The cliff face towered up before them. Waves smashed at its base. He imagined the orcas releasing the boat and leaving him to his fate. The boat would be wrecked and he would be thrown into the water. The orcas wouldn't need to tenderise him. The waves would do it for them.
Then he saw the cave. The entrance had been under water. Now it was exposed. He was reminded of the watergate at the Tower of London. Its other name was Traitors Gate. It was used when condemned prisoners were taken to the Tower for torture and execution.
The orcas negotiated the watergate with their usual skill and sped down a passage on the other side. It led to a vast cavern. The roof was domed and the space below was circular. A strange blue light illuminated the scene. Steps led to a landing stage at the far end.
A tall, gaunt figure stood there. He wore a blue robe and held a silver tablet between bony fingers. Other figures lurked in the background. They were brutish and armed with a variety of weapons. Some had ray guns like the girl used on the orcas. Others had spiked clubs and jagged swords that looked more like instruments of torture than weapons of war.
The man in blue wore an executioner's mask. Tom had the impression that he was being checked out against information stored on the tablet. He looked around for a way of escape and there wasn't one.
The man's eyes fastened on him. They shone from behind the mask and seemed to penetrate the innermost workings of his mind. Eventually, they moved away and dimmed. Tom watched as bony fingers returned the tablet to the gown.
He expected some sort of pronouncement but there wasn't one. Instead, a bony finger pointed to a passage at the rear. It was one of three. He guessed they led to very different places. His mind raced over the possibilities. A torture chamber might await him at the end of one and a warm welcome at another. There was no way of telling until he got there.