Flash Gordon 5 - The Witch Queen of Mongo (4 page)

“Wow!” Willie said, peering into one of the scanner screens. “Can you tell what you’ve spotted?”

“Sometimes.” Zarkov peered toward one large screen and adjusted a series of dials on the console’s face. The green shimmering indistinctness suddenly focused brightly and a clear picture emerged.

“There!” Willie cried.

Flash peered forward. “It’s a planet, Doc.” He frowned. “Doesn’t look like any of ours. Hey—!”

Zarkov was excited. “How about that—it’s Mongo. And how coincidental, when we were just talking about it. Must be that Mongo has settled into a new kind of orbit and is coming around sooner than two and seven-tenths years.”

“Hey, look!” cried Willie. “It seems to be headed right for Earth again.”

“It’s just an illusion,” Flash said. “But it’ll be at its closest now for the next two and seven-tenths years.”

Willie waved his arms excitedly. “Gee, Mr. Gordon, this may be our chance. You could take us through space to Mongo and we could see the Lion Men and the Hawkmen and the Tree Kingdom of Arboria.”

“Hold it there, Willie,” Flash said, laughing. “I’ve got friends on Mongo I’d like to visit, but planets travel at incredible speeds. When Mongo’s close by, we could get there in a few days, but a week after it passes Earth it would take months to get back.”

“Would it?” Willie asked, suddenly very quiet.

Zarkov turned quickly from the scanner and stared at Willie. “Willie!” he cried. “No—you wouldn’t!”

“Willie,” yelled Flash. “You don’t know what you’re doing.”

“Yes, I do,” said Willie.

And he did.

T
hey stood on an outcropping of shalelike rock in a strange and exotic land: the planet of Mongo.

Purplish mountains rose in the distance, silhouetted against the slightly tawny atmosphere of the planet. Nearer to them a series of small lemon-colored foothills rolled across the long prairie. The flat plain was covered with an ankle-height growth of Mongoturf, a weed that was prevalent throughout the planet, with several gnarled trees resembling Earth’s oak scattered here and there. Many of the “oak” were dead.

Between the foothills and the point where they stood, a stream of dirty brown water trickled along over shining green boulders.

“Oceanite,” Zarkov muttered, still annoyed by Wordless Willie’s impulsiveness.

“What’s oceanite?’ Flash asked irritably.

“Rock formation,” Zarkov said, tugging at his beard.

“I don’t care about the rock formation,” snapped Dale. “How did we get here? And how do we get away?”

Flash turned to Willie. “Well? Now, how about thinking us a return trip to Earth.”

Willie smiled slightly and looked at the ground. Then he scuffed his feet a bit. Finally, he looked up slyly at Flash.

“I don’t know, Mr. Gordon. Now that we’re here, I guess it wouldn’t hurt any to just sort of look around, would it? Just for a little glance at this historic place?”

Flash’s eyes narrowed. “I thought so. What you’re saying is that your thinking trick won’t work unless you want it to. Is that right?”

“That’s right,” Willie said.

“And you don’t want it to, do you?”

“No,” Willie admitted.

Dale reached out and took Willie’s shoulders and shook them. “Willie! This is no place for us to be. It’s dangerous. Flash and Dr. Zarkov and I were almost killed here the first time we landed. There are all sorts of wild beasts and—”

“I don’t see any,” Willie answered, smiling and looking around.

Flash shook his head. “Forget it, Dale. If Willie insists, I suppose we’ve got to look around, as he says, for a little bit,”

Zarkov had been staring at the purplish mountains in the distance.

“You know, I can’t quite tell exactly where we are, Flash, but those mountains look familiar.”

“Familiar?” Dale asked.

“I can’t place them. It’s been six years since I was here.” Zarkov tugged at his beard. “Damn, I wish we had some kind of spacecraft. We could cruise around and get the lay of the land.”

Willie grinned. “Let’s just walk awhile, huh? How about that?”

Flash put his hand on Willie’s shoulder. “Listen to me, Willie. I’m not going to bawl you out for what you did. It wouldn’t do any good, and besides that it wouldn’t make you like me anymore than you already do. But I want to tell you one thing.”

“What’s that, Mr. Gordon?”

“There’s no way of telling where you have located us on the planet of Mongo. We may be in friendly territory or we may be in unfriendly territory. We’ve simply got to find out, and find out now—or get out immediately. How about it, Willie?”

There was a long silence.

“No,” Willie said finally, after a few moments’ thought. “I want to stay awhile. Mr. Gordon, I’ve never had any adventures like you. I’ve never been in a strange land before. I’ve never seen weird rocks and funny trees and shining green boulders, and all that.”

Flash shrugged.

“So I want to stay. If it’s unfriendly territory, well, I guess you and Dr. Zarkov can do something about protecting us, can’t you?”

Zarkov raised his fists into the air and shook them helplessly. “You’re not making my day, Willie,” he cried. “You know that?”

Willie nodded. “I know, Dr. Zarkov, but it’s the way I feel. You told me always to be honest and I’m being honest. I want to see some of Mongo, no matter how dangerous it is. A man has to meet danger head-on, doesn’t he?”

“Well, Willie,” Zarkov said slowly.

“You told me that yourself, Dr. Zarkov.”

Zarkov threw back his head and closed his eyes as his lips moved silently. “I’m counting to ten, Willie. When I get through, I want to see us back in the desert outside Megalopolis West.”

There was a short silence.

Zarkov opened his eyes. “Willie?”

“No, Dr. Zarkov,” Willie said softly.

Zarkov’s hands slapped his thighs in resignation. “So be it. Then come on—we’ve got to do some exploring to find out where we are.”

Flash stared at Willie, glanced at Dale, and then turned from them. “There’s no sign of a city anywhere around here. I think we’d better get up onto high ground and have a look there.”

“Right,” said Dale. “Let’s go.”

“I think we’re somewhere in the Volcano World,” mused Zarkov as they walked along the rocky formation toward the foothills in the distance.

“That would put us east of the Great Mongo Jungle, and also of Arboria,” Flash said decisively.

Dale frowned. “But doesn’t that mean we’d have to cross the Great Mongo Desert to get to Arboria?”

“I’m afraid so,” Flash said. He hesitated. “Actually, we may be north of the Great Mongo Desert and in Arboria Territory, in which case we need not worry. No one would attack us there.”

“We’ll have to find out from one of these high peaks,” Zarkov said wearily. “Willie, are you sure you don’t wish to go back to Earth yet?”

Willie looked about him with exhilaration. “I’m sure, Dr. Zarkov.”

Zarkov sighed. “I never did understand teenagers.”

“It’s the generation gap,” Willie said laughing.

They continued their walk in the clear air of Mongo.

“Hey,” Willie said, “you know, it’s easier to breathe here than on Earth.”

“No pollution,” said Zarkov. “If we had any sense on Earth, we wouldn’t have allowed the atmosphere to become so fouled up.”

“Then why don’t we do something about it?” Willie wondered.

“Maybe you could wish it clean,” Dale suggested with a chuckle.

“I don’t think it would work,” Willie said seriously.

Zarkov boomed out: “We could always try. That is, when we get back to Earth.” He paused dramatically. “If we get back.”

Willie looked hurt. “Dr. Zarkov, you’re making me feel awful. I just want to look around a little bit more. You people have been here before; this is my first trip. I haven’t even seen a Mongo person yet.”

“Luckily we haven’t run across any followers of Ming the Merciless.”

“Is Ming the Merciless still alive?” Willie asked excitedly.

“No,” said Flash. “He was killed when Prince Barin defeated Mingo and stabilized the government of the entire planet in the Free Council of Mongo.”

“Then why should we worry about anyone from Mingo?” Willie wondered.

“Actually, we shouldn’t,” Flash admitted. “It’s just that Doc and I remember the way it used to be when we were always fighting Ming the Merciless’s armies—to the death.”

Zarkov had stopped in his tracks. “We’re at a fork in the trace,” he said.

Flash looked ahead. The trail split and one branch went to the left and the other to the right. The left road twisted back and forth toward the top of a peak with an orange cast to it. The other road went up the peak to the right, which was a bluish color.

“We’ve got to split up, Doc,” said Flash. “You take the left road; I’ll take the right.”

“Okay,” said Zarkov. “Come on, Willie.”

Willie frowned. “I want to go to the right with Mr. Gordon.”

Flash shook his head. “I’d better take Dale, Willie. Why don’t you go with Doc?”

Dale put her hand on Flash’s arm. “That’s okay, Flash. Take Willie with you. Doc and I will be all right.”

“I know you’ll be all right,” Flash said, “but—” then he sighed. “All right. Come on, Willie. Let’s go.”

Zarkov and Dale waved to them and started off up the left-hand fork. After a moment, Flash and Willie took the right one.

Within a half hour, they were completely out of sight of the foothills and the plain behind them were winding up amidst great formations of a bluish crystalline rock. The crystal stalagmites were so high and pointed that the saffron atmosphere of Mongo was almost obscured by them. The sunlight reflected off them in shimmering blazes of blue light, with the trail rising ever more steeply toward the summit of the mountain.

“We should be coming to the top soon,” Flash said. “Then we can look out and see what lies to the right of us; I hope we were not mistaken and it’s Prince Barin’s land.”

Willie smiled. “It’s terrific, hiking like this in a strange land, Mr. Gordon.”

Flash smiled faintly. “I’m glad you like it, Willie. I’m trying to forget that it’s because of you we’re doing this.”

“I’ll never forget you for it, Mr. Gordon,” said Willie. “You’ve been real good to me to do this for me.”

Flash stepped around a tall spike of bluish crystal and came to a narrow stretch of passageway between two high, steep cliffs of the dark-blue rock. It was at least a thousand feet to the top of the cliffs. The pathway went straight ahead and then turned sharply to the right.

A rock hurtling from above suddenly slammed into the path not ten feet in front of them. Flash glanced up the steep cliff faces. He saw nothing up there.

“What was that?” Willie asked. His voice sounded shaky.

“Nothing,” said Flash. “Just a rock. It must have become dislodged from the cliff and fallen in front of us.”

Willie looked around furtively. “Maybe. You know, Mr. Gordon, it’s kind of spooky here.”

Flash turned to him with amusement. “Ready to go home, Willie?”

Willie shook his head emphatically and looked away. “Not yet, Mr. Gordon.”

Flash chuckled. “What’s the matter? Do you think someone’s watching us?”

Willie nodded. “I do, Mr. Gordon.”

“So do I,” Flash admitted, and then turned to move on. “Well, whoever it is, I hope they get their eyes filled. Come on.”

They marched along through the narrow passageway, turned to the right, and came out on a narrow, wedge-shaped ledge that overlooked a sharp cliff that dropped off into nothingness directly in front of them. In the distance, Flash saw a vast, blue, shimmering haze that covered the whole landscape, shrouding it from sight.

He knew instantly where he was.

And at the same moment, Willie screamed.

“Mr. Gordon! Look!”

Flash wheeled. Willie was pointing to a pile of boulders beside the pathway, over which three figures were climbing. The figures wore hoods and brilliant electric-blue robes, tied with a golden chain at the waist. Their faces were invisible inside the dark hoods, wreathed as they were in some kind of blue gauze, but Flash could discern gleaming eyes and bright teeth behind the drawn-back lips.

“An ambush,” snapped Flash. “And we’ve got no weapons.”

The first hooded figure slipped its right hand into its cloak and drew out a long-handled ax, the blade composed of a kind of bluish steel. The curved head, with sharp points at the ends, was fitted over a wooden handle, with the rear end of the blade protruding as a sharply curved point. It resembled an old-fashioned, highly stylized, adz.

“Run for it!” cried Flash. “I’ll hold them off!”

A second hooded figure reached out, leaped over the boulder in front of Flash, and grabbed Willie before he could move, holding him motionless against the rock cliff.

The leading figure jumped at Flash, wielding the ax in his hand.

The third stood on top of the rocks, watching with sardonic amusement.

Flash tensed his muscles, ready to jump.

“Ouch!” screamed Willie. “You’re hurting me!”

Flash wheeled. The second figure was throttling Willie by the throat and Willie’s face was red from the struggles. He could hardly breathe.

Flash changed his mind and dove for the hooded figure holding Willie. The leading figure raised his hand and an ax sailed through the air directly at Flash’s neck.

W
orriless Willie was definitely a dreamer. His mind had a habit of wandering about and paying no attention to things that went on near him. In school, the teachers had always accused him of sleeping when he was awake.

They were wrong. Willie simply had a great imagination. He liked to think about wonderful things and imagine he was there where the wonderful things were happening.

At least, it had been that way at first. He had thought about great things happening and he had imagined he was there. Then, about two years ago, he had discovered to his surprise and delight that when he thought about some other place where wonderful things were happening, he suddenly was able to travel through space instantly, using only his mind to propel him.

And Willie had turned into something other than a dreamer. He had become a mystery and an object of astonishment and wonderment to his teachers and the kids at the orphanage.