the flashing scarlet form. The first bullet hit Venus in the arm and he staggered back. The second tore through the fabric of his robes and bit into the wall.
Clutching his injured flesh, Venus powered past me and, knocking Charlie to the floor, flung open the door and was gone.
«Quickly!» called Bowler, pulling more of the complicated mass of wiring. «The device. If he reaches it, he could still set it off!»
I needed no further encouragement.
«Come on, Charlie!» I urged and we raced from the hut. Charlie took the rifle and shot the helmeted guard dead without breaking his stride. I leant over the staircase and could see Venus’s slim figure flitting through the steam-shrouded pipes towards the sphere. I grabbed the rifle from Charlie, rested it on the iron banister and loosed off a volley of shots.
Venus emerged from the steam with a large group of his opium-sodden drones. He pointed up at us.
«Kill them!» he howled. «Kill them!»
With their curious, sluggish movements, the helmeted fiends began to fire back at us. Charlie picked up the rifle from the dead guard and we careered down the spiral staircase at a fearsome pace, dodging bullets and responding in kind.
«We have to stop him getting to the bomb!» I cried as we reached the base of the steps. We ran in a frenzy across the floor of the chamber until we reached the brass sphere. Venus was nowhere to be seen.
«Mr Box!» gasped Charlie. «Look!»
I noticed in that moment that the glass panel was no longer where Bowler had left it. It was being screwed back into place from
He raised his hand and smiled. The crazy fool was waving at us.
Then there came a strange ratcheting sound and the sphere rolled forward like a billiard ball, vanishing into the great bronze pipe.
Despite the noise and the heat and approaching thugs it felt suddenly as if a great hush had descended.
«We’ve failed,» I said quietly.
21. Ascent to Peril
CHARLIE grabbed me by the shoulder. «We’re not beaten yet, sir! The fella in the hut knows where that pipe leads. There must be some way to stop the bomb.»
I nodded quickly. «You’re right.»
We clattered back up the spiral staircase, picking off the last few zombies lumbering towards us as we did so, and threw open the door of the observation room. Bowler was still there, poring over reams of documents and plans.
«Betrayed!» he groaned, hammering his fist at his forehead. His hair hung in a great black slap over his pale forehead. «Betrayed at every turn! To think I could have trusted that monster!»
I pulled him round. «There’s still time to make amends, Bowler. The bomb has been launched. Where is it heading?»
He shook his head mournfully. «Into the belly of the volcano. There is a weakness in the crust. The bomb will blast it away and the magma will erupt!»
«How do we stop it?»
The undertaker put his head in his hands. «We cannot. We shall die in the flames. Die at any moment!»
Not what we wanted to hear, naturally.
«There must be a way!» I thundered, grabbing him by the lapels. «Think, man. You know everything about this blasted scheme!»
«Yes! And we were clever! We allowed for every eventuality.»
Charlie came over and sifted through the blueprints. «What sort of eventuality? What could go wrong?»
I nodded furiously. «You’re right, Charlie. We will sabotage one of the fail-safes.»
Bowler looked at me as if I were mad and then smiled. «There… there may be something in what you say. There is a junction. I knew it was dangerous but the rock-formation made it unavoidable. It’s where the steam shaft crosses the bond pipe. The two chutes join for a moment and then continue on their way.»
«And is there any way of closing off the junction?»
Bowler dashed to the wall where a screen of some kind indicated where the bomb had got to.
«Yes! If I repair some of the damage I managed to inflict, I can control it from here.»
He sucked at his knuckles anxiously. «The bomb has reached
«Then there’s still time.»
Bowler was practically gnawing his fist. «But if we close the pipe and trap Venus there, the bomb will still explode. It will be close enough to cause an eruption!»
It was my turn to ponder. I looked quickly at the plans and then at the display. «And if you shut off the steam-pipe, what then?»
He shrugged. «The steam-pressure will build.»
«Dangerously?»
«Of course. The system is designed as a safety valve. If the pressure is not released…»
«That’s it!» I cried delightedly. «Bowler, close the hatch on the steam pipe.»
«But why?»
«Just do it!»
He dragged Venus’s great leather chair to the console and began furiously punching at buttons and pulling levers. Then he dropped beneath the display and began frantically rewiring the machinery. For a few anxious minutes he fiddled and pulled at the complex copper circuitry, swore several oaths and then, with a great cry, sat back. A coloured disc slid into place on the display before us.
«It’s done! The steam pressure is building.»
«Now, tell me when Venus and the bomb are almost at the junction. How accurate is this thing?»
«Pretty accurate.» He rubbed his hands and licked his dry lips. «Level Eight. Achieved. Level Nine…»
«He must be boiling alive inside that thing,» said Charlie.
I nodded. «Just what he’d intended for you. He doesn’t give a damn now. He must see this thing through.»
«Achieved,» continued Bowler. «Level Ten… approaching junction…»
«Prepare to open the hatch!» I cried.
«Level Ten achieved!»
«Open it!»
The disc slid out of its housing, revealing blank space. «It’s done,» said Bowler simply.
«What is?» queried Charlie.
I held up my hand. «Wait, wait…»
From deep beneath us we heard it. A deep, booming, clattering roar. The floor of the room began to shake with massive violence.
«What… exactly have we done?» said Charlie.
«Projected a huge body of steam at the sphere, Charlie! If I’m right then»
«Then it should be forced right back up!»
«Exactly!»
The three of us stood there in an agony of suspense as the hut and the great chamber itself trembled. I glanced over at Charlie. His face was white and he had sunk his teeth into his lower lip. Bowler was smoothing his hair down in a repeated gesture as though comforting himself. If,
