had to admit that he had never before seen such a stunning group of women. He

had a suspicion that they might be professionals, but if they were, they had

to

be the creme de la creme of their profession. He was getting altogether too

strong an exposure to beautiful women for one night, Royce thought. He made a

note to moderate his drinking for the remainder of the evening. In such

surroundings it would be all too easy for a man to make a fool of himself.

But then Royce noticed that it didn't seem as if that consideration was

affecting any of the other club members, all of them powerful and influential

men in government and industry. The normally staid and terribly proper judge

Featherstone was slamming down drinks like a paratrooper on leave, and the

conservative, respectable Queen's Counsel, Robert Paddington IV, had his arm

around one of the girls and seemed to be nibbling playfully on her ear. And

that

staunch septuagenarian, Lord Willoughby, actually had one of the young women

in

his lap and was openly fondling her. None of this seemed particularly

remarkable

to anyone, least of all Lord Carfax, who went on as if nothing out of the

ordinary was happening.

"Anyway, it's good to have you with us, Royce. I've actually been

anticipating

the pleasure of this meeting. I think you'll find that our little club has

some

unique attractions. And I don't mean only the ladies," he added with a

lecherous

smile. "Our meeting hall, for example, is something I'm particularly proud

of."

"Yes, I see there's quite a collection of books on hand," said Royce,

thinking

that Carfax was fishing for a compliment.

Carfax smiled. "Oh, I didn't mean the library," he said. "This is only the

antechamber, so to speak. " He glanced around. "Are we all assembled then?"

The lovely blonde had appeared unbidden at his elbow once again, as if he had

given her some sort of signal, though Royce hadn't noticed it if he had.

"Everyone is here, my lord," she said in her whispery voice. The doors to the

library were closed.

"Good." He clapped his hands together loudly. "Gentlemen, your attention,

please! Now that we all seem to be present and accounted for, let the meeting

come to order!"

From somewhere came the sound of a huge gong, and all the lights went out.

The

gong rang once again, a deafening sound, and Royce covered his ears. Suddenly

he

felt the floor moving underneath him. The entire floor of the library was

sinking, slowly descending down a huge shaft with walls of solid rock. If

there

was any sound of machinery, it was completely drowned out by the repeated

ringing of that giant gong. The sound grew louder and louder the farther they

descended. Soon they reached the bottom, and Royce saw an arched cavern

opening

appear where the entrance to the library had been. The opening was like the