[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
section of wall. "Look!" He traced the block. "Help me!"
They scrabbled at it, then Arai said, "Zref, if it's a secret compartment, you
built it. Tell us the opening code!"
The yacht was making orbit, sending a shuttle down.
"Khelin you must know."
"I I can't remember."
"Think back to when we built the thing. It took a long time. When it was only
partly finished we kept it here, where it couldn't harm anything. Khelin when
you hid it I wasn't even aware of this hole. You must have remembered it as
you were preparing to flee. Think remember!"
They both ran hands over sections of wall around the corner, until Khelin rose
and spun about, and charged back to where his body lay. "Of course." He
pointed. "Under. Me."
Ley caught him away from the gruesome task, grunting,
"Not you." He gestured to Shui and Iraem. "See if we can move it without
breaking it."
"Don't watch," said Zref. But the kren was transfixed.
The carapace broke into several pieces, and the tufts of hair disintegrated.
But they got the thing moved aside with a lot less damage than expected. The
floor mosaic here looked the same as it did everywhere else.
Coughing, Khelin knelt and scraped dust aside. "A sensitive panel. I don't
know the combination "
Zref did. "I used my own name as it was when we built this. Fahamin. Kinrea
cursive script. I can still do it!" He knelt and traced the figure over the
sensitive area of the floor. It felt right but his hand should be a claw, and
there was a mental image trigger. What? Ah! The Crystal Crown!
"Waysjoff your hand again, please," said Zref. He traced the complex figure
several times, but even with Neini and Arai helping, the Jernal just couldn't
copy it.
"Waysjoff," said Zref, standing to ease his cramped legs. "Remember we talked
about heroics? Do you think do you think you could allow me to guide your
touch?"
It whimpered, and Zref wished he could snatch back his words. But he pressed,
"Thsee's entering atmosphere."
With the oddest sound Zref had ever heard from a Jernal, it agreed, hunching
down to hide its legs, allowing only the one claw-hand to protrude from its
pink fluff. "If there were any other way "said Zref.
"Just hurry," urged Waysjoff, trembling.
Non-Jernal had been prosecuted for assault for less. But Zref took the living
Page 112
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
tool, visualizing the Crown, and on the third try, the corner of the shallow
apex across from them slid out like a drawer.
They all rushed back the length of the chamber, Zref sliding to his knees in
front of the drawer. Arshel hung back, averting her gaze, radiating fear. Zref
said, over his shoulder, "Don't worry, it's deactivated now."
Reverentially, he shined his light within. At first sight, the Selector was an
unprepossessing globe of white crystal, with colorless windows showing a
complex inner structure. But in moments, it flared with invisible energy.
Zref knew the Selector was made of the same time-fixed substance as the
Crystal Crown. The Globe of Stars had sug-
gested its structure: nine spheres plus an elliptical spheroid, linked by two
triangles.
Zref reeled, his untrained brain unable to encompass it. Tucking his torch
under his arm, he lifted the Selector out of its dusty drawer. He rose letting
them get a good look at it, walked to the center of the chamber, and said,
"Arshel, because you've never been a Persuader, there's no guarantee you'd
survive looking into the Selector." And if she did, she'd become what she
feared most. "While we work, go out into the tunnel and turn your back on us.
Don't look!"
Absently hunting for something his arms and legs knew was there, he directed
the others to form a circle. Then he reached out to place the Selector on its
pedestal and found the floor rising to meet his hands.
He stared. A small round section of floor rose on a slender column and took
the Selector out of his grasp, elevating it to nose height. No doubt. We were
taller!
"Arshel!" he commanded, noticing her lingering despite his order. "In the
tunnel. Warn us when Thsee Rith comes."
She scuffed into the tunnel, with two torches, but Zref scarcely noticed. His
mind was probing the Selector, looking for cracks or discolorations of
dangerous deterioration. Yet he could simultaneously read his private file
drop.
"Have you found the Object yet? Rodeen."
"Yes, though it doesn't look very imposing. Zref."
"Package it carefully. Epitasis is standing by to bring you two directly here.
Thsee Rith has claimed it for Lantern. Move fast, she's in orbit though I've
had her landing privileges denied. Rodeen."
"She's on the surface here, gathering her allies among the workers. She'll
soon know where we are. Zref."
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]