The Black Scorpion Page #4

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It has been proved effective

against normal species.

Let us pray it works against

the Scorpionida rex.

If it does not...

...may God help all of you.

- Be ready at dawn.

- Is that all of them, lieutenant?

I want to do what I can too.

Seorita Alvarez,

I understand your emotions.

Believe me,

I'm not trying to be emotional.

- I wouldn't ask if I couldn't help.

- You don't know the hardships.

Dr. Velasco, Major Cosio, I know

this area like the palm of my hand...

...better than any man here.

I'm a good shot.

You said yourself, you needed

all the help you could get.

Seorita Alvarez, I think

you have found yourself a job.

Gentlemen...

...Major Cosio and I are planning this.

Note where the various

incidents have occurred.

I want to go with you.

I want to do a job.

Don't worry, Juanito.

We'll get together again.

That's a promise.

See if you can find

my boots for me, will you?

I know where they are.

- Here they are.

- Oh, good.

They are very, very fine boots.

You kind of like those, huh?

Tell you what, Juanito...

...when you get to be a big man,

I'll get you a pair just like these.

- I thank you, Mr. Hank.

- You like that, huh?

I know how to ride very good.

I know how to shoot very good.

I'm 7 and 1/2 years old.

That's almost a half a man.

"A half a man"?

Oh, Juanito, you know

sometimes even a half a man...

...has a lot of different jobs to do.

The most important job for you to do

is to take care of your grandmother.

She can take care of herself.

I know, but you've got plenty of time

to do more exciting things.

And you. You be very careful

and don't get hurt, won't you?

Don't worry, I promise.

And a full man never break his promise.

Okay.

Oh, I don't see a thing, Dr. Velasco.

Might as well go on.

All right.

Major.

- Yes.

- Tell your captain to hold...

...all the heavy equipment

until we call for it.

Okay, doctor.

- Here it is, a great big opening.

- I guess he found it, Dr. Velasco.

Yes.

Look, there's something wrong

with his horse. He's falling in!

Let's hurry up there, Hank.

Come on, let's go.

We must get down to the lower level.

This crevice is new. It must have opened

during one of the earthquakes.

- This looks like a job for us, doc.

- Of course.

No chance for Mendoza?

How deep do you say it is?

Doc and I have been

down many a cave...

...but there's no way of really telling

until you actually hit bottom.

The only way we can find out

is to go down there ourselves.

- What do you say, doc?

- Right.

Will that poisonous gas

work in a crevice this big?

I could not anticipate such a void as this.

It may dissipate.

Major, I think you better bring all your

heavy equipment up here:

Crane, tanks and all.

Captain, bring the crane

and all the heavy equipment.

You want my men to go down there?

- It's suicide.

- Don't worry about it.

Doc and I haven't had a decent

elevator ride in a long time.

Hank, please, no.

- What are you doing here?

- I'm a stowaway.

Juanito, do me a favor, will you,

and just stay out of the way?

- Yes, Mr. Hank.

- Good.

And just sit in the jeep

like a big boy, okay?

- Put these in the cage.

- Why the birds, professor?

If the birds stop singing,

that means there's poison gas in the cave.

Hank, you don't have to do it.

Neither of you. It's not your responsibility.

Whose responsibility is it?

The police, the army,

the people who live here.

Now, look, doc and I know more

about caves than anyone else here.

- Why did you do that?

- Maybe I just wanted to see what you'd do.

- What did I do?

- You did all right.

Seorita...

...you can help keep

the log of the descent.

How many meters down,

the reports which are made...

Sure, keep yourself busy. That's my theory.

Oh, and don't forget

to take care of little Juanito.

All right, take it down.

Doc, look down there.

Stop. Stop the cage a minute.

Stop.

Hank, are you all right?

It's the head of a scorpion in the wall.

Hold on a second.

- Okay, I got a picture of it. Lower on.

- All right, lower them down.

We've just hit bottom.

We're in a huge cavern.

I've never seen a cave so big in my life.

- Can you see any signs of Mendoza?

- No, not from here.

We'll take a look around.

- Well, the birds seem all right.

- Yeah.

Are you there, Hank?

Hank, answer.

Are you there, Hank?

Dr. Ramos. Dr. Ramos.

Hello. Hello.

Hello.

- Hello.

- Yes.

Mendoza's dead.

- We just saw a worm 30 feet long.

- Hank, please come up.

- Hank.

- No, we wanna look around a little more.

Hey, doc.

Over here.

- There must be a nest full of them.

- Yeah.

- It doesn't even penetrate it.

- Try another one.

No, wait.

That must be the

granddaddy of them all.

That's how they kill each other,

that spot in the throat.

That must be it.

Mr. Hank!

Help! Help!

Help!

Help!

Mr. Hank!

- It's Juanito.

- Help!

Help.

Mr. Hank, help!

Help!

Mr. Hank!

Stay back in the cave, Juanito.

All right. Come on, Juanito.

I told you to stay in the jeep.

What are you doing down here?

- I came to help you.

- To help us.

Oh, come on.

Mr. Hank. Mr. Hank, look.

- What's causing that?

- Dr. Ramos, are you there?

Are you there? Are you there, Dr. Ramos?

Hank, answer me.

- Block the crane, or it'll be pulled in.

- Throw some blocks under that crane.

There goes our cage, gas tanks, everything.

There's no weight on the cable.

Oh, no.

Take the cable, and send it

back down as fast as you can.

Bring it in slow.

- Maybe they are on it.

- Oh, pull it up. Please.

Keep bringing it in.

- Keep going, doc.

- Hang on, doc. You can make it.

- Keep going.

- Come on, hold on.

- What happened to Hank?

- Hank and Juanito are down there.

- Get a loop on the cable. Send it, quick.

- Make a loop on the cable.

Oh, Juanito.

Oh, Juanito, why did you do it?

I tried to help them.

It'll be dark in an hour, and

those scorpions'll come out again.

- You couldn't use the gas?

- No, we lost it in the molten lava.

There must be 50 of those

things down there.

Can't we close and seal

that opening with dynamite?

You have no idea as to the size of that

place. Wait till you see these pictures.

I want those pictures.

I even hoped to get a specimen.

Why, you couldn't get one of those things

out even with this crane.

Major, we must try to seal it shut with

an explosion. We must try before nightfall.

I thought you said scorpions could go

for months without food.

The giants don't last long. They eat

their own weight every three or four days.

But suppose they find another way?

Those passages down there.

This is the only place they have appeared.

This probably is their only exit

from the cavern.

- Major.

- Yes, doctor.

Let's close it.

Ready?

Let her go.

I guess that does it.

Midnight, and everyone goes back

to what he was before.

This isn't the end of anything,

not for us. It's the beginning.

Hank, all of us have done our work now...

...and thank heaven it can be done

without any more tragedy.

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