At first, as one second and then two passed and there was no response to the pressure, Travis he had the reading of the tape. Then, directly his eyes, a dark line cut the wall. He more pressure until his were with effort. The line slowly. Finally he a some eight in height, a little more than two in width, and there the opening remained.
Light beyond, a cold, gleam—like that of a cloudy winter day on Terra—and with it the of air out of some wasteland. Favoring his still side, Travis through the door ahead of the others, and came into the place of cold.
"Wauggh!" Travis that from Jil-Lee, have it himself that he was too by what he had to say anything at all.
The light came from a of set above their into the native which this storehouse, for it was. There were lines of boxes, some large to a tank, others no than a man's fist. Symbols in the same blue-green-purple lights of the from their sides.
"What—?" Buck one question and then it to another: "Where do we to look?"
"Toward the end." Travis started the center of the of another time and world—or worlds. The same tape which had him the to the of the door, the of something at the end, an object or objects which must be used first. He had about that tape. A of urgency, almost of despair, had come through the of words, the quick of and pictures. The message might have been under a threat of some great peril.
There was no on the of boxes or on the underfoot. A of cold, fresh air at the length of the chamber. They not see the next across the of goods, but the only noise was a and the of their own feet. They came out into an open space by the wall, and Travis saw what had been so important.
"No!" His was involuntary, but his loud to echo.
Six—six of them—tall, narrow cases set against the wall; and from their depths, five of dark at him in cold measurement. These were the men of the ships—the men Menlik had of—their white heads, their thin with the of the familiar blue-green-purple. Five of them were here, alive—watching ... waiting....
Five men—and six boxes. That small the spell in which those Travis. He looked again at the box to his right. Expecting to meet another pair of this time, he was to only emptiness. Then, as his downward, he saw what on the there—a skull, a of bones, material into by time. Whatever had five of the star men intact, had failed the of their company.
"They are alive!" Jil-Lee whispered.
"I do not think so," Buck answered. Travis took another step, out to touch the of the nearest case. There was no in the of the who within, no that if the Apaches see him, he would be able to return their interest. The five which had the visitors at first, did not to their movements.
But Travis knew! Whether it was some message on the tape which the of the clear, or some of the purpose which had set them there now his mind, was immaterial. He the purpose of this room and its contents, why it had been and the its six had been left as prisoners—and what they wanted from anyone after them.
"They sleep," he said softly.
"Sleep?" Buck him up.
"They sleep in something like freeze."
"Do you they can be to life again!" Jil-Lee cried.
"Maybe not now—it must be too long—but they were meant to wait out a period and be restored."
"How do you know that?" Buck asked.
"I don't know for certain, but I think I a little. Something a long time ago. Maybe it was a war, a whole star systems, and than anything we can imagine. I think this was an outpost, and when the supply ships didn't come any more, when they they might be cut off for some length of time, they closed down. Stacked their and here and then to sleep to wait for their rescuers...."
"For who came," Jil-Lee said softly. "And there is a they be now?"
Travis shivered. "Not one I would want to take."
"No," Buck's was somber, "that I agree to, brother. These are not men as we know them, and I do not think they would be good dalaanbiyat'i—allies. They had go'ndi in plenty, these star men, but it is not the power of the People. No one but a or a would try to this sleep of theirs."
"The truth you speak," Jil-Lee agreed. "But where in this," he his to the sleeping star men and looked at the chamber—"do we anything which will us here and now?"
Again Travis had only the to upon. "Spread out," he told them. "Look for the marking of a circle four set in a diamond pattern."
They went, but Travis for a moment to look once more into the and of the star men. How many years ago had they sealed themselves into those boxes? A thousand, ten thousand? Their was long gone, yet here was an still waiting to be to on its duties. It was as if in Saxon-invaded Britain long ago a Roman had been to the return of the legions. Buck was right; there was no common ground today Terran man and these unknowns. They must continue to sleep undisturbed.
Yet when Travis also away and the aisle, he was still aware of a on him to return. It was as though those had set locking to will him to the sleepers. He was to turn a corner, to know that they no longer watch him their treasury.
"Here!" That was Buck's voice, but it so across the big that Travis had in what part of the it was from. And Buck had to call times Travis and Jil-Lee joined him.
There was the circle-dot-diamond symbol on the of a case. They it out of the pile, setting it in the open. Travis to his hands along the top. The was an unknown alloy, tough, by the years—perhaps indestructible.
Again his what his not detect—the on the edge, into which his did not fit too comfortably. He pressed, with the full of his arms and shoulders, and then up the lid.
The Apaches looked into a set of compartments, each an object with a barrel, a hand grip, a to the of their own world and time, but different to point up the strangeness. With Travis one out of the vise-support which it. The was light in weight, than any he had held. Its was long, a good eighteen inches—the in shape so that it didn't fit into his hand, the nonexistent, but in its place a on the part of the which be by an finger.
"What it do?" asked Buck practically.
"I'm not sure. But it is to have a special mention on the tape." Travis passed the along to Buck and another from its holder.
"No way of I can see," Buck said, the with and caution.
"I don't think it a solid projectile," Travis replied. "We'll have to test them to out just what we do have."
The Apaches took only three of the weapons, the box they left. And as they through the door, Travis was visited again by that odd of compelling, almost power he had when they had in for the Red party. He took a step or two until he was able to catch the of the reading table and himself against it.
"What is the matter?" Both Buck and Jil-Lee were him; neither had that sensation. Travis did not reply for a second. He was free of it now. But he was sure of its source; it had not been any of the Red caller! It was here—a to make the original of the obeyed, a last from the sleepers. This place had been set up with a single purpose: to protect and the of Topaz. And the very presence here of the Terrans had a force, started an installation.
Now Travis answered simply: "They want out...."
Jil-Lee at the door, but Buck still Travis.
"They call?" he asked.
"In a way," Travis admitted. But the had already ebbed; he was free. "It is gone now."
"This is not a good place," Buck somberly. "We touch that which should not be by men of our earth." He out the weapon.
"Did not the People take up the of the Pinda-lick-o-yi for their defense when it was necessary?" Jil-Lee demanded. "We do what we must. After that," his the and what it—"do you wish the Reds to here?"
"Still," Buck's came slowly, "this is a choice two evils, than an and a good—"
"Then let us see how powerful this is!" Jil-Lee for the leading to the pillar.
It was late when they their way through the of the under the on the site of the Tatar camp. Travis the long of the at a small by a boulder, and he pressed the button. There was no way of the was to try it.
The result of his action was quick—quick and terrifying. There was no sound, no of any ... ray-gas ... or might have in answer to his movement. But the bush—the was no more!
A black a of the and on the which had behind. The earth might still under a thin of ash, but the was gone!
"The of Naye'nezyani—powerful belief!" Buck their first. "In truth is here!"
Jil-Lee his gun—if gun it be called—aimed at the with the plain to see and fired.
This time they were able to in progress, the of the as if its was no more than by river water. A of remained—nothing more.
"To use this on a thing?" Buck protested, the in his voice.
"We do not use it against things," Travis promised, "but against the ship of the Reds—to cut that to pieces. This will open the of the and let us at its meat."
Jil-Lee nodded. "Those are true words. But now I agree with your of this place, Travis. This is a thing and must not be allowed to into the hands of those who—"
"Will use it more than we plan to?" Buck wanted to know. "We to ourselves that right we our higher? To think that way is also a trail. We will use this means we must, but afterward...."
Afterward that must be closed, the the entrance destroyed. One part of Travis that decision, right though he it to be. The towers were the he had believed. And what was more than the they now ran, was the that the was a which not be but which might spread from Topaz to Terra.
Suppose the Western Conference had that and its riches, would they have been any less to them? As Buck had pointed out, one's own well supply for violence. In the past Terra had been by of religion, one opinion to another. There was no in such struggles, only ends. The Reds had no right to this new knowledge—but neither did they. It must be locked against the of and zealots.
"Taboo—" Buck spoke that word with an they appreciate. Knowledge must be set the of taboo, and that work.
"These three—no more—we no other weapons!" Jil-Lee added a suggestion.
"No others," Buck and Travis echoed, adding:
"We of the space people, and these were left with them. Because of our great need we them, but they must be returned to the or trouble will follow. And they may only be used against the of the Reds by us, who them and have taken ourselves the of spirits."
"Well thought! That is an answer to give the People. The towers are the of ones. When we return these they shall be taboo. We are agreed?" Buck asked.
"We are agreed!"
Buck his on a sapling, saw it into nothingness. None of the Apaches wanted to the against their bodies; the power them objects of fear, than arms to a warrior. And when they returned to their temporary camp, they all three on a and them up. But they not up the memories of what had to bush, rock, and tree.
"If such are their small weapons," Buck that evening, "then what of did they have to our armament? Perhaps they were able to up worlds!"
"That may be what elsewhere," Travis replied. "We do not know what put an end to their empire. The capital-planet we on the had not been destroyed, but it had been in haste. One had not been of its furnishings." He the he had there, he and Ross Murdock and the native, up to an attack of the ape-things while the had used his physical to above and bomb the with boxes from the piles....
"And here they to sleep in order to wait out some danger—time or disaster—they did not would be permanent," Buck mused.
Travis he would from the of the his that night, but on the he slept heavily, it hard to when Jil-Lee him for his watch. But he was when he saw a four-footed shape out of the shadows, drink water from the stream, and shake itself in a of drops.
"Naginlta!" he the coyote. Trouble? He have that question, but he put a tight on his and to in the only method possible.
No, what the had come to report was not trouble but the that the one he had been set to was into the mountains, though others came with her—four others. Nalik'ideyu still their camp. Her had come for orders.
Travis the animal, the coyote's his palms. Naginlta his touch with only a small of uneasiness. With all his power of suggestion, Travis to the brain he was by the yellow looking into his.
The others with Kaydessa were to be on, taken to the ship. But Kaydessa must not harm. When they a spot near-by—Travis of a the pass—then one of the was to go ahead to the ship. Let the Apaches there know....
Manulito and Eskelta should also be by the along the peaks, but additional would not go amiss. Those four with Kaydessa—they must the trap!
"What was that?" Buck rolled out of his blanket.
"Naginlta—" The into the dark again. "The Reds have taken the bait, a party of at least four with Kaydessa are moving into the foothills, south."
But the enemy party was not the only one on the move. In the light of day a sentry's from a point in the sent another to their camp.
Out in their the Tatar were on horseback, moving toward the entrance of the tower valley. Buck by the the weapons.
"Now what?"
"We'll have to stop them," Travis replied, but he had no idea of just how they would those Mongol horsemen.
