The Doc Justice Files- Scales on Stone part 4
by Direwolf

Chapter 4- Alone Against the Unknown

Justin's eyes flicked open. It didn't help much. Between the darkness and his throbbing head, he couldn't see more than dim outlines and suggestions of shapes. He shut his eyes and breathed deeply, allowing the pain in his head to fade from awareness while he gathered in what details he could of his surroundings.

He was on his back on a cold, damp stone surface. The air smelled of the sea and he heard the rush of waves over rock. There was something soft, resilient and warm in his right hand.

"I'm still in the cave," he realized. "Sandu and I were fighting and I went onto my back."

His eyes opened again. It wasn't completely dark. Faint moonlight and starlight filtered in through the cave mouth. But the flashlight was dark, either it had been broken in the struggle or the batteries had died. Justin let go of whatever his right hand had a death grip on and fumbled into his leather rucksack. He found what he was looking for and the rasp of a match on stone sounded. Light flared.

In the glow, Justin saw Sandu sprawled on the floor near him. His face was swollen and dark with congested blood, tongue protruding. By the look of the dead man's neck, Justin realized that his last convulsive effort as he fell had crushed the man's windpipe. Sandu wouldn't waylay any more travelers in this lifetime.

The match burned down, scorching Justin's fingers. He found the somewhat deformed stub of a candle in his bag before lighting another match. The candle glow brightened the cave. He set the candle on the damp floor and took a better look around.

Sandu was sprawled lifelessly beside the cave wall about three yards inside the opening. The ‘S' shaped knife was near by, as was Justin's fallen flashlight. He picked up the light and unscrewed the end cap to replace the dry cell batteries. The light came on. He looked at his watch but it had stopped, smashed in the struggle.

"Step one," Justin muttered. He switched off the light and went out of the cave to examine the night sky. By the stars he could tell it was nearly two in the morning. He'd been out for hours.

Justin examined the lights of Bombay and considered what he knew and what he suspected, planning out his next move.

Sandu's betrayal could only mean one thing; he'd been led here. He suspected that if he had faltered anywhere along the trail of the investigation his loyal guide would have conveniently steered him in the right direction. That meant he was supposed to find Captain Brackenberry and set him free, meaning somehow the royal Engineer was part of the plot. He gathered that by choosing to stay behind he'd a thrown a wrench into the plan. He was supposed to leave with Brackenberry and Sandu. Undoubtedly some big show about sending a search party back would have been made, but he suspected it would have been a sham, nothing more then a diversion to keep him occupied.

But it still left the question of what happened to Howard and Go-on. It was quite possible they were dead, but then they also might be held as backup pieces in this hidden game, maybe even as hostages to use to force Brackenberry to play along. There was no way to tell now.

In either case, Justin realized he had two options. He could follow Captain Brackenberry and try to find out what was going on, or he could stay to search for the two missing men. He chose the latter, at least until sun up. Some instinct told him that if Howard and Go-on were alive, they were someplace within these caves.

First, Justin searched Sandu's body for clues. He found three things of interest. The first was a black snake tattooed on the dacoit's left forearm. Stretching from elbow to wrist, the black snake coiled around his arm. The wedge shaped head was on the inside of his wrist as if ready to strike over his palm. The other two were maps. One, traced on a rectangle of yellow silk, looked like the cave complex under the island. The boat landing and the chamber with the stone cobra were evident, along with the cells where Brackenberry had turned up. The rest was a maze of branching corridors and inexplicable chambers. Hopefully, it would be enough to keep him from getting lost in the underground warren.

The other map was both more mundane and yet somehow ominous.

It clearly showed a modern, Western-style building complete with landscaped grounds and notations about ways in and out. It took Justin a moment to recognize it. The building was the Viceroy's mansion, where Mountbatten was scheduled to hold a formal reception for the Prince of Wales in the morning.

Justin made a mental note of the tattoo, tucked the mansion map in his pocket and kept hold of the cavern map. He collected his candle and stepped over Sandu's body on the way to the snake statue chamber. There, he paused to make sure the map aligned with what he knew.

The cells where he had found, or been led to, Captain Brakenberry were clearly evident. And by the look of the map, there wasn't anything beyond them except for what looked like another exit. That meant that if Go-on and Howard were here, they had to be somewhere else in the complex.

"But where?"

The carved stone snake offered no advice. So Justin took a closer look at the map. It looked as if other of the tunnels also ended in a number of small boxes that could well be cells. Justin thought it made sense to separate Go-on and Howard if he was supposed to find the captain but not the other two. In any case, he didn't have any other leads to follow.

Guided by the lines inked onto the yellow silk, Justin descended into darkness.

Again, the tunnel sloped down, at times squeezing against his chest and at others opening into natural galleries. Splays split off, some of them seeming to correspond to paths marked on the map, others a mystery. Justin realized the map was by no means complete. He took out a stick of red wax from his rucksack and used it to blaze his way. Getting lost down here didn't seem like a good idea.

He came to another gallery and his light shone onto a narrow rock arch over a dark crack in the cave floor. The black stone arch looked natural yet didn't match the surrounding yellowish gray limestone.

"One more puzzle, " Justin muttered as he stepped gingerly onto the arch. It was only a foot and half wide and smooth from the passage of time. There was a fain hiss rising from below, as if of sand blowing over stone. Justin pointed his light over the side to gauge the depth. The crevice was only ten feet or so deep. But the darkness was moving. Justin looked more closely. The bottom of the crevice was a writhing carpet of snakes.

"Ok, important not to fall in," Justin said to himself as he moved over the archway. On the far side, he took a deep breath and continued.

A few turns deeper he found another line of cells. And a hoarse voice nattering in the darkness.

"...So I told the prince that ascot is completely the wrong color to go with that ensemble you are wearing. You will end up looking rather like one of the jockeys. And do you know what his royal highness said? Of course not since you weren't there. But you are quite in luck since I was and can tell you. He said, ‘Go-on', that's what he calls me you know, us being old chums and all; ‘you have saved me from an embarrassing satorical blunder'. Now isn't that a fine turn of a phrase?"

While Go-on was talking, Justin used the cover of his friend's voice to sneak up to one of the doors. A thin line of light shown under the door itself and Gawaine's voice came from behind. Justin was willing to bet Go-on wasn't alone, hence the conversation. It would do a good job of covering his approach.

Justin switched off the light and slid it into his bag. He took two slow, centering breathes then slowly drew back the wooden bolt. It didn't squeak. He flung open the door with a crash and ducked through.

There was a small oil lamp guttering on the floor. Go-on, looking rather disheveled, sat against the back wall, his arms chained over his head. To the side of the door a man who could have been the twin brother of the man who fought with Justin in the Hotel garden sat on a stool by a low wooden table. A teapot and cup rested on the table. The guard was already rising and reaching for the heavy knife at his side.

Go-on lashed out with his long legs, kicking the table into the guard's face. He stumbled back with a cry of surprise then fell as Justin's fist smashed against his temple.

"Out like a light," Justin announced, checking the fallen man.

"So nice of you to rescue me, old boy," Go-on announced, "can you do something about my arms?"

"Not for the jacket, it's ruined."

"A pity, but the brave thing gave its all for me. Ah, much better, I rather figured the gentleman on guard would have the key. Nothing like having your arms over your head for hours to remind you of the little joys in life like moving your joints. Don't suppose there is any tea left in the pot after I kicked it over? My throat's a bit parched from all that talking."

Justin found the pot. It still held a few dregs that Go-on eagerly swallowed.

"Now, what happed and do you know where Howard is?"

"He was here." Gawain pointed awkwardly to another set of shackles on the wall. "Some dried-up old bird in a saffron yellow robe lead him away less than an hour ago."

"Not an old man in a white robe?"

"No, that was the fellow who lured us here and hauled off Brackenberry right away. I overheard part of what they were planning since they thought I was insensible from the poppy smoke. See the benefits of the life of a wastrel?"

Justin helped Gawaine up. Despite his friend's cavalier manner, Justin could tell Go-on was in agony. His arms were nearly useless.

"Let me tell you what I know first, then we'll see if you can fill in some gaps," Justin said. He gave a quick rundown of what had happened, including Sandu's treacherous attack and his suspicions about Brackenberry.

Go-on was silent throughout.

It took Justin until they made it back to the stone bridge before he finished. He stopped at the edge of the arch and gave Go-on the flashlight.

"Keep the light steady, I'm going to carry you."

Go-on didn't protest though he gasped in pain as Justin drew him into a fireman's carry. Then it was a matter of setting each foot very carefully on the stone arch.

"I say old boy, I don't suppose this is the time to tell you that I never could abide snakes," Go-on whispered. "Cad thought it would be funny to put an adder in my bed when I was seven. I nearly died of the bite."

"Don't look then," Justin hissed past clenched teeth. "And trust me not to drop you."

"Right-o..."

Between the slope of the rock arch, the smooth surface and the extra weight, Justin was far from convinced of his ability to cross safely. But he concentrated on each footstep, making it as precise as he could manage. At last they stepped clear, and Justin again let Gawaine walk.

"Thanks old boy, I do believe that helped stretch out my arms a bit. May have to buy all new shirts."

"You will use any excuse to buy more clothing. Your tailors' bills have to nearly equal my monthly office expenses. All right, tell me what you know."

"Not a lot I can add. Nigel didn't lie when he told you what happened up to when we were dry gulched, to use your charmingly descriptive vernacular. I saw we were outnumbered and they were using some sort of airborne drug, so I acted far more insensible then I was, no jokes, mind you, and tried to keep track of what happened.

"All three of us were taken down into that central chamber with the snake shaped pillar. I assume you must have come past it. Then the old fellow in white had a long argument with a wizened old woman in a saffron colored robe. It ended with Howard and I carried off to one cell and Brackenberry being taken in a different direction by the old priest fellow. As he was being packed off, one of the strong knife men said something to another. It didn't make any sense at the time. He said ‘thus, the blade is forged in the heart of the serpent' in Hindustani. I don't much like the sound of that myself.

"After that, Howard and I ended up chained to the wall with a guard posted to make sure we didn't start any monkey business. When Howard came to I figured it was safe to drop the act. We chatted a bit, didn't have much to say to each other until the old woman came back. This time, she took Howard and said to me, ‘you must remember, the Goddess has two faces' in excellent English. Sounds like bloody Janus if you ask me.

"So there I was alone in the cell with short, swarthy and silent for company. So I decided to strike up a conversation and see if I couldn't bore the old boy into insensibility. It would have worked, too except you decided to burst in like the 7^th Cavalry..."

"That was Custer's army, they were wiped out at the Little Bighorn last century."

"Don't interrupt a good story. So you charged in like gangbusters and dispatched the fellow. Then you got saddled with me. Now what?"

Justin pondered the question.

"Someone has to go after Nigel to find out what's really happening. Who's side is he on and what the duce this all has to do with a hidden nest of dacoits here in Bombay," Justin said. "It's got to have some thing to do with the royal visit. I found a map of the viceroy's manor house on Sandu. That has to be your job, you're the one with the family connections like you always tell me."

He handed Go-on the paper map.

"What about you?"

"We can't just leave Howard. I'm going back after him."

"Think it will do any good?"

Justin looked sidelong at Gawaine. "Well, I found you didn't I?"

"Point conceded. If Brackenberry was playing straight, then the authorities should already be here, you know?"

Justin nodded. "Yes, that occurred to me as well. He is part of what's happening."

"What the devil is this all about?"

"That's up to you to find out. How are your arms doing?"

"I can feel my hands again. Why do you ask?"

"It's a bit of a trip to Bombay. The boat tied up outside has oars."

"Oh, bloody hell. Good thing I was on the rowing team in school."

"You were not!"

"Well, I thought about trying out for it, that should count for something."

Justin chuckled. The rest of the hike out passed in companionable silence.

At the wharf, Justin checked the small boat still tied in place. It did in fact have a small engine that he convinced to sputter to life.

"Good luck," Justin told his friend as they clasped hands.

"Oh, go on! I should be wishing you good luck, you're the one crawling back into the serpents den!"

Justin shook his head. "Maybe, but I can't help feeling that the real focus of this all is there, in Bombay. You'll be on your own. After what happened with Brackenbery be very careful of whom you talk to and whom you trust. This is very deep and very dark."

For once, Go-on didn't have a glib joke for the moment. Instead, his English reserve crumbled for an instant and he set both hands on Justin's shoulders.

"You find Howard and get him out of this place. Get both of you out of this place. You can trust me to do what has to be done."

"I know I can. I trust you more then anyone in the world."

"Don't let Lucas hear you say that or he'll stuff me in a rubbish bin."

Justin laughed. "Take care."

"Right-o. I'll get right on tracing the missing Nigel after I find a change of clothes. I'll see you in Bombay after you finish playing on the island."

Go-on climbed into the little boat while Justin cast off the bowline. With a jaunty tip of an imaginary hat, Lord Gawaine pointed the prow towards the lights of Bombay and opened up the throttle. Justin waited until his friend was lost from view before turning back to the caves. It was time to brave the darkness again in search of the missing Howard Pintar.

To be continued...