A few minutes later, Gaffer and the Arses came to the foot of the stairs, where another ordinary control panel sat.
"Could be o booby Irep," he signed. "Stand bach a ways while I try the lock."
Neither Coeur not Physic offered any argument, backing up the stairs and kneeling down with their backs turned to Caffer. That precaution seemed over-excessive a moment later, when the door before Caffer opened without so much as asking for a pass code or security key. The cavernous space on the other side of the door then Illuminated automatically, spilling brilliant light into the stairwell—light that would have dazzled the spacers were it not for the automatic filters of their synthetic vision.
"Looks all right, skipper. You can come on down."
"Anything down there?" Coeur asked, standing back up, lifting up her goggles and starting down with Physic.
"I'd say so. Nave a look."
"Holy Gala," Physic said, arriving beside Caffer. That looks like...."
"It Is," Coeur said, fishing her computer out of Its pocket and raising it up to access a picture of the very piece of machinery that now sat before them. "Zero's Wack globe generator."
* * »
To people who didn't have much personal experience with force field generators, one such device pretty much looked like any other one. Technical archivists, however, knew the unique configurations of many models In pre-Collapse service, and gave Coeur a checklist of features unique to the Imperial Aslotcch FEFG Mk I—Zero's black globe—and some routine diagnostic guidelines to determine if It was functional. Her first task, after letting her pulse settle to a manageable level, was to enter the room before her and examine the three-meter-diameter sphere inside, by far its largest occupant, at close range.
This is damn strange," Gaffer said, looking around the rest of the 100-square-meterchamber, littered with supply crates. There don't seem to be any other doors."
"Well, except for that one," Physic observed, pointing at the celling 20 meters overhead. There, ringed by the high-tech light strip that illuminated the entire chamber, was the corrugated underside of a double door clearly designed to permit access from above. "But check those out, up on the wall."
"Yeah," Gaffer said, observing a pair of Inert holographic cameras gazing down at the floor from mounting brackets lour meters up on opposite walls of the chamber. "Surveillance cameras."
"Suppose they're still working?"
"Probably not," Gaffer said. "They look like they've been shot up by small arms."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Physic said, stooping to pick up a handful of shell casings.
"Looit like 9mm pistol ammo," Gaffer observed, "although If s strange That somebody could fire off a pistol or submachlnegun without having somebody here notice, or at least come to fix the cameras."
"Yeah, that Is odd. Maybe this is just an automated station."
"Well, whatever It Is," Gaffer said, "I don't think this one chamber alone qualifies as a depot"
"Maybe not," Coeur said, stepping away from the force field generator, set on a heavy tripod and trailing conduits for connection to a ship's capacitors, "but this Is certainly the device Zero discovered."
"Wow," Physic said. "I guess he never get around to removing It."
"Actually, he might have left It here on purpose. At least he would If he knew anything about black globe generators."
"What do you mean?" Gaffer asked.
"This one's seriously damaged," Coeur explained. "I loosened an access plate to get a look Inside, and It looks like the whole core's burnt up, as If It absorbed too much energy and couldn't shunt It."
"You mean Ifs a piece of junk?" Physic asked.
"Hardly junk," Coeur said. "It certainly has value as high-tech scrap. But as far as Installing It on a starship goes—forget about It,"
"Well," Gaffer said, "I'll be damned."
"Actually, It's good news for us, since K means this particular globe won't be Installed on any of our enemies' ships "
"Yeah," Physic said, "but what about the depot?"
Coeur smirked, looking around at the blank walls of the chamber. As Gaffer and Physic had observed, there were noother exits except the celling and the hatch they'd come In through, and there was nothing on the floor except the generator and a handful of scattered equipment craies.
Yes, Coeur thought, what about the depot? All this distance— and two lost men—to lind out thoi Zero had the wrong location in the first place.
Damn!
"Well," Coeur said, "wherever It Is, this doesn't seem to be It But let's take a few minutes before we leave to examine those supply crates anyway—just SO we'll know what's In them."
Mindful of the need to get back to the surface and report. Coeur didn't press her people to catalog the Items Inside the chamber once it became clear that the crates were packed with TL14-15 circuit boards and machine parts. But at the same time she couldn't escape the suspicion that some persistent intelligence occupied parts of the facility hidden from view, and that she'd better get as much intelligence about the black globe chamberas she could before someone showed up to forcibly evict them.
But they did remain long enough for Physic to find something ratherunusual in acornerof the chamber. Resembling a transparent spherical fishbowl, it might have beentne helmet of a vac suit, except that the hole in the bottom was far too narrow for any human being to put his head into.
"What the hell is that?" Caffer asked.
"I don't know," Physic said, cradling the globe In her arms. "But Ifs got a crack here In the side, like somebody threw It up against the wall. You have any idea, Red?*'
"Yes I do," Coeur said, smiling. "It's a holoball."
"A hoio-what?" Physic asked.
"Well, basically," Coeur said, "ifs a gadget for projecting freestanding holograms. They used to be fairly common before the Collapse,"
"Do you mean free-standing, like In mid-air?"
"No, not quite. See this lump on the bottom here, opposite tlie hole? That ejects a mist of gas Into the globe, and a laser uses that as a holographic medium."
"So what's the hole for?"
"That's what you put your hand Into, Sensors Inside detect where your fingers are and let you manipulate the Image Inside. You could even draw Inside the gas cloud, if you wanted to."
"Sounds interesting," Caffer said. "What's It for?"
"It's a toy, mostly."
"Mostly?" Physic asked.
"A few of them did have other uses. Here, let me see IT"
Physic handed over the globe, and Coeur took It with casual familiarity. Although the plastic shell was cracked, that damage was evidently cosmetic, for Coeur managed to summon an image without too much difficulty.
"Neat," Caffer said. "So what does it do?"
"Ifs a key," Coeursaid. "A key to unlock some hidden facility*
What she meant wasn't Immediately apparent to the others. Inside the globe was only a fairly simple image—three blue women opposite three red water wells—projected on the side of the ball. Clarifying the purpose of this Image, though, was a legend suspended in mid-air above the globe:
CONNECT EACH WOMAN TO EACH WELL IN SUCH A MANNER THAT THEIR PATHS DO NOT CROSS
"So whal's the big deal?" Calfer asked.
"Well, I know this much," Physic said, "that's an impossible puzzle. You can't connect all three women to all three wells without having the paths cross at least once."
"Ah," Coeur said, "but you don't know the trick."
"The trick?"
"Yeah. Watch."
Cradling the globe in the crook of her left arm, Coeur then Inserted her right hand into the aperture. A tickling sensation played across her skin—the discharge of gas replacing that lost through the aperture—but she expected that and brought the tip of her forefinger into contact with one of the Stylized women. She then traced aline from that woman to the nearest well, dragging an illuminated line behind her finger that remained in place after the two figures were connected.
"Nifty," Caffe
rsaid.
Coeur meanwhile pressed on, systematically connecting the women to their wells until eight glowing lines, some long and convoluted to avoid crossing the others, decorated the interior surface of the holoball. As Physic predicted, though, the ninth line—the one that would complete the puzzle—could not be drawn.
"See?" Physic said. "You can't solve the puzzle."
"No," Coeur said, "it can still be solved. The secret is to draw the last line anyway—by leaving the surface of the holoball."
"But," Physic protested, "that's cheating,"
"Well, yes and no," Coeur said, "not really. You see, what this holoball was originally designed for was to keep your kxal citizens—you know, the odd peasant wandering around the countryside—from getting too deep into an abandoned, unguarded facility. People like that—people who weren't familiar with holography—would almost never think to cheat and draw the last line through the air inside the ball."
"Oh, I get rt," Caffer said. "You'd put a holoball in an antechamber or airlock, and connect it to the lock mechanism."
"Right."
"But there's nothing like that in here,"
"No." Coeur said, "so this device is probably just something somebody left lying around uninstalled."
"Well, I'll bedamned, "Caffersaid, "and that actually worked?"
"More often than you'd think," Coeursaid "Unless you live in an advanced society, with holographic displays, you get used to thinking in two dimensions."
"Yeah," Caffer said, "but wasn't Mexit a high-tech world before The Collapse? Wouldn't the average bumpkin have been familiar with holography?"
Coeur shrugged "It's hard to say. Just because a wo;Id was high tech didn't mean every last citizen got the benefit of that technology- -and even if they did, a world in a war zone like ihls could get pretty worked over. I doubt there were many people living at lech level 15 by the time the Collapse rolled around."
"Even so," Physic observed, "what's to keep somebody from accidentally drawing the last line to the last well and triggering the lock that way?"
"The people who designed the puzzle thought about that, too. You have to trace the last line four times, or the computer won't unlock whatever the puzzle's attached to."
Coeur paused a moment, looking at the cracked outer shell of the holoball.
"As a matter of (act," she said, smiling, "that's probably how this crack got In the holoball. Zero probably tried to solve the puzzle and threw it against the waN when he couldn't figure It out."
"Then I suppose he shot out the holocameras," Caffer speculated.
"Yeah," Coeur said, "that sounds like him. He didn't get his callslgn for nothing."
"Okay, Red," Physic said, "let'ssiopwaitingforyoutodropthe other shoe. Why don't you go ahead and draw the last line."
"Okay."
Coeur connected the last woman to the last well, confirming her ancient knowledge when the ninth line appeared ofter it was drawn invisibly four times.
SUCCESS, the globe announced.
Then, the side hatch leading to the stairwell slammed shut.
And the floor began to drop.
"Uh-oh," Physic said.
"Ohfikk," Coeur said, setting the globe down and dashing for the one available exit with Caffer It held last—even against the first sergeant's determined strength—and rapidly passed out of reach as the entire floor descended down what must be the shaft of a gigantic elevator.
"Well, I guess I was wrong," Coeur said, turning helplessly to her comrades. "I guess the lock was connected."
» * ■
Although the black globe generator wasn't very large, just three meters across, Coeur knew the FeFC Mk I massed at least 135 tonnes, and that kind of mass could not be borne by ordinary flooring. It stood to reason, therefore, that the descending floor was part of a heavy equipment lift, probably intended to shuttle such massive objects as the black globe generator up to the surface.
But shuttle them up from where?
"Anyideahowdeepweare?* Physic said, alter 20 seconds had passed and the floor still hadn't stopped. Now deep in the lift shaft, she and the others were only dimly lit by the ring of light at its top, though lesser rings of light set into the wallsof the shaft at 10 meter intervals let Coeur and Physic continue to leave their WSV goggles off.
"Looks like about I 50 meters," Gaffer said, aiming his arm with its integral laser rangefinder at the double doors now distant above and taking a reading.
"But we're still dropping," Physic said. "How deep could It go?"
"It's probably some sort of maglev system," Coeur said, "which means this pad could be the only moving part."
"So it might go a lot farther," Gaffer observed, bringing his fusion gun up in a cautionary stance.
"I wouldn't be surprised," Coeur answered, secretly remembering shafts like this that she'd seen sunk over a kilometer into the earth.
This shaft didn't go quite that far, however, just 30 seconds later—at a depth of 300 meters—the lift slowed to a gentle stop before a colossal, cross-braced metal door spanning one entire side of theshaft. Nearby were an ordinary electronic control panel and an emergency door release, the latter In the form of a pull-out handle recessed into the wall.
"This where we get off?" Physic asked, cautiously reverting to Anslan.
" Looks like It, "Coeur said, bringing her gauss rifle off her back, "but you'd better draw your pistol, doc. Co ahead and try the door, Coffer"
"Okay."
To no one's surprise, the control panel did not function, but the emergency release did, and Gaffer dashed behind the black globe with the Arses for cover as the gigantic door lifted ponderously into its hidden frame.
"Remember," he whispered to the others, as illumination from beyond the door began to flood the lift, "rf there's any fire, I'll take anyone in armor."
"I'll keep It under advisement," Physic whispered back, perfectly aware that her very deadly point-defense laser would be perfectly useless against anyone wearing full rigid armor.
The necessity for tactical formulation receded, however, as the door raised to its full height and exposed the cavernous volume beyond.
"Fuck," Gaffer said.
"Yeah," Physic seconded, "that's. ..big."
Under a ceiling that stood AO meters high, supported by beams that would have dwarfed a Tenan redwood, stood racks and racks of military hardware—bombs in stacks, APCs in tidy rows, and even complete S08s—parked in glistening, pristine perfection beneath over a square kilometer of light panels, "Well, it maybe big," Coeur said finally, standing upfromher cautious crouch and walking around the front of the black globe generator: "but it's also our only way out of this shaft, so let's move out."
Before doing anything else, Coeur checked the control panel ontheothersideofthelift door, although she could predict what she would find.
"Ifs activated," she said, "but It needs a security pass key."
"Go figure," Physic mumbled.
"What about you, Gaffer? You see anything?"
"Affirmative. I see humans—well, human-sized targets, anyway—about 500 meters ahead, down this big aisle ahead of us."
"Yeah," Coeur said, reshoufdertng her rifle and lilting her PRIS back up to her eyes, "those look like humans all right. Maybe mechanics, judging by those jumpsuits."
"Suppose they could have missed seeing that door open?" Physic asked.
"Probably not," Coeur said, lowering the PRIS, "but we are a long way off, and they might have thought It was a routine movement."
"Well, hell," Gaffer said, pointing at amlrrored hemisphere on the nearest wall, "it's not tike they don't have security sensors. They must know we're here."
"Good point," Coeur agreed. "But all the same, let's move out and try to make contact"
As before, the party advanced with Gaffer in the lead, th.ough this time the women walked side by-side behind him, trying to look as harmless as possible with their weapons slung and bolstered.
"Damn, but that battle dre
ss is loud," Pnyslc whispered, consciously aware for the first time of the 400 kg suit's whining servos and thudding footsteps.
"What do you want," Gaffer said, "that I should take It off?"
"No, that's all right," Physic said, warily eyeing the armaments all around them. "You keep it on."
As they began to pass the first aisles of stacked equipment, Coeur asked, "Do you see those people off to the left and the right?"
"Yeah," Physic said. "None of them seem to notice us,"
"I doubt if s going to stay that way for long. Caffer, do you have your recorder rolling?"
"Oh, damn, I forgot! Thanks for reminding me,"
Considering the distance to the people ahead, Coeur knew there'd be time enough to make recordings before they so much as got within shouting distance.
The real question, Coeur thought, is whether well ever gel those recordings out of this place.
for her own part, Coeur took careful note of the contents of the facility, committing to memory her estimate of equipment numbers: so many AFVs, so many bombs and missiles, so many spinal energy weapons, but no more black globe generators.
Thank Cod for smoll favors, fhis ploce could olready supply the whole Solee fleet as it is..,.
Calculation of the depot's assets came to a sudden halt when public address horns suddenly blared out a triple tone, synchronized with flickering of the ceiling lights. The various people on the depot floor, until then oblivious to Coeur and her party, seemed to come to attention as a mass, discern the presence of Intruders and run away as quickly as possible.
"Uh-oh," Physic said.
"Uh-oh's right," Coeur agreed, stopping with the others. "I think we've been spotted,"
"Maybe we should take cover," Caffer suggested.
"No, I don't think so," Coeur said. "Those are napalm bombs off to the right, and chemical munitions off to the left—not ideal cover."
"It's always something."
The spacers stood their ground, even when the lights overhead focused into an intense spotlight directed at them, and the surrounding floor darkened proportionately.
Then, seemingly out of nowhere, three beams of light descended from the ceiling perhaps 100 meters ahead, illuminating figures of blazing brilliance. One, in the center, was a hooded form with hands and lace cloaked, but Its escorts were angelic In beauty, wit hf lowing white gowns, beatific faces and shimmering wings.
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