Explorers Of Gor

55
The Explosion; We Leave The Ancient City

"Let us leave," called Kisu.

The Ubar and I descended the steps together, that we might make our departure from the landing, from the eastern shore of Lake Shaba.

It was then that the explosion occurred. It took place several pasangs away. There was a blast of light. A great towering blade of fire stormed upward against the tropical sky. There was a vast, spreading billowing cloud of dust and leaves. The earth shook, the waters of Lake Shaba roiled. Men cried out and girls screamed. We felt a shock wave of great heat and saw trees falling. There was a rain of rocks, branches and debris.

And then it was quiet, save for the water lapping against the landing and the sides of the wooden vessels. To the southwest there was a darkness in the sky. In places the tops of standing trees still burned. Then the fires, no longer sustained by the heat of the blast, one by one vanished, unable to overcome the living freshness of the wood.

"What was that?" asked Kisu.

"It is called an explosion," I said.

"What is its meaning?" asked Bila Huruma.

"It means, I think," I said, "that it is now safe to descend the river."

I smiled to myself. The false ring would never be delivered to the Sardar.

"Let us proceed," said Bila Huruma.

"Cast off the lines," I called to the men.

Soon the four galleys and the canoes, including our raiders' canoe, were upon the lake.

I tied the Tahari ring about my neck, where it hung, with the golden chain of Bila Huruma, on my chest. Near me in the canoe, wrapped in waterproof, oiled skins, and tied to a floatable frame, were the map case and notebooks of Shaba.

I looked back once at the city, and once at the darkness in the sky to the southwest.

I then lowered my paddle and thrust back against the waters of the lake.