There were rumors, of course, Flar said, stepping inside, but I dont think I ever got very far down any of the unused corridors when I was a weyrling. Did you, Lytol?
The Lord Warder snorted irritably but now that he knew Jaxom was all right, he could not resist looking in.
Perhaps you should give him leave to prowl in Ruatha if he can find treasure rooms like this one, Robinton suggested slyly. And what under the sun could this represent? Lessa, youre our expert on wall hangings, what do you say?
He pointed to a drawing, composed of weird interconnecting varicolored rods and balls which spread in several ladder-like columns from floor to ceiling.
I wouldnt call it artistic, but the colors are pretty, she said, peering closely at the wall. She touched a portion with a finger. Why, the color is baked on the wall. And look here! Someone didnt like it although I dont think their correction helps. Its more a scribble than a design. And its not even in the same type of coloring.
Fandarel scrutinized the drawing, his nose an inch from the wall. Odd. Very odd. Then he moved off to other wonders, his huge hands reverently caressing the metallic counters, the hanging shelves. His expression was so rapt that Lessa suppressed a giggle. Simply amazing. I believe that this countertop was extruded in a single sheet. He clucked to himself. If it has been done, it can be done. I must think about it.
Flar was more interested in the scribble-design. There was something tantalizingly familiar about it.
Lessa, Id swear Ive seen just such a nonsense before.
But weve never been here. No one has.
Ive got it. Its like the pattern on that metal plate Fnor found at Fort Weyr. The one that mentioned fire lizards. See, this word, his finger traced lines that would read eureka to older eyes, is the same. Id swear it. And it was obviously added after the rest of this picture.
If you want to call it a picture, Lessa said dubiously. But I do think youre right. Only why would they circle this part of the ladder and that one over there with a scribble?
There are so many, many puzzles in this room, Fandarel intoned. Hed opened a cabinet door, struggling briefly with the magnetic catch, then opened and closed it several times, smiling absently in delight for such efficiency. Only then did he notice the strange object on the deep shelf.
He exhaled in wonder as he took the ungainly affair down.
Have a care. It may waddle away, Robinton said, grinning at the Smiths performance.
Though the device was as long as a mans arm, the Smiths great hands seemed to envelop it as his fingers explored its exterior. And they could roll metal without seam. Hmmm. Its coated, and he glanced up at Flar, with the same substance used in the big kettles. Coated for protection? With what? He looked at it, peered at the top. Ah glass. Fine glass. Something to look through? He fiddled with the easily swiveled coated glass that was fitted under a small ledge at the base of the instrument. He placed his eye at the opening on the top of the tube. Nothing to see but through. He straightened, his brows deeply furrowed. A rumbling sound issued from him as if the gears of his thinking were shifting audibly. There is a very badly eroded diagram which Wansor showed me not long ago. A device, and his fingers rested lightly on the wheels placed alongside the barrel, which magnifies objects hundreds of times their proper size. But it takes so long to make lenses, polish mirrors. Hmmm. He bent again and with extremely careful fingers played with the knobs at the side of the tube. He glanced quickly at the mirror, wiped it with one stained finger and looked at it once with his own eye, then again through the tube. Fascinating. I can see every imperfection in the glass. He was completely unconscious of the fact that everyone else was watching him, fascinated by his behavior. He pulled a coarse short hair from his head and held it under the end of the barrel, above the mirror, right across a small aperture. Another careful adjustment and he gave a bellow of joy. Look. Look. It is only my hair. But look at the size of it now. See dust like stones, see the scales, see the broken end.