“Yet all following a single burial ceremony?” I countered. For even among the same species there are different modes of paying honor and bidding farewell to the dead. And to find one vault holding so many burials, seemingly united-
“It might be so,” Eet answered. “Let us assume that a composite garrison, even a single ship’s company, were marooned here. That there was no chance for their eventual return home. Yet, they would hope that in the future there might come those to seek out their final resting place.”
My mind took an imaginative leap. “And the stones were then left as payment for their return to their proper worlds, or for the type of funeral they desired?”
“Just so. Those would do as burial fees.”
How long had they waited? Did the worlds which had given them birth still exist? Or did these planets now lie barren under dying suns half the galaxy away? Why had the builders of this place remained here? Had their empire broken apart in some vast and sudden war? Had the relief ships never come? Had the ship fallen at the ruins been their last hope, destroyed before their eyes in some mechanical or natural catastrophe? And the derelict we had found drifting – had that been a relief ship they had awaited? When it did not arrive had they surrendered to the fact of no escape and built this vault to tell their story to the future?
I glanced from wall to wall of that tomb. There was no message left there for our reading. Then I looked once more at the heads of the parapet. These, seen close up, were eroded to some extent, but they had not been as badly aged as the ruins by the cliff. Were they the actual portraits of those resting below, or did they only represent types of races?
Six were definitely nonhuman. Of those, one, I believed, was insectile, at least two vaguely reptilian, one batrachian. The rest were humanoid enough to pass as kin to my own species. Two were as manlike as the space rovers of my own day. There were twelve of them – but what had brought such a mixture to this planet?
I turned to Eet. “This must be the source of the stones – and these came to mine them.”
“Leaving the galleries picked so clean? That ring did not lead to them. I do not believe that could be true. This may have been a way station for such a shipment. Or it may have had a purpose we cannot conceive of now. But – the fact remains that we do have here a cache of live stones. Enough, as that Patrolman would point out, probably to disrupt the economy of any government. The man or men who take that box and are able to hold it will rule space – for as long as they can keep the stones.”
I came back to the vault opening. “The light- it is beginning to die. Perhaps the stones are also-“ It was decidedly less light in the crypt.
Eet crossed the platform in a couple of his bounds, leaping now to the parapet. Only for a second did he so face the ship, his whole stance suggesting he was alert to what I could neither see nor hear. Then he was back at the same speed.
“Down!” He dashed against me, his impetus striking me almost waist-high. “Down!”
I did drop, my feet going over the edge of the opening. Then I swung by my hands and landed with a jar on the floor, scraping against the side of the box which held the stones. Though the light they emitted was now no more than a small and flickering fire, it was enough to show me safe footing.
I glanced up just in time to see a spear of light flash across the opening, hardly above the level of the parapet. Laser – but not a hand one! That was from the barrel of a cutter, and it must have been fired from the ship!
Eet climbed a pile of those boxes. He was crouched now well away from the hole, yet near the wall facing the ship, his head laid to the stone blocks as if through them he could still hear something.
I put my hand on the ring. There was warmth in it, and a gleam to the stone, but as far as I could see, it no longer threatened any would-be wearer. And, to my surprise, it did not adhere to the box, but came away easily. For safekeeping I put it into the front of my coverall, making sure the seam was tightly sealed.
Again I looked to Eet. The glow was further reduced, but not entirely gone. I could see him well enough.
“Hory?” I asked.
“Just so. It would seem he had resources we did not know about. Somehow he loosed himself. He has now tried to kill us and failed, so he will search for another and more effective form of attack.”
“Go off world-bring in the Patrol?”
“Not yet. We have hurt his pride sorely by what we have done to him. There was more to his being here, I believe, than we – or I – first read in his mind. He may have had an inner shield. Also, he believes if we are left here we shall of necessity join forces with the Guild and perhaps be beyond reach before he can return. No, he wants the ring – and our deaths – before he goes.”
“Well, we may not be dead – but how will we get out of here?” To try to climb again to the platform would expose us to Hory’s beam. He need only wait; time was now on his side.
“Not altogether,” Eet informed me. “If the Guild left men here, and we can safely conclude that they did, they will have monitored our planeting. And they will send to see who landed. Remember, they picked up Hory the first time. Almost too easily. Now I wonder why.”
I brushed aside Eet’s speculations about the past. “We may be half a continent away from their camp.”
“But they must have some form of small aircraft. It would be necessary for their explorations. Yes, they will come – and I do not think we are as far from their base as you suggest. The ruins were once part of a settlement of some size. This tomb would not be located too distant from that.”
“Always supposing it is a tomb. So we have to sit here and wait for the Guild to come after Hory. But how will we be any better off then?”
“We shall not, if we do so wait,” Eet answered calmly.
“Then how do we get out – just by wishing?” I asked. “If we top that hole, he burns me – though you might be able to make it”
Eet still held his listening position against the wall. “Just so. An interesting problem, is it not?”
“Interesting!” I curbed my temper. I could think of several things to call the present situation, all of them more forceful than “interesting.”
SEVENTEEN
My hand kept returning to the ring beneath my coverall. It had led us on a wild chase, probably to our deaths – where we would lie in company. I glanced around the vault. The light was low, and shadows crept toward us from the rows of ominous boxes. Behind those was only the heavy masonry of the walls. Even if we were able to cut through on the opposite side from the ship so that Hory might not sight our going, we would still have the water to cross.
The ring. It had saved me and Eet before, though perhaps that was only incidental to its seeking for its kind. Could it do anything to get us out of here? Hory wanted it – wanted it badly
I glanced at Eet, who was now a barely discernible blot against the wall.
“Could you reach Hory’s mind from this distance?”
“If there was a reason – I think so. His has – at least on the surface – a relatively simple pattern – like yours.”
“How much influence could you bring to bear on him under contact?”
“Very little. Such a tie needs cooperation to be successful. The Patrolman does not trust me, nor would he open his mind to me now. It would be necessary to break down active resistance. I coud not hold him in any thrall.”
“But – you could me?” I did not know just what I fished for. I was one feeling his way through the dark by touch alone. If I chose rightly it meant life; if I failed – well – we might not be worse off than at present.
“If you surrendered your full will. But that is not in you. There is a stubborn core in your species which would resist any take-over. Whether you wished to cooperate or not, I would have a struggle on my hands.”