Flash Gordon 3 - The Space Circus by Alex Raymond

mosquitoes off his bare arm. “You fellows won’t make a meal of me.”
    Sixy brushed a swirl of hundreds of silvery little gnats away from his face. “Look here, Flash,” he said.
    “What is it?”
    “There’s a print made by Narla,” said Sixy. “Means they set her down at this point and let her walk.”
    “So at least we know she’s okay,” said Flash.
    “She can walk, anyway.”
    A dozen monkeys swung through the trees about fifty feet above, chittering. Part of a red banana skin came spinning down to splat on Mallox’s head.
    “Little polka-dot devils,” he hollered up at the swinging monkeys.
    Jape had the earphones of the radio on again. He removed them now as he came up beside Flash. “The militia is still searching for us,” he said. “They report they will soon have us all in captivity.”
    “No mention of Narla and Booker then?” asked Flash.
    “None.”
    “Then these are definitely slavers we’re tracking,” said Flash. “If the militia had got them, they’d be bragging about it by now.”
    “Yes, I agree,” said the four-armed man. “One thing I’ve learned from listening to all this: they sound very stubborn, very determined. I don’t think they’re likely to give up hunting us.”
    “Once we find Narla and Booker,” said Flash, “we might turn the tables and start hunting the militia.”
    Mallox slapped at the steamy afternoon air. “Watch what you try, little red rascal.” A tiny hovering bird had just taken a peck at his ear.
    “There’s something about you that seems to attract the wildlife,” said Huk.
    “You’d expect the birds at least to prefer you,” growled the strongman.
    “Huh?” said Sixy, who was at the head of the procession. He halted, squatted down, and poked at the ground with toes and fingers. “That’s interesting.”
    Flash joined him. “Seems they split up at this point.”
    “Yes, some of them went north and the rest south.”
    “What about our friends?” asked Jape.
    Sixy put his face close to the ground. “I think three of the slavers took Booker with them and headed to the north,” he said after several quiet seconds. “The other two boys kept Narla with them and went that way.”
    “It could have something to do,” suggested Flash, “with where they intend to sell Narla and Booker.”
    “Different markets,” said Huk. “That might be it.”
    “I don’t like this,” said Mallox, making huge fists out of his hands. “Selling a woman to a circus is one thing, but these blue devils more than likely have something much worse in mind for Narla.”
    “We’ll have to stop them,” said Flash.
    “As far as I’m concerned,” said the strongman, “they can have Booker. We’ll save the girl.”
    “No,” said Huk. “We have to try to rescue both of them.”
    “Man,” said the giant, “we’re fugitives. You can forget about your fancy rules and beliefs. What I’m concerned about is staying alive.”
    “We’re going to stay concerned with each other,” said Jape. “That’s just the way it is, Mallox. We can’t make you do what you won’t, but you can’t keep us from doing what we have to do.”
    “And what might that be?”
    “We obviously have to separate here.”
    “All right, you go find Booker,” said Mallox. “The rest of us—”
    “Try to be as sensible as I know you are,” said the hawkman. “We have evidence right here on the ground before us that three men have taken Booker with them. Therefore, we’re going to need the majority of our group to rescue him.”
    “Nonsense,” said the giant. “Why I could handle three men myself.”
    “Very well,” said Huk, “then lets you and I go after Booker.”
    Mallox snorted, scratched his fingers across his chest. “Very well, Huk. I’ll go with you to see they don’t pluck your feathers and roast you on a spit.”
    “I’ll appreciate that,” said the hawkman, giving his wings a flap.
    “Maybe I’d better go with you, too,” said Sixy. “To