Down in the guts of the place. You can reach us via the elevators. It's the only way.
In the guts of the place? Underground in that maze of tunnels and pipes? At which she instinctively glanced at the floor… and at the ghastly figure of a dead man, who lay there with his brains trickling out through his eye.'
Liz jumped a foot, but Ben had obviously seen through her eyes and quickly said: We got that one, and followed the others down here. But you'll he safe because they're on the other side of the fire. Use the elevator, Liz, the one marked PRIVATE. But please hurry!
She had already called the elevator, and anxiously watched the tiny indicator lights bringing it down to the ground floor. But bringing it down? Well, the military must have used it. For of course, the whole place would have to be checked out.
The doors opened and she got in, and the voice — Trask's voice, in Liz's mind — said: Is there a key in one of the keyholes? He sounded even more anxious, urgent now, and his voice was tinged with something else… anticipation, maybe? But of course it was! She had given him hope, and he was looking forward to being rescued.
A key, yes, she told him. In the UP slot.
Take it out, he said. Use the other keyhole. Turn the key ninety degrees clockwise. But quickly, Liz, quickly!
She did as instructed. And the cage descended, taking her down, down, down…
On Jethro Manchester's island, Jake Cutter, Lardis Lidesci, and Joe Davis arrived at the open-ended, roofed- over section of the man-made channel that housed the millionaire's yacht — in effect a boathouse — midway between the villa and the sea. Hearing voices in heated argument, they split up and Davis took the far side of the structure, while Jake and the Old Lidesci crept up on that end of the boathouse closest to the burning villa.
The lock gates were open, but the yacht was still tied up. Both the boat and the ceiling of the flat-roofed
