in front of Tafe and me, his jack-booted legs spread wide as be looked us over.
I lowered my brows and returned his stare, curling my lips into a haughty expression of disdain. His eyes met mine and held for several seconds as his pale forehead furrowed in puzzlement over the enigma we presented to him.
At last he spoke. 'Who are, you?' he snapped. 'What are you doing here?' There was a heavy accent to his deep pitched voice, as though the inflections of our English were unsuited to his vocal mechanism.
'Come, come,' I said in feigned exasperation. 'Merdenne told me you people ran a slipshod operation down here, but this surpasses all my expectations. You mean to tell me you've made no preparations for our arrival?'
The Morlock's suspicious manner did not dissi pate. 'You had best explain yourself,' he said in his slow, grating voice.
'Of all the-' I shook my head and sighed in disgust. 'Merdenne told you nothing of our coming here?'
'What do you know about Merdenne?'
'Apparently more than you, my good man. I am in possession of his latest instructions concerning your little, ah, manoeuvres down here, shall we say? And if you value your rank you'll bloody well pay attention to what we've come here for. There's quite a genuine little crisis going on, if you're not aware of it yet, and it's going to take some unusual measures to ward off disaster for us all. Do you understand my words?'
The procession of thoughts behind the Morlock's eyes was almost painfully obvious. He at last decided to fish for more information. 'Please explain,' he said in a slightly more polite manner, 'what it is to which you are referring.'
'My dear fellow,' I said, 'I'm not about to stand here surrounded by your little hooligans with their rusty pikestaffs, and try to explain a very complicated situation to you. My colleague and I have already tramped through miles of loathsome wet sewers to reach your wretched little camp. I'm not acquainted with the amenities of your colony, but we would both like large containers of hot water, soap if you have it, though that seems doubtful from the aroma of your platoon here, and as decent a hot meal as you can provide. I'm not expecting every refinement but damn it all, man, this invasion is a civilised business, and we should conduct ourselves accordingly, don't you think.' I lifted my chin and gazed down my nose at him.
The word invasion evoked a noticeable response from him. For a moment the large circular eyes goggled a fraction of an inch larger at me. It was now clear to him that we were privy to the purpose of the Morlock's presence here beneath London. Were we indeed allies of whom he had heretofore been ignorant? Or simply well- informed adversaries? The possibilities moiled around behind his eyes.
'Well, come on then,' I said impatiently. 'When Merdenne gets back he won't be very pleased to hear of these uncalled-for difficulties you've put us through.' A scrap of doubt was still visible in the Morlock's face. 'Very well. I don't much care for waving this about among a crowd of underlings, but if there's no other way of convincing you…'
I unstrapped the bundle from my back, brought it in front of me and undid the cloths. The mob of lesser Morlocks stood on tiptoe to see, pummelling each other into silence. Across my outstretched hands lay the sword Excalibur, an awesome sight even in its weakened condition. The blade reflected the available light, gleaming like dark glass over the deepest fires of the Earth.
The Morlocks, after several moments of gorging their saucerish eyes, stepped back a respectful distance from Tafe and myself – all except the tall, commanding one. He stood facing us, a new element having entered the calculations running through his head. 'How did you come to have that?' he said, after a few seconds.
I began wrapping up the sword again. 'Well, well,' I said, 'now just how do you suppose it came into my possession? Do you think I'd have it if I wasn't very well supposed to have it? Merdenne put it into my keeping, obviously.' I tucked the bundle under my arm and glared at our interrogator.
'Why did he do that?'
'See here,' I ground out, my face rigid with anger. 'I'm damn well sick and tired of your infernal timewasting inquisition. There's a bloody good reason for my having this thing, and it's going to be on your head if all our plans are fouled up. So just you trot along and lead us to the things I requested. There's a lot to be done.'
The last shred of his scepticism wavered in the face of my onslaught, then was gone. He nodded respectfully, turned and snapped out orders in his guttural native tongue to all the other Morlocks. They scurried down the passage toward the dim blue light ahead of us.
'This way, sir,' said the now obsequious Morlock. He pivoted on his heel and led the way. Tafe caught my eye and delivered a large wink over her triumphant grin. The gambit's initial moves had succeeded – but what of the rest that remained to be played?
The Morlocks, as it turned out, were already anticipating the comforts they would derive from the conquest of the England far above their heads. The Morlock officers – for they were entirely organised on a military basis – enjoyed a great many comforts that Merdenne had arranged to be sent down in devious ways from the better London shops. The regular Morlock soldiers, of course, lived in the same rude fashion as common fighting men through all times and places do, and expect to.
In the apartment of Colonel Nalga, the Morlock officer whose confidence we had won, I luxuriated in a steaming hot tub, soaking away the accumulated filth and grime from our long sojourn in the London sewers. A decanter of Fortnum and Mason's best port lay near to hand. I lavished the cake of Pears over myself, forgetting for a moment our precarious situation as I wallowed in the sheer animal pleasure of hot water and soap. Adventures, I reflected, are all very fine but a certain amount of civilised comfort forms the true kernel of our desires.
At last I emerged from the bath, my heart considerably cheered and rededicated to the preservation of our English values.
A patented safety razor still in its box lay on the wash stand, and with it I tidied the edges of my beard. When my toilet was completed the face that peered back at me from the looking glass was undoubtedly my own, but changed somehow. The nearness of death, which even now was hovering close at hand, had burnt away the juvenility of my face, exposing the hard, decisive bones beneath. Or so I fancied – others simply might have thought that I hadn't been eating on a regular basis, and been right, too.
During my bath my clothes had been sponged, mended and pressed by the colonel's valet. Not a bad job of it, either. Very likely the Morlocks had had time enough to learn how to handle stains from the sewer's effluences. I dressed and sauntered out, sighing and drawing upon one of the fine Havana cigars the valet had placed in the breast pocket of my coat.
Tafe and Col. Nalga were waiting for me in the drawing room of his quarters. 'Mr. Hocker,' said the Morlock officer, smiling and fingering one of the insignia on the front of his uniform. 'Your colleague Mr. Tafe and I were just discussing the – what is the word? – details of your journey down to our little encampment. I feel I must apologise for the inconvenience of our location.'
'Think nothing of it,' I said magnanimously, waving the fumourous end of my cigar in a grand gesture. 'Hardships are only natural in time of war, what? Soon enough we'll be conducting our business from inside the House of Lords itself! A bright future awaits us, Colonel.' I spotted the wrapped Excalibur lying on a sideboard. Picking it up, I saw that the distinctive knots with which I had bound it were still intact. I had been a little uneasy at first in trusting it to the Morlock, but had finally done so in order not to appear suspicious. Apparently my decision had turned out for the best.
'Let us hope so, Mr. Hocker,' said Col. Nalga. 'The preparations continue even as we stand here and talk. The unexplained disappearance of Merdenne has caused some confusion but we have maintained our efforts. We are even a few days ahead of the original time schedule that was set up for the invasion, and the assurances that you have given us that nothing is amiss with our trusted ally Merdenne will be a further boost to the morale of the lower ranks. As you say, things will soon be very different.' His ghastly pale face split into a smile like that the Mongol invader must have worn when he first spied the unspoiled fields of Europe.
'Quite commendable indeed,' I said heartily, although my spirit was chilled by his words. Ahead of schedule – how much time then was left? I immediately regretted the slothful half-hour that I had spent soaking in my enemy's bathtub while a whole green world ran down the drainpipe. 'I'm sure,' I continued, addressing the Morlock, 'that the work of individuals such as yourself will not go lightly rewarded.'
He returned my courteous half-bow. 'Living space for my people is all the reward I desire to see. In the far future this globe is under our entire dominion. It is merely our destiny to rule it through all the past and present as
