01 Taxilas Children

TAXILA'S CHILDREN
identify the material, but it was transparent. From one of the star points was looped a strand
of similar material and was clearly intended as a neck hanging. He looked through it against
the light and nearly dropped it, for almost three dimensional in the central lens was the figure
of a man with head, arms and legs stretched out to the five angle points.
Steve's hands started to shake and he had to steady himself before he could examine the
image further. He was looking at an image of what he took to be a man. He made the
assumption that he was looking one of those whose race had engineered the passage and
chamber. The man was depicted with head, arms and legs stretched towards the five points of
the star, with his naked body occupying the central pentagon. He had strongly feline features.
Steve had the sudden desire to flee, to get away from the alienness of his discovery. He
needed time to think and to come to terms with the immensity of what he had uncovered.
He reached out for the Bole and the intensity of the light within the room seemed to
increase before subsiding once again. He stood upright without lifting the Bole. The entrance
to the passage was no longer where it had been. He fought down rising panic and rasped.
"Activate - "
A small red light flickered on the top surface of the cube.
"Status - "
"Integrity."
Steve breathed out heavily, momentarily fogging the inside of his suit. He checked the
capacity meter. His air supply would hold for thirty minutes - at the end of that time, unless
he was back in the Skimmer, he would suffocate.
"Where is the access entrance to this chamber?"
"There is no access entrance."
He stared at the cube.
"Don't talk bloody nonsense. I walked through an entrance - it was in that wall!"
He pointed.
"There is no access entrance."
"Status - "
"Integrity."
"Are you quite sure?"
"All systems are integrity."
"Explain the lack of access to this chamber."
"Insufficient data."
Steve ignored the fact that the chamber might have been designed as a sacred place and
swore vehemently. He pulled himself together - anger was making him use oxygen above the
average rate.
"Scan the surfaces and determine where there is a door."
"Scan complete - there is no door. All surfaces are uniform and cover basalt rock to a depth
of thirty metres."
Steve drew breath slowly.
"How did I get in here?"
"Insufficient data."
Steve counted to ten.
"How did you get in here?"
"You carried me."
Steve examined the walls carefully. Each angle and joint was smoothly united to the next.
He tried to move the plinth, but it too, was fused into the floor material. He turned back to the
Bole.
"Give your assessment of the purpose of this place."
"It is a trap."
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