Jack Chalker - Balshazzar's Serpent

The other two just stood there a moment, uncertain. Then Corby stuck his head out so that it floated ghostly in what seemed to be midair and called, “Well, come on! Or I’m going in without you!”

Eve shrugged, went to the edge, as it were, and allowed two long, large, ghostly hands to pull her in. Robey shrugged and, with a single hand up, managed to get into what turned out to be a spartan cube okay, although he bumped his knee and knew he’d have a bruise there if nothing else.

It was a very plain box, as it were, with no obvious way in or out. Dimly but adequately lit by a kind of phosphorescent glow emanating from the walls and ceiling, it felt more like a cargo container than anything else.

“ This is what it’s all about?” Eve managed, disappointed to say the least. “What were those two doing in here all that time?”

Corby gave a slight smile to both of them. “You haven’t figured it out yet? Well, I’ll show you, then.” He walked over to the back wall and they now saw that there was a touch switch embedded in it about one meter from the floor. Corby touched it, and there was the sound of something engaging front and back, a kind of solid chunk! chunk! Then the cube began to vibrate.

“It’s a lift!” Eve exclaimed, amazed. “But it’s above the canal! How can we go down?”

“Well, at a guess, I’d say those two sounds were blockers coming down on both sides so that if there was any water in the ditch it would be restrained on both sides,” Corby responded. “Once they’re in place, it is likely that the base goes down and then swings away to allow access to the shaft. The reverse will happen when it goes back up. Some mud will fall into the bottom of the shaft, but I suspect there’s a cleaner or drainage mechanism down there to keep it from building up too high. Ah! Not too deep! We appear to be here!”

There was a shudder and then a total absence of vibration, and now the forward entrance winked out, revealing a damp, rocky chamber lit much like the car. Corby walked out into it, and the other two followed.

It appeared to have been developed out of a natural cavern left by eroding underground drainage over eons of time. The shaft and entryway were artificial, but the cavern itself was quite natural, much like those found in limestone and similar sedimentary rock regions on world after world. Lighting appeared to be permanent and chemical; there didn’t seem to be any controls or power source, but half globes had been attached to the cave walls every few meters allowing for adequate vision.

“It would be interesting to see just what the other branches hold,” Corby commented, “but this is certainly sufficient. I can see where the most recent traffic has gone—muddy traces—and they go into that branch there. Let us see.”

Robey looked around at the eerie but impressive installation. “Now, who built this? And why? Certainly this is beyond these people!”

“Probably, but it isn’t beyond their ancestors, the ones who came here and put up that temporary capital and landing area we first went to,” Eve pointed out. “They were here with a lot of technological support for a number of years before things began to fail.”

“Good deduction. I am impressed,” Corby commented. “This, and perhaps others over the inhabited parts of the continent, was certainly done at that time, and, I would suspect, they wound up abandoning the tech center because they needed to grow food and they couldn’t repair or adequately maintain their high tech base. They knew what they were doing, though. Development here was probably very quick. Somebody brought the original settlers here and left, since there’s no sign of a ship or wreckage. They then had to move fast with what they had just to survive. These are, perhaps, stores of things from the old days that may be useful in an emergency, or it might—oh, my!”

He stopped suddenly as they came into a larger chamber, and they followed and then did the same, astonished at what they saw.

“Weapons,” Robey muttered. “Every kind imaginable.”

Stacked in cases, and displayed on a wall that keyed the crate numbers to the displays, were very high tech weapons indeed. No planet killers, but every kind of hand weapon from guided projectile to disruptors, small cannon, small and medium laser and phaser weapons, even surface-to-air smart missiles.

“You could fight one heck of a war with this stuff,” Robey noted, looking at display after display. “I don’t recognize a lot of them, but it’s pretty clear what they do. Some are high military stuff, I’d say.”

Eve was looking at some of the crates. “Yeah, and they’ve got enough power packs here to probably use all of them, at least for a kind of last ditch Armageddon.”

They stood there in silence for a moment, then Corby said, “Armageddon might not be a bad term here. Those two have been removing cases one at a time, and I must assume it’s been at least once a day since we decided to land. The next question is, is that because they don’t trust us and they’re preparing a defense just in case? Or is this something far more sinister?”

“The Festival Services!” Eve gasped. “They start tonight!”

Corby nodded. “I think we need some more active security agents down here, and some arms experts as well. So long as my blockers remain in place they’ll think that anybody coming in or out of the lift will be one of the authorized pair and admit them, so I’m not worried about access.” He looked at his watch. “What I am concerned about is that we’re going to be very vulnerable during that service, and it starts in less than seven hours.”

The Doctor was not amused.

“You mean that this was reported hours ago and I’m just now learning about it?” he thundered. “Satan rides with every mission we undertake, and he’s never more effective than when working on and through those I trust the most. We’re going to have a major talk, all of us, and after that a purge, when this is all over with,” he added ominously.

When he was angry like this, there was an inner part of his soul that seemed to come to the fore, particularly in the eyes, and send chills through anyone who was in his presence. This dangerous streak subsided, though, almost as soon as it showed up, as the leader of the True Church Universal switched to pragmatic mode. There were questions to answer, decisions to be made, actions to be taken before recriminations could even be thought of. Still, before turning to what they would do, he said, rather softly, “I want that idiot Cordish relieved of all duties. Put him on swab detail until I can deal with him.”

“Yes, sir,” an aide said crisply, and turned to give the orders to the ship above.

“And, Harry?”

“Sir?” the aide stopped and turned back towards him.

“Give the OD to Martin and put overall security control for the moment in the hands of Cromwell in Tactical Security. I want Sinai on full alert, understand? If they can materialize an arsenal, then they can also materialize combat ships. Remember Hanunka’s Planet? This could be another trap like that. We’ve had a break by the grace of God and some young people who know how to do things right, so I don’t want us caught with our pants down.”

“Yes, sir. Tactical wants to know if the service remains on.”

“Hell’s bells! Of course it remains on! That’s what we’re here for! And I want everybody fully covered, but no weapons in sight, understand? If they think in terms of priests and nuns and kindly missionaries, I want them to keep that image in their minds. I’ll be fine on stage. You just do your jobs in the crowd.”