The Dark Design by Phillip Jose Farmer

“He couldn’t have been since the ledge on which he stood doesn’t exist far enough to put him in the line of sight.”

“Maybe that flash of light actually came from the aircraft he saw a minute later,” Firebrass said. “It was coming down and perhaps its engines had to release some energy, in some fashion, to check its rate of descent. Joe thought it was the sun’s rays.”

Cyrano said, “It’s possible. Or perhaps the light was a signal from the tower. However, if the tower is big enough to be seen by Joe, and he must have been standing high on that ledge to see 48.5 kilometers away, how could he see a much smaller object, the aerial machine?”

“Maybe it wasn’t so small,” Firebrass said.

They were silent for a moment. Jill tried to estimate the size of an aircraft that could be seen at that distance! She did not know what it should be, but she thought that it must be at least a kilometer wide.

“I do not like to think of it,” Cyrano said.

Firebrass ordered him to send the ship in a circle around the sea. The radar indicated that the sides of the circular tower were smooth and unbroken, except for openings about 243 meters or slightly less than 800 feet below the top.

There was a difference in the height of the exterior top of the tower and the interior. Inside walls 243 meters tall was the smooth surface of a landing field almost 16 kilometers across.

“Those openings at the bottom of the wall are slightly lower than the center,” Firebrass said.’ “That must be so the moisture can drain out through the holes.”

What interested them most, however, was the only protuberance on the “landing field.” This was located at one end, south-all directions from the tower’s center were south-and it was a hemis­phere with a diameter of 16 meters and a height of 8 meters.

“If that isn’t an entrance, I’ll eat my loincloth,” Firebrass said. He shook his head. “Sam’s going to be disappointed when he hears about this. There is no way that anybody can get into this tower except by air.”

“We’re not in yet,” Piscator murmured. “Yeah? I know. But we’re sure as hell going to try. Listen, everybody. Sam ordered that we should make only a scouting trip. I think that trying to get into that tower comes under the definition of scouting.”

Firebrass was almost always ebullient, but now his whole body seemed to quiver and his face was lit up as if all his nerves had suddenly become light transmitters. Even his voice shook with excitement.

“There may be defensive weapons, manned or automatic, down there. The only way to find out is to probe. But I don’t want to endanger the ship any more than we have to.

“Jill, I’m going down with a small party in a chopper. You’ll be in charge, which means you’ll be captain, even if only for a short time. Whatever else happens, you’ve achieved that ambition.

“You keep the ship at about a thousand meters above the tower’s top and a thousand meters away from it. If anything should happen to us, you take the ship back to Sam. That’s an order.

“If I see anything suspicious, I’ll holler. You take off then and let me worry about getting back. Got that?”

Jill said, “Yes, sir.”

“If that dome has an entrance, it may take an electronic or mechanical Open Sesame to get in. Maybe not. They wouldn’t think there’d be any chance of us ever getting to it. I don’t think there’s anybody home. Maybe there is, and they’re just waiting to see what we do before they take action. Let’s hope not.”

Cyrano said, “I’d like to go with you, my captain.”

“You stay here. You’re our best pilot. I’ll take you, Anna, and Haldorssori, he can fly a chopper, too, Metzing, Arduino, Chong, and Singh. That is, if they’ll volunteer.”

Obrenova phoned the others at their posts and then reported that they were more than willing.

Firebrass informed the crew of the radar findings over the general address system. He also told them that a party would be landing shortly.