well. I'm glad that there are a few individuals of your breed who have the foresight to recognise this.'
'Indeed.' The scope of the creature's ambition, presumably shared by all the members of his race, touched a cold base in my spine. Here was our enemy's face nakedly exposed. 'My fears are, however,' I said, 'that all this elaborate preparation will be of little value if the current crisis facing us is not speedily resolved. Merdenne, the guiding hand of so much of our efforts, is already engaged in turning back the attempts of certain forces who wish to hinder our plans. Of one of them you may have heard – the one called Dr. Ambrose. If there were more time available to us I would explain the nature of Merdenne's present struggle to you. Suffice it to say that his presence is needed elsewhere. So sudden was the onslaught of our foes' machinations that there was, as you have noted, no time to inform his allies here of the need for his absence.'
'It sounds like a grim situation,' said Col. Nalga with rumbling graveness. 'What can we do to assist him here?'
'Unfortunately, very little. The success or failure of Merdenne's fight against our enemies depends almost entirely upon his own powers. There are certain things he needs, though, and Mr. Tafe here and I have been dispatched by him on the errand of fetching those items out of hiding and bringing them back to him. Without them there is little chance of his winning the day against our foes; with them his victory and later ours is assured. Quite a simple matter really.' I puffed on the cigar, adding tobacco smoke to the verbal haze I had created in the room.
'And, Mr. Hocker, what are these items?' said Col. Nalga.
'This is one of them, right here,' I said and lifted Excalibur in its wrappings. 'The three other copies of this sword that were produced through the agency of the Time Machine are now needed as well by Merdenne. That is the errand Mr. Tafe and I have come upon.'
'I see,' said Col. Nalga, sombrely. 'Doubtless Merdenne needs the swords for some magical purpose?'
'Correct. At first he believed that it was sufficient merely to keep the swords out of the hands of Dr. Ambrose, but it has now become apparent that they must be actively employed in our behalf. I am aware that you have had your friends from the Lost Coin World turn over to you the sword that had come into their possession-'
'That was a decision from higher up in the chain of command,' interrupted Col. Nalga. 'It was felt by some of our generals that, given the unexplained absence of Merdenne, it would be wise to secure the sword someplace more under our control than the Grand Tosh. Hence its removal by our allies from there.'
'A wise decision,' I said, 'given the circumstances. In matters such as this it's a good thing to be cautious. But that necessity is at an end now. If you will produce the sword we can start our journey back with it to Merdenne.'
'Yes, of course.' The Morlock officer nodded. 'However, the sword is not right here at hand, but it is only a shaft distance away. We put it in the safest hiding place we could think of. I'll take you to it right now, if you'll care to follow me.' He stepped to the door and opened it with a courteous bow. After following us out, he led the way from his quarters.
Our luck had held so far. The Morlock officer had communicated his belief in our statements to his higher-ups and our claim to being Merdenne's assistants had been accepted without a qualm by them. My spirits were greatly elevated at the prospect of successfully completing this stage of our quest with so little difficulty. Much still lay before Tafe and myself to be done, but at least the hope of accomplishing it had returned to my breast.
Col. Nalga led us out of the officers' complex – several Morlock lieutenants and other officers saluted as we went by – and past the enlisted men's barracks. The enormous space that the Morlocks had excavated belied the fact that it was so far under the surface of the Earth. Somewhere above our heads Londoners were going about their business, all unaware of the desperate gambles we were pursuing beneath their feet. How I longed to be with those solid citizens in the English sunshine, or even the good cleansing rain, once more!
Past the towering stockpiles of supplies and weapons went our little procession. Scores of the squat-bodied, less intelligent Morlocks were sweating like navvies as they scurried to and fro, pushing pallets of crates across the cavern's floor. Col. Nalga stopped and pointed with pride to the furious activity and the enormous amount of the stores. 'You see?' he boasted. 'And this is only the smallest fraction of our preparations. What chance do the puny surface dwellers have against an invasion force such as this?'
I managed to suppress any sign of the chill that had condensed in my vitals at his words, and smiled back at him. 'No chance at all,' I agreed. 'When Merdenne finishes with this small affair, I'm sure you'll sweep across England like a tidal wave.' My own words felt nauseating in my throat.
We went on toward the very centre of the Morlock encampment. Beyond the barracks and the stockpiles was an open space with a large square building in the middle of it. 'This is where you're keeping the sword?' I asked as we approached the construction. 'Seems rather conspicuous for a hiding place, don't you think?'
An enigmatic smile formed on Col. Nalga's pallid face. 'There is more to it,' he said quietly, 'than what you can see.'
With a key attached by a long chain lanyard to his belt, the Morlock officer unlocked a large panel on the side of the building and drew it aside. In the dimly lit interior I could make out the form of some type of mechanical apparatus that was the only thing occupying the space. 'What is this contraption?' I said, somewhat annoyed. 'I don't see any sword here.'
'Patience, Mr. Hocker,' said Col. Nalga. He lit a lantern that hung down from the ceiling of the building. By its light I could clearly see the details of the apparatus and recognised it instantly.
This was the Time Machine. Before us squatted the root of all the evil that had descended upon us, the device that had made possible the entry of a plague such as the Morlocks upon our green and undefiled land. My mind flew back to that long distant, or so it seemed, evening when the Time Machine's inventor had sat in his parlour and regaled his guests with the story of the Machine's creation and his subsequent adventures with it. The fool! If he had only realised what he was unleashing upon the world through his meddling with the laws of the universe. But no, he died happily ignorant of the final results, and it was left to us to reap the bitter storm whose seeds he had unwittingly sown.
After my first emotional reaction upon seeing the Time Machine, I was able to note the many details that gibed with its inventor's description of it to his audience. The saddle, the gleaming control levers, the faintly shimmering section that seemed somehow unreal, the finely detailed workmanship all reinforced my conclusion. This could only be the Time Machine itself. How long would it be before a restrengthened King Arthur stood where I was and plunged the true Excalibur into the Machine's metal and crystal vitals?
I suddenly realised that I had been staring at the apparatus for some time without saying anything. Col. Nalga was watching me intently when I turned to face him. 'So this is the device Merdenne has told us so much about!' I gestured at it with one hand. 'The scientific marvel that makes all our plans possible. I'm really quite pleased, Colonel, that you took the time to show it to us. You've satisfied a deeply held curiosity on my part, I'll have you know. But time is pressing, unfortunately, and I feel we should return to our business and move along to wherever it is you've hidden the sword. Shall we proceed then?'
The same smile as before moved across Col. Nalga's face like a thin cloud across the moon. 'I'm afraid I didn't make myself quite clear, Mr. Hocker. I said that our copy of Excalibur was not here, but could readily be fetched. To dispel the mystery, the sword has actually been taken to the far future through the use of the Time Machine here. My fellow Morlocks up ahead in our native time period have placed the sword in their safekeeping.'
Without wishing to, I blinked and stared at the Morlock officer. So Professor Felknap's suspicions had proved correct. 'This- this is absurd,' I stammered. 'What's the idea of this continuous shilly-shallying about? I suggest you hop aboard that damned thing and go fetch the sword back here this instant!' My feigned wrath was the only cover I could create for the apprehension I felt at this new development disrupting the flow of events that I had been anticipating.
'Please control your anger, Mr. Hocker.' Col. Nalga held up a mollifying hand. 'Our desire to safeguard the sword led to our decision to remove it from this time and take it to our own. Surely there is no fault in that?'
'Perhaps not,' I said, allowing myself to appear somewhat calmer. 'But the moment has come to bring it back to this time, and with the greatest possible dispatch. Please do so. We'll wait for you here.'
Col. Nalga shook his head with every indication of regret. I'm afraid that our generals have ordered a different plan. It is their wish for you to proceed via the Time Machine to our native point in time and pick up the sword yourself from them.' He raised his shoulders and spread his hands to indicate his helplessness in the face of his
