"The slope to the left looks pretty good," Scotty answered softly. "We can cut back when we get down a little."
At the bottom of the slope, they found another drift that angled away toward the north. By the time they reached the bottom of it, Rick whispered that they must be directly above the cave. He could see the lighter path of the street that ran from below the shelf toward the western end of the island. Now all that remained was to make their way down to within reach of the scientists.
They moved with extreme caution, fearful that the slightest noise would give them away, or that a wrong step would start a rockslide. It was painful work, going down backward most of the way. Once they reached what seemed to be a dead end, and lay on their stomachs surveying a sheer wall nearly twelve feet high.
Rick solved the problem by finding a lava boulder big enough and stable enough to serve as a rope anchor. They took an extra length of line Scotty carried and made it fast, then went down the rope hand over hand.
The whole village was spread before them now. Rick could even see the cross street that ran below the base of the cliff, and he knew they must be nearly within sight of the shelf on which the scientists were imprisoned.
"Tough section below," Scotty whispered so low that Rick could barely hear him. "I think it drops off sheer."
Another dozen feet of slow progress proved that Scotty was right. There was a small shelf, then the slope dropped away abruptly. Both boys lay flat, and slowly inched up to the drop and looked over.
Rick felt Scotty"s hand grip his arm like an iron clamp at the same moment that he realized that another shelf was directly below, a tiny campfire burning on it!
But that wasn"t what Scotty had seen. At a point off to their right, and only slightly below them was a second, smaller shelf. On it sat a pirate guard, rifle across his knees, staring out to sea.
Rick swallowed his heart, which had climbed into his throat. They were in plain sight of the guard, or at least their heads were. He backed away as rapidly as the rough surface allowed, until the guard was no longer in sight. He and Scotty held a whispered exchange, their voices no louder than a zephyr.
"Keep your eyes off him," Rick said. "He may feel someone looking at him."
"Right. He"s in a wonderful position. He looks down on the shelf where the fire is located. Did you see the ladder?"
Rick hadn"t.
"It leads from his perch to the shelf. I suppose ladders lead down to the ground from there."
The guard was an obstacle Rick hadn"t expected. He wondered if the guard on duty last night had seen him slug the pirate, and he decided it didn"t make much difference. As Zircon had said, they had to a.s.sume the whole colony was alerted.
"Let"s look out one at a time," he whispered. "I didn"t see anyone on the ledge."
He inched forward once more and put his head over the edge of the drop.
The fire on the rocky shelf was a small one, probably only a cooking fire. There wasn"t anyone in sight. He guessed the scientists must be in a cave under the rock on which he crouched. He could only hope they were awake.
Rick estimated the situation. It was perhaps thirty feet down to the shelf. The guard was ten feet below, and twenty feet to his right. He noticed that the guard didn"t look down at the shelf. He was awake, but his attention was focused outward. In all probability he was a lookout rather than a guard, watching for signs of ship movement to the west, the direction from which danger to the pirates might be expected to come.
The boy withdrew and joined Scotty. "No sign of anyone on the shelf. I"m going to lower the radio unit, anyway."
"Okay. Let"s get the rod out."
Rick had carried the rod-section case on his back, tied to shoulders and belt with line. He untied the line swiftly and a.s.sembled the rod. Scotty helped him put the reel in place and feed the line through the guides.
Then Rick carefully wrapped the radio unit in his handkerchief, and put the whole thing in a black denim ditty bag borrowed from Chahda for the purpose. He secured the drawstring of the ditty bag to the end of the fishing line and inched forward again. Scotty moved forward, too, his rifle unslung and ready for action.
Rick hadn"t even bothered with a note. Both Shannon and Briotti would recognize the radio unit instantly. There were no others like it outside of Spindrift. They would immediately put it to use and be talking to Zircon before the two boys had moved away from the position over their heads.
Carefully Rick pushed the tip of the rod out far enough so the ditty bag would clear all obstructions on the way down, then he swung the bag clear and began to feed out the line.
The bag went down an inch at a time, while he concentrated on keeping the motion slow but steady. A sudden jerk might attract the guard"s attention, but very slow motion probably wouldn"t.
[Ill.u.s.tration: _A sudden jerk would attract the guard"s attention_]
He was sweating profusely by the time the bag got within reach of the shelf below. He began to worry. He had seen no one. Had the pirates removed the scientists, leaving the lookout in his usual position?
He kept the bag moving until suddenly strain went off the line and he knew it was down. He could see it in the faint glow from the fire, lying motion-less on the rock below. Long moments ticked by and he felt the trickle of sweat down his face, the sweat of apprehension. Why didn"t someone show up?
And then, as though in answer to the frantic thought, a man stepped into view below, and casually dropped his coat over the ditty bag.
Rick almost sobbed with relief. Tony Briotti! The familiar crew cut had grown long, but it was Tony!
Swiftly the boy drew his knife and cut the line, letting the loose end tumble down. Then, careful of the fishing rod, he withdrew from the edge and touched Scotty to indicate he should withdraw, too.
For a few seconds they just lay there, weak with relief. Then Rick disa.s.sembled the rod and restowed it. Scotty reslung his rifle. On hands and knees, the two started their retreat. Not until they were certain that the guard could no longer see them did they stand upright and begin to move more rapidly.
Their mission was a success, but perhaps the plan was not. Rick was no longer filled with enthusiasm for his scheme. The guard had changed all that.
How were they going to get the scientists out with a guard watching them?
CHAPTER XVII
The Radio Link
Dawn was showing its first pale light in the east when Rick and Scotty tied the vinta at the stern of the _Swift Arrow_ and climbed aboard.
Hobart Zircon and Chahda greeted them with relief.
"We thinking you lost or caught," Chahda said happily. "Glad we wrong."
Zircon added, "We were about to make a run toward sh.o.r.e, hoping to see you."
"It was the wind," Scotty said wearily. "We had to beat to windward all the way back. Did you ever try tacking a vinta for hours against a stiff breeze?"
Rick slumped down on a convenient bench. "Save the talk for later. We"d better get out of here. It"s nearly daylight."
"You"re right!" Zircon hurried to the controls and headed the _Swift Arrow_ south. Gradually he opened the throttles until, at a safe distance from the island, the MTB was moving at full-cruising speed.
Only then did the four take time to talk.
"Any radio contact?" Rick demanded.
Zircon"s wide grin answered him.
"Are they all right?" Scotty yelled.
"Yes. Want to say h.e.l.lo?"
Rick jumped for the radio unit the scientist held out, and plugged in the earphone. Scotty took Chahda"s set.