He remembered, dimly, what happened after that. It was like a series
of fantastic visions, nightmare flashes of memory. At the bottom of
the spiral was a cave, reminiscent of Chahnn and the other cities of
the Ancients Garth had seen. Enigmatic machines loomed here and there.
Unlike Chahnn, this city was lighted with the pale glow that came out
of the walls and high-domed ceilings.
Cavern after cavern--peopled with the silicate creatures, filled with
the dead machines of the Ancients! And, finally, an immense cave, its
floor slanting up to a raised dais at one end. On the platform a throne
of black metal stood, and seated upon it was a gigantic four-armed
robot, larger than any Garth had ever seen before--standing, it would
have been twelve feet tall, he judged.
Garth got only a glimpse of this. He was carried on swiftly to a
smaller cavern where metal doors lined the walls. One of these was
unlocked. He, with the other Earthmen, was carried within and dumped
unceremoniously on the floor. The Zarno departed, clanging the door
shut after them.
Then--silence.
Garth staggered to his feet, staring around. The cell was oddly
familiar. He had been in it, or one like it, five years ago with Doc
Willard. The silvery light came from the wall, and there was a grating
in the door. That was all.
He reached the grating and peered out. Two Zarno were on guard not far
away. The lock--it might be possible to pick it, Garth thought, but the
silicate creatures were invulnerable. So that would do no good.