Duke Elric - Michael Moorcock [109]
The doorway once again revealed, Begg took a small but powerful electric lantern from his overcoat pocket. With a serviceable Webley.45 revolver in his other hand, he led the way down into the echoing darkness. The two sergeants were left behind to guard the entrance.
From somewhere below came a slow, rhythmic, tuneful booming, as of some great clock. Familiar to three of the detectives, the sound caused in each man a thrill of horror. For a second Begg hesitated. Then he continued down the long flight of stone steps which revealed, by the marks in the mould which grew inches thick upon them, recent usage.
Only LeBec had never before heard the thrumming sound. “What on earth is it?” he enquired of Sinclair.
The pathologist drew his brows together, clearly wondering if he should reply. Then he spoke rapidly and quietly: “Well, firstly, old man, it is not exactly of OUT earth. It is what we, who have traveled frequently between the worlds, sometimes refer to as the Cosmic Regulator. Others know it as the Grand Balance. I have heard it more than once but have never seen it. There are many conflicting descriptions. Perhaps every person who has seen it has imposed their own image upon it. The Regulator is said to lie at the very centre of the multiverse, if the multiverse can be said to possess a centre.”
“Have you ever known anyone who has seen it?” whispered LeBec, wiping cold sweat from his brow. He had only recently been transferred to the STP.
Sinclair nodded. “I believe both Begg and Lapointe have set eyes on it, but even they, articulate as they are, have never described it. It is often represented in mythological iconography as a kind of scale, with one side representing Chaos and the other Law, but no-one knows its true form, if it has one.”
“Law and Chaos? Are those not Zoroastrian conceptions? The forces which war for control of the world?”
“So far no-one has ever gained power over the Balance, but should someone eventually succeed it will mean the end of time but not of consciousness. If Chaos or Law controls existence, we shall all continue to live at the exact moment prior to the extinction of everything. For eternity! Or so the theory goes. But there will always be madmen to challenge that conception, to believe that by controlling the Cosmic Balance they can exert their own desired reality upon the multiverse. Heaven help us if Hitler and his lunatics have in mind such an attempt!”
Only half comprehending this idea, LeBec firmed his shoulders and continued to follow Begg's thin ray of light down into the sonorous darkness.
CHAPTER FOUR
The Roads Between the Worlds
As they reached the bottom of the steps, they found themselves on uneven flagstones peering through a series of vaults supported by ancient pillars.
“No doubt,” suggested Sinclair, “these are your famous Parisian catacombs?”
“Possibly. I am not familiar with every aspect of them.” LeBec peered into the rustling darkness.
The strange, distant booming continued. Was the noise mechanical or natural? Lapointe and Begg both cocked their heads to listen. The echoes resounding through the vaults made it almost impossible to determine their source. At one moment Sinclair thought it might be water, at another, some sort of engine. But he was also of a disposition to discount his own metaphysical speculation.
The vaults seemed endless, and their darkness sucked the light from Begg's lantern, yet the detective continued to lead the way as if he had some idea where an exit might be.
“The arcades above us are a maze,” remarked Lapointe, “which to some degree duplicate this second maze below.”
“Remarkable,” murmured Begg. “I had some idea of what to expect but did not realize we were so close to the Regulator. This is not the first time I have used such a gate myself to move between one reality and another. But I have never before felt so near the centre.