The Doc Justice Files- Scales on Stone part 7
by Direwolf

Chapter 7- Hissing Death

The giant hooded cobra reared back, its hood spread wide, and hissed its anger. The huge serpent was dark brown like any other smaller member of its species with the distinctive ivory white and chocolate brown patterns on the underside of its belly and hood. The mouth opened wide, displaying fangs the length of daggers as it tracked Justin across the cave floor with its black lidless eyes.

The monster struck. Justin rolled to the side as the huge snake narrowly missed him, glancing off a stalactite with crushing force. Justin felt the impact shudder through the stone floor.

The snake recovered in an instant and struck again, its jaws spread. This time, Justin felt the wind of the thing's miss sweep over him, along with its reptilian musk. The snake was hellishly fast. So far, Justin had been able to evade its strikes but he knew it couldn't last much longer. Sooner or later, it would force him into an open area where he couldn't use the stalactites for cover. And he knew trying to close and fight the thing was tantamount to suicide. Between its armoring scales and muscular body, his hardest blows wouldn't even annoy the massive beast.

There seemed to be only one option and only one way to implement it. And if it didn't work, the giant snake would have him trapped in the open. But it was the only way out of this trap so he had to try.

A wild diving role brought Justin to a low ridge of flow stone growing out from the wall. The snake flowed after him like a bolt of living lightning. Justin couldn't stay in place. He moved again in a desperate sprint towards the exit. The snake sensed it had its prey and moved in for the kill. It slithered after the fleeing man and reared back, ready to strike long before Justin reached the safety of the tunnel entrance. Justin heard the sound change as the snake drew back for its attack. Rather then dodge or run, Justin turned to face it. The snake towered over him, hood flared and mouth open, fangs dripping. It paused, as if to savor the moment, then struck, its jaws widening and fangs extended, hungry for his flesh.

Justin's right arm came up, pistol in hand. He fired three times into the onrushing monster's mouth.

Without the armor of scales or bone, the soft nosed .45 caliber slugs ripped through the back of the giant snakes mouth, blowing out fist sized chunks of the thing's neck as they exited. The snake's strike became a thrashing tangle as the huge reptile convulsed in death, its muscles spasiming. Thick blood, nearly black in the dim light splashed across the ancient stone as the coils flexed, knotted and unwound.

Justin scrambled for cover as the thing died. In its death throws, the creature was nearly as deadly as it had been while alive. The mouth opened and closed spastically while venom dripped onto the cave floor.

Justin carefully skirted the convulsing serpent and crossed back over the stone bridge. He found Howard placidly waiting on the far side. With a sigh, Justin returned his pistol to the leather bag and carried Howard across the bridge then maneuvered the man past the huge snake. Howard slowed as they passed the giant serpent and whispered a single word, forming it into a question.

"Naga?"

A chill traced up Justin's spine. For the first time, he saw the back of the snake's hood as it reflexively flared open and close. Hooded cobras had two black circles on the back of their hood, rather like eyespots. This giant specimen also had two circles visible despite the three bloody bullet holes punched through. But these were white, the same shade as the armbands the old priest had worn.

"Your imagination is running wild again," Justin muttered to himself as they walked past the empty white robe crumpled on the floor. Behind them, the snake twisted and smeared in clotting blood on the stone.

By now, Justin was nearly convinced he could find his way out of the tunnel blindfolded. He didn't see anyone else and again, the charcoal fire smoldered in the coils of the stone snake in what he had come to think of the altar room. But this time, he couldn't help but wonder if the huge carving had been inspired by the artist's imagination or was it modeled on a living serpent?

The towering black stone statue offered no answers, only suggested more grim questions as Justin led Howard past it. The Englishman slowed as they went through the chamber, his eyes searched the statue as if looking for something, but he remained silent. Then the two of them walked up and out of the cave into the light of day.

To Justin, it felt like a rebirth. He felt as if he had been underground for days battling for his life. Now, with the sun on his face while he smelled the fresh salt air and heard the cry of sea birds, it all seemed remote and distant like a passing dream or nightmare. Until Howard spoke.

"I can hear them moving in the earth. The dragons are rousing you know..."

Then he collapsed on the wet stone jetty.

Justin knelt to see what he could do to help. It looked like Howard had simply fainted.

"Ahoy there," a voice called out "You wouldn't happen to be Doctor Justin Collins, friend and associate of Lord Gawaine Pagit?"

Justin looked up. A long boat loaded with British Navel seamen and commanded by a Lieutenant was chuffing along near the cliff.

"Yes I am," Justin called.

"Capital. I was instructed to come offer you a spot of help. Looks like I can give you a lift back to Bombay, if nothing else."

"That would be appreciated, I don't think I'm quite up for that long of a swim. And I've got a man down if you have a doctor."

"Got what passes for one on board a ship, thought it might be wise to bring one along. Can you handle a line?"

By now, the boat was near enough that Justin easily caught the tossed bowline. Soon, he and the still unconscious Howard were on board and heading for Bombay. Justin wasn't sorry to see the island fall away behind them though he planned on coming back as soon as he could. There were mysteries in those caves that needed solving.

Fresh from the dock, Justin rushed into the hotel lobby. On the way over he had heard all sorts of wild stories about a plot to kill the Prince of Wales, everything from a lone assassin to an army of Russian solders. The city was buzzing with rumors of other acts of war that had reputedly been either perpetrated on or by the colonial government. Everyone contradicted everyone else, making for a confused jumble of rumors and speculations. Justin realized he wasn't going to get any good information on the streets. He had to find Go-on.

He hadn't expected it to be quite so easy.

Go-on was seated in the lobby, drink in hand, with his head tilted back and his hat over his face. Justin noticed a fresh bandage wrapped around his neck and a few reddish brown spots on his collar.

"Go-on, are you alright?" Justin asked, "What happened to you?"

The lanky Englishman took his hat from his face and looked at Justin. Justin realized he had never seen his friend look so weary before. It was as if the last few hours had aged him years.

"Had a bit of excitement over at the governor's mansion. Did you find Howard?"

"Yes.... he's all right, at least I think so. He's in the hospital to make sure. I found him in the Serpent's Heart. The old woman was doing something that seemed like, I don't know, accelerated learning or something like that. He's sleeping now. What about Nigel and what happened when you got back to Bombay?"

Go-on smiled sadly. "Nigel didn't make it, I'm sorry to say. He was shot by an agent of the crown before he could assassinate the Prince and the Viceroy. It was a very near thing."

Go-on gestured towards his bandage and blood spotted collar. "I managed to get grazed in the scrum. Nothing serious, I've done worse to myself shaving with a hangover. So, what happened to you after I left? Sit down, have a cup of the mud you drink called coffee and tell me everything."

Justin settled into a chair and did just what Go-on suggested. When he was done, Go-on shook his head.

"If anyone but you told me that tale, I would swear they were tugging on my leg for all they were worth." Go-on held up his empty glass to a passing bell hop who quickly understood and went to fetch a fresh drink. "I mean, go on! It all sounds utterly fantastic."

"I know, I can hardly make myself believe parts of it as well, and I was there. I wonder if there could have been something in the charcoal smoke of the altar that drugged me, made me see things that weren't there or embellish on things that were. But I've got the map and we can go back for a better look this afternoon. Now, what else can you tell me about Nigel?"

"Sounds like he was under the influence of that priest," Go-on said. By now he seemed much more of his old, devil may care self. "He insisted that the Goddess wanted him to kill the Prince to start a revolution."

"Some sort of Nationalist movement you think?"

"It would make sense. Deucedly less peaceful then that Gandhi fellow. His killing the notables was supposed to trigger other attacks. When that failed, the authorities were able to quietly round up the rest without trouble. The plot failed, with only one causality, Captain Brackenberry."

Justin shook his head. "I'm sorry about your friend, but in his way, he died a hero."

Go-on sighed and examined his drink. "True enough, old boy. By dying when he did, he saved a lot of lives. But that's cold comfort isn't it? A dead hero may well be remembered, buried with full military honors and touted the press for at least a few days while politicians make speeches to share in his glory. But when all that is said and done, he's still dead, and someone has to live with the fact that even though it was the right thing to do, the only thing to do, they shot him."

This time Justin had no answer.

The sun was already touched the western horizon, turning the sea the color of blood, as the royal Navy Motor launch closed on the mysterious island. Both Go-on and Justin had spent the morning and afternoon answering questions of various ‘interested parties' on the events of the previous night. Justin had decided to hold off on the more fantastic details of what he encountered until he could take a better look at the cave. He suspected that if he started going on about mysterious black orbs in boiling pools, tattooed assassins and giant cobras, he would loose what credibility he had. Instead, he stuck to the core facts, that a hidden cult had used some sort of hypnosis to turn Captain Brackenberry into an unwilling assassin. And that the base the cult was using was located in a complex of caves under the island.

Howard Pintar had recovered and seemed none the worse for his experience. His memory of the last night was quite hazy after the capture and he had no memory of the events in the Serpent's Heart. But Justin couldn't help but wonder about the cryptic warnings the Priestess had given him and the implication that Howard was now part of this complex puzzle.

Justin shaded his eyes against the glare as he stood in the prow of the motor launch. The island was a blot of shadow in the sunset hued water. He pointed.

"There, steer that way and we should see the jetty any moment."

"Aye, sir," the man on the tiller shouted, "slow to half speed."

The boat slowed and turned, rolling with the waves. The island was still blurry but as the sun set, the view improved. Justin examined the cliffs. Something was very wrong with the view.

"I say, this is the right island isn't it?" Go-on asked.

"Yes, this is in. But the cave is gone!"

Justin was right. The low stone wharf still extended into the sea, nearly swamped by the rising tide. But the cliff face was intact. The cave was missing. However a long, thick seam of the dense black stone was set firmly in its place.

With a sinking feeling, Justin was suddenly very sure that the island was now deserted and the temple would be no more then a tumbled down ruin. The snake had hidden its track.

The End