Chapter 35

The many ladders and catwalks were good facilities for someone descending the volcano's interior walls, but not Irma Vep. The dark clad woman could not let herself be seen, her time on those metal thoroughfares was minimal and dangerous. Maintenance workers were spread out in the interior, it only took one to spot her and raise the alarm.

It was in the ventilation shafts that she felt safer while traversing the depths of this industrialized mountain. They were wide enough for her to crawl through and narrow enough for her to climb down while pressing each hand and foot on either side of the vertical steel tunnel.

She had seen half the League netted and captured, thus leaving the remainder to walk here. Irma was for the time being on her own, but she felt in her element. These shafts had no lighting so Irma unpacked a tungsten filament lamp from her back pack turned it on and dangled it from her belt.

The time came when a fixed grill barred any further progress down, her burglars' tools could not move it; only the panel to the catwalk. Irma carefully poked her head out to view the open area of the interior mountain wall. All maintenance men she noticed before were all absent; an alarm was blaring and red lights flashing. It couldn't be because of her; no-one could've seen her in the shafts, they would be converging on this point if they had. There was no one on any catwalk or ladder.

A look down to the volcano floor revealed that she was two thirds of the way down and a crowd of people were focused on that giant metal dart in the centre. It was what Mors called a rocket, and she realised it was about to launch, all maintenance workers had made themselves scarce because the fiery exhaust would heat up all the metal frameworks of the interior walls.

Irma considered going back to the ventalation shaft for cover but realised that some of the initial launch heat would be channeled through it and all other shafts, she would get cooked. She looked around frantically for shelter. A door opened up on the other side of the crater, slightly above her level, a worker stepped out for a quick peek at the rocket then ducked back inside, closing the door after him.

There was no time to go around and reach that door but continued observation revealed the same thing happen on a similar door this side on the level above her. Irma switched of her lamp, packed it away, re donned her back pack then employed her cat like movements to slink along the catwalk, keeping herself in the dark spots as much as possible. When she got to the ladder she climbed up the rungs on the wall side. When she reached the level above, a brisk acrobatic move shifted her around the ladder and on to the catwalk within a second.

A quick look down showed the crowd moving back from the rocket, giving it a wide berth. The launch was only seconds away.

Irma got to the door then gave a desperate knock. The maintenance man opened up with a perplexed look, wondering what anyone would be doing on the catwalk this close to the launch. Irma forced her way in then closed the door behind her. The man yelled out an interrogatory protest then backed off to reach for what Irma reckoned could be either a weapon or an alarm.

Her wrist knife was out in an instant; a few steps and a stab at the turning man brought the blade neatly through his ribs. He gasped then dropped the monkey wrench he was about to strike with, then slumped to the floor, dead.

This room was a combined bedsit and tool shed. He was the only occupant.

A thunderous roar reverberated through the metal walls. Irma had to block her ears as it got louder. The rocket had launched and was obviously ascending as the thunder got louder and the walls hotter.

An extra burst of thunder brought an end to the ordeal as the rocket shot into the sky; the roaring noise fading very fast. Irma removed her hand from her ears and approached the door. Heat struck her as she got within a few feet of the exit. The metalwork outside: the catwalks, ladders and doors would be burning hot after the rockets fiery exhaust.

Irma would clearly have to wait for the outside to cool off; her only company, a dead body. She wondered how Biggles, Tom and Gregor had fared, their capture was not so long before this launch. Somehow Irma felt it was not a coincidence.

When the heat subsided Irma carefully opened the door. Residual heat and lingering smoke pervaded the volcano interior. The former was tolerable, the latter convenient, it allowed her to remain unseen. A touch on the catwalk parapet revealed the metal was only warm. Irma quickly used the walks and ladders to return to her ventilation access, then realised she would have to go down another level via the ladders as the grill would still bar her progress downwards.

Irma got to the new louvre then began to work on the fastenings with a spanner she took from the bedsit. A brief look down was blurred by the smoke; that was good; it means whoever's down below could not see her. She opened the vent and climbed into the shaft. The obstucting grill was above her now; down below looked free from any further impediments. Irma closed the louvre behind her then continued her climb towards the ground; that being the volcano bed.

After considerable time and effort, Irma found her way to a horizontal shaft, several lights down the narrow tunnel had to be louvre shutters. She climbed in; it would be a welcome change from climbing down to crawling along on her hands and knees. This she could do with little or no noise. The first vent was to an empty whitewashed room. She considered leaving the shaft, because she could do so here without being discovered, but the cat burglar prefered the hidden travel option the dark metal tunnel provided.

The next vent was to a similar room but this one had scientific apparatus and shelves holding glass jars with preserved animal embryos in them. So this was a science lab. Irma could hear activity beyond the next vent. She quietly let her limbs propel her along the shaft to observe through the louvre slats. It was also a science lab, but this one was prepared for action. The tools laid out were scalpels, forceps, retractors, magnifying glasses and clamps. There was virtually nothing in the way of dressing or hypodermic needles. These were the instrumentation of vivisection, which was exactly what was being discussed in French by the two lab coated doctors.

Irma recognised one the moment she saw his face, it was Dr Totenkopf, the very man The League was assigned to track down. He was a German speaking French for the sake of his colleague who was clearly French. What was odd about this colleague was that his cranium was shaped outrageously, it was like a bald hill rising high above his hairline. A look at his face produced another shock, his eyes had all the appearance of madness. Recognition came again, this cranialy warped scientist was Dr Tube, who was infamous for creating a mind bending powder. He tested this abominable compound on himself and all his friends before being committed to an lunatic asylum. Totenkopf must have spirited him away to join his team of those who produce monstrosities.

A knock on the lab door was answered with a bid to enter. That which came in was a wheeled gurney pushed by two lab coated doctors. Irma recognised the figure strapped down on the mobile table, the subject of the planned vivisection; it was Gregor Samsa. The insect man was clearly weakened by whatever means but still had some fight in him; he threshed about but his bindings were secure, even the one covering his mouth. He was on his back with his exposed abdomen ready for the vivisectionists.

Dr Tube turned to Totenkopf. "Didn't you promise the boy not to do this?"

Totenkopf answered. "A promise made to a kid who does not yet realise the majesty of what we do should be ignored. Science must have no barriers.'

"Yes. you're right."

Totenkopf handed Tube the case file. "You will proceed with the operation at once. Report to me when your'e finished."

Irma realised what she can do to help Gregor; she reached into her backpack and got a gas mask then put it on, next came the cylinder with a nozzle which she turned. It was a pity Totenkopf left the room she would've liked to have treated him to the vile product of another mad scientist.

Dr Tube told the other two doctors to don their rubber gloves and aprons but not to put on their face masks.

The sight of this giant insect was bizarre for Dr Tube. It was freaky and twisted. An extensive look at the misshapen subject on the table brought a sense of revulsion. A bizarre rationale came over the cranialy endowed scientist: if we're going to undertake an exercise on this warped being, then we do it while our minds are also warped.

Tube's new clown smile and widened eyes brought great concern to the two other doctors. Before they could inquire Tube threw a white lump to the ground at their feet. An explosion of powder saturated their senses. Another such explosion enveloped Dr Tube himself.

With his mind newly bent by his notorious powder, Dr Tube envisioned the two doctors heads inflate to to a huge size while their lower torsos and legs shrunk to miniscule dimensions. As for the insect, his abdomen seemed to expand to to the size of a hill while the table he was on looked way to small to hold such a monstrosity.

The surgical instruments also appeared affected, the scalpel was gigantic while the forceps were tiny. Tube moved to pick up the scalpel, his hand apparently grown in size to handle the giant blade. He moved on the bizarre insect.

The other two doctors had trouble orientating themselves, the mind bending powder must have given their fresh minds a shock. Tube was about to guide them but a panic seemed to overcome them, they rushed to the door. Their difficulty in making out the exit was near comical, they even fell over one another. Finally, they focused on the doorknob, putting all four of their combined hands on it. The powder effects must have made it look big; together they turned it and opened the door. They both got on their hands and knees then crawled out of the room; the door must have appeared small.

Tube raised his hand to find a hissing snake in his grasp where the scalpel was; he dropped the serpent only to hear the tinkle of metal on the ground. Gregor's limbs seemed to be free of their bindings, they were lashing out at him. Tube felt very frightened, he wanted to keep that freaky being away from him. He turned to a white wall for some exit and his warped visions seemed to make out a white corridor to run down. He propelled himself to the passage but slammed into a wall.

They were there, in the corridor he couldn't run down, the white shirted orderlies with a straight jacket, they were coming for him. Tube stumbled back to the operating table but saw the insect's apparently enlarged abdomen burst open and a swarm of locusts rush out towards him. Tube screamed as he felt sure they were going to eat him to the bone.

He closed his eyes and opened them later to a room without locusts. Was he a ghost? Whatever shadows there were in the room, they became darker and more threatening, they were moving, reaching out for him. Tube pressed his back to the wall.

One shadow in particular dropped from high up on the wall and ambulated towards him; it was as dark as any shadow with, what his bent vision made out to be, a giant top half and a small lower half. Tube tried to make out facial features on the approaching figure but where the face should be there was only darkness. For an instant he made out human eyes, but no; once again there was only darkness.

A swift lateral movement from the shadow and Dr Tube felt a sharp pain across his throat. He tried to tend to the pain but his hand felt warm gushing blood. His warped vision faded as did his life.

Irma Vep wiped her blade clean then approached the helpless and now frightened Gregor. She had turned off the fear gas, but the insect man was clearly affected. Before she released him, the gurney was wheeled out of the room. The bindings were severed and Gregor Samsa jumped off the table. This was open area and he knew the way to the volcano's mouth.

Gregor Samsa opened his elytra, spread his wings and flew into wide open volcano centre then upwards to the mouth. All people who were in the centre noticed his flight, some guards even fired their rifles at him, but Gregor stopped for nothing, his fear drove him out into the fresh air and open sky above.

Irma Vep knew Gregor was too afraid to stop and say thank you. What was important is that he got out of here.

Several guards noticed her standing outside the room. Irma fled back into the room and disappeared into the ventilation shaft.