"Forget it."
He moved toward the tunnel-mouth. Paula, he saw, was lying near by, her
red-gold hair cascading about her pale, lovely face.
Garth stood looking down at her for a long moment. Then he went on,
into the tunnel that waited for him. He did not look back.
Cautiously he stepped through the black curtain, ready to retreat at
sight of any Zarno. But the cavern was empty.
If he could make it--!
Noiselessly he stole up the passage. Once he froze against the wall at
the sound of distant footsteps. But they faded and were gone.
He came out at last into a corridor he recognized. Far away, he saw the
flashing gleam of the Zarno's silicate skins. They were approaching,
but apparently had not seen him yet.
He raced for the archway that led into the temple-cavern. If there
were any Zarno there, it would be fatal. But luck favored him. The
immense room was empty. At the far end the huge robot sat on its jet
throne.
Garth sprinted across the floor. He could hear voices growing louder in
the distance, and the thumping of the Zarnos' footsteps, but he dared
not risk a glance behind. Could he make it?
He jerked to a halt, springing behind the throne, its bulk temporarily
hiding him. The Zarno were in the temple-cave now; he could tell that
by their voices. Hastily he sought the secret spring.
A panel opened in the ebon block. It was exactly as he had seen it on
the tripod-recording machine, a fair-sized cubicle with light coming
faintly through a vision-slit in one wall. Garth wedged himself in and
slid the panel shut behind him, gasping with relief. Peering through
the slit, he found he could see the entire cavern. Three Zarno were
approaching.
The robot, seated on the throne above him, was, of course, invisible.
Garth stared around, trying to remember the details of the Ancients'
recording. A helmet transmitter ... there it was, attached by wires to
the low ceiling. Warily Garth slipped it upon his head.
What now?
A flat black plate, like a diaphragm, was set in the wall slightly
above his head as he crouched. This hiding-place, he realized, had been
built for the larger bodies of the Ancients.
Closing his eyes, he tried to concentrate. Doc Willard had said the
helmet-transmitters worked that way. Telepathy--will-power--
"_Stand up!_" he commanded silently to the unseen robot above him.
"_Stand up!_"
There was a stir of movement. Garth, peering through the slit, saw the
three Zarno jerk to a halt.