Ordeal by Terror. Lloyd Biggle jr.

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СКАЧАТЬ tidied his appearance into a semblance of normality. They had sipped coffee and talked, but none of them had been able to suggest anything that seemed worth doing.

      Dolan, tilted back in his chair and staring with frustration at the glowing ceiling, needed only folded hands to resemble an uncouth saint praying for divine intervention. “Are you looking to heaven for help?” Adelle asked. Mockingly she raised her own eyes and lifted her hands supplicantly. Then, continuing to gaze upward, she remarked, “We came down through the ceiling. Why don’t we leave the same way?”

      The front legs of Dolan’s chair returned to the floor with a crash. He said resignedly, “Who could believe the mental storms that churn and fulminate behind that quiet countenance? If we give her a couple more minutes, she’ll tell us how to jump through the ceiling.”

      “Not jump,” Adelle said. “Stand on something.”

      “Mondor could stand on me, I suppose. Or you could. But it’s a dozen feet, at least, and even if we could reach the ceiling that way—

      “We could stand a bed on end,” Adelle said.

      “So we could. That would be better than using my shoulders. Higher, too. Let’s try it.”

      They had to take one of the beds apart in order to move it out of a cramped bedroom. They pushed the kitchen table aside so they could reassemble it and tilt it on end. Then they regarded it with skepticism.

      “If you two will keep it from tipping, I’ll give it a try,” Dolan said.

      “Better let me,” Adelle said. “I’m lightest.”

      “But I’m tallest. If it works, all three of us will have to use it. By the way—” He turned and scrutinized her. “You certainly dressed appropriately for this adventure. How’d you happen to wear trousers on the one day you needed them? One might almost think you were expecting this.”

      Adelle snapped her fingers. “Madam!”

      “What about Madam?”

      “All day yesterday she kept making comments about my pants suit. When I walked in yesterday morning, her jaw dropped so far I thought she was going to lose her lower plate. ‘They look nice, Darlink. Such a clever thing to wear.’ I thought it was because she’d never seen a pants suit before.”

      “Probably she wondered if you suspected something,” Dolan said. “You can have it out with her the next time you meet.”

      “I’ll have more than that out with her,” Adelle promised.

      “She certainly didn’t give me cause for suspicion,” Dolan said. “A few minutes before I hit the chute, I was joking with her. I told her we should include sections on humor in the books, giving examples of the kind of jokes the natives of each country would appreciate. I mean, if businessmen want to sell things in ridiculous places, there’s nothing like a good joke for loosening up a customer. She said she thought the businessmen were funny enough already.” He asked Mondor, “Did you notice anything peculiar?”

      “She put on an act for me about how excited she was to be getting a new computer. Said it’d been on order for two months. Whatever else she is, she’s certainly a glib liar. Let’s get on with this.”

      Mondor and Adelle stood on opposite sides of the bed with one foot on the headboard, which was on the floor; one hand raised to support the footboard; the other hand and a knee against one of the side rails. Dolan began to pull himself up. The side rails suddenly came loose, and the whole structure collapsed as they jumped clear.

      “Stand on a chair,” Adelle suggested. “You won’t have to climb so far.”

      “Point,” Dolan agreed. He moved a chair while they were reassembling the bed, and a moment later he was standing upright with his head just below the ceiling. He raised a plastic panel and slid it aside. The end of a fluorescent light fixture became visible, and, just above it, a ceiling painted with a glossy white paint.

      “Brace yourselves,” Dolan warned them. “I’m going to jump higher and try to get a glimpse above the panels.”

      He landed lightly, but they had to struggle to keep the bed upright. He slipped the panel back into place and eased himself down to the chair. “It’s a plywood ceiling,” he said as he hopped to the floor. “It’s nailed about every sixteen inches, which means there are joists or furring strips above it. The light fixtures are fastened to the plywood, and the panels are suspended about six inches below it. There’ll be an air space, maybe a small one, between the wood ceiling and the basement floor above. To get out of here, we’d have to hack through wood and then cement. There must be a better way.”

      “If we had tools, we might have a go at it,” Mondor said. “We’ve certainly got nothing else to do and nothing to lose.”

      Dolan nodded. “A sledge hammer would tear things up a bit, but we haven’t got one. Anyway, the racket would attract the goons.”

      “So much for my bright idea,” Adelle said.

      “You’re bright idea was admirable,” Dolan said. “The reason it doesn’t get us anywhere is because we’re using it in the wrong place. We should put the bed under one of the openings we fell through, but how would we go about finding it?”

      “Each of us landed in or near one of those silly test rooms,” Mondor said. “Maybe it was the same room. That’s where we should look.”

      They stood gazing uncertainly at the high ceiling. Adelle wondered whether they would be able to reach a trap and climb out even if they could find one.

      “We’ve certainly go nothing else to do and nothing to lose,” Mondor said finally. “That sounds familiar. Did you just say it or did I?”

      “It doesn’t matter,” Dolan said. “A banality doesn’t become wisdom through repetition, but in this case you’re right. We’ve nothing else to do and nothing to lose. The bed will be easier to carry if we take it apart.”

      They quickly disassembled it and divided up the pieces. Dolan, carrying the headboard, led the way. Adelle followed with the footboard, and Mondor trailed after them, awkwardly maneuvering the two side rails. They filed into the long alley by which all three of them had arrived at the kitchen, and there they halted. The alley ended a few feet away.

      “The bastards have changed it!” Dolan exclaimed.

      “Calling those bastards bastards is an insult to illegitimate children everywhere,” Mondor said sourly.

      Dolan bowed an acknowledgement. “You’re right. I should be able to do better than that. The putrid vermin have changed the maze.”

      Mondor said matter-of-factly, “We should have expected it. Scientists often change mazes to see how their subjects will react.”

      “I wonder if that’s what I heard during the night,” Adelle said.

      “Probably,” Mondor said. “What do we do now?”

      Dolan leaned on the headboard and fingered his beard thoughtfully. “I came from that way,” he said, pointing. “The opening leads into a short alley, and there’s another coming in from the right—left, going the other way—just before it dead-ends. СКАЧАТЬ