In Caverns Below - free ebook by Stanton A. (Stanton Arthur) Coblentz

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In Caverns Below

Stanton A. (Stanton Arthur) Coblentz

33 chapters

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33 chapters

IN CAVERNS BELOW

IN CAVERNS BELOW

If we were told to list a dozen writers whom we considered great science-fiction authors, we should certainly place the name of Stanton A. Coblentz high up in the list. When Coblentz writes a short story, it is excellent, but when he composes a novel, such as the present one, you will have to go far and wide to find a better story. We sincerely believe that "In Caverns Below" will go down in science-fiction history with the other novels of Stanton A. Coblentz and will be re-read by the ever-grow

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A Mysterious Light

A Mysterious Light

I have always marvelled that Clay and I lived through the cataclysm. But probably we owe our survival to the fact that the fissure, far from being perpendicular, sloped at an angle of only thirty or forty degrees, so that, while rolling over and over in our descent, we were at least spared a direct drop. At all events, we finally did come to a stop without receiving any fatal hurt. It may have been minutes, or it may have been hours, before I recovered consciousness; but when at length I came to

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The Brink of the Abyss

The Brink of the Abyss

At last we were drawing near the mysterious light. It had now ceased to flicker and shone with a steady greenish-yellow glare, so bright as to illuminate the gallery with a weird radiance, wherein we could clearly distinguish each other's features. The source of the light, however, remained an enigma; while we, pressing on with increasing boldness, were resolved to discover its nature or perish in the attempt. In a few minutes we had reached the end of the corridor, and, turning sharply, we foun

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Thunderbolts

Thunderbolts

From our vantage-point near the cavern roof, we could not clearly follow all that was happening a mile beneath; however, we were able to observe more than a little. In the beginning, we were astonished to see the doors at the base of the excavation all thrown open, to admit a multitude of black ant-like mites, which we did not at first recognize as human beings. So minute were they, in view of their distance, that they might have been mere swarming insects. To discover much about their appearanc

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Separated!

Separated!

Straight on and on the two sets of battle-monsters came, their ugly pointed forms half-concealed in puffs and streamers of black smoke. Waving at the stern of one group, we could distinguish banners of yellow and purple, while the other group displayed green and vermilion flags; but otherwise it was hard to tell them apart. On the decks of all the vessels alike we could see swarms of animated black specks; from the curved tubes at their sides we observed darts of lightning intermittently shootin

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Catastrophe

Catastrophe

For a long, blank moment of dismay and horror, I stood staring out across that deserted passageway. I was as one who, in mid-ocean, suddenly feels the waves foaming over him with no sign of a rescuing sail. Not until this instant had the full terror of my plight overwhelmed me; not until this instant had I felt utterly hopeless and helpless. Now that Clay was gone, it was as if the very under-pinnings of my world had been torn from beneath me. Yet my alarm was not for myself. It was of Clay that

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Deeper and Darker

Deeper and Darker

In the course of my thirty-eight years, I have made more than one hair-raising expedition. I have clung to the slippery sides of precipices; I have rolled in a ship at sea, with the decks all awash beneath the mountainous waves; I have been lost in the burning desert and all but blistered to death; I have roamed glacial barrens, and remote caves, and serpent-infested jungles. But never have I been stricken with such fear, never have I suffered such nightmare agonies as during that journey at the

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Beneath the Ray

Beneath the Ray

In the first dismal moment of my imprisonment, I had anticipated days, weeks, or even months of confinement. But I might have spared my fears. I was soon to be released—although under the last conditions I would have chosen. And the period of my incarceration, though brief in duration, was to be savage in the torments it inflicted. Two or three hours after I had been jailed, the prison door was shoved violently inward to admit such a ferocious-looking gang of invaders that my cell-mates all murm

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Intervention

Intervention

Had I been a condemned criminal sentenced to the electric chair, my torments would have been less hard to bear. For then, at least, I would have known that I was suffering justly; I would have been surrounded by people of my own kind and race; I would have had time in which to prepare myself, and I would have had to face no such diabolical instrument as the violet-ray. Oh, how I loathed the sight of that machine. Even today I cannot think of it without an involuntary start of fright! Yet, appare

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Some Riddles Solved

Some Riddles Solved

The home of Professor Tan Trum was typical of the so-called "Second Class" citizen of the country of Wu. It was composed of five or six small rooms, excavated out of solid rock, and opening on one of the numerous side-galleries that threaded the underworld. There were no windows, but light was provided by the yellowish-green electric bulbs; while a constant supply of air was forced in through whirling fan-like devices located in little orifices near the front door. All in all, the Professor's ab

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Fresh Surprises

Fresh Surprises

While I was questioning Professor Tan Trum and his family in regard to the underworld, they were equally eager in making inquiries as to my own land. Naturally, they were anxious to know where I had come from, and how I had arrived; but, unfortunately, they already had their own theories on the subject, and nothing that I could say was able to change their views. Since they had decided that I had escaped from some cavern far below them, my story that I had come from the so-called "Overworld" met

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I Swallow the Oath

I Swallow the Oath

It was on the following day that Professor Tan Trum, true to his promise, took me to visit the Commissioner of Public Thought. Or, rather, it was on the following "wake"; for the chalk-faces, not having the guidance of the sun, divide time into periods of about twelve hours each, which are known alternately as "sleeps" and "wakes." As this was the first time I had been out of the Professor's house for months, except for occasional visits to back galleries for exercise, I strode along at his side

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An Official Visitor

An Official Visitor

Now that I had swallowed the Oath and become a full-fledged citizen, my life took a sharp turn—though whether for the better, I could hardly say. As a free man, I was permitted to wander unescorted through many of the streets and side-galleries; yet it seemed to me that I had really less freedom than when confined in the Professor's home. I was now officially on the Government books, being known as Citizen No. 44,667,023 XZ, Third Class; I had had my photograph taken and filed with the War Depar

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The Last Straw

The Last Straw

The Ventilating Company, as I soon discovered, was the most powerful corporation in Wu. It was literally the breath of the country, for it controlled the fresh air-supply, and, with the aid of ninety-six subsidiaries, was said to be highly influential in finance, politics, and war. Owned by a group of First Class citizens, who supported themselves in luxury on a fraction of their dividends, the Company was declared to number Dictator Thuno Flâtum himself among its stockholders; hence its interes

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Flight

Flight

It was what was known to the chalk-faces as the "mid-sleep." The lights of the public galleries had been dimmed to a slumberous dullness; the lamps of the houses had been extinguished, the ventilating currents were turned low; and only an occasional belated wayfarer or military guard, darting through the deserted thoroughfares an his little "scootscoot," gave proof that life still went on in the land of Wu. At this silent hour, when the house doors stared in black, almost invisible lines along t

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The Green and Vermilion

The Green and Vermilion

Not half an hour after my encounter with the furnace workers, I had an even more surprising experience. I was still gradually working my way upward through the interminable labyrinths, when unexpectedly I came out on a broad thoroughfare, where great multitudes of chalk-faces were convening. From the manner in which they lined themselves along the sides of the avenue, leaving the center clear, I knew that some sort of a spectacle was expected; and this excited my curiosity, so much so that I aga

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Through the Phonoscope

Through the Phonoscope

I can scarcely recall where I wandered in my haste; I only know that I followed long twining aisles in a half-darkness, beset by the vision of a man with slit eyes and twisted nose. I must have traveled half a mile before at length I turned to glance behind me, confident of having thrown off my pursuer. But how cruelly I was surprised! About a hundred yards down the gallery, advancing toward me at no uncertain pace, strode a chalk-face whom I thought I recognized by his slit eyes. Owing to the d

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Mishap Upon Mishap

Mishap Upon Mishap

It is impossible to say how long I lay there cramped in the gloom. It may have been only minutes, but it seemed hours, while the howls and wailings of the rabble came to my ears through the thin slit of iron that saved me from their fury. "This way! No, that way! No, you fools, the other way!" I heard them shrilling in their confusion, as their feet went scampering in a hundred directions. "Catch him! Catch him! Don't let the villain get away! We'll teach him; we'll teach him! We'll make minceme

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Affliction and Triumph

Affliction and Triumph

Great as had been the surprises of the last few hours, still stranger events awaited me.... After swooning away in the Ventilation Office, I remained unconscious for a long while—so I was afterwards told. When I came to myself again, it was after a period of blankness, varied by nightmares in which I saw Loa bending over me solicitously, her milky face more wrinkled than ever, her fat form bulging until she resembled a monstrous dumpling. Awakening from a long-protracted dream of this character,

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Ordeal and Crisis

Ordeal and Crisis

For seven "wakes" I remained in the hospital. Even though I did not at all like the place, with its automatic service and its total absence of living attendants, still I lived in hourly dread of being removed and sent back to Professor Tan Trum's home. I knew that, true to his word, he had put in an application to have me taken out; but what I did not know was that a thousand formalities had to be observed before the application could be granted. There were blanks to fill out, and signatures to

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Strike! Strike! Strike!

Strike! Strike! Strike!

The "wakes" went by and gathered into months, and the months lengthened into a year, and still I performed my duties as Ventilation Inspector, and could discover no way of escape to the Overworld, and no prospect of a change in the ordered monotony of my existence. Was I to pass my whole life thus, and to end my days among the labyrinths of Wu? So I often asked, while wondering if it would not be wise to attempt some new dash for liberty—even though the end might be arrest and the violet ray! Th

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Blows and Counter-Blows

Blows and Counter-Blows

Less than twenty minutes later, a second Striking Sub-committee arrived. Its members were eight in number, and their method of swaggering hostility was such that I had no difficulty in repeating my previous tactics. Before they realized what I was about, I had gotten too close for them to see me clearly and I aimed my blows so accurately that, in less than a minute, half the gang lay stretched upon the floor. The others, not quite realizing what had struck them, were not long in resorting to tha

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I Become Second Class

I Become Second Class

In spite of strikes and minor catastrophes, the war between Wu and Zu was still being waged. Of late, however, it had grown a bit dull and unexciting; both factions had been entrenching themselves for a dogged fight over Nullnull; and, except for the periodic capture and recapture of a few square yards and the daily "turnover" of several thousand men on each side, nothing of much consequence was happening. It is this fact that explains the interest in the Ventilation Strike; for the people of Wu

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A Bold Stroke

A Bold Stroke

The duties and obligations of my new position were formidable—if one looked at them merely on paper. I was the official possessor of seven titles and sub-titles, from Supervising Engineer to Sub-Director of the Airways; I was the occupant of a capacious suite of rooms, with a huge private office importantly marked "Hours by appointment only"; I had the promised two thousand employees, from office girls to "Ventilating Linemen," all of them strictly at my bid and call; and I was provided with who

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Insurrection in the Air

Insurrection in the Air

Two "wakes" had gone by without ventilation. The land of Wu was in a state of profound disorder—disorder compared with which the disturbances of the previous strike were as nothing. Once more business had come to a standstill; once more the thoroughfares, usually crowded, were almost deserted by the "scootscoots"; once more the chalk-faces stood about in little knots, anxiously talking, their drawn features and worried eyes bearing testimony to the concern they felt. But now the temper of the ma

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Revolution

Revolution

Realizing that I was attempting an experiment which might lead to disaster, I took one or two simple precautions before visiting Thuno Flâtum. The first was to disguise myself, for I did not want it known that it was a stranger, a foreigner, a "colored barbarian," who was challenging the throne of the Dictator. The disguise was accomplished simply enough, largely by means of some chalk-like powder, with which I made my face milky pale; in addition, I used a pair of heavy amber glasses, so as to

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Triumph

Triumph

Hardly had I escaped from Thuno Flâtum's audience hall when I noticed an athletic looking individual darting from the direction of the throne-room. Breaking through the ranks of my followers in frantic agitation, he headed straight toward me; while I, imagining him to be an agent of justice, hastened my footsteps in the effort to regain my "scootscoot," which was waiting a few hundred yards away. But my efforts were futile. I was too greatly impeded by my attendants, who had been reduced to such

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Luma the Illustrious

Luma the Illustrious

The following "wake" I arose early, since there were many things to keep me busy. First of all, I carefully prepared a speech and wrote a letter, which I secreted in my pocket for use later in the day; next I resumed my disguise, with the amber spectacles, the gray-dyed hair, and the chalk-colored face; and then, taking care not to be seen, I made my way to the side-gallery containing the rusty old wheel that controlled the country's ventilation. There I waited, watch in hand, and at precisely t

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New Storm-Clouds

New Storm-Clouds

In order to press on to more crucial events, I shall not linger over my first few months as Dictator. Clad in the magnificence of my new office, I dwelt in a spacious suite of rooms with palatial adornments and scores of attendants; I enjoyed the applause and veneration of millions who bowed before me as before a god; my comings and goings were heralded with blasts of trumpets and the rattle of military trappings; I held court daily on the throne of Thuno Flâtum, decided matters of public policy

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News from Zu

News from Zu

Anxious as I had been to avoid complications with Loa, her coming had not been the only reason for my sudden decision. For a long while, the difficulties occasioned by my reform measures had been growing more serious and the voices of popular complaint more menacing; hence I was anxious to find some way of diverting public attention. Moreover, the war with Zu, which dragged on interminably, was daily becoming more vexing; I still did not dare to antagonize public opinion by ending the conflict,

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Rah the Righteous

Rah the Righteous

Hardly had the courier left when I hastily dictated a letter: "To His Abysmal Excellency Rah the Righteous Dictator of Zu " Whereas our army has been maneuvering for wakes on the outskirts of Nullnull, and has been unable to find any of your followers to turn over, we conclude that your citizens are too craven to join us in battle, and therefore demand that you cede the whole of Nullnull to us immediately and unconditionally. Otherwise, beware! "Belligerently yours, Luma the Illustrious, Prime D

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Toppling Thrones

Toppling Thrones

According to our agreement, the Dictator of Zu and I lost no time about negotiating for peace. Our messages, true to the native custom, were phrased in the most pompous and ponderous language, conveying the impression that we disdained words of under six syllables; yet we were not so ruled by formality that we lost sight of our object. Within about thirty "wakes," we had come to the stage of arranging an armistice; and Clay and I, meeting with great bluster and ceremony at the border line of the

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Toward the Light

Toward the Light

It was only three "wakes" later when catastrophe struck. During the interval, I had been sheltering Clay the best I could, trying to keep him disguised and hidden, laying out a future course of action. Many were our hurried little talks in which we decided that the only safety for either of us lay in the Overworld; however, since premature flight would be worse than none at all, we were making our plans coolly and deliberately. Already I had withdrawn the military guard from the tubes; I had sec

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